Anger Destroys Everything ATTENTION: Author J. Alexander is putting together a team of film professionals to promote and successfully turn his over 30 novels and short stories into films. He has also provided the first 8 to 20 pages of each project for your review. For more information, please contact J. Alexander:
ANGER DISTROYS EVERYTHING
WRITTEN BY JALEXANDER
INSPIRED BY THE NOVEL “SHIPWRECK” by JALEXANDER
Note: Author JAlexander is putting together a team of film professionals to promote and successfully turn his over 30 novels and short stories into films.
For more information, please contact: JAlexander
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ATTENTION: The author JAlexander has provided the first 4 to 6 pages of the script for you to review. If you wish to read the rest of the script, please fill out the form provided.
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jimcormier@rogers.com
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Overview:
This story is about a person called Gordie Canter (The Tin Man). You would have to travel a long way to find an angrier person. “When Gordie didn’t get his own way, he didn’t just sulk and stomp his feet; oh no, not the Tin Man! He acted out his ‘Anger,’ like the time he chopped down his parents’ front door and then the telephone pole in front of the house, all because he wanted his own phone in his bedroom and his father refused.” “It was obvious to everyone that Gordie had some major issues, except his poor childhood sweetheart, Rose!”
FADE IN
SCENE 1 – EXT. A ROAD CALLED GRIEF – 2000
THE OPENING SCENE SHOWS a man named David McMasters who is unconscious and dreaming. As he travels on a road called Grief, he meets other travelers who are on their own journeys to find peace and forgiveness.
DAVID FELT VERY uncomfortable as he approached #5 Anger Street. The place looked eerie, like something out of a horror movie. He couldn’t help but notice that the front gate was smashed into hundreds of pieces, so he had to watch his step as he walked over a section that had nails protruding out of it.
ONCE INSIDE THE yard, David found himself standing in front of a big red pick-up truck, and across the windshield was a sign that read:
FOR SALE
By owner’s wife and son
DAVIS FELT CHILLS going up his spine, and the weird feeling didn’t leave him as his eyes settled on a wreath hanging on the front door. Taking a deep breath, he rang the doorbell. When no one answered, he knocked a few more times and waited. He was just about to leave when a woman in a uniform opened the door and asked,
Woman at the door (V.O.)
“How may I help you Sir?”
David (V.O.)
“Hello, Ma’am, my name is David McMaster and I’m doing a survey on “Anger” and I was wondering if I could speak to the homeowner?”
TURNING HER HEAD, the woman looked into the room behind her and then back at David and said,
Woman at the door V.O.)
“You can come in if you wish; the lady of the house is at home today, but she can’t speak, so I’ll have to answer your questions.”
David (V.O.)
“That’s very kind of you!”
Woman at the door (V.O.)
“I’m just doing my job. My name is Caroline; I’m Rose’s…sorry, I mean Mrs. Canter’s caregiver. Please come in; she’s waiting in the living room!”
SCENE 2 – INT. NUMBER 5 ANGER STREET – 2000
DAVID NOTICED TWO things upon entering the room: to his right was a big white leather couch, and to his left sitting next to the big picture window was a woman in a wheelchair. Caroline came into the room and pushed the lady of the house up to the coffee table. This put her directly across from where David had laid his notepad, and was sitting in a big chair.
WITHOUT LOOKING AT David, Caroline asked,
Caroline (V.O.)
“How old do you think Rose is?”
David (V.O.)
“I’m not good at guessing some one’s age, but I would say she is probably in her sixties or seventies.”
Caroline (V.O.)
“Would you believe she is only thirty-eight?”
David (V.O.)
“No way, that’s impossible! I don’t believe you; please tell me her tragic story!”
Caroline (V.O.)
I will, but first, I need to tell you how she aged thirty years in such a short time. It was “Anger” not hers, but her husband’s! Gordie had more anger inside of him than this whole town put together. They started dating in high school, but get married until they were in their late twenties. Everyone knew Gordie Canter. But most only knew him as “The Tin Man” because, the one thing he could do well, was body work on cars!
WITH A SIGH AND a shake of her head, Caroline continued,
Caroline (V.O.)
It was obvious that Gordie had some major issues. The problem was that everyone knew it, except poor Rose! Gordie had lived with his parents until he and Rose got married and when he was home, he was spoiled rotten, especially by his mother! Whatever Gordie wanted, he got, or else he made every one’s life, a living hell!” “When Gordie didn’t get his own way, he didn’t just sulk and stomp his feet; oh no, not The Tin Man! He acted out his “Anger.” Like the time he chopped down his parents’ front door, and then the telephone pole in front of their house, all because he wanted his own phone in his bedroom, and his father refused.” “Gordie’s “Anger” didn’t come from what others did to him, but rather from people not allowing him to have everything he wanted.
AFTER CLEARING her throat, Caroline continued with her story.
