So to elaborate…..
The one that was unreleased:
Let The Game Begin is a story is about a man who realises that his wife only married him for money and is about to imminently receive divorce papers. He then meets a pick up artist who teaches him pick up artistry like it’s a biological fact. The film features a cameo appearance from Zan Perrion, which, surprisingly, appears to be completely unnecessary and totally out of keeping with the film. Perrion appears twice in total, on both occasions, looking like he just walked off the street and into the movie set, giving his usual advice and disappearing. The exploration of pick up artistry however, is actually done rather well in the film. Women are portrayed quite realistically and despite its obvious reliance on the Mystery Method, it does well not to portray women in a misogynistic light. If anything, it is overly harsh on the pick up industry. The rest of the story however appears to be a wrap-around for its male-female interaction set pieces and is poorly constructed. Due to its lack of coherence, star power and a strong suppressive desire from the community itself, the film never even made the DVD shelves.
The one that flew into the cinema and out again:
How to Stop Being a Loser is a British film starring Richard E. Grant about a boy who, in his endeavours with women trouble, ends up meeting a guy who teaches him how to court and seduce women. This film was so poorly received by audiences and critics, I didn’t even have a chance to consider watching it before it disappeared from where it came.
The one that was a critical and financial hit:
Crazy Stupid Love took a whopping $145m at the box office. The story is about Steve Carrell whose marriage is more or less over when he runs into Ryan Gosling at the local bar. Gosling, out of sympathy, teaches Carrell how to become a smooth talking ladies man. Carell gets laid by a young, sexy temptress, after which Carrell realises that what he actually wants is his 62 year old wife back in his life.
Yeah, sure.
Gosling’s advice is generally good, however there appear to be severe inconsistencies which make no sense at all. For example, Gosling appears to be hell bent on buying women drinks. Within two sentences, the next thing to come out of his mouth is ‘can I buy you a drink?’ At one point Carrell points out that Gosling always asks women if he can buy them a drink, but no explanation is given as to why. The film is also duplicitous with regard to its ideas on pick up artistry as it is portrayed as a superior practice in the first half of the film and portrayed as manipulative and empty in the second half of the film. It also contains a gut wrenching speech about how love conquers all.
PS Magnolia is an outstanding film. Unfortunately, it has nothing to do with the pick up industry. It is an ensemble cast which happens to feature the biggest movie star of all time. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards with Cruise nominated for Best Actor. Interestingly, his performance slightly mirrors events in his own personal life.
Anyway, I’ll give Roger Dodger a go….
…hang on a second…..
Written by Sujit R. Varma
That's the same guy who wrote Let The Game Begin...