Method

Authors: Marcus Dennis
Location: Ohio

"Method”

Directed by Mike Leigh
Written by Mike Leigh
Score by Thomas Newman

Principal Cast:

Nicolas Cage-John Dough. Jr
Paul Giamatti-Frank Hamming
Sharon Stone-Sherell Prince
Shawnee Smith-Lonna
Queen Latifah-Lanette
Brian Cox-John Dough
Ben Foster-Young John Dough
Jasmine Richards-Young Lanette

Tagline: "You couldn't be him if you tried"

Synopsis: Mike Leigh¢s latest film ¡Method¢ is about a method actor whose profession causes him to go a little too deep into character until he literally becomes that character.

John Dough was born to a famous theatre and screen actor (Brian Cox) who were his main influence in acting. When John was in high school, he was cast as the lead in Romeo & Juliet. While having problems with the love-stricken character, he went to his father for help. He told him that the key to acting was becoming the character. With this advice, John went around high school searching for the perfect girl. Her name was Lanette and she hated him. She thought he was weird and smelled funny. This rejection was exactly what he needed to become. The play was a success and John received rave reviews. After that, his entire acting career has been driven by becoming the character. John continued to be a brilliant stage actor until he hit his thirties. One of his plays was attended by notorious agent, Frank Hamming (Paul Giamatti). Hamming was known to be obnoxious and greedy. He saw John's brilliant performance and signed him on the dot.

His first film was a comedy about a naive, obsessive-compulsive man who must raise an orphaned baby. John studied some serious cases of peopel with OCD. His studying eventually led to him actually becoming obsessive-compulsive. He refused to come in contact with anybody without wearing rubber gloves and having the person wash their hands before-hand. Even with this, John received rave reviews and won a Golden Globe for his performance.

During filming, John met a woman named Sherell Prince (Sharon Stone). John immediately fell in love with her, ignoring her gold-digging, alcoholism, and frequent outbursts.

For his next role as an arrogant drug-dealer, John interviewed several drug-dealers and eventually began selling drugs. His performance was well-receipted. With the transformation from an obsessive-compulsive nerd to an arrogant drug-dealer, John realized who Sherell really was and let her go. While selling drugs and living the good-life, John met Lonna (Shawnee Smith), a happy-go-lucky heroin addict. She loved John's commanding presence and would do anything she wanted to. One day, he caught her stealing drugs from him. John proceeded to beat her senseless. Despite this, she stays with him.

In an ironic turn, John's next role was as a drug addict running from the police, lead by his father, played by his real father. John breaks up with Lonna, saying that "two crackheads don't go together". To prepare for this role, John attends several NA meetings and begins doing drugs. He loses a drastic 80 pounds for the role. While on the set, both John's father and Frank notice his addicty behavior.

John's performance is raved and he wins an oscar for the performance. When Frank questions him about his behavior. John lashes out and fires him. Frank's reputation is torched because of this and he loses many of his most famous clients. John's next role is as an extravagant 70's pimp. He interviews pimps and eventually becomes an actual pimp. His pimping leads him back to his high-school love Lanette who is working as a prostitute to try to support her newborn child. John tries to smooth-talk her, but Lanette's icy temperament shuts him down quickly. John is upset by this and decides to take his most challenging role yet.

He plans to play the most notorious dictator who ever lives: Adolf Hitler. When Frank finds about it, he meets John's father and they are determined to stop John before he recreated the world's greatest slaughter.

What the press would say:

I've been waiting for the one film, that would make me say 'Wow' afterwards. I've just seen it. It's called Method. It's about a method actor, John Dough, who gets a little too deep into character. This could've easily been a comedy but Mike Leigh keeps it dramatic with his subtle direction. Mike Leigh's script is brilliant, creating one of the most memorable characters ever. Thomas Newman's score goes right with the situation in each scene. Nicolas Cage gives arguably the greatest performance of the 21st century. We've all seen how he can jump from character to character in movies, but the way he does it in one film is astonishing! He becomes 4 or 5 different people in one movie. The supporting cast is amazing as well. Paul Giamatti gives one of his best performances displaying an arrogance viewers love to hate. Brian Cox is great as Nic's father, the first to recognize John's problem. Sharon Stone is back in Casino-mode, pissed-off and angry at the world, and she's fantastic in that part. Amanda Peet gives her best performance as a sadist-type drug addict to Nic Cage's aggressive dealer. Queen Latifah surpsies with her cold depiction of a desperate prostitute who refuses to help someone who always loved her. Kudos to Mike Leigh's script for her character as realistic as possible. Ben Foster steals the first half-hour of the film as a young John struggling to become Romeo. The entire cast shines in this articulate piece of cinema. This is one of the films that will be remembered for years to come. Definitely the best film of the year and the Oscar frontrunner.

Best Picture
Best Director: Mike Leigh
Best Original Screenplay: Mike Leigh
Best Actor: Nicolas Cage
Best Supp. Actor: Brian Cox
Best Supp. Actor: Paul Giamatti
Best Supp. Actress: Queen Latifah
Best Supp. Actress: Amanda Peet
Best Supp. Actress: Sharon Stone
Best Score: Thomas Newman