Pitch Your Movie! Anna’s “Truth and Lies”
Anna from Life of a Cinephile and Bibliophile is pitching her movie today in our month long blogathon (Check the schedule) following the Hollywood Fantasy Draft we conducted recently. Please share your thoughts and any insights you have in the comments.
Previous Pitches:
- Andrew Robinson’s “Untitled Joss Whedon Project“
- Next: Novroz on Wednesday
Here I go. This is the pitch for my fictictious film Truth and Lies (which, I may add, is directed by Martin Scorsese).
The Logline
“What if everything you thought you knew about someone was a lie?”
The Cast
ANNA | ||
Round 1 | "My choice is Martin Scorsese. Revolutionizing the crime genre and making violence an art form, his line of work ranges from sports and biopics to thrillers and gangster movies." |  |
Round 2 | "So I have three actors in mind. If I don’t get all three of them, this project won’t work. The first one I’ll mention is Meryl Streep. Possibly one of the greatest actresses that ever lived. Definitely one of the most versatile." |  |
Round 3 | "My next choice is Sean Penn. He is, by far, one of the more compelling actors I’ve watched. From a death row inmate, to an ex-con trying to find justice for his daughter’s murder, to a politician whose actions would lead to his assassination, Penn is a very talented person." |  |
Round 4 | "My next pick is Marisa Tomei. She is one of the few actors whose career thrives after their Oscar win. And I mean thrive. That alone gets good praises in my book." |  |
Round 5 | "As I was trying to think of who to cast next, I was thinking who could play the villian (take note I’m not saying what exactly the part is). I was thinking, Which actor could fit the part? Which actor can combine charming and chilling into one role? That’s when it hits me: Ralph Fiennes. His performance in Schindler’s List alone convinced me enough he deserves this part." |  |
Round 6 | "Next up for my movie is Stanley Tucci. He seems fitting for the part I have in mind and we know he can do dark roles (thanks to that Oscar-nominated performance in The Lovely Bones), so that’s just works." |  |
Round 7 | "My final choice is Emile Hirsch. His performances in Milk and Into the Wild blew me away (he sholud’ve been nominated for the latter). He is, for sure, a rising actor you shouldn’t ignore." |  |
Round 8 | "My final pick (I promise!) is Jake Gyllenhaal. He was heartbreaking in Brokeback Mountain and pretty damn good in Jarhead and Zodiac. Plus, the role I have in mind for him will be somewhat of a departure from his earlier work." |  |
Round 9 | "Peter Sarsgaard will make an interesting final addition to my cast. He is one of the best non-Oscar nominees I’ve watched." |  |
The Characters
- Meryl Streep is Patricia Malloy, a woman who comes home one night to discover her husband has been murdered.
- Sean Penn is Malcolm Hyde, the private investigator Malloy hires to infiltrate the mob family she believes was responsible for her husband’s murder. After some smooth talking, he becomes an associate for the family.
- Marisa Tomei is Connie Hyde, Malcolm’s wife. She has supported his previous work, ranging from drug trafficking to political scandals. But this job is more dangerous than what he has done before.
- Ralph Fiennes is Sammy Giardano, the boss of the family Hyde infiltrates. His personality is charming, but behind closed doors he’s a different man.
- Stanley Tucci is Mick Lombardi, Giardano’s consigliere. He has a hidden hatred for Giardano since he was to take over the business when the former boss stepped down, but he hides it with an admiration for him.
- Emile Hirsch is Louie, Giardano’s son. He is deeply suspicious of the new associate for his father. He tries to convinces Giordano that something’s up, but he and his suspicions are shrugged off.
- Jake Gyllenhaal is Joey Sullivan, Giardano’s top hitman. He has a sadistic streak once he starts a hit; it disappears when his victim is truly dead.
- Peter Sarsgaard is Bruno Contielle, Giardano’s underboss. He is likeable throughout the family due to his good looks and friendly personality.
The Outline
Theme: The main theme is deception. I’ll explain more once I get to the outline of the movie.
Prologue: Patricia comes home after a long day of work to find her husband beaten and shot to death. Absolutely stunned, she wants answers and she wants them now. She finds out her husband has been borrowing money from Giardano.
Act One: Appalled by the shoddy police investigation, Patricia hires Malcolm. He agrees to help her, since he is curious on the workings of Giardano’s business. Upon first arrival, Malcolm is welcomed by Giordano and Bruno. Malcolm wins over Giardano and becomes an associate. Malcolm also gets acquainted with Mick.
Act Two: Here we are introduced to Louie. He appears to be a nice kid, but he is very suspicious of Malcolm. Since no one else will listen to him, he confides in Joey about it. Joey is like an older brother to Louie, so he thinks that Louie might be right.
Act Three: Malcolm is getting close to booking Giardano. Louie’s suspicions on him has only intenstified. He orders Joey to kill Malcolm, which he gladly agrees to do. Joey manages to beat Malcolm up, but it’s Joey who gets killed. Shocked by Joey’s death, Louie decides to take matters into his own hands. He shoots Malcolm in the back several times before Bruno shows up and subdues him.
Epilogue: Malcolm survives, but is left paralyzed. When he’s recovering in the hospital, Bruno visits him and explains everything. Like Malcolm, he is a cop who has infiltrated Giardano’s business to try to take him down. Giardano had bribed the police to not thoroughly investigate Patricia’s husband’s murder (he was killed for not paying back Giardano the thousands of dollars he had borrowed). Giardano, Louie and Mick get arrested for numerous charges. Mick agrees to testify against Giardano, which shocks him. At his sentencing, Giardano says that he never would’ve suspected that Malcolm and Bruno were involved with the police.
