The 6th Man (1997)

Antoine (Kadeem Hardison) and Kenny Tyler (Marlon Wayans), two close brothers, are
shown as children playing in a basketball game in the year 1986. Their motto for
each other is "A&K: All the Way", created by their mother. Their father, James Tyler, is
coaching the team and directs Kenny to take the last shot for the win since they are in
deficit, but Kenny passes the ball to Antoine out of fright, who misses. Later that
night, Kenny and Antoine are playing basketball in their front yard, where Kenny tries
to cheer Antoine up, who is still upset about missing the shot. James tells them that
all they have to do is stick together and anything can happen.
The film fast forwards to the present-day and both Antoine and Kenny are attending
the University of Washington and make up a famed duo on their college basketball
team, the Huskies. The team goes out to a night club to celebrate their most recent
win. While at the nightclub Kenny meets R.C. St. John (Michael Michele), a reporter
for UW, with whom he sparks an interest in.
Later, Washington is playing a road game at UCLA. During the game, When Antoine
slam dunks a ball and when he's hanging from the rim shouting out in victory, he
suddenly cries out in pain. He has suffered a heart attack, unbeknownst to the team
at that time. He is carried off the court and tragically dies in the ambulance car before
reaching the hospital. Coach Pederson (David Paymer), the head coach, choked up,
informs Kenny and the team after the game that Antoine has died. Devastated, Kenny
cries into his coach's arms as the team moves to comfort him.
The next game shows Antoine's jersey number being retired as a sign of respect.
However, the team begins falling apart. Without his brother by his side, Kenny loses
his drive and is constantly hounded by the press. During one game, however, odd
sequences begin to occur, leading to a surprising win (later learned to be contrived
by Antoine's spirit). Antoine later appears to Kenny in the locker room, which initially
frightens Kenny, though he eventually realizes it is indeed Antoine. The brothers
share a happy reunion. Antoine explains that the reason he's back is because Kenny
called him and that he's the only one who can see and hear him.
Kenny's teammates begin to question Kenny's concerning behavior (as they can not
see Antoine). Kenny concedes into telling his teammates about Antoine's
reemergence, who are in disbelief. The team is reluctant to believe Kenny, but are
1

convinced once Antoine uses supernatural forces to persuade them. Antoine begins
to help the team.
Under the influence of Antoine, the team begins to storm through the competition
and eventually make it to the NCAA tournament, for the first time in years.
Meanwhile Kenny's relationship with R.C. deepens, despite Antoine's efforts to
disband the two as he believes R.C. is only out to get a story on him, which is partially
true, as she is originally prepared to submit a story to the paper on him upon his
revelation to her that Antoine is in fact aiding the team, though she eventually
decides against it.
The rest of the team begins to have misgivings about Antoine aiding them in their
games. They confront Kenny on the matter, As one fellow player states that Antoine is
a ball hog. "He was when he was alive and no disrespect is even worse as a dead
man." Kenny informs Antoine. Antoine becomes irate, and in a fit of supernatural
power, wrecks the room they're in. After calming down, Antoine relents to Kenny that
he never wanted to die, As he had things he wanted to do, he had plans. Kenny tells
the team he wants Antoine to stay, clearly because he doesn't want to lose his brother
again. However, in a game before the national championship, Antoine's antics
seriously injure a rival player who was also a close friend of Kenny's. While Kenny is
visiting the player at the hospital, R.C. comes to see how he's doing and knows it's
because of Antoine, having discovered his spirit and clues in a game's footage. R.C.
tells Kenny that even though Antoine is dead, Kenny's still letting him run his life. To
which Kenny tells her she doesn't understand how hard it's been for him to live his
life without his brother. R.C. understands but says that Kenny will never truly live
unless he let's Antoine go. Kenny then tells Antoine not to interfere during the
Championship game with the team by his side, or they will voluntarily forfeit.
Disappointed, Antoine leaves, but lingers nearby.
The team plays poorly in the first half of the championship game. At halftime, Kenny
gives a speech to fire the team up, telling them that they still have Antoine in their
hearts, with the coach being proud that Kenny has finally stepped up as the leader he
wanted him to be, and Antoine in tears, proud of his brother. The team goes back in
the second half with an impressive rally to bring the game close. Kenny attempts the
game winning shot. Antoine tries to help but Kenny tells him not to, as he makes the
shot on his own and the Huskies win the championship for the very first time. With
2

his job completed, Antoine makes his way back to Heaven. Kenny stops him and
attempts to have one final moment with his brother. Antoine tells Kenny that he is
proud of him (as he never let Kenny do things on his own) and that he will always be
with him as he reminds Kenny what their father told them as kids. Kenny returns to
celebrate with his team. Antoine goes off into the distance under an array of lights.
Coach Pederson sees this and asks Kenny if this was Antoine (that's our sixth man,
wasn't it?), to which Kenny admits, finally able to say "A&K all the way".

Script notes

12 Angry Men (1957)

The story begins in a New York City courthouse, where an eighteen-year-old boy from
a slum is on trial for allegedly stabbing his father to death. Final closing arguments
having been presented, a visibly tired judge instructs the jury to decide whether the
boy is guilty of murder. The judge further informs them that a guilty verdict will be
accompanied by a mandatory death sentence.[7]
The jury retires to a private room, where the jurors spend a short while getting
acquainted before they begin deliberating. It is immediately apparent that the jurors
have already decided that the boy is guilty, and that they plan to return their verdict
without taking time for discussionwith the sole exception of Juror 8 (Henry Fonda),
who is the only "not guilty" vote in a preliminary tally. He explains that there is too
much at stake for him to go along with the verdict without at least talking about it
first. His vote annoys the other jurors, especially Juror 7 (Jack Warden), who has
tickets to a baseball game that evening; and Juror 10 (Ed Begley), who believes that
people from slum backgrounds are liars and are wild and dangerous.[7]
The rest of the film's focus is the jury's difficulty in reaching a unanimous verdict.
While several of the jurors harbor personal prejudices, Juror 8 maintains that the
evidence presented in the case is circumstantial, and that the boy deserves a fair
deliberation. He calls into question the accuracy and reliability of the only two
witnesses to the murder, the "rarity" of the murder weapon (a commonswitchblade,
of which he has an identical copy), and the overall questionable circumstances. He
further argues that he cannot in good conscience vote "guilty" when he feels there is
reasonable doubt of the boy's guilt.
Having argued several points and gotten no favorable response from the others,
Juror 8 reluctantly agrees that he has only succeeded inhanging the jury. Instead, he
requests another vote, this time by secret ballot. He proposes that he will abstain
from voting, and if the other 11 jurors are still unanimous in a guilty vote, then he
will acquiesce to their decision. The secret ballot is held, and a new "not guilty" vote
appears. This earns intense criticism from Juror 3 (Lee J. Cobb), who blatantly accuses
Juror 5 (Jack Klugman) who had grown up in a slum of switching out of sympathy
toward slum children. However, Juror 9 (Joseph Sweeney) reveals that he himself
changed his vote, feeling that Juror 8's points deserve further discussion.
5

Juror 8 presents a convincing argument that one of the witnesses, an elderly man
who claimed to have heard the boy yell "I'm going to kill you" shortly before the
murder took place, could not have heard the voices as clearly as he had testified due
to an elevated train passing by at the time; as well as stating that "I'm going to kill
you," is often said by people who do not literally mean it. Juror 5 changes his vote to
"not guilty". Soon afterward, Juror 11 (George Voskovec) questions whether the
defendant would have reasonably fled the scene before cleaning the knife of
fingerprints, then come back three hours later to retrieve the knife (which had been
left in his father's chest). Juror 11 then changes his vote.
Juror 8 then mentions the man's second claim: upon hearing the father's body hit
the floor, he had run to the door of his apartment and seen the defendant running
out of the building from his front door in 15 seconds. Jurors 5, 6 and 8 question
whether this is true, as the witness in question had had a stroke, limiting his ability to
walk. Upon the end of an experiment, the jury finds that the witness would not have
made it to the door in enough time to actually see the killer running out. Juror 8
concludes that, judging from what he claims to have heard earlier, the witness must
have merely assumed it was the defendant running. Juror 3, growing more irritated
throughout the process, explodes in a rant: "He's got to burn! He's slipping through
our fingers!" Juror 8 takes him to task, calling him a "self-appointed public avenger"
and a sadist, saying he wants the defendant to die because of personal desire rather
than the facts. Juror 3 shouts "I'll kill him!" and starts lunging at Juror 8, but is
restrained by Jurors 5 and 7. Juror 8 calmly retorts, "You don't really mean you'll kill
me, do you?", proving his previous point.[6]
Jurors 2 (John Fiedler) and 6 (Edward Binns) also decide to vote "not guilty", tying
the vote at 66. Soon after, a rainstorm hits the city, threatening to cancel the baseball
game for which Juror 7 has tickets.
Juror 4 (E. G. Marshall) states that he does not believe the boy's alibi, which was
being at the movies with a few friends at the time of the murder, because the boy
could not remember what movie he had seen when questioned by police shortly
after the murder. Juror 8 explains that being under emotional stress can make you
forget certain things, and tests how well Juror 4 can remember the events of previous
days. Juror 4 remembers, with some difficulty, the events of the previous five days,

