TODAY'S NUGGET: Prizzi's Honor (1985) - Devious Plot Construction; Just Right Amount of Clarity & Information

[Quick Summary: Against everyone's wishes, Charley, an assassin for the Prizzi mobster family, falls for a blonde, who is also an assassin for hire.]

I don't say this about many scripts, but this one is dazzling.

I offer two reasons why:

1) DEVIOUS PLOT CONSTRUCTION.

The story is by Richard Condon, a novelist who delights in devious plot construction, and here he takes two absolutes - romantic love and the Prizzi's honor - and arranges a collision between them. Because all of the motivations are so direct and logical, the movie is able to make the most shocking decisions seem inevitable." - Roger Ebert

2) JUST RIGHT AMOUNT OF CLARITY & INFORMATION.

This script impressed me because the writers gave me just enough clarity, just enough information. 

I could tell because I was able to follow the current scene easily, and then pick up more crumbs later without being confused.

ex. The script begins with this scene:

TWO MEN STAND TOGETHER IN A HOSPITAL CORRIDOR LOOKING THROUGH THE GLASS WINDOW OF A HOSPITAL NURSERY.

DON CORRADO (putting arm around ANGELO PARTANNA, as they look down into bassinet at the infant): You son has lost his mother but he has gained another father. I am his father now, with you. I will be as one with you in protecting his future.

[Who are these men?  How do they know each other?  We do not know.

BUT it is clear that they have a bond...and that is enough for me to follow for now.

Then four pages later...]

 INT. CHURCH - DAY

...All the other men in the first four pews wear dinner jackets.  Directly behind Don Corrado sits ANGELO PARTANNA, his consigliere, a scrawny, bald, and relentlessly dapper man in his mid-70's....

[Ah ha! We learn here that Partanna works for Corrado.  

Notice that the writers waited until p. 5 to clarify who Corrado and Partanna were. They did not try to unload everything on p. 1.]

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I was also very impressed how fast the script read, in large part because the motives were so clear.

ex. The first 25+ pgs. were essentially "boy looks for mystery girl" and I was mesmerized.

Prizzi's Honor (1985)(shooting script, rev.10/30/84)
Story and screenplay by Richard Condon and Janet Roach
Based on the novel by Richard Condon