September 29, 2005

IF YOU INTRODUCE A GUN IN THE FIRST ACT, IT HAS TO BE FIRED BY THE END OF THE PLAY:

Coming Soon: The Ronnie Earle Movie (Byron York, 9/29/05, National Review)

For the last two years, as he pursued the investigation that led to Wednesday's indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Travis County, Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle has given a film crew "extraordinary access" to make a motion picture about his work on the case.

The resulting film is called The Big Buy, made by Texas filmmakers Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck. "Raymond Chandler meets Willie Nelson on the corner of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in The Big Buy, a Texas noir political detective story that chronicles what some are calling a 'bloodless coup with corporate cash,'" reads a description of the picture on Birnbaum's website, markbirnbaum.com. The film, according to the description, "follows maverick Austin DA Ronnie Earle's investigation into what really happened when corporate money joined forces with relentless political ambitions to help swing the pivotal 2002 Texas elections, cementing Republican control from Austin to Washington DC."

"We approached him [Earle], and he offered us extraordinary access to him and, to an extent, to his staff," Birnbaum told National Review Online Thursday. "We've been shooting for about two years."


One hates to be too cynical, but it's pretty basic: no indictment, no movie.

Posted by Orrin Judd at September 29, 2005 11:45 PM
Comments

The Anton Chekhov rule, recently popularized by J. Michael Straczynski of Babylon 5 fame.

Posted by: Glaivester at September 30, 2005 3:09 AM

Apparently there were some indictments earlier, and the film had an ending, which they're altering for this new indictment. I understand what you're saying though.

Posted by: RC at September 30, 2005 5:33 AM

No convictions, no audience?

Posted by: erp at September 30, 2005 7:51 AM

Apparently, the early attempts to find a distributor for the film did not have people banging down the doors, while the indictment does give it something of a "final chapter". You'll probably see it in a year or so on the Sundance Film Channel, with a scrolling message at the end saying Tom DeLay's charges were thrown out by a State District Judge and District Attorney Earle is currently weighing his options in the case.

Posted by: John at September 30, 2005 9:44 AM

Jeez, this smells to high heaven.

Posted by: pchuck at September 30, 2005 12:20 PM
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