The 3 Act Structure or Classic Hollywood

The movie Orange County directed by Jake Kasdan is a good example of the classic Hollywood 3 Act Structure.  The film consists of distinct plot points that transition the viewer from one act to another.  The beginning of the film, while focusing on establishing relationships and other typical introductions, pays most of its attention to Shaun Brumder (main character) waiting to see if he got into Stanford so he can continue his dream to become a writer.  At the end of the first "Act", he finds out that his counselor sent the wrong transcript in and that he did not get accepted into Stanford.  It poses a question for the rest of the movie to answer; what will he do for college now?

The middle of the movie or "2nd Act" consists of Shaun's girlfriend, brother and self all driving to Stanford and attempting to find a way to get him into Stanford. Along the way many obstacles get in the way from his dad, deciding not to donate a large sum of money to Stanford, to his girlfriend getting upset with him, and of course his brother burning down the admissions building. Shaun then catches a few breaks and actually gets to talk to a literature professor of the University who was his inspiration to go there and he gets his girlfriend to forgive him.  All of this leads up to him finding a way to get into Stanford, or possibly not.  The act last about 58 minutes and ends with his brother escaping the police, his girlfriend forgiving him and then driving back home.

The third Act in the classic Hollywood structure is when the climax takes place and this holds true for this movie.  With only about 3 minutes, left in the movie Shaun's family is brought back together and his dad donates the money for a new admissions building to Stanford and informs Shaun that he can now go to Stanford.  Everyone is happy for him but still a little sad that he has to leave town next year for school.  That is when the climax occurs and Shaun decides to stay in Orange County and go to a local community college, realizing that going to Stanford is not what is going to make him a great writer, but being around the people, he loves will.  This is a traditional ending of Hollywood's classic 3 Act structure.