4 Walls script...draft 1

int. police STATION. DAY

[V.O] Southbound, Nathan's strip club.  Reported art theft. 

Chet

(In police car, Roger's driving)

We'll take this one.

roger

Jesus!  Eager beaver!

They drive down an alley way next to the Metropolitan Art Museum and are blocked by a large cardboard shipping box. 

Again with the boxes?

chet

Must be new shipments.  I'll move 'em. 

When moving boxes, Chet conceals a sharpie marked logo on one of the boxes and places it to the side. 

EXT. Alley.  Night.

TITLE CARD: "24 Hours earlier"

Mischievously, Two men exit the back of the museum into the alley way.  A van screeches to a halt, almost hitting them.   BARNEY and CHET open back doors of van and unload a cardboard carton, place it on the ground in the middle of the alley while CHET marks it with their signature with a black sharpie marker. They enter van and drive off. 

Throughout previous action, bullet-point biographical notes describing each character are presented in a freeze-frame manner.

FRANK (screeching to a halt): professional balloon artist.  tie-die clad and laden with hippie values yet an expert boxer with several years of experience as a golden gloves competitor. 

BARNEY (opening back door): professional birthday clown, always in costume due to an inexplicable fear of his own reflection and founder of this renegade, three-man art gang. 

CHET (signing box with marker): is a cop who is strangely addicted to mock performances and thus constantly switching back and forth between real and fake badges. Only became a cop to support his performance art career. 

INT. NATHAN'S.  day

TITLE CARD: "PRESENT DAY"

nathan

I don't care that it's your son's batmitsvah...I'm agnostic.  JUST GET ME MY FUCKING MONEY!!!

ENTER COPS

Well hi there fellas!  (under his breath) its about damn time.

chet

Nathan!  Lookin' cheap and greasy as usual!  I'm scared if I touch you I'll get a zit. 

nathan

I'd say I was happy to see ya but...well, I never am!

roger

Easy boys.  Now, Nathan (pulling out a notepad) you reported a theft--

nathan

Damn right I did.  12 paintings were stolen last night.  Someone blacked out the surveillance cameras.  I know I bought 'em all at a thrift shop but I don't care what anyone says.  No one can get in here but me.  Somebody must've stole the key.  Oh!  I rhymed!  man.  I'm smooth.  Anyway...

This dialogue fades off as he talks to ROGER.  CHET peels away to talk to Nicole. 

CHET is surprised to see NICOLE still working at the club.  CHET, approaching NICOLE, becomes nervous and fidgets with his hands.  NICOLE remarks flirtatiously, it was him that was always uncomfortable at the club, not her.  She notices his badge says "love enforcement officer" and  he becomes embarrassed; NICOLE laughs. 

maybe Nicole has a tattoo of a bird?  for transition, we can zoom into her tattoo (or something else in the back/foreground) of the club and zoom out before the next title card...

INT. NATHAN'S.  NIGHT.

TITLE CARD: "One year earlier"

NATHAN argues with CHET and TINA about NICOLE, who was almost raped by a customer.  NATHAN argues with TINA, saying NICOLE should comply with the customer in order to foster a good reputation for the club.  CHET detains the customer and locks eyes with NICOLE (slo-mo?).  Both of them effected by each other's presence.  Throughout the action, NICOLE sits at bar in background and drinks a gin and tonic.

int. nathans. later that night.

CHET, still in police garb, returns to the club to follow-up with the crime.  This is unorthodox.  He is returning to see NICOLE once more.  CHET, with a drink, is approached by NICOLE.  She notices he is wearing a fake badge that says "Love enforcement officer."  She laughs, finding the badge charming.  CHET is embarrassed.  This badge mix-up is routine for CHET. 

int. van. night

TITLE CARD: "Present Day"

BARNEY and FRANK discover CHET's real badge and gun in back of van.  Thus CHET is currently on duty with a fake badge and gun. 

ext. nathans's. night

CHET returns to see NICOLE again but is thwarted and never makes it inside the building because NATHAN meets him in the parking lot accusing him of stealing his paintings from a year earlier while in cahoots with NICOLE. NATHAN pulls a gun on CHET (finger gun?) and not only forces him into a car but also makes CHET drive to the Museum. NICOLE sees this scene play out through a window from inside the club and follows CHET and NATHAN in her own car.  On the way to the museum NATHAN pulls down the passenger mirror and notices he has a zit coming in. CHET notices his lack of focus and secretly pulls out his phone. He sends a text saying, "N.I.H.M.A.G.P.W.A.O.O.W.T.T.M.I.W.S.Y.T.I.5."

The following phrase is shown as a subtitle. NATHAN IS HOLDING ME AT GUN POINT. WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO THE MUSEUM. I WILL SEE YOU THERE IN 5.

INT. VAN. NIGHT

As BARNEY AND FRANK prepare to go give CHET his official badge, they receive a text message from CHET. This cryptic text is crystal clear and they leave to the museum.

INT. MUSEUM. NIGHT.

In the basement of the museum NATHAN forces CHET into a freight elevator, but midway to the intended floor the elevator lurches to a halt without warning and the door inexplicably opens to reveal BARNEY  and FRANK triumphantly and heroically holding elevator pass keys. After a brief moment of surprise, NATHAN shows his gun and orders the two gang members into the elevator. Easily defeated, they immediately comply to NATHAN'S orders and the three become morose. Frank realizes its a three to one advantage as he counts the number of bodies, and proceeds to shove NATHAN away from CHET. After some brief struggling, NATHAN hits both FRANK AND BARNEY in the head with his gun. They fall unconscious as CHET runs away.

EXT. ALLEY.  NIGHT.

As CHET continues running he sees the gangs' van and believes he's rid himself of NATHAN. At that moment NATHAN shoots him. CHET goes down. His vision becomes blurred but sees a figure in the distance. It's Nicole signaling him to get into the signature tagged box in hope of hiding from NATHAN. They get into the box.

ext. Meadow. day.

CHET and NICOLE find themselves in a lush grassy field illuminated by hundreds of tiny lights. Acoustic guitar music plays as the two dance slowly. They then walk towards the same building of the club now named CHET'S Bed and Breakfast. NATHAN is a bus boy. CHET with a sling on his arm from the gun wound is doing bookkeeping. Nicole kisses him on the cheek,as she manages the counter; they look at each other smiling. TINA stands over NATHAN as she tells him he missed a spot.

Rush Two: Synopsis

“Rapscallions!”

A group renegade performing artists are constantly one step ahead of the Seattle police, because one of them is a cop, a good dude though a little torn between doing the crime and stopping it.  His name is Chet…he’s a little bit fickle…he has a flat-top and is always in uniform…you know…just in case.  The other two are a birthday clown who is always in costume because he is frightened of his real face and a professor of parkour, who is always dressed in tie die…he is a hippie, at one with the earth but will totally break your neck in half a second if he needed to.  The kind of performance art they do ranges from silly, radical, chaotic, thought provoking and dangerous.  They do fake arrests all the time (e.g.: Chet arrests Jeff (the clown) at a 4 year olds birthday party using mace and screaming “get in the van you philandering clown and never touch children like that ever again!”  Thus scarring all who are there).  Stuff like that. 

They are caught breaking out of the Seattle Art Museum, where they just took every single painting and reframed them upside down.  They were caught by the depressed janitor, Camille.  Camille goes to college and struggles to fit in, trying on a different personality every week…she was currently a goth-kid.  Instead of turning them in to the police, she becomes a part of their gang of rapscallion rebels and finds a home with these odd, odd cast of characters.  Two days later, all the characters besides Camille are crushed by a sperm whale at their next performance.  The end.