Screenplays, the scripts films are based on, are the foundation for a good movie. Every great film has a solid, structured script. The audiences often forget there is such a thing as a screenwriter but almost every film you have ever seen was started by some lonely schlub hutched over their keyboard creating the worlds we enjoy in the cinema. Below are three films with great scripts. Not only are they good watches, I suggest you read their scripts as well.




Forgiving the horrible message, this script by Terry Rosio and Ted Elliot is one of the best I've ever read. On a technical level, is a marvel. It is perfectly balanced and is thoroughly thought out. Johnny Depp was only able to create Jack Sparrow because these two men put the right words in his mouth.

If you have the DVD on hand, listen to the screenwriters commentary as the final credits roll. You will get a full version of the backstory to this film and see how much thought really went into this seemingly simple script.



Dialog is important, plotting is critical but it is character that makes the story. Nick Schenk's screenplay for this film shows the importance of a well-written, developed character. His hero Walt Kowalski is impressive in his depth and verisimilitude.

Schenk also uses Kowalski's deep racism in an interesting way throughout the film. First it isn't played to condemn the man but used for humor. In this age of sensitivity and liberal pillow biting, this is rare. The key is the Schenk takes Kowalski's racism to show his anti-social persona. As Kowalski grows to appreciate his Hmong neighbors, his racism is then used to show his affection. Much in the same way a close friend will mock another friend's flaws or differences, Kowalski retains his racist jabs at his neighbors. If you take his lines at the beginning and the end of the film the words themselves aren't terribly different. What has changed is the context in which they are said. Brilliant.


This film, starring Steve Martin and John Candy, reworks The Odd Couple template pitting one clean, finicky character with a slovenly partner. Neal Page (Martin) yearns to get home to Chicago for Thanksgiving dinner. Along the way, his life gets entangled with the bumbling but likable shower curtain ring salesman Del Griffith (Candy). There is little about this movie that is complicated or multidimensional. Hughes’ script is little more than a well crafted situation comedy. This admitted, it is tightly plotted and Hughes squeezes as much out of the limited resources he gives himself. The scenes in the hotel alone make this a notable script. The only real problem with the script is the somewhat awkward resolution that feels tacked on. Everything leading up to that odd ending is wonderful.

Labels: movie recommendations