Wake

Gavin West is a troubled soul. A divorced ex-con, and victim of long-term unemployment, he struggles to get through a life that has come to resemble purgatory, a limbo of uncertainty and regret.  But when old friend Rob hooks him up with a data entry job at the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, he begins to smell a faint whiff of hope. It’s only a temporary assignment, but a stressful one, entering highway crash statistics into a database under the watchful eye of Marvin Moylan, his demanding new boss. Gavin gives it his best, eager to put the past behind him.  But on his way to work one morning, he gets an unnerving wakeup call when he’s seemingly shoved in front of a speeding bus and nearly killed. A shaken-up Gavin is not about to start feeling comfortable just yet.  After two more brushes with death, including a car accident where his brakes fail, and an assault from a mysterious attacker, Gavin wonders whether his new lease on life is as temporary as his job.  Noticing troubling discrepancies in the traffic data at work, Gavin resolves to bring it to Moylan’s attention, swinging by his boss's house to drop off an important report. When he arrives, he finds Moylan is dead. Gavin’s paranoia goes full blown, fearing he will be the obvious suspect.  Enter Mr. Winters, an enigmatic stranger. Part black-ops agent, part philosopher, part guardian angel, he has a keen interest in Gavin and his future. He offers to help, not only in escaping from the police, but escaping from his life, and any further attempts on it. Gavin goes along with the plan, which requires him to fake his death and start over. Under Winters' careful orchestration, it all goes off without a hitch, “Gavin” apparently perishing in a high-speed chase with police.  Brandon Morrow is born, a new identity, a new appearance. No regrets to live down, no story to live up to.  Gavin, as Brandon, is all set to start anew when he finds incriminating evidence that Winters is in cahoots with the very people who initially tried to knock him off. Suddenly, the need to know the whole truth is nagging at him.  He spots the listing for his own wake in the paper, and cannot resist, crashing the party, as Brandon, and mixing with the guests, ferreting out information on the potentially guilty parties, who wanted Gavin West out of the picture. The list of suspects includes Rob, smitten coworker Sophie, bitter ex-wife Evelyn, and her stepfather, the rich and powerful Colby Rasmussen.  Winters shows up, determined to dissuade Gavin from continuing his unique, undercover stakeout, but with little success. As Gavin gets closer to the truth, Winters reveals a secret that will change everything he thinks he knows, about his life, his past, and his future, and shake him to his very core. Gavin West must make a fateful decision that will have startling ramifications for all. He must unravel a shocking conspiracy that will lead to a mind-bending turn of events and a twist that no one ever sees coming.  Along the way, he finds the only way to truly cheat death, is to let it all go.  W A K E...  Karma runs over. ****************The REVIEWS are in on WAKE********************************************* "Wake is a mind-bending and immensely engaging script that tells the story of Gavin West, an underdog who stumbles upon a disguised scheme at his new job... Before we realize it, we are entangled in the story and root for Gavin to discover the truth. More importantly, the concept doesn't arouse suspension of disbelief even when it changes the genre and narrative tone from drama to thriller to science fiction. All genre elements work in cohesion with one another, not allowing for interfering unnecessarily or overloading the narrative.... Wake has a compelling set of commercial and auteur traits that distinguishes the script from the crowd, meaning it belongs to a genre and implements some familiar tropes, such as the change of identity. At the same time, the writer manages to implement genuine features like the non-linear approach and the fascinating catharsis. Suffice to say, Wake would communicate with the broader audience and revive the theme/genre by expanding the scope. Instead, it talks in its own voice and is essentially an advocate for the thesis that not all stories are told. Quite on the contrary, this script is a case example that filmmakers can still present authentic stories, ones that stray from the fabricated narratives in the current trends. With a considerable number of strengths... we state that Wake deserves attention. It should arouse the buzz in the film industry and address interested producers who would help the writer bring this story to life. In conclusion, the writer should be confident about the project’s development... ********* “Story: Great premise. Theme was consistent throughout. Awesome characters supported this all the way through to the end. Structure: Perfect. Characters: Your characters are three dimensional and interesting. I can tell that you have taken time to mold these characters into real people. I really enjoyed their personalities. Action: Your action is quick, precise and to the point. What I love about your action is that you let it tell the story, instead of relying on dialogue to do it all. Pro move. For your scenes, you enter late and leave early. Every scene is there for a reason... This is a very quick, clean read. Dialogue: Your dialogue progresses your story forward. Every line is there for a reason... your dialogue is on point.” ********* "This was a very fun read, a fast-paced thriller that kept me turning pages and kept me guessing. The craft in this script is excellent. The script’s concept is original. It reminded me a little of TOTAL RECALL because the protagonist is forced to question their reality... The theme of karma is appropriate to the concept, and is worked in effectively (for example, through the Tarot reading). You do a great job of delivering exposition by showing, not telling... There’s a lot going on in the plot, but it mostly hangs together and is paid off at the end. The characters are strong. Gavin/Brandon is the most well-developed, and he comes across as flawed but likable, as a protagonist should. Rob is also captured well, with his own distinct dialog and mannerisms. And Winters is a great mystery character, with a great explanation of who he is at the end. The title has a nice double-meaning - Gavin’s wake and the fact that he’s waking up. All in all this is a very strong script. " ******** "The setup to the story has a very intriguing, Hitchcockian (De Palma-esque?) vibe to it, casting Gavin as the "wrong man" being targeted by alternately mundane or surreal attempts on his life, with the details he's analyzing for Moylan acting as the invisible hand driving everything forward. The dialogue is solid throughout, and the slow reveal of information about Gavin's past and his relationship with Rob and his ex-wives is handled well. The first half of the script moves at a slow burn, but it does an admirable job of hooking the audience and crafting an intelligent maze of deceit to work its way out of... The author clearly has style and some rather complex, interesting big-picture ideas to throw around." ********* “The writing, story, execution and formatting of this script are all outstanding. The story is easy to read, suspenseful, moves forward quickly and has some surprising twists and turns.” -(Golden Script Competition/ Zoetrope Virtual Studio/ CoverFly X / The Black List) *************************************************************************************