Save the Cat Goes to the Movies (29 page)

Finale:
In one of filmdom’s great finales,
Southwest General
goes LIVE! and Dustin takes center stage. Suddenly off script, Dustin spins a yarn about his character’s secret past — ending with a flourish as he rips off his wig to reveal he’s a man. The cast and crew gasp as the show cuts to commercial. Thinking he will be applauded for his stunt, Dustin is surprised when Jessica slugs him.

Final Image:
After apologizing to Charles, Dustin seeks out Jessica. He tells her what he learned: “I was a better man with you as a woman than I ever was with a woman as a man,” he says. Synthesis Man walks into the sunset with Jessica. The fool has triumphed.

Of the many mainstream FT movies over the years, the one starring Tom Hanks and directed by Robert Zemeckis is perhaps the most spiritual. Mixed in with a mass entertainment film is a debate — with characters representing differing views — that could be part of any theology class. Amid the great action and greater laughs are questions we all need answered: What is the meaning of life? And how should I live mine?

Meet Forrest Gump, a simpleton with an IQ of 75. Like other savants in this category, he can do many things, such as run real fast and play wicked ping-pong. And like other heroes in the “Society Fool” class of FT movies — where the “fool” exposes the prejudices of the “smart ones” in life — he doesn’t mean to show up others, but is clearly the wisest, and especially adept at outsmarting the Insiders that oppose him.

The “establishment” here is 30 years worth of American culture and our overblown reverence for it. The ’50s, the Hippie era, the Disco life, and even the me-worshiping joys of jogging and wealth-building, are shown to be of lesser value than quietly observing a sunset on the Gulf of Mexico, and, most important, expressing love for others. Forrest shows us that the fool has a bead on the truth. While we go dashing all over the world searching, he can find a whole universe sitting on a bench, waiting for a bus.

FT Type: Society Fool

FT Cousins:
Charly, Zelig, Shine, Awakenings, Sling Blade, Radio, My Left Foot, I Am Sam, The Other Sister, Mask

FORREST GUMP

Screenplay by
Eric Roth
Based on the novel by
Winston Groom

Opening Image:
A feather floats in the wind. It lights at the feet of a man with a bad haircut, parked on a bus bench.

Theme Stated:
A woman sits next to the man, who introduces himself as Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks). Offering her candy, Tom says: “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” Fate vs. self-will, that’s our theme.

Set-Up:
In flashback we set up Tom’s background. He is physically handicapped and mentally deficient, gifted with a loving single mother (Sally Field). Isolated as he is in 1950
S
Greenbow, Alabama, this young man has an effect on history even early on: Thanks to his leg braces, he teaches Elvis a unique way to dance.

B Story:
At Minute 13, picked up by the bus for school, young Forrest meets Jenny (later played by Robin Wright). The theme of the movie will play out through their relationship.

Catalyst:
When our hero is picked on by bullies, young Jenny urges him, “Run, Forrest!” and he learns he can run really fast.

Debate:
Is it true, as his Momma says, that his feet can take him anywhere? That’s the A story, and it seems to be so: The adult Forrest (Tom) plays college football at Alabama under Bear Bryant.
Zelig-like
, Tom folds himself into history again as he stands next to Governor George Wallace at a speech opposing integration, and later when he visits JFK in the White House.

Break into Two:
Tom graduates, joins the Army, and enters the “upside-down world.” Floating like a feather, suiting up and showing up, and trusting fate, is Tom’s MO. On leave before he’s sent
to Vietnam, he sees Robin performing as a singer at a nude club. She has much to learn. Trying to “will” her life to be better, she forever comes up short. At Minute 31, Tom meets Bubba (Mykelti Williamson), a great example of revealing character in dialogue: Every time he speaks, it’s about shrimp. Tom also meets Lt. Dan (Gary Sinise). Both men will help guide Tom, and he them.

Fun and Games:
For anyone who lived through the era, Vietnam was the touchstone and the source of the powerful moments of this movie. Both at home (where Robin becomes a folk-singing hippie) and in the jungles of Asia, the war defines the era. Gary, the Insider, thinks like Robin does and is certain he’s in charge of his destiny. But when an ambush wipes out his platoon, Gary is rescued by Tom, who carries him to safety. Mykelti dies, Gary loses his legs, and Tom wins the Medal of Honor. Yet all he did was what Robin said: Run. Now Tom finds a new skill: ping-pong. Why? Because he does what’s put in front of him without judgment.

