unformated_scripts/Script_25th Hour.txt

THE 25th HOUR 



by 



David Benioff 













4/30/01 


INDUSTRY ENTERTAINMENT 





EXT . WES T SIDE HIGHWAY -- NIGHT 




o A blac k dog sleeps on the shoulder of the highway, head 
between his paws , curled up next to the barricad e that 
separates the north and southbound lanes . 



Traffic rumbles past him: yellow cabs , blu e polic e cruisers , 
white limousines with tinted glass and Jersey plates . 



We hea r the squeal of brakes. A black *65 Ford Mustang, min t 
condition, pulls onto the shoulder, ten yard s past the dog , 
and back s up . Th e dog raises its head. 



Two me n step out of the car. The driver , MONT Y BROGAN, mid - 
twenties , is pale-skinned in the flickering light . A small 
silver crucifix hangs from a silver chain around his neck ; 
his fingers are adorned with silver rings . 



The passenger , KOSTYA NOVOTNY, a hulking ma n in his late 
thirties , blow s his nose in his handkerchief. 
It's a cold night . Monty wears a camel's hai r overcoat, 
Kostya an old blue Soviet Navy coat . 

MONTY 

He's alive. 

KOSTYA 

(Ukrainian accent) 
This dog, how do you call it? 

MONTY 

Pit bull . Must have lost somebody some 
money . 
The dog stares at them and they stare at the dog . 

KOSTYA 

What d o w e do , Monty, w e watch hi m rot ? 

·· ' .·····- · ' ? -. : · ·- ·' MONTY : . ·' ·· '' ' ' ;:; '' ' 


: · "· "· - 


· · 

I was thinking of shooting him . 




KOSTYA 

Shooting him? Ar e you sick in the head ? 



The dog continues to stare at them impassively, his face lit 
by the passing headlights. The pavement by hi s paws is 
littered with broken glass, twisted scraps of metal , black 
rubber from blow n tires. 









o 

(CONTINUED) 





CONTINUED: 








MONTY 

They just left him here to die. They 
threw him out the window and kept 
driving. 
A ship's horn sounds from the Hudson. 

KOSTYA 

Come, my friend, it is cold. Come, people 
wait for us. 

MONTY 

They're used to waiting. 
Monty squats near the dog and inspects him. From this angle 
it is clear that the pit bull has been badly abused. One ear 
has been chewed to mince; his hide is scored with cigarette 
burns; flies crawl in his bloodied fur. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

I think maybe his hip -- 
The dog pounces, jaws snapping,; lunging for Monty's face. 
Monty stumbles backwards. The dog, too badly injured to 
continue the attack, remains in his crouch, growling. 
Monty sits on the pavement, shaking his head. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Christ. 
(beat) 
He's got some bite left. 

KOSTYA 

I think he does not want to play with 
you. Come, you want police to pull over? 
You want police looking through your car? 

MONTY 

Look what they did to him. Used him for a 
fucking ashtray. 
Monty stands and dusts his palms on the seat of his pants. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Let's get him in the trunk. 

KOSTYA 

What? 










(CONTINUED) 





3. 


CONTINUED : (2 ) 








MONTY 

There's a vet emergency room on the East 
Side. I like this guy. 

KOSTYA 

You like him? He tries to bite your face 
off. Look at him, he is meat. You want 
some dog, I buy you.nice puppy tomorrow. 
Monty is not listening. He walks back to his car, opens the 
trunk, pulls out a soiled green army blanket. 
Kostya holds up his hands: stop. 

KOSTYA (CONT'D) 

Wait one minute, please. Please stop one 
minute? I do not go near pit bull. Monty? 
I do not go near pit bull. 
Monty, carrying the army blanket, walks back toward the dog. 

MONTY 

This is a good dog. I can see it in his 
eyes. He's a tough little bastard. 

KOSTYA 

Sometimes I think you are very stupid 
man. 
The dog has slumped back to the pavement. His breath, comes in. 
shorts rasps and wheezes. But he never takes his eyes off the 
two men. 

MONTY 

We wait much longer, he'll be dead. 

KOSTYA 

One minute ago you want to shoot him. 

MONTY 

That was a mercy thing. But he's not 
ready to go yet. 

KOSTYA 

Yes? He told you this? 
Monty slowly circles behind the dog, holding the blanket the 
way a matador wields his cape. 

MONTY 

Distrac t him. 

U 


(CONTINUED ) 





CONTINUED: (3) 







Kostya stares at his friend in disbelief. He looks down. A 
crumpled soda can lies by his feet. He kicks the can. 
The dog's head pivots to follow the aluminum flash. 
Monty hurls the blanket over the dog and spring forward, 
wrapping his arms around the dog's midsection. The dog 
growls, bites the wool, tries to break the blanket's neck. 
Monty lurches toward the Mustang, struggling to retain his 
bearhug while the pit bull slithers in his grasp. As they 
stumble closer to the car the dog releases the blanket and 
snaps at Monty's throat. 
Monty hurls the dog into the trunk and slams the lid. He 
returns to the driver's seat. 
Kostya watches him in silence, stares at the sky for a few 
seconds, finally gets back in the car. The dog thrashes in 
the trunk. 

INT. MUSTANG 

Both men sit in silence as Monty revs the engine. Blood is 
beginning to leak from a bite on the right side of Monty's 
neck. 

KOSTYA 

What goes on in your little head? 
Monty grins. He has no idea that he's bleeding. 

MONTY 

I got him, didn't I? Surprised you how 
.-- quick I was, huh? 
Monty checks for traffic and pulls back onto the highway. 

KOSTYA 

Yes, you are so quick. 
He points at the wound on Monty's neck, which has begun to 
flow faster. 

KOSTYA (CONT'D) 

Meanwhile, you are bleeding. 

MONTY 

That's the dog's blood. 

KOSTYA 

Oh? Because you have hole in your neck 
and blood is coining out. 




(CONTINUED) 





5. 


CONTINUED : ,,,..-. . 







"(/"~^) Mont y lift s hi s han d to hi s nec k and feel s th e blood . 

MONT Y 

They'l l stitc h i t u p a t th e vet's . 

KOSTY A 

Rul e numbe r one : don' t gra b half-dea d pi t 
bulls . W e hav e peopl e waitin g fo r us , 
peopl e wit h money , and you g o playin g 
cowboy -- no , dogboy -- i n middl e o f 
highway . 
Mont y laughs , hi s han d presse d t o th e sid e o f hi s neck , bloo d 
leakin g betwee n hi s fingers . 

KOSTY A (CONT'D) 

Yes , h a ha . You'r e ba d luck . Yo u brin g 
ba d luc k o n me . Alway s everythin g tha t 
ca n g o wrong , goe s wrong . I t i s no t jus t 
yo u an d m e whe n w e g o out , no , no , i t i s 
you , me , an d Miste r Doyle o f Doyle' s law . 
Mont y frowns . 

MONT Y 

fly Doyle' s law ? Yo u mea n Murphy' s law . 

KOSTY A 

Who' s Murphy ? 

MONT Y 

Who' s Doyle ? Murphy' s law : whateve r ca n 
g o wrong , wil l g o wrong . 

KOSTY A 

Yes . Him . 

EXT . EAST RIVE R ESPLANAD E -- DAWN \ 

TITL E CARD : Four Years Later 
Mont y sits o n a par k benc h overlookin g th e Eas t River . H e 
stub s out hi s cigarette , pull s anothe r fro m hi s pack , light s 
it . 
Th e blac k pi t bull , no w health y and well-fed , squat s b y 
Monty' s side . I t i s winter : th e dog's war m breat h rise s a s 
whit e vapor . 
.Two tough-lookin g YOUN G ME N wal k by , wearin g hoode d 
sweatshirts belo w thei r dow n parkas , on e o f the m leadin g hi s 
i} spike-collare d rottweiler . . / 




(CONTINUED ) 





·- · -· - ··""·- · ·-"- 6. 


CONTINUED: 







o DOYLE (for the nameless pit bull has become Doyle) growls. 
Monty tugs on his leash and Doyle grunts and quiets down. 




YOUNG MAN 1 

What up, Monty. 



Monty nods but doesn't say anything. He's studying the view. 
He stares at the green river, the steel bridges , the red 
tugboats, the stone lighthouse of Roosevelt Island. 



Doyle barks and Monty turns. SIMON, a bone-thin ma n in his 
early thirties, approaches them. He wears rubber boots that 
rise to his knees and a dirty yellow down parka . 




SIMON 

Easy, Doyle, easy, buddy. What's up 
there, Monty? 
Monty turns back to the river. Doyle barks again. 

SIMON (CONT'D) 

You want to tell the dog to relax? Hey 
there, Doyle. Good dog. 






0),^ Doyle has extended the leash as far as Monty will allow. He 
~7 sniffs suspiciously at Simon. 

SIMON (CONT'D) 

I don't think your dog likes me . 

MONTY 

Go away, Simon. 

SIMON 

I'm hungry here. Woke up an hour ago and 
I was hungry. 

.- ··' " ·· · ··. , ···· \ ·: '·MONTY/ ' " ' ·- V ; :· · /'.I. · .- · ' "' . .',.· ' · 


,· ' · . - · · . 

Nothing I can do about that. Go up to On e 
Hundred and Tenth. 




SIMON 

One Hundred and Tenth? Come on, I'm good. 



He reaches into his pocket and brings out a wad of five 
dollar bills held together by a rubber band. 




MONTY 

(angry) 
~, Put that away. 



^V- ^ Doyle snarls. Simon repockets the money. 







(CONTINUED) 





CONTINUED: (2) 








SIMON 

Okay, okay. I'm just saying, I'm not 
looking for a mercy pop. 

/ 


MONTY 

I'm over, man. 
Simon points at a line of scabs that run along his throat. 

SIMON 

Cut myself shaving this morning -- four 
times. Can't keep my hands steady. Come 
on, Monty, help me out. I can't go to 
Harlem. Look at me--- they'll eat me alive 
up there. 
Monty finally stands and walks toward the man, closer and 
closer until their faces are inches apart. 

MONTY 

You need to leave me alone, friend. I 
told you, I'm out of business. 
Doyle sniffs Simon's boots, then raises his head, snout 
climbing the man's leg. Simon dances a half-step, trying to 
keep away from the pit bull without provoking him. 

· 


SIMON 

You worried about me narking you out? You 
know who I am. 

MONTY 

You're not listening to me. I got 
touched. Game over. 
Simon blinks, tries to JLaugh, looks behind him,,,looks down at 
Doyle, rubs his nose with the back of his hand. 

SIMON 

Five years I've been coming to you. All 
right, all right, I'm leaving. There's no 
need to be nasty. 
Monty and Doyle watch the man go; they begin walking in the 
opposite direction. They pass the concrete chessboards, the 
sandboxes, and pause for a moment by a basketball court. 
Six TEENS play -- with little skill -- one last game before 
school. Monty shakes his head disdainfully, watching one 
player dribble at the top of the key. 

MONTY 

You got no left. 




(CONTINUED) 





CONTINUED: (3) 







The player drives right and misses an open lay-up. Monty 
spits and continues walking, Doyle leading the way. 

EXT. CAMPBELL-SAWYER HIGH SCHOOL -- LATER 

Monty looks up at the old private school, tucked away on a 
leafy street on the Upper East Side. 
Two TENTH GRADE GIRLS look at Monty as they pass by. People 
are always looking at Monty. 
Both girls take long final drags on their cigarettes before 
crushing them out and entering the school. 

INT. CAMPBELL-SAWYER HIGH SCHOOL 

Monty walks down a corridor of the school building, Doyle 
padding along beside him. STUDENTS, hurrying to their 
classes, stare at the dog and then at Monty. 
The bells ring and within moments the corridor is empty. 
Monty stops before a row of framed photographs. He examines 
one photograph and smiles. 

INSERT PHOTOGRAPH 

The Campbell-Sawyer basketball team. The players stand in a 
semi-circle with their coaches. We move in closer on one face 
in particular: Monty, when he was sixteen, free and easy. 
We move closer still and the black-and-white face begins to 
blur. 

ADMINISTRATOR (O.S.) 

,,.. .... Excus.e-.me-,- sir, can I help_ you? 

. ·· 


- -- 

Monty, lost in a reverie, looks up. The ADMINISTRATOR, a 
tall, harried-looking woman in her mid-fifties, squints at 
him through her glasses. 

MONTY 

What? 

ADMINISTRATOR 

Can I help you with something? 

MONTY 

(smiling) 
No, I don't think so. 

ADMINISTRATOR 

There are no dogs allowed on school 
grounds. 




(CONTINUED) 





CONTINUED: 







f~\ MONTY -^ 
U Okay. .. 'J\ 
(pointing at the picture) 
I used to go here. 

ADMINISTRATOR 

I really have to ask you to remove the 
dog. 

MONTY 

(still looking at picture) 
Look at what a little punk I was. 
The administrator bends forward and squints at the photo. 

ADMINISTRATOR 

I guess you weren't, the center. 

MONTY 

, Ha ha. Starting point guard. Started on 
varsity from my first game, freshman 
year. I still hold the all-time assist 
record. 

ADMINISTRATOR 

Mm, no, Marvin Ray broke the record last ^V 
year. mm^ 
Monty stares at her. She shrugs. 

ADMINISTRATOR (CONT'D) 

I coach the girl's team. 
Monty turns back to the photo. 

MONTY 

·- we* Weire undefeated that" year. 

ADMINISTRATOR 

Really? 

MONTY 

Until I got kicked off the team. After 
that, they fell apart. Do you know where 
Jakob Elinsky is? 

ADMINISTRATOR 

Probably in his classroom. Room 301. 

MONTY 

Thanks. 







(CONTINUED) 





10 


CONTINUED: (2) 







o He leads Doyle away, but stops after a few feet and turns 
back. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Marvin Ray? 

.ADMINISTRATOR 

Mm hm. 

MONTY 

You're sure? 

ADMINISTRATOR 

I was there when he broke the record. 
Monty nods and continues on his way. The administrator 
watches man and dog walk down the long corridor. 

INT. CAMPBELL-SAWYER CLASSROOM 

JAKOB ELINSKY stands at the blackboard, facing three rows of 
uninspired teenage faces. He wears a tweed jacket that seems 
a few sizes too large, with chalk stains on the sleeves. 
Jakob is the same age as Monty but he seems younger. There is 
something adolescent in his slouch, in the way he chews his 
lip. 
One of his students, MARY D'ANNUNZIO (17), stands at her 
desk, reading from a poetry textbook. Her eyes drown in pools 
of painted shadow, her hair is dyed black, tattooed roses 
garland her wrist. 

MARY 

-«=·-------···: .· (reading) - ·· -- ··· 

· ·· - 


· 

"Let us roll all our strength and all 
Our sweetness up into one ball, 
And tear pur pleasures with rough strife, 
Through the iron gates of life." 
Jakob watches her. We don't know the Campbell-Sawyer dress 
code, but we can guess that she's violating it . We can also 
guess that Jakob is watching her a little too avidly. 
Her pierced navel is visible below her Donnas tee-shirt. 

MARY (CONT'D) 

(reading) 
"Thus, though we cannot make our sun 
Stand still, yet we will make him run." 
Mary shrugs and sits down. 




(CONTINUED) 





11. 


CONTINUED: 








JAKOB 

Good, good, excellent reading. Urn, okay, 
so. What do people think? What' s going on 
here? 



Nobody says anything. Jakob nods . 




JAKOB (CONT'D) 

Okay. 



LUKE , a sullen-looking student with a shaved head and a 
failed goatee, raises his hand. 

JAKOB (CONT'D) 

Luke? 

LUKE 

Can I go to the bathroom? 

JAKOB 

No . You went twenty minutes ago . 

LUKE 

I have a bladder infection. 

JAKOB 

The poem. The poem, folks. Hello? 

MARY 

It's not real deep or anything. The guy 
wants to get laid and he's telling her to 
give it up . 
A few of the students titter half-heartedly. 



A knock on the door releases Jakob from his hell . He goes to 
answer it and then "stops/ startled. ~"~ 
It's the type ofdoo r popular in school buildings> with a 
wire-reinforced glass panel at head height , allowing you to 
look into the classroom without disturbing anyone. 



Doyle, tongue dangling from his mouth , stares back at Jakob 
through the panel . 

MARY (CONT'D) 

I didn't know your mother was coming 
today, Luke . 

LUKE 







o 
Eat me . 



Jakob opens the door . 




(CONTINUED) 





12 


CONTINUED : (2) 







Mont y stands there, holding up Doyle. Doyle scramble s out of 
hi s arms and jumps on Jakob , nearly knocking th e teache r 
down , getting his dirty paw s all over Jakob's jacket . 

MONT Y 

Easy, Doyle. 
Doyle immediately calms down , squatting by Jakob' s feet and 
staring up at the teacher . 

JAKOB 

Hey -- uh , what' s going on? 
Jakob seems awkward around Monty , nervous . 

MONT Y 

(looking at Doyle) 
Look at him . He loves you. 
Jakob looks at Doyle, wh o wag s the stump of hi s tail . 

MONT Y (CONT'D) 

He really love s you . So what are you 
doing? 
Jakob turns to look at hi s class , who all stare at Mont y and 
the dog. For the first time today, they're quiet . 

JAKOB 

(to Monty ) 
Teaching m y class , I guess. 

MONT Y 

Cool . 
ffco class) " ··· 

" ------,,...--.-.,··:. 

Hey, class . 
A few students shyly wave . 

MONT Y (CONT'D) 

(to Jakob) 
Sorry to interrupt . .Listen, change of 
plans . They'r e throwing me a goodbye 
part y downtown . Yo u and Frank get 
together somewher e and I'll com e pic k yo u 
up . 
Jakob is a little flustere d by this encounter , acutel y awar e 
that his class is watching . 

JAKO B 

Okay. 




(CONTINUED ) 





13 


CONTINUED: (3 ) 







{ \ Monty lean s close r t o Jakob . 

MONTY 

(whispering) 
I think the one with the bell y button' s 
checking me out. 
Jakob turns and sees Mary staring at them. He quickly turns 
back to Monty , wh o is smiling at Mary. Jako b grab s the door 
knob. 

JAKOB 

Okay, so I'll see you later? 
Monty nods . 

MONTY 

Tel l Frank we'll meet up after midnight . 
He leads Doyle away and Jakob closes the door , the n turns to 
look at his silent class. The bell rings and all the students 
grab their bags . , 

INT. TEACHERS ' LOUNG E -- LATER 

Jakob, alon e in the room, sits on a sofa, his hea d in his \ 
hands. He looks up when he hears a knock on the door. xl"y 
Mary D'Annunzio peek s in. 

MARY 

Yo u have a minute? 
Jakob sits up straighter and smiles. 

JAKOB 

Sure . Come in. 

/ '· '··· · ' , - · / . - . · M A R Y . , · ·,······· · ;·;·. ··:'· . - · . A , - ·. · · · · · ; - ; · .-. . ' 


: 













I thought no students were allowed in the 
teachers ' lounge. 

JAKOB 

I won' t tell on you. 
Mary walks into the room, looking around suspiciously. Jakob 
points at a chair . 

JAKOB (CONT'D) 

Tak e a seat. 
Mary sits . ( ) 




(CONTINUED) 





- -· - ·· - . · - - 1 


4 


CONTINUED: 








JAKOB (CONT'D) 

So what's up? 

MARY 

Who was that guy who came to class? 

JAKOB 

Monty? An old friend of mine. He went 
here, too. 

MARY 

He doesn't look like you. 

JAKOB 

Actually, I have many friends who don't 
look like me. 

MARY 

No, I mean, he doesn't look like someone 
you'd be friends with. 

JAKOB 

We grew up together. 
(beat) 
So what can I do for you? 

MARY 

I want to know why I got a B+ on my 
story. 

JAKOB 

Okay, first of all -- 

MARY 

Nobody else in this class can write. You 
know it, too. Don't start -- 

JAKOB 

Don't worry about everyone else. 

