Over Easy is the story about the conflict between the life everyone has always told a young man he should want and the life he himself wants. At the age of twenty-four, Tom finds himself trapped between his aspirations and the burden of the small town relationships he has always known. Growing up, he had always looked down on the townies marrying their high school sweethearts and never accomplishing or even striving for anything great. But now, after graduating college and moving back home, Tom finds himself heading down that same uninspired path. He has gone back to the same diner job he had in high school, working everyday with his childhood best friend, Sammy. His friends lead an incestuous existence. They have all dated, screwed and broken up with the same girls. New hope presents itself to Tom when the gorgeous Brigid comes into the diner late one night. Sparks fly between the unlikely pair and Tom regains faith that his postponed dreams are still possible. Unfortunately, as Sammy witnesses Tom inch closer to freedom, jealously ensues. Feeling threatened by and envious of Tom’s charm and potential, Sammy sabotages Tom’s burgeoning relationship with Brigid. Tom finally recognizes Sammy’s insincerity and his twisted sense of loyalty that has anchored him in this small town begins to dissipate. Tom grasps at the imprecise notion of freedom, trying to figure out how he will proceed.
Director's Statement:
While this is a small, personal story, I hope it is a story that everyone can relate to.
Tom is struggling to discover what he truly wants to devote his life to. Struggling against the pitfalls of settling, like his father before him and the urge to do just that--settle for what is comfortable, for what is easy. Sammy, on the other hand, has accepted settling as inevitable.
These are the dreams and nightmares of men and women, old and young. Be it women who find themselves trapped in dictated roles, fathers stumbling in their quest to do right by their sons or those sons who are too busy resisting good advice simply for being prejudiced against the source.
I wrote this script as a means to cope with my own version of this dilemma. A recent college graduate, I returned home, like most young people during the “Great Recession,” to uncertainty and doubt.. At school I learned the fragility of relationships born of drugs and alcohol. Back home, the possibilities of my future began to feel more like a cage than an inspiration. I was back working at the same diner I’d spent my college breaks in, sleeping in the same bed I spent high school sleeping in. The wallpaper was the same, the movie posters.
I had so much I wanted to do in my life and all the time in the world to get around to it. It’s a frightening reality, actually having the time to do something you’d only just talked about for so much time. What if you don’t succeed? What if it’s not the life-affirming dream you thought it was? This film is my antidote to ‘what ifs,’ my future, my moment. This is me pushing myself to do the one thing I’ve always felt I was meant do: make films. Hopefully those who watch Over Easy will feel a similar push in the right direction.
Tom is struggling to discover what he truly wants to devote his life to. Struggling against the pitfalls of settling, like his father before him and the urge to do just that--settle for what is comfortable, for what is easy. Sammy, on the other hand, has accepted settling as inevitable.
These are the dreams and nightmares of men and women, old and young. Be it women who find themselves trapped in dictated roles, fathers stumbling in their quest to do right by their sons or those sons who are too busy resisting good advice simply for being prejudiced against the source.
I wrote this script as a means to cope with my own version of this dilemma. A recent college graduate, I returned home, like most young people during the “Great Recession,” to uncertainty and doubt.. At school I learned the fragility of relationships born of drugs and alcohol. Back home, the possibilities of my future began to feel more like a cage than an inspiration. I was back working at the same diner I’d spent my college breaks in, sleeping in the same bed I spent high school sleeping in. The wallpaper was the same, the movie posters.
I had so much I wanted to do in my life and all the time in the world to get around to it. It’s a frightening reality, actually having the time to do something you’d only just talked about for so much time. What if you don’t succeed? What if it’s not the life-affirming dream you thought it was? This film is my antidote to ‘what ifs,’ my future, my moment. This is me pushing myself to do the one thing I’ve always felt I was meant do: make films. Hopefully those who watch Over Easy will feel a similar push in the right direction.
--Dan Mecca, March 2011
