The 3-Act Paradigm at Work: Wonder Boys

written by Steve Kloves


Wonder Boys is an academic comedy about the relationship between a "blocked" writer and professor and his favorite student. 3-act structure is messy in places, as it sometimes is in movies based on novels.

Structural Analysis

  1. Hook (1 min.)
    • An English professor's wife leaves him.
  2. Complication (4, 7 min.)
    • The professor's editor is coming to campus for a literary event -- and to get the second novel that is 7 years late. The professor is having an affair with the chancellor, who is the wife of the head of the English Department, and she is pregnant.
  3. Call to Action (17-20 min.)
    • The prof. takes his favorite student into his confidence, sharing secrets. The student kills the Eng. Dept. head's dog, and together the prof. and student enter a conspiracy of deception.
  4. Act One Plot Point (39 min.)
    • The professor takes the student's novel out of his backpack to read it. His deception is becoming solitary.
  5. Midpoint Plot Point (62 min.)
    • The professor realizes what a major influence he's had on the life of the student. His career hasn't been such a waste after all.
  6. Act Two Plot Point (79, 90 min.)
    • The professor acts: he tells the chair he's in love with his wife. Later he loses the pages of his novel.
  7. Climax and Resolution (103 min.)
    • The professor is fired but lives happily ever after with his new wife (former lover) and child, writing away.


MODULE 4: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

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