“The plethora of flashbacks that are added are beautifully incorporated into the flow of the dialogue and they always add up to the background of the story…” Extracts from a script report by our trainee Eirini Papadaki, based on a reading of the script THE 25TH HOUR: CLICK HERE
TITLE: THE 25th HOUR LOCALE: New York, U.S. AUTHOR(s): David Benioff SETTING: Urban
GENRE PRIMARY: Drama SECONDARY: N/A
LOG LINE: Monty Brogan has 24 hours of freedom as he prepares to go to prison to serve his seven year sentence for selling narcotics.
COMMENTS
The concept of the screenplay is very strong and so is its execution. The story is unique and original with great characters surrounding it. The dialogue is well constructed always adding to the context and essence of the story.
This is a character – driven screenplay with all the characters being complex, engaging and their dialogue lines are always sharp and emotional. The leading characters are well–developed and… the way that they interact with one another make them empathetic to the viewer even when instances of violence occur. Another important aspect of the development of the main characters is that they look authentic and familiar.
Relationships are a very important aspect of this story, possibly the most important one. Through their depiction and exploration we get to understand the motives of the main characters and why they behave as they are. The essence of this story is its characters and their relationships. Through several flashbacks we get most of the background stories of the relationships that affect and have affected Monty’s life. Through the depiction of these relationships we get to understand what kind of a man Monty is and why we should root for him.
The dialogue is very good. It is engaging, it fits each and every one character and it drives the story forward. The plethora of flashbacks that are added are beautifully incorporated into the flow of the dialogue and they always add up to the background of the story. It is very well constructed and the flow is very good. All the dialogue sequences build the premises for the themes of condemnation, loss and regret of one’s life choices.
The overall structure of the screenplay is also very good. The scenes are very well constructed, they correspond to one another, there is continuity, good pacing and there are many flashbacks that continuously add background information to the characters’ past. The pacing of the plot is built effectively to more than one climaxes during Act III, where some of the most emotional, meaningful and influential scenes happen; the scene after the bar where Monty asks Frank to beat him up in order to look ugly and the final scene where the father drives his son towards the prison.
Concerning commerciality, there are several issues that need to be addressed. This is a dark-looking film that involves strong violence in some scenes, sexual or provocative behaviours and representation and also includes scenes with drug addicts, drug sellers and profanity. Thus, special attention should be given on how these scenes are going to be handled during the filming production and what kind of certification it should receive during its exhibition.
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