and Juror 8 points out that he had not been under emotional stress at that time, thus
there was no reason to think the boy could remember the movie that he had seen.[8]
Juror 2 calls into question the prosecution's claim that the accused, who was 5'7" tall,
was able to inflict the downward stab wound found on his father, who was 6'2".
Jurors 3 and 8 conduct an experiment to see if it's possible for a shorter person to
stab downward into a taller person. The experiment proves the possibility, but Juror 5
then explains that he had grown up amidst knife fights in his neighborhood, and
shows, through demonstrating the correct use of a switchblade, that no one so much
shorter than his opponent would have held a switchblade in such a way as to stab
downward, as the grip would have been too awkward and the act of changing hands
too time-consuming. Rather, someone that much shorter than his opponent would
stab underhanded at an upwards angle. This revelation augments the certainty of
several of the jurors in their belief that the defendant is not guilty.
Increasingly impatient, Juror 7 changes his vote just so that the deliberation may
end, which earns him the ire of Jurors 3 and 11, both on opposite sides of the
discussion. Juror 11, an immigrant who has repeatedly displayed strong patriotic
pride, presses Juror 7 hard about using his vote frivolously, and eventually Juror 7
claims that he now truly believes the defendant is not guilty.[9]
The next jurors to change their votes are Jurors 12 (Robert Webber) and 1 (Martin
Balsam), making the vote 93 and leaving only three dissenters: Jurors 3, 4 and 10.
Outraged at how the proceedings have gone, Juror 10 goes into a rage on why
people from the slums cannot be trusted, of how they are little better than animals
who gleefully kill each other off for fun. His speech offends Juror 5, who turns his
back to him, and one by one the rest of the jurors start turning away from him.
Confused and disturbed by this reaction to his diatribe, Juror 10 continues in a
steadily fading voice and manner, slowing to a stop with "Listen to me. Listen..."
Juror 4, the only man still facing him, tersely responds, "I have. Now sit down and
don't open your mouth again." As Juror 10 moves to sit in a corner by himself, Juror
8 speaks quietly about the evils of prejudice, and the other jurors slowly resume their
seats.
When those remaining in favor of a guilty vote are pressed as to why they still
maintain that there is no reasonable doubt, Juror 4 states his belief that despite all
the other evidence that has been called into question, the fact remains that the
7

woman who saw the murder from her bedroom window across the street (through
the passing train) still stands as solid evidence. After he points this out, Juror 12
changes his vote back to "guilty", making the vote 84.
Then Juror 9, after seeing Juror 4 rub his nose (which is being irritated by his
glasses), realizes that, like Juror 4, the woman who allegedly saw the murder had
impressions in the sides of her nose which she rubbed, indicating that she wore
glasses, but did not wear them to court out of vanity. Juror 8 cannily asks Juror 4 if he
wears his eyeglasses to sleep, and Juror 4 admits that he does not wear them
nobody does.[10] Juror 8 explains that there was thus no logical reason to expect that
the witness happened to be wearing her glasses while trying to sleep, and he points
out that the attack happened so swiftly that she would not have had time to put them
on. After he points this out, Jurors 12, 10 and 4 all change their vote to "not guilty".
At this point, the only remaining juror with a guilty vote is Juror 3. Juror 3 gives a
long and increasingly tortured string of arguments, ending with, "Rotten kids, you
work your life out!" This builds on a more emotionally ambivalent earlier revelation
that his relationship with his own son is deeply strained, and his anger over this fact
is the main reason that he wants the defendant to be guilty. Juror 3 finally loses his
temper and tears up a photo of himself and his son, then suddenly breaks down
crying and changes his vote to "not guilty", making the vote unanimous.
As the jurors leave the room, Juror 8 helps the distraught Juror 3 with his coat in a
show of compassion. The film ends when the friendly Jurors 8 (Davis) and 9
(McCardle) exchange names, and all of the jurors descend the courthouse steps to
return to their individual lives.[11]
12 Monkeys (1995)
A deadly virus wipes out almost all of humanity in 1996, forcing remaining survivors
to live underground. In 2027, James Cole (Willis) is a prisoner living in a
subterranean shelter beneath the streets ofPhiladelphia.[3] Cole is selected for a
mission, where he is trained and sent back in time to collect information on the virus
in order to help scientists develop a cure.[4] Meanwhile, Cole is troubled by recurring
dreams involving a foot chase and an airport shooting.
Cole arrives in Baltimore in 1990, not 1996 as planned. He is arrested, then
hospitalized in a mental institution on the diagnosis of Dr. Kathryn Railly (Stowe).
8

There he encounters Jeffrey Goines (Pitt), a fellow mental patient with fanatical views.
After an escape attempt, Cole is locked in a cell, but soon disappears, returning to the
future. Back in his own time, Cole is interviewed by the scientists, who play a
distorted voicemail message which discloses the location of the Army of the Twelve
Monkeys and asserts their association with the virus. He is also shown photos of
numerous people suspected of being involved, including Goines.
In 1996, Railly gives a lecture about the Cassandra Complex to a group of scientists.
At the post-lecture book signing, Dr. Peters (Morse) questions her about mankind's
sustainability on earth and points out that humanity's gradual destruction of the
environment may be the real lunacy. Cole arrives at the venue after seeing flyers
publicizing it, and when Railly departs, he kidnaps her and forces her to take him to
Philadelphia. They learn that Goines is the founder of the Army of the Twelve
Monkeys, and set out in search of him. When they confront him, however, Goines
denies any involvement with the virus and says that wiping out humanity was Cole's
idea at the asylum in 1990.
Cole convinces himself that he is insane, but Railly confronts him with evidence of his
time travel. They decide to spend their remaining time together before the onset of
the plague in the Florida Keys. On their way to the airport, they learn that the Army of
the Twelve Monkeys was not the source of the epidemic; the group's major act of
protest is releasing animals from a zoo and placing Goines' Nobel Prize winning
virologist father (Plummer) in an animal cage.
At the airport, Cole leaves a last message telling the scientists that in following the
Army of the Twelve Monkeys they are on the wrong track, and that he will not return.
He is soon confronted by Jose (Seda), an acquaintance from his own time, who gives
Cole a handgun and ambiguously instructs him to follow orders. At the same time,
Railly spots Dr. Peters, and recognizes him from a newspaper photograph as an
assistant at Goines' father's virology lab. Peters is about to embark on a tour of
several cities that matches the locations and sequence of the viral outbreaks.
Cole forces his way through a security checkpoint in pursuit of Peters. After drawing
the gun he was given, Cole is fatally shot by police. As Cole lays dying in Railly's arms,
she makes eye contact with a small boy; the young James Cole witnessing the scene
of his own death, which will replay in his dreams for years to come. Peters, aboard the
plane with the virus, sits down next to Jones (Florence), one of the scientists from the
9

future. She draws Peters into a discussion about lunacy and the coming extinction of
humanity.

10

Script notes

11

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

an African desert millions of years ago, a tribe of man-apes is driven from their water
hole by a rival tribe. They wake to find afeatureless black monolith has appeared
before them. One man-ape realizes how to use a bone as a tool and weapon; the
tribe kills the leader of their rivals and reclaims the water hole.
Millions of years later, a Pan Am space plane carries Dr. Heywood R. Floyd to a space
station orbiting Earth for a layover on his trip toClavius Base, a United States outpost
on the moon. After avideophone call with his daughter, Floyd's Soviet scientist friend
and her colleague ask him about rumors of a mysterious epidemic at Clavius. Floyd
declines to answer. At Clavius, Floyd heads a meeting of base personnel, apologizing
for the epidemic cover story but stressing secrecy. His mission is to investigate a
recently found artifact buried four million years ago. Floyd and others ride in
aMoonbus to the artifact, which is a monolith identical to the one encountered by the
man-apes. Sunlight strikes the monolith and a loud high-pitched radio signal is
heard.
Eighteen months later, the U.S. spacecraft Discovery One is bound forJupiter. On
board are mission pilots and scientists Dr. David Bowman and Dr. Frank Poole with
three other scientists in cryogenic hibernation. Most of Discovery's operations are
controlled by the ship's computer, HAL 9000, referred to by the crew as "Hal".
Bowman and Poole watch Hal and themselves being interviewed on a BBCshow
about the mission, in which the computer states that he is "foolproof and incapable
of error." When asked by the host if Hal hasgenuine emotions, Bowman replies that
he appears to, but that the truth is unknown. Later, Hal questions Dave on the
mysterious purpose of the mission, then reports the imminent failure of an antenna
control device. The astronauts retrieve the component with an EVA Pod but find
nothing wrong with it. Hal suggests reinstalling the part and letting it fail so the
problem can be found. Mission Control advises the astronauts that results from their
twin HAL 9000 indicate that Hal is in error. Hal insists that the problem, like previous
issues with the HAL series, is due to human error. Concerned about Hal's behavior,
Bowman and Poole enter an EVA pod to talk without Hal overhearing, and agree to
disconnect Hal if he is proven wrong. Hal secretly follows their conversation by lip
reading.

12

While Poole attempts to replace the unit during a space walk, his EVA pod, controlled
by Hal, severs his oxygen hose and sets him adrift. Bowman takes another pod to
attempt rescue, leaving his helmet behind. Hal turns off the life support functions of
the crewmen in suspended animation. When Bowman returns to the ship with
Poole's body, Hal refuses to let him in, stating that the astronauts' plan to deactivate
him jeopardizes the mission. Bowman opens the ship's emergency airlock manually,
enters the ship, and proceeds to Hal's processor core to disconnect the computer. Hal
tries to reassure Bowman, then pleads with him to stop, and finally expresses fear. He
eventually regresses to his earliest programmed memory, the song "Daisy Bell",
which he sings for Bowman.
When Hal is finally disconnected, a pre-recorded video message from Floyd reveals
the existence of the monolith on the moon. Its purpose and origin unknown, it has
remained inert except for a powerful radio emission aimed at Jupiter. At Jupiter,
Bowman leaves Discovery Onein an EVA pod to investigate another monolith
discovered in orbit around the planet. The pod is pulled into a vortex of colored light,
[15]and Bowman races across vast distances of space, viewing bizarre cosmological
phenomena and strange landscapes of unusual colors.
He finds himself, still in the pod, in a bedroom appointed in theneoclassical style. He
sees older versions of himself, his point of view switching each time, first standing in
the bedroom, middle-aged, and still in his spacesuit, then formally dressed and
eating dinner, and finally as an old man lying in the bed. A black monolith appears at
the foot of the bed, and as Bowman reaches for it, he is transformed into a fetus
enclosed in a transparent orb of light.[16] The new being floats in space beside the
Earth, gazing at it.
2

