Script To Screen: “What About Bob?”

Marvin tries to get rid of Bob using “death therapy,” but it doesn’t turn out well in this bombastic scene from the 1991 comedy, screenplay by Tom Schulman, story by Alvin Sargent & Laura Ziskin.

IMDb plot summary: A successful psychotherapist loses his mind after one of his most dependent patients, an obsessive-compulsive neurotic, tracks him down during his family vacation.

Setup: At the end of his rope, Marvin (Richard Dryefuss) intends to kill Bob (Bill Murray) by tying him to two bags filled with bombs, tricking Bob into thinking this is a form of “death therapy.”

Here is the scripted version of the scene:

EXT. THE WOODS, SAME

Bob sits trying to get comfortable.

BOB
I'm worried about getting gangrene,
Dr. M! I think I get the point!

He struggles some more.

BOB
(to himself)
At least I think I get the point.
(pause)
Maybe I'm not supposed to sit here.
(pause)
Maybe I'm supposed to undo these
outer knots...

He begins struggling to untie himself.

BOB
So that my inner knots..., these
strong..., restricting..., inner
knots...

He gets a hand free.

BOB
Will come undone too.

Both hands free, Bob stands.

BOB
Yes!

INT. THE MARVIN HOUSE LIVING ROOM, SAME

Marvin is still dancing around, looking at his watch.
He holds up five, four, three, two, one fingers then
prepares for an explosion. Instead Bob opens the
door.

MARVIN
Ahh!

Still wearing the back pack, Bob walks into the room.

BOB
Death therapy cured me!

Marvin runs across the room away from Bob.

MARVIN
No!

BOB
Yes! I used to be so afraid of
everything, it was like dying a
thousand deaths a day. Now, that you
showed me I have only one death to
be afraid of, I'm not afraid of
anything anymore!

MARVIN
NOOOO!

Marvin runs out the back door of the house. Bob
stands there watching him.

BOB
Don't be so modest!

EXT. THE MARVIN DOCK, DAY

Marvin runs out to the dock and tries to start the
little motor boat that sits there. Bob stops at the
back door of the house, casually tosses the back pack
onto a chair, then follows Marvin.

BOB
Dr. M.?

Bob walks out onto the dock. Marvin is working
frantically to start the motorboat.

BOB
Dr. M., I'm really cured!

The house explodes. Debris rains down on Bob and
Marvin. After it settles, the bust of Freud lands on
the dock in front of them.

BOB
Did somebody leave the gas on?

Here is the movie version of the scene:

There are considerable differences in the staging of the scene, most notably all the action takes place outside. However, the most substantive difference is Bob’s dialogue as he’s tied up. This is what his character says in the movie:

I’m all tied up… and tied up… Yes! You said it! I’m all tied up inside! Okay! I’m all tied up inside… and those dirty bombs means that … if I don’t… untie myself inside the emotional knots … I’m gonna explode! Yeah! Oh, it’s so simple! And so brilliant!

The point of the moment is the same both in the script and movie, it’s just that the latter version does a better job of Bob’s character unpacking the unintentional meaning of the death therapy ‘metaphor.’

One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series at Go Into The Story where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.

For more articles in the Script To Screen series, go here.