film with a short second act?

[astigmatic]

I need suggestions for existing films with shorter than usual second acts. Of course they should be a good ones. Any ideas?

 

[Batutta]

I'd say Jaws has a fairly short second act and a really long third act, although a case can be made that Jaws actually has a 4 act structure. In either case, the second act is shorter than normal.

 

[astigmatic]

thanks, I just rewatched Jaws. Where would you say the second act ends? When they decide to cut open the tiger shark? The length seems standard, just short due to the long 3rd act, as you mentioned.

 

[Eric Boellner]

The Lion King and Reign of Fire both have abnormal structure, with what feel like very short second acts. Both films focus mostly on internal conflict until a point where the action escalates suddenly, giving the feel of the short act being short (almost non-existent).

 

[Batutta]

thanks, I just rewatched Jaws. Where would you say the second act ends? When they decide to cut open the tiger shark? The length seems standard, just short due to the long 3rd act, as you mentioned.

When they hire quint to kill the shark. If you time it out it's something like 65 minutes into the film. That makes the 2nd act about 40 minutes, which is relatively short. And the third act is about 45-50 minutes. Also Close Encounters has 1st, 2nd and 3rd Acts that are each about 40 minutes long.