Preface

 

It’s enough having incredible ability yet unlike most naturally talented geniuses Michael Blackmore also possesses an exceptional mind. He has an uncanny knack of knowing precisely what’s needed for any given situation though this tends to apply only when he’s out on a playing field! If one had to say what really epitomises this chap’s character in a sentence it would be that he’s quite brilliant at what most people find so difficult and completely hopeless at the things most people find easy! Needless to say these traits result in a life that is quite literally a crazy roller-coaster ride.

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Affectionately known as Metal Mickey his prowess at cricket quickly leads to him to join Middlesex County Cricket Club but even though he gives a masterful display on his debut, within a week controversy reigns and he is thrown out in no uncertain terms! Banned for two years, hanging around with his mates merely leads him to sink into a life of excessive drinking and drug-taking. By the time his ban is over, two years of neglect have taken its toll. His hand-to-eye coordination all at sea he quickly becomes old news!

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Then with drugs and drink stealing whatever brains he has left, he becomes bitter and as time passes even his best friends, who previously always stuck by him, grow increasingly weary of his irrational behaviour. Things come to a head when Metal Mickey throws a tantrum in his best friend’s flat. He’s told not to return! At that moment he realises he has to get away.

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He decides to trek across USA. After some months off drink and drugs he arrives in Los Angeles. He meets a girl. For him…. it’s love at first sight; for her…. she likes him but intrigue more than anything is what captivates her. She had never been chatted up in such a way. At first she felt sorry for him. He cut a rather lonely, naïve figure and then in the same breath she was taken aback by his incredible self belief. She observes genuine politeness but then razor-sharp brashness. She’s no fool though. She’s busy studying law whilst doing part-time work.

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The father of one of her friends in L.A. owns the Anaheim Angels baseball team. One day they all decide to go to spring training. Metal Mickey picks up a baseball bat and reverts to his old pastime of hitting a ball back and forth against a wall. Hour after hour, day after day he did this for years as a kid, thus acquiring a magical talent to put bat onto ball. Unwittingly as he practices, seasoned pros are looking on in amazement. Before long Metal Mickey is making the sparks fly in the MLB! By the all-star break he is well and truly the hot ticket.

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But fame and Metal Mickey are incompatible. Though he remains conscious of how he screwed up in England, for him, appearing on a chat-show was synonymous to a herd of Wildebeest charging through the Louvre! Bad enough one of his pet hates are chat-show hosts but for any interviewer it wasn’t a case of trying to find the right buttons to press – once MM’s fuse was lit, his inability to keep his big mouth shut would lay everything on a plate. All it would take was 30 minutes of him on tilt and suddenly half of America would be up in arms.

 

TO VIEW –

GMMuk Screenplay

 

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