After nearly starting a fist-fight over the last available rental car, he hatches a scheme to share it with three strangers—Randall, a distrusting hothead, his friend Kurt, a loveable but slightly naïve sap, and their mutual friend Lars, a cool wisecracker with a prosthetic arm. The four men set off for the city of Austin, where they all live. As the miles unfold, Brantley slowly opens up about with his struggles with mental instability and panic attacks while also learning about his fellow travelers. Randall is barred from driving because of a road rage incident – and seems to harbor a burdensome secret. Kurt longs to marry his girlfriend, who lives in New York City, but can’t convince her to move to Austin. Lars carries the embarrassing story of how he lost his arm deep within, refusing to let it out. The three of them have started a cleaning business together, calling themselves “The Tidy Triplets.”

Despite the trio’s attempts to help Brantley enjoy the trip, he continues to wrestle with overwhelming dread, especially of his father-in-law, who’s been helping him and Welma pay their mortgage—on the condition that Brantley maintains steady employment. 

On their second night on the road, they stop at a steakhouse for dinner. After finishing their meal, Lars learns their waitress is recovering from a breakup and dances with her to cheer her up. When she inquires about his prosthetic arm, he shrugs it off as always, saying it’s embarrassing. She compares it to the reason for her breakup and points out that she was willing to divulge her embarrassment. This gets him thinking.

Meanwhile, in the parking lot outside, the pressure bearing down on Brantley comes to a head when he finally admits his firing to Welma over the phone, then asks her to lie to his father-in-law until he can get another job. They fight, causing him to experience a panic attack. The trio help him snap out of it. Back on the road, Brantley tells them about asking his wife to lie for him. All three offer encouragement, sharing their past struggles with women. Lars, having been convinced by the waitress’s logic, chooses that moment to open up about how he lost his arm.

While stopped for breakfast the next morning, Randall reveals that Kurt’s girlfriend tried to seduce him when they were visiting her three days prior. Kurt is shaken to the core and disappears from the car. Brantley finds him and convinces him to press on in the face of despair. Upon returning to the car, Lars reads a news article revealing that the terrorist attack was merely an accident caused by a sneezing fit.

They make it to Austin and drop Brantley off at his house, bidding him a warm goodbye. He goes in and reconciles with Welma. The trio, still in the car outside, decide to hire Brantley on for their cleaning business. They go in to share the good news and leave the couple with hope for a brighter tomorrow.

RAY ELLINGSEN

Producer

Ray Ellingsen began his film career in 1987 as a writer. He has since gone on to pursue numerous aspects of filmmaking, from directing and producing, to supervising post production of feature films, documentaries, and commercials. In 1999, Ellingsen helped form the motion picture entertainment company, Ugly Old Bird Productions, which produced multiple film and video projects during its five years of doing business.

Ellingsen moved to Arizona in 2005 to manage the largest motion picture film studio in the state of Arizona, Hollywood-Phoenix Film Studios. Within a year, Ellingsen brought in three feature films, numerous commercials, as well as a television series for the studio to produce. Ellingsen left the studio and moved back to Los Angeles to further his filmmaking career.

To date, Ellingsen has written and directed two documentaries and a feature film, along with a multitude of commercial, instructional and industrial projects. He has also produced nine feature films and over 30 video and commercial projects, with two feature films currently in development.