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Inline
A film by Rhonda Buckley
Lee, an inline skater, loses fame when his girlfriend leaves him with their baby son. Spurred on by his mother’s anger, he trains the son of a CEO to make money, and there he learns to fight for the family he already has.
Lee is living the dream. He’s an inline skater, an influencer, and he's hot. His sponsor, Powerslide, decks him out to look like a star and he has it made, driving a fancy car through his run-down neighbourhood.
Lee buries the horror of the first time he got behind the wheel. His dad, too drunk to drive, said, “You take the wheel tonight son and get your father home like a good lad.” He was 11, just tall enough to reach the pedal. The shoulder of the road was soft on the ride home and Lee slid into the guardrail. His father was dead on impact. When the police came to the driver's window, they saw Lee behind the wheel.
His mother, Janet, never got over it. And try as she might, she did blame Lee. She lost the love of her life, and knowing Lee’s father was good for nothing, didn’t repair her broken heart. When she saw Lee, she couldn’t get past it or even pretend to. All she had for Lee was scathing hate. And it didn’t help to see Lee move on.
Lee buried it all and by 12 all he did was skate. The more he fell and hit the ground, the more pain he felt, and the more alive he became. By 18 he was signed and sponsored, and he paid for his fed-up mother to live in a good house.
He travelled, was famous, and was the pride of the town even in their fall parade. That’s how he hooked up with Dianne, drop-dead gorgeous, and going nowhere without Lee. He gave her everything, and she gave him a son. He thought this was it. Despite loving speed and extreme risk, he would get a chance to have a real family and he was only 22. Then Lee woke up one morning to see the back of Dianne walk down the steps and he knew she was gone.
His mother’s anger was inflamed, and Lee had to grovel his way back into her life and the home he helped pay for to get her help. He needed her to raise Brody, whether she hated him or not. Janet took Brody in and became the mother she never knew she could be. Brody in contrast to Lee, could do nothing wrong. Lee stayed cautious, as he had seen his mom turn on a dime before. But he needed to make money.
Lee knew that getting his fame back would be a struggle. Then the call came in from the CEO Hatfield of Powerslide. “I know it’s my business, Lee, and you’re our talent. But I wanted better for my son, Tyler. Now he’s a little shit like the rest of you grovelling for fame. Will you teach him, before he cracks his skull open trying?” “It can’t be taught, Lee replies. You have to want it.” He’s got some moves. I will pay you what you made on tour, Hatfield bribes.
Lee knows this is not why you skate. You don’t make rich kids great. And now he would be known as the guy who plays the corporate side. Hatfield plays on Lee’s, young father's desperation, “Your son needs this”.
Lee almost moves in with the Hatfield’s, he coaches Tyler 24/7 and he’s not bad. He could do it. Lee starts to feel good about himself. He finishes early one day and forgets his phone at the Hatfield’s. As he returns, he sees Tyler being pushed up against the wall by his father, Lee’s boss, and the owner of Powerslide. Lee hears through the 4-car garage, “You good for nothing piece of shit, you will not embarrass me, you hear.” Lee can see him almost shake his teen boy unconscious. He starts to leap to help the kid and then Lee stops himself, he grabs his phone on the ledge and hurries to his car.
Lee returns home to his mother Janet, and his son Brody. He walks in to see Brody laughing and his mother singing Itsy Bitsy Spider, as she feeds him ice cream on an airplane spoon.” How was work, Janet asks, seemingly forgetting her hatred. Good, good, he says quietly. What time do you go back in the morning? He pauses -- early.
InLine, a feature drama, shows that families are not always what they appear. The lengths families will go through to protect each other is what matters and to show love for the first time takes courage. Life is raw and pain is deep, that’s family and it’s worth it.
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