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Any Day Now

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Any Day Now

The film ‘Any Day Now’ is a drama film directed by Travis Fine in 2012. The original

screenplay was done 30 years before Travis by George Arthur. The film is not based on a true

story, but a true story inspired it (Hollywood, 2012). The film explains a gay couple trying to get

custody of a Down syndrome 14year old boy named Marco. In the pursuit of justice, the gay

couple finds it hard to get custody of the boy even when they had enough evidence that the boy

needed a safe and loving environment for him to live in. Although Rudy was a struggling

musician, his home was a haven for the boy other than his home where the grandmother did not

take good care of him while the mother was a drug addict and used to sleep around having sex,

making her not take good care of Marco.

Rudy and his attorney friend did not give up trying to get Marco’s custody, whereby they

were ready to go through a legal battle for them to become permanent and legal guardians.

Marco’s mother got arrested due to her reckless behavior, which turned out to be a good

opportunity for Ruby and his friend to visit her (Hollywood, 2012). The visit was to ask Marco’s

mother to sign temporary guardianship papers to present in court for Marco to be allowed to live

with them. Marco’s mother agrees to sign the paper, making the court process easier for them to

be granted their wish until after the process is almost through, Marco’s mother is released from

prison and given full custody of her son. Marco ends up not happy, and one night when he was

asked to step away, he decides to retrace Rudy’s home and ends up being found dead under a

bridge.

The courtroom players, in this case, were Paul, a defense attorney, Rudy as the plaintiff,

the Family services as the defendants, and the judge as the decision-maker. The courtroom

players were faced with an ethical dilemma of whether to give Marco’s custody to his mother or
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Rudy, who is gay and provides parental love to Marco (Hollywood, 2012). The trial outcome

was influenced by the subjective circumstances whereby the local culture hindered justice from

prevailing for gayism was viewed as a taboo. The judge could have felt that Marco would rather

be with his drug addict mother than a loving and caring gay couple.

The trial elements include a case investigation, preparing and interviewing witnesses, a

theme creation, organizing the notebooks, exhibits, briefs, and information discovered. Later

there is the drafting or choosing of jury instructions, the court clerk being asked questions

together with the judicial assistant (Mummolo, 2018). The case is later framed, and motions field

in limine. The least successful tactics were Rudy and Paul expressing their individuality and

displaying their righteousness before the court. The judge decided that Marco’s mother would be

given custody of his son despite her being reckless and Rudy and Paul proving that all Marco

needed was love and parental care in a safe environment.

The matter is a civil case; political issues came up whereby the Family Services preferred

that Marco remained in a foster home other than being adopted by a gay couple. The judge, in

this case, did not maintain a judicial reliance after Rudy and Paul insisted on pursuing the matter

and gain custody of Marco (Mummolo, 2018). From my perspective, justice was not served to

Marco even after Paul and Rudy showed the court that Marco was not living in a safe

environment meant for his growth and him getting parental care and love.

If I were the judge, I would give Marco’s custody to Rudy and Paul because they proved

beyond reasonable doubt that they would take good care of Marco (Hollywood, 2012). Marco

also proved that he was comfortable living with Rudy more than his parents by dying trying to

retrace Rudy’s home. The film has a clear take-home message to the legal procedure students

and those considering taking law or law enforcement in the general public. It teaches the students
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that they should not judge people, especially those who belong to the minority group referred to

as the LGBTQ society. The minority group has a right to adopt children for as long as they prove

to the law that they can bring them up morally and provides parental care.
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References

Hollywood, (2012). Any Day Now. Retrieved from; https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=7ghwGOuuNy0

Mummolo, J. (2018). Modern police tactics, police-citizen interactions, and the prospects for

reform. The Journal of Politics, 80(1), 1-15.