credible storyline

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  • credible storyline

    just throwing this out for the critic in us all. the movie RANSOM, with mel gibson. you're reading along, think the script is good and you get to the twist.

    the twist is that the father is going to spite the kidnappers by not paying. hmm. okay. so, the entire movie's goal is to justify this inexplicable decision.

    how did they craft this? they laid a trail. they wanted us to believe that they would kill the kid anyway. which they did in dialgoue, which crated the strife between the kidnappers, conflict, brothers, conflict and this was the first thread that lead to the credibilty of the father decision.

    it was okay for us to accept it because they left all the clues to us ' kill the kid', but that's cheating. the father doesnt' know they're gonna kill the kid.

    when you read the script it's like that sound when the record player skips off. . . .

    anyone want to way in? this could get deep if i promise i won't insult anyone. maybe one person. outside chance of two - but no more.

  • #2
    goose

    i'm not into mel gibson flics for the reason that the movies he's involved with always tend to perplex me in their not-even-laughable unintentional stupidity (with the exception of mad max) and extreme plainness. good luck getting into a deep conversation with someone though.

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    • #3
      Re: goose

      It's been a while since I saw this film but didn't they portray Mel as a maverick risk taker before the kidnapping so his actions were unexpected but consistent and logical?

      I think it was an interesting choice to make the father active rather than a victim.

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      • #4
        Re: goose

        anyone want to way in? this could get deep if i promise i won't insult anyone. maybe one person. outside chance of two - but no more.
        Yeah but you've already insulted yourself.

        "way" in?

        So as for two, I'm volunteering myself. C'mon man, gimme some sugar!

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        • #5
          Re: goose

          it takes a genius to frame oj. but, i. . . whelp. didn't he get acquitted?

          vig

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          • #6
            i'm saying, i read the script. read the script and tell me that you wouldn't say... damn, some how this statement will segua back into the 'how could you say this' when you never saw sky captain.

            paging whiskey.

            vig

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            • #7
              Yes, OJ was acquitted. But the reason why he was the prime suspect and went on trial - is because I framed him. See how that works?

              Let me know if I'm going too fast for ya.

              The film Ransom. Didn't care for it. But I think you bring up an interesting argument. I'll think about it.

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              • #8
                yes, you're going much, much to fast. please use caution while thinking.

                vig

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                • #9
                  Re: goose

                  "It's been a while since I saw this film but didn't they portray Mel as a maverick risk taker before the kidnapping so his actions were unexpected but consistent and logical?"

                  I think it was an interesting choice to make the father active rather than a victim." duex

                  no, it wasn't logical. the intentional playing the movie to the audience to syphathize for the main character and indeed believe the logic in his actions were consistent, was not believable and logical and did one of the things movies should never do.

                  matchstick men did the same thing. while we stayed with the so called daughter her actions were not consistent with a character that would in real life be a grifter. this intentional fraud to justify the plot is not endearing. although i thought it was okay.

                  these scripts were just plain wrong man - come on now. cum-on - hike.

                  vig

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                  • #10
                    ransom

                    I've never read the script but I remember some of the movie. Maybe I'm not focusing on your specific gripe but didn't Ransom come out at the height of the reality TV shows like Cops and America's Most Wanted and other shows that showed how media can help fight crime? Citizens fed up with crime use the media that usually covers crimes instead of fighting them. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that was what the movie was about when I saw it the first time. The father was fed up and used the media to get his son.
                    I thought Ron Howard's direction of the scene in the park where the son disappears and the father follows the kite (or whatever it was) was executed brilliantly. But that's another thread.

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                    • #11
                      Re: goose

                      If you were trying to assassinate a master spy and counter-intelligence operative and make it look like an accident would you think that you had a hope in hell of luring him into a remote location where he is out of his element and would you think that a crop dusting biplane with a machine gun on it would be the most effective way to kill a highly trained operative and that such a death would be considered an accident?

                      Yet the corn field scene in North by Northwest remains one of the most memorable scenes in all of film history and works completely because of the sheer skill with which it is created. Audiences love it and don't question it because they love it so much.

                      When Mel makes his choice, he is already established to be a maverick and risk taker who hates to be told what to do and he does something that we love because it is unexpected, and yet expected, and throughly thrilling and entertaining -- for most people.

                      You're question is why does this kind of reversal work. The answer is because we are told it is the best way to get the kid back so we support his decision and because the character is so adeptly established as a risk taker who refuses to play by the rules and follow orders. These two things make it work because the hero's actions are logical and consistent for the character and because of the audience superior being used to create suspense we are rooting for the hero to find some way to avoid the tragic end of his son's death is he follows the kidnapper's demands.

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                      • #12
                        Re: goose

                        north by northwest. yes, the ol' mcguffin. one example that weathered the test of time is not 'kill my son, i'm a maverick.'

                        and the script did not make me believe it. though that corn field scene almost killed the stunt double.

                        vig

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                        • #13
                          Re: goose

                          vig, it's been a while since i've seen ransom and reading what you wrote, i can see what you're saying. my question is why all of a sudden, "ransom"? it was a totally forgettable movie, wasn't it? i can see debating something that's considered great or popular or a current hot topic but "ransom" doesn't fit the bill.

                          unless you have something up your sleeve and are working on something related.

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                          • #14
                            Re: goose

                            ransom was made with a headline actor, a very generic idea, nothing original. it is one of those scripts that possibly 7 out of ten readers would have a problem with it. trash can stuff.

                            i'm talking purely in the script form. just a general condemnation of the crap shoot of getting the right eyes to read a script.

                            kind of like the ugly duckling who can never get the cute guy until she's resurrected by a make over and self esteem.

                            matchstickmen really pissed me off. ransom not so much. i was curious so i read the script and i could see myself saying something organic, and technical jargon with prosy book tutorial seminar type things that would completely obliterate the core of it's crediblility and charge someone 200 bucks for my review. and then bam, greenlit.

                            vig

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                            • #15
                              Re: goose

                              As I remember it, Mel's character is established as a risk taker who's used to getting his own way. It's also indicated that he has commited a criminal act in running his air business.

                              He is prepared to pay the kidnappers, but the botched ransom drop convinces him that the criminals plan to kill his son regardless of what he does.

                              The police seem unable to catch the criminals.

                              In that light, offering the ransom money as a bounty against anyone who'll get the kidnappers seems like a reasonable act.

                              As it turns out, he gets the kid back alive.

                              It was the right call.

                              I also think that the vigilante in all of us wishes we had the guts to do something like that.

                              The act of offering a bounty didn't seem unkind or cruel to me, but it's been a long time since I've seen the film.

                              That's just my take on it.

                              Edited to add: I haven't read the script, so I don't know how the incident is handled there. I think what they do in the film works fine. It could be that Mel's character was much more callous in the script, and was rewritten to humanise him. In the film he doesn't just refuse to pay the ransom - he offfers it as a bounty when it becomes clear the kidnappers will kill the kid even if he gives them the money.

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