Day 4: Triangle – OCEAN’S 11

[Judith Watson]

Hmwk wk2.4 Ocean’s 11 – TRIANGLE – JUDITH WATSON

Watch 1st time for:
· What makes this love triangle interesting? I think Julia waiting for her lover gets surprised by her former husband who has just been released from jail. She didn’t know he was in jail. She just thought he had disappeared.
· Where do you see secrets, intrigue, and emotional needs? Danny kept it a secret that he had been sent to jail. Julia needs to be able to trust Danny and she doesn’t. He says he doesn’t lie anymore, but she doesn’t believe him.
· Where do you see conflict between each point of the triangle? I see that Julia doesn’t want to be hurt anymore. Danny wants her back. Her present lover wouldn’t want to give her back to him.
Watch 2nd time for:
· What drama is this scene built around? I think the drama is built around the surprise that her husband, who disappeared, and she didn’t know why, has returned wanting her back. She doesn’t want to go back to him, but he seems like he will be persistent.
· What profile items (right character, traits, secret, wound, future) showed up in these two character’s words and actions?
Danny: persistent, confident, – he expected her to welcome him with open arms.
His secret was he didn’t tell her he was in jail. Why?
Julia has a wound – he disappeared, and she didn’t know why
Future: there is a definite problem here – Danny is not going to go away.

[Nora B Anderson]

What I love about this scene is their hurt and their history creates similarities between them – the same cutting wit, quick speech style. And although she’s angry, she warns him three times to leave, and in a protective way, not a cold way. The fact that he’s still wearing his wedding ring, beautifully forlorn. I would use this match of speech style to insinuate two characters are aligned or drawn to each other, or have history like these two have.

[Sherry Miller]

This was sort of like “The Sting.” I’m actually more of a fan of “The Sting.” But here goes…
Julia Roberts, Tess, sips her drink, content. Then the surprise, her husband, fresh out of prison, shows up, wants her back. Interesting that this scene does work without Terry, the 3rd person of the triangle, visible. Although he’s alluded to. What makes this interesting is how dialogue clips along, snappy, revealing quite a bit about Tess and Danny. “I don’t smoke. Don’t sit.” We get the feeling she’s a little reformed since Danny and wishes he’d go away. “They tell me I paid my debt to society,” he says. “Funny, I never got a check,” she answers. “Where’s your ring?” “I sold it.” She’s ready to move on; he isn’t. She accuses him of being a thief and a liar. He announces “I don’t do that anymore.” “Lie.” The big reveal. Future. We know now he’s still a thief, plans to rob the casino. Not just any casino but the one her new boyfriend owns. Revenge? Traits that help make this triangle work: Danny’s sarcastic, funny, determined, ambitious, charming, possessive, and cocky. Tess is tired of his antics, fed up, ready to move on, educated (she’s curator of an art gallery). He was her wound. His wound is losing her when he did jail time. He jabs that he’s confused, doesn’t know the difference between Monet and Manet (I know how he feels. Ha!). Her jab insinuates he doesn’t work for a living. “They also painted occasionally,” she adds. She needs a more steady reliable relationship and expresses that. Danny doesn’t get it because he asks, “Does he make you laugh?” We instantly know how they always interacted with each other. She answers, future in her words: “He doesn’t make me cry.” The scene is built around a busy restaurant with wine and food in a gambling casino. This movie is based on a gamble, a big one for Danny and his 11 accomplices, all for revenge. Conflict escalates with each conversational jab.
The only triangle like this I can see in my novel is a scene where Wild Bill’s brother opposes helping and hiding Mattie, my main character. She’s a liability to him.