SMOTHER

I get pitched a lot of comedies.  I tell writers that we're only interested in developing high-concept, visual comedies.  Like it or not, we're dealing with the global box office today.  If your comedy script relies on dialogue for laughs, chances are, you're not going to get made.  Lines get lost in translation.  Your jokes have to play visually.

GULLIVER'S TRAVELS was terrible but that script has a much easier chance of seeing money because it's story is visual.  It's easy to translate.

The reason most comedic pitches are rejected is because the idea simply isn't large enough to fill the big screen.  When writers ask me what I mean, I point them towards films like SMOTHER.  It's not a bad movie.  But it plays better as a tv series than a feature film.  The jokes aren't big.  It's visually boring.  You have to listen instead of watch.  It's a pathetic statement but we want comedies that we have to watch instead of listen to.

Dax Shepard has skills.  He's good in PARENTHOOD.  He just has never taken the right role in films.  Other than his performance, there's not much else worth watching in SMOTHER.