DRAMA

Tyler watches helplessly as his wife is killed in an earthquake. Unable to cope with sharing their now empty house, Tyler says goodbye to his family and heads for the open road. With just him and his motorcycle he tries to do good in order to forget his pain. Eventually he gets tired of running and sets down roots with a new life full of friends and newfound love.

FAIR

THIRD PERSON

Authors Writing Style: FAIR

Characterization: FAIR

Commerciality: FAIR

Franchise Potential: FAIR

Pace: FAIR

Premise: GOOD

Structure: FAIR

Theme: FAIR

The book profile matches the description of the book, but the new love interest doesn't come along until the last third of the book. Having it be a focus of the main summary doesn't seem to match something that is not a focus in the book. Anna does help Tyler begin to heal, but she is not the focus of the storyline about Tyler healing. She's more like a subplot.

The narrative being about love after death is unusual. The unexpected death and soul searching in a new setting are compelling as most people would seek comfort in familiarity and family. It is like a noble mid-life crisis.

Tyler's emotional growth seems to stem from distractions rather than true healing. His soul being crushed by his wife's loss doesn't seem to affect him much on the road after he leaves his kids so it is unclear how each new location is healing him. By showing how Tyler is emotionally affected in his grief by each encounter, the progression towards healing will feel easier to track.

THE STORY DOES NOT RELY ON SPECIAL EFFECTS

The hook is that a man loses his wife in an earthquake and takes to the open road to find healing. Emotional dramas where men find themselves after lost love are rarer than females rediscovering themselves.

This could have a small to medium fanbase of and older crowd also facing loss in marriage and or mid-life crisis type. It would probably not garner interest in PG-13 or below crowds as the life experiences are not relatable to younger people.

This could have awards potential if the protagonist has more consistent internal conflict with a clear pathway towards healing. Tyler's range of emotions at present once he leaves his kids and grandson are not as dynamic as they could be in order to garner acting accolades.

LOW BUDGET

EAT PRAY LOVE, MOTORCYCLE DIARIES, A DOG'S PURPOSE, CALL OF THE WILD, SAFE HAVEN, ENOUGH SAID

Tyler's solitude and choice to heal by starting anew despite his children is unusual. Making Kayla's justification for her anger more clear would help make Tyler's split from his old life easier to understand. Originally Tyler just couldn't be around the same spaces he used to share with his former wife, but he seems to lose touch with his children in his new life. Making his new life fit more cohesively with his old life and matching his healing goals with real emotional progress would help make his transition seem more realistic.

Tyler is upstanding and resilient. He thinks of others even in the wake of intense grief and depression. That takes a lot of strength to be kind while so sad.

This has potential to be cathartic and rare, but it needs to match the emotional arc with the physical journey. Showing Tyler's emotions rather than him checking in with telling others about his traits will help intertwine the storylines and earn the progression to new relationship better.

Film - Indie, Film - Streaming

WORK IN PROGRESS

While the story has many positive points, it has room for improvement (see possible paths below). If you can't change the story at this point, my suggestion is using your notes as a guide to highlight the best aspects of it when taking the next steps, either putting a pitch page together, a treatment, or a presentation.

Matching the second love story to the inner healing main conflict would help even out the pacing of the two. The emotional work has to be more obvious in the grief healing in order for Anna and Tyler to logically be together. Showing how Tyler is grieving through emotions and memories will help more easily show how he is overcoming the tragedy.