Last Dance At The Mineshaft by - Anonymous - Short, RomCom - CAL, a respectable young executive in a Manhattan bank, turns down the chance of attending a Valentine's Day office party. Accused of being a virgin, Cal has a secret life, which he visits during that evening. Accused of being boring, his life is anything but. - pdf format

Writer interested in feedback on this work

I'm of two minds on this one. Mind 1 is that this is competently written by a regular. It has all the makings of a good story, set-up, reversal, all that textbook stuff. Mind 2 says whomever wrote this was pressed for time, because you've shown you have a good vocabulary, but you also made some basic and grammatical and spelling errors. There was certainly more good than bad here and I also believe it to be written by someone older (the double spacing after each sentence).

P.S. I think I know who wrote this one.

Looks op... up

a towel around his wait.... waist

betwen them... between

Well it's certainly a different take on the romantic theme.. Pretty good as far as the story goes although I got a little confused with the last slug. I thought it was valentine's day the night before.

Anyways overall a good read

Good job on entering

Hey writer,

So, when I was thinking romcom I wasn’t expecting to see the term “anally manipulated”, let alone the visualisation of a load of men having a knocking one off session. Still, different strokes, different folks...

What you’ve got going for you. There’s two star crossed lovers here, a split and a reunion. The comedy, well I was more shocked than amused if I’m honest. It’s out there and might have shocked me into smiling, but wasn’t that funny.

I guess it’s a romcom of sorts, just a very unusual one.

Cam

Hi Writer,

Quoted Text Much bigger. Multiple slings hang from the ceiling and naked MEN sprawl in them, being anally manipulated by real life Tom of Finland Adonises wearing nothing but jack straps.

I have no idea what I'm meant to be seeing, and to tell you the truth I don't want to know. This feels like its just turned into porn.

And I'm out, something I almost never do.

No comedy anywhere to be seen, and up until page 6 or 7 no romance either. There is not one thing I like about this script.

I know we aren't meant to be scoring on here but I can safely say this will be getting the lowest possible score from me.

All the best.

Maybe I'm finally getting old enough that I'm unable to appreciate the next generation's take on the world... but, to me this script went: orgy, orgy, orgy, romance.

The turn just didn't work for me, it was way too sudden... and, even when it was supposed to be romantic, we were still in the middle of an orgy.

Not for me, sorry. Too over the top. (Insert your own joke here.)

Also, very sloppy writing, especially early. I realize these things are written at a high speed, but, a little care (and a quick spellcheck) goes along way.

Good luck and keep on writing!

Definitely needs an R-rating, or is that X?
More explicit than any Queer As Folk, or Banana or Cucumber episodes.

A case of more is less imh.
It hummed along, writing wise, despite the typos.

I just wasn't expecting pornographic in place of RomCom.
Steve also gives in too fast when previously he doesn't appear to want a relationship.

I think it's good for what it is. There's no big idea behind the story but it doesn't have to be.
A neat little story about love. Not funny, but I don't think every rom-com has a need to be funny.
Overall, I followed his story, I was interested in his life and what he wants and if he gets who he wants. You could probably inject their conversations with some memorable lines or something to make characters stand out - do that in the rewrite.

P.S. I read the comments above and surprised that people are disturbed with pornographic visuals. I think these are very relevant to this story - so that aspect of it good by me. Just proves our perception of things vastly differ.

My fifth script and the second one with a character named Calvin! Not weird in itself, but it's my Grandson's name, so it sticks out to me.  

Perhaps finding a more interesting way of describing Cal that reflects his personality more than looks?

A lot of unnecessary descriptions just for his shower. IMHO, those two paragraphs could've been taken up just half the space.

1977. Was there video yet? I don't remember, but it seems that came a few years later. I think they were still doing real film in -77, but what do I know.

Ok. Finished. Didn't quite go where I thought it would...

