The Grifters Screenplay

I decided to do the screenplay to the same novel I had chosen to read. I thought it would be better to be consistent so I could elaborate further on the subject with different sources of media. After reading the screenplay I decided to view the actual 1990 flop of a film. The movie, unfortunately and predictably pales in comparison to the novel, as it jumps over many important parts in the novel and goes even further by including elements into the movie that were chronologically impossible. Not to mention the odd choice of main characters. The movie does the job of getting the point of what is happening across, but it looks to be so poorly written that the dialogue comes out flat and meaningless adding no mystery or suspense of any sort. This may just be a product of bad acting or bad directing.
The screenplay slightly jumbles the order in which the characters are introduced and how they end up running their lives. Lilly Dillon, is introduced at the tracks already doing what she does best, racking up the bets at the booth, which we don't actually learn of until later in the novel. Moria Langtry, whose name is actually changed to Myra for some reason, is shown entering a pawn shop in which she attempts at pawning a diamond, and to no avail, seduces the clerk, again without success. This encounter also takes place later on in the novel. Finally Roy Dillon is introduced entering a bar where he receives an injury that is actually fatal to his health yet he doesn't realize until later. This actually marks the beginning of the novel. From there several other occurrences are either left out or changed completely. For example, Myra Langtry describes her devious deeds with Farmer Langley involved computer work, however the book was published over twenty years before computers came to existence, which replaces an alternative story from the novel. Also, Dillon is never faced with the opportunity to take on a new job with Kaggs, which I would consider a pivotal point in the novel to include. Reason being that the offer of the job provides Roy with the option to consider giving up the grift, as he does in the novel, and his attempt at starting a new life. However a twisted tragic death befalls him before he can start making that change, which ends up providing the climactic “bad guy wins” type of ending. Another point the screenplay seemed to jump over was his entire affair with the nurse, who was barely even a character in the movie and was defined and dismissed early on in the movie. This would also be a prime point in the novel as Moria discovers Lilly's motives and this further drives her to attempt at killing her toward the end of the novel. The screenplay plays it out as if Myra is simply suspicious of Lilly's actions, and believes she is manipulating Roy in some way, probably sexually.
The actors chosen for the film were “close” to the true characters, but seriously underplayed or just plain horrible. The most intense scenes are almost laughable when viewed on screen. The role of Roy was a clear mistake having John Cusack in his early acting career play a pro con artist who actually has a serious and attractive angle to him. He is simply too timid. Roy would need someone who can play a slick role while keeping his attractive personality, like Johnny Depp. As for Lilly I feel as though she should be more like the mother in 2001 Heartbreakers played by Sigourney Weaver who plays a confident sneaky bitch in her own right. In fact, maybe Jennifer Love Hewitt, who plays her daughter in the movie, would be a perfect fit fro Myra in personality. The relationship the two share on screen in Heartbreakers is quite similar to how Lilly and Myra act toward one another. Another character I would indefinitely alter would have to be Bobo Justus, who was acted out by the elderly Pat Hingle. Sure he was in those great old-school batman movies, he just doesn't make the cut for woman handling hustler who just doesn't give any to anybody. Try Clint Eastwood for that role or even Samuel L. Jackson, someone who can give orders with some backbone be it calm or brutal, Bobo can swing both ways.
In general, the script could have been pushed a little bit more to add to the true flesh of the novel. Its not so much that I mind the alternative changes made to the script for modern references, however, the exclusion of “cause and effect” material is not conducive to the recreation of the story. After reading the screenplay and seeing the film, I would strongly request reading the book instead.

The Grifters

Of all the “Pulp Fiction” novels listed, I chose The Grifters by Jim Thompson. How I came upon this decision out of the more popular novels is beyond me, however I am thoroughly satisfied with my selection. Although the quality of media may differ, I had the opportunity of reading the original novel and the opportunity to view the cinema-graphic rendition of the novel. The novel itself reveals how twisted and crazy the life of a con man, or woman, can become in some strange “love triangle” in which the mother con raises a son con who makes love with a “sister” (meaning fellow) con who despises the mother con. A type of three way deadlock which ends with a dark irony, leading the mother to her own insanity.
At first I had no idea what to expect from this novel, published in 1963, with hardly any indication of the time period, I assumed it was within that decade if not earlier. The settings lend themselves to the imagination within the boundaries of Los Angeles and other surrounding areas. However the way in which the story is told provides a clear and definitive placement of characters around different parts of Los Angeles. Also, the language adds a “sophisticated” slang to it, which helps set the shifty mood of the grift. I was even humored by some lines in the novel as some dialogue is used even today by our younger generation. “But--she shook herself mentally--to hell with that noise.”
What I received from the novel as it places itself in the generation it was published, and a book in itself, was that this opened up a whole new genre of action. A type of gritty twisted set of events that has a sense of suspense with a modern appeal. Its not like the usual story where the good guy gets the girl and changes the world. Which is far from the conclusion of the novel. It offers a new pathway for written work in which the “predictability” of all novels is somewhat eliminated, which really heightens the interest in the novel.