OCD Films Part 2: Rain Man

Part 2 of our look at OCD characters in film will look at another academy award winning movie - Rain Man.

The Rain Man is question is autistic savant Raymond Babbitt played by Dustin Hoffman (won the Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role). Tom Cruise plays Charlie Babbitt who finds out he has a brother after his father dies. Charlie is down in his luck and looks to inherit 3 million dollars until he finds out it is going to do to the mental institution his estranged brother lives in.

Charlie takes Raymond on a cross country journey to get his attorney to settle out of court for half of the 3 million. Raymond has many little ticks like repeating the "Who's on first" sketch over and over. He also has a photographic memory and is a wizz at mathematics. Charlie tries to exploit this by taking Raymond to Las Vegas to win big. During the course of movie Charlie realises that Raymond is the protective figure from his childhood he had been calling Rain Man and when he eventually gets him to the court appointed psychiatrist he changes his mind as he has developed a bond and truley loves his brother.

The most effective movies portraying people with a disability or tick or disorder aren't heavy handed and show that ALL of the characters in the movie have their own faults and funny little ways of doing things and deep down we're all just trying to live our lives and get through each day as it arrives.

Wash Away the Rain!

OCD Films Part 1: As Good As It Gets

Soap is a short film about a man (Tony) who suffers from an Obsessive Compulsive need to wash his hands every hour on the hour.

When writing the script I conscious stayed away from movies with characters suffering from any kind of OCD. But now that the script is dusted and we are in pre-production I'm going to look at a series of well-know (some not so much) and well-liked (some not so much) movies and the characters in question. I'm going to start off with the obvious one: Academy Award winning "As good as it gets".

Jack Nicholson stars as Melvin Udall a misanthropic novelist who also suffers from OCD. His neighbours don't like him and he obviously doesn't like them but when a gay artist (Greg Kinnear) in the building is assaulted, Melvin is forced to take care of his dog. Melvin eventually develops a bond with the dog and can't cope when he has to return it. Melvin sits at the same restaurant for breakfast at the same table at the same time every day. Carol (Helen Hunt) is the only waitress that can put up with his often rude and weird behaviour and they strike up a friendship. Due to the distress of giving back the dog Melvin rushes to a psychiatrist but is throw out because he doesn't have an appointment. On his way out, Melvin turns to the other patients in the waiting room and says, "What if this is as good as it gets?"

Melvin's life is again thrown in turmoil when Carol decides to get a job closer to Brooklyn so she can spend more time with her acutely asthmatic son. Unable to adjust to another waitress, Melvin arranges to pay for her son's medical expenses. Carol thinks that Melvin will expect a little something something in return for the money and goes to his apartment in the middle of the night to tell him that she will not sleep with him.

The crux of this story is Melvin's afflictions and they they rule his life and relationships. Melvin eventually lets Carol know of his feelings toward her and she loves him for who he is. The film ends with Melvin and Carol taking a walk together to buy fresh rolls at the corner bakery.

All work and no soap makes Jack a dirty boy!

The Writers behind Soap - Short Film

Soap is a short film script we are hoping will become a short film. It was co-written by James Lindsay and Ryan Lindsay after Ryan had written a short story about a man afflicted with OCD who has to wash his hands every hour on the hour. It ended with the man standing in a queue at a bank and just before the hour is up the bank is held up.

Over beers, I (James) was intrigued by the story and thought it had good comedy and dramatic potential for a short script. I went home wrote a very quick 1st draft and quickly sent it on to Ryan for thoughts and ideas. I was originally going to write it alone but the quantity and quality of Ryan's notes made it evident that this was to become a joint venture. We back and forthed it for a few months and decided to send it out to producers.

I had previously been lucky enough to have a very talented Brisbane based production company, Lav Productions make one of my shorts. The Pessimist went on to screen at several national and international film festivals and even won 'Best Film' at the QNFA (Queensland New Filmmaker Awards) in 2009. Well I sent the script onto Lav and his team first but they had a fully booked slate and passed. I then sent it onto a couple of production companies around the country and again struck gold with a South Australian production company, Thunderstorm Productions headed by producer Matt Pearson. Soap even went as far as pre-production but fell through at the last minute and Soap was once again without a home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5NOT4Lj3Z8


Soap then sat on the shelves for a year while work, kids and other commitments took the forefront. Then one fateful day, or it might have been a night I was fiddling on Twitter and looking at different production companies and the logo for Madphat Productions caught my eye. I had a look at the website and was very impressed with the quality of work and took a chance and sent it through.

I'm a shocker when waiting for feedback so every hour spelled, Thanks but no thanks. Then about 3 days later Eddie replied with positive feedback and we eventually got the ball rolling to where we are now.

We are about to launch a fund raising effort on http://www.indiegogo.com/ so keep your eyes and ears to the grindstone!

See ya around!