Bull Durham - Script Review

Bull Durham. Great film, great script. Oscar-nominated for Best Original Script, losing to Rain Man, but beat Rain Man for the WGA top prize. 1989 was a great year for films: Rain Man, Dangerous Liaisons, The Accidental Tourist, Mississippi Burning and, not least, Bull Durham. Bull Durham is ranked as one of the best sports films of all time AND was commercially successful.

The film may have a limited appeal to non-American audiences because primarily it's about baseball. Nevertheless ...

You can find the script here.

Here are some points about the script:

1. Dueling protagonists. Like many great films, e.g., The African Queen, Titanic, Shawshank Redemption, Thelma and Louise, BD has two major roles. either of which could arguably be the protag. Why is this important?
a. Selling a script is greatly helped by writing great roles that appeal to actors. The role of Annie is awesome; I imagine any actress would drool to get it.
b. Gives the writer more to work with. Multiple plot lines and subplots. Makes the story more interesting than a single plotline. For example, have you ever seen a Tom Clancy book that had only one major protag?

2. Excellent opening:
a. Sets the genre and tone from the get go.
b. Establishes Annie as a major character and shows her in her natural element. First impressions of a character are most important.

3. VO Narration:
a. Used throughout the film, by multiple characters. Annie, Crash and Nuke all do it, or something like it, such as their thoughts aloud. A lot of amateur scripts use VO as a crutch and fail; Bull Durham is a good example of how to do it well.

4. Authenticity:
a. Max Patkin.
b. The audience can’t help but feel there is authenticity to this story.

5. Writing tips:
a. In the same way that major characters and major locations can (should!) be introduced with a quick description that creates a visual image in the READERS mind, ditto for relationships. For example, when Milly first joins Annie, the description says, “The younger woman looks up to Annie for wisdom and insight.” That quick statement clearly identifies the relationship and is a great help to the reader.
TELL A STORY IN YOUR SCRIPT.

6. The intro scene for each major character clearly establishes either their character or their objective/struggle or both:
- Annie's opening establishes a complex, unique and interesting character.
- Nuke's opening, screwing Milly, describes his character. His first pitch describes his objective.
- Crash’s opening shows that he loves the game, even to put up with indignity, but he has no talent.

7. The firing of Bobby foreshadows the much later firing of Crash. In the script (as opposed to the film) the scene is written differently and perhaps more strongly. Bobby gets fired just as his baby is taking his first step. That would be a good example of preparation by contrast.

8. Supporting characters:
a. The scriptshark grid says that supporting characters should be unique and add value to the story. Milly, Jimmy, Skip, Larry, Jose (cursed glove) all add value to the story.

9. Central Conflict and Subplots:
a. The central conflict? Will Crash and Annie get together?
b. Subplot: Milly’s search for love culminating in Jimmy.
c. Subplot: Crash’s quest for the minor league record.
d. Subplot: The Bulls season.
e. Subplot: Annie and Nuke.
f. Subplot: Nuke’s career.

10. The garters as a symbol. Nuke resists wearing them but starts winning when he does. The intersection between male and female? It’s a prime theme of the film.

11. Act 2 ends when:
a. Nuke’s winning streak ends.
b. Crash gets thrown from the game.
c. Milly gets married to Jimmy.
d. Nukes Dad visits.
e. Nuke gets called to the show.
In other words, multiple subplots reach their climax simultaneously. THIS IS A GREAT TECHNIQUE to create a great plotpoint 2 or climax: instead of having one big climax, you can have multiples.

Principle: start with crises (transition points? points of character instability?) develop them in act 2, then bring them to a crisis and then complete them. In "The Art of Dramatic Writing," Lajos Egri writes about the point of attack, the point in the extended story where the film story beings. This should be a point of crises. For example, The Doll's House begins when Nora gets the letter. Example: The Matrix begins not when Morpheus is born but when Morpheus AND Agent Smith find Neo. Example: Little Miss Sunshine begins not when the Nine Steps are conceived but when they are in crisis AND Frank attempts suicide AND the marriage is teetering AND Grandpa is snorting heroin, etc. Bull Durham starts with crises: Nuke joins the club, Crash is shanghaied to help Nuke, Crash meets Annie, Milly's life is unstable. These substories are introduced in act 1, developed in act 2 and come to a climax near or in act 3.

11. There are some great, subtle scenes that reveal character:
a. Crash knows that the rose goes in front.
b. Bobby begs for Jose to tap his bat with the chicken bone cross. Crash just takes it.
c. Crash knows how to unhook a garter; Nuke is clueless.
These are all subtle VISUAL scenes. The subtext is visual, not in the dialog.