HEAT
by
Michael Mann
FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY
REVISED DRAFT
March 3, 1994
Converted to PDF by SCREENTALK
www.screentalk.org
EXT. CEDARS-SINAI - WIDE - DAY
A monolith with alienating foregrounds. A bus pulls in on
Beverly. NEIL McCAULEY and a nurse get off. Neil carries
a paper bag and wears white pants like a hospital attendant.
Neil is an ice-cold professional: very big, very tough.
At 42 his short black hair is graying. He spent eight
years in McNeil and three in San Quentin. He got out and
hit the street in 1987. Four of the McNeil years were
spent in the hole. Neil's voice is street, but his language
is precise like an engineer's. He's very careful and very
good. Neil runs a professional crew that pulls down high
line, high number scores and does it anyway the score has
to be taken down: if on the prowl (a burglary), that's
fine; if they have to go in strong (armed), that's fine
too. And if you get in their way, that's got to be your
problem. His lifestyle is obsessively functional. There's
no steady woman or any encumbrance. Neil McCauley keeps
it so there's nothing he couldn't walk from in 30 seconds
flat.
ANGLE
Right now, he enters the big double doors and pulls a white
intern's coat from his paper bag.
CUT TO:
INT. CEDARS-SINAI CORRIDOR - TRAVELING TWO SHOT - DAY
We DOLLY on Neil as he crosses through the long crowded
corridor. Patients, nurses, interns and doctors pass by.
A P.A. broadcasts occasional messages.
PROFILE
Nail crosses under an "EMERGENCY" sign and keeps going
towards the exit doors.
TRAVELING - FRONTAL
Neil APPROACHES THE CAMERA. From the other direction two
ambulance attendants wheel an old man under oxygen and
pass by Neil.
CUT TO:
WIDE REAR SHOT
Without breaking his stride from the moment he got off the
bus, Neil exits through the doors, examines four ambulances
parked in the slots, climbs into one and drives off. Maybe
he's stolen it. We don't know.
CUT TO:
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EXT. R & C CONSTRUCTION SUPPLIES - ON CHRIS - DAY
CHRIS SHIHERLIS crosses past stacks of gravel and cement
with a white-coated BLACK CLERK. Chris wears a hard hat
over a mongol cut, Levi's, black boots and a sleeveless
sweat shirt and carries on one shoulder a 150 lb., red,
Milwaukee Tool Company case. He looks like a construction
worker by day who by night hits L.A's slams, jams and raves.
He's 29, from Austin, Texas. Chris is also a highline
pro: a boxman who knows five ways to open any safe made.
Right now he's buying a hollow core drill. He and McCauley
were cellmates in San Quentin Penitentiary from 1984 to
1987. Chris hit the streets in 1988. He's a hot dog and
spends money as fast as he makes it. Right now, he and
the Clerk exit to the sales counter.
CUT TO:
EXT. SALES COUNTER - TWO SHOT
As they approach, the Clerk goes behind it.
CLERK
What you working on?
CHRIS
Drillin' some post holes into
concrete ...
CLERK
(re: toolcase)
With that you can ream solid
steel. Check, charge, or cash?
CHRIS
Cash. Put "Jack's Fencing" on
the receipt.
CLERK
$788. 30
Chris pays; Clerk writes receipt.
CLERK
(continuing)
...that a good racket? I ought
to get out from behind this
counter...
CHRIS
(takes receipt)
Yeah.
(beat)
Take it easy.
He leaves with the heavy red case.
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INT. "TOYS 'R' US STORE" - ON CERRITO - DAY
MICHAEL CERRITO - at 40 - is looking at a doll house.
He's a wide, thick, coarse-featured big man. Sicilian
from Sunnyside, he's spent 15 years in Attica, Joliet and
Marion penitentiaries. He's strictly a "cowboy": his
natural inclination towards a score is "...get the guns
and let's go." He's been off smack and everything else
for five years. He's clean and sober. He's the nicest
guy on the block and a loving father. If you get in his
way, he'll kill you as soon as look at you. If you asked
him about the contradictions, he wouldn't know what you
were talking about.
CLOSE OR DOLL HOUSE DETAILS
It's 3 x 6 and two feet high. Miniature room sets are
inside. Cerrito's thick fingers close the door. He picks
it up. WIDEN. He crosses to a counter and MIDDLE-AGED
CLERK.
CERRITO
Wrap this here up.
CLERK
Yessir. You're going to have a
happy little girl.
CERRITO
Two. I got two girls.
CLERK
That's nice.
CERRITO
Yeah. And gimme those three
masks there.
Clerk takes down Clark Gable, Three-eyed Monster, and
Beautiful Lady, full-head rubber masks.
CERRITO
(continuing)
Gimme Donald Duck, too
CLERK
(does and laughs)
A little early for Halloween?
CERRITO
Yeah. Halloween's coming early
this year. What do I owe you?
CUT TO:
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INT. CONDOMINIUM - A HAND - MORNING
Slides across the back of JUSTINE'S thigh.
JUSTINE'S AND HANNA'S FACES
She is 29, auburn, languorous, her eyes are closed and she
makes love with her husband, VINCENT HANNA. Pressing her
face to his, their hair intertwined... It's morning. We
are in an expensive condominium.
WIDE
The two bodies locked into the rhythms of their love-making,
twisted in white sheets. OFF SCREEN a shower runs.
CUT TO:
INT. SHOWER - HANNA
Is in it. The water streams off his body. The glass is
misted. He turns off only the hot and breathes fast in
the cold spray. OFF SCREEN a cigarette lighter CLICKS.
CUT TO:
BEDROOM - JUSTINE
smoking, still under the white sheets, watches Hanna dress.
JUSTINE
... taking me out to breakfast?
HANNA
(looks at watch)
Can't. Bosko's waiting..
LAUREN
(passing door)
Hi Vincent. Mom, where's my
barrettes?
LAUREN, Justine's daughter, is 15 and tall and anxious.
HANNA
Hi, sweetie.
JUSTINE
I saw them on the kitchen
(to Hanna)
Want me to make coffee?
HANNA
(to Lauren in other
room)
No school today?
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LAUREN (O.S.)
Daddy's picking me up! We're
going to see the new site and
then shopping and lunch.
(beat)
They're not on the table.
JUSTINE
Then I don't know...
(to Hanna)
He's already half an hour late.
HANNA
He gonna show? Or the son of a
bitch gonna stand her up like
last time?
Hanna clips a 2" .38 in his waistband. Justine shrugs and
shakes her head.
JUSTINE
(starting out of
bed)
Want the coffee?
HANNA
I'm out of time...
He leaves.
JUSTINE
Falls back on the pillow,
disappointed. It's as if she'd
been stood-up. The bed sheet
falls half off of her. She's
exposed, vulnerable. She looks
out the window, occluded by light
muslin, away from us and exhales.
CUT TO:
INT. MACARTHUR PARK, MEN'S ROOM - ON WAINGRO - DAY
Bare-chested washing at a sink. WAINGRO'S 27. He sports
prison tattoos including an Aryan Brotherhood swastika
covering his abdomen. He's a graduate of the "gladiator
academies," Chino and Tracy.
He's dressed in Army and Navy Store gray workman's clothes.
He combs his long hair straight back off his round forehead.
Now he tucks his shirt in and puts on wrap around shades.
CUT TO:
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EXT. MACARTHUR PARK - WAINGRO
Waits. His shell jacket is in a tight roll under his arm.
Then a garbage truck - a Dempsey Dumpster (the kind with a
power forklift on the front) - pulls up.
CUT TO:
INT. TRUCK - WIDE - DAY
Michael Cerrito is the driver.
CERRITO
You Waingro?
WAINGRO
Yeah.
He climbs in. Cerrito pulls out. Waingro - delayed -
offers his hand. Cerrito has to wait until he finishes
his gear change to shake it. The timing's a little weird.
WAINGRO
(continuing loud)
You're Cerrito huh?
(pause)
What kinda guy is this Neil?
CERRITO
(loud)
Okay.
Just do like he says. Exactly... like ... he ... says.
They have to talk loudly over the clapped-out ENGINE'S
NOISE.
CUT TO:
EXT. ALLEY - ON GARBAGE TRUCK - DAY
It's ABRUPTLY QUIET. The truck's parked. The two men sit
idly. Waingro finishes take-out coffee and tosses the
empty.
INT. TRUCK - CERRITO
Lights a cigarette. Belatedly, he offers one to Waingro.
Waingro lights up. The two men relax under the swirls of
blue smoke.
WAINGRO
You guys always work together?
CERRITO
All the time.
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WAINGRO
Real tight crew, huh?
CERRITO
That's right.
Awkward pause.
WAINGRO
This works good, maybe I could
go again?
Cerrito looks at Waingro. He wants to protect his
concentration.
CERRITO
Yeah. Stop talking, slick...
It ends the conversation. Waingro drums his fingernails
on the dash. He's anxious.
CUT TO:
CHEVY TOWTRUCK - ON TOWNER - DAY
TOWNER'S a sloppy, nondescript man in his 40's. He slouches
behind the wheel. A Bearcat 210 Scanner is under the dash
and a walkie-talkie on the seat. As in the garbage truck,
it's quiet and he waits. Then:
NEIL (V.O.)
(radio filter)
You ready if I need you?
TOWNER
(into radio; low)
Yeah.
NEIL (V.O.)
(radio filter)
Got their air?
TOWNER
Yeah.
At a low level we HEAR POLICE CALLS.
CUT TO:
INT. AMBULANCE - TWO SHOT - DAY
Chris and Neil are sitting in the front seat of the
ambulance Neil drove away from the hospital.
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RADIO ANNOUNCER
(radio filter)
...Daddio's jazz patio on KDCA.
Brought to you this fine day,
which is A-okay, by Twister.
Hey, mister, go out and buy a
bottle of that
Twister...Wiiiiiine...
NEIL
Turn it off.
Chris turns it OFF. A little anxiety develops.
CUT TO:
INT. GARBAGE TRUCK - TWO SHOT - DAY
CERRITO
(checks watch)
Time.
Waingro stubs out his cigarette in nervous jabs. Cerrito
pulls from a paper bag two of the rubber masks he bought
and surgical gloves. He and Waingro put them on quickly.
Cerrito has the monster mask three eyes and a twisted mouth.
Waingro is a beautiful woman. Their movements now are
very fast. Cerrito pulls the truck out of the alley.
CERRITO'S POV:
As we approach the street an armored truck passes by. We
fall in behind. At this point we realize these men are
going to pull down an armed robbery of this armored truck.
But, we turn LEFT. The armored truck went straight. Then
we turn RIGHT. However we SEE the armored truck again.
It turned left. Our paths will intersect at 90 degrees.
Meanwhile:
CUT TO:
INT. AMBULANCE - ON NEIL - DAY
He checks the chamber and then inserts into the grip of
his 9mm. Browning a 14-shot clip. Chris works the slide
of a Remington 810, 12-gauge shotgun and puts on a welder's
helmet. Neil pulls on the rubber mask of Donald Duck and
slings a stopwatch on a string around his neck.
CHRIS
Their response time?
NEIL
Two minutes, fifty seconds.
