Wrong Turn

I saw Burn After Reading over the weekend. It's got some good stuff and has a major cast, so I'm sure it'll do okay. But, this being a Coen Brothers film, it's also got a quirky plot that does things that will prevent the audience from fully embracing it.

People complain about formulaic plots, but when a plot goes in a direction the audience doesn't like, they reject it. (Reading both Moss Hart's and Neil Simon's memoirs, you can see how their hit comedies didn't work until they figured out they couldn't get laughs when their characters went in directions that bothered the audience.)

I think one of the best examples of this is Office Space (1999). Sure, it's become a cult item, but it flopped on release. As a small film starring no names (except maybe Jennifer Aniston in a supporting role), it was never going to be a huge hit, but I think it would have done considerably better if it didn't take a wrong turn about 50 minutes in.

Peter, the protagonist, can't stand his job. He's hypnotized and starts doing what he wants, which impresses some consultants so much that they get him promoted. So far so good. But now that Peter can finally enjoy things a little and do what he wants to do, the movie takes a wrong turn as it tosses this development aside to have Peter and his friends try to steal from the company.

I'm not saying writer-director Mike Judge had to go the Nine To Five route (where employees take over, treat everyone nice, and output improves), but he shouldn't have thwarted audience expectations so much. What should he have done? If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it.