Theme/Story
A man buys a broken-down car and must contend with an eccentric antique car dealer in order to drive the car to an important holiday dinner and keep his marriage and estranged family from falling apart.
ACT I
Frank (40s) lives in a small Midwest town where he runs his own business and is well-liked by the local community. However, Frank’s marriage with wife Linda has grown stale and his kids — college dropout Peter (19) and tree-climbing loner Jasmine (17) — view him with a certain degree of derision.
It’s the holidays and Frank is excited about his family’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner. He is also obsessed with a car on eBay — a 1954 Mercury Sun Valley car that has enormous sentimental value he hopes will help revive his marriage. Unbeknownst to Frank, there's a man named Stan Carter (60s), who owns an antique car museum near Chicago and he also has designs on the Mercury Sun Valley.
Frank wins the auction, but must travel to Staten Island, NY to claim the car in-person by Christmas Eve or else forfeit the car. Frank has a phobia of freeway driving, so he implores Linda to accompany him, hoping to make the 12-hour drive back in time for the family dinner. Peter is left at home while Frank, Linda, and Jasmine fly to New York to collect the car, but quickly discover that the car is less than roadworthy.
ACT II
If the car had body language, it would be saying, “I’ve seen better days.” Nevertheless, Frank is not dissuaded from taking possession of the car, despite the surprise appearance of Stan, who makes a tempting offer to purchase the car. Frank and Stan argue and then make a wager: If Frank makes it home to his dinner on-time, Stan will restore the car to its former glory. If Frank doesn’t make it, the car belongs to Stan.
It’s an odd-looking caravan — Frank’s family in the rundown car — followed behind by Stan and his grandson Lance in a tow-truck. Meanwhile at home, Peter’s rehearsal with his new rock band has morphed into the mother of all parties. The house is overrun and completely ransacked by drunken teenagers, and the food for the dinner is trashed, including a frozen turkey blown to bits in the back yard by a firecracker.
On the road, a series of humorous and tragic-comic episodes take place, as dramatic storylines unfold: Stan knows something about the Mercury Sun Valley he’s keeping to himself, Linda and Frank have a poignant confrontation in a snow-covered cow pasture regarding their marriage, Jasmine reveals her plans to attend a liberal horticulture college rather than Frank’s handpicked Big Ten universities, and Frank and Stan slowly start to develop a begrudging and mutual respect for each other. After a harrowing ordeal involving the car being stolen with Jasmine asleep in the backseat, Frank has an epiphany about his feelings for the car. Afterward, the worst appears to be over and Frank seems likely to win the wager, but the car breaks down in the home stretch and Frank reaches a crisis point. Frank desperately wants to win the wager and the car, but his obsession for the car might be driving a wedge between himself and Linda.
ACT III
Frank manages to get the car back on the road, much to the chagrin of Linda, who accuses Frank of losing sight of what’s really important. However, there are surprises: (1) Stan reveals his secret about the car, (2) Frank wins the bet — pushing the car the last few blocks — but makes a gesture of friendship to Stan that moves Linda to tears, and (3) Peter miraculously gets the house ready with assistance from the local townspeople who provide Peter with new insights about Frank, forcing Peter to view his dad in a new light. The dinner reaches mythic status and becomes an event for the ages, as Frank and Peter reconcile their estranged relationship. In the end, Frank discovers what’s really important in his life and that sometimes you really can have it all, including a restored Mercury Sun Valley — as an unexpected gift from a new friend.
Michael Raymond
7719 - 27th Avenue NW
Seattle, WA 98117 E-mail