The opening scene starts with an unshaven Danny Chase asleep in bed in the middle of the day. He stumbles out of bed, throws on a robe, and starts walking through his large, empty house. As he is walking through a hallway, we see 6 movie posters from the action movie franchise that he owes his fame to. The first 3 posters look like legitimate blockbusters, while the final 3 are increasingly over-the-top to the point of ridiculousness. He finally reaches his kitchen where he reaches into the refrigerator and pulls out a large steak. He then walks down another hallway to a clear cage where he feeds the steak to his pet tiger (yeah, it’s a bit over the top, but I like the idea of a bankrupt movie star wasting money on a pet tiger).
He walks out on to his porch next to his swimming pool when his cell phone rings. On the other end is his agent, who wants to discuss a new role that Chase been offered. Trying to play it cool, Chase tells his agent that he has been busy, but he could probably squeeze in a lunch meeting today if his agent is available. The agent points out that it is 3pm. Embarrassed that he slept in so late and had no idea what time it was, Chase stammers for a bit before claiming that he’s been so busy that he’s lost track of time. They instead set a meeting for the next day. The agent asks if he has any big plans for the evening, and Chase assures him that he does – a big party, lots of friends, can’t wait for it.
After his conversation, he makes himself a sandwich, then goes to his entertainment room where he starts playing a first-person shooter video game. Time passes, and he is watching a movie. More time passes and it is now dark as Chase is asleep with a cheesy reality TV show on.
The next morning, he is waked up by his alarm clock. He cleans up, shaves, and seems genuinely excited for this opportunity. He goes through a couple wardrobe choices before finally settling on one he likes. He goes to his garage, and after instinctively walking over to his SUV, he glances at his exotic sports car and decides he’s going to drive it. He notices that it’s very dusty, so after quickly cleaning it, he hops in, but it won’t start because the battery has died.
Arriving at the restaurant for lunch, Chase is approached by a TMZ reporter with a video camera. While he is fairly interested in actually talking to the reporter, hoping to slide in the fact that he may have a new movie in the works, the reporter is much more interested in asking him what he thinks about other celebs and talking about his movies from 20-25 years ago. When the reporter mentions something about his most recent films flopping at the box office, he gets angry, gently shoves the camera aside, and enters the restaurant.
Once inside, Chase meets with his agent, who explains the role that is being offered. Chase is very confused throughout the conversation, interrupting and asking questions. I’m undecided as to how the agent should play this. He could assume that Chase will be excited for the offer and then be confused when Chase initially objects to it. Or he could know that Chase will have trouble accepting the offer, so he tries from the start to spin this as something Chase really should do. I’m lean towards the former, but either way, the conversation does not go so well, and the agent urges Chase to talk to his personal accountant. Chase claims that the media reports of his financial troubles are overblown and that he doesn’t have to take the role just for the money. Ultimately, the agent says that the studio needs a decision from him in a week.
We now go back to Chase’s home and he’s back to being the depressed guy we saw in the opening. He hasn’t shaved, he throws on some very casual clothes, and he hops in his SUV without even glancing at the sports car and he goes to visit his accountant.
Once in his office, we see the accountant listing Chase’s monthly expenses (including the pet tiger) and chastising him for some of his more ridiculous purchases. Here we get a bit more of a glimpse into Chase’s personality. When pressed about his collection of exotic sports cars, Chase assures his accountant that he drives them regularly, even as we’ve already seen that he doesn’t. He claims to have just taken his boat out the day before, when we know he didn’t. It’s laid out very clearly that he really does need the money, and he should take any role that would help him revitalize his career. Chase again lies and claims that he has a new blockbuster action role in the works that will take care of all of his money problems.
After leaving, Chase gets a phone call. It’s from his brother, Tyler, who informs him that he’s going to be in LA for a couple days on business. He has tickets to the Lakers (or Dodgers, depending on the season) game and he invites Chase to come along. Tyler says that he is planning on taking the guys out to a bar or something afterwards, but that it probably won’t be too exciting since they are all middle-aged men with wives and kids at home. Chase is offers up to let everyone come over to his house after the game, they can play pool or play poker in his entertainment room.
At the game, Chase tries to talk to Tyler about his cameo offer, but each time he gets interrupted. Tyler is more interested in watching the game and talking to his business associates, not out of rudeness, but more because Chase doesn’t really push the matter.
