LEAVING HAZARD

*WINNER, BEST DRAMA SCREENPLAY, 2009 CINEMA CITY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL We open on Ricky Michaels, 7, and his mother, Helen, 25, driving from New Jersey to the small town of Hazard, Nebraska. They move in right next door to Helen’s sister, Emma, and her husband, Bob. Across the street, two elderly ladies look on. They comment that Helen was raped and that Ricky is the bastard child of the rapist. They mention that the boy is troubled. They clearly do not approve. We see that Ricky constantly gets into trouble at school, and he often flees to the river. One night, he walks in and finds his mother and Bob in bed together. In a panic he slams the door, knocking over a candle, and runs to the river. A fire starts in the house and Helen and Bob both die in the fire. The old lady across the street tells the sheriff that the boy started it. The sheriff takes him to the station where he questions and terrorizes him, before returning him to Emma. Eleven years later, Ricky, now 18, is failing his classes. His guidance counselor signs him up for peer tutoring, and he meets Mary Fielding in the library after school. She is very warm and supportive. Mary tutors Ricky by the river and helps him graduate. In the process, the two fall in love. This doesn’t go over too well with Mary’s ex-boyfriend, Kyle. Mary’s parents also disapprove of Mary’s behavior and forbid her from seeing Ricky again. We see that Ricky still has nightmares about the fire eleven years ago and he and Emma are estranged. She had to raise him after his mother died, and now drinks a lot. Mary continues to sneak over to the river to meet with Ricky, who now lives in a trailer. One night, the sheriff follows Mary and takes pictures of her and Ricky together by the river. The following night, a storm forces the couple to take shelter in Ricky's trailer, where the two sleep together. Later, when the rain stops, Ricky walks Mary to the river, where they part. The following morning, Ricky is arrested for the murder of Mary Fielding. She never made it home the night before. The entire town is outside his trailer yelling at him. At the station, the sheriff continues to harass him and is convinced that Ricky did this. Meanwhile, the entire town is out by the river searching for Mary, including her father and Kyle. Back at the station, Ricky asks for a lawyer. After meeting with a public defender and taking a polygraph, Ricky is released. Still convinced he’s guilty, the entire town blacklists him. He loses his job, his trailer is vandalized, and even the grocery store, owned by Mary’s family, refuses to sell him anything. Ricky finally turns to Emma who offers to leave him a bag of leftovers outside the diner, where she works, after closing. When Mary’s body is found in the river, Ricky gets into a fight with a few of Kyle’s friends. That night the sheriff shows up to arrest Ricky again, but Ricky grabs his gun and holds him at knifepoint as he makes his way past the deputies. After this incident, the sheriff goes berserk, including burning down Ricky's trailer and beating him up. When Ricky is arrested a second time, he attacks his public defender, luring the deputy into his cell. He tackles the deputy and escapes, locking him in the cell. Ricky starts to piece together what happened. When he sees a cinder block outside his bedroom window, he remembers Mary saying her father would freak out if he knew about them. After breaking into the Fielding home, and with the unlikely help of Kyle and Mrs. Fielding, Ricky discovers that Mary’s father is the killer. He confronts Mr. Fielding and a fight ensues. Mrs. Fielding goes to the sheriff with her doubts about her husband. The sheriff has also discovered evidence against him and they go to see him. Mr. Fielding is about to shoot Ricky when they arrive. They tell him they know he did it, and he admits it, but it was an accident and he still wants to pin it on the boy. The sheriff says they can’t, and Mr. Fielding is arrested. The sheriff feels partly responsible, because he showed Mr. Fielding the pictures he took of the young couple by the river. Still, Ricky is an outcast in the community, and the sheriff threatens to charge him with several counts of assault and resisting arrest. Just then, a deputy shows up with a detective from Internal Affairs and the Sheriff is taken into custody for his handling of the case. Ricky stops by the river one last time, says goodbye to Emma, and visits Mary’s grave, before finally leaving Hazard.