AGENCY COVERAGE TITLE: SHIMMER LAKE AUTHOR: Oren Uziel

FORM: PDF DRAFT DATE/PAGES: 117

SUBMITTED TO: Footprint Features SUBMITTED BY: Oren Uziel

SUBMITTED FOR: Consideration

STUDIO: Footprint Features

PRODUCER: Steven Eddy

DIRECTOR: Oren Uziel

TALENT: Benjamin Walker PERIOD: Present day

LOCATION: N/A

GENRE: Crime/Dark Comedy

DATE: 04/06/15 READER: Stephen Schroeder

************************************************************************ LOGLINE: The events leading up to a small town bank robbery and string of murders, told in reverse order. ************************************************************************ CHARACTER BREAKDOWN: ZEKE: Our seemingly faithful hero. A disciplined and attractive police officer with a craving for justice. He seems to really look out for the townsfolk and he has a witty, smart-ass disposition, so we have no problem following him through the story. ANDY: Zeke’s morally questionable brother. He’s an ex-prosecutor who is down-on-his-luck and in need of quick cash. He has a wife and a daughter, but hardly pays attention to either of them. He’s really only looking out for himself. Stephanie: She is sly, sexy, and smart. Unhappily married to Ed, another member of the heist team, she knows the ins and outs of the robbery blueprint and has every intention of getting what she wants out of it. Though married to Ed, we find out later that she’s with Zeke. Ed: Stephanie’s ex-convict husband. Also down-on-his-luck looking for a quick fix. He accidentally killed his son in a meth lab explosion and doesn’t feel as guilty about it as he should. Kurt: Fresh out of FBI school and new on the case.

Kyle: Fresh out of the FBI’S elite training program and new on the case. Martha: Andy’s kind-hearted, all-American wife. She nurtures the hell out of their daughter. She refuses to believe that Andy is somehow involved in anything sinister. She’s sweet as pie, but apparently can’t cook to save her life. Reed: A dimwitted cop involved on the case. He’s the butt of every joke, but we like him because he at least has a sense of humor about it. He doesn’t realize the intricacies of the heist like Zeke does. Dawkins: He owns the bank and is shadily involved in the robbery by giving the boys the combo to the safe. He has demons in his closet and a penchant for young, meth-addicted boys. Chris: Involved in the bank robbery. He’s very defensive about people making fun of his lack of intelligence. Sally: The three year old daughter of Andy and Martha. She has a penchant for Zeke and her imaginary friend. SYNOPSIS: Shimmer Lake, a story about a bank robbery and the mystery surrounding it, is told backwards, beginning with the events following the heist. To regurgitate what happens in this film, scene by scene, in backwards order is difficult. Basically, the film starts out with ZEKE, a seemingly well-adjusted, honorable police officer working on a robbery case. He looks out for MARTHA and her daughter, SALLY, while ANDY is out doing something we assume is illegal. Next, we’re introduced to KYLE and KURT, the new guys on the case. The two of them and Zeke go to STEPHANIE’s house to make sure she’s alright, and she appears to be a battered wife. Throughout the story, we see the murdered bodies of several people involved in the bank robbery, which essentially came to fruition through the help of bank owner, DAWKINS, who is secretly sexually involved with young boys in exchange for methamphetamine. As the story progresses in reverse order, we see that Stephanie is not the battered wife that she appears to be. Sure, her husband is a real asshole, but the damage we see on her face is actually inflicted by herself. She uses both Andy and CHRIS, another guy involved in the heist sexually to get her way. Throughout each day, we see Zeke on the phone, often with who he says is Martha, who wants to make him dinner for being so helpful around the house. But we, the audience, know that most of the time he’s really talking to his brother, Andy, and quite possibly covering his ass because he knows Andy, the ex-prosecutor (ironically) is heavily involved in the bank shenanigans.

As the story moves forward (or backward), we see that Stephanie most definitely has ulterior motives for everyone involved in the heist. We know she hates her husband, ED, who shows up dead eventually in the script. We assume he is killed by a “bad guy” involved in the robbery. Ed is down on his luck, desperate for cash. Stephanie still hasn’t forgiven him since he accidentally killed their child in a methamphetamine lab explosion. Once we get to day one, which is actually the end of the script, it is to the audience’s surprise that Zeke, our once faithful protagonist, is heavily involved in the heist himself. As a bank guard before the chaos begins, he allows Ed to steal the money, but kills him before he can get out. Stephanie enters, and we find out that she and Andy are actually together. It turns out, Ed Jr., the dead child, didn’t actually belong to Ed at all. He has actually a product of Stephanie and Zeke. So Zeke’s not as admirable as we all assumed. At the very tail end of the script, at Shimmer Lake, Andy meets Stephanie to retrieve a duffel bag filled with money from the robbery. To his surprise, she is with Zeke, who basically tells Andy that he’s scum and that he needs to ditch town. Stephanie shoots Andy, afraid that if they leave him alive, he’ll let loose the secret of their involvement with the heist. Just about everybody dies, and Zeke and Stephanie drive off into the moonlight. COMMENTS: All in all, Shimmer Lake is an above average screenplay. What works well for the script is that it combines several different genres into one cohesive piece, like mystery, crime thriller, and dark comedy. It has a similar feel to films by the Coen brothers, such as BLOOD SIMPLE. Some might argue that Shimmer Lake is gimmicky, and this isn’t terribly far from the truth. The entire story is told in reverse order and focuses on the events preceding a small town bank robbery. The audience sees the aftermath of the crime and must put together the clues to figure out the mystery. Essentially, the entire film relies on its twist ending. Regardless of the script’s clear gimmick factor, Uziel makes up for it with his ridiculously effective use of plants and payoffs. When I discovered the twist at the end of the movie, I honestly wasn’t all that surprised. One of the most notorious perpetrators, Zeke, is pretty much the only “good guy” for the large chunk of the script, so naturally I assumed, “Oh, it’s probably going to be him.” The characters in Shimmer Lake are all very effective and have definitive voices. Stephanie, the main female lead, really shines as being one of the more interesting roles. The dialogue all works, and manages to give you a good chuckle from time to time. The overall atmosphere of Shimmer Lake is very dark and edgy, and I think has a lot of potential if produced. Thematically, it is interesting in that it is heavily focused on the way money affects one’s morality. It’s a fun little mystery that unfolds in a relatively unique fashion. Characters: 8/10 Structure: 7/10 Story: 7/10 Dialogue: 8/10