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In a movie aimed at young people (i.e. most of them) the young hero will establish his cool early on by doing something dangerous, e.g. in BACK TO THE FUTURE a skateboarding Michael J. Fox grabs the back of a truck. Another example is smoking. FOOTLOOSE is an anthology of "unsafe chic," with drinking, smoking, playing chicken with forklift trucks, and Lori Singer standing with her feet in two different speeding cars.
If a movie star escapes from prison, the convict who escapes with him will soon get killed by the pursuing police. If Mel Gibson has a wife or girlfriend, she'll get killed to motivate his berserkness.
Some families eat spaghetti without sauce (THE BOY WHO COULD FLY). Not much taste but a lot easier to film.
A pirate crew that's finally made the big score and can retire rich will instead conclude the movie by sailing off to new seas for more piracy (CUTTHROAT ISLAND). In real life this would constitute insatiable greed, if not psychopathy.
The way to teach a high-school student empathy is to order him to write a 50-page essay in addition to his other coursework (MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS). A high-school teacher who considers running away with a beautiful student will decide against it (MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS). A high-school music teacher's former band students, many of whom probably haven't played their instrument for years, can come together and perform the teacher's unknown composition without grating on the ear (MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS).
Deadly fights often happen late at night in the pouring rain, with a revolving oil rig in the background (CON AIR).
THE TERMINATOR had a witty variation on the killer-coming- back-from-the-dead: Schwarzenegger came back four or five times.
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