"Based on a true story" is a come-on, the aesthetic equivalent of "no loan request refused." For, at best, the creator has fashioned a film based on his understanding of, interpretation of, and reduction of the report of an actual occurrence.
David MametI always thought the real violence in Hollywood isn't what's on the screen. It's what you have to do to raise the money.
David MametThe study of acting consists in the main of getting out of oneโs own way, and in learning to deal with uncertainty and being comfortable being uncomfortable.
David MametAnyone can write five people trapped in a snowstorm. The question is how you get them into the snowstorm. It's hard to write a good play because it's hard to structure a plot. If you can think of it off the top of your head, so can the audience. To think of a plot that is, as Aristotle says, surprising and yet inevitable, is a lot, lot, lot of work.
David Mamet