diff --git "a/unformated_scripts/Script_Collateral.txt" "b/unformated_scripts/Script_Collateral.txt" new file mode 100644--- /dev/null +++ "b/unformated_scripts/Script_Collateral.txt" @@ -0,0 +1,7576 @@ +COLLATERAL + + + +written by +Stuart Beattie + +revised draft by +Frank Darabont +9/12/00 + +current revisions by +Michael Mann +8/24/03 + + + +FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY + + + + +MM revs. 8/28/03 (blue) +MM revs. 8/28/03 (pink) +MM revs. 9/01/03 (yellow) +MM revs. 9/02/03 (green) +MM revs. 9/03/03 (goldenrod) +MM revs. 9/08/03 (buff) +MM revs. 9/10/03 (salmon) +MM revs. 9/14/03 (cherry) +MM revs. 9/16/03 (tan) +MM revs. 9/18/03 (blue) +MM revs. 9/21/03 (pink) +MM revs. 9/22/03 (yellow) +MM revs. 9/24/03 (green) +MM revs. 9/26/03 (goldenrod) +MM revs. 9/27/03 (buff) +MM revs. 9/29/03 (salmon) +MM revs. 9/30/03 (cherry) +MM revs. 10/02/03 (tan) +MM revs. 10/04/03 (blue) +MM revs. 10/06/03 (pink) +MM revs. 10/09/03 (yellow) +MM revs. 10/10/03 (green) +MM revs. 10/11/03 (goldenrod) +MM revs. 10/12/03 (buff) + +9/18/03 MM revs. (blue) 1. + +FADE IN: + +A1 INT. BRADLEY TERMINAL - BLURS - DAY A1 + +slide past in a 400mm lens. Then, entering a plane of focus is +VINCENT. He walks towards us...an arriving passenger. Suit. +Shirt. No tie. Sunglasses and expensive briefcase say +"confident executive traveler." The suit's custom-made but not +domestic. His hair and shades are current, but it would be +difficult to describe his identifying specifics...grey suit, * +white shirt, medium height. And that's the idea... * + +CLOSE BEHIND VINCENT + +OVER his left shoulder, walking through milling travelers * +towards the distant wall of metal and glass, sunlight streaming +at him... + +ANOTHER BUSINESSMAN + +- suit, blonde crew cut - walks to camera. Same sunlight, but +it hits him from the side. His trajectory is from the left. +His eyeline is slightly right. Just now, he looks down at a +ticket in his hand... + +OVER VINCENT'S LEFT SHOULDER... + +right now something catches Vincent's eye. And the two men bump +into each other... + +TWO-SHOT... + +VINCENT +You okay? Sorry... + +Vincent puts down his briefcase. The man has a similar +briefcase. + +MAN +(North London working- +class accent) +Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, mate. Enjoy * +LA... + +VINCENT GRABS THE BRIEFCASE OF THE MAN + +with the North London working-class accent. And continues +towards the exit. Was it an accident? Was it a brush pass? +The Man's accent signified nothing to us except one thing: +foreign origin. + +VINCENT + +approaches until he's in ECU... + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/6/03 MM revs. (pink) 1A. +A1 CONTINUED: A1 + + +OVERHEAD SHOT: VINCENT + +up from the bottom of the frame, departs across the floor with +the yellow tile, until we lose him into the milling hundreds of +Angelenos, heading out into Greater LA and its eighteen million +people. + +1 CREDIT SEQUENCE: 1 + +Images wipe across the screen, kinetic and abstract, floating +and dreamlike in SLO-MO: + +Shades of yellow. Ribbons of silver. Shimmers of chrome. + +Headlights sweeping past, flaring to white. Brake lights +flashing, halating red. Reflections of overhead fluorescence +flowing like liquid along windshield glass... + +SOUNDS are dreamlike and abstract, reverberated and discordant, +bouncing off concrete walls: car doors OPENING and CLOSING. +Brakes. A BABBLE of multi-lingual crosstalk. + +Racing Forms. A Farsi newspaper. African hands on a * +Blackberry. Max's hands do The New York Times crossword. A * +West African speaks French into a cell phone. Metallica in a * +headset. Hip-hop, Norteno... * + +Mechanics hands change tires, replace air cleaners, close a * +hood. * + +2 INT. TAXI DISPATCH - L.A. - DAY 2 + +ORANGE and YELLOW FORD CROWN VICTORIAS are wiping screen. We * +find ourselves in a busy garage at change of shift. A balletic * +convergence of arriving and departing cars. One's door's flung +open... + +3 INT. ONE CAB - MAX'S HANDS 3 + +enter. They wipe the seats with paper towels and 409...a DMV +LICENSE fitted into the small Lexan holder. On it is a picture +of Max. + +Lights being checked. Indicators. Hazards. Switches. Similar +to a pilot doing an aircraft check list. Fast. All fine. + +REVEAL NOW: MAX'S BRIEFCASE * + +He opens it, preparing for his workday. CD caddy of personal * +mixes goes on a visor. Spreadsheet peaks out a worn Mercedes * +S500 brochure, clipped open. A submarine sandwich from Subway. * + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/6/03 MM revs. (pink) 1B. +3 CONTINUED: 3 + +LONG LENS: OTHER CABBIES - OTHER FACES * + +load-in. Southern California diversity - some unshaven, * +swapping stories, counting cash, one stands on the passenger * +seat to shout over the roof to his pal, spills his coffee, * +couldn't care less... * + +Not Max. His cab is fly. Among cabbies he is GQ. + +And as CAR HORNS BLARE. AD LIB BANTER. CABBIES SHOUT. Max +gets behind the wheel, closes the door... + +4 INT. CAB - DAY 4 + +...and WHAM! The noise evaporates. Welcome silence. Max takes +a moment to savor it. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 2. +4 CONTINUED: 4 + +He starts the engine. RAP MUSIC BLARES from the radio. Max +turns it off. + +He dumps a CD into the changer. MOZART SONATA fills the cab. +From the open briefcase, Max also pulls out one last thing... + +A TATTERED POSTCARD + +which depicts the whitest sand and bluest sea you can imagine. +A dream place. An endorphin-releasing groove. Limitless +horizon. It's the Maldives Islands in the Indian Ocean. + +MAX + +slips the postcard under the rubber bands on the visor. He can +see it whenever he wants to. But not now. He flips the visor +up, puts the car in gear and pulls out. + +CUT TO: + +5 EXT. LA DOWNTOWN - MAX'S CAB - LATE DAY 5 + +northbound on the 405 or Harbor Freeway, an on-ramp to the east * +105. It's all magical in the light. Max's cab, rocketing along +circulinear ramps into complexity of five traffic streams... + +6 INT. CAB 6 + +...harsh reality intrudes. Max is driving a YOUNG PROFESSIONAL +COUPLE with carry-on bags, having a heated argument about... + +MAN +...it's always you. Why is everything +always directed at you...? + +WOMAN +...everything is not "always about +me." He was being sarcastic and you +goddamn well know it... + +MAN +...I'm sorry, I didn't hear it that +way... + +WOMAN +...oh, bullshit! How about the dig +about the makeover...? + +MAN +...what do you want me to do, punch +the guy out? I work with him. And +you're perfectly capable of taking +care of your own...... + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/6/03 MM revs. (pink) 3. +6 CONTINUED: 6 + +WOMAN +(interrupts) +...well, last I checked, you were +sleeping with me, so unless you wanna +start fucking him, I suggest... + +Max endures it silently, invisible as furniture. He doesn't +exist as far as his passengers are concerned... + +7 INT. CAB - LATE DAY 7 + +...as Max drops an elderly Asian couple in Little Saigon... * + +Up ahead, he sees a cluster of CHINESE GANGBANGERS in their +early 20's wearing cheap suits, white shirts and no ties. Some +guy gets pushed to the ground, punched and kicked while four or * +five watch, amused. + +Max's first instinct... * + +MAX +Hey, leave-up on him, man... + +One GANG MEMBER, eating take-out with chopsticks, hears, turns, +sees Max. + +GANG MEMBER +Say what? What you lookin' at, bitch? +(stream of hot Cantonese) + +He throws his food container. Another throws a beer bottle. +Max hits the accelerator as the bottle bounces off the rear +windshield... + +8 EXT/INT. CAB - GAS STATION - LATE DAY 8 + +by the freeway. Mexican murals are coated with a patina of +corrosion from the fumes. We find Max cleaning Chinese take-out +off his cab with the water hose while the gas pump CLICKS OFF. +The Attendant he's known for five years finishes a taco. * + +ATTENDANT * +(in Spanish) * +How'd you get the chop suey all over * +the cab? * + +MAX * +(in Spanish) * +I didn't. The cab got in a fight with * +a gang of Chinese Cholos. * + +ATTENDANT * +(in Spanish) * +There's been sprouts by the passenger * +door. * + +(CONTINUED) + +10/6/03 MM revs. (pink) 3A. +8 CONTINUED: 8 + +Max hangs the nozzle back, gets in the car... * + +Max slips his credit card into the briefcase. We glimpse the * +Mercedes S500 catalogue again. And Max flips the visor down, * +staring at the island. Soothed by the blue. + +We're seeing the most private of Max's rituals, the one he +doesn't share with anybody. + +Now, he starts hustling for calls by posting himself in a nearby +zone. See Max work the computer. He bids and gets a next load. * + +DISPATCHER +(get language) + +CUT TO: * + +9 OMIT 9 * + +10/12/03 MM revs. (buff) 4. + + +10 OMIT 10 + +11 INT. CAB - MAGIC HOUR - SUPERIOR COURT BUILDING - MAX 11 + +presumably, has dropped a load in front. He fills out his trip +sheet. A pedestrian businessman asks directions to LAX. Max ad +libs, directing him to the people-mover. + +Yellow cylindrical stairs...a pretty young WOMAN descends into +the interior lobby. + +Max finishes his notation. + +The young WOMAN detours through media and the rush-hour crowd +while talking rapid fire into a cell phone, starts toward Max's +cab, waving at it... + +Max doesn't see her, starts to pull away. + +She gives up, turns toward a green City Cab behind her, but it +just picked up a load. + +Then, Max catches sight of her and stops. Red taillights. + +She turns and starts for the cab. + +We SEE Max regard her in his rearview mirror. He ejects a CD +and loads a different one. + +ADDENDUM: WILD DIAL FOR ANNIE ACTION while Annie's on the cell * +phone to UNHEARD LEGAL ASSISTANT/TRANSCRIBER... * + +ANNIE * +I need it transcribed... * + +ASSISTANT'S VOICE (UNHEARD) * +Off of what? * + +ANNIE * +Off the line sheets. * + +ASSISTANT'S VOICE (UNHEARD) * +Why? * + +ANNIE * +'Cause I think it's him on there. In * +the gold Lexus on the cell. If it is, * +he's enhanceable, 'cause of priors in * +the late '80's... * + +ASSISTANT'S VOICE (O.S.) * +What about tomorrow afternoon? * + +10/12/03 MM revs. (buff) 4A. + + +11A EXT./INT. CAB 11A + +The woman, ANNIE FARRELL, enters the cab. Everything about her +says "serious professional" from her suit to her briefcase and +purse. Still on her cell, her attention is focused on the call. + +ANNIE +...no, the transcriptions need to be * +done by seven a.m.. Period. Okay? * + +MAX +How ya' doin'? Where to? + +ANNIE +Downtown. 312 North Spring Street. +Take Sepulveda to Slauson to La Brea. +La Brea north to 6th into downtown. + +Max pulls away from the curb, starts the meter and turns left. + +ANNIE (CONT'D) +(into cell phone) +So you'll be up late. I'm pulling an * +all-nighter, too. Save the tears. + +She ends the call, starts to check her voicemail on her phone. +Max's eyes in the rearview mirror... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 5. +11A CONTINUED: (2) 11A + +MAX +I'll take 105 east and up the 110. +It's faster. + +ANNIE +(doesn't look at him) +What? + +MAX +(louder) +105 to the 110 is faster. + +ANNIE +110 turns into a parking lot around +USC. + +MAX +This late, the 110 is moving, but La * +Brea north of the Santa Monica is * +jammed. * + +ANNIE +110 north of the 10 you get people * +going to Pasadena and they drive slow. * + +MAX +That's why I jump off at Grand. * +(looks at her) +But, hey, surface streets is cool. +That's what you want, that's what we +do... * + +Annie looks up for the first time. Skeptically... + +ANNIE +Are we taking bets? What if you're +wrong? + +MAX +Your ride is free. + +ANNIE +You got yourself a deal. + +12 EXT. OLYMPIC BLVD. - DUSK TO NIGHT 12 + +Max's cab maneuvers easily through light traffic past golf +driving ranges. + +13 INT. CAB - DUSK TO NIGHT 13 + +Annie glances up from a legal brief, noticing the lack of +traffic. + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 5A. + + +13 INT. CAB - DUSK TO NIGHT 13 + +Annie glances up from a legal brief, noticing the lack of +traffic. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/1/03 MM revs. (yellow) 6. +13 CONTINUED: 13 + +ANNIE +Go ahead, say it. Go ahead. + +MAX +...lucky with the lights. + +ANNIE +You weren't "lucky with the lights." +What you were was right. I was * +wrong... +(glances at his license) +...Max. + +She sets the brief aside, eyes tired anyway. She notices the +MUSIC playing faintly up front. Bach's "Air on a G String." + +ANNIE (CONT'D) +You mind turning this up? + +Max doesn't mind at all. He tweaks the volume up. Annie leans +her head back to listen, closes her eyes. + +MAX +You like Bach? + +ANNIE +(nods) +I used to play this piece in high +school. + +MAX +Let me guess. Woodwinds? + +ANNIE +(smiles) +Viola. I never had the lungs for wind +instruments. + +MAX +Could'a fooled me, the way you were +unloading into that cell phone. + +ANNIE +(laughs) +Different instrument... +(beat) +You know, if you'd only listened to +me, we'd be all bogged down in traffic +right now, and you would have made an +extra five bucks. + +MAX +Yeah? Keep it. Buy yourself +something. Go wild. + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 7. +13 CONTINUED: (2) 13 + +ANNIE +(off his silence) +A gentleman. I thought chivalry was a +necessary casualty of gender +politics... + +MAX +Not a big thing, you know...? + +ANNIE +How many cabbies get you into an +argument to save you money? + +MAX +There were two of us. I killed the +other guy. I don't like +competition... + +She's charmed by his deadpan. + +ANNIE +You take pride in...being the best at * +what you do...? + +MAX +This? +(hesitates) +This is temporary. You know. Pays +the bills. I fill in with this. I +WILL be the best at what I do, but * +that's something else. + +ANNIE +What else? + +MAX +I'm setting up something... * + +ANNIE +Like tell me...? + +MAX +...limo company I'm putting together. +Island Limousines. An island on +wheels. So I'm part-timing until I +get delivery, Benzes off leases, work +up my client lists, staff up, all * +that... + +An uncomfortable beat. He turns the conversation back to her: + +MAX (CONT'D) +You like being a lawyer? + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/26/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 7A. +13 CONTINUED: (3) 13 + +ANNIE +You psychic? + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 8. +13 CONTINUED: (4) 13 + +MAX +I'm starting an 800 hotline. +(off her look) +Caught your phone call. And even if I +hadn't, there's the dark pinstripe. * +Elegant, not too hip, which rules out * +advertising, plus a top drawer +briefcase, that you live out of, purse * +looks like a Bodega... + +ANNIE +(laughs) +Bottega. + +MAX +...Bottega. Guy gets in my cab with a +machete? I figure he's a sushi chef. +You? Clarence Darrow. + +Annie can't help laughing. + +ANNIE +Not quite. He worked defense. I'm a +prosecutor... + +MAX +Big case? + +ANNIE +Yeah. + +14 EXT. FEDERAL BUILDING (NOT 312 SPRING STREET) - DOWNTOWN - 14 +DUSK + +Max's cab slides in to the curb. Beat. Still a lot of +pedestrian and car traffic, people heading home for the night. + +15 INT. CAB - ANNIE'S 15 + +smile fades as she gazes up at her building, some anxiety comes +back. + +ANNIE +You got us here fast... + +She digs in her purse for the fare. + +MAX +You never answered my question. You +like what you do? + +ANNIE +(hedging) +Yeah. + +(CONTINUED) + +10/12/03 MM revs. (buff) 9. +15 CONTINUED: 15 + +MAX +But not right now...? + +ANNIE +(nods) +No, I do...like I can't wait. ...I * +love standing up in that courtroom. * +(hesitates) +At the same time...I always get this +clenched-up thing the night before the * +first day... + +MAX +Clenched-up how...? * + +ANNIE +(beat) +I think I'm gonna lose. I think I * +suck. I think my case sucks. I * +haven't prepared enough. My exhibits * +aren't in order. People are gonna * +figure out that I don't know what I'm * +doin'. And I've had this charade * +going for years. I represent the * +Department of Justice of the United * +States government and my opening * +statement is gonna fall flat at the * +really important point and the jury's * +gonna laugh at me. * +(beat) +Then I cry... I don't throw-up. A * +lot of people throw-up. I have a * +strong stomach. * +(beat) * +Then I get it together. And rewrite * +my opening statement. Work the * +exhibits. For the rest of the night. * +That's my routine. +(looks up with a smile) +In the morning, it starts. I'm fine. * + +Max is focused on her eyes. * + +MAX +You need a vacation. * + +ANNIE +(faint smile) +I just had...a vacation. On the +Harbor Freeway. + +She takes money out of her purse. + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/12/03 MM revs. (buff) 9A. +15 CONTINUED: (2) 15 + +MAX +No. Not in a cab. You need your head +straight, gotta get your unified self +up, get harmonic...you know... + +ANNIE +When was the last time you took a +break? + +MAX +I take little ones all the time. + +ANNIE +How often? + +MAX +Dozen times a day. + +He flips the visor down, revealing the postcard of white +beaches, clear green water. It's the first time he's shared +this with anybody: + +MAX (CONT'D) +Maldives Islands. It gets heavy, I +take five. Go there. