Roundtable by B.K. Vaughan

[ShaneBlackFan]

After a hiatus of script reading (been busy rebuilding the bedroom) I plunged into Roundtable. I'm glad I waited to read it so I could sit on the other side of the hyperbole, up yonder.

I was genuinely surprised by the script. This a love letter to our favourite films from the 80s. It's smart and a fun ride. It had me chuckling throughout because the whole thing is absurd but brilliant at the same time. Sure, if you want to tear it apart... well there's an opportunity right here, but I think you'd miss the point of the script. It rides on the heels of Simon Pegg's and Edgar Wright's coattails -- but it's so well written that it'd stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our British twosome.

Michael Caine can't turn this down. I was astonished when I read the immotral name. For a minute I was suckered into believing that the saloon was real and the Daisy was a Knight! I love being suckered - uh.

I love the sardonic wit in the dialogue. It's some of the funniest I've read in a while - let's keep it in context here - the dialogue serves this script very well. The recurring Jaws IV joke was a nice touch.

Please get Martin Freeman, he's Simon Mintz! Ernie Hudson as Edmund?

As fun as it is, I think the characters disappearing for a few hours before facing the Doomsayer didn't quite work. The script lost its fizz -- Brian was giving us an "ah" moment. I didn't like it, thankfully the script thrusts forward after this "blip" with a fun Ghostbusters finale.

What did everyone else think?

[ShaneBlackFan]

Re: Roundtable by B.K. Vaughan

The first 30 pages is all set-up, and I think it needs to be reduced to about 20, because a lot of character is revealed too soon. I guess from that POV the arcs are fairly predictable.

[winter dreams]

Re: Roundtable by B.K. Vaughan

I also liked it overall. Lots of funny scenes and kept my interest until the end, which is rule #1. Also loved the Michael Caine touches (what if he refuses or can't do it? Would be a shame to lose all those jokes).

SPOILERS


The one relatively minor beef is that it seems to wrap up the big action scenes too quickly, and the good guys never seem to be in real danger. I guess the writer was going for a Ghostbusters/Men In Black feel, where the characters are in way over their heads and proceed ignorant of the real dangers facing them, but I'm not sure if that kind of approach will work with today's audiences, especially since Ghostbusters/MIB and their ilk have covered this ground. But since it is an absurd comedy I'm not sure how else he could have handled it. If you make the danger too real, then it's not so funny anymore.

I also thought it was way too predictable and convenient that the girlfriend/cop character was the one who could kill Morgana. Even within the distorted logic of this comedy, that seemed a stretch.

[ScriptShadow]

Re: Roundtable by B.K. Vaughan

I have a structure question about this script. Or more a character question. Merlin is so flippant about defeating Morgana. I don't know about you, but if I put a main character who was only mildly interested about defeating the main antagonist, I would get roasted in the coverage. Any ideas why this is considered okay here? The easy answer is, "In comedies, all bets are off as long as it's funny". But I still think I would get this note from any development exec.