WHEN WE WERE GUYS

Los Angeles California 90’s; During a night spent with his gang formed by budding teen criminals and bullies, the leader John Connor fearless overbearing and aimless bully challenges a shy and awkward boy Michael Pain to join his gang. Michael secretly steals his father Donald Pain's car by driving at night towards Desert Beach, where they have arranged to meet, but this test is not enough for John because he wants much more than this. So, he decides to challenge Michael in a swimming competition in the rough ocean, putting Michael's car up for grabs. John is a skilled swimmer while Michael drowns that same evening. The gang runs away taking away Michael Pain's expensive car given to him by his father. John returns home agitated and dirty, and he is noticed by his mother but cannot tell him truth, also because, John is forced to witness the umpteenth physical violence and rages of his godfather an alcoholic, and with his mother and his dog they are forced to go to live in a trailer living in hardship. John Connor after the insistence of his mother (Who is an alcoholic too) begins looking for a job to live. Initially, he gets a job as an express courier, but the job is tight for him, because he is seen by society like a beggar also by the carter’s production building doorman, who does not look favorably on him, and by Alan Carter, a rich Hollywood producer for which John works. John’s arrogant nature will cause him to be fired. John will continue because of his misery, to increase his inner anger, and will mock Simon Rizzo a nerdy boy son of the owner of the Rizzo Supermarket Peter Rizzo. One morning he enters in the supermarket with his gang, robbing and threatening Simon with violence that if he talked something, he would make him pay. Simon seems happy, he admires John's courage helping him in the business, also because Simon hates working in the supermarket where he receives constant harassment from his father Peter Rizzo, who sees in him only a clumsy who wants to spend time studying, though this is the real Simon’s skill, who would like to graduate in Civil Engineering. Days pass while other characters arrive in Simon's supermarket, and they make friends and get to know each other. Simon's best friend Kerry Carter, the Alan carter’s daughter, who loves to be a singer, General Frank Hunter a hero of the Gulf War, Andy Courage a former computer hacker, who loves to explore and discover mysteries. Simon, meanwhile, begins to approach John trying to make friend with him. John initially sees him like a crazy loser, but he begins to think that Simon has a brilliant mind. In fact, he talks with John about a singular project, to create a Second Way association, where all the living people tired about their lives, can search their missed opportunities, like dream jobs without limits of time or money. Inside the association, everyone will offer their own help with money or with time for help other members to achieve their purpose. The idea seems brilliant to Kerry Carter too. Meanwhile Simon escapes from the supermarket and takes refuge with his tent on Desert beach, for study. Simon is reached by Kerry who notices Simon’s loss, who, now depressed by his father’s decision to remove him from university, entrusts Kerry with his notes on Second Way Project. One day om the beach Simon, desperate and exhausted since he has been living in a tent for days with only his books, he commits suicide by drowning in the ocean. The body is found on the beach by detectives Donald Pain and Gordon Larson, who investigating the causes while Alexandra Jones, who is Simon’s university friend suffers terribly. Kerry, for honor Simon's promise, decides during his funeral, to transform the supermarket in the Second Way association. Here several characters, will join each one with a purpose: search for what they really love. General Frank Hunter doesn’t want to be reduced like an old retiree; he feels that he must close with a pending issue. Frank in the pass, has caused the death of an Iraqi boy (who is a child conceived with an Iraqi woman) who had approached his platoon to show him an American music CD. Frank leaving the CD away, makes the boy jump on an antipersonnel mine. Andy Courage also joins the group, having worked too many years in a company as a computer scientist and suffered harassment. The admiration that Simon feels for him asking Andy to sign his book, make him go back on his footsteps and on his old passions: to find the secret about aliens. The cyclist Brady Coleman also wants to join to redeem a race he had with his friend Scotty, a race during which Scotty takes steroids from Brady himself, who uses them extensively, and dies. Broadway star Priscilla Hathaway also wants to join the association; she wants to return playing and teaching acting. She will teach both John Connor, who joined the group, and Angel Princess the daughter of Frank Hunter a fragile girl who dreams of seeing his father Frank whom he never met, due to his youth and his passion for military life. Angel and John fall in love within Second Way. Other characters will also embrace the philosophy of the association: Alan Carter who is Kerry carter’s father Greedy and ruthless producer, who when