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/8/03 MM revs. (buff) 10. +15 CONTINUED: (2) 15 + +On impulse, he slips the postcard free and offers it to her. * + +ANNIE +No, I couldn't take that...I couldn't. + +MAX +Yes, you could. You need it more than +I do. +(off her hesitation) +It helps. I promise. + +She accepts the postcard, surprised and touched. Her gaze +lingers on his for a moment. She holds it. + +ANNIE +Wow. Thanks for everything, Max... + +MAX +Sure thing. + +She gets out of the cab, starts to walk away... + +...but turns back, ducking into the cab's window. Looking a bit +flustered, she pulls a business card and offers it to him. + +ANNIE +In case you ever...I don't +know...wanna start an investigation of +a Fortune 500 company or argue cab +routes or something... + +And with that, she goes towards the three assistants waiting for +her outside the revolving door. Max is left somewhat stunned, +holding her card. He glances down at it: + +ANNIE FARRELL +ASSISTANT UNITED STATES ATTORNEY +CRIMINAL DIVISION +CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA + +Meanwhile... + +15A INT. FEDERAL BUILDING, GARAGE - DOOR 15A * + +A hand punches a sequence of numbers into a keypad. The garage +is visible beyond. The lock unlocks. We see it is Vincent who +walks into the steel interior staircase from the garage. + +16 INT. FEDERAL BUILDING - VINCENT - DUSK 16 * + +emerges from the interior staircase into the lobby in his good * +suit with the expensive briefcase. Casually, he glances to his * +right. We don't know why... + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/8/03 MM revs. (buff) 10A. +16 CONTINUED: 16 + +OVER VINCENT + +in front of him is a guard station and a row of tumbrils that +require an identity card to not trigger and alarm. Vincent +produces his card, scans it across the top. * + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/8/03 MM revs. (buff) 11. +16 CONTINUED: (2) 16 + +The indicator goes GREEN. Vincent slips the card into his * +briefcase and walks through, towards the bank of elevators. * +However, he doesn't take an elevator. He walks past them * +towards an escalator down to the street. Why did he walk into, * +through and out of the lobby of the building? * + +FRONTAL CLOSE: VINCENT + +and PAN RIGHT with him as he and we start a descent on the * +escalator from the stone foyer to the street level. * + +PAST VINCENT'S HEAD, * + +riding the "up" escalator is Annie Farrell and the group of * +lawyers. Vincent looks at her, appreciatively, then away. * + +17 OMIT 17 + +17A EXT. FEDERAL BUILDING - VINCENT 17A + +exits, approaches us, and ARM DOWN to include the yellow top of +Max's cab... + +Max still holds Annie's business card, marveling at it and her. +From the FRONT... + +VINCENT +Hello? + +MAX +(glances back) +Uh, yeah... + +And Max can't hide his eyeline and interest... + +VINCENT +Let's go to... +(Max isn't paying +attention) +You free? Or... * + +Vincent starts towards another cab pulling up... * + +MAX +Yeah, yeah, sorry... + +Vincent gets in. * + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 12. +17A CONTINUED: 17A + +MAX (CONT'D) +Where to? + +VINCENT +452 South Union Street. + +17B INT. CAB - MAX 17B + +pulls out, starts the meter. + +VINCENT +(checks his watch) +How long you think this'll take? + +MAX +Fourteen minutes. + +VINCENT +Fourteen? Not fifteen? Not thirteen? + +MAX +Two minutes to get onto the 101. +Transition to the 110 to the 10 and +exit on Normandie is four minutes. +North on Normandie is five minutes. +Two minutes to South Union 'cause +there's roadwork. Thirteen plus one +for "shit happens." + +Vincent checks his watch. + +VINCENT +Mind if I time you? +(Max shrugs) +What do I get if you're wrong? A free +ride? + +MAX +An apology. + +Max heads for the 100 on-ramp. + +MAX (CONT'D) +...I already offered up the free ride * +today. * + +VINCENT +To who? * + +MAX +...some girl. * + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 12A. +17B CONTINUED: 17B + +VINCENT +Did you ask her out? + +Vincent's read Max's mind. Max hadn't thought it through that +far. Now that he does, reality sinks in. Annie's out of his +league and he knows it. + +Gone forever, Max jams her card under the rubber bands on the +visor. + +CUT TO: + +18 EXT. 6TH STREET BRIDGE OVER 110 - NIGHT 18 * + +Max's cab zooms across, heading out of downtown. * + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 13. + + +19 INT. CAB - VINCENT 19 + +Max changes the subject. * + +MAX +First time in LA? + +VINCENT +No. To tell the truth, whenever I'm +here, I can't wait to leave. Too +sprawled-out. Disconnected. You +know...? But that's me. +(beat) +You like it here? + +MAX +It's home. + +VINCENT +17 million people. This was a +country, it would be the fifth biggest +economy in the world. But nobody +knows each other. Too impersonal. * +But that's just me...you know... * +(beat) +I read about this guy. Gets on the * +MTA, here, and dies. Six hours he's +riding the subway before anybody +notices. This corpse doing laps +around LA, people on and off, sitting +next to him, nobody notices. + +MAX +I see your point. Yeah... + +Vincent glances around the cab. + +VINCENT +Cleanest cab I've ever been in. Your +regular ride? + +MAX +Yeah. I share it with the dayshift +guy. + +VINCENT +Prefer nights? + +MAX +People are more relaxed, you know? +Less stress, less traffic, better +tips. + +VINCENT +You get benefits? + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 14. +19 CONTINUED: 19 + +MAX +Like sick leave? * + +VINCENT +Retirement? Health and welfare? * + +MAX +It's not that kind of job. + +VINCENT +Start a union. + +MAX +Me, specifically? + +VINCENT +Why not? + +MAX +Last thing I need is a reason to keep +driving a cab. It's temporary. I'm +fillin' in, you know, while this +other thing I'm putting together is +shaping up... + +VINCENT +How long you been driving? + +MAX +Twelve years. + +Hardly temporary... + +VINCENT +Really? What else are you putting +together? + +Max hesitates. He's not as secure as he was with Annie. + +MAX +I don't talk about it. No offense, +but... + +VINCENT +(smiles, shrugs) +None taken. Talkers and doers. Like +you, I like doers. + +20 EXT. SOUTH UNION STREET APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHT 20 + +A rundown, quasi-deserted area. Alienation in the twilight. A +lonely tenant watches the city from an open window. Max's cab +pulls to the curb... + +9/24/03 MM revs. (green) 14A. + + +21 INT. CAB - VINCENT 21 + +closes his briefcase, checks his watch. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 15. +21 CONTINUED: 21 + +VINCENT +Fourteen minutes. Man, you're good... + +MAX +Lucky with the lights. + +VINCENT +Yeah, sure. You probably know the +light schedules, too. +(leans forward) +Listen...I'm in town on a real estate +deal. A closing. One night. I got +five stops to make, collect +signatures. See some friends. Then I +got a six a.m. out of LAX. Why don't +you hang with me for the night...? + +MAX +I'm not a hire car. It's against +regs... + +VINCENT +Regulations? These guys don't pay you +sick leave. +(pulls his wallet) +How much you pull down a shift? + +MAX +Two-fifty, four hundred. * + +VINCENT +I'll make it six hundred. Plus an +extra hundred if you get me to LAX and +I don't have to run for the plane. + +Vincent draws CRISP HUNDRED-DOLLAR BILLS from his briefcase, +fans them like a magic trick. Meanwhile, a car pulls up behind +double-parked Max. Vincent steals a glimpse of his PC. See a +real estate prospectus-looking display. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +...take a chance. + +MAX +Man, I don't know. + +VINCENT +Yes, you do. + +MAX +(succumbs) +Yeah. Okay. + +Vincent smiles, gives him a firm handshake. + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 15A. +21 CONTINUED: (2) 21 + +VINCENT +Cool. We got a deal. Here's three +hundred down. What's your name? + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/2/03 MM revs. (green) 16. +21 CONTINUED: (2) 21 + +MAX +Max. + +VINCENT +Max? I'm Vincent. + +Vincent gets out. Max calls after him: + +MAX +I can't double park here... + +VINCENT +I'll meet you in the alley behind the +building. + +Understood. Vincent steps into the building foyer, while... + +Max puts the car in gear... + +22 EXT. ALLEY - NIGHT 22 + +...and pulls into the alley behind the apartment building. + +23 INT. CAB - MAX 23 + +brings the car to a stop and notices Vincent's briefcase lying +on the back seat. A trusting soul. Max smiles. + +MAX +Definitely not from around here. + +He kills the engine. Silence. + +There's a noticeable lack of city noise. DISTANT talk radio. +Spanish gospel from a Baptist church. An occasional car passes +the mouth of the alley. + +Max trades Mozart for Beethoven. + +Max checks his watch. Dinnertime. He turns to his battered +briefcase on the passenger seat. + +It's filled with carefully arranged items. NAPKINS in the +pockets. UTENSILS in the pen holders. FOIL PACKS of mayo and +mustard and Thousand Island Dressing. 1.5 liter PLASTIC BOTTLE +of vitamin mineral water. The well-worn Mercedes brochure for * +the S500. A spreadsheet, like a handwritten business plan. A * +large submarine sandwich wrapped in two halves. Neat note pads. +Everything's in methodical order. + +9/14/03 MM revs. (cherry) 17. + + +23A EXT./INT. APARTMENT BUILDING - VERY CLOSE PAST VINCENT 23A + +climbing stairs with palm trees and downtown behind... + +23B INT. CAB - MAX 23B + +spreads Thousand Island on the sandwich. He glances up at the +visor. He tilts it down, peering at Annie's business card, +wondering what to do. Will he call her? + +He sits a moment, fighting a wave of sadness. Unhappy with +himself. With his life. His place in the world. + +23C OMIT 23C + +23D INT. CAB - MAX 23D + +raises the sandwich to take a bite... + +FROM THE FLOOR UP PAST MAX + THE STEERING WHEEL (VFX - GRN SCRN) * + +up THROUGH the windshield is the twinkle of stars in the night +sky. Suddenly, a dark shape from above blacks out the sky. It +descends towards us. As Max takes a bite... + +...WHAM! SOMETHING HUGE rocks the cab on its axles! GLASS rains +down. A HEADLIGHT EXPLODES! The windshield FRACTURES! Max +bounces off the ceiling. His submarine deconstructs all over +the interior. His coffee spills... + +...and then abrupt, stunning silence. + +What hit him. An earthquake? Max takes a dazed beat. He peers +at the windshield... + +THE DEAD FACE OF A FAT MAN STARES AT HIM. +Max recoils with a yell, scrambles from the cab, heart +pounding... + +24 EXT. ALLEY - FROM ABOVE: CAB - NIGHT 24 * + +A CORPSE is angled across part of his roof and windshield in a * +bathrobe. There's shards of window glass from upstairs +everywhere. It makes a halo around the cab. + +Max is stunned. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 18. +24 CONTINUED: 24 + +He looks to see where the body came from. + +MAX POV: 3RD STORY (SOUTH UNION LOCATION) + +A window on the top floor is broken out. A white curtain flaps +in the breeze. + +24A LOW ANGLE: CMS MAX 24A * + +turns. Vincent has entered the alley and now stops. * + +Max's first thought: this passenger will think Max ran into * +this guy. + +MAX +He - He fell on my cab...! +(points) + +VINCENT +(pause) +You always stutter? + +MAX +Well, yeah. Yeah. Guy fell on my +motherfucking cab from up there...! + +Max looks up, points again, as if Vincent might have missed it * +the first time. Vincent's focus hasn't left Max. * + +MAX (CONT'D) +I think he's dead. + +VINCENT +...taken two .45s and did a high dive +onto his head. It's a good guess. + +Max stares at Vincent. It's sinking in. Vincent, meanwhile, * +has to make his decision. About Max. Kill him and find +another, or... + +MAX +You - you killed him? + +VINCENT +No. I - I shot him. The bullets and +the fall killed him. + +A frozen beat. Everything's out in the open. Max realizes he's +in trouble. He backs away, thinking escape... + +...and like lightning, Vincent's .45 H+K is in his hand. To Max +the .45 caliber bore is the diameter of the Spring Street +tunnel. + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 18A. +24A CONTINUED: 24A + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Red-light-green-light? Light's red. + +Max freezes. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 19. +24A CONTINUED: (2) 24A + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +You can run, but you'll die tired. + +Max nods. Shakily raises his hands. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Put down your hands. +(beat) +Are you cool? Say "I am cool." * + +MAX +You are cool. + +VINCENT +No. +(beat) +You say you are cool. + +MAX +I am...I'm cool. + +Vincent decides. The gun disappears back into Vincent's +waistband. + +VINCENT +Okay. Help me out here. * + +MAX +With what? + +VINCENT +El Gordo decided to get some air and +not take the stairs. So we go to plan +B. Pop the trunk. * + +MAX +My trunk? + +VINCENT +(Isn't it self evident?) I can't * +leave him here. So unless you want +him riding up front with you...and +given the hygiene... +(smells) +...and his sphincters let go... + +Max reluctantly pops the trunk, circles to the front of the car. +Vincent reaches over the hood, grabs the corpse by the bathrobe +lapels, heaves the body into a sitting position. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Gonna roll him off the hood. * +(a homily for Max) * +Always lift with your legs... * + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 20. +24A CONTINUED: (3) 24A + +MAX +I don't think I can do this. + +VINCENT +He's only a dead guy. On three. Uno. * +Dos. Three. + +He rolls the corpse off the hood. Grimacing, Max gets a firm +grip under the arms. Vincent gets the legs. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Got it? + +MAX +Yeah. + +They start shuffling toward the trunk. Suddenly, Max lets out a +YELL, almost dropping his end. + +VINCENT +What? + +MAX +His hand moved! His goddamn hand +twitched! + +VINCENT +It's a spasm! Jesus, don't be such a +girl... + +ANGLE FROM INSIDE TRUNK + +as they heave the body inside, pausing to catch their breath. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +(to heavy dead person) * +Never heard of a treadmill? * + +He slams the trunk, shutting us into DARKNESS... + +25 EXT. CAB - NIGHT 25 + +...and we find Max frozen like a statue while Vincent is dousing +the hood with Max's 1.5 liter bottle of drinking water. + +VINCENT +Six liters of blood in the average +Angeleno, he's gotta dump all his...on +your cab. +(a final dousing) +Okay, that's good enough. + +Vincent heads for the car, notices Max's feet are frozen to the * +concrete. * + +(CONTINUED) + +9/14/03 MM revs. (cherry) 21. +25 CONTINUED: 25 + +MAX +Uh, look...why don't you, like, take +the cab... + +VINCENT +"Take the cab..." + +MAX +Yeah. I - I'll chill. You know. +And...they don't check. You know? +They don't. They don't know who's +driving these things. You, me... + +VINCENT +And you promise you will never tell +anybody? Right? ...get in the +fucking car. + +Max does. Vincent gets into the back seat... + +26 INT. CAB - MAX 26 + +behind the wheel, turns the key. The ENGINE GRINDS. He tries +again. MORE GRINDING. + +VINCENT +Can we leave the scene of the crime, * +now, please? + +MAX +I'm trying... + +He turns the ignition again. GRIND. GRIND. Vincent's getting +steamed: + +VINCENT +Max. + +MAX +It's not me! + +Grind. Grind. + +VINCENT +The engine is already on. Put the +little pointer on the letter "D." "D" +stands for Drive. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/29/03 MM revs. (salmon) 22. +26 CONTINUED: 26 + +Max pulls out of the alley... + +27 EXT. STREET - AS MAX'S CAB 27 + +MAX +You're making me nervous. + +VINCENT +I'm making you nervous? I'm the one +on a schedule... + +...accelerates away, disappearing, another CAR appears. + +27A EXT. UNION STREET 27A + +It cruises down the street and stops in front of the apartment +building. + +RAY FANNING emerges from the car. Edged hair, an earring, * +sports clothes. A salesman or a player or a dealer. Forties, a +face with character and some miles. And something insistent +about his intent... + +He heads towards the entry gate, rings a buzzer. Waits a +moment. Rings again. Nothing. Plus...he looks like he could +kick your ass if he wanted to. + +He pulls a thin plastic card from an inner pocket of his jacket, +jimmies the door lock... + +28 INT. APARTMENT BUILDING COURTYARD, THIRD FLOOR - FANNING - 28 * +NIGHT + +approaches across the balcony walkway against the junky palms +and downtown skyscape. + +He knocks on the door...causing the door to swing in slightly. +He glances down, sees the lock was pulled. Tensing, he fades to +one side, his hand going to his holster at his hip. + +He draws a Beretta, reaches out and pushes the door all the way +open... + +29 INT. APARTMENT - NOTHING - NIGHT 29 + +A dark shambles. Old take-out. A TV. Fanning enters * +cautiously, alert for the slightest movement or sound. + +FANNING * +Ramone? +(beat) +Estas fiestando con una chica? + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/29/03 MM revs. (salmon) 22A. +29 CONTINUED: 29 + +Nothing. Fanning cautiously enters the bedroom, worried now. * +Reemerges. Nothing. + +30 INT. APARTMENT - FANNING 30 * + +carefully negotiates the corners and slides along the wall to +SEE... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 23. +30 CONTINUED: 30 + +THE BROKEN WINDOW + +Glass missing. He leans out. A dizzying drop. A halo of +broken glass on the alley below...in the center of which is a +big blank spot. + +FANNING +Fuck. + +And he produces his police radio and we realize he's a cop. + +31 INT. CAB, TRAVELING - MAX - NIGHT 31 + +Max winds his way through surface-street traffic, in shock, +sneaking anxious glances at Vincent in back. Vincent's got the +tablet PC from his briefcase, studying it. The silence is +thick. + +Max's hand is shaking. He lifts it off the wheel, tries to +steady his fingers. Vincent diverts some attention to Max... + +VINCENT (O.S.) +Try deep breathing. + +MAX +What? + +VINCENT +Adrenaline's wearing off. You get +shaky after. Some people slip into +shock. It's not uncommon. Deep +breathing helps. + +Max starts drawing in breaths, letting them out slowly. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Is that better? + +MAX +I think so. + +They stop at a RED LIGHT. Max glances at the passenger seat. +Dressing and stray pieces of lettuce and mortadella. He parks +the gearshift and goes for the paper towels, cleaning up. + +Vincent over the tablet PC, taking in Max. Softly: * + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 24. +31 CONTINUED: 31 + +VINCENT +What are you doing? + +MAX +It's a mess. + +VINCENT +So? + +Max keeps wiping, as if getting the seats clean might put +everything right again. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Lady Macbeth. Leave the seats. The +light's green. We're sitting here. + +A CAR HORN HONKS behind Max. The car whips around them to get +through the intersection. + +DRIVER +Asshole! + +VINCENT +You no longer have the cleanest cab in +La-La Land. You gotta live with that. * +Focus on the job. Drive. + +Right. Max puts the car in gear and proceeds. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +(checks the PC) +7565 Fountain. You know it? + +MAX +West Hollywood. + +VINCENT +(checks his watch) +How long, you figure? + +Max has to force himself to concentrate: + +MAX +Seventeen minutes. Why? + +Silence from the back. Max into the rearview, realizing: + +MAX (CONT'D) +Oh. Oh, no. You're kidding. We... + +VINCENT +I told you we had other stops to make +tonight. + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 25. +31 CONTINUED: (2) 31 + +MAX +You said you were visiting friends! + +VINCENT +They're somebody's friends... +(changes display) * +You drive a cab. I make my rounds. +We both do our jobs, you might make it +through the night and come out seven +hundred bucks ahead. + +MAX +I...I'm not trying to piss you off, +see? Okay? But I can't drive you +around so you can murder people... +Man, that's not my job... + +VINCENT +Tonight it is. + +MAX +You don't get it. I mean it. Really. +I'm not up for this... + +Vincent realizes Max is on the verge of panic. + +VINCENT +You are stressed. I understand that. * +Keep breathing. Stay calm. + +Max starts deep-breathing again, exhaling slowly. Vincent stows * +the PC. * + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Are you breathing? + +MAX +Yes. + +VINCENT +Good. What else calms you down? +Candy? Cigarettes? Breathe. + +MAX +Music. + +VINCENT +Play music. + +Max turns on the CD. SOFT CLASSICAL. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Chopin prelude. Stodgy. +(Max nods) +Here's the deal. +(MORE) + +(CONTINUED) + +9/24/03 MM revs. (green) 26. +31 CONTINUED: (3) 31 + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +You were gonna drive me around and +never be the wiser. But because of El +Gordo's high dive, we're into Plan B. +Still breathing? +(beat) +Now. We have to make the best of it. +Improvise. Adapt to the environment. +Darwin. "Shit happens." The I * +Ching...whatever. Roll with it... + +MAX +I Ching? You threw a man out a +window! + +VINCENT +I didn't throw him, he fell. + +MAX +What'd he do to you? + +VINCENT +Nothing. I only met him one time. + +MAX +Then how can you kill him like that? + +VINCENT +I should only kill people after I get +to know 'em? +(off Max's look) +Six billion people on the planet and +you get bent out of shape 'cause of +one fat guy? + +MAX +Who, who was he? + +VINCENT +What do you care? Ever hear of +Rwanda? + +MAX +Rwanda. Yeah. * + +VINCENT +Tens of thousands killed before +sundown. Nobody's killed people that +fast since Hiroshima and Nagasaki. +Did you bat an eye, Max? Did you join +Amnesty International, Oxfam or +something? No. +(off Max's silence) +(MORE) + +(CONTINUED) + +9/14/03 MM revs. (cherry) 27. +31 CONTINUED: (4) 31 + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +I off one Angeleno, you throw a hissy +fit... + +Max stops at another RED LIGHT. + +MAX +I don't know Rwandans. + +VINCENT +You don't know the guy in the trunk, +either. +(beat) +If it makes you feel any better, he +was a criminal involved in a +Continuing Criminal Enterprise. + +MAX +Oh, that makes it okay, then. 'Cause * +all you're doing is taking out the * +garbage... + +VINCENT +Something like that... +(distracted) +What you need to remember is that +nobody gets out of this alive. Even +if we quit smoking. Cut out red meat. +Everybody dies... + +Suddenly -- A BRILLIANT GLARE OF FLASHING LIGHTS stabs at the +cab. Max sees -- + +-- an LAPD CRUISER behind the cab. The ROOFTOP LIGHTS +FLASHING... + +COP #1 (P.A.) +Please pull the vehicle over to the +curb. + +Max complies. A second bright beam lights up the interior. TWO +UNIFORMED COPS emerge from the patrol car. Faceless +silhouettes, approaching cautiously. + +VINCENT +(low) +Get rid of 'em. + +MAX +How? + +VINCENT +You're a cabby. Talk yourself out of +a ticket. + +The cops are now circling to either side of the cab, using +Maglite FLASHLIGHTS. + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 28. +31 CONTINUED: (5) 31 + +Vincent eases the briefcase off his lap, his hands clear his +field of movement, spread open his jacket to better reach his +waistband and his H+K. + +MAX +Please. Don't do anything. + +VINCENT +Then don't let me get cornered. You +don't have the trunk space. + +MAX +I can't believe this... + +Vincent's hand reaches... + +VINCENT +Believe it. + +MAX +Don't. I'll talk to them, I'll talk +to them...! + +VINCENT +(re: cops) +Probably married. + +A COP'S HAND descends to the driver's window, raps loudly, GOLD +WEDDING BAND catching the light as it taps on the glass. