Earlier this week, I went home excited to read a hot property that was about to blow up overnight, especially with everyone gushing over the premise. And once again, I fell victim to the Hollywood hype machine. Halfway through, I began to suspect that someone had given me the wrong script. There’s no way this spec could be generating that kind of heat.
And then came Monday’s announcement by The Hollywood Reporter trumpeting the fact that Lionsgate picked it up. Go figure.
LAST STAND by Andrew Knauer
Logline: Cops in a tiny border town are the only thing standing in the way of an escaped prisoner, protected by hardcore gangbangers, trying to make it across to Mexico.
OPENING – We get a look at the Gumpert Apollo – a speed car – doing 177mph on a deserted highway. It blows right on past a police cruiser. 770 horsepower.
CUT TO: Sommerton Junction – small border town, 5miles from Mexico. Everyone knows everyone here.
We meet SHERIFF RAY OWENS. 40′s. In charge. He walks into the diner and spots two suspicious looking characters. Gang tattoos on their necks.
A man named BURRELL steps into the diner. The two gangmembers walks out with Burrell. The Sheriff is immediately suspicious. What the heck are these strangers doing here?
The Sheriff drives through town and sees more suspicious characters. This can’t be good.
We meet MARTINEZ and BAILEY, two of Sheriff Owens officers, shooting at a hanging carcass. This is the bulk of Sommerton Junction’s police force. The Sheriff drives up and reprimands his officers for messing around. He tells them to be on the lookout – fears something is going down.
CUT TO: LAS VEGAS – FEDERAL COURT
GABRIEL CORTEZ SMITH – on trial, worth $400mill – on trial on 61 counts of drug trafficking
He pleads not guilty.
FBI AGENT JOHN BANNISTER places Gabriel Cortez Smith in an unmarked car for transportation. BAM. An elaborately staged prisoner-break ensues. Cars are smashed. Agents are shot. And in the end, Gabriel Cortez Smith is gone.
The FBI quickly set up roadblocks, stopping every car trying to leave Vegas. That’s when the GUMPERT APOLLO pulls out of traffic and roars off. Zero to sixty in three seconds.
The cops gives chase but they’re no match for this Supercar. A helicopter flies overhead, tailing the Gumpert Apollo. Bannister realizes Gabriel Cortez Smith is trying to make it to Mexico.
Back in Sommerton Junction, Sheriff Owens calls a meeting with all his Officers, informing them of the gangbangers in their town. He wants to know what they’re doing here. The Officers begin to tail the gangbangers.
Meanwhile, the FBI set up a roadblock at Bullhead City, Arizona. No way in the world will the Gumpert Apollo get through this. Armed Officers await its arrival.
And then….WHAM! BAM!! Gangbangers in SUVs pull up on the opposite side of the roadblock and fire upon the Officers. The cops are sitting ducks. The ones that aren’t killed have to scatter. A pick up with an attached snow plow clears the roadblock. The Gumpert Apollo speeds on by.
The area is clear all the way to Mexico.
Agent Bannister needs to know if they have any kind of law enforcement that can help them out. His answer: The only thing standing in their way is Sommerton Junction.
Bannister gets ahold of Sheriff Owens – tells him the Apollo is about two hours away from Sommerton Junction – also tells him to lookout for gangsters that have been placed there to make sure the Apollo makes it safely to Mexico.
END ACT I – Owens now realizes what’s going on – Sommerton Junction is going to have to stop the Apollo from getting through.
Bannister gets in touch with El Centro – they have a SWAT team – he tells them they have to provide help for Sommerton Junction. SWAT rolls to the rescue.
Bannister then learns Owens once was a cop in Los Angeles. He was shot three times and retreated to Sommerton Junction to escape. We also learn Owens partner was also shot and is now confined to a wheelchair and a respirator.
Gabriel Cortez Smith contacts Burrell – tells him to kill all the cops in Sommerton Junction before they get there.
Owens has a talk with his officers. He tells them this is not their problem. He states the FBI can work on extraditing Smith from Mexico if they want him so bad. Owens doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt.
Their guns are no match for these heavyweights with AK-47s. That’s when the gangbangers send molotov cocktails into the station and fire upon them. So much for being pacifists and minding their own business.
One of Sheriff Owens’ officers is killed. Owens takes this very personally. Owens calls Bannister and tells him that if Smith comes into Sommerton Junction, Owens is going to bury him. The die is cast. The wheels are in motion. Two forces are now on a collision course.
El Centro’s SWAT team is on their way.
Owens and his men go to see LEWIS DINKUM – a Sommerton man with a love of weapons – Dinkum has a Thompson submachine gun and a Vickers machine gun from WWII. They take everything and deputize Dinkum.
Owens and his officers go looking for the gangsters. The gangsters attack. Shootouts ensue.
END ACT II – An SUV carrying gangsters takes out the El Centro SWAT van. No assistance is coming now for Owens and his men. They’re on their own.
Sheriff Owens drives a school bus, using it to block a street. The Gumpert Apollo arrives. Owens manages to trap the vehicle. Walks up behind and shoots out its back windshield.
Tells the driver to get out. It’s not Gabriel Cortez Smith. Owens checks the vehicle – Smith is gone.
Sheriff Owens gets in the Apollo and takes off in pursuit.
Gabriel Cortez Smith is in a mustang. Owens rams it from behind. Owens uses the car to block the Mustang. Smith gets out, running. Owens shoots him in the leg.
Burrell gets out of the car. Owens shoots him three times. Burrell’s wearing a vest. He tears the vest off and faces Owens down. Huge fight sequence. Owens is victorious. Sheriff Owens then cuffs Smith and brings him back to town.
BIG FINALE- Smith’s men arrive. Free Smith. Smith shoots and kills Sheriff Owens.
Sheriff’s Owens surviving Officers bring Smith in. FBI Agent Bannister and the cavalry arrive. They take possession of the Gabriel Cortez Smith and compliment the Sommerton Junction Officers for a job well done.
HUH!!!?????
That’s the ending. That’s the biggest problem with the story. In an action film, your ending had better deliver the fireworks. This barely had firecrackers. Seriously, I think me and a couple of friends would’ve been able to arrest Gabriel Cortez Smith.
Which brings me to the next biggest problem with the script: The villain. Basically, all he does throughout the story is sit in a fleeing car. C’mon! The villain is the engine of the plot. The villain should drive the story. The stronger the villain, the stronger the script. Smith is too thin to even be considered one-dimensional. I’ve seen bit players with more meat on them. How is sitting in a car menacing?
Moving on. The action sequences are mundane. Cleverness and originality and MIND-BLOWING, FULL-IMPACT ACTION are called for to pull this story off. Unfortunately, none of this is found within the pages. We get stock scenes, connect-the-dots sequences and a been-there, seen-that feel which makes us lose faith in the writer quickly.
This cannot be the draft that LionsGate bought. Wait, after seeing “SAW VI,” maybe it is.
My rating?
[X] PASS
[ ] CONSIDER
[ ] RECOMMEND
Note: Due to the production status of this film, the screenplay is currently unavailable here.