SYNOPSIS:

The symbolical gameplay of The Seventh Seal meets the dramatic flashbacks of The Usual Suspects. Two successful, early-30s, college friends, VINCENT and PHILIP, share a competitive game of racquetball. After the game, Vincent drives home to pick up his wife, MAGGIE, for dinner. Along the way, another car runs a red light and slams into his driver's side, leaving Vincent paralyzed from the waist down. A year later, Vincent and Philip meet for drinks in a bar. Vincent is in a wheelchair and Maggie is dead, apparently killed during a botched home burglary. The two friends play a card game called Vita which combines the random chance of the game War with the players' own decisions about how to play their hands. As they play, they discuss the events of the past year. In a series of flashbacks, Vincent struggles to recover after the accident. He grows frustrated with his inability to perform routine tasks or enjoy old pleasures. He and Philip attend their alma mater's football game, but Vincent misses the final play when the crowd in front of him stands and blocks his view. He shows little progress in his physical therapy and eventually quits. His indifferent attitude drives Maggie away and she begins an affair with Philip behind his back. Back in the bar, Philip holds the early edge in the game of Vita. Vincent and Philip continue to rehash the past year as Philip guards his secret affair with Maggie. Vincent grapples with the loss of control he experienced following the car accident and Maggie's betrayal, recognizing the powerlessness and meaningless he believes pervades all human life. Why do so many citizens in democratic nations refuse to vote? he wonders. How can one dictator arise to control a population of millions against their will? Humans don't really want control or responsibility in their own lives, he decides. They want to cede their freedom to anyone who can offer them some direction or meaning. In a final flashback, a thoroughly depressed Vincent tells Philip he knows Maggie is sleeping with another man. Philip later insists to Maggie that they end their affair. Maggie calls Philip a coward and threatens to tell Vincent. She begins to strike Philip in anger, and Philip somewhat inadvertently stabs and kills Maggie while trying to defend himself. As the conversation winds down in the bar, Philip loses Vita on a sudden twist of the cards. The two men part ways. Vincent leaves first and breaks into the rear seat of Philip's car to wait for him. As Philip gets in, a quick series of flashbacks reveals Vincent knew about Philip's affair with Maggie all along and manipulated Philip into killing her. Vincent kills Philip and escapes to a Caribbean island where he can live out the remainder of his days in ignorant bliss.

VITA