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http://www.latinoreview.com/news.php?id=1546
Date: March 1, 2007
By: Ronnie Adams
Source: Latino Review
El Mayimbe is back with a look at a re-tooling of one of the original bad ass secret agent novels, Matt Helm.
The Matt Helm series and subsequent Dean Martin movie were a big inspiration for many of modern day Spy characters, from Austin Powers to Jack Bauer.
Click on the image below to check out El Mayimbe's look at Matt Helm.
RATING-B
Reviewed by: Ronnie Adams - 03.01.07
Oye!
EL MAYIMBE aqui...
I dont know about you, pero I am enjoying the hell out of this seasons 24 on FOX. They tried to kill The President for crying out loud! I missed the last 4 or 5 years of 24 and I know I've lots of catching up to do on DVD but I made it a point to watch it this season and so far, 11 episodes in, it's been a blast. Literally. Why do I bring up 24? To try and make a point that the spycraft genre is still alive and kicking. Another example, Casino Royale did massive drug dealer dollars at the box office around the world. In the video game arena, Splinter Cell is up to its 4th incarnation, not to mention that this year we'll see the release of the anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 video game and the recently announced movie based on the MGS series.
So what does this all have to do with MATT HELM?
Well before there was Jack Bauer, Sam Fisher,and Solid Snake, there was Matt Helm.
Some back story on Helm...
Matt Helm, a fictional character created by author Donald Hamilton, is a U.S. government counteragenta man whose primary job is to kill or nullify enemy agentsnot a spy or secret agent in the ordinary sense of the term as used in spy thrillers. The character appeared in 27 books over a 33-year period beginning in 1960 and established himself as one of the most tough-minded and competent of all fictional agents, whatever their roles. The series was noted for its between-books continuity, which was somewhat rare for the genre. In the latter books, however, Helm's origins as a man of action in World War II disappeared and he became an apparently ageless character, a common fate of long-running fictional heroes.
In the first book in the series, Death of a Citizen, which takes place in the summer of 1958, 13 years after the end of the war, Helm is frequently referred to by other characters as being of incipient middle age and apparently soft and out of shape, although no specific age for him is given. In the next story, which apparently takes place in the summer of 1959, a hostile agent from a rival American spy organization taunts Helm as being a shopworn 36 years old and clearly over the hill as a physical specimen. Later in the book, Helm himself says that he is 36 years old. A well-known critic wrote: "Donald Hamilton has brought to the spy novel the authentic hard realism of Dashiell Hammett; and his stories are as compelling, and probably as close to the sordid truth of espionage, as any now being told."
A movie series starring Dean Martin was made in the mid-to-late 1960s using the name Matt Helm, several book titles, and some very loose plot elements, but otherwise the series bore no resemblance at all to the character, atmosphere, or themes of the original books. One reason for this was the attitude among filmmakers that the only way to compete with the James Bond movie series was to parody them. Likewise, a 1970s TV series, which cast Helm as an ex-spy turned private detective, also departed from the books and was unsuccessful.
In 2002, it was reported that DreamWorks had optioned the entire Helm book series. On August 9, 2005 Variety reported that DreamWorks has signed Michael Brandt and Derek Haas to write a screenplay for a high-six-figure deal. According to the article, the film will be a contemporary adaptation of the character, but no casting or release information has yet been announced. It has yet to be seen how faithful the new film will be to the original novels.
Some Trivia...
The Dean Martin version of Matt Helm served as a significant inspiration for Mike Myers Austin Powers and many references can be seen. Most significantly, both characters are fashion photographers as their cover jobs.
I am personally not a fan of parodies or spoofs. So like Batman and The Casino Royale spoof, in the sixties, Matt Helm got corny.
It is safe to say that MATT HELM has been brought back to his hardcore roots.
Gone is the corniness that Dean Martin brought to the character.
In a nutshell, if youre a Jack Bauer fan, youre gonna love Matt Helm.
