Fish To Fry
A fisherman loses his girlfriend and his record for the largest catch.
We open on a beautiful sunrise casting its rays over a lake. With pink fluffy clouds in the sky and a light breeze in the air, the scene is one of picture postcard perfection...that is until we find a small timber dock with empty beer cans, a bottle of whisky and a half eaten taco strewn across it.
The trauma riddled consumer of most of the offending items, Rollie Duggleby, lies passed out nearby, his loss of a fishing record behind this almighty bender.
It may be Monday morning and he may be due to start the day job, but the expectations of modern day life seem a million miles away.
All is peaceful until footsteps hammer across the dock and the slumbering drunk’s girlfriend, Georgia Redfern, arrives on scene. She glowers at her man and his fishing rod that rests nearby, before letting all hell - in the form of redneck female fury - loose.
GEORGIA
You sulk better than any man on
this lake. The word is out.
ROLLIE
(eyes still closed)
Stop talking.
Georgia grunts disapproval.
GEORGIA
I should quit? Oh.
She fishes out a submerged beer from Rollie's cooler, cracks it open, sips a few times while glaring at the sunrise. Hunkering down, her thick knees cracking, she rolls Rollie off the pier into the water.
Splash. Gasp. Rollie flounders. Up his nose goes the lake water. He coughs, spits, reaches out for the pier.
GEORGIA
I'm leaving you.
I'm goin' to Saginaw.
Car's already loaded.
Rollie tries to climb on the pier, falls back, flails.
ROLLIE
This is murder.
GEORGIA
It ain't murder, dipshit.
It's me comin' to my senses.
Rollie was struggling to accept the loss of a fishing record, but now he faces the loss of his girlfriend too. Cutting through his booze haze he tries to come to his senses, but will he be able to find a balance between fishing and his love life in time to save his relationship, or does a fate worse than a life without fishing await?
With the witty charm akin to My Name Is Earl, Fish To Fry holds a light up to the male ego and its consumption of an individual. Set in a single location and filmable on a shoestring budget, if you’re a filmmaker who is on the lookout for a quirky comedy it’s a must read.
And whether you're nursing a hangover or not, you're SURE to catch far more (festival accolades) than Rollie did... even on good days!