Ángel (pronounced – AHN-HEL)
A Story Outline (04/11/03)
OPENING SEQUENCE are credits and voice overs of a release hearing, which are then followed by ÁNGEL getting inside of VAN leaving lockup facility.
X X X
ÁNGEL is released from juvenile prison and enters high school. He is 13.
ÁNGEL learns that his mother, ROSEMARY, smokes crack cocaine; however, he is determined to stay in school and reform. After seeing a girl he likes, RAQUEL, who is a debater, he decides to join the speech and debate team to woo her.
After winning the heart of RAQUEL, ÁNGEL creates his nemesis, EDDIE NEWMAN.
ÁNGEL is very successful in speech and debate, but, at the same time, his mother is dying from her crack addiction. ÁNGEL still maintains his composure and keeps fighting to change.
X X X
ÁNGEL is introduced to RAQUEL's parents only to find that they reject him because of his background. Conflict is started between ÁNGEL and RAQUEL's parents, but in the midst of all this, ÁNGEL and RAQUEL make a pledge to marry each other after they finish college. ÁNGEL takes RAQUEL to his part of town, and she sees the horrible struggle that he faces on a daily basis. She also meets his mother, whom she feels sorry for. It is at this moment that RAQUEL truly bonds with ÁNGEL because she understands his struggle to stay positive.
X X X
ÁNGEL and RAQUEL go to their national speech and debate tournament. After winning two national awards for debate and speech, ÁNGEL calls his mother to tell her the good news. Instead of telling he’s done good job, she tells him that she needs money to buy cocaine from JACOB.
X X X
ÁNGEL returns home with RAQUEL and finds his mother dead in the house; he calls the police and reports the death. When the police arrive they really do not provide any help. After the police leave, ÁNGEL leaves his mother's house in fury.
ÁNGEL goes to the house of JACOB, the Mexican drug dealer, who sold his mother the bad crack. ÁNGEL beats Jacob into unconsciousness before being pulled off of him by RAQUEL who followed him there with the police.
X X X
ÁNGEL is charged with aggravated battery, assault, and attempted murder.
3 MONTHS LATER
ÁNGEL accepts a plea bargain of 25 years in prison with the possibility of parole.
X X X
The next day, ÁNGEL is given a special visitation session with RAQUEL.
During the visitation, ÁNGEL and RAQUEL make a pact to never leave each other.
X X X
ÁNGEL is committed to adult prison and becomes a model prisoner. He continues to deal with the loss of his mother. However, the only things that keep him sane are the letters from his girlfriend that promise hope and a future.
2 YEARS HAVE ELAPSED
RAQUEL is caught reading a letter from ÁNGEL. Her mother (MRS. TIMMERMAN) and father (MR. TIMMERMAN) force her to end correspondence with ÁNGEL.
X X X
ÁNGEL wonders why his correspondence from his girlfriend has stopped. After a period of about 3 MONTHS, he enters a state of depression as he concludes that RAQUEL does not want him anymore.
ÁNGEL attempts to commit suicide, but he’s found just before he dies. He is rushed to the hospital where his life flashes before his eyes. He is on life support, and during his hospital stay, he is committed to the state mental hospital to finish the remainder of his sentence.
X X X
RAQUEL attempts suicide after she reads fake report from her father that ÁNGEL died in prison.
X X X
ÁNGEL has dream marrying RAQUEL and begins his road to recovery.
X X X
RAQUEL forgets about ÁNGEL and pursues new life after her suicide attempt.
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THE FOLLOWING SECTION OF THE FILM WILL BE EXPEDITED FOR VIEWING PURPOSES. THESE WILL BE SHOTS OF ÁNGEL AND RAQUEL AGING THROUGH THEIR TEENAGE YEARS.
Scene shot of ÁNGEL getting released from state hospital
Scene shot of RAQUEL getting released from hospital
Scene shot of ÁNGEL performing in front of clients
Scene shot of RAQUEL performing in school play
AGES OF CHARACTERS SHOULD NOW BE 18
Scene shot of RAQUEL graduating from high school
Scene shot of ÁNGEL receiving GED
Scene shot of RAQUEL receiving college degree
Scene shot of ÁNGEL receiving college degree
AGES OF CHARACTERS SHOULD NOW BE 27
ÁNGEL is before a review board and who is discussing ÁNGEL's progress in the institution, and his possible release.
