An excerpt from my script review for Crater (2023) which will be available 05/15/23:
2.) Plot Stability
For the most part, this script plays out like a generic “coming of age” group of friends movie.
It wasn’t The Goonies by any means, but it did have its moments.
One of the things that really got me was the ending.
*SPOILERS*
Not knowing if his friends were saved or not, Caleb wakes in orbit of Omega, and it’s here that the writer employed a clever trick.
“One year” letters.
See, by going to Omega, Caleb was in cryo sleep for 75 years, meaning all of his friends back on the moon will be dead or close to it.
His best friend, Dylan, promises to write a letter each year and send it via the transport to Omega.
It’s here we’ve given clever snapshots, compared to the lame flashbacks we’ve experienced earlier in the script, of Dylan, Addison, Marcus and Borney living their lives.
For me it was a kind of simplistic beauty, yet sad because all of this happened while Caleb was asleep.
Although happening a galaxy and lifetime away from each other, Caleb became who Dylan knew he would be, and Dylan became someone he didn’t think was possible with Addison.
And most of it happened before Caleb opened his eyes.
Not going to lie, it brought a tear to my eye.
*END SPOILERS*
But was there enough to get us to that point if it wasn’t our “job” to read until Fade Out?
I’m not sure.
Although decently written, nothing struck me as overwhelming, and it’s why I feel some of these list “winners” are still more of a “who you rep knows” game than what they’re presenting.
It wasn’t a horrible story, but at the same time I can see why Disney picked it up for their streaming service and not the box office.
There were things in there that kids will identify with.
Evil corporation vs. the working class.
Space.
Fun and games…in space.
Consequences…but with easy/convenient solutions.
Listen, it was a fun read and I’ll watch it with our youngest, but only when we’ve got time for that sort of thing.
(One final question I had here, reviewing my notes, was if working on the moon was so miserable, why didn’t everyone take the “benefit” way out?)
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