Some Nights Script Outline
Act I
The opening scene establishes the life of Nate Rusfeld and where he stands. The first shot is of Nate inside of a bathroom, vomiting into the toilet and generally looking awful, as if he is in the worst state of his life. Despite being in such a horrible place, Nate doesn't allow himself any respite, continually hyping himself up and trying to motivate himself to get out there and "Give the people what they want". His motivations are not noble, but of desperate obligation and beliefs of how he should act. These focus on how he has to give back to the label and the band, how he must perform for the powerful and celebriteis to earn their favor, how this will make him rich and famous, that it will lave him remembered, and it's because it's what everyone expects and what he should be remembered for. To finally give himself the push forward, Nate takes a cocktail of drugs, and through this gains enough energy and motivation to leave, revealing that the important event he was in a wreck and hyping himself up for was his birthday party.
Nate interacts with a plethora of fictional celebrities and important figures, no direct expies are important, rather they represent the entertainment industry who are propping up Nate and are celebrating his success and newfound inclusion into the Hollywood club. Whenever Nate shakes hands with someone, they give the appearance of care and affection, but only talk about his career and fortune without any care of his personality and character, and the second Nate turns his back they plot on how to take advantage and use him for their own means. This is heavily exemplified by his shared dialogue with Richard Edwards, his manager who seems to mean well, but uses every second to manipulate Nate into giving more obligations and agreeing to deals he just now heard about so Richard can become wealthy with little benefit to Nate. Eventually, Nate gets on a stage and performs with his band for the guests, the group singing Some Nights. During the song, a montage takes place showing Nate singing the same song at different concerts. While at first Nate is energetic and passionate in the sequence, overtime he becomes tired and heavily overwhelmed in the pressure, drowning in the sea of fans and industry business as some brief shots show the array of commercial pursuits he is forced into to catapult his fame. As the song ends, Nate is on the verge of collapse, but the outstanding ovation gives him enough push and energy to keep going, though it's clear his heart isn't in it. Before he is about to perform his next song, he hallucinates seeing Cathy in the crowd, giving him a brief flicker of hope only to feel depression when he realizes she's not there, yet the show must go on and he places a mask to continue.
From there the next ten to fifteen minutes focus on a day in the life of Nate. It's a mix of various functions of the celebrity rockstar; press events, being chased by papparazi, , fan interactions, business deals, and producing music. The sequence is shown out of linear with the various events shown out of order and often rapidly switching from one to the next to show how Nate's days are melding together in a blur he can make little sense and has no control, just going through the motions. The event which does have the most focus is the producing of his newest songs. It is here that Nate has the most passion and heart, being able to do what he loves through music, but each time he is close to falling in love, he is constantly interrupted, mostly by Richard who demands changes and tries to take control, believing he knows best and that music should be made based off of what sells, not passion. This depresses Nate and resigns him to the lifestyle. This sequence ends with a concert that while musically fantastic, is one conducted with little care for Nate who becomes more of a drone than a star.
After the concert, Nate and his band go to a bar to unwind. While his bandmates wish to celebrate another successful night, Nate is exhausted and lethargic, hoping to just drink the night away. When Nate goes to the bar, he is shocked to find his old sweetheart in Cathy Bryant there having a drink. After a small comical bit where he gives himself some pain to realize it's real, Nate approaches the bar with motivation and swagger and talks to Cathy. Cathy is shocked to see Nate after so many years and initially they hit it off with strong chemistry, but as the conversation goes on, Nate becomes heavily self-centered and gloats about himself while Cathy wants things to go back to where they were and becomes uncomfortable. Thinking that he almost has her, Nate pulls a stunt with his bandmates where they take over the instruments for the live act and sing We Are Young, with small flashbacks of their youthful romance fused in. While Cathy gets into the song, Nate's mood is soured when he sees a man approach Cathy and the two interact romantically.
Nate learns the man is Cathy's boyfriend who she moved on with after her breakup with Nate. The boyfriend, Barry, while a bit of a hipster and seemingly pretentious and snobby from his appearence and mannerisms, is a decent man who loves and cherishes Cathy and tries to strike up a friendly conversation with Nate. Nate, completely overcome with jealousy, rejects this offer of friendship and tries to interrogate and intimidate Barry, thinking that he is stealing Cathy from him. Cathy, incensed and seeing that the man she once loved is no longer there, admonishes Nate and chews him out, criticizing the egotistical rockstar he's become and how he's lost sight of who he is. Openly rejecting him, Cathy leaves with Barry, some tears in her eyes not over losing his love, but of the sorry state he's become. To deal with his heartbreak, Nate drowns himself in alcohol and stumblingly walks through the city streets alone at night singing "Carry On". He arrives home at his mansion and collapses on the couch, transitioning in his dreams to his past in Act II.
