5 Movies That Were Obviously Improvised & 5 That Surprised Us

MsMojo

Lights, camera, improvisation! We're diving into the world of movies that were either clearly ad-libbed or surprisingly spontaneous. From comedies to dramas, these films prove that sometimes the best moments are unscripted and completely unexpected.

Transcript

00:00Dear Galinda, you are just too good How do you stand it? I don't think I could

00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the films that let its actors

00:10run wild with ad-libs and unscripted antics. Let me say something! Let me say something!

00:21Number 5. Obvious – Let Them All Talk

00:25Released at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, director Steven Soderbergh shot this 2020 film

00:31aboard the real Queen Mary II, and the close quarters of the ship really added to the end

00:35result. The work that she did right is groundbreaking, and I think it's important that we all

00:45somehow share the work before we go and stand at her grave. Thank you.

00:55Starring Meryl Streep as an author traveling with her friends and nephew,

00:58the movie features a cast of great actors making up the words as they go. Its conversational

01:05dialogue and shoestring production, which uses only natural light and a small crew,

01:10is pretty clear from the get-go. You know what, it's like polishing the vase when the house is

01:15falling down. You don't know. This is a movie made up of pauses, imperfect language,

01:27and the moments when people can't figure out exactly what to say.

01:46Number 5. Surprising – Coherence

01:52This micro-budget science fiction horror story has a lot of ambition.

01:56Presenting a dinner party assailed by a passing comet, which spins a group of friends' perception

02:01of time and space way out of whack, you'd think the script would need to be super precise.

02:06Not the case here.

02:27In spite of its twisting narrative and cerebral themes of alternate realities,

02:31its actors were given a lot of room to play.

02:55Writer-director James Ward-Burkett cast an ensemble with experience in improv.

03:00He gave them an overall outline of the plot and characters,

03:03and let them essentially add all the shading.

03:24Number 4. Obvious – Spinal Tap

03:28This mockumentary about an eccentric heavy metal band is more than just an elaborate sketch

03:33stretched out into 82 minutes. Co-creators and stars Michael McKean, Christopher Guest,

03:53and Harry Shearer are joined by a whole team of actors,

03:57who were clearly cast based on their ability to improvise.

04:00Most of the dialogue was made up on the spot.

04:24The whole movie has a very realistic feeling. When you pair that documentary style with the

04:36kinds of insane things actually being said in the movie, it becomes even clearer just

04:41how loose this whole thing is. There are some lines that come completely out of nowhere.

04:46They're so totally authentic that it's hard to imagine anyone would actually sit down and

04:51write them. Number 4. Surprising – Wicked

05:14The 2024 adaptation of the smash hit Broadway musical has set the box office alight.

05:20A big budget musical requires a lot of precision,

05:24but that doesn't mean there can't be some room to improvise thought.

05:28While it's important to hold space for the work that went into designing these

05:32insanely good musical numbers, you might be surprised how free the actors were allowed to be.

05:51John M. Chu kept the camera rolling for takes that went a little off script.

06:01Many of them were included in the film, and went on to become some of the best moments.

06:21Number 3. Obvious – Waiting for Guffman

06:25This Christopher Guest comedy takes the mockumentary style that was so successful

06:30in This Is Spinal Tap and gives it a theatrical twist.

06:51Set amid the rehearsal process for a small town musical,

06:54Waiting for Guffman saw most of its dialogue created by its cast.

06:59And when you have a cast like this, it's hard to argue with the results.

07:03In addition to director and star Guest, the cast includes Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara,

07:08Parker Posey, and several others. Guest likens the process to making jazz music.

07:19Everyone was given a general direction of the piece and what shifts in the story should happen.

07:24The whole movie is full of spontaneous magic that only great

07:28comic talent and very long takes can produce.

07:31Number 3. Surprising – Blue Valentine

07:52Some breakup movies are heartbreaking, but they often come with a kind of Hollywood

07:57romance attached to them. That's not the case with Blue Valentine.

08:01Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams take us through a very realistic relationship

08:06and follow it through to its tragic and gut-wrenching end.

08:28Their connection feels genuine and very lifelike. That may be because the writer-director allowed

08:35them to improvise much of their dialogue, and the two prepared for these roles by

08:39actually living together for months. It's genuinely shocking how

08:57much creative freedom these actors had in this hard-hitting drama.

09:00In this movie, it's not jokes that are improvised. It's the pain.

09:05Number 2. Obvious – The 40-Year-Old Virgin

09:21Several scenes in Judd Apatow's raunchy romantic comedy about Steve Carell's title character

09:37feel like the director just never said cut. In fact, that's exactly how it was made.

09:51There are moments when Carell, Seth Rogen,

09:56Paul Rudd, and the hysterically funny supporting cast are just riffing for minutes on end.

10:01Insults and length descriptions of vulgar acts have never been so funny.

10:06One infamous scene sees Carell's character getting his chest waxed.

10:10His profanity-laden cries of pain are his own invention.

10:14A lot of the best jokes seem to be the ones that were cut together from different takes

10:23instead of taken off the page. Number 2.

10:43Surprising – The Blair Witch Project

10:54In 1999, horror was changed forever by a found footage movie that purported to be a real-life

11:00recording of three college students who disappeared while researching the legend of a witch.

11:05Its handheld camera, black-and-white photography,

11:08and the realism of its performances made it a sleeper hit.

11:13But for all its ingenious filmmaking, bare-bones thrills, and masterfully crafted tension,

11:35the filmmakers behind it only had an outline. The screenplay runs 35 pages. The rest was up

11:41to its three principal actors, who improvised their dialogue as they filmed their seemingly

11:46endless trek through the woods. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel

12:07and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos. You have the option to be notified

12:13for occasional videos or all of them. If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings

12:18and switch on notifications. Number 1. Obvious – Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy

12:31Will Ferrell's narcissistic news anchor was a fountain of strange insults and even stranger

12:37verbal tics. A lot of the movie's most iconic moments were spontaneous. While filming,

12:43director Adam McKay stuck to the script… for a while. Then, once every line of written dialogue

12:49had been said, all bets were off. The scene would continue for more takes, with the actors given

13:02more freedom to add, subtract, and rewrite as they saw fit. Much of the movie's most explosive

13:08and iconic jokes were born out of this atmosphere. In fact, the set came off more like a

13:32bunch of comedians trying to make each other laugh than a traditional set. A lot of that fun

13:37is present in the final cut. Number 1. Surprising – Jaws

13:54Scenes of savage shark attacks and dangerous sea stunts don't leave much room for spontaneity.

13:59However, the actors in Steven Spielberg's terrifying creature feature found room to play

14:05when they weren't at the mercy of the notoriously finicky shark animatronic. Apparently, the shark

14:12constantly breaking down may have been what inspired actors Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss,

14:18and Robert Shaw to add their own ideas to the constantly changing screenplay.

14:22Sharing meals together during the shoot, the three would come up with some of their own

14:33dialogue. That may explain why the most famous line in the movie was not in the script.

14:38What movie were you shocked to learn was largely improvised? Let us know in the comments.

14:57Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo

15:01and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.

15:08Thanks for watching.

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