Bad Screenwriting Versus Great Screenwriting by Steve Kaplan 

I agree. I don't see anything wrong with the '17 Again' reaction. The vast majority of people would react the same way. It's relatable.

Do you scream at every strange occurrence in your dreams too?

You're not looking hard enough. There are tons of great new movies. They're not all playing at your local Cineplex

sofritopapi There is a powerful energy in emptiness, silence, stillness. It is becoming a lost art in both cinema and society.

There are still a lot of great movies coming out but it's just that studios aren't banking on them and they've leaned more towards tentpole franchising and marketing brands rather than confidence in a solid original script and craftsmen. So you have to look to smaller labels, A24, Focus Features, and the like which try and pick up smaller films. it's kind of shame because the mid-budget film is kind of dying and even well-known filmmakers are having a harder time getting wide release films. But those great films ARE out there at least.

I've had this idea for a Dark Comedy/Supernatural Drama/Fantasy-Thriller/Neo-Noir and I want your honest but respectful opinion about it. I had in mind for Joseph-Gordon Levitt for the lead role but the story was about a young hotshot attorney or corporate executive (haven't decided on his career choice yet) who lives in a condo in Manhattan, NY when one day he is accidentally bumped in the front of a moving subway train and dies but is reincarnated as a black cat who now lives in the alleyways of New York City digging through garbage for food, hunting rats, and being chased by dogs, seeking a place to call home. He is eventually taken by a young woman who attends Graduate School, after he witnesses another young woman be murdered by a psychotic murderous rapist the previous night. After getting used to the young woman, eventually, she brings home a man that she has met and it turns out to be the same man who killed the other woman along with five other women before her. It turns out that the rapist's method for targeting his victims is by stalking them for about a week or so and then eventually approach them, gets them to go out with him and manages to get at least three dates with them and by the third date, he makes his move. The protagonist figures this out by following the man and does everything in his power to stop him but by him being a cat now and unable to speak, outside his mind anyway, the fate of his new-found owner and friend is seems very dark and horrific. The working title I have for it is "REINCARNATION" but What do you think? Does the story have potential? Do you think it could be a success? Open 4 Feedback!

Pack man Sounds kind of original. It's very dark and about the only comedy thing about it is a man coming back as a cat. Rape is a subject which is almost impossible to tackle with any level of comedy. I think if you are going to take such a controversial subject up then catching how a couple of other stories push the edge would be a good idea. Four Lions would be one comedy film which just sits right on the edge and managed to pull off the subject of terrorists very well. Something about your idea also seems very much like the style of Haruki Murakami too so maybe flick through some of his books. I think it has a long way to go and I imagine it will end up being totally different after some drafting but at least you have a starting place. Many never put pen on paper or fingers on keyboard and their ideas just fade away into vague memories. Always go for it if you started it but allow yourself to start other ideas while you work on others. Guillermo Del Torro keeps ideas for multiple projects going all at once as his stories feed off each other. Dumb and Dumber To is coming out soon and the jokes for that have come about after the writers spent 10 years building a folder of stuff for it as they worked on other films and had ideas which would be better suited to Dumb and Dumber. Oh, and also you should use paragraphs a bit more to break things up and make it a bit easier to read.

RabNebula Trying to be funny, is like trying to make "good" art. At a rudimentary level you can succeed, but until you connect people with relatable moments, it will always feel forced.

Well said! A nice addition to what Steve said. Comedy is not as easy as it looks.

I completely agree.

I disagree.

But the "Big" reaction is more interesting.

Nah, he's perfectly right. The reaction in 17 Again comes out of wanting to write from the audience's knowledge of the predicament rather than the character's. So they immediately jump to a cheap "Oh, no!" gag so the audience can have the absurdity of it reassured to them rather than letting the character basically act like a person. Now, it may be perfectly reasonable to expect that someone could and would freak out in that situation, but there's a better way to approach that reaction than just some broad comedy screaming in the mirror.

Haven't seen 17 Again but Big clearly isn't played for 100% realism. I mean the first thing he would notice when getting out of bed (if not before) is that he's suddenly 6 foot tall and the floor and ceiling aren't in the right place! They cover it by him being really sleepy but it's stretching credibility. It's all written to be funny, and to give time for the joke to breathe, and his dopiness works in part because Hanks is so great. I mean, its followed by him trying to put on his kid pants and falling over, and we buy it because of Hanks and the tone of the film. He'd only have to look at them to know they won't fit but they bypass total realism for slapstick. I basically agree with the guy about comedy being better in general if it comes from situations vs gags but I don't think this scene in Big is the best example for the point he's making. Better would be the scenes where he starts a relationship for example and acts like an inexperienced kid would. I remember them for being touchingly funny instead of comedy set-pieces.