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220 Plot Point Breakdowns:

The Plot of 220 Popular Hollywood Films Broken Down into their Five Structural Components

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Father of the Bride (1991)

Screenplay Genre: Family / Comedy Movie Time: 105 minutes 1. INCITING INCIDENT After she gets back from Rome, Annie is having dinner with her family. She tells them she fell in love in Rome and is getting married, much to her father's dismay. (00:12:13) 2. LOCK IN (End of Act One) Brian comes over to meet the parents. He tells the story of how he knew Annie was "the one". Nina (Annie's mom) breaks down and cries. Later, she tells George (Annie's father) that this wedding is happening whether he likes it or not. (00:28:00) 3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint) George has a meltdown due to the stress (and the cost) of the wedding. He is arrested for causing havoc in a grocery store while arguing over hot dog buns. (00:56:13) 4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act Two) To celebrate, Brian gives Annie a blender as a gift before the wedding. Annie has a fit and calls off the wedding. Seeing his daughter so distraught, George does something he never thought he would do. He bonds with Brian and actually convinces the two to go through with the wedding. (1:24:00) 5. THIRD ACT TWIST George tries to get a moment alone with Annie throughout the wedding. He fails, and Annie leaves for her honeymoon without saying goodbye. (1:31:00)

220 Plot Point Breakdowns

The Script Lab

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That Thing You Do! (1996)

Screenplay Genre: Comedy / Drama Movie Time: 108 minutes 1. INCITING INCIDENT Drummer Chad breaks his arm while goofing around on the street. The band needs a drummer in order to enter the talent show. The band decides to replace Chad with Guy Patterson. (00:10:13) 2. LOCK IN (End of Act One) After having a success at the talent show thanks to Guy, The Wonders sign a recording contract with Phil Horace. (00:29:00) 3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint) The Wonders bomb their first big performance. Mr. White, an agent for Playtone Records, still decides to sign them up with the record company and take them on tour. (00:49:12) 4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act Two) The Wonders have finally made it as they play on the Hollywood Television Showcase to thousands of screaming fans. (1:27:00) 5. THIRD ACT TWIST The lead singer, Jimmy, quits the band in pursuit of a solo career. (1:39:00)

220 Plot Point Breakdowns

The Script Lab

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Elf (2003)

Screenplay Genre: Comedy / Family / Fantasy Movie Time: 91 minutes 1. INCITING INCIDENT Pappa Elf explains that Buddy is not an elf, but instead a human whose mother, Susan Wells, gave him up for adoption before she died but never told his biological father, Walter Hobbs - who lives in a magical land called New York City - that Buddy was ever born. (00:13:00) 2. LOCK IN (End of Act One) Now in the Big Apple, Buddy arrives at his father's office. Assuming Buddy is a Christmas-gram, Walter's secretary presents Buddy to Walter, and Buddy sings a way too personal "I love you. I love you. I LOVE YOU!" song. (00:23:30) 3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint) Buddy has been accepted into the Hobb's family, enjoys his first dinner with them and stays the night, culminating with Walter literally tucking Buddy in for a good night sleep. (00:45:16) 4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act Two) Buddy runs away, leaving a farewell note: "I ruined your lives and crammed ten cookies into the VCR. I don't belong here. I don't belong anywhere. I'll never forget you. Love, Buddy" (1:11:55) 5. THIRD ACT TWIST As Buddy tries to repair Santa's downed sleigh in the middle of central park, the notorious and "naughty" black-caped Central Park Rangers move in on horseback for the attack. (1:21:34)

220 Plot Point Breakdowns

The Script Lab

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Public Enemies (2009)

Screenplay Genre: Biography / Crime / Drama Movie Time: 140 minutes 1. INCITING INCIDENT As J. Edgar Hoover addresses the media, he declares the United States' first "War on Crime" and introduces Agent Melvin Purvis, who will run the field office in Chicago with his primary task to apprehend Public Enemy #1: John Dillinger. (00:19:05) 2. LOCK IN (End of Act One) When Billie agrees to leave her coat-check job and go back to Dillinger's hotel room, she accepts John's gift ? a fur coat that symbolizes the engagement of their relationship. She is now officially "John's girl", and they're both locked-into the love affair. (00:33:10) 3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint) After being arrested in The Hotel Congress and subsequently extradited to the Lake County Jail in Indiana, Dillinger - with a fake gun and the help of another inmate - escapes the jail, driving out in broad daylight ? not a single shot fired. (1:00:51) 4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act Two) After liberating Billie from 24-hour police observation and telling her he plans to commit one more score that will pay enough for the two to leave the country together, Dillinger drops her off at a "safe" hotel and helplessly watches as she is captured. (1:41:01) 5. THIRD ACT TWIST Through a crooked cop Zarcovich ? hired by Frank Nitti because Dillinger's crimes are motivating the feds to prosecute interstate crime, which puts Nitti's bookmaking racket at risk ? Purvis enlists the help of madam Anna Sage to set up Dillinger, threatening her with deportation to Romania if she does not cooperate. (1:48:20)

220 Plot Point Breakdowns

The Script Lab

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The Matrix (1999)