Act II
The movie cuts back to a few years prior when Nate and his bandmates were simply a small time act in their local town, a nondescript town in eastern USA. Hear Nate plays Some Nights and We Are Young, but unlike earlier where he was tired or going through the motions, here he is energetic and carries the crowd with heavy magnetism and uproar. Instead of partying with his bandmates, Nate spends the night with his girlfriend Cathy, the two deeply in love and dreamy eyed with great hopes for the future, with the scene showing fluff and their strong chemistry and bond through a shared duet, making it clear that Cathy is his greatest priority and she his rock and support. The two return to Nate's home where his mom greets them warmly, tired and resting on the couch after a long day as a cleaner. When Cathy leaves, Nate gives his mother Mary a wad of cash, showing that he is rising up and promising he can get that dream contract soon and pay off the mortgage, that when he's famous she can live in a mansion and buy as many clothes as she wants. Mary waves it off, stating she's happy and content and Nate should focus on himself, but Nate sees the sorry state of his home and his tired mother and vows to become rich and famous.
At the next concert, Nate meets Richard Edwards, a manager who heard of Nate's band and sees a golden opportunity in the making. Richard offers the band a lucrative record deal, but the contract is scummy and hints at the label taking greater control of the music and free reign over the band's business. Everyone else is on board for the easy cash, but Nate is hesitant at the sacrifices. Richard draws him in with promises of instant wealth and fame, for packed out concerts and gold records, and Nate recalling his mother and feeling a sense of obligation, is more inclined but needs some time to think. He then meets Cathy at her apartment and gives the news, and Cathy not having the full details is ecstatic and says he should go through with it, due to Cathy believing that this is Nate's chance to live out his dreams as an artist and share his music with the world. The two sing together "It Gets Better" and to celebrate, Cathy has sex with Nate, the miscommunication pushing him to accept.
Nate leaves for LA, saying goodbye to his mother, missing her greatly but carrying on with the belief that it's for their dual goods, Mary reluctantly supporting since she'll miss him greatly, but doing so out of the belief that this will make Nate happy. Nate travels to LA with his band and Cathy who moves in support. While at first everything's going good and Nate is living his dream, the demands of the business, the escalation of the fandom and fame, producer hell, and the many temptations and vices of Hollywood cause Nate to drift farther down the rabbit hole of Hollywood's misery, with any attempts by Cathy to help being rebuffed. Cathy sees Nate is in pain and tries to get him to take a break and go back home, but Nate has a national tour coming up, under heavy pressure by Richard who sees it as his beginning as a true star, forcing Nate to choose. Now buying into the glories of stardom, he chooses his career over Cathy with great pain, but Cathy sees it as Nate abandoning everything he was, with Nate angrily fighting back that he pushed her to walk this path. The two argue, and Cathy tearfully storms off. Nate is frozen, unable to chase and a phone call from Richard telling him to come to the studio tomorrow sees him agree, officially marking the end of Act II.
Act III
The next day when Nate wakes up from his dreams of the past, he receives important news that his mother is on death's door. Rushing home to see her despite Richard and his bandmates attempting to have him place more attention to his business opportunities and the upcoming performances. Nate is tempted and nearly choses to stay, but Cathy's words push him to head back home. Nate arrives and just barely catches Mary in her last moments. Nate is astonished at how Mary's condition could have deteriorated when he provided her with enough money to never work again, but learns from the doctors it's a heart condition caused by years of stress from before his career took off, and during her last years he was across the country and rarely spent time with her. Nate tries to tell comfort her by assuring Mary that he's successful and hoping to seek some approval in closure by making her proud, but Mary says she didn't care about all of that and was just happy that he was happy through singing, something Nate knows is a lie. Nate helps her pass by singing a lullaby and hugging her in her last breaths, then leaves the hospital and sings All Alone as he wallows in misery.
Nate wanders around his town, taking in all of the changes that occured when he left and feeling like a stranger in the place he grew up in. After some small misadventures, Nate goes into a bar with the intention to get drunk, only to be surprised when he finds Cathy singing on stage, performing "All Alright". Her voice captivates the audience, including him, and after she finishes her performance, she is greeted by Nate, who initially gets into a conflict with Barry who assumes Nate is going to be an ass, but seeing his horrible state and knowing of what likely happened to Mary, she comforts him and offers to take him home. At his old house, Cathy reveals what happened to Mary, at how her health deteriorated and Cathy often kept her company but Mary never quit til the end because she knew Nate was living his dream and working for her and wanted to see it as long as possible. At this Nate breaks down and reveals how hollow his fame is, how he's miserable and just barely surviving as a prop and music slave for his company and the industry. Cathy comforts him and he asks when she got into music herself, she revealed that she started writing songs and practicing when she lived with Nate in LA, wanting to perform with him but when they brokeup, she quit for a while and then found her own purpose and happiness in performing, and more improtantly how doing music with her friends for strangers who are given comfort by their songs is perhaps its most rewarding.