MARY 

Vince Miskella writes a story about his 
grandmother dying and you give him an A? 
What is that, a charity A? Everyone's 
always writing about their grandmother 
dying. You know why? Not because it's so 
traumatic. Because it's a guaranteed A. 
And you're all sentimental, like, "Oh, 
Vince, that was very powerful, very 
moving." No it wasn't. You didn't care, I 
didn't care, nobody cared. That's what 
grandmothers do, they die. 







(CONTINUED) 





15. 


CONTINUED : (2) 







Mary has worked herself into a lather and Jakob watches her 
admiringly. 




JAKOB 

What did your mother say when you go t 
that? 



Mary stares at him, not comprehending. 




MARY 

What? When I got what? 




JAKOB 

(pointing at her wrist) 
The tattoo. 

MARY 

She said, "Where'd you get the mone y for 
that. " 

JAKOB 

Oh . And? 

MARY 

And what did I say or where did I get the 
money? 

JAKOB 

Well , what did you say, I guess . 

MARY 

I said he did it for free. 

JAKOB 

Oh . Did he? 

MARY 

No . Why do you care so much? 

JAKOB 

Just curious. __ 




MARY 

So you're not going to change the grade? 




JAKOB 

No , I'm not changing the grade. I'd be 
happy to discuss -- 
Mary yanks her bookbag off the floor and straps it on her 
shoulder. 










(CONTINUED) 





' · ~'T ' "' 16, 


CONTINUED: (3) 








MARY 

Great. That was a big waste of time. 

JAKOB 

Look, instead of worrying about the grade 
so much, let's talk about the actual--- 

MARY 

(muttering) 
Forget it. 
She stomps out of the lounge, her black combat boots clomping 
on the corridor's linoleum floor. 
Jakob shakes his head and looks up at the clock. 9:15. He 
reaches for the phone sitting on the coffee table. 

INT. SHREVE ZIMMER INVESTMENT BANK -- SAME TIME 

FRANK SLATTERY, also in his mid-twenties, stares at the row 
of clocks on the far wall. Below each clock is a sign: Tokyo, 
Hong Kong, Frankfurt, London. The clock marked New York reads 

9:15. 

The trading floor is one giant room: rows of TRADERS seated 
before their computers, jabbering into their telephone 
headsets. No women -- the place is loud and aggressive. 
Slattery is built like a former college wrestler: thick- 
necked, broken-nosed, muscular, his hair retreating from his 
forehead, his eyes undercast with dark crescents. 
One of his phones rings. He answers. 

----SEATTER Y - ·- - 

Frank Slattery. 
He listens for one second. 

SLATTERY (CONT'D) 

Can't talk right now. Employment number's 
coming out. 

INT. TEACHERS' LOUNGE - CONTINUOUS 


JAKOB 

All right. Just wanted to let you know 
that Monty -- 

INT. SHREVE ZIMMER - CONTINUOUS 


SLATTERY 

I'll call you later. 




(CONTINUED) 





17 


CONTINUED: -,^-.- ..... , 


.· 







He hangs up the phone and returns his gaze to the computer 
screens in front of him. Clearly he's waiting for something 
and clearly he's anxious. 

LICHTER (O.S.) 

Coming out with us later on? 
Slattery looks up at his boss, ARI LICHTER, early forties, a 
plump, genial man. 

SLATTERY 

Nah, I'm meeting some friends tonight. 

LICHTER 

Big date? 
The subject clearly makes Slattery uncomfortable. 

SLATTERY 

More of a going-away party. 

LICHTER 

Listen, the other thing, you're still 
holding onto all those contracts? 

. SLATTERY 

Why, you're nervous? 

LICHTER 

I don't like it. The claims numbers have 
dropped three weeks straight. 

SLATTERY 

And everybody's thinking, if claims have 
dropped, employment must be up. 

LICHTER 

Everybody's thinking that because it's 
pretty much always true. 

SLATTERY 

Not this time. 

LICHTER 

Frank-- 

SLATTERY 

I've got a theory. 

LICHTER 

Oh good, you've got a theory. Look, 
you're in awfully deep. You've got sixty 
million of the bank's money in there-- 




(CONTINUED) 





18 


CONTINUED : (2) 







e SLATTERY 
A hundred million. 



The news startles Lichter. 




LICHTER 

A hundred million? Jesus, Frank. 




SLATTERY 

They authorized me to a hundred million. 



Other traders sitting nearby have begun watching this 
exchange, and Lichter is careful to keep his voice down. 

LICHTER 

A week ago. They raised your limit a week 
ago, and you're already maxing out. 

SLATTERY 

I'm telling you, we're in for a low 
number. One-forty, maybe one-thirty-five. 




LICHTER 

Cut your stake in half, all right? You've 
been doing a great job, everyone knows 
that, but I'm still you r boss and I'm 
telling you: sell those contracts. 
Lichter grips Slattery's shoulder for a moment and then walks 
toward his office (a real office, with walls and a door) , 
exchanging hellos with other traders on the floor. 
PHELAN, fresh from college, walks down the row, handing fax 
sheets to all the traders. He hands a sheet to Slattery, wh o 
looks-at--it briefly before crumpling it . ........ 

. 





PHELAN 

Sollie's looking for a high number. Tw o 
hundred and eighty thousand's their call . 

SLATTERY 

Fuck Sollie. 




PHELAN 

Fuck Salomon Brothers? 




SLATTERY 

They're hedging their bets . They want 
everyone on their side of the fence. 




PHELAN 

What's the big deal with the employment 
number, anyway? 




(CONTINUED) 





19. 


CONTINUED : (3) ...,., 


. 







Slattery doesn't want to discuss this right now . 

SLATTERY 

More jobs means fewer people looking for 
work, right? Which means it's harder to 
find the right people for a job, which 
means you got to raise wages to get them, 
which mean s inflation goes up -- you 
following? 

PHELAN 

(not following) 
Yeah. 



Slatter y frowns. 




SLATTERY 

You're wearing a striped shirt with a 
striped tie . 
Phelan looks down at his tie . 

PHELAN 

Yeah? Is that bad ? 
SLATTERY "x 
,L#bi You look like a xuoAiiiig optical -LJ.JHJOJ.LJII. 
xxiv c a fuckin j u^t.J.^ax illusion . ** 



Go away. 
Phelan walks away, nervously adjusting his tie . 
MARCUSE peeks over the partition in front of Slattery. With 
his slicked-back hair , red suspenders, and obnoxious smirk, 
Marcuse looks like a ma n who owns the Gordon Gekk o action 
figure. 

- MARGUSE- ...·-..- 

Better hop to , sonny boy. 
Slattery says nothing, just stabs angrily at hi s keyboard. 

MARCUSE (CONT'D) 

I don't see you pickin g up the phone . 
Didn't Lichter just tell you to sell? 
Sounds like your allowance got cut off . 
Slattery, nostrils flared, pretends to ignore the taunts . 

MARCUSE (CONT'D) 

You're not going to disobey a direct 
order, are you? 










(CONTINUED) 





-- 20 


CONTINUED : (4) 







Slattery rolls back in his wheeled office chair and stares at 
Marcuse. 




SLATTERY 

I don't come into your bedroom and tell 
yo u how to fuck your wife, do I? 



Marcuse grins . He calls to another trader down the floor. 




MARCUSE 

Hey , Schultz, what are we looking at for 
the employment number?. 




SCHULTZ 

(yelling from his desk) 
Two-fifty, two-seventy, somewhere in 
there . 
Marcuse sits down again, disappearing behind the partition. 
Slattery glowers at his desk. He picks up his phon e and holds 
the receiver to his ear, never dialing a number. 
Lichter calls to Slattery from his office door. 

LICHTER 

Slattery! We're good? 
Slattery nods and gives a thumbs up. As soon as Lichter 
returns to his office, Slattery hangs up the phone . 
Marcuse sticks his head above the partition again. 

MARCUSE 

Good thing you got rid of those 
contracts.-Looks like a huge numbe r o n -- ,«--·-.·----««». 
the way. 
The trading floor suddenly -- and eerily-^ goes quiet. 
Everyone's attention is fixed on the television monitors 
hanging from th e ceilings. The monitors ar e muted; closed 
captioning files along the bottoms of the screens. 



Each monitor is tuned to the same station, a financial 
network broadcasting the employment number's release. A 
REPORTER wearing a bowtie reads the statistics. 



Slattery bows hi s head. He holds his hands in his lap and 
closes his eyes . For a long while the room is very quiet. 



Then a commotion of shouts and groans riles the floor. 
Everyone is hollering at the same time, and we can only make 
out a few phrases . 







(CONTINUED) 





21. 


CONTINUED: (5) 








TRADER 1 (O.S.) 

Stop out of that! Stop out! 

TRADER 2 (O.S.) 

We're going for a ride! 
Slattery looks up at the nearest monitor. A white number is 
emblazoned on a blue background: 138,112. Every monitor in 
the room flashes the same number. 
Slattery stares at his computer screen. There it is again, 
displayed prominently in the largest window: 138, 112. 
Slattery raises his eyebrows. He juggles the crumpled fax 
sheet a few times and then tosses it over the partition, 
where Marcuse is sitting. 

MARCUSE (O.S.) 

Fuck you, Slattery. 
Slattery grins and leans back in his chair, hands behind his 
head. 

EXT. MONTY'S BUILDING -- LATE AFTERNOON 

A four-story walk-up on a quiet street in Yorkville. 
NATURELLE ROSARIO sits on the stoop steps, reading a book. 
Naturelle, in her early twenties, has the lean body of a 
runner. It's cold outside but she doesn't seem to mind. When 
she sees Monty coming she closes the book and stands. 

NATURELLE 

How long have you guys been walking? I 
woke up at seven and you were already 
gone. _ _ 
Monty, digging in his pocket for his keys, kisses her for an 
answer. Naturelle closes her eyes and tries to embrace him 
but Monty abruptly ends the kiss and climbs the stairs. 
Doyle wags the stump of his tail. 

NATURELLE (CONT'D) 

How you doing, Mr. Doyle? 
She bends down to scratch him behind his mangled ear. 

MONTY 

Why you waiting down here? 

, ' NATURELLE 

I had my book. It was a beautiful day. 

(CONTINUED) 





·'"··· ··""·· " ' : '2 


·· " 2 


CONTINUED: 







c Monty smiles. 

MONTY 

Of course it was a beautiful day. 
He holds the door open for her and Doyle. 

INT. MONTY'S APARTMENT 

Monty closes the apartment door behind Naturelle and Doyle, 
then locks it. There are five locks and a heavy steel 
deadbolt. 
Despite the ominous security, it's a nice one-bedroom 
apartment, with hardwood floors and tall windows facing the 
brownstones across the street. 
Black-and-white photographs line the walls: shots of the 
Manhattan skyline, of Bensonhurst, of Doyle. The largest 
photo, hanging above the sofa, is of Brogan's Bar. 
Doyle curls up next to the radiator and quickly falls asleep. 
Monty sits on the sofa and flicks on the television with the 
remote. 

WEATHERMAN 

The first major storm of winter is 
heading our way -- 
Monty turns off the television. He stares at the dead screen. 
Naturelle comes out of the kitchen carrying a jar of honey 
and a spoon. 
She hands the jar to Monty, who opens it for her. She sits 
· beside him and begins eating" the honey, watching him. He sees 
her watching. 

MONTY 

What? 

NATURELLE 

What are you thinking about? 

MONTY 

What am I thinking about? 
He leans forward and unclips a hand-tooled leather holster 
from the back of his belt. A "B" for Brogan is tooled into 
the leather, stylized like the old Brooklyn Dodgers' logo. 
A .40 caliber automatic, squat and black, rests in the 
holster. Monty drops the holster onto the coffee table and 
runs his fingers over the B. Naturelle stares at the gun. 




(CONTINUED) 





23 


CONTINUED: 








MONTY (CONT'D) 

I'm thinking I want to be like that girl 
from the X-Men, the one who can walk 
through walls. 
He's still tracing the holster's "B " with his fingertips. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

And if I can't do that, if I can't figure 
out how to walk through walls, I'm 
thinking one shot through the roof of the 
mouth, boom, problem solved. 
Naturelle hits him on the shoulder. 

NATURELLE 

Don't joke about that. 

MONTY 

You think I'm joking? 

NATURELLE 

So what are we doing tonight? Before you 
shoot yourself. 
Monty reclines, arms spread wide and resting on the sofa's 
back cushions. 

MONTY 

Uncle Blue's throwing me a party at 
Velvet. 

NATURELLE 

I thought it was over with him. 

...MONTY. -- - .-- 

Almost. 
He watches her eat another spoonful of raw honey. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

That's a nasty habit you have. 
She leans forward and kisses him on the lips. 

NATURELLE 

Come take a bath with me. 

MONTY 

Not right now. 
She caresses his jaw but Monty is distant, his mind J 
elsewhere. ^--^ 

(CONTINUED) 





24. 


CONTINUED: (2) 




o She sets the honey jar on the table and walks out of the 
living room. Monty listens to her in the bathroom, drawing 
the bathwater. 
He listens to the sound of running water. 

CUT TO: 


INT. MONTY'S BATHROOM -- SIX MONTHS AGO 

Naturelle sits on Monty's lap in the narrow bathtub. He's 
massaging her shoulders. Music plays from a radio on the 
windowsill. 
She is laughing at something he just said. He leans closer 
and kisses the back of her neck, behind her ears. She 
stretches back, lifting one leg out of the bath. 
He runs his hand down her thigh and then stops, looking at 
the Puerto Rican flag tattooed on her ankle. She follows his 
gaze to the tattoo and then groans. 

NATURELLE 

Not this again. 

MONTY 

You were born in America, you lived in 
America your whole life, you've been to 
Puerto Rico twice, for vacation. What is 
that? I should get an Irish flag tattooed 
on my ass cause my grandparents are from 
there? 

NATURELLE 

You,don!t have room on your ass for an 
Irish flag. 
Monty dips his hands into the warm water, reaches below her, 
grabs her butt. Naturelle shrieks and Monty laughs. 

MONTY 

Between you and me the kids will be just 
right. 
Loud pounding on the apartment door startles them. They stare 
at each other. Doyle barks from the other room. 
Naturelle gets out of the tub, pulls on a bathrobe, and goes 
to answer the door. Monty waits, listening. He knows who it 
is. He stares out the bathroom's open window. 




25. 











C) INT. MONTY'S LIVING ROOM -- STILL IN FLASHBACK 

Monty, wearing sweatpants and no shirt, walks into the living 
room. Four D.E.A. AGENTS, all wearing D.E.A. windbreakers and 
shoulder holsters, wait for him. 
Doyle, ears back, growls at the agents. Monty scratches 
Doyle's head and the dog relaxes a bit. 
Naturelle, panicked, stares at Monty. She's still holding the 
apartment door open. 

MONTY 

Close the door, baby. 
She closes the door. 

AGENT BRZOWSKI 

Montgomery Brogan? 

MONTY 

Yeah. 
Brzowski flips open a badge and hands a paper to Monty, who 
looks it over. 

AGENT BRZOWSKI ^^ 

I'm Agent Brzowksi with the Drug 
Enforcement Agency. We've got a warrant 
to search your apartment. 
Brzowksi walks over to the sofa and sits down. The other 
three agents stroll around the apartment. One looks out the 
window; one starts flipping through a magazine on the coffee 
table; one stares at a photograph on the wall. 

AGENT CUNNINGHAM 

You take this picture? 

MONTY 

Yeah. 

AGENT CUNNINGHAM 

Nice picture. 
When one of the agents steps too close to Doyle, the dog 
growls and the agent jumps back. 

MONTY 

Easy, Doyle. 

AGENT BRZOWSKI I) 

I don't see any tags on that dog. ^"^^ 

(CONTINUED) 





26, 


· ---· - 


· 


CONTINUED : 







o MONTY 
He's inside. He doesn't have to wear 
tags. 




AGENT BRZOWSKI 

He better stay calm or I'll have the 
pound come get him. I've seen too many 
men bit by these little bastards . 
Monty whistles and Doyle stands and walks over to him. Monty 
crouches, one hand stroking Doyle's thick neck. 



Naturelle, uncomfortable wearing only the bathrobe, begins 
heading back to the bedroom. 

AGENT BRZOWSKI (CONT'D) 

Ms . Rosario? That's your name , right? I 
need you to stay right here, ma'am. 



He winks at her. 

AGENT BRZOWSKI (CONT'D) 

Can't have you sneaking around. 
Naturelle leans against the wall, looking for a sign from 
Monty, who gives her none. 
The agents don't seem to be searching very hard. 

AGENT BRZOWSKI (CONT'D) 

Hm. 
He stares down at the sofa he's sitting on . 

AGENT BRZOWSKI (CONT-?D) 

This sofa is not very comfortable. 
Monty stares at the agent for a second and then exhales. He 
turns and looks carefully at Naturelle. 




AGENT CUNNINGHAM 

Maybe it's your posture. Posture's very 
important. 




AGENT BRZOWSKI 

No , it's this sofa. It's very 
uncomfortable. It's lumpy. 

MONTY 

Get it over with. 













(CONTINUED) 





27 


CONTINUED: (2) 







yj AGENT BRZOWSKI 
I just don't understand. It looks like 
such a nice sofa. How much did you pay 
for this sofa, Ms . Rosario? 
Brzowksi stands and looks down at the cushion. Monty is still 
staring at Naturelle, who meets his eye for a second and then 
quickly turns away. 

AGENT BRZOWSKI (CONT'D) 

Maybe it's the padding? 

AGENT CUNNINGHAM 

Could be the padding. 
Brzowski picks up the center cushion, turns it in his hands, 
and unzips it. 

AGENT BRZOWSKI 

Probably the padding. 
He pulls out handfuls of white fiber filling and lets them 
drift to the floor. Monty and Naturelle watch. 

, AGENT BRZOWSKI (CONT'D) 

rsS*f Yeah, there's something lumpy in here, 
v-v Mr. Brogan. It's a good thing I found 
this, you know. It'll make your sofa much 
more comfortable to sit on. 
The other agents laugh. Brzowski pulls out a package the size 
of a bottle of wine from the cushion, a bundle of plastic 
wrap and masking tape. 
Brzowski raises his eyebrows in mock shock while the other 
agents poh and. cluck* -- --, --· -~ -- --- 

- 


AGENT BRZOWSKI (CONT'D) 

Mr. Brogan, I do believe you're fucked. 

END FLASHBACK 


INT. MONTY'S LIVING ROOM 

Monty sits on the sofa, running his hand over the sofa 
cushion. Outside it's dark and Monty hasn't turned on the 
lights. 

NATURELLE (O.S.) 

Baby? 
V_/ Monty looks up. Naturelle stands in the bathroom's doorway, 
wearing a bathrobe. 

(CONTINUED) 





28 


CONTINUED : 




For a moment they watch each other in silence. Then he 
stands, grabs the holster off the table, and clips it to the 
back of his belt. 




NATURELLE (CONT'D) 

Where you going? 




MONTY 

I got to meet my dad for dinner. I'll 
call you in a couple hours. 
He kisses her quickly and turns to go, but then stops and 
looks at her. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Could you wear the silver dress tonight? 




NATURELLE 

You want me to? 



He nods. 

MONTY 

I want to remember you in that dress . 
He walks out of the apartment, leaving Naturelle alone in the 
dark living room. 

EXT. MONTY'S BUILDING 

Kostya sits on the top step of the stoop, sipping from a 
silver flask. A female JOGGER runs past and Kostya calls 
after her. 

KOSTYA 

···· Hello ,--teeauti-f-uA~ woman! 

- 

She doesn't look in his direction. He takes another swig from 
his flask. 
A young MOTHER pushes a baby stroller past the stoop. 




KOSTYA (CONT'D) 

Hello, beautiful mother! Hello, little 
baby! 
The mother doesn't look at him, but the two-year old GIRL, 
fascinated, stares at him. 




