
            PLOT-STORY outline for Tom Luong Films 'The Grounded': Somewhere in dusty, sweltering San Bernardino county, two creepy self-appointed criminals, decide it's a good time to walk into a small credit-union (bank), point a gun at the gorgeous bank-teller, and quickly depart with more than $1-million, guns blazing. Haybale Harrison and a man calling himself Tracker-Slayer, have little else to look forward to in life, but Tracker feels he has an 'excuse': he has always wanted to work as an airline pilot, and even trained to fly aircraft, but never reached his goal, and was 'grounded', something he bitterly resents. Everyone has problems, but for young-adult brother and sister Missy-Ann and Du Gong Peterson, bank robberies are not one of them, or so they think. The teen siblings live in the high-altitude vacation community, 6,000 feet above San Bernardino, in the stunningly beautiful Lake Arrowhead wilderness, a favorite for Southern California tourists during the winter. But this Christmas is 'different', and its the first year following their mother's passing (by car accident the year before), and also the first year they must deal with a new step-mother, the Trophy-Wife super-beauty Cathy-Lee, much adored of their father Peter. It's holiday-time again in the snowy mountains, and when Missy-Ann gets a traffic ticket, and Du Gong gets in minor trouble at school, Cathy-Lee decides to take charge, and has them both 'grounded' (home detention), for the entire Christmas break. What could be worse? While their pals Freddy, Valley-girl Paulina, and a somewhat confused much younger African-American kid from the neighborhood they call Mister Shorty, are all out having a great time in the snow and holiday fun, Missy and Du Gong are stuck at home, bored to tears. No problem! It's not long before Missy forms a plan to sneak out at night when their parents are sleeping, to go joy-riding with their friends on the sly. Unfortunately, while doing so, they run into Haybale Harrison and Tracker Slayer, hiding out in the hills, waiting for a small private aircraft to arrive and fly them out of California, back to Arkansas with a friend and all their stolen money. Nothing seems really wrong, at first, as they spot the 'bad guys' around the neighborhoods in Big Bear and nearby communities, during the snow-play and fun. Why worry? With a big strong guy like Jelly Belly Farnum and his pal Manuel on the job as Volunteer Park Service Rangers keeping track of parking problems at the snow-slopes, and helping the county trap local squirrels to avoid rodent over-population, what could go wrong? Mister Shorty, the very young African American kid, is happy to explain some of what's gone wrong in his life, and why he is wandering around during Christmas season, dressed for Halloween in a Web-Man costume. Yes, he's confused, maybe it was the family disaster that came his way, the broken home and broken dreams that came with the California wild-fires the previous year, destroying his home and his family income, and worse. And he just likes Halloween, and didn't want to miss out. The other teens are at least somewhat sympathetic, because it's Mister Shorty who finally identifies the bank robbers, only a few hours before Haybale Harrison and the psychotic Tracker Slayer decide they must protect themselves, and grab Missy-Ann off the street, when confronted about the robbery. In a panic, Missy finds herself captive to the two evil-doers, in a small cabin far off in the snowy neighborhoods, hidden from view, tied to a chair with duct tape. The other teens bump into Jelly Belly and Manuel a second time, and make a plea for help. Jelly is cautious, and unbelieving, and wants to check out their story, but poor Missy is fairly certain all is lost, as Tracker-Slayer and Haybale scheme to hold her until their buddy arrives at a private airport to fly them out. It's a race to the wilderness airport, with Webman in tow, and no less than a gun-fight showdown between Jelly and Tracker, needed to settle things, in one of the worst storms the San Bernardino mountains had seen in years---but it all works out!! Hey, it's Christmas, lighten up! By the time it's over, the teens are safe-and-sound, the Missy's dad forgives them for sneaking out during the Christmas break, and also announces to the entire community that the teens involved in the incident will share in a $50,000 rewards from the FBI, for their help in fighting local crime. Plenty of candy bars for Mister Shorty's Halloween dreams, and plenty of learning-curve life-experience for 'The Grounded'.---Jp*
    

Stuart McClay Smith

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