The two talk and reconcile with Nate admitting to his many previous faults and screwups, feeling he should quit music altogether. Cathy says that while the choice is to make, that before he does so he should see if he's making music for the right reasons, and once he's found them, then only then should he decide to continue or quit. There is some romantic chemistry and a atmosphere for potential reconciliation, but before either make a move and nearly kiss, Nate sees a picture of Cathy and Barry and realizes that Cathy is happy and moved on, probably happier than with him, and decides to stay friends, thanking Cathy for being there for him and wishing her great success. Nate returns to LA, and sees how the glitz and glamour of the city is now dull and depressing in the messy urban jungle obsessed with fame and glory, but when he does seek clarity and light, he finds it with ordinary people living their best lives.
Having made his peace with Cathy and now realizing what he truly wants in life, Nate quits the label and his band, vowing to take back control of his life and start over. The media and entertainment industry think that Nate is being a delusional diva but many of his fans support him and wish him well. At first Nate is set on quitting music entirely and living a simple life, but at an encounter at a bus stop where Nate speaks with a young woman who is a cancer survivor and shares how Nate's songs helped her through her battle and gave her the courage to live. This and other encounters help re-establish Nate's love of music, and when he returns home to his childhome house, now empty, he picks up a guitar and starts writing songs from the heart.
The final scene takes place in a small concert hall, far more modest than his past of glorious venues. Nate is shown to be healthy and vibrant, preparing for a show with a new band who are shown to be good friends and support him. Similar to the opening scene, Nate has a number of conversations with the crowd as he moves to the stage, but instead of vapid business talk, it's genuine and friendly social conversations with fans who appreiciate his new change. Nate gets up on stage and plays Out on the Town, but before he do he dedicates the song to "A special someone whose heart he broke and regrets leaving, but wishes the best and thanks her for showing him the light in those dark nights". He plays the song, and in the final seconds, we see Cathy walking by the hall with her boyfriend. While Nate is unaware of her presence, she sees the new man he's become and gives a silent nod of approval, with them both going their seperate ways as better people because of it.
Principal Cast
Nate Rusfeld (John Travolta)- The main protagonist, Nate is an embodiment not only of struggling rockstars in the music industry on the verge of fame, but anyone who rises high in entertainment in general and often loses sight of what's most important in the pursuit of fame and fortune. Nate's main motivations are his love for Cathy and music, but in choosing to go forward with his music career, he loses both because he uses music as a tool for fame instead of caring for the art.
Cathy Bryant (Carrie Fisher)- Nate's love interest, Cathy is the everywoman and girl next door who loved Nate for who he was and helped his career by giving him the inspiration to write his songs and standing by his side. While the two did love each other, fame caused a rift in their relationship with Nate choosing his career while Cathy placed greater importance on her personal happiness, serving as an example to Nate.
Mary Rusfeld- Nate's mother, a deeply compassionate and maternal figure who loved Nate unconditionally and fought hard to provide for him and support his dream, with her finding comfort in pain over Nate doing what he loves and her mistaken belief in his happiness. Mary is a combination of Gladys Presley and Debbie Reynolds, with hints that she is a single parent and was forced to raise Nate on her own.
Richard Edwards- A sleazy businessman in the vein of Colonel Tom Parker along with some subtle hints of Eddie Fisher, Richard sees Nate as a prop to use for his career and constantly tries to exploit him for the most money, irregardless of Nate's feelings. Richard is a stand-in for the entertainment industry and how artists are often manipulated and placed under control by businessman who turn their work into soulless factories.
A/N: So this is my rough outline of Some Nights as a proper script draft overview of what the plot would be about to give Magoose some sort of plot to work with for any story stuff relating to Some Nights as well as to provide a definitive post for what Carrie's movie is about without having to read a vague and abstract Reddit post. The plot mostly follows the Reddit theory of the Some Nights album with a few major aesthetic changes and new scenes. Perhaps the most major is the absence of the Martyr, but I felt it was necessary as her death from overdose along with Nate's mothers death would probably be too depressing for a 70s musical and wouldn't find accord with audiences. You might notice some difference in quality as I focused hard on the beginning and end, then got fatigued and just poured out the basics in the middle. Magoose is free to pick and choose what he considers Canon or perhaps make the story altogether different, this was just my outline.