Screenplay Genre: Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi

Movie Time: 136 minutes

1. INCITING INCIDENT

In the interrogation room, Agent Smith reminds Neo that he will be found "guilty of virtually every computer crime we have a law for" if Neo doesn't help them capture Morpheus. Neo refuses, demanding his phone call, only to find his lips fused together as the Agents implant a shrimp-like robot probe ? a bug ? in his stomach. (00:16:47)

2. LOCK IN (End of Act One)

Trinity brings Neo to Morpheus, who explains the Matrix as a false reality that was constructed to hide the truth: that Neo is a slave, like everyone else, born into bondage. Morpheus holds out two pills. If Neo takes the blue pill, he'll wake up in his bed and believe whatever he wants, but if he takes the red pill, he'll stay in Wonderland, and Morpheus will show him "how deep the rabbit hole goes." Neo takes the red pill. (00:28:50)

3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint)

Neo meets the Oracle. She asks him if he thinks he's the 'One', and Neo answers, "I'm not the one." The Oracle concurs and explains that Morpheus is going to sacrifice his life to save Neo's, and that "One of you is going to die. Which one, will be up to you." (1:12:29)

4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act Two)

Morpheus is captured, Cypher is dead, and the rest of the team unplugged, with Tank, Trinity, and Neo the only survivors. Tank explains that the Agents are trying to break Morpheus' mind to get the codes to the mainframes of Zion's computers. Because a breach of Zion's defenses would mean the last human city would be wiped out, Tank says their only choice is to unplug Morpheus, which would kill him. But Neo and Trinity decide to go into the Matrix and bring Morpheus back. (1:34:42)

5. THIRD ACT TWIST

The Sentinels breach the hull of the Nebuchadnezzar as Neo ? back in the Matrix ? runs for his life until Agent Smith empties his magazine into Neo's chest. Neo slumps to the floor, dead. All is lost, yet Trinity whispers into Neo's ear, "The Oracle, she told me that I'd fall in love and that man, the man I loved would be the One." She kisses him, and Neo suddenly breathes. And in the Matrix, he opens his eyes. (2:02:20)

220 Plot Point Breakdowns

The Script Lab

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Mean Girls (2004)

Screenplay Genre: Comedy / Drama Movie Time: 97 Minutes 1. INCITING INCIDENT While sitting at the lunch table with The Plastics, Cady tells Gretchen and Karen that she has a crush on Aaron Samuels. Much to Cady's disappointment, Gretchen and Karen tell her that Aaron is the ex-boyfriend of the head Plastic, Regina. They tell Cady he is off limits according to the "rules of feminism". (00:14:50) 2. LOCK IN (End of Act One) At the Halloween party, Regina tells Aaron that Cady is obsessed with him. She then kisses him passionately. Cady sees this and leaves the party, goes to visit Janis and Damian, and creates a plan to ruin Regina. (00:27:25) 3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint) Cady and Aaron meet behind Regina's back to study. After asking why he's going out with Regina again, Cady spills that Regina is cheating on him. Aaron breaks up with Regina and her whole world begins to crumble. (00:46:30) 4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act Two) Damian and Janis drive by Cady's house party. Janis yells at Cady that she is a "mean girl, a bitch". Simultaneously, Regina puts it together that Cady is sabotaging her. (01:00:00) 5. THIRD ACT TWIST Regina storms out of school, with an apologetic Cady in tow. Regina stops in the street to tell Cady how much everyone hates her, and is hit by a bus. (1:16:00)

220 Plot Point Breakdowns

The Script Lab

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Kick-Ass (2010)

Screenplay Genre: Action / Crime / Thriller

Movie Time: 117 minutes

1. INCITING INCIDENT

Wearing his internet ordered superhero suit, geeky Dave Lizewski comes across two thugs breaking into a car and tries to stop them, but in his first crime fighting confrontation, Dave ends up getting stabbed in the stomach and hit by a car. (00:15:54)

2. LOCK IN (End of Act One)

Still determined to be a superhero, Dave is at it again, but this time ? while searching for a lost cat ? he fights off three attackers who are beating on a defenseless man in front of a diner. Some patrons record the fight and post it on YouTube, propelling Dave's alter superhero ego, Kick Ass, into an internet phenom. (00:29:32)

3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint)

Bad guy Frank D-Amico allows his son, Chris, to don the identity of a superhero called Red Mist so that Chris can infiltrate the secret world of superheroes. When the two crime fighters meet, Red Mist asks to be Kick Ass's sidekick. Impressed, Kick Ass agrees, unaware Red Mist is leading him into an ambush. (00:59:35)

4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act Two)

The TV broadcasts show a live countdown for the Kick Ass unmasking, but when the countdown expires, we see Big Daddy and Kick Ass handcuffed to chairs, beaten, and about to be burned alive... until Hit Girl arrives to save them. She kills all D-Amico's henchmen, but Big Daddy dies from his burns. Kick Ass survives. (1:30:21)

5. THIRD ACT TWIST

During the final battle after Hit Girl has killed most of D-Amico's remaining men, she has run out of bullets and is facing eminent doom as a thug aims a bazooka at her, but then... Kick Ass arrives outside D-Amico's penthouse in a jet rocket pack equipped with two gatling guns, and he wipes out the remaining thugs. (1:42:57)

220 Plot Point Breakdowns

The Script Lab

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