Save the Cat Goes to the Movies

by Blake Snyder

  B Story: Still high, Ethan is taken to the home of Roger (Scott Glenn), a drug dealer and Denzel’s buddy. Though his actual screen time is short, Scott plays the B story role and is how Ethan will learn his real lesson. We also hear Scott tell a thematic tale of “the street” about a steadfast snail who refuses to give up.

  Fun and Games: The “trailer moments” of two narcs on the beat. They leave Scott’s house and cruise the city when Ethan spots a rape in progress. Making Denzel stop, Ethan breaks up the assault, gets beaten as Denzel watches, then is forced to let the bad guys go. But saving the girl will be crucial to Ethan. He’s getting wise to his false mentor. And yet! As Denzel plays Ethan, even we can’t tell if he is ultimately good or bad — it could go either way. Fun and Games end when Denzel takes Ethan to The Jungle, a gang neighborhood. The married Denzel has a girlfriend and illegitimate child there. As with the girl in the alley, Ethan befriends the boy, a caring act that pays off later.

  Midpoint: The “stakes are raised” at Minute 55 as the two meet the “wise men,” a corrupt group of LAPD brass. We learn Denzel owes the Russian Mob $1,000,000. This new information exemplifies a screenwriting trick I call the lemon seed. At mid-movie, think of new info such as this like putting a lemon seed between your thumb and forefinger and starting to squeeze until it … squirts out in Act Three. Every script should have a lemon seed in some way. From this point forward, it’s on! — pace quickening, pressure building to the final pop! Armed with an illegal warrant — courtesy of the “wise men” — Denzel and Ethan meet a cop crew, dirty like Denzel. Ethan is the rookie, not trusted as they ready for a bust. Who’s the target? Can you guess?

  Bad Guys Close In: Yup. Scott Glenn. Denzel and crew burst in and rob him at gunpoint. Ethan refuses his cut of the money the crew steals from Scott. But “internal conflict” comes when Denzel murders Scott, then stages the scene to make it look like Ethan pulled the trigger. Ethan fights back, turning the gun on Denzel while the other cops threaten to shoot. Denzel tells Ethan he’ll be drug tested. Denzel’s been setting Ethan up from the start.

  All Is Lost: Or has he? In some part of our soul we think, this can’t be! But Ethan’s “choice” is clear. “You guys are insane,” he tells Denzel. Welcome to the “I” world, Ethan! Denzel drives Ethan to a gang house. Duped by Denzel, Ethan’s taken hostage in a final betrayal. The “whiff of death” occurs when Ethan is wrestled into the bathroom to be executed. But when the gang members find a wallet on him belonging to their cousin, and learn Ethan saved her from being raped, they let him go.

  Dark Night of the Soul: Riding the bus through the city at night, bloody but not done, Ethan plots the last “sacrifice.”

  Break into Three: Ethan, the “steadfast snail,” walks into The Jungle looking for Denzel. What he was in Act One — an ethical cop — is added to by what he learned in Act Two — street toughness — for a dangerous combination in Act Three: pissed-off Synthesis Man.

  Finale: The “time clock” has Denzel needing to get the money to the Russian Mob by midnight or be executed. It’s why he got the warrant, why he robbed Scott, and why he set up Ethan. But Denzel has met his better. Helped by Denzel’s son, who acts as a shield for him, Ethan battles Denzel and leaves him in the hands of the hood rats, who let Ethan walk out with Denzel’s million bucks.

  Final Image: Trying to make a getaway, Denzel is killed by the Russians, as Ethan walks in the door of his home — safe and much wiser.

  CRASH (2005)

  The “Issue Institution” is that story of the “I” kind that involves an ensemble cast, intersecting multiple story lines, and a theme. This style has returned to popularity of late and gives us ADD-afflicted lots o’ stars to watch — and something to think about after the show. Like the spiritual forefather of this film type, Robert Altman, director/co-writer Paul Haggis uses this technique to dissect an Institutionalized problem — in this case, racism. But does Crash fit the structure of the BS2?

  Answer: of course!

  All stories are about transformation! And all good stories have beginnings, middles, and ends — with each story’s lead character changing emotionally from + to — or from — to + at Opening Image and Final Image. This phenomenon is a result of entering Act Two’s “transformation machine.” In Crash, as in any ensemble film, each story has a Set-Up, Break into Two, Midpoint, Break into Three, and Final Image. And though each beat is compressed, the stories are woven together for maximum drama.