CUT TO:
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EXT. STREET - WIDE ON AMBULANCE + STREET BEHIND IT
The lumbering armored truck approaches...
NEIL (V.O.)
(calm)
We ought to be down the chute
into the escape route in 2:20.
(beat; breath)
Here we go...
CUT TO:
INT. ARMORED TRUCK - DRIVER'S POV: APPROACHING AMBULANCE -
DAY
With FLASHERS going. Suddenly it pulls diagonally across
the narrow street, as if trying a three point turn: Driver
of the armored truck slams on his brakes.
CUT TO:
INT. GARBAGE TRUCK - CERRITO'S POV: ARMORED TRUCK IN
PROFILE - DAY
We're accelerating at it.
CERRITO'S FOOT
punches the accelerator.
FRONTAL: GARBAGE TRUCK
a prehistoric beast charging at us.
CERRITO'S POV: JAMMING
at the armored truck.
COLLISION
We SLAM into it,
WIDE: ARMORED TRUCK
knocked onto its side, crushes against a wall.
CUT TO:
INT. ARMORED CAR - DRIVER - DAY
Stunned, pinned inside. Their world is sideways. It rains
desposit slips. GUARD ONE grabs the radio mike:
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GUARD #1
(into mike)
211! We're being taken down!
EXT. ALLEY - ON REAR OF ARMORED TRUCK
Neil, Chris, Cerrito and Waingro are on the move...
INT. CHEVY APACHE PICKUP - TOWNER - DAY
Listens to his BEARCAT POLICE SCANNER,
DISPATCHER (V.O.)
(radio filter)
Car 74, what's your ETA to the
211 in progress Hoover and 14th?
Over.
CAR 74 (V.O.)
(radio filter)
Car 74. Three minutes. Over.
DISPATCHER (V.O.)
(radio filter)
Car 74. Take it. Car 37, you're
back-up. Car...
TOWNER
(into radio to Neil)
There's the call. Three minutes.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - VEIL
With his radio earpiece starts a CHRONOMETER with a LOUD
CLICK.
ARMORED TRUCK - CHRIS
in a welder's mask with the hollow core drill drives the
10" diameter bit into the truck's armored plating. Neil
looks at his stopwatch.
WATCH:
28, 29, 30, 31, 32...
CLOSE - DRILL BIT
SCREAMING of metal as the hollow-core bit tears through
steel.
SHOTS
Neil with his Browning. Cerrito has an AR15 with its stock
collapsed. Waingro has a 9mm. Beretta.
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CHRIS
The bit has cut a 10" circle into the side through the
armored plating. Now Chris heaves the drill aside, steps
away, swings up his shotgun as...
CERRITO
swings a sledgehammer at the 10" disc. It falls inside
as.
NEIL
pulls the pin and tosses a grenade into the hole. It
EXPLODES and pours smoke.
NEIL
(yelling after it)
Next one blows you up! Out!
Now...
(beat;'shouts)
Now!
INT. ARMORED CAR - GUARD ONE
Coughing. His mask doesn't work. He lurches for the
door...
EXT. STREET - ARMORED CAR
Door crashes down, opens, Guard One falls out. Then GUARD
TWO. The DRIVER comes out his door. Cerrito grabs him.
Neil handles the two Guards.
NEIL
Up against the wall!
He yanks their guns away - his 9mm. At the back of each
man's head in turn.
THE DRIVER
tries to twist away as a reflex. Cerrito cracks him in
the face with the AR15, driving him to the wall.
WIDE: CERRITO + WAINGRO
cover the three. Neil moves into the Armored Truck to
join Chris who's already inside, ripping it apart,
searching. We see him disregard cash.
NEIL'S STOPWATCH
1:12.
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NEIL
(to Chris)
8o seconds left. Move it.
WAINGRO
behind the Beautiful Lady mask: trying hard to do good.
His gun jumps from Guard to Guard to Guard.
NEIL
looks at Waingro. WIDEN. Waingro's aware of Neil's
scrutiny.
WAINGRO
(to Guard Two)
Flatten - up against it! Higher!
He slaps the back of Guard Two's head with the gun barrel.
GUARD TWO
(a big, boastful
man, quietly)
...you didn't have that gun..
WAINGRO
What?!
CERRITO
(cuts in; cool)
That's true, slick, cause you're
a real tough guy. But he has
the gun. And me, too. So shut
the fuck up.
WIDE
Neil and Chris emerge from the van with one manila envelope.
NEIL
Move out!
(checks watch)
38 seconds left!
WIDE: WAINGRO
It's like Waingro can't hear. He's fixated with Guard
Two. Guard Two turns and looks at him arrogantly - more
concerned with his masculine pride than his safety. He's
a stupid man.
WAINGRO'S POV: VERY WIDE
Things happen slowly.
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WAINGRO (O.S.)
(quietly)
...hadda mouth off? In front of
them?
Waingro's arm points out at the man - with the gun at the
end - and FIRES.
ANGLE
Guard Two is blown up against the wall. Driver moves...
NEIL
leaving, spins.
DRIVER
reaching for a two-inch hammerless .38 back-up tucked in
his boot. As he brings it up...
NEIL'S 9MM. BROWNING
FIRES TWO HAMMERED-ON SHOTS.
CERRITO'S AR15
covers Guard One. Guard One stares at the men in the masks.
Once killing begins, he knows what will happen. Cerrito
looks at Neil...
NEIL
angry; nods.
CERRITO
kills Guard One with THREE SHOTS.
ON AMBULANCE
Neil literally throws Waingro into the back.
INT. AMBULANCE - ON CERRITO - DAY driving, lays rubber
down the alley. ON NEIL at watch.
NEIL
(disgusted)
Ten. Nine.
(tosses the watch;
into walkie-talkie
to Towner)
Blew the margin. Here we come.
CUT TO:
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INT. WHITE CHEVY APACHE TOWTRUCK - ON TOWNER - DAY
We HEAR police dispatcher on the Bearcat scanner.
TOWNER
(into radio)
One on your tail.
NEIL
(V.O.)
Here we come.
Towner drops the walkie-talkie out the window. He's
fastened a professional racing harness.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - REAR SHOT ON AMBULANCE - DAY
Skidding right into another side street.
REVERSE: BLACK + WHITE
in Code 3 scraping between the garbage truck and wall -
roars TO CAMERA. One cop already has his shotgun up.
CUT TO:
EXT. SIDE STREET - WIDE: AMBULANCE - DAY
Left down the street with FLASHERS going.
WIDE PROFILE: AMBULANCE
Streaks THROUGH THE FRAME. HOLD and SEE the Chevy towtruck
with Towner.
TOWNER
guns the engine.
BLACK + WHITE
bounces around the corner, the rear end comes out, skidding
left. Towner floors the towtruck. We SEE it's heavy front
bumper RAM the police car sideways.
EXT. GAS STATION - BLACK + WHITE
Is SMASHED SIDEWAYS into the station, careens off two cars
filling up...
ANGLE
... plows through a rack of pumps, takes out the air and
water reservoirs and wraps itself around a lamppost.
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Towner's towtruck's gone.
CUT TO:
EXT. RESIDENTIAL SIDE STREET - AMBULANCE - DAY
Pulls in and parks. Everyone abandons it, leaving masks,
rubber gloves, equipment, outer clothing inside. They
cross to a Chevrolet Caprice. They climb in. They pull
out.
CUT TO:
EXT. GAS STATION - WIDE - DAY
One cop has a cut forehead, tries to stand. Two more black
and whites pull in - flashers going. The driver staggers
out from behind the wheel and tries to shake clarity into
his head. He sits on the pavement.
CUT TO:
EXT. LAX PARKING LOT - WIDE BETWEEN THE CARS - DAY
Planes ROAR overhead in landings or takeoffs. Yellow vapor
lamps glare. It's gaudy with lights. Neil and a man named
NATE are parked next to each other facing opposite
directions. Nate's 50 - an ex-prize fighter with his nose
all over his face in a silver Mercedes. His big muscles
have gone to flab. He wears a yellow rayon shirt. He's
deeply tanned and pock-narked.
Nate functions as a middleman and fence for Neil. All
calls from people who want to contact Neil come to Nate.
Right now he examines the manila envelope from the armored
truck. Neil's in a Lincoln Town car, gray suit, white
shirt, no tie.
CLOSE: ENVELOPE
contains 80 x $20,000 negotiable Treasury Certificates.
Nate's counting.
NATE
A million, six at 40 cents onna
dollar's 640. Here's a hundred
forty thou front money. Get you
the rest, 2-3 days.
WIDE - FROM THE FRONT
Nate gives a large envelope to Neil.
NATE
What happened out there?
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NEIL
I don't want to talk about it.
NATE
(re-examining
securities)
Wait a minute.
NEIL
What's the matter?
NATE
(laughs)
You know who these belong to?
NEIL
(takes manila
envelope)
"Malibu Securities ...
NATE
You know John Van Zant?
NEIL
No.
NATE
Malibu Securities is a brokerage
he controls. Planned
bankruptcies, made out during
the S&L's, money laundering...
Nate pulls T.C.'s.
NATE
(continuing; laughs)
You ripped off his Treasury
Certificates.
NEIL
So what?
He's got insurance.
NATE
That's the point. On top of
collecting his insurance, maybe
he wants to buy back his bonds.
From him I can get you 60 cents
on the dollar instead of 40.
Means an extra 320 to you.
NEIL
Try it on.
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NATE
You know Cezar Kelso?
NEIL
By reputation.
NATE
He's got this score he's putting
out and wants you to look at.
NEIL
What do I need look at his score
for? I got my own.
NATE
He said you'll get near eight
figures. Very clean.
NEIL
(beat; then:)
9:00a.M. tomorrow.
NATE
Take it easy.
Neil starts the car. Nate pulls away in his Mercedes.
WIDE
an L1011 ROARS overhead. Neil pulls out.
CUT TO:
EXT. ALLEY - WIDE ON PAVEMENT - DAY
We're looking at chalk outlines of the bodies of Guard one
and Driver from the armored truck. The pavement is
bloodstained. Bright lights illuminate the crime scene.
HANNA (O.S.)
Where's the ambulance?
HEINZ (O.S.)
They dumped it four blocks from
here...
WIDEN TO REVEAL Hanna who we now identify as a police
lieutenant of detectives. He's just arrived. The alley's
been roped off with sawhorses labeled "crime area." The
armored truck with the holed side is still there. One of
Hanna's crew, DRUCKER, a black intelligence analyst and
technician at 45, was already there. A uniformed SGT.
HEINZ was there first and by procedure took command. It's
his crime scene.
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HEINZ
Masks, guns, radios - all left
behind. No prints.
HANNA
What about the crash, the white
towtruck.
Two more of Hanna's crew arrive in an unmarked car and
join him: CASALS - bald at 30 and wiry; BOSKO - a huge,
oversized man.
HEINZ
Hasn't turned up. Got a witness:
janitor next door.
HANNA
I.D. anybody? Plate?
Description?
HEINZ
Shhaaapes ...
(beat)
One big. One thin. He heard
it...
Guy's nearly blind.
