TODAY'S NUGGET: Something Wild (1996) - To Unleash Messy Inner Desires, Pinpoint the Deep Want/Desire (Character)

[Quick Summary: A rule breaking free spirit seduces a straight laced VP to leave his responsibilities behind, but her ex-convict husband tracks them down.]

One of the hallmarks of a well-crafted script is when it's emotionally (but not structurally) messy.  

Writer E. Max Frye seems to have a knack for this by ensuring the characters are well rounded.  He carefully selects what the characters want so that they conflict.*

In today's script, for example:
- Lulu is well meaning, but also selfish.  She's driven by desire, fun with no strings.  
- Charles is super-responsible, but emotionally starved.  He desperately wants the adventure that Lulu represents. 
- I wondered, "Why doesn't Charles simply walk away?" It's because he's dry timber and she's a flame.  She provokes his deep desire, bypassing his normal caution. 
- Note that the emotions are messy, but not the structure of the scene.

EXT. MOTEL 

...LULU (interrupting): You have money?

He looks at her questioningly

LULU (CONT.): I mean for the room. The rest is free.

He pulls will wallet out.

CHARLES: I can't use the credit cards 'cause they're all company plastic. Our accountant would sure wonder what I was doing in a cheap motel in the middle of Jersey on a Friday afternoon.

LULU: Use the cash.

CHARLES: I can't use it.

LULU: Why not?

He hesitates and looks at her sheepishly. 

CHARLES: It's money for the Christmas Club.

LULU: What's a Christmas Club?

CHARLES: You put money every week into the Christmas Club. It's at my bank. That way when Christmas comes you're not low on cash. I do it every year. This is money for the Christmas Club. I can't spend it.

She looks at him incredulously.

LULU: Charlie, are you telling me we're not going to get a room 'cause you're saving money for Christmas presents...In the middle of June?

He looks at the money then at her. He sees her legs, on her hips and the pouting red mouth. He sees her breasts pushing out of her shirt toward him. He sees a young woman waiting for him to get a motel room so they can go to bed.

CHARLES: Oh, to hell with Christmas. 

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I really appreciated the clarity of these character's desires.  They're messy and conflict, i.e., interesting, but I was also never lost.

Something Wild (1996)(10/31/25, 2nd draft)
by E. Max Frye

*FYI: I will be exploring more of his work in these next four scripts.