X X X
RAQUEL is planning to get married to EDDIE NEWMAN.
X X X
ÁNGEL has a surprise release party in the hospital He looks up at the sky and sees a shooting star and thinks about RAQUEL
X X X
RAQUEL is at Bachelor party. She steps outside and sees a shooting star and mourns the loss of ÁNGEL.
X X X
ÁNGEL is released and arrives at boarding home.
X X X
RAQUEL is in attic looking for baby pictures when she stumbles upon an old shoe box containing letters from ÁNGEL.
RAQUEL opens the letters and reads them and also finds the letter in which he sent a picture. She looks a bit surprised because she had never seen these letters before. She notices the letters are dated a year after ÁNGEL’s death.
RAQUEL storms from the attic in a fury and attempts to fight her mother and father but is restrained by EDDIE. RAQUEL falls to the floor in tears and is comforted by her parents and EDDIE. They explain to her why they lied about ÁNGEL’S death.
X X X
ÁNGEL is coming home from work at night when he hears a person crying for help.
He turns and sees a man being beaten and robbed by two men. He rushes to help and quickly disposes of the two muggers. As the light from the street lamp slowly revealed the face of the man, ÁNGEL recognized him as JACOB. ÁNGEL attempts to walk away and leave JACOB for dead; however, JACOB grabs his leg and pleads with him to save his life. ÁNGEL picks him up and carries him to a hospital.
In the emergency room JACOB tells his mother about an angel that saved him. He goes to sleep saying over and over “The Angel of Death now ascends; he is the Angel of Life”.
X X X
3 WEEKS LATER
RAQUEL is walking downtown during her lunch break and sees JACOB.
JACOB runs over to her and tells her that her angel is still alive. He says, "The Angel of Death that you once loved is The Angel of life!" He gives her a piece of ÁNGEL's shirt that he tore off during his struggle with him, to prove he is alive. Before he leaves, he says, “I am sorry for taking your angel away.”
X X X
After work RAQUEL goes to the lake at her old school, where she and ÁNGEL practiced speech and debate. She decides she cannot go through with the marriage and that she is going to move to another city to start a new life, so she can get away from her pain.
X X X
On RAQUEL’S wedding day, she tells her entire family and EDDIE that she cannot go through with this marriage. She also tells them she is moving away to another city to deal with the loss of ÁNGEL.
X X X
1 WEEK LATER
ÁNGEL hears about the wedding and gathers the courage to buy RAQUEL a wedding gift.
ÁNGEL presents his wedding gift a bit teary eyed; however, RAQUEL’S mother takes it and throws it in the trash. He is startled and asks her what is wrong. MRS. TIMMERMAN tells ÁNGEL about the wedding and how she moved to another city to get away from all her problems. MR. TIMMERMAN steps in and tells ÁNGEL how her daughter deeply loves him and has not functioned properly without him. Both parents tell ÁNGEL that they are sorry for what they have put him through and plead for forgiveness. The parents offer him $100,000 and tell him that they want him to move to the city where their daughter is and marry her. He struggles with the idea, but then her father comes in and pleads with him to do so. He agrees, and her parents set him up with a place to stay and a job as a substitute teacher in the city where RAQUEL lives.
EDDIE NEWMAN, in the kitchen, hears all this and has an angry look on his face.
X X X
2 WEEKS LATER
ÁNGEL is escorted to airport by RAQUEL’S parents, and he leaves for the city where RAQUEL resides.
X X X
1 WEEK LATER
ÁNGEL is trying to find RAQUEL’s neighborhood. When he notices a young boy running but he pays no attention. He then sees 3 kids chasing the teenage boy. At first, he wants to keep going, but his heart is heavy because he hates to see people being bullied.
He turns the car around and goes after the kid, only to find the kid being pinned in the back of a store by the three kids. ÁNGEL gets out and solves the problem diplomatically. As the kids are leaving one of the kids asks ÁNGEL, “Is this fag your son?” ÁNGEL says no and offers the boy he saved a ride home.
