His dad's dented car once led to a family tragedy. Now Peter Smith's well on his way to making it an EV sensation. Until trauma catches up.

SYNOPSIS:

1974, Flint, Michigan. Late at night, a blizzard-blown winter storm submerges a working-class neighborhood. In the driveway of a modest house, a 1961 Oldsmobile Starfire. The blue car is trapped within four feet of snow. A young mulatto adult, Andrew Smith, accidentally hits the car hood with his shovel. Moments later, late-30s white man Miles Smith punches Andrew in the face. Inside, mid-30s black woman Martha Smith storms into Peter Smith's room. She beats the 9-year-old boy with a coat hanger for stuttering. Later that same night, Miles kills himself with a gun while Peter tries to stop him.

2008. The Deal n’ GO GO! used car dealership. In its body shop, 44-year-old buzz-cut Peter wakes up from a dream. In it, statuesque Asian-American Bonnie Ming, his day-job boss in Detroit, was a 1966 “Black-Tight Killer.” Raging Peter throws into the air a metal chair he stumbled over. The chair bounces off the Starfire hood. The resulting dent brings over two frowning men: 54-year-old Andrew and mid-70s Ernie Smith. In Peter’s 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle, Andrew gives Peter an ultimatum: Stop his raging episodes or get booted.

Meanwhile, in her Detroit penthouse, towel-wrapped Bonnie gets scolded in Cantonese by her mom. The petite, perfect Mrs. Ming deplores that Bonnie gained weight. She also pretends that Bonnie has never been a fighter, therefore could never be CEO. Bonnie pressures her mom to tell her what a fighter is. Mrs. Ming finally says, “A fighter goes to war. With a plan to win.” On his way to work, Peter gets into a road rage fight with the driver of a 1990 Chrysler Imperial. The Imperial driver, a young black man with dreadlocks, is left for dead on the pavement. Peter has a bloody cut over his cheek. He duct-tapes his rear-end license plate and flees the scene. Another motorist rushes over and starts pumping the Imperial driver’s chest.

The “USMotors” skyscraper in downtown Detroit. In its boardroom, CEO Don Russel makes Chief Financial Officer Bonnie an offer she can’t refuse: Get Chief Innovation Officer Peter Smith to deliver a single-Electric Vehicle (EV) model re-brand at the Detroit Auto Show (DAS), and she'll become CEO. Bonnie storms into Peter’s office. She gets Peter’s signature on a contract: Develop and make a soft launch of the Starfire EV at the Deal’n GO GO! but only if he stops stuttering in time for the Detroit Auto Show. Peter notices Bonnie’s curiosity for his brother when a pic of Andrew flies out of his journal. During their USMotors online meeting, Bonnie frustrates and humiliates Peter by taking over while he’s stuttering.

The USMotors Toastmasters meeting. Peter’s stutter-free eloquence impresses the early attendees. Among them is black mid-40s Angela Brown. But Bonnie gets in and Peter starts stuttering again. It gets even worse when Bonnie looks at her shoes in a mirror. She does it the same way Martha Smith used to do it. During the coffee break, Angela nails the root cause of Peter’s Bonnie-specific stuttering: Unresolved childhood trauma. Peter gets a call from Andrew about Ernie’s passing. Later on, Andrew drives his 1972 gold-glow Ford Mustang Mach 1 near a trail cliff in High Banks, Michigan. In cries and sipping Beefeater, Andrew revves his engine loudly. He misses his hunting trips with Miles.

At Grosse Pointe’s Lakeshore Drive, where his dad used to take him for their “Sunday rides,” Peter has a vision: Make the recycled Starfire a mid-size EV. Back at the Deal’n GO GO! Peter strikes a deal with Andrew to make a grand re-opening of the dealership with his mid-size Starfire EV. The price of that deal is bringing powerful Bonnie to her knees for this dual benefit for Andrew: Enjoy the best possible sex while making her spare the city of Flint from her layoffs.

