I'm a huge fan of journey films and stories. From Travels with Charley to Huckleberry Finn, the one fully realized creative moment in American literature is the genre of journey stories in defining American culture! Think of how many films deal with a journey: Little Miss Sunshine, Apocalypse Now, Easy Rider, etc.
My proposal is for a Hollywood Movie Musical about a dysfunctional family from Chicago traveling to the Hollywood Bowl so the father and mother can go to the closing night of a Lionel Richie concert. The trip would be filled with the music of Lionel Richie! From the Commodores to his solo work, all of the "hits" and "LP cuts" would be used to help tell a story of discovery for both the main characters' human spirit AND a look at the America of today! Yes, I know that I set it on the mythical Route 66. . . .
The family would be comprised of two middle-age parents (Mom and Dad), their gay 16-year-old son, and their 13-year-old daughter. The parents are upper-middle-class, but their marriage seems dead, their son has yet to come out to his parents, but his younger sister knows. The son is quiet but devilishly snarky, the daughter is a bubble of energy. Like all road trip/journey adventures, each stop reveals a portion of America, and thus, a portion of themselves, all with the music of Lionel Richie to help propel the story. The entire movie would end with the family at the concert singing and dancing to "Dancing on the Ceiling".
Along the way we will be treated to our main characters and different people they meet singing such classics as:
- Hello
- Can't Slow Down
- Truly
- You Are
- All Night Long (could open the film)
- Serves You Right
- Brick House
- Ballerina Girl
- Wandering Stranger (The son's big song halfway through the film)
- Easy (This song would be the climax of the film with the entire family singing in the car)
- Dancing on the Ceiling (The final, closing BIG number)
If nothing else, start listening to the songs. I think you'll see how easily they all work!
