In honor of fun Friday yesterday, I
spent the afternoon watching another Owen Wilson film: Wedding Crashers, arguably my favorite comedy. Using the words of
Blake Snyder, this is the ultimate “Buddy” film. You have to the utmost respect
for writers Steve Faber and Bob Fisher for coming up with such an original
idea. This film tells the story of two best friends, John and Jeremy, who spend
their summers crashing weddings, as the title predicts. With a montage in the
first ten minutes of John, played by Owen Wilson, and Jeremy, played by Vince
Vaughn, jumping to The Isley Brother’s “Shout” at a series of weddings, we
already know that this is going to be a great film. When they decide to crash
the biggest wedding of the season, John ends up breaking one of their “wedding
crashers” ten commandments: never stay after the reception. However, as John
falls in love with bridesmaid Claire, played by Rachel McAdams, he drags Jeremy
along with him on a weekend spent at Claire’s family “cottage”. As the weekend
progresses, we realize that John and Jeremy have entered the home of an
extremely dysfunctional family, with characters that seem like they would fit
in Jack Nicholson’s One Flew Over the
Cuckoo’s Nest just as easily.
If you have ever been to that party
where a friend tells a story that ends with I
guess you had to be there, then I apologize for what I’m about to do. Dissecting
humor is never pretty, and like any good Biology teacher would tell you, the
joke has to be long dead before you dig in.
Many pieces and parts of the movie
had to work together just right in order for Wedding Crashers to be such a comedic success. First, you have an
unbelievable cast, including other famous Hollywood faces who were not
previously mentioned such as Christopher Walken, Bradley Cooper, Isla Fischer,
Jane Seymour, and Keir O’Donnell. With such an ensemble, Wedding Crashers was off to a great start. Both Vince Vaughn and
Owen Wilson always bring their unique personalities to the screen, through the
way they talk and the way they carry themselves. Vaughn’s loveable rambling and
Wilson’s southern drawl compliment each other throughout the film. So with a
great cast and a phenomenal idea, what could go wrong?
Here are a few pointers I picked up
from Faber and Fisher to revere like the
“wedding crashers” bible…
One. Subtlety is key. There’s a
difference between trying to be funny and just simply being funny. In order to avoid a forced joke, the writer has to be
subtle when telling it. This led to frequent use of the word “beat” in the
script; those subtle pauses helped the jokes hit home.
Two. Always keep your audience clued
in. In Wedding Crashers, writers
Steve Faber and Bob Fisher both frequently incorporate dramatic irony into the
script. When the audience knows the truth, we can laugh as the characters walk
right into traps or horrifically misread situations. For example, when Bradley
Cooper sacks Jeremy in a game of “touch” football, John assumes that Jeremy is
being overly dramatic. John’s misunderstanding becomes the root cause of the
bickering that ensues between the two pals. As John and Jeremy subtly feud (see
“One.”), the audience can’t help but crack up at the chaos.
While there are many more things I
took away from this movie, I figure that the only way to learn them is through
practice. “Carpe diem, seize the day!” as Robin Williams would say. So, here is
my first ever attempt at comedy…
Night at the Ice Rink
INT. LOBBY – EVENING
A TEENAGE GIRL with
jet-black hair and a nose ring looks bored, sitting behind a plastic table with
a roll of tickets and a box for money.
A MOTHER walks up to the
table, wearing a ski jacket and a pin that reads:
PROUD WILDCAT MOM
Close behind is KENDALL,
zipping her iPhone into the pocket of her black North Face.
TEENAGE GIRL
Two adult tickets...so your total will be twenty
bucks.
MOTHER
But my daughter’s a student.
TEENAGE GIRL
Only fifteen then.
Kendall PROTESTS but her
mother SHUSHES her. The teenage girl breaks off two tickets, one white and one
blue. The Mother leans into Kendall and whispers loudly.
MOTHER
College counts.
Kendall GROANS but doesn’t
argue. The teenage girl hands them their tickets, but stops Kendall as she
follows her mother.
TEENAGE GIRL
Students enter through the other door.
Kendall hesitates, but her
mother nods and Kendall eventually does as she’s told.
INT. HOCKEY RINK – EVENING
Not sure where to go,
Kendall sits in the front row of the bleachers, closest to the door. She’s
pulls out her iPhone, but then puts it back, bored.
Kendall’s P.O.V.: Her
mother is sitting in the bleachers on the other side of the rink, distracted by
another HOCKEY MOM. Kendall can hear her LAUGHING. She then hears A GROUP OF
BOYS WOOPING and HOLLERING as they enter the ice rink; Kendall turns. Most of
them don’t have their shirts on, and they’ve all painted their faces gold.
BOY #1 and BOY #2 sit on
either side of Kendall. They all squeeze in so that they are shoulder to
shoulder. The boys keep cheering, but neither team is on the ice.
BOY #1
Who are you?
It’s as if this is the
first time anyone realizes that Kendall is sitting there. Boy #1 and Boy #2
stare at her.
KENDALL
I’m a student.
She shows them her blue
ticket stub.
BOY #2
But this is an all-boys school.
Beat.
Kendall faces the ice
rink, not looking at either boy. She pulls out her phone, pretending she hadn’t
heard them.
A moment passes before the
group of boys all stand to cheer. Kendall remains sitting.
KENDALL’S P.O.V.: She
slides her finger across the lock pad on her iPhone. Click. Angry Birds opens.
FADE OUT.
MOVIES WATCHED: 7
SCREENPLAY PAGES WRITTEN: 18
NOVEL PAGES WRITTEN: 60
PAGES LEFT IN MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR
PECULIAR
CHILDREN: 170
PAGES LEFT IN THE HOURS: 178
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