Springing

Springing is a 2012 American black comedy-drama film directed by Simon Patrick; written by Patrick and Percy Jameson; and produced by Patrick, Jameson, and Victor Martino. The film stars an of Webster Cayman, Michael Fabien, Jason Morkel, Mark Pearce, and Logan Wheeler and revolves around five irresponsible and loosely connected "friends" living in,  as they try to change their lives for the better by kicking their drug, smoking, and alcohol addictions, only for their attempts at withdrawal to transform into a series of crimes and deceits. Angela Shepard, Carolyn Shepard, Dominic DiMarco, and George Kumar appear in supporting roles.

The film entered development circa 2007 when won a bidding war for a black comedy-drama film written by Machine Boys writer-director Simon Patrick and No-No co-writer Percy Jameson, and the project almost instantly entered  due to the. After it ended, Patrick and Jameson realized they were unsatisfied with the script, and it was entirely written at least eight times to create the final product. Casting took place from December 2011 and January 2012, and principal photography took place from January to March 2012 in. The film's soundtrack was composed by electronic music group Hi-Def.

The film was released by on October 12, 2012 in the United States and was quickly became a box office success, grossing $680.2 million against a $13 million budget and becoming the tenth highest-grossing film of 2012. It is also currently the eighth highest-grossing -rated film of all time. It received critical acclaim for its writing, casting, and soundtrack, and several critics have called it one of the greatest and most influential films of the 2010s. The film was won four (including ), two, and two , among other accolades.

Plot
In, , alcoholic Michael Brennan lives in a low-income apartment community and regularly engages in self-destructive behavior with his neighbors/"friends": Luciano "Luke" DeLuca, a self-infatuated fellow alcoholic; George "Torch" Johnson, a ; Steven "Spike" Spencer, a -addicted womanizer; and Pierre "Air Boy" Moreau, Torch and Spike's dealer and a drug experimenter himself. Growing tired of constant sex and alcohol binges, for his upcoming 30th birthday, Brennan decides to make it his goal to wean himself off booze and live a "wholesome and worthwhile" life. Thinking he is incapable of quitting drinking, this amuses Luke, Torch, Spike, and Air Boy. Brennan taunts them, saying that they are unable to do the same about their own dependencies, which he refers to as "springing". The others take offense to that and purport that they are "perfectly capable" of doing so. The five collectively decide that the next day—on Brennan's birthday—they will give up their respective addictions, and anyone who relapses ("breaks") will pay the others $20 each.

The next morning, the guys wish Brennan a happy birthday. Brennan begins his "new life" away from alcohol by killing a bird perched on his doormat, meeting Air Boy at a corner store where they steal snacks, and stealing a flash drive from Luke containing a sex tape of Spike and his girlfriend Kate Majors. Meanwhile, Kate dumps Spike, and an enraged Spike nearly returns to heroin before stealing some of Torch's "leftover" cannabis and "stoning" for the first time. He then hallucinates that a big orange bug is flying around him and tries to kill it, destroying everything in his kitchen. Torch quickly realizes that Air Boy—who is willing to experiment with any drug possible and has developed a plethora of addictions—is having the hardest time and taunts him with, but Air Boy refuses.

Since his cessation of alcohol abuse, Brennan has noticed that he has an increased. At a nightclub, he meets a beautiful woman named Natalie Anderson, and he sleeps with her later. Dante "Duke" DeLuca—Luke brother, Air Boy's supplier, and Torch's upstairs neighbor—is informed by Air Boy that he will not be dealing for the time being. Duke quickly shows up at his apartment, beats him up, steals $500 from his wallet, and puts the cash in a duffel bag. Air Boy wakes up covered in blood on his living room floor, noticing that his wallet is empty. Duke drops the money off outside the apartment of Spike, who is currently on a "hot date" with Kate's twin sister, Marge. Brennan finds out that Natalie is actually lesbian and is using Brennan simply to conceal her homosexuality. He breaks up with her, and an enraged Natalie attacks him.

The next day, Kate finds out about the date Marge had with Spike and is enraged. Brennan finds a job as a pizza delivery driver. Spike finds out about Brennan's keeping the sex tape and nonchalantly chooses to watch with him. Luke has a mental breakdown and gets drunk on and mouthwash. Air Boy watches the event unfold and forces him to pay his $80. Luke goes to a closet, pulls out the bag of money which Duke left for Spike, and gives his money from there. Luke recognizes the bag and goes to Duke's apartment, accusing him of stealing from Air Boy. Duke is moving out of the apartment and into an RV, and denies stealing. Luke and Duke's dispute escalates to a fistfight which ends with Luke severely injuring Duke and taking the money for himself. Luke returns to his own apartment and quickly begins packing his valuables to move into Duke's RV before he wakes up. However, Duke is dead. Brennan's struggle with alcohol returns when he sees Torch sitting in his kitchen drinking beer. He rapidly relapses, beating Torch, downing the beer, and beating him again with the bottle. Brennan drunkenly stumbles outside, finds Luke moving into the RV, and realizes that he killed Duke. Brennan calls Luke out for the murder, as Air Boy is left without a supplier. Air Boy overdoses on cocaine and has a alone in a barren field. With nobody around to help him, he also dies. Brennan rummages through Air Boy's belongings and finds a gun, which he uses to shoot Luke nearly to death. Rajesh, Brennan's neighbor, watches as the incident unfolds in the parking lot and almost calls the police, but Brennan administers. He stuffs the unconscious Rajesh in the trunk of his car and coerces Torch into joining him in fleeing to, abruptly leaving their "old lives" behind.

Spike watches as Luke bleeds to death in a field near the apartments. Teary-eyed and tired, Spike picks up the duffel bag and carries it to his apartment, where he then returns to heroin. In the meantime, Brennan and Torch cross the Miami- border and are then chased by a police car. Tied-up Rajesh frees himself from the rope using excruciating force, an his wrists bleed excessively. Drunk Brennan simply tells him to stop bleeding and then tells Torch to shoot him in the head. The drive ends in the cars violently slamming into one another, killing Torch. Now that Spike has died from a heroin overdose in his own apartment, Brennan is the last one alive. He quickly removes Torch and Rajesh from the car and drives on his own, returning to Miami to break into Spike's apartment and steal the $500. As he lifts the bag off the floor, he realizes the deadly mess his and his friends' addictions have made and decides that enough is enough. He throws the bag in a nearby pond and leaves away from the apartment complex altogether, raising his hands for a police car, stepping toward it, and walking away to his "real new life".

Cast

 * Webster Cayman as Michael Brennan
 * Michael Fabien as Pierre "Air Boy" Moreau
 * Jason Morkel as Luciano "Luke" DeLuca
 * Mark Pearce as Steven "Spike" Spencer
 * Logan Wheeler as George "Torch" Johnson
 * Angela Shepard as Kate Majors
 * Carolyn Shepard as Marge Majors
 * Dominic DiMarco as Dante "Duke" DeLuca
 * George Kumar as Rajesh