[Quick Summary: Against all odds, Preston Tucker, famed for building WWII combat turrets, decides to build the Tucker "car of tomorrow."]
Though this was an ok script, how did it end up netting Martin Landau an Oscar nominated performance for best supporting actor?
Well, first, he had direction by Francis Ford Coppola, which couldn't hurt.
Second, he played the character of Abe, a realistic NYC businessman and Tucker's biggest ally. Abe is also is used as a foil, often exposing Tucker's blind spots.
For example, in the scene below, he tries to reason with Tucker, who only wants to think big.
Notice how Abe's practicality is contrasted by Tucker's impracticality (or is it vision?)*, which is the point of the scene.
INT. DEN - DAY
Abe is talking. Tucker, Vera, and Eddie are in the room.
ABE: ...which leaves three war surplus plants we've got a shot at. A long shot, because everybody in the country's trying to get them, but it's worth a try. One's perfect. Nice and little. The other's too big. Cost twice as much to re-tool, but we could swing it if we had to.
TUCKER: What's the third one?
ABE: Impossible. The Dodge plant, where they built the B-29 engines in Chicago.
TUCKER: What's wrong with that?
ABE: It covers 475 acres for one thing, with sixteen buildings. One of them is seventy-three acres long. One building. The biggest building in the world under one roof.
Vera and Eddie look at each other, knowing exactly what Tucker will say.
CLOSE ON TUCKER.
TUCKER: It's perfect!
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: A good foil will push back against the protagonist, and thus reveal things in the protagonist we did not know before.
A foil is often the main antagonist, but could even be an ally, like Abe here.
Tucker: A Man and His Dream (1988)(revised shooting draft, 5/5/87)
by Arnold Schulman and David Seidler
*Just for fun: Only 50 Tucker automobiles were made, and I think Preston Tucker would be thrilled that they are now valued over $1+M.
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