Chuck Goldberg

Atrocious script. Seems like a first draft that went straight to production. Too much on-the-nose, pat dialogue and needless small talk. The principals often do not act as their characters demand, but only as the writer needs them to act. Besides the plot holes others have cited, here are just a few more: 1. His father is brooding and upset all along, wanting his son to stay on the farm. He refuses the college scout's overture to his son. Soon, however, there's a scene where dad suddenly apologizes. Where's the setup of his growing change-of-heart? Setup and payoff is standard movie fare. 2. Why would the cop suddenly order the kid out of the car? The kid hasn't done anything wrong, and the cop doesn't yet know this is his late son's former teammate. 3. After the beatdown he delivers, the cop leaves the kid alive and pushes his pickup off the road. The cop knows the kid has witnessed the woman's death. The cop doesn't know the kid will wind up with amnesia. Why does he let him live? He's got to know the kid will later identify him. Why doesn't he kill him, especially because he blames the kid for his son's death? 4. When the kid and his mother meet with the attorney, why doesn't the attorney recognize the holes in the case, especially no DWI blood alcohol results? 5. Why does the sheriff immediately believe the kid's story, just like that? No skepticism, especially when he has worked with that deputy 17 years? Seems the sheriff is more interested in exploring the farmhand's identity. 6. When the sheriff accuses his deputy, the deputy almost immediately gives it up. Really? And it's only during this encounter that the absence of blood alcohol evidence is mentioned. Above all, a decent movie requires a protagonist who is trying to achieve a goal. He's confronted with obstacles he had to fight through, but he overcomes them all to achieve what he set out to do. This story is about a passive protagonist. Seems his goal is the major leagues, but things just keep happening to him, instead of him driving the action. In the end, we're not sure what it is he wants. This had to be independently produced. If submitted to a Hollywood studio, it would not have gone anywhere.