A Perfect Getaway

A Perfect Getaway

Don’t worry — NO SPOILERS! Since watching A Perfect Getaway (written and directed by David Twohy) a few weeks back, I’ve been itching to write about it. This film actually managed to pull off something that many of my screenwriting friends and...
Reader Question: Passive Protagonists?

Reader Question: Passive Protagonists?

A reader asks about Passive Protagonists: I was reading on your site and was wondering what your thoughts were on “passive protagonists” who get drug into hairy situations like Officer Hoyt in Training Day. I am writing a movie where the guy gets involved...
What’s in a name?

What’s in a name?

That Wily Shakespeare In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Juliet makes the argument: What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet. Bollocks to that! If the play had instead been called Brent and Hildred, or Addison and...
The Usual Suspects Protagonist

The Usual Suspects Protagonist

Initial Business Okay, first — if you haven’t seen The Usual Suspects yet: 1) Punch yourself in the gut, because you deserve it. 2) Stop reading this article now — thar be spoilers… and this is one movie you do not want to spoil. [insert...
The Shy Protagonist

The Shy Protagonist

There’s a script that it seems I’ve been writing for the past 10 years. I’ll work on it for a while, get extremely frustrated, then push it aside in favor of something easier to write. Then the cycle repeats itself. The problem? My protagonist, in...