Tag: script

The Mule (2018)

Warner Bros. 2018

Starred, directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, The Mule tells the story of an 80-year-old horticulturist facing financial problems, who becomes a ‘mule’, a person that transports cocaine for a drug cartel.

The premise is simple, yet the screenwriter Nick Schenk (Gran Torino) could’ve taken many different routes for the story and, in my opinion, took the best one.

The structure of the story is based around runs. Each time Clint’s character goes on a ‘mission’, something happens that either raises the stakes, reveals to the audience something new, or both. Clint’s character is established as a good-hearted man, who’s willing to help everyone around him, which creates empathy between the audience and the character. But he has a major flaw: He was never there for his family when they needed him. This character arc is well executed and feels natural and emotionally satisfying.

The first half of the second act of the movie is successfully driven by Bradley Cooper’s character, a DEA agent starting an investigation that will eventually lead to Clint. Even though this is the antagonist, we have no trouble empathizing with him and, at times, we even wish him to succeed.

As the story progresses, Bradley gets closer to Clint. This leads to a moment where, ignoring his identity, he shares a breakfast with him, and even gets some family advice. This scene at a café creates powerful and delightful tension, as Bradley might discover Clint’s the criminal he’s been looking for for a long time.

Around the three-quarters of the film, Clint is faced by a dilemma. Dilemmas are a very useful devices, because it forces the character to make a decision and, therefore, show character, and because it makes the audience eager to know which decision will be it. Clint ends up choosing family, which helps completing his character arc.

The ending of the movie is very good. As mentioned before, the character arc is satisfying and how things turn out for Clint’s character feel right. Strangely, the ending leaves a subplot forgotten, as we never hear from the drug dealers again and never see them get their comeuppance.

Overall, the two things I enjoyed the most about the film were:
The conflict.: Every scene is charged with conflict and tension, such as when the officer stops Clint and his dog almost detects the cocaine. The movie never stays in the same place. It’s always on motion and things are always happening.
The relationship between the hero and antagonist: This movie is a textbook example of how the antagonist of the story is not necessary evil or hates the hero. It’s easy to empathize with both hero and antagonist, and they even empathize with each other those some great scenes where they interact with each other.

Thanks for reading,
The Screenplayer.

ROMA (2018)

Netflix. 2018.

I just read Roma’s screenplay in Spanish (my first language). This screenplay’s structure is very tricky and extremely atypical. For instance, it lacks a specific goal for the characters to pursue. Its acts are difficult to identify, since the story is more focused on specific, individual and intimate events. This is not to say that the screenplay or the story aren’t good. Actually, the opposite. In my opinion, the following are the key points that make this screenplay actually work:

Empathy: The screenplay makes us empathize with the main character, Cleo, from the first page. How? By showing her working hard, which is, per se, an admirable trait. She does this with a good attitude, again, admirable. We’re also shown that the people around her, specially the children, like her and worry about her. We also see her suffering undeserved mistreatment, like when Fermín abandons her in the movie theater after she tells him she’s pregnant. All of these situations make us care for the protagonist and follow her wherever she goes.

Conflict: Although the screenplay is focused on specific, intimate events, these are very charged of conflict and drama. In fact, I would say that the screenplay is composed by very small events that, as they go by, become big. For example, a father saying goodbye to his family before going to a business trip, becomes a big moment when we discover that he’s not coming back. A trip to the movie theater with the family, later becomes a significant event when one of the children sees their father with another woman. Or what about when Cleo goes to the furniture store to buy a cradle but ends up meeting again with Fermín and her water breaks.

The pregnancy: I give an special meaning to Cleo’s pregnancy, because, for me, it functions like a goal in the film. This is not to say that Cleo’s main goal is to give birth (she actually confesses she didn’t even want the baby to born in the powerful climax scene), but it gives the audience a sense of where the film is going, and helps us not to feel lost or like nothing is happening. It gives us a line to follow and dictates the story’s course.

So even being a drama about individual characters with low stakes, Cuarón manages to makes us feel very connected with the characters, and keeps our attention by establishing strong conflict in most of the scenes, tied in with some revelations that strengthen the plot. Even without a clear, specific goal for the characters to follow, it is hard not to continue reading (or watching).

Thanks for reading,
The Screenplayer.