The signatures looked right, each bearing the clear script of the cabinet members.

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But by the dramatic conclusion, it's clear that Odets' script was informed both by sensational tabloid headlines and the tragic hubris found in great Russian literature.

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And that division was clear when Romney broke with the economic script during his debate, leaving Ryan in the lurch.

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As the complexities of her tortured past become clear -- as clear as anything ever becomes in the script -- Silvia also reveals herself to be rueful, thoughtful, movingly haunted and, in the eyes of Tobin, the hard-charging Secret Service agent, deeply untrustworthy as an ear witness.

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Suffice it to say, this won't necessarily be a hyper-critical portrait of the Hall of Famers, though Ponturo said it was clear to him Johnson and Bird wanted the script to be honest and accurate.

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The stage directions alone are an exercise in complexity: The script includes lines meant to sound clear, lines meant to sound garbled, lines signed and not spoken, lines spoken and not signed, lines with subtitles projected around the theater and lines without subtitles.

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