Specialist software for specialist jobs more often than not comes with a specialist price tag. That's certainly the case for Final Draft, a product that usually sells for £150, although we found discounts of £30 at the time of uploading this review.

Final Draft is a long-established specialist tool for screenwriters, be they writing for television or film. Its box packaging comes replete with testimonials from numerous big names, and its Web site goes further. You're left thinking that these people simply couldn't do their job without it, so earnest are their endorsements.

And yet, at heart, Final Draft is a clever word processor. Or perhaps more correctly, a word formatter. Because one of its big selling points is that it delivers its output in the correct format for wannabe screenwriters, and in a manner that agents for such material will accept.

That's not to say it's a lightning quick process for the outsider to adjust to - script formatting is a notoriously strict discipline - but the software happily prods you along and there's plenty of assistance on hand to help you surmount the learning curve involved. Through intuitive use of the tab and enter keys, you find yourself adapting to the demands of script formatting with surprising ease.

It's got some neat time-saving tools in there too, such as a SmartType feature that saves you having to repeatedly type out the same character names, for instance. It'll also take care of numbering scenes for you, and collaboration tools allow multiple users to take a stab at the same document.

There are a few other tools to help you construct your movie masterpiece. The product automatically breaks down your scenes into index cards, for instance, and you can structure the screen so that your script is on one side and the cards are on the other (there are a couple of other layout options too, so it's up to you how you choose to arrange your screen furniture). It's a handy way to keep track of what you've written, or what's just around the corner. These cards allow you to easily add notes, ideas or information to them as well, which is a useful option in its own right.

We should also point out that there's an option that allows you to tag certain facets of a script, such as the costume and cast details, which can then be exported into an application such as Movie Magic Scheduling. As we didn't have that software, we couldn't really test that out, though.

So is Final Draft any good? Well, in terms of the finished product, it doesn't actually offer anything that you can't get through a copy of OpenOffice, nor does it - at first - feel particularly different to a word processor. But that's not strictly the point. Final Draft takes the pain out of the formatting process, delivering scripts that precisely adhere to the strict standards that agents demand, without you having to spend a lot of time properly arranging the right text, font, indents and point sizes.

That the package is complemented by genuinely useful tools such as the index cards and a UK-centric dictionary is also welcome. And there are plenty of supporting products if you really want to go the whole hog (and assuming your credit card can take the strain). So yes, ultimately, it's a very good tool for a precise job.

The usual caveat applies, of course. Final Draft will bring the technical competence, but you need to have the talent in the first place. And while its price tag and niche appeal diminishes its audience, you can't deny the ease at which it does its work, and the sheer friendliness of the application. It's the industry standard for screenwriters and you really can see why.

Appearances are deceptive. While Final Draft looks simple, it's actually a very useful tool for screenwriters of all abilities and levels of experience. If you're serious about TV and movie writing, it's a must-have.