13

Script notes

14

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

In 1868, rumors of a sea monster attacking ships in the Pacific Ocean have created
apprehension and fear among sailors, disrupting shipping lanes. The United States
government invites Professor Pierre M. Aronnax (Paul Lukas) and his assistant,
Conseil (Peter Lorre), onto an expedition to prove or disprove the monster's
existence. On board with them is the cocky master harpooner Ned Land (Kirk
Douglas).
After months of searching, the "monster" is spotted. Though the ship fires at it with
cannons, the monster rams the ship. Ned and Aronnax are thrown overboard, and
Conseil goes in after Aronnax. The warship, burning and helpless, drifts silently and
no one on board answers when the overboard passengers cry for help. The three drift
in the ocean, eventually finding a strange-looking metal vessel, and realize the
"monster" is a man-made "submerging boat" that appears deserted. Inside, Aronnax
finds a viewing window and sees an underwater funeral.
Ned, Aronnax and Conseil then attempt to leave in their lifeboat, but the submarine
crew returns to their ship, capturing the castaways. The captain introduces himself as
Nemo (James Mason), master of the Nautilus. He returns Ned and Conseil to the
deck, while offering Aronnax, whom he recognizes for his work and research, the
chance to stay. When Nemo discovers that Aronnax is willing to die with his
companions, he allows Ned and Conseil to board the submarine.
Nemo takes Aronnax to the penal colony island of Rura Penthe. Nemo reveals he was
once a prisoner there, as were many of his crew. The prisoners are loading an
ammunitions ship. The Nautilus rams the ship, destroying its cargo and killing the
crew. An anguished Nemo tells Arronax that his actions have saved thousands from
death in war; he also discloses that this "hated nation" tortured his wife and son to
death while attempting to force him to reveal the secrets of his work. Ned discovers
the coordinates of Nemo's secret island base, Vulcania, and releases messages in
bottles, hoping somebody will find them and free him from captivity.
Off the coast of New Guinea, the Nautilus becomes stranded on a reef. Ned is
surprised when Nemo allows him to go ashore with Conseil, ostensibly to collect
specimens. Ned goes off alone to explore avenues of escape. While kneeling at a
pool to drink he sees a number of human skulls on stakes. Realizing his danger, Ned
15

runs for his life and rejoins Conseil as they are chased back to the Nautilus by
cannibals. Despite remaining aground, Nemo is unconcerned and the cannibals are
repelled from the ship by electrical charges circulated on its hull. Nemo is furious
with Ned for not following his orders, and confines him to the submarine's brig.
A warship approaches, firing upon the submarine. It descends into the depths, where
it attracts the attentions of a giant squid. The electric charge fails to repel the monster,
so Nemo and his men surface to dislodge the beast. Nemo is caught in one of the
squid's tentacles. Ned, having escaped from captivity during the struggle, jumps to
Nemo's rescue, saving his captor's life. As a result, Nemo has a change of heart; he
claims now to want to make peace with the outer world.
As the Nautilus nears Vulcania, Nemo finds the island surrounded by warships whose
marines are converging on his hideout. As Nemo goes ashore, Ned attempts to
identify himself as the author of the bottled messages. Aronnax realizes this and
becomes furious, recognizing that Nemo will destroy all evidence of his discoveries.
Nemo plants a bomb in his hideout, but is mortally wounded from aslug to the back
while returning to the Nautilus. After haphazardly navigating the submarine away
from Vulcania, Nemo announces he will be "taking the Nautilus down for the last
time". Nemo's crew declare they will accompany their captain in death.
Aronnax, Conseil and Ned are confined to their cabins. The Nautilus's crew also
retreat to their cabins at Nemo's instructions. Ned breaks loose and manages to
surface the Nautilus, hitting a reef in the process and causing the ship to begin
flooding. Nemo staggers to a viewing window and watches his beloved ocean as he
dies.
Aronnax tries to retrieve his journal, which contains an account of the voyage, but the
urgency of their escape obliges Ned to knock him unconscious and carry him out. The
companions witness Vulcania destroyed in an explosion, and Ned apologizes to
Aronnax for hitting him. As the Nautilus disappears beneath the waves, Nemo's last
words to Aronnax echo: "There is hope for the future. And when the world is ready for
a new and better life, all this will someday come to pass, in God's good time."

16

Script notes

17

The Hurricane (1999)

The film tells the story of middleweight boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, whose
conviction for a Paterson, New Jersey triple murder was set aside after he had spent
nearly 20 years in prison. Narrating Carter's life, the film concentrates on the period
between 1966 and 1985. It describes his fight against the conviction for triple
murder and how he copes with nearly twenty years in prison.
In a parallel plot, an underprivileged youth from Brooklyn, Lesra Martin, becomes
interested in Carter's life and destiny after reading Carter's autobiography, and
convinces his Canadian foster family to commit themselves to his case. The story
culminates with Carter's legal team's successful pleas to Judge H. Lee Sarokin of the
United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
In 1966, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was a top-ranked middleweight boxer whom
many fans expected to become the world's greatest champion in boxing. When three
victims, specifically the club's bartender and a male and a female customer, were
shot to death in a bar in Paterson, New Jersey, Carter and his friend John Artis,
driving home from another club in Paterson, were stopped and interrogated by the
police.
Although the police asserted that Carter and Artis were innocent and thus, "were
never suspects," a man named Alfred Bello, a suspect himself in the killings, claimed
that Carter and Artis were present at the time of the murders. On the basis of Bello's
testimony, Carter and Artis were convicted of the triple homicide in the club, Carter
was given three consecutive life sentences.
Throughout the trial, Carter proclaimed his innocence, claiming that his race, his
boxing career and status and his work as a civil rights activist were the real reasons for
his conviction. Eight years later, Bello and a co-suspect, Arthur Bradley, who also
claimed that Carter was present at the scene of the crimes, renounced and recanted
their testimony.
As a result, Carter and Artis were convicted once again[clarification needed]. In the early
1980s, Brooklyn teenager Lesra Martin worked with a trio of Canadian activists to
push the State of New Jersey to reexamine Carter's case.
In 1985, a Federal District Court ruled that the prosecution in Carter's second trial
committed "grave constitutional violations" and that his conviction was based on
18

racism rather than facts. Carter was finally freed, and he summed up his story by
saying, "Hate got me into this place, love got me out."[3]

19

Script notes

20

The Horse Whisperer (1998)

Teenager Grace MacLean (Scarlett Johansson) and her best friend Judith (Kate
Bosworth) go out early one winter's morning to ride their horses, Pilgrim and
Gulliver. As they ride up an icy slope, Gulliver slips and hits Pilgrim. Both horses fall,
dragging the girls onto a road and colliding with a truck. Judith and Gulliver are
killed, while Grace and Pilgrim are both severely injured. Grace, left with a partially
amputated right leg, is bitter and withdrawn after the accident. Meanwhile, Pilgrim is
traumatized and uncontrollable to the extent that it is suggested he be put down.
Grace's mother, Annie (Kristin Scott Thomas), a strong-minded and workaholic
magazine editor, refuses to allow Pilgrim to be put down, sensing that somehow
Grace's recovery is linked with Pilgrim's.
Desperate for a way to heal both Grace and Pilgrim, Annie tracks down a "horse
whisperer", Tom Booker (Robert Redford), in the remote Montana mountains. Tom
agrees to help, but only if Grace also takes part in the process. Grace reluctantly
agrees, and she and Annie go to stay at the Booker ranch where Tom lives with his
brother and his brother's family. As Pilgrim and Grace slowly overcome their trauma,
Annie and Tom begin to develop a mutual attraction. However, they are both
reluctant to act on these feelings Annie is married and Tom had his heart broken
before, when his wife left him because she belonged to the city, not the ranch. Tom
also asks Grace to tell him about what happened with her and Pilgrim in order to find
out what Pilgrim is thinking. At first, Grace is reluctant, but eventually gathers up her
courage, and tearfully tells him about the accident.
The status quo between Annie and Tom is broken when Robert MacLean (Sam Neill),
Grace's father and Annie's husband, unexpectedly shows up at the ranch. Annie is
increasingly torn by her feelings for Tom and her love for her family. Soon, with Tom's
help, Grace finally takes the last step to heal herself and Pilgrim riding Pilgrim
again. As the MacLeans get ready to leave the Booker ranch, Robert tells Annie that he
knew Annie was in love with Tom, and gently asks Annie to make her decision one
way or another before going home. Although Annie wishes she could stay with Tom
on the ranch, she also knows that she belongs to the city, just like Tom's wife. Annie
departs, driving away from the ranch, while Tom watches her go from the top of a hill.

21

Script notes

22

Hope Floats (1998)

Birdee Pruitt (Sandra Bullock) is a Chicago housewife who is invited onto a talk show
under the pretense of getting a free makeover but instead is ambushed with the
revelation that her husband Bill has been having an affair with her best friend
Connie. Humiliated on national television, Birdee and her daughter Bernice (Mae
Whitman) move back to Birdee's hometown of Smithville, Texas, with Birdee's
eccentric mother Ramona (Gena Rowlands) to make a fresh start. As Birdee and
Bernice leave Chicago, Birdee gives Bernice a letter from her father, telling Bernice
how much he misses her.
Birdee struggles to make a new life as a working single mother and deals with the
growing attraction between herself and a former high school classmate, Justin
Matisse (Harry Connick, Jr.). She also tries to rebuild her relationship with her
estranged mother, her ailing father (who suffers from Alzheimer's Disease), and her
daughter, who wants desperately to be with her father and blames her mother for the
breakup, even trying to sabotage the romantic overtures Justin makes towards
Birdee.
Adding to Birdee's heartache is her former status as the school queen bee and a
beauty pageant winner, which alienated many of her former classmates. They also
haven't forgotten Birdee's high school snobbery and rub her nose in her televised
embarrassment.
Ramona tries to mend the gap between her daughter and granddaughter by telling a
childhood story of her own. She asks Bernice what she's wishing for her birthday.
Bernice secretly wishes for her father to return.
That night, drinking a cup of tea before she could sleep, Ramona suffers a massive
heart attack and dies. At the funeral, Bill arrives at the church. Bernice believes her
father's presence is a sign her wish has come true...that her father wants them both
to come home. However, it soon becomes clear to her that her parents' split is
permanent when Bill asks Birdee for a divorce. Wanting to be with her father, Bernice
is devastated when he tells her that even though he loves her, he has no room for her
in his new life with Connie. Crushed at the thought that her father put another
woman before her, Bernice breaks down sobbing, screaming for him to come back
and take her with him. Bill turns his back on her and drives off, leaving her to be
23

comforted by her mother. As Birdee comforts Bernice up in her room, Bernice learns
the letter was actually written by Birdee, and not really by her father.
Bernice ultimately accepts Bill's departure from her life as a full-time parent and
begins to accept Justin as her mother's new love interest and a father figure. Mother
and daughter share a tender yet humorous moment when Bernice asks Birdee if
she's going to marry Justin. When Birdee asks her if she doesn't like Justin, Bernice
says her only real concern is being known as "Bernice Matisse".

