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Based on a True Story
War Eagle, Arkansas is a character-driven drama about a young man’s choice
of whether to leave his family and friends for a career in baseball or stay
and redeem his struggling community. The story takes place over a few
pivotal weeks in the summer after Enoch Cass’s senior year, and is set
against the backdrop of Arkansas’ beautiful Ozark Mountains.
Enoch Cass has two gifts; the first is baseball, and the second is the
innate goodness he possesses as he holds his family, members of his
community, and most of all, his friendship with Samuel “Wheels” Macon,
together. However, Enoch’s Achilles heel is the fact that he has a
debilitating stutter and can rarely manage a complete sentence.
Wheels is Enoch’s best friend and has cerebral palsy. He has been confined
to a wheelchair since early childhood, which is how long these two have been
inseparable. Wheels’ spirit knows no bounds, and combined with Enoch’s
inability to articulate, the two have relied on one another to make
themselves one completely functional human being…though without each other,
they are nothing. However, the story finds these two at the crossroads of
childhood and independence, the moment where Enoch has to decide if he will
put away the things of his youth to pursue his own interests, or remain
shackled to his hometown and its people.
Enoch’s domineering grandfather, Eugene “Pop” Cass wants nothing more than
for his grandson to get a baseball scholarship to a major school and get out
of the town he feels he himself was sentenced to forty years before after
being forced to abandon his own minor league career. Enoch’s mother, Belle
Cass, often comes into conflict with Pop over these issues, while Enoch also
seeks counsel from Jack, an older African-American man he works with, as
well as Wheels’ mother, Jessie.
After Enoch performs well in the All-Star game, he is quickly seduced by the
new-found attention he’s being given both by interested colleges and Abby, a
girl Enoch has had a crush on for some time. As all this happens, Enoch’s
friendship with Wheels becomes more and more distant and finally begins to
dissolve. As the film reaches its dramatic climax, Enoch must choose between
his best friend, a baseball career, his girlfriend, and the inherent love he
feels for his community.
War Eagle, Arkansas poses important questions that face all young people in
rural America. The answers we find could touch us all.
Screenwriter Graham Gordy, born and raised in Conway, Arkansas,
has crafted a charming and intimate screenplay that will inspire people
everywhere.
Graham Gordy's "The Love Guru"
opens nationwide on June 20, 2008.
http://www.theloveguru.com/site/?dl=epk/video |