The Story: Sure, it's only a two minute scene; how long can it take? Forever. Two minutes in an Edgar Wright film, much less Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, has a lot of information crammed into it. The screenplay doesn't even add in the whooshes and zips, deflating balloon pops, seamless transitions and electrical failures that permeate the scene as Scott pursues the girl he sees in his dreams, Ramona Flowers. There are so many levels to this scene, but something that might get lost in the mix is that Scott Pilgrim, he of tremulous smile, vapid conversation, and cracking voice, is something of a dog. A serial heart-breaker and too immature to be good for anybody. He basically pumps out one chord on his bass "D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D," plays video games and lives across the street from his parent's house. He's a man—a man-boy—of limited means, and as "deep" as a light dusting of Toronto (Canada) snow. The point of the movie is it's a romantic-comedy-action-adventure story (based on a comic book series by Bryan Lee O'Malley), but it can't legitimately be all of that if it wasn't also a coming-of-age story. Unless Pilgrim grows up a little and (as they say in video games) can "get a life," all that romance is going to be so thin and short-lived, it might as well be platonic. So, in this month of February and Valentines, another scene of love at its earliest and with the best of intentions, even though it's hopelessly (and hope-fully) naive, stalker-creepy, and so, so dumb.
The Set-Up: Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera), 22, awesome, unemployed guitarist for Sex-Bob-omb, has been okay lately since his devastating break-up a year ago with Envy Adams (Brie Larson)—who went off to become a successful pop artist—and he's dating a 17 year-old Catholic high-schooler named Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). This has some good things and some bad things about it. So, that may be why he is so smitten when he sees "the girl of his dreams" (no, literally, she is, totally, and played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead) at the High School Library, delivering an Amazon package. She's just a figment until he sees her at a party... 3-2-1...GO! (Action!) 21 INT. JULIE'S HOUSE - NIGHT 21
A bored Scott stands next to Young Neil in a very crowded
house party. Both have red plastic cups in hand.
SCOTT
...this sucks. YOUNG NEIL
Sucks.
SCOTT
I'm going to go pee due to boredom. Scott exits frame.
YOUNG NEILI have to pee. (CONTINUED) INTEGRATED FINAL 15A.
21 CONTINUED: 21
Neil sips his drink.
Scott passes by COMEAU, a bespectacled hipster geek: '˜COMEAU, 25, FUN FACT: KNOWS EVERYONE (INCLUDING YOU)'
SCOTT
Hey Comeau. COMEAU
Hey Scott. Some party huh? You
gettin' your drink on?
(CONTINUED)
INTEGRATED FINAL 16.
21 CONTINUED: (2) 21
SCOTT
This is Coke Zero. I don't drink.
COMEAU
You don't drink? I remember you
getting ridiculously drunk off two
G&T's one time and-
SCOTT
(QUICKLY)
Comeau, you know everyone, right?
COMEAU
Pretty much.
SCOTT
Do you know this one girl with hair
like this? Scott sketches an incomprehensible drawing of Ramona.
COMEAU
Yeah man. Ramona Flowers. Someone
said she was coming tonight actually.
SCOTT
WHAT? COMEAU Scott?
COMEAU You got the hots for her? I hear
she's hardcore...
Scott has already left a Scott-shaped dust cloud...
22 INT. JULIE'S HOUSE - MOMENTS LATER 22
Scott scans the party.
His eyes go WIDE.
He CRUSHES his
plastic cup. There she is...playing the wall...RAMONA!
Aloof.
Enigmatic.
Hot.
Scott sidles up and stands next to her.
SCOTT
Hey, what's up?
RAMONA
Nothing.
SCOTT
Hey, you know Pacman?
RAMONA
I know of him. Scott begins to babble. SCOTT
Well you know Pac-Man was
originally Puckman but not because
Pac-Man looks like a hockey puck...
SCOTT and paku-paku-paku means flapping
your mouth and they changed it...
SCOTT ...because if you scratch out the "P"
and turn it into an "F'? You know?
Like...
RAMONA
Yeah that's amazing.
SCOTT
Um...