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Maybe that one's got kids. Probably * +his wife's pregnant... + +MAX +I'll deal with it! + +A FLASHLIGHT BEAM pops on at the driver's window. Cop #1 +glaring light into Max's eyes. + +A SECOND FLASHLIGHT BEAM pops on, this from Cop #2 on the +passenger side. Checking out Vincent in the back. Vincent +smiles good-naturedly. + +Max rolls his window down. Cop #1 leans down, and we see his +face for the first time. A clean-cut blonde guy. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 29. +31 CONTINUED: (6) 31 + +COP #1 +License and registration. + +Max pulls them off the visor, hands them over. The cop examines +them by flashlight. + +COP #1 (CONT'D) +Pulled you over 'cause your * +windshield's smashed. * +(beat) * +All of this current? * + +MAX +Yes, officer. + +From the other side of the cab, COP #2 lets out a laugh. He's +playing his flashlight beam across the seats. Mustard and mayo +everywhere. + +COP #2 +Wha'd you, have a food fight in here? + +Max gives Vincent an "I told you so" look in the rearview +mirror. Meanwhile, we HEAR dimly on the POLICE RADIO about a +domestic disturbance on 83rd and Hoover and some officers +responding. + +Cop #2 plays his beam across the cracked windshield and damaged +hood. Faint reddish traces in the paint. His smiles fades. + +COP #2 (CONT'D) +Is that blood? * + +MAX +Yeah. See... +(thinks fast) +I hit a deer. + +COP #1 +A deer... + +MAX +Over by Slauson. + +COP #1 +A "South Central" deer? + +MAX +Goddamn deer jumped out in front of +me. You believe that? + +COP #1 +(indicates Vincent) +Why you still carrying a passenger? + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 29A. +31 CONTINUED: (7) 31 + +MAX +I was headed back to my depot, see, +you know? And his drop's on the way. + +COP #1 +Yeah, but your cab's not safe to +drive. And we're going to impound it. +We need to do a vehicle inventory +while we wait for the tow truck. Pop +the trunk and step out of the vehicle. +(swings flashlight beam to +Vincent) +(MORE) + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 30. +31 CONTINUED: (8) 31 + +COP #1 (CONT'D) +I'm sorry, sir, you'll have to phone +for another cab. + +VINCENT +Is that necessary, Officer? I'm just +a half mile from here. + +COP #1 +I'm afraid it is. Please exit the +vehicle. +(to Max) +You, too. + +Max hears a SOFT CLICK behind him. The unmistakable sound of a +safety CLICKED OFF. He meets Vincent's gaze in the rearview * +mirror. A whisper: + +VINCENT +You open that trunk, they go inside. + +Behind Vincent, through the rear windshield, Max sees Cop #2 +moving to the trunk, playing his flashlight across it... + +Max, mouth dry... + +MAX +Hey, man, it's been a long day. You +know? It's so slow, I pay this guy to +ride so I don't get lonely... +(re: Vincent) +My first fare. How about a break? +I'm heading to the barn, anyway... + +COP #1 +Get out of the car. And open the +trunk... + +Max tosses a hopeless look into the rearview. Vincent's staring +at him. No mercy there. + +Max steps from the car. The cop escorts Max toward the rear, +Vincent smoothly pulls his H+K from his waistband and emerges on +the passenger side, gun held out of sight and a heartbeat away +from opening fire... + +...a CRACKLE OF STATIC, a PANICKY VOICE COMES OVER THE POLICE +BAND: + +POLICE RADIO +Officer needs help. We got a man with +a gun. Shots fired at 83rd and +Hoover... + +Cop #2 to his partner. + +(CONTINUED) + +9/14/03 MM revs. (cherry) 30A. +31 CONTINUED: (9) 31 + +COP #2 +Let's go. + +Off-screen radio talk from many responding units... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/2/03 MM revs. (tan) 31. +31 CONTINUED: (10) 31 + +COP #1 +(to Max; leaving) +Get that cab back to your garage... + +The cops pile into their black-and-white and ROAR off into the +night. + +Max and Vincent are left standing, gazing across the cab at each +other. + +VINCENT +Breathe. + +Max starts deep-breathing as they get back in the cab... + +CUT TO: + +32 EXT. HOTEL + PENTHOUSE - CORPULENT MAN - NIGHT 32 * + +in an attorneys suit with rapper clients. + +VINCENT +(to himself) +I thought Californians exercised...? + +REVEAL Vincent looking at his PC. Vincent pulls from his +briefcase an identity card for a Notary Public and a second gun, +a .45 Cal Para-Ordnance back up. He moves the slide, checking +there's a round in the chamber. Max hears metal on metal, looks +up. As Vincent holsters it in the small of his back... + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +(abrupt tone) +What are you lookin' at? + +He gets out and enters the passenger seat next to Max in the +front. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Hands on the wheel. Ten and two. +Like they taught you in driver's ed. + +MAX +Why? + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 32. +32 CONTINUED: 32 + +VINCENT +Because I say so. * + +Max grips the steering wheel. Vincent has plastic ties and +proceeds quickly and efficiently to bind Max's hands to the +steering wheel. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Cab's a disgrace. No wonder the cops * +pulled you over. + +On the way out of the car... + +DISPATCH RADIO (O.S.) +Max? Max? You out there, you son of +a bitch? + +Vincent looks to Max... + +VINCENT +Who...is that? + +MAX +Lenny, my dispatcher. + +LENNY (O.S.) +I know you're out there! Answer the +goddamn call! + +VINCENT +What happens if you don't? + +MAX +He'll keep calling. + +LENNY (O.S.) +Max? Answer! +Vincent reaches across Max, pulls the mike off the dash, holds +it up to Max's mouth. + +VINCENT +Don't blow it. + +Max nods. Vincent thumbs the toggle. + +MAX +Uh, yeah? Lenny? It's me. + +LENNY (O.S.) +I got off the phone with the cops. A +desk sergeant called to check you +brought the cab in... + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/14/03 MM revs. (cherry) 33. +32 CONTINUED: (2) 32 + +Silence as Lenny waits for a reaction. Max and Vincent trade a +look. Vincent shrugs, thumbs the toggle. Say something. + +MAX +Yeah? So? + +LENNY (O.S.) +So? So, aside from I hate talking to +cops, they tell me you crashed the +goddamn cab? + +MAX +It got crashed! I didn't... + +LENNY (O.S.) +Do I care what, where or why? You're * +payin'! + +VINCENT +It was an accident. You're not +liable. (Tell him.) * + +MAX +It was an accident. I'm not liable. + +LENNY (O.S.) +Bullshit! I'm making you liable! * +It's comin' outta your goddamn +pocket... + +Vincent stares at Max, expecting him to respond. + +VINCENT +Tell him to stick the cab up his fat +ass. + +MAX +I can't do that. He's the Man. + +VINCENT +So what? + +MAX +I need the job. + +VINCENT +No you don't. + +LENNY (O.S.) +You still there? I'm talking to you! +Max? Max? + +Vincent abruptly puts the mike to his mouth, thumbs the toggle. + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/14/03 MM revs. (cherry) 33A. +32 CONTINUED: (3) 32 + +VINCENT +He's not paying you a damn thing! * + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 34. +32 CONTINUED: (4) 32 + +LENNY (O.S.) +Who the hell are you? + +Vincent glances up, tilts the visor down to see Annie's business +card. + +VINCENT +Richard Riccardo, Assistant U.S. * +Attorney. A passenger in this +taxicab, and I'm reporting you to the +DMV... + +LENNY (O.S.) +(beat) +Let's not get excited. + +VINCENT +Not excited? How am I supposed to not +get excited, listening to you try to +extort a working man? You know * +goddamn well your collision policy and * +general liability umbrella would cover +the damages. What are you trying to +pull, you sarcastic prick? + +LENNY (O.S.) +I'm just tryin' to...to... + +VINCENT +Tell it to him. +(shifts the mike) +Tell him he's an asshole. + +MAX +(hesitates) +You're an asshole. + +VINCENT +Tell him next time he pulls any shit, +you're gonna stick this yellow cab up +his fat ass. + +MAX +Next time you pull any shit, I'm gonna +stick this yellow cab up your fat ass. + +Vincent clicks off, hangs up the mike. Looks at Max. + +Beat. Max, taped to the steering wheel, nods. + +VINCENT +(smiles) +Don't wait up, hon. I gotta work +late. + +(CONTINUED) + +9/24/03 MM revs. (green) 34A. +32 CONTINUED: (5) 32 + +He grabs the ignition keys, shuts Max's door, strolls away. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/2/03 MM revs. (tan) 35. +32 CONTINUED: (6) 32 + +Max watches in the sideview mirror as Vincent vanishes into the +building. + +Max is left alone, trapped in his own cab in the alley. + +Max jerks and strains against the duct tape, trying to free his +hands. He gives up, breathing hard. + +32A OMIT 32A + +32B INT. HOTEL, PENTHOUSE - NIGHT 32B * + +The overweight LAWYER, SYLVESTER CLARKE, who we saw on Vincent's +P.C., separates from two girls and a second man, all watching +TV, to answer a phone... + +SYLVESTER CLARKE * +He identify himself? * +(beat) * +Sure. Let him up. * + +32C INT. LOBBY - VINCENT 32C * + +in shades leaves the Hotel Security and enters the elevator. * +Meanwhile... * + +A32D INT. HOTEL, PENTHOUSE - SYLVESTER CLARKE A32D * + +crosses towards the front door. * + +32D EXT. HOTEL - ALLEY - MOVING IN ON MAX 32D * + +He glances in the sideview, wondering where Vincent is, +straining for a glimpse. + +Nothing. Just darkness back there... Mind racing... + +MAX +HEY! HEY! OVER HERE! I'M IN THE +CAB! HEY! HELP! + +The street traffic's distant; nobody's around. + +MAX (CONT'D) +HELP! GODDAMN IT! THERE'S A MAN WITH +A GUN! HE'S GONNA KILL PEOPLE! + +Max thrashes wildly against the duct tape, screaming with +frustration. He starts head-butting the car horn... + +BEEEEEP! BEEP-BEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEEEEEEEEP! + +He raises his head, checking the street traffic a quarter block +away. No one on the sidewalk takes notice of Max's cab. + +(CONTINUED) + +10/2/03 MM revs. (tan) 35A. +32D CONTINUED: 32D + +MAX (CONT'D) +Oh, fuck me. + +He shifts low on the seat, getting his knee under the dashboard. +He slams his knee up, hitting the RED EMERGENCY LIGHT BUTTON +concealed there. EMERGENCY STROBES START FLASHING at the front +and rear of the car... + +...and still nobody notices. + +MAX (CONT'D) +GODDAMN IT, I'M FLASHING LIKE A +CHRISTMAS TREE OVER HERE. + +He throws a look to the sideview mirror, sweaty and tense, +knowing he's out of time. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 36. +32D CONTINUED: (2) 32D + +THE SIDEVIEW MIRROR + +IN WHICH WE SEE Max's reflected eyes. Seconds ticking +breathlessly away as he struggles... + +He head butts the horn again. BEEP-BEEP. BEEEEP. Flashers and +horn! + +MEANWHILE the ANGLE SHIFTS in the mirror, leaving Max's eyes and +bringing into view the building and the penthouse at the top and +we SEE... + +...TWO SILENT MUZZLE FLASHES light up the windows like +flashbulbs going off. Another death. Then A THIRD FLASH...then +nothing. Lights out. Meanwhile... + +MAX (CONT'D) * +Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. * + +He is head-butting the horn. BEEEEP. BEEP-BEEP. And he checks * +the mirror. This time when he looks, he sees... + +YOUNG WHITE GUYS. 20-25. They were on the sidewalk. Now they +detour into the alley and approach the distressed cab from the +back, shielding their eyes from Max's flashing lights. + +MAX (CONT'D) +Oh. Oh, thank God! Hey, hey, man, +help me out here! + +WHITE GUY #1 +Yo, whassup? + +MAX +(fast, stumbling) +I got my, my hands taped to the +steering wheel, here, by this guy, +who's taped me in the car, 'cause he's +up in the building somewhere... + +CLOSER, now, the four are in baggies, hoodies and tattooed with +lightning bolts on their necks, swastikas on chests, one has +"5150" tattooed on his shaven eyebrow (police code for +emotionally disturbed)... + +WHITE GUY #2 +You all trapped in there and shit? + +MAX +...yeah, he's coming back. Hurry. +Get me loose so I can call the cops... + +WHITE GUY #1 nods...and pulls a chromed .380 and points it at +Max. + +(CONTINUED) + +9/22/03 MM revs. (yellow) 36A. +32D CONTINUED: (3) 32D + +WHITE GUY #1 * +Fuck that, man, gimme your wallet. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/22/03 MM revs. (yellow) 37. +32D CONTINUED: (4) 32D + +The others have walked off down the alley, laughing. One tosses * +a beer bottle that smashes. Utter disbelief from Max... + +MAX +Are you kidding me? + +WHITE GUY #1 +I will fuck you up! Hand it over. + +MAX +(beat) +My hands are taped to the damn +steering wheel! + +It takes a moment for WHITE GUY #1 to process this. He steps to +the window, presses the .380 against Max's cheek. It's utterly +terrifying, everything happening fast: + +MAX (CONT'D) +...don't shoot me, don't shoot me... + +WHITE GUY #1 +Then get your ass up, up... + +Max pulls himself up by the steering wheel, trying to get his +butt off the seat to give the Young Man access. The White Guy +#1 gropes for Max's back pocket, trying to get the wallet, +pressing the gun to his face, the other guys down the alley, +turn the corner. + +White Guy #1 pulls Max's wallet, pockets it... + +...and pauses, seeing Vincent's briefcase on the back seat. + +He yanks open the back door, grabs Vincent's briefcase, too, and +walks off after his friends. White Guys #3 and #4 turned the +corner. White Guy #2 lingers. + +Max, still taped, is shaken. He can't believe what happened. +He looks through the windshield at... + +WHITE GUY #1 + +...walking off, cocky as hell, about to vanish into the night... + +BACK OF WHITE GUY #1 + +VINCENT (O.S.) +Yo' homie... + +White Guy #1 turns, to see the silhouette of Vincent. He raises +his .380 side-handed, like he sees gangsters do on MTV. White +Guy #2 joins him. + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 38. +32D CONTINUED: (5) 32D + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +(even) +That my briefcase...? + +White Guy #1 approaches Vincent from the front...#2 from +Vincent's left. + +WHITE GUY #2 +May-be. And what the fuck else you +got? + +He closes on Vincent with the .380, held high and on the side. +Vincent's left slams aside #1's .380. Draws and FIRES from the +hip, putting TWO ROUNDS into #1. HAMMERS-ON TWO ROUNDS to the +sternum, pivots. ONE to the head of #2. All in 1.6 seconds. + +White Guy #2, falling backwards, is dead before he hits the +ground. #1 never saw it coming. Vincent picks up his case, +retrieves something from #1's pocket, puts one more into the * +head of #1 on the way back to the cab... + +...where Max saw it all. Frozen in horror. Astonished. + +The rear door opens. Vincent hefts his briefcase into the back +seat. He gets into the front. + +Vincent sits for a moment, staring off, not looking at Max. +Maybe ready to kill him. + +Vincent raises something into view. Max's wallet. He tosses it +in Max's lap. + +Vincent flicks his hand. CLICK-CLACK, a Reeves folding hunter +in dull metal, razor sharp... + +VINCENT +(quietly) +Where's the button? Under the dash? + +MAX +(dry whisper) +Yeah. + +Vincent leans over and slices the plastic tie, freeing Max's +hands. Beat. + +VINCENT +You mind turning it off? + +Max doesn't move for a moment, then reaches under the dash and +turns off the strobes. + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 39. + + +33 INT. CAB - MAX + VINCENT (TRAVELING) - NIGHT 33 + +Vincent in the back seat. (Juxtapose to a different continuity. * +Through the side window, we see Crenshaw Boulevard barbershops, * +music shops. We're stopped for a light.) Max is shell-shocked. + +VINCENT +Another collateral. + +MAX +What's that? + +VINCENT +Collateral damage. People in the +wrong place at the wrong time. +(meets Max's gaze) +And you? You attract attention? You +are gonna get people killed who didn't +need to be. Understand? + +MAX +I'm low on gas... + +VINCENT +Pull in there. + +33A EXT. GAS STATION, IN STREET - TAXI - NIGHT 33A + +pulls by. + +TIME-LAPSE - MACRO-CU: NUMBERS + +race by. WIDEN. SEE Max filling up the taxi. Vincent is +positioned off the right rear corner from where he is line-of- +sight to everything. His affect is flat, distant. Max has +witnessed violent death and the full, lethal capabilities of +Vincent. Neither say a word...until softly... + +MAX +Vincent? + +VINCENT +Yes, Max? + +MAX +Am I collateral? + +Pause. A long one. + +VINCENT +I haven't decided. + +Max is silent. Absorbing this. Vincent checks his watch. +Unexpectedly, his mood changes up. + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 39A. +33A CONTINUED: 33A + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +But, hey! New news. We are ahead of +schedule. + +MAX +Huh...? * + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 40. +33A CONTINUED: (2) 33A + +VINCENT +We got time to kill. +(fast change-down) +You like jazz? + +MAX +I'm...what? Sorry? + +VINCENT +Jazz. + +MAX +Not that much. + +VINCENT +Guy told me about a place off +Crenshaw. Leimert Park. All the West +Coast greats played there. Dexter +Gordon, Thelonious Monk, Chet Baker. +Like that... +(off Max's look) +Buy you a drink. Expand your * +horizons... + +Max doesn't get Vincent's mood up-change. + +CUT TO: + +34 EXT. SOUTH UNION APARTMENT BUILDING, ALLEY - CRIME SCENE - 34 +NIGHT + +COPS and FORENSIC TECHNICIANS. In the midst of it all is: + +Ray Fanning. He wears his badge, visibly, now. We find him +turning as his superior, RICHARD WEIDNER, 50-ish, is entering +the crime scene. + +WEIDNER +...this informant of yours, what's his +name, Ramone? + +FANNING +Ramone Gallardo. Supposed to take him +for a drink. I come here, find this. + +WEIDNER +You been working him? * + +FANNING +Four months...a low-level player, he's * +been feeding me stuff on Felix. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 40A. +34 CONTINUED: 34 + +WEIDNER * +Reyes-Torrena? Forget Felix. Feds * +are all over that. They don't want us +anywhere near it. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 41. +34 CONTINUED: (2) 34 + +FANNING +Since when is the LAPD working for the * +Feeb? * +(points up) +Besides, Ramone flew out a window. My * +C.I. flew out a window, he's got +Felix's handprints on his ass. Yes? +That makes it ours. + +WEIDNER +(as if to a child) +Where's the homicide, Ray? Where's a * +body? All we got is glass... + +He spreads his hands at the alley floor in a gesture that says +"show me something besides glass." + +FEMALE CRIMINALIST (O.S.) +And blood... * + +WEIDNER * +Huh? * + +FEMALE CRIMINALIST * +(off looks) +...blood...down here...in the +glass...here's some more... + +A FEMALE CRIMINALIST (SID) examines the alley floor with Luminol * +and a handheld BLACKLIGHT WAND, picking out dark patterns. * + +FEMALE CRIMINALIST (CONT'D) +...small splatter patterns here...all * +over there... * + +SHINING FLASHLIGHTS pick out blood on the alley wall. Fanning +steps to where the cab was parked, stands in the middle of the +blank spot surrounded by the glass, points down: + +FANNING +Ramone flew out the window. Went * +splat. Here's the glass. * +(beat) +Then some tires rolled over it. * + +WEIDNER +How's that spell homicide? Maybe he +jumped. + +FANNING +Sure. He's depressed. So he jumps +four stories out a window onto his +head. +(mimics) +(MORE) + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 41A. +34 CONTINUED: (3) 34 + +FANNING (CONT'D) +"Wow, that feels better!" Picks +himself up. "Now, I think I'll go on +with the rest of my day..." + +PLAINCLOTHES COP (O.S.) +(from above) +Ray! Catch! + +Two uniformed cops have approached. * + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 42. +34 CONTINUED: (4) 34 + +Weidner and Fanning glance up. A PLAINCLOTHES COP is leaning * +out of Ramone's broken window, dangling a clear plastic baggy. +He drops it. It comes sailing down... * + +...right into Fanning's grasp. He glances down at it, shows it +to Weidner... + +TIGHT ON WEIDNER + +...revealing two spent .45 cal. shell casings in the bag. + +WEIDNER +(switches) * +So, who's got what? Any witnesses? +We been knocking on doors? + +COP #1 +Old guy across the street, lives above +the deli? Says he saw a cab parked +here earlier tonight. There were two +guys working under the hood. + +WEIDNER +Description. What did he see? + +COP #1 +"Kinda" saw...guy's got glasses like +coke bottles. + +FANNING +Did he "see" it or did his seeing eye +dog see it? + +COP #1 +Late-model four-door Ford. Yellow or * +orange. * +(off Fanning's look) +Maybe it was a taxi cab. + +WEIDNER +Four thousand taxis in LA County. +(beat) +What else...? + +That's it. Uniforms go back to work. Photographer shows. He +doesn't know what to shoot. