About a week ago, I gave you all a mission. It was to take this wonderful cast...
...and to create your own plot summary utilizing them. I got only TWO entries!!! You lazy people! JK. But, these two entries were both quite brilliant. Since there was such a low number, I decided to throw in my own idea as well.
So, now, I present you with the three loglines that will be competing for your vote at the bottom of this post. They're a bit lengthy, but I assure you, they're
definitely worth the read. So here you go!
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Pitch 1: Pint of Bitters
Michael Caine and Maggie Smith are a long-married couple with a rocky history involving career sacrifice, fights, loss
of their only child, and, as the story opens, Caine's debilitating illness that requires Smith's constant attention, along with that
of a chipper visiting nurse (Kim).
During a rare moment when Smith is out
of the house, Caine comes upon some mementos
of her youth and shares the stories entailed with their nurse, becoming guilt-ridden for what he now sees as his cavalier treatment
of her. A few nights later, during his birthday party, after blowing out his candles, he confides in her that he wished she could be a bird again, and lapses into a coma.
After getting him to hospital, Smith goes home to sleep...and wakes up a young woman (Mulligan). When the nurse comes over, Mulligan only convinces her she is the wife by showing a scar on her body left behind by one
of the arguments she had with Caine in their youth. After some time mulling about the circumstance, and no change in Caine's inert status, Kim takes her now-young boss on youthful exploits, so that indeed she can indulge in the fun she had given up to be a wife and homemaker.
It would appear her youth is tied to his coma - when he shows signs
of activity, Mulligan shows signs
of aging - and on one day when he is alert and speaking, she is thrust into her old self as Smith. Thus she must decide whether to let him be fully awake and be old again, or let him "sleep" so she can have her second chance at youth.
Written and Directed by Audrey Wells. Music by Pete Townsend.
Pitch 2: You Can't Love Her
Nigel (Michael Caine), an old man on the verge of dementia, begins to hallucinate of his dead wife Emma (Maggie Smith), meanwhile entering into an illicit affair with a young nurse sent to care for him (Kim Ok-Bin). Mi-do, the nurse, is applying for British citizenship and initially hopes the community service will put her in favor of the immigration offices, but finds herself falling in love with the old charge, much to his chagrin.
All the while, Nigel's distant daughter Karen (Carey Mulligan), and her American boyfriend Luke (Wild Card: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) have gotten pregnant, and Karen contemplates telling Nigel, while Luke frets with the thought of being a father. Coincidentally, Karen is Mi-Do's immigration advisor, and soon the women learn of their connection. Can these circumstances bring the unlikely family together, or tear them apart.
Pitch 3: Father's Girls
Roger and Emma Woodard (Caine and Smith) are a long-divorced couple. Roger is a retired lawyer, and Emma is a successful novelist. Their adopted daughter, Sarah (Kim) is now a bubbly florist who deeply loves both. Despite Sarah's confusion regarding her own sexuality, she meets a shy man, Adam (Wild Card: Ben Whishaw) in her shop and the two begin a relationship.
However, things get thrown for a loop when Emma and Sarah meet Roger's new girlfriend - the young, beautiful, and mildly enigmatic Alexandra (Mulligan). Emma immediately dislikes her, though she no longer has feelings for Roger, and Sarah begins to fall in love with her, though at the same time she resents her for being her father's girlfriend though they are basically the same age.
This not-really-romantic dramedy deals with the impact of the complex relationships between these family members and lovers and how finding love isn't always for the better.
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So there you have it, the two marvelous submissions, and mine. Haha! I'm not telling you who wrote what, though if you see yours up here, feel free to tell people you're participating and link to have them vote. I'm not going to vote myself, but please get people to participate!
The winner gets to pick the cast for the next Logline Challenge.
VOTE AWAY IN THE SIDEBAR!!