The group returns to Chase’s mansion where we see them hanging out in the entertainment room. Again, Chase looks for a private moment with Tyler, but they are interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Plot twist! Chase uses a fancy touch screen remote to show off his home security system, and he sees an attractive blonde waiting nervously at the front door. He assumes that someone paid a stripper to entertain them, but everyone in the group denies it. That leads to a very awkward first meeting when the girl tells Chase that she is his daughter. He is caught off-guard and not ready to deal with this situation, so she decides to leave, mentioning that she will be in LA for the week staying at a hotel if he wants to meet.
The next morning, Chase goes to meet his therapist. Again, we witness the way he avoids opening up to anyone, as he lies repeatedly. The therapist realizes something is wrong and pushes him to reveal what is on his mind, but he/she is all too familiar with how Chase’s mind works. With five minutes left in their session, after discussing a number of insignificant or mundane issues, he casually reveals that, oh by the way, he might be a father. They talk for a bit and the therapist wants to talk more, but Chase claims to be busy and says he has to leave now that his session is over.
Chase returns home, where he sees his gardener working outside. He approaches him and starts up a casual conversation about the weather. Then he tries to talk about soccer in a pathetic attempt to relate to his gardener, who is Mexican and, Chase assumes, a soccer fan. This is really just a lame attempt to ask for advise about his movie role and the possibility that he is a father. The conversation does not go well.
Back inside, the mansion is, in contrast to the night before, very quiet and empty. He gets a text from his brother saying that he his plane has landed back home and he looks forward to seeing him again sometime. Several hours later, it is now evening, and Chase decides to call the girl claiming to be his daughter and invite her to meet the next morning for coffee at a local café.
The next morning, they meet and have coffee at the café. The conversation starts out very slowly and awkwardly. They discuss DNA tests, with the daughter appearing to be the more skeptical one. Chase is very uncomfortable early in the conversation, implying he hopes she isn’t his daughter and then implying the opposite in the same sentence. They both seem to think that this meeting was a mistake, but at the last moment, right before she leaves, Chase offers to show her around LA. She is reluctant, but he convinces her that they will be doing stuff, so there will be less awkward silence. So she agrees to meet him the next day.
They meet the next morning in the lobby of her hotel, and before they can do anything, she apologizes to Chase for the way their meeting went the day before. She says that she was trying to be someone that she is not because she feared that he would not like her real self. She admits to embellishing some of her past to try to impress him. Chase sees that she is doing the same things he has been guilty of for several years. They both agree to be honest with each other, no matter how difficult it may be.
They leave the hotel and visit some sites in LA, including Chase’s star on the Walk of Fame. They share stories from their past. She asks Chase a question, and after instinctively and reflexively lying, he quickly corrects himself and admits an embarrassing truth. They cap the evening off eating dinner at a restaurant. Chase brings up the movie offer that he’s been contemplating. She says that she doesn’t know anything about Hollywood and she has no idea what he should do. Rather than press her for advice, he laughs, admits it is not really a big deal, and quickly changes the subject. He expresses how happy he is to have met her, and that he is not really concerned with whether or not she is his biological daughter.
It’s daytime again, and Chase is driving his exotic sports car, the same one that wouldn’t start before. He is pulled over by a police officer who points out that he has expired tags. The officer recognizes Chase and tells him that he must think that as a big time movie star he is above the law. Chase laughs, which upsets the officer. Chase explains his laughter, saying it’s been 20 years since he’s made a decent movie, and he didn’t realize he was still a “big” time star. The cop laughs and they joke about how bad his last movie was. Chase gets off with a warning, as the cop wishes him luck with rebuilding his career.
Chase picks up his daughter to drive her back to the airport. (Although that would require her to have used taxis up to this point. Perhaps they just meet at LAX for him to see her off.) He mentions that, if it is okay with her mom, he would like to visit them in Australia sometime.
After she is gone, he calls his agent. Here, I could mess with the audience and not actually show what his answer is. If I did that, I would want it to be clear what his answer was going to be. I would be inclined to show him accepting the offer, so viewers don’t leave the theatre with the unresolved ending overshadowing the rest of the film.
-STYLE
When Chase is alone or in a one-on-one meeting with his therapist or his financial advisor, there should be no music playing, with an almost eerie silence representing his loneliness. This should be accompanied by a number of wide shots, again showing him to be small and insignificant and alone. When Chase is in a crowded area, such as a restaurant or café or basketball arena, there should be more noise, background conversations with music playing. More tight shots would be used here to contrast with the wide shots when he is alone. The scenes between Chase and his daughter will transition from the quiet desolation style to the close, noisy style as their relationship progresses.
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