DON, MITCH, RICHIE, JIM, and BILL are college buddies who are now in their mid-20s.
Back in college they dubbed themselves the Merry Band of Crazies, and anything went.
Now they’re older, settling into careers, and (in terms of how they relate to women) transitioning from adolescence to maturity.
Or at least some of them are. Maybe.
JIM is in a monogamous relationship with CAROL.
RICHIE is struggling to commit to Donna. Maybe. He knows he loves her (at least he’s pretty sure he does),
and he doesn’t want to be with anyone else (he’s pretty sure about that, too), yet he can’t comprehend
how anyone can give up the option of sleeping with someone new. Should that option ever present itself.
And should he ever want to act on it.
BILL still hasn’t gotten over the hurt and betrayal he suffered years ago at the hands of a woman, and relates to all women
as the Enemy.
For DON and MITCH, women are synonymous with one thing — sex. And you get it any way you can.
The five old friends haven’t seen much of each other lately, so Bill invites everyone out to the house he’s renting in the Hamptons
for the summer. He doesn’t have anything particular in mind... just a carefree anything-goes get-together. “Like we used to.”
And it doesn’t take long for them to revert to their college silliness. Soon the old dynamics, verbal shorthand, and anything-goes willingness for...anything, is back in place.
Into this situation comes TERRI (18, and trying very hard to be older), who is discovering her sexuality and the effect it has on men.
She may be still figuring things out, but she’s fully aware of its power and uses sex (or, more accurately, the suggestion
and apparent promise of sex) to manipulate men. But this time she’s in way over her head.
Mitch not only thinks he’ll have sex with her, but along the way comes to believe it’s his right to have sex with her.
And he’s willing to do anything short of rape.
Seeing her power, and unable to resist playing with it, Terri keeps tantalizing Mitch, fanning the flames to make him keep wanting her.
Dealing with someone like Mitch is easy for Terri. But she’s no match for Don, who’s older and smarter than Terri,
and nowhere near as clumsy or blatant as Mitch. Don sits back and watches Mitch blow it time and time again.
(So do the others, as Mitch’s rutting-moose-in-a china-shop approach becomes a floor show.)
But once it’s clear that Mitch has taken his best shot, Don moves in. With an entirely different approach.
And it doesn’t take him long to move Terri from the living room to the bedroom.
Mitch goes ballistic... The others get hysterical... And, in the bedroom, Terri becomes terrified at the prospect
of actually having to deliver on what she’s been offering since she walked through the door.
She manages to escape from Don without going further than she’s willing to. But now Mitch, convinced she had sex with Don,
is determined to “get his.”
Richie and Bill are more indifferent about it. But if it’s being offered...
The men were starting to regress before Terri walked in. Now the place isn’t much different from a college fraternity house.
The only thing saving Terri from being raped is the guys’ barely-in-check restraint. And Jim, who’s moved beyond
this way of treating women and refuses to participate. When things threaten to go over the edge, he intervenes, saves Terri,
and creates a way out for her.
But she refuses to take it. And who made him responsible for her, anyway?
And who’s manipulating who?
The manipulation continues, and the stakes begin to rise. Some of it is simply theater games from college.
But Terri doesn’t know that.
As the games and gambits get bolder, riskier, and more physical, the guys’ sense of Terri as a person begins to fade.
Along with the self-imposed restraints that define male humanity.
Terri against the men... Maturity against youth... Control against impulse... The individual against the group...
The cards are in the air, and as they come down, everyone is presented with opportunities to change and grow.
If they choose to.
Back in college they dubbed themselves the Merry Band of Crazies, and anything went.
Now they’re older, settling into careers, and (in terms of how they relate to women) transitioning from adolescence to maturity.
Or at least some of them are. Maybe.
JIM is in a monogamous relationship with CAROL.
RICHIE is struggling to commit to Donna. Maybe. He knows he loves her (at least he’s pretty sure he does),
and he doesn’t want to be with anyone else (he’s pretty sure about that, too), yet he can’t comprehend
how anyone can give up the option of sleeping with someone new. Should that option ever present itself.
And should he ever want to act on it.
BILL still hasn’t gotten over the hurt and betrayal he suffered years ago at the hands of a woman, and relates to all women
as the Enemy.
For DON and MITCH, women are synonymous with one thing — sex. And you get it any way you can.
The five old friends haven’t seen much of each other lately, so Bill invites everyone out to the house he’s renting in the Hamptons
for the summer. He doesn’t have anything particular in mind... just a carefree anything-goes get-together. “Like we used to.”
And it doesn’t take long for them to revert to their college silliness. Soon the old dynamics, verbal shorthand, and anything-goes willingness for...anything, is back in place.
Into this situation comes TERRI (18, and trying very hard to be older), who is discovering her sexuality and the effect it has on men.
She may be still figuring things out, but she’s fully aware of its power and uses sex (or, more accurately, the suggestion
and apparent promise of sex) to manipulate men. But this time she’s in way over her head.
Mitch not only thinks he’ll have sex with her, but along the way comes to believe it’s his right to have sex with her.
And he’s willing to do anything short of rape.
Seeing her power, and unable to resist playing with it, Terri keeps tantalizing Mitch, fanning the flames to make him keep wanting her.
Dealing with someone like Mitch is easy for Terri. But she’s no match for Don, who’s older and smarter than Terri,
and nowhere near as clumsy or blatant as Mitch. Don sits back and watches Mitch blow it time and time again.
(So do the others, as Mitch’s rutting-moose-in-a china-shop approach becomes a floor show.)
But once it’s clear that Mitch has taken his best shot, Don moves in. With an entirely different approach.
And it doesn’t take him long to move Terri from the living room to the bedroom.
Mitch goes ballistic... The others get hysterical... And, in the bedroom, Terri becomes terrified at the prospect
of actually having to deliver on what she’s been offering since she walked through the door.
She manages to escape from Don without going further than she’s willing to. But now Mitch, convinced she had sex with Don,
is determined to “get his.”
Richie and Bill are more indifferent about it. But if it’s being offered...
The men were starting to regress before Terri walked in. Now the place isn’t much different from a college fraternity house.
The only thing saving Terri from being raped is the guys’ barely-in-check restraint. And Jim, who’s moved beyond
this way of treating women and refuses to participate. When things threaten to go over the edge, he intervenes, saves Terri,
and creates a way out for her.
But she refuses to take it. And who made him responsible for her, anyway?
And who’s manipulating who?
The manipulation continues, and the stakes begin to rise. Some of it is simply theater games from college.
But Terri doesn’t know that.
As the games and gambits get bolder, riskier, and more physical, the guys’ sense of Terri as a person begins to fade.
Along with the self-imposed restraints that define male humanity.
Terri against the men... Maturity against youth... Control against impulse... The individual against the group...
The cards are in the air, and as they come down, everyone is presented with opportunities to change and grow.
If they choose to.
DON |
28 Clean cut, well-groomed, neatly dressed.
|
MITCH |
27 Dark hair, short, stocky. Lumbering, slothful
|
RICHIE |
26 Tall, blonde, nice-looking.
|
JIM |
27 Average height, casual, attractive
|
BILL |
27 Tall, average looks, easy-going |
TERRI |
18 Dark hair. Somewhat attractive, but too much makeup
|
CAROL |
27 Attractive, confident.
|
