CATCH'EM CHARLIE
Screenplay by Robert C. Johnson
Three times a year a disguised CHARLIE, 70, "The Polite Bandit," uses a demand note to rob a bank chain for a small specific amount of money, and returns to a mountain shack and faces death alone.
LAPD bank robbery detective, JOHN, 45, has difficulty living life in the gray area, believing only in right or wrong, good or evil. His wife, MAGGIE, and partner, THAD, are his link to reality.
John, an avid fly fisherman, and Maggie retire to an Idaho river with their dog. Living life to the fullest, Maggie dies from a stroke. Doubting beliefs, without friends or family, John is desolate.
John meets Charlie fly-fishing on the river. Charlie makes and sells the local famous fly, "CATCH'EM CHARLIE," and gives John one, vaulting their quest of no return.
Charlie saves John and his dog's life in a river accident. John asks Charlie to live with him until he and the dog recover, and the men bond.
Charlie discovers he's John's most hated enemy, "The Polite Bandit," whom John vowed to jail, then made Thad promise the same before he retires. Charlie quits robbing and would rather die than betray John.
Thad retires, lives with John and Charlie, and they become devoted. Thad discovers Charlie's the robber but can't tell John because it will destroy him.
Maggie guides the men, exploring forgiveness and truth and freedom of the human spirit: a legacy carried beyond their greatest expectations.
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