Analysis Of Steve De Jarnatt's Miracle Mile

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The job of a screenplay is to establish many different aspects of a movie, including tone, dialog and narrative structure. A screenplay is a constant juggling act that must keep all of these aspects in balance, obviously there are some films that do this better than others. A rather unique film that handles each of these aspects well is writer/director Steve De Jarnatt’s Miracle Mile (1988). This film is truly one of a kind and how it pulls it off is something of a miracle. It’s the story of a man named Harry and a woman named Julie falling in love with one each other over the course of a day. Unfortunately the good times can’t last, as Harry misses their date and picks up a pay phone, only to discover that nuclear warfare is happening and he only has a certain amount of time to get out of the blast zone. De Jarnatt’s screenplay is very different, but it somehow works out beautiful and how it does …show more content…

Most of the film’s narrative is driven by cause and effect, with Harry’s actions affecting the way the story plays out. A great example is when Harry and Wilson steal a cop car, the repercussions of this action aren’t fully realized until later in the movie. If Harry and Wilson hadn’t stolen that car, than Wilson wouldn’t have shown up later in the story, riddled with bullets and asking for Harry to mercifully kill him. Perhaps the best example is what drives the whole narrative forward, what makes Harry miss his date with Julie and hear the phone call. The whole reason Harry hears that phone call is because he threw away a lit cigarette, which a crow picked up and later dropped on it’s nest that happens to be resting on the power lines on top of Harry’s apartment complex. De Jarnatt’s script is all about cause and effect and this makes for a really exciting and fun narrative structure, as it constantly leaves the audience wondering what Harry will get himself into

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