HANNA
(re: body outlines)
What about them?
DRUCKER
According to the janitor, he...
(Guard Two outline)
Started mouthing off to one of
the gunmen.
HANNA
Oh, that was smart.
DRUCKER
I figure the other went for...
(points)
... that gun when the shooting
started. One guy called a guard
"slick."
HANNA
"Slick?"
DRUCKER
Yeah. And they ignored the loose
cash.
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HANNA
'Cause they had no time, cause
they knew our response time,
cause they were on our air.
HEINZ
You recognize their m.o.?
HANNA
Yeah. Their m.o. is that they
are good. Once it escalated
into a Murder One beef for all
of them after they killed the
first two, they popped guard
number three 'cause it didn't
rake any difference anymore, so
why leave a living witness?
Drop of a hat? They'll rock and
roll. Also: the way they went
into the side indicates they are
equipped to go in on the prowl.
So also start looking for recent
highline burgularies that have
'mystified' us.
(to Drucker)
Run the "slick" bit to the FBI
and see what it kicks out.
DRUCKER
I called it in already.
HANNA
(to Casals)
Split the fences. I'll take
Cuzomano and Torena. You take
the East side. Go through the
tapes of who we been listening
to.
(to Drucker)
Hang in with Forensics on all
physical evidence.
(to Bosko)
How'd they know the route of the
van and what it was carrying?
Does Gage print the day's routes?
What do they do with the
printouts? Who collects their
trash? Run makes on all their
middlemanagement. Did someone
give this score up?
(beat)
Check the three guards. See if
one of them was a tipster.
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BOSKO
What's the vibe: home-grown or
out-of-town?
HANNA
Out-of-town. Frankly, I hope
they are scoring once and passing
through. And I doubt it.
HEINZ
This going to stay in Area?
HANNA
This look like boosters working
the local Seven Eleven to you?
It goes to Major Crime.
(to his crew)
Go to work.
They move toward the Forensic Unit, scraping tire rubber
and measuring distances as we
CUT TO:
INT. EARLY 60'S COFFEE SHOP - WIDE - NIGHT
It's 1963 futuristic: flagstone and rubber plants. Most
of the patrons are night people: pimps, hookers, customers,
disintegrating couples, etc. We PAN AROUND the interior
and settle on a booth by a window. In the booth are Chris
and Cerrito on one side and Waingro alone.
WAINGRO
Anybody want some pie?
CERRITO
looks at Waingro, sips his coffee, and looks away again
Waingro is nervous.
CHRIS
sees something in the parking lot.
DOOR - NEIL
enters, crosses to the booth, slides in across from Waingro.
CLOSE
The four men huddle together and talk in a whisper. Neil
pulls out three yellow envelopes, presumably full of money.
Neil will talk about Waingro in the third person as if he
inanimate.
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NEIL
(whispered)
This is a partial split, but I
took out of ours - every - to
make up...
(Waingro's)
...his full end. Because I want
to settle him up and get rid of
this jagoff right now.
Cerrito and Chris looks at Waingro.
CERRITO
Okay.
Chris nods. Waingro's speechless. Neil flips him an
envelope.
NEIL
(whispering)
Fuck off.
Waingro doesn't move.
WAINGRO
(whispered; tense)
I had to dust him!
Neil grabs the back of Waingro's neck, slams the side of
his face onto the table top and flicks the middle finger
of his left against waingro's temple. Neil could kill
him.
NEIL
(whispered)
Electricity and chemicals a little
fucked up?
(flick)
You a shooter? Speed? What?
Flick. Cerrito looks around the coffee shop: it's quiet.
NEIL
(continuing;
whispered)
You didn't have to. Now we got
extra heat off a clean score.
Waingro does nothing. Neil shoves him into the corner of
the booth. Plates fall. All three get up and walk out.
CUT TO:
EXT. COFFEE SHOP, REAR PARKING LOT - WIDE - NIGHT
Neil, Cerrito and Chris cross past cars.
Converted to PDF by www.screentalk.org 22.
ANGLE - WAINGRO
whines, cries and charges into Neil's shoulder from behind
and spins him around, wanting to explain to him. This
time:
NEIL
knees Waingro in the stomach. Waingro folds over. Neil
slams both open palms on Waingro's ears and knees him in
the face. Waingro sprawls over a car hood and falls off.
CLOSER - NEIL
kicks Waingro in the side driving him between cars where
it is more secluded while Cerrito and Chris casually look
a-round and back away to cover him because they know Neil
is going to kill him now. As Neil draws his .45 ...
CERRITO
(low)
Hold it.
Neil looks. Across the street cruises a black and white.
He watches it pass. His attention goes back to Waingro.
As his .45 comes up.
CLOSER: NEIL
turning, mildly surprised.
NEIL'S POV: NOTHING
Waingro's disappeared.
WIDER: NEIL
searches under cars, carefully. Nothing.
HIGH + WIDE
Waingro's gone. Neil with Cerrito and Chris following
scan the spaces and shadows as they back out of the large
parking lot.
CUT TO:
INT. SHIHERLIS APARTMENT - ON CHARLENE - NIGHT
CHARLENE - twenty-six, in skin-tight black pants and black
hair. They're on their way out. The apartment is heavy
on computer games, video gear, appliances and children's
furniture. Re: envelope:
Converted to PDF by www.screentalk.org 23.
CHARLENE
(counts the money)
Where's the rest?
CHRIS
That's it.
CHARLENE
Eight thousand dollars? You
gotta be kidding me!
Chris enters from the bedroom. While buttoning a shirt,
he's mostly oblivious. It frustrates the hell out of
Charlene.
CHRIS
(off-handed)
I squared the bookies and we had
to pay off some guy and were
short to start 'cause the rest
is comin', in a coupla days. So
don't sweat it.
(checks watch)
We're late.
Slips on a boot.
CHARLENE
Listen to me. "As The World
Turns" can get interrupted with
a news flash of you splattered
all over the street ...
Pulls on boot two.
CHARLENE
(continuing; running
on)
I can get sent up on an accessory
beef. Your son, Dominick, winds
up in a home. For $8,000?
(voice breaks)
Honey, for $8,000, it ain't worth
the risk. Risk versus reward?
Baby?
CHRIS
Don't worry about money. Neil's
got...
(checks watch)
Hey, if we're goin', let's go.
CHARLENE
Where's the club you were going
to open?
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CHRIS
Here comes the "showgirl with a
future" bit.
CHARLEJ
Shut up! I left for a good thing.
(beat)
Why am I even talking to you? I
can't talk to you. All you are
is a child growin' older...
CHRIS
The hell's that mean?
CHARLENE
It means we're not making forward
progress like real adults and
you won't listen.
CHRIS
I told you: me and Neil got
planned ...
CHARLENE
"Me and Neil." I'm married to
you, now. This isn't the fucking
joint.
CHRIS
Don't mouth off to me!
CHARLENE
(screams)
I want out of here!
CHRIS
(shouts)
Well there's the fucking door!
(opens it)
Only leave Dominick, the bank
book and the car keys on the
kitchen table!
CHARLENE
You can keep that other crap!
But Dominick goes with me.
Chris shoves her up against the wall.
CHRIS
(suddenly low)
I'll find ya and kill you, you
bitch, wherever you are - you
ever try to take Dominick away
from me.
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He means it. She knows it. He takes the car keys and
goes. She's frozen to the spot.
CUT TO:
EXT. CERRITO'S BUNGALOW - WIDE - NIGHT
A modest West L.A. bungalow that's been remodeled beyond
neighborhood values. A 1990 Coupe de Ville's in the drive.
Cerrito pulls his black '93 Eldorado up behind it. A
NEIGHBOR shuts off his sprinkler. Cerrito gets out and
pulls the wrapped up doll house out of the trunk.
ANITA (O.S.)
(to Michael)
Daddy, daddy!
WIDEN TO INCLUDE ANITA CERRITO (7) running up with LINDA
CERRITO (9) not far behind. She jumps into her dad's arms.
CUT TO:
INT. CERRITO HOUSE - ON CERRITO - DAY
Entering: home theater system, Hawaiian art prints in
lacquer frames.
ELAINE CERRITO - a dark, heavy-set woman who was dynamite
at 25 and still sensual at 40 - enters from kitchen and
kisses cerrito.
ELAINE
Hungry?
CERRITO
Starving.
ELAINE
(searching)
You okay?
CERRITO
(nods; gives her
envelope)
Put this away.
ANITA
(whispers)
Daddy, what's in the box?
She exits to kitchen. Cerrito sits down and pulls Anita
onto his lap.
CERRITO
What do you care?
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They start shouting: c'mon c'mon. Elaine enters with her
class of red wine.
CERRITO
(continuing)
Open it up.
They run out. He whispers to Elaine who sits on the side
of his chair and drapes an arm across his shoulder. Michael
Cerrito is a family man and the nicest guy on the block.
CUT TO:
INT. UNDERGROUND GARAGE, ENTRANCE - A RECTANGLE OF NIGHT
SKY - NIGHT
Then Neil's Town Car enters down the ramp and passes
through. It's deserted and quiet.
CUT TO:
EXT. GARAGE - ON NEIL - NIGHT
Driving away in his personal car, an Eldorado in black.
CUT TO:
EXT. SANTA MONICA 3RD STREET - ON NEIL - NIGHT
It's almost deserted. Neil enters from Arizona Avenue.
He's alone. It's windy. The collar of his gray suit is
up, the lapels are closed over his white shirt.
CUT TO:
INT. HENESSEY AND INGALLS BOOKSTORE - NEIL - NIGHT
Looks at a large book in the Engineering section. He
specifically flips back and forth between full-color plates
of electronic micrographs of different kinds of steel.
EADY (0. C.)
Help you with something?
NEIL
(looks)
No thanks.
WIDEN TO INCLUDE EADY TSE - 28, 5'8". Chinese, long black
hair to her waist. Her face is high cheek-boned and
intelligent. She wears a gray corduroy smock over a
turtleneck shirt and jeans. She speaks English in American
vernacular with only the slightest trace of an accent.
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NEIL
(continuing)
You closing in a few minutes?
Eady leans back against the book case.
EADY
Yeah.
(yawns)
Excuse me.
(beat)
You interested in metals?
NEIL
(alert)
No.
(lies)
It's the color reproduction of
these plates...
EADY
We have a first edition of
Kandinsky's Theory of Color with
hand pulled lithographic prints
bound in. Would you like see
it?
NEIL
Sure.
Crossing store.
EADY
I see you in here before.
NEIL
You're open late. Not many open
this late.
(beat)
What's your name?
Holds out hand.
EADY
Eady. Eady Tse. What's yours?
NEIL
(lies)
Bukowski. Neil Bukowski.
He holds onto her hand and stares down into her face.
They both smile. She laughs and looks away first. They
continue to a rear locked case.
CUT TO:
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INT. HANNA'S CAR TRAVELLING - HANNA - NIGHT
Floating through the green xenon nightgown, hits a stored
number in his cellular phone's memory.
CASALS (V.O.)
M. C. U.
HANNA
(cuts in)
Bobby, it's me.
CASALS (V.O.)