  The ensemble forces the writer to intensify every beat of each story, so only the most relevant moments of the BS2 are shown on-screen. It is a technique that seems “hyper-real” at times, but supercharges the overall impact. And it’s what makes any movie about “the many” so powerful — if executed well.

  I Type: Issue Institution

  I Cousins: Nashville, The Big Chill, Short Cuts, Magnolia, Eating, Night on Earth, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, Sin City, Friends with Money, Babel

  CRASH

  Screenplay by Paul Haggis & Bobby Moresco

  Story by Paul Haggis

  Opening Image/Theme Stated: LAPD Detective Graham Waters (Don Cheadle) and partner/lover Ria (Jennifer Esposito) after a car accident. “In LA nobody touches you,” he says. “I think we miss that touch so much, that we crash into each other, just so we can feel something.” Jennifer is mad at Don, and when he gets out of the car, she gets into a racial-hate fight with a fellow crash victim that tells us Don may be right. What’s stopping us from “touching”? Don finds a shoe at the scene as we cut to …

  Set-Up/Catalyst/Debate: … “Yesterday.” We now set up our various stories, launching each into motion with a Cat! alytic moment, and with a “debate” about what the incident means.

  – A Persian man, Farhad (Shaun Toub), and his daughter Dorri (Bahar Soomekh), buy a gun to protect their store. They argue with the gun shop owner. Bahar buys bullets.

  – Two carjackers, Anthony (Ludacris) and Peter (Larenz Tate), fear being black on the white side of Los Angeles.

  – Jean Cabot (Sandra Bullock) and husband Rick (Brendan Fraser) are Westside elites. He is the city DA; when they’re carjacked, she will spiral into race hate.

  – Don and Jennifer are called to a LAPD shooting incident.

  – John Ryan (Matt Dillon) carps about his Dad’s health to HMO worker Shaniqua (Loretta Devine). On patrol with Tom Hansen (Ryan Phillippe), Matt stops a black couple in their car. Cameron (Terrence Howard), a TV director, watches helplessly as racist Matt sexually frisks his wife (Thandie Newton).

  – After a long day, and getting hate from Sandra, Hispanic locksmith Daniel (Michael Pena) gives his daughter an “invisible cloak” to protect her from stray gunfire.

  Break into Two/Fun and Games: Less plot and more talk about racism as each of the stories deals with the theme.

  – Afraid from the carjacking, Sandra chooses to deal with it by changing locks and yelling at Brendan and her maid.

  – The interaction with the racist Matt makes Terrence and Thandie argue about his “blackness” and manhood. Why didn’t he do something? More talk of race on the set when his boss (Tony Danza) tells Terrence how to coach a black actor.

  – Ludacris and Larenz run over an Asian man and dump him at a hospital; they talk about the discrimination they face.

  – After fixing a lock at Shaun’s store, Michael is put down by Shaun as a Hispanic, and accused of cheating them.

  Midpoint/Bad Guys Close In/All Is Lost: We see textbook “raising of stakes” on each story, and the melancholy that follows. In each case, the “bad guy” is internal turmoil.

  – At Minute 46, Matt visits Shaniqua and apologizes for his racism, telling her about his Dad; she refuses to help.

  – Don visits his Mom, a heroin addict. His brother is missing; she asks Don to find him.

  – Shaun’s store is robbed. The insurance agent tells him because of the Hispanic locksmith, they are not covered.

  – Ryan tells Matt he’s been reassigned. I
t’s not stated, but Ryan doesn’t want a racist partner. Matt warns him: “You think you know who you are. You have no idea.”

  – At Minute 58, police find cash in the car on the case that Don and Jennifer are working. The cop was corrupt.

  – At Minute 59, Terrence watches a scene as cast and crew look on satisfied. This “false victory” makes Terrence seethe.

  Break into Three/Finale: Now the stories reach a climax. We’ve seen set-up, raising of the stakes, tension — and now release.

  – At 1 Hour 4 Minutes, Matt chooses to risk his life to save a woman who hates him (Thandie) from a burning car.

  – At 1 Hour 13 Minutes, Terrence is carjacked by Ludacris and Larenz, who get separated when Terrence fights back. Recognizing Terrence, Ryan saves him and his carjacker from other cops who would have shot them. As Terrence lets Ludacris go, he tells him: “You embarrass me. You embarrass yourself.”

