I like the video below, another excellent video essay from Lessons From The Screenplay, but my opinion differs somewhat. I am not a fan of genre. Genre is useful for consumers and Netflix lists but not useful for writers. Genre most often describes style, tone, and setting. Instead, I find it more useful to look at a film’s emotional playing field.
Each of the Nine Character Types books contains a precise set of tools to create one specific kind of character’s emotional playing field and establish his or her driving force in a story. A character’s emotional playing field defines the internal framework (structure) of the story. It is the range of action and behavior (from predatory to spiritually enlightened) that instantaneously establishes a particular type of character to an audience. A character’s driving force is the combination of actions and reactions that propel the character through the story.
For example, Chinatown and Apocalypse Now would never be put on the same genre list. But emotionally they are the same film. In the beginning, the protagonist searches for the truth about one simple thing (Who killed Hollis Mulray. Where is Colonel Kurtz?) Over the course of the story the protagonist finds out the truth about a much larger thing. (The corruption in the water system in Los Angeles. The moral quagmire and craziness of the war in Viet Nam.) In the end, the protagonist finds out the truth about himself. (Not asking for help– not trusting his colleagues– results in disaster. I could easily become the monster who was Kurtz.)
The Buddy Movie has all the same elements of a typical Romantic Comedy (without the sex). The buddies are thrown together. They don’t like each other. By being forced together they learn from each other. In the end, in the highest act of love between buddies, they are willing to take a bullet for each other.
The best thing about this post is how what we think of a romantic comedy is turned on its head in in When Harry Met Sally. Also, it’s a wonderful excuse to revisit this enchanting film. Go and watch it tonight, especially if you’ve never seen it!
If you’re on Pinterest, why not follow my Pinterest board full of useful writing advice? It will be updated weekly, so you can keep track if you ever need an excellent video essay, or some relevant advice to whatever problems you are facing. You can always drop me a line at [email protected] with the subject “Ask Laurie” and I will do my best to answer it. I might even include it in an upcoming edition of Writing Advice Wednesday!
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A very long international flight is the perfect time to catch up on movies I missed the first time around. On this trip I managed to catch up with a high-spirited Romantic Comedy romp that turned out to be a really enjoyable surprise. The film has its flaws, particularly in its rather pat ending. The finish is predictable and lacks that little extra twist that lifts this kind of story above the ordinary. But the film does have its virtues.
Joy McNally (Cameron Diaz) is super-conscientious career woman engaged to a man who is exhausted by her organized, detail-oriented uptight attitude. She is a Power of Conscience character who schedules a meeting with her fiancee to “make a plan to make plans.” Fed up, he breaks up with her in her apartment hallway. Joy is humiliated that all their friends are listening as they wait inside for a suprise birthday party for HIM.
Jack Fuller (Ashton Kutcher) has the opposite problem. He is “not serious boyfriend or husband material.” He is a Power of Ambition character who is so afraid of failing (and proving he is a loser) that he never takes a gamble or finishes anything. He is fired by his disgruntled fed-up boss, who also happens to be his father.
Feeling devastated, they both head to Las Vegas to (literally) drown their sorrows. A computer error is the “meet cute” that throws them together in the same room. The two spend a drunken night of true confession and “my life is crappier than your life.” They wake up to discover they are married.
A 3 million dollar jackpot won with Joy’s quarter but played by Jack lands them in front of a judge, in an argument about who can claim the money. The judge decides that they should remain married for 6 months and attend counseling sessions before splitting up either the money or the marriage. Neat as a pin Joy moves into Jack’s sloppy and disgusting bachelor pad.
Over the course of the film there is a real exchange of gifts. Joy learns to be less uptight and driven to prove her “worthiness.” Jack learns to believe in himself enough to put his talent on the line. He becomes the woodworking craftsman (and artist) he was meant to be.
Jack Fuller is a refreshing take on the Power of Ambition. This Character Type is usually portrayed as an eager young striver in the Tom Cruise mode of Jerry Maguire or Rain Man. Instead, Jack starts out squarely in his fear. He is paralyzed by his utter conviction (and his father’s belief) that he is a failure. When Joy speaks up on his behalf, Jack is astonished. At a corporate retreat she makes him feel like a winner.
Joy is a more conventional Power of Conscience female character. She is the good girl who works hard, is responsible and plays by the rules. She is vying for a promotion in a job she hates because that’s the “right” thing to do. Jack teaches Joy the importance of loving what you do and finding time for family and friends.
Check this movie out. It’s not perfect but it hits enough of the right notes to be a fun romp and a satisfying bon bon of entertainment.
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