Boss, whoever's fencing the Bearer
Bonds is either highline or out-
of-town. Everyone's talking
about it. No one knows about
it.
(beat)
Schwartz went through the indexes
on recent surveillance tapes?
No armored cars. No witnesses
on who stole the ambulance.
HANNA
Albert Torena call me back?
CASALS (V.O.)
No.
CUT TO:
INT. HANNA CONDOMINIUM - HANNA - NIGHT
Lets himself in the door. He's beat. He throws his coat
at the chair.
INT. KITCHEN - STOVE
The dried-out remains of dinner. Hanna roots around, grabs
a lamb chop, forgets the rest and goes into the living
room. INT. HANNA LIVING ROOM - JUSTINE sees Hanna, goes
back to book.
HANNA
Hi.
JUSTINE
Where have you been?
HANNA
Work. Harvey show or'd Lauren
get stood up again?
JUSTINE
He didn't even call her.
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HANNA
What an asshole. She okay?
JUSTINE
She's been in her room all day
and won't talk. So "no," she's
not okay. And neither am I.
(even tempered)
If I try to create something
like a mood between us you back
away. I made a great dinner for
us. That was four hours ago.
(beat)
At least get yourself a plate...
HANNA
There's three dead bodies in an
alley off Adams.
(beat)
I'm really sorry the lamb got
overcooked.
Justine looks at him, elegantly rises, exits into the
bedroom and closes the door.
HANNA
Looking after her is tired.
Very tired. He doesn't know why
he said what he did. He regrets
it. So he turns on his TV to
watch the news and his eyes glaze
over.
CUT TO:
INT. DINER - GRILLMAN - NIGHT
Flips eggs, bastes, and covers them. The grill is all
quilted steel and immaculate. At the other end of the
counter a waiter reads a paper.
NEIL AND EADY
on stools.
EADY
What do you do?
NEIL
(looks at her, then
away)
Swimming pools. Institutional.
Schools, State, counties. I'm
on the sales end.
(MORE)
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NEIL (CONT'D)
(to Grillman)
Let me have another coffee.
(beat)
You like selling books?
EADY
(simply)
Yeah. Especially fine art books.
I study them.
NEIL
Yeah? Like what?
A little hesitant, Eady drinks her coffee.
NEIL
(continuing)
Tell me.
EADY
There's a Skira edition of
Delacroix charcoal sketches, I
like...
NEIL
What else?
EADY
Asian art work.
CUT TO:
EXT. EADY'S HOUSE, BALCONY - NEIL + EADY - NIGHT
The house is high in the hill's over sunset. They stare
down at the City - like an ocean of small lights. From
the previous scene we HEAR:
EADY (V.O.)
The plates are mezzotints. They
evoke a feeling Japanese painters
called "sabi". They believed
there were eight scenes of
transcendental loneliness. They
painted them over and over again.
One is a flock of geese hovering
over a field. There's always
mist. It's painted just as the
leader touches down.
Pause. They drink scotch in highball glasses.
NEIL
City of lights.
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EADY
Yeah.
NEIL
I flew over the arctic once at
40,000 feet. The moonlight was
blue on all the snow. It felt
like that.
There's a long pause. Then:
EADY
Do you travel a lot?
NEIL
Yeah.
EADY
Are you lonely?
NEIL
I'm alone. Not lonely.
He pulls her closer. A pre-dawn red band cracks the
horizon.
NEIL
(continuing)
You?
EADY
I get lonely.
His hands hold her face as he looks into her eyes and she
moves to him.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. BEDROOM - WHITE - NIGHT
Fills the screen as we PAN ALONG the drapery of sheets to
Neil's wide-awake eyes. Next to him Eady's asleep.
DISSOLVE TO:
SAME - HIGH ANGLE OVER NEIL ONTO EADY - LATER
Neil is dressed now. He stands at the foot of the bed
looking at Eady.
DISSOLVE TO:
NEIL'S HAND
enters with a glass of water wrapped in a paper napkin and
sets it on the bedside table.
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It's odd: a convict's meticulousness. He moves the covers
up to her chin. There is to his touch, tenderness, as if
they were longtime lovers.
We realize what we are seeing is the emotionality Neil
McCauley keeps in the closet.
DISSOLVE TO:
HIGH + WIDE
Neil is gone. He paused for that moment before he left,
as if to engrave her image in his memory.
CUT TO:
INT. ALBERT TORENA'S APARTMENT - ALBERT TORENA - DAY
Answers the door. Daylight floods in past the silhouette
of Hanna who shoves Torena in the chest, knocking him into
the apartment. Hanna, following him in...
HANNA
You were supposed to get back to
me last night. So where the
fuck were you, Albert?
ALBERT
I couldn't break free, man!
HANNA
I oughta violate your ass right
now.
ALBERT
I was all night hitting up Los
vatos like one of those flamenco
matador guys. Cuttin' in real
smooth. Generating leads and
shit. I'm a dancer, man!
ALBERT TORENA'S an anorexic Latino fence. Hanna scans the
apartment. Religious objects crowd the mantle. Fourteen
stolen tv's in packing cases in the dining room.
HANNA
You're a bust-out speed freak
jackin' metamphetamine again.
(beat)
I'm in a hurry.
ALBERT
You talk to my brother, Raoul.
He meet you tonight at...
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HANNA
No. Right now.
ALBERT
I implore him, man. But he say
"no."
(beat)
He in Phoenix. Tonight's the
best I can do for you. The Zebra
on Crenshaw. Eleven o'clock.
HANNA
You be there, too.
ALBERT
Mon, I go
HANNA
Be there!
Hanna leaves.
INT - TRAILER - CEZAR KELSO - DAY
CEZAR
I picked you out to pitch it to
first, but don't think you're
the only action in town and I'm
giving it away. 'Cause I'm not.
CUT TO:
WIDEN TO INCLUDE NEIL - who doesn't say anything. CEZAR
KELSO'S a large crippled man in a wheelchair.
NEIL
What is it?
CEZAR
A bank. On Thursdays it gets
cash deposits for distribution
to other branches. The branches
have to buttress their cash
accounts to handle Friday payroll
checks from a Toyota and Nissan
plant, a steel mill and two
refineries. One day a week,
Thursday, the main branch carries
the full whack.
NEIL
You want a $100,000 advance,
against a full 101. Why?
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CEZAR
'Cause I can get it. 'Cause
this is the best thing I seen in
three years. 'Cause a screw-up
makes 10 percent of nothin' equal
nothin'. And 'cause those are
the terms and they ain't
negotiable.
NEIL
On the prowl or strong?
CEZAR
Strong. Through the front door.
During the day.
NEIL
How many guys?
CEZAR
Four. Three plus a driver.
NEIL
That's not a $100,000 worth
anything. You're giving me an
address to what's strictly a
cowboy score: "Get the guns and
let's go!" We smash, grab and
boogie while they hit the alarm.
CEZAR
Three alarms. And that's why
the price. 'Cause you chop-in
through the roof the night before
on the prowl and bypass 'em. I
got circuit diagrams, blue prints,
the works. So yeah, they hit
the alarms, but nothing gonna
happen.
NEIL
Do I have to kill people?
CEZAR
I doubt it. Two men have the
two keys to open the box.
NEIL
Full architectural, plumbing and
electric, camera placements?
CEZAR
All of it.
NEIL
What do you estimate?
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CEZAR
Eight point, one. Eight point,
two million dollars.
That gives Neil pause. Kelso gets satisfaction from Neil's
reaction to the amount. Then:
CEZAR
(continuing)
Where's Nate?
NEIL
He hadda make a call.
(beat)
You're on.
(rising)
Here's five grand earnest money.
You get the rest after lunch.
They shake hands.
CUT TO:
EXT. TRAILER COURT, PAY PHONE - NATE - DAY
NATE
Look, Van Zant. Nobody knew the
merch was yours or they would
have respected it. Be that as
it may: now you get 100% from
the insurance company and you're
even, plus you can get the bonds
back for 60 cents onna dollar.
You make an additional 40%.
Your operation doesn't skip a
beat, and everybody's making
out.
CUT TO:
INT. MALIBU SECURITIES, VAN ZANT OFFICE - VAN ZANT - DAY
On the phone to Nate. There's green forest and blue water
dioramas inset into wood-panelled walls.
VAN ZANT
(into phone)
Sure. You got a deal.
NATE (0. S.)
(phone filter)
Good. Cause there's no percentage
in everybody getting their
underwear in a twist over this.
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VAN ZANT
(into phone)
Absolutely. You have your man
call me to set the meet.
NATE (O.S.)
(phone filter)
Usually I'm the mailman.
VAN ZANT
(into phone)
I don't want to involve extra
people. What the fuck do I want
all kinds of people meeting each
other for?
NATE (O.S.)
(phone filter)
Okay.
VAN ZANT
(into phone)
Nice talking to you...
(click)
Van Zant hangs up. He's a tall
avuncular man with a flabby belly
and Arrow shirts: an accountant.
HUGH BENNY, a very large juice
collector, is in the office.
HUGH
(incredulous)
You gonna deal with these people?
VAN ZANT
So word hits the streets it's
okay to steal my stuff? I'm
gonna kill the sonsa-bitches.
CUT TO:
EXT. KELSO TRAILER COURT - NEIL - DAY
Entering from Kelso's trailer, meets Nate halfway to the
car. Walking and talking:
NEIL
I bought it.
NATE
What I tell you?
NEIL
The bonds?
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NATE
We're on. You call him
tomorrow...
(gives slip paper)
... and set a meet.
NEIL
How is he?
NATE
Very cool. He's a businessman.
They walk to their cars and leave.
CUT TO:
INT. LILLIAN'S CAR - LILLIAN AND BREEDAN - DAY
Pull into Robert's Coffee Shop in Culver City. BREEDAN at
29 he's an ex-Eight Trey Hoover Street Crip with lots of
scars who just did five years in San Quentin and is
straightening up. He's gangster clean and pressed and
it's there in his body movements and eyes.
LILLIAN
Here it is.
(kisses him)
You okay?
BREEDAN
Don 't worry, baby. Gonna do
good.
She laughs and drives away.
CUT TO:
INT. ROBERT'S COFFEE SHOP, KITCHEN - BREEDAN - DAY
Enters the kitchen. The manager is SOLENKO - large with
gray features, smallpox scars and thinning hair. He's
forty-five. NOISE OF DISHWASHER, P.A., POTS CLATTERING.
Solenko throws orders together and plates onto the metal
counter for waitress to pick up. They shout over the
RACKET.
BREEDAN
(has to shout)
I'm Breedan. You Solenko?
SOLENKO
(shouts)
Yeah. Fucking hillbilly grill
ran didn't show. Been here since
4:30. You know this kinda
operation?
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BREEDAN
(shouts)
The grill. Yeah.
SOLENKO
(shouts)
Grill? Empty the garbage, mopout
the toilets. You gimme a hard
time, I'll find something to
violate you back and blow your
parole.
(beat)
You kick back 25% of your salary
to me under the table. Grierson
your parole officer? Right?
BREEDAN
(shouts OVER NOISE)
Yeah.
SOLENKO
(shouts back)
Check it out. Change in the
back. Hurry up.
