Contour At The Movies

Overall Impression – In my eyes, a beautiful movie that gets me every time I watch it. Especially those two scenes in which Samuel watches the ultra sound tape and when he asks Rebecca to marry him in the hospital. Or is it the music that does it?

THE FOUR QUESTIONS

Who’s your main character? — Samuel

What’s he trying to accomplish? – Professional: Figure out how to be both good in a relationship and a good (potential) father.  Personal: Samuel doesn’t want to change his stable life and doesn’t want to get married and have children.  Private: Not be someone his child will hate when he or she grows up.

Who’s trying to stop him? – Rebecca

What happens if he fails? — Samuel will stuck in an unstable, child-like likfe and lose the one woman who really loves him…as well as his unborn child..

THE FOUR ARCHETYPES

Orphan –  Samuel is in a five-year relationship with Rebecca. She lets him know that she would like to get married and have children. He, however, says that he prefers having a stable life. They have everything they want: a good job, a good house and a nice sport car, why risk that? Samuel shows here that he is an emotional orphan.

Wanderer — Rebecca tells Samuel that she is pregnant. He is shocked. It becomes clear that they have to make changes in their life.  He he has to sell the sports car, something he doesn’t want to do.  Also, his cat will have to go, something else he doesn’t want to do.  Samuel tries to learn the rules of how to leave his old life behind.  When Samule forgets an ultrasound appointment, Rebecca leaves him. 

 Warrior –  Samuel watches the video recording of the ultrasound of the baby and finally gets it: he is in love with the baby and feels ready to be fully committed to change. Samuel tries to convince Rebecca that he is ready to be a father. She doesn’t want to believe him. He asks his friend to arrange a meeting with her in the park but then hears that Rebecca had to go to the hospital.

Martyr — In the hospital, Samuel tells her that he is sorry for his behavior and that he is a changed man. He tells her that he sold his sport car for a family car. He even says. “I don’t care about myself anymore, I only care about the baby.”

AND, IN THE END…

This is a movie about change. What Samuel really wants in the beginning of the movie is his current life. What he wants at the end of the movie is to be a father and having a family. He gets what he really needed and not what he wanted: he gives up his playful youthful life and becomes an adult.

This fits very well into the idea of “what is your main character WRONG about at the start of the movie.”  The rest of the movie sets about answering this question.  In NINE MONTHS, Samuel is wrong about thinking that he can be a child forever.  Sooner or later, everyone has to grow up.

–  André van Haren

Overall Impression — A teen love story with vampires, not a vampire story with teen lovers.

THE FOUR QUESTIONS

Who’s your main character? — Bella.

What’s she trying to accomplish? — Fall in love with Edward and have him love her back…without it costing her life.

Who’s trying to stop her? — Edward (and also James and also Jacob and also her father and also her friends.  I told you it was a teen love story!) 

What happens if she fails? — She will be either killed or turned into a vampire herself.

THE FOUR ARCHETYPES

Orphan — Bella leaves the sun of Arizona for the clouds of Washington state, starts at a new school and moves in with the father she hasn’t seen much.

Wanderer — She meets Edward and senses that there’s something odd about him.  She starts trying to figure it out.  Bella puts the pieces together and figures out that he’s a vampire.  She’s also now in love with him.

Warrior —  They fight to figure out how to be together without Edward losing control and killing her.  They also discover another group of vampires are working the area, and the most vicious one has caught Bella’s scent.

Martyr — Bella abandons her father in order to protect him and flees James’ pursuit of her.  Edward and his entire vampire family risk themselves to keep her safe, and ultimately Bella is willing to sacrifice herself to protect her mother from James.  

AND, IN THE END…

This was one deliberately paced movie.  Slow, no graphic violence, much more hormonal than hemoglobal.   That’s because it’s a love story, first and foremost.

In love stories, the question is never “will the lovers get together?” but rather “with all of the obstacles standing in their way, how will the lovers ever get together?”  Twilight excels in that it knows exactly what it is.  Edward’s curse is that he’s a vampire; the obstacle to him and Bella being together because the more he wants to be with her, the harder it is for him to control his bloodlust.  How’s THAT for an obstacle?   And even at the end of TWILIGHT, the question of how will they be able to be together is only answered in the short term.  Edward is 17 and will never age.  Bella is 16.  What happens when she catches up to him?  What happens as she gets older than him?  How will they be able to be together without her being turned into a vampire (or, please no, Edward being turned human in some “never tried before on a vampire” experiment contrivance?)

I haven’t read the books, but now I understand why my teenage daughters (and my wife!) are so keen to find out how it all will end.

– Jeffrey Alan Schechter

Overall Impression — Crass, rude, and I loved it.

THE FOUR QUESTIONS

Who’s the main character? — Seth Rogen’s slacker-stoner, Ben.

What’s he trying to accomplish? —  Ben’s trying to figure out how to be a good boyfriend and potential father.

Who’s trying to stop him? —  To an extent, his slacker buddies as well as the girl he…uh…knocked up, Alison (Katherine Heigl) as well as her sister and brother-in-law.

What happens if he fails? —  He loses the one girl he’s ever met who could possibly love him.

THE FOUR ARCHETYPES

Orphan – Ben is a happy, broke, stoned slacker who is forced to leave his “community” when he sleeps up and gets Alison pregnant.

Wanderer — Ben tries to figure out how not to be so rude and objectionable, how to fit in with Alison’s family (particularly her sister) and how to be a good match for Alison whom  he love and who is beginning to love him.  The problem is that he’s not really committed to doing the right thing, but to making it look like he’s doing the right thing.

Warrior —  After Alison rejects a marriage proposal, Ben starts fighting harder to be the right person for her.  Unfortunately this only involves trying to fit her into his slacker life.  He also starts getting more antagonist as his efforts fail. 

Martyr – Finally, Ben realizes that real changes have to be made.  He moves out of the apartment he shares with his friends, gives up the empty dream of launching his snarky website, gets a job, and by doing so, finally becomes the person Alison and their baby needs.

AND, IN THE END… 

Such a great, simple story.  Of course, what puts this over the top is the outrageous humour which, while crude in many places, is so grounded in reality and uniquely funny that it’s hard not to be impressed. 

I’m often telling writers that they have to “bring something to the party.”  What I mean is that if they write a scene that ANYONE could have written, then who needs them?  There are so many moments in KNOCKED UP where Judd Apatow and/or his crazy-talented cast bring something to the party that I can’t help but smile with admiration while also marveling at the minds that came up with the word “smish-smortion.”