Michael Quinn
  • About
  • Book Reviews Quinn on Books Gay Sensibility
  • Critical Influences
  • Script Doctor
  • Personal & Reported Essays
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Michael Quinn

  • About/
  • Cultural Criticism/
    • Book Reviews
    • Quinn on Books
    • Gay Sensibility
  • Critical Influences/
  • Script Doctor/
  • Personal & Reported Essays/
  • Interviews/
  • Contact/
Hollywood Collage Photo Credit Michael Quinn.jpeg

Michael Quinn

Script Doctor

Michael Quinn

  • About/
  • Cultural Criticism/
    • Book Reviews
    • Quinn on Books
    • Gay Sensibility
  • Critical Influences/
  • Script Doctor/
  • Personal & Reported Essays/
  • Interviews/
  • Contact/

One film. 100 words.

A sharp diagnosis and a prescription to fix it.

Script Doctor is a blog where I apply a screenwriter’s lens to the films I watch—offering a quick summary and one or two script-level fixes to help the story land. Years ago, I was a reader for Paramount, evaluating which books were worth adapting for the screen. Now I’m turning that critical eye on the screenplays themselves.

Does my diagnosis hold up—or need a second opinion?


August 05, 2025

"Winter Kept Us Warm": The Chill of Unspoken Desire

August 05, 2025/ Michael Quinn
"Winter Kept Us Warm": The Chill of Unspoken Desire

Even the cast didn’t know they were making a gay film.

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August 05, 2025/ Michael Quinn/
script doctor, film review, character study, queer cinema, gay
Winter Kept Us Warm, queer cinema, LGBTQ+, gay, gay love story, closeted characters, queer longing, coming-of-age, student film, missed opportunity, character study, emotional repression, cultural criticism, film criticism, John Labow, Henry Tarvainen, David Secter, 1960s cinema, Canadian film
May 04, 2025

"The Leather Boys": A Gay Love Story Rides the Brakes

May 04, 2025/ Michael Quinn
"The Leather Boys": A Gay Love Story Rides the Brakes

The film hints at something deeper between Reggie and Pete but never allows it to take center stage.

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May 04, 2025/ Michael Quinn/
script doctor, film review, character study, gay, queer cinema
gay love story, closeted characters, gay subtext, queer longing, queer cinema, LGBTQ+ film history, LGBTQ+, gay, The Leather Boys, British film, 1960s cinema, kitchen sink drama, working-class realism, romantic drama, repressed desire, Colin Campbell, Dudley Sutton, Rita Tushingham, Sidney J. Furie, film criticism, character study, missed opportunity, visual storytelling, male intimacy, emotional repression, motorcycle film, film review

Contact the Script Doctor to give a second opinion.

 

Script Doctor collage credit: Michael Quinn

© 2018-2025 Michael Quinn