Matt Helm is one bad ass cold blooded mother****er.
MATT HELM, as written by Brandt and Haas is all business. As he says in the script, his game is always on. His is always 5 chess moves ahead.
As a matter of fact, Matt Helm disses Jack Bauer. In one funny scene, Matt Helm watches 24 and cant believe Jack makes it from LAX to Downtown in 10 minutes which in real life is downright impossible. In that same scene, another character makes quite an interesting point Jack Bauer doesnt take a single **** in 24 hours.
Funny but true! Think about it.
Anyway, I have always been a fan of Bandt and Haas. They are easy to read and have a super lean style that is easy on the eye not like the fluff that the highly overrated Zack Helm writes. I have always been a fan of MIAMILAND (maybe I will review one day for the site) and the spec script that put Brandt and Haas on the map, THE COURIER. Say what you will about them. Folks who got beef with Brandt and Haas are usually those snooty artsy fartsy types. These guys continue working for a reason they deliver. They are usually solid for laying the groundwork in the first couple of drafts. They lay foundation.
MATT HELM is a hard R and I hope DreamWorks has the balls to keep it that way. Hasnt been a hard R rated good assassin/spy movie for a minute.
I can see Matt Helm being turned into a series. Why else would DreamWorks option all the books?
So as it was said in Variety, the script is a contemporary take. None of this WWII stuff. Matt Helm is 36 years old also. That is pretty much all it has in common with the novel. That and the bad ass character of TINA.
So what is it about?
Matt Helm has been out of the game for 3 years. He is brought back into the fold to assassinate the makers of a spider bomb. As in most spy scripts, complications, double crosses and twists and turns ensue.
Lets take a stab at our Act 1 preview.
This is gonna be a quick one because like I said, Brandt and Hass give us little fluff and keep the story moving at a blazing speed. Just the basic setup and off we go.
We meet MATT HELLM and his sidekick TINA in an elevator. They engage in conversation about how Matt always needs 5 things to carry out a job. There are two dead bodies in the elevator as Helm blew them away. They exit the elevator and storm into the room of RAMSEY.
Helm interrogates Ramsey. Tina believes the guy they have isnt their man. Tina and Helm argue, she storms out and Helm kills this guy anyway. This setup doesnt pay off till later in act 3 in the big reveal.
We next meet Helms boss PROPES.
Propes reassigns helm to the suburbs, order him to chill, relax, and even buy a house.
Helm isnt to do anything until he is called.
THREE YEARS LATER.
A casual Matt enters a credit office and applies for a mortgage. He goes back and forth with the loan officer and threatens the loan officer into approving his loan.
Helm gets approved! Good scene showing us that Helm is a little off of his rocker but the banter between him and the loan officer is funny.
Next scene, Helm is outside his new two story colonial.
MOVERS unload boxes into Helms new house. When the movers ask Helm for more dough because the movers had to get an extra man, Helm decides to inspect the boxes containing the firearms. Helm checks out his gun in front of the movers. He pulls out an assault rifle and the movers wave the charges and get the hell out of there.
I like this guy. Wish I had Helm around when movers charged me an arm and a leg from their original estimate to move my stuff from the valley into Hollywood.
Next FERNANDO knocks on the door and tries to sell Helm a magazine subscription. As in most spy scripts, nothing is as ever as it seems. Even a guy trying to sell you a magazine subscription. Everyone is a suspect.
He has computer trouble, goes over to Best Buy and gets frustrated waiting in line for tech support.
Helm meets BARBARA one of the customers waiting in line with Helm. She is a soccer mom suburb type. They strike up a conversation. Helm gets a fantasy about strangling SHARLA, the Best Buy rep. A frustrated Helm leaves Best Buy and runs into Barbara in the parking lot who asks him out.
BLAM! Barbara gets whacked by one of the Best Buy guys named FRANK and he and Helm get into a brawl which spills into Starbucks.
