Screenwriter of slated new Shia LaBeouf movie Man Down slams critics

The writer of new Shia LaBeouf movie ‘Man Down’ has slammed critics following a heavy panning for the war drama.

Adam G. Simon has called the negative notices ‘vitriolic’ and accused critics of having a political agenda, also suggesting that big hitting organs like Variety and The Hollywood Reporter influence other reviews.

The movie is currently languishing with an 9% ‘fresh’ rating on reviews aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, meaning that the vast majority of reviews are bad.

“If you endorse the film … then you’re indicting the Obama administration for cheating the veterans. That’s if you’re on Left. At least, that’s the perception,” he told Hollywood In Toto.

“If you’re on the Right, you can’t really support this film because it’s also an indictment of every presidency’s treatment of veterans.”

Helmed by Dito Montiel, and also starring Jai Courtney, Kate Mara and Gary Oldman, the movie follows Shia LaBeouf as an army veteran suffering PTSD, but flits between various timelines, one finding him wandering a post-apocalyptic America in search of his family.

“There’s so many issues I have with the whole critic’s environment we live in,” he went on.

“What I loved about the time period where I grew up was you had Siskel and Ebert… Siskel and Ebert, you had discourse. Two people together. It was physical. Both men came from a writing background. They understood story. Roger Ebert published books, wrote screenplays, co wrote screenplays, he was in the fight for part of his life. Siskel studied philosophy.

“With them you had discourse, argument over a film. You got perspective from two minds wrestling to see a piece from all sides. It was a debate, a democracy, a struggle to understand meaning. It required two minds and friendly, sometimes passionate argument.

“Now the argument is removed. Its single opinion. We went from a democracy to a dictatorship.”

He then went on to say suggest that some critics ‘have never worked in the industry, but they watch a lot of movies so they feel they can pick it apart’, and it’s ‘equivalent of a plumber going into brain surgery’.

Simon, who was once homeless and bankrupt himself, said he contacted some of the writers to discuss their reviews.

“The responses were insane. Everything from ‘how dare you contact me’ to ‘the audacity of a writer to contact a critic,’ to, ‘I don’t do redactions,’” he added.

He said that his ‘favourite’ response was one reviewer telling him ‘I’m busy through the new year, but a word to assist your longevity in this field, take your stripes and move on’.

“So basically, sit down and shut up. I’m too busy to talk to you. The same feeling I got when I was homeless. Everyone sees you, but no one wants to really see you,” he added.

But what was it the critics found so offensive?

Glenn Kenny in the New York Times writes: “Mr. Montiel may have had honorable intentions in creating this movie. But what he made is neither a viable work of art nor an effective call to action. It’s a sadistic and ghoulish spectacle.”

Veteran Richard Roeper in the Chicago Sun-Times, ginving the movie a single star, added: “The final sequence, when all is revealed, is overwrought, excruciatingly shrill, manipulative, and exploitative — and hardly a surprise to anyone even halfway paying attention. Like the rest of the film, it’s a cheap misfire.”

It’s out in the UK in March, 2017.

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