听 
New versions of the old Hollywood moguls, the Weinstein brothers (who own and are Miramax) are apparently just as demanding, ferocious and egotistical but - like their predecessors - they understand movies, can read a script and know what works. They are also terrific at maximising the potential of films which could so easily play only to a niche audience: they are, in other words, responsible for the global success of "Shakespeare in Love" and "Pulp Fiction".
Had they been in London to oversee the production of "Elephant Juice", they would have scoffed at the final script at the first draft stage. As it was, this being Britain, a barely-cooked script went into production. The result may well be the reason why the Weinsteins shut down Miramax UK.
Written by Amy Jenkins (rightly feted for writing TV's "This Life"), "Elephant Juice" smacks of a writer who has run out of ideas, has no passion for the project in hand, or has simply been distracted by the squirrels darting up the trees outside her study window. This is yet another tired, clich茅d tale of youngish Londoners finding no fulfilment in love or sex, the kind of self-absorbed professionals whose specialities include insensitivity and lies. There is, of course, the two-faced, egotistical charmer, the fretting introspective, and the decent-but-dull loner. In amongst their anxieties and affairs, they all manage to put on a charming fa莽ade over dinner. A lazy, laborious script is peppered with threadbare characters spouting self-conscious lines. Another great British dud.