X X X
ÁNGEL arrives at the boy's home and takes a seat in the living room. The boy gets his mother out of the bed to tell her about the man who saved him from getting beat up. She walks into the living room and stares at the man who is looking out the window. She calls for ÁNGEL.
ÁNGEL and ÁNGEL JR turn around and look into her eyes simultaneously.
RAQUEL gasps and faints.
X X X
ÁNGEL is sitting beside RAQUEL when she awakes, and they start crying in each others arms. ÁNGEL JR walks in and she tells him that this man is his father. She reflects back upon the date it happened and tells both of them.
ÁNGEL JR rejects ÁNGEL once his mother tells him that he was locked up in prison. ÁNGEL then rejects ÁNGEL JR because he feels that he is not tough enough to be his child.
ÁNGEL and ÁNGEL JR almost get into altercation but are stopped by RAQUEL.
ÁNGEL JR then storms out of the house in anger
RAQUEL falls in ÁNGEL's arms and cries. She asks ÁNGEL to leave. He begs and pleads with her to stay, but she says that her son would never accept him because he thought someone else was his father.
X X X
1 WEEK LATER
EDDIE NEWMAN pays a high school student to say that ÁNGEL had taken nude photos of her and that he was running a teenage pornography ring.
ÁNGEL is slandered as the newspapers quickly report his charges of child pornography.
X X X
RAQUEL bonds ÁNGEL out of jail.
X X X
ÁNGEL JR goes to his friend Rico. Rico gives ÁNGEL JR a 9 millimeter handgun and tells him that this gun will show his father that he is tough. He also convinces ÁNGEL JR to fight the dudes who tried to beat him up. ÁNGEL JR takes the gun and agrees to meet Rico after school to go the neighborhood where the kids live.
X X X
A FEW DAYS LATER
ÁNGEL JR meets up with Rico after school. They assemble a group of friends to go fight the 3 who tried to fight ÁNGEL JR.
X X X
When ÁNGEL goes to RAQUEL’s house, she tells him the truth about ÁNGEL JR.
She tells him about the gang that he is in and that she saw him with a gun clip last night but was so terrified that she did not say anything. ÁNGEL asks her to come with him to Rico’s house so that they can find ÁNGEL JR because she said he had not come home from school
X X X
ÁNGEL and RAQUEL go to Rico’s parents’ house.
After arriving there, Rico's mother says they left walking together about 5 minutes ago. She mentioned they were going to a school to play basketball.
RAQUEL asks ÁNGEL to take her home; however, he insists that they are not playing basketball, and he forces her to come with him.
X X X
RAQUEL and ÁNGEL argue during the entire drive to the school. When they arrive, they see ÁNGEL JR and his friends walking onto the basketball court. ÁNGEL quickly jumps out of the car to stop the melee.
ÁNGEL JR draws his gun to shoot; however, before he can fire, the guy he is aiming for shoots first. ÁNGEL pushes ÁNGEL JR out the way and is shot in the back. Gun shots ring out, and everyone disperses.
ÁNGEL, ÁNGEL JR, and RAQUEL are all alone on the basketball court. Police and ambulance sirens are heard in the background. Before ÁNGEL slips into unconsciousness he says to his son, “Please do not resort to violence. Violence and hate will destroy you, as they have destroyed me. I love you, Son. Raquel I love you… I, I wanted to marry you…”
X X X
EDDIE NEWMAN is at home and sees report of ÁNGEL on television. After watching the report, he is moved and turns himself into the police for the crimes he paid someone to say ÁNGEL committed.
X X X
A newspaper and TV scene of ÁNGEL saving his son, ÁNGEL becomes a hero.
X X X
JACOB has a candlelight vigil at the church for ÁNGEL
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2 Weeks Later ÁNGEL comes out of his coma.
X X X
1 YEAR LATER
ÁNGEL and RAQUEL are married. The ascension is complete. The Angel of Death is now the Angel of Life. The boy of violence and anger is now the man of love and compassion.