Tina shows up and breaks up the fight. It has been 3 years since Matt and Tina saw each other.
Tina and Matt go back and find out that Barbara had a thigh holster holding a silver pistol. Barbara was gonna whack Helm.
Page 20 is our call to adventure and Tina tells Helm that Propes is calling Helm back into action and out of hibernation. 20 pages of bland suburbia hell is over for Helm or so it seems.
Tina is now a handler like Helm used to be and running the show.
So what is the job?
A quick strike operation where Helm is to help assassinate three scientists who invented a new type of bunker buster bomb called the spider bomb.
Everything within a 30 mile radius is obliterated.
He goes to a bakery where he meets the rest of the team and hooks up with his sidekick to be SETH COOPER the computer geek guy.
We get our back story flashback scene in this case the spider bomb and meet the first target ZIMMERMANN. Zimmermann works in a federal building 20 stories up and has a bodyguard with him at all times.
Helm picks Seth which will be his deputy/sidekick and we are off to the mission.
Doesnt sound like much, but trust me folks it is.
How Helm goes up about his business and the job is super cool. The 2nd and 3rd act is all action.
There is of course an obvious twist and a very good reason for Helm being MIA for 3 years. But I wont spoil that because then what is the fun of seeing the movie?
Would you go and see the sixth sense if you knew off the bat the kid sees dead people?
I will say that MATT HELM and the recent CASINO ROYALE have allot in common.
How so?
Youre gonna have to find out when DreamWorks releases MATT HELM in 2008.
Check back with us early next week because I may have a huge score for you guys in my next script review.
Here is a hint...
You guys have been busting my balls almost everyday for the past year to review the script for this sequel that comes out next year.
What is it?
HASTA EL PROXIMO CAPITULO...
...YO SOY EL MAYIMBE!
Date: March 1, 2007
By: Ronnie Adams
Source: Latino Review
El Mayimbe is back with a look at a re-tooling of one of the original bad ass secret agent novels, Matt Helm.
The Matt Helm series and subsequent Dean Martin movie were a big inspiration for many of modern day Spy characters, from Austin Powers to Jack Bauer.
Click on the image below to check out El Mayimbe's look at Matt Helm.
RATING-B
Reviewed by: Ronnie Adams - 03.01.07
MATT HELM
Written by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas
Based on: DEATH OF A CITIZEN by Donald Hamilton
10/07/06 draft, 108 pages
Written by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas
Based on: DEATH OF A CITIZEN by Donald Hamilton
10/07/06 draft, 108 pages
Oye!
EL MAYIMBE aqui...
I dont know about you, pero I am enjoying the hell out of this seasons 24 on FOX. They tried to kill The President for crying out loud! I missed the last 4 or 5 years of 24 and I know I've lots of catching up to do on DVD but I made it a point to watch it this season and so far, 11 episodes in, it's been a blast. Literally. Why do I bring up 24? To try and make a point that the spycraft genre is still alive and kicking. Another example, Casino Royale did massive drug dealer dollars at the box office around the world. In the video game arena, Splinter Cell is up to its 4th incarnation, not to mention that this year we'll see the release of the anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4 PS3 video game and the recently announced movie based on the MGS series.
So what does this all have to do with MATT HELM?
Well before there was Jack Bauer, Sam Fisher,and Solid Snake, there was Matt Helm.
Some back story on Helm...
Matt Helm, a fictional character created by author Donald Hamilton, is a U.S. government counteragenta man whose primary job is to kill or nullify enemy agentsnot a spy or secret agent in the ordinary sense of the term as used in spy thrillers. The character appeared in 27 books over a 33-year period beginning in 1960 and established himself as one of the most tough-minded and competent of all fictional agents, whatever their roles. The series was noted for its between-books continuity, which was somewhat rare for the genre. In the latter books, however, Helm's origins as a man of action in World War II disappeared and he became an apparently ageless character, a common fate of long-running fictional heroes.