Midpoint:
After Tom moons President Johnson at a White House ceremony, he is part of a DC war protest. At 1 hour 4 Minutes, A and B stories cross and Tom experiences a “false victory” as he is reunited with Robin at the Washington Monument, in front of a cheering crowd. “It was the happiest moment of my life,” narrates Tom. From here on out, things will get tougher for Robin as she descends into the dark side of drug use, bad relationships, and loss of spirit. Likewise, after being on
The Dick Cavett Show
with John Lennon — and giving him the lyrics to “Imagine” — Tom is reunited with Gary, now a wheelchair-bound miscreant. Gary’s bitterness is due to his disappointment with his life. “Have you found Jesus yet, Gump?” he snarls.

Bad Guys Close In:
Tom fulfills his bargain with Mykelti and becomes a “shrimp’n’ boat captain.” We also see Robin get further lost in the glitterlands of America, now doing hard drugs. Gary joins Tom and, while fighting a storm at sea, finally “makes his
peace with God,” and thanks Tom for saving his life. The storm also makes Tom and Gary rich. When Tom gets a message that his Mom is sick, he races home. On her deathbed, she tells Tom he has to find his destiny himself. With her death, Tom is alone.

All Is Lost:
At 1 Hour 45 Minutes, Robin comes home and sleeps “like she hadn’t slept in years.” A “whiff of death” is nigh. She throws rocks at her old house and “breaks” like Gary. After confessing to Robin: “I’m not a smart man but I know what love is” (trust me, this line
never
works), Tom proposes to her. She says no, but sleeps with Tom and leaves the next day.

Dark Night of the Soul:
With the shoes Robin gave him, Tom starts jogging, sadly criss-crossing the US. Against the backdrop of the Carter years and Jackson Browne’s “Running on Empty,” he is bereft, reflecting the national mood post-Vietnam as well.

Break into Three:
At 2 hours, A and B stories cross again as Tom gets a letter from Robin and seeks her out. Now sitting on the bus bench, he asks directions to her house. This is why he’s been telling his tale. He learns Robin’s house is five blocks away.

Finale:
Tom and Robin reunite. Having given up her selfish pursuits, Robin apologizes and Tom learns he has a son (that’s Haley Joel Osment). Robin and Tom marry and Robin dies, but not before Gary shows up a changed man. He is walking and has a fiancée, all thanks to the transforming power of being pals with Forrest Gump.

Final Image:
At Robin’s grave, Tom synthesizes the film’s theme: Life is both fate
and
self-will. “I don’t know if we have a destiny or if we’re floating around on a breeze. It’s both happening at the same time,” he says. The moments that count most are those touched by an awareness of a higher power. He puts Forrest Jr. on the bus, and we notice the feather at Tom’s feet. Off it goes blowing in the wind, into the sky … and right to you.

One of my favorite FT movies is the one that made Reese Wither-spoon a star. As the iconic Elle Woods, Reese plays a fabulous “fish out of water,” a sorority girl who, dumped by her college beau, pursues him to Harvard Law and discovers she’s got something special beneath her golden roots: a brain.

Unlike the “Undercover Fool” who takes on a disguise as part of the trip, the “Society Fool” overlooked by the group due to a supposed deficiency, or the “Political Fool” whose “jester in the king’s court” role is his cover for superior wisdom, the “Fool Out of Water” brings a fresh set of principles from her old pond up onto dry land — where suddenly, almost magically, they have greater meaning. Elle will prove that the code of her sorority, and its principles of honor, truth, and fidelity — plus her Girl Power work ethic — can win. With the help of twin mentors, a manicurist who teaches her as much as she teaches the mentor, and a helpful lawyer (Luke Wilson), Elle is on her way to victory.

Helmed by Robert Luketic, the movie boasts a “killer title” and one of the most powerful color themes ever. Pink is the tint of triumph for this “Fool Out of Water,” worn by Elle Woods and Bruiser Woods, the Chihuahua sidekick Elle takes with her everywhere — even into court.

FT Type: Fool Out of Water

FT Cousins:
Stripes, Beverly Hills Cop, Private Benjamin, Crocodile Dundee, My Blue Heaven, Mr. Mom, Coming to America, Daddy Day Care, Elf, The Pacifier

LEGALLY BLONDE

Screenplay by
Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith
Based on the book by
Amanda Brown

Opening Image:
It’s a “Perfect Day” on Sorority Row at fabled CULA, an LA-based college, as the girls of Delta Nu sign a card for President and Homecoming Queen Elle Woods (Reese With-erspoon), wishing her luck. Her beau’s proposing tonight!

