Projects in development

A Couple of Rules

SYNOPSIS

A Couple of Rules is a character study set in contemporary Melbourne, employing the romantic comedy form.

Julian and Denise, both in their mid-20s, are next-door neighbours in a block of flats, and best friends. Despite some superficial differences - she is an office worker and orderly, while he is a self-employed musician and messy - they relate to each other in an easy, open and honest way. They have decided, however, to not get romantically involved with each other, and, to ensure this, have two rules in place: that they never see each other past midnight, and that they never kiss.

After hanging out with her on New Year's Eve (till midnight), Julian leaves Denise and goes to a party, where he ends up sleeping with a girl named Susie. The encounter doesn't inspire him, however - he is not interested in seeing her again. Some days later, Denise, determined to "loosen up" a bit, gets drunk and sleeps with a guy called Simon, but she finds the experience embarrassing. Julian and Denise commiserate with each other over these experiences, further building the bond between them, but also reinforcing their plan to remain just friends.

Denise starts eyeing a fellow office worker, Andrew, and Julian meets a fellow musician and singer, Rochelle. Eventually, these (obvious, logical) matchings pay off, as Denise and Andrew, and also Julian and Rochelle, become couples. At the same time, the friendship between Julian and Denise remains intact and productive.

With time, however, Denise realises that her relationship with Andrew is too limiting for her, that he is too straight and narrow for her. Julian comes to a similar recognition regarding Rochelle, that she is too loose for him.

And so Julian and Denise suddenly realise that they complement each other beautifully, so they decide to break their self-imposed rule of not getting involved with each other.

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