Up Close & Personal
Tally Atwater has a dream: to be a prime-time network newscaster. She pursues this dream with nothing but ambition, raw talent and a homemade demo tape. Warren Justice is a brilliant, hard edged, veteran newsman. He sees Tally has talent and becomes her mentor. Tally’s career takes a meteoric rise and she and Warren fall in love. The romance that results is as intense and revealing as television news itself. Yet, each breaking story, every videotaped crisis that brings them together, also threatens to drive them apart...
Working with a mid-range budget of $60.0M, the film achieved a modest success with $100.7M in global revenue (+68% 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%)
Up Close & Personal (1996) exemplifies precise narrative design, characteristic of Jon Avnet's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 59 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.1, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Tally Atwater works at a small television station in Reno, Nevada, performing menial tasks and desperate to become a reporter. She's ambitious but inexperienced, stuck in a dead-end job far from her dreams.. Of particular interest, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 15 minutes when Warren gives Tally her first on-air opportunity after she boldly fabricates her resume and confronts him about wanting a real chance. He sees something in her and decides to mentor her despite her lies.. 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 30 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This demonstrates the protagonist's commitment to Tally commits fully to becoming a serious journalist under Warren's guidance. She accepts his mentorship completely and begins to transform her approach, leaving behind her amateur methods for professional discipline., moving from reaction to action.
At 60 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Structural examination shows that this crucial beat Tally gets her big break: an offer from a major network in Philadelphia. This seems like a total victory - her career dreams are coming true. However, it creates the first serious strain with Warren, raising the stakes for their relationship., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 90 minutes (76% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Warren is killed while covering a dangerous story in a war zone. Tally loses both her mentor and the love of her life. This devastating loss embodies the ultimate cost of ambition and the dangers of their profession., indicates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 96 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 81% of the runtime. Tally synthesizes Warren's lessons with her own identity. She realizes she can honor his memory and their love by continuing to pursue excellence in journalism, combining the professional skills he taught her with her own authentic voice., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Up Close & Personal's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs structural analysis methodology used to understand storytelling architecture. By mapping Up Close & Personal against these established plot points, we can identify how Jon Avnet utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Up Close & Personal within the drama genre.
Jon Avnet's Structural Approach
Among the 5 Jon Avnet films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.0, reflecting strong command of classical structure. Up Close & Personal represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Jon Avnet filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman. For more Jon Avnet analyses, see Fried Green Tomatoes, Red Corner and Righteous Kill.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Tally Atwater works at a small television station in Reno, Nevada, performing menial tasks and desperate to become a reporter. She's ambitious but inexperienced, stuck in a dead-end job far from her dreams.
Theme
Warren Justice tells Tally about the cost of ambition in television news: "You can have it all, just not all at once." This encapsulates the film's central tension between career success and personal fulfillment.
Worldbuilding
We see Tally's world in Reno: her small station, her determination despite limited opportunities, and her willing fabrication of credentials. Warren Justice arrives as news director, a seasoned journalist with a cynical edge who recognizes Tally's raw potential.
Disruption
Warren gives Tally her first on-air opportunity after she boldly fabricates her resume and confronts him about wanting a real chance. He sees something in her and decides to mentor her despite her lies.
Resistance
Warren begins training Tally in journalism fundamentals. She struggles with on-air work, makes mistakes, but shows determination. Their professional relationship develops as he shapes her from amateur to professional, though she resists his tough-love approach.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Tally commits fully to becoming a serious journalist under Warren's guidance. She accepts his mentorship completely and begins to transform her approach, leaving behind her amateur methods for professional discipline.
Mirror World
The mentor-student relationship between Warren and Tally deepens into romantic attraction. This relationship will carry the film's thematic exploration of balancing career ambition with personal connection and love.
Premise
Tally's career ascends rapidly. She moves to larger markets, becomes a successful reporter, and her relationship with Warren grows. We see the "fun" of her rise to prominence, the excitement of breaking stories, and the development of their romance alongside professional success.
Midpoint
Tally gets her big break: an offer from a major network in Philadelphia. This seems like a total victory - her career dreams are coming true. However, it creates the first serious strain with Warren, raising the stakes for their relationship.
Opposition
As Tally becomes a national news star, the pressures intensify. The demands of her career increasingly conflict with her relationship with Warren. Professional jealousy, geographical separation, and the sacrifices required for success begin to tear them apart.
Collapse
Warren is killed while covering a dangerous story in a war zone. Tally loses both her mentor and the love of her life. This devastating loss embodies the ultimate cost of ambition and the dangers of their profession.
Crisis
Tally grieves Warren's death, questioning everything about her choices and career. She processes the profound loss and confronts what truly matters. The dark night of her soul involves reconciling her success with the price she's paid.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Tally synthesizes Warren's lessons with her own identity. She realizes she can honor his memory and their love by continuing to pursue excellence in journalism, combining the professional skills he taught her with her own authentic voice.
Synthesis
Tally returns to work transformed. She delivers a powerful on-air tribute to Warren, demonstrating her growth as both a journalist and person. She fully embodies the professional excellence he taught her while maintaining her emotional truth and humanity.
Transformation
Tally anchors the evening news with confidence, poise, and authenticity. Unlike the insecure, inexperienced woman from Reno, she's now a complete professional who has integrated Warren's wisdom with her own strength, carrying his legacy forward.