Genre: Thriller
Synopsis: Two college acquaintances have a layover in a small city. When one is kidnapped, the other must find her.
About: A spec that sold a couple weeks back I think.
Writer: Jeremy Soule
After seeing a superior kidnapping film like Taken, I cannot recommend this script. If this really did sell…well, all I can say is it shouldn’t have. Our hero, the 21 year old ZANE, has found himself on a layover with WILLOW, the girl of his dreams. The airline gives them vouchers to some scumbag hotel, and Zane sees this as his one and only shot to make a move. He heads down to her room, knocks on the door, and some crazy tattooed guy answers claiming to be her boyfriend. Disappointed, Zane heads back upstairs but something doesn’t sit right about the guy. He jogs back only to find out that Willow’s gone.
He asks the hotel manager to call the police but the manager says that nobody named Willow ever checked in. He gets back to the room, finds a few clues, and starts his own investigation. Hellz yeah! During the course of Young Columbo’s quest, he discovers that the people who kidnapped Willow are part of a larger gang/organization, and that when the airport opens tomorrow, they’re shipping that bitch out to who knows where (my guess is that it has something to do with female slavery!) He’s got til morning to find her! Oh no!
Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd that’s where the story falls apart. Willow is NOT Zane’s girlfriend. In fact, before today, he’s never even talked to Willow. He’s never even touched her! So the idea that this random college student is going to run around in an unfamiliar city dodging bullets and certain death to save this girl is…well it’s ridiculous.
Anyway, Zane eventually meets Lia, a hooker/dancer/prostitute who got her own problems n shit but she knows where Willow is. She leads him to the head honcho, Oswald, — struggle ensues. Blah blah blah. Left for dead. Oswald gets Willow to the airport. Once inside, as Oswald pulls Willow through security (she’s drugged so she can’t scream for help – Uhhh, wouldn’t you be just a littlebit curious as a TSA screener if a guy was lugging a half conscious college girl around? lol), Zane shows up just in time to stop him. This is when it gets really ridiculous. If you’re in a public airport and someone is trying to kidnap your girlfriend, all you have to do is yell “He’s kidnapping her!” and the chaos involved – particularly in this post 9/11 world – will at the very least temporarily hold everything up until the matter’s been investigated. I mean give me a break here. Even if he gets on the plane, you just warn the airport the plane’s flying to that a kidnapper will be landing there momentarily. Please apprehend him when he arrives.
Layover is riddled with problematic details like this that make it impossible to suspend your disbelief. I’m sorry but this script isn’t very good. That’s all there is to it.
[ ] trash
[x] barely readable
[ ] worth the read
[ ] impressive
[ ] genius
What I learned from Layover: Guys, your main character has to act like a rational human being. No 21 year old is going to take on an entire gang of killers. Give me a break.