Caroline (V.O.)
One of Gordie’s greatest desires in life, was to have a son! A little boy he could spoil; but not give him more than he had gotten, so he (Gordie) would always remain the King of the castle!”
“Rose didn’t want to have children right away, so Gordie was very unhappy. He told her she should have warned him before they got hitched that she didn’t want kids.”
CAROLINE TOOK A few more deep breaths and said,
Caroline (V.O.)
“One day Gordie said to Rose; “Okay fine; if you can’t give me a son, I want a new boat and motor, and it has to be the best one on the lake!”
“Gordie, I’m sorry, but we can’t afford a new boat; we have too many bills so, we can’t just buy a boat!”
“Are you telling me, I can’t have a boat?”
“Oh no Honey! I’m just saying, you will have to wait! Maybe it will be in our budget next year.”
“Fine; if you say no boat, then it’s no boat!”
SCENE 3 – EXT. NUMBER 5 ANGER STREET – 2000
Caroline (V.O.)
Rose went to work the next morning hoping that everything would be okay when she got home, but things weren’t okay! As a matter of fact, she almost fainted when she walked in the front door and there wasn’t one piece of furniture left in the house! When she approached the back door, she could hear Gordie singing, and then she saw him throwing the top of their living room table on a big fire.
GORDIE GREETED Rose with a smile and then called out,
Gordie (V.O.)
Honey! I thought we could have a BBQ tonight, and maybe roast some marshmallows! “Don’t you think that will be a lot of fun?”
Caroline (V.O.)
The look Gordie gave Rose sent chills through her body, and Rose could feel the hair on the back of her neck, stand up! She should have left him that day, but she didn’t; and sadly, she would live to regret that decision.
Caroline (V.O.)
“It wasn’t long before “The Tin Man” got his new boat, and Rose bought new furniture for the house. Gordie also talked Rose into starting a family and they soon had a son, who they called Tommy! He was Gordie’s pride and joy, but when Tommy acted up, Gordie wanted nothing to do with him.
SCENE 4 – INT. A LOCAL MALL – 2000
Caroline (V.O.)
One day, the three of them went shopping. Tommy was about three years old and saw a train set that he wanted. But when he was told he couldn’t have it, he started crying and screaming as loud as he could.
Tommy (V.O.)
“I want that train! I want that train!”
GORDIE WAS very embarrassed, and he said to Rose,
Gordie (V.O.)
“Shut that kid up or else!”
ROSE PICKED TOMMY up and tried to console him, but that didn’t do any good.
GORDIE LOOKED at her and said,
Gordie (V.O.)
“You and your spoiled brat aren’t fit to be in a public place; so, go sit in the car until I’m ready to go home!”
ROSE AND TOMMY SAT in the scorching heat for about two hours, but when she saw Gordie coming to the truck eating an ice-cream cone and drinking a cold bottle of pop, she felt like giving him a piece of her mind. But she didn’t get the chance, because Gordie just walked up to the driver’s side of the truck and told her,
Gordie (V.O.)
“Get out of my truck!”
ROSE GRABBED Tommy and had just enough time to move away from the vehicle, as Gordie drove off leaving her on her own.
THIS WAS ANOTHER opportunity for Rose to leave The Tin Man, but once again, she went home and decided she would carry on with her life like nothing had happened.
SCENE 5 – EXT. NUMBER 5 ANGER STREET – 2000
Caroline (V.O.)
WHEN ROSE WALKED in the front door with her Tommy, she could hear Gordie yelling from the living room,
Gordie (O.S.)
“I want a new Red Truck!”
ROSE THREW UP arms in the air and shouted,
Rose (O.S.)
“God, I give up!”
WALKING INTO the kitchen she said out loud,
Rose (V.O.)
“Lord, you’re going to have to take him or me, because I can’t go on living like this!”
ROSE NO SOONER let the words come out of her mouth when she heard a loud noise coming from the living room. She rushed in and saw Gordie lying on the floor. He was holding his head and yelling for someone to help him, because he couldn’t handle the pain. He repeated over and over,
Gordie (V.O.)
“I want my Mommy; I want my Mommy!”
ROSE THOUGHT SHE might be able to comfort him, so, she got down on the floor and put his head on her knees. She told him to relax and everything would be okay. After about ten minutes she stopped rubbing his head, because she thought he was sleeping, but he wasn’t! Opening his eyes, he declared,
Gordie (V.O.)
“My head doesn’t hurt anymore, so, let’s go buy my new red truck!”
A WEEK LATER, Gordie got a call that his new truck was in, and he could pick it up whenever he was ready.
SCENE 6 – EXT. THE CAR LOT – 2000
Gordie (V.O.)
“Come on woman; you and the kid need to get ready. You can drive me car lot and then you can come home on the bus. I sold our old piece of junk to that weirdo down the street and I told him to come to the lot and get it. So, you better take your garbage out before we go, unless you want to bring it home on the bus.”
