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Another good write up. One important takeaway for me was how the script made effective use of minor characters. The instance that stands out in my mind was the character of Joe Stafford, the embassy staff member fluent in Farsi. He goes through the film playing the role of the skeptic, who doesn't believe the ruse will work. All he can think of is all the things that could go wrong and probably will. But at the critical moment of impasse at the airport when all seems lost, Stafford rises to the occasion and uses his knowledge of Farsi to convince the guards that they are just Canadians scouting locations for a film. This is in contrast to the easy and obvious choice in which the doubter, to his shame and disgrace, gets proven wrong, has to eat his words. He doesn't get a chance to redeem himself and become a hero. But Stafford does. Nice touch.

Hey Scott! I'd be willing to do an analysis of American Hustle, but I probably won't be able to get it to you until latest Saturday. Let me know if that works or not, and if it does, I'll get working on it ASAP.

Sarah, that works. Thanks!

Good point, Paul. It's often a sign of a good writer when they handle secondary and even tertiary characters with great care, breathing life into each of them and as you note giving them a nice payoff to their particular narrative function. Here's something I noted about Argo: The Ticking Clock, starting on P.26: INT. CARPET FACTORY - DAY ANGLE - A SMALL HAND pieces shreds together to form the words: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE -- TEHRAN -- CLASSIFIED. He is working on reassembling the seized EMBASSY PAPERS -- a giant pile of shredded documents -- with the skill of a blindfolded child Mozart at the harpsichord. We see the unmistakable image of a FACE being formed from the shredded material. This becomes a little subplot, the story weaving back to it about 3-4 times, and as the face becomes clearer, we grow with a sense of dread the Iranian authorities will make the connection and expose the escape plan. All those little touches add to the strength of a script.