24

Script notes

25

Hoosiers (1986)
In 1951 Norman Dale arrives in the rural southwest Indiana town of Hickory to
become a high school teacher and head basketball coach. He was hired by Cletus
Summers, the principal and a longtime friend of Dale's. Dale had lost a previous
collegiate coaching position after striking one of his players so the job is something
of a last chance for him.
Like much of the state, Hickory is passionate about basketball. The townspeople are
aware that the best player in town, Jimmy Chitwood, does not intend to play on this
season's team due to his attachment to the previous coach and the concern of
hometown faculty member Myra Fleener, who has been looking after Jimmy since
his mother's illness and warns Dale not to try to persuade Jimmy to change his mind.
The school enrollment is so small that Dale has only seven players on his squad. At
his first practice, Dale quickly dismisses one, Buddy Walker, for not paying attention
and talking while the coach is talking. Another, Whit Butcher, walks out in support of
his friend, leaving Dale with only 5 players, the minimum needed to play. He then
begins drilling the remaining five players (Rade Butcher, Merle Webb, Everett Flatch,
Strap Purl, and Ollie McLellan) with fundamentals and conditioning but no
scrimmages or shooting, much to the players' dislike. Townsmen who have heard of
the coach's non-traditional approach to working with the team intrude on a practice
and demand to know what Dale is doing. Whit's father however arrives with his son
in tow and makes his son apologize to Dale for walking out and ask for another
chance. Mr. Butcher then shows his support of Dale by ushering the townsmen out of
the gym.
With the team having worked on a four-pass offense, Dale remains committed to this
approach in the opening game of the season, even when Rade Butcher disobeys him
and repeatedly shoots successfully without passing. Dale benches him and, when
another player fouls out, refuses to let Rade return to the game, leaving his team with
only four players on the floor to the jeers of the home crowd. In a subsequent game,
when an opposing player pushes his finger into Dale's chest during an on-court
argument during a timeout, Rade jumps to his defense and hits the player on the
jaw. After the ensuing brawl, Cletus, who has been assisting Dale in coaching, suffers
a mild heart attack.
26

The coach further alienates the community by having the team play with a slow,
defensive style that does not immediately produce results and also by losing his
temper, causing him to be ejected from multiple games.
With Cletus laid up, Dale invites knowledgeable local former star basketball player
Shooter Flatch, Everett's alcoholic father, to join him on the bench as a new assistant.
This too confounds the town, including Everett. The coach has one major stipulation
in order for Shooter to participate with the team: he must be sober at all times
around the boys.
By the middle of the season, an emergency town meeting is called to vote on
whether Dale should be dismissed. Fleener appreciates the coach's having stayed
away from Jimmy and his efforts with Shooter and, despite having learned of Dale's
past mistake and volatile behavioural pattern as a coach, she unexpectedly expresses
support for him at the meeting. Just as the vote is being counted, Jimmy enters the
meeting and asks permission to speak. He says he's ready to begin playing
basketball again, but only if Dale remains as coach. George reports the ballot count,
which has gone against Dale, but Fleener's mother jumps up and calls for a re-vote.
Mr. Butcher calls for a voice vote from the assembly, and the townspeople
overwhelmingly vote for Dale to stay as coach.
From this point Hickory becomes a nearly unstoppable team. Along the way Dale
proves Shooter's value to the townspeople (and to Shooter himself) by intentionally
getting himself ejected from a game and forcing Shooter to show his coaching
ability. Shooter does just that by diagramming a play by which Hickory wins the
game on a last-second shot. Despite a setback in which Shooter arrives drunk to a
game and ends up in a hospital, the team advances through tournament play with
contributions from unsung players, such as the pint-sized Ollie and devoutly
religious Strap.
Hickory shocks the state by reaching the championship game inIndianapolis. In a
large arena and before a crowd bigger than any they've seen, the Hickory players face
long odds to defeat a team from South Bend, whose integrated players are taller and
more athletic. But with Chitwood scoring at the last second, tiny Hickory takes home
the 1952 Indiana state championship.

27

Script notes

28

Hook (1991)
Peter Banning is a successful corporate lawyer who spends more time at work than
with his wife Moira and children Jack and Maggie. The Bannings fly to London to visit
Moira's grandmother, an older Wendy Darling, to celebrate her charity work for
orphans, which once included Peter. During the visit, Peter is distracted by phone
calls from his office and on one occasion, shouts at his children when they interrupt
him, leading Moira to throw his cellphone out of an open window. Later, while Peter,
Moira, and Wendy attend a banquet ceremony hosted by Great Ormond Street
Hospital, a strange presence abducts Jack and Maggie. Tootles, another of Wendy's
orphans who lives at her house, informs Peter that Captain Hook took the children to
Neverland. Peter dismisses Tootles' warning and calls the police instead. With no sign
of the children anywhere, Wendy informs Peter that he is actually Peter Pan and that
he lost his memories of Neverland when he decided to stay in London with Wendy
many years ago. Once again, Peter dismisses these claims and waits for the police to
find his children.
That night, Tinker Bell arrives at the house and, after trying and failing to convince
Peter about Neverland, she knocks him out and carries him away. After Peter arrives
in Neverland, he confronts Captain Hook, who is holding the children hostage. Hook
is disgusted by Peter's adult self and becomes depressed that his foe is no longer
capable of providing a good fight. Tinker Bell and Hook make a deal to give Peter
three days to be trained to his former self for a climactic battle. Tinker Bell takes Peter
to meet the Lost Boys, led by a new leader, Rufio. After some convincing, the boys
agree to train Peter, and he begins to rediscover his sense of fun.
Meanwhile, Mr. Smee suggests to Hook that he manipulate Jack and Maggie into
loving him in order to break Peter's spirit. Maggie despises Hook, but Jack begins to
see Hook as a father figure. Peter witnesses Jack playing baseball with Hook, who
treats him as a son, and walks off in shame. Knowing that he must learn to fly to beat
Hook, Peter unsuccessfully tries to remember until he encounters his own shadow,
which leads him to the old tree home of the Lost Boys. He reunites with Tinker Bell
and regains the memories of his past, recalling how he fell in love with Moira as a
teenager and chose to grow up. Realizing being a father is his new happy thought,
Peter once again learns to fly and dons his childhood outfit.

29

On the third day, Peter and the Lost Boys launch an attack on the pirates. During the
battle, Peter rescues Maggie and promises to be a better father to Jack. When Hook
kills Rufio, Peter and Hook face off in a final duel, ending in Peter's victory. Refusing
to leave honorably, Hook attacks Peter when his back is turned, but he gets
swallowed up by the stuffed crocodile that once tormented him. Peter gives the lost
boy Thud Butt his sword, asking him to look after the other boys. He then departs
from Neverland with his children, waking up inKensington Gardens, where he says a
final goodbye to Tinker Bell.
Returning to Wendy's house, Peter reunites with his family and hands a bag of
marbles to Tootles, who discovers they contain pixie dust and flies off out the window.
Wendy asks Peter if his adventures are over, but Peter replies, "To live would be an
awfully big adventure."
High Noon (1952)
Will Kane (Gary Cooper), the longtime marshal of Hadleyville, New Mexico Territory,
has just married pacifist Quaker Amy Fowler (Grace Kelly) and turned in his badge.
He intends to become a storekeeper elsewhere. Suddenly, the town learns that Frank
Miller (Ian MacDonald), a criminal whom Kane brought to justice, is due to arrive on
the noon train.
Miller had been sentenced to hang, but was pardoned on an unspecified legal
technicality. In court, he had vowed to get revenge on Will and anyone else who got
in the way. The members of Miller's gang are his younger brother Ben (Sheb
Wooley), Jack Colby (Lee Van Cleef), and Jim Pierce (Robert J. Wilke), and they wait
for him at the station.
Will and Amy leave town, but fearing that the gang will both hunt him down and also
be a danger to the town and its people, Will turns back. His deputy, Harvey Pell (Lloyd
Bridges), resigns because Will did not recommend him as the new marshal. Harvey
agrees to stay if Will will support him, but Will refuses to buy his assistance. Will goes
to warn Helen Ramrez (Katy Jurado), first Millers lover, then Will's, and now
Harvey's. Helen is already aware of what Miller will do to her if he finds her and has
sold her business. She prepares to leave town to avoid Miller but also to avoid seeing
Kane killed.
30

Amy gives Will an ultimatum: she is leaving on the noon train, with or without him.
The judge who sentenced Miller is leaving and encourages Will to do the same. Will
reclaims his badge and scours the town for help, with little success. The marshal who
preceded Will supports him, but is too old to help and tells Will to get out of town.
Will tries eliciting help from the locals at a bar and then tries the church. Nobody at
either place responds, and few support him. Some even desire to see Kane's
probable demise. Many of the townspeople encourage Will to leave, hoping that
would defuse the situation. Even Will's good friends the Fullers are at odds about
how to deal with the situation. Mildred Fuller (Eve McVeagh) wants her husband,
Sam (Harry Morgan), to speak with Will when he comes to their home, but he makes
her claim he is not home while he hides in another room.
To make matters worse for Will, he goes down to the stables and considers leaving.
Harvey turns up and encourages Will to go through with it, but Will refuses. Their
argument turns into a full blown fist fight, ending with Will knocking out his former
deputy and friend.
In the end, Will faces Miller and his gang alone. Kane guns down Ben Miller and
Colby, but is wounded in the process. Helen and Amy both board the train, but Amy
gets off when she hears the sound of gunfire. Amy chooses her new husband's life
over her religious beliefs, shooting Pierce from behind. Miller then takes her hostage
to force Will into the open. However, Amy suddenly attacks Miller, giving Will a clear
shot, and Will shoots Miller dead. As the townspeople emerge, Will stares at the
crowd, contemptuously throws his marshal's star in the dirt, and leaves town with
Amy.
The plot's sequence of events occurs in approximate real time.

