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Overall Rating : 5/10
Directed By : Jonathan Dueck
James Van Der Beek (Varsity Blues)
Tara Spencer-Nairn (Wishmaster 4)
Julia Schneider
Darryn Lucio
Supplied By : Peace Arch Entertainment/Genius Products
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : September. 13, 2007
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| PLOT A screenwriter suffering from writer’s block decides to lock himself in his apartment for 18 days in order to meet a career-making deadline. His script involves characters from his past, including a terrifying and disfigured clown. As cabin fever sets, he soon finds himself living in a world where what’s real and what’s fiction begin to cross lines with chilling and fatal consequences. |
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| THE REVIEW In FINAL DRAFT, Screenwriter Paul Twist once had written a hit movie, but after that, his career ended up at a standstill. It has been years since he has even attempted to write a script, but at the urging of his actor friend David, he begins to plot of ideas, because after all David has landed Twist a meeting with a big time producer in a little less than a month. Paul comes up with this idea, that stems back to an incident when he was a child. When younger, he and his Brother went to a local Circus, there happened to be a clown performing a fire breathing eat, in which the stunt went horribly wrong. The clown happened to die from the blaze, and while watching him die, Paul remembers that all of the kids were continuously laughing at the clown. Thus the premise of his screenplay would be that the clown would return from the dead disfigured and all, to exact revenge on those children who are now adults. Paul still tormented by the suicidal death of his brother decides to make suicide the focal point of his film, and that the clown would make it appear as if his victims had died via suicidal means. We find Twist getting into writing mode, and as a joke David suggests that Paul should lock himself up in his apartment building until the script is complete. Taking the joke a little too seriously he decides to do just that - but something so simple seems to slowly eat away at him. As the days progress, he grows anxious and paranoid to the point where the story he is writing is no longer about "Punchy The Clown" getting the revenge on those whom had wronged him, but rather those people in Paul's life(i.e. his ex wife, and former best friend, and the kid who would always bully him) As he continues to write the script these people of his past, whom happen to now be story characters in his script, seem to come alive in his mind, literally driving him insane, to the point where both fact and fiction become the same reality. When first hearing of FINAL DRAFT, I couldn't help but think of the Johnny Depp film, SECRET WINDOW. But while both films are about a recently divorced man, who locks himself up in a confined area for an extended amount of time to write, both are quite different. FINAL DRAFT focuses on personal tragedy, and what it does to an individual, as the film, both begins and ends with one. The plot is decent as it is true to life - it is a fact that most screenwriters add incidents and people from their lives into their scripts as a way to deal with them and put closure on them. I remember that Wes Craven at one time mentioned that Freddy Krueger, was actually the name of the kid whom bullied him in school, and as a way to sort of mock him he used the name for his most infamous character, whom ultimately bullies and torments teens in their sleep. Is this a Horror movie? No, I would really call it that. FINAL DRAFT is more of a psychological thriller that delves it's way deep into the mind of a character, much like you'd see in one of Hitchcock's films, as it takes you within the paranoia. Sure it's slow and it takes it awhile to to pick up, but in between then, you get great character development, and another thing is that this film keeps the number of characters to a minimum, so greater emphasis is put on them, especially the main character, Paul Twist. We basically watch as Paul slowly begins to loose his mind, we watch as he begins to see and experience things that aren't really there or happening. Here the slow plot actually works out in it's favor, as realistically a person doesn't lose their mind over night, it gradually begins to dissolves - as this this film greatly displayed. Without great acting, a film like this would've been just another low budget independent film with a clever plot, with potential, but not the talent to quiet pull it off - I have seen this many times, in many different film. But fortunately the small cast do a great job at pulling off a story that is believable and interesting. There are the minor character and then there are the characters with more focus, David Hockin, the Actor and roommate and the story's main character, Paul Twist. Darryn Lucio does a decent job as David making him someone who cares for his friend Paul, all the while having a sense of cockiness and self-centered-ness, David isn't around much, but is there just enough for Paul to have someone to rebound off of, since he is truly the only one outside of his mind in the film. Former teen star, James Van Der Beek here takes on his second "Horror-sh" role in recent years - with the first being THE PLAGUE. In THE PLAGUE, sure he was also in the main role there as well, but in that film he just didn't have the opportunity to show his true acting ability, people were still seeing him as "Dawson" from DAWSON'S CREEK. In FINAL DRAFT, it gives Van Der Beek a chance to show that, yes he can act in a film beyond the teen realm, and actually be believed, and taken seriously. Obviously Van Der Beek is the standout here has the star, and he truly takes the lead, not only does he create a character who is interesting, and one that you do have interest in watching, but as I said he is very believable as Paul Twist. In the end, FINAL DRAFT is a pretty good Psychological Thriller, that has good character development and examination, and on top of that, a plot that keeps you watching on wondering what the final outcome will be with an ending that might be shocking to some. |
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| GORE
METER 2/10 There is very little gore in the film, which is all at the hands of "Punchy The Clown" as he kills off characters. An impalement, an electrocution and a bloody blow to the head are all of the instances I seem to remember. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 4/10 Through out the film, there are subtle hints of circus music to capitalize of Paul Twist's script as he is writing it.... it's not much, but it's very fitting. |
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM Overall, FINAL DRAFT is a pretty decent thriller, with the typical low budget limitations(limited sets as well as a small cast), but it does have great performances to keep it's subject matter interesting through out. It's not perfect, but definitely worth a watch! This DVD will be released on September 18, 2007 |
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