Alice Stands Up [SCREENPLAY]

By Brent Roske

[Read the article at THR.com]

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 1/17/02
Sally Kirkland to Star in Indie 'Alice Stands Up' (Exclusive)

Writer and director Brent Roske recently teamed with the actress for the short film “African Chelsea.”

Sally Kirkland will star in the independent movie Alice Stands Up, according to writer and director Brent Roske.

Kirkland and Roske recently worked together on the short film African Chelsea, which has been well received at several festivals. At the Santa Catalina Film Festival, Roske was named best director for the short.

Roske says he wrote the heart-warming drama Alice Stands Up with Kirkland in mind after they had a good experience together on the 2011 short film. “I realized during African Chelsea how much I wanted to work with her again,” says Roske, “so I wrote Alice Stands Up for her and only her.”

The new film is about a woman who has to go into the workforce late in life after an investment made by her late husband goes bust. The character, Alice, has never worked before. She has to learn about everything from how to use a GPS system to how to do sales pitches as she survives jobs like delivering pizza and doing door-to-door sales. At the same time Alice is mending relationships with her daughter and autistic son.

“I laughed on almost every page,” says Kirkland. “Brent pitched it to me as a drama but I think its very, very funny. He’s an actor’s director and really lets you discover the scene and play.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brent Roske
• Release date: Jan 31, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465803849

Book preview

ALICE STANDS UP

Written by Brent Roske

Copyright 2012 Brent Roske

Smashwords Edition

For both my grandmas

In the interest of easier legibility, the following screenplay format has been slightly altered to more of a play script’s style, with character and dialogue appearing on the same line

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INT. ALICE’S APARTMENT - DAY

Alice is not necessarily a nice person. She’s been isolated by her money for so long she doesn’t really remember how to interact with, you know, normal human beings. Aside from the occasional trip to a restaurant, or the interaction between her and a poor, unsuspecting take-out deliveryman, her existence is almost purely a solitary one. Her money has insulated her from the world. She doesn’t see it that way.

Let’s look around Alice’s apartment. Our imaginary camera creeps along the floor of a tiny dump of a place, with all the refuse and leftovers of 30 years of neglect. Empty booze bottles, dryer sheets, old newspapers from 1987, a crutch – basically things are in a bad state. It’s about 8 in the morning and the world hasn’t really started going yet – especially not for Alice.

A noise is heard outside. It’s a weed whacker and it’s getting louder and louder with the swing and lurch of it’s operator. Alice is trying to sleep, or rather she’s still in a Wild Turkey induced hazed from the night of solo drinking the night before. She’s face down in her small bedroom, parts of her covered by a single sheet as the duvet is in a ball on the floor (she may have slept part of the night there, but she can’t quite recall).

The weed whacker noise gets louder. Alice’s foot peeks out from under the sheet and starts to twitch and flail in time with the surges from the weed whacker. The noise from outside is now almost unbearable – as if 5,000 buzzing flies are inside your ear canal (this would be Alice’s interpretation of it). BUZZ – twitch…BUZZ BUZZ twitch TWITCH!

The naked foot tenses and then we see her – ALICE MONROE, 70 – as she throws the sheet aside, trundles to the window and in a rage:

Shut the fuck up out there!

If this were a movie, the audience would now see a freeze frame and the title, as this introduces our main character quite succinctly.

EXT. OUTSIDE THE APARTMENT BUILDING - DAY

Sometime later, Alice is bustling down the sidewalk away from her apartment building. Mario, a neighborhood kid of about 10, sidles up beside her.

MARIO: Hi, Alice.

ALICE: Hi, Mario.

Alice really doesn’t slow down that much. She’s in a rush for somewhere and the bright sunshine of the All-American city she’s in makes her squint and wish she’d brought her sunglasses.

MARIO: Where are you going?

She grunts and puffs but doesn’t answer.

MARIO: Where are you going, Alice?

ALICE: I’ve got to go see my accountant.

Mario laughs a little bit as he easily keeps up with her, dancing circles back and forth around her heavy walking.

MARIO: You got money problems, eh?

For just a second, this rattles Alice and she throws him a glare.

ALICE: What makes you say that?

MARIO: Why else would you go see your accountant? You don’t go to the dentist unless your teeth are busted, you know what I’m saying?

ALICE: Sure, Mario - whatever you say.

Alice gives a small wave without turning back and keeps hoofing it to her car.

EXT. ‘72 EL DORADO - DAY

Alice’s car is covered with dirt, leaves, branches and parking tickets.

ALICE: What the hell is all this?

The car looks like it could be the subject of interesting art debate. Butter yellow with broan plastic wood hghlites, but the whole mess covered in a grey slop which is a mix of Southern California dirt and dust run down the side from a slight rainfall from weeks earlier. Alice tosses 3 parking tickets on the ground.

Driving. This actually makes Alice crack the first half smile of the day as she loves the feel of the big boat of a car firmly in her control.

As she turns right on Sunset, she pushes play on the cassette