31

Script notes

32

Heavyweights (1995)
As school ends for the summer, Gerald Garner (Aaron Schwartz) is sent by his parents
to Camp Hope, a weight loss camp for boys. Despite worrying at first, Gerry makes
friends easily at camp and learns that Camp Hope is actually a lot of fun and won't be
nearly as bad as he thinks. (As one veteran of the camp put it, Gerald is "not the fat
kid, everyone's the fat kid.") He also discovers that the other campers have smuggled
in enough junk food to easily stave off the hunger pangs and probably counteract
any weight loss that the camp programs cause.
But all is not well at Camp Hope. The first night of the summer brings the revelation
that the original owners of Camp Hope (Jerry Stiller andAnne Meara) have entered
bankruptcy and the camp has been bought by fitness entrepreneur Tony Perkis (Ben
Stiller), who announces his plan to make the camp's new exercise regime into the top
weight loss infomercial in the country. Tony tries to make himself seem like someone
the campers can relate to, saying that he was a fat kid when he was younger too, but
his methods of motivating the campers border on psychotic.
Tony cleanses the cabins of the campers' food caches, cuts off their contact with the
outside world, and installs an exercise outline of trendy fitness techniques that
downplay fun to the point of humiliation.
The campers discover a secret food stash and actually gain weight, despite Tony's
fitness regimen. Tony forces them on a 20-mile hike, reasoning that this will not only
help the boys work off some of their extra weight, but will also restore discipline. On
the hike, the campers trick Tony into falling into a deep pit, severely injuring him. The
boys bring Tony back to camp and imprison him in a makeshift cell ofchicken wire
electrified with a bug zapper.
In the celebration of Tony's downfall, there is a lot of binge eating. The boys order in
pizzas, submarine sandwiches, gorge themselves on chocolate and drench
themselves in soda.
The next morning, Pat Finley, a counselor who had come to Camp Hope every
summer since he was 10, tells the kids to finally start taking responsibility and start
actually losing weight. The boys begin following a more healthy regime and start to
make Camp Hope a fun place again.
33

On parent's visiting day, the parents are shown a video of Tony's cruelty. While they
are watching, Tony escapes his prison and ends up exchanging quips and then blows
with Gerry's father. In an attempt to make an impressive exit, Tony attempts a series
of backflips, stumbles, and incapacitates himself. The parents tell Tony his days of
terrorizing their kids are over. Tony's own father shows up to take the keys and deed
for the camp away from his son to ensure this doesn't happen again. He states that
the camp will be closed, and all of the money paid for admission refunded.
But the campers don't want to leave Camp Hope. Despite Tony Perkis, the camp and
the friends they have made are still a lot of fun, so Tony's father appoints Pat as the
camp leader. After, Pat starts really putting the campers to work to win an annual
competition against some rather athletic, and perhaps somewhat over-competitive
campers who are trained to go at this competition with everything they have, which
up until Pat took over made the competition rather one-sided. Pat, however, has been
training them not to lose hope, and just to have fun, which they do. It turns out that
they have just enough ability to win: to the distress of the counselors at the overlycompetitive camp, who have already decided that the trophy belongs to them, and
believe that Pat is crazy for being more concerned about having fun than winning.
After the credits, Tony is shown as a door to door salesman selling healing crystals.
Hearts In Atlantis (2001)
Hearts in Atlantis tells the story of Robert "Bobby" Garfield (David Morse), a middleaged man recollecting his past, in particular the summer when he was eleven years
old (Anton Yelchin). During that summer, he and his two friends, Carol Gerber (Mika
Boorem) and John "Sully" Sullivan (Will Rothhaar), experienced many things
together, the most mysterious of which was meeting an older gentleman named Ted
Brautigan(Anthony Hopkins).
Bobby lives with his single mother, the self-centered Liz Garfield (Hope Davis), who
takes in Brautigan as a boarder. Ted takes the lonely Bobby under his wing, while his
mother is busy with her job - including entertaining her boss as a way of paying off
debt supposedly left by Bobby's late father. The two form a paternal father-son bond,
and it slowly becomes evident that Ted has some psychic and telekinetic powers.
These same powers are the reason that Brautigan has come to this sleepy town. In
34

due course Ted entrusts Bobby with the knowledge that he has escaped the grasp of
the "Low Men", strange people who would stop at nothing to get him back in their
control.
After reading Bobby's mind and realizing that the boy dreams of owning a bicycle;
Ted kindly offers Bobby $1 a week in exchange for his reading a newspaper out
aloud. Bobby quickly figures out that Ted has some other purpose in mind.
Mysteriously, Ted asks Bobby to keep an eye on the neighborhood looking for any
signs of the "low men", like announcements about missing pets. Bobby sees one,
but doesn't tell Ted, afraid to lose his new friend.
Bobby, Carol, and John have frequent conflicts with the local town bully, Harry
Doolin (Timmy Reifsnyder), whom Ted is able to scare away by looking into his mind
and finding out that his violence is used to cover up the fact that he is secretly a
cross-dresser. However, at one point, Harry hurts Carol, and when Ted manipulates
her dislocated shoulder into place, Liz arrives, after being raped by her boss, and
mistakenly believes that Ted is a child molester. She is confronted by Ted's ability to
tell her the truth about what she has been through, and how her behavior is affecting
her relationship with her son, providing another reason that Ted must leave. That and
the "low men" are closing in on him.
Ted is eventually captured with the help of a tip from Liz. As some form of closure,
Ted yells to Bobby as he is being driven away that he wouldn't have missed a
moment "not for all the world", and later Bobby mirrors the same feelings. Bobby is
later confronted by Harry but Bobby grabs the latter's baseball bat and beats him
with it. Liz later finds a new job in Boston and moves the family there. Before he
leaves, Bobby and Carol say their goodbyes and share a final kiss.
At the end of the film, a grown up Bobby (who has travelled back to attend the
funeral of his childhood friend John 'Sully' Sullivan) meets a young woman named
Molly who turns out to be Carol's daughter. Bobby produces a picture of a young
Carol (who died in recent years) and gives it to Molly to keep.
35

Script notes

36

After Hours (1985)

Paul Hackett, a word processor, meets Marcy Franklin in a local cafe in New York. They
discuss their common interest in Henry Miller. Marcy leaves Paul her number and
informs him that she lives with a sculptor named Kiki Bridges, who makes and sells
plaster of Paris paperweights resembling cream cheese bagels. Later in the night,
under the pretense of buying a paperweight, Paul visits Marcy, taking a cab to her
apartment. On his way to visit Marcy, a $20 bill is blown out the window of the cab,
leaving him with only some spare pocket change. The cab driver is furious that he
cannot pay, thereby beginning the first in a long series of misadventures for Paul that
turn hostile through no fault of his own. At the apartment Paul meets the sculptor
Kiki and Marcy, and comes across a collection of photographs and medications which
imply that Marcy is severely disfigured from burns on her legs and torso. As a result
of this implication, and as a result of a strained conversation with Marcy, Paul
abruptly slips out of the apartment.
Paul then attempts to go home by subway, yet the fare has increased at the stroke of
midnight and he finds that his pocket change is no longer sufficient to purchase a
token. He goes to a bar where Julie, a waitress, becomes enamoured with him. The
bar's owner, Tom Schorr cannot open the cash register to give Paul his subway fare.
They exchange keys so Paul can go to Tom's place to fetch the cash register keys. On
the way, he spots two burglars, Neil and Pepe, with one of Kiki's sculptures. When he
returns the sculpture to the apartment, he finds Marcy has committed suicide while
Kiki and a stout man named Horst have already left to go to Club Berlin, a nightclub.
Paul attempts to return to Tom's bar, but it is locked up, with a sign indicating that
Tom will be back in half an hour. Paul meets Julie in the street, who invites him up to
her apartment to wait for Tom to reopen the bar. Julie is enamoured with Paul, but
Paul goes back to Tom's bar, finding Tom grieving over Marcy, who was his girlfriend.
He goes to the nightclub Kiki and Horst patronize, where a collection of punks
attempt to shave his head into a Mohawk hairstyle. On the street, Paul is mistaken for
a burglar and is relentlessly pursued by a mob of local residents.
37

Paul finds Tom again, but the mob (with the assistance of Julie, Gail, and Gail's
Mister Softeetruck) chases Paul. He ultimately seeks refuge back at the Club Berlin.
Paul uses his last quarter to play "Is That All There Is?" by Peggy Lee and asks a
woman named June to dance. Paul explains he's being pursued and June, also a
sculptress, offers to help him. She protects him by pouring plaster on him in order to
disguise him as a sculpture. However, she won't let him out of the plaster, which
eventually hardens, trapping Paul in a position that resembles the character depicted
in Edvard Munch's painting The Scream. The burglar duo then breaks into the Club
Berlin and steals him, placing him in the back of their van. He falls from the burglar's
cargo right outside the gate to his office as the sun is rising. Paul brushes himself off
and goes to work, bringing the film full circle.