One month later, it’s the grand re-opening of the family dealership as “Deal’n Drive.” It’s also the soft launch of Peter’s USMotors mid-size Starfire EV. Miles’ old Starfire is now a chubby blue mid-size EV on display ramps. It’s under siege by families and reporters. The lot is equally flooded with people around nine other chubby Starfire EVs. Bonnie joins Andrew and Peter on the lot. She yawns her mouth wide open and criticizes everything. Andrew is pissed. Inside the auto body shop, Bonnie jaw-drops at the automated restoration of an old Starfire into a mid-size EV. She and Andrew have sex and come out of the body shop holding hands. Peter looks at them with envy.

Peter gives black TV reporter Mary Toppler a live tour of the lot. At the body shop door, Mary waits for Peter to cut short his ever-stuttering intro. Bonnie then unknowingly triggers Peter saying, “How come you stutter so much?” In a violent rage, Peter knocks the cameraman down, then throws his camera into the dealership office window. Everybody runs away from the scene. Peter is arrested and taken into custody. At the police station, Andrew hands Peter a spiral-bound sketch pad. Once freed, Peter hands it back to Andrew. Peter leaves in the black chubby Starfire EV, having lost his USMotors job, his Deal’n Drive life, and his dad’s chubby Starfire EV. Bonnie and Andrew both nod at Peter’s drawing of the dealership sign reading, “Starfire - Drive a Dream.” Bonnie and Andrew kiss passionately.

At the Denny’s, Angela advises Peter to go out on a trauma-closure journey with his mom. She also shares a technique to help him defuse a stuttering episode.

The next day, Peter visits his 69-year-old mom at the nursing home. He takes her out for a coffee run at the nearest drive-thru. Martha yells or swings her purse at Peter for his bad driving, among other things. At the drive-thru, Peter has to drop the finger-burning cup over a cup holder, spouting up a boiling drip into his eye. The ride gets scary when Peter's rage triggers another motorist’s rage. The black chubby Starfire gets sideswiped by a painter’s van. It then loudly drifts to a stop in the middle of heavy traffic. Peter pulls the black Starfire EV onto the shoulder. Both he and Martha get out, in shock.

Peter starts pounding his stomach when he sees a concrete truck deviate from traffic. Peter sprints for Martha leaning against the back of the car. He tackles her away from it. The truck rear-ends the black Starfire EV. Peter lands on his back holding his mom. The truck squashes to pieces the black Starfire EV. Once back at the nursing home, Peter admits to her mom, stuttering, that he messed up his life. Martha struts back to him and warmly replies, “But. You’ve saved me!” Without stuttering, Peter finally tells Martha his 1973 “two-two-two” funny story, and she laughs. Peter exits the nursing home as a new man.

At the Deal'n Drive dealership, Bonnie discovers a video showing Andrew agreeing with Peter’s plan: Make Bonnie fall for Andrew so he can enjoy great sex and make her spare the city of Flint from her layoffs. Bonnie walks out on Andrew and blocks him on her phone. Andrew is trying to drown his pain in booze and drugs as Peter walks in. Andrew screeches away in his Mach 1 with a bottle of Beefeater. Peter speeds off in a white chubby Starfire EV ducking the bullets of the Imperial driver. Peter later decides to pull over the shoulder and face the Imperial driver. He manages to convince Charles, the Imperial driver, to come with him to the Detroit Auto Show.

There, Peter introduces his rage-sober buddy Charles to Bonnie, Don, and the crowd. Doing so allows Peter to un-breach but also honor his contract for solving his speech disorder in time for the DAS. Taking center stage, Peter explains the “dream” powering the Starfire project: Helping save the planet while fixing his dad’s car. He invites Charles to pick one Starfire EV for himself. Back at the Starfire dealership, Peter gets the visit of two policemen: Andrew intently drowned to his death in his Mach 1 in Lake Huron. Peter and Bonnie attend Andrew’s funeral, then comfort each other over coffee. They kiss and fall in love with each other.

Nine years later, Peter, Bonnie, and their son Peter Jr. get ready for Christmas Eve. 53-year-old Peter asks Jr. to get him some beer in the garage. Jr. accidentally drops the 2-4 over the hood of the original Starfire EV. Peter comes over, sees the big dent, and freezes in rage. He waves "Don't worry" at Jr. before kicking to pieces the driver's window. Peter's about to be taken away by police when someone taps the hood, making the car stop. It's Bonnie, who decides to drop the charges against Peter. Jr. convinced his mom to do it. "Thank you," says Peter in an emotional cuddle.

STARFIRE