[Quick Summary: In a case of mistaken identity, a maid is asked out on a date by a senatorial candidate and chaos ensues when the truth is leaked.]
I stand by my belief that rom-coms are one of the hardest genres to crack.
So what is the secret to pulling it off?
I saw a good answer TWICE in the last week: Fall in love while doing other things.*
Simple, right?!...Wait, that's difficult... How do you do that?
This script shows one key:
We see that protagonist in his/her daily life.
--> Protagonist encounters love interest.
--> Protagonist CHANGES in his/her daily life.
= The change IS the evidence of "falling in love."
I chose the scene below for two reasons:
1) Because it shows Chris, the love interest, at a benefit (his daily life) and breaking away from routine after meeting Marisa (a definite change).
2) Because the unconscious smiling thing really happens in real life.**
ex. "INT. RAINBOW ROOM - NIGHT
...The song ends. The dance floor empties. Chris and Marisa remain, face to face.
MARISA: Look, I don't want to stop you from doing the right thing.
Chris smiles. She looks at him questioning.
MARISA: What? Why are you smiling...
CHRIS: Nothing, it's just, up until this minute, I didn't know what that was. But I do now.
MARISA: You do what?
He begins to walk away.
MARISA: Where are you going?
CHRIS: I'm going to give old Jerry an interesting challenge.
MARISA: Because of me?
CHRIS: Because of us. We're not staying.
MARISA: We're not?
CHRIS: Nope. And that might make him a little...miffed."
WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Falling in love should be part of the protagonist's overall story, but not the whole story. Otherwise, it's rather dull.
Chambermaid (Maid in Manhattan) (2002)(2/25/02 draft)
by John Hughes (story), revised by Kevin Wade
*I read the same observation TWICE in the last week:
- Ebert: "And Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes make an intriguing couple because their characters have ways of passing the time other than falling in love. (I grow impatient when movie characters are so limited they can think of nothing better to do than follow the plot.)"
- Mernit on "It Happened One Night": "The movie's a textbook on how romantic happens, which is often when your characters are busy doing other things."
**In grad school, I met "someone special" from another school and didn't tell anyone. A classmate, who rarely spoke to me and did not know me well, asked me why I was smiling all the time. It freaked me out! Was I that obvious? I could've sworn that I was acting normally. I had had no idea.
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