There were flowers. There was chocolates and some red balloons too. My issue here I think is that I didn't feel a rom-com. Sure, Cal tries to convince Steve to go home with him, but it comes very late in the story and wasn't particularly funny, in my book at least. Not very romantic either, but that might have just been the setting, lol.

With the explicit descriptions you have, I would say this is porn'ish. Not exactly romantic territory.

Although, not bad, it probably wasn't for me either.

Very long descriptions at times that could be easily cut down without losing anything visually.  

Quoted Text CAL, twenty eight, boyish, preppy neat and clean. Light blue shirt, contrasting tie. Looks op from his office computer.

up - not op

The spacing if off in the dialogue blocks.

Michelle is way, way over the top - it ruins her credibility - makes her cartoonish.

So, this was about sex rather than romance.

I like the premise - but it didn't need to be on steroids for it to work.

A bit too explicit for my tastes, but this is the pre-AIDS gay scene in NYC (I'm hetero myself), so I understand.

I note two musical anachronisms. This story takes place in 1977 (Valentine's Day, a few weeks after Jimmy Carter was inaugurated), but Donna Summer's "Hot Stuff" was a hit in the summer of 1979 and "Last Dance" in 1978. Sorry, but I'm a stickler about these things.

Hello Writer

After jumping in, first thing that hits me is this seems a little overwritten.

I'm getting confused with the conversation with the taxi driver.

Didn't think I would have read the words "anally manipulated" in this challenge.... but I did.

Now a golden shower lol WTF?

Not a fan of this - hardly romantic lol

A lot of you writers must have been horny as hell when writing these entries, so much sex lol

Matt

Way overwritten.

Passages over 4 lines don't read well.

No ROMCOM here whatsoever.

I stopped at the point I realized this was some gay porn script and after reading others' feedback, I'm sure glad I did stop.  Sick shit here on display, and definitely not for me.

*

Quoted from Matthew Taylor A lot of you writers must have been horny as hell when writing these entries, so much sex lol Matt

I agree, what the hell is going on?

First, I agree this is extremely overwritten. Here is an example:

Quoted Text EXT. FLOWER SHOP - NIGHT Inside the store Cal is observed, buying a small bouquet of flowers. He hands his credit card to the ASSISTANT, then reaches for a heart shaped box of chocolates, beautifully trimmed with lace and ribbons. The assistant smiles as she runs his card. Some girl is going to get lucky tonight.

All that was needed here was: "Cal buys a heart-shaped box of chocolates and a small bouquet of flowers."

The rest is either over describing (he hands his credit card to the assistant -- we don't need that, it's implied from saying he's buying something), or unfilmable (some girl is going to get lucky tonight).  You could easily lose a couple of pages by cutting out this extra verbiage.

You could also lose the whole conversation between the cab driver and Cal.  It doesn't add anything to the story.  You should put a SUPER at the very beginning of the script that says: "NEW YORK CITY - VALENTINE'S DAY - 1977".

As to the story, it was just too over the top sexually -- there's nothing wrong with a gay love story -- you can show the gay scene without being hard core about it.  I think the golden shower was just the popped cherry on top.  I think you tried on the romance angle, and I would have been much more interested in a straight gay love story. It would be much more compelling, especially in the age of hypersexuality.

The humor was just flat to me, but you did use the chocolates and flowers appropriately.  Overall, work on making your writing more concise and it will be much better.

Best of luck,
Gary

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

I am perfectly fine with a same sex romcom, however, this one doesn't even begin to approach the genre.

While there are infinite interpretations of the genre, a romcom still has a strict format.
A couple meet cute, fall for each other, experience a hardship and/or breakup, then reconcile.
And let's not forget - COMEDY.

That's a lot of ground to cover in ten pages.  We don't see Cal and Steve on screen together until after page five.  That is too much time wasted and not enough time to give us a satisfying story.  And much of the first five pages is intended to shock rather than amuse.

You were able to check the other boxes.  I just wish you had given us something to laugh about.

