FADE IN:
EXT. EXIT/IN ROCK CLUB - DAY
A cold snap whips silver garland on the façade. ‘Tis the Season on
Nashville’s Rock Block. TRAFFIC rumbles past on Elliston.
MUSIC UP
A progressive funk remix style.
FEMALE LEAD (O.C.)
Rockin’ around the Christmas tree,
At the Christmas party hop.
Mistletoe hung where you can see,
Every couple tries to stop.
CLOSE ON EXT. EXIT/IN MARQUIS
18 - THE FEELS
Rockin’ Jolly Xmas Jam
FEMALE LEAD (O.C.)
Rockin’ around the Christmas tree,
Let the Christmas spirit ring.
Later we’ll have some pumpkin pie,
And we’ll do some caroling.
Christmas oddities line the roads from Elliston to Honky Tonk Highway.
FEMALE LEAD (O.C.)
You will get a sentimental feeling
when you hear--
Voices singing, let’s be jolly,
Deck the halls with boughs of holly.
INT. EXIT/IN ROCK CLUB - DAY
A sound check in progress. JEN BRYARS (46, white) continues singing,
BART BRYARS (63, white) on lead guitar. MARC ALLEN (46, white) plays
keyboard while DANN SHERRILL (69, white) is on drums and ROGER
PATENAUDE (29, white), on bass.
JEN
Rockin’ around the Christmas tree,
Have a Happy Holiday.
Everyone dancin’ merrily
In the new, old-fashioned way...
The hot-stop finish. Bart turns to the other band members.
BART
And after that charity opener, the
mayor will pass around the hat and say
a few words before we’re on.
JEN
Up here? Where are we?
Bart checks the venue on his cell phone.
BART
Let’s see...backstage. The Bums do
their set before ours. So we changeover
and then come back for our slot after
the mayor, after their opener.
ROGER
That means redundant line checks.
BART
Looks like it, yeah. That’s what
they want.
(to SOUND ENGINEER)
We good, Sonny?
SOUND ENGINEER (SONNY MIZE) gives Bart a thumbs up.
Bart’s phone PINGS. He checks it. All band members pack up while Bart
reads the text. He frowns.
DANN
What time’s load-in?
JEN
Between four and six.
Jen gathers her tote bag, looks at Bart.
JEN
What’s up?
BART
It’s the hospital. Skippy’s on the
fritz again.
(unplugs guitar)
You take the car, I’ll walk.
(kisses her)
Meet you back here, five or so.
EXT. ASCENSION ST. THOMAS MIDTOWN HOSPITAL - DAY
Bart walks along the sidewalk by 20th Avenue toward the entrance.
INT. ASCENSION ST. THOMAS MIDTOWN HOSPITAL - DAY
He heads through the medical plaza toward a coffee bar.
INT. THE PROVERBIAL CUP COFFEE - DAY - INTERCUT
BARISTA takes Bart’s order. He walks to the end of the bar and makes a
phone call while he waits.
INT. NURSES’ STATION - DAY
NURSE
(on phone)
Mr. Bryars. He’s been asking for
you all morning.
BART
Bad day?
2.
NURSE
Not a good one.
INT. THE PROVERBIAL CUP COFFEE - DAY
BARISTA
Bart?
Barista serves up two coffees labeled BART and SKIPPY. Skippy’s has a
solid lid with a straw. Bart pockets his phone, gathers the coffees.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
Bart quietly pushes the door open. A shriveled and miserable old man
on oxygen, SKIPPY (82, white) greets Bart with a pained smile.
SKIPPY
You came.
BART
With cinnamon lattes.
Bart adjusts the overbed table in front of Skippy and sets the coffees
on top. Notices the restraints.
BART
What’s this?
SKIPPY
They say I won’t leave my dick
alone when I sleep.
A urostomy pouch with telltale dark urine hangs on the bed rail.
BART
Well? Don’t you?
