The Family

The Toynbees

Father - Patrick, Major Character #3

Mother - Nancy, maiden name Blommer, secretary at the police station, has real connections in the city as opposed to her husband's imagined connections, as the story moves on it is revealed that she knows what's going on in the whole city, but she keeps a tight lip

Oldest son - Chad, Major Character #1

Oldest daughter - Monica, born 1967 (16 years old), sophomore at Tremper, smart and sassy, has a crush on Harrison Ford

Middle daughter - Stephanie, born 1970 (13 years old), 7th grader at Lincoln, moody, nicknamed The Grouch, slams doors

Youngest son - Philip, born 1973 (10 years old), 4th grader at Grewenow, active, perhaps ADHD, loves arcade games, especially Pacman

Youngest daughter - Julie, born 1976 (7 years old), 1st grader at Grewenow, cheery, watches too much TV, especially PBS, sings Sesame Street songs at the dinner table

Plot Changing

With the current working plot, the film resembles American Graffiti too closely and isn't dark enough.  For a darker plot, I want to make "false hope" and/or "high expectations" a major theme.  This means I have to play with the fate of the majority of the characters with a mean spirit.

The false hope of the screenplay's setting is the image below: