T H E    B E N    T R A I L E R



1. INT - ROOM - DARK

Near-darkness.  A figure is seen in black, with sunglasses on.  He raises what is obviously a gun.

            TITLE
		For a big job, you need a big gun.

We zoom in closer and closer.  The lights come up to reveal a supermarket.  
It's BEN, holding a pricing gun.

            BEN
		Kitchen bags?  Aisle 3.  

A customer walks past.

            BEN
         (mostly to himself)
		Aisle 9?


2. TITLE

		Ben had a dream.

3. INT - BEN'S ROOM - NIGHT

Ben is talking into a cheap tape recorder.

            BEN
		This is Rock, bringing that... this is Rock Candy, 
		bringing you Rock Candy.  

He punches at the tape recorder to rewind and start over.

		This is that sweet, sweet Rock Candy.  

He punches at the tape recorder to rewind and start over.


4. TITLE

		He still does, as of this filming.


5. EXT - TRACKER - DAY

Ben and Jorie are seen sitting in Ben's Tracker.

            BEN
		My parents are moving.  I'm trying to get a place 
		of my own, but...

Long pause.

            JORIE
		What?


6. TITLE

		He's 26, lives at home. It gets worse.


7. INT - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Ben's mom, in baggy clothing, sitting sadly on the sofa.
Heavy metal can be heard in the background.

            MOM
		I just don't know if he can make it on his own.

Mom daubs a tear.

            MOM
		I just... I can't see it.


8. - INT - JORIE'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Jorie's Dad is sitting in front of a mixer, with headphones
on.  Jorie is behind him on a couch, painting her nails.

He's listening.  His eyebrows raise, quizically.
He wrinkles his nose.

			JORIE'S DAD
		Track five should go with track SEVEN.
		Let's see if we can clean up the audio on three.

Pan over to see Ben sitting next to him.  He's working
intently on a sheet of paper.

Close-up: he's doodling band logos.


9. INT - REC ROOM - NIGHT

Ben's Dad is sitting in a recliner, a drink in his hand.

            DAD
		I had to stop wearing belts years ago.

		I couldn't trust myself, and he... he can't help himself.


10. INT - KITCHEN - NIGHT

Ben is sitting at the table, at dinner, with his parents.
He's furious.

            BEN
		I'm not going with you to Indiana.   I'm staying here.


11. EXT - ROADSIGN - DAY

Shot of a sign reading: WELCOME TO INDIANA


12. INT - BEN'S ROOM - NIGHT

Ben's in his room, computer on, on the phone.

            BEN
		Jorie, it'll just be a few months.  
	   
Long pause.
	   
		Till I'm back, what's what!


13. INT - RECEPTIONIST'S STATION - DAY

Ben gives an envelope to a secretary.  He's dressed in 
his standard outfit-- T-shirt and long hair.

            BEN
		It's an audition tape, can you make sure he gets it?


14. INT - KITCHEN - NIGHT

A shot looking upward at Ben's Dad, in business suit, 
looking stern.

Shot upward at Ben's dad.

            DAD
		I don't care what it is, I want you to have some sort of job.


15. INT - KITCHEN - DAY

A Spike Lee-style montage of Ben, from Dad's POV.  In each 
shot he's in the same position, but wears a different T-shirt. 

            BEN
		I'm sending out tapes.

            BEN
		I'm a certified mixologist!

            BEN
		  (holding a vacuum cleaner)
		I could be pulling in six figures.

            BEN
		...it's back in St. Charles, just need some Spanish...

            BEN
		...forestry...

            BEN
		I'm NOT going back to the grocery store!


16. INT - SUPERMARKET - DAY

Ben in Schnuck's uniform, cashiering.

            BEN
		For th luvva... CAN'T you hand me the gift card FIRST?


17. TITLE

		He had a plan.


18. INT - ROOM - DAY

Close up of a hand twisting something.  Clicking sounds.

Shot of a sign: FIRST BANK OF EVANSVILLE

Pan out to reveal Ben twisting something in his hands.
More clicking sounds.

We see that he's sitting in a chair in the bank,
playing with a Hero Clix figure.  

Ben's mom comes to get him.

            BEN
		I'm gonna get a case of these.  

            MOM
		We're going.

            BEN
	      (getting up)
		How much is in my account?


19.  TITLE

		He has a game.


20. INT - BEN'S ROOM - NIGHT

Ben is psyching himself up for a fight-- hitting 
himself, grunting.


21. INT - COMIC STORE - NIGHT

Ben is playing Hero Clix.  We see comics and toys behind him,
a sales display, but don't see any of the other players.

He's obviously just lost; he's slamming a figurine down angrily.

            BEN
		Daaaaang!