KOSTYA (CONT'D) 

(calling after mother) 
You look like Julia Roberts. They tell 
you this, yes? Come back! I make you a 
new baby. I make you a boy! 




(CONTINUED) 





29 


CONTINUED: 







Monty opens the front door. He stares down at Kostya. 

MONTY 

What are you doing here? 

KOSTYA 

So many beautiful women, this 
neighborhood. I like very much. 
Kostya stands and grips Monty's arm. 

KOSTYA (CONT'D) 

You are okay? 

MONTY 

I'm having the time of my life. 

KOSTYA 

Uncle Blue wants me talking with you. He 
wants you coming to Velvet tonight. 

MONTY 

Yeah, three other people already told me . 
He's really dying to say goodbye, huh? 
Kostya releases Monty's arm and nods sadly. 

KOSTYA 

It seems. 

MONTY 

What does he want? 

KOSTYA 

I don't know. 

· --·-- MONTY : "-" " ·"""" 


~ · 

You came all the way up here to tell me 
this? You heard of telephones? 

KOSTYA 

Yes, I heard, but you don't return my 
calls. And Uncle wants to make sure. 

MONTY 

I'll be there. I'm bringing Naturelle and 
some friends. 

KOSTYA 

You bring her? Why? 

MONTY "V 

Why wouldn't I ? v^ 

(CONTINUED) 





30 


CONTINUED : (2) 







Kostya shrugs. 




KOSTYA 

We have this conversation one time, 
remember? You get angry. 

MONTY 

Oh , Jesus. She didn't dime me out, man . 




KOSTYA 

No? 




MONTY 

Why would she? 



Kostya shrugs again. 

KOSTYA 

Maybe her aunt is illegal alien. 

MONTY 

What if she is? 

KOSTYA 

Maybe the Federals threaten her. 
Monty shakes his head and walks down the stairs. 

MONTY 

. You're insane. She wouldn't do that. 

KOSTYA 

No? Did you ask her? 
Monty--stares--up--at- Kostya for a few seconds before-walking -- 
away. 
Kostya stands at the top of the stoop. He feels something and 
raises his palms to the air. The snow has begun to fall. 



He looks up into the sky. Something catches his eye -- in one 
of the fourth floor windows, Naturelle is staring down at 
him. 
Kostya watches her. She lets the curtain close. Kostya takes 
another slug from his flask. 




INT. SUBWAY STATION 




Monty waits for the 6 train. Two BOYS (12), wearing winter 
parkas and knit caps, crouch near the edge of the platform, 
pointing down at the tracks and laughing. 







(CONTINUED) 





31 


CONTINUED: 








MONTY 

What's down there? 
The boys point and Monty looks. We follow his gaze. We can't 
see anything at first, but then, as if our eyes were 
adjusting to the dark, we begin to pick out movement. 
A gang of large RATS crawls through the tracks, nosing 
through balled-up paper bags, candy wrappers and orange 
peels. 

BOY 1 

These ones, they eat rat poison like 
chocolate. 
The biggest rat of all sniffs around the base of an upright 
wax-paper coffee cup that sits just outside the third rail. 
Monty reaches into the pocket of his camel's hair coat and 
pulls out a handful of change. 

MONTY 

Watch this. 
He selects a quarter and -- with a free throw motion as smooth 
as Hersey Hawkins's-- tosses it into the empty cup, a ten- 
foot shot. 
The big rat, startled, hustles into the alcove below the lip 
of the platform. The boys, impressed, whistle. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Here -- 
He offers his palmful of change. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Take a shot at it. 
The boys look at each other for a moment before each takes a 
coin. They stare up at Monty. He nods at them. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Let's see what you got. 
Boy 1 takes careful aim at the coffee cup. His shot is way 
off target, though -- it pings off the tile on the far side of 
the tunnel. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Your release is too high. Look -- 
He mimics the boy's shooting motion. 




(CONTINUED) 





32 


CONTINUED : (2) 







o 

^^ MONTY (CONT'D) 

See? You're letting go way up here, so 
it's floating on you. It's like -- you 
play basketball? 

BOY 1 

No. 

MONTY 

Baseball? 

BOY 1 

No . 

MONTY 

No? What do you play? 

BOY 1 

Soccer. 

MONTY 

(disgusted) 
Soccer? All right, forget it. 
(turning to the other boy) 
Your turn, little man . 
Boy 2 toes the edge of the yellow danger line and practices 
his motion . When he finally releases the coin, it flashes 
through the air and drops neatly into the cup. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Thataboy! 
He raises his fist and the boy taps knuckles, grinning 




BOY 1 

You see that! You see that! Charlie got 
mad skills! 
Charlie says nothing, just grins and hops around on one foot. 




MONTY 

Make a wish. 




CHARLIE 

I get a wish? 

MONTY ' 

Hell , yes . A shot like that deserves a 
wish. 



Monty and Charlie stare at the coffee cup and concentrate. 




33 











INT . 6 TRAI N 

Mont y rest s wit h hi s eye s close d a s th e trai n shudder s 
throug h th e tunnels . 

TRE Y (O.S.) 

Monty ? Mont y Brogan ? 
Mont y open s hi s eyes . TRE Y POWEL L (27) stand s abov e him , 
holdin g th e ba r an d smilin g dow n a t Monty . A blonde , blandl y 
handsom e man , Tre y look s lik e h e migh t hav e rowe d fo r Yale' s 
crew . H e wear s a well-cu t navy-blu e suit . Hi s wife , NANC Y 
(26) , stand s besid e him -- equall y blonde , equall y bland . 

MONT Y 

(not recognizin g them ) 
Hey.. . 

TRE Y 

Tre y Powell ! Fro m Campbell-Sawyer ! 

MONT Y 

(trying fo r enthusiasm ) 
Oh , Trey . Hey . Ho w yo u been ? 

TRE Y \ 

Excellent , excellent . Well , Goldman' s go t w*^jf 
m e locke d awa y twent y hour s a day , bu t 
othe r tha n that.. . I'm sorry , Nancy , thi s 
i s Mont y Brogan . Bes t basketbal l playe r 
eve r t o pla y fo r Campbell-Sawyer . 
Mont y stand s an d shake s he r hand . 

MONT Y 

Nic e t o mee t you . Here , tak e m y seat . 

NANC Y 

No , no , please -- 

MONT Y 

Thi s i s m y stop . I go t t o catc h th e B 
train . 
j 
Trey claps Monty on the shoulder. 

TREY 

Too bad, I wanted to catch up. 

MONTY 

Yeah, well I'm sure I'll see you soon -- 

\J 


(CONTINUED) 





"- .,*..--- ~- 34 


CONTINUED: 








TREY 

Tenth reunion. It's coining up! I'm the 
alumni rep for our class, actually. We'll 
see you there, I hope? June fifteenth? 
The train has pulled into the station and Monty moves toward 
the doors. 

MONTY 

Yeah, I hope so, definitely. Good seeing 
you. 
Monty makes his escape and Trey watches him go. 

NANCY 

He went to Campbell-Sawyer? 

TREY 

Mm. Well, he was a scholarship kid. It 
didn't take, though. They threw him out 
junior year. 
Through the subway car windows, they watch Monty jogging up 
the stairs. 

NANCY 

For what? 

TREY 

Selling drugs. 
(beat) 
You can take the kid out of Bensonhurst, 
but you can't take the Bensonhurst out of 
the kid. 

EXT. BROGAN'S BAR -- NIGHT 

The snow is falling faster. We watch the flakes spin through 
a yellow cone of streetlight. 
We see the bar from the street.. The name "Brogan's Bar & 
Grill" is written in gold script on the storefront window. 
From the outside it looks like any other Bensonhurst bar, 
neon beer signs hanging in the window. 

INT. BROGAN'S BAR 

On the inside, though, it's clear that attention has been 
paid to every detail. Everything is right: the zinc bartop, 
the brass foot-rail, the antique mirrors behind the liquor. 










(CONTINUED) 





35, 


CONTINUED : - ···--<·· 







A BARTENDER wipes down the bartop with a rag and a spray- 
bottle . Two CUSTOMERS sit on stools and watc h the basketball 
game on television. 
Mont y sits at a corner table with his father, JAME S BROGAN , 
fifty. Each ma n has a pint of Guinness. The olde r Broga n was 
clearly a fine-looking ma n in his day, but the year s hav e 
bee n hard on him. 
Monty points at the Tiffany-glass sconces on the wall . 

MONT Y 

Where'd you find those? 

MR . BROGAN 

Estate sale in Sheepshead Bay. Old lady 
dies and her kids sell everything five 
days later. The china -- she probably 
thought her great-grandkids would be 
eating off those plates. 

MONT Y 

Maybe they didn't need any more plates . 

MR . BROGAN 

(wistfully) 
It was beautiful china. 
Monty leans back in his chair and surveys the place . No t that 
he hasn't seen the bar a thousand times -- he' s havin g a hard 
time looking directly at his father. 
RUTH (60), a waitress with a face like a crumpled pape r bag, 
arrives with the food: pork chops for the elder Brogan , a 
steak for Monty. 

MONT Y 

Thanks, Ruth . 

RUTH 

Anytime, sweetie . 
She rests her hand on Monty's shoulder for a moment . 

RUTH (CONT'D) 

I'll send you cookies every month . Peanut I 
butter, right? Your favorite. 
Monty smiles and nods . Ruth exchanges glances wit h Mr . Brogan 
before departing. Mr . Brogan breaks a bread roll an d butters 
it . He stares at the buttered bread and leaves it on his 
plate . \j 




(CONTINUED) 





36, 


CONTINUED : (2) 








MR. BROGAN 

So I talked to Sal -- 




MONTY 

Ah , come on, Dad. 




MR. BROGAN 

See if he can help with anything. 




MONTY 

Sal? The guy's been out of the picture 
for twenty years. 

MR. BROGAN 

He might know some people in there . 

MONTY 

The guy's three hundred years old. He 
sits around playing gin rummy all day. 
What's he going to do for me? 

MR. BROGAN 

He still knows people. 

MONTY 

Dad, would you please? I'll be all right. 
Just, please, don't get involved in this . 
(beat) 
Okay? 

MR. BROGAN 

You're still going to be a young man when 
you get out. 



- Monty lets his fork drop and wipes his mouth with his napkin. 

MR. BROGAN (CONT'D) 

I know you don't think so. But listen to 
me . You keep your head down in there. 
Don't start any trouble. 

MONTY 

Jesus. Enough. 



Both men stare at the uneaten food on their plates . 




MR. BROGAN 

This should never have happened. 



Monty raps the tabletop with his knuckles. 













(CONTINUED) 





37 . 


CONTINUED: (3) "-·- 








MONTY 

Dad? I fucked up. Okay? What else can I 
tell you? I fucked up. 

INT. BROGAN'S BATHROOM -- LATER 

Monty stands in the cramped bathroom, staring into the 
mirror. Someone has scrawled "Fuck you" in magic marker on 
the wall above the mirror. 

CUT TO: 


INT. DEA DIVISION OFFICE, INTERROGATION ROOM ~ MORNING 

Monty stares into the mirror covering one wall of the room. 

INT. OBSERVATION ROOM -- CONTINUOUS 

Two agents stare back at him through the one-way glass. 

INT. DEA DIVISION OFFICE, INTERROGATION ROOM -- CONTINUOUS 

Monty.sits at the table and waits. Agent Brzowksi walks in, 
followed by Agent Cunningham. Brzowski leaves the door ajar 
for a moment. 
Monty looks through the door and sees Naturelle leaving 
another room, escorted by two agents. She makes eye contact 
with Monty. Brzowski shuts the door. He smiles at Monty. 

AGENT BRZOWSKI 

Good looking girl you got there. 
Monty glares at him. Brzowski pretends to sh,iver. 



Ooh, that's a scary look. Yikes. You see 
the look he gave me? 
Cunningham laughs. Both agents take seats at the table. 

AGENT BRZOWSKI (CONT'D) 

Naturelle Rosario. What a name. You see 
the body on that girl? 
Cunningham laughs again. 

MONTY 

You fucking touch her -- 

AGENT BRZOWSKI 

No, no, you've got it all wrong. She 
fucking touched you. 




(CONTINUED) 





38 


CONTINUED : 







Monty is silent for a few seconds. When he does speak, his 
tone is very quiet and deliberate -- he is trying to restrain 
his temper. 

MONTY 

You're lying to me . 




AGENT BRZOWSKI 

Am I? That's sweet, you really trust her . 
All I know is, she's walking away. We 
just signed her release. Bye bye , 
Naturelle. 




AGENT CUNNINGHAM 

She's probably having a big party 
tonight. 

AGENT BRZOWSKI 

Sure, why not? Big celebration. She's got 
that whole big apartment to herself now. 

AGENT CUNNINGHAM 

She's a smart girl. You on the other 
hand... 

AGENT BRZOWSKI 

You're supposed to be smart. Got yourself 
a scholarship to a fancy private school, 
huh? Not bad for a kid from Bensonhurst. 




AGENT CUNNINGHAM 

And then you get yourself thrown out for 
dealing. Pretty dumb, buddy. 




"~ -- --'--AGENT" BRZOWSKI 

You know what happens to pretty boys like 
you in prison? 

AGENT CUNNINGHAM 

Oh , they are gonna love you. 




AGENT BRZOWSKI 

But it's not too late, Brogan . First 
felony offense, we can offer you a nice 
deal. You just gotta be smart . So why 
don't you tell us about your friend Uncle 
Blue. 




MONTY 

(to Cunningham) 
Can I ask you a question? 










(CONTINUED) 





39. 


CONTINUED: (2) .. , , ._..,._... 








AGENT CUNNINGHAM 

Sure. 
Cunningham and Brzowski lean forward, eager to hear Monty 
name the names. 

MONTY 

When you've got your dick up his ass, is 
he still talking all the time? 
Cunningham and Brzowski sit back. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Cause it seems to me he never shuts up, 
and I'm just wondering, is that annoying, 
you're fucking the guy up the ass and he 
never shuts up? 

CUT TO: 


INT. BROGAN'S BATHROOM 

Monty still stares at the mirror. He wets his thumb and tries 
to rub out the magic marker "Fuck you". Someone knocks on the 
door. Monty rubs harder. It's not coming out. 
VZ7 Another knock. 

MONTY 

Yeah, all right. 

INT. BROGAN'S BAR 

Monty returns to the table, sits, drinks some Guinness. , 

MONTY 

Let me aBk you "a question. 

MR. BROGAN 

Okay. 

MONTY 

What do you think of Naturelle? 

MR. BROGAN 

She's a good girl. Your mother would have 
liked her. 

MONTY 

Do you trust her? 




Q 


(CONTINUED) 





..... . 40 


CONTINUED: 








MR. BROGAN 

Do I trust her? Why do J have to trust 
her? 

MONTY 

Do you think I can trust her? 

MR. BROGAN 

Where you going with this? 

MONTY 

I've been hearing weird things. 
(beat) 
Some people are saying she dimed me out 

MR. BROGAN 

(incredulous) 
Why would she do that? 

MONTY 

I don't know. Maybe the Feds got to her 
somehow. Blackmailed her. 

MR. BROGAN 

The girl loves you/ Monty. I can't 
believe she would betray you. 

MONTY 

Everything's gotten so strange, Dad. I 
wake up some mornings and it takes me a 
minute to remember who I am, you know? 
Where I'm going. 
Mr. Brogan looks down at his plate and nods. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Most of the people I'm with, I look at 
them and I think, these are my friends? 
(beat) 
The only ones I trust these days are you 
and the guys I grew up with -- Frank, 
Jake. 

MR. BROGAN 

I miss those boys. 

MONTY 

And Naturelle... Jesus. I can't get it 
out of my head. 



vL MR. BROGAN 
It doesn't really matter now, does it? 




(CONTINUED) 





41 


CONTINUED : (2) 




·( Monty stares at his father, blue eyes unblinking. 

MONTY 

It matters to me . 
Monty checks his watch. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

I should get going. 

MR. BROGAN 

Okay. I'll see you in the morning. 
Mr . Brogan removes his wallet from the inside pocket of his 
jacket. 

MONTY 

The morning? What for? I'm taking a bus 
up there. 

MR. BROGAN 

Forget the bus. I'll drive you. It'll 
take half as long. 
Monty frowns, backing his chair away from the table. 

MONTY 

No thanks. I'd rather say goodbye here. 
Mr . Brogan pulls a small photograph from his wallet and hands 
it to his son. 

MR. BROGAN 

Take this. They'll let you keep it. 
Monty holds the picture carefully. ._., ._ 

_ =! 


INSERT PHOTO 

James Brogan, twenty years younger, his arm around his 
beautiful wife. The six-year-old Montgomery Brogan stands in 
front of them, wearing yellow pajamas and a red plastic 
fireman's helmet, staring at the floor. 

MR. BROGAN (CONT'D) 

When you were a little kid you used to 
sleep in that fireman's helmet. Your 
mother -- 

MONTY 

(still looking at photo) ..-?·-. 
Don't, Dad. Not now. L'·') 




(CONTINUED ) 





CONTINUED: (3) 










> Monty carefully inserts the photo into his own wallet , kisses 
his father's forehead, and walks away. 



James Brogan stares at the empty chair where Monty had sat. 




INT. ELEUTHERIA GREEK RESTAURANT -- NIGHT 




UNCLE BLUE, SENKA VALGHOBEK, and VICTOR GEDNY sit on the 
private balcony that overlooks the restaurant's mai n room. 



The place is furnished in classic Outer Borough Greek 
fashion: whitewashed walls , clay-tiled floors, poster s of the 
Parthenon at dawn and Santorini at sunset. 



Uncle Blue owns the place . He's a fierce-looking ma n with a 
thick black beard, powerful hands, and no tolerance for 
incompetence. It's hard to determine his age -- anywhere from 
forty to sixty. 
Valghobek, his lieutenant, looks at first glance like an 
overweight suburban dad. But on closer inspection there is 
something absolutely mirthless in his smile, a meannes s 
around his eyes. He's in his late forties. 
Gedny, mid-thirties, Uncle Blue's lawyer, wears a shiny suit, 
a gold bracelet, and a deep , artificial-looking tan . 
Gedny busily eats his shrimp and feta while the other two 
watch him. Gedny gestures toward the windows. 

GEDNY 

Starting to snow. 

UNCLE BLUE 

You met with Brogan this morning. ··- 
Uncle Blue's accent, like his age, is difficult to pi n down. 
He could be Afghani or Iranian or Turkish. 




GEDNY 

I did, yeah. 



Gedny reaches for his wine , takes a sip. 




UNCLE BLUE 

And? 




GEDNY 

He' s no t lovin g lif e righ t now, 
obviously . I don' t know. He' s har d t o 
read . 










(CONTINUED) 





43 . 


CONTINUED : 








( ) UNCL E BLU E 

I kno w h e is . I don' t lik e that . 

GEDN Y 

Listen , on e hundre d percen t certain , th e 
ki d didn' t flip . The y woul d no t b e 
sendin g hi m t o Otisvill e i f h e flipped . 
Uncl e Blu e an d Valghobe k exchang e glances . It' s clea r the y 
don' t hav e muc h respec t fo r th e lawyer . 

UNCL E BLU E 

We'r e talkin g abou t huma n behavior , Mr . 
Gedny . Nothin g i s on e hundre d percen t 
certain . 

VALGHOBE K 

Don' t assum e they'r e idiots . 

GEDN Y 

That' s jus t it . They'r e no t idiots . N o 
wa y i n hel l th e kid' s stil l walkin g 
aroun d ou t her e i f h e flippe d Federal . 
Secon d h e goe s he' s gone, right ? I f he' s 
thei r sta r witness , they' d hav e 
j-J§i disappeare d him . 
Gedn y fork s anothe r shrim p an d eat s it . 

GEDN Y (CONT'D ) 

(mout h full ) 
He' s kep t hi s mout h shut . 

