As Good as it Gets (AGAIT) (Part 2)

Other things to Learn from this script:

Structure:
1. A plot point is a change from the status quo. The first plot pt. is Simon's beating. The
second plot pt. is the road trip. But there are also minor plot pts, all of which indicate a
change from the status quo. These include:
- Melvin runs to the shrink, a small plot pt.
- Carol's no show and Melvin's eviction from the restaurant is small plot pt.
- Melvin gets the Dr. to help Spence, minor plot pt.

2. Note that each of the 3 characters has multiple crises:
- Simon has 3 crises: his beating, his show's failure and his loss of Verdell.
- Melvin has two crises: he loses Verdell and Carol & the restaurant
- Carol's crises: Spence is major sick. and she can't work.
Multiple crises can be necessary to make the point. For example, if Simon had been beaten
but his show was a booming success and Verdell still loved him, would his emergency have been as sympathetic?
So, writers can intensify an emotional event by "piling it on" with multiple crises.

Emotional beats:
Wordplayer.com quotes F. Scott Fitzgerald as saying something like a film is all about making people feel a certain way. So, as writers, we should analyze our scripts for emotions, in particular making sure that there are we've created at least a few powerful emotional scenes that the audience will want to discuss while sipping their post-cinema lattes. (If you're really ambitious, think James Cameron, Titanic and teenage girls crying in the theater bathrooms.)
Remember the end of "Shawshank Redemption" when Tim Robbins looks up from his boat fixing to see a hatless, barefooted Morgan Freeman approaching.
AGAIT has several strong emotional beats, including:
- Anger/surprise when Melvin says to Carol, "...it sure sounds like your son is going to die."
- Emotional low when Simon looks in the mirror.
- Dr. Bettes visits Carol. This is a very strong scene: first fear and then joy.

Character:
1. The key character in this script is Melvin and the key aspect of that character is how many
interesting film elements were created because that character is so inherently interesting.
For example:
- The scene in Melvin's publisher's office.
- The scene's in Carol's cafe. "There are Jews at my table" and Melvin's ejection to universal applause.
- The scene of Verdell stepping over the cracks.
It takes real skill and hard work to create a character like this. How many of us writers,
myself included, began a script with a protagonist like, "he was a former Navy Seal," or, "she
was a burned out lawyer." Yawn. Moreover, think what scenes such characters contribute. A US
Navy Seal contributes action sequences. Not bad if you're writing an action film but not much use in drama. And, we've all seen action films before. "A former Navy SEAL" does not contribute anything original. How about "former Navy turned Jesus Freak, preaching on the corner of 42nd and 7th Avenue"?

2. This is a hard character to execute. He could easily lose audience sympathy and hence the
emotional pull of the film. Executing him is like walking a tightrope between alienating the
audience or losing Melvin's compelling edginess. As the saying goes, 'kids, don't try this at
home."

Good Writing:
The script is full of short, tight, dense scenes.