Act I: SAM MACKEY, late thirties, is the talk of the Chicago advertising
world after creating a ground-breaking commercial. From the rumor mill, he
finds out that the CEO of his firm - Hunter and Associates - is stepping down
to run a Senator's presidential campaign. The CEO, HOWARD HUNTER, is crass
and diabolical. Sam knows he's next in line to take over the helm, but his
team thinks that Howard's son, RICHARD HUNTER, will take over. Richard is
incompetent, but nepotism is a force that is hard to overcome. Sam
relationship with CLAIRE ADAMS, owner of her own successful advertising firm,
is on thin ice.
Sam travels to Colorado to visit with his family. His twin brother, LUKE
MACKEY, on disability since college due to a mental breakdown, discusses his
unfortunate life. Luke is taking Prozac and is antsy to re-enter the real
world. They go skiing. Sam dies tragically. Luke sees this misfortune as
his last chance to establish a life of his own. He assumes Sam's identity
and travels to Chicago to pick-up where Sam left off.
The first day on the job, Luke, now known as "Sam", must pitch to Robeson's
Prophylactics. Hunter and Associates is trying to win their business. Luke
is a bullshit artist and wins the account. No one picks up on the fact he's
not Sam.
Luke goes on a commercial shoot for Robeson. Sam's best friend and Creative
Director, CHARLIE HAYES, runs the show. They film an innovative, outrageous
commercial that pushes the boundaries of traditional advertising. Luke
breaks off the relationship with Claire, partly due to the fact she's a cold
fish, but also due to his encounter with the Harvard intern, RACHEL JENNINGS.
Claire does not handle this well.
Richard Hunter pitches to Anderson Aspirin and loses the account. He
sexually harasses Rachel. Howard smooths Anderson's ruffled feathers and
assigns the larger Anderson account to Luke. Richard now has the more stable
Robeson account. Howard also officially announces he's stepping down. His
successor will be either Luke or Richard - who ever impresses him the most
over the next three weeks will get the job (or so he says).
Act II: Luke is still convincing everyone that he's Sam. Luke is getting up
to speed and feeling comfortable with his job. That quickly changes when a
car tries to run him off the road. He's unsure if it was deliberate or not.
Luke slowly starts to unravel at the seams.
A member of Luke's team, CLAYTON CASHMAN, talks to Howard - he wants the
promotion. Clayton is prepared to do whatever it takes to get the job.
Another team member, BILL SANDERS, takes a conservative "wait and see"
approach to the office jockeying for position.
Richard sneaks into Luke's office, looks for inside information, and finds a
bottle of Prozac. He replaces it with allergy medicine. Luke returns home
to find his house demolished. He reports the break-in to the police. He
won't reveal suspects, even though he's convinced it's either Claire or
Richard. He doesn't want anyone to know this is getting to him. Luke's
mental instability is starting to become more prominent (and he unknowingly
is without his Prozac, which makes matters worse!).
Another break-in. This time Luke is home. A battle ensues, with the
assailant escaping into the night. It doesn't seem like the assailant really
wanted to kill Luke, appears to be intimidation. Luke is a bundle of nerves
as he goes into the work the next morning for an important meeting.
Howard tells Luke and Richard that he's selling the firm to Lehman Creative
Advertising, but they can not tell their teams - it could hurt the final sale
price if it is leaked and a mass exodus occurred. Luke faces a dilemma -
either keep this to himself and enhance his chances at getting the promotion
or tell his team and risk losing his job. He shares this inside information
with Rachel, who urges him to tell his team and maintain his integrity.
His blossoming romance with Rachel falls apart when he lies to his team and
tells them that their jobs are secure. Rachel is an idealist and is greatly
disappointed. The Anderson account is going nowhere, with failed focus
groups (involving a disruptive hippie) and commercial shoots (involving
midgets dressed in aspirin costumes singing a Broadway tune). Luke and the
account are sinking fast.
Clayton reveals that he's been the one threatening Luke's life when he
accosts Luke and takes him to a deserted boating dock. He leaves Luke for
dead.
Act III: Luke barely escapes and turns Clayton into the police. His bad
luck doesn't change as the Anderson executives give him an ultimatum - pitch
a commercial demo in three days or lose the account. They're not pleased
with the lack of progress.
Luke overhears Howard telling a colleague that Bill Sanders introduced him to
an unnamed buyer who's offering more than Lehman Creative Advertising.
Howard also reveals that everyone in the firm, including Luke and Richard,
will have to interview for their jobs once the sale is finalized. Luke is
devastated by the betrayal.
Luke reveals the truth to Charlie and Rachel about his identity and their job
status. Rachel urges Luke and Charlie to take matters into their own hands
and control their own destiny. Luke's honesty wins Rachel back. All three
are united and determined to get even with Howard.
They conspire to develop an outrageous Anderson Aspirin commercial, which
will sabotage the account. After showing the commercial to the outraged
Anderson executives, Hunter and Associates loses the account and the
mysterious buyer, who was Claire Adams, backs-out of the deal. A devastated
Howard also learns that Luke, Charlie, and Rachel are forming their own firm
and starting out with 50% of his client base. He is stunned that someone
beat him at his own game. |