Contour At The Movies

Overall Impression — Ah, to be young again.  Then I would have liked this movie rather than just liked that my kids liked it. 

THE FOUR QUESTIONS

Who’s your main character? — Skeeter.

What’s he trying to accomplish? — Take over control of the hotel that was promised to him as a child, build a relationship with his niece and nephew, and get Jill to love him.

Who’s trying to stop him? — Kendall.

What happens if he fails? — He is stuck as the handyman at the hotel.

THE FOUR ARCHETYPES

Orphan — Skeeter has no real relationship with his sister or her kids, thanks to an incident with her ex-husband four years ago.  He’s also a bit of an uncouth loser, but only a bit.

Wanderer — Skeeter has to watch the kids, and in doing so tells them bedtime stories which begin to come true in bits and pieces.  He tries unsuccessfully to figure out how to control the stories so that things work out for him.

Warrior — Skeeter gets a chance to become manager of the new hotel if he comes up with a better theme than the conniving Kendall.  Around this time he realizes that he likes Jill and pursues her more actively.

Martyr — Skeeter gives up managing the hotel in order to go back to his roots and run a small family motel.  He also risks his own life to stop the demolition of the school that Jill and his sister work at.

AND, IN THE END…

It was only after I left this PG movie that I realized why I didn’t care for it more…it was rated PG.  My expectation was that it was going to be a smart family film.  Instead, it was only a semi-smart kids’ movie.  As such, my kids really liked it because they don’t have the same expectations I have.  

I don’t mean to be condescending, but one can forgive a kids movie for certain illogical contrivances.  My pet peeve (all right, one of my pet peeves…you know me so well) is lazy writing.  By that, I mean writers copping out and having things happen in their stories because THEY want them to happen, not because it makes sense.  A guinea pig appears on someone’s head without explanation of how it got there without the person knowing, bystanders being allowed to be on the sidewalk outside of a building that’s about to be dynamited, schools being open and full of students on one day and then three days later the place is deserted and ready to be destroyed and nobody knew it was going to happen until the day before?  And there’s more.  

The movie also suffered from a very muddled Central Question.  Was Skeeter trying to figure out how to control the stories?  Sorta, but not really.  Was he  trying to win the affection of the hotel heiress?  Sorta for the first part of the movie, and then he started going after Jill.  Was he trying to get the manager position for the new hotel?  Sorta, but he kept putting off working at it.  Was he trying to forge a relationship with his niece and nephew.? Sorta, but they got won over pretty early.  All of this ends up squandering what was, at its core, a very cool idea; bedtime stories come true.  One can only hope that INKHEART figures out how to exploit that concept better.

Like I said, it was only after I left the theater and thought about it for a while that I realized I’d be more forgiving had the film been a bit of G-rated fluff instead of trying to be the next big thing in family entertainment.  

Ah…who am I kidding?  I’d still be pissed off. 

Syd Field first described the three areas of conflict your main character is dealing with, and I’ve gone back to this concept over and over again, particularly in crafting a good CENTRAL QUESTION for my stories.  (The Central Question is the question that once it’s answered definitively “yes” or “no” the movie is over.)

These three areas of conflict are:

• PROFESSIONAL — That which is evident to everyone around your main character.
• PERSONAL — That which is evident to only those closest to your main character.
• PRIVATE — That which only your main character really knows.

So, in STAR WARS the Central Question is “Will Luke save the Princess, destroy the Deathstar, and become a Jedi like his father.”  Destroying the Deathstar is his professional goal.  Saving the Princess is his personal goal.  Becoming a Jedi like his father is his private goal.

A more recent example is QUANTUM OF SOLACE.  The Central Question is “Will Bond defeat the plans of the Dominic Greene (professional), keep Camille safe as she seeks revenge (personal), and avenge the death of his girlfriend Vesper Lynd (private).”

The closer you can resolve all three of these areas of conflict to each other, the tighter and more satisfying the conclusion of your stories will be.

 Overall Impression — A confused movie that delivers more sizzle than steak.

 THE FOUR QUESTIONS

Who’s the main character? — Giselle.

What’s she trying to accomplish? —  Sort of return to Andalusia (her fairy tale realm) but she doesn’t actively try to do that much after a few first efforts.  Her main drive is to wait for her prince to save her.  This is the first problem the film encounters,  though it’s glossed over with plenty of goofy charm.  Her final drive is to find her “true love’s kiss.”

Who’s trying to stop her? – Another problem or two; the evil queen/wicked stepmother (the prince’s not hers) wants to stop him from marrying Giselle, hence the toss down the well. After Giselle gets to New York, she falls in love with a New Yorker named Robert, which the evil queen sees through various liquids (don’t ask.) Seeing that Giselle is losing interest in her stepson, you would think that this would be enough for the queen, but NOOOOOOOO! She decides that Giselle needs to be killed as well. The bulk of the queen’s opposition to Giselle’s plan, such as it is, is to send an evil henchman after Giselle to poison her.

What happens if she fails? – Well, the drive to either get back to Andalusia or wait for the Prince to come (or even fall in love with Robert) gets usurped by the attempts on Giselle’s life. Only, Giselle doesn’t know she’s a target. So the audience knows that she might die, however she doesn’t, so as she’s not trying to do anything active, she’s got nothing to fail at while simultaneously being in mortal peril.  

Now, one could flip all of this around and make Robert the main character I suppose.   He’s trying to figure out what to do with Giselle, then he starts falling in love with her, and if he fails she ends up with the insufferably self-absorbed prince.  Or dead, only Robert doesn’t know that Giselle is being targeted either.    And seeing as the final battle is Giselle versus the Queen over Robert (Good Guy vs Bad Guy over Stakes) we’re back to Giselle being the main character.  

I told you it was a confused movie.

THE FOUR ARCHETYPES

Orphan – Giselle is literally an orphan, who gets thrown down a well and pops out in New York where she knows nothing and no one.

Wanderer – Giselle tries to figure out where she is and what’s happened to her. She eventually ends up being taken in by Robert and his daughter. Now he tries to figure out who she is and what’s happened to her. Eventually he believes that she’s a real fairy tale princess (I think, but maybe I imagined this moment). 

Warrior – Next problem; Giselle doesn’t really fight to achieve a goal. There are people fighting on her behalf, but not our main character.

Martyr – Giselle gives up her prince in favor of Robert, and then is willing to fight the evil queen (who’s come to New York to poison Giselle personally) in order to save Robert. 

 AND, IN THE END…

This is a movie which is so innocuous that beating up on its structural indiscretions is like kicking a puppy. The fact that the story is a mess hasn’t stopped it from being #1 at the box office two weeks running as of the time of this writing. It does enough things right that one is almost able to forgive it for all the things it does wrong. Almost. But success is the best revenge, and ENCHANTED is thumbing its nose at good storytelling all the way to the bank.

I think the high concept of the movie is the real hero here, so let this be a lesson for all of us. A good concept is worth its weight in glass slippers.