This is a reason for the romcom trope of one or both of the romantic leads to have no interest in romance until the midpoint. When romance complicates the original goal, it ups the stakes. Though it's usually good to add another complication at the same time to stretch the rack tighter from both directions.

Matthew, your point illustrates why I oftentimes think of character work this way: Want and Need can refer to the generalized state of what a Protagonist brings into the story at its beginning. By the end of Act One, they have may have crystallized things into a Conscious Goal, a specific target they have in mind, and an Unstated or Unconscious Goal, a specific end point that emerges from their inner world. So for example, Rick in Casablanca: The Want he brings into the story is to be left alone to run his business so he can busy himself with avoiding dealing with the pain of the past (associated with Ilsa). Since that way of being has led him to isolationism, the Need he brings into the story is to break out of his cynicism. In Act One: Enter Ilsa, Victor Laszlo, and the letters of transit. How does this sharpen his Want and Need? Conscious Goal: Determine what to do with letters of transit. Unconscious Goal: Confront pain of the past [when Ilsa rejected him] and resolve that relationship. In dealing with those new narrative elements -- letters of transit, Ilsa, Victor -- Rick goes on his own psychological journey resulting in the classic ending we all know and love. I also should note, per the language of Michael Arndt (screenwriter of Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3) who says a great ending must answer a philosophical question, that Rick confronts an existential choice: Cynicism or Idealism? He opts for the latter, choosing to 'sacrifice' his love for Ilsa for the greater good, represented by Victor's work as a freedom fighter. Per your note about romcoms having "no interest in romance until the midpoint," it's interesting to note that the Paris flashback sequence doesn't happen in Casablanca until the very midpoint of the movie (in a commonly available 127 page version of the script, that sequence ends at P. 61). That flashback represents the very first time we've seen what the romance between Rick and Ilsa had been, and understand how and why Rick has been so badly hurt on an emotional level. So even though not a romcom, your point is relevant to Casablanca.

With the R rated comedy genre the cool thing is that raising the stakes can be handled like a cartoon, example "the hangover." A groom missing on his wedding day spins to owing a debt to an international criminal. For a horror film, or any film that maybe in a darker type film, give a character an easy way out, and then make them decide against it. Example Terminator 2's premise is about defending John Conner, it's only in the second act where Sarah Conner decides to fight the machines, it raises the stakes (fighting for humanity, not just her son) and puts her back in harm's way, advances the plot and brings action and a logical conclusion to the movie.

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