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 43. +34 CONTINUED: (5) 34 + +Meanwhile, Fanning, lost in thought... + +FANNING +Remember fall, 2001? That Bay Area * +deal? Oakland. Cabbie drove around * +all night. Killed three people... + +WEIDNER +Then he flipped out, put the gun to +his head. So what? * + +FANNING +So the Oakland PD detective, * +whatshisname, never bought it. + +WEIDNER +Why? + +FANNING +The Cabbie had no criminal record. No +history of mental illness. Pops three +people, then himself? And the victims +weren't random. Two were involved in +some pharmaceuticals scam... +(off Weidner's look) +Anyway, the detective always thought +there was somebody else in that cab. + +35 INT. "DANIEL'S" JAZZ CLUB - NIGHT 35 + +Dark and elegant - in an early '60's modern jazz kind of way +with a low ceiling, small tables, leatherette booths, history +soaked into the walls. A BLACK MAN in his late 50's, DANIEL, is +playing a muted trumpet on stage with a QUARTET. + +CUSTOMERS are few, clustered at small tables or at a few curved +leather booths. The walls are lined with great FRAMED PHOTOS of +jazz icons. + +At one table, we find Vincent and Max. Vincent about the +music... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 44. +35 CONTINUED: 35 + +VINCENT +...a little '60's, early Miles thing * +happening... * + +MAX * +I never learned to listen to jazz. + +VINCENT +You don't learn to listen...anymore * +than you learn to breathe. Open your * +ears. * + +Vincent's attention's focused on the music. * + +MAX * +I get a beat. I don't really hear a * +melody... * + +VINCENT +...he's off the melody, behind the * +notes. Outside what's expected. * +Improvising off impulse. Kind of like * +tonight. * + +MAX * +Like tonight? * + +VINCENT * +Sure. * +(beat) * +This is nothing, if not "What's next? * +Right now. In the moment." * +(beat) * +There's people...ten years from now? * +Same job, same place, same shit. * +Everything the same; keepin' it safe. * +Over and over and over and over... * +(beat) * +"Ten years from now?" Man, you don't * +know where you'll be...ten minutes * +from now...tonight. * +(beat; re: saxophonist) * +That's what he's saying. Open your * +ears. You'll hear it...in his * +"dialoguing" with the trumpet... * + +The WAITRESS arrives, an Asian woman with a tray of drinks: + +WAITRESS +'Nother Vodka tonic, hon? + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 45. +35 CONTINUED: (2) 35 + +VINCENT +And one for my friend. +(indicates stage) +Who's on the tenor sax? * + +WAITRESS +That's Daniel, baby, he's the owner. + +VINCENT +He is terrific. Would you be so kind * +as to invite him over after his set? * +I gotta buy him a drink. * + +WAITRESS +Sure thing, darlin'... + +Vincent gives her a radiant smile and tucks a twenty dollar bill +into her apron as she leaves... + +TIMECUT: + +...and we find Daniel sharing more than a few drinks with +Vincent and Max, the place almost closed. Just the three of +them. + +DANIEL +...I was a young cat back then, about +nineteen, bussin' tables. Right here. +Didn't pay but shit, but that wasn't +the point. Being around the music, +that was the thing. And I was. Take +this one night...July 22, 1964...who +walks in. Mr. Louis Armstrong. + +VINCENT +You're kidding me. + +DANIEL +Right through those doors. The man +himself. + +VINCENT +Jesus... + +DANIEL +He was in town playing two gigs a +night at the Coconut Grove in the +Ambassador Hotel... After his last +set, he decides to come on down to +South Central to hang with his people. +That's how he was, you see. Never +forgot who we was. Money and fame an' +all that? Meant nothin', long as he +could blow that horn. +(MORE) + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 46. +35 CONTINUED: (3) 35 + +DANIEL (CONT'D) +So before you know it, he's up on that +stage, doin' his thing. + +VINCENT +Was it great? Better than great, it +had to be... + +DANIEL +Like Winton Marsalis says, it was +pure, spiritual essence. Louis was +playing. God was smiling. + +VINCENT +You heard Armstrong play live. I've +never been this jealous. You get to +talk to him? + +DANIEL +Did better'n that. + +Vincent gives him a questioning look. Daniel smiles, raises his +hands, mimes blowing a trumpet. + +VINCENT +No. + +DANIEL +Oh, my, yes. + +VINCENT +C'mon... + +DANIEL +Fella owned this place back then, cat * +named Dix Dwyer, he let slip to Louis * +that I played. So Pops, he just waves +me right up. My heart about stopped. +But I got up there all the same, and +we played for nearly twenty minutes. + +VINCENT +Unbelievable... +(to Max) +...you hearing this? + +Max is drawn into the story in spite of himself: + +MAX +How'd you do? + +DANIEL +How do you think? You ain't shit when +you playing next to Louis Armstrong. +But, Dippermouth, he was kind. He +could see me trying. He carried my ass +as best he could. + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 47. +35 CONTINUED: (4) 35 + +VINCENT +Remember what you played? + +DANIEL +Most vividly. +(ticking them off) +"Potato Head Blues," "Sleepy Time Down +South..." +(laughs) +...then Pops laid some "Cornet Chop +Suey" on me, and left me in the dust +like a whipped dog. + +VINCENT * +Whipped dog? * + +DANIEL * +Whipped dog on a wet night. * + +VINCENT * +Crowd dig it? * + +DANIEL +(smiles, nods) +The crowd was most kind. +(beat) +I was born in 1945, but that was the +moment of my conception. Right here +in the used-to-be crowded room. * + +Daniel picks up the bottle to freshen up their drinks... + +VINCENT +Crowds not here now? + +DANIEL +Oh, jazz ain't the draw it used to be. + +VINCENT +But the place looks great. + +DANIEL +Only 'cause I got the wherewithal to * +finance keepin' it up on my own. * + +VINCENT +What a great story. I'll tell the * +folks in Culiacan and Bogota that +story. + +...and Daniel's hand freezes just as he's about to pour. He +glances up at Vincent. + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 47A. +35 CONTINUED: (5) 35 + +DANIEL +You know the people in Culiacan and +Bogota? + +VINCENT +(softly) +'Fraid so. + +Max is glancing from one to the other, unsure what's going on. +Realizing it isn't good. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 48. +35 CONTINUED: (6) 35 + +DANIEL +And here I thought you were such a +cool guy. + +VINCENT +I am a cool guy. With a job I was +hired to do. You know how it is. + +There's genuine regret in Vincent's tone. Max feels his heart +pounding, but manages to keep his voice steady: + +MAX +Let him go, Vincent. + +VINCENT +I'm working here. + +MAX +You're the one who keeps talking about +going with the flow. You like the +man, you like the way he plays. How +about a little jazz, huh? + +VINCENT +Improvisation? That's funny from you. * +(thinks about it, looks to +Daniel) +Okay, some jazz for the jazz man. +How's this? I'll ask a question? + +DANIEL +What question? + +VINCENT +Jazz question. You get it right, we +roll. You disappear. Tonight. You +don't go home, you don't pack a bag, +you leave town...and nobody, I mean +nobody, ever hears from you or sees +you again. + +DANIEL +How do I know you'll keep your word? + +VINCENT +I never lie. Ask Max. Max, have I +lied? + +Daniel looks to Max. Hope, fear, and desperation in the older +man's face. + +MAX +No. No. He hasn't lied... * + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 49. +35 CONTINUED: (7) 35 + +Daniel absorbs this, looks back to Vincent. + +DANIEL * +Means you're a man who lives on * +reputation. +(beat) +I will take your word. And I will +give you mine. If I walk out of here +tonight, I'd go so far away, it'd be +just like I was dead. + +Vincent nods. We have a deal. He eases something from his +waistband. Max knows. His heart is in his throat. + +DANIEL (CONT'D) +And one more thing. Those guys and * +their man, here, what's his name, * +Felix? * + +VINCENT * +Yeah. * + +DANIEL * +Tell them, if by some chance I get * +this wrong...you tell them I had to. * +They laid a grant of immunity on me. * +So it was flip and play ball or go * +back inside. I ain't goin' back * +inside. + +VINCENT +Sure. * + +Daniel pours himself that drink. He lifts his shot glass, hand +trembling slightly, knocks it back. Sets the glass down. + +DANIEL +Lay it on. + +VINCENT +It's simple. What was Louis' first +musical instrument? + +DANIEL +I know all there is to know about +Louis. + +VINCENT +Then let's have it. + +Daniel hesitates. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/14/03 MM revs. (cherry) 49A. +35 CONTINUED: (8) 35 + +MAX +(blurts out) +It was a trumpet! Wasn't it? Wasn't +it a trumpet? + +Daniel shakes his head. + +DANIEL +Coronet. Bought it from a New Orleans +pawnshop when he was a kid. +(MORE) + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 50. +35 CONTINUED: (9) 35 + +DANIEL (CONT'D) +Cost him five dollars. Got a two- * +dollar advance on his salary from a +fine Jewish family he worked for, +saved up the rest. + +A frozen moment. An endless pause. Max not even breathing, +staring at Vincent, waiting... + +...a beat of regret... + +...and Vincent's gun came up so fast, Max didn't even see it. +THREE SMALL POPS. A different gun: .22 caliber Ruger with a +thick, silent barrel. Three small holes. And Daniel's head +falls forward. Vincent catches it, arranges Daniel's arms so +that Daniel's head rests on them as if he's taking a nap. And +Vincent did it gently, almost regretfully. A red mist of blood +swirls in the air. + +Max is stunned beyond words, and powder-burned at such close +range. + +Silence now. No one's noticed. The waitress was in the +kitchen. Softly: + +VINCENT +Tin horn. Cost him a dime. Rode the junk * +wagon and played for the neighborhood. +People sold them stuff. Rags. +Bottles. Whatever. + +Max sits frozen, unable to move... + +CUT TO: + +36 EXT. STREET OUTSIDE JAZZ CLUB - NIGHT 36 + +...and they exit the club. Vincent heads for the cab, turns and +sees Max standing there. + +VINCENT +Let's go. + +MAX +No. + +VINCENT +What you mean, no? + +MAX +I'm done. Find another cab. + +Max turns, walking away. Vincent blinks at him, almost laughs. + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 51. +36 CONTINUED: 36 + +VINCENT +Max? + +MAX +Leave me alone. +(shouting) +I'm collateral anyway, so do it and * +stop making me a part of this! * +(beat) * +I don't wanna know you! + +Vincent grabs the back of his collar, slams him against the +wall. Max's neck is a centimeter from breaking. Their faces +are inches apart. + +VINCENT * +(low, threatening) +I'm not playing. + +MAX +You played him, man. * +(off Vincent's look) +He got the answer right, would you * +have let him go? + +The question hangs in the air. Before Vincent can answer, the +DISPATCH RADIO CRACKLES: + +LENNY (FILTERED) +Max? Maaax. Pick up, you dipshit. + +VINCENT +What is it with this guy? + +LENNY (FILTERED) +Maaaaaax! + +Vincent spins Max, controls him, as he propels him to the cab, +slams him against the fender. + +Vincent releases him, points at him. Don't move. He reaches +into the cab, pulls out the radio mike, clicks it on. + +VINCENT +You hassling my man again? + +LENNY +Who are you? + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 52. +36 CONTINUED: (2) 36 + +VINCENT +Same fare you talked to last time. + +LENNY (FILTERED) +What are you guys, taking an all-night +tour? + +VINCENT +We're gay lovers, what's it to you? * + +LENNY (FILTERED) +Nothing! Aside from every night Max's +mother driving me crazy, I'm dancin' +on a rainbow! May he come on the +line, please. + +VINCENT +Hang on. +(to Max) +Carefully... + +Max takes the hand mike, clicks it on. + +MAX +Yeah? + +LENNY (FILTERED) +Your mother's calling every ten +minutes. Why didn't he show? Are you * +all right? Where are you? + +VINCENT +(whispers) +Show for what? + +MAX +(ignoring him) +Tell her I can't make it tonight, +okay? + +LENNY (FILTERED) +What am I, related to you? You tell +her yourself! + +Lenny CLICKS OFF. Dead air. + +VINCENT +Show up for what? + +MAX +She's in the hospital. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 53. +36 CONTINUED: (3) 36 + +VINCENT +You visit every night? + +MAX +Yeah. What difference does it make? + +VINCENT +Cause if you don't show it breaks a +routine. + +MAX +So? + +VINCENT +So people start looking for you, this +cab. That is not good. * + +MAX +No. I can't take you to see my +mother... + +VINCENT +Since when was any of this negotiable? + +CUT TO: + +37 INT. HOSPITAL - ENTRANCE - NIGHT 37 + +Stark corridors, queasy fluorescent lighting, PATIENTS and STAFF +MEMBERS. A row of INJURED PEOPLE are seated along one wall, +waiting for attention. + +The AUTOMATIC DOORS swing open. Max and Vincent enter, the +briefcase held at Vincent's side. As they enter and proceed up +the corridor... + +VINCENT +Stay three paces in front of me and +one to my left... + +Max, seeing the innocent people along the walls, complies. +Vincent sees in the ceiling a security camera mounted in a +Perspex hemisphere and averts his face towards Max... + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Flowers? + +Max turns, sees a row of FLOWER BOUQUETS at the gift counter. + +MAX +Waste of money. Won't mean a thing to +her. + +Vincent pulls an arrangement, tosses the flowers to Max, pulls +his wallet to pay. + +(CONTINUED) + +9/21/03 MM revs. (pink) 53A. +37 CONTINUED: 37 + +VINCENT +(sincere) +She carried you in her womb for nine +months. + +9/29/03 MM revs. (salmon) 54. + + +38 INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT 38 + +The elevator arrives. Vincent and Max get on. Vincent presses +the button and the doors start to close... + +MAN'S VOICE +Hold, please... + +Vincent puts his hand out, stopping the doors. A MAN slides in +the elevator with them... + +38A INT. THE ELEVATOR 38A + +...and turns around. Detective Ray Fanning. He doesn't see Max * +in the back corner. His back is to him. + +FANNING * +Five. Thanks. + +Vincent hits the button. The doors close. + +The three of them ride up in that awkward silence you only ever +experience with strangers in elevators. He glances to Vincent +at the control panel, nods. + +VINCENT +Having a good night? + +FANNING * +Mezzo-mezzo. You? + +Vincent nods. Making do. The elevator stops. Vincent and Max +get off to the right. Fanning continues riding up one more * +floor... + +39 INT. FIFTH FLOOR HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - ELEVATOR DOORS - NIGHT 39 + +open. Fanning gets off, turns a corner. SEE a sign indicating * +"MORGUE." + +40 INT. HOSPITAL ROOM, LOWER FLOOR - MAX - NIGHT 40 + +(POSSIBLY INCLUDE CORRIDOR) + +Enters with the flowers. Vincent appears behind him, hovering +in the doorway. Max moves toward the bed... + +...where IDA RILKE lies hooked up to a heart monitor, a clear +plastic oxygen mask over her mouth. She opens her eyes. + +MAX +Hi, Ma. + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/29/03 MM revs. (salmon) 54A. +40 CONTINUED: 40 + +IDA +I've been calling and calling. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 55. +40 CONTINUED: (2) 40 + +MAX +I got caught up at work. + +IDA +Why couldn't you call me on the +telephone? I'm lying here, wondering +if something horrible happened to +you... + +MAX +(to cut her off) * +I brought you flowers. + +IDA +What am I gonna do with flowers? + +MAX +You're gonna cheer up. + +IDA +How? By worrying... * +(wheezes) * +...that you spend money on * +things...that all they're gonna do is * +wilt and die? + +MAX +(to Vincent) +See? +(to Ida, defensively) * +I didn't buy 'em. He did. * + +IDA +Who? Come in. What I got is not * +contagious. * +(beat) * +Why didn't you tell me we had company? * +(to Vincent) +And what's your name? Sorry. My son +is rude. + +VINCENT +No harm done, madam. + +She takes the flowers from Max, making a fuss over them: + +IDA +You paid for my flowers? They're +beautiful. Max, will you introduce +us? + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 56. +40 CONTINUED: (3) 40 + +MAX +Mom, Vincent. Vincent, my mother, +Ida. + +Vincent sets his briefcase by the door, approaches the bed, +offers his hand. She takes it. He glows with charisma. + +VINCENT +I'm really happy to meet you, Mrs. * +Rilke. + +IDA +Oh, call me Ida. To what do we owe +this pleasure? + +Vincent sits in the chair at bedside. + +VINCENT +Well, I was with Max when he got the +call. + +IDA +And you came all the way here to see +me? + +VINCENT +It's nothing. + +IDA +Tell my son. You have to hold a gun +to his head to get him to do anything. + +VINCENT +Tell me about it. + +Vincent leans in, helps her adjust her pillows. + +IDA +You must be an important client of +Max's. + +This catches Vincent slightly off guard. He glances to Max. + +VINCENT +Client? I like to think of myself as +his friend. A mentor. * + +IDA +Max never had many friends. Always +talking to himself in the mirror... +It's unhealthy. + +MAX +Hey, mom. How many times do I have to +ask you not to do that? + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 57. +40 CONTINUED: (4) 40 + +IDA +Do what? + +MAX +Talk about me like...I'm...not...in +the room, here. + +IDA +(to Vincent) +What's he sayin'? + +VINCENT +Ida, he says he's standing right here. * +In the room. Here. * + +IDA +(to Max) +Yesss, you are, honey. +(back to Vincent) +He's sensitive. + +VINCENT +I know. But I'm sure you're proud of * +him. + +IDA +(directed at Max) +Of course I'm proud. You know, he +started with nothing. Look at him +today. Here. Vegas. Reno... + +Vincent looks at Max...squirming under the exposure. + +MAX +Mom, Vincent's not interested. +(to Vincent) +Let's go. + +VINCENT +* +No. I am interested. +IDA +What's your name, again? * + +VINCENT +Vincent... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 58. +40 CONTINUED: (5) 40 + +MAX +I came to see you. I saw you. You +look fine. Let's go. + +He's kissed her and wants to get out of there. + +IDA +Limousine companies. + +VINCENT * +Yeah? * + +IDA * +He drives famous people around, you * +know? * + +VINCENT +Limousine companies? What an +achievement... + +Max heads for the door... + +IDA +Visit again? * + +VINCENT +I'm only in town tonight. * + +IDA +When you come back? * + +VINCENT +Sure. I promise. * + +IDA * +Well, nice to meet you, Vincent. * + +He turns to find Max gone. He looks down, eyes widening. + +So is the briefcase. +Vincent races out into... + +40A INT. THE HALLWAY 40A + +...and spins around, frantically trying to see where Max went. +Nothing but a FEW PATIENTS and HOSPITAL STAFF... + +...and a door marked "STAIRS" swinging shut at the end of the +hallway. He runs in that direction... + +40B INT. HOSPITAL STAIRWELL 40B + +Vincent bursts through the door into the stairwell, hearing +RUNNING FOOTSTEPS below. He peers over the railing... + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 58A. +40B CONTINUED: 40B + +...and sees Max three flights down. Max freezes, looking up, +clutching the briefcase. A moment of eye contact... + +VINCENT +Stop or I'll go back and kill her. + +MAX +You'd do her a favor. + +...and Max keeps going, vanishing from view. Vincent takes off +after him, plunging down the stairs at breakneck speed... + +VINCENT +I'll tell her the truth! + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/21/03 MM revs. (pink) 59. +40B CONTINUED: (2) 40B + +MOVING WITH MAX + +careening dizzily down the steps with the briefcase, hurtling +from one landing to the next, FOOTSTEPS ECHOING on concrete. + +MOVING WITH VINCENT + +racing down the steps like a madman, yanking his H+K from under +his jacket... + +41 EXT. HOSPITAL - ON REAR DOOR - NIGHT (OPTIONAL) 41 + +Max comes through the stairway door, racing like crazy along a +row of HUGE ROARING INDUSTRIAL WASHERS, trying to make it to the +EXIT DOOR at the far end... + +...and Vincent bursts from the stairwell in pursuit, pausing to +whip his H + K up in a two-handed grip, aiming down the length +of the laundry room... + +...as Max vanishes through the exit door at the far end. + +42 EXT. HOSPITAL/ON REAR DOOR - NIGHT 42 + +Max races out. + +42A OMIT 42A + +42B INT. HOSPITAL STAIRWELL - VINCENT 42B * + +racing down the stairs... * + +42C EXT. HOSPITAL - REAR DOOR - VINCENT 42C + +bursts through parking lot. + +42D EXT. HOSPITAL - WIDE: VINCENT (VFX) 42D + +See Vincent at end of parking lot running towards us. PAN LEFT +to Max running up a walkway over the freeway. + +43 EXT. PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE - MAX 43 + +runs to camera along the bridge which we now reveal is above +and... + +OVER THE FREEWAY + +Max runs up, exhausted. The stream of lights beneath them. Max +swings the briefcase back, preparing to hurl it... + +VINCENT +Don't! + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/21/03 MM revs. (pink) 59A. +43 CONTINUED: 43 + +...and Vincent's H+K is aimed at Max. Max looks back, sees +Vincent, gun aimed at him... + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Red-light-green-light, Max. + +A heartbeat. A hesitation. And then... