Drama - Everywhere You Look

I’ve noticed an interesting trend among movie reviews. Not unlike the trend in the Oscars. Dramas get all the glory. It is damn hard for a genre pic to get glowing reviews. Could it be that reviewers are worried they’ll be labeled movie dilettantes?

Romantic comedies, action, thrillers, and horror. While they may be considered box office gold in the biz, they’re definitely sneered at by reviewers. Not all reviewers, certainly. But I would argue most. And why? Are reviewers embarrassed by the very industry they’re in? Are these films considered the (gasp) common person’s entertainment?

So I would like to propose an idea. When readers review a script – we all know that a script report is really a very long movie review – they base their comments on whether or not the script delivers for the genre. Why not do the same in reviews?

When I wrote reports and was faced with a horror script (admittedly, not my favorite), I always based the report on whether the script delivered for horror fans. Why would we evaluate a horror film with the criteria for a drama? Or a comedy?

Each film is meant to thrill its dedicated audience. The folks who love and understand the genre. And if the flick is smart and flirts with the rules? Bonus points!

Nobody is more disappointed than the true movie fan when a film does not deliver. When we read a review, we want to know the person who wrote it understands what we expect from that genre. After all, if a review isn’t for the audience…who is it for?