tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4706282221761427996.post9061333729341044369..comments2024-03-07T20:15:45.996-08:00Comments on The Bitter Script Reader: "Stealing the burrito" - the inverse of "save the cat."The Bitter Script Readerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16575166527272639709noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4706282221761427996.post-76962487493218279362014-03-14T17:30:11.031-07:002014-03-14T17:30:11.031-07:00It would have been so easy to interject a 5-10 sec...It would have been so easy to interject a 5-10 second shot of Taylor's character running around the corner from the cops and stumble across a hungry young man/girl/single mom/interchangeable hard-case character. He looks at their sad eyes. He looks across the street at the hot blond. Back at the eyes. Back at the blond. He sighs quietly and gently hands the burrito to the hungry person. At that moment, he's tackled/tazed/punched by a cop and hits the ground hard. His last sight before passing out is the grateful person eating a hot meal. And the hot blond instantly falls in love.<br />Anyway, super cliche and emotionally manipulative, but might help.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03599714903040649821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4706282221761427996.post-49421758953958016182014-03-13T07:03:23.193-07:002014-03-13T07:03:23.193-07:00I think it'd be an interesting writing exercis...I think it'd be an interesting writing exercise for an intro screenwriting class to fix that "stealing the burrito" moment. I absolutely agree that in no way did it set the character up as someone we'd want to cheer on later in the movie. In fact, throughout the first third of the film, he's really a juvenile, unlikable ass.<br /><br />A far better introduction would have been him taking on the "burrito challenge", then pulling off the caper in a way that showed him to be impetuous, but intelligent and capable of out-of-the-box thinking, the sort of hero we'll need later on in the film when "doctrine thinking" fails. Maybe he still gets busted (to show that his career is still in jeopardy) but perhaps it is just dumb luck, or some other whim of chance, and not his own idiocy that burns him.<br /><br />In contrast, when we look at a similar rebellious military character - Maverick from TOP GUN - we see a guy who bucks the system and does dumb things, but he's also frighteningly competent, a crack fighter pilot with the potential for true greatness. So, we're willing to say "yeah, he's a screwup, but DAMN, he's good". <br /><br />Not so much with our Burrito Hero. Jack Badelairehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10932441028544500024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4706282221761427996.post-67471323129494764842014-03-10T17:39:04.258-07:002014-03-10T17:39:04.258-07:00Ha. Absolutely. Hate movies where I can't ro...Ha. Absolutely. Hate movies where I can't root for the hero. That was not only the case here, but a waste of a good actor that just chose bad movies to be in.geek4lifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13704259752567212174noreply@blogger.com