The Untitled Paul Nichols Project
Genre: Drama
Director: Spike Jonze
Writer: Wyatt Allen
Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Haley Lu Richardson, Steve Coogan, Margarita Levieva, Hugo Weaving, Jason Alexander
Plot: Two people are sitting next to each other in an interview-setting. Last Resort Films president Phil Dolan (Steve Coogan) is introducing the Golden-Reel-Award-winning rising star writer Paul Nichols (Jesse Eisenberg) to the people watching. Dolan is telling the viewers that Paul Nichols surely had a phenomenal breakout story overcoming a lot of obstacles and asks him how he got here. Paul starts to tell his story.
A while before. Paul Nichols sits in front of his laptop, writing on his screenplay. His apartment is messy used clothes are laying around, dishes pile up on the table. We can hear him going through the things he has written so far in his head. The screenplay is about fictional novelist Thomas Newman who is struggling to write his magnum opus. He closes his eyes trying to visualize his protagonist in front of his eyes. Thomas Newman is sitting on a bench in a park. No. Thomas Newman is laying in the grass, looking for inspiration for his next novel.
Paul is unhappy with the things he has so far. He is deleting whole passages, adding new ones and deleting them again. He decides to call it quits for today and lays down in his bed trying to sleep. The resident in the apartment above him coughs continuously mixed with animal-like moaning. It’s too loud and disturbing for Paul to sleep so he decides to turn on some cartoon instead, covering the noise a bit.
The next day Paul gets up early in the morning as it’s still dark outside while making his way to the bus. He is pretty late and has to run to not miss it. All the seats in the bus are filled so he is standing in the middle. A woman (Haley Lu Richardson) sitting right in his field of vision catches his attention. She looks up at him too for a second before quickly looking back down to her phone. Paul is trying not to stare at her but he we can see him struggling not to peek at her.
Paul is entering the office he is sharing with Laura (Margarita Levieva) who came in early today and is already working. Paul turns on the computer while sitting down and having a bit of awkward small talk with Laura who sits directly opposite of him. Paul is playing with his hands and anxiously bouncing his left leg up and down while waiting on his PC to start. Laura drops a pen that falls to the ground, bouncing to Paul’s side of the table. Of course Paul reaches down under the table to get Laura’s pen. To his surprise he sees that Laura is barefoot under the table with her shoes lying next to her feet. He seems to be a little distracted by it because on his way up he hits his head on the table. Laura is worried about Paul but he says he is fine.
The woman that Paul saw in the bus is called Sophie (Haley Lu Richardson). She is working as a radiology assistant. In her break she is listening to her co-worker Emily talking about her latest date. Sophie is asking her if it’s the same guy she went to the movie theater with but she tells Sophie it’s a different one. Emily wants to know if Sophie is seeing someone lately but Sophie tells her she is currently not dating anybody right now.
Coming home from work Paul is entering the apartment building Mr. Albright (Jason Alexander) comes towards him and introduces himself to Paul as the resident living in the apartment above him. Albright is asking him to be a bit more considerate when leaving for work early, as Albright is retired and likes to sleep a little longer and Paul is making too much noise for his liking. Paul didn’t expect that and doesn’t know what to say to that. He just says he is sorry and will try to be considerate in the morning.
The next morning Paul is taking the bus to work, where he once again sees Sophie. This time she is not looking at him at all, which encourages Paul even more to look at her but Sophie is just looking out of the window not even noticing Paul staring at her. When Paul arrives at work he greets Laura and starts his PC. It’s a slow day at work and so is looking up Last Resort Films website trying to find an email address He writes an email introducing himself as a writer to the people at Last Resort Films, who is trying to shop his newest screenplay to a studio. He gives some information about his soon-to-be-finished screenplay and tells them to call him if they are interested. Shortly after sending the email his boss Andrew Mercer (Hugo Weaving) enters their office and tells Paul that he is not satisfied with his work lately as it doesn’t seem like Paul is concentrated. Paul apologizes and promises improvement. After Mr. Mercer leaves Laura is smiling at Paul telling him that Mr. Mercer told her the same thing a bunch of times and he shouldn’t worry about it.
On his way home from work as he is reaching the bus station he is normally using, he sees a sign that says that his bus will not drive today so he has to take a different route home. He walks to the nearest bus station where he sees Sophie again, waiting for the bus, listening to music through her headphones. Paul stands next to her, slightly peeking at her from time to time until he finally decides to gather his courage and he goes up to her to talk to her. Sophie turns her headphones off and greets him with a big smile on her face. Paul is nervously telling her that he finds her really pretty and they exchange names and phone numbers. Sophie is telling him to write her if he wants to.
