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The death of pop music icon Davy Jones compels a woman to take a road trip to reclaim her record album collection from the three great loves of her life and in the process confront and conquer the insecurities of her past.
SYNOPSIS:
On the morning of The Monkee's singer and pop icon Davy Jones' death, Meg is compelled to confront the state of her life while examining the empty holes in her record collection. "I need to reclaim. My influences. The past. Everything that meant something. At the height of my record collection, I had twelve hundred and thirty-seven albums. I now own three hundred and seventy six."
Meg's British best friend Zooey - a woman whose style sense nicely combines that of the Sex Pistols and the Royal family - is non-plussed. "What happened to the rest?"
"They are split between three places. Austin, New Orleans and Nashville."
"That’s strange. You’ve lived in each of those cities. With men...Is this what it’s all about? Your failures in love?"
"I haven’t failed," proclaims Meg as she sets in motion her plan for a road trip of personal reclamation. "I feel victorious. But I also feel like much of my formative identity is missing." "
Your old record albums?"
"My history. My influences."
And that is how Meg, Zooey and Meg's 13 year old daughter Rory find themselves in a classic American convertible, hurtling down the highway from Los Angelesto Austin, Texas with a girl band version of "Born To Be Wild" growling from the car stereo speakers. Austin is the home of Leonardo. Rory's father - a self-centered Italian artist who lives his life asla dolce vitaas possible. He abandoned Meg and Rory when Rory was born and has never met her. Leonardo is intrigued by Meg's "grail quest" and is happy to return the record albums that he has so pristinely stored away since the end of their relationship. On one condition: They must all have dinner together.
"It will be wonderful. I’ll cook something yummy from the Godfather movies for a sense of family."
Keeping in the spirit, Meg can only reply, "Hopefully, nobody will get whacked."
Meg, Zooey and Rory sit down at the outdoor table in Leonardo's backyard with him and his young wife, Katrina. The evening begins tensely as Rory informs Leonardo upon their introduction, "I hate you for what you did to my mom and me." Anger and recriminations follow, while Zooey and Katrina do the only sensible thing they can: Make pitchers of margaritas. When Rory storms out of the house, Meg is forced to have one of those painfully adult mother-daughter moments.
"I can’t believe I’m actually going to say this - because, in the long run, it might not actually be a bad thing to get to know your father."
"Why do I have to do all the work? He’s never tried to get to know me."
"Let this be the first of many lessons to you: Women are far superior to men. That is why we do what is hard and ultimately right." Faced with that logic, Rory has to do the right thing. Dinner finds Leonardo to be an excellent cook and Katrina the drunken victim of Zooey's bartending skills. The evening comes to an abrupt end when Rory asks her father if she has to cut her palm and take a mafioso blood oath to honor the family, while Katrina spectacularly demonstrates the digestive danger of simultaneously imbibing copious amounts of tequila, red wine and Italian food. The next morning, Leonardo's portion of Meg's record collection is loaded into the trunk of the convertible while he and Rory make a moment of peace. "I’ve loved meeting you, Rory."
"You’re not as bad as I imagined you to be. Or wanted you to be," she answers reluctantly.
"Praise like that, maybe we can do this again sometime."
"Maybe. You got skype?"
"I’m a renaissance man. Of course I do. Facebook too!"
"I will not friend you. But I’ll see you out there."
They leave Leonardo there, with hope of a future relationship with his daughter, the convertible roaring off with a Dean Martin song blasting loudly from it.
Next stop: New Orleans. Meg and Rory discover newfound, mother-daughter symmetry over a table covered with boiled crawfish and Zooey discovers New Orleans joyously lax rules of intoxication. And with an old wing-woman, Leigh Crawford, at her side, Meg makes a play for the second batch of her missing record albums. Jake, her ex in New Orleans, is an attorney who got sober after Meg left him to head to Nashville. He is not exactly thrilled to have her suddenly appear on his door step. Or on the court house steps as he is about to try a case.
While Meg makes her own case about her record albums, Zooey and Rory discover the joys of a New Orleans oyster bar. Rory discovers she has an affinity for raw oysters while Zooey discovers that she has an affinity for Ricky Boudroux, the handsome barman plying her with champagne and oysters. In fact, Zooey's newfound interest in Ricky is so profound, Rory is left on her own to explore the French Quarter while Ricky teaches Zooey the nuances of oyster shucking and day drinking.
Jake drops a hard hammer on Meg's reclamation of her past when he reminds her that Hurricane Katrina spared nothing when she tore New Orleans apart. Including Meg's record albums. Ashamed at the simple, apparent pretentiousness of her quest in the face of real life tragedy, all Meg can do is slink away. Until Leigh sets her straight, reminding her that Jake lives in the Garden District and there was no flooding in the Garden District. Another surprise visit to Jake's - with Leigh in tow enjoying the whole outing deliriously - reveals the truth. Jake was lying.
"I have officially been pissed off at you longer than I loved you, Meg."
"Life is supposed to move on, Jake. Like the river."
"I am not a goddamn river! I didn’t choose not to be with you, Meg! I had no choice!"
Jake's outburst sucks the fight out of him and he reveals Meg's albums, safely stashed in the attic. "Just as well that you take your stuff, Meg. Then every shred of your existence will be gone from this place."
The journey from New Orleans to Nashville is instantly complicated by Zooey and Ricky's newfound love affair. He is joining the road trip because, as Zooey proudly states, "The point is: My life - my love life - runs very light on reality. And though I’ve only known Ricky for the course of a lovely day, he feels...real." Done deal. Zooey ensconced in the back seat with Ricky as Meg points the car toward Nashville. They are in search of Waylon, the last of Meg's great loves. Meg and Rory lived with him and his mother, Nanie - a grandmother of epic proportions - until Rory was four. It is Nanie that greets them on the front porch, the barrel of her shotgun leading the way. "I never forget a face. And I never thought I would see yours again, Meg."
Nanie is a Nashville kingpin. Her empire includes moonshine, country hams and crystal meth. Unfortunately, Waylon had to "take one for the team," which is why he is currently serving four years in the county jail. His first thought upon seeing Meg in the visitor room is that hell has frozen over. But once she explains the potent inspiration of Davy Jones' death and her quest, Waylon's big heart comes shining through. First he sings her a drop-dead gorgeous version of The Monkees' "I'm A Believer," then he sends her to see a man in a record store. The man turns out to be rock and roll star Jack White and he owns the record store; Nashville landmark Third Man Records. Jack is not at all surprised to see Meg. "Waylon said you would come some day. Like Elijah. Or Robert Johnson. A ghost, a prophet, a guitar player."
Jack whips a White Stripes' flag off a pile of boxes, revealing Meg's carefully stored record albums. The final 231 of them.
"You lead a charmed life, Meg."
"I know. It’s a miracle really. All three of my former loves held on and took care of my record albums."
"Or maybe they cherished them in your absence. In your place."
The road has been long and eventful. Meg got what she was searching for and then some. "I'm done making decisions, that's why you're driving," she says to Ricky, tossing him the keys. The convertible heads back for LA; an amped up girl band version of "I'm A Believer" bellowing the way.