38

Script notes

39

Agnes of God (1985)

n a Roman Catholic convent near Montreal, Canada, during evening prayers, the
nuns hear screams coming from the room of Sister Agnes, a young novice. Agnes is
found in her room bleeding profusely, and in a wastepaper basket there is a dead
baby with its umbilical cord wrapped around its neck.
Sister Agnes is suspected of killing the baby, so psychiatrist Martha Livingston is
assigned by a court to determine if she is competent to stand trial. In an interview,
Agnes claims she doesn't remember being pregnant or giving birth, and shows a
lack of understanding of how babies are conceived. Mother Miriam tells Livingston
that Agnes is an "innocent" who was kept at home by her mother and knows nothing
about the world. She is desperate to keep Agnes naive, and declares that she couldn't
have known what pregnancy was or remember the father.
Mother Miriam tells Livingston about the time Agnes stopped eating in the belief
she was getting fat, and then exhibited stigmata in her hand that healed itself within
a day. Agnes takes Livingston to her favorite place, a bell tower at the convent. They
argue about Agnes' mother and birth, and how much Agnes knows about sex and
pregnancy.
Mother Miriam tells Livingston that Agnes must have conceived on January 23rd,
because that is the night Agnes burned her bedsheets. While looking around the
convent grounds, Livingston comes across a barn full of statues of angels and saints.
She and a young monsignor argue about whether her lack of faith will leave her
unable to treat Agnes with dignity. Livingston learns that Agnes' mother sexually
molested Agnes and that Agnes is Mother Miriam's niece.
Livingston receives permission from the court to hypnotize Agnes, but Mother
Miriam is strongly against it, believing it will strip her of her innocence. While
hypnotized, Agnes admits she gave birth and that another woman in the convent
knew she was pregnant, but will not reveal who. Livingston discovers that a secret
40

tunnel connects the convent's chapel with the barn. Mother Miriam tries to have
Livingston removed from the case, but she appeals to the police and is retained.
Livingston obtains a second court order to put Agnes under hypnosis again. Mother
Miriam admits that she knew Agnes was pregnant and put the wastebasket in her
room, but denies she killed the baby. Under hypnosis, Agnes reveals that she used
the tunnel to go see "Michael" in the barn. Under questioning, she appears to
describe being raped by a man. Suddenly, Agnes exhibits stigmata in her hands, and
begins bleeding profusely. Agnes declares that God raped her, and that she hates
God for it. She admits that Mother Miriam was present when the baby was born, and
that Agnes killed the child because she believed it was a mistake.
Agnes is found not guilty by reason of insanity. She tells the judge that she heard a
man singing beneath her bedroom for six nights in a row, and then on the seventh
night he lay on top of her.

41

Script notes

42

Alive (1993)
The film opens with a series of photographs of theStella Maris College's Old
Christians Rugby Team. Carlitos Pez explains that the pictures were taken by his
father and points out several members of the team, including himself as a young
man, Alex Morales, Felipe Restano, Nando Parrado and the team's Captain Antonio
Balbi. Carlitos then reflects on the accident in a brief monologue, speaking of
heroism, the gravity of the situation and of solitude and faith.
The story moves to October 13, 1972 asUruguayan Air Force Flight 571 flies over
theAndes. The raucous rugby players and a few of their relatives and friends are
eagerly looking forward to the upcoming match in Chile. Nando's sister, Susana,
praises the beauty of the mountains and happily observes that the plane will be
landing in 20 minutes.
However, after emerging from clouds, the plane encounters turbulence and collides
with an uncharted mountain peak. During the collision, the wings and tail are
separated from the fuselage of the plane, and the remnants of the fuselage slide
down a mountain slope before coming to a stop. In the process, 7 passengers (Six
passengers and 1 Flight Attendant) are ejected out of the plane and die. Antonio, the
team captain, takes charge of the situation, coordinating efforts to help his injured
teammates. Roberto Canessa and Gustavo Zerbino, both medical students, are the
first to address the injured. Shortly afterwards, another six die including both pilots,
Alex, Nando's mother Eugenia, and an older couple. Nando, who sustained a head
injury, falls into a coma and Susana suffers harsh internal injuries.
As the sun sets, the survivors begin to make preparations for the night. Canessa
discovers that the seat covers can be unzipped and used as blankets. The survivors go
inside the fuselage and curl up beside one another to stay warm. Antonio, Roy Harley
and Rafael Cano plug the gaping hole at the end of the fuselage with luggage to
keep out the wind. Two passengers die during the night from their injuries, including
Mrs. Alfonsn, causing Carlitos to feel ashamed after earlier yelling at her as she
43

moaned about the pain she had been experiencing. With nothing to hunt or gather
on the mountain, Antonio declares they will use rationing when the survivors find a
tin of chocolates and a case of wine. After seeing a plane dip its wing, the survivors
celebrate. Expecting to be rescued the next day, everyone except Javier, his wife
Liliana, and Antonio eat the remaining chocolates.
The survivors listen to a radio for word of their rescue but are devastated to hear the
search is called off after day nine. This causes a quarrel between Antonio and several
others for eating the chocolate. Meanwhile, Nando regains consciousness through
the care of Carlitos and Hugo Diaz. After learning of his mother's death, Nando
watches over Susana vigilantly. Knowing that she will die of her injuries within a few
days, he vows to set off on foot and find a way out of the mountains. When Carlitos
reminds him that he will need food, Nando suggests consuming flesh from the
corpses of the deceased pilots to survive his journey to find help. Susana dies from
her injuries.
After great debate, the starving passengers decide to eat the flesh of their dead
companions in order to survive. Zerbino, Rafael and Juan Martino set off to search for
the tail of the plane in hopes of finding the batteries for the plane's radio to transmit
their location. Among pieces of the wreckage, the teammates find additional corpses,
but return to the group with news that the tail of the plane is likely a little farther
away. Later in the week, an avalanche hits the plane and floods the interior with
snow. Most manage to climb out of the snow, but some are unable to escape; eight
of the remaining survivors are smothered by the snow or freeze to death, including
Antonio, Liliana and Juan; Liliana was the final of the five women aboard to die. A
second team, made up of Nando, Canessa and Antonio "Tintin" Vizintin, finds the tail
of the plane. Unable to bring the batteries to the fuselage, they return to the fuselage
to get Roy, who is rumoured to have experience setting up electrical equipment. They
bring him to the tail of the plane (where the batteries are located) to see if he can fix
the radio. When Roy is unsuccessful, the team returns to the fuselage once more.
44

Federico Aranda and Alberto Antuna die from their injuries soon after as does Rafael,
leading Nando to convince a reluctant Canessa to search for a way out of the
mountains, taking Tintin with them. Two days into the journey, they send Tintin back
to the fuselage so they can appropriate his rations and continue on their own. After a
12-day trek, the two escape the mountains and alert the authorities of their
companions' location. As helicopters land on the glacier, the other 14 survivors
celebrate.
The film then shifts to the present as Carlitos explains the survivors later returned to
the site of the crash and buried the bodies of the dead under a pile of stones, and
marked with a cross. The memorial is then displayed with the film's dedication to
both the 29 deceased and 16 survivors.

45

Script notes

46

All That Jazz(1979)

Joe Gideon is a theater director and choreographer trying to balance work on his
latest Broadway musical with editing a Hollywood film he has directed. He is a
workaholic who chain-smokes cigarettes, and without a daily dose of Vivaldi, Visine,
Alka-Seltzer, Dexedrine, and sex, he wouldn't have the energy to keep up the biggest
"show" of all his life. His girlfriend Katie Jagger, his ex-wife Audrey Paris, and
daughter Michelle try to pull him back from the brink, but it is too late for his
exhausted body and stress-ravaged heart. In his imagination, he flirts with an angel
of death named Angelique.
Gideon's condition gets progressively worse. He is rushed to a hospital after
experiencing chest pains during a particularly stressful table read (with the pennypinching backers in attendance) and admitted with severe attacks of angina. Joe
brushes off his symptoms, and attempts to leave to go back to rehearsal, but he
collapses in the doctor's office and is ordered to stay in the hospital for three to four
weeks to rest his heart and recover from his exhaustion. The show is postponed, but
Gideon continues his antics from the hospital bed, in brazen denial of his mortality.
Champagne flows, endless strings of women frolic around his hospital room and the
cigarettes are always lit. Cardiogram readings don't show any improvement as
Gideon dances with death. As the negative reviews for his feature film (which has
been released without him) come in, Gideon has a massive coronary and is taken
straight to coronary artery bypass surgery.
The backers for the show must then decide whether it's time to pack up or replace
Gideon as the director. Their matter-of-fact money-oriented negotiations with the
insurers are juxtaposed with graphic scenes of (presumably Joe's) open heart
surgery. The producers realize that the best way to recoup their money and make a
profit is to bet on Gideon dying which would bring in a profit of overUSD$500,000.
Meanwhile, elements from Gideon's past life are staged in dazzling dream
sequences of musical numbers he directs from his hospital bed while on life support.
Realizing his death is imminent, his mortality unconquerable, Gideon has another
47

heart attack. In the glittery finale, he goes through the five stages of grief anger,
denial, bargaining, depression and acceptance - featured in the stand-up routine he
has been editing. As death closes in on Gideon, the fantasy episodes become more
hallucinatory and extravagant, and in a final epilogue that is set up as a truly
monumental live variety show featuring everyone from his past, Gideon himself
takes center stage.

