The film i have chosen to analyse is 'Street Kings', directed by David Ayer. The film is about corrupt cops and how the protagonist Tom Ludlow (played by Keanu Reeves) tried to clear his name after being suspected of killing another cop. The question i have chosen to answer is 'Does the film have a three-act structure?' In answer to this question, my opinion is yes it does. A three act structure is a process in writting and evaluating stories which divides a movie into three parts, which i found out are the set up, the confrontation, and the resolution.
The first act of this structure aims to point out the protagonist, other main characters who will become an essential part of the film, and brief insights of how these people are living. In this act, which is at the begining of a film, an incident usually occurs relating to the protagonist, and he/she attempts to sort it out and fails, which leads to a more serious issue, this is reffered to as a turning point. It shows the audience that the first act is coming to an end and things will not be the same for the protagonist for the rest of the film. It also leaves room by fading the storyline a bit, which will leave the audiences questions unanswered until the climax of the film. In this case, Tom Ludlow gets into a bit of trouble within the first 30 minutes of the film, leaving at least three major paths, the rest of the film will take. The problem arises when Ludlow finds out his ex-partner has been talking to a higher officer about dishonest activities the two of them done when they were partners. Ludlow finds out and plans to fight his ex-partner, he follows him and prepares to fight when Ludlow's ex-partner is shot by robbers. This is the call to adventure, and the turning point at once, from this point in the film, the audience will be asking questions such as: Why did the robbers only shoot the ex-partner and not Ludlow or take the money from the till? Possibly, what will happen next to Ludlow. That is the first structure of the story.
The second act is the rising action which puts the protagonist is a more serious issue than the previous. In Street Kings, Ludlow finds out that one of his bullets were found in his ex-partners shoulder, this makes Ludlow a possible suspect. He comes to realise that everyone is covering him and getting rid of evidence implicating him as part of the murder. The situation worsens as he finds out the people that were identified as the murderers, were dead from a long time ago, which means the real killers are still alive. This point of the sturcture occurs just before the final act, which is the resolution. Tom Ludlow begins to investigate alone and finds out things he wasn't meant to, which leads to the climax of the film. At this point he finds and kills the people responsible for his ex-partners death, and then finds out these people were undercover police. After this, Ludlow finds out his partners turn against him and plot to kill him, this would be the second turning point. It gets the audience on the edge of their seats and leads to the third act. From this point on, the rest of the film goes down one of two paths.
Finally, the third and final act of the stucture is the resolution, which is whether the film ends happily ever after, if the protagonist dies, or if the film is left on a cliff hanger. This part of the structure is aimed to answer all the questions and to resolve any unsolved subplots to the story. In Street Kings, Ludlow manages to find out who the person sending people out to kill him, and then kills that person. Then to find out the higher officer was purposly taking no action of his allegations so Ludlow will then get rid of all the corrupt cops in their unit. This was the resolution of the story, and left everything covered.
In conclusion, i believe this film worked well by following the three act structure, as it has the right storyline and wouldnt need any alteration. The hero's call to adventure, the refusal of the call, and the resolution are all taken and shown in depth during the course of this film and made it what it turned out to be. If the three act structure was not followed, i believe questions will remain unanswered, and the plot will not be shown as smooth as it is now.
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