22. INT - RECEPTIONIST'S STATION - NIGHT

The room is empty.  The lock jiggles; Ben comes in,
tip-toeing around.

He puts a letter down on the receptionist's desk.

Close-up of the letter: it's a stained, wrinkled cover letter
for a program director job.

Ben sneaks out.  Nothing happens for a minute.

The door jiggles again, but doesn't open.

Close-up on the door.  A tape is shoved under it--
painfully, there's not quite enough room for it.
It gets about 2/3 through and stops.


23. INT - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Mom alone on the sofa again.

            MOM
		Sometimes I blame myself.


24. INT - BEN'S ROOM - DAY

Quick shot of Ben playing air guitar.

Music: "Werewolves of London again... 
Werewolves of London"


25. INT - LIVING ROOM - DAY

            MOM
		I tried... I tried to drown him once.  
		But those little brown eyes...


26. EXT - SUPERMARKET - DAY

A lone plastic bag floats by in the breeze. Ben enters the frame 
chasing after it in his Schnucks smock, runs off screen.

Long pause.

Ben comes back, with half the bag.


27. INT - DORM ROOM - DAY

Jorie sitting at her desk in her dorm room.

            INTERVIEWER (offscreen)
		Do you miss him?

Long pause.

            JORIE
		What?

Quick shot of Michael Moore (apparently the interviewer) 
removing his hat, wearily rubbing his eyes.


28. INT - SUPERMARKET - DAY

We see Ben, standing with a mop in his hand next
to a co-worker, waving at someone off-camera.

			BEN
		Hey, Ron!  Ron Rohde!

Pause.

		I know that guy.  He's on TV.  I know him.


29. TITLE

		How Do You Stop A Man... 


30. INT - BEN'S ROOM - NIGHT

Ben is re-arranging his collection of Clix.

Music: "Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow!"


32. TITLE

		Who Won't Even Start 

33. INT - BEN'S ROOM - NIGHT

Ben in his room, at the computer

            BEN
		I'm COMING, Ma.

Long pause.

Ben twiches a bit, makes a fist.


34. INT - COMIC STORE - NIGHT

Ben in the Clix tournament-- same POV as before.

            BEN
		He had a Firelord!


35. INT - RECEPTIONIST'S STATION - DAY

Ben giving an envelope to the same secretary:

            BEN
		I'm not interested in classic rock.  Just hard rock.

Pause.

		You'll tell him, right?


36. INT - JOEY'S BAR - NIGHT

Ben about to give a karaoke performance.

			BEN
		Now don't be sad
		'Cause two out of three ain't bad

Camera pans to show the rest of the bar.  There's
just a few other customers, none of them paying 
attention.


37. INT - REC ROOM - DAY

Same angle as the Clix scenes, but it's Ben at a table
in the basement rec room.  

			BEN
		Since you're just learning, Josh, I don't 
		want you to be disappointed if it takes
		a few weeks to--

A small boy's hand reaches offscreen, moves a figure
to a new space.  

			BEN
		  (looking a bit stricken)
		Ohh.


38. INT - BEN'S ROOM - DAY

Ben is putting a twenty in an envelope.

			BEN
		This time next year.   Yeah.


39. INT - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Back to Mom.

            MOM
		I guess it's good for him that he has, you know, a girlfriend.


40. INT - DORM ROOM - DAY

Close-up on a girl's hand writing a letter.  We can read, 
"Deare Ben".

We pan back slowly and she that she's writing in bed,
lying on her stomach, naked.  She periodically erases
the greeting and re-writes it.

Pan back further to see a jock type in bed with her.

            THE JOCK
		Whatcha doin?

A long pause.

Jorie crumples up the paper.

            JORIE
		Nothin.


41. INT - BEN'S ROOM - DAY

Ben opens up the going-home envelope.  He shakes
the contents onto his desk.  

Close-up of five slips of paper reading "I.O.U. $20"

Ben thinks a moment.

			BEN
		Maaa!  Can I borrow a twenty?


42. TITLE
		
		In an unfair world.... there are still heroes


43. INT - COMIC STORE - NIGHT

Ben at the Clix tournament; same POV as before.

            BEN
		I won!  I won!  I really won!

Pan over to see his opponent, a snot-nosed, sullen-looking 8-year-old 
Vietnamese kid in a wheelchair.


44. TITLE

		The Ben McClellan Story.  In theaters this summer.

45. TITLE

		Inertia has never been so moving.






based on the riffing of
zompist, tieboy, SeanQ, CrazyClimber, spinn, Freyja, Agent Orange, Kyol, Samwise


random ideas


Jorie's room:
<agto> No, it's really yellow. wanna see?

from spinn: "as of this filming" dnw