The Writer's Life 1/4 - True Story

As I’ve written before, James Franco gets a lot of heat from the media. I don’t know why. Maybe he’s a jerk off-screen. One thing is certain, he never stops working. After being involved in 17 projects in 2015 and early 2016, he has 18 more in the works. On Saturday night I watched True Story (2015), courtesy of Netflix. It is based on the book by Mike Finkel, a journalist disgraced by fabrications in his articles, and fired. The story concerns the unthinkable, a heretofore lawful young man, played by JF, who kills his wife and three kids. No one has ever figured out why such a thing happens, although many have tried. The most uneducated person’s opinion on the matter is probably as valid as those with degrees from the most highly regarded institutions. The film does not try to solve that troubling aspect of humankind. It focuses on the cat and mouse game the accused plays with the writer, and it is often riveting in its quiet way. Jonah Hill plays the scribe. The performances of the actors is, appropriately, grounded, realistic. Not having read the book -- I don’t even recall having even heard of it or the film -- I was not sure where it was going, which is always good. Since it is not a thriller but a psychological study, any viewer expecting a Hollywood style twist will be disappointed. It runs only 99 minutes and is completely devoid of action. There is the hint of the violence that occurred and, given the victims, it is disturbing but in no way explicit. 27,000+ users at IMDb have rated True Story, forging to a consensus of 6.3 of ten, a little low in my estimation. It was director Rupert Goold’s first feature film after two stints at the helm of PBS productions of Shakespeare. He collaborated on the screenplay with Kaj Ganich, with whose previous two works I am unfamiliar. It’s always refreshing to see the efforts of serious men.

NFL: The playoffs are set and I won’t hazard a guess as to which teams will meet in the Super Bowl. I’ve under-rated the Panthers all season. I enjoyed the play of the Cardinals, who were completely dismantled at home yesterday by Seattle. Are the Seahawks again the team to beat? The Patriots blew the chance to claim home field advantage throughout the playoffs when they lost to the lowly Dolphins in Miami. They still have a bye. Will it allow them to heal sufficiently to make another run to glory? The Steelers have slipped the past two weeks, although they beat the Browns yesterday. Just a month ago they were on an awesome roll, especially offensively. The Broncos are good but not scary. No team is, which means it should be a fun, unpredictable post season -- except for Jets fans, who again had their hearts ripped out by their team. Blowhard Rex Ryan must still be gloating about beating his former charges. Today is Black Monday, dubbed so because it usually features the firing of coaches who haven‘t been winning. The Giants’ Tom Coughlin has resigned after 12 seasons and two championships. I'd bet he was asked to leave by management. He is a class act and deserves respect. The 49ers' Jim Tomsula and the Browns' Mike Pettine have been let go. The Eagles' Chip Kelly was axed a week ago. I will be surprised if the Rams' Jeff Fisher doesn't lose his job. I don't know how he's lasted this long. The team seems to have loads of talent except at QB. Yesterday it lost to the struggling 9ers in 'Frisco, and finished 7-9.

Maybe he is the smartest guy in the field, after all. Donald Trump has soared to the top of the GOP race without spending any money. His TV appearances and the coverage of his tweets, rallies and controversial statements provided loads of free publicity. He claims he “feels guilty” about it and will now start spending on ads.

It was the first day of true winter weather and it put the kibosh on the floating book shop. If the wind subsides, I will open up tomorrow at a sunny spot.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Website: http://vicfortezzaauthor.my-free.website/