On the same night Paul gets into writing flow, really progressing with the screenplay in a way he didn’t for quite a while. He is creating a love interest for his main protagonist Thomas Newman who will bring him new inspiration. At the end of the night before going to bed he is checking his emails to see if the people from LRF wrote him back, but they didn’t.
The next day at work he spends quite some time chatting with Sophie. They are getting to know each over through some messages. Paul asks Sophie if she would like to meet up with him at a park sometime.
Paul meets Sophie in front of the park entrance. We can see Paul struggling to decide how to greet Sophie until they settle for an awkward hug. They walk through the park trying to find something to talk about. Sophie is asking Paul about his interests and he says to her that he is really interested in movies. The two are struggling to have a flowing conversation and Paul’s reservedness isn’t helpful. They are passing a public restroom and Sophie excuses herself for a minute. Paul waits in front of the restroom and checks his phone for emails. His eyes light up when he sees he got an email from LRF, but it turns out it’s only their newsletter that he subscribed too, informing him about the next LRF Comic Con. Paul invites Sophie to eat ice cream with him and once again while enjoying their ice cream they struggle to find common ground. Their date comes to an end and they say good bye, this time Paul confidently goes for the hug. He tells Sophie that he would love to see her again, while Sophie is agreeing to them seeing each other a second time.
When getting back home, Paul immediately turns on his laptop and starts to write. Once again Mr. Albright is making a lot of noise, almost making it impossible for Paul to go to sleep. Paul is ignoring all that and is focusing on the story of Thomas Newman. Newman is meeting up with his love interest and her youthful and charismatic presence brings new inspiration into the novelists life.
The next morning after not getting much sleep, he leaves his apartment making unnecessary much noise in hope that Mr. Albright wakes up from it. Paul also writes Sophie telling her that he had a nice time and he hopes to see her soon. At work he is looking for accommodations right around the area where LRF Comic Con is happening. Through work he is checking his phone several times but Sophie still didn’t write him back.
A couple days go by and Paul is continuing to work on his screenplay. He is texting Sophie again thinking that she probably overlooked his first message. This time he asks her if she would like to go to Comic Con with him.
At work Laura is informing Paul about a further education taking place next week, asking him if she should write him on the entry list. Paul checks the date and tells her that he is on vacation that time around. Laura is curious and asks him about his vacation. Where he is going and if someone is accompanying him on his trip. Paul tells him he going to the LRF Comic Con and that a female friend is coming with him. Laura is happy for Paul and hopes he has fun. Paul checks his phone, still no message from Sophie.
He is checking in at the hotel close to the LRF Comic Con. The room he rented is easily big enough for two. He fantasizes that Sophie is with him and they are both laughing until he playfully grabs her and throws her on the bed just to get on top of her and kiss her.
Finally at the Comic Con Paul doesn’t seem as interested in the upcoming superhero movies, it more seems like he is in search of something specific. Far away he sees LRF president Phil Dolan (Steve Coogan) giving an interview to someone. Paul is trying to make his way to Dolan but he of course gets stopped by security, while he sees Dolan moving in some kind of backroom.
It seems to be Dolan’s last appearance for today, at least Paul can’t seem to find him anymore. He is standing next to someone cosplaying Booster Gold who asks him who he is here for. Paul tells him he is just trying to shop his screenplay and is asking him for a good spot to get something to eat. The Booster Gold cosplayer tells him about a burger place not far away from there.
Paul is sitting down eating a burger enjoying every bite of it, through the window he sees Phil Dolan walking on the sidewalk. He lays his burger down on his plate on rushes outside to catch him. The staff from the burger place is irritated by his sudden sprint to the outsides but on his way out Paul tells them he will be back in a minute. He runs to Mr. Dolan calling out his name to get his attention. Dolan turns around and is now seeing Paul who is fighting for some air. Completely out of breath Paul tells him he is huge fan of LRF studio and has the most respect for Dolan’s work. Dolan thanks him and wants to shake Paul’s hand but Paul excuses himself telling the LRF chairman that he has greasy hands from eating a burger. Paul tells him about his screenplay that he is about to finish and that he would like LRF to do the movie with him. Dolan is telling him that LRF is open for screenplay distributions and would love to support more unknown writers. Dolan gives him his email address and tells Paul to send it to him when it’s finished. Dolan will personally take a look at it and inform Paul if the studio is interested in working with him.