At this point we don't know what David Breedan's doing in
this picture.
CUT TO:
INT. XYZ DISCOUNT APPLIANCES BACK OFFICE - JOE CUZOMANO -
DAY
Hears a buzzer and looks up. His eyes go to a video
monitor.
VIDEO MONITOR: HANNA
among the racks and tv sets playing the sane soap.
HANNA (0 .S.)
(filtered)
Cuzomano. Open up.
Joe pushes a button. The electric lock is released.
CUZOMANO is a 300-pound fat man.
HANNA
Whaddaya hear, whaddaya say?.
CUZOMANO
Hiya, Vincent. About what?
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HANNA
About this crew that knocked
down three guards yesterday and
took a Gates Armored truck.
Bearer Bonds. Start making calls.
Cuzomano starts punching numbers into his phone.
CUZOMANO
(into phone)
It's Cuzomano. Get me Francis.
(while we're waiting)
How'd I hear about this?
HANNA
Ridin' the airwaves. On every
news channel. Turn on a fucking
radio!
(pause)
Try to broker the Bonds. Make
some money. Then you'll shift
into Flip-o-matic and tell me
who they are. And what they are
doing next.
CUZOMANO
(Francis is on the
line)
Hey, Francis!
(Francis answers)
That score went down yesterday?
(beat)
Yeah, I'm lookin' to handle all
or a piece of the merch. All I
got are yo-yo's. One brings me
a container of Armani suits? He
didn't know they were knockoffs.
Schmuck stole knockoffs. They
should make stupidity a felony.
(beat)
You hear who they been downed
to?
Cuzomano gets an answer. He shakes his head "no" to Hanna.
Hanna's out the door. Cuzomano breathes easier.
CUT TO:
EXT. NEIL'S APARTMENT BUILDING - WIDE - DAY
The Camaro slides soundlessly down Wilshire and into the
underground garage of a high-rise, green glass steel.
CUT TO:
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INT. NEIL'S - APARTMENT - NEIL - DAY
Enters. It's white and barren. A TV SET in one corner on
the floor PLAYS a MUTE GAME SHOW. Chris is rolled up in a
blanket in front of it. The apartment is lived in by one
man. It tells us Neil's personal life is a blank.
NEIL
comes out of the bedroom with a pillow. He yanks Christ
shoes off. Neil punches a number. RINGING. Then:
CHARLENE (V.O.)
(phone filter)
Hello?
NEIL
(into phone)
Chris is here. I called so you
shouldn't worry. What's wrong?
CUT TO:
INT. SHIHERLIS BEDROOM - CLOSE ON CHARLENE IN BED - DAY
Charlene rubs sleep from her eyes. Switches hands on the
phone.
CHARLENE
(into phone; wary)
Husband and wife stuff. That's
all.
NEIL (V.O.)
(phone filter)
He can sleep it off here.
CHARLENE
(into phone)
Thanks, Neil.
She hangs up and closes her eyes. She hates his guts.
CUT TO:
INT. NEIL'S APARTMENT, KITCHEN - CHRIS - DAY
Is hung over. Neil brings coffee to a Formica table.
Chris's shirt from last night is ripped and his lip's cut.
He looks like hell. Neil puts his Browning on the table.
NEIL
What happened to you?
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CHRIS
When you going to get some
furniture?
NEIL
When I get around to it.
CHRIS
My mouth tastes like a sewer.
Chris crosses to the sink and turns the dish sprayer onto
his face and the back of his neck.
CHRIS
(continuing; comes
down)
Charlene's going to leave me.
Big pause.
NEIL
(quietly)
Why?
CHRIS
There ain't no steaks in the
freezer.
NEIL
With everything we been taking?
CHRIS
Last trip to Vegas and the
Superbowl took care of that.
When you gonna get an old lady?
NEIL
When I get around to it. You
got something else on the side?
CHRIS
Nothing regular.
NEIL
(quiet)
She got another man?
CHRIS
No.
NEIL
(quietly)
You sure?
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CHRIS
(rising)
Yeah, I'm sure.
NEIL
Jimmy - whatsisname - Bohunk, in
the joint used to say: "On the
street you wanna be makin' roves,
you don't put anything in your
life you can't walk out on in 30
seconds flat if you spot heat
around the corner."
CHRIS
Jimmy Banghart. And to hell
with Jimmy Banghart.
(beat)
I'd rather go ten rounds with
Jesus Christ than fuck with her.
But she and Dominick save my
life, man; everyday. Everyday...
NEIL
So?
CHRIS
So.
Their feelings and understanding run deep. Chris is
committed to making it work.
NEIL
Taking delivery from Van Zant on
the rest of the armored car cash.
I gotta drop a deposit on Kelso.
He's got a bank score.
CHRIS
What about the platinum? It's
ready to fall ...
NEIL
That goes, too. Meet me at the
coffee shop at noon. I got stuff
to do...
Neil slips his Browning back into his waistband.
CUT TO:
INT. HOTEL ROOM - MARCIANO - DAY
MARCIANO is Las Vegas sharp at 48: a tall, tanned,
ponytailed, middle-aged hustler and sucker for a young
chick. His phone is ringing. He answers it.
Converted to PDF by www.screentalk.org 43.
MARCIANO
(into phone)
Hello?
INT. SHIHERLIS BEDROOM - CHARLENE - DAY
Drinking coffee, speeding.
CHARLENE
(into phone)
Alan.
MARCIANO (V.O.)
(phone filter)
Hey!
CHARLENE
(into phone)
I've had it with him. I've had
it. Can you get us out of here?
MARCIANO
(into phone)
Absolutely. I got a coupla orders
to write. Meet you at 12.
EXT. HAMBURGER STAND - CLOSE NEIL - DAY
On phone.
EADY (V. 0.)
(after a pause;
phone filter)
Hello?
NEIL
How you doing?
CUT TO:
INT. EADY'S HOUSE - EADY - DAY
In an ink-stained smock.
EADY
(into phone)
Neil. I wondered when you'd
call.
NEIL (V.O.)
(phone filter)
I been real busy.
EADY
(into phone)
Good.
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NEIL (V..O.)
(phone filter)
Can I see you?
EADY
(into phone)
I was worried... was just...
(uncomfortable)
...the one night. You know?
NEIL (V.O.)
(phone filter)
Not for me it wasn't.
EADY
(into phone)
Me either.
NEIL (V.O.)
(phone filter)
Tonight. I'll pick you up at
work.
She hangs up. He wonders about doing this, puts it aside.
CUT TO:
EXT. HAMBURGER STAND, PHONE BOOTH - NEIL
Takes a deep breath. Maybe he's not sure of what he's
into. It passes. He crosses the counter.
Across the street is the Hiawatha Motel in 40's stucco and
desert pastels and Charlene's yellow El Dorado parked next
to a Lexus in front of Room 18.
NEIL
(to Cook)
Change for a dollar?
COOK
There you go, honey.
NEIL DIALS
TELEPHONIST (V.O.)
(phone filter)
Malibu Securities.
NEIL
(into phone)
Yeah. Van Zant.
Suddenly Neil turns because he sees.
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NEIL'S POV: ALAN MARCIANO
leaves Room 18, waves goodbye to Charlene and crosses to
Lexus.
VAN ZAPT (V.O.)
(phone filter)
Yes?
NEIL
(into phone)
About the merchandise. What's
the story?
In the b.g. Marciano pulls away.
VAN ZANT (V.O.)
(phone filter)
Give me your number and somebody
will call you right back from a
different line to set the meet.
NEIL
(into phone)
333-6089.
He hangs up. He waits. The PHONE RINGS. He answers. He
says nothing. He nods. He hangs up. He crosses the street
lot to the Motel.
EXT. ROOM 18 - WIDE
Neil knocks.
CHARLENE (O.S.)
Yes?
NEIL
Open up.
She does. She closes her eyes, resigned to doom. He walks
past her into the room.
CUT TO:
INT. ROOM 18 - WIDE - DAY
One unmade bed. Neil looks.At the tacky interior. He
crosses to the bathroom and turns on the water. He advances
on Charlene who's backing up.- She falls over a waste can.
NEIL
Who was that guy?
CHARLENE
I won't tell you.
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NEIL
Listen...
Neil kicks the waste can out of the way. It clatters across
the room.
NEIL
(continuing)
We got to know who he is!
CHARLENE
Nobody, Neil! A liquor wholesaler
from Las Vegas. Alan Marciano.
NEIL
What he tell you? How connected
he is? Get you a spot in a show?
CHARLENE
I figured it out for myself!
Neil closes in.
NEIL
Chris is gonna straighten it up
with you. And you ...
CHARLENE
It's too late! I'm sick of it!
I'm sick of you.
NEIL
I'm not part of your situation!
Charlene gets attentive. She's backed into the corner and
can't get any smaller.
NEIL
(continuing)
Not anymore. And Chris has got
two big jobs back-to-bick. You
will give Chris this shot.
(beat)
After that, he fucks up, then
okay.
(beat)
I will finance setting you up,
separate, myself. Dominick will
go with you. And my word counts.
But right now he is puttin' it
all on the line. So for the
three of you, you are goin', to
give Chris one more shot.
Neil grabs the whole lower part of her face in one hand.
His face is inches from hers.
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NEIL
(continuing; quietly)
Now that is what it is gonna be
.
Charlene hesitates; then acquiesces.
CHARLENE
(quietly)
All right.
Neil leaves.
EXT. CRENSHAW BLVD. - HANNA'S CAR - NIGHT,
Weaves through traffic. Horns BLARE.
CUT TO:
EXT. ZEBRA CLUB - DOORMAN - NIGHT
A muscular black man named ALPHONSE has his back to us at
the rear delivery entrance to a mall awash with Korean
neon.
HANNA (O.S.)
Gimme all your money!
Hanna's jammed two fingers in his back. Alphonse spins;
sees it's Hanna.
ALPHONSE
Cuz, one day you get coldblasted
with that shit.
HANNA
Ain't gonna be you, mo-fo.
ALPHONSE
(low)
Homeboys talkin' about it.
Nothin' solid. Just B-boy jive
'bout outta-towners. Crew's
from outta town. I hear
something; I drop a dime.
HANNA
You holdin'?
Alphonse flips Hanna a small vial of coke.
ALPHONSE
Onna house.
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Filtering up from downstairs comes 80dB of Jane's
Addiction's cover of "Sympathy for the Devil".
CUT TO:
INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR - HANNA - NIGHT
Descending alone uses a small, black, carbon steel sheath
knife to take two hits from the vial. He shakes off the
initial blast, pockets the vial, the doors open, Jane's
Addiction's LOUDER. We're ...
INT. ZEBRA - HANNA
Crosses through the mostly black, affluent crowd of players,
gangsters, dopesters, models and security in business suits
openly carrying and wearing headset radios. Hanna crosses
through like he owns the place, gestures to the bartender
and slides into...
INT. BOOTH - RAOUL TORENA
HANNA
What do you got?
RAOUL
(conspiratorial)
This crew's ripping Porsches out
of Orange County. Horrell, Piper
and Voight. They're working in
the back of a trim shop on Irvine.