VALGHOBE K 

S o far . 

:' - ~ " GEDN Y ""~" 

He' s a smar t kid . H e know s what' s goo d 
fo r him . 

UNCL E BLU E 

He' s soft . H e won' t las t lon g i n there . 

GEDN Y 

He'l l hav e to . Fe d mandatory , tha t mean s 
on e da y of f pe r mont h o f goo d behavior . 
Eve n i f he' s a fuckin g choirboy , he' s i n 
ther e seve n years . 

UNCL E BLU E 

(to Valghobek ) 
He' s comin g tonight ? r,,'J 




(CONTINUED) 




i 44 

4 CONTINUED: (2) 







Valghobek nods. 




GEDNY 

Where to? Throwing him a goodbye party at 
VelVet? 

UNCLE BLUE 

You won't be there, Mr . Gedny. 




GEDNY 

What do I have to do to rate one of those 
VelVet parties? Aside from getting locked 
up for seven years. 

UNCLE BLUE 

Win more trials. 
Gedny laughs but quickly notices that Uncle Blue and 
Valghobek are not amused. 

GEDNY 

Listen, they found six hundred and fifty 
g's in your boy's sofa cushion. They got 
every white junkie on the East Side 
saying Brogan's the sell. Game over. 



Uncle Blue and Valghobek say nothing. Gedny licks his lips 

GEDNY (CONT'D) 

It's U.S . Code. There's nothing to argue. 
Who do I argue with, the fucking grid? 
It's seventy-eight to ninety-seven 
months, automatic. I kept him out of 
stepback* kep_t him in the world for a few 
extra months -- 

UNCLE BLUE 

The judge kept him out of stepback. Why? 
If he's not talking with the Federals, 
how come he's still on the street? 



Gedny shrugs. 

GEDNY 

It's pretty common for non-violent 
offenders. He's a white boy with no 
record and his father put up his bar as 
the bail bond. They're not worried about 
him jumping. 













(CONTINUED) 





45 


CONTINUED: (3) 








UNCLE BLUE 

They know more than you think. If 
Brogan's telling the truth, he was 
touched. The DEA went straight to his 
sofa. They knew exactly where it was. 

GEDNY 

Someone dimed him out. You know who? 
Uncle Blue and Valghobek watch the lawyer, impassive and 
silent. 

GEDNY (CONT'D) 

None of my business. 

UNCLE BLUE 

Correct. 

EXT. MULBERRY STREET -- NIGHT 

Monty walks down the snow-covered street, hands in the 
pockets of his camel's hair coat. He watches everything 
intently: the passersby, the cars swerving through the slush, 
the stores and restaurants. 

EXT. CLOTHING BOUTIQUE 

He stops in front of a fashionable shop. Beyond the plate 
glass window, bald mannequins wear the latest styles. 

CUT TO: 


EXT. CLOTHING BOUTIQUE -- FLASHBACK (TWO YEARS EARLIER) 

Monty and Naturelle, hand in hand, stare through the window 
at the elegantly attirejl manneguins_» ,,The shop appears to be 
closed for the night. 

NATURELLE 

This is my favorite store. 

' MONTY 

I know. Let's go in. 

NATURELLE 

It's closed. 

MONTY 

Not for you it's not. 
He raps on the window. A SALES CLERK (25) walks over to the 
window, peers out and sees Monty. He goes to the door, 
unlocks it, holds it open for Naturelle and Monty. 




. (CONTINUED) 





46 


CONTINUED: 







Naturelle stares at Monty, who smiles and beckons for her to 
enter. She raises her eyebrows and goes in. Monty nods to the 
clerk as he enters the store. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

How you doing? 

CLERK 

Pretty good, Monty, how you been? 

INT. CLOTHING BOUTIQUE 

Naturelle and Monty have the shop to themselves. She walks 
around, inspecting the blouses, the pants, the jackets and 
handbags. Monty watches hex. 

NATURELLE 

Everything here is so expensive. 

MONTY 

Don't worry about that. It's your 
birthday. 
The clerk emerges from the back room. 
/"'.'Jaillt 
[]^m CLERK 
vs" 
"~ We got some of the new stuff in from 
Italy this morning. You want to take a 
look? 

INT. BACK ROOM 

The new clothes are still wrapped in plastic. Naturelle pokes 
around, touching the fabrics, examining the cuts. The clerk 
touches her arm* - - - --- - 

CLERK 

Here, check out this dress. It's the best 
thing they've made in years. 
He tears the plastic wrap off a dress hanging in the corner 
of thp rnrmu--It really is a gorgeous dress,--sleek and silver,-- 
looking almost liquid under the fluorescent lights. 
Naturelle holds the hanger to her chest and looks at herself 
in a full-length mirror leaning against one wall. She turns 
to Monty and smiles. 

CUT TO: 





47 











EXT. CLOTHING BOUTIQUE WINDOW -- NIGHT 

Monty, still remembering, stares through the window. His 
reflection stares back at him. 

INT. SLATTERY'S APARTMENT -- NIGHT 

Slattery opens the door and Jakob hurries in, his Yankees hat 
(which he wears for the rest of the night) and coat dusted 
with snow. 

SLATTERY 

It's really coming down, huh? 
Slattery lives in a Young Man with Money without Woman 
Apartment. The television set in the living room is so large 
that the weatherman startles Jakob. 
The living room itself is bigger than many Manhattan 
apartments, but it's empty except for the television, an old 
sofa, a coffee table, a Persian rug (still rolled) under the 
windows, and a shiny red electric guitar in the corner. 
Slattery returns to the sofa, bottle of beer in hand, while 
Jakob remains standing, brushing the snow from his coat. 

JAKOB ^ 

(indicating guitar) 
You taking lessons? 

SLATTERY 

You think I have time for guitar lessons? 
It's nice though, huh? 

JAKOB 

Yeah, it's nice. 

SLATTERY 

I like that color red. Have you checked 
out the TV yet? Big, right? 

JAKOB = 

Very big. 
On television, the weatherman blabs on about the coming 
storm. 

WEATHERMAN 

...for the New York metropolitan area, 
and I'll tell you what, Carol, it could 
be a doozy. Expect anywhere from six to - 
ten inches of snow. \ 







(CONTINUED) 





--.-........ - 


. 48 


CONTINUED : 








JAKOB 

Do you think real human beings use the 
word "doozy"? 

SLATTERY 

Ten inches of snow! 

JAKOB 

Maybe we'll have a snow day tomorrow. 

SLATTERY 

We should go skiing this weekend. I 
bought some racing skis. Six hundred 
bucks.for a pair of fucking skis . 

JAKOB 

I don't know how to ski. 

SLATTERY 

Well so what. Neither do I. But ten 
inches! 
(beat) ! 
You gonna stand all night? You'r e making ! 
me nervous. 
Jakob sits beside Slattery and stares unhappily at the huge 
television. When the screen goes blank befor e a commercial, \ 
he sees his own face reflected in the glass . j| 

JAKOB ·! 

Frank? 

SLATTERY 

Yeah? 

JAKOB 

Are you ready for this? 
Slattery changes channels. 

SLATTERY 

For what? 

JAKOB 

For tonight. 

SLATTERY 

What's there to be ready for? 

JAKOB 

What do we say to him? He's goin g to be 
living in a cell for seven years . 

(MORE) 





(CONTINUED) 





49 . 


CONTINUED : <2) 


JAKOB (CONT'D) 

It's like visiting a friend in the - 
hospital with cancer . What do we say? 




SLATTERY 

We don't say anything. We get him drunk 
and go wherever he wants to go . 

JAKOB 

I don't even know wh y he invited me . 




SLATTERY 

What are you talking about? 




JAKOB 

We hardly ever see each other these days . 
You and I are his friends from the past . 




SLATTERY 

His friends from the present haven't done 
him much good. 
They're quiet for a time, staring at the huge television. 

JAKOB 

I can't believe he'l l be gone for seven 
years. Someone turns him in and boom, 
goodbye. 

SLATTERY 

It's the best thing that ever happened to 
him. 
The comment startles Jakob. 

JAKOB 

What does that mean ? 




SLATTERY 

It means if he didn't get arrested, he 
wouldn't be alive in seven years . They'd 
find him under the Manhattan Bridge with 
two bullets in hi s head. 
Jakob thinks about this for a second before picking up a 
framed photograph from the coffee table. 




INSERT PICTURE 




Slattery, Jakob and Monty at age sixteen, mugging for the 
camera. 




JAKOB . 

God, we were little punks, huh? { J 







(CONTINUED) 





· · - ·""·· 50, 


·· 


"" ·- 


CONTINUED : (3) 







Slattery grunts. Jakob continues to stare at the photograph . 




CU T TO: 





INT. CAMPBELL-SAWYER CAFETERIA -- FLASHBACK 




The three boys, age sixteen, sit at a table with their trays 
of food. They wear the school uniform: blazers with the 
Campbell-Sawyer crest, loosely knotted ties. 



Young Slattery picks up a strand of limp spaghetti from his 
plate . 

YOUNG SLATTERY 

Watch this. 



He sticks one end up one nostril while his friends stare at 
him. 
Slattery snorts and then blows his nose. Monty and Jakob back 
away in disgust. Slattery sticks a finger into his other 
nostril and pulls down the end of the spaghetti strand. 
One end of the spaghetti strand now dangles from each 
nostril. He pulls on each end, a little this way, a little 
that way. 

YOUNG SLATTERY (CONT'D) 

It's called brain flossing. 

YOUNG MONTY 

This is why you're still a virgin. 

YOUNG SLATTERY 

I'm not a virgin. 
Two classmates, TREY and MASON, come over to their table . 
Both are blonde, WASPy, and lazily elegant. 




TREY 

That's attractive, Slattery. 




MASON 

Very classy. Here they are , the three 
Lords of the Outer Boroughs. 



Slattery glares at them, the spaghetti still dangling from 
his nose . 

YOUNG SLATTERY 

Fuck you. 










(CONTINUED) 





51 


CONTINUED: > 








TRE Y 

Ooh, good comeback. Come on, we expect 
our scholarship boys to be a little 
quicker than that. 

YOUNG SLATTERY 

(clenching his fists) 
You want to see how quick I am? 

MASON 

All right, all right, take it easy. What 
are you boys up to this weekend? 

YOUNG JAKOB 

We've got that Paradise Lost paper due 
Monday. 
Trey rolls his eyes. 

TREY 

Monty, you coming to my party? 

YOUNG MONTY 

I don't know, maybe. 



It's gonna be a rager. 

YOUNG SLATTERY 

A Park Avenue rager? You're gonna sit 
around drinking tea? 
Slattery drinks from his milk carton, letting his pinkie 
finger dangle in imitation of an aristocrat drinking tea 

TREY ,,. ... 

Smoking tea, more like. I'm buying half 
an ounce in the Meadow later on. 
Mason mimics smoking a J. 

MASON 

Two hundred bucks, going up in smoke. 

YOUNG MONTY 


1 

Two hundred bucks for half an ounce? 

TREY 

Why, how much does it cost you? 
Monty shrugs 







(CONTINUED) 





-··-·· - · -- - -52. 


CONTINUED : (2) 








YOUNG MONTY 

I could get it for seventy. 



Trey pull s out his calfskin wallet and selects a crisp 
hundred dollar bill . He hands it to Monty. 

TREY 

You get it, you can keep the change. 



Trey and Mason amble away. Monty snaps the bill between hi s 
fingers. Jakob looks at Monty skeptically. 

YOUNG JAKOB 

Since when are you the big player? 

YOUN G MONTY 

(gesturing at Trey and Mason) 
They were born with money, right? Okay, 
fair enough. I was born with sway. 

YOUNG JAKOB 

What's sway? 
Monty leans toward the next table over, where four GEEKISH 
STUDENTS are poring over their textbooks. 

YOUNG MONTY 

Hey, Julian. How's that math homework 
treating you? 
JULIAN, a pale, pudgy boy with an odd resemblance to Alfred 
Hitchcock, grins at Monty and shrugs. He's clearly flattered 
by Monty's attention; his three friends stare at Monty. 

-- -- - --· JULIAN " 

Piece of cake. Want to borrow it? 

YOUNG MONTY 

Just to make sure you didn't screw it up . 



Julian laughs and hands Monty a sheet of graph paper covered 
with geometric proofs . 




JULIAN 

Try no t to copy my name this time. 




YOUNG MONTY 

Ha ha . 



Monty smiles at Jakob and flutters the graph paper . 













(CONTINUED) 





53 . 


CONTINUED : (3 ) «.->.. - -^ 







(Ifl YOUNG MONTY (CONT'D) 
^~y Sway. 

K 

(beat) 
Hey, Frank, you eating that? Cause I'm 
still hungry. 
He grabs for the spaghetti strand dangling from Slattery's 
nose. Slattery defends himself with a butter knife. 

CUT TO: 


INT. SLATTERY'S APARTMENT 

Jakob returns the photograph to the coffee table. 

JAKOB 

Lords of the Outer Boroughs. Remember 
that? 
Slattery stands and stretches. He looks tired. 

SLATTERY 

You want to help me with this rug? It's 
been sitting here for a month. 

JAKOB 

Where do you want it? 

SLATTERY 

Over here. 
They carry the rolled rug to the center of the room and tear 
off the plastic wrap. 

JAKOB 

What's he planning to do with Doyle? 

SLATTERY 

Doyle? I don't know. Give him to 
Naturelle? 
Slattery balls up the plastic wrap and tosses it into the 
corner. They begin unrolling the rug. 

JAKOB 

They should at least let him take his dog 
with him. Maybe it wouldn't be so lonely. 
Slattery cocks an eyebrow and stares at Jakob. 

SLATTERY 

You can't take your dog to prison with 
you. 




(CONTINUED) 





CONTINUED : 








JAKOB 

I'm just saying it would be nice if you 
could. 



They look down at the unrolled rug. 




SLATTERY 

That looks pretty good^ 

JAKOB 

Monty's tough. I think he'll be okay. 



Slattery starts shaking his head and Jakob hurriedly 
continues. 

JAKOB (CONT'D) 

If it was me , I'd never last a day. But 
Monty's different. 

SLATTERY 

(dismissively) 
You don't get it. Here, let's move it 
closer to the sofa. 
They lift the rug and shift it a few feet. 

JAKOB 

So explain it to me . 

SLATTERY 

You want the simple version? People wh o 
look like Monty don't do wel l in prison . 




JAKOB 

You're talking about... It can't be as 
bad as people say. I mean, it's a Federal 
prison. I'm sure they're pretty careful -- 



Slattery starts to laugh. 

SLATTERY 

Man , you talk exactly like a guy who 
never left school. 



Jakob has no comeback for this . He simmers. 




SLATTERY (CONT'D) 

Monty's got three choices, and none of 
them are good. One , he can run. Get on a 
train going to wherever and hope they 
never catch up to him. 










(CONTINUED) 





55. 


CONTINUED: (2) 








JAKOB 

He won't do that. His dad's bar -- 

SLATTERY 

I'm not saying what he will do, I'm 
saying what his choices are. Number two -- 
Slattery makes a gun with his thumb and index finger and 
points it at his temple. Jakob's eyes go wide. 

JAKOB 

Kill himself? Not a chance. No way. 
What's the third choice? 

SLATTERY 

The third choice? 
Slattery thinks about it for a minute. 

SLATTERY (CONT'D) 

The third choice is he goes to prison. 

JAKOB 

That's what's going to happen. He'll go 
and he'll make it through. 

SLATTERY 

Maybe. But no matter what, it's bye-bye 
Monty. 

JAKOB 

What does that mean? 
Slattery raises his thumb. 

SLATTERY 

If he runs, he's gone. And he won't be 
coming home. 
He raises his index finger. 

SLATTERY (CONT'D) 

If he pulls the trigger, he's gone. 
They'll keep the casket closed. 
He raises his middle finger. 

SLATTERY (COM" D) 

If they lock him away, he's gone. You'll 
never see him again. 




Q 


(CONTINUED) 





56. 


CONTINUED: (3) 




o JAKOB 
I'll see him again. I'll visit him up 
there and I'll see him when he gets out. 

SLATTERY 

I wouldn't bet on it. You think you're 
still gonna be friends? You think you'll 
kick back with a couple beers and 
reminisce? Forget it, Jake. It's over 
after tonight. 

INT. MONTY'S KITCHEN -- NIGHT 

Naturelle, wearing the sleek, shimmering silver dress, enters 
the kitchen. She's looking for something. 
She finds her keys by the cutting board, and then stops for a 
moment, looking at the carving knife atop the clean cutting 
board. 

CUT TO: 


INT. MONTY'S KITCHEN --ON E YEAR EARLIER 

Naturelle, wearing shorts and a t-shirt, slices onions while 
music plays on the stereo. We hear the apartment door open 
and close, and then Monty comes into the kitchen. 
Naturelle continues slicing onions. Monty walks over to her 
and embraces her from behind. He kisses her neck, her ears. 

NATURELLE 

You have a good day? 

"· MONTY " " 

Mm hm. 

NATURELLE 

Do anything special? 

MONTY 

Nope. 

NATURELLE 

Anyone call for me when I was out? 

MONTY 

Nah. 

NATURELLE 

Nobody? 
Monty begins to get worried. 

(CONTINUED) 





57 


·CONTINUED: - ' 








MONTY 

Urn. .. I don't -- 
Naturelle wheels around and Monty has to jump back to avoid 
getting gutted by the carving knife. 

NATURELLE 

Like, for example, my mother didn't call? 

MONTY 

Oh, shit. Shit, I'm sorry. I completely-- 
Naturelle stabs the air to emphasize her point. 

NATURELLE 

This is the third time this month, 
Montgomery. What's your problem, you're 
illiterate? You can't write down a 
message on a piece of paper? 

MONTY 

I meant to.y I just -- 

NATURELLE 

You meant to? You meant to? 

MONTY 

Could you put the knife away? 

NATURELLE 

I'll put the knife away. You want me to 
put the knife away? 

MONTY 

(smiling) 
Okay -- ^ 

NATURELLE 

This is funny? 
Monty steps back and Naturelle advances on him with the 
knife. She's kidding, basically, but it's hard to tell. 

NATURELLE (CONT'D) 

You think this is funny? I'll carve your 
heart out, you shit. 
Monty laughs. Doyle has walked into the kitchen and now 
stands behind Monty, staring up curiously at the two humans. 
MONTY x 
You're gonna carve my heart out? · i) 




· (CONTINUED) 





58 


CONTINUED: (2) 







Naturelle waves the knife at him and Monty takes another step 
backward, trips over Doyle, and lands hard on his back . He 
begins to laugh hysterically. 




NATURELLE 

Keep laughing. 



She kicks him in the ribs, not very hard, and Mont y howl s 
with laughter. Doyle, a little confused, licks Monty' s face. 

NATURELLE (CONT'D) 

Yeah, keep laughing, you fuck. I'll carve 
your heart out and feed it to Doyle. 
She continues kicking while Monty laughs and Doyle, 
mystified, begins to bark, and finally Naturelle starts 
laughing too. 
Monty grabs her wrist and pulls her down on top of him . She 
drops the knife to the side and bites Monty, hard, oh the 
lips. 

CUT TO : 





INT. MONTY'S KITCHEN -- PRESENT 

Naturelle, in her silver dress, stares at the carving knife. 
Doyle pads in behind her, panting. Naturelle turns and looks 
down at his blunt, expectant face. 

NATURELLE 

You ready for this? 

INT. VELVET NIGHTCLUB -- MANAGER'S OFFICE -- NIGHT 

LUIS VOLANDES has decorated his office walls with signed 
photographs of various low-rung celebrities. 
Volahdes, a potbellied ma n in his late thirties, wit h a mane 
of curly black hair , sits behind his desk, listening to 
Kostya, who shadowboxes, ringed fists flashing. 




VOLANDES 

You move prett y wel l fo r a fa t man. S o 
tel l m e abou t thi s part y tonight . 



