A Moving Story

The question this week is: If we had one of our stories made into a movie, who would we like to see cast and who would we want to direct?

Unfortunately, that is not a very realistic question because the likelihood of that happening is way less than my winning the lottery…and making my own movie.

And unless you have the real guaranteed-block-buster stories that would command great box office appeal, (like J.K. Rowling with Harry Potter), having any say in the use of an intellectual property that has been optioned for production is also akin to the likelihood of winning the lottery big-time.

But I will play along.

I think all of us care enough about our stories to think they’d make good movies; I mean, we ‘see’ the characters in our minds’ eyes already. In my case, I can even see a cartoon or two, but I will take the easy way on this one and talk again about the story of mine that I really wanted to make into a movie.

I hate to bore anyone since I just spoke of this story a few months ago when we were discussing ‘elevator pitches’, but really, I think the story based very largely on an unusual evening that my niece and I spent makes quite a thriller. I told the story to many people in the subsequent days and everyone insisted that I write it. I took some creative license because the night could so easily have turned out with severe consequences that it really cried-out for a dramatic ending. We felt that we were lucky and it was actually funny how we engineered a possible narrow escape, but we will never know what might or might not have happened.

So I had wanted to direct it myself, making a film with my niece and me. We’d get a fellow to play the tow truck driver who is the antagonist. I even went so far as to contact an actor friend of mine in California about the part, but I could not swing it.(He was really too good-looking for the part anyway.)

Now, I still think it would make a great movie. I have written it as a three-person play, but there are other people who could be shown and not placed off-screen. I am, perhaps, beyond playing myself.

Who would I want to play me? I used to always say that Jaclyn Smith would be my choice if anyone needed to portray me in a movie. She was always so gorgeous and frankly, looked enough like family that I should probably have looked like her in real life! (I knew that Sophia Loren would be pushing it.) I would also not mind Sandra Bullock,(who also looks like a family member), portraying me, but I think I would be lucky now if people don’t see me and cast Betty White!

As for directors, I have a couple in mind.

John McTiernan is a great suspense director. I can watch “The Hunt for Red October” over and over…and have. “Die Hard” is another perpetual favorite of mine and the remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair” was well done. The finale of his less-than-spectacular “Normads” made sitting through the whole movie worthwhile.

Ron Howard would be another great choice. I mean, I lived through the days of Apollo 13.TVs were on constantly no matter where we were and the networks broke in with news, updates and speculations around the clock, sometimes interrupting programming for hours on end. I saw it all unfold and I knew how it ended… yet, I sat at the edge of my seat all the way through Howard’s version of the story in movie form. That is how good a director of suspense the man became. I still get a racing heart through subsequent viewings of “Apollo 13”. ( I see that Jeff also chose him as a possible director in his post yesterday.)

If we were to make a movie of one of my sweeter stories, I agree with Jeff again: Rob Reiner would be the first director to come to mind.

I am tempted to put you on the spot: Can you think of an actress who could play the character based on me? Keep in mind that at this point we need a late middle-aged, (50’s), slightly out-of-shape woman. It is essential to the story that she be past her prime and have a bit of trouble climbing in and out of a tow truck.

How about the very attractive niece? Must be quite tall, in her late 30s?

Or the tow truck driver? Tall, wiry, 40ish? (Fair-looking, but not a hunk).

I’d love to hear some of your ideas.