TODAY'S NUGGET: The Hours (2002) - David Hare Made Me Care (Use of Suspense, Transitions)

[Quick Summary: Reflecting themes of the Mrs. Dalloway novel, three women in three different time periods grapple with love, death, and meaning.]

THREE THOUGHTS:

1) This is a tricky adaptation, with a high level of difficulty. The story is more a meditation on a theme (vs. a defined plot) plus three separate story lines.

2)  Suspense.  To be honest, I wasn't all that interested in The Hours.

However, David Hare is one of those exceptional writers one who can engage me, even when I'm uninterested in the subject matter.  How does he do it?

First, he understands good old fashioned suspense, i.e., I-want-to-know-what-will-happen-next. (See example below.)

3) Transitions. Second, Hare, who is a playwright, understands film is built differently than theater. In film, emotions are affected by editing and transitions. (See example below.)

For example, in the scenes below:
- These are two separate, non-overlapping story lines.
- Virginia Woolf and Laura are in different time periods and never meet.
- For suspense: Notice that we wonder what Virginia is going to do. Where is Laura going to go?
- For transitions: Notice how the writer positions the characters and the editing cut. Virginia and Laura are separated by time and space, yet they have the same physical positions = The reader understands that they are going through similar situations.

EXT. HOGARTH HOUSE - GARDEN - DAY

...Then it's silent. VIRGINIA is left alone. She has not moved. She is still looking at the bird's grave. The bird is perfectly at peace and surrounded with petals. VIRGINIA looks. Slowly, VIRGINIA closes her eyes. Her face becomes a death mask.

INT. BROWNS' HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY (1951)

LAURA is lain out on the bed, an identical look on her face to VIRGINIA'S. Then, impulsively, she gets up from the bed.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I'd never thought about using transitions/editorial cuts to convey similarities between story lines, and thus continuing the theme.

The Hours (2002)
by David Hare
From the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Michael Cunningham

TODAY'S NUGGET: Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) - Empathizing with the Killer-Protagonist

[Quick Summary: Though paid to bring Dickie Greenleaf back from Italy, Tom Ripley becomes obsessed with his life, willing to kill several times for it.]

It's not that Ripley wants to be Dickie, and might also be in love with him. It's that he lurks, trying to exist by taking from Dickie, i.e., a parasite and super-creepy.

The clever, uncomfortable, odd thing about this script is how it makes you empathize with Ripley, a killer and manipulator.  

It's very good at helping us feel what it's like being an outsider like Ripley.

In the scene below:
- Marge acknowledges everyone's feeling about Dickie, which mirrors Ripley's.
- Note that the other characters have more physical movement than Ripley, but we're remain focused on his reactions because he's the unpredictable one.

EXT. THE OCEAN, ABOARD THE BIRD. DAY

The boat is drifting. Freddie and Dickie and Marge are swimming, then Marge climbs back onto the boat, where Ripley is sitting alone, reading.

MARGE: You really should go in, it's marvelous.

RIPLEY: I'm fine.

She approaches him, conscious of his isolation. She's in a red bikini, and she towels herself dry as they speak.

MARGE: Are you okay?

RIPLEY: Sure.

They watch Dickie and Freddie fooling around in the water.

MARGE: The thing with Dickie - it's like the sun shines on you and it's glorious, then he forgets you and it's very very cold.

RIPLEY: So I'm learning.

MARGE: He's not even aware of it. When you've got his attention you feel like you're the only person in the world. That's why everybody loves him. Other times...

There's a yell from Dickie as Freddie wrestles with him.

DICKIE (laughing and choking): He's drowning me!

MARGE: It's always the same whenever someone new comes into his life - Freddie, Fausto, Peter Smith-Kingsley - he's wonderful - did you meet him, he's a musician, ? - ...and especially you, of course...and that's only the boys.

They watch as Freddie pushes Dickie under the surface.

MARGE: Tell me, why is it when men play they always play at killing each other...? I'm sorry about Cortina by the way.

RIPLEY: What about Cortina?

MARGE: Didn't Dick say? - he talked to Freddie...apparently it's not going to work out - (Ripley's devastated, Marge notices, can't look at him) Freddie says there aren't enough rooms.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Characters do not need to be likeable or sympathetic (I agree with what the character is doing), but do need to be empathetic (I understand why they're acting this way).

Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)(draft dated 11/1/99)
by Anthony Minghella
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith

TODAY'S NUGGET: Chicago (2002) - Theme Holds Together Fantasy & Actual Sequences

[Quick Summary: Told through fantasy and actual sequences, Roxie Hart is jailed and put on trial for murdering her lover.]

