These days, the studios are dishing out generous helpings of pure garbage. It’s one after another of CGI-laden circuses filled with human tools that don’t feel like people and exist only to deliver the next boring, unengaging spectacle.

So, the remedy? Indie art pieces about starving buskers pontificating about how the government should fund their trash sculptures so they can afford to open that soup kitchen for one-eyed orphans with the Gout?

No, I say! And I’m not the only one. A movie can have rich characterization, a solid story, AND be entertaining (why this still needs to be said out loud is as troubling an idea as that recent Jem and the Holograms movie). The greatest movie classics are the films that deliver the goods: visually, dramatically, and entertainment-wise. A lot of the true classics are movies that have it all!

So, the problem?

As I try to elevate every aspect of my screenplay, I find that its tentacles are expanding too far in all directions. By trying to make the dialog  snappy, witty, and humorous, and the character relationships as rich and relatable as they can be, and execute a moving character arc; am I encroaching on the dark action-thriller tones that I’m ultimately going for, and rendering the whole thing tonally uneven?

Does the true meaning of friendship need to be explored, in a subplot, in a hitman movie? Should exposing the very core of the being of a supporting character take up a few pages? Does this movie’s audience want to see my take on self-help?

How important are all of these components, next to feeding the genre monster? And it seems like a fine line between evening out the story’s tone and dumbing it down to make it “more commercial.” Maybe (hopefully) this is an instinct that develops with experience?

So, in the meantime, this seems to be something that can be ironed out in the peer feedback stage. So, I suppose once I make these calls using my best (if currently undeveloped) judgement, notes from people I trust will tell me if I’ve crossed the line between “properly developed” to “all over the place.”

So that’s where I’m at. What’s your take on this one? Let me know below!