The Shooting Script

by Laurence Klavan, Nick Sullivan (Reader)

Roy Milano, a self-described movie detective who is devoted to finding, hoarding, and reciting arcane information about films, once again stumbles into a murder case-this one centering on a copy of Jerry Lewis' infamous unfinished film, The Day the Clown Cried, shot in Sweden in 1972. Though rough cuts were apparently screened for the filmmaker's colleagues and Hollywood insiders, the movie was quickly suppressed and never exhibited to the general public or to any critic or film historian. And now certain cinema buffs are ready to kill to possess that elusive footage. It's up to Roy to save the day, and the film, before everything unravels.

Genres: Mystery

Audio CD

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Playwright, novelist, and librettist Laurence Klavan is the author of a number of plays, as well as of mystery novels centering around Hollywood.

Reviews

[Patty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Considering the subject matter, the sub-text and the whole theme of this book you would think I would have loved it. Roy is a "trivial man", he is an expert in movies especially old movies. Now I also love old movies so this sounded like just the book for me because it combined two of my loves; old movies and mysteries.

Roy is trying to find a movie that was partially completed then abandoned. No one has seen the footage except for the man who was the star, Jerry Lewis. Once Roy starts on his quest for the tape he starts having problems. He is followed, attacked (several times), robbed and almost killed. There are some very weird people involved in this shadowy world of abandoned movies and all of them are against every other person on the same quest. One man is totally ruthless and will kill to get the film.

Now, why didn't I like this book? Well, Roy is a nice enough guy but has no sense of self preservation. After the first attempt to kill him he just keeps on going and looking for the film. It seems like most of the time when I encounter a TSTL (to stupid to live) character it is a female. I might have encounter a male or two before but none that reach the levels of this one. Mugged, robbed, beaten up, having knives and guns pointed at him and he still isn't smart enough to say "enough is enough" and let it go. Obsessed people can be pretty persistent but threat of death normally makes them at least be more cautious. Roy is also terrible at picking his friends and confidants in this one. All in all it just left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Why did I finish the book? Because there was enough movie trivia and interesting tidbits to keep me reading. However it became almost like watching a train wreck. If you can overcome this TSTL behavior it might be a good book. I couldn't.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Shooting Script is a light, quirky mystery about a film trivia expert, Roy Milano, who's hot on the trial of the unreleased Jerry Lewis film, The Day the Clown Died. Unfortunately for Roy, he's not the only one searching, and when the elderly man who owns the only known copy dies, the race is on. And a deadly race it is, but not so deadly that Roy can't make time for a variety of trysts with more than one comely woman, each of whom has ulterior motives. More of a romp than a serious mystery, filled with snippets of movie trivia, it's probably best not to take the book too seriously and just enjoy the wild ride from Philadelphia to Hollywood to Europe and back.

[Raghav Khanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

30 pages in, I had the strong urge to fling this sorry excuse for a book out of the window. How it reached NY times top bookshelf is beyond me. Klaven needs to find a substitute for "said". Jesus Christ. Story was painful to get through. But the protagonist was an interesting character, I'll give him that. Character collected lost/ incomplete films to share with fellow film buffs. He recounted actors who were replaced in famous films as a coping mechanism when stressful situations. A memorable character. Book was a simple easy read, mainly because Klaven has a very limited vocabulary palette. Thank Allah it's over. Nothing worse than leaving a book partially read.

[Jeanne Lawrence]

Funy, enjoyable read

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you haven't read it yet, tackle The Cutting Room: A Novel of Suspense first, as characters and events from that one play a part here. Honestly, this sequel was a bit weaker for me as the plot went all over the place, and certain events required suspension of disbelief - for example, Roy gets himself into a multi-car accident driving without a license, yet is able to walk away without any charges filed, nor lengthy paperwork (statements) involved. Another reviewer has described him as "Too Stupid to Live", well ... let's just say that there's very little common sense exhibited by anyone in the book (with a single, notable exception).

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good. Looking for lost rare movies.

[Gloria Plourde · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read better. Disappointed!!