48

Script notes

49

Almost Famous (2000)

In 1973, William Miller is a 15-year-old boy aspiring to be a rock journalist. His
mother, Elaine, wants him to become a lawyer. Shunned by his classmates, he writes
for underground papers in San Diego, sharing the love of rock music instilled in him
through a gift of albums left behind on the day his sister Anita left home.
William listens to an interview with rock journalist Lester Bangs. William has sent
Bangs copies of his work, and Bangs gives William a $35 assignment to write up a
review of a Black Sabbath concert. At first reluctant to assist a journalist, the band
Stillwater brings William backstage after he praises their work. The guitarist, Russell
Hammond, takes a liking to William, partly because of William's friendship with a
groupie he has romantic feelings for, Penny.
William goes with Penny to the Riot House the Hyatt Hotel on Sunset Boulevard - to
meet Stillwater. Penny, feigning retirement from her rock glory days, acts as
William's chauffeur, but only to get close to Russell, for whom she has genuine
feelings and a past relationship.
William is called by Ben Fong-Torres, editor of Rolling Stone, who wants him to do a
story, believing William is several years older than he really is. When William
convinces Ben to let him do a story on Stillwater, he is instructed to go on the road
with them.
On the first leg of the trip, William makes his first in an increasingly frustrating
number of attempts to interview Russell. Penny watches the interaction and
sympathizes with William. William experiences tensions with the band due to his
role as a journalist.
A new manager, Dennis, comes on board to help steer the band, and it is revealed
that Penny must leave the tour before New York, where Leslie, Russell's ex-wife/
girlfriend, will join them. During a poker game he allows Dick to put up the groupies
as a stake. The band loses the groupies to the band Humble Pie for $50 and a case of
50

Heineken. When William tells Penny, she acts nonchalant but is devastated. Penny
and Doris, the band's tour bus, are left behind; Dennis has piled the band into a
plane for more gigs.
Penny goes to New York on her own, and as the band gathers in a restaurant with
Russell's girlfriend, Penny shows up. As they celebrate making the cover of Rolling
Stone, Penny makes Leslie uncomfortable and Dick asks her to leave. William chases
Penny back to her hotel and finds her overdosed on quaaludes.
Believing they will die during a plane ride, the group confesses their secrets. When
Penny is insulted by Jeff, the band's lead singer, William defends her and discloses
his love. The plane lands safely, leaving everyone to ponder the changed
atmosphere.
William continues to San Francisco to finish the story, parting ways with the band in
the airport. Upset about Penny, he rewrites the article, telling the truth. The Rolling
Stone editors cannot wait to publish it, but have to ask the band to verify it. Fearful of
how the article will affect their image, the band makes William look like a liar.
William is crushed and the story is dead. Sitting dejected in the airport, he sees his
sister, who has become a stewardess and lives on her own terms. She tells him they
should go on a trip together and, exhausted, William chooses to go home to San
Diego.
Backstage at the Miami Orange Bowl on the Stillwater tour, Sapphire talks to Russell
about Penny's near-suicide and how despite the warnings she received about letting
people fall in love with her, one of them saved her life. Russell is curious about the
person in question, but Sapphire chastises him, saying that everyone knows what the
band did to William and how awful they think it is. Russell calls Penny and asks for
her address, telling her he wants to meet. Unbeknown to Russell, she gives him
William's address in an attempt to resolve their conflict. Russell goes to the house,
thinking it is Penny's, but finds Elaine instead. Learning who he is, she lets him in to
see William as Russell realizes where he is. They reconcile and Russell reveals that he
51

called Rolling Stone and told them William's story is true. Russell gives William a
proper interview, Penny purchases a ticket to Morocco, and William's story is
published, with Stillwater on the cover of Rolling Stone.

52

Script notes

53

Amadeus (1984)
The story begins in 1823 as the elderly Antonio Salieri (F. Murray Abraham) attempts
suicide by slitting his throat while loudly begging forgiveness for having killed
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Tom Hulce) in 1791. Placed in a lunatic asylum for the
act, Salieri is visited by Father Vogler (Richard Frank), a young priest who seeks to
hear his confession. Salieri is sullen and uninterested but eventually warms to the
priest and launches into a long "confession" about his relationship with Mozart.
Salieri's tale goes on through the night and into the next day. He reminisces about
his youth, particularly about his devotion to God and his love for music and how he
pledges to God to remain celibate as a sacrifice if he can somehow devote his life to
music. He describes how his father's plans for him were to go into commerce, but
suggests that the sudden death of his father, who choked to death during a meal,
was "a miracle" that allowed him to pursue a career in music. In his narrative, he is
suddenly an adult joining the 18th-century cultural elite in Vienna, the "city of
musicians". Salieri begins his career as a devout, God-fearing man who believes his
success and talent as a composer are Gods rewards for his piety. He is content as the
respected, financially well-off, court composer for Holy Roman Emperor Joseph
II(Jeffrey Jones).
Mozart arrives in Vienna with his patron, Count Hieronymus von Colloredo (Nicholas
Kepros), the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. Salieri goes to a performance at the
Archbishop's palace hoping to meet Mozart. He is convinced that Mozart's genius
must be a gift from God. Salieri secretly observes Mozart at the Archbishop's palace,
but they are not properly introduced. He is shocked to discover that rather than the
paragon of virtue that he has imagined, Mozart is in fact boorish, irreverent, and
lewd. In 1781, when Mozart meets the Emperor, Salieri presents Mozart with a
"March of Welcome," which he toiled to create. After hearing the march only once,
Mozart plays it from memory, tactlessly critiques it, and effortlessly improvises a
variation, transforming Salieri's "trifle" into the Non pi andrai march from his 1786
opera The Marriage of Figaro.
54

Salieri reels at the notion of God speaking through the childish, petulant Mozart:
nevertheless, he regards his music as miraculous. Gradually, Salieris faith is shaken.
He believes that God, through Mozart's genius, is cruelly laughing at Salieri's own
musical mediocrity. Salieri's struggles with God are intercut with scenes showing
Mozart's own trials and tribulations with life in Vienna: pride at the initial reception
of his music, anger and disbelief over his subsequent snubbing by the Italians of the
Emperor's court, happiness with his wife Constanze (Elizabeth Berridge) and his son
Karl, and grief at the death of his father Leopold (Roy Dotrice). Mozart becomes more
desperate as the family's expenses increase and his commissions decrease. When
Salieri learns of Mozart's financial straits, he sees his chance to avenge himself, using
"God's Beloved" (the literal meaning of "Amadeus") as the instrument.
Salieri hatches a complex plot to gain ultimate victory over Mozart and God. He
disguises himself in a mask and costume similar to one he saw Leopold wear at a
party, and commissions Mozart to write a requiem mass, giving him a down payment
and the promise of an enormous sum upon completion. Mozart begins to write the
piece, the Requiem in D minor, unaware of the true identity of his mysterious patron
and oblivious of his murderous intentions. Glossing over any details of how he might
commit the murder, Salieri dwells on the anticipation of the admiration of his peers
and the court, when they applaud the magnificent Requiem, and he claims to be the
music's composer. Only Salieri and God would know the truththat Mozart wrote his
own requiem mass, and that God could only watch while Salieri finally receives the
fame and renown that he deserves.
Mozart's financial situation worsens due to his spendthrift lifestyle. This, combined
with his heavy drinking, continued grief over the death of his father, and the
composing demands of the Requiem and The Magic Flute drive him to the point of
exhaustion as he alternates work between the two pieces. After a violent argument,
Constanze leaves him and takes their son with her. His health worsens, and he
collapses during the premiere performance of The Magic Flute. Salieri takes the
stricken Mozart home and convinces him to work on the Requiem. Mozart dictates
55

while Salieri transcribes throughout the night. When Constanze returns in the
morning, she tells Salieri to leave. Constanze locks the manuscript away despite
Salieri's objections, but as she goes to wake her husband, she finds that Mozart is
dead. The Requiem is left unfinished, and Salieri is left powerless as Mozart's body is
hauled out of Vienna for burial in a pauper's mass grave.
The film ends as Salieri finishes recounting his story to the visibly shaken young
priest. Salieri concludes that God killed Mozart rather than allow Salieri to share in
even an ounce of his glory, and that he is consigned to be the "patron saint of
mediocrity". Salieri absolves the priest of his own mediocrity and blesses his fellow
patients as he is taken away in his wheelchair. The last sound heard before the credits
roll is Mozart's high-pitched laughter.

56

Script notes

57

Amelie (2001)
Amlie Poulain was raised by eccentric parents who erroneously believing that she
had a heart defect prevented her from meeting other children. She was home
schooled by her mother. She developed an active imagination and fantasy life to
cope with her loneliness. After her mother is killed in a freak accident, her father's
withdrawal from society worsens. Amlie eventually decides to leave home and
becomes a waitress at Caf des 2 Moulins inMontmartre, which is staffed and
frequented by a collection of eccentrics. Spurning romantic relationships after a few
disappointing efforts, she finds contentment in simple pleasures and letting her
imagination roam free.
On 31 August 1997, Amlie is startled by the news of the death of Princess Diana,
causing her to drop a plastic perfume-stopper which in turn dislodges a loose
bathroom tile. Behind the tile she finds an old metal box of childhood memorabilia
hidden by a boy who lived in her apartment decades earlier. She resolves to track
down the boy and return the box to him, and promises herself that if she finds him
and it makes him happy, she will devote her life to bringing happiness to others and
helping others as much as she can.
She asks Mrs. Wells, the concierge, about the boy. Wells redirects her to the abusive
greengrocer, Mr. Collignon, who redirects Amlie to his mother. Mrs. Collignon
remembers the name "Dominique Bredoteau", but Amlie has no success finding
the owner of the box. Amlie meets her reclusive neighbour, Raymond Dufayel, a
man whose bones are as fragile as glass and an artist who repaintsLuncheon of the
Boating Party by Pierre-Auguste Renoir every year. He remembers the boy also, but
correctly recalls the name as "Bretodeau". Amlie quickly finds the man and
surreptitiously passes him the box. Moved to tears by the discovery and the
memories it holds, Bretodeau resolves to reconcile with his estranged daughter and
the grandson he has never met. Amlie happily embarks on her new mission.

