Immediately, right from its subject matter and one of its characters’ names, Casper, “A Brand New Day” begins to channel “Kids.”
The opening scene nicely introduces the characters, especially aforementioned 19-year-old Casper and his 16-year-old girlfriend, Melissa. Casper comes off as a spirited guy and manages to upset Stephanie, who doesn’t trust him.
While the scene is fun, it may be hard for the audience to buy that Stephanie would threaten Casper by picking up the phone and calling her gangster friends, instead of just mouthing back to him and putting him in his place.
The subject of Casper wanting sex with Melissa is a tense and engaging one. She clearly is under his spell. Nevertheless, the revelation of their previous attempt at sex months earlier, and the ensuing abortion comes off a little casually.
Also, when we meet Melissa’s parents, Stacy and Jason, they won’t strike the audience as the kind of people who would pay for an abortion and still allow their daughter to see a guy like Casper.
Their brief argument on p.8 about god’s existence feels awkward, considering it comes right after their daughter gets arrested for theft and possession. It seems they would have more pressing issues to discuss.
Casper owns the coke and, in general, is made to look like a pretty bad guy. His violent shove of Melissa raises even more questions about his character, and about Melissa who stays with him.
It’s a little unrealistic for Casper to drop his cocaine in Melissa’s purse as if he was expecting the police to show up so she would get framed. A stronger reason is needed for this.
Nevertheless, this is not a bad opening, and it nicely sets up Melissa’s story.
PP
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