TWO THINGS I LIKED:

1) I like that the filmmakers clearly thought about how to take advantage of film's strengths vs. just replicating the stage musical.

ex. Film switches easily between fantasy, reality, points of view, different locations.

2) I liked that the theme of "life is a stage" is very clear, even between fantasy and actual sequences.  The scene below is a good example of how the flow works.

NOTE:
- Roxie desperately wants to be a stage star like Velma, for the stage to be her life.
- Roxie's case has replaced Velma as the latest headline of the week. Now Roxie is being replaced by Mary Sunshine.
- How do we know Roxie is being replaced? A visual that represents how it feels, i.e., "ROXIE" sign going dark.
- Roxie fakes a pregnancy = She makes life a stage

INT. "STAGE" - NIGHT

On the stage, the "ROXIE" sign goes dark.

INT. COOK COUNTY JAIL - DAY

Velma steps up to Roxie.

VELMA: How's it feel, kid?

She holds up the morning papers, which are filled with stories about the Lakeshore Drive Massacre. 

VELMA: J. Edgar Hoover couldn't find your name in the papers.

She drops the papers in Roxie's hand and starts off. Roxie gives a sudden shriek and crumbles in a faint. She moans, with eyes closed, then lifts her head a little to call out:

ROXIE: Mr. Flynn? Miss Sunshine?

She faints again. The reporters make a beeline for Roxie. Mary Sunshine peers down at her through the open bars.

MARY SUNSHINE: What is it, dear?

Billy turns to a guard, gestures grandly for the cameras.

BILLY: Someone unlock that door immediately.

ROXIE (wan and sweet): Oh, don't worry about...me. I just hope the fall didn't hurt the baby!

MATRON: Baby!

Roxie nods solemnly.

VELMA: Shit.

Roxie and Velma exchange looks. Flashbulbs pop and peppy MUSIC plays ("Me and My Baby")...

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Despite a high amount of razzle dazzle, I never was lost because the theme keeps the script grounded.  

This is always about life and stage imitating each other.

Chicago (2002)
by Bill Condon
Based on the musical play "Chicago"
Book of the musical play by Bob Fosse and Fred Ebb
Based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins

TODAY'S NUGGET: 52 Pickup (1986) - How to Amp Up a Thriller-Action-Adventure

[Quick Summary: When a businessman deals with his blackmailers, neither expect the twists and turns.]

This script was an unexpected emotional ride for me because:

1) Characters have REAL reactions: 

It also isolates the key ingredient in Leonard's best novels, which is the sight of a marginal character being pushed far beyond his capacity to cope. In "52 Pick-Up," there are three such characters, and by the end of the movie they are all desperately confused and frightened. -R. Ebert (underline mine)

2) There are REAL consequences = jeopardy & stakes:

The problem with so many action adventures is that nobody in the movie ever seems scared enough. People are getting killed in every other scene, and they stay cool. If the movies were like real life and this kind of torture and murder were going on, everybody would be throwing up every five minutes - like they do in John D. MacDonald's novels. "52 Pick-Up" creates that sense of hopelessness and desperation, and it does it with those three performances - three guys who are in way over their heads and know it all too well. -R. Ebert (underline mine)

I especially like how the writers do this by showing how the situation is edgy for the blackmailers (Bobby, Alan, Leo) as well as the blackmailee (Mitchell):

INT. THE BALL - NIGHT

Bobby strolling into the club. In rear booth sit Alan and Leo. On stage dancing, naked, is Doreen. Bobby walks to booth and sits.

LEO: You want something to drink?

BOBBY: Don't need nothing, man.

ALAN: I can see it. (pause) This guy's not scared yet. He's twitchy, but he's not scared.

BOBBY: Man's lookin' for a way out. So would I.

ALAN: I don't know -- who's he think he's dealing with a bunch of ding-dongs, freaks, clowns?

BOBBY: You getting close.

ALAN: I think we're going to have to dig the hole a little deeper--and man, I got an idea, a way to do it, that's un-fucking believable.

BOBBY: Well, lay it on me, see if I like it.

INT. MITCHELL'S HOTEL ROOM - NIGHT

he sits on edge of bed and reaches into coat pocket for cigarettes. He pulls out pack --sees that it's empty. he throws it angrily at wall. 

MITCHELL: Shit.

He stretches out on his back, staring at ceiling.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: When there's real obstacles (greed) + real consequences (death) + no easy way out (no cell phones, internet), tension does rise because the stakes are so close to home.

