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When her son is kidnapped, the distraught mother must beg her tight-fisted father-in-law, J. Paul Getty, the world?s richest man, to pay the ransom.
>>> ?to beg? doesn?t seem like the most compelling action a screenplayI agree, too.? ?But she's the protagonist -- albeit a rather hapless one.? She has no way,? no means to raise the money herself, no leverage to? induce her father-in-law to ante up.? J. Paul Getty is the marquee characterRead more
>>> ?to beg? doesn?t seem like the most compelling action a screenplay
I agree, too.? ?But she’s the protagonist — albeit a rather hapless one.? She has no way,? no means to raise the money herself, no leverage to? induce her father-in-law to ante up.? J. Paul Getty is the marquee character, the story hook character.? He’s more interesting and complex than she is,? but she’s the more proactive character.
Come to think about it,? there’s no strong subjective arc for either the mother or the grandfather.?
And the story is based upon real people, real events.? ?His grandson was kidnapped in 1973.? J. Paul Getty, although beyond filthy rich , refused to pay the ransom.? His rationalization was that it would only encourage kidnappings of his other 14 grandchildren.
Ridley Scott is old enough to have remembered the event and the publicity so he needed no explanation, no introduction to the premise of the script.
Eventually the ransom was negotiated down to $3 million? which Getty only agreed to pay because that was the maximum amount that was tax deductible.? As he says in the movie, he didn’t become the world’s richest man by making the most money, but by figuring out ways to keep it.
See lessAfter nearly dying of a heart attack, a morbidly obese junk-food addict gives herself a year to get in shape to finish the London marathon.
I think there's? a lot of potential for a compelling story here.But I? suggest a stronger "wake up call to action": the inciting incident is that she almost dies from a heart attack. That would be more dramatic,? amp up the stakes and? urgency.? ?So it would not be a matter of maybe dying some timeRead more
I think there’s? a lot of potential for a compelling story here.
But I? suggest a stronger “wake up call to action”: the inciting incident is that she almost dies from a heart attack. That would be more dramatic,? amp up the stakes and? urgency.? ?So it would not be a matter of maybe dying some time in the future; it’s either diet or die — now.
And I suggest stipulating a specific and well-known marathon she commits to running.? For example, if the story is? set in the US , then her goal is to run the Boston marathon .? (Of course, this may compel the actress portraying her to do what Charlize Theron did? to prepare for “Monster”,? “Robert DeNiro” did? for “Raging Bull”? and Christian Bale did? for ” American Hustle”? — put on serious poundage. Even though, they can fake the fat with CGI these days.)
And it’s not just the relationship with the trainer that can be explored? There’s the relationship with? friends and family — who, come to find out, were enablers.? (The test of that is that they don’t like the HDL cholesterol butterfly emerging from the? LDL cholesterol chrysalis — it forces them to change the terms of their relationship with her — as well as confront issues in their own lives.)
Best wishes with the story.
See lessAfter she’s dumped in a nursing-home because her family can’t afford her care, a meek grandmother and a motley-crew of exploited residents attempt to steal back enough money from the corrupt facility owners to return home.
It's certainly a topical, very topical concept.But, like Nir Shelter, I'm not (yet)? sold on the the objective goal.And I think the suggestion of making the mafia the bad guys is too conventional, too easy, too obvious -- a tired, overused? and misused trope.Rather, I would suggest a story line thatRead more
It’s certainly a topical, very topical concept.
But, like Nir Shelter, I’m not (yet)? sold on the the objective goal.
And I think the suggestion of making the mafia the bad guys is too conventional, too easy, too obvious — a tired, overused? and misused trope.
Rather, I would suggest a story line that explores the intrinsic “banality of evil” in the for-profit warehousing of the elderly.? It’s a? national scandal in the United States.? Perfectly legit and respectable corporations are gaming the system to starve the elderly of services in order to fatten their bottom line.??
For example, a report was recently released revealing that many nursing homes have deliberately understated for years the level of staffing they have .? On weekends,? it’s practically a “ghost town” in many facilities in terms of the staff on duty;? the residents have to fend for themselves.??(Now there’s a plot point for you.)
I think there’s one-hell-of a movie here, but I suggest digging further to reveal just the depth and breadth of the particular hell for the protagonist and her motley crew.
Best wishes with this idea.
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