‘Holdovers' Plagiarism Claims Are Bogus?

Yesterday’s Variety report claiming “The Holdovers” screenwriters David Hemingson and Alexander Payne plagiarized Simon Stephenson’s Blacklist script, “Frisco,” scene-for-scene, “line-by-line,” certainly surprised many.

I’ve read multiple interpretations about whether this constituted plagiarism, or not. These are two screenplays with the same basic setup. I’ll let you judge for yourself via the Variety report’s 33-page “Introductory Document” titled “FRISCO and THE HOLDOVERS.”

However, if you actually start reading the doc they put together and adhere to the "line by line" accusations, the whole thing falls apart. These two scripts are not similar, they are nowhere near each other. The argument is flimsy, and Stephenson should be ashamed of even alleging that Payne ripped him off.

“The Holdovers” already used an immensely familiar story arc in its screenplay. It’s the kind of tale that’s been done to death in Hollywood — curmudgeon adult bonding with troubled teen, and they eventually learn to like each other. Hell, Payne even stole ‘70s film grain to make his film even more familiar and on-the-nose about its inspirations. If anyone should sue Payne, it’s the late Hal Ashby.

What surprises me most is Variety’s willingness to actually publish such a flimsy case on the part of Stephenson. I do get it, part of Variety’s decision to submit for publishing was for clicks, and also the fact that the WGA really mishandled this case, ignored Stephenson’s requests, and should have just settled it with an arbiter.

Hollywood Elsewhere’s Jeffrey Wells actually decided to read the “Frisco” screenplay, in its entirety, this morning, and he sent me his thoughts. He’s in agreement with me; the claims of plagiarism against Payne are incredibly far-fetched. The examples given are a real stretch, etc.

I read FRISCO this morning. It’s AUNTIE MAME (“Live a little!”) except this time Rosalind Russell is portrayed by a 15 year old girl suffering from terminal brain cancer.  But the mission is basically the same.  Just as Mame eventually saves Patrick Dennis (Roger Smith) from a life of conservative suffocation, Amy the teenaged terminal brain cancer victim saves morose and timid pediatrician Jeff Willis from a life of terminal resignation and boredom.

The difference between FRISCO and THE HOLDOVERS is that the latter is soothingly wise and well written and recognizably human in dozens of different ways while FRISCO is plodding and awkwardly written and often speechy in a way that makes you groan.

I’ve read hundreds of interesting but not-quite there scripts in my times, and FRISCO is definitely one of them.  It’s not awful but it needs a major rewrite. And it’s REALLY WHORISH to use a terminally ill teenager as the driving spiritual engine of the piece.  And to throw in the lore of beat generation mythology (City Lights, Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Howl”) as icing on the spiritual cake.

FRISCO delivers with series of awkward, on-the-nose scenes…essentially a trove of cliched material about a midlife crisis of the spirit (including an impending divorce) and how a 50ish guy is gradually rescued.