I haven't read Blake Snyder's Save the Cat, a book providing amateur and seasoned screenwriters with a framework or "beat sheet" for feature films. I hear and read writers, producers and critics refer to the structure more and more as I delve into theory and the current Hollywood scene as I attempt knead out clunks, cut the fact and fashion act breaks in my scripts. Although I write sketches and shorts, word is, this structure is solid for all models of storytelling. The word is actually like gospel - so affirmative, so believing in this script-selling formula - and I find it a helpful, sensible guide as I re-draft. I have stumbled across one review of the book which disputes Snyder's taste in movies and calls out Snyder's lifting of other scriptlords' ideas for his own beat sheet. The criticism is well-justified and even amusing - check it out here. Snyder, screenwriter of Blank Check and Stop Or My Mum Will Shoot died in recent years and only in middle-age. However, from accounts of his generosity and mentoring qualities, I gather it's the un-sugar-coated truth is that this man was passionate about screenwriting.
"Save the cat" is an original beat Snyder's contributed to the cult world of how-to screenwriting. This beat is supposed to be a moment - the moment when a character does something that makes the audience see them as relatable, sympathetic or the story's hero, such as saving a cat. I've been struggling a with making a protagonist in one of my stories likeable - largely because he was ill-defined and replica-ish to suit a premise. I found a save the cat moment in the form of a weak spot which I think humanises him.
Anyway, I've been intrigued by such techniques and their effectiveness, replaying in my head a mixed review I heard about 50/50. A writer/critic didn't see a journey Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character had to overcome, besides the extrinsic cancer battle. The reviewer also despised the introduction of JGL's Adam for the reason that it seemed inconsistent of character. Paraquoting: "He was set up as rule-follower which is fine and JGL's performance is very charming, but this wasn't a defining characteristic of Adam at all and there was no rule-breaking later to tie it back or show evolution."
I think this is a very fair point. Adam wasn't strictly, decidedly by the book. Whilst his "save the cat" moment could have been more eloquently designed (eg. bookended, integral in the story), Adam isn't an eccentric or even so much a character - he's a reflection of the mild-mannered average-guy writer who went through a similar battle. Whilst not hugely or precisely indicative of a unique or out-of-this-world personality, I think it's still a valid first meeting of Adam. He doesn't take big risks; he obliges convention and social decorum, and don't we all? To argue it's relevancy to the film's theme and character arc, Adam comes to an unexpected halt; he needs to live his life more fully and improve his relationships. We meet a man that isn't head-on with conflict - yet - and who holds back by force of habit and inherent beliefs. Adam's "save the cat" moment is slowing his jog to a stop at traffic lights at a road without traffic.
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