Why
'Text, Batteries & Earwax'?
Like the film itself, the title's a homage to a favourite
movie of ours. No, not 'Sex, Lies & Videotape' but 'Planes,
Trains & Automobiles'. You could also say (we do)
that text, batteries and earwax are the three constants
in
the life of a deaf person today. We can't live without
text messaging, everything grinds to a halt if you
run
out of batteries and earwax, well, we're stuck with
it...
Yeuch. So, the plot?
It's essentially 12 hours in the life of an odd couple,
Lenny and Steve, complete strangers who meet by
chance
at a railway station. They're opposites: Lenny is
Deaf, ebullient, a BSL user; Steve partially hearing,
smooth.
Sounds like there's a bit of stereotyping going on...
You may think that but watch the movie and see
how many characteristics you recognise - in others,
in your friends, in yourself. Are we really all so different?
Enough with the pop psychology. Be honest, now. Are
the characters inspired by people YOU know?
Actually, the characters are more inspired
by Neal Page & Del Griffith, the characters
Steve Martin and John Candy play in 'Planes,
Trains & Automobiles' (1987). When we mention
this, everyone goes "oh, I like Steve Martin" but really TB&E
is more of a tribute to John Candy - he was
really, really underrated.
What we can say though is that all the incidents
you see in TB&E actually happened, either to
ourselves or people we know of. Naming no names,
of course.
Another inspirations were 'Midnight
Run' (1988), which is another 'anti-buddy'
movie - you can see elements of the testiness
Robert De
Niro's
character displayed in William's portrayal
of Steve. Also, we're big fans of Laurel & Hardy which explains
the touch of slapstick in TB&E - keep your
eyes peeled for an 'Ollie moment'.
Will do. What about the actors, anyone we know?
Try our full cast biographies.
I've seen the movie and I'd like to tell you what
I think.
Please, feel free: info@deafo.com
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