In the first book in the series, Death of a Citizen, which takes place in the summer of 1958, 13 years after the end of the war, Helm is frequently referred to by other characters as being of incipient middle age and apparently soft and out of shape, although no specific age for him is given. In the next story, which apparently takes place in the summer of 1959, a hostile agent from a rival American spy organization taunts Helm as being a shopworn 36 years old and clearly over the hill as a physical specimen. Later in the book, Helm himself says that he is 36 years old. A well-known critic wrote: "Donald Hamilton has brought to the spy novel the authentic hard realism of Dashiell Hammett; and his stories are as compelling, and probably as close to the sordid truth of espionage, as any now being told."
A movie series starring Dean Martin was made in the mid-to-late 1960s using the name Matt Helm, several book titles, and some very loose plot elements, but otherwise the series bore no resemblance at all to the character, atmosphere, or themes of the original books. One reason for this was the attitude among filmmakers that the only way to compete with the James Bond movie series was to parody them. Likewise, a 1970s TV series, which cast Helm as an ex-spy turned private detective, also departed from the books and was unsuccessful.
In 2002, it was reported that DreamWorks had optioned the entire Helm book series. On August 9, 2005 Variety reported that DreamWorks has signed Michael Brandt and Derek Haas to write a screenplay for a high-six-figure deal. According to the article, the film will be a contemporary adaptation of the character, but no casting or release information has yet been announced. It has yet to be seen how faithful the new film will be to the original novels.
Some Trivia...
The Dean Martin version of Matt Helm served as a significant inspiration for Mike Myers Austin Powers and many references can be seen. Most significantly, both characters are fashion photographers as their cover jobs.
I am personally not a fan of parodies or spoofs. So like Batman and The Casino Royale spoof, in the sixties, Matt Helm got corny.
It is safe to say that MATT HELM has been brought back to his hardcore roots.
Gone is the corniness that Dean Martin brought to the character.
In a nutshell, if youre a Jack Bauer fan, youre gonna love Matt Helm.
Matt Helm is one bad ass cold blooded mother****er.
MATT HELM, as written by Brandt and Haas is all business. As he says in the script, his game is always on. His is always 5 chess moves ahead.
As a matter of fact, Matt Helm disses Jack Bauer. In one funny scene, Matt Helm watches 24 and cant believe Jack makes it from LAX to Downtown in 10 minutes which in real life is downright impossible. In that same scene, another character makes quite an interesting point Jack Bauer doesnt take a single **** in 24 hours.
Funny but true! Think about it.
Anyway, I have always been a fan of Bandt and Haas. They are easy to read and have a super lean style that is easy on the eye not like the fluff that the highly overrated Zack Helm writes. I have always been a fan of MIAMILAND (maybe I will review one day for the site) and the spec script that put Brandt and Haas on the map, THE COURIER. Say what you will about them. Folks who got beef with Brandt and Haas are usually those snooty artsy fartsy types. These guys continue working for a reason they deliver. They are usually solid for laying the groundwork in the first couple of drafts. They lay foundation.
MATT HELM is a hard R and I hope DreamWorks has the balls to keep it that way. Hasnt been a hard R rated good assassin/spy movie for a minute.
I can see Matt Helm being turned into a series. Why else would DreamWorks option all the books?
So as it was said in Variety, the script is a contemporary take. None of this WWII stuff. Matt Helm is 36 years old also. That is pretty much all it has in common with the novel. That and the bad ass character of TINA.
So what is it about?
Matt Helm has been out of the game for 3 years. He is brought back into the fold to assassinate the makers of a spider bomb. As in most spy scripts, complications, double crosses and twists and turns ensue.
Lets take a stab at our Act 1 preview.
This is gonna be a quick one because like I said, Brandt and Hass give us little fluff and keep the story moving at a blazing speed. Just the basic setup and off we go.
