Script Analysis: “I’m Your Woman” — Part 3: Character

Read the script for this gripping crime drama featuring a head-turning performance by ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ star Rachel Brosnahan.

Reading scripts. Absolutely critical to learn the craft of screenwriting. The focus of this bi-weekly series is a deep structural and thematic analysis of each script we read. Our daily schedule:

Monday: Scene-By-Scene Breakdown
Tuesday: Plot
Wednesday: Characters
Thursday: Themes
Friday: Dialogue
Saturday: Takeaways

Today: Characters

Characters are the players in our stories. They participate in scenes, move the plot forward through action and dialogue, influence each other, evolve and change. Each has their own distinct backstory, personality, world view, and voice. When a writer does their best, digging deep into their characters, tapping into their souls, the players in our stories magically lift up off the printed page and come to life in a reader’s imagination.

But there’s this: In a screenplay, characters exist for a reason. Hence my principle: Character = Function. Writers can shade and shape a story’s character in limitless ways. But if you dig down deep enough, you can find each character’s narrative function, and that can become a lens through which you develop the players in your stories.

Same thing with script and movie analysis: Look at each character and think about why they exist and what their function is.

This week: I’m Your Woman. You can download the script here.

A list of the key players:

Jean

Eddie

Harry

Cal

Jimmy

Teri

Art

Paul

White Mike

Written by Julia Hart, Jordan Horowitz, directed by Julia Hart.

Plot Summary: In this 1970s set crime drama, a woman is forced to go on the run after her husband betrays his partners, sending she and her baby on a dangerous journey.

Writing Exercise: Think about each character. What’s their function?

Major kudos to Priya Gopal for doing this week’s scene-by-scene breakdown.

To download a PDF of the breakdown for I’m Your Woman, go here.

For Part 1, to read the Scene-By-Scene Breakdown discussion, go here.

For Part 2, to read the Plot discussion, go here.

To access over 90 analyses of previous movie scripts we have read and discussed at Go Into The Story, go here.

I hope to see you in the RESPONSE section about this week’s script: I’m Your Woman.