I believe Joss Whedon did the line, "You know what happens to a toad when it gets struck by lightning?" in X-Men which was about all they kept from his rewrites on that script.

KS: Crap joke. [laughs]

Terrible joke; but in the context of Whedon I can see how that joke might have played.

KS: Yeah, but in the context of that film though it was just a bad delivery and it didn't quite pan out.

That's why Reaper was kind-of an interesting experience for me. I went into it having enjoyed the script but I did feel like, "Hey, I can make this a little better." And also it was kind-of an interesting experiment because I wanted to see if I could direct someone else's script also. So that, for me, even though I did get paid nicely for it, wasn't about the money it was about wondering whether I could take someone else's script and realise it. And along the way perhaps beef up the dialogue and make it a little funnier and stuff like that. But now, having gone through that process, I just don't want to do that again either.

There are too many cooks in that world. Way too many people to satisfy.

Like at the end of the day, with my scripts, they're mine from beginning to end. That means I reap the praise for it and take the bullets for it. Something like Reaper I can't reap the praise for it or take the bullets for it because so many other people were involved in the decision-making process. For me filmmaking is so personal and I just prefer to keep it that way. So much so that whether you like it or not, I love it and that's me at the end of the day. That stands for what I wanted to say or tried to communicate. The other paths of filmmaking, filmmaking by committee, I just don't feel comfortable doing.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be done because there are people who are born to direct other people's scripts. Like, you know, nobody would call Martin Scorsese a hack and there's a dude who doesn't generally write his own material but he can take someone else's script and elevate it and make it brilliant and make it his own. I don't have that talent so all I can do is take the stuff I write and keep it as my own.


It's something I always struggle with as a critic; if you're not there from the moment someone first comes up with the idea to the moment the film is released and you're in a screening room watching it, it can be hard to know who to give credit for what you liked about a movie and who to criticise for what you didn't like. It comes down to educated guess work; in the case of something like Sunshine, being a big fan of Danny Boyle's work I think I can tell when he's worked on a film and how he's elevated a script and brought his own talent to bear even though I don't think he's ever written a movie himself.

KS: Yeah, it's kind-of interesting. To continue the example, if someone were to say, "I'll tell you who wrote it but I'm not going to tell you who directed it," chances are you could figure out a Martin Scorsese movie pretty easily. Steven Spielberg, same thing.

But conversely, I think I struggle when it comes to recognising a writer's work. Not all writers, but it's much harder. Ultimately, the buck stops with a director, which I think is why it's often easier to find a director in a movie.

KS: Totally. Though every once in a while a script comes along where you just think it'd be as good in the hands of any director.

A film like Little Miss Sunshine.

KS: Yeah, that's a really script-driven flick. Even Good Will Hunting, you know, I think Gus did a great job with that movie but ultimately the script screams through. And no matter whose hands the script was in, the script was always going to be the most memorable thing about that movie.