John Katzenbach's "The Architect," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: The Architect by John Katzenbach.

The entry begins:

This is intriguing for me. I have had four of my novels filmed, so I’m well versed with the movie-making process, which frequently contains more twists, turns, ups, downs and off-the-wall moments/disasters than a Stephen King tome. There are many cooks – writers, producers, executives, directors, actors, designers, cameramen -- making the stew of a film, which, as any lonely author knows, is not necessarily a good recipe. Too many opinions often result in the folks making the film forgetting why they wanted to adapt the story in the first place.

But – all that acknowledged – let’s really indulge when it comes to The Architect.

The plot is this: A young woman graduating at the very top of her architecture school class at a moment of great personal turmoil (possibly suicidal and disappeared mother, stalking ex-boyfriend) is given a potentially life-altering job by a mysterious anonymous wealthy man, who wants her to design a memorial for six people he claims influenced him greatly. As my main character, Sloane Connolly investigates, she discovers that none of these six were admirable. Each represented some evil – whether it was betrayal or bullying and other misdeeds. As she travels into the discovery of who her benefactor is and who these people are – she is thrust into mysteries of her own past. The plot spans many years. The past influences the present.

Not the easiest adaptation.

The good: Plenty of action. Guns. Confrontations. Violence. And... Great locations. (Harvard Square. The 9/11 Museum in lower Manhattan. San Diego. Miami. Rural Maine. Isolated Martha’s Vineyard...)

The bad: The novel’s plot is often advanced by internal observation and interpretation – the hardest elements to capture in a film.

Who could write this screenplay?

I think we should resurrect two famous guys, both sadly gone now: William Goldman or Robert Towne. Both were incredibly skilled at evoking subtleties of personality in their scripts. Classics and classy. Dialogue that soars.

Let’s hire to direct...

The young James Cameron. When he made Aliens. Action and emotions in equal parts up on the screen. He knows how to make characters psychologically sophisticated and eminently memorable even while they are chambering a round in an automatic weapon.

And let’s give him a good cast...

Four main roles:

The lead – the young architect.

Easy...[read on]

Visit John Katzenbach's website.

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--Marshal Zeringue