Here is a breakdown of the story's plot using some song titles as themes for each sequence: Love is a Battlefield (1-12): Intro Nancy and establish her dysfunctional romantic life. I Want to Hold Your Hand (12-20): Nancy intersects with Jessica, the whole book thing, and the meet cute with Jack. Liar, Liar (20-34): Nancy learns to adapt as 'Jessica' and is almost ready to confess the truth, but doesn't. It Ain't Me Babe (34-53): Bowling is a blast and the couple is flirting big time, but when Sean enters the scene, the truth comes out. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' (53-66): They head back to the Mexican bar and Nancy has a down moment in the bathroom alone, only to emerge to see Jack's ex-wife with her new beau. Gimme Shelter (66-83): Nancy takes on the role of Jack's fiery lover giving Jack cover with his ex. One is the Loneliest Number (83-91): Jack bumps into Jessica and goes off with her leaving Nancy alone and crying at her parents party, and Jack unable to keep his mind off Nancy. Help! (91-98): Jack heads off to find Nancy getting help from Sean, who fools him by dropping off Jack at a teen party while Sean heads to Nancy's parents house posing as Jack. I Want You (99-108): Jack finally makes it to the party and confesses his feelings for Nancy and she him. As always, I have to note, these are arbitrary, you can interpret the structure in any number of ways. Indeed you can break down the above sequences into even smaller ones. But this is a decent take on the story's plot.

Awesome, Scott!! LOVE use of song titles to denote themes..... very clever, as always.

Sorry, I'm really playing catch-up here, as I still haven't yet seen the movie. I wonder though if other plot points can be measured by when the main characters are playing themselves or pretending to be someone else or getting caught in a lie. For example, in Clare's breakdown, she mentions that the point when Nancy's cover is blown is the midpoint.

Yeah, I thought this approach was pretty clever, too. Collective pat on our creative backs!

David, in my interview with Tess, we talked about that revelation -- Nancy isn't Jessica -- as being the midpoint of the story, so you're instincts are spot-on. To that point, you can look at Act Two specifically in terms of lying: * Beginning of Act Two: Nancy LIES about being Jessica and goes off on a date with Jack. * Act Two A Midpoint: Nancy has mastered the role of 'Jessica', thinks about telling the truth, but is having such a good time, the couple blows past the opportunity for her to reveal the LIE. * Transition: Nancy admits the LIE. * Act Two B Midpoint: In order to save face with Jack's ex-wife, Nancy LIES about them being lovers. * Act Two End: Jack intersects with Jessica and the LIE gets fully laid to rest, Nancy left alone, Jack off with Jessica. There's a whole other layer of lying going on: With Jack. He lies about his romantic situation. The entire date has been constructed to intersect with his ex and her new beau to create a lie about how happy he (Jack) is with new young lover. Indeed the happy face he puts on is a lie because he's miserable (the 2nd bathroom scene in which Nancy finds him crying). Then in Act Three, Jack has to confront another lie: That he's trying to enjoy himself with Jessica -- with whom he is supposed to matched really well via dating service -- but he isn't because in truth, he is smitten with Nancy. That's where Jessica's role as Mentor plays out with Jack (she already played that role with Nancy when they met on the train) as she tells him he MUST go after Nancy, she confirms the truth Jack finally gets to after rejecting the lie he went into their eventual date. Really lies / truth is at the heart of the story, a central theme - something we'll discuss in Part 4 - and as I say you are spot on in zeroing in on it.