Got all Your Ducks in a Row? Where's the Motivation (or drama) in That?

 

What does John Irvin’s 1987 film Hamburger Hill and Stanley Kubric’s Full Metal Jacket (same year) have in common? Both films follow military personnel during the Vietnam War. Sadly, both are also flat as printer paper and just about as memorable.

 

One of these things is not like the other. Hey! One of these things is not quite the…

 

Oliver Stone’s 1986 film Platoon, while covering the same subject matter, is like a different world. What sets it apart from the others? Motivations.

Kubric’s Marines are meatheads, intent on whoring, drinking, and, when necessary, killing. Even our protagonist, Joker, the combat journalist (Matthew Modine) treats the war like a backpacking tour. Then, when the sh—tuff hits the fan, they all pull together against one of the biggest boogiemen on the battlefield, the sniper. 

 

Professionals with face-forward objectives, Irvin’s soldiers still struggle with race conflicts and fears of returning home to people who don’t understand them. Sadly what should be forefront individual conflict, is instead background noise. The net effect is we never really connect with any one character or care all that much about the cast as a whole.  

Stone’s film narrows the focus. Mostly due to a stingy budget, he tells a fast and lean story following Chris Taylor, (Charlie Sheen) a brand-new infantryman who finds the war he volunteered for is WAY different from all he read, heard, and imagined. 

 

Chris realizes that whatever the Army’s objectives, (and no one is really sure what those may be) his motivation is simple: stay alive. You’re thinking, “no kidding, he is in the middle of a war.” But while the threat of highly motivated Vietnamese troops is distant, the power struggle between two sergeants, both with life-or-death power over Chris, is immediate. Elias, (Willem Dafoe) is a three-tour veterant determined to keep his squad alive. Scar by combat, Barnes, (Tom Berenger) is fighting his own war and his field of fire is anyone who isn’t following orders. 

 

Cross purposes—where the drama is.

 

In Barry Sonnenfeld’s 2001 film, Ocean’s Eleven, Danny Ocean (George Clooney) assembles a dream-team of crooks and oddballs to take down a once-in-a-lifetime score. Up against a savvy casino owner (Andy Garcia) who knows that his vault paints a target squarely on his back, the crew must navigate state-of-the-art (means “Star Wars fantasyland”) security. But gosh-darn-it, they just manage to do it!

 

Oh, yeah, spoilers…

 

There’s never really a doubt that the crew, (no, I’m not naming all 11) will prevail. The entertainment here is not the “if” it’s the how. And it is a fun movie.

 

Was it sit-through-two-sequels-of-the-same-premise fun? Different rant, different time.

 

Where the film runs shallow is drama. Like the previously mentioned Full Metal Jacket and Hamburger Hill, OE suffers from everyone moving in a logical direction, along a well-executed plan. Which. Never. Happens. Like, ever.

Also, most people have their own agenda. Many people are (often) dishonest. Some people are just born fu­—to lose.

“Now sooner or later, they’re gonna get around to offering me a plea deal…That’s why you came here…” Jackie Brown. 

In Quinten Tarantino’s 1997 crime film Jackie Brown, (based on Elmore Leonard’s Rum Punch) Pam Grier is the eponymous flight attendant who is arrested with a bag of cash and coke intended for gunrunner Ordell Robbie, (Samuel L. Jackson). Jackie is between the proverbial rock and hard place. With a previous conviction, Jackie is facing a long fall. 

FBI agent Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) wants Jackie to testify against her boss (who has already killed the loose end that pointed the cops at Jackie). He really wants Ordell in prison. He’s not terribly concerned about Jackie thereafter.

Ordell, the gunrunner, wants his money. He wants Jackie “got.” And he REALLY wants to avoid prison.

No matter your plans, a woman like Jackie will change them.

Then there is Max Cherry, the world-weary bail bondsman. Struck by the thunderbolt at first sight of Jackie, Max is the fulcrum between her and Ordell. Max wants Jackie to live. He wants Jackie to avoid jail. He would like a chance with her. 

“You can't trust Melanie. But, you can always trust Melanie to be Melanie.” Ordell Robby, Jackie Brown 

Jackie has her own plans. Death, prison, and unemployed poverty have no part in those plans. Sensing a kindred spirit, (and opportunity) Jackie co-opts Ordell’s gun moll, Melanie. Jackie moves  Melanie, the fed, Max, and even Ordell himself all over the chessboard. The net effect is an enthralling game and HUGE drama.  

“Every character should want something, even if it’s just a glass of water.” -Kurt Vonnegut

The parent who raises you to adulthood also cannot wait for you to grow-the-hell up so they can get on with all the farting around they couldn’t do while being responsible for your wellbeing. Your childhood-best-friend, dedicated mentor, workplace comrade has lottery fantasies that do not involve you at all. Your significant other, who seems so content to second-seat your success, has imagined life without you. More than once.

For the most human example, read James Joyce’ novella The Dead. No matter if you write Crime or Regency Romance, Sci-Fi or Urban Horror—those 64 pages will shift your perspective on character motivation and what happens when you realize that not only are you not the center of someone else’ universe but they have motivations that have nothing to do with you. 

Just a suggestion.

The image at the top belongs to Miramax Films. It is used here for instructional/educational purposes as covered by the Fair Use Doctrine.