[Quick Summary: To avoid deportation, a book editor cons her assistant into a fake engagement.]
I love the rom-com moments when the two characters connect...and then are separated.
The tension just whets my appetite.
ex. Richard has just rescued Margaret, and they are laughing. [Finally, they have connected!]
"The two stare at each other for a beat. There's a real spark. They might kiss.
RICHARD: Gertrude wants me back. [Uh-oh. A real monkey wrench.]
Whoah. Not what she was expecting. She looks down. [Confusion is good fuel.]
MARGARET: And?
RICHARD: Well. It seemed like you were having...second thoughts. [He fishes around the unknown. Will she confess how she really feels?]
MARGARET: Yeah. I was. [Ugh. She gives the socially acceptable answer.]
RICHARD: Maybe we should do it. Come clean.
MARGARET: Put me down.
Richard puts Margaret down near the boat. She tries to regain her composure.
MARGARET: You wanna call it off? [Oh no! She retreats to save face.]
RICHARD: If you do.
MARGARET: Fine. It's over. We'll tell them when we get back."
As this scene ends, there is heightened tension and questions.
This is what keeps me turning the pages...what happens next?!?
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I must believe there's a LEGITIMATE reason (i.e., how Richard feels about Gertrude) for them not to be together.
Without it, the tension just doesn't exist.
The Proposal (2009)
by Peter Chiarelli
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