Nick Meyer - why didn't he become one of the greats?

[Therin of Andor]

On an unrelated note, what's Meyer's secret?! He looks 15 years younger than he is!

The Genesis effect.

 

[Greg Cox]

Relatedly, I read Meyer's novel "The Seven Percent Solution" (the screenplay adaptation he was nominated being for adapting his own work) last year and, frankly, I was underwhelmed. The concept was great, but the story just sort of ran out of gas in the second half.

FYI, there are two sequels, The West End Horror and The Canary Trainer.

But the first book is the best of the lot.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

In Meyer's memoir, he also talks about the health problems and eventual death of his wife. That took him out of circulation for a while.

And I highly recommend his Sherlock Holmes books, btw. Especially The Seven Per-Cent Solution and The Canary Trainer.

 

[Aldo]

I remember back before Tomorrow Never Dies came out he was mentioned to have been one of several screenwriters flown in my Roger Spottiswoode to work on the screenplay of that film. I'm not sure if any of his contributions ended up in the film but he was uncredited nonetheless.

 

[Tallguy]

I had no idea he wrote a third Holmes book. Awesome.

I'll also give Meyer credit for being able direct Shatner. Well, once anyway.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Meyer was proposed to FOX as a replacement when Bryan Singer dropped out of DeSanto's Battlestar Galactica project to do another X-Men movie. The studio was not persuaded.

 

[Greg Cox]

If I remember correctly, he was attached to the AVENGERS remake at one point. (Steed and Peel, I mean. Not the Marvel comic.)

That would have been interesting . . . and probably better than what we got . . . .

 

[Basil]

Stylistically, Meyer falls into the "actor is the star" camp rather than the director -- he doesn't go for obvious signature shots nor make the camerawork more important than the people on the screen. That alone alienates his style from many contemporaries.

The comparison to Sidney Lumet is a good one, though Meyer probably has more in common with directors like Edward Dymytrk and Michael Curtiz, composing shots in more traditional ways that the over-reliance on the standard TV-style "big head in a closeup" that has been popular since the 1970s. An underrated film of Meyer's is "The Deceivers," which manages a better than workmanlike performance out of Pierce Brosnan, no small feat. That he also got a good performance out of Shatner is not surprising.

 

[Greg Cox]

I had no idea he wrote a third Holmes book. Awesome.

.

The Canary Trainer also involves The Phantom of the Opera, incidentally.

(That's not a spoiler, btw. Sherlock Holmes vs. the Phantom is pretty much the premise of the book.)

 

[Tallguy]

I had no idea he wrote a third Holmes book. Awesome.

.

The Canary Trainer also involves The Phantom of the Opera, incidentally.

(That's not a spoiler, btw. Sherlock Holmes vs. the Phantom is pretty much the premise of the book.)

So I saw in the description on Amazon. I'll be ordering that this weekend. (I have the last Vorkosigan book to get through next.)

I'm not sure if I think Meyer has a directorial "style", but I know that he directed two movies that I love (TWOK and Time After Time) and one that I like (TUC).

 

[jayrath]

Who says he isn't "one of the greats"?

 

[lurok]

Stylistically, Meyer falls into the "actor is the star" camp rather than the director -- he doesn't go for obvious signature shots nor make the camerawork more important than the people on the screen.

Sounds like Robert Wise in that respect. Great thread, but personally couldn't care less whether Meyer one of "greats" or not. Directed one of the best-ever Trek films (TWOK).

 

[arch101]

Good topic! Meyer got alot of critical acclaim for The Day After. Time After Time is a superb film, helped by it's two lead actors. I agree with the above poster about Meyer's ability to get a good performance out of Shatner, TUC is Shatner's best performance as Kirk in the films. On the other hand, Company Business, while entertaining, isn't so good.