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The Long War

A hoodlum, who tasted “payback” at the hands of two high school classmates he had terrorized, spends the next thirty years looking for the two and his own retribution.

Bobby Miller and Tommy Tully, AKA “Tommy Two-Shakes,” had two things in common: their friendship, and Leo “Hoss” Lang, the school hoodlum. Tommy paid a weekly premium to Hoss, “just ‘cause he didn’t like getting his ass whipped,” but Bobby was bold so he stood up to Hoss and took a beating from the bully and his companions one night. “I ain’t forgot,” Bobby would later tell Tommy, “I just don’t want him to see me comin’.” Bobby escaped to Vietnam while Tommy remained at home and paid his weekly extortion money to Hoss; but when Bobby returned he brought his war with him. Changed forever by haunting memories and now known as “Bobby D,” the “D” short for “Death,” he waited until the time was right for his day of reckoning, The years pass to present day where Thomas Tully, now a successful real estate broker is confronted out of the blue by Hoss Lang, freshly released from prison and eager for revenge. Still the expert in extortion, Hoss sets his sights on Thomas’ money and finding Bobby-D’s location; but Thomas isn’t the same “Two-Shakes” Hoss remembers.

Script Excerpt Interview
Written by:
Format:
Screenplay
Budget:
Low
Posted:
06/29/2022
Updated:
07/11/2023
Author Bio:
James is the author of fifteen screenplays and three novels adapted from their original screenplays and available on Amazon. BUCK and the ANGEL, A COP’S STORY and BLOODY BUSINESS are available in the Kindle book store in digital download and paperback. James’ character, Travis Starr, returns from A Cop’s Story, retired and now a private investigator in Bloody Business. James’ screenplay, THE SHELTER, was optioned once in 2003 by Anything but Hollywood films, and again in 2006 by Ryan Harper of Your Half Pictures in Los Angeles.

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Contest Results:
Scriptapalooza Features/Shorts (Semifinalist) [2012]
Nicholl Fellowships (Quarterfinalist) [2012]
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