Kostya throw s a left-right-lef t combination . 




KOSTYA 

Uncl e Blu e want s th e VIP room. 













(CONTINUED) 





59 


CONTINUED : ·· - - · ..,.-.,. 


, ·...-··. ..-..-- 


. · .. 


. 








VOLANDES 

Al l right, that's what he wants . It's his 
place. If someone had asked, I'd have 
said do this party some other night . 
Tonight's gonna be insane. This DJ we've 
got playing, he's like Jesus these days . 
Every high school kid in the five 
boroughs is gonna be at my door . 



Kostya frowns at the smaller man . 

KOSTYA 

Monty goes to prison tomorrow. You wan t 
we have party tomorrow night? 




VOLANDES 

(holding up his hands) 
Hey, I like Monty. He's a good kid. Okay, 
any special requests for this party? 



Volandes taps the side of his nose. Kostya shakes his head 

KOSTYA 

None of that. For his last night , we get 
him a girl. 

VOLANDES 

What does he like? 



Kostya smiles. 

KOSTYA 

Monty? He likes everything. Get him a 
pretty girl. And don't be cheap. 
The office door opens. Uncle Blue and Valghobek walk in. 
Volandes quickly stands. 

VOLANDES 

Hey. I didn't -- we weren't expecting you. 




UNCLE BLUE 

(to Kostya) 
What time is Monty coining tonight? 




KOSTYA 

One , two, who knows? Monty will be late 
for his own funeral. 

UNCLE BLUE 

(grim) 
No , he won't. Bring him here at three. 







(CONTINUED) 





- ' - -····"- - · ·" - -- ···--- 60 


CONTINUED: (2) 








KOSTYA 

Sure. 

UNCLE BLUE 

You hear me? Three o'clock. 

VOLANDES 

You want m e to, uh -- 

UNCLE BLUE 

From midnight on, I want you somewhere 
else. Nobody comes down here, you got 
that? 

INT. BUG BAR -- NIGHT 

Slatter.y. and Jakob sit on bar stools. Slattery sips from a 
glass of whiskey; Jakob nurses a bottle of beer. 
The Bug Bar gets its name from the exotic insects in glass 
jars behind the bar. A television above the bar shows the 
entertainment news. 
A VETERAN in an army jacket practices trick shots on the pool 
table, JODY, the young, zaftig bartender, runs a rag over the 
bartop. 

JODY 

How you doing, Frank? You want another 
one? 

SLATTERY 

Thanks. 
- She pours-his-bourbon-. *,,»·-=«,.-.,,.-.··--^. -- __ 

JODY 

How about you, honey? 

JAKOB 

No , I'm fine. 
Jody walks away. Slattery and Jakob examine her tush. 

JAKOB (CONT'D) ; 

One of the guys at school, this biology i 
teacher, Terry -- did you ever meet Terry? j 

SLATTERY | 

(still watching tush) 
No. 







(CONTINUED) 





. 61 


CONTINUED: 








JAKOB {- 

Anyway, h e reall y like s thi s girl . In a 
sor t of-- 




SLATTERY 

A girl ? What d o you mean , a student ? 




JAKOB 

A student, yeah. A junior. What's weird 
is, I mean this girl is sixteen. Maybe 
seventeen, I don't know. She's not really 
pretty -- not in the usual way, but she's -- 
I don't know, she's got something. 

SLATTERY 

Uh-huh. 

JAKOB 

I told him -- I told Terry he ought to 
just forget about it, put her out of his 
mind, but he's -- he's kind of obsessing. 
It's a little scary, the way he talks 
about it. He's like, ^Five years from 
now, she'll be almost out of college. And 
I'll be thirty-one. Nothing wrong with 
that.' r~\ 
Slattery sips from his whiskey. He still hasn't looked at 
Jakob. 

SLATTERY 

You haven't fucked her yet, have you? 
Jakob's eyes go wide. 




_ 

See, wait a second. If you were listening 
to me you'd know I was talking about 
Terry. The biology teacher? Terry? 
Slattery turns and appraises Jakob. 

SLATTERY 

You haven't fucked her, right? 
Jakob starts to protest and Slattery raises his eyebrows. 

JAKOB 

No. 

SLATTERY 

Good. That would be a mistake. fv \ 




(CONTINUED ) 





62 . 


CONTINUED : (2) 







Jakob angrily picks at the label of his beer bottle. 




JAKOB 

I'm not a pervert or anything. 



Slattery drains his whiskey. He tries to catch Jody's eye , 
but she's staring at someone who just walked into the bar . 



Slattery and Jakob see Monty in the mirror. For a momen t 
neither of them moves . 
Then both of them force cheerful expressions onto their 
faces. They rise and each embraces Monty in turn. 

MONTY 

You been here long? 

JAKOB 

Oh, we got here early. 

MONTY 

Uncle Blue's throwing me a party at 
VelVet. We ought to head over there. 

JAKOB 

Whose Uncle is he? 

MONTY 

Huh? Nah, it's a nickname. His real 
name's like Ankaybusim or something, but 
no one can pronounce it . 
Monty surveys the sawdust-covered floor, the country rtiusic- 
piay-ing--j-u-keboxy--the-glass jars of bugs_,_.. _. 

_ . 


MONTY (CONT'D) 

What is this place? 

JAKOB 

Frank wants to be a redneck. He comes 
here and whistles Dixie while he's 
peeing. 



Jody lines up three shot-glasses of whiskey. 




JODY 

It's nasty outside. You fellas gotta warm 
up before you head out . 

SLATTERY 

Thanks, Jody. 



Jody smiles at Monty. 




(CONTINUED) 





63 


CONTINUED : (3) --~~ ~ . 








JODY 

Y'all ought to come by on Sunday for th e 
Super Bowl . We're setting up a big 
screen. I have a second cousin playing 
for the Packers . 



Slattery rubs the calluses on his palm and Jakob stares at 
the floor. Jody laughs at their morose reaction. 




JODY (CONT'D) 

You don't have to come! I was just 
saying. 
Monty raises his glass and Slattery and Jakob grab their 
glasses and raise them too . 

MONTY 

Fuck Sunday. 
He drinks. Slattery and Jakob hesitate and then follow suit . 




EXT . VELVET -- NIGHT 

Monty steps out of a taxi, followed by Slattery and Jakob . A 
roiling MOB occupies half the block, crowding in front of the 
entrance to the dance club . 
Most are teenagers. They clot together in groups of fours and 
fives, smoking cigarettes and stomping their feet to keep 
warm. Almost none are dressed for the snow. 

MONTY 

The whole city came out to say goodbye . 

SLATTERY 

«Jto-u'^ve»jgot a lot of yojxng _f an.s. I- think- -- 
we're the oldest ones here. 

MONTY 

Wait a second. 



Monty slips through the maz e of boys and girls . The kids look 
at him as he walks by . 



Monty makes his way to the velvet ropes . KHARI GREENE , a 
pillar of a ma n wearing the exact same camel's hair coat as 
Monty, stands by the door, checking names off a clipboard. 



Two pale scars run in parallel lines down Khari's left cheek. 




MONTY (CONT'D) 

Nice coat , you bastard. ( ; 







(CONTINUED) 





64 . 





CONTINUED: 







Khar i look s u p from hi s clipboar d and smiles . H e offer s hi s 
hand and the y shake . 

KHARI 

It's the man . The man has arrived. 
Wearing my coat. 

MONTY 

I gotta tell you, buddy, it looks better 
on me . 
Khari skeptically fingers the sleeve of Monty's coat . 

KHAR I 

Yeah, well, I hope you got some seven- 
year mothballs for that coat. 
Monty hesitates and then laughs. Khari puts his arm around 
Monty's shoulders. 

KHARI (CONT'D) 

You doing all right? 

MONTY 

Just trying not to think, you know? 
(gesturing at the crowd) 
What's with all the kids? 

KHARI 

The legendary DJ Dusk is spinning wax 
tonight. My homeboy from Hollis. Boy's 
seventeen years old. Seventeen! But damn , 
he gets the girlies moving. Don't worry 
about -the -crowds ·? They- -got-.thgL-.YIP setjup 

- 

for y'all. 

MONTY 

I've got my people waiting. You want me 
to bring them through here? 

KHARI 

Take ^em to the avenue entrance. I'll get 
the door opened. 

MONTY 

Thanks, man . 

KHARI 

You got it . When you going in? 




MONTY 

Bus leaves at nine a.m. 









65 . 

v 

CONTINUED : (2) "~ "' * ,-,,,·.,,,,,,, =· 


,,- 








KHAR I 

Otisvill e right? 
Monty nods . 

KHAR I (CONT'D) 

Uncl e go t an y peopl e i n there ? 

MONT Y 

N o one wort h knowing . 

KHAR I 

Th e Federals , the y ru n a nic e place . Lo t 
nice r tha n Sta^e . 

MONT Y 

I'm a luck y kid. 

KHAR I 

Luc k o f th e Irish , right ? 

MONT Y 

Luc k o f th e Irish . 
Khar i grip s Monty ' s shoulder . 

KHAR I ^ 

Liste n up . Don't los e you r tempe r unti l 
it' s tim e t o los e you r temper . Yo u hear ? 

MONT Y 

Al l right . I'll se e yo u aroun d th e way . 
The y shak e hand s an d Mont y signal s fo r Slatter y an d Jako b t o 
follo w him . Mont y slide s throug h th e crowd ; Slatter y bull s 
through * lik-& a--f-ullback blockin g for--his speedier--teammate . 
Jako b walk s wit h a hig h degre e o f self-consciousness , 
nervousl y dodgin g aroun d th e variou s obstacles . H e passe s on e 
stone d gir l wh o stand s wit h he r hea d back , catchin g 
snowflake s i n he r mouth . 

MAR Y 

Hey ! Elinsky ! Mr . Elinsky ! Hey ! 
Jako b freezes . He r han d catche s hi s sleev e an d h e i s force d 
t o tur n around , force d t o star e int o th e unnaturall y brigh t 
eye s o f Mar y D'Annunzio . 
Sh e wear s dar k deni m jeans , a fak e raccoo n fu r coat , an d n o 
hat . He r we t blac k hai r snake s acros s he r forehea d an d neck . ^ 
Blac k trail s o f ey e shado w stai n he r cheeks . () 




(CONTINUED) 





·· 


· · -- 66 


CONTINUED : (3 ) 








MARY (CONT'D ) 

Ha! It' s Elinsky! 




JAKOB 

Oh . 




MARY 

What are you doing here? God, I didn't 
know you ever left the school! I thought 
you had a bed down in the boiler room or 
something. 

JAKOB 

Mary D'Annunzio. 

MARY 

Mary W B+ " D'Annunzio, that's me. 
She sees the look on his face and quickly continues. 

MARY (CONT'D) 

I'm kidding. It's not a big deal. 

JAKOB 

I've got to go. I'm here with friends. 

MARY 

The guy who came to class today, right? 
He knows people, huh? What do you think, 
could he get us in? 

JAKOB 

Uh, I don't -- 

MARY~ 

They're not letting anyone in right now. 
They say it's too crowded already. 
(increasingly hyper) 
I have to get in there. I have to! You're 
a fan of Dusk? 

JAKOB 

Sure. 

MARY 

He's the absolute truth, right? He is so 
truth. I can't believe you're into Dusk! 
No offense, I mean, but I thought you 
were more into flutes or -- 

JAKOB 

I think Dusk is very good. But I like his 
earlier stuff better. 




(CONTINUED) 





67 


CONTINUED: (4) 








MARY 

His earlier stuff? 

MONTY (O.S.) 

Jake, what are you doing? 
Monty has circled back and now motions for Jakob to hurry. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

I've got someone holding the door for us . 

MARY 

Hey! You're the guy with the dog. 
Monty recognizes her from the classroom. 

MONTY 

It's past your bedtime, isn't it? 
Mary clutches Jakob's arm and rests her head on his chest. 

MARY 

I'm with Jake. We're lovers. 
Jakob closes his eyes. Monty grins. 

· MONT Y 

Is tha t right? I didn' t realiz e you tw o 
wer e lovers . Well , com e on , plent y o f 
roo m inside . 

MAR Y 

Wait.. . I've got thre e friend s wit h me . 

MONT Y 

Girls ? .._. ,, _._: 

. _...._,,. . _ 


MAR Y 

No . 

MONT Y 

Ar e yo u retarded? 
He turn s and lead s the m around th e corner . 
i 




MARY 

Better one than none, I guess. 
Jakob disengages himself from Mary. She beams at him. They 
follow Monty to the side door and disappear inside. 



o 




68 











INT. VELVET -- MOMENTS LATER 

Monty walks up the back staircase (marked Club Employees 
Only). Mary follows him. Jakob's in the rear. He still looks 
stunned. 

MARY 

(to Monty) 
So how do you know Jake? 

MONTY 

We went to school together. 

MARY 

You went to Campbell-Sawyer? You don't 
seem the type. 

MONTY 

They didn't think so, either. 

MARY 

I hate that place. Elinsk -- Jake's okay, 
but mostly -- 

JAKOB 

Look, Monty, she's seventeen. We can't 
take her in here. 

MONTY 

Why not? We're already in. 

MARY 

I've got ID. 

·"- 

' " ' MOlfTY 

"" 

What did you say your name was? Mary 
^P^AgOjtinO?^;'..:;../:.,ni;.,:,s.r.. .;.:··,·.,:,.;>'.,.; ·:,:-·,;. .. :..;-,' ., 

. .· 




D'Annunzio. 

MONTY 

What do you think of Mr . Elinsky? 

MARY 

He's all right. He acts like a little old 
man sometimes. 

JAKOB 

Now listen -- 










(CONTINUED) 





· 


69. 


CONTINUED : -'" ' ' - \ 


; 













MONT Y j\ 
That's true, he does. I think tonight "; 
should be a big night for Mr. Elinsky. I 
think we should make sure Mr. Elinsky has 
fun for once. 
Monty pushes open the door at the stop of the staircase. The 
noise rushes in, overwhelmingly loud, the bass vibrating in 
our bones. 
Mary opens her mouth and speaks, but we might not be able to 
hear it over the music. 

MARY 

Truth. 

INT. VELVET VIP ROOM -- MOMENTS LATER 

Monty leads Jakob and Mary into the VIP room. Naturelle is 
already there, speaking with Slattery. 
The walls of the VIP room are covered with crushed red 
velvet. The couches are upholstered in red velvet, the small 
bar in the corner is draped with red velvet, the carpet is 
red faux velvet. 
----^ DJ Dusk's music pours from speakers bolted into the corners. 
s 
His beats are impossible to sit still for, incorporating 
elements of bossa nova, techno, hip hop, and jazz. 
Slattery has a hard time keeping his eyes off Naturelle. His 
gaze tends to slide her way, and his desire for her is 
apparent to everyone. 
Naturelle smiles when she sees Monty and goes to him. She 
looks beautiful in-the silver dr.ess_...-_Sh .hugs him. Monty 
e 
stands awkwardly in her embrace. 
When she realizes he's not returning the hug, she quickly 
releases him. He's watching her carefully. She sees Jakob and 
smiles at him. 

NATURELLE 

Hey, Jake. 
She hugs Jakob. Mary has not stopped dancing since first 
hearing Dusk's mix. 

NATURELLE (CONT'D) 

(looking at Mary) 
Is this your friend? ·- . 

[^J · · KJ 





(CONTINUED) 





.-·-· · · " '70-; 


··· 


CONTINUED : 







o JAKOB 
No . . . 




MARY 

I'm his lover, Mary. 



Naturelle arches one eyebrow. 




NATURELLE 

Okay. I'm Naturelle. 




MARY 

I've seen pictures of this room. The 
Smashing Pumpkins were in here. 



She turns and examines Monty more closely. 

MARY (CONT'D) 

Who are you? Are. you somebody famous? 

MONTY 

Do us a favor, D'Annunzio. Don't talk too 
much . 
Mary grins, tears off her fake fur coat, and hides it 
underneath a sofa. She wears a white tank-top with Tweety 
Bird emblazoned on the front. Tweety Bird looks scared. 



DAPHNE, a young waitress in a green dress , comes over with a 
tray of champagne flutes. Naturelle kisses Daphne on the 
cheek and the two women exchange greetings. Everyone takes a 
glass. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

·-"" ' (raising his glass~) 
Champagne for my real friends, real pain 
for my sham friends. 
Everyone takes a sip except for Mary, who guzzles hers in one 
giant gulp, then belches and wipes her mouth with the back of 
her hand. Jakob stares at her, horrified. 

MARY 

Anyone want to go dance? 



Naturelle glances at Monty. 




MONTY 

Do what you want to do . 



Jakob and Slattery hear the coldness in Monty's voice and are 
surprised by it . 







(CONTINUED) 





71 


CONTINUED: (2) ~ """ , ^TM <----. 







Mary grabs Naturelle's hand and leads her out the door. 

SLATTERY 

(to Daphne) 
You have any whiskey? 

DAPHNE 

What kind do you want? I'll call down for 
some. 

SLATTERY 

Nah, don't bother, I'll get it. 
He nods at Monty and Jakob. 

SLATTERY (CONT'D) 

Back in a minute. 
Daphne sets a champagne bottle in an ice bucket on the table, 
then retreats to the small bar in the corner of the room. 
Monty sits on the red velvet sofa and Jakob lies down next to 
him, covering his eyes with his arm. 

JAKOB 

I can't believe you brought my student in 
here. 

MONTY 

She's cute, buddy. She talks too much but 
she's cute. 

JAKOB 

You're going to get me fired. Do you 
realize that? She'll tell her friends, 
--'···=-=· --- and they'll -t-e-1-1-the-i-r friends -- 

" -- 


MONTY 

So what, so you ran into her at a dance 
club. You haven't done anything wrong, 
have you? Not yet. 

JAKOB 

Not yet? What does that mean? 

MONTY 

You want this girl, don't you? 

JAKOB 

Shit, Monty, she's seventeen! She's my 



o 
student. I can't touch her. 







{CONTINUED) 





I 


CONTINUED : (3) 








MONT Y 

I would . She' s go t tha t look . I lik e 
littl e girl s wit h tattoos . 
Jako b groan s an d rub s hi s han d ove r hi s face . 

MONT Y (CONT'D) 

It' s goo d seein g you , man . I gues s we'v e 
kin d o f gon e ou r separat e ways . 
Jako b sit s up . 

JAKO B 

Yeah . 

MONT Y 

It' s to o bad . You'r e smarte r tha n th e 
peopl e I kno w thes e days . 
Mont y pour s mor e champagn e for Jako b an d himself , the n raise s 
hi s glass . 

MONT Y (CONT'D) 

Mak e m e a toast . 
Jako b i s startle d b y th e request . 

JAKO B 

Yo u wan t m e t o mak e a toast ? 

MONT Y 

Yeah . Com e on , I won' t b e seein g yo u fo r 
a while . Sa y somethin g nice . 
Jako b stare s a t th e tin y bubble s risin g infills glass . 

JAKO B 

Urn. . . 

MONT Y 

Al l right . Here' s t o Doyle . 

JAKO B 

T o Doyle . 
The y touc h glasse s an d drink . 

MONT Y 

He' s you r do g now . 

JAKO B 

What ? 









73. 


CONTINUED: (4) 








MONTY 

He needs a home. And he loves you. 

JAKOB 

Yeah, but... I don't know. You've seen 
the size of my apartment. 

MONTY 

Poor Doyle, he'll live in a small 
apartment. Hey, he's a tough dog. He'll 
survive. 

JAKOB 

What about Nat? 

MONTY 

She's moving in with her mom. Woman hates 
him. And Doyle hates Frank. And my Dad's 
allergic. 

JAKOB 

The thing is -- 
Monty takes another sip and then holds the champagne flute up 
to the light. 

MONTY 

Cristal. They went all out for me , huh? 
I'm lucky to work for such caring people. 

JAKOB 

One more glass of this and I'm officially 
drunk. 

