1.
FADE IN:
We're underwater, watching a fat catfish swim along.
This is The Beast.
EDWARD (V.O.)
There are some fish that cannot be caught. It's not that they're faster or stronger than other fish. They're just touched by something extra. Call it luck. Call it grace. One such fish was The Beast.
The Beast's journey takes it past a dangling fish hook, baited with worms. Past a tempting lure, sparkling in the sun. Past a swiping bear claw. The Beast isn't worried.
EDWARD (V.O.) (CONT'D)
By the time I was born, he was already a legend. He'd taken more hundred-dollar lures than any fish in Alabama. Some said that fish was the ghost of Henry Walls, a thief who'd drowned in that river 60 years before.
2INT. WILL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
WILL BLOOM, AGE 3, listens wide-eyed as his father EDWARD BLOOM, 40's and handsome, tells the story. In every gesture, Edward is bigger than life.
EDWARD
I didn't put any stock into such speculation or superstition. All I knew was I'd been trying to catch that fish since I was a boy no bigger than you.
(closer)
And on the day you were born, that was the day I finally caught him.
A few years later, and Will sits with the other Indian Guides as Edward continues telling the story to the tribe.
EDWARD
Now, I'd tried everything on it: worms, lures, peanut butter, peanut butter-and-cheese. But on that day I had a revelation.
Edward points to his wedding band, glinting in the firelight.
LITTLE BRAVE
(confused)
Your finger?
EDWARD
Gold.
4INT. BLOOM FRONT HALL - NIGHT
Edward is chatting up Will's pretty DATE to the homecoming dance. She is enjoying the story, but also the force of Edward's charisma.
EDWARD (CONT'D)
The Beast jumped up and grabbed it before the ring even hit the water. And just as fast, he snapped clean through that line.
WILL
(low but insistent)
Make him stop.
5INT. TINY PARIS RESTAURANT - NIGHT
WILL, now 28, sits with his gorgeous bride JOSEPHINE. This is their wedding reception. They should be joyful, but Will is furious.
EDWARD
Sometimes, the only way to catch an uncatchable woman is to offer her a wedding ring.
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