Theme Stated:
Shopping for an outfit, Reese and bosom buddies Margot (Jessica Cauffiel) and Serena (Alanna Ubach) are almost tricked by the clerk. “There’s nothing I like better than a dumb blonde with daddy’s credit card,” the counter maven says. But Reese proves she knows more about the merchandise than the sales lady and outsmarts her. Being discriminated against for being blonde is the film’s thematic hurdle, established here.

Set-Up:
The Harvard Law School-bound Warner (Matthew Davis) turns up for their date. At Minute 7, he surprises Reese by dumping her. “If I’m gonna be a senator by the time I’m thirty,” he says. “I need to marry a Jackie not a Marilyn.” This variation on the “Save the Cat” scene is called
Kill the Cat
, and works exactly the same way: Until this moment, we think Reese is a tad plastic, but after seeing her smooshed, we feel for her. From this point forward, we’ll root for her to get whatever she wants.

Catalyst:
Moping at Minute 12, Reese goes to a beauty salon with her pals and gets new info: Her almost-fiancé’s brother is engaged to a girl in law school.
That’s
what Reese needs to win her beau back! By being more serious, maybe he’ll marry her!

Debate:
Can she get into law school? As Reese’s counselor tells her: “Harvard won’t be impressed that you aced History of Polka Dots.” Fashion-major Reese begins to study for the LSATs, eschews
Greek Week, does a sexy video “directed by a Coppola,” and gets approved by an all-male Harvard Law admissions staff.

Break into Two:
At Minute 20, a pink-clad Reese arrives on dry land, a fish totally out of water, along with chihuahua Bruiser Woods and a Bekins truck in tow. Her goal is still getting a ring on her finger, so she’s shocked to discover her ex is engaged to Vivian Kensington (Selma Blair). She’s even more shocked when the unwelcoming Selma gets her kicked out of a class taught by the tough,
Paper Chase-y
Professor Stromwell (Holland Taylor).

B Story:
Twin B stories as Reese meets Emmett Richmond (Luke Wilson), a seasoned law grad. But her guiding spirit is Paulette Bonafonte (Jennifer Coolidge), the “funhouse-mirror” twist on her sorority sisters, who has also been dumped by her ex. Both Luke and Jennifer will give Reese the push into Act Three she needs.

Fun and Games:
Reese brings the pink to law school — and is rejected by the brown and gray-toned students who don’t get her. Her attempts to blend in by dressing conservatively, bringing muffins to a study group, and using her CULA sorority-row ways in Harvard Yard are the crux of the “promise of the premise.”

Midpoint:
At Minute 42, we reach a turning point when Reese is tricked by Selma, who invites her to what she thinks is a costume party. Reese shows up dressed in a Playboy bunny outfit, and after running into her ex, is told she should give up her chase of him and law school. That exchange marks the end of one part of Reese’s journey and the beginning of another, as Reese decides to redouble her efforts as a student. A determined Reese, still ala Bunny, is next seen in line at the student bookstore by Luke (as A and B stories cross). In her rebound rise, Reese and Jennifer reclaim Jennifer’s dog from her ex-lover (a second A and B cross). There’s even a nice FT moment as Reese dons glasses (her fool’s disguise), so she can pose as Jennifer’s attorney. As Selma
(the Insider) watches in fear, Reese impresses Professor Callahan (Victor Garber) and presents him with a pink and scented resume. Finally Reese is chosen along with her ex and Selma to work on a big case with Victor, who’s a practicing attorney.

Bad Guys Close In:
The “stakes are raised” as Reese enters the world of the law firm. One of her Delta Nu sisters, Brooke Taylor (Ali Larter), is charged with murder; Luke is revealed as Victor’s right hand man; and the pressure mounts for Reese to perform. While Reese coaches Jennifer in the art of wooing the salon’s UPS Man and teaches her the “bend and snap” routine (that I
still
wish someone would explain to me), the case continues — and it looks bad for Brooke. Reese gets Brooke to reveal her alibi in private, but their sorority sister’s code prevents Reese from telling anyone else. This honorable act shows Selma that Reese has character. Reese and Luke go to a spa to see the murdered man’s ex-wife (Raquel Welch). On the way, Reese repeats the theme: “I’m discriminated against as a blonde.”