SCOTT ...am I dreaming?
Ramona looks at Scott blankly. He slowly skulks away.
SCOTT (CONT'D)
I'll leave you alone forever now.
RAMONA Thanks... "THEN HE STALKED HER FOR THE REST OF THE PARTY..."
Series of quick shots as Scott follows Ramona.
He ducks
around corners, spies from behind a much bigger dude.
Ramona
leaves the party.
Scott grabs a startled Young Neil.
SCOTT
DUDE! YOUNG NEIL
WHA? SCOTT
SHE'S TOTALLY REAL! YOUNG NEIL
WHO!?
SCOTT RAMONA FLOWERS!
YOUNG NEIL
WHUH?
JUMP CUT. Scott RUNS towards Comeau.
SCOTT
DUDE.
COMEAU W'oh!
SCOTT What do you know about Ramona
Flowers?!
COMEAU
All I know is she's American.
SCOTT
(EXOTICALLY)
American...
COMEAU
But you should talk to...
COMEAU ...Sandra and
MONIQUE-
COMEAU They know a lot more than... "SANDRA AND MONIQUE, 24, TWO GIRLS COMEAU KNOWS"
SCOTT
LADYDUDES!
SCOTT What do you know about
Ramona Flowers?
MONIQUE
I think she has a boyfriend.
SANDRA
Some guy back in New York. MONIQUE
Doesn't she have the most
ridiculous name? SANDRA
I know. It's so 'Ramona Quimby,
Aged 8 and yet...Flowers.
The girls laugh. Scott does not.
SCOTT
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
SCOTT What else? JUMP CUT through a FLURRY OF FACES as Scott asks everyone
ABOUT RAMONA:
PARTYGOER #1
I heard she kicks all kind of ass.
PARTYGOER #2
She's on another level.
PARTYGOER #3
She's got men dying at her feet.
PARTYGOER #4
She's got some battle scars, dude. PARTYGOER #5
Not to be entered into lightly
We end on the surly JULIE (the rude clerk) who steps in front
of Scott, arms crossed. Stephen Stills is with her.
JULIE
What about Ramona Flowers?
SCOTT
You know her? Tell me. Now.
JULIE
She just moved here. Got a job with
Amazon. Comes into my work.
SCOTT
Does she really?
STEPHEN STILLS
Didn't you say she just broke up
with someone, Jools?
SCOTT
Did she reeally?
STEPHEN STILLS
That they had a huge fight or whatever?
SCOTT
Did they reeeally?
JULIE
...yes. But I didn't want Scott to
know that, Stephen. SCOTT
Yeah, I don't know...
SCOTT ...what it is about
that girl, she just-
JULIE
Scott, I forbid you from hitting on
Ramona.
JULIE Even if you haven't had a
real girlfriend in over a year-
STEPHEN STILLS
Hey whoa, whoa. Scott's mourning
period is officially over.
STEPHEN STILLS He's
totally dating a high schooler. JULIE
Dating...
JULIE ...a high schooler is the
mourning period.
STEPHEN STILLS
She's got a point. SCOTT
I thought...
SCOTT ...you guys broke up.
JULIE
I don't want...
JULIE ...you scaring off the
coolest girl at my party, Scott.
JULIE We
all know you're a total lady killer
wannabe jerky jerk.
SCOTT
That's garbage! Completely untrue. JULIE
That time...
JULIE ...with Lisa- SCOTT That was...
SCOTT ...a Misunderstanding. JULIE
That time...
JULIE ...with Hollie- SCOTT
Not...
SCOTT ...what it looked like! JULIE
That...
JULIE ...time you dumped Kim for- SCOTT Okay...
SCOTT ...me and Kim are all good now. Alright?
SCOTT looks to KIM. We hear the sound of arctic winds.
JULIE
Whatever, Ramona is out of your
league, let's leave it at that.
JULIE (CONT'D)
And anyway, I'm not even sure she
really did have a big breakup. She
keeps mentioning some guy named
Gideon.
SCOTT
(NOT LISTENING)
Yeah, I don't know what it is about
that girl,
No comments:
Post a Comment