TO: Lester Barnes

FROM: Larry Mersault

RE: “IGNITION” // THOUGHTS

DATE: 4/22/13

IGNITION is off to a terrific start with intriguing characters and spectacular set-pieces. The setting of our nation’s capital is as much of a star as our wheelchair-bound hero HARVEY CROSS. Next draft would be wise to develop more deeply everybody else who interacts with Cross, making this more of a relationship-driven actioner and a performance launch pad for Antwon Legion.

THOUGHTS:

—Remember what Mickey Rourke says to Kim Basinger at their first encounter in 9½ Weeks? “Every time I see you, you’re buying chickens.” Cross and Lacey deserve a better first encounter; instead of giving them a “meet cute,” consider having the wheelchair hero save Lacey, not the other way around, at the Washington Monument opener.

—Set-up needs a tighter focus on Harvey Cross undergoing a personal/professional downward spiral in Act I, setting the table for his last shot at redemption to stop the mad bomber.

—Act II should have more moments of struggle, joy, and epiphanies for the suicidal Cross through his mentor/informant SKY KING, no-bullshit psychiatrist DR. BURGER, and the brewing chemistry with LACEY TORNADO, who provides him with a reason to live. Everything falls apart for Cross when Burger and Sky King get taken out by the mad bomber and Lacey is next on his kill list. Can he survive Act III by himself?

—Sometimes the police procedural stuff feels familiar; villain GRIMES could use more touches than his missing thumbs; script only hints at the dramatic possibilities of suicidal Cross and his by-the-book partner LACEY TORNADO. Script might be better off as a romantic two-hander with thoughtfully considered characters who end up saving each other.

—Second half after “good cop” Lacey gets suspended turns too dark too fast. Her descent into depravity, attempted suicide, and harrowing captivity mirrors too closely what Cross is going through.

—Consider reimagining Lacey after the suspension late in Act II; turning her life around; quitting drinking instead of drowning in alcohol; escaping captivity from Grimes and finding her inner “bad cop” to pay off the debt she owes Cross by rescuing his ass in the end.