RAW DEVELOPMENT

This raw, unbridled story development that I worked on after watching On the Waterfront.

On the Waterfront Comparison:

On the waterfront had an inherent conflict that drove the story. Two brothers. One good. One bad. The bad brother, the older brother, sold the good brother out. The conflict culminates in a scene where the younger brother finally tells the older brother that he ruined his life.

Tony's Money doesn't have such a simple and clear conflict. Its not razor sharp like it is in On the Waterfront.

In Tony's Money, what is the conflict and why is there conflict? How is it easily explained? In on the waterfront, there was something very clear to quickly explain the conflict. The bad brother asked the good brother to unknowingly lure a man to his death. Something the good brother wouldn't have done if he had known. The bad brother asked the younger brother to give up a boxing match to help the boss win bets. The good brother then has a grudge that is clear throughout the film that we see play out. The older brother asks the younger brother to unknowingly be an accomplice in a murder. And then, when the young brothers conscious says to tell the authorities who the killers are, his brother asked him not to tell. Yes, this was a film about longshoremen, about the docks, the mob, about murder, but at the heart of this story is two brothers. Its about one brother letting another brother down and finally the young brother telling the older brother that he shoulda been a better brother. The entire film leads up to this moment. This moment gives us a window into these characters personal dilemmas.

How can we give Tony's Money the same impact? What moment does this film lead up to that defines the characters. There has to be more conflict in the story. Nick's Dilemma must be clear. His personal struggle must be clear. Terry Malloy's struggle was with being a bum. He was tired of being a bum and this made it hard to keep the secret of who killed the kid.

What is Nick's fundamental dilemma? What cuts him to the core? That he is a bum? What happened in his life that made him feel this way? Was it something his father did? Was it something his cousin did? What would Nick run away to spain? What is he running from. Why is he the way he is...

Nick ran from home for something. He left his fathers world behind. He forgot his father's world and he reinvented himself in a far away land. Nick watched his father work hard. He did not call the shots. He was not the master of his own destiny. He was in Nick's eye a slave to the work. Nick wanted nothing less than to be another workerbee.

Nick ran from the life his father lived. One of hard work day in and day out. Is there one instance that made him want to leave? He was never home. He worked two shifts. There is something depressing at home for Nick. He gets depressed just being home. He has that feeling he had when he was a kid. That bad feeling when he felt alone...like he was living on the precipice of some great void. Home doesn't feel like home to him. He never wanted to walk in his dad shoes and so he had to leave in order to avoid that. The farther away the better. Anything but working in that damn restaurant earning a days wage.

And what about Donny? What is there relationship about? What drives Donny? In the conflict? What is the conflict? Donny is Nick younger cousin. When they were kids, Donny looked up to Nick. Nick wasn't cool to Donny. Donny's dad wasn't around much either and Donny spent a lot of time with Nick's family and at the same time he was jealous of it. Donny was the kid who was awkward. He wasn't athletic or academic. While Nick was the cool kid at school, Donny was made fun of. Nick never stood up for his cousin. Donny always felt he had something to prove. Donny feels let down by Nick because Nick never stood up for him and Nick left town and didn't turn back.

I really feel like this story should about the two cousins. Its about family. Its about the father and son relationship. Its about Nick discovering his father. Or rediscovering his father.

Nick didn't respect his father. He felt he was a pushover and a slave to work... the almighty dollar. The further away Nick went the further he was from his father's way of life. His father never left america. He never travelled. He never saw the things I've seen. The spanish sea. The villages in the hills. He lived in this little capsule... consumed by his day to day work.

Nick's aversion to his father's life pushed Nick away right after high school. Nick traveled finally landing in spain where he met up with some people and found odd jobs. He wasn't able to work legally so his jobs were under the table and were tied to illegal activities. The hash trade is huge in the south of spain and this provided nick a majority of his income.

Nick lived day to day, but he was free. He had no responsibilities. No children. No woman. For Nick this was ideal. His days were ideal. Here and there he ran some errands. Dropped some hash. Delivered some hash. Convinced a few people to play along and he was compensated. For him this was perfect.

When he goes back to san francisco, he's confronted with the reality that he must now take on the responsibility of his family. He inherits his father's debt. He would leave but his mother would be left alone... she could lose the home and where would she live? Nick's sister is poor enough. She couldn't live with her. When Nick goes over to see her house, it is clear. Its a one bedroom apartment they can barely afford.

Nick has to help. He hates his father even more when he finds out about his debt. He despises his father. But, when Nick is faced with a choice of taking the easy road and stealing the money from an old man or taking hard road, the honorable road and working off the debt day to day. At first, Nick wants to take the easy road.

Nick's philosophy: "If there are two roads, I take the easy road." The road most travelled and these days that road tends not to be the high road, but the low road. I don't care though.

Tony's Money becomes a film about a choice: which road to take... high or low. Easy or hard. In this film we watch Nick make this choice and this choice will define the rest of his life. The characters in the movie all influence Nick one way or the other.

Those that influence him to choose the low road or stealing Tony's Money are:
Donny
Tony

Donny influences Nick because Donny is really an incarnation of Nick. Donny looked up to Nick and became a bigger and badder version of Nick. When Nick returns Donny thinks that Nick will be proud of him. Look how bad I am, Nick, thinks Donny. When Donny was a kid, he watch Nick take the easy road a million times...stealing this, stealing that. I ain't never going to be like my bum father. I'm not going to get stuck in this working class shit. I am going to have class. I am going to be free. When Nick left, Donny kept down that path, but unlike his cousin, Donny cared more. He worked harder at it and he became a real player in the underworld. So when Nick considers his choices, Donny is all for taking the easy road, the road to quick money if only so that Donny isn't left alone on the low road.

Tony influences Nick to take the low road only by presenting an easy opportunity to Nick. The only thing that stops Nick is the fact that the tenderloin is always crowded. Its always up.

How can two people from the same place be so different. You and me Nicky. We're different.

In the scene where the cigarette girl visits the restaurant, Nick questions what she is doing... do people really by this crap? Enough. It beats being a whore or stealing. There so much bad in this town it feels good to do something legit you know?

Nick has always taken the low road. The easy road. Maribel's father smells this type of man. He is not happy to see Nick. He does not approve Nick.

You show me where that old fuck is and we'll take his money right now!

CHECK EVERY SCENE IN THE FILM AGAINST THE HIGH, LOW TEST. In each scene Nick must be moving towards either taking the low road or the high road in his life and his decision to steal Tony's Money. Since Nick is consumed by this question in this story, he sees every situation through this lens. For instance, when Gina comes by with the cigarettes, he immediately questions why the hell she would see cigarettes. Does anyone by the crap? Seems like a whole lot of work for a little bit of nothing. Gena responds that its better than going out and selling drugs, stealing or prostituting herself. She says she can sleep with herself at night.

Nick's extremely upset with his father because his father left him in debt. Nick has done everything to avoid living on the edge, being stressed about money. When he comes home, the bomb is dropped that his father passed on a tremendous debt to him. Nick is enraged. He should tell donny this when donny tells him about the debt or at the bar.

How does donny relate to high and low? Donny has taken the low road big time. Donny exemplifies the low road. Nick sees this. He sees in Donny himself. He sees his influence on Donny. Donny should say something to this effect. Nick. You were always the baddest motherfucker in high school. Nick has created a monster.

In the end, Donny should tell Nick that he's a fucking idiot for not taking the low road with him. Nick tells donny that it maybe too late, but that for the first time in my life I think my dad would have been proud of me.