Back in his hotel room Paul is happy about it and can’t wait to continue writing, while starting up his laptop he once again starts to fantasize. He is at the red carpet for the Golden Reel Awards in a suit with Sophie on his side wearing a beautiful dress. Phil Dolan is there too, congratulating him on writing this masterpiece of a movie and that he can’t wait to see what else Paul will be able to write for Last Resort Films. The media loves him, all the stars want to work in one of the movies written by him, his future looks bright.
He is opening up his writing document just before checking his phone once again. Still no message from Sophie but he noticed she changed her profile picture to a picture of her with another man happily smiling to the camera. They definitely look like a couple which irritates Paul slightly. He puts his phone away and begins to focus on writing. He is closing his eyes bringing his main protagonist novelist Thomas Newman to life in his imagination, visualizing the things he wrote in his screenplay. Suddenly his imagination of Thomas Newman gets interrupted, memories of his date with Sophie are preventing him from writing. He remembers her cute smile while they were eating ice cream until suddenly her new acquaintance comes into the picture and her smiling turns more into them laughing at Paul. Sophie kisses her boyfriend in front of Paul while the whole park scenery is changing to them being in a bedroom. Sophie’s boyfriend is undressing her while Paul just stands on the side and watches. Sophie has sex with her boyfriend while staring at Paul. She is moaning and telling Paul that even in his dreams he won’t be able to be with her.
Back at work Paul works hard to complete the things that where left over from his short vacation. Laura is jokingly telling him to slow down as she looks lazy next to him if he continues to work like this. Paul is telling her that he is a bit scared that Mr. Mercer is coming for him if he doesn’t get better.
Back home Paul is trying to focus on his screenplay again but with Mr. Albright’s weird noises and with him thinking of Sophie, it is hard to get into the right state of mind to write. Paul stays awake pretty late into the night but doesn’t write much as he spends most of the time unsatisfied with himself. We see a montage of the next couple weeks with Paul working hard at the office for the day and than him writing in the evening and night. Laura is noticing that Paul is really stressed out and suggest him to visit her favorite place to get a massage. She tells him it’s just two train stations away from where he lives.
Paul takes Laura’s advice and gets a massage just where she suggested. On his way back he takes the train and just as he arrives at his preferred destination the door opens and he sees Sophie with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend is having his arms around her as they look deeply into each others eyes, ignoring the world around them not even noticing Paul.
In his apartment Paul is now determined to write a huge chunk of his screenplay today. He is preparing energy drinks and some snacks next to his laptop and starts to write. Once again he is closing his eyes to visualize his protagonist Thomas Newman. Visions of Sophie and her boyfriend at the train station shoot into his mind from time to time but this time he is able to control them and not let them interrupt. He writes through the whole night until he notices that the night is over and he has to go to work soon. He reads through the things he wrote and comes to the conclusion that it’s just not good. He is telling himself that Phil Dolan will laugh at him if he sends it to him. His movie will never be made, he will never be a good writer, Sophie will never leave his boyfriend to be with him. He will also notices that he will be late at work if he doesn’t run to the bus. Paul grabs his backpack and exits his apartment.
He made it on time but now notices that his sleepless night is taking a toll on him. He really struggles to keep his eyes open but tries his best. He almost makes it through the day until Mr. Mercer is entering the office and sees a tired Paul hanging in his chair in a moment of weakness, which makes him angry. He screams at him telling him this is the last time he sees him like this and next time he will fire him. He is telling Paul that he should be ashamed about his mentality at work.
Paul is sitting at home in front of his laptop. He looks tired and defeated. His hands are on the keyboard but he is not writing anything. Once again he hears Mr. Albright moaning and coughing. Paul suddenly screams up to Albright that he should finally shut the fuck up! And follows it up with a bunch of insults. Paul is resting his head on his hands until he hears someone knocking on the door. He opens the door and it’s Mr. Albright who is telling Paul that this is not ok and he will inform the police if it ever happens again. Paul can’t believe it, he is going for Mr. Albright neck, pushing him against the wall and choking him until he falls to the ground. Paul sits down next to his victim, putting his head down in disbelief of what he just did. The other residents have called the police who appears in the building a couple moments later, taking Paul with them. Paul has teary eyes while sitting the back of the police car. He closes his eyes.
Two people are sitting next to each other in an interview-setting. Last Resort Films president Phil Dolan is introducing the Golden-Reel-Award-winning rising star writer Paul Nichols to the people watching. Dolan is telling the viewers that Paul Nichols surely had a phenomenal breakout story overcoming a lot of obstacles and asks him how he got here.
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