Chapter 347: A Story About Pursuing the True Self
Chapter 347: A Story About Pursuing the True Self
“You know, Kate, my full name is Famke Beumer Janssen. Actually, my nickname is Fammie. My parents both call me that. But Eric keeps calling me Famke. A few days ago, I finally couldn’t help correcting him, and then he insisted he wasn’t wrong and even cited all sorts of arguments and references to justify himself. The way he looked was absolutely hilarious, hehe.”
Kathryn Bigelow glanced toward the two men before leaning closer to Famke Janssen and saying, “He’s still just a little guy who only recently turned twenty. It’s inevitable that he’d be a little headstrong.”
“Little bastard is more like it,” Famke Janssen said in the intimate tone unique to lovers.
Kathryn Bigelow lowered her voice as well. “Actually, Jim is the same way. The two of them are both obsessives.”
“Hey, Famke, both my ears have perfect hearing. Don’t think I can’t hear you,” Eric suddenly raised his head from his discussion about visual effects with Cameron and shot Famke Janssen a threatening look.
At the same time, Cameron also looked toward his wife with a mischievous grin.
Kathryn Bigelow glared right back at him unhappily. “Today was supposed to be about discussing Point Break. You two are the ones wasting my time. I haven’t complained at all, so what right do you have to be dissatisfied?”
Only then did Eric glance at his watch. It was already 10:15. Cameron and his wife had arrived at nine, meaning more than an hour had already passed.
Cameron also realized this and reluctantly said, “Eric, can you let me read those disaster movie scripts? Then you can go discuss the film matters with Kate.”
“Of course, no problem,” Eric said as he opened the safe and took out scripts for Twister and several other films, handing them to Cameron. “I don’t plan to direct all these movies myself. Take a look. If you’re interested, maybe you can choose one to direct personally.”
Cameron nodded noncommittally.
Although he found the concepts for several of the films very interesting, whether they would actually collaborate would still depend on the script quality and the conditions Eric offered.
Because of what had happened during Piranha II, Cameron deeply hated having others interfere with the films he directed. Eric was obviously someone with a very strong desire for control as well. If Eric did not give him sufficient authority, then even if Cameron was very interested, he would not take over the project.
After taking the scripts from Eric, Cameron impatiently opened the topmost one, Twister, and quickly immersed himself in the story.
Eric walked over to the sofa and sat beside Famke Janssen before saying to Kathryn Bigelow on the other side, “Ms. Bigelow, let me see the Point Break script.”
Kathryn Bigelow pulled the Point Break script from the shoulder bag she always carried with her and handed it over, along with a supplemental booklet of seven or eight pages.
“The one on top is the script. The one underneath is the budget Jim and I worked out over the past few days. About twenty million dollars.”
A twenty-million-dollar budget was already very conservative for this project, but Kathryn Bigelow’s tone still carried faint uncertainty. The films she had directed before had all been low-budget productions costing only two or three million dollars.
Eric set the budget sheet aside and directly opened the script.
The male protagonist was named Johnny Utah, originally a promising football player. Because of a knee injury, he was forced to give up that career. After graduating from the police academy, he became an FBI agent.
Eric found the setup very interesting.
Because the actor Kathryn Bigelow had in mind for the male lead was Keanu Reeves. In reality, Keanu Reeves had also originally been a promising hockey player who later switched to acting due to a knee injury.
A gang of crazed bank robbers appeared in Los Angeles. Wearing masks of former American presidents, they robbed more than twenty banks in succession.
However, because the group was very restrained and never touched the bank vaults, instead sweeping away only the cash from the teller counters within a brief ninety-second window before leaving hurriedly, their methods were clean and efficient, leaving behind very few traces. Thus, they repeatedly succeeded, leaving the FBI completely helpless.
Young, reckless, and passionate, Johnny Utah persuaded his superior Angelo Pappas — a frustrated veteran FBI agent forever immersed in memories of past glory — and together the two embarked on a mission to hunt down the gang of mad fugitives.
From the countless clues accumulated from more than twenty robberies, Angelo Pappas narrowed the robbers’ identities down to a group of surfers.
To approach the surfers at Los Angeles’ Radigo Beach, Johnny Utah began learning how to surf. He also fabricated a background story claiming both his parents were dead in order to get close to the beautiful surfing instructor Tyler Endicott.
As the two developed feelings for each other, Johnny met the wild surfing enthusiast Bodhi through Tyler. Johnny quickly discovered that Bodhi and his companions were very likely the bank robbers and ultimately confirmed it through tracking Bodhi’s movements.
However, during yet another bank robbery, Bodhi and his companions escaped from Johnny and Angelo’s grasp, and Johnny’s identity as an FBI agent was exposed as a result.
Because there was insufficient evidence, Johnny could not directly arrest Bodhi and the others. After discussing matters with his companions, Bodhi kidnapped Johnny’s girlfriend Tyler and used her to threaten Johnny into following his instructions.
Bodhi took Johnny along for one final bank robbery and one final skydive.
In the end, the reckless and desperate madness buried deep within Johnny’s heart was awakened, and he developed a sense of mutual understanding and admiration with Bodhi.
During the final capture attempt, Johnny unlocked the handcuffs on Bodhi’s wrists and allowed him to ride his surfboard into Australia’s once-in-fifty-years astronomical tide.
Johnny himself threw his FBI badge into the ocean as well.
Although many viewpoints in the script seemed somewhat forced, overall, it was a story about pursuing one’s true self.
Johnny Utah originally believed his goal was to become a top FBI agent. To achieve that, he was willing to use any means necessary, such as casually fabricating the lie that his parents were dead in order to approach Tyler.
But in the end, Johnny discovered that becoming an elite FBI agent was not what he truly wanted.
That path would only turn him into someone like his superior Angelo Pappas.
Angelo was an FBI elite. In order to investigate the purpose of a certain essential oil residue left on the robbers’ shoe soles, Angelo Pappas had studied hundreds of essential oils and had even become an expert in the field.
Yet he was still a frustrated man unable to rise through the ranks, while colleagues younger and more mediocre than him climbed over his head one after another.