[Quick Summary: After Lisa meets Paul at a Fourth of July party, she refuses to see him except on holidays.]
As you may know, I generally don't post unproduced scripts...unless there's merit.
This is a really good rom-com, which is scarcer than hens' teeth.*
One of the keys to a good rom-com is nailing the intimacy between the two leads.
But how do you create that, especially in this age of social media oversharing?
According to my gold standard reference on the rom-com, Writing the Romantic Comedy (2020, 20th Anniversary ed.) by Billy Mernit
Pain + truth = funny.
...no matter how excruciating their public exposure may have been, the experience has somehow brought them a little closer together.
This special kind of earned intimacy is typical of romantic comedy relationships. Both man and woman have been exposed. But instead of alienating them, being in this nightmare together puts them on equal footing and even creates a tacit bond: they're the special ones who've shared a little hell and lived to tell about it. (Ch. 9: The Art of Funny)
In p. 1-3 of the script (below):
- We see how the writer immediately puts the couple in a nightmarish situation, which leads to an equal footing.
- Note also the incredible vulnerability, which required alcohol to get to the truth.
LISA: Happy Fourth of July.
PAUL: Happy Fourth of July.
LISA: I had to have four drinks before I had the courage to come out here and talk to you. [Vulnerability]
PAUL: I didn't mean to frighten you.
LISA (takes another drink; then): You look like a man of the world. [Vulnerability]
PAUL: Within reason.
LISA: The kind of man a woman can be terribly honest with.
PAUL: Am I that obvious?
LISA: The sort of man with whom a woman can share her most intimate thoughts.
PAUL: It's like you've known me all my life.
LISA: I know you're mature enough to handle what I'm about to tell you.
PAUL: I'll do my best.
LISA: Ready?
PAUL: Ready.
LISA: Your fly's open. [Vulnerability, especially for well brought up Lisa]
Paul looks, and indeed the zipper on his pants is down. As he pulls the zipper up with one hand, he is very cool about it.
LISA (continuing): I had to tell you. You looked so vulnerable walking around that. [Truth]
PAUL: I appreciate it. There's nothing worse at a party than not really knowing why people keep smiling at you. [Pain + Truth]
LISA: For a minute I thought you were a flasher. Then I said to myself, "That man has too much on the ball to be a flasher. If he was one, he'd be flashing all the way." [Pain + Truth]
PAUL: I appreciate your vote of confidence. [Truth + Bond is forming]
LISA: I liked you the minute I saw you. Do you know how I knew?
PAUL: How?
LISA: You're wearing blue underwear. I could never get close to a man who wears basic white. [Pain + Truth]
PAUL: I haven't any secrets left. [Hinting at the theme of white lies]
LISA: Secrets are for children. (then) Are you married? [Echoing theme]
Little White Lies (unproduced)(undated; perhaps 1980s?)
by Stanley Shapiro
*It was written by veteran rom-com writer Stanley Shapiro who had an amazing run in the 1960s: Pillow Talk; Operation Petticoat; Lover Come Back; Oscar winning That Touch of Mink; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
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