As romantic comedies go, Hitch utilizes a more nuanced plot and developed conflicts. It’s a great example of the Novel Matrix in action.
One Universe
Hitch is a romance, through and through. The universe is relatively simple, but the roles of men and women (which contribute heavily to the philosophical conflicts) are well developed, as is the importance of “the kiss,” which is the pinnacle of male/female relationships.
Three Acts
The diagram here focuses primarily on the Driving Conflict, but the story also gives a lot of dedicated scenes to the highly developed subplot of Albert and Allegra’s romance.
There is an argument to be made that the Old College Try is actually Hitch’s first encounter with Sara, in which he meets her but doesn’t follow through (at the time). This scene has more direct impact on the Driving Conflict, whereas the “college flashback” develops Hitch’s internal conflict. However, the internal and external conflicts are so intertwined in this story, developing one develops the other.
Five Conflicts
While the Little World external conflict is the “Driving Conflict,” it’s so closely entwined with the Little World internal conflict, that the story really can’t address one without addressing the other.
Seven Characters
Hitch Notes
Hitch is a romantic comedy. Audiences approach movies in this genre with a somewhat lower expectation for the development of the story. The two tests a romantic comedy must pass are: 1) Did it give me the romantic butterflies? 2) Was it funny?
Hitch easily passes both tests, but it also exhibits a more nuanced storyline, developed conflicts, and compelling characters than many other stories in the genre.
This is not a plot-heavy story. Due to the conventions of its genre, the storyline is driven by humor. Much of the screentime is devoted to physical comedy, witty banter, and site gags.
The Driving Conflict receives fewer scenes than other stories due to the well-developed subplot of Albert and Allegra’s romance, which requires a lot of dedicated scenes (so much so that on first viewing we might even think of Albert as a “main character”). Here we have a romance within a romance, and both are adorable.
Hitch’s Epiphany is also not as pointed as it could be. Rather than a sharp turning point, we have a couple of scenes that function together to bring about a decisive but slightly more gradual change in Hitch.
As mentioned in The Novel Matrix book, a great way to encapsulate the Denouement is with an awards ceremony. Hitch ends with a wedding, which is indeed a type of awards ceremony.
When considering the characters, Hitch only weakly delivers a Guide. This is overcome by the obvious nature of Hitch’s mission (to fall in love), which is required and reinforced by the genre. Hitch also breaks the fourth wall in the introduction and explains many of the rules of the universe. (This would typically be the Guide’s job, but we accept it from Hitch because he’s so darn cool and charming.)
Nonetheless, Hitch does have an important conversation with his brother-in-law Ben in one of the opening scenes, which confirms his mission (which Hitch does not yet accept).
In this story, we see antagonist and the Object of Affection character archetypes combined in the character of Sara Melas, which is not uncommon for romance. Sara begins as the enemy of Hitch, but is converted to true love through the course of the story.
While Albert Brennaman may seem like a screwup, he functions as the Sidekick and consistently moves Hitch toward his goals. While it’s a little bit unconventional in presentation (comedy), Albert provides the skills and relationships that Hitch needs in order to be successful in his Driving Conflict (overcoming Sara Melas with romance).
The universe of the story is not robustly developed, however, we do have a narrow but deep development of the roles of men and women. Hitch’s opening monologue clearly (aggressively even) establishes the “kiss” as the pinnacle of relationship. This element is vitally important to understanding the plot, and the significance of the key moments.
Hitch presents a closely related internal and external Little World conflict. While the external conflict drives (Hitch wins when he gets the girl), this external conflict cannot be resolved without also addressing his internal conflict. Hitch defeats the antagonist (Sara Melas) by conversion. Ironically, in this story, both the protagonist and antagonist overcome their cynicism (or perhaps pragmatism in the case of Hitch) to meet in true love.
As far as the philosophical conflict, while Hitch does become personally more open and vulnerable and Albert does get Allegra on his own merits, thematically the story still supports the idea that good guys need a little help to get noticed. So we see movement philosophically, but the story does not provide a resolution, nor does it attempt to resolve the problem of jerks who treat women like objects (the Big World).
Hitch is a great movie, and it delivers on its genre. It is both romantic and very funny. As long as it’s doing those two things, audiences have a lot of grace for the finer points of story. However, we see the the Novel Matrix in action as the backbone of the story, providing the mechanisms by which the audience can relate to the story and feel satisfied with the ending.
Many comedies fail to connect well with audiences due to a lack of story. Audiences need more than a collection of gags. Hitch uses a great story to earn our attention so that the characters can make us laugh. As such, the characters stick with us long after the credits.
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