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 60. +43 CONTINUED: (2) 43 + +MAX +Bullshit. + +...Max hurls the briefcase with all his might. Vincent watches +in horror as it spins lazily through the air and crashes onto +the freeway below where it's run over, flips in the air, is hit +by a truck and the tablet PC is de-constructed into useless +pieces of plastic and silicone. Vincent approaches. + +VINCENT +(hisses) +What the fuck was that? + +MAX +Jazz. + +Max is suddenly on the ground, not knowing how he got there, +about to die. + +Vincent, above, staring at Max. + +VINCENT +You are screwing...with my work! My * +prep was in there. I'm coming up on +number four. The night is no longer +young. Are we getting adversarial? * + +Each syllable like a bullet. Should Vincent kill him? Then, +almost admiring... + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Didn't know you could do that... +(beat) +Let's see what else you can do. + +...and he pulls Max to his feet. + +CUT TO: + +44 INT. HOSPITAL MORGUE - NIGHT 44 + +Fanning's in the "cold room" with a MORGUE ATTENDANT. + +ATTENDANT +(checking his clipboard) +We've had three come in tonight. Two +John Does. Maybe one's your guy. + +The attendant nods at the first of four PLASTIC-WRAPPED CORPSES +lying on stainless steel tables. Fanning draws the sheet back: +Homeless Man with a beard. + +FANNING +No. Not Ramone. + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 61. +44 CONTINUED: 44 + +The attendant makes a notation on his clipboard. Fanning nods +at the next corpse. + +FANNING (CONT'D) +Try that one. + +The attendant draws the sheet back. It's the Younger Man who +mugged Max and took Vincent's briefcase. + +FANNING (CONT'D) +No. Next... + +ATTENDANT +That's what's funny. These three came +in within half an hour of each other. +And the kid and that last guy (number +4)...they were done by the same +shooter. + +FANNING +Why do you say that? + +Fanning gets alert. + +ATTENDANT +Same wound pattern. Two in the +sternum. One in the head. Add this +cat's shooting tight groups. +(indicates chest) +Double taps are a couple millimeters +apart. + +Intrigued, Fanning steps to the fourth corpse. Attendant draws +the sheet back. + +Fanning stares down at the dead face. Instant recognition. + +45 INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY + AUTOPSY ROOM - MINUTES LATER 45 + +Fanning is on a pay phone, amped up, talking with Richard * +Weidner. (Weidner's at home, perched on the edge of his bed, in * +a crowded bedroom overlooking MacArthur Park or palm trees and +city lights, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. INTERCUT as +needed:) + +FANNING +...yeah, I'm still at MLK. The John +Doe doesn't pan out. Not Ramone. But +you'll never guess who else is in the +meat locker. + +WEIDNER * +Elvis Presley? + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/29/03 MM revs. (salmon) 61A. +45 CONTINUED: 45 + +FANNING * +Sylvester Clarke. Criminal-lawyer +turned lawyer-criminal? + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/6/03 MM revs. (pink) 62. +45 CONTINUED: (2) 45 + +WEIDNER +"Sly" to his clients... + +FANNING +...including my high-diving informant, +Ramone, who he represented, who's +still missing. Both of whom were in +the exotic-substances business... + +WEIDNER +Ramone and "Sly" Clarke in one night? + +FANNING +In one night. Something bad is going +down. And I don't think the Feeb know +about it... + +Weidner hangs up, hauling himself off the bed as we... * + +CUT TO: + +46 INT. MAX'S CAB, TRAVELING - MAX - NIGHT 46 + +Max drives in self-conscious silence, feeling Vincent's gaze +on the back of his neck. + +VINCENT +Limos, huh? + +MAX +Don't start. + +Vincent enters text into a cell phone/pager. + +VINCENT +Hey, I'm not the one lying to my +mother. + +MAX +She hears what she wants to hear. I +don't disillusion her. + +VINCENT +Yeah, right. Maybe she hears what you +tell her. + +Vincent sends. Waits. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 63. +46 CONTINUED: 46 + +MAX +Whatever I tell her's never good * +enough. It's always been that way... +My three older brothers...their wives +made 'em move outta town. + +Vincent closes the pager/cell. + +VINCENT +You're goin' to a place called El +Rodeo. It's on Whittier Boulevard in +Anaheim. + +MAX +Where on Whittier? + +VINCENT +Look it up. + +MAX +What's at El Rodeo? + +VINCENT +Just drive. +(beat) +They project onto you their flaws, +what they don't like about themselves, +their lives, whatever. And then they +rank on you, instead... + +MAX +How do you know? + +VINCENT +I had a father like that. + +MAX +Mothers are worse. + +VINCENT * +Mine died when I was one. * + +MAX +What happened? + +VINCENT +He hated whatever I did. Got drunk. +Beat me up all the time. + +MAX +Then what? + +VINCENT +(intimate) +I killed him. I was 12. +(MORE) + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 63A. +46 CONTINUED: (2) 46 + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +He was the first. +(off Max's look) +I'm kidding. He died of liver cancer. + +MAX +I'm sorry. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 64. +46 CONTINUED: (3) 46 + +VINCENT +No you're not. +(beat) +So driving this cab "temporarily" is * +all bullshit...? + +MAX +It's not bullshit. + +VINCENT +Twelve years is not temporary. + +MAX +You gotta get cash together. +Insurance, bond, maintenance, tires. +Staff-up. Client lists. It's not get +the car, put asses on seats. + +VINCENT +Why not? + +MAX +'Cause Island Limos will be more than +a ride...like a club experience, a +cool groove you don't want to end. +Like that. So it's gotta be perfect. * +Perfect. + +VINCENT +Uh-huh. + +MAX +Plus I got bills. She's been dying of +the disease since I was in high +school... + +47 EXT. EL RODEO NIGHT CLUB (ANAHEIM) - NIGHT 47 + +Headlights pull through the jammed lot. Max's cab. And it +pulls past the entrance to a parking slot near the alley. + +48 INT. CAB - NIGHT 48 + +VINCENT +Here's good. + +Max backs in, cuts the engine. Vincent checks it out, +concealing himself as much as possible in the shadows of the +back seat. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Gimme your wallet. + +MAX +Why? + +(CONTINUED) + +9/14/03 MM revs. (cherry) 64A. +48 CONTINUED: 48 + +Vincent snaps his fingers impatiently. Max pulls his wallet, +passes it back. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 65. +48 CONTINUED: (2) 48 + +VINCENT +I'll hold it for you in case they +search you. + +MAX +In case who searches? + +Vincent nods toward El Rodeo. + +VINCENT +The people inside. Go in and ask for +Felix. He's expecting you. + +MAX +Felix? Okay. What's he look like? + +VINCENT +Dunno. Never met him. + +MAX +Who is he? + +VINCENT +He's from who hired me. + +MAX +I don't get it. + +VINCENT +You destroyed my work-ups. And number +four is due. Whatta you think, +night's over? Called on account of +rain? +(beat) +Go be me. In there. Score the * +backups. He'll have 'em on a flash +drive or CD... + +MAX +(appalled) +Why don't you go? * +Why me? I can't. +VINCENT +They don't know what I look like. And * +I don't meet people. Like in risk * +management. Protect anonymity. And +you're not going to screw that up. + +MAX +How'm I gonna be you? + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 66. +48 CONTINUED: (3) 48 + +VINCENT +Max, who's SoCal Cab Company? Ralph +SoCal? + +MAX +No. + +VINCENT +Ever met the owner? * + +MAX +No. + +VINCENT +Well, I don't work for them. I work +for their bosses. They don't get to +meet me, either. + +MAX +If...if I don't pull it off...? + +VINCENT +They're gonna kill you. * +(shrugs) +You got ten minutes. 10:01? I drive +the cab to the hospital and execute +your mother on my way out of +town...and don't pretend indifference. + +MAX +I can't do this. + +VINCENT +You threw my PC onto the freeway. +You've got balls bigger than Toledo. + +MAX +If I pull it off, it's gonna get other +people killed... + +VINCENT +Out of options, Max. Take comfort in * +knowing you never had a choice. + +MAX +Uh, how long you been doin' this? * + +VINCENT +Why? + +MAX +In case he asks. + +VINCENT +Private sector? Six years. + +(CONTINUED) + +10/6/03 MM revs. (pink) 67. +48 CONTINUED: (4) 48 + +MAX +You get benefits? + +VINCENT +No. Nor paid sick leave. Quit +stalling. Get out of the cab. + +Max hesitates, opens the door, gets out... + +49 EXT. STREET - LONG LENS: MAX - NIGHT 49 + +Crossing towards the entrance. + +FED #1 (O.S.) +Who is this? + +FED #2 (O.S.) +Not Julio Iglesias... + +...and we hear WHIRRING. ANGLE PULLS BACK... + +50 INT. SURVEILLANCE LOCATION - NIGHT 50 + +Reveal FEDERAL AGENTS clustered loosely at a row of monitors, in +a hard location. On the monitors are multiple views of El +Rodeo's exterior entrances, two ND homes, the interior of two ND +cars. One agent watches Max cross to the El Rodeo entrance. +The room is littered with SURVEILLANCE EQUIPMENT and pizza +boxes. + +SENIOR AGENT FRANK PEDROSA, permanently agitated, stands. The +camera on Max ZOOMS in, tracking him. + +50A EXT. STREET OUTSIDE "EL RODEO" - PARKING LOT, FOUR- 50A +FIXTURE LIGHT STAND + +Move closer. REVEAL it's a camouflage housing, holding a video +surveillance camera that RIGHT NOW pans and ZOOMS IN on Max. + +AGENT #1 (O.S.) +Mark the time. + +50B INT. SURVEILLANCE LOCATION - PEDROSA 50B + +reacts to a SOFT KNOCK on the door. Fanning and Weidner are * +ushered in. Pedrosa glances at them, motions "hang on a +second," as he stares at the monitor. + +51 INT. EL RODEO, ENTRANCE - NIGHT 51 + +Entrance does NOT have a crowd waiting to get in past disco +bouncers. Only light traffic flows in and out. But, it does +have extensive security. Max, hiding his terror, steps up to +two men at the door. + +(CONTINUED) + +9/29/03 MM revs. (salmon) 67A. +51 CONTINUED: 51 + +MAN #1 +Yeah. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/6/03 MM revs. (pink) 68. +51 CONTINUED: (2) 51 + +MAX +Uh, hi... + +MAN #2 +Que pasa? Wha's up, homes? + +MAX +I'm here to see Felix. He has +something for me. + +MAN #2 +(cold, believable) +Don't know no Felix. + +That's it. Max failed. He won't make it past the front door. + +MAX +Uh. Say...say it's Vincent. I'm +Vincent. + +The two men trade surprised look. Suddenly cautious and +respectful. They lead Max inside. + +52 INT. SURVEILLANCE LOCATION - NIGHT 52 + +Pedrosa watches the group exit into El Rodeo, then turns to +Fanning and Weidner for quick introductions: * + +WEIDNER +Lt. Richard Weidner. LAPD. Major +Narcotics Division. + +FANNING +Detective Ray Fanning. LAPD. Major +Nar... + +PEDROSA +(interrupts, shaking +hands) +Yeah, hi, okay. Agent Frank Pedrosa. + +WEIDNER +Thanks for seeing us... + +PEDROSA +Yeah. You're welcome. How can I +help? What's up? Why do you wanna +know about our case? + +FANNING +Has there been any unusual activity +tonight? + +PEDROSA +As in... + +(CONTINUED) + +10/6/03 MM revs. (pink) 68A. +52 CONTINUED: 52 + +FANNING +As in a murder or maybe a murder spree +in Wilshire Central. + +PEDROSA +All quiet on the western front. +Various people are asleep. Various +people are not. They come and go in +cars, pickups and taxis. Other than +that, we're watching air move. +(repeats) +...your interest in our case? + +Fanning trades a surprised look with Weidner. A taxi? Fanning * +gestures. Pedrosa nods okay. Fanning rushes to the monitors, * +sees Max's cab peeking out from behind the corner of the * +building. * + +FANNING +Hood's all beat to shit. + +Weidner's fumbling on his cell phone, out, already dialing. + +PEDROSA * +On what?! * + +FANNING * +On that. * + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/4/03 MM revs. (blue) 69. +52 CONTINUED: (2) 52 + +WEIDNER * +What's the license number? + +Technician on the joystick pans a remote camera to the cab, +pulling out his notebook and scribbling down the number... + +53 INT. "EL RODEO" - NIGHT 53 + +...as Max is led into a cavernous, blue Day-Glo Sinaloan disco. + +And they move through dancers, in Sinaloan style: white cowboy +hats, jeans, braided key chains, endangered-species cowboy +boots. Hot ladies in spandex and other couture by Earl Scheib. + +As they approach a row of booths opposite a mural of famous +corrida singers...more sophisticated security appears. PACO +pats down Max. Another, Rubio, cautiously covers him. Then... + +MAX + +is led to a booth in which sits FELIX REYES-TORRENA. + +FELIX + +- unlike El Rodeo's population - wears Hermes bought in Paris. +Reserved elegance... + +FELIX +I thought you'd be taller. + +He's not invited to sit. + +FELIX (CONT'D) +Anyway I look at this, I see only one +thing. I see one thing with you. +Here. Tonight. I see trouble. + +Gestures... Max sits, forces himself to meet Felix's gaze. + +FELIX +So. Vincent. Explain... + +Meanwhile... + +54 INT. SURVEILLANCE LOCATION - MONITOR - NIGHT 54 + +REPLAYS Max's entrance. It's enhanced and the audio is +filtered, eliminating RF interference and background noise. We +and they HEAR... + +MAN #2 +Don't know no Felix. + +MAX +I'm Vincent... + +(CONTINUED) + +9/1/03 MM revs. (yellow) 70. +54 CONTINUED: 54 + +The reaction in the room is electric. + +FED #3 +Did he say "Vincent?" + +55 INT. EL RODEO - NIGHT 55 + +FELIX +(light complaint) * +Vincent don't meet people. The jefes * +in Culiacan, Bogota, maybe. But he * +won't talk to you. But, now you are * +here. Okay. Why? + +For a moment it looks like Max isn't even going to get the words +out. Then: + +MAX +I lost my stuff. + +Pause. + +FELIX +"Stuff"? Your "stuff"? + +MAX +Yeah. + +FELIX +I want you to listen to me real well. +(beat) +Special teams put together that list * +of..."dedos." * + +MAX +Dedos? + +FELIX +Fingers. Informants. * +(litany) * +Signal intercepts, voice-recognizing * +software, surveillance...very * +expensive counterintel produced that * +list. * +(beat) +An important list, wouldn't you say? +And you "lost" it? + +MAX +I'm sorry. + +FELIX +Sorry? Sorry does not put back +together again Humpty Dumpty... + +(CONTINUED) + +9/1/03 MM revs. (yellow) 70A. +55 CONTINUED: 55 + +Max is nearly pissing himself. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/3/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 71. +55 CONTINUED: (2) 55 + +FELIX (CONT'D) +Do you believe in Humpty Dumpty? + +Felix makes eye contact to PACO. Paco nods. Rubio, next to +him, has his hand on an SMG and moves right to get a better line +of fire on Max. + +MAX +No. + +FELIX +Do you believe in Santa Claus? + +MAX +No. + +FELIX +Neither do I. +(beat) +But my children do. They are still +small. But do you know who they like +even better than Santa Claus? His +helper, Pedro Negro. Black Peter. +There's an old Mexican tale that tells +of how Santa Claus got so very busy +looking out for the good children that +he had to hire some help to look out +for the bad children. So he hired +Pedro. And Santa Claus gave him a +list with all the names of all the bad +children, and Pedro would come every +night to check them out. And the +people, the little kids that were +misbehaving, that were not saying * +their prayers, Pedro would leave a +little wooden donkey on their windows. +And he would come back and if the +children were still misbehaving, he +would take them away and nobody would +ever see them again. Now, if I am +Santa Claus and you are Pedro, how do +you think jolly old Santa Claus would +feel if one day Pedro came into his +office and said, 'I lost the list.'? +How FUCKING FURIOUS do you think Santa +Claus would get?! + +Paco's gun is visible. Safety clicks off Rubio's SMG. + +FELIX (CONT'D) +So tell me, Vincent. Tell me what you +think. + +MAX +I think... + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 72. +55 CONTINUED: (3) 55 + +He can't finish. + +FELIX +What? + +MAX +I think... +(to security) +...I think you should tell the man +behind me to put that gun away. + +FELIX +What did you say? + +MAX +(low, tight) +I said. Tell him to put the gun away. +Before I take it and beat his bitch * +ass to death with it. + +Felix eases back, measuring Max. + +MAX (CONT'D) +I picked up a tail. + +FELIX +Federal? + +MAX +You tell me. How do I know? So I +tossed the list and work-ups to +protect...in part... +(sees his clothes) +...your Hermes, Facconable sorry ass. + +Felix considers "Max." + +MAX (CONT'D) +You think I like comin' here? Like I +got stupid all of an instant? Shit +happens. You gotta roll with it. +Darwin. I Ching... + +FELIX +Has, uh... + +MAX +The fat man. The penthouse guy. The +jazz man. It leaves two. + +FELIX +(checks his watch) +Can you finish? + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/6/03 MM revs. (pink) 73. +55 CONTINUED: (4) 55 + +MAX +In six years, have I ever not? + +Meanwhile... + +56 INT. SURVEILLANCE LOCATION - NIGHT 56 + +...while the Feds go apeshit at what they've been told. +Meanwhile, Weidner answers his cell... * + +PEDROSA +...are you telling me Ramone Gallardo +and Sylvester Clarke were murdered +tonight? Both killed...? + +FANNING +...Sylvester for sure, Ramone... + +WEIDNER +(interrupts) +We got another D.O.A. One "Daniel +Baker" in South Central... + +FED #3 +That's three? He killed three in one +night? + +WEIDNER +Three what? + +Fed #3 looks at Pedrosa. Mute. + +PEDROSA +Three witnesses. +(beat) +For a secret grand jury, secret my +ass... + +FANNING +So who's left? Before you lose them, +too... + +57 INT. EL RODEO - NIGHT 57 + +In a carrying case, a ruggedized PC is brought to the table. +Felix turns it on. Enters a password. Downloads two "files" +(Targets #4 and #5) into a flash drive in the USB port. + +FELIX +The last two... + +Felix unplugs the flash drive and pushes it across to Max. Max +takes it. Their eyes meet. + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/29/03 MM revs. (salmon) 73A. +57 CONTINUED: 57 + +FELIX (CONT'D) +Do not fail. + +MAX +I never do. + +Felix releases the flash ram. Max rises... