Applying Todorov's Theory of Equilibrium to Click (Coraci, 2006) Opening Sequence

The opening sequence introduces us to the protagonist who is Michael. Michael is a hard working male who just wants to succeed and provide his family with the best that he can, but in order to do this he has to sacrifice almost all of his time and it is costing him his family. The main antagonist of the film appears to be Michael's boss (played by David Hasselhoff) because he keeps overloading Michael with work and doesn't take into consideration that he has a family to spend time with. Although it could be suggested that the antagonist is either Michael's work which is stopping him from being with his family or Bill (Michael's son's swimming coach) because he comes across as the person that Michael's son is closer to (as he hugs him instead of Michael)

From this clip we get an understanding that Michael's normality is very chaotic and he is never short of something to do. We learn this through dialogue, such as when the children ask him if he will ever finish the tree house and he replies "I want to but it's just i've got alot of things going on at work right now". At the start there is also a pan of the living room showing the clutter of toys on the floor and it is generally very messy which hints that life is chaotic and 'messy'.

When Michael wakes up he is wearing a white shirt and is lying face down on the couch. This represents to the audience that he was working very late the previous night and obviously did not get changed and go to bed. We also get the impression that this is normal for their household because the children don't seem alarmed to the fact that their dad is sleeping on the couch. Therefore we know that Michael is always working and hasn't really relaxed in a while. This is further demonstrated through the fact that he doesn't know the use of any of the remotes (shown to us when he tries to turn on the tv but instead opens the garage door, etc.).

We also know that Michael is desperate to move forward in his job because his boss tells him to do something and even though he is reluctant, Michael says yes. This shows us that Michael is almost the 'slave' in that relationship. His boss is very removed from the situation Michael is because he doesn't seem to care whether Michael is supposed to be spending the 4th of July with his family, the CU of his face when Michael mentions his sons' swimming competition highlights the annoyed expression that shows us that he believes that Michael's work should always come first.

I think that disruption is hinted at when Michael is late for his sons' swimming competition and this makes his son upset. Instead of hugging Michael the son turns to his swimming coach Bill, which shows us that he already is starting to believe that Michael doesn't really love him. It makes it worse because Michael promised to be there but he missed the entire race due to his work. This suggests that the cause for any disruption will most likely be his never ending work.

Throughout the first ten minutes of the film we know that the main conflict within this character's life is between his work and family. It often leaves him with little time to spend with his family and this in turn makes them feel very isolated and separate from him. There are several actions from Michael's children which suggest that this isolation that they feel may destroy their family unit forever. For example, the two shot CU of the children sitting on the couch asking him about the tree house, highlights their disappointed expressions and we know that they are longing for their father to start spending more time with them. Therefore I think that the audience are subtly told that Michael will have to start realising that he has to put his family first once in a while before they start to resent him and before he loses everything.

As I have already seen the film I know that Michael has to go on the journey that sees him loose everything that ever meant anything to him. We see him learn the lesson that putting work before his family wasn't always the right decision because they just wanted him to show that he still cared about what was important to them. After he has lost everything he comes to a realisation of all the things that he wanted to change about how he had acted. The equilibrium is restored when Michael is given another chance at his life and he goes about starting a fresh with his wife and kids.