Redeeming According to Who?

Producer Dude has just asked us to punch out a longer treatment than the one we gave him a while back. Seems some of the Money People want to know more about this film they're putting money up for than just the snazzy title and the promise that it'll kick ass.

In his email to me, Producer Dude specifically asks "Give it some heart and soul, because investors are always interested in the redeeming value of a script even if it is action."

Redeeming value? Siege?

But I think back. This is Die Hard in a House, right? Was there any redeeming value in the Die Hard movies?

Well, actually, yes. Yes there was.

Die Hard. Great movie. Redeeming value=Bruce is reunited with wife and family, all love one another once again.

Die Hard 2: Die Harder. Not so great movie. Redeeming value=none.

Die Hard with a vengeance. Good movie. Redeeming value=Bruce finally gets the courage to give wife a call on the phone at end of movie.

So we see that the more redeeming the value, the better the movie. Die Hard 2 boils down to "Bruce is at the airport to meet his wife. All is well. Bad guys endanger his wife. He fights bad guys. Wife lands and they hug." What change has gone on in that one? Diddly.

First movie? He's estranged, in LA hoping for reconciliation, gets caught up in that whole Nakitomi thing. Wife learns that yes, she does love him, and he learns that yes, family is very important. Third movie tried to touch on this, but it was more window dressing than anything.

Back to Siege.

Well, we kinda take the Die Hard 2 approach. Family in peril, hero wisely uses ultra-violence to save family. In the end, everyone's happy, alive, and awfully dirty.

Does that mean we've written a bad script?

Don't answer that.

So I come back to looking for the redeeming value for the investors. There's the family-in-peril angle. We can certainly use that. There's the no-good-deed-goes-unpunished angle that isn't so much redeeming as a social commentary.

Or maybe it's just redeeming because it's non-stop action with one scene of possible actual boobie. Is that redeeming enough?

*sigh* Next one, we'll make redeeming. I promise.