SKIPPY
Sleep? No.
Bart undoes the release buckle on Skippy’s right hand.
BART
Hand on the table.
Skippy immediately goes for the coffee, straw wagging around his lips.
Bart rights the straw for him, takes his own coffee, and sits.
SKIPPY
(sipping)
M-mm. That’s good.
(beat)
You got a minute?
BART
A few, yes. We go on at seven.
SKIPPY
Full house?
3.
BART
Sold out.
Skippy smiles.
SKIPPY
Ah.
(beat)
Well, I wanted to go back to the
beginning again.
A tall order. Bart thinks about it.
BART
Okay. Which part?
SKIPPY
When you ran.
An even bigger ask. Bart sips his coffee.
OVER BLACK (BEGIN FLASHBACK)
GUITAR RIFF, a hammered-on melody. R.E.M. meets Black Sabbath.
EXT. MUSKEGON LAKE - DAY
SUPER: December 17, 1985
An ice fishing hole inside a tent shanty with cam-straps flapping.
Snowing, working up a squall.
INT. BASEMENT BEDROOM - DAY
CLOSE ON
A pull-off and slide on a shiny new 1984 Fender Stratocaster.
BART BRYARS (24, white), a towheaded Cajun, body of an ice hockey
goalie sans the height. He docks the Fender on a deluxe guitar stand.
The room, a songwriter's wet dream: a Fender Mustang bass, Ludwig drum
set, Tascam 4-track tape machine, mics, stands, and cables.
Bart loads a VHS tape labeled MICHIGAN SNUFF into a 13" Panasonic
TV/VCR combo. Clicks remote to PLAY. Lights up a smoke and watches.
ON SCREEN
A silly film. ICE FISHERMAN heaves an augur out of lakeside shelf ice.
PERP approaches from behind, 9mm pistol drawn. SHOOTS.
The fisherman falls through the ice, bobs up, scrabbles for the edge.
Perp tries to pilfer the augur from him and falls in too.
INT. BASEMENT BEDROOM - DAY
Bart STOPS the video, REWINDS. Switches to the Mustang bass.
THUMPING on a Mustang bass guitar. Bart PLAYS the video again.
4.
EXT. MUSKEGON LAKE - DAY - INTERCUT
A tent shanty perched on the ice.
INT. TENT SHANTY - DAY
FIGURE in parka drills with an ice augur.
INT. BASEMENT BEDROOM - DAY
Bart packs a suitcase. Tosses in a shoebox of labeled cassettes: NUKE
ATTACK, SANDINISTAS. Hangs a US Coast Guard uniform over a door.
PANASONIC TV - ON SCREEN
WEATHER REPORT, a winter storm. Bart SWITCHES OFF TV, docks the bass
guitar. Takes one last look around the room before cutting the light.
INT. TENT SHANTY - DAY
FIGURE bores out fishing holes in a square. Cuts a 28" hole-to-hole
square opening with an ice saw. Chips at the edges with a spud bar.
INT. BATHROOM - DAY
Bart's close-cropped whitey 'fro and chops, now Vantablack. He smears
Vaseline around his eyebrows and dies them using Q-tips.
INT. TENT SHANTY - DAY
FIGURE pours Jim Beam down the hole. Lays the bottle by a tackle box.
CLOSE ON
A sacrificial slice of a thumb on the augur. Blood drips around the
ice-fishing hole.
INT. KITCHEN - DAY
Black-headed Bart shrugs on a parka, tacks a note on the fridge:
NIKKI! GONE FISHING
EXT. TENT SHANTY - DAY
FIGURE slowly backs out of the shanty.
CLOSE ON
An undertaking, retracing a set of snow boot tracks walking backward.
FIGURE totters, goes on.
We see his face now, black-headed Bart. Sweating. He continues backing
in his boot tracks toward lakeside woods.
Black dye drips off his face onto the snow. He sees it. Frowns. Turns
and hightails it toward the woods.