MONTY 

Listen, this is important to me.. Doyle is 
important to me . You understand that? 




JAKOB 

Yeah, of course. 

MONTY 

Doyle's the toughest guy I know. He was 
lying there off the highway when I found 
him, waiting to die. He knew he was going 
to die. And he didn't make a sound. The 
best thing I ever did, my whole life, was 
rescue that black little son-of-a-bitch. 
Every day he's had since then is because 
of me . Every time he runs through the 
park, that's me . Every bone he chews -- 
because of me . I saved him. 

(MORE) 


(CONTINUED) 





~ ~ 74 . 


· 


' 


CONTINUED : (5) 


MONTY (CONT'D) ,| 

And it's different from what you'd 
expect, right? I saved him but I'm the 
one that's grateful. Because I see him 
running around, I hear him barking, and 
there he is, the best thing I ever did, 
in the flesh. 
(beat) 
I'm not going to let the pound have him. 
Doyle's the ugliest fucking dog in the 
five boroughs. Who's gonna adopt him? And 
I'm telling you now, I will not let a vet 
stick a needle in him and end him. I 
saved his life, right? I'm responsible 
for him. I didn't go through all that 
just so some vet can put hi m to sleep. If 
it comes to that, I'll do it myself. I'll 
put a bullet in his ear tonight. So I'm 
asking you, Jake -- for me , as a favor for 
me , and it's a big favor but I'm asking 
you -- will you take him? Will you take 
him home with you? 
Jakob is quiet, rubbing his palms over the red velvet sofa 
cushions. 

JAKOB 

You know what? It would be an honor. 

MONTY 

I was hoping you'd say that. I really 
was. 

JAKOB 

After that speech, Jesus Christ, how 
could I refuse? 
Slattery returns with a glass of whiskey. He sits next to his 
friends and sighs. 

SLATTERY 

There's some talent here tonight. 



Monty raps Slattery's knee. 

MONTY 

What do you think, Jake's girl's looking 
pretty good, huh? 

SLATTERY 

Who, the little one? Who is she? 




JAKOB 

She's my student. MY STUDENT. 







(CONTINUED) 





75 


CONTINUED': (6) 







The lights go off. The room is completely dark. 



When the lights come on again, a few seconds later, Monty is 
crouching in front of the sofa, his .40 caliber automatic in 
his hand . 



Kostya stands just inside the doorway of the room, hands on 
the light switch. 




KOSTYA 

The party begins without me ? 

MONTY 

I should have shot you, you fat Russian 
fuck. 
Kostya ambles over to the sofa, wagging his finger. 

KOSTYA 

Ukrainian. Fat Ukrainian fuck. 



He bea r hugs Monty and kisses both his cheeks . 

KOSTYA (CONT'D) 

Montgomery, my friend! You have been here 
long? An d you open champagne without me ? 
Frank, hello Frank! 

SLATTERY 

Hey, Konstantine. How are you? 

KOSTYA 

Kostya, please, Kostya. I am good, yes . I 
will be better when our friend comes back 
to us . 
(to Jakob) -- - 
Hello! It is Jason, yes? 

JAKOB 

Jakob. 




KOSTYA 

(to Monty) 
The champagne is good? 
(elbowing Slattery and winking) 
I have nice girl for you, Monty . Very 
nice. 

MONTY 

I'm really not in the mood for that . 













(CONTINUED) 




Ll ····- - -· " · - · 76, 

CONTINUED : (7) 








KOSTYA 

Ah , when you see her, you will be in 
mood. I pick her out special for you. 




MONTY 

The last girl you picked out special had 
three teeth. 

KOSTYA 

(laughing loudly) 
Funny you should say that. 
Everyone waits for the rest. When it becomes obvious that 
Kostya will not provide the rest -- 

MONTY 

Why is it funny I should say that? 

KOSTYA 

It was funny, what you said. 
Monty looks at Slattery for a second. 

MONTY 

Wait, when you say, "Funny you should say 
that," it's like saying, "That reminds me 
of this other funny story." 

KOSTYA 

No , no , I am saying what you say was 
funny. "Funny you should say that. " You 
see? It was funny, the thing you said. 



Nobody speaks for a moment. 

KOSTYA (CONT'D) 

Come, you want to meet her? 

MONTY 

I don't think so. Naturelle's dancing 
downstairs. 

KOSTYA 

So we go quick, we go right now. You must 
see this girl. 

MONTY 

You have someone nice for my friends? 




SLATTERY 


« * . ·_ 


_£T _ __ 

Not for me . Thanks. 










(CONTINUED) 





77 


CONTINUED: (8) ~ "" 








JAKOB 

Yeah, I'm -- 
Monty puts his hand on Slattery's arm. 

MONTY 

Come down there with me . I need to talk 
to you. 

SLATTERY 

That's not my style, Monty. I really -- 

MONTY 

No, that's cool. I just want to ask you 
something. 

JAKOB 

Do you want me to stay here? 

MONTY 

You've got to stay here. Who's gonna look 
after Mary D'Agostino when she gets back? 

JAKOB 

Should I tell Nat you're downstairs -x 
having sex with a prostitute? \, ,. J 

KOSTY A 

(horrified ) 
No , don' t tel l he r that ! 
Mont y grin s an d punche s Jakob' s arm . 

MONT Y 

Tell her whatever you want. But don't 
take off. We'll go back to my place after 
the party and get Doyle. 
Monty, Slattery and Kostya leave the room. Jakob sits alone, 
rubbing his arm. 

INT. CATWALK -- MOMENTS LATER 

The three men stand on a glass-enclosed catwalk overlooking 
the dance floor. The place is so crowded and dark that the ] 
dancers look like one strange beast, thrashing and swaying to j 
the beat. ] 
DJ DUSK, the teen prodigy from Queens, mans his turntables I 
from a riser above the dance floor. He stands in the eye of a 
spotlight, deftly flipping needles onto spinning records. / \i 







(CONTINUED) 

ii 




·-"" 


· ·· · -«--»-- - . --,,-..- - _ 


. . ,, 78 





CONTINUED: 







The music is loud, even behind the glass, but not loud enough 
to overwhelm conversation. 

MONTY 

(to Kostya) 
Where we going, the White Room? 

KOSTYA 

Yes, White Room. 

MONTY 

I'll meet you down there. I need to talk 
with Frank about something. 
Kostya leans closer to Monty and speaks quietly. 

KOSTYA 

After the girl, Uncle Blue wants word 
with you. Okay? 
Monty nods. Kostya grins and slaps Monty's shoulder. 

KOSTYA (CONT'D) 

She is waiting! 
Kostya walks down the staircase that leads from the catwalk 
to the dance floor and disappears into the crowd. For a while 
neither Monty nor Slattery speaks. · 
Then Slattery looks at Monty and notices his eyes are closed. 

SLATTERY 

You all right? 
Monty opens his eyes". ~ "'" 

MONTY 

They knock out your teeth the first 
night. You know why? So you can give them 
head all night long and they don't have 
to worry about biting. 

SLATTERY 

Come on. None of that's gonna happen. 

MONTY 

How the fuck do you know it's not gonna 
happen? 
Two broad-shouldered HOODLUMS in expensive suits saunter down 
the catwalk. They stop to embrace Monty. 







(CONTINUED) 





79 


CONTINUED : (2) _, 








HOODLUM 1 '^ 

My ace deuce. _> 

MONTY 

Hey, fellas. 




HOODLUM 2 

Bid's tomorrow, huh? 




MONTY 

Yeah. 




HOODLUM 2 

Nothing but a catnap. Be good, brother. 



The hoods nod at Slattery and walk away. Monty presses his 
forehead against the window. 

MONTY 

Believe me , Frank, I've studied this. 
I've looked at the options. Seven years, 
man . Seven years . 

SLATTERY 

Thirty-four is still young. You and me , 
we'll start something up . A bar , maybe . /x 
Two Irish kids from Brooklyn, how could fcr--] 
we not have a bar? Green beer for St . 
Paddy's Day, free hot dogs for Monday 
Night Football. Think about it . Old 
fashioned jukebox sitting in the corner -- 

MONTY 

I hate green bee r on St . Paddy's Day. 

SLATTERY 

Yeah : Well, m e t o o . " """""""*-""""--"· - 

MONTY 

But it's a nice thought, man . I don't see 
it happening, bu t it's a nice thought. 




SLATTERY 

Have I ever broken a promise to you? Have 
I ever once in my life broken a promise 
to you? Have I ever said I would be 
somewhere and not shown up? 

MONTY 

No . 







C 


(CONTINUED) 





· ····- ··'·- - -- - " 80 


-"- - 


CONTINUED : (3) 







o SLATTERY 
When you get out, I will be there. You 
hear me? I will be there. 



Monty finally turns and looks at Slattery. 

MONTY 

But you won't be there tomorrow. 
(beat) 
Cute little white boy like me , how long 
am I gonna last? 
(beat) 
I need a favor from you. 

SLATTERY 

Anything. 

MONTY 

Not here . Stick around, okay? We'll go 
uptown in a couple hours. 
Monty points to the dancers below. We can see Mar y dancing 
wildly on a platform. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Our friend Jake has picked himself a 
winner. 

INT. VELVET VIP ROOM -- LATER 




The room is beginning to crowd with Monty's friends and 
acquaintances. Jakob sits alone on the sofa, sipping 
champagne. He clearly recognizes no one . 
The men speak loudly, holding their- champagne flutes in 
ringed fists. Lean women stand in clusters, heads bowed 
together. We hear snippets of banter in four different 
languages. 



Jakob dips his head against the sofa's velvet armrest. He's 
clearly exhausted. He begins slipping into sleep. 



Mary walks into the room. The men standing nearby turn to 
look at her, then whisper to each other and laugh. Mary sees 
Jakob curled up on the sofa and dances over to him. 



She pulls off his Yankees cap and puts it on her own head, 
where it sits, crookedly. She climbs on top of him, her knees 
straddling his chest, and bends close to whisper in his ear. 




MARY 

Jakey... Jakey... 







(CONTINUED) 





81 


CONTINUED,: 










O She runs her fingernail down his side. Jakob, half-sleeping, 
smiles and caresses her hand. Then his eyes pop open. He 
jerks upright and Mary slides off him. 

JAKOB 

Whoa, what are you doing? What are you 
doing? 
Mary, now standing and slightly swaying, laughs. 

MARY 

Don't panic. Nobody here gives a shit. 

JAKOB 

I give a shit. Do you know what happens 
if somebody sees me -- us -- like that? 
Mary sits on the far side of the sofa, knees primly clasped 
together, exaggerating the role of good girl. 

MARY 

Beg your pardon, Mr. Elinsky. 

JAKOB 

Are you drunk? 
MARY · '·'mm 
Uh huh. And I had some E before. 

JAKOB 

Jesus. 
: He tries to rub the sleep out of his eyes. 

JAKOB (CONT'D) 

We call it X in this country. 

MARY 

Naturelle's cool as shit. She knows 
everyone who works here. I love that 
name, right? Naturelle? One hundred 
percent Naturelle! All Naturelle flavors! 
Jakob cannot help stealing a peek at Mary's chest. Tweety 
Bird stares back, alarmed. 

MARY (CONT'D) 

So what's up with her boyfriend? Monty? 
It's like he owns this place. 













(CONTINUED) 





' · 


'' 


"" ' 


· 82 


CONTINUED : (2) 








JAKOB 

Listen, Mary, do you think it would be 
possible to avoid talking about this at 
school? This whole night? 




MARY 

You think it would be possible to give me 
an A for the term? 
Jakob's mouth falls open. 




JAKOB 

Tell me you're joking. 

MARY 

I'm joking. That's what I love about you, 
Elinsky. 



Jakob says nothing for a moment, but he can't resist. 

JAKOB 

What? 

MARY 

Huh? 



Mary is watching three women dancing in the middle of the 
room, their purses flung down on the floor between them. 

JAKOB 

What's what you love about me ? 
Mary turns to look at him again, but it's clear she's not 
really following the conversation. 

JAKOB (CONT'D) 

Never mind. 

MARY 

Hello? Elinsky? Do you think I'm weird? 




JAKOB 

No. I don't think you're weird. 




MARY 

You're coming to see Hamlet next week, 
right? 

JAKOB 

Of course. You're Ophelia? 




MARY 

Fuck Ophelia. Laertes. 




(CONTINUED) 





83 


CONTINUED : (3) 








(· 


JAKOB · 

Laertes? 

MARY 

You want to see my death scene? 



She springs up from the sofa and takes three steps back, then 
begins staggering toward Jakob, hands folded over her gut, 
covering her invisible sword wound. 




MARY (CONT'D) 

Exchange forgiveness with me , noble 
Hamlet: Min e and my father's death come 
not upon thee , nor thine on me ! 
She collapses onto the red sofa and lies there, quivering for 
a moment before going still. 



A group of men smoking cigars in the corner claps loudly. 
Jakob stares down at the prone Mary. He cannot hel p noticing 
the stretch of pale skin between the dark denim of her 
waistband and the white cotton of her tank top. 



Mary sits up and brushes some stray hairs under the Yankees 
cap. ' 

MARY (CONT'D) 

It's bettex with the fake blood . j 

\ 


JAKOB 

No , it was very good. 

MARY 

Ms . Taylor says I'm the best dier she's 
ever haoL^ Did you see Romeo and Juliet 
last year? I was Mercutio. That was the 
greatest death of all time. 

JAKOB 

I was there . 




MARY 

You know wha t I really want to be ? A 
stuntwoman. Except I'm afraid of heights . 
You think they'd hire a stuntwoman who 
was afraid of heights? 




JAKOB 

Ar e you allowed to stay out this late? On 
a school night? 










(CONTINUED) 





CONTINUED : (4) 








MARY 

You think my mother gives a shit? Anyway/ 
did you see all the snow outside? It's a 
snow day for sure. 

JAKOB 

I need to go to sleep. 



Mary lies back on the sofa and kicks her feet in the air. She 
begins a bicycling motion, her hands behind her head. 

MARY 

Can't sleep yet. He's turning it on . 



Jakob looks at her slender pale ankles. He covers his eyes . 
Mary rolls off the sofa. 

MARY (CONT'D) 

Is there a bathroom in here? 
Jakob points . 

JAKOB 

Over there, I think. 
Mary winks at him and makes her way across the room. En route 
she grabs a champagne flute off Daphne's platter and chugs 
it. She replaces the glass and slips into the bathroom. 
Jakob watches her go. He watches the bathroom door close 
behind her. He stands, a bit unsteadily. He's been drinking 
all night . He weaves his way to the bathroom door . 
He waits . Eventually Mary opens the door. She looks up at 
Jakob, he r "eyes as wide as Tweety Bird's . 

MARY 

You need to pee? 

JAKOB 

No . 



He presses forward, backing her up , and closes the door 
behind him. 

INT. VI P BATHROOM -- CONTINUOUS 




The bathroom is blue-walled and lit by a single blue bulb . 




MARY ; 

Hi? 










(CONTINUED) 





85 


CONTINUED : 







He r teeth glow in the blu e light. Jakob grabs he r by the 
shoulder s and kisses her hard on the mouth . His hand s begi n 
t o mov e down from her shoulders -- 
--an d then, abruptly, Jakob pulls back . H e stares a t Mary , 
wh o stares at the floor. She looks stunned, the Yankees cap 
sitting crookedly on her head. 
Jakob stumbles backward. He tries to say something bu t can't 
get the words out . 
He turns and rams through the bathroom door . 

INT . VELVE T VI P ROOM -- CONTINUOUS 

He shoves past cigar smokers and dancing women . He runs from 
the VI P room. 
The partiers watch him go and then turn to look at the 
bathroom, a drop of blue in the overwhelming redness of the 
VIP room. 
Mar y stands in the blue light, still looking at the floor . 

INT. WHITE ROOM -- LATER 

The Whit e Room got its name for obvious reasons . Everythin g 
is white : the shag carpet, the walls , the overstuffed 
furniture. 
Monty sits on a large whit e bea n bag in a corner of the room. 
He holds a champagne bottle in one hand, and takes occasional 
sips . 
MARGUERITE, a beautiful prostitute in her early twenties , 
kneels in front of. Monfcy,.__he_r...bands, .on ...his_Jfchighs... _... 

; _ 

Monty passes her the bottle and she takes a long draught , 
never taking her eyes of f him. She hands back th e bottl e and 
unzips his fly, taking he r time wit h everything. 
Monty leans back and closes his eyes . We watch hi m like this 
for a few seconds, and then we 

CU T TO : 


EXT . CARL SCHURZ PARK PLAYGROUND -- AFTERNOON 

Springtime. Monty sits on a park bench. This is several years 
ago , and he looks younger, less exhausted. 










(CONTINUED) 





86, 


CONTINUED : 







He is watching two high school girls on the swings. One 
blonde -- LINDSAY JAMISON -- and one brunette -- a younger 
Naturelle . 
Both girls wear the uniform of their private school: white 
blouses embroidered with the school's initials and green 
plaid skirts over black tights. 
Both girls are smoking. But while Lindsay keeps the cigarette 
clenched in one hand as she swings higher, Naturelle 
continues taking reckless drags., the crook of her elbow 
holding the chain lightly as she soars skyward. 
Monty stands and approaches the swings. The girls pretend not 
to notice him. 

MONTY 

Hey! 
The girls keep swinging. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Could I bum a smoke? 

NATURELLE 

What? 

MONTY 

A smoke. 

NATURELLE 

This is my last one . 
Lindsay brakes with her feet and stares at Monty . 

LINDSAY 

I've met you before, haven't I? 
Monty nods slowly. It's obvious he doesn't recognize her , but 
he doesn't want to be rude. 

MONTY 

Yeah, you look familiar. 
Naturelle has stopped swinging now. Lindsay jumps off he r 
swing. 

LINDSAY 

I know wh o you are . Come on , Nat , we've 
got practice. 

MONTY 

You know wh o I am? Who am I? 




(CONTINUED) 





87 


CONTINUED: (2) 







Lindsay picks up her bookbag and strides quickly away, 
looking back once or twice to see if Naturelle is following. 
Naturelle is not following. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

So you're Natalie? 

NATURELLE 

Naturelle. 

MONTY 

Really? Naturelle. I like that. 
Naturelle. So what's your friend's 
problem? 

NATURELLE 

You're the one that got thrown out of 
Campbell-Sawyer, right? 

MONTY 

Yeah, well, lots of people got thrown out 
of Campbell-Sawyer. How come you didn't 
follow Blondie to practice? 

NATURELLE 

I want to finish my cigarette. 
He smiles and sits on the swing next to her. He tries 
swinging a little. 

MONTY 

I never really got the hang of these 
things. 

- ·-- " " NATURELLE - -- -- 

It's all in the legs. 
She starts swinging again and he watches her, her long black 
hair falling beneath her, her legs straight and then bent, 
straight and then bent. 

CUT TO: 





INT. WHITE ROOM 

Monty's eyes are still closed. Now he opens them. His hands 
are in Marguerite's hair, but now they drop by his side. 
Finally he taps Marguerite on the shoulders. She backs away 
from him, looking up at his face for a moment before blinking 
and licking her lips. 




(CONTINUED) 





88 . 


CONTINUED: 








MONTY 

It's my fault. You're very beautiful. 
He hands her the bottle again and she takes a long sip. 




MARGUERITE 

(Colombian accent) 
You are very handsome. Are you an actor ? 



Monty zips his fly. 

MONTY 

Yeah. I'm a star. 




INT. CLUB ROOM -- LATER 

The club room is decorated to look like the library of an 
English country manor : dark wood paneling, bookshelves 
stacked with leather-bound books, flickering sconce lights. 
Slattery sits on a stool at the bar, rolling a glass of 
whiskey between his palms. His eyes are red, from crying or 
exhaustion or both. 



Naturelle walks into the room and spots Slattery. She goes 
over to him and squeezes the back of his neck before sitting 
on the neighboring stool. He sits up straight and smiles. 

