Wendy Wheeler Screenplay Synopsis: Heaven & Nell

Synopsis of HEAVEN & NELL Screenplay

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HEAVEN & NELL (fantasy). A recovering grifter falls in love with a soulful baker in an eerily charming midwest town. Then bad guys from her past catch up with her and exploit the honest folk, and she must do one last con to protect her new community. That's when they share their Big Secret.

Nell Tinker is a single mother and smart, sexy con woman. Her father is recently deceased and instead of teaching the family business to Clara, her precocious twelve-year-old daughter, she's promised to try the straight life. Problem is, nobody thinks she's got business skills. But she does; she can not only cook deliciously, but she's got all kinds of product promotion ideas. Things get hot for them in Boston when Nell, despite her best intentions, makes a score against a slimy priest and then gets too mad to return the money. They take off yet again in Harold, their cranky old car.

But Harold breaks down in Enoch, a town surrounded by lush cornfields and filled with wholesome and charming people. Not Nell's type of place, but then she meets Lee, a baker in his grandfather's sweet shop and the handsomest man in town, so she decides to stay. Especially since Lee is just a rotten cook. Clara is delighted! She loves the town and makes new friends.

Happy as she is to finally have her own business, Nell gets suspicious of Enoch. The town is so full of eccentrics. Sweet as they can be, and salt of the earth, with singing voices of incredible beauty. But beyond wacky. In fact, it quickly becomes clear that they're hiding something. And the founders of the town -- who call themselves the Settlers -- are hiding something really huge. A con woman knows when a really big con is cooking.

And Lee is another mystery. Even though he admists to a strong attraction, he keeps avoiding Nell and won't say why. Then some of Nell's old community finds her in Enoch and moves in. They've never seen such a town full of marks, and they plan to bleed the place dry. Nell must save her new friends without letting them know what she was/is or Lee will never love her. Just when it seems things are clearing up, there's the threat of a mighty war in the streets of Enoch, Nell, unwittingly, provides a key weapon for the side of good, but the battle is still unbalanced. Will Nell be able to save the day for her new community?

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