EXT. 1981 FORD F-150 - MOVING - DAY
Pulls to one side of Muskegon Bus Terminal.
5.
CLOSE ON
Bumper sticker: GO AHEAD, MAKE MY DAY
Snowing harder. Bart gets out of the truck, retrieves his suitcase
from the bed. Gives a thumbs-up to the driver.
INT. BUS TERMINAL - DAY
SECURITY GUARD patrols the tarmac. Parka hood up, aviator shades on--
Bart averts his gaze and stoops to check his suitcase.
ANGLE ON
The terminal wall behind Bart, a green-and-white JUST SAY NO poster.
The security guard moves on, and Bart straightens.
INT. GREYHOUND BUS - PARKED - DAY
Bart chooses an aisle seat.
EXT. GREYHOUND BUS - MOVING - DAY
Nor'easter in the works. The 1982 bus pulls out of the terminal.
INT. GREYHOUND BUS - MOVING - DAY
The parka hood stays up, aviator shades on. Bart slides down in his
seat and pretends to sleep.
PROFILE, he's eyes-wide-awake and terribly alert. How did this get so
fucked up, anyway? He stares straight ahead, remembering.
EXT. RYERSON CITY BALLPARK, MUSKEGON - DAY
SUPER: Six Months Earlier
An open field, aluminum bleachers adjacent to a diamond. A softball
game setting up, players in Coastie ball caps.
1981 Ford F-150 with GO AHEAD, MAKE MY DAY bumper sticker pulls in
behind a 1982 yellow CADILLAC parked on the street.
EXT. 1981 FORD F-150 - PARKED - DAY
Bart and co-worker FRANKIE (27, white), dressed to play softball, pile
out of the pickup with gloves and gear.
MAN walks a German Shepherd down the sidewalk.
EXT. CADILLAC - PARKED - DAY
ZEB LIPKA (54, white), gets out. His GIRLFRIEND (32, Latino), sits
shotgun in the Cadillac. Bart stops.
BART
Hey, Zeb.
ZEB
Hey and howdy-do.
6.
Frankie stops to say "hi" to Zeb's girl.
BART
(to Zeb)
It's in the glove compartment.
Zeb glances back at the pickup.
ZEB
Sure. Okay, man.
BART
Just leave the dough in the Wendy's
cup on the floorboard and lock up.
Bart and Frankie head out to the diamond.
FRANKIE
How can an old fart afford a ride
like that, huh?
BART
He owns a bar.
FRANKIE
(spits)
I'm talking about the girl.
ZEB
Hey, Bart! I don't see it!
Forty feet behind them, Zeb stands by the pickup, passenger door open.
BART
The glove compartment, dude! It's
in the glove!
ZEB
It's not in here, man! Come back
and show me!
BART
Shit.
(to Frankie)
Go on, I'll catch up.
FRANKIE
And you’re doing this for--?
BART
I told you, I need a new sound
mixer.
Bart walks back to the pickup. Zeb's rifling through the glove box.
ZEB
Okay--oh.
BART
Now you see it?
7.
Two oncoming UNMARKED CARS on the street SCREECH to a halt. Four NARCS
pile out, guns trained on Bart.
The man walking the German Shepherd spins and draws his gun. Zeb's
girlfriend jumps out of the Cadillac, gun drawn.
NARC
Get your hands up, motherfucker!
Don't move!
Bart's hands are already raised, softball mitt included.
BART
I--should I put this down?
OLDER BART (V.O., PRE-LAP)
That was it, all over in a matter
of five seconds.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY (END FLASHBACK)
Skippy sips his coffee, glassy eyes fixed on Bart.
SKIPPY
Go on.
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - DAY (BEGIN FLASHBACK)
Bart sits across the table from a NARC. Not the first question.
NARC
Where'd you get the cocaine?
BART
I-I told you, man. You got the wrong
guy. I'm Coast Guard, and we don't
fuck with drugs.