he was young man did an injustice towards a good actor Gary Tyle, appropriating a script, thanks to which Alan becomes famous and Gary instead does not. Bobby Shaker instead, a wellknown DJ of the 90s, who during an evening, meets a girl Sally and he falls in love with her, but the girl snubs him leaving Bobby alone, and being killed by a mysterious man, who hates Bobby and his ability to impress girls. Character’s histories will evolve dramatically: Frank trained hard in the association, will organize a marathon in Iraq in the desert to clear the area from the American military and free the rebels, as every form of patriotism has fallen into him. Frank will die on an antipersonnel mine afterwards having crossed the finish line. Andy will be able to find out the way to enter Dulce's secret alien base. He will be captured by the border police, and he will be taken prisoner in the same base and used as a human test subject. Brady Coleman with a body destroyed by steroids, after convincing the doctor to make up the analyzes, he will participate in the race to honor Scotty, but he will die of a heart attack on the bicycle. Priscilla will have the strength after being raped as a young man by producer Ron Peterson who disfigured her hands, to return to her first debut, taking revenge for the damage suffered, singing a song where there are allusions to the rape. Ron Humiliated, is arrested and commits suicide in prison, after reading Priscilla's secret diary in which the very young girl had fallen in love with him sweetly. John Connor becomes a famous Hollywood producer, and he will have a son Chris Connor with Angel. Chris doesn’t want to study and prefers to spend his days lounging and flirting with Ocean Lean his girlfriend. Ocean is the daughter of Steve Lean who is an ex former gang member and friend of John, now drug dealer. The whole city of Los Angeles seems to admire John just because of his ex-street kid qualities. Although John inside is torn apart by a secret that he doesn’t want to reveal, but which he promised to serve Michael Pain's father Donald Pain, feeling responsible both for the death of Michael who adored John as an idol, and for death of Simon too having convinced the same one evening to rob Peter's supermarket, to meet Simon's request for help to continue studying. In fact, Simon does not feel like taking the part of the loot and puts it back in the safe. John instead takes his half. After years feeling the need to change inside, John begins to restructure the old Second Way association, along with a boy Gavyn Smith. John meets Gavyn when he sees the same shy and awkward boy, threatened by John's son who bullies him to defend Ocean Lean. Gavyn is a good boy, and he just wants to ask for a room to study for the university because he is very poor, and he can’t rent one. John sees in Gavyn a new chance for redemption, helping Gavyn to graduate in civil engineering, and getting help to take a degree also studying with Gavyn. The two collaborating together manage to graduate by presenting the project for an ideal city that welcomes all those who have a dream and do not want to give it up. The commission is enthusiastic, but despite everything, the project is not realized. In the last images a chaotic Los Angeles still appears, made up of people who run slaves of oppressive jobs and sometimes without dignity. John meanwhile learned the truth from Donald Pain that the real responsible for Michael's murder is Steve who drugs Michael that evening, causing him to have a cardiac arrest. John is shocked by the news and still feels responsible. He is struck by depression even for the death of his wife Angel, drunk and without a purpose anymore, he throws himself into the sea to fight to the end and find Michael and Simon but drowns. The last scenes frame a chaotic Los Angeles where people believing themselves free, work frantically with telephones, not even having time to think, pigeon-holed in a rigid and inflexible society. Gavin in the meantime become an adult and a civil engineer, harassed and pressed from the rhythms of work without respite, and takes advantage to take a lunch break, by eating a sandwich hysterically. Suddenly sitting in front of the Desert Beach, he listens to the words of a DJ who broadcasts the song by Kerry Carter. The DJ remembers to all the Second Way association which has also helped him to break into music, and he invites everyone to take off their tie, a symbol of strict dogmas and rules, and to wear it like a bandana, the same bandana which John Connor wore, transformed from Bully to repentant person, rediscovering the true meaning of being free from stereotypes. Gavyn does it and running towards the beach meets Chris, who now is an adult man like him and does the same. The two embrace each other, and they throw their work bags into the sea as a symbol of rebellion against conditioning. The idea Second Way’s concept in fact is not dead but remains alive; People are able to start all over again without time or money limits as long as they want helping each other, pushing to seek what they really love in their life, at any cost, without being only satisfied of what they found along the way, living an unhappy life that doesn’t belong to us