WHEN THEY GOT TO the car lot, Gordie was like a little kid, walking around his new toy, touching it like it was made of pure gold. Rose got out of the old truck and stood there holding Tommy.
Rose (V.O.)
“Gordie, what do you want us to do now?”
GORDIE GAVE her his Humphrey Bogart routine and said,
Gordie (V.O.)
“Anything you want Sweetheart, as long as it doesn’t involve me or my new Red Truck.”
ROSE WAS TOO mad to cry, and too hurt to say anything else to her husband.
SCENE 7 – EXT. NUMBER 5 ANGER STREET – 2000
WHEN ROSE GOT OFF the bus, she looked up the street and all she could see was an enormous big red truck in her driveway. She also noticed there were three men standing on the sidewalk talking to Gordie. When he saw her, he said out loud;
Gordie (V.O.)
“Well I see my lovely wife and my handsome son are home at last!”
WHEN ROSE WAS close enough, Gordie gave her a slap on the behind and laughed out loud saying,
Gordie (V.O.)
“Get in the house woman and fix my supper, while I talk to these men!”
WHEN ROSE WALKED over to the front window, she could see that Gordie was giving the men instructions on how to build him a new fence. After the men left, Gordie came inside talking to himself saying;
Gordie (O.S.)
The fence and gate will be finished by the end of the week.
HE WASN’T TALKING to anyone in particular, just saying out loud what was going to happen.
SURE ENOUGH, the fence was up in a few days. After Gordie inspected it thoroughly, he told the man to go to the house and his wife would pay him.
ROSE SAID,
Rose (V.O.)
“You’ll have to take a check, because I don’t have enough cash on me.”
ROSE ASKED,
Rose (V.O.)
“How much will it be, Sir?”
The contractor (V.O.)
“After we put on another coat of paint, the total will be $499.95 plus tax.”
ROSE LOOKED AT him and asked,
Rose (V.O.)
“isn’t that a lot of money for twenty feet of fence and a gate?”
THE MAN explained,
The contractor (V.O.)
“It would have been a lot less, but your husband wanted special wood and a rush job!”
AS ROSE HANDED the check to the worker she said,
Rose (V.O.)
“Here you go, thanks!”
WHEN ROSE LOOKED OUT the door, she could see Gordie on his hands and knees, obviously in a lot of pain.
ROSE PUSHED THE contractor out of the way saying,
Rose (V.O.)
“Excuse me!” I need to go to my husband!
THE CONTRACTOR asked her,
The contractor (V.O.)
“Do you need any help?”
WITHOUT LOOKING up she said,
Rose (V.O.)
“No thank you, I’ll be okay!”
WITH A CONCERNED look on her face, Rose asked Gordie,
Rose (V.O.)
Do you want me to call the doctor?
Gordie (V.O.)
“No, it’s just one of my stupid headaches! Just help me to get into the house.”
ROSE MIGHT HAVE BEEN small, but she managed to get Gordie into the house. As she helped him into one of the big chairs in the living room she said,
Rose (V.O.)
“Honey you’ve been suffering from terrible headaches lately; maybe you need some medicine to control the pain?”
Gordie (V.O.)
“Listen to me woman; do you think I’m stupid or what? I know you just want to get me doped up with pills and then sign me into a loony bin. Then you and your boyfriend can ride all over town in my new Red Truck!”
Rose (V.O.)
“Don’t talk like that, Gordie! I love you and I don’t need any other man in my life!”
Gordie (V.O.)
“Well, I’m not taking any chances; I’m putting a lock on the gate just in case!”
OVER THE NEXT few weeks, Gordie’s headaches became a lot worse and were happening more frequently.
BLACK SATURDAY
THERE WAS NOTHING unusual about the start of the day. Rose was doing her house cleaning and Gordie was out in the garage, hammering away on an old car he was restoring while watching Tommy. He needed some tools from the basement, but he didn’t want to leave Tommy alone. When he saw that the gate was closed and his little boy was playing in the sandbox, he decided to make a run for it! He was gone a lot longer than he expected and when he walked out the basement door, he dropped the tools and started screaming,
Gordie (V.O.)
“Get away from my truck, you little monster!”
TOMMY THOUGHT THAT his Daddy was just having fun with him, so he ran around to the other side of the truck and continued hitting it with the hammer. He kept saying over and over,
Tommy (V.O.)
“Look at me Daddy; I’m fixing your truck!”
GORDIE WAS GETTING ONE of his headaches as he chased little Tommy around the truck. Finally, he decided to just stop and wait and when he did, Tommy ran right into his arms. Grabbing the hammer from his little hand, Gordie raised it over his head and was mad enough to hit his son! He stopped when he heard Rose pounding on the big picture window, he lowered the hammer…