  – At 1 Hour 20 Minutes, Shaun goes to kill Michael, whose daughter jumps in front of the gunfire. Only later will we know Shaun’s daughter bought blanks at the gun store.

  – At 1 Hour 23 Minutes, Sandra realizes she’s always angry, threatens to fire her maid, then slips on the stairs.

  – At 1 Hour 29 Minutes, Ryan picks up Larenz hitchhiking and mistakenly shoots and kills him when he thinks he’s reaching for a gun. Ryan dumps the body.

  Final Image: At 1 Hour 30 Minutes, we are back to where this movie began, and when Don finds the shoe at the scene of the accident, we realize it belongs to Larenz, Don’s brother! We sum up each tale by showing how each person has transformed.

  – Ludacris returns to the spot where he hit the Asian man and turns in his van for cash — only to discover it holds illegal Asian immigrants. He could sell them, but in the course of this day, he’s changed. He lets them go.

  – Don’s Mom ID’s the body of her dead son, then blames Don for his death; he was “too busy” to find him. Jennifer understands what is troubling Don a little better now.

  – Sandra’s fall and revelation about her anger has had an effect: At 1 Hour 40 Minutes, she tells Brendan she loves him and hugs her maid, calling her “my best friend.”

  – Ryan burns his car to cover up his murder of a black man; his racist ex-partner was right about him.

  – Thandie calls Terrence and he tells her he loves her.

  – As snow falls on LA, Matt comforts his Dad with reborn compassion. In a button, Shaniqua, who did not help Matt, is in a “needed” accident. Crash bookends crash.

  Every “Superhero” must face a super bad guy, and Russell Crowe has met his match in one of the great Nemeses in movies: Joaquin Phoenix as Commodus, shown here in the Act Three crucifixion beat from Gladiator.

  Perhaps my favorite genre and one that’s forever been the world’s favorite is le piece de resistance … “Superhero”!.

  Somewhere up on Mt. Olympus is a special guy or gal who is on the way down here. Poor dope! Though imbued with amazing powers, and sent to save us dumb clucks from ourselves, he’s the one who’s stuck: Not quite human nor quite god, unable to date — or tell his plight to anyone who’ll “get it” — Mr. Square Jaw must bear the brunt of the hostility, jealousy, and fear from us Lilliputians. He don’t get no respect, he don’t get no love — he don’t get nada!

  And yet he has no choice but to be our savior.

  It’s not easy being special. And the real bummer is the Superhero knows he is — and will pay a price for being so.

  But what is he to do?

  As long as we’ve been telling stories, someone is always coming to rescue us — Jesus, Moses, Hercules, Joan of Arc, and Spider-Man. And their legends are all the same. It isn’t until later that we look back on these folks and say: “Thanks for stopping by!” ’Cause right at the moment, while in our midst, they’re a little scary — which is why Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Wolfman fall into this same category. Truth is: There’s a reason superheroes get no respect — because being special means they’re not like us. It’s why theirs are stories of triumph and of sacrifice.

  And the range of these stories is Valhalla-like.

  The “People’s Superhero” is about a civilian rising from the ranks to meet a great challenge, like Robin Hood, Zorro, and the pre-fabricated kind, as seen in Gladiator. There is the “Comic Book Superhero,” those we think of first from the genre’s title, and very often with “Man” in their last name: Spider-Man, Superman, Batman … and Murray Silverman, my accountant. What about the “Real Life Superhero” like Jesus, Joan of Arc, Lawrence of Arabia, and true tales of biography shaped into the Superhero form, like the story of Jake La Motta in Raging Bull? Even made-up worlds need saving, so there’s the “Fantasy Superhero” like those found in The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. And since animated stories deal so heavily in this world, we get the “Storybook Superhero” in The Lion King and Mulan, tales for kids that are basically variations on the “chosen one” legend, but made palpable with funny songs and talking animals.

  You know you have a Superhero story if you’ve got these three unique components: (1) a “power” the hero is imbued with, or a mission to be “super” that makes him more than human; (2) a “Nemesis,” an equally powerful bad guy who opposes the hero’s rise; and (3) a “curse” or Achilles heel — for every power there is a defect, one that can be used by the bad guy against our guy.

