Best Defense
An engineer fails to get the bugs out of a tank before an Army officer has to use it in Kuwait.
Working with a respectable budget of $18.0M, the film achieved a modest success with $19.3M in global revenue (+7% profit margin).
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Best Defense (1984) exhibits carefully calibrated story structure, characteristic of Willard Huyck's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 34 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.3, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Characters
Cast & narrative archetypes
Wylie Cooper
Lieutenant Landry
Laura Cooper
Clair Lewis
Holtzman
Main Cast & Characters
Wylie Cooper
Played by Dudley Moore
An insecure defense engineer who must fix a critical gyroscope flaw in a tank project while dealing with career and romantic pressures.
Lieutenant Landry
Played by Eddie Murphy
A resourceful Army tank commander in Kuwait who must survive combat with faulty equipment while uncovering sabotage.
Laura Cooper
Played by Kate Capshaw
Wylie's ambitious wife who pressures him to succeed professionally while their marriage deteriorates.
Clair Lewis
Played by Helen Shaver
A attractive and supportive colleague who becomes romantically involved with Wylie.
Holtzman
Played by George Dzundza
Wylie's demanding and skeptical boss at the defense contractor who questions his competence.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Wylie Cooper is introduced as a struggling aerospace engineer at Dynatechnics Corporation, living beyond his means with career anxieties and marital tension.. Notably, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 12 minutes when Wylie discovers a critical flaw in the gyroscope system he's designing but faces pressure from management to ignore it and meet the deadline, putting his career and integrity at stake.. At 13% through the film, this Disruption is delayed, allowing extended setup of the story world. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 24 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This demonstrates the protagonist's commitment to Wylie makes the fateful decision to cover up the gyroscope flaw and approve the faulty system, choosing career security over integrity and entering a world of deception., moving from reaction to action.
At 47 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Significantly, this crucial beat Wylie realizes the defective system is about to be deployed to combat and the magnitude of potential casualties becomes real. False defeat as his attempts to fix it quietly are failing., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 71 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Wylie loses everything - his job, his marriage, and potentially the lives of soldiers who will depend on his faulty system. His moral compromise has led to complete personal and professional devastation., reveals the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 75 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Wylie decides to take direct action to fix the gyroscope himself, reclaiming his integrity regardless of personal cost. He synthesizes his technical skills with newfound moral courage., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Best Defense's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping Best Defense against these established plot points, we can identify how Willard Huyck utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Best Defense within the comedy genre.
Willard Huyck's Structural Approach
Among the 2 Willard Huyck films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.4, reflecting strong command of classical structure. Best Defense takes a more unconventional approach compared to the director's typical style. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Willard Huyck filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional comedy films include The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, The Bad Guys and Lake Placid. For more Willard Huyck analyses, see Howard the Duck.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Wylie Cooper is introduced as a struggling aerospace engineer at Dynatechnics Corporation, living beyond his means with career anxieties and marital tension.
Theme
A colleague warns Wylie about cutting corners and the importance of doing the right thing, even when it's difficult - foreshadowing the moral dilemma to come.
Worldbuilding
Establishment of Wylie's world at Dynatechnics, his strained marriage, financial pressures, and introduction of the gyroscope weapons system project. Parallel introduction of Landry's tank crew in Kuwait, 1982.
Disruption
Wylie discovers a critical flaw in the gyroscope system he's designing but faces pressure from management to ignore it and meet the deadline, putting his career and integrity at stake.
Resistance
Wylie debates whether to report the flaw or stay silent. He navigates corporate politics, considers the consequences for his career and family, while his marriage deteriorates further.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Wylie makes the fateful decision to cover up the gyroscope flaw and approve the faulty system, choosing career security over integrity and entering a world of deception.
Mirror World
Focus shifts to Lt. Landry in Kuwait, whose survival will depend on the very system Wylie is building - establishing the human cost of corporate decisions and moral compromises.
Premise
Wylie deals with the consequences of his deception while trying to secretly fix the problem. Landry's storyline shows the tank system being deployed. The dual narrative explores corporate corruption versus military duty.
Midpoint
Wylie realizes the defective system is about to be deployed to combat and the magnitude of potential casualties becomes real. False defeat as his attempts to fix it quietly are failing.
Opposition
Pressure mounts as Wylie races against time to prevent disaster. Corporate forces work against him. Landry's unit moves closer to combat. Wylie's personal life collapses as his deception unravels.
Collapse
Wylie loses everything - his job, his marriage, and potentially the lives of soldiers who will depend on his faulty system. His moral compromise has led to complete personal and professional devastation.
Crisis
Wylie faces his dark night, contemplating his choices and their consequences. The weight of potential deaths caused by his cowardice forces him to confront who he has become.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Wylie decides to take direct action to fix the gyroscope himself, reclaiming his integrity regardless of personal cost. He synthesizes his technical skills with newfound moral courage.
Synthesis
Wylie races to implement a fix to the system. Landry's tank goes into combat with the gyroscope system. The dual timelines converge as Wylie's redemptive action determines Landry's fate.
Transformation
The system works in combat, saving Landry and his crew. Wylie has transformed from a cowardly corporate drone into someone who chose integrity over safety, mirroring his initial compromised state with redemption.