WHEELIE

Screenplay by Ed Hider

Familiar dramatic territory a la The Waterdance, but this remains a devastating ride. Wheelchair-bound from a freak ping pong accident, Don Abramson is a functional drug addict searching for his birth mother who can draw better than Picasso. Don undergoes nightmarish surgeries, suicidal thoughts, and alcoholic benders until he quits boozing and takes control of his life. Don’s work as a political cartoonist takes off during Obama’s Presidential campaign, which brings him mad fame and a national platform. Unconventional structure, witty title cards, and quick flashbacks all play beautifully. Don’s imagination runs wild through animated sequences yet script stays grounded with an off-beat romance for Don with waitress Molly, who overcomes her own scars (scalded as an infant by a spilt cup* of hot McDonald’s coffee). Don’s cartoons attacking Sarah Palin are hilarious, but when Don meets Barack Obama in the restroom at Molly’s diner, it’s the candidate at the urinal who laughs the loudest. Don never does locate his birth mother, but Molly finds him in script’s final triumph. Only a first draft, we should get into this for casting and support this miraculous wheelie.