NATURELLE 

Why are you all alone? 

SLATTERY 

I couldn't sit in that goddamn red room 
anymore. I don't know anyone in there . 
These are Monty's friends?-- 

NATURELLE 

I guess so . They're around a lot, anywayv 
Slattery drains his whiskey. He signals for another and the 
bartender pours it . He's clearly getting drunk, though 
Slattery is a man who can handle his liquor. He checks his 
watch. 

SLATTERY 

I'm supposed to be at work in a couple 
hours. Christ, I can't even imagine 
working today. You just gave me the flu, 
okay? I'm calling in sick. 




NATURELLE 

I wish Monty could call in sick. Have you 
seen him around? 




(CONTINUED) 





89 


CONTINUED: 








SLATTERY 

He's probably saying goodbye to everyone. 

NATURELLE 

Can you do me a favor? 

SLATTERY 

What's that? 
Slattery catches himself looking at Naturelle's cleavage and 
looks away. 

NATURELLE 

Keep an eye on Monty tonight, would you? 
Try to stick with him. 

SLATTERY 

What's wrong? 

NATURELLE 

He's just acting really strange. You 
don't think he's acting strange? 

SLATTERY 

He's going to prison in a few hours, Nat. 
How do you want him to act? 

NATURELLE 

I want him to act like he's scared. 

SLATTERY 

He is scared. 

NATURELLE 

I don't want him to hurt himself. Will 
you watch him for me? ..-TO«.,,,,,..«--. 
Slattery nods. For a while they are quiet. 

NATURELLE (CONT'D) 

I don't think he wants me here. 

SLATTERY 

That's not true. He's just -- 

NATURELLE 

You see the way he looks at me these 
days. It's like he doesn't trust me . 

SLATTERY 

Why wouldn't he trust you? 
Naturelle is quiet for a moment. 




(CONTINUED) 





- - -- -90 


CONTINUED: (2) 








NATURELLE 

I'm going uptown. When you see him, tell 
him I'm waiting for him back home, okay? 
She stands and smooths out the wrinkles in her silver dress . 
Again, Slattery has to turn away from the sight of her . 

SLATTERY 

This is all so stupid. It's so stupid. 
He's got so much going on, he's so smart, 
and what does he do? He throws it al l 
away. An d here I am, his friend -- I mean , 
right? I'm his oldest friend? 

NATURELLE 

He loves you, Frank. You know that. 

SLATTERY 

His oldest friend, and what do I do to 
stop it? Nothing, never a word. When he 
started selling pot to kids in Campbell - 
Sawyer, did I say anything? When 
everyone's talking about buying from 
Monty, the whole school, and I knew they 
were going to nail him, knew it, did I 
say a word? The last ten years I watc h 
him get deeper and deeper, and these 
friends of his, these fucks you wouldn't 
want petting your dog, did I say, 
"Careful now, Monty, better get out of 
this. " No . Nothing, not a word. His bes t 
friend. Goddamn, Naturelle, I'm his bes t 
friend and I just sat there and watched 
him ruin his life. And you did, too . Both 
of-us.,., all -of us , we just sat there and 
let him . 
Naturelle runs a fingernail down her forearm an d inspects the 
faint white trail . 

NATURELLE 

Keep an eye on him, okay? 



Slattery watches her walk away. A moment later Jakob hurries 
in, sweating and frantic. 

JAKOB 

I've been looking all over for you. Can 
we get out of here? 




SLATTERY 

We've got to wait for Monty. What's the 
matter? 




(CONTINUED) 





91 . 


CONTINUED : (3) 








JAKOB 

I kissed her. 




SLATTERY 

Who? 




JAKOB 

Mary D'Annunzio. I kissed her . 



Slattery grins . 

SLATTERY 

Yeah? 

JAKOB 

I kissed my student. My seventeen year 
old high school student. 
(beat) 
They'll fire me . 

SLATTERY 

Jake. 

JAKOB 

Yeah? 
Slattery hands him the glass of whiskey. 

SLATTERY 

Have a drink. 




INT. BASEMENT HALLWAY -- LATER 

Monty and Kostya walk slowly down the corridor that leads to 
the manager's office. 

- -·· KOSTYA 

So? You like her? 

MONTY 

She's very nice. 




KOSTYA 

Does she have three teeth? Eh ? No , I 
think she has many teeth. I think you 
like her. 

MONTY 

I said so, didn't I? 




KOSTYA 




o 
Very nice . 







(CONTINUED) 





· '" 92 , 


CONTINUED: 




0·^ They stop outside the office and knock on the steel-plated 
door. MUSTAFAYEV, a balding man smoking a cigarette, opens 
the door and closes it behind him. He nods. 
Monty and Kostya pull out their guns and hand them to him. 
Checking the safeties, he shoves the guns under his belt and, 
cigarette clenched between his teeth, carefully pats both men 
down. 
When Mustafayev finishes searching them he raps on the door 
and it opens again. He gestures, and Monty and Kostya enter. 

INT. VELVET MANAGER'S OFFICE -- CONTINUOUS 

Mustafayev follows them inside, hands their guns to one of 
the ZAKHAROV twins, and goes back outside, closing the door. 
The twins are Russian redheads who speak very little English. 
Their faces are blunted and pitiless. 
Uncle Blue sits behind Volandes' desk, reading the paper. 
Valghobek sits on a corner of the desk. 
The twin with the guns places them carefully in front of 
" Uncle Blue, then returns to stand by his brother, both of 
them standing behind Monty and Kostya. 
DJ Dusk's music can barely be heard down here, the thump of 
bass and drum sounding like distant bombshells. 
Uncle Blue folds his paper neatly and sets it aside. 

UNCLE BLUE 

Montgomery. How is the party? 

MONTY 

It's all right. Thanks for setting it up. 

UNCLE BLUE 

The first time I went to prison I was 
fourteen years old, a skinny little boy. 
Very afraid. By the time I came out I had 
my beard. I was a grown man. I went back 
to my hometown, I found my mother, I 
kissed her. And she screamed. 
(smiling) 
She did not recognize me . I have been in 
three different prisons, Montgomery, in 
three different countries. You know what 
I learned? 
Monty shakes his head and waits. 




(CONTINUED) 





93. 


CONTINUED: 







o UNCLE BLUE (COM" D) 
I learned that prison is not a good place 
to be . 

KOSTYA 

(laughing) 
I knew that before I went. 

VALGHOBEK 

Nobody's talking to you. Keep your mouth 
shut. 

UNCLE BLUE 

Seven years is a long time. Some men 
would do anything to avoid seven years in 
prison. 
Monty waits. 

VALGHOBEK 

Your father's a hardworking man . Where's 
his bar? In Bay Ridge? 86th Street and 
6th Avenue, am I right? 

MONTY 

Yes . 

VALGHOBEK 

At least he has a short commute. He can 
practically walk to work. Where does he 
live, 17th Avenue? And what was the cross- 
street? 81st? 8002 17th Avenue. Is that 
right? The first floor. That must be 
noisy, living on the first floor. But he 
doesn't walk to work, does he? He drives. 
-A 1987 Honda. Should-I tell you how many 
miles he has on the car? 
Monty stares at the floor. 

UNCLE BLUE 

Your father, I like your father. A hard- 
working man. He has had bad luck, some 
very bad luck. Everyone in the 
neighborhood loved your mother. You 
remember her, Senka? 

VALGHOBEK 

Sure. She was a beautiful woman. A real 
sweetheart. 




Q 


(CONTINUED) 





· · " · · · 


"··- · 


-·'· 94. 


· 


· · 


' 


CONTINUED: (2) 








UNCLE BLUE 

I want to help your father. I could use a 
man like that, a hard-working man, a man 
I could trust. I could take care of your 
father. Do you understand what I mean, 
Montgomery? 

MONTY 

You don't need to do this. I never said a 
word to anyone. You don't need to bring 
him into it. 
i 

UNCLE BLUE 

I asked you a question, Montgomery. 

MONTY 

I understand exactly what you mean. 

UNCLE BLUE 

I have a good job for your father. We'll 
help him with the money he owes. 
Uncle Blue turns Monty's gun in his hands. He checks the 
slide's action. He ejects the magazine, peers at the top 
cartridge, slaps the magazine back into the pistol's butt, 

UNCLE BLUE (CONT'D) 

Good weapon. Accurate? 
Monty nods. 

UNCLE BLUE (CONT'D) 

Polymer frame, very good, easy to clean. 
And reliable? No jams? 
Monty shakes his head. He turns around for a moment. The 
Zakharov twins are staring at him. Monty turns back. Uncle 
Blue smiles. 

UNCLE BLUE (CONT'D) 

Have you ever fired it? At someone, I 
mean. 

MONTY 

No. 

UNCLE BLUE 

No. Good. It is a toy for you. Not toy, 
prop. A prop for you. Like an actor. Am I 
wrong? With the gun you feel more... 







(CONTINUED) 





95. 


CONTINUED: (3) " "~"~ 







Monty turns again. The Zakharov twins have their automatics 
out. Monty, getting desperate, turns back to Uncle Blue. 

MONTY 

I never said a word to anyone. They came 
after me to get to you. I know it, you 
know it. They don't care about me . But I 
never said a word. 
Uncle Blue makes a gesture and the Zakharovs, frighteningly 
fast, spring forward, slamming Kostya to the floor and 
holding their pistols to his skull. 

UNCLE BLUE 

I believe you, Montgomery. When you get 
there, figure out who is who. Find a man 
nobody is protecting, a man without 
people. And beat him until his eyes 
bleed. 
Monty stares at Kostya, who whimpers on the ground, blood 
dripping from his nose. 

UNCLE BLUE (CONT'D) 

Let them think you are a little bit 
crazy, but respectful, too, respectful of 
the right men. 

KOSTYA 

Monty -- 
One of the Zakharovs kicks Kostya in the ribs. 

UNCLE BLUE 

You're a good-looking boy, it won't be 
easy for--you. But remember, I was=- - ---- 
fourteen when I first went. And I 
survived. 
(beat) 
We do what we have to do to survive. 

KOSTYA 

Monty... please, Monty... 

UNCLE BLUE 

So now we have this other problem. 

VALGHOBEK 

How many people knew you kept the stuff 
inside your sofa cushion? Eh? Your 
girlfriend, Kostya, who else? ^i 







(CONTINUED) 





96 


CONTINUED : (4 ) 








MONTY 


I-- 


UNCLE BLUE 

Kostya dimed you outr little brother. He 
made a call and stole seven years from 
your life. 

VALGHOBEK 

They put the clamps on him, and instead 
of being a man about it, taking the time 
himself, he sold you out. 
Uncle Blue hands Valghobek Monty's pistol. Valghobek walks 
over to Monty and offers it to him. 

MONTY 

I don't want it. 

UNCLE BLUE 

It's yours. You know how to use it? 
Valghobek holds the pistol by the barrel, a small smile on 
his face, until Monty grabs it from him. 

MONTY 

I know how to use it. 

UNCLE BLUE 

Good. This man does not deserve to live. 
He betrayed you, he betrayed me. He stole 
from you. He stole seven years from you. 
End him. 
"One of the ZakTiaTo^^'Ewins!rag'rins at Monty and taps" "theback of 
Kostya's skull with his pistol's muzzle. 

ZAKHAROV 

Right here. Boom! 
The Zakharovs back away and Monty crouches down beside his 
former friend. Kostya struggles to turn his head, to make eye 
contact with Monty. ! 
KOSTY A j 
Monty-- | 
i 

MONTY | 

Don't talk. ! 

KOSTYA | 

No, no, wait, Monty, wait, please listen. 
I had no choice. I-- 

I 

(CONTINUED ) f 




97. 


CONTINUED: (5) 







Monty flicks off the safety and presses the muzzle against 
Kostya's skull. 
Everyone in the room is quiet, watching. 
The only sound is DJ Dusk's mix, an accelerating industrial 
heartbeat. 

VALGHOBEK 

Do it. 
Kostya weeps, softly, his big body shuddering. 
Uncle Blue, face impassive behind his heavy beard, watches 
carefully. 

ZAKHAROV 

He is cockroach. Kill him. 
Monty's face is very close to Kostya's. 

MONTY 

(quietly) 
You were my friend. 
f=*5 KOSTYA 
^ Monty -- 
Monty closes his eyes. 
When he opens his eyes, he flicks the safety back on. He 
stands. 
He tosses the gun to Uncle Blue, who catches it and frowns. 

_ MONTY, 

It doesn't matter to me . Not a goddamn 
thing matters to me , except this: if you 
hurt my father, I'll kill you both. 
The Zakharov twins grab Monty and hold him. Monty doesn't 
struggle; he and Uncle Blue stare at each other. 
Uncle Blue drums the desktop with his fingers. Everyone 
waits. A glass of water on the table trembles from the 
distant bass. 
Finally Uncle Blue nods at Valghobek, who opens the office 
door. The twins release Monty. Everyone (except for Kostya, 
who is face down on the floor) watches him. 



o 
V' Monty walks out of the room, never looking back. 




98 











EXT. 14TH STREET -- LATER 

Monty trudges down the sidewalk, followed by Slattery and 
Jakob. The snow continues to fall, and lies thickly drifted 
on the crookedly-parked cars, on the parking meters, on the 
spears of the church gate they pass. 
They reach the Union Square subway station and walk down the 
stairs, disappearing from our view. 

CLOSE ON FOOTPRINTS IN THE SNOW 

We slowly follow their path backward. In the yellow shine of 
the streetlights the footprints fill with snow, until finally 
(the camera still moving backward) they disappear. 

INT. UNION SQUARE SUBWAY STATION 

Monty, Frank, and Jakob sit with their backs against the 
""'corrugated shutters of a closed newspaper stand. 
An OLD MAN, wearing a garbage bag with a hole cut out for his 
head, leans against a blue I-beam that helps support the 
ceiling. He holds a small radio to his ear; we can hear 
fragments of Puerto Rican Jibaro music. 
Jakob chews on his fingernails. He cranes his neck to look 
down the subway tunnel -- still no train in sight. He looks at 
Monty. 

JAKOB 

What time is it? 
But Monty is jnot present, he is elsewhere, lost in whatever 
feveFie occuples""his mind. Slattery's eyes are clo~sed;-he- 
seems to be sleeping. 

JAKOB {CONT'D) 

Monty? 
Monty looks up, dazed. 

MONTY 

What? 

JAKOB 

Do you know what time it is? 
Another long pause. 

MONTY 

It's getting late. 







(CONTINUED) 





99 


CONTINUED: . - - -*.«.-., ,..-, 


-. 







The lights of the train come around the bend in the tunnel. 

INT. 4 TRAIN -- LATER 

The three men sit side by side as the train shudders through 
the darkness. Slattery seems to be sleeping again. Jakob 
stares at his reflected face in the far window. 
Monty pulls out his wallet and finds the photograph that his 
father gave him earlier in the night. 

INSERT PHOTO 

Monty in his fireman's helmet, standing before his parents. 

EXT. MONTY'S BUILDING -- NIGHT 

Monty, Slattery and Jakob wade through the snow to the stoop 
steps. 

INT. MONTY'S BUILDING 

They climb the narrow staircase, their footfalls echoing off 
the tiled walls. 

INT. MONTY'S APARTMENT ,-~^ 

They enter the apartment. Doyle is excited to see them; he - 
pants and spins in little circles, sniffing at their boots. 
Jakob and Slattery fall onto the sofa and lie there like 
corpses. 
Monty opens the bedroom door, steps inside, and closes it 
behind him. 

INT- MONTY'S BEDROOM 

Naturelle sleeps on her side, facing the window. Monty kneels 
beside her and takes her hand. Her eyes open. She smiles for 
a second and then quickly sits up. 

NATURELLE 

What time is it? 
Both of them turn to look at the digital clock on the 
nightstand. 

MONTY 

I've got an hour left. Listen -- 
Naturelle waits as Monty stares down at the bed. ^J 







(CONTINUED) 





IOO, 


CONTINUED: , 








MONTY (CONT'D) 

I was wrong. About you, about -- 
She runs her hand through his hair. 

NATURELLE 

It doesn't matter right now. 

MONTY 

It matters to me. 
(beat) 
I don't want you to hate me. 

NATURELLE 

How could I ever hate you? 

MONTY 

Jesus, Nat, I blew it. I really blew it. 
He stands. 

NATURELLE 

Stay with me, baby. We have another hour. 

MONTY 

There's one last thing I gotta do. 
Naturelle doesn't like the sound of this remark. She leans 
forward and takes his wrist. 

NATURELLE 

Hey. Don't go anywhere. Stay here with 
me. 

- -······· 


- - ·--MONTY- ·· ' ~ -· ·· - 

Just one last thing. 
He kisses her again, a last fierce kiss, and heads for the 
door. 

INT. MONTY'S LIVING ROOM 

Monty grabs the leash off the back of the apartment door and 
clips it to Doyle's collar. 

MONTY 

Let me take one more walk with Doyle. 
Slattery and Jakob nod. Both are exhausted. 

EXT. EAST END AVENUE ~ LATER 

The snow has finally stopped falling. 




(CONTINUED) 





101 


CONTINUED: 







The parked cars lining the avenue look like scoops of vanilla 
ice cream, glistening below the streetlights. The awnings of 
the buildings, fringed with icicles, creak beneath the weight 
of the snow. 
Doyle, off his leash, charges down the middle of the avenue, 
carving a trail through the foot-deep powder, a drop of ink 
rolling down a blank page. 
Monty follows behind, twirling circles with the leash. 
Slattery and Jakob bring up the rear, slogging through the 
snow like weary soldiers. 
The only vehicle on the road is a snow plow half a mile 
south, its yellow lights flashing. 

EXT. CARL SCHURZ PARK 

They cross into the park, past the fenced-in gingko trees, 
climbing the stairs that lead to the esplanade. 
Doyle spies a squirrel and chases after it, but the squirrel 
is quicker, makes it to a red maple and scrambles up the 
trunk to safety. 
Doyle squats at the foot of the tree, staring sadly up ^\ 
through the branches. 11W7 

EXT. EAST RIVER ESPLANADE 

Across the river is Queens, and Queens before sunrise is 
beautiful: red antennae lights winking to warn pilots; the 
Pepsi sign glowing in neon script over the bottling plant; 
white clouds rising from the smokestacks like genies. 
Behind Queens the sky is beginning to brighten. - -- 
Jakob brushes snow off the iron balustrade, leans against it 
and stares into the river. A string of yellow lights quivers 
beneath the waters, reflections from the Queensboro Bridge. 
A red tugboat chugs south. 

MONTY 

It would be good to work a tugboat. Be 
out on the river all day. 
He turns to face Jakob. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

So what do you think? You ready for Mr. 
Doyle? 







(CONTINUED) 





; 


· ·'· · · ' -- ·· 


- 102, 


·· 


CONTINUED: 







Jakob looks at Doyle, who is rolling on his back in the snow, 
kicking his feet in the air like a puppy. 

JAKOB 

He likes the snow. 
Monty whistles for Doyle and the dog jumps to his feet and 
runs over, wagging the stump of his tail, his muzzle dusted 
with snow. 

MONTY 

I need a favor, Frank. 

SLATTERY 

Anything. 
Monty refastens the leash onto the dog's collar and ties the 
cord around a baluster, knotting it twice, checking to make 
sure it's secure. 

MONTY 

I'm not going in there like this. The 
minute they get a look at me, I'm gone. 
Monty straightens up and looks directly into Slattery's eyes. 

- 


MONTY (CONT'D) 

Make me ugly. 
Slattery looks dumbfounded. He turns to glance at Jakob, who 
is equally confused. 
Monty clears the snow off the nearest bench, unbuttons his 
camel's hair coat, and lays it down. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

You just said you'd do anything. So this 
is what I need. 

SLATTERY 

I can't do that. What are you thinking, I 
give you a black eye and people won't 
fuck with you? It won't change anything. 
Monty steps closer. 

