Local Couple Writes, Stars In and Produces Love Story

 A Date with Miss Fortune may seem like “just another romantic comedy” with an everyman and a quirky love interest, but there’s something special to be found in stories like this – something that touches on human experiences as universal, beautiful and, sometimes, bittersweet as real love.
Ryan Scott and his wife Jeanette Sousa-Scott proved a true triple threat by writing, producing and starring in A Date with Miss Fortune as the main leads Jack and Maria.  The film draws inspiration from their struggles and successes as a couple, allowing them to easily come into their roles.  After more than four years of production from shooting to sound work to editing, the crew had amassed strong and emotionally drawing moments from not just the couple but the entire cast.  A well-received theatrical debut in Portugal eventually led to a DVD and digital release on Amazon, Google Play, Vimeo, YouTube and iTunes, all available now.
Jack and Maria’s journey is by no means a foreign one and begins with our everyman, Jack, a struggling writer on an emotional and creative plateau.  We follow him into a nondescript diner and when least expected, in walks his ex-girlfriend.  Not wanting to be seen alone, he goes to our soon-to-be leading lady Maria, who comically rejects his hasty request for a stand-in fiancé, believing he’s simply trying to pick her up. However, once Jack’s ex comes up to him and Maria sees he was telling the truth, she decides to help.  With the situation resolved for the moment, Jack and Maria begin talking, and the relationship soon follows.  Expressed in clips following a consistent timeline yet periodically coming back to their first conversation in the diner, the romantic comedy storyline takes form, mainly following Jack’s experience.  As the film develops, we see Jack meet parents, interact with a father who hates the current boyfriend and rely on a mother who plays the peacekeeper, and awkward family moments abound.
Different than a typical romantic comedy portrayal of new love, these moments are given more weight and depth by also touching on racial stigmas that often follow an outsider attempting to interact with a world and a perspective they don’t understand.  This lack of understanding is what causes conflict and allows perspective into Maria’s feelings, as a woman whose cultural superstitions and customs are lost and even resisted at times by the one she loves.  Yet ultimately, it is the pair’s desire to connect that sees them through their trials “once all the firsts are gone.”
What gives this film its spark is not so much its plot but the natural chemistry and interactions of the characters in their ordinary lives.  Done incorrectly, this can come across as predictable or bland; however, Miss Fortune makes these common moments endearing and even draws out the kind of laugh one would share with a friend – all while following the love comedy structure, not predictably but faithfully.  The strength of the film is in the details of the characters, who seem less like caricatures of real people and more like friends in our own lives: people we want to know as the story goes on.  Their interactions are all too ordinary, and in that sense, human and immersive.  A Date with Miss Fortune is a touching and engaging story with moments of depth, for those who want to give it the chance it deserves.
To view A Date with Miss Fortune, please visit www.amazon.com.