  In terms of the “power” the Superhero is given, at first it seems like fun. Think of Superman as a teenager testing his speed and strength, Spidey flinging webs, or Jesus making the lame not so lame anymore. Whether it’s New Testament or DC Comics, the appeal is the same; we watch as a special being gets to show off his specialness, demonstrated in the “Fun and Games” sections of these tales. The hero is not “us,” but we can enjoy the fantasy by proxy. And it’s great. It’s magic. It should be! But we also know, deep inside, that the higher they fly, the harder they hit the pavement. For every superpower, there’s a cosmic payback coming.

  The Superhero genre is most like Fool Triumphant; there is a lot of crossover when dealing with stories of being special. One thing they share is the “hero changes his name” beat. In Fool Triumphant tales, the hero often sneaks into Act Two using his new name as a deception or as part of a disguise he needs to survive, while in SH tales the hero proclaims his new name, as seen when Colonel Lawrence, British officer, becomes “El Aurens” in Lawrence of Arabia, and Russell Crowe is dubbed “Gladiator.” This tradition goes back to the “chosen one” tales in the Bible, as when Abram becomes Abraham and Saul is re-named Paul. The powers of the Superhero are different, too: Unlike FT tales, a Superhero knows power comes with a price. The Fool is unaware of his power’s cost — and sometimes even unaware he is opposed!

  What really makes the Superhero different from the Fool Triumphant is a Nemesis with matching or greater abilities. I say in the first STC! that what makes James Bond 007 is not the gadgets or the girls, it’s Blofeld and Dr. No and Goldfinger. To be a Superhero, you must have a Lex Luther-y kind of bad guy opposing you: the Moriarity to our Sherlock Holmes, the Commodus to our Maximus, the Dr. Evil to our Austin Powers. These are the most fascinating good guy/bad guy match-ups in storytelling, because the distinction between good and evil is so slight. And what does the Superhero have that the Nemesis lacks?

  The answer is simple: faith.

  The Superhero doesn’t have to wonder if he’s special, he knows he is; the bad guy in these tales can only rely on himself and the little machinations he’s created to prop up the image he has as the “chosen,” which he secretly knows is false. Often the Nemesis is a “super genius,” relying on his brain for his power — the very symbol of self-will run amok. While the Nemesis may best the Superhero for a time, in the end his lack of faith makes him need to kill his opposite, for only if he erases the real “chosen one” can he ever triumph. If the Nemesis were truly special, he wouldn’t need to kill anyone, which is why in so many of these tales — the Christ story being the most o
bvious — there is a showdown where the hero is tested, facing his enemies essentially all by himself, and often killed or tortured for his trouble.

  Finally, the “curse” is that thing in most Superhero tales that balances out the powers and makes us not hate the protagonist as badly as we might. From “The Immutable Laws of Screenplay Physics,” we know that anybody who gets everything they want is unlikable, so to make them bearable, we stick our Superhero protags with some kind of handicap. Look at the “sexual sacrifice” of Jake La Motta in Raging Bull, Peter Parker in Spider-Man, Clark Kent in Superman — let alone the curse of having to keep one’s identity hidden, leading to the duo-identities of these heroes. It’s a pain being special is the message, and we have to give up something for the power. For every ounce of kryptonite for Superman, there is daylight for Dracula, and a full moon for the Wolfman, and on and on. And don’t forget the Superhero, like Gulliver against the Lilliputians — forever tied down by a thousand annoying little threads — has us to contend with too. And yet we still identify. Though not super, we’ve also faced tiny minds.

  Just try pitching your movie idea at Disney!

  A character that pops up in a lot of these SH tales is the Mascot, that puppy dog nipping at the Superhero’s heel and loyal to the end, such as the servants that Lawrence chooses in Lawrence of Arabia, Jimmy Olsen in Superman, Jake La Motta’s brother in Raging Bull, and Simba’s sidekicks in The Lion King. These are the characters who show the contrast between us and … them.

  One interesting note in reviewing this genre is the absolute dearth of female-driven Superhero stories. Why?

  No, really.

  Of the very few that have been attempted — Lara Croft, Elektra, Underworld, Aeon Flux, and Catwoman — all seem to be pale imitations of their male Superhero counterparts, and like the historic Superhero tale of Joan of Arc, half the story is devoted to the people around the hero being unable to believe “a girl” can do the job. Of these, the best is a little indie called Whale Rider, but that story is more about prejudice than empowerment. So for those out there who like a challenge, let’s see some more female Superheroes at the Cineplex! Perhaps this requires a reconfiguring of the rules, and a challenge to the group. Will you be “the one” to bring this change?