MONTY 

You think I deserve it, don't you? 
Slattery holds his hands up and backs away. 

SLATTERY 

I can't hit you. 




(CONTINUED) 





103, 


CONTINUED : (2) 








MONTY 

I think you can. I think you want to, a 
little bit. I think you've wanted to for 
years. 

SLATTERY 

I'm not doing it. 
Monty steps closer again. 

MONTY 

You want to. Come on, Frank, you're 
afraid? 

SLATTERY 

Listen -- 

MONTY 

What are you afraid of, Frank? That I'll 
hit back? You're afraid I'll hit back? 
That would be embarrassing, huh, big 
tough guy like you getting his ass 
kicked? 

JAKOB 

Come on, this is crazy. 
on, t 
i.JSh Come 
Monty points at Jakob. 

MONTY 

Who the fuck is talking to you? 

SLATTERY 

Forget it. Come on, forget all this. 
Let's get some breakfast. 

MONTY 

This works out pretty well for you, 
doesn't it? You're gonna take good care 
of Naturelle while I'm gone? 

SLATTERY 

What? 

MONTY 

You think I don't see you staring at her 
all the time? You've wanted to fuck her 
for years. 
He shoves Slattery hard. Slattery's eyes narrow for a moment, 
but he shakes his head. 







(CONTINUED) 





-·-- 104 


CONTINUED : (3) 








SLATTERY 

All right. Al l right. 



He turns stiffly and walks away. 




' JAKOB 

Come on. Come on , Monty, what are you 
doing? Tell him you're kidding. 
Monty pivots and punches Jakob hard on the cheek, the crack 
of gloved knuckle on bone echoing on the empty esplanade. 
Jakob falls back against the balustrade, clutching his face. 

JAKOB (CONT'D) 

Monty I 



Monty steps closer and punches Jakob again, this time in the 
gut, and Jakob sinks to his knees, gasping. He covers his 
face with his hands, to protect himself. 
Slattery tackles Monty, pinning him to the ground. 
For a moment everything is still. Doyle, leashed to the 
baluster, whines, unsure if his master is playing or 
fighting. 
Jakob, stunned by the violence, watches. Slattery stares at 
Monty and Monty stares back . All :of them in the snow, their 
breath coiling and rising into the sky. 
Finally Slattery looks away, looks past the East River , past 
Queens. He clenches his eyes shut. When he opens them, we see 
the first tears forming. 
Slattery grabs Monty's throat with his left hand and punches 
him in the face with his right, again and again and again. 
Doyle howls. He tries to jump on Slattery bu t the leash keeps 
yanking him back. He strains forward, fangs bared , bu t his 
master is three feet too far. 



Jakob touches his cheek and examines his fingers: no blood. 



Doyle, barking madly, keeps jumping for Slattery, keeps being 
yanked back by the leash. 



Jakob grabs hold of the balustrade and pulls himsel f to his 
feet. 

JAKOB (CONT'D) 

Frank... Frank! 







(CONTINUED) 





105, 


CONTINUED : (4) 







The bloo d puddles by Monty's head, melting through the snow 
and steaming in the air. Slattery, lost in hi s anger , his 
frustration, continues swinging. 



Jakob stumbles over to Slattery and pushes him. 




JAKOB (CONT'D) 

Stop! 



Slattery looks up , his face wet with tears , a webbin g of 
saliva between his lips . 

JAKOB (CONT'D) 

Okay. Enough. 



Jakob grabs the bi g man under the armpits and help s hi m rise . 
Slattery looks down at Monty, who is not moving . 

SLATTERY 

Oh Jesus . 
Jakob crouches and turns Monty onto his stomach . Monty 
coughs, a thick ribbon of blood falling from hi s mouth . 
Jakob scoops up a handful of snow and begins gentl y pressing 
it to Monty's brutalized face. 
Doyle continues to bark, the collar digging into his throat 
as he struggles to reach his master. 
Slattery watches , speechless, his bloodied hand s by his side. 
Finally Monty shakes his head clear of the snow and begins 
crawling forward. 






Hold still for a minute. Hold still . 
When Monty tries to stand his legs collapse beneat h him. 
Jakob wraps his arms around him before he falls an d lowers 
him to the snow. 




JAKOB (CONT'D) 

Don't try to move yet. 



Monty pushes himsel f off the ground again and thi s time 
manages to keep hi s balance, though he sways lik e a drunk. 




MONTY 

(slurring) 
It's okay . 















106, 


CONTINUED : <5) 







Blood leaks from his nose, from his mouth, from a deep gash 
bisecting one eyebrow. The entire left side of his face is 
bright red, already swelling. 



Slattery looks at him and moans , sits down heavily in the 
snow, his chin tucked against his chest, his right hand, 
slick with blood, covering his face. 




SLATTERY 

Oh Jesus. 




JAKOB 

Hospital.. We need to take you to the 
hospital. 

MONTY 

No . 
He staggers toward them. Doyle is mewling now, stomping his 
paws, confused. Monty bends down unsteadily and scratches 
behind the dog's ear. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

(to Doyle) 
Be a good boy. 
He walks over to Slattery, wh o sits in the snow, sobbing. 
Monty leans over and kisses his forehead. 




MONTY (CONT'D) 

I'm sorry. 
Slattery rocks back and forth, hands over his face, his 
forehead marked with blood. 
Monty turns to Jakob and touches his shoulder. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

I'm sorry, Jake. 



Jakob is stunned by what's happened in the last few minutes . 
He has no idea what to say. 




JAKOB 

Okay. 




MONTY 

Take care of my dog. 



He grabs his coat from the park bench and walks away from 
them. 




107 











EXT. MONTY' S BUILDING -- DAWN ( 

Naturelle, in her down parka, sits on the stoop steps. She 
sees him when he's a block away, and we see him from that 
distance, limping through the snow. 
Naturelle stands and breathes in deeply. She starts walking 
toward him but stops after a few steps. She can see his face 
now. 
His eyes are so badly swollen that he doesn't notice her 
until he's almost upon her. When he does see her he smiles, 
and Naturelle has to look away for a moment. 
He tries to say something but chokes, leans over, hands on 
his knees, and spits up blood. 
Naturelle takes him by the hand and leads him up the steps. 

INT. MONTY'S LIVING ROOM 

He sits on the sofa while Naturelle dabs at his face with a 
wet washcloth. A bowl of soapy water sits beside her on the 
coffee table. 
When she wrings the washcloth above the bowl, drops of blood ,"***S 

/ > 

fall into the water and bloom. W-- / 

MONTY 

I don't want you to visit. 
His voice is rough and slurred, his split lip impeding his 
diction. 
She opens a bottle of rubbing alcohol, wets a cotton ball, 
presses the cottpn lightly against the gash in his forehead. -- 
He shudders, his fingers gripping the edges of the sofa 
cushions. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

I don't want you to see me up there. 
Naturelle struggles mightily to keep herself together. She 
continues cleaning his wounds. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Why'd you stay with me? 
(beat) 
You should have left a long time ago. 










(CONTINUED) 





108. 


CONTINUED: 








NATURELLE 

(shaking her head) 
You idiot. 
A knock on the door. Naturelle goes to answer it. We hear 
voices that sound very distant. Monty peers through his 
swollen eyelids at the man walking toward him. 

CUT TO: 


MONTY'S POV 

The blurred figure of a man stands before him. The room is 
sunlight and shadows, all edges washed away; 
The man's face is a pale oval that bends and splits when he 
speaks. 

MR. BROGAN 

Who did this to you? 

CUT TO: 

Monty sitting on the sofa, staring up at his father. 

MR. BROGAN (CONT'D) 

Who did this to you, Monty? 

MONTY 

What time is it? 

MR. BROGAN 

I'm bringing you to the hospital. We can 
tell-- 

MONTY 

No. I need to go. 
He pushes himself upright. Naturelle comes in from the 
kitchen and hands him a glass of water. He takes it and 
drinks. 

NATURELLE 

You have to go to the hospital, baby. 

MONTY 

No. 
Monty goes to his bedroom. 




INT. MONTY'S BEDROOM -- CONTINUOUS 

\v_y He pulls an already packed suitcase from beneath the bed. He 
~" grabs the string of silver rosary beads from the bedside 
table. 
He stares at the unmade bed for a few seconds before leaving. 

INT. MONTY'S LIVING ROOM -- CONTINUOUS 

He sets his suitcase by the front door. 

MONTY 

I'll say goodbye here. 
He approaches his father but Mr. Brogan shakes his head. 

MR. BROGAN 

How you planning on getting to the Port 
Authority? 

MONTY 

Subway. 

MR. BROGAN 

You won't make it. Trains are barely 
running right now. I'll drive you to 
Otisville. 
(beat) 
Jesus, look what they did to you. 

MONTY 

I'll take a taxi. 

NATURELLE 

You won't be able to get one. Let him 
take you to the hospital. 

MR. BROGAN 

You don't trust my driving? I got chains 
on the tires and everything. 

MONTY 

I don't want it like this. Let me walk 
away, Dad. It's easier that way. 

MR. BROGAN 

What's easy about it? Easier? My God, you 
don't understand, do you? You don't have 
any idea. 
He touches Monty's shoulder. 







(CONTINUED) 





110, 


CONTINUED : 








MR. BROGAN (CONT'D) 

Let me drive you there. I need to see 
where it is anyway, for visits. Okay, 
buddy? Help me out . 



Monty blinks and then nods . 




MONTY 

No hospitals. 



Mr . Brogan kisses Naturelle on the cheek and she embraces the 
older man . When she lets go he walks to the front door, pick s 
up the suitcase, and leaves the apartment. 
Monty stands still, looking at Naturelle. 

NATURELLE 

Wait a second. 
She goes to the kitchen and Monty rocks back and forth on his 
bootheels. When she returns she holds a plastic ba g filled 
with ice cubes. 
She makes him hold the bag against the side of his face. They 
don't move for a moment, her hand on top of his hand, the ba g 
of ice pressed to his jaw. 

MONTY 

I want you to be happy. 



She nods but says nothing, biting her lip, tears beginning to 
roll down her face. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Will you d© that for me ? 



She nods again. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

Okay? 



She grabs him and holds him very hard, clutching him, sobbing 
into his neck. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

I'm sorry for everything. 




NATURELLE 

No . . . 




MONTY 

Fo r everything . 







(CONTINUED) 





CONTINUED: (2) 







He kisses her again and releases her, walks out the apartment 
door and closes it behind him. 

INT. HALLWAY 

Monty unknots the plastic bag and dumps the ice down the 
stairwell. The cubes glitter and disappear before clattering 
on the linoleum three floors below. 

EXT. MONTY'S BUILDING 

Mr. Brogan's car is double-parked. The roof of the old Honda 
is crowned with snow but the windshield and rear window have 
been swept clean. 

INT. MR. BROGAN'S HONDA 

Mr. Brogan opens the passenger door and Monty eases carefully 
into the seat, then leans over to unlock the driver's door. 
After Mr. Brogan starts the engine, they wait for a moment 
for the windows to defrost. 

MR. BROGAN 

FDR is closed. I figured we'd go up 
First, take the Triborough, catch 87 up 
to Route 17, and then 211 takes us right 
into Otisville. Easy drive, except for 
the snow. 
Monty says nothing, and Mr. Brogan studies his savaged face. 

MR. BROGAN (CONT'D) 

Jesus, look what they did to you. I'll 
tell you what, Monty, you're gonna be 
okay. It looks bad now, I know it, but 
when all the swelling goes down it's 
- · - gonna be okayr ~ ~" ··-·-· ······-· 

- -- . -·--·· 

(beat) 
They sure gave you a licking, though. How 
many were there? 

MONTY 

I don't know, Dad. A bunch of them. 

MR. BROGAN 

Well, give it a month and you'll be 
better looking than ever. 
A fire truck rolls slowly past, chains on its massive tires. 
Monty and his father sit in silence, letting the engine warm. 







(CONTINUED) 





112. 


CONTINUED: 








MONTY 

You were right, Dad. It wasn't Naturelle. 
Mr. Brogan shifts into drive. 

MR. BROGAN 

Of course it wasn't Naturelle. 

EXT. EAST RIVER ESPLANADE -- DAWN 

Slattery sits on a park bench overlooking the river. It's the 
same bench Monty sat on the day before. Slattery is alone on 
the snow-covered esplanade. 
His knuckles are covered with dried blood. His forehead is 
marked with blood. 
He watches the sun rise over Queens. 

EXT. EAST END AVENUE -- DAWN 

Jakob and Doyle walk south along the western edge of Carl 
Schurz Park. A SKIER, an attractive young woman in her mid- 
twenties, schusses toward them on cross-country skis. 
She smiles at Jakob as she passes. 

SKIER 

Cool dog. 

JAKOB 

Thanks. 
He turns and watches her glide down the hill toward 86th 
Street. He looks down: at Doyle. Doyle looks-iap- at ~hifff. TM - 

JAKOB (CONT'D) 

Cool dog. 
Jakob shakes his head and smiles, and they continue walking 
south. 

INT. MR. BROGAN'S HONDA -- MORNING 

They drive up First Avenue. Monty looks out the window and 
watches the city roll by. It's his last look for a long time, 
and he wants to remember everything. 
A WOMAN wearing a man's overcoat sprinkles salt in front of a 
shuttered butcher shop. Two YOUNG BOYS drag their sleds 
behind them, huffing and puffing with exaggerated fatigue. 










(CONTINUED) 





113. 


CONTINUED: 







A NEWSPAPER VENDOR sits on a blue milk crate, sipping coffee 
from a paper cup, while his CURLY-HAIRED SON snaps icicles 
from the kiosk's eaves. 
A POLICE OFFICER, hands on his hips, stares under the opened 
hood of his cruiser, while his PARTNER leans against the 
driver's-side door and laughs into his walkie-talkie. 
At a red light, Monty looks up at the city bus idling noisily 
alongside them. A LITTLE BOY in the backseat waves. Monty 
waves back. 
The boy points at his window: letters have been finger-drawn 
on the frosted glass. T-O-M. 
Monty smiles as well as he can and draws his own name on his 
own frosted window: M-O-N- 
Before he can cross the T the bus pulls away. 
They drive north. 

MONTY 

I always thought I'd make you proud of 
me . 
M r . Brogan turns to look at Monty and then turns back to the 
road. 

MONTY (CONT'D) 

I pictured it, you know? I pictured you 
sitting at the bar with all your friends, 
poker night, and you'd say, "Did I tell 
you what my boy's been up to?" And your 
friends would be like, "Goddamnit, 
_ Brogan,,_all you ever talk about-is your ,,... _, __,, _ 
boy." 

MR. BROGAN 

Give me the word and I'll take a left 
turn. 

MONTY 

Left turn to where? 

MR. BROGAN . 

Wherever you want. Take the GW Bridge and 
go west. 
Monty stares at his father. 



o 

(CONTINUED) 





CONTINUED: (2) 








MR. BROGAN (CONT'D) 

Get you stitched up somewhere and keep 
going. Find a nice little town -- 

MONTY 

Dad. 

MR. BROGAN 

I'm saying if you want. If that's what 
you want, I'll do it. 
Monty closes his eyes. We hear the tire chains rattling on 
the snow. We hear the old engine wheezing. 
CLOSE on Monty's ravaged face, on his eyelids. 
Mr. Brogan keeps talking and New York City melts away. 

MR. BROGAN (COM" D) 

We'll drive and keep driving. 

CUT TO: 


EXT. INTERSTATE HIGHWAY -- DAY 

As Mr. Brogan speaks, we watch the car driving west. The 
voice-over tracks with the images on the screen. 

MR. BROGAN (V.O.) 

Head out to the middle of nowhere. 

CUT TO: 


EXT. DESERT HIGHWAY -- DAY 

The car speeds along a desert highway now, past the pitchfork 
cacti and towering mesas. 

CUT TO: 


EXT. MAIN STREET -- DAY 

The car drives slowly down the main street of a one stoplight 
town. 

MR. BROGAN (V.O.) 

Find a nice little town. 

CUT TO: 














(CONTINUED) 





115 


CONTINUED: 







Mr. Brogan parks in front of a small bar with an old- 
fashioned BAR sign in front. Mr. Brogan and Monty (his face 
unmarred) step out of the car. 

CUT TO: 


INT. TOWN BAR -- DAY 

Mr. Brogan and Monty are sitting at a corner table. Mr . 
Brogan raises his glass of whiskey to Monty and both men 
drink. 

MR. BROGAN (V.O.) 

Find a bar, and I'll buy us drinks. I 
haven't had a drink in nineteen years, 
but I'll have one with you. And then I'll 
leave. 

CUT TO: 

Monty stands at the window of the bar, watching Mr. Brogan 
drive away. 

MR. BROGAN (V.O.) (CONT'D) 

I'll tell you don't ever write me, don't 
ever come visit. I'll tell you I believe 
in God's Kingdom and I believe I'll be 
with you again, and your mother. But not 
in this lifetime. 
Monty approaches the BARTENDER, a powerfully-built older man 
(60). Monty speaks and the bartender listens carefully, but 
we don't hear the dialogue. 

MR. BROGAN (V.O.) (CONT'D) 

You get a job somewhere, a job that pays 
cash, a boss who doesn't ask questions, 
and you make a new life, and you never 
come back. 

CUT TO: 


INT. TOWN BAR -- NIGHT 

Monty works behind the bar on a crowded night. The bar 
PATRONS, a blue-collar rural crowd, are rowdy drinkers, but 
Monty works efficiently, quickly filling their orders. 

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116, 











INT. HEAD SHOP -- NIGHT 

Monty, in the backroom of a seedy head shop, sits for a 
photograph in front of a black drop. 

MR. BROGAN (V.O.) 

You find the right people and you get 
yourself papers, a driver's license. 

EXT. TOWN BAR -- DAY 

Monty sits on the steps in back of the bar, looking out past 
the gravel lot toward the distant mountains. 

MR. BROGAN (V.O.) 

And then you wait. People get caught when 
they come home. But you're never coming 
home. 

EXT. BUS STATION -- DAY 

Monty, a few years older, waits as a Greyhound bus pulls into 
the station. 

MR. BROGAN (V.O.) 

And maybe -- and this is dangerous-- but 
maybe after a couple years you send word 
to Naturelle. 
Naturelle steps off the Greyhound bus. She sees Monty. They 
stare at each other, twenty feet apart. 
Finally he goes to her, threading through the other 
travellers, the other waiting families. He takes her in his 
arms. 

INT. APARTMENT -- NIGHT 

In the cramped apartment above the bar where Monty works, 
Monty and Naturelle sit together, on a sofa, watching a small 
television. Naturelle is pregnant. 
The ball is about to drop in Times Square. 

MR. BROGAN (V.O.) 

You forget about New York. You can't come 
back. You can't call, you can't write. 

INT. SMALL HOUSE -- NIGHT 

Monty, much older now, stands in front of his family, his 
grown CHILDREN and the little GRANDCHILDREN. Naturelle, 
equally aged, sits with one of the little girls on her lap. 




(CONTINUED) 





117 


CONTINUED: 








MR. BROGAN (V.O.) 

And maybe one day, years from now, long 
after I'm dead and gone, you gather your 
whole family together and you tell them 
the truth. Who you are and where you came 
from. 
As Monty speaks his children exchange glances. They can't 
really believe what they're hearing, but they know their 
father is telling the truth. 

MR. BROGAN (V.O.) (CONT'D) 

You tell them the whole thing. And then 
you ask them if they know how lucky they 
are to be there. 
Monty looks at his family. He is awed by their existence, by 
the life he has created. He looks at Naturelle, still 
beautiful in old age, and she smiles back at him. 

OLD MONTY 

It all came so close to never happening. 

INT. MR. BROGAN'S HONDA -- MORNING 

The sun shines through the windshield. Monty sleeps, his 
battered head resting against the window below his frost- 
spelt name: M-O-N-T-Y. 

OLD MONTY (V.O.) 

This life came so close to never 
happening.