Somebody was to pay him a visit
this weekend, they'd find a
metallic blue Turbo...
RAOUL TORENA, Albert's brother, is a thirty-five-year-old
with crew-cut black hair and a Varri Uomo sport jacket.
WIDEN To INCLUDE Hanna.
HANNA
...lookin' for me to rid you of
your competition?
RAOUL
I'm a good citizen.
HANNA
You got something to say, or
what?
RAOUL
Mi carnal: if I tell you what I
got to tell you, how do I know
you gonna do what the fuck I
just told you I need to get done?
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Hanna's gaze drifts up into Raoul's eyes: it's deadly.
ALBERT
(alarmed)
Raoul, Hanna do what he say!
That's why I reached for you..
Hanna jerks Raoul by the front of his Verri Uomo which is
being destroyed in Hanna's fists.
HANNA
I'm not your 'carnal, you little
motherfucker.
(beat)
And you 'know' 'cause I say so...
after I hear what you got to
tell me!
RAOUL
Okay! Okay...
Hanna throws him back against the bench.
RAOUL
(continuing)
This is valuable shit! I could
get killed telling you this shit!
Low, flat and deadly:
HANNA
You can get killed ... walking
down the street...
RAOUL
(whisper)
A dude I knew in McNeil's been
out a couple, three years.
HANNA
Yeah?
RAOUL
He's an action junkie. If he'd
said nothin', I'd a thought
nothin'. But he goes on and on
into extra overtime on how he
ain't been do-in' nothin' and
then I know this cat's got
something goin' down...
Raoul leans back in the booth, nods his head, proud of
this pearl of information. Hanna looks at Albert like
he's crazy.
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HANNA
(to Albert)
What's wrong with you? You drag
me here to waste my time like
this?
(to Raoul)
You saw a guy on the street...
who's an ex-con?
RAOUL
Yeah.
HANNA
...what do you expect for that?
A Junior G-Man badge?
RAOUL
You gonna make the call on the
Porsches?
HANNA
Are you kidding?
Hanna gets up to leave.
RAOUL
I'm telling you this slick is
double-duty! A real doubleblank
mo-fo.
HANNA
What?
RAOUL
Huh ... ?
HANNA
You said "slick."
RAOUL
Yeah, that's what he calls people.
"Slick."
Hanna plays it low key. Hanna sits back down.
HANNA
Tell me about him...
RAOUL
(thinks)
Six feet, built. Lotta jailhouse
tattoos. Peacock right here.
Probably was a shooter once Heavy
time: Attica, Marion, could do a
nickel or dine standing on his
(MORE)
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RAOUL (CONT'D)
ear. He's in C-block two days,
and in the shower some Muslim
comes up into his face and he
cuts the guy a new opening for a
colostomy bag and goes back to
shampooing his hair...
(laughs)
HANNA
(leans in)
What's his ... name..
RAOUL
(easy)
Cerrito. Michael Cerrito.
CUT TO:
INT. CAR - HANNA - NIGHT
On the phone. The back side of downtown is a wall of light
moving past as ...
BOSKO (V.O.)
(filter)
Jacket's two inches thick. 38
busts since 1976.
INT. LAPD, MCU OFFICE - BOSKO - NIGHT
Hanna's on the speaker phone. Casals enters.
BOSKO
(into phone;
continuing)
Two for murder one. Eleven for
armed robbery. Three convictions.
Two out of a three year beef in
Attica. Three years in
Statesville. Five years in
Riker's Island off a knock-back
to involuntary manslaughter
Narcotics record. Methadone
treatment. Two kids. Wife's
named Elaine. Strictly a cowboy.
HANNA (V.O.)
Who else have I got?
SCHWARTZ
Drucker, Casals and me, boss
HANNA (V.O.)
Bob, get on the house.
(MORE)
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HANNA (V.O.) (CONT'D)
24 hour surveillance, title
search, the works. Drucker and
Casals bug the car and whatever
else we need, remembering it
won't be evidentiary.
(beat)
When he moves or sits - like in
a restaurant.
INTERCUT WITH:
Bosko answers another phone, puts that line on "hold" as...
HANNA (V.O.)
(continuing)
I want pictures of who he moves
and sits with. Then run makes
on them and their cars. They
got jackets? I want to see who
they move and they sit with and
give them the same treatment.
(beat)
Bosko. Work the neighborhood.
Tail the wife. Look for a drop
that could garage a work car and
tools. That's it.
BOSKO
(re: phone)
Richie the Medical Examiner's
holding.
HANNA
(into phone)
Conference him in.
(clicks)
Yeah? Richie?
RICHIE (V.O.)
Vincent, can you fall by a crime
scene on the strip? I think I
got another one.
"Sympathy for the Devil" gets LOUDER and washes across
onto...
CUT TO:
EXT. SUNSET. BOULEVARD MOTEL AND ALLEY - NIGHT
Neon under the vapor lamps. O.S. the cacophony of horns
and sirens. Pimps and hookers crowd the background. A
crime scene area near the garbage cans is roped off. An
ambulance, black-and-whites, a Medical Examiner's van clog
the alley.
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CRANE DOWN as Hanna's car pulls in and he approaches the
Medical Examiner, RICHIE, 25-35, black, diamond earring,
gray lab coat.
RICHIE
(to Hanna)
Here's how we found her.
POLAROID - BLACK PROSTITUTE
in a nightgown, folded over the lip of a garbage can at
the waist. She's a pitiful rag doll. Someone killed her
and then threw her away.
HANNA
is too controlled. Anger's underneath.
HANNA
How old?
RICHIE
Sixteen, seventeen.
HANNA
How'd she die, Richie?
RICHIE
Blunt instrument. Cerebral
hematoma.
HANNA
Who are they?
THEIR POV: HEAVYSET BLACK WOMAN
and two stunned young boys. She's crying and arguing with
two uniformed LAPD trying to hold her back. One LAPD is a
black woman. The heavyset woman doesn't really know what
happened yet except it's bad.
RICHIE (O.S.)
(low)
The family.
HANNA (O.S.)
What the hell are they doin'
here?
RICHIE + HANNA
RICHIE
(low; shrugs)
It's fucked up. Somebody inside
knew the girl and called the
family.
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Now Richie bends over the body bag on the ground and unzips
it. We don't see the dead girl. We only see Hanna. A
third uniformed officer in the background spins away.
HANNA
Oh, this is nice.
RICHIE
I wanted you to see this 'cause
I got a feeling it's serial and
gonna end up in your court.
HANNA
Homicide getting anywhere?
RICHIE
Nowhere.
Hanna rises. The mother's arguing with the man cop because
she wants to see. Horror and hysteria blossoming through
shock. She pushes the uniformed cop of the way. Hanna
goes to try to help. They grapple.
MOTHER
(reaches out)
Baby! Where's my baby.!
Anguish. It's a mess. The woman collapsing into Hanna's
arms. For one moment Hanna's eyes lock onto hers. He
freezes. One doesn't forget the look he sees in her eyes.
CUT TO:
EXT. DRIVE-IN THEATER - CAPRICE WORK CAR - DAY
driven by Neil to camera appears and disappears up and
down the earthwork ramps. We don't know what he's doing
in one the last drive-in theaters in California at high
noon.
WIDE FROM THE REAR
The white screen reveals its cracks and patches.
CLOSE ON ENTRANCE
A yellow full size Dodge pickup with darkened windows
enters. It hesitates and then slowly drives toward Neil -
up and the ramps between the speaker poles.
ON DODGE PICK UP
circling wide and coming up almost parallel to the Caprice.
As the driver pulls to a stop we see an envelope on the
da...
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NEIL
You keep your hands in sight! I
tell you what to do, how to do
it.
DRIVER
Yessir. I'm just the delivery
boy.
REAR SHOTS
Of the two vehicles. Out of the
covered bed of the pick-up a
small man slowly slips out.
MAN
crawls under the pick-up and Neil's car and emerges on the
passenger side behind Neil's rear wheel in Neil's blind
spot. He inches towards the window. He carries a 15-shot
Colt .22 Woodsman with a huge silencer. He is totally
relaxed and professional.
NEIL
concentrates on the driver, who's calm.
NEIL
Now, with your right hand only:
throw the envelope in my back
seat.
DRIVER
Starts to reach for the envelope and tosses it into Neil's
car.
NEIL
sees his eyes dart. Neil glances at his right rear view
mirror.
NEIL'S POV: MAN
with the silenced .22.
WIDE FROM THE FRONT
Neil floors the Caprice and it catapults and bucks over
rows of ramps.
REAR SHOT - MAN
pumps SHOTS into the rear of the Caprice.
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INT. CAPRICE - NEIL
Jerks out his 9mm Browning as .22 SLUGS DRILL precise HOLES
THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD.
EXT. DRIVE-IN - VERY WIDE
Neil throws the Caprice through a skidding 180 degree turn
and accelerates toward the man who moves back towards the
Dodge pickup for cover.
INT. PICKUP - DRIVER
Panics now. The Dodge takes off, abandoning the man with
the .22.
INT. CAPRICE - NEIL'S POV: SKY-GROUND
PITCH BACK AND FORTH, UP AND DOWN. The Man runs, turns,
stands, and FIRES.
EXT. DRIVE-IN - PROFILE: CAPRICE AND ABANDONED GUNMAN
Who FIRES until the Caprice smashes into him.
INT. CAPRICE - NEIL
Skids around to a stop and bails out.
EXT. DRIVE-IN - DODGE PICKUP
Accelerating to the exit lane, kicking up billows of dust.
INT. PICK-UP - DRIVER'S POV - CLEAR EXIT
Until Cerrito and Chris fold out from either side of the
exit gate with shotguns. They FIRE:
CUT TO:
EXT. DRIVE-IN - WIDE
The windshield is blown out and the Driver's half into the
back seat. The car rolls over onto its side. Cerrito
FIRES into the exposed gas tank. It BLOWS UP.
NEIL
approaches the fallen Gunman and with the 9mm. Browning
at his temple, kicks away the .22.
GUNMAN
(coughs blood)
Can I Make it?
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Neil looks at his smashed, twisted body and bleeding mouth
He's choking to death. Neil shakes his head "no."
NEIL
You're all done, pal.
GUNMAN
Do it.
He closes his eyes.
NEIL
aims. FIRES ONCE.
VERY WIDE FROM THE TOP OF THE DRIVE-IN SCREEN - SUNSET
The whole landscape. Neil with the gun heavy at the end
of his arm walks from the Gunman to the Caprice. Chris
and Cerrito - like duck hunters - cradle their shotguns
and cross to a Lincoln away from the burning pickup.
CUT TO:
INT. MALIBU SECURITIES, VAN ZANT OFFICE - VAN ZANT - NIGHT
Phone rings. Occupied, he casually answers.
NEIL (O.S.)
John Van Zant?
VAN ZANT
Yeah. Who's this?
NEIL (O.S.)
Neil McCauley.
Van Zant reacts, racing, trying to cover.
VAN ZANT
This kid I sent to straighten
you up on the money... didn't
call. Is ... uh... everything
alright?
NEIL
(laid back)
Tell you what: keep the money.
VAN ZANT
What?
