DZ-03: Making unlikeable protagonists compelling

INT. EPISODE 3 – MIDDAY

How do you make obnoxious a-holes compelling?

Stu and Chas delve into unlikable protagonists in comedy. How do filmmakers keep us watching characters who should alienate us? To answer this question, Stu and Chas look at the first 20 pages of HOT FUZZ, AS GOOD AS IT GETS and – of course – GROUNDHOG DAY.

PS: In ANCHORMAN (which we also talk about)… um… they renamed the character of Alicia Corningstone to Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) in the shooting script. We keep on referring to her as Alicia as that is what she is referred to in the screenplay. Wups.

LINKS

• Steve Kaplan and his Definition of Comedy (plus Epiphany International Artists)
• Mentorless: Steven Soderbergh on the Best Way to Learn to Make Films
• HOT FUZZ by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright – First 20 pages. For educational purposes only.
  • Hot Fuzz – Opening Montage – Angel is Awesome! (YouTube)
  • Hot Fuzz – Angel is promoted to the country (YouTube)
  • Hot Fuzz – Janine tells Angel his flaw (YouTube)
• AS GOOD AS IT GETS by Mark Aldrus and James L. Brooks – First 20 pages. For educational purposes only.
  • As Good As It Gets – “We’re All Going to Die Soon” (YouTube)
  • As Good As It Gets – “Never, never, interrupt me, okay?” (YouTube)
• GROUNDHOG DAY by Danny Rubin, 2nd Revisions by Harold Ramis – First 20 pages. For educational purposes only.
• GROUNDHOG DAY by Danny Rubin, 3rd Revisions by Harold Ramis – First 20 pages. For educational purposes only.
  • Harold Ramis on the Metaphor of Groudhog Day
  • Jason Reitman’s Live Reading of Groundhog Day: “Reitman said the script was full of deleted scenes.”
  • Groundhog Day – Re-shot Opening (YouTube)
  • Groundhog Day – “Any Chance of an Espresso or Cappuccino?” (YouTube)
  • FilmSchoolRejects: 27 Things We Learned from Harold Ramis’ Groundhog Day Commentary
  • Scriptnotes: Podcast on Groundhog Day
  • Filmspotting #480: Top 5 Harold Ramis Moments
• ANCHORMAN by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay – First 20 pages. For educational purposes only.
  • Anchorman – Ron Hits on Veronica (YouTube)

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