Gus

TITLE: Gus WRITER: Aaron Heinrich FORMAT: Feature/Dramedy LOGLINE: An old man with terminal cancer reluctantly goes on a road trip with his best friend to rectify old wrongs so he can collect the one million dollars his dead estranged sister left him. COMPS: The Straight Story, Sideways, Grandma, Defending Your Life WHYTHIS STORY NOW: With the world so full of grievance, anger and resentment, we need a story that points a comedic finger at it, while giving people a reason to feel like it’s not too late to make things right. The Challenge GUS ARMSTEAD is a caustic old man. He spent his life as a carpenter helping construct buildings that would stand the test of time, while unable to do the same with his friends and family. Pride and ego got in the way too many times. Now, he’s a widower renting a double-wide in a trailer park in the Midwest. driving an old pickup, and with about $3000 to his name. His wife, JANET, died four years earlier of cancer leaving him on his own to battle the heart disease that’s killing him. He has about six months to live but hasn’t told his son, daughter in-law and granddaughter who live nearby. He’s determined to live out the rest of his days without being a burden to them. But Gus’ plans change when an attorney representing his dead sister, CLARA, shows up. Gus gets a million dollars if he apologizes to a list of people he wronged in his life. If he didn’t have his son, LANDON, and his family to think about, he’d tell the guy to fuck off. But this may be a chance to do right by them – even if it means putting his pride and ego aside to do it. Gus tells Landon he’s going on a trip, but not what it’s for. He agrees to take the sole friend he’s known most of his adult life – RICK RUIZ – who now owns his own construction company. He’s put up with Gus’ shit and vice versa for over 40 years. Rick’s wife – MELANIE - isn’t happy about the trip, but Rick tells her, “If he dies out there, I don’t want him dyin’ alone.” The Trip Soon after they leave, Gus gets into a road rage incident, but he stands up to the guy forcing him to back down. Rick wonders what he got himself into. “What the hell was that?” Gus – “Teachable moment.” Gus apologizes to a woman with a weight problem due to a glandular issue. He called her fat in middle school. Rick asks him how often he called her that. Gus, “All of middle school.” Later, Rick asks Gus why he’s so angry. Gus replies with a litany – arrogant assholes, ignorant idiots, hypocrites, no customer service and bad drivers. Rick replies, “Shit, now I’m pissed off.” Gus apologizes to a guy whose high school girlfriend he stole. The man admits it was the best thing that happened to him. He focused on football, had a successful career in college and the NFL, and now owns the hardware store where Gus must buy a battery after he forgot to turn off the headlights on his pickup. Later, Gus tries to apologize to a convicted felon who inadvertently got arrested when Gus told the cops the guy stole his toolkit. The felon chases Gus off his property with a shot gun as Rick drives the two of them away in a hurry. Gus apologizes to a woman who has become a vet for cats. Gus’s high school friend tried to drown her cat. Gus saved it, but he still has to apologize for watching his friend nearly drown it. As Gus leaves her office, the cats waiting to be seen stare him down. Gus finds the daughter of a Japanese man whose lawn he ruined when he ran over it with an old jeep while he was in college. The daughter now runs her deceased father’s successful nursery. A signature product is a line of hardy turf the man developed years after Gus ran over his lawn. They later make a stop at a house Gus lived in as a young boy. It brings back a lot of good memories, but reminds him of how little time he has left. Rick gets him to play a game of catch. “Come on. Let's give time the finger for once.” As they continue their apology bucket list, Gus eventually goes to his wife’s grave site. His health has gotten worse and as he apologizes to her for not spending enough time, not loving her enough, not believing or acting like he deserved her, he struggles to keep from passing out. The Road Back Gus briefly comes to in the hospital and sees his sister Clara by his side. He asks her if he’s dead. She tells him not yet, and neither is she. Later, Gus apologizes to Landon for not being there for him and for moving the family too many times to chase one boom cycle after another. Landon forgives him and wants Gus to spend whatever time he has with his family. As Gus recuperates at Landon’s house, Clara tells him she knew he wouldn’t go through with the list if he knew she was still alive. Each person was someone he could learn from, but mostly learn to forgive himself. So, he could die at peace. A few months go by and Gus gets to see Landon and his family use the money Clara gave them to move into a home in the country. He spends Christmas with them and plays in the snow like he remembered doing when he visited his old house. Finally, one early Spring morning, Gus gets up early and goes out on the front porch as the sun is just starting to rise. Janet, his dead wife, sits in the rocker next to him. Gus tells her he was hoping she’d be there. “Is it time?” “Yes,” she tells him. “It’s time.” Days later, as his family leaves flowers at his grave site, we see it says – Augustus Wilson Armstead – Loving Husband, Father and Friend. Born May 7, 1954 – Died September 25, 2024 Next to his wife’s Janet Evelynn Armstead – Heaven Has Another Angel. Born June 29, 1954 – Died June 28, 2020.