I just watched Black Friday for the first time. It was great and I loved the music. However I feel like there was a missed opportunity that would have made the story so much better.
I personally felt Tom’s kid, Tim, should’ve had a bigger role. They were literally in one scene when they should have been closer the center of the narrative, by being at the mall.
My revision is that Tim and Hannah should be the same character. This would make Tim/Hannah a more important character, and it would connect everything better.
Lex would now be either Tom’s daughter or step-daughter, and I feel like this would lead to a lot more narrative drama.
Lex would no longer be running away from an abusive mom, but she left home because it reminds her of her mom who died, and she doesn’t want to be around Tom because he’s been drinking. And for Tim/Hannah, Tom hasn’t been a good father recently. This would make all of the character arcs more connected and resonant.
The rest of the story would be pretty much the same with slight differences in some of the scenes and lyrics. However I feel like these changes would be for the better.
Lex and Tim/Hannah would still be planning on running away to California, but now would choose to stay, after seeing Tom’s willingness to be a good father.
Tom and Becky would still chase Tim/Hannah but now it would be more scary.
When Lex and Tom have to work together at the end it would be more impactful. Lex has to realize that Tom can be a good father, and Tom has to accept what being a good father means.
There are a lot of minor things that would change as well, but overall I feel like this would have been a cool revision.
