Good Screenwriting

One of the perks of living out here in L.A. is the availability of screenings with Q&A sessions by directors, writers and producers. Last night we attended a screening of the new Tom Hanks movie Charlie Wilson's War, the screenplay of which was written by Aaron Sorkin. Mr. Sorkin appeared afterwards and took some questions from the audience and it was really a pleasure to listen to him. Moreover, the film itself is very good and there are a few places with dialogue that just were magical.

With regard to the film itself, I'd have to say that I could have done without the Julia Roberts character, but that may be my own personal prejudice. She just seems like an object placed in the scene sort of like her "Oceans" movie appearances. But Hanks was terrific. Really terrific in a damn cool role. I loved the guy in this role. Of course, the truly best actor on the set, IMHO, was Philip Seymour Hoffman. Whoa, I want to see anything he chooses to appear in.

Getting back to Sorkin, he made a very useful comment that one of his "tricks" is to find a way to get two characters to have an argument and that often results in an easier time with generating realistic and dynamic dialogue.

Mark