We meet MATT HELLM and his sidekick TINA in an elevator. They engage in conversation about how Matt always needs 5 things to carry out a job. There are two dead bodies in the elevator as Helm blew them away. They exit the elevator and storm into the room of RAMSEY.
Helm interrogates Ramsey. Tina believes the guy they have isnt their man. Tina and Helm argue, she storms out and Helm kills this guy anyway. This setup doesnt pay off till later in act 3 in the big reveal.
We next meet Helms boss PROPES.
Propes reassigns helm to the suburbs, order him to chill, relax, and even buy a house.
Helm isnt to do anything until he is called.
THREE YEARS LATER.
A casual Matt enters a credit office and applies for a mortgage. He goes back and forth with the loan officer and threatens the loan officer into approving his loan.
Helm gets approved! Good scene showing us that Helm is a little off of his rocker but the banter between him and the loan officer is funny.
Next scene, Helm is outside his new two story colonial.
MOVERS unload boxes into Helms new house. When the movers ask Helm for more dough because the movers had to get an extra man, Helm decides to inspect the boxes containing the firearms. Helm checks out his gun in front of the movers. He pulls out an assault rifle and the movers wave the charges and get the hell out of there.
I like this guy. Wish I had Helm around when movers charged me an arm and a leg from their original estimate to move my stuff from the valley into Hollywood.
Next FERNANDO knocks on the door and tries to sell Helm a magazine subscription. As in most spy scripts, nothing is as ever as it seems. Even a guy trying to sell you a magazine subscription. Everyone is a suspect.
He has computer trouble, goes over to Best Buy and gets frustrated waiting in line for tech support.
Helm meets BARBARA one of the customers waiting in line with Helm. She is a soccer mom suburb type. They strike up a conversation. Helm gets a fantasy about strangling SHARLA, the Best Buy rep. A frustrated Helm leaves Best Buy and runs into Barbara in the parking lot who asks him out.
BLAM! Barbara gets whacked by one of the Best Buy guys named FRANK and he and Helm get into a brawl which spills into Starbucks.
Tina shows up and breaks up the fight. It has been 3 years since Matt and Tina saw each other.
Tina and Matt go back and find out that Barbara had a thigh holster holding a silver pistol. Barbara was gonna whack Helm.
Page 20 is our call to adventure and Tina tells Helm that Propes is calling Helm back into action and out of hibernation. 20 pages of bland suburbia hell is over for Helm or so it seems.
Tina is now a handler like Helm used to be and running the show.
So what is the job?
A quick strike operation where Helm is to help assassinate three scientists who invented a new type of bunker buster bomb called the spider bomb.
Everything within a 30 mile radius is obliterated.
He goes to a bakery where he meets the rest of the team and hooks up with his sidekick to be SETH COOPER the computer geek guy.
We get our back story flashback scene in this case the spider bomb and meet the first target ZIMMERMANN. Zimmermann works in a federal building 20 stories up and has a bodyguard with him at all times.
Helm picks Seth which will be his deputy/sidekick and we are off to the mission.
Doesnt sound like much, but trust me folks it is.
How Helm goes up about his business and the job is super cool. The 2nd and 3rd act is all action.
There is of course an obvious twist and a very good reason for Helm being MIA for 3 years. But I wont spoil that because then what is the fun of seeing the movie?
Would you go and see the sixth sense if you knew off the bat the kid sees dead people?
I will say that MATT HELM and the recent CASINO ROYALE have allot in common.
How so?
Youre gonna have to find out when DreamWorks releases MATT HELM in 2008.
Check back with us early next week because I may have a huge score for you guys in my next script review.
Here is a hint...
You guys have been busting my balls almost everyday for the past year to review the script for this sequel that comes out next year.
What is it?
HASTA EL PROXIMO CAPITULO...
...YO SOY EL MAYIMBE!
