The Break-Up

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Clint541963
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The Break-Up

Postby Clint541963 » Jun 25, 2011 6:14 am

Title:.............the break-up (2006)
Director:.......Peyton Reed
Writers:........Jeremy Garelick (screenplay) & Jay Lavender (screenplay)
Producers:....Vince Vaughn, Jeremy Garelick & Jay Lavender
Cast:............Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, & Jon Favreau
Premise:.......A couple's break-up proceeds to get uglier and nastier by the moment.

(More info at IMDb)the break-up


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Clint541963
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Re: The Break-Up (Implied Promises)

Postby Clint541963 » Jun 25, 2011 6:15 am

Implied Promises:
Because of the fact that Vince Vaughn is in the movie-I am going to enjoy myself and laugh.
Jennifer Aniston is in the movie so I am going to be sexually stimulated on some level.
Both of these actors are good at comedy so I expect to be entertained.
Movie opens wide shot of Chicago and the Cubs Wrigely field baseball stadium so I expect this to be an Urban tale and somewhat familiar since I know Chicago. Maybe a movie with savvy city people.
The inside the stadium we are with Vince Vaughn and he is with his friend Jon Favreau. These two made "Swingers" together which I thought they were great in so my expectations to enjoy the film just went way up.
Vince does not seem happy or not enjoying himself fully--I am not sure if this is a promise but I want to know why he is not happy.
He sees beautiful girl. Aniston, out of all the beautiful girls there she really catches his eye. He instantly has a smile on his face. She is with some stiff. The Promise of Romance.
He gets her attention by making a big deal out of buying hotdogs and insisting she have one. Then seperates her from her date when game is over and is telling her they will be seeing eachother. We see he has charmed her. Expectations of Romance are even bigger.
Boom! Payoff-all through the opening credits we see pictures of a couple who is living Happily Ever After.
(after opeing credits) We see Vaughn is a co-owner with his brothers of a Chicago tour guide business. This is fullfillment of the Vince Vaughn Promise. Classic Vaughn interacting with customers on his tour bus. He is the tour guide and is fun. To truely fullfill the Vince Vaughn Promise he will have to keep it up the whole movie.
Next scene is Aniston in an artist gallery. This scene shows her as a sophisticated art dealer and we see she is charming but not snobby. She is real and down to earth. This begins to fullfill the Jennifer Aniston Promise...
Both of theses scenes promise we like both of these characters.
Next scene in a beautiful condo. Promises they are both successful.

Made Promises
Title "the break-up"-before the story starts we know this will be a difficult struggle. We have all been through a break-up and know how painful that is.
They really like eachother- that is a MADE promise shown in the pictures of them happy together.
Ten minutes is up

The Rest of the Story.
Well, as soon as the ten minutes is up the dificulties between the two start flying. Instead of really working out a shared vision of a life together they are bound and determined to teach the other a lesson at the same time not to let the other know how hurt they are.

Well this movie exceeded my expectations because both the Vaughn and the Aniston characters learn from their childish ways all be it too late.
I am a romantic and want them to end up together happy ever after and I guess that is implied by the fact it is a romantic comedy. But that is not what happens. This is a broken promise I guess but I don't want that to be bad. Does that make it a cautionary tale?
at a movie a expect to be moved, whether it be happy, laughter, sad, scared, excited. Hopefully any combination of feelings. In that way the movie was successful and I enjoyed it. The two characters are better people for their experiences though not together and who knows, they left an opening for that possibility.

Genre:Comedy | Drama | Romance
Tagline:. . . pick a side.
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Sam Potter
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Clint541963
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Re: The Break-Up

Postby Clint541963 » Jun 25, 2011 6:22 am

antagonist vs. protagonist
I have a question. Is it possible to have a movie where the two main characters are both the protagonists and at the same time eachothers antagonist?
I think that is what happens in this movie but since I have been working with Dramatica Pro I didn't know if this was structurally possible.
It still seemed to be one story with both heroes on the same path?
I think the key to remember is that Dramatica is only one opinion on the model of Story, not the only model, or for want of a better word method of structuring story. I actually quite like the Dramatica view of the Story Mind and find it very good at making me think about aspects of Story I may otherwise not have, but also think that there are infinite possibilities for story design.

Why couldn't the protagonist in your main plot line in fact be the antagonist in a sub-plot - and vice versa? I guess the challenge would be to ensure you didn't end up with a confused audience or perhaps worse, an audience ambivalent to the plight of your protagonist, because they are rooting against him in the sub-plot. Dangerous ground I would think and potentially very complicated.

I believe eventually one will have to come out on top, or what has your story achieved, ie what is the message or the value statement you are communicating to the audience - if that is confused then I imagine in most instances you have likely failed in your promise (made at the start) and the audience will not be satisfied.
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I would be interested to know what you think if you see the movie. You might be right as I don't think the movie did great dispite having a lot going for it. But both characters change and grow and do not remain steadfast in their resolve. Could it be the couple as one character mind possibly. In that case the antagonist would be ...............................love?......maybe?

I don't know. We'll see what you and/or others think.

Sam

I might get the movie out this week and take a look as I do like the idea of discussing story form and points on this forum.

I can think of several movies with dual or multiple protagonists, the Witches of Eastwick and Thelma and Louise come to mind (maybe?), but not one where you have protagonist/antagonist changing 'roles' against each other.

I guess in the movie you mention (and I will watch the movie), the question is do they both win (or loose), and someone or something else the opposite? What I mean is for them both to be the protagonist I would think in order for the story to work, if they are a "dual(?)" protagonist, they would both have to mutually suffer or benefit - together.

Just my ramblings, late on a Sunday, after writing for the last 8 hours (revising a script actually), so my brain is now toast and the above may be gibberish. Sorry if it is. I will probably read it again tomorrow and go - what the... !
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