Someone Better Than You: A Comedy of Manners

What's the key to happiness?


Detroit newspaperman Brady Ritz thinks the key is to marry someone better than yourself. Brady does just that by marrying beautiful, straight-talking Natalie. Thirty years later, the still-happy Ritzes retire to a Naples, Florida golf community.


But happiness has rules, and Brady starts breaking them. He loses interest in golf and country club small talk, in karaoke and Trivia Night. To amuse himself, he writes a secret humor column for Grumble, a little magazine. It's fun to joke about his now-grown daughters' overly cautious "hovercraft approach" to raising their children. He mocks his Florida neighbors for buying junk jewelry and kitsch works of art on cruises. He has choice words for those who get hair transplants and tummy tucks.


But Natalie has always played by the rules, and would never approve of her husband's Grumble column. Brady conceals it from her. He writes under an assumed name, and makes sure to mask everyone's identity. When Grumble goes out of business, the editor urges Ritz to publish a collection of his best columns. Why not? he thinks. His neighbors read nothing but thrillers and bodice-ripper romances.


Except Brady Ritz forgets something important: gossip and small talk are what fuel retirement communities. When word gets out someone they know wrote a book, people start reading, and finding themselves. Soon, Ritz is being shunned by his community, and his daughters resent him. Too embarrassed to face her bridge partners and neighbors, Natalie flies home to their Michigan house.


So, Mister Smarty-pants, what now?