It's the Story, Stupid. - Review - book review

Reason, August, 2000 by Steve Kurtz

While no one knows for sure what works, they know from experience that leading viewers down blind alleys, or losing story momentum, usually doesn't. But sometimes the rules can be broken and something new and exciting can emerge. If Goldman had discussed these anomalies--whether he likes them or not--he'd have presented a wider view of what screenplays can be about.

Still, the book is a worthy successor to Adventures in the Screen Trade. Ultimately, t does come down to story. It's just that any given formula can get you only so far. Eugene Scribe had a formula and wrote more hits than virtually any other playwright in history. Yet it is other writers who knew Scribe's style but used it to delve deep into the human soul, like Ibsen, or turned it on its head to mock conventional notions, like Shaw, who are remembered--and performed--today.

Steve Kurtz is a writer based in Los Angeles.