The 3-Act Paradigm at Work: You Can Count On Me

written by Kenneth Lonergan

You Can Count On Me is a first-rate drama of a sister-brother relationship, filled with a gentle, comic appreciation of human frailty and the drama of everyday living.

Structural Analysis

  1. Hook (0 min.)
    • A couple gets killed in an auto accident. Their 2 kids are the focus of this story.
  2. Complication (6, 9, 11 min.)
    • Three quick complications give this story a rich density. A new boss at Sammy's bank (she is the protagonist) promises to be more strict than she is used to with the demands of a single mother. Her brother, a lost soul, is coming to visit. And her son romanticizes his father, a prick whom he's never known.
  3. Call to Action (28 min.)
    • Terry's life (the brother) is as screwed up as ever, and Sammy offers to take him in for a while, to provide anchor.
  4. Act One Plot Point (30-3 min.)
    • Terry becomes a buddy and father-figure to Sammy's 8-year-old son. They are trying to be a family unit.
  5. Midpoint Plot Point (56 min.)
    • Sammy begins an affair with her new boss at the bank.
  6. Act Two Plot Point (93 min.)
    • Terry causes trouble by introducing the kid to his real father and showing him for the uncaring person he is. Sammy kicks him out, and Terry decides to hit the road again.
  7. Climax and Resolution (100-5 min.)
    • Terry promises to write the kid and assures Sammy he'll be okay and will visit again. Remember what we always used to say as kids? he asks. You can count on me.

Notes

This is masterful filmic storytelling. You cannot study a movie and find better scene efficiency than here -- what is left out is as important as what is shown in the kind of brilliant, tight, efficient storytelling we have here. The movie also is very strong on visual storytelling. This movie and script can be studied over and over again; this is powerful, tight, emotional storytelling of the best kind.

MODULE 4: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

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