Lem Dobbs

While Dobbs was announced in the trade papers as penning various projects (e.g., "Prague" to feature Danny De Vito, and a remake of "The Day the Earth Caught Fire"), it would be some seven years before his credit appeared onscreen again as one of three writers on the sci-fi flick "Dark City" (1998), a Kafka-esque thriller about a man accused of a crime he cannot remember. Again, the final result divided critics, with some dismissing the effort as concentrating more on style than substance while others praising the complex plot and look of the film as an unique motion picture experience. (Indeed, Roger Ebert listed "Dark City" as his choice for the year's best film.) True to form, Dobbs reteaming with Soderbergh, "The Limey" (1999), a character study of a British ex-con who travels to the USA to seek out the truth about his daughter's murder, provoked a mixed critical reaction at its premiere in Cannes. Undaunted, the writer continues to accept assignments to rewrite or collaborate on projects, while still harboring the hope to one-day direct his dream project, "Edward Ford," the three-decade tale of a cowboy actor, which is frequently touted as one of the best unproduced screenplays floating around Hollywood. Whether he ever gets to achieve that goal remains to be seen.