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/29/03 MM revs. (salmon) 74. +57 CONTINUED: (2) 57 + +MAX (CONT'D) +And as a token of appreciation...I +want to offer you a discount. Yeah. +All my services, here, tonight... +Twenty-five percent off. + +FELIX +Twenty-five? + +MAX +Hell, make it fifty. + +FELIX +Very generous. + +MAX +(beat) +By the way. Daniel said he was sorry. + +Felix nods. Max turns and walks out. + +The moment he's gone, Felix glances to Paco. They're giving him +questioning looks. + +FELIX +(in Spanish) +Go to Fever. He's met me. If it +begins to go wrong, close his eyes. +He cannot fall into their hands... + +They rise. + +58 EXT. EL RODEO - MAX 58 + +exits, taking in a deep breath of night air, stunned that he's +still alive... + +59 INT. SURVEILLANCE LOCATION - MONITORS 59 + +The Feds swarm, remotely ZOOMING and capturing images, everybody +talks at once... + +ALL THE FEDS +(chaotic, ad lib) +...his face, make sure you get his +face...Vincent the ghost...too grainy, +too much noise...plus twelve dB of +gain, you get noise or you get no +image...you getting this? ...yeah... + +ANGLE SHIFTS to Fanning, cell phone to his ear, trying to block * +out the noise as: + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 75. +59 CONTINUED: 59 + +FANNING +...yeah, uh-huh...African-American, +medium build, dark hair...are you +sure? + +Meanwhile, Pedrosa has separated from the group and on both a +hard line and a Nextel is speaking urgently... + +PEDROSA +(into Nextel) * +LA101 to chase units... I want a +three-car revolving tail on that cab. * +LA102 is on him, now, at El Rodeo. We * +will do a take-down of the cab with +Vincent in it before he gets where * +he's going. +(into hard line) * +Locate our witness, Peter Yip...wife, * +girlfriends, mommy, daddy, whatever. * +Get him evacuated. Get him safe. * +(into Nextel) * +On the cab, the assault team, when * +they are in place, will do the take- * +down. Do NOT spook him before. I +want Air Support up and to maintain at +1,500 feet. + +Meanwhile... + +FANNING +(into cell phone) +E-mail me his license. Okay? I'll +wait... +(to Weidner) +Anybody else in that cab? + +Weidner can't tell from the angle of the surveillance camera. +In the street below, Max walks to the cab... + +60 INT. CAB - MAX 60 + +...gets in behind the wheel, feeling limp. He lets out a slow +breath, reluctantly passes the flash drive to Vincent, who +already has Max's PC ripped from the dash and in the back seat. + +Vincent plugs the flash drive into the USB port. The icon +appears. Vincent double clicks the cursor on it. + +VINCENT +Vegas odds would have compelled a +"don't pass" bet on you walking out of +there... + +MAX +...I'm very impressed. + +(CONTINUED) + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 75A. +60 CONTINUED: 60 + +Vincent enters a code. He sees what he needs. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 76. +60 CONTINUED: (2) 60 + +VINCENT +Washington Boulevard. After-hours +dance club near Crenshaw called +"Fever." Know it? + +MAX +Twelve minutes. + +Vincent quits the flash drive, looks at Max. Max starts the car +and pulls out... + +61 INT. MAX'S CAB - VINCENT 61 + +looks at Max through the rearview mirror. + +VINCENT +You'll be late. Jump on the freeway * +and get me to the 105 west. * + +MAX +Why? + +VINCENT +Do it. + +62 INT. SURVEILLANCE LOCATION - NIGHT 62 + +While the Feds are departing to interdict the killer before he +can take their next witness, Fanning is trying to get a word in +edgewise to a fast-walking Pedrosa... + +FANNING +...according to the cab company's +dispatcher, this cabbie's been driving +that cab for twelve years... + +PEDROSA +So what? + +FANNING +...so, you're telling me this cabbie +walks into a phone booth and, shazaam, +changes into a meat-eater, super- +assassin? What's he do, squeeze 'em +in between fares? + +PEDROSA +No. Cabdriver Max is floating down a +storm drain. He is stuffed in the +trunk of a cab. He is being devoured +by flesh-eating stretococcus... + +Fanning displays on his cell phone Max's picture from the DMV on +Max's license. It's blurred, low-res. + +(CONTINUED) + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 76A. +62 CONTINUED: 62 + +FANNING +The guy, who walked out, looks like +this guy...! + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 77. + + +63 EXT. SURVEILLANCE LOCATION REAR LOADING DOCK 63 + +...and coming down the steps, fast, Fanning and Weidner at their +heels. Talking over his shoulder... + +PEDROSA +'Cause he picked a cabdriver who looks +like him... + +FANNING +What's Vincent look like? + +PEDROSA +Who knows. He's a ghost... Vincent's +not even his name. + +FANNING +I don't know... + +PEDROSA +We do. +(nods to Fed #1) + +FED #1 +We see private-sector security working +for cartel groups in Colombia, Russia, +Mexico...hiring ex-Special Forces +types, ex-KGB all the time... + +PEDROSA +Guys with trigger time, skill * +sets...real tradecraft... * +(beat) +...like, look like a "cabdriver." + +They near their cars... + +FANNING +What are you gonna do? + +PEDROSA +Take down his ass. Save our witness. + +...as Pedrosa and other Feds climb into a Cadillac and a Buick +and a third car. + +FANNING +What if they're wrong? + +WEIDNER +The guy identified himself as +"Vincent" and just met with the +bad people! + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 77A. +63 CONTINUED: 63 + +FANNING +Bullshit. There is something else +going on. + +WEIDNER +It's not our game! + +CUT TO: + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 78. + + +63A INT. MAX'S CAB - REAR SHOT OVER MAX - NIGHT 63A + +to the 405 south on-ramp to the 105 west. Plus PROFILES * +(L to R) + FRONTAL driving shots of cab to an off-ramp. * + +64 INT. LAX PARKING STRUCTURE - MAX'S CAB - NIGHT (GARY'S 64 +AIRPORT SHOT) + +enters and drives past CAM into the interior. Is Vincent +parking and leaving early? + +VARIOUS LOCATIONS + ANGLES INSIDE PARKING STRUCTURE... + +Max's cab drives up ramps under white strips of neon and crosses +the bridge to the adjacent parking structure at the northwest +corner of the parking area across from the Bradley Terminal. + +64A INT. LAX PARKING - FBI MONTE CARLO 64A + +darts in after Max's cab...hesitates, keeps a distance...sees +it's clear, then accelerates, tailing the cab. + +64B INT. LAX PARKING, UP-RAMP - MAX'S CAB 64B + +accelerates up an up-ramp... + +A64C INT. MAX'S CAB, ROOFTOP - VINCENT A64C + +has turned around in his seat and looks out the rear window. We +see why the FBI couldn't follow... + +64C INT. PARKING STRUCTURE - FBI MONTE CARLO 64C + +pulls in and stops. It's in sight of but doesn't approach the +latest up-ramp to the roof. + +FBI AGENT #3 +I follow him up there...we blow the * +tail! * + +65 OMIT 65 + +65A EXT. EMPTY ROOFTOP LOT - WIDE 65A + +EMPTY PARKING LOT ROOF. Anybody tailing Vincent and Max would +expose themselves right here. It's called a choke point. + +66 OMIT 66 + +66A INT. MAX'S CAB - VINCENT 66A + +VINCENT +(to Max) +Let's go. + +(CONTINUED) + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 78A. +66A CONTINUED: 66A + +Max starts towards the down-ramp. + +66B INT. PARKING STRUCTURE - FBI MONTE CARLO 66B + +FBI AGENT #4 +(into Nextel) +LA103 to LA101. Pedrosa, Pedrosa... +(to Agent #3) +Air support... + +FBI AGENT #3 +(into radio) +LA103 to Air 4...you still have him? + +HELICOPTER PILOT (O.S.) +Air 4 to LA103. I lost him. You're +in controlled air space. I gotta stay +out until I get clearance from LAX +tower... + +FBI AGENT #4 +(into Nextel) +Pedrosa...! + +67 INT. PEDROSA'S BUICK - PEDROSA - NIGHT 67 + +Listens. Then... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 79. +67 CONTINUED: 67 + +PEDROSA +(on his cell phone) +...you lost him? +(he listens) +He can head anywhere out of LAX. +North or south on the 405, east on the +105, the 110... + +Pedrosa's plan to intercept and take down Vincent just crashed. +He rapidly recalculates. + +PEDROSA (CONT'D) +They locate Peter Yip? + +FED #1 +(on phone) +On with the wife. She thinks he's at +Fever. They called. Can't get +through. + +PEDROSA +(to Driver) +Washington and Crenshaw. Move! +(into radio) +LA101 to LA103, LA104, LA105. Fever. +After-hours club on 2407 Washington, +near Crenshaw. Pico Union. Hit it! + +LA105 (O.S.) +(into radio) +LA105 to LA101. Copy that. + +A67A OMIT A67A + +B67A AERIAL - MAX'S CAB B67A + +from inside the curve "cloverleafs" onto 105/110 interchange. + +C67A INT./EXT. MAX'S CAB C67A * + +under the interchange north (or southbound 110). + +D67A INT. BLACK SUV D67A + +One of Pedrosa's chase units with four SWAT-types in sports +clothes jams off the freeway onto an exit ramp to surface +streets, north on Western or north on Crenshaw. + +67A INT. MAX'S CAB - MAX + VINCENT - NIGHT 67A + +are riding in pensive silence through the neon visual noise of +Koreatown. + +VINCENT +Would you have called her? + +(CONTINUED) + +10/11/03 MM revs. (goldenrod) 79A. +67A CONTINUED: 67A + +MAX +Who? + +VINCENT +Your lady friend. The one who gave +you her business card. +(Max is silent) +Or was she just being polite? + +MAX +I don't know. + +VINCENT +Why hold back? Why not act off your +impulse? Pick up the phone? + +MAX +All I owe a fare is a ride, Vincent. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 80. +67A CONTINUED: (2) 67A + +VINCENT +It's not what you owe me. Time is +fleeting. Life is short. Time is +luck. One day it's gone... +(beat) +You make it out of this alive, you +should call her. That's what I +think...anyway... + +It's an important speculation from Vincent, given what's going +to come later. And meanwhile... + +68-69 OMIT 68-69 + +70 INT. FBI CADILLAC - PEDROSA 70 + +with two or three agents in the other two cars. One checks +there's a round in the chamber of his .9mm, as the silent +neighborhoods pass by. + +71 INT. S600 MERCEDES - PACO, RUBIO + TWO OTHER COLD-EYED 71 +KILLERS + +Rubio has a silenced .9mm with an Aimpoint laser sight. + +72 INT. LAPD UNMARKED CAR - FANNING 72 + +at the wheel. Tailing the FBI cars at a distance, CROSSCHATTER +drifting from the police band... + +72A EXT. OLYMPIC (OR?) - MAX'S CAB - NIGHT 72A + +cruises east. Korean neon burns into the sodium-lit magenta +sky. The streets are empty at four a.m. Reflected streetlights +flow up the windshield, colors kicking off dented bodywork. The +streets are deserted; the city seems dangerous. Max and +Vincent's attention, suddenly, is taken by something else... + +72B INT. MAX'S CAB - MAX + VINCENT'S POV: THREE COYOTES - 72B * +NIGHT + +separate and apart lope diagonally across Sunset. Adult males. +Hunting. They're indifferent to urban habitation, as if they, +not we, own this city... + +72C EXT. ALEXANDRIA STREET - ABSTRACT SIGNAGE 72C + +becomes a frontal of Max's battered cab TO CAMERA and it turns +right, as... + +73-74 OMIT 73-74 + +9/21/03 MM revs. (pink) 81. + + +75 INT. FBI BUICK - OVER PEDROSA + HIS POV THROUGH 75 * +WINDSHIELD - NIGHT + +A half block ahead he/we GLIMPSE Max's cab pull into the Fever * +forecourt... + +PEDROSA +There...! + +75A INT. MAX'S CAB, APPROACHING "FEVER" NIGHTCLUB - NIGHT 75A + +There's chaotic valet parking with Bentleys and a Lambo in +choice spots. The party-till-dawn crowd. And in the thick of +it... + +75B INT. FBI BUICK 75B + +But they are preceded by a Porsche SUV, and a limo cuts them off * +and tries to disembark a diva, two girlfriends and two guys, * +with players heading into a club before Fever. Heavyweight * +Security has a fuck-you attitude towards Pedrosa's Buick and the * +SUV (LA105) until... * + +76 EXT. KOREAN MALL - FEDS - NIGHT 76 + +in tactical vests with CAR-15's; side arms...deploy. Vanity * +muscle undergo instant attitude change. Pedrosa ad libs telling * +diva to shut up and get back in the limo. BUT Max's cab has * +disappeared from view. + +77-78 OMIT 77-78 + +79 EXT. FRONT OF CLUB FEVER - PEDROSA - NIGHT 79 * + +PEDROSA +We get Yip out. You take Vincent. * +Clean shots! Watch your backgrounds. + +Pedrosa approaching the front entrance, the non-HRT are with the * +BOUNCER, who, in response to a request we didn't see, is trying * +to get a response on his radio from people in the interior...but +fails, as his men enter. Meanwhile... + +80 OMIT 80 + +81 INT. CLUB FEVER - VINCENT - NIGHT 81 * + +propels Max past a bar, through screens of glass, frosted * +alcoves...jammed with people. * + +VINCENT +Booth towards the back. That's where +he hangs. Fat Korean guy. Terminal +acne as a youth. You go first. +(MORE) + +(CONTINUED) + +9/21/03 MM revs. (pink) 81A. +81 CONTINUED: 81 + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Fifteen feet in front and three to my +left. Wander, and innocent bystanders +get the first rounds. Clear? + +It's all black lacquer and frosted glass. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/6/03 MM revs. (pink) 82. +81 CONTINUED: (2) 81 + +Back rooms - in Korean luxo - are for karaoke or the Korean +hotties who hang by a counter, like a check-in area. Panels of +glass in semi-circles in front of planting, some with sheets of +water running down, separate the different zones. OR...it's +cheesy disco with flat screens playing Korean music videos and +stock market quotes with out-of-date Christmas decorations and +black-lit outer-space murals. Visually, it's as noisy as the +Korean hip-hop, which makes it impossible for anybody to hear +anything. + +81A EXT. FRONT OF CLUB FEVER - FANNING + WEIDNER - NIGHT 81A + +flash their LAPD badges, brush past the doorman, proceed in... + +81B INT. FEVER - CLOSE: VINCENT 81B + +with Max in front and to his left, snakes through the crowd, +swimming among them, scanning for Peter Yip, seeking his target +in the back booths... + +81C PEDROSA + THE FEDS 81C + +enter up the stairs. Staying as discrete as possible while +urgent, while Pedrosa shoots looks, his POVs, Feds move south +along east wall into densest part of the club...searching for +"Vincent," trying to spot him before he can assassinate Peter +Yip, searching for Yip, as... + +82 INT. CLUB ENTRANCE - PACO, RUBIO + TWO 82 + +enter. They hang at the rear. Wait. Their job is to take out +"Vincent" if it looks like there's trouble, a double-takeout, +because "Vincent" must not fall into the hands of the FBI. He +knows too much. + +82A PEDROSA 82A + +searches, desperately, for Peter Yip, his last witness, to get +him to safety. + +82B FANNING 82B + +enters, scanning the crowd. Nothing. He and Weidner split-up. * +And... + +82C VINCENT 82C + +deeper among the dancers, now SEES distantly... + +PETER YIP + +for a moment. He's located towards the back wall across the +dance floor in a booth on a raised area in the semi-circular +room. With him are too-young Korean girls and a heavyset +Rapper. The view got blocked by an African-American and a +Korean bodyguard in suits near the booth, facing out. + +(CONTINUED) + +9/29/03 MM revs. (salmon) 82A. +82C CONTINUED: 82C + +Behind the booth are five or six Korean gangsters. But on the +dance floor, itself... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/21/03 MM revs. (pink) 83. +82C CONTINUED: (2) 82C + +VINCENT SPOTS + +an outer perimeter of security. Bodyguards within the crowd, +facing outward from the booth...looking for trouble before it +gets to the row of booths and Peter Yip. + +MAX + +receives the glance from Vincent. He's gestured down the middle +of the dance floor towards the rear. They work their way +through the mass of bodies. Meanwhile, Vincent casually smiles +at a girl and takes an oblique path, sliding along a convex side +wall. Vincent's path brings Vincent up behind Bodyguard #1, who +looks to the right as... + +BODYGUARD #1 + +pounded in the kidney. His head is twisted around and torn +back, dropping him to the floor amid the bodies and noise. +Vincent's focus is already on BODYGUARD #2, as he kicks down +with ferocious force, slamming Bodyguard #1 into +unconsciousness... + +Bodyguard #2 intuits, turns. Vincent's foot slams his knee +sideways, breaking it, Vincent's palm bounces the man's forehead +back, his fist slams into his exposed neck, that fast. + +MAX + +buffeted by dancers, saw, backs away, as... + +BODYGUARD #3 * + +saw the assault on #2. He grabs for Vincent...who breaks the +grab, pulls Bodyguard #3's head and neck down towards him, slams +his knee into his rib cage twice, breaking things, spins the man +backwards, rips his head sideways and back, a centimeter from +breaking, and holding it there with his left arm, Vincent's +right hand is filled with the H+K as he moves towards Peter Yip. + +82D PEDROSA, 82D * + +just then, SEES... * + +PEDROSA POV: PETER YIP * + +glimpsed in the booth from Pedrosa's angle. * + +PEDROSA * +(to Fed #1) * +There's Yip! Get him out of here! * + +And Fed #1 moves with Fed #2 along the wall on the opposite side * +towards Yip while Pedrosa crosses the floor, sees the * +disturbance and over his right shoulder, right there is... * + +(CONTINUED) + +9/21/03 MM revs. (pink) 83A. +82D CONTINUED: 82D + +PEDROSA (CONT'D) * +VINCENT!!! + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/21/03 MM revs. (pink) 84. +82D CONTINUED: (2) 82D + +Mad Dog Killer "Vincent." + +PEDROSA (CONT'D) +(into lapel radio) +Middle of the dance floor! There he +is! + +82E FEDS + HRT WITH ASSAULT WEAPONS 82E * + +push through dancers... + +PEDROSA * +FBI! FREEZE, VINCENT! DON'T MOVE! * +FREEZE! HANDS IN THE AIR! + +Max hears they spotted Vincent. Then he realizes the three, * +four weapons of cops fighting through crowd are all aimed at * +him. People who aren't falling away from him are confused. Max +is the loneliest man in the room... + +MAX +Don't shoot! I'm not Vincent! + +But Korean hip-hop thunders. Korean music videos are crazy +visuals. + +82F RAPPER 82F * + +next to Yip thinks HE'S getting busted, wants to get out +while... + +BODYGUARDS #4 + #5 + +at either end of Yip's booth struggle to see from where the +threat is coming. + +KOREAN GANGSTERS * + +behind the booth put hands on weapons. They SEE Fed #1 + Fed #2 +slide behind patrons, closing in, to get Yip to safety... * + +VARIOUS FEDS (O.S.) +(to Man) +FREEZE! HANDS IN THE AIR! ON YOUR +KNEES! NOW! NOW! + +KOREAN GANGSTER #1 - + +pushed sideways by Fed #1, who's trying to reach Yip - sees the +weapon in Fed #1's hand. So he pulls his 9mm, which Fed #2 +shoves sideways but the gun FIRES, hitting an incoming... + +PEDROSA + +in the upper thigh, slamming him face first to the floor. + +(CONTINUED) + +9/21/03 MM revs. (pink) 84A. +82F CONTINUED: 82F + +AND WITH THE FIRST GUNSHOT, ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE... + +82G MAX 82G * + +drops to the floor. Rounds are fired at him by Yip's Bodyguard +#5. A dancer is hit. + +9/29/03 MM revs. (salmon) 85. + + +82H PACO 82H + +gives the look of Rubio, who's moved to within 30 feet from Max. +He nods "yes"...take out "Vincent," but... + +REAL VINCENT + +advancing to the Yip booth, sees the red line through smoke and +the jewel of a laser point dance around Max's ear. Sees the +source... + +VINCENT'S H+K + +over nearly-dead Bodyguard #3, swings left and punches THREE +ROUNDS into Rubio... + +AND MAX + +sees Vincent saved his life. As... + +VINCENT + +spots... + +PACO + +ten feet away... + +PACO +(looks from Vincent to Max +to Vincent) +You're... +(he got the joke) + +He drops to the floor for cover...to disappear...while... + +82J MAX 82J + +is on the floor amid destroyed furniture, overturned tables, +panicked patrons and... + +FANNING * + +...low, pushing through the chaos, gets a glimpse of Max. +Fanning shoves sideways to reach him, imbued with this mission * +for some inexplicable reason... + +82K AT BOOTH - PETER YIP 82K + +is protected by his confused scrum of Korean gangsters and +bodyguards. Girls dove under tables. The Rapper and one +Bodyguard struggles through crowd that traps them to get out, +while... + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/29/03 MM revs. (salmon) 86. +82K CONTINUED: 82K + +VINCENT + +- the only calm in the storm - has dumped Bodyguard #3 and is +moving on the cluster of protection at Peter Yip's booth, +when... + +FROM THE LEFT SIDE OF BODYGUARD #1 + +- breathing in rasps and risen from the dead - grabs for the gun +in Vincent's right hand as... + +82L FANNING 82L * + +gets to Max. + +MAX +I'm Max! I'm a goddamn cab driver! + +FANNING * +I know. I know! + +Fanning grabs him, keeps him low, pushes his head down... * + +FANNING (CONT'D) * +I'm Detective Fanning, LAPD! I'm * +getting you out of here. + +...and they slide behind the back of the opposite banquettes, +seeking cover, and break towards a rear exit. While... + +82M HEAVY KOREAN GANGSTER, ALSO... 82M + +slams Vincent's gun hand with a short baton. Vincent's +disarmed. Two Men are on him. + +A KNIFE IN VINCENT'S LEFT HAND + +sinks into Bodyguard #1's leg, dropping him. + +KOREAN GANGSTER + +swings the baton for Vincent's head. Vincent steps inside. +Traps the man's arm. Takes his baton, releases his torqued body +and backhands it across the Gangster's neck. Vincent slams a +forehand across his ribs. As the Korean Gangster, concussed, +falls backwards, forcing Vincent to the floor... + +BODYGUARD #4, + +coming up the middle from Yip's booth, where attention focuses +right now on the real threat: Vincent, FIRES A THREE-SHOT BURST +from an SMG. And, Vincent, retrieving his H+K, rolls concussed +Korean Gangster off of him, and... + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/29/03 MM revs. (salmon) 86A. +82M CONTINUED: 82M + +VINCENT + +places FOUR SHOTS into Bodyguard #4. VINCENT'S ASSAULT WILL BE +IN A STRAIGHT LINE. Now, he rolls onto one knee, FIRES TWO +MORE, dropping African-American Bodyguard #5, who had two +handguns blazing. And RISING... