"Jericho Beaumont was once the star of the box office before alcohol and drug use brought him crashing down. Now, six years later, after being in rehab and being sober for five years, he's trying to get back into the movie business. However, it's not that easy...Kate O'Laughlin is producing *The Promise,* and reluctantly gives Beaumont the lead role: though he is undeniably the only one who can fill the role with justice, she doesn't trust him to stay sober and not jeopardize the production. However, he has to sign an addendum to the typical contract, which basically denies him an form of privacy. He's subjected to daily drug tests and constant supervision (ie, he has a babysitter in the form of a huge, hulking man with no sense of humor). As time passes, we learn more about Jericho's family background (alcoholic father who murders mother, gay brother, sister who was forced to get married when she got pregnant, another brother who raped a girl and got away with it only to end up in jail for another offense--in essence, a very dysfunctional family) and about why Jericho doesn't express his emotions. We also learn about why Kate is so sensitive about how people view her: based on her breast size, many think that she is simply a bimbo, when in fact--unbeknownst to everyone--she actually wrote the script for the movie! The two become closer, though Kate still mistrusts Jericho's feelings and Jericho can't bring himself to open up to her. Though Jericho's first attempts to seduce her are seated in revenge, he falls in love with Kate, though again, he can't express this in such a way that Kate can tell whether it's him speaking or a character. She also has misgivings as to whether he still uses drugs once in a while, and though she lets him stop doing the daily drug tests, whenever she questions his actions, she pulls the urine cup out. Things come to a head when David, a close friend of Jericho's, dies...Jericho still has issues sharing his emotions and dealing with his background, and Kate feels like if he can't trust her, then they have no relationship. At the end, it comes down to: Can Jericho finally open up to Kate? Can Kate finally trust him?"
Sheena Joychan, Resident Scholar
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