Jacob Elordi – A Screenwriters Perspective: Current and Past Movies.

There are numerous issues with the new movie “The Dog Stars”, starting with how strange it is that a director with the clout of Ridley Scott would read this script and agree to make this film. The title of this film also makes little sense; yes, there is a dog, and at times they do look at the stars. This phrase refers to Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, which is commonly called the “Dog Star.” Despite all of this, this story is about a virus that almost wipes out the human population. The Dog Stars is not a good title for this movie.

One of the few good points is that this time around, the virus that almost wipes out the population of the world does not turn people into flesh-eating zombies, for a refreshing new idea about a virus. We have all seen enough zombie movies, both on television and in movie theaters. Enough already.

This story takes place in a bombed-out, disaster-stricken Denver, Colorado, in the year 2035, ten years after the Pandemic. The main character is Hig (Jacob Elordi), a pilot who lives with a friend and mentor, Bangley (Josh Brolin), in a broken-down house/garage, where Bangley is frequently sitting at the top of a tower, shooting anyone who comes close to their shelter with a high-powered rifle. Most impressive is the number of burned-out, broken cars and planes that are constantly littered throughout all the scenes, accounting for most of the production costs. The other remarkable thing about this movie is how thin the action is, with very little happening, making this movie somewhat like the television series Seinfeld (the show about nothing).

Due to restlessness, Hig flies his plane into a new area of Colorado, has major engine problems, is barely able to land the plane, and then runs into a father and daughter, Pops and Cima, who are trying to survive in the middle of nowhere. What follows is very little story and then another bout of restlessness where the three of them somehow are able to fix the plane (never explained), clear the land for a runway, and wind up at an airport where it seems that everybody is crazy. The head of this insane airport is Darline (Allison Janey) – another well-known actor who read the script and agreed to act in this movie, forcing all of us to wonder why.

The ending is very anticlimactic and boring, like too much of this story, with an abrupt ending that was a good thing, because the movie was finally over.

The Rotten Tomatoes rating for this mostly bad movie is a correct 40%, making this movie, considering all the well-known people involved, a big miss.

The book, “Wuthering Heights” , written by Emily Brontë, was published in December 1847 and is one of the most well-known books of its kind in history. Five movies have been produced from 1939 to 2011; with this new version, starring Margo Robbie and Jacob Elordi, the sixth. This new movie is only inspired by the original book and is not a faithful adaptation. For those thinking that this movie is a typical love story with a happy ending, you will be disappointed. The main message I received from this film is that love can bring out the best and the worst in people. Love can invoke extreme anger, jealousy, rejection, fear, ego, cruelty, depression, and revenge. Far too often, the joy that comes with love can be followed by an equal amount of unhappiness and anger.

This story starts with a poor family adopting a homeless boy, and over the years, the boy, Heathcliff, becomes more than brother and sister to his new sister, Cathy. Their father is a very unhappy, cruel man, played by Martin Clunes, who gambles away all their money. By a fluke of luck, Cathy is taken in by a wealthy family, which forever separates her from Heathcliff, providing the major conflict of love and loss for the remainder of this story. When Cathy and Heathcliff reunite after many years, their reunion creates a great deal of anger and revenge, not happiness. Within a few weeks, Heathcliff marries a young woman, Isabella, played by Alison Oliver, who is part of the wealthy family, even telling her that the only reason he is marrying her is to hurt Cathy. What follows are scenes of Heathcliff abusing Isabella, with one disgraceful and unnecessary scene where he has Isabella crawl around on the floor and bark like a dog. Why the hell have a scene like this in any movie like this one? We get it. Love can hurt. We know this, we also do not need to see someone being cruely treated and abused.

The ratings for this movie are correctly low with both IMDB and with the critics. If there was any chance for this film to receive high ratings, the abusive, cruel scenes, and the depressing, too-long story killed any chance of positive reviews. It is hard to understand why a movie like this was made, and why rising and famous actors like Margo Robbie and Jacob Elordi would read a screenplay like this and then agree to take the part.

The IMDB rating of 64% and the Rotten Tomatoes rating of 63% are correct, and I rate this movie 50% and advice to steer clear of this too-long, dark, depressing mess.