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 87. +82M CONTINUED: (2) 82M + +VINCENT ALMOST AT YIP'S BOOTH + +Korean Gangster is blown back. Another tries to help 300-pound +Yip escape over the back. He's HIT. Peter Yip falls back into +the banquette, his eyes wider because Vincent's coming. Vincent +reloads. As his thumb hits the slide release and it jacks +forward, he's already FIRED a round into Yip. And Yip's eyes - +at the fierce face of death approaching - are filled in his last +moments with Vincent, who FIRES four rounds. And one to the +head. That fast. And the wall of frosted glass with a plane of +water running down it behind dead Peter Yip is untouched, +serene. + +82N WOUNDED PEDROSA 82N + +Feds are shouting. HRT are searching. Bodyguards are +surrendering. Korean gangsters scream at each other. Inane +Korean infomercials, videos, while... + +83 INT. BACK STAIRS - MAX + FANNING 83 + +race past karaoke and music recording rooms and escape down the * +back stairs. Fanning pushes Max ahead, covers their rear. + +MAX + FANNING FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE STAIRS + +MAX +Oh, man, am I happy to see you! I +don't believe it! + +FANNING +Yeah. I know. Relax. Breathe. +You're okay. + +Other patrons have collapsed on the stairs and huddle on the +landing. Max and Fanning slide by and step over them to get to +the exit door to the back alley. + +MAX +I can't believe it. I can't believe +it...! + +Fanning guides Max forward. Emotions flood out of Max. Ten +hours of traumatic stress. Max's nightmare is over. He's home +free. Tears stream down his face. + +84 EXT. SIDE STREET BEHIND CLUB - WIDE: FANNING + MAX 84 + +emerge. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. Fanning is dead before he hits the +ground. Max is horrified. Vincent grabs Max, propelling him +forward. + +VINCENT +(fierce) +GET IN! + +(CONTINUED) + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 87A. +84 CONTINUED: 84 + +He throws Max behind the wheel, gets in the back... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 88. +84 CONTINUED: (2) 84 + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +DRIVE! + +Max - numb - hits the gas, peels out, his door left open, hands * +barely on the wheel, driving and motor skills impaired, scraping +off the sides of adjacent cars. Dead Detective Fanning, now +inert, is left behind. + +CUT TO: + +85 EXT. AERIAL SHOT: LOS ANGELES CITYSCAPE - NIGHT 85 + +STRAIGHT DOWN from above. Acid-mint streetlight in pools on +Olympic Blvd. The yellow cab is the only vehicle heading east. +Everything else streams west. Emergency vehicles. Flashers. + +86 INT. MAX'S CAB - MAX 86 + +in shock. Back in purgatory...eternally in his cab's front +seat. As the lone yellow cab drives east... + +SINGLE: VINCENT * + +VINCENT +What a clusterfuck. Only thing didn't +show up was the Polish cavalry. + +Max's life, controlled by Vincent, is a nightmare, perpetual and +eternal... + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +You don't wanna talk, tell me to fuck +off... + +MAX +(inaudible) +...fuck off. + +Vincent's attention is out the window at the streams of +emergency vehicles...at the earpiece, filled with LAPD and news +helicopters. + +86A EXT. STREET - FRONTAL: THE ANONYMOUS YELLOW CAB 86A + +heads east. All other traffic races to the debacle left +behind... + +VINCENT (O.S.) +...blood, bodily fluid and death get +to you? Try deep breathing. Or +remember, we all die anyway... + +MAX (O.S.) +You had to kill Fanning?! + +(CONTINUED) + +9/29/03 MM revs. (salmon) 89. +86A CONTINUED: 86A + +VINCENT (O.S.) +(blasé) +Who's Fanning? * + +86B INT. CAB 86B + +MAX +That cop! +(beat) +Why'd you have to do that? You +couldn't wound him? The guy had a +family, maybe parents, kids who gotta +grow up without a dad, he was a good +guy, and he believed me... + +VINCENT +I shoulda saved him 'cause he believed +you...? + +MAX +No, not just that. + +VINCENT +Yeah, that... + +MAX +Yeah, so, what's wrong with that? + +VINCENT +It's what I do for a living... + +MAX +Some living. + +VINCENT +Head downtown... + +MAX +What's downtown? + +VINCENT +How are you at math? I was hired for +five hits. I did four. + +MAX +(grim) +One more. + +VINCENT +There you go...! + +MAX +Whyn't you kill me and find another +cab. + +(CONTINUED) + +9/27/03 MM revs. (buff) 90. +86B CONTINUED: 86B + +VINCENT +'Cause you're good. +(shrugs) +We're in this together. You +know...fates intertwined. Cosmic +coincidence. All that crap... + +MAX +You're full of shit. + +VINCENT +I'm full of shit? +(beat) +You're a monument of it. You even * +bullshitted yourself, all I am is +taking out the garbage. Bad guys +killing bad guys... + +MAX +'Cause that's what you said... + +VINCENT +And you believe me...? + +MAX +What'd they do? + +VINCENT +How do I know? +(beat) +But, they all got that "witness for * +the prosecution" look to me. It's +probably some major federal indictment +against somebody who majorly does not +want to get indicted... I dunno. + +MAX +That's the reason? + +VINCENT +That's the "why." There is no reason. +(beat) +No good reason; no bad reason. To +live or to die. + +MAX +Then what are you? + +VINCENT +(looks up) +...indifferent. + +Vincent hesitates, then back out the window... + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 91. +86B CONTINUED: (2) 86B + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Get with it. Get over it. +...millions of galaxies of hundreds of +millions of stars and a speck on one +in a blink...that's us. Lost in +space. The universe don't care (about +you). +(beat) +The cop, you, me? Who notices? + +MAX +What's with you...? * + +VINCENT +As in...? + +MAX +Man, if someone had a gun to your head +and said: "You gotta tell me what's +goin' on with that person across the +street, there, what they think, who +they are, how they feel, or I will +kill you"...they'd have to kill +you...wouldn't they...? +(beat) +'Cause you don't have a +clue...about...anyone. * +(struggling for the words) +...I don't think you, you have a clue, * +period. Did anyone "do" for you in +your life...? Ever? When you draw +breath in the morning? Open your eyes +in the a.m.? You +anticipate...anything? Want anything? +Expect anything? I don't think so... +(beat) +'Cause you are low, my brother, way +low... and some standard parts that are +supposed to be there?...with you, +aren't. So what happened to you, man? +What happened to you? + +VINCENT +...all the cabbies in LA, I get Max, +Sigmund Freud meets Dr. Ruth... + +MAX +Answer the question. + +VINCENT +Look in the mirror. +(on the attack) +(MORE) + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 92. +86B CONTINUED: (3) 86B + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +...with your paper towels...a bottle * +of 409...a limo company someday. How +much you got saved? + +MAX +None of your business. + +VINCENT +Your business "plan?" Someday? +"Someday my dream'll come..."? +(beat) +And one night you'll wake up and +discover it all flipped on you. +Suddenly you're old. And it didn't +happen. And it never will. 'Cause +you were never going to do it, anyway. +The dream on the horizon became +yesterday and got lost. Then you'll +bullshit yourself, it could never have +been, anyway. And you'll recede it +into memory...and zone out in a +Barcalounger with daytime TV on for +the rest of your life... +(beat) +Don't talk to me about killing. * +You're do-in' yourself. In this +yellow-and-orange prison. Bit by bit. +Every day. + +EXTREMELY CLOSE: Max is soaking up every word. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +All it ever took was a down payment on +a Lincoln Town Car. What the hell are +you still doing in a cab? + +The needle on the speedometer is creeping past forty... + +MAX +'Cause I never straightened-up and +looked at it, you know...? + +VINCENT +Slow down. + +MAX +(ignoring him) +...myself, I should have. My brothers +did... +(beat) +Tried to gamble my way out from under. +(That was) Another born-to-lose deal! +Then, "it's gotta be perfect to go!" +You know? Risk all torqued-down. + +Needle pushing sixty... + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 93. +86B CONTINUED: (4) 86B + +MAX (CONT'D) +But you know what? It doesn't matter. +What's it matter, anyway? 'Cause we +are...insignificant out here in this * +big-ass nowhere. Twilight Zone shit. * +Says the badass sociopath in my +backseat. So that's one thing I got +to thank you for, bro... Until now, I +never saw it that way... + +The cab goes blasting through an intersection on a red light. A +LOS ANGELES TIMES DELIVERY TRUCK SLAM ON ITS BRAKES as Max +swerves, barely avoiding a collision. + +VINCENT +That was a red light! + +Max glances in the rearview. + +MAX +...not until now. So what's it all +matter? It don't. Fuck it. Fix it. +Nothing to lose. Right? + +Vincent's H+K's aimed at Max's head. Max almost laughs. + +VINCENT +Slow the hell down! + +MAX +Why? What are you gonna do? Pull the +trigger? Kill us? Go ahead, man! +Shoot...my ass. + +VINCENT +Slow down! + +MAX +Vincent? + +Their eyes meet in the rearview mirror. Vincent is arrested by +a look in Max that he's not seen before. It's the even, +confrontational look of a man with nothing to lose. + +MAX (CONT'D) +Go fuck yourself. + +Max slams on the brakes and cranks the steering wheel hard +right... + +9/27/03 MM revs. (buff) 93A. + + +87 EXT. STREET - RIGHT WHEEL 87 + +hits a low divider...rear end comes unstuck, rotating over the +front right and flipping the cab into a violent roll onto its +roof, spinning down the street, SMASHING off other cars, pieces +falling off, spewing glass... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 94. +87 CONTINUED: 87 + +...and then settling upside-down, revolving slowly to a creaking +stop, antifreeze spilling across the pavement. + +And then everything goes silent, motionless, still. + +87A INT. CAB 87A + +Wreckage. Steam from the ruptured radiator. Crumpled metal. +Missing hood. Disintegrated windshield...shattered glass. + +Max is trapped upside-down in his seatbelt, his roof half caved +in, one side of his face streaked with blood. Alive but dazed. + +Movement in the back. Sharp intake of breath. Then a voice... + +VINCENT +Well. That was brilliant. + +MAX +Was your seatbelt fastened, honey? + +-- and a BLOODY HAND shoots from the darkness behind him, * +plunging an aluminum section that used to hold the perspex +screen in place. Max jerks his head aside and the aluminum rail +misses him by inches, ramming solidly into the headrest instead. + +Max releases his seatbelt, dropping and hitting the ceiling of +the cab. Vincent, sardined in the reduced space in the back, +lunges forward. Max wildly fights to keep the knife at bay and +crawl out his window. We hear a POLICE SIREN. Vincent, eyes +glittering, kicks out the window on the other side. + +Max, crawling away on the pavement, keeping low, the taxi +between them, looks back... + +MAX'S POV: VINCENT + +...in a glimpse, running off into the night. Vincent's hand +pulls the .45 Para Ordnance backup from his waistband. +Vincent's SHOES CRUNCH on broken glass. He vanishes into +darkness as the SIREN GROWS near... + +Max pushes painfully to his feet. Looks around. + +A surreal moment. Max standing by his overturned cab, the empty +city all around him, breathing the cool night air. + +Alive. + +It strikes him in that moment. He's survived the night. The +blood pumping through his veins is a fact. It stuns him. +Overwhelms him. + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 95. +87A CONTINUED: 87A + +How good is life? + +The LAPD black and white screeches to a stop. A SERGEANT gets +out. + +SERGEANT +(into radio) +12A75 requesting an RA unit at Grand +and 9th for a TC with injuries... + +SERGEANT, looking at the truly wrecked cab... + +SERGEANT (CONT'D) +Are you alright? What happened? + +And the mundane beauty of the question makes Max look at him +like he's crazy, and there are tears streaming down his face. +The Sergeant approaches Max, gentle but firm: + +SERGEANT (CONT'D) +(as if to a child) +You've been in an accident. An +ambulance is on the way to help you. +Do you understand what I am saying to +you? Sit down on the curb. Okay? +(Max nods) +Anybody else in there? + +Max shakes his head. The Sergeant shines his flashlight on the +passenger compartment, concerned about Max. + +SERGEANT (CONT'D) +Don't worry about the cab. They'll +get you a new one. You okay? * + +MAX +(finds his voice) +I'm...fine. Fine. Just dizzy and * +shit. * + +SERGEANT +Sit there and breathe deep, sir. * +You'll be okay. * + +The Sergeant, now at the rear of the cab, to make sure there's +no gasoline spill, suddenly freezes, his flashlight beam finding +the trunk lid ajar from the crash, and inside is the corpse of +Ramone Gallardo in a sprawled heap. + +SERGEANT (CONT'D) +Put your hands where I can see 'em! +Get on your knees! Slowly! + +MAX +Huh? + +(CONTINUED) + +10/2/03 MM revs. (tan) 96. +87A CONTINUED: (2) 87A + +Sergeant's gun is out on Max. Max does as he's told, getting to +his knees on the pavement. Curious. The whole thing strikes +Max as insane. Absurd. + +87B OMIT 87B + +87C EXT. STREET - MAX 87C + +MAX +Sure. Arrest me. Take me in. Police +station. LA County's good. + +...and he's on his knees, hands on his head. Sergeant coming up +behind him, covering him. Per procedure, Sergeant holsters his +weapon, draws his cuffs, and grabs Max's right wrist, cuffing +it. + +MAX (SLO-MO) + +One arm is brought down behind his back... + +MAX'S POV: PUSH SLOWLY INTO DEBRIS + +from the wreckage. Granules of shattered safety glass. Max's +on-board computer that Vincent used - upside down - and "ON"... +And... + +TIGHTER ON MAX (SLO-MO) + +as he sees the display from Vincent's flash drive of the last * +two targets. Max's falls forward and flattens his face on the +pavement to see... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 97. +87C CONTINUED: 87C + +MAX'S POV PUSHING IN + +The split image. On the left is Peter Yip. On the right is... + +ANNIE FARRELL. ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY. + +MAX (SLO-MO) + +Breath goes out of him. Target #5 is Annie. As the Sergeant is * +struggling for Max's left hand, now, Max's lunges for... * + +UNDER SHATTERED GLASS + +the visible grip of Vincent's .45 H+K. * + +MAX + +pulls the Sergeant off-balance, whips the H+K around while still +on his back, jamming the gun to the Sergeant's head. Sergeant's +hand reaches for his holstered Beretta... + +MAX (CONT'D) +Get your hand off your gun! + +Max jams the gun tighter to the Sergeant's head. He's not +certain where to point it. + +MAX (CONT'D) +Look, someone's gonna get killed if I * +don't, it's... * + +SERGEANT +(cuts in) * +PUT YOUR GUN DOWN! + +MAX +NO! I gotta go, see, you don't... * + +SERGEANT +(cuts in) * +PUT THE GUN DOWN! + +MAX +HEY, HEY! When did this become a +negotiation? + +Max grabs the gun out of the Sergeant's holster and tosses it +under the car. He takes his second set of cuffs... + +MAX (CONT'D) +Cuff yourself to the goddamn door. + +Sergeant cuffs his arm through the window frame of the open +squad-car door. Max tosses the key. Trapped. + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 98. +87C CONTINUED: (2) 87C + +SERGEANT +You're in a world of shit... + +MAX +Good! Do us a favor. Call the +police! I'm going to 6th and Fig. * +(running off) * +I got no time to explain... * + +...and the last the Sergeant sees of him, Max is vanishing up +the street into the darkness. + +A87D EXT. STREET - MAX A87D * + +Running. + +Stripped of everything now. Operating purely on instinct. +Vincent's gun in his right hand, handcuff dangling from his left +wrist... + +Running. + +The city silent around him. The only sound is his feet hitting +the pavement... + +Running. + +TWO COP CARS rocketing through an intersection a block or so +behind him, SIRENS WAILING. Max veers for cover, not breaking +stride, pressing on... + +More distant SIRENS, now, police units responding...Max, racing +up the middle of the street... + +Seeing a late-night PARTIER coming out of The Standard with a +CELL PHONE, Max grabbing the phone right out of his hand as he +sails past him, the Partier spinning around to chase after +him... + +PARTIER +Hey, asshole! + +Max whips around, H+K snapping up. + +MAX +Fuck off! + +The man does. Max keeps running, dialing, fumbling Annie's +business card from his pocket, getting the numbers wrong, trying * +again... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/2/03 MM revs. (green) 99. +87C CONTINUED: (3) 87C + +...and he finally stops, gasping for breath, punching in the +final numbers. LOUSY signal. CAMERA CIRCLES AROUND MAX * +TO REVEAL... * + +87D EXT. PARKING STRUCTURE 87D + +Max runs up the stairs of a parking structure to get a better * +signal. He and we SEE... * + +MAX'S POV: FEDERAL BUILDING + +across the freeway. Dark offices. Only a few have lights on. * +Except... + +Three floors that are completely lit, 14th through 16th. + +MAX +(gripping cell phone) +C'mon, go through, go through... + +Through intermittent CELL PHONE STATIC, we hear RINGING on the * +other end... + +87E INT. FEDERAL BUILDING LOBBY - VINCENT - NIGHT 87E + +uses a card similar to the one we saw in the front to gain * +access to the elevator lobby without setting off the alarms. +BUT this card's connected to a wristband with other key cards * +and an identification card of a heavyset black woman. We don't +understand... + +WIDER * + +beyond Vincent the lobby's vacancy is sinister... * + +87F OMIT 87F * + +88 INT. ELEVATOR - NIGHT 88 + +Vincent rides up, watching the numbers climb... + +89 OMIT 89 + +89A EXT. PARKING STRUCTURE - NIGHT 89A + +Max waits, heart pounding, phone ringing, eyes scanning the * +windows... + +He sees a FIGURE on the uppermost well-lit floor, 16, through * +the south windows cross an office to grab the phone. Annie. +INTERCUT WITH: + +9/2/03 MM revs. (green) 99A. + + +90 INT. US ATTORNEY'S OFFICE - ANNIE - NIGHT 90 * + +lays down some files and grabs up the phone, bleary from +exhaustion. She wasn't kidding about pulling an all-nighter. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 100. +90 CONTINUED: 90 + +ANNIE +Annie Farrell. + +MAX +(gasping for breath) +Annie...it's Max. + +ANNIE +(uncertain) +Max... + +MAX +Max, the cab driver! + +ANNIE +(beat) +Max? +(glances at clock) +...kind of a strange time to be +calling... + +MAX +Listen! Listen, okay? There's a man. +His name's Vincent. He's come to kill +you! + +ANNIE +He's...what? Where are you...? * + +MAX +(shouting) +Kill you! He is coming to kill you! + +ANNIE +(beat) +Is this a joke? 