About the Project
Set in a local bank in small, rural, complacent, Midwestern America, 2004, at the height of the Bush/Cheney lunatic fringe and the homeland security color coded terrorist threats. "Stealing For Al-Qaida, follows the dual protagonists (Alex and Shane) who are agitated and panicking at their dilemma. Caught in a bank with only one hostage, and the teller having just moments before plowed through the two robbers hysterical and running out into the street where she jumped into her car, only to cause a devastating accident and thus drawing local residents who spot the hooded thefts inside bank.
Immediately authorities arrive making a bad situation, for the hapless bank robbers, even worse. Simultaneously Alex and Shane discover that the one hostage, who had been laying face down on the floor during the stick up is Shane’s fiancée, Heather, and the reason that Shane concocted the heist. Which was to pay for the “perfect wedding.” Still Heather is unaware that one of the masked gunman is her boyfriend as Alex had been shouting all demands up to that point. After throwing Heather into a back room to try and do damage control, Shane and Alex throw blame at one another over their situation.
When agent Mister comes onto the scene everything goes from confusing and chaotic to bizarre, and well, disturbingly patriotic. A common sense, yet somewhat naïve young officer named Grant tries in vain a good intention and less dramatic approach to solve the problem. It’s discovered quickly however that the chauvinistic, dim witted, and narcissistic agent Mister is hell bent on making a name for himself. During negotiations Mister repeatedly makes reckless, bigoted, sexiest, and odd taunts that have the bank robbers and Grant assuming he’s crazy like a fox or has a unique form of Tourette‘s. Heather develops a severe case of Stockholm syndrome, becoming highly aroused by the robbery and throwing herself at every possible opportunity into the arms of Alex.
The rural complacency becomes a wall flower as the combination of an out of touch retro Dirty Harry wannabe, two awkward and neurotic bank robbers, a nympho for a hostage, turn a bucolic community into a national threat.
Production Team