NEIL
(slow)
"... keep ... the ... money."
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VAN ZANT
(fast)
It's a lot of money! What are
you doing?
NEIL
(slow)
What am I doin' I'm talking into
an empty telephone.
VAN ZANT
I don't understand.
NEIL
(matter of fact)
'Cause there is a dead man on
the other end of this line...
Neil hangs up. Hugh Benny has entered. Van Zant looks at
the phone, then Hugh:
VAN ZANT
(shouts)
Who are these people? Huh?!
CUT TO:
INT. CHINESE RESTAURANT, PHONE BOOTH - NEIL - NIGHT
Is re-dialing.
KELSO (V.O.)
(phone filter)
Yeah?
NEIL
(into phone)
You got a clean line?
CUT TO:
INT. KELSO TRAILER - CEZAR KELSO - NIGHT
In his wheelchair. He checks a meter attached to his
telephone wire.
KELSO
(into phone)
Yeah.
NEIL (V.O.)
(Phone filter) I got a delay
dropping the $50,000.
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KELSO
(into phone)
You don't have a delay. What
you don't have is a deal.
(beat)
Swing by and collect your envelope
sometime. Goodbye.
Starts to hang up.
NEIL (V.O.)
(phone filter)
Wait a minute, pal-o!!
Kelso does.
INT. CHINESE RESTAURANT - NEIL
NEIL
(into phone)
You're going to wait for me for
a week. I'll buy a week with
the five. It's above and beyond
the fifty and if I wash, you
keep it.
(beat)
You're going to wait for me 'cause
you want me to take it down.
You know it's got better odds
with me in.
(pause)
Now do we have an understanding?
KELSO (V.O.)
(phone filter)
Seven days.
CLICK.
WIDE ON ROUND TABLE
Michael and Elaine Cerrito, Chris and Charlene, Towner and
his wife ANNA - a striking black woman we'll see later -
sit around the table and sing "Happy Anniversary" to the
tune of "Happy Birthday" as a Chinese waiter brings Elaine
and Michael Cerrito a cake; Neil returns.
VOICES
...Happy anniversary to you.
Happy anniversary dear Michael
and Elaine. Happy anniversary
to you.
Everyone applauds and laughs and raises glasses of plum
wine except Cerrito who drinks club soda. Elaine and
Michael blow out the candles.
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The skeleton of a steamed sea bass is in the center of the
table.
CUT TO:
INT. MEN'S ROOM OF CHINESE RESTAURANT - CLOSE ON FAUCET -
NIGHT
It's a LOUD TORRENT - TILT UP TO THREE SHOT: Neil, Cerrito
and Chris are clustered around the sink. The water runs
seemingly aimlessly. It also would drown out a bug.
NEIL
(loud over water)
We'll down platinum through Nate.
The deal is 72% of today's quote
on the Bourse in the New York
Times.
CERRITO
(loud over water)
You got the black boxes for the
alarms?
CHRIS
(loud over water)
Yeah. Towner delivered. They're
in the drop.
NEIL
(loud over water)
We pass by couple times tomorrow
afternoon. Check nothing strange
in the neighborhood. Tomorrow
night: we take it down. You set
on the rear door.
CHRIS
(loud over water)
I'm going to punch it...
(beat)
What do we do about Van Zant?
NEIL
(loud over water)
Kill him...after the score.
CHRIS
(loud)
Kelso?
NEIL
(loud)
We'll use Nate's advance off the
platinum when I down the merch
to pay Kelso for the bank package.
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Neil turns off the water and they leave.
CUT TO:
INT. CHINESE RESTAURANT - PLUM WINE AT TABLE - LATER
Elaine drinks. WIDEN. Michael whispers in her ear. She
smiles. Then she laughs and drapes an arm around his neck
and plants a kiss that almost knocks him over. The party,
winding down. Everyone luxuriates in the afterglow.
CHARLENE AND CHRIS
sedate, comfortable, each in separate thoughts.
CHRIS
(quietly)
You okay?
CHARLENE
I'm fine.
CHRIS
(arm around her)
Makin' it happen this time...
CHARLENE
I hope so. I really hope so.
They're close for this moment: the afterglow of the dinner.
NEIL
looks at Charlene.
CHARLENE
sees and holds his look and then her attention shifts to
Elaine.
NEIL
checks his watch. Waiter approaches Neil with the bill.
MICHAEL
(to Neil)
Hey!
CHRIS
Let me have it!
NEIL
(smiles)
I got it.
CUT TO:
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EXT. CHINESE RESTAURANT - NEIL - NIGHT
And everyone else exits from the restaurant, say their
goodbyes and go to their cars: Neil's Lincoln, Chris's
Seville, Cerrito's Sedan de Ville, Towner to a restored El
Camino. WE HEAR: BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.
HANNA (O.S.)
A goddamn convention.
We HEAR a soft FILM ADVANCE and SHUTTER.
CASALS (O.S.)
Who's "slick?"
PULL BACK TO REVEAL REAR SHOTS of Hanna, Drucker, Casals
and a surveillance team on the roof across the street behind
some neon.
DRUCKER
Cerrito, the wide one. He's
hugged twice. One if he finds
it behind the wheel wall. The
back-up's in the firewall. We
got their plates.
CASALS
Yeah.
DRUCKER
One with the hair is Shiherlis.
Got a revolving tail and a tap
on the house phone.
HANNA
(re Neil)
Who's the big guy?
DRUCKER
First time we're seeing him.
Hanna rolls away from his line of sight and says to his
men:
HANNA
Next time this crew scores?
When they walk in that door?
They will get the surprise of a
lifetime.
CUT TO:
EXT. EADY'S HOUSE, DECK - TWO SHOT - NIGHT
Neil's shirt's open. Eady's in a terry robe. They've
made love. It's late. They're awake. After a moment:
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NEIL
(holds her close:
looks at her face)
Come away with me.
EADY
What?
(surprised)
Where?
NEIL
New Zealand.
EADY
When?
NEIL
Soon.
EADY
You're kidding.
NEIL
What's stopping you? What's
here?
EADY
(laughs)
I don't know you.
NEIL
What's to know?
EADY
Are you married?
NEIL
(laughs)
Why?
EADY
Way you come and go.
NEIL
I deal with state officials.
County. Weird hours. A lot of
traveling, entertaining.
(beat)
The last thing I am is married.
There's a pause, then:
EADY
You don't know me at all, Neil...
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NEIL
I know enough.
EADY
My father wanted me to marry
someone in Taipei. It was like
I was a piece of furniture: "Go
be his wife." After I left he
won't talk to me. Because I
went on my own. I can't let
people tell roe what to do again.
And that trust comes from knowing
someone over time.
(avoids Neil)
This is hard between us for me.
Because I like you very much.
Neil looks right into Eady's face.
NEIL
I have to leave. Come away with
me.
(beat)
No one will ever tell you what
to do... You'll never lose
yourself with me.
She believes him. So do we.
CUT TO:
INT. SOUTH LA BREA MOTEL - CLOSE ON HOOKER - NIGHT
She's a BLACK PROSTITUTE - all of 18. She looks bored and
chews gum as she puts on a rayon Japanese Kimono and exits.
ANGLE ON BED - WAINGRO
sits on the edge of the rumpled bed in his Jeans. He wears
a neck brace. His face is still swollen and bruised from
Neil's beating. His belt isn't buckled. He's in a daze.
O.S. we HEAR a TOILET FLUSH. Prostitute returns. Waingro
looks over at her:
PROSTITUTE
(tired)
Hey, baby.
WAINGRO
Showed you a good time? Huh?
PROSTITUTE
Oh, yeah. You fly. You cool.
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WAINGRO
Don't lie to me. I can always
tell when people lie to me.
PROSTITUTE
I ain't lyin'! You a hot dog.
You a cowboy. You hung like a
horse and this was the monster
fuck of my young life.
(pause)
Now I gotta get my ass streetside.
WAINGRO
You don't have a truth-telling
style.
PROSTITUTE
The fuck's wrong with you?
Waingro winds up and cracks the girl. She knocks over a
cheap lamp and bounces off a wall.
PROSTITUTE
on her stomach on the floor, dazed. Waingro kicks her and
throws a small table at her. It smashes apart.
WAINGRO
(shouts)
You think I'm some john? I'm a
stone killer! I'm a sky-blue
bad ass, bitch!
CUT TO:
INT. MIRACLE MILE BAR - ON WAINGRO - NIGHT
At the bar drinking alone. The logs of an Asian girl dance
Most patrons are Korean. BARTENDER approaches.
BARTENDER
(tired smile)
Once again?
WAINGRO
(feeling good now)
Sure, good buddy. Set it up.
BARTENDER
pours and Waingro knocks it back, watches the Asian dancer
and pops a five and a ten to him across the bar.
WAINGRO
I'm looking to get into something.
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BARTENDER
(smiles)
Yeah? Where you been?
WAINGRO
Chino, Tracy. I'm a cowboy,
heavy-hitter. Billy Ricketts
said to come see you.
Bartender writes on a cocktail napkin.
BARTENDER
Go see this guy. This guy always
putting guys on.
Waingro flips the Bartender a $20.
WAINGRO
Thanks.
Another woman takes Waingro's eyes. He spins around on
his bar stool and grabs her arm as she passes. Big smile.
Its...
LILLIAN
Breedan's woman. She, too, is a dancer and her shift's
over. She's wearing a raincoat over tights and a sweatshirt
She jerks her arm away.
LILLIAN
(heavy)
Get your fucking hand off my
arm!
Waingro backs way off and shrugs. Lillian leaves.
CUT TO:
INT. LILLIAN'S CAR - LILLIAN - NIGHT
Down the Strip. The RADIO is on.
RADIO ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
(radio filter)
Hey, hey!
(beat)
...there, old aware ones, and
you, too, my fair ones. When
tears are falling like rain the
groove is strictly Col-trane...
Lillian turns right up into the driveway and pulls into
Robert's Coffee Shop.
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She asks Solenko who's behind the cash register something,
then leaves, heading across the street to...
CUT TO:
INT. NARROW POLYNESIAN BAR - BREEDAN - NIGHT
A back corner, loaded, looks up.
BREEDAN
Hey!
LILLIAN (O.S.)
Let's go, baby.
Big drunk smile. She helps him up and supports his weight.
CUT TO:
EXT. POLYNESIAN BAR, TWO SHOT - NIGHT
It's later. Breedan's been sick. Now he's sober. They
sit near trash barrels under a huge plaster half shell,
fishing nets and blue lights.
BREEDAN
I got any left?
LILLIAN
There's other paychecks. You
blow it off. It's worth it,
baby, cause you mess with that
man and you be violated right
back to San Quentin. So you got
to handle it 'til we get you a
different job.
BREEDAN
(energy)
Yeah. That motherfucker ain't
invented the hard time this
gangster can't handle!.
(crashes)
Why you stickin' with me, Lillian?
Why?
Lillian stares right at him.
LILLIAN
'Cause I'm proud of you. Proud
you my man.
BREEDAN
(cracks up)
Proud of me?
(MORE)
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BREEDAN (CONT'D)
(beat)
What you proud of me for?