52 Pickup (1986)(6th draft, 3/25/86)
by John Steppling and Elmore Leonard
Based on the novel by Elmore Leonard

TODAY'S NUGGET: Bean (1997) - Sometimes Comedy Scenes Do Not Translate

[Quick Summary: Bean, a clumsy employee from the National Gallery, causes havoc when he is lent to a LA museum to help with the arrival of "Whistler's Mother."]

I think Stephen Fry nailed the differences between UK & US comedy:
- UK comedy is about character and US comedy is about jokes.
- UK likes to poke fun at themselves. US has a hard time.
- UK likes the loser hero. US almost always is a hero hero.

My advice is ALWAYS write whatever is funniest to you.

However, writers should realize that others may not get it.

For example, this script has many funny scenes, but the one below irritated me. 

In this scene:
- David and family are hosting Bean, but have missed him at the airport.
- Bean arrives first at their home, enters, and pokes around.
- Family comes home, but do not realize Bean is in the house.
- UK readers, help me out: What is the point? I know everything does not have to push plot forward, but how is this funny or tell me more of character (vs. gross)?

INT. THE LEARY HOUSE, KITCHEN - NIGHT

The light is on. DAVID takes a deep breath. Bad night. He picks up an empty coffee jar, sighs and goes into the pantry [for] a full one. BEAN enters. He opens the refrigerator and he studies the food on offer. Nothing he fancies...then he sees a single meatball on a plate.

He picks it up - a little nervously - and pops it whole into his mouth. He has a little suck - doesn't like it one bit - and so takes it out - and puts it back on the plate, closes the fridge door, and exits...

...just as DAVID comes out of the pantry. Close on BEAN's hand as it comes round the door frame and turns off the light. DAVID, on the move, stubs his toe on a chair. He groans in pain, limps to the fridge. He spots the lone, already-sucked meatball and pops it in his mouth.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Some scenes did not land for me - not funny, too long.  

However the script is an amazing 80% non-verbal slapstick (95% for Bean), which likely counts for its success.

Bean (1997)(6/7/96 draft)
by Richard Curtis & Robin Driscoll with Rowan Atkinson

TODAY'S NUGGET: Down With Love (2003) - When Clothes REFLECT Character

[Quick Summary: Barbara Novak, 1960s author of bestseller Down With Love, is set up for a fall by Catcher Block, hot undercover journalist, in a battle of the sexes.]

BAD NEWS: It kind of disappoints in Act 3.

GOOD NEWS: As those who have seen this film several times (like me), you know how the clothes unbelievably perfectly encapsulate/enhance character and tone.

One of the film's best over-the-top moments in the restaurant where Barbara and her editor Vikki walk in and take over, like it's a kitchy 1960s fashion show. 

Notice how Barbara's clothes and movementa proclaim, "Hear me roar!"

INT. THE MAHOGANY ROOM - DAY

....MANTOVANI MOOD MUSIC BEGINS --For even though BARBARA and VIKKI are merely entering the restaurant and taking off their coats, the following is staged like a FASHION SHOW, and is appropriately scored like one.

BARBARA and VIKKI stride like runway models down the entrance steps and freeze, striking a pose. EVERYONE in the restaurant stops to watch.

BARBARA and VIKKI each turn to the left and to the right, and then in one full circle.  They're just taking in the restaurant; we're taking in every perspective of their hats, coats, gloves, shoes and pocketbooks.

BARBARA's coat is one of those just-below-the-knee equilateral triangle numbers, with the matching hat an inverted pyramid on her head. VIKKI's coat is test-tube thin, the matching hat a large flat disk.

Now facing front, they both set their matching pocketbooks on the balustrade at each of their sides and unbutton the giant buttons of their coats, opening them wide so we see the lining, and revealing that underneath they each wear a suit that matches their coats.

The MAITRE D' steps up behind them and slides off their coats, first BARBARA's, then VIKKI's, giving them each a chance to take a solo turn:

So while VIKKI's coat is taken off, BARBARA struts into the restaurant toward the tables with three long strides, freezes again with a pose showing off the suit, then turns and walks back the three long strides to pick up her forgotten pocketbook -- passing by VIKKI who is on her strut forward.

BARBARA waits as VIKKI completes her stride, freeze, pose, turn, and stride back for her pocketbook, then together they follow the MAITRE D' to Catch's booth and are seated.

END MUSIC. FASHION SHOW OVER. EVERYONE resumes lunch.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Showcasing clothes = showcasing how Barbara and Vikki want to be seen as.  It's their internal state on the outside!

