Red Inkworks Synopsis and SAMPLE Coverage

TITLE: BOB'S YOUR AUNT
AUTHOR: Karl Knowles
FORM/PAGES: Script/120
GENRE: Dark Romantic Comedy
CIRCA: Present Day
LOCALE: Small North Dakota village
BUDGET: Low-Medium
READER: Larry Myles

LOGLINE: Suffering a bump on the head,  a young female script reader who thinks she is John Wayne discovers love, life and redemption in a North Dakota vegan restaurant-transvestite outdoor supply shop.   

CONCEPT: After suffering a bump on the head from an air guitar, Lana Bland enters into a state of shock, and thinks she is John Wayne. With a large purple plastic purse full of under valued Canadian Loonies and counterfeit Mexican Peso's, Lana finds recovery and love with a homeless janitor.

STORY: LANA BLAND, early twenties protagonist makes it to Sirloin Sam's Vegan Bistro & Tranny's Only Outdoor Supply Shoppe, located on the outskirts of a small Hutterite village in North Dakota. Prior to entering Sirloin Sam's, Lana  meets WILLY and HILLARY, a pair of inept, petty communist sympathizers who secretly adore Ayn Rand. 

Prior to reaching Sirloin Sam's there is an informative VO narrative flashback describing the vicious bump on the head by a flying air guitar. The air guitar hovers over Lana's head throughout the story.

When the half-naked and love starved Lana first enters Sirloin Sam's  she confronts GEORGIE, the slim and beautiful female impersonator, as well as OCSCAR, shy genius, warm-hearted love interest, and SAM, kindly, wise vegan chef. At the same time Lana is introduced into the company at Sirloin Sam's, Willy and Hillary plot to convert the village to communism while being secretly frustrated by dreams of an Objectivist Utopia.

Oscar becomes intrigued by Lana's ability to walk like John Wayne, while at the same time a jealous Georgie is suspicious. Towards the end of the scene, we are introduced to SNIDELY, the old dishwasher-undercover Treasury Agent. His importance to the overall story does not really become evident until we near the climax.

Cut to the stolen trailer shared by Oscar and Marvin, an outspoken, handsome and poetic, floral arrangement student and Oscar's co-worker at Sam's. An integral scene as Marvin confirms to us the feelings Georgie has for Oscar.  His strong character also is a power in the next scene where he convinces Lana that it is in her and Oscar's best interests for Lana to make something of herself, i.e. Get a job modeling sandals!

Lana follows through and we are introduced to three humorous situations before landing a sandal model's job at Saddam's Sheep Boutique. The first unsuccessful job is at a monastery where Lana attempts to be an alter boy in drag. Followed by a job an usher in a chic old age home for wayward duck hunters, where Lana is robbed of her bag of money by a gang of aging tree planters. Lana also fails miserably, losing a job in the microchip industry after one day.

Back at Sam's, Lana thwarts an attempted conversion to Marxism by Willy and Hillary, and in so doing saves Georgie's new gold shoes.

Rebuffed by Oscar, Georgie becomes involved with Marvin. The strength of Marvin's character comes through once again as he is able to flesh out the suppressed dreams of Georgie wanting to be every pizza delivery boy's lover. 

Looking for Oscar and Lana, Marvin and Georgie encounter Willy and Hillary at the monastery and once again are able to inadvertently thwart another attempt by the pair to convert the staff to Marxism.

We are introduced to SCOTTIE HOUGHTON, Lana's female, intelligent and talented fly-fishing coach.  It is Houghton's role to break Lana of her habit of thinking she is John Wayne.

After a quiet night out where Lana, Georgie and Marvin and are chased out of a Sheep Herder's convention, Oscar and Lana spend the night together.

After this critical scene, Lana is back at Houghton's fly-fishing class determined to succeed at breaking her habit of talking and walking like John Wayne. Though it is her concern that if she stops walking like John Wayne, Oscar will stop loving her.

From this point on, the action picks up. Sam and Snidely are trapped by Willy and Hillary and lectured on the merits of communism, resulting in Sam being taken to Saddam's boutique for a new red white and blue gardening jacket. Snidely tries to become a Moonie, but is saved by Lana.  Snidely confesses that he secretly wants to become a policeman's valet.  Georgie, Marvin and Lana surprise Willy and Hillary naked in bed, reading lines of Atlas Shrugged to each other and a game of scrabble breaks out. 

Oscar realizes that he loves Lana, whether she thinks she is John Wayne or not.  They move in together and buy a working share in Sirloin Sam's. Marvin marries Georgie and all the characters become addicted to made for BBC movies and live happily ever after. 

COMMENTS

I found the setting and ambience for BOB'S OUR AUNT well chosen. The main characters were interesting and rich in dimension, full of redeeming qualities and easy to care about. The writers have made the four main characters likeable and sympathetic.

The strength is in Georgie and Oscar. Marvin works well, but he shines ony when Georgie is there to turn on the light. Lana is interesting and I wanted desperately to root for her, but found her character merely borderline. Casting Lana correctly is crucial. A quirky actor can add to this character’s dimension and depth. I also loved the idea of Lana's air guitar appearing from time to time, but wanted it to be more of a presence in the story. 

The script on the whole is engaging, quirky and full of zest. The pacing is quick and the writers have sustained the levels of anticipation, tensions and subsequent action. The story does not lack much and the writers have successfully woven setting, terrific characters, mood and pace.

The script can easily be produced within a modest to middle range budget. This is a character driven piece with no special effects and the locations should be convenient to find. The production does not demand big name stars, merely actors that are motivated and good at their craft. All told, I would not be adverse to shelling out the money to view see this in a theatre.

Recommend

Concept: Excellent

Story: Good

Characters: Excellent

Dialogue: Excellent

Pacing: Good

Structure & Logic: Excellent
 

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