Customer Reviews

Good Scripts, Bad Scripts: Learning the Craft of Screenwriting Through 25 of the Best and Worst Films in Hi story

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

If you're looking for a book that lays out a mechanical blueprint for a screenplay, this book isn't for you.

Yes, Pope is knowledgable about the sort of structural issues that every screenwriter should know in his or her sleep, but what he's really trying to do in this book is address the fuzzy, hard-to-put-your-finger-on problems that keep a screenplay from really working. I applaud him for this.

Haven't we all seen movies that have a seemingly solid script -- with clear reversals, character development, well-situated plot points, a discernible three-act structure, etc. -- that still somehow fall flat? What is the mysterious X factor that this sort of movie is missing that we can't quite define? This is the problem that Pope tries to shed some light on.

Actually, there are few "bad" scripts in this book, despite the title. Pope instead analyzes a lot of OK screenplays that could've been great if only a couple of script elements had been juggled about or refocused. This is incredibly helpful. In almost every example, I could see how the script in question could've really improved with just a few judicious tweaks. Pope shows me things in these movies that I hadn't seen just by watching them. (He even demonstrates how what seems to be a badly written script can create magic on screen -- for instance, Pope shows how "The Day of the Jackal" appears to break so many rules yet actually ends up being a very engrossing film.)

Along with discussions of these "bad" scripts are breakdowns of very good scripts that are just as helpful.

A couple of reviewers here have said that Pope's book only provides what a movie review or a post-viewing discussion with a friend could deliver just as well. First, I've never read a critic who spends as much time on deep-structure issues in a review as Pope does in his mini-essays. (OK, maybe Kael and Thomson, but that's about it.) Second, if you have a friend who can dissect the less-obvious failures of a script as well as Pope can, well, consider yourself seriously lucky. For those of us without such a friend, Pope's book is a godsend. It delivers its insights in such a conversational way that it's easy to miss how precise some of them are.

No single book can teach all there is to screenwriting. It's still an art rather than a science (at least I hope it is). The best approach is to pick a handful of guides in order to gain differing viewpoints. After all, the more arrows you have in your quiver, the better.

I'd recommend making Pope's book a companion volume to, say, Syd Field's "Screenplay," Denny Martin Flinn's "How Not to Write a Screenplay," Michael Hauge's "Writing Screenplays That Sell" or Robert McKee's "Story." None of these books supply all the answers on their own -- you can't really expect them to -- but together as a group they come pretty close.

Good luck, folks. Work hard and write something beautiful. I know I'll be first in line at the cinema if you do.

A clever book that dissects the scripts to twenty-five popular or classic films. Unlike other screenwriting books that teach theory in a strictly generic fashion, Pope teaches by EXAMPLE. He systematically breaks down each script showing exactly why it works, or why it doesn't. A valuable aid that I only wish was in print when I was in film school.

Most teachers of the craft of screenwriting only analyze well-written screenplays. However, we learn from failure, not repeated success. Mr. Pope's book was obviously written with this in mind. He shows how bad screenplays failed and how some good screenplays avoided failure. Although he could've gone into more depth, this is still a valuable book for movie fans and aspiring screenwriters.

This is a great book. So many screenwriting books either dive deep into complex theory OR give us a Paint by Numbers formula to writing the new Hollywood blockbuster. Pope looks at 25 differing scripts and shows BY EXAMPLE what makes some work, some fail, and why no script is 100% PERFECT.

If you're an aspiring screenwriter looking to inspire some form of logic to your budding script, pick up a copy of Thomas Pope's "Good Scripts, Bad Scripts". Mr. Pope's critiques and breaking down of popular films in various genres are so meticulous and well studied that you will never look at films such as Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction the same way again.

I'm curious, though. How would Mr. Pope have judged more complex fare like David Lynch's "Eraserhead," or formalist exercises such as Gus Van Sant's "Elephant," or surreal genres such as Luis Buñuel's "Un Chien Andalou," or films within a film such as Jim Jarmusch's "Coffee and Cigarettes," or structureless essays like practically anything by Jean-Luc Godard?

Looking through Pope's 25 selections, there is not one avant-garde representation. The films may have been avant-garde in the way they were conceived ("Singing' in the Rain" being a fine example) but the end products are, by and large, mainstream entertainment.

It's ironic that Thomas Pope's best point in his book was in the preface: "There are no rules. In fact, that may be the single most important idea to come from this entire book." I agree 100%.

That said, I would still recommend "Good Scripts, Bad Scripts" even to those who are stubbornly resistant to traditional narrative structure, because you can choose to adopt, challenge or disregard most of the formulas and conventions that are laid out in his thoughtful book. Either way, you can't go wrong.

By the way, I disagree with Mr. Pope that "Singing' in the Rain" is the finest musical ever made. I believe that honour belongs to "West Side Story."

This is not a 'how-to' book, more an interesting (IMHO) setof facts and opinions about a couple of dozen films in particular.

In some ways, to me it's like eavesdropping on a couple of friends having a film-related conversation one evening. Sure, it's a little one-sided, but for the most part I agreed with the basic points for each script.

The neat thing (too) I think is that any one of us would have seen several (if not all) of these films, so talking about structure and character-development won't be an academic exercise... you'll know exactly what they're talking about (and can agree, disagree...)

This is an easy read, manageable chapters and not hard-work by any stretch. In fact, it was an enjoyable pick-it-up when you have spare time, rather than have to slog through a lecture (syd field, please note)

The subtitle of this book should be "sometimes crappy screenplays get produced." There's not much about how to structure a story or about the mechanics of a screenplay here, but it's a mildly entertaining book when it dissects perfectly awful films like "The Abyss," "Falling in Love" and "Cutthroat Island." The real story here is how studios and stars with big egos can sign on and spend millions producing terrible screenplays like these. The only thing I really learned from reading this book is that the worst screenplay will make to the screen if Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep want to be in the movie. And how often does that happen?

This book is not mere film reviews; it isolates and defines those characteristics that make a film work or not work. Thus, any aspiring screenwriter should use it to their advantage. One of the best I've read, (and I've read most of them) it helped me write and sell my first feature script. A friend "borrowed" my copy. I'm buying another. First rate!

Mr. Pope has done in book form what I and countless other aspiring screenwriters do in our heads: analyze movies to figure out what did and didn't work. For the most part, I thoroughly agree with the author's analyses, but let's face it, opinions are like, well, you know, and his conclusions may be different than your own. The important thing is his logic is undeniable and thought-provoking. I wish he'd come out with an updated version with 25 new movies and analyses.

I was dissapointed with the context of this book. I could have gotten the same information about screenwriting from reading the local newspaper movie reviews. That is basically what this book comes down to. Some of the information could be used in fine tuning your screenplay, but you could get the same results by having a friends read your work and giving advice. There are better books out there.