Reader question: can my idea in an overused genre work?

John asks:

I'm sure you've heard this before, but I think I've come up with a genuinely original take on the Die Hard sub-genre. 

My question is if you'd consider this sub-genre of movie still viable or even attractive in this day and age, or whether they're an inherently dated form. I'm sure you get to read many such scripts and wondered if you had any advice, especially with a female protagonist. 

 If it's good, it's viable.  It's true that it's possible for a particular flavor of sub-genre to wear out its welcome.  But if it's a really good script, it'll sell.  Don't forget that OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN and WHITE HOUSE DOWN both were variations on the Die Hard formula and they sold within weeks of each other.

The female protagonist thing is inevitably going to provoke the question, "Does it have to be a woman? Can it be a man?"  It's ridiculous that that's still a common response in this day and age, especially when Gravity has been flying high at the box office, toplined by a 49 year-old woman.  You'll probably be given some nonsense about how foreign sales will be easier with a male lead, but then remember that at least two companies that we know of are working on some variation of "Female Expendables."

My pet theory is that when executives resort to those easy (and outdated) reasons for passing on a spec, what they're really saying is "I don't like this enough to make it."  They're not passionate about it.  Maybe they see a few elements that could sell tickets, but the script just didn't blow them away.  But they have to say something. They have to give a reason why the script isn't good for them.

I've you've got an idea that truly is that brilliant and writing that just leaps off the page, once you get it into a few people's hands, you'll probably be able to gauge their passion for it.  I'm sure that within the next year, we'll see at least one sale of a script that can be described as "Die Hard in a..."

Bait-and-Switch scripts

Reading through the Black List submissions recently reminded me of a subset of scripts that I might have touched on before - the "Bait-and-Switch" screenplays.  These are the scripts that start off seeming to head down one genre, only to reverse that head-fake and pull out a twist that upends everything.

It's probably fair to put The Sixth Sense in this category.  At first glance, it probably appears to be a standard drama about a psychiatrist looking to help a troubled kid.  Though there are hints dropped along the way, it's not until near the film's midpoint that we learn that the kid sees ghosts.  Thus, a supernatural color is added to the palette, paving the way for the film's memorable twist.  Of course, the logline for that film probably blows the first surprise, as it almost certainly would have revealed that the boy sees dead people.

The Truman Show is another good example of something like this.  We're thrown right into Truman's world, experiencing it as he does.  Like Truman, we take the world at face value, though every now and then some... oddities crop up.  Eventually we get an explanation of what's going on - from birth, Truman has basically been the star of the most elaborate reality show ever conceived.

I read at least one script that didn't stick the landing on it's bait-and-switch.  This script masqueraded as a simple character drama for well over half of its run.  Honestly, had I suspected that it was a mere character drama, I'd have stopped reading by page 30 because the characters and their dilemma weren't grabbing me.

So what kept me going?  There was a small mystery running through the script and the logline gave away the big twist that was to be the payoff for that mystery.  When I read the logline, I assumed that plot turn would occur around the end of the first act, so I resolved to see how that card was dealt.

Yet the script kept going with its head-fake.  The deeper I got, the more impatient I grew for the big twist.  Early on, I appreciated the script's efforts at doling out clues slowly to maintain suspense, but as time passed, I began to fear that this card was the only card the script really had to play - and I knew that wouldn't be enough for me.

This is kind of a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't situation.  If the logline didn't reveal the twist, I wouldn't have knocked the script for keeping up their pretense for so long.  But then, as I explained, the character work on its own wasn't enough to keep me engaged - which is another problem.

So giving away a big twist in your logline might get you read, but it really helps if everything setting the stage for that twist is equally inventive.  This is especially important if you're writing a straight-up drama, because that genre is probably likely to get tossed aside if the reader isn't drawn in quickly.

I wish there was a solid lesson I could give here.  It does occur to me that if you feel it utterly necessary to sell your script to someone on the basis of a logline that reveals a twist deep in the second half of the story, you might already know that the early parts of the script need work.

"Eating your vegetables" vs a "Five-Course Meal"

Michael asked:

I have a question relating to your very apt characterization of the "eat your vegetables" movie. Extending the metaphor, when you read scripts in your professional capacity, are you most looking for a "five course meal" movie- something with delicious apps, fresh salad, interesting soup, bright, seasonal vegetables and a champion's share of meat, overlaid with an astonishing wine and finished with an inspired desert, or in all honesty, when you are on the job, is it just booze, meat, and desert you want?

Great.  Now I'm hungry.

It depends.  With who I'm reading for now, booze and meat probably dominates, but I'd have no problem bringing them a fantastically-prepared steak.

The "five-course-meal" you speak of, that is to say, a script that is exemplarly in every field - structure, characters, concept, pacing, tone, theme, subject matter - is extremely rare in nature.  There's a certain snobbery in writing that I never enjoy puncturing, namely that it's impossible for something mainstream to be "better" than something "important."

Let's say you write a script about how horrible a South African dictator is, and the script is one downer after another.  We're shown this warlord kidnapping children from their homes, forcing them to be child soldiers and sex slaves and repeatedly abusing them.  If all your script does is show us atrocity after atrocity, with no real through-line, it's a bad script.  (And yes, I've read at least one like this.)  It's meaningless if you feel this movie must be made to raise awareness of an issue important to you.  I don't care if it IS based on a real dictator - if there's no story and no structure to make it palpable, it's a bad script.

A fair amount of "eat your vegetables" scripts come out like this - a lecture on a social issue.  "Here, take this because it's good for you," it says.  If that's the story you want to tell, then make a documentary or a PSA.  If you're writing a feature film, there'd better be a story there - and you'd better know how to make it accessible and appealing.

My idea of a five-course meal might be something like Terminator 2.  It is quite simply one of the best action movies ever made, and also a "Great Movie," period.  It's got it all:

- strong core concept.
- vivid, compelling characters.
- strong character arcs for several of lead characters (John, Sarah, and the T-800) as well as at least one of the supporting characters (Miles Dyson.)
- intense pace and momentum, due in no small part to the relentless pursuit of the T-1000, which brings me too...
- A formidable antagonist.

Terminator 2? Five-course meal.  Pulp Fiction?  Five-course meal.  Raiders of the Lost Ark? Five-course meal.

So, yeah, if that fits your definition of a Five-Course Meal, then of course I want that.  But if you bring me something like Taken or a Fast Five, I'll probably jump on that too, because there's money in those.

But it's pretty hard to convince me to make a meal of something preachy like Green Zone.  Given the choice between vegetables and booze, I'd pick booze.

Hopefully that post wasn't too thick with the metaphors.