Winner Takes All

In this somber first entry in Kern’s Champion Valley contemporary series, two unlikable people awkwardly connect. Superstar quarterback Blake Carpenter pretended ignorance of the performance-enhancing drugs injected by his trainers, and now his legacy is tarnished. In an effort to put the past away, he returns to his Colorado hometown to coach his high school football team. Determined to take them to the play-offs, he resents physical therapist Annabelle Turner getting between him and the players. Blake and Annabelle certainly lust after each other, but they don’t seem to like each other very much, with Blake being downright vulgar at times, in one instance accusing Annabelle of “rubbing [her]self all over [him] like a cat in heat.” Sometimes tension and arguments are the precursor to passion, but they don’t spend enough time talking, so they never click. Strangely, Kern keeps most of the action inside their heads as both consider the consequences of getting to know each other better. Agent: Kristyn Keene, ICM Partners. (Sept.)