Film starts off with Steve (30) with his son David (8) relaxing watching the television when the police officers storm in and take David away into custody. A shot of David initially being dragged out by the police towards a car on the opposite side of the road where Amanda (42) awaits him. Shot of Steve looking distressed as his child is being taken away and being told he is moving to Canada.
Steve is a 30 year old homosexual from Reading and is a strong Manchester United fan. Although he is a homosexual, Steve acts with many hetretosexual manerisms. Steve originally grew up in Greater Manchester and was popular from a young age. Steve was a very good footballer and had planned on becoming a professional footballer. However at the age of 17, Steve came out the closet and immediately his friends turned against him. Around two months after this whilst Steve was walking home from school, Steve was viciously assaulted by some masked thugs who were making homosexual jibes at him. When Steve arrived at hospital, he found out that his spinal chord had been ruptured and that although his mobility won’t be severely affected, his chances of becoming a professional footballer were over.
Now isolated, Steve chose to move to Reading in an attempt to rebuild his life in which he opened up a football club and became a football coach. Although he was no longer being bullied, Steve never returned to his usual self and resorted to being much quieter. A few years later, after settling down, Steve (26) decided to adopt a son in which he could mould him into something that Steve could never become (David) (4)
At first, David hated the idea of being adopted and resented Steve due to his frequent training sessions. However Steve saw potential in David. On his his 6th birthday, Steve comes into David’s room and gives him a present. A Wayne Rooney poster. After the two have a heart to heart, David and Steve agree to settle their differences and David agrees to join Steve’s football academy. Steve returns to his usual self again.
Amanda is a 29 year old female who has just come out of jail. She is from Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. Amanda is an attractive mild mannered Canadian who is aspiring to become a singer. At the age of 19, Amanda started dating a man named Jack (19) who she eventually married. Amanda who is usually laid back and sociable became afraid as Jack was ill-tempered and would often hit Amanda when they argued. At the age of 21, Amanda and Jack got married and had a child named David. One night after a drunken night out, Jack and Amanda were having an argument where Jack had accused Amanda of flirting with another man, and started to beat Amanda. In self defence, Amanda grabbed a rolling pin and hit Jack around the head with it several times. In a drunken panic, Amanda calls the police and hands herself in as she cries down the phone in guilt. Jack is now in a coma. Amanda has been sent to prison for GBH and she has now lost custody of David. Since Jack is in a coma, David has no choice but to be adopted.
When Amanda (27) comes out of prison comes out of prison, she has lost nearly all her friends as they have either moved on or resented her due to her imprisonment. Now that she is left with nothing, Amanda is now desperately trying to get custody of David back. At first, she had no idea where David was, but after eventually tracking him through alot of internet searching, Amanda decided to go for a year long vacation to find him. In order to get custody of her child back, Amanda needed to convince the authorities that she was a changed woman and that her GBH conviction was a one off case. After nearly a year or talking to lawyers, she was eventually given the clear and was given back custody of her child. Since she was the biological mother of David, she had full rights to take him back to Canada.
Maria (45) is the mother of Jack. Maria is a former fashion model who nearly made it famous but has since retired and now writes articles is fashion magazines. Maria is a very self centred person, particularly during her days as a model. After having a careless one night stand, Maria (18) gave birth to Jack. Although Jack was sportingly and academically gifted, Maria never paid much attention to Jack whilst he was growing up as she too focused on her modelling career. Maria became very short tempered and dominant in her home, leading to Jack becoming dominant outside the home. One night, Maria gets a phone call saying that Jack is in a critical condition. Maria (after doing her make-up) casually wanders down to the hospital to see her son but is stunned to see her son in a coma. After reflecting on how mad of a mother she’s been, Maria came to visit Jack every day. After two months, Jack wakes up although he is still in a critical condition and can barely walk. After realising that Jack may never be able to walk again properly, Maria agrees to become his fulltime carer. When Maria gets home with Jack, Maria receives a phone call from one of her previous sponsors asking her if she’d be interested in moving to Los Angeles for a one year modelling deal for Hugo Boss. In excitement, Maria accepts the offer, working out that she will be earning nearly four times her current wage in the course of a year. She agrees to have her sister look after Jack. As Maria leaves, she has a change of heart, turns the car around and goes back to the house. After realising how much she had grown as a person whilst Jack was in a coma, Maria realises that her relationship with her family is much more important than her dreams.
Final Scene:
The beginning scene is now repeated from Amanda’s perspective. The police invade Steve’s house informing that David is being taken away to Canada. David is initially startled but he is reassurred after seeing his biological mother unaware that he will never see Steve again. After initially being complacent, Steve got aggressive after finding out the situation and had to be restrained. Shots of both Amanda and Steve crying are shown.
Alternative Final Scene:
The police invade Steve’s house and takes David away. David at first looks distressed as he is taken away until he sees his biological mother and runs into her arms. After a brief catch up, she is about to drive away when Steve infatically runs in front of the car, minorly getting hit. After he gets up, Steve explains to Amanda that he loves David and can’t bare to see him leave. Amanda’s original plan was to move back to Canada with David, but after realising that she has nothing to live for in Canada and after David pleads to his mum, Amanda agrees to move to England. Amanda successfully applies for a visa for the UK and within 6 months moves onto the same street as Steve in which they become good friends and agree to share custody on David.