Down With Love (2003)(1/22/02 draft)
by Eve Ahlert & Dennis Drake

TODAY'S NUGGET: Kicking & Screaming (2004) - Seeing that 'He's Not Listening'

[Quick Summary: Phil decides to coach his son's soccer team against an opposing team coached by Phil's dad.]

This distant dad-son story unspools exactly as you'd expect.

However, there are nice unexpected moments, like the one below where we see that Phil is not listening and resents his much younger Bucky. 

FYI: "Buck" is their dad.

ex. EXT. BUCK'S BACKYARD - DAY

...They watch Buck for a while.

PHIL: Bucky, how do you do it?

BUCKY: Do what?

PHIL: He just doesn't seem to bother you like he bothers me.

BUCKY: Dad likes pushing your buttons. It's his love language.

PHIL: You know what he calls you? The son he always wanted.

BUCKY: Don't take it so hard.

PHIL: He's like that with you?

BUCKY: Nah. He knows it wouldn't bug me like it bugs you.

PHIL: He's been riding me all my life. When's it going to stop?

 BUCKY: When it stops getting to you.

PHIL: Yeah. I guess you're right.

Phil pops open a beer. He hands it to Bucky. He pops one for himself.

CLOSE ON BUCKY

He's about to take a sip of beer. Phil's hand quickly slaps it out of his hand.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I liked the pace of this - apparent resolution of conflict, then one beat later we see it hasn't resolved.

Kicking & Screaming (2005)(Oct. 2003 )
by Leo Benvenuti & Steve Rudnick

TODAY'S NUGGET: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy (2004) - The Discipline of Comedy

[Quick Summary: Ron Burgandy, 1970s lead news anchor, is thrown for a loop when Alicia Corningstone, a new woman reporter, joins the staff.]

4 THOUGHTS:

1)  Sometimes the key to satire is to stay fairly close to the source. "Anchorman," like "This Is Spinal Tap," works best when it's only a degree or two removed from the excesses of the real thing.

2)  If the movie simply focused on making Ron and his team look ridiculous, it might grow tedious, because that would be such an easy thing to do. But it has a kind of sweetness to it.

3)  I like that nothing is off limits in this 1st draft.  There's a very different ending.  The jokes and tangents are unpolished.  However, the basic structure IS there.  The writers DO have something to say.

4) Combining #2 & 3 above: This draft does focus on making Ron ridiculous.  The innuendos are repetitive and tedious, and sweetness is missing. 

These writers were experienced enough to allow themselves the space to buckshot a first draft. Good writing only springs from much rewriting of bad writing.

Here is an example of a tedious scene that was deleted/changed: 

ALICIA CORNINGSTONE, aka: the striking woman from the night before, walks through the door.

BRIAN FANTANA: What the frig...?

CHAMP KIND: That's a lady!

Ron is blown away.

MUSIC: "YOU MAKE ME SO VERY HAPPY" by Blood, Sweat and Tears.

RON: My sweat vision...

ALICIA CORNINGSTONE: Oh my dearest Ron. My sex moose, take me right now on this conference table!

RON: I am engorged!

They jump on each other.

ALICIA CORNINGSTONE: We are doing this right now with no shame!

RON: Let's make a baby!

ALICIA CORNINGSTONE: Get nasty on me! Break the law!

RON: It's jazz, baby! Jazz!!

They fall back and smash through the conference table while everyone applauds.

SMASH CUT BACK TO:

Back to reality from Ron's fantasy.

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: Comedy requires the discipline of trying, correcting, risking, correcting, trying again.  Only newbies expect good writing from the start.

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy (2004)(1st draft revised, 5/12/02)
by Will Ferrell & Adam McKay

TODAY'S NUGGET: Miami Vice (2006) - Growing Romance Between Characters

[Quick Summary: Crockett and Tubbs try to thwart a Central American drug deal.]

I find this quote from Michael Mann interesting:

I know the ambition behind it, but it didn’t fulfill that ambition for me because we couldn’t shoot the real ending. But whole parts of the film are very evocative to me still, especially when it comes to the romance. It was about how far somebody goes when they’re undercover, and what that really means because, ultimately, who you become is yourself on steroids, manifested out there in the real world. There’s an intensity to your living that’s incredible — the relationships in that world, the really heightened experience of it. And this is from speaking to some people who’ve done a lot of very dangerous, deep undercover over long periods. That’s what Crockett does.

First, I liked the ending of this first draft - it's quite romantic.

Second, I don't really associate "romantic" with Michael Mann, so the amount of romance in the story surprised me (somewhere between 40-50%).

