Everything Must Go

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  • Everything Must Go

    So far, of the 20 or so Black List scripts that I've read, this is my favorite. I'll tell you why. I once spent 4 years living at an apartment complex and didn't know a single person in the building. Then I moved out. For that week, while I was physically moving everything out of the apartment, I met almost everyone who lived there. I started developing relationships with these people, and of course the irony was, that I got to know all of them more in that one week than I did in four years.

    Everything Must Go is a variation of that. Nick, a recovering alcoholic, loses his job then goes home, only to find out that his wife has left all of his things on the front lawn, changed the locks, and canceled his credit cards. Nick goes and buys about 3 cases of beer and sets up camp on his front lawn -deciding to live there. Because of this, he gets to know the people who live around him for the first time. There's a pregnant woman who's just moved in across the street. An overweight black kid with no friends, a "perfect" couple next door who turn out to be not so perfect, as well as a few other characters.

    Nick befriends the black kid and over the next few days (Texas law allows you to have a yard sale for a maximum of 5 days - so that's when he has to figure out his life by) the two help each other out. It's not a gimmicky relationship at all (ahem - Butter) It feels honest and organic to the story. "Everything Must Go" refers to all his stuff - which he's of course reluctant to get rid of. But since he's forced to put up signs so that it at least appears to be a yard sale, people keep coming by, wanting to buy things. Slowly but surely, as he tries to put his life back together, those objects become symbolic for the life he must leave behind. He has to sell them and he knows it. I can see how this kind of story would be boring for some, but I loved it. Highly recommended.
    Script Reviews - 5 a week! http://scriptshadow.blogspot.com/

  • #2
    Re: Everything Must Go

    Nick goes and buys about 3 cases of beer
    I recommend anything from Southern Tier.

    On a serious note, it sounds like an interesting idea, and I like your little ironic story about the apartment, Wilson. I have not read Everything Must Go yet, but the concept begs the question: If the wife was able to evict him from the house, could she not also make him move off the property?

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