Tweet
Re: What are you reading?
Labor of Love
I just finished reading M. Night Shyamalan's unproduced screenplay, Labor of Love. This screenplay was Shyamalan's third, which was written before The Sixth Sense. The screenplay was sold to Fox for $750,000 but was taken away from him, which caused Shyamalan to move onto other projects. I had come across this script years ago and hadn't ever read it through.
Labor of Love is much different from Shyamalan's familiar work. Maurice and Ellen Parker have been married for over seventeen years. When Ellen Parker questions her husband's love, Maurice abrubtly states, "Would I walk across the United States for you? Yes." Usually, this line wouldn't mean anything in a conversation; however, this becomes the plot of our story.
Ellen Parker is in a fatal car accident in the opening on the script. We flashback two weeks earlier, and witness her death firsthand as Maurice finds out in his home. Feeling a sense of guilt, Maurice shuts the doors of his private business and heads on a three thousand mile walk from Philedelphia, Pennyslvania to Pacifica, California. The story is told through several effective flashbacks; we see Maurice and Ellen meeting each other, getting married, and even intimate moments in their home.
Maurice takes his journey seriously and desperately tries to make his away across the country. Surprisingly, Shyamalan keeps the pace of the story quite interesting and effectively tells a heartfelt story. The screenplay consists of moments of true sadness, which work effectively with its humor. In the final scenes, we're sitting at the edge of our seats, praying Maurice reaches his finish line. Labor of Love is a personal subject, one that I would have loved to see Shyamalan tackle despite its lacking subject matter.
Labor of Love
I just finished reading M. Night Shyamalan's unproduced screenplay, Labor of Love. This screenplay was Shyamalan's third, which was written before The Sixth Sense. The screenplay was sold to Fox for $750,000 but was taken away from him, which caused Shyamalan to move onto other projects. I had come across this script years ago and hadn't ever read it through.
Labor of Love is much different from Shyamalan's familiar work. Maurice and Ellen Parker have been married for over seventeen years. When Ellen Parker questions her husband's love, Maurice abrubtly states, "Would I walk across the United States for you? Yes." Usually, this line wouldn't mean anything in a conversation; however, this becomes the plot of our story.
Ellen Parker is in a fatal car accident in the opening on the script. We flashback two weeks earlier, and witness her death firsthand as Maurice finds out in his home. Feeling a sense of guilt, Maurice shuts the doors of his private business and heads on a three thousand mile walk from Philedelphia, Pennyslvania to Pacifica, California. The story is told through several effective flashbacks; we see Maurice and Ellen meeting each other, getting married, and even intimate moments in their home.
Maurice takes his journey seriously and desperately tries to make his away across the country. Surprisingly, Shyamalan keeps the pace of the story quite interesting and effectively tells a heartfelt story. The screenplay consists of moments of true sadness, which work effectively with its humor. In the final scenes, we're sitting at the edge of our seats, praying Maurice reaches his finish line. Labor of Love is a personal subject, one that I would have loved to see Shyamalan tackle despite its lacking subject matter.
Comment