 |
Excerpts from Highball:
The Movie
by Jeff Koyen and no one else
| HIGHBALL Marlin Dower, a 25-year old unemployed cab driver, is looking for a change of pace. With his meager savings, he buys a car at a government auction in Maryland. For two grand, he scoops up a very large, mechanically-intact, beat-up convertible. It's a 1961 Lincoln 4-door ragtop, to be exact--the only model 4-door convertible offered to the postwar general public. With his last 500 bills, he gets an Earle Shive paint job and decides to hit the road. Unbeknownst to Marlin and the auctioneers, his new Lincoln is the very car that hosted the assassination of JFK. After Jack's death in Texas, the car continued to see government use for a number of years. Sometime in the 70's, however, it was warehoused and forgotten. Equally sick of their stagnant lives, Marlin's only two friends, Matt and Charlie, quit their jobs, dump their girls, and climb in for a ride that won't be over until someone's liver gives out. ---------------- Spanning half the states in this country, and twice as many women, their trip epitomizes the lifestyle that this country could be leading in 1995, if only John F. Kennedy hadn't pussied-out and died from that bullet. If only Jack had lived to see his Camelot come into being, things would be a lot different today. |
| HIGHBALL It used to be... One for the Road...Just Two Martinis at Lunch... Three's a Crowd (When One's the Wife)...and Four Fingers with a Dash of Tonic. Now, with all the pressure to be a responsible, social human being, it's... Don't Do This...Don't Do That...Respect This...Respect That...Keep Your Opinions to Yourself...Be a Good Boy and Eat Crow. Well, Marlin, Matt and Charlie are sending a big Fuck You to everyone who has forgotten how to have FUN. They're going to live the life everyone wants to live. No worries. No problems. And NO REGRETS. Can they manage it without self-destructing? Will life On The Road prove to be too rigorous? And can they REALLY make it across the United States in the Car That Saw Jack Die without introducing Plastic FBI Secret Agent Characters as a Cheap Plot Device?? Yes. No. And big, fat, fucking YES. No Titty-Movie Plots and No Cardboard Bad Guys. The only plotting will be done on a map, and the only bad guys will Mr. Liquor and his Merry Band of Pranksters. ---------------- Obnoxious fun. In the name of indulgence. Hell, it's just plain, good entertainment, like a cheap six-pack and a 10-dollar hand job. |
| HIGHBALL Ext - Arizona Highway - High Noon A gecko crosses the desolate roadway. A distant drum beat builds slowly; tension fights the empty expanse of Arizona landscape. Mountains in the distance are distorted from the heat. The gecko is 6 inches from the dashed yellow line. The drum beat explodes. Cut to: Series of shots--Pounding music alternates with silence A '61 Lincoln Convertible 4-door flies over a small hill. The music is louder than god had ever intended music to be. The gecko crawls past the yellow line. A '61 Lincoln Convertible BLASTS across the screen. Four VERY NAMELESS GIRLIES and 3 MEN (Marlin, Matt and Charlie) are piled in the car. Everyone's hair flies in the wind; everyone's laughter is drowned out by the music. Matt and Charlie share the 4 Girlies, one in each arm. Marlin, driving, is dating a bottle of Johnny Walker Red. The gecko pauses, looks down the road before continuing its tedious journey. The Lincoln flattens the gecko in a blunt, gratuitous display of gore. |
| HIGHBALL Series of Shots A) A YOUNG, DOE-EYED GIRLIE waves goodbye to Marlin from the back seat of an old Nova. Marlin walks away, checking for his wallet. B) A LOVE-STRUCK GIRLIE waves goodbye from the doorway of a cheap hotel. Matt walks away, combing his hair with his fingers. C) A SATISFIED GIRLIE waves goodbye from an apartment balcony. Charlie walks away, jotting down a name and number in his phone book. |
| HIGHBALL Int. Any Local Bar - Afternoon NAMELESS GIRLIE #1 sits on a stool next to Marlin. She hands him a bottle of beer. He takes it with barely a glance her way.
GIRLIE
#1
MARLIN Int. Cheap Hotel - Morning NAMELESS GIRLIE #2 sits up in bed. Matt puts on his pants, paying little attention to the woman he just fucked.
GIRLIE #2
MATT
GIRLIE #2
MATT |
| HIGHBALL Ext. Interstate - Dawn The convertible speeds down a large highway. Marlin drives, a pint bottle of cheap beer in his left hand. Matt fools around with a GIRLIE, facing him on his lap in the passenger seat. In the back, Charlie sorts through assorted maps and guidebooks; the wind makes his job very difficult. Marlin's POV: An 18-wheeler heads their way in the opposite lane. Back to: Marlin pulls on the last of the beer. With no change of expression, he throws the empty bottle into the path of the truck, timed perfectly to hit the windshield. |
| HIGHBALL Ext. Highway - Night The Lincoln travels a small-town highway. Marlin drives; Matt naps in the passenger seat; Charlie casually watches the surroundings from the back bench. They pass a trailer park. In front of one trailer, in the light of a cheap hurricane lamp, a big, fat white trash bastard smacks around his bitch. She's bleeding on her forehead from the impact of a beer bottle.
CHARLIE
MATT
MARLIN |
| HIGHBALL Ext. Mid-West Highway - Day A WELL-GROOMED DOG gnaws on a dead bird at the top of a hill in the middle of the road. The Lincoln screams over the hill. Charlie is behind the wheel; Marlin sits in the passenger seat with a bottle of beer; Matt naps in back with an empty bottle of gin between his legs. The MUTT looks up, too late. The Lincoln clips it in the head--a fatal injury. A barely audible 'YIP' is the dog's last sound. The Lincoln skids to a halt.
CHARLIE
MARLIN Close on: The dog lies in the gutter. Sure enough, it's twitching to a painful death. Back to: Charlie is appalled at what he's just done.
CHARLIE Close on: A small collar and name tag jingle in time with the dog's convulsions. The name on the tag is 'Lucky.' Back to: Marlin leans over and guns the Lincoln's V-8, throwing Charlie back in his seat; Matt mumbles obscenities at being awakened. |
(1997)
An
Overanalysis
of Elvis Films
An
Underanalysis
of Elvis Films
The
Centerfold That
Actually Ran
When the Fucking
Printers Pussied Out
For
the Editor,
A Vacation (of sorts)
Jeesh.
Some Ego
This Koyen Guy Has
Just
DON'T
Get Me Started,
Padre
Jeff
Koyen:
Screenwriter
Booze 'n' Medicinals: Watch Out!
It's
the
Small Victories
That Count
You
Can Bet
Your Ass I'm Unlisted
My
Favorite
Co-Sponsored
Credit Cards
 |