This year, the nominees for Best Original Screenplay are generally complex dramatic comedies. Two of them are based upon actual events (American Hustle, Dallas Buyers Club). The Academy labels them as being "Original" because they were not based upon a single, concrete piece of literature. Over in the "Adapted" category, Before Midnight can be found among historical stories. Although Midnight was fictional, it is the third film of its trilogy. They consider the characters to be based on those of the previous two screenplays of the first two movies of the series, with the plot being a continuation rather than a fresh story. I mention this because it changes the playing field from the norm of fictional stories being in the "Original" category and factual ones being in the "Adapted" category. Therefore the screeenwriters of the adapted "Originals" had plenty of true information to work with to made the story more comprehensible, not to mention less time to waste on creating characters and settings. Yet the writers of the true "Originals" managed to make their fictional characters more believable and lively than the adapted ones.
Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell wrote the screenplay for American Hustle, which was somewhat based on the Abscam scandal of the seventies. It has plenty of funny moments, some of which seem forced. The more natural ones were largely improvised, particularly scenes with the Bradley Cooper and Louis C. K. duo. Although in my American Hustle post I blamed the editing for the pacing problems, some blame can be put on the writers too. The writers can definitely be blamed for the more pointless side plots, like Lawrence's character's side romance. The writing got the story going, but once on its feet, it was not phenomenal.
Woody Allen, of course, wrote Blue Jasmine. I say "of course" since he always writes his movies, not because it was monotonous or what we get from him every year. After 2011's near-perfect Midnight in Paris, Allen gave us To Rome with Love, which was a disappointment. I doubt Allen will ever top Paris, but Blue Jasmine certainly raises the bar back up to the same general area. With a plethora of internal conflict and quietly important flashbacks to simultaneously build to the climax, Allen has created a wonderful piece of writing as noteworthy as the film itself.
Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack wrote the screenplay for Dallas Buyers Club. The story was told well onscreen, but it was the actors' portrayal of their characters that made it memorable. I would be able to credit the writers for creating the characters, which I am sure they still had a hand in, but they were real people. This does not mean that the writers did a poor job; they just did not have to put in that extra effort that Original Screenplay nominees usually have to. This is why there are two separate writing categories, but unfortunately they were not really differentiated perfectly this year. 
Spike Jonze wrote Her, which tells the completely original story of a loner looking to make a connection in a futuristic world. It is charming, sweet, and intelligent. Contrarily, I read a review by critic Stephanie Zacharek in which she states: "Instead of just being desperately heartfelt, Her keeps reminding us ... how desperately heartfelt it is." This really opened my eyes to what bothered me about the movie. It was not until Zacharek stated this so concisely that I found the answer to my recurring question in regards to the dialogue: "That was perfect. Why aren't I crying?" Because it was forced, because Jonze took his time to find the perfect way to say every single line. This meticulous work is commendable, but flawed. It took away from the natural flow that is hard to regain in a futuristic film. Surely Her takes place in the near future, but breaking the flow is still detrimental enough for the viewer to reevaluate the artificiality of the story. Nevertheless, Jonze's keen attention to detail and (too) perfect engineering of his characters are worthy of the Best Original Screenplay honor.
Bob Nelson wrote Nebraska, his first screenplay. That deserves one round of applause, which it did earlier today at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. The emotional wit of the dialogue is funny and depressing at the same time. Now that is quite an accomplishment. Even with the great actors' deliverance of the lines, unlike in Dallas Buyers Club, the screenplay of Nebraska stands on its own.
The Academy would be wise to award this prize to the writer of Blue Jasmine, Her, or Nebraska. Not only are they the true "Originals," and not only are they the nominees with just one screenwriter each, but they have complex stories as well as deep characters.
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