'Cause it is not +funny. + +MAX +A guy, Felix, hired him! Or people +Felix works for. He's already killed +witnesses, now he's coming after you! +He was scoping out your building when +I dropped you off. I don't know what +happened, but he got into my cab. + +90A INT. ELEVATOR LOBBY - ELEVATOR DOORS 90A + +slide open. Vincent emerges onto the floor, using a master key +card to enter the office... + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 101. + + +91 INT. OFFICE - ANNIE 91 + +tries to decipher what Max is saying through the CELL PHONE +DROPOUTS: + +ANNIE +Did you say Felix? As in Reyes- +Torrena? How do you know about my +case? I don't understand... + +MAX +It doesn't matter! Get out of the +goddamn building... + +92 INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT 92 + +...but it's too late, Vincent's at a wooden door in the wood-and- +glass office interior with an "Assistant U.S. Attorney Annie +Farrell" sign. He kicks in the door at the lock. It slams +open. He's through, H+K up... + +REVERSE: NOTHING + +Empty. No one's home. It's not the same office. Vincent steps +in... + +92A INT. 16TH FLOOR OFFICE 92A + +Annie finally grasps what Max is telling her: + +ANNIE +...okay, okay, Max, I believe +you...I'll get out of the building... + +MAX +No, no, wait...! +93 OMIT 93 + +93A EXT. PARKING STRUCTURE - MAX 93A + +sees across the freeway: Vincent looking through Annie's +office. It's on the 14th floor... + +LOW ANGLE PAST MAX * + +CAMERA TILTS UP to reveal Annie two floors above. She's frozen * +at a table in the law library on the south wall, phone to her * +ear. * + +93B INT. 14TH FLOOR, ANNIE'S OFFICE - VINCENT 93B + +SEES purse, take-out, coffee cups...Vincent KNOWS she's still * +here. + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 101A. +93B CONTINUED: 93B + +And the ANGLE becomes OVER VINCENT out the window to the parking +structure below and to the speck on the roof - Max, watching +him. + +93C EXT. PARKING STRUCTURE - MAX 93C + +MAX +...he's two floors below you. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 102. +93C CONTINUED: 93C + +ANNIE * +In my office?! + +MAX +Where are you, what floor? + +ANNIE +Sixteen, law library and files. * + +MAX +He doesn't know you're up there! Stay +right where you are! Call 911! + +ANNIE +Max, are you sure? + +MAX +Call the goddamn police! Don't move +from that spot... + +94 INT. 14TH FLOOR - NIGHT 94 + +Vincent pauses from examining offices with half-glass interior +walls. His eyes going to a desk phone. Three banks of +extensions. All dark. ONLY ONE of the extension buttons is +GLOWING. Then it goes out. Then it lights up again. * + +Glowing light. It's Annie calling 911. Next to it is typed the * +extension's location. + +Files Section, 16th Fl. + +Vincent looks up. He knows where she is. CAMERA TILTS UP of +his look... + +95 OMIT 95 + +95A EXT. PARKING STRUCTURE - MAX 95A + +sees, realizes Vincent knows where she is... + +MAX +(into cell phone) +Hang up. Hang up! Annie, get out! +He knows where you are! + +96 INT. 16TH FLOOR FILES SECTION - ANNIE 96 + +lost in CELL PHONE INTERMITTENT CUT-OUT... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 103. +96 CONTINUED: 96 + +ANNIE +Hello? Max? What did you say? + +No use. He's gone. She punches a clear line, dials 911... + +97 OMIT 97 + +97A EXT. PARKING STRUCTURE - MAX 97A + +frantically hits redial. Nothing. No signal. SHRILL FAST-BUSY +TONE. No cell service. + +MAX +Shit! + +Pure desperation. He glances over the abutment to the grass +slope below. No time to think. He acts. Fuck it. He jumps, +clumsily, falling, rolling... + +97B FALLING DOWN THE SLOPE 97B + +with Max. Desperate, not graceful, pushing to his feet, ankle +wrenched, racing/hobbling, grass-stained hoody, across... + +97C INT. 14TH FLOOR - LONG LENS ON MAX 97C + +...crossing the bridge over the Harbor Freeway to the office +building... + +98 INT. 16TH FLOOR FILES SECTION - NIGHT 98 + +...as Annie listens to the 911 RECORDING: + +VOICE +...call will be answered in the order +received. If this is not an +emergency... + +99 OMIT 99 + +99A EXT. FEDERAL BUILDING, LOBBY (GAS CO. WEST OVERVIEW) - MAX 99A + +enters. The sidewalk is elevated above the lobby. Through the +brightly-lit glass walks Max sees the lobby is strangely vacant. * +No security guards. (Then he SEES a LONG SMEAR OF BLOOD across * +the white stone...) + +99B OMIT 99B + +100 INT. 16TH FLOOR FILES SECTION - ANNIE 100 + +finally hears a CLICK ON THE LINE as: + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/21/03 MM revs. (pink) 104. +100 CONTINUED: 100 + +FEMALE VOICE (FILTERED) +911. How can I help you...? + +ANNIE +There's a man in the building! He's +trying to kill me. I'm... + +100A INT. UTILITY ROOM, 16TH FLOOR - FIRE AX 100A + +WHACK! Vincent swings it again, instantly severing the 16th +floor's power and telephone trunk line. Sparks emit from the +bundled cables in the thick conduit. He tosses the ax, exits +into the hallway, jabs the elevator button... + +100B EXT. FEDERAL BUILDING, LOBBY (EAST VIEW) - MAX 100B * + +appears. And SEES...dead NIGHT WATCHWOMAN squeezed behind the * +security desk... * + +101 INT. FILES SECTION - NIGHT 101 + +...as Annie finds herself talking to a dead line: + +ANNIE +...hello? + +Meanwhile... + +102 EXT. BUILDING LOBBY - NIGHT 102 + +Max hurls a steel trash can at the glass wall with all his +might. It just bounces off. + +Max pauses, stymied. He raises Vincent's H+K clumsily in one +hand, braces himself, squeezes the trigger. Nothing. Is there +a safety on this thing? He finds it. + +He tries again. FIRES TWO SHOTS into the glass door. The gun +almost kicks out of his hand. But the door disintegrates. He +walks through... + +103 INT. 16TH FLOOR FILES SECTION - NIGHT 103 + +Annie, frozen with indecision. What to do? Stay or go? + +(In keeping with the building's design, a WALL OF GLASS +separates this area from the corridor beyond, which is separated +by glass from other offices and the lobby. Normally, you'd be +able to see people working, walking the hallway.) + +Right now, the corridor's dark. Terrifying. + +She forces herself to move, to cross the office, run now...for +the door to the... + +(CONTINUED) + +9/21/03 MM revs. (pink) 104A. +103 CONTINUED: 103 + +INTERNAL CORRIDOR + +...but she only gets ten feet before she's stopped by... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 105. +103 CONTINUED: (2) 103 + +A door opening. A SOFT FOOTSTEP. Somebody's there. Somebody * +stealthy. * + +She backs up, against the floor-to-ceiling windows. Frozen. * +Heart pounding. Listening. Against the city at night out the +windows... * + +She backs up, further towards the windows, back into... * + +103A INT. FILES SECTION 103A + +...where she backs past file cabinets. Not deep enough. +Nowhere to hide. So she backs along the glass. Nothing now but +the CITY GLOW spilling faintly through the windows. Low shelves +of legal books. Tables offering no cover. While... + +A SHADOW + +tracks against the city laid out to the south, the 110 and 10 +like arteries carrying white and red cells (headlights and +taillights)... + +ANNIE crouches under a table and crawls backwards. She can't +hear a thing. Her heart pounds. The silence makes her want to +scream. + +A POV of empty, scary office. Over the table, b.g., is the +glass wall running the length of the office area. The corridor +beyond. Empty. + +A SHADOW...? Did she see a shadow pass against the murky +darkness out there? + +A soft sound. Feet on carpet. Did she hear it? Is she +imagining it? The breath catches in her throat. Eyes wide. + +THE SHADOW + +in the bullpen by a corridor. It lurks, silently. Waiting. +It's Vincent. + +FRONTAL: VINCENT + +And then he moves. Softly. Quietly... + +TIGHT ON ANNIE + +Under the table...by the windows. A huddled form against the +city lights and helicopters. Waiting. Not breathing. Still as +a statue. Then the urge is too strong. + +She's got to get out, get out now! + +Annie on her hands and knees, trying to crawl away, +soundlessly... + +(CONTINUED) + +8/24/03 MM revs. 106. +103A CONTINUED: 103A + +...not realizing that walking upon her, SOUNDLESSLY, from the * +back is Vincent. She doesn't know. He's a shadow in the * +dimness. + +ANNIE + +senses. Stops. Turns...and she sees the shape - twenty feet * +away - of Vincent...the Para-Ordnance .45 coming up. The .45 * +cal barrel like a tunnel into nothingness. * + +VINCENT'S EYES + +are cold, indifferent. * + +VINCENT'S FINGER * + +squeezing off the slack on the trigger. * + +VINCENT'S EYES + +sense. Stops. Turns. * + +A SILHOUETTE + +in a doorway. Aiming a gun. He's backlit by a red emergency * +light on a rear wall. For a moment, Vincent can't bring himself * +to believe it... * + +VINCENT +Max? + +MAX +Let her go. + +Vincent smiles, it's harsh, almost canine... * + +VINCENT +What are you gonna do, shoot m-- + +BLAM! A MUZZLE FLASH. Vincent got kicked in the head. He goes * +sprawling. + +Max rushes up to Annie. Grabs her arm, jerks her away... * + +ANNIE +Max...? + +He pulls her to her feet. Both of them backing away, running * +for the door. A GROAN. Max pulls her harder. * + +VINCENT + +rises, gets behind cover. Sitting up, eyes glittering, hand * +clasped to the side of his head, blood coursing through his +fingers. + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 107. +103A CONTINUED: (2) 103A + +VINCENT +Jesus, Max. You shot my ear off. * + +He pulls his hand away, sitting on the floor, staring at the * +sheet of blood on his palm. He looks at the fleeing Max. + +VINCENT (CONT'D) +Okay, MAX! + +103B INT. GLASS CORRIDORS - MAX 103B + +has the H+K aimed, backing for the elevator lobby... + +103C VINCENT APPEARS 103C + +around a corner, clearing space. Fast. His Para-Ordnance up. +Max and Annie running, now... Vincent sees vague shapes... + +BOOM-BOOM! BOOM-BOOM! Gunshots punch through the glass, inches +from Max and Annie, collapsing walls revealing Vincent against +the LA-scape. Blossoms of white flame: BOOM-BOOM... + +103D INT. ELEVATOR LOBBY 103D + +...and a moment later the GLASS WALL EXPLODES into the corridor, +by a chair, CRASHING through it, followed by Vincent, into the +elevator lobby, while... + +103E INT. ELEVATOR - MAX 103E + +hits the ground-floor button and "close," the doors taking a +million years to do that. As they're sliding shut, he sees +Vincent across the lobby, raising the gun... + +Max throws himself on Annie, both to the floor. BULLETS PUNCH +through the paper-thin sheet-metal doors. But the elevator's +moving now... + +103F INT. 16TH FLOOR HALLWAY 103F + +...leaving Vincent behind. He darts for the stairs. + +103G INT. ELEVATOR 103G + +Max and Annie on the floor, breathing hard, staring at each +other in wordless shock. They reach the ground floor... + +103H INT. BUILDING LOBBY 103H + +...and Max drags her forward, the two of them racing across for +the exit, seen WIDE + HIGH in REAR SHOT (Gas Co. lobby, running +to S.E.)... + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 108. + + +103J INT. BUILDING STAIRWELL 103J + +Vincent careens down the steps, the entire side of his head +bloody, his ear mostly gone. He SLAMS through a door into -- + +103K INT. LOBBY 103K + +-- where he finds the elevator standing empty. He hears a door +alarm, turns, runs across the lobby... + +103L INT. LOWER LOBBY - VINCENT 103L + +enters and races down the frozen escalator to CAMERA. * + +A103M INT. MTA - REAR SHOT: MAX + ANNIE A103M * + +enter and run through the interior hall OR down the lower * +staircase. * + +103M INT./EXT. MTA - LOW/WIDE ANGLE: VINCENT 103M + +entering from the street, diagonally, down to CAM. (The office +building is behind him.) + +104 OMIT 104 * + +105 INT. BOARDING PLATFORMS (GREEN LINE) - MAX + ANNIE 105 * + +race towards the boarding area. * + +Hardly anyone in sight, except for an OLD WHITE HOMELESS GUY * +with a TV set in a shopping cart powered by a car battery. * + +MAX * +CALL THE POLICE! + +He stares at them like they're nuts. They run towards the empty * +platform. No train! * + +Neon-lit, strange art, like dead people floating in a pool, * +hangs from the ceiling. * + +Max and Annie run, turning this way and that, trying to decide * +what to do. * + +A105A OVER MAX + ANNIE - SAME A105A * + +They run down ANOTHER STAIRCASE where we see the BLUE LINE * +PLATFORMS, running at 90 degrees. No train there, either! They * +race down, anyway to get away, because... * + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 108A. + + +105A EXT. TOP OF STAIRS TO GREEN LINE PLATFORM - REAR SHOT: 105A * +VINCENT * + +runs into frame, SEES Max and Annie 50-75 yards away, racing * +down the stairs to the Blue Line...a difficult shot, Vincent * +aims, elevates the front sight... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 109. +105A CONTINUED: 105A + +BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! Vincent FIRES THREE ROUNDS... * + +105B INT. BLUE LINE PLATFORM - MAX + ANNIE 105B * + +cut by .45 caliber bullets chewing craters in the ceramic tiles * +inches from them. + +106 INT. BLUE LINE - MAX + ANNIE 106 * + +HEAR, NOW, A TRAIN PULL IN. BUT it's upstairs on the Green * +Line. They run down the platform for the stairs back UP! * + +A106A INT. GREEN LINE PLATFORM - VINCENT A106A * + +running, SEES the train arriving on the OPPOSITE PLATFORM. He * +looks down to the stairs to the Blue Line. A train pulls in * +there, too! Decision time. * + +B106A INT. GREEN LINE, THE FOURTH SUBWAY CAR - MAX + ANNIE B106A * + +...are discovered crawling into the car. They collapse, low on * +the floor, waiting for the doors to close, the train to pull * +out, hoping Vincent hasn't followed... * + +VINCENT * + +has to decide, has to second-guess Max. A beat. The train sits * +there for seconds. It seems like hours, like fucking forever. * +Vincent riveted to the spot. Max + Annie praying Vincent * +doesn't appear. * + +The doors start to close, sliding irrevocably shut. * + +VINCENT * + +Then he knows. With no hesitation, he leaps off the platform * +onto the rails as the train starts to pull out. * + +C106A INT. FOURTH SUBWAY CAR - MAX + ANNIE C106A * + +are at the sliding which adjoins the fourth car to the * +third car. The train's picking up speed. Where's Vincent? As * +a precaution, they start for the third car. * + +D106A EXT. MTA - HELICOPTER FROM ABOVE D106A * + +...we're out of the subway on the surface... * + +106A INT. THIRD CAR - MAX + ANNIE 106A * + +low, down the aisle of the third car, rising for the door. And * +Max turns and looks: * + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 109A. +106A CONTINUED: 106A + +VINCENT * + +standing in the fourth car, staring at him. * + +106B OMIT 106B * + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 110. + + +106C INT. SECOND CAR - MAX + ANNIE 106C * + +race in as ROUNDS pound through glass into the second car. * +ROUNDS SLAM through metal and glass. * + +106D INT. FOURTH CAR - VINCENT - NIGHT 106D * + +VINCENT * + +is coming... * + +VARIOUS ANGLES + +...and the SEQUENCE BUILDS, Vincent working toward the front... +Max and Annie desperately looking for cover. City racing by. +Train racing by city. A few RAGGED PASSENGERS trying to huddle +out of harm's way with nowhere to go. As the TRAIN THUNDERS AND +SHRIEKS over the track junctures... + +THE FIRST CAR + +Max and Annie rush in, slide the door shut. This is as far as +they can go. They drop into a crouch at the door, breathing +hard, terrified, Max with his back against the wall, arm stiffly +keeping the door handle wedged tight, his head just below the +door's window. A harsh, ragged whisper: + +ANNIE +Where's the next station? + +A frozen moment. Eyes locked. Knowing they're probably going +to die together, even though they hardly know each other. + +THE TRAIN GOES BLACK, LIGHTS DYING AS THEY SHRIEK OVER ANOTHER +JUNCTURE...then the LIGHTS RETURN, stuttering. + +Max rises slightly up, peers over the lip of the window. Here +comes fucking Vincent down the aisle of the second car. He sees +Max. He shouts, barely audible from here... +VINCENT +YOU CAN'T WIN, MAX! I DO THIS FOR A +LIVING! + +...and he keeps coming, .45 at his side, a sheet of blood down +his face from the missing part of his ear. + +...the visage of Vincent, the .45 in his hands, scares the shit +out of the early-morning passengers. + +...and Max clutches the H+K, takes a deep, shaky breath, his +eyes on Annie's, not even sure in that moment what he's going to +do, probably die, and he lunges up, Vincent not ten feet away... + +AND THE TRAIN GOES DARK. + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 110A. +106D CONTINUED: 106D + +A BLIZZARD OF MUZZLE FLASHES, both men FIRING THROUGH THE +WINDOWS at each other, GLASS SHATTERING between the cars and +getting sucked away by the wind, Max screaming, face lit only by +the GUNFIRE, clumsy in how he holds Vincent's H+K, firing one- +handed, not aiming, not looking where he's shooting...Vincent's +Para-Ordnance BOOMING OUT MASSIVE ERUPTIONS OF FLAME... + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +9/30/03 MM revs. (cherry) 111. +106D CONTINUED: (2) 106D + +...and then abrupt silence as the LIGHTS RETURN, Max looking * +down, his expression nearly childlike with terror. He stares at +the H+K in his shaking hand, sees the slide is locked back - +gun's empty. He rises up. His look says, "go ahead, kill +me..." through the shattered window. + +Vincent's standing in the other car, right where we left him. +Watching Max. A little smile on his face. + +107 INT. VINCENT'S CAR - NIGHT 107 + +Vincent ejects the empty magazine. Before it even hits the +floor or at his feet...Vincent's hand loading a full mag, the +weapon pointed at Max, like it was when he reloaded and shot +Peter Yip the first time. + +Odd, though. His fingers aren't working that well. His +brilliant sleight-of-hand seems gone. He fumbles the reload, in +fact. + +The magazine of stacked .45's drops, landing at his feet among +the expended casings. A few fresh droplets of blood patter +quietly. + +Vincent considers picking up the mag, but it suddenly seems like +way too much trouble. He blinks at the .45 in his hand, as if +confused, then turns and starts unsteadily back toward the back +of the car. + +The .45 slips from his fingers, clattering to the floor. + +Max watches Vincent walk away. + +Vincent only makes it halfway. He has to sit. He grabs an +aluminum pole, eases himself onto the seat, trying to catch his +breath. + +Max slides his door open, steps across the bridge between cars. +Slides the second door open. Enters. + +Vincent turns his head slightly, watching Max draw cautiously +nearer. Max stares down, seeing the blood spreading across the +floor beneath Vincent. Turning into quite a pool. + +Vincent tries to speak, can't quite manage. Max sits across +from him. Annie appears in b.g., watching them. + +VINCENT + MAX + +sit there, riding the train. Softly: + +MAX +We're almost at the next station. + + +(CONTINUED) + +10/9/03 MM revs. (yellow) 112. +107 CONTINUED: 107 + +Vincent smiles faintly. He leans his head toward Max as if +conferring a secret. In a halting whisper: + +VINCENT +Guy. Gets on a subway. Dies. +(off Max's look) +Think anybody'll notice? + +MAX + +looks into Vincent's eyes. It means "I'm that guy" and "will +anybody notice me when I'm gone?" + +VINCENT + +leans back, gazing straight ahead now. Rocking gently with the +motion of the train... + +...and with much effort and to Max's amazement, Vincent emits a +soft, rasping wheeze, but it's a faint laugh all the same. + +Max has no idea what's so funny to a dying man. Vincent looks. + +Max follows his gaze. There, right across the car, among all +the ADVERTISEMENTS near the ceiling, is: + +AN AD + +The whitest sand and bluest sea you can imagine. A dream place. +Limitless horizon. * + +107A INT. VINCENT'S CAR - MAX - DAWN 107A + +Vincent's no longer laughing. In fact, Vincent's no longer +doing anything. Ever. + +Annie comes to Max and sits. She shivers. Max takes off his +zippered, hooded sweatshirt and puts it around Annie. It's a +small gesture. But it's a protective and confident act... She +takes his hand. Dawn lightens the sky ahead. They ride the +train together, side by side, neither saying a word. For now. + +The train pulls in to a station... + +WIDE ANGLE OF SUBWAY CAR + +...and Max pulls Annie to her feet. The doors open. They +silently get off. The first sideways streams of yellow light +shaft into the station. + +The doors close again. The train pulls out. + + + + +(CONTINUED) + +8/24/03 MM revs. 113. +107A CONTINUED: 107A + +WE HOLD ON Vincent for a while. Riding the train by himself, +into the dawn, his head back as if sleeping, alone in the car, * +as the sun rises. + +Another dead guy on the subway...riding into a new day. + +And Max, in his Polo shirt and dirty pants, an arm around Annie, * +wearing his stained sweatshirt, rises to us up the * +escalator...freeways, arteries of traffic behind them. * + +FADE OUT \ No newline at end of file