The 3-Act Paradigm at Work: The Wedding Singer
written by Tim Herlihy
The Wedding Singer is a light, cute romantic
comedy with good moments and bad.
Structural Analysis
- Hook (4 min.)
- The best man at a wedding makes a total fool of himself, upsetting
the guests. The wedding singer comes to the rescue.
- Complication (6-10 min.)
- A series of complications with consequences: the wedding singer
himself is getting married in a week; he meets a waitress who also is
engaged (for two years and eager to marry); the waitress will be working
at the wedding singer's own wedding.
- Call to Action (26 min.)
- But the bride-to-be jilts the wedding singer (17 min.). He goes into
a fit of depression, finally coming out of it to sing "Love Stinks!" at
a wedding and making a fool of himself. He is embracing a cynical attitude
toward love.
- Act One Plot Point (29-30 min.)
- The wedding singer decides to shift his career: he won't entertain
at any more weddings.
- Midpoint Plot Point (54, 71 min.)
- The wedding singer helps the waitress prepare for her own wedding,
getting to know her. When they do a harmless kiss (54 min.), it's magical.
Finally the wedding singer admits that he is in love with her (71 min.)
- Act Two Plot Point (80 min.)
- The waitress comes to the wedding singer's home to confess her own
attraction but the ex-financee answers the door and the waitress gets the
wrong idea. She decides to marry immediately in Las Vegas.
- Climax and Resolution (82-92 min.)
- The wedding singer learns of this and takes a flight to Vegas, which
ends up being the same one the waitress is on. He sings her a love song,
they kiss and end up getting married.
Notes
The Wedding Singer suffers from uneven pacing and moments that drag,
which are suggested by the time-gaps in the story structure. There are
moments of amateur writing (unnecessary expository dialogue, such as "You're
going to blow them away at your fiftieth wedding anniversary," dialogue
that is unnatural and unrealistically informational). Most of the problems
are in the second act, and the story really doesn't kick into high gear until
the end when a "ticking clock" is introduced. All in all, a light, cute
movie with its moments, but nothing more.
MODULE 4:
SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting
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