Quoted from DaveTroop While there are infinite interpretations of the genre, a romcom still has a strict format. A couple meet cute, fall for each other, experience a hardship and/or breakup, then reconcile. And let's not forget - COMEDY.

dtroop....

Ditto.  You hit the nail on its head.  That's what so many of these scripts suffer from.  A lot of them somehow went off the rails, tacking on other genres.  Intentionally or not.  3 at least that I would classify as a rom-com horror story.  Another, a rom-com stoner comedy...

Writer, there's a lot to like here.

1) Your character descriptions.  Loved them.  It's similar to my approach.  I could immediately visualize them, and so would the actors.

2) Very clean, easy, and fast read.

3) I liked the general idea of the story.

Unfortunately, I can't say the parameters may have hurt you, but methinks you're robbing yourself of a lot of conflict.  I think more screen time between Cal and Steve is needed.  

For example;  say if this were a seven week challenge in which you had to write a rom-com (feature).   Cal, or Steve, either or, is struggling with his sexuality? Does someone find out before he gets a chance to tell his friends?  or family? Does he try to deny it and go back in the closet?

I can imagine some funny scenes of them trying to be together after one has come out.  Two people seemingly meant for each other, and it not working.  The relationship blowing apart, or better yet, they are kept apart by some other complicating circumstance... e.g., class differences, a previous girlfriend until, surmounting all obstacles, they are finally reunited.  A fairy-tale-style happy ending, which is typical in most romantic comedies.

Not that you would ever go this route, but maybe someone else might want to take the ball and run with it.  

Sadly, here's the thing.  You don't have seven weeks to write a feature.  You only got ten pages to tell your story.   The chocolates, I got a few laughs, you could have rachet up the romance.  But I think you checked all the boxes, barely.

I can't believe I'm saying this, I actually liked it.  This is normally not my cup of tea.  It's late, forgive my errors.

Okay, this is my last ride of the day.

Kudos for finishing...

Writer,

Well, nothing spells romance more for me than our protagonist, his true love on his arm, walking out of the Mineshaft covered in piss! Not funny, not romantic, but... You've got a pretty decent story here. You write well, too. This story isn't for this challenge, but if you'd have posted it on the boards I would have thought it was really good. Your descriptions ramble a little. I'd tone them down. For the challenge, you miss the mark - by a long shot. But overall, well done.


Steve

Hi Writer,

I'd suggest to trim some of the descriptions.

Storywise... it's not bad and it's mostly well written, but definitively not for me.

Too explicit and R-rated. I didn't feel a rom-com.

All the best.

Cal didn't do much in the opening to reveal his character for us.
Michelle gave up on him too easily made the conflict in the opening weak.

why did you add "Is observed?"

Later, he's shaving -- "Later" should be in its own line.

I loved the rules. COCKS ONLY. That's where the story started to get interesting to me.

Using Tom of Finland was a bad move. I didn't get the reference. Other may not get it too.

OVERALL:
The concept is not new but this is not my problem with it. I think a chance for a better execution was missed here. For instance, most of the pages were wasted on describing the place that Cal was visiting in his secret life. It almost felt like the writer was more interested in showing us that underground world than telling us an entertaining story.

Also, the conflict was resolved way too easily for Cal. It only took one man to piss on Shaun to change his mind. And he found no resistance after that.

The lack of strong conflict and higher stakes killed this one for me.

I can see, from Cal's point of view, how this may be romantic and humorous. But for the majority of viewers, this movie would be more educational than entertaining.

For those who think the "activity" in this script could never make it to a mainstream movie, it's already been done. William Friedkin's 1980 "Cruising" had a scene similar to the club scene in this script. The movie is about a gay serial killer and stars Al Pacino as an undercover cop. The gay community apparently didn't like it.

At least no one dies in this script.

romcom's don't normally contain dialogue like 'scared of being raped', neither does real life.

And unfortunately the script continues with a similar tone.

Didn;t get the rom or the com in this one.