So what do you think? Would you pay to see this?
![Watch: Creepy Trailer for Slasher Pic ‘Maniac’ [NSFW]](http://www.anomalousmaterial.com/movies/wp-content/themes/yamidoo_pro/scripts/timthumb.php?src=http://www.anomalousmaterial.com/movies/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/elijah-wood-maniac-tb.jpg&w=50&h=50&zc=1)
13 Comments
Yes I’d pay to see this movie
I like your movie, I always enjoy a movie where I have to guess who the perpetrator is. Your cast is filled with great actors, it’ll be fun to watch them.
WOW Anna, what a well-rounded pitch. Heck yeah I’ll watch this movie, I mean Streep and Fiennes in a Scorsese in a crime genre he’s renowned for, what’s not to love? Well, ok so maybe I’m not Sean Penn’s or Jake Gyllenhaal’s biggest fans, but I’m willing to overlook it if the project is enticing enough. I like a movie where the good and bad guys aren’t so clear cut. Great job!
I agree with Novroz and Anna. Good pitch! I like that you can already see the characters playing these roles. A few things that would have made this pitch more effective:
- We need to know more about Malcolm’s background and why he is “interested” in those mobsters
- The way it’s written, there seems to be a lengthy exposition/flashback at the end, I think it would help to leave more clues throughout the story instead.
- Patricia doesn’t seem to be doing much except introduce the central conflict in the movie. It would help if she does something throughout the rest of the story
- I think more details throughout would have made your pitch more harrowing.
Overall, I liked it!
We need to know more about Malcolm’s background and why he is “interested” in those mobsters
He moved to New York with his family when he was young. As a teenager, he developed a reputation for stealing cars, which landed him in jail a few times. While in jail, he decided he wanted to enforce the law rather than break it. He was an officer for the NYPD for several years before leaving to become a private investigator.
Malcolm’s interested in Giardano and his business because a close friend of his was murdered by one of Giardano’s men. The case went cold, but Malcolm knew it was Giardano’s work.
Patricia doesn’t seem to be doing much except introduce the central conflict in the movie. It would help if she does something throughout the rest of the story
I figured that would be the main problem. I’m honestly trying to think of a good scene for Patricia. I’ll post it once I think of it.
Anna – Your cast alone is enough to get excited about, but I think there may be one too many stars there. By the time I read Jake Gyllenhaal’s name in the character description, it was one too many big personalities for me, but that’s not to say it won’t work.
I think your film will definitely be nominated for a few Oscars, even if it does contain some of the same themes as some of Scorsese’s other work. Streep no doubt will be nominated for another great Supporting role.
Your plot outline is great. I don’t think you need to go into too much depth of characters with a plot outline because it’s hard to explain the psychology of your characters. Besides, that’s usually done visually and with some choice dialogue to accompany the actions.
Thumbs up!
This sounds right up Scorsese’s alley! Take Jake out and I would totally watch this! Very nicely written up and though the genre is filled with much of the same thing, this sounds more original. You did stellar on the draft too, with actors like Streep, Penn, Tomei, sarsgaard and the amazing Ralph Fiennes. Nice job here!
Hmm, I’m starting to see a running theme here with my casting of Gyllenhaal. I’ll explain:
I wanted to choose an actor for the part of Joey Sullivan who is a recognizable name, but was still young. I thought of Colin Farrell, but I nixed it after realizing I had already cast Ralph Fiennes (I didn’t want it to be like In Bruges). Then I was thinking of James Franco, but Neon had already cast him.
I had already Gyllenhaal in mind during the early rounds of this, but I wanted to get the bigger names first. And seeing that no one chose him by the Supplemental Round, I just chose him.
Seeing that he’s mostly cast in “good guy” roles, I wanted to see him a bad guy (a la Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West, sort of).
But seeing as some aren’t too crazy about him being cast, I’d be willing to take suggestions.
Lovely. I’ll see it for the cast alone.
With Scorcese and this cast, you could have a hit on your hands. But I agree with the others, Streep’s role needs to be filled out a bit more. Perhaps she and Ralph Fiennes have some past history.
Damn, Meryl Streep gets the good roles even in our imagination.
Complicated but intriguing. Scorsese can handle this twisty story. Stellar cast – I can see Oscars from this one!
Okay, okay, okay. To solve the Streep situation, I’ll clear a few things up:
~First off, Malcolm contacts Patricia from time to time via telephone throughout the movie to update her on what’s happening.
~Second, there’ll be a scene where she tells Malcolm flat out she wants Giardano out of society. The sample dialogue (NSFW, obviously; it is Scorsese after all):
Patricia: “Malcolm, you’ve been doing this for weeks now. Aren’t you any closer to getting this done?”
Malcolm: “Patricia, it takes time to do this kind of thing.”
Patricia: “Can I make a suggestion?”
Malcolm: “Shoot.”
Patricia: “Get rid of him.”
Malcolm: “What?”
Patricia: “You heard me. I want him dead.”
Malcolm: “Fuck, Patricia, I can’t do that.”
Patricia: “Well, why the hell not? He’s probably gotten away with dozens of murders. I’m sure you could get away with one.”
Malcolm: “I’m not doing it.”
~Finally, she’ll be present during Giardano’s trial.
Happy now?
Gyllenhaal as a hitman? That is definitely interesting and something I could get caught up in. I cannot believe the cast you managed to work together. Who isn’t a brilliant actor here?
I also enjoyed how you connected characters together and made even their conflicts work within relationships, creating a lot of tension.
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