LILLIAN
(beat)
Come on home.
Breedan puts one arm around her waist and they strenuously
rise.
CUT TO:
EXT. EMA PRECIOUS METALS, REAR - WIDE ON ALLEY - NIGHT
Nothing. Hold. Then the Pontiac work car cruises the
alley. It's dark, but we recognize Cerrito driving with
Neil in the passenger seat. Pontiac does not slow down at
ERA, keeps going to the end of the block and turns left.
CUT TO:
INT. EMA PRECIOUS METALS, INC. - HANNA - NIGHT
Staked out inside. With him are Schwartz, Casals, Bosko
and two uniformed policemen: BRUCE and BERRYMAN.
Bruce rearranges himself. Hanna shoots him a lock. He
stops fidgeting. Hanna looks at wall clock: 10:30p.M.
EXT. EMA PRECIOUS METALS, REAR ALLEY - PONTIAC
Cruises the alley a second time. Again, it doesn't stop.
CUT TO:
EXT. ADJACENT ROOFTOP - CAPT. JACKSON - NIGHT
And a ten man SWAT Team are spread out across roofs. The
men wear flack vests and carry an array of shotguns and
assault rifles and shotguns. Everybody Is still. CAPT.
JACKSON uses a periscope to see over the edge:
JACKSON'S POV: ALLEY
Abandoned.
INT. EMA - HANNA'S STAKE-OUT
BRUCE
(into radio)
Okay.
(to Hanna)
Captain Jackson wants to know
what's goin' on.
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HANNA
(into his radio)
Nothing. Clear the air.
He clicks off makes a drinking motion to...
HANNA
...who shakes his head "no." He puts a finger over his
lips meaning silence. Hanna looks at the clock. It's
12:03 a.m. Hanna takes a deep breath. He closes and opens
his eyes. They wait.
EXT. ALLEY - WIDE ON ALLEY - LATER
Nothing. Then the Pontiac with its lights off rolls
forward. Chris gets out with a salesman's sample case and
pads down the five steps to the rear entry of the jewelry
store. Chris is in a black suit and sneakers. There are
surgical gloves on his hands. The others stay in the car.
TIGHTER: CHRIS
assembles a heavy lock punch from the black case. It's
formidable. He nods.
CERRITO
in lineman's gear is out of the car and he quickly climbs
the telephone pole like an experienced lineman. The
telephone pole is next to the roof upon which Jackson and
the SWAT Team are staked-out.
TOP OF POLE - CERRITO
arrives. He's 18 inches away from 11 cops. Team nor
Cerrito are aware of each other.
INT. EMA, INC. - HANNA
Neither the SWAT moves his head to ease the strain: A
hearing aid receiver's in hit ear. He looks at his men.
The clock says 1:10 a.m.
Casals, leg convulses. Bruce is the worst. He writhes
with cramped muscles. Bosko's bulk doesn't move.
HANNA
gestures for Bruce to quiet down.
EXT. ALLEY - CERRITO
Maneuvers past P.G.E. gear and opens the GTE junction box.
He hangs a small suitcase over the door with three black
boxes and six alligator clips and starts searching for
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pairs of colored wires and bridging the jewelry store's
alarm circuits.
EXT. ROOF - JACKSON
Doesn't know Cerrito is there. He hears BREATHING. He's
curious. He raises his head over the edge and his eyes go
wide. WIDEN. He's inches from the back of Cerrito's head.
Cerrito twists and turns and jerks back in effort - almost
touching Jackson. Cerrito's too absorbed to sense Jackson's
presence. Jackson carefully closes his eyes and sinks
down.
EXT. EMA, INC., REAR ENTRANCE - CHRIS
He gets a nod from Cerrito. He slams the lock punch with
a cut down sledge hammer.
ECU: DOOR
A I" circle is punched into the steel lock mechanism next
to the cylinder, exposing electrical wiring and magnetic
tumblers and "gates."
ECU: CHRIS' FINGERS
like a cardiac surgeon's, have a balletic grace as they
manipulate the tumblers so the groove cut in each one lines
up. As they do, a bar of metal called the "fence" falls
into the channel created by the lined-up gates, unlocking
the mechanism.
WIDE: CHRIS
touches the door. It swings - soundlessly - open on its
hinges. Surprisingly, they now pack up. Neil, Chris and
Cerrito climb into the Pontiac and drive away. The door
was left wide open.
EXT. ROOF - JACKSON
JACKSON
(into walkie-talkie)
Where'd...they...go?
INT. EMA, INC. - ON HANNA
HANNA
(pissed; into mike)
Fell back to see if the alarm
bypasses held. If they did,
they'll be back. Stay the fuck
off the radio!
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INT. EMA, BASEMENT - WIDE ON VAULT DOOR
Nothing. It's black. Then there's light. Neil's entered.
He illuminates the vault with his penlight.
CHRIS
sets up a heavy drill and tapes a template with drill points
marked to the door.
INT. EMA, INC. - BRUCE
Is in agony. His muscles are cramped - he rolls on the
floor trying to control himself. His head inches up, drops
back.
HANNA
calms Bruce with hand gestures.
WIDE
The clock says 2:00 a.m.
HANNA
(tense whisper)
Quiet! !
Bruce starts shaking, violently. He twists. His belt
buckle hits the floor. There is the smallest TAP. Hanna
closes his eyes.
INT. BASEMENT - NEIL
Looks up at the ceiling. Down at the floor. He thinks.
Pause. This is the first tire we've heard them speak in
this sequence.
NEIL
(he decides; whispers)
...We walk.
CHRIS
(tense whisper; re:
the box)
I'm 60 seconds away. It's a rat
or something.
NEIL
(whispers)
It is not an animal sound. We
are out of here.
CHRIS
(tense whisper)
We need the cash!!
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NEIL
(tense whisper;
already going)
We walk!! Now.
No argument. Chris puts down his equipment.
They strip off and drop their surgical gloves. Chris tosses
his shop coat on the floor. Both unpin the lapels of what
is revealed to be dark suits with shirts underneath. They
abandon everything. They walk out the back door and keep
going.
EXT. ROOFTOP - ON JACKSON
JACKSON
(into radio;
whispered)
They're leaving. Why are they
leaving?!
ROOFTOP POV: WIDE ON ALLEY BELOW
Neil and Chris enter, approach the Pontiac with Cerrito
behind the wheel.
JACKSON (O.S.)
(radio filter;
whispered)
I can take 'em, now!
HANNA (V.O.)
(radio filter;
whispered)
Let 'em go.
INT. EMA, INC. - HANNA
JACKSON (V.O.)
(radio filter)
At least we got 'em on a...
For the first time in the last seven minutes we hear a
normal voice. Its LOUD.
HANNA
(cuts him off; into
radio)
Let em go. We got nothing! Not
even a burglary. They didn't
fucking steal anything yet.
Don't you get it? All we've
got's breaking and entry.
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EXT. ROOFTOP POV: ON ALLEY BELOW
Neil and Chris are in the Pontiac. Jackson's men are
poised.
JACKSON (V.O.)
(radio filter)
I'm not letting them walk!
HANNA
The fuck you aren't! That's
exactly what you are gonna do.
It's my investigation. And my
authority supersedes your rank!
And I am not settling for some
chicken shit misdemeanor!
Cerrito pulls away. At the end he turns on his headlights,
signals like a good driver, and turns right.
INT. EMA, INC., FIRST FLOOR - WIDE
Manna snaps off the radio.
HANNA
Back to work.
Then he pitches the radio in a line drive at Bruce, barely
missing his head.
RADIO
SMASHES into pieces.
CUT TO:
EXT. GENERAL LIQUORS, LAS VEGAS - WIDE - DAY
A "Las Vegas Police Department" car pulls to the curb.
Hanna and Schwartz get out and cross the crabgrass, dirt,
and debris-filled forecourt to a cheaply constructed wood
and glass one-story building.
CUT TO:
MARCIAN0'S OFFICE - MARCIANO - DAY
Hangs up the phone. We HEAR the DOOR OPEN.
MARCIANO
(rising; big smile)
What can I do for you guys?
Ignores his hand and shoves him
back into his office chair with
an open hand.
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CLOSER
Hanna rips open Marciano's desk drawer finds a gun, unloads
it, throws it on the floor, finds a small tape recorder,
pops the tape out and tosses it to Schwartz. Then he
flashes a badge at Marciano.
MARCIANO
L.A.P.D. Who the hell you think
you're pushing around? You got
no jurisdiction and I know people
here!
SCHWARTZ
Who? The fucking Tooth Fairy!
So what?
HANNA
You go back to Newark on a New
Jersey warrant for smuggling
cigarettes up from North Carolina
three years ago or you go to
work for us. Cut and dried.
That...is...it.
MARCIANO
Oh, my God...
HANNA
Charlene Shiherlis.
MARCIANO
Who?
SCHWARTZ
"Who?" The stranger you been
talkin' dirty to on the telephone
every day for the last month.
MARCIANO
You can't tie me to her!
HANNA
Who has to. You're onna plane
to New Jersey, jagoff.
MARCIANO
Oh, man...
(to himself)
Why did I get mixed up with that
bitch?
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HANNA
(sits down)
'Cause she's got a great ass and
you goT your head all the way up
it.
MARCIANO
(defeated)
So?
HANNA
So it's no big thing. I don't
even want her. You can have
her, after. I want her husband
and all his buddies; that's all.
And you're gonna help.
CUT TO:
INT. ROBERT'S COFFEE SHOP - NEIL + CHRIS - DAY
in a booth next to the window. Out the window is morning
traffic on Beverly Boulevard. Empty coffee cups say they've
been there a while. They lean close and talk low. Neil's
explosive behind it.
NEIL
LAPD? The G? What? Where the
hell did this heat come from?
CHRIS
Maybe it's only the EMA score,
not us.
NEIL
(low)
Wake up!
(beat)
Assume they got our phones, our
houses bugged, I beepers on all
the cars. We got major problems..
Where's Cerrito?
Neil looks over at the cook behind the high counter and
recognizes him.
NEIL'S POV: DAVID BREEDAN
NEIL (O.S.)
Recognize the cook?
CHRIS
No.
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NEIL
D Block. San Q. Did a nickel on
armed robbery.
INT. KITCHEN - BREEDAN
Grim, cold, working his ass off on five breakfast orders
simultaneously.
NEIL (O.S.)
Hey, David. How you doing?
Breedan turns, recognizes Neil and warms as if the sun
rose.
BREEDAN
Hey, Homeboy! All right!
(flips eggs; checks
orders)
How bout you?
NEIL
(sits on counter)
Gettin' by. You okay?
BREEDAN
(embarrassed; re:
job)
Yeah. Temporary. Know what I
mean?
Neil looks out and sees Cerrito.
NEIL
Sure. See you around.
INT. RESTAURANT - ON BOOTH
Neil slides in.
NEIL
(to Cerrito)
What took you so long?
CERRITO
(low)
My car. Bugs. Two of 'em.
Count 'em. One in the wheel
well. Second behind the fire
wall. Night of the party? I
dropped Elaine and swung by EMA
to check out the junction box...
He doesn't have to s |