Narc lunges at him, inches from Bart's face.
NARC
Look, asshole. We know what you
did, you know what you did, and you
are going down. Twenty years
minimum. Read my lips: you won't
see the waterway or the bulkhead or
the fucking daylight again. Ever.
INT. MUSKEGON COUNTY JAIL - BOOKING
The strip search. Bart stands nude in a well-lighted, empty room.
GUARD faces him.
GUARD
Marion Bart Bryars. Step up to the
red line.
Bart complies, haltingly, through all of it.
8.
GUARD
Open your mouth. Stick out your
tongue and move it side to side. Up
and down.
(beat)
Wipe your hands over yours ears one
at a time like this.
(demonstrates)
Bend forward and shake out your
hair with your fingers.
(beat)
Both hands on your head now, and
stand up. Hands in front, wiggle
your fingers.
(beat)
Reach down and lift your nut sack.
(beat)
Drop it. Turn around. Pick up your
right foot and wiggle your toes.
Now, left foot.
(beat)
Bend over, grab your ass with both
hands, and spread your cheeks. Give
me two good coughs.
(beat)
Alright. Stand up and turn around.
Shut your eyes and your mouth.
Guard sprays Bart with aerosol permethrin. He tries not to flinch.
GUARD
Grab your bedroll and your spit
bag, put on those orange issues,
and wait over there.
INT. MUSKEGON COUNTY JAIL - NIGHT
Easily one hundred years old, repainted fecal brown many times.
Truckstop bathroom vibes.
EXT. CELL
Four-prisoner capacity, TWO BLACK INMATES, ONE WHITE on their bunks.
GUARD unlocks the cell and Bart goes inside. He looks around.
The digs, a twelve-by-twelve foot cubicle with a metal card table in
the center. Two steel bunk beds bolted to the walls.
Threadbare sheets, jail issue wool blankets. Flimsy, flame-retardant
vinyl mattresses. No pillows. A shitty communal toilet.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY (END FLASHBACK)
BART
I could see why they deloused me.
SKIPPY
(sipping coffee)
Yeah.
9.
INT. MUSKEGON COUNTY JAIL CELL - DAY (BEGIN FLASHBACK)
Bart shaves. The "mirror": a dull steel plate welded above the toilet.
The three other inmates play cards at the center table.
JAILER unlocks cell.
JAILER
Let's go, GQ.
Jailer escorts Bart, handcuffed, down the hallway.
INT. MUSKEGON COUNTY JAIL - OFFICE - DAY
A changing room. Suited up in his USCG Tropical Blue Long Uniform,
Bart frets with the auxiliary belt. It's now too big.
Bart tops it off with a starched Garrison cap. Jailer smirks.
INT. MUSKEGON COUNTY COURTROOM - DAY
Bart, handcuffed, stands beside the BAILIFF in front of the judge's
bench. PROSECUTOR SAM TAGLIONI (41, white) stands at a table behind
Bart with a glare that could raise blisters.
Bart glances over his shoulder, catches Taglioni’s hostile stare.
Turns quickly back toward the bench.
JUDGE
Considering the serious nature of
the offenses, I hereby set the
defendant's bail at seventy-five
thousand dollars.
Judge BANGS GAVEL.
INT. JAIL PAY PHONE - NIGHT - INTERCUT
Bart’s desperate--in orange issues again and talking with his girl,
NIKKI COLLINS (20, white). She’s looking at his note on the fridge.
NIKKI
You need to call your folks right
now, Bart.
BART
I don't know, babe. This is--
NIKKI
You know they'd do anything to help you.
BART
No. They can’t--I'll work this out.
EXT. MUSKEGON COUNTY JAIL - DAY
1980 FORD ESCORT pulls into Visitor Parking. Nikki, a Midwest co-ed
with a spiky mullet, jumps out. Bart walks out in civvies.
NIKKI
You did it!