It's a subtle trust thing that grows between Crockett and Isabella, as symbolized by her finally accepting sunglasses in the scene below:

EXT. OPEN OCEAN - "BORN TO WIN"

cuts and then leaps over swells. In seven seconds they're doing over 70 knots. And Crockett holds it there as...

ISABELLA

The wind whips her hair behind her, now. The two are small against the smooth 50' long hull.  Crockett hands her wraparound shades for her eyes. She doesn't want them...

CROCKETT (through headset): So where's the best place for mojitas?

ISABELLA: Bedeguita del Medio. It's the only place for mojitas...

CROCKETT: Where's that?

ISABELLA: Off a little alley with cobblestones. Hemingway went there...

CROCKETT: The Keys?

ISABELLA: Havana.

CROCKETT: Havana? Cubans don't like us or my business...

ISABELLA: Are you afraid? (smiles; Crockett shakes his head "no") Good. And you don't need a visa. Cause you're with me.

EXT. OPEN OCEAN - OVERHEAD "BORN TO WIN" - DAY

rockets from one swell to the next, getting airborne. Wind and salt electrify Isabella.  She turns to Crockett and smiles, putting on the glasses, now. Crockett gestures to her knees.  She should keep them bent. Crockett pushes it to 75 knots...

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: The dangerous situation + high stakes make falling in love an even higher tightrope...or addictive experience, depending on how you look at it.

Miami Vice (2006)(9/22/04, 1st draft)
by Michael Mann
Based on "Miami Vice" created by Anthony Yerkovich

TODAY'S NUGGET: Collateral (2004) - Action Gains Depth from Character

[Quick Summary: Max, an innocent L.A. taxi driver, is roped into assisting Vincent, an assassin who is picking off five victims in one night.]

THREE THOUGHTS:

1) "This is a rare thriller that's as much character study as sound and fury." Also, it's rare that a script 167 pgs. (yes, 167) reads half as long.

2) Action gains depth from character.

I was surprised that the script dared (dared!) break away from the 5 assassinations ...and make a pit stop to visit Max's mom in the hospital?  I loved it.

Mann is working in a genre with "Collateral," as he was in "Heat" (1995), but he deepens genre through the kind of specific detail that would grace a straight drama. Consider a scene where Vincent asks (or orders) Max to take him to the hospital where Max's mother is a patient. The mother is played by Irma P. Hall (the old lady in the Coens' "The Lady-Killers"), and she makes an instant impression, as a woman who looks at this man with her son, and intuits that everything might not be right, and keeps that to herself.

These scenes are so much more interesting than the standard approach of the shifty club owner or the comic-relief Big Mama. Mann allows dialogue into the kind of movie that many directors now approach as wall-to-wall action. Action gains a lot when it happens to convincing individuals, instead of to off-the-shelf action figures. - Roger Ebert (my emphasis)

3) Why does this hospital scene work here?

First, the more we learn about character, the higher the stakes.
- ex.  Max's mom has been bothering the dispatcher because Max has not shown up for his nightly visit.  Max is a dutiful, henpecked son. 
- ex. Vincent makes them go because he thinks changes in routine are suspicious.

Second, more stakes = more leverage, as Vincent learns below:

ex.  INT. HOSPITAL ROOM, LOWER FLOOR - MAX - NIGHT

MAX: Hey, mom. How many times do I have to ask you not to do that?

IDA: Do what?

MAX: Talk about me like...I'm...not...in the room, here.

IDA (to Vincent): What's he sayin'?

VINCENT: Ida, he says he's standing right here. In the room. Here.

IDA (to Max): Yesss, you are, honey. (back to Vincent) He's sensitive.

VINCENT: I know. But I'm sure you're proud of him.

IDA (directed at Max): Of course I'm proud. You know, he started with nothing. Look at him today. Here. Vegas. Reno...

Vincent looks at Max...squirming under the exposure.

MAX: Mom, Vincent's not interested. (to Vincent) Let's go.

VINCENT: No. I am interested.

IDA: What's your name, again?

VINCENT: Vincent...

MAX: I came to see you. I saw you. You look fine. Let's go.

He's kissed her and wants to get out of there.

IDA: Limousine companies.

VINCENT: Yeah?

IDA He drives famous people around, you know?

VINCENT: Limousine companies? What an achievement...

Max heads for the door...

WHAT I'VE LEARNED: I really like the character stuff because stakes deepen layers, which is emotionally enriching (vs. non-stop wall-to-wall action that can be emotionally numbing).

Collateral (2004)(8/24/03 draft w/revisions)
by Stuart Beattie, with revisions by Frank Darabont, Michael Mann