58

Amlie secretly executes complex schemes that affect the lives of those around her.
She escorts a blind man to the Mtro station, giving him a rich description of the
street scenes he passes. She persuades her father to follow his dream of touring the
world by stealing his garden gnome and having a flight attendant friend
airmailpictures of it posing with landmarks from all over the world. She kindles a
romance between a middle-aged co-worker and one of the customers in the bar. She
convinces Mrs. Wells that the husband who abandoned her had sent her a final
conciliatory love letter just before his accidental death years before. She avenges
Lucien, Mr. Collignon's meek but good-natured assistant (who is the constant target
of his abuse), by playing a number of practical jokes on Collignon, leaving him
utterly exhausted and his ego deflated, while a delighted Lucien takes charge at the
grocery stand.
While she is looking after others, Mr. Dufayel is observing her. He begins a
conversation with her about his painting, a replica of Luncheon of the Boating Party.
Although he has copied the same painting 20 times, he has never quite captured the
look of the girl drinking a glass of water. They discuss the meaning of this character,
and over several conversations Amlie begins projecting her loneliness on to the
image. Dufayel recognizes this, and uses the girl in the painting to push Amlie to
examine her attraction to a quirky young man who collects the discarded
photographs of strangers from passport photo booths. When Amlie bumps into the
young man a second time, she realizes she is falling in love with him. He accidentally
drops a photo album in the street. Amlie retrieves it. She discovers his name is Nino
Quincampoix, and she plays a cat-and-mouse game with him around Paris before
returning his treasured album anonymously. After orchestrating a proper meeting at
the 2 Moulins, she is too shy to approach him and tries to deny her identity. Her coworker, concerned for Amlie's well-being, screens Nino for her; a caf patron's
comment about this misleads Amlie to believe she has lost Nino to the co-worker. It
takes Dufayel's insight to give her the courage to pursue Nino, resulting in a
romantic night together and the beginning of a relationship.
59

Script notes

60

American Beauty (1999)

Lester Burnham is a middle-aged office worker who despises his job. His wife,
Carolyn, is an ambitious real estate broker; their sixteen-year-old daughter, Jane,
abhors her parents and has low self-esteem. The Burnhams' new neighbors are
retired United States Marine Corps ColonelFrank Fitts and his introverted wife,
Barbara. Their teenage son, Ricky, obsessively films his surroundings with a
camcorder, collecting hundreds of recordings on video tapes in his bedroom. He also
secretly deals marijuana, using a job as a part-time bar caterer to help keep it secret
from his father. Having been previously forced into a military academy and a
psychiatric hospital, Ricky is subjected by Col. Fitts to a strict disciplinarian lifestyle.
Jim Olmeyer and Jim Berkley, a gay couple who live nearby, welcome the family to
the neighborhood; Col. Fitts later reveals his homophobia when angrily discussing
the incident with Ricky.
Lester becomes infatuated with Jane's vain cheerleader friend, Angela Hayes, after
seeing her perform a half-time dance routine at a high school basketball game. He
starts having sexual fantasies about Angela, during which red rose petals are a
recurring motif. Meanwhile, Angela brags to her friends at school about her sexual
promiscuity. Carolyn begins an affair with a business rival, Buddy Kane. Lester is told
he is to be laid off, but instead blackmails his boss for $60,000 and quits his job,
taking employment serving fast food. He buys his dream car and starts working out
after he overhears Angela tell Jane that she would find him sexually attractive if he
improved his physique. He begins smoking marijuana supplied by Ricky, and flirts
with Angela whenever she visits Jane. The girls' friendship wanes after Jane begins
to express an interest in Ricky. Jane and Ricky grow closer after Ricky shows her what
he considers the most beautiful image he has ever filmed: a plastic bag being blown
in the wind.
Lester discovers Carolyn's infidelity, but reacts indifferently. Buddy ends the affair,
fearing an expensive divorce. Col. Fitts becomes suspicious of Lester and Ricky's
friendship and later finds his son's footage of Lester lifting weights while nude,
61

which Ricky captured by chance, leading him to think that the two are in a
homosexual relationship. He later beats Ricky and accuses him of being gay. Ricky
falsely admits the charge and goads his father into kicking him out of their home. He
goes to Jane, finding her arguing with Angela about her friend's flirtation with
Lester. Ricky convinces Jane to flee with him to New York City and accuses Angela of
being boring and ordinary.
Col. Fitts confronts Lester and attempts to kiss him; Lester rebuffs the colonel, who
flees. Lester finds a distraught Angela sitting alone in the dark; she asks him to tell
her she is beautiful. He does, and she begins to seduce him. As they are about to
have sex, she admits that she's actually a virgin, and Lester changes his mind. He
instead comforts her and the pair bond over their shared frustrations. Angela goes to
the bathroom and Lester smiles at a family photograph in his kitchen. An unseen
figure presses a gun to the back of his head, and fires. Ricky and Jane find Lester's
body, while Carolyn breaks down crying in the closet. A bloodied Col. Fitts returns
home, where a gun is shown to be missing from his collection. Lester's closing
narration describes meaningful experiences during his life; he says that, despite his
death, he is happy because there is so much beauty in the world.

62

Script notes

63

The Americanization of Emily (1964)

Lieutenant Commander Charlie Madison (James Garner), United States Naval
Reserve, is a cynical and highly efficient adjutant to Rear Admiral William Jessup
(Melvyn Douglas) in 1944 London. Madison's job as a dog robber is to keep his boss
and other high-ranking officers supplied with luxury goods and amiable
Englishwomen. He falls in love with a driver from the motor pool, Emily Barham
(Julie Andrews), who has lost her husband, brother, and father in the war. Madison's
pleasure-seeking "American" lifestyle amid wartime rationing both fascinates and
disgusts Emily, but she does not want to lose another loved one to war and finds the
"practicing coward" Madison irresistible.
Profoundly despondent since the death of his wife, Jessup obsesses over the US
Army and its Air Corps overshadowing the Navy in the forthcoming D-Day invasion.
The mentally unstable admiral decides that "The first dead man on Omaha
Beachmust be a sailor." A film will document the death, and the casualty will be
buried in a "Tomb of the Unknown Sailor."
Despite his best efforts to avoid the duty, Madison and his gung-ho friend,
Lieutenant Commander "Bus" Cummings (James Coburn), find themselves and a
film crew with the combat engineers who will be the first on shore. When Madison
tries to retreat to safety, Cummings forces him forward with a pistol. A German shell
lands near Madison, making him the first American to die on Omaha Beach.
Hundreds of newspaper and magazine covers reprint a photograph of Madison on
the shore, making him a hero. Jessup, having recovered from his breakdown, regrets
his part in Madison's death but plans to use it in support of the Navy when testifying
before a Senate committee in Washington. Losing another man she loves to the war
devastates Emily.
Then comes unexpected news: Madison is not dead, but alive and well in an English
hospital. A relieved Jessup now plans to show him during the Senate testimony as
the heroic "first man on Omaha Beach." Madison, angry about his senseless near64

death, uncharacteristically plans to act nobly by telling the world the truth of what
happened on the beach, even if it means being imprisoned for cowardice. Emily
persuades him to choose, instead, happiness with her by keeping quiet and
accepting his heroic role.
Amistad (1997)
Amistad is the name of a slave ship traveling from Cuba to the U.S. in 1839. It is
carrying a cargo of Africans captured in Sierra Leone who have been sold into slavery
in Cuba, taken on board, and chained in the cargo hold of the ship. As the ship is
crossing from Cuba to the U.S., Cinqu, a leader of the Africans, leads a mutiny and
takes over the ship. The mutineers spare the lives of two Spanish navigators to help
them sail the ship back to Africa. Instead, the navigators deceive the Africans and sail
north to the east coast of the United States, where the ship is stopped by the
American navy and the 44 living Africans imprisoned as runaway slaves. In an
unfamiliar country and not speaking a word of English, it seems like they are
doomed to die for killing their captors. A lawyer named Baldwin, hired by the
abolitionist Tappan and his black associate Joadson (a fictional character[1]) decides to
take their case, arguing that the Africans had been captured in Africa to be sold in the
Americas illegally, and therefore were free citizens of another country and not slaves
at all. With help from James Covey, who speaks both Mende and English, Baldwin is
able to start communicating with Cinque. The judge rules in favor of the Africans, but
the case is eventually appealed to the Supreme Court. At this point, former U.S.
President John Quincy Adams makes an impassioned and eloquent plea for their
release, and is successful.
Anaconda (1997)
While shooting a documentary about a long-lost Indian tribe (including the
legendary Joel Arkhurst), the Shirishamas, on the Amazon River, director Terri Flores
(Jennifer Lopez) and members of her crewincluding cameraman Danny Rich (Ice
Cube), production manager Denise Kalberg (Kari Wuhrer), sound engineer Gary
Dixon (Owen Wilson), visionary Warren Westridge (Jonathan Hyde), anthropologist
Professor Steven Cale (Eric Stoltz), and captain of the boat Mateo (Vincent
Castellanos)come across stranded Paraguayan snake hunter Paul Serone (Jon
65

Voight) and help him, believing he knows how to find the tribe they are searching
for.
While trying to free the boat's propeller from a rope, Cale is stung in the throat by
awasp inside his scuba gear, leaving him unconscious. With that, Serone takes
command of the boat and the crew. They are then forced to help him achieve his true
objectivehunting down and capturing a record-breaking giant anaconda he had
been tracking.
Mateo is the first of the crew to be killed by the anaconda, which coils around him
and then breaks his neck near a boat where a poacher (Danny Trejo) had been killed
at the beginning of the film. The others try to find him while Gary sides with Serone,
who promises if they help him find the anaconda, he will help them get out alive.
Later at night, the anaconda attacks the boat. When Serone attempts to capture the
snake, it kills and eats Gary, leaving Denise devastated. The survivors overcome
Serone and tie him up. When Denise attempts to kill Serone for Gary's death, he gets
the edge and strangles her to death with his legs before dumping her body in the
river. The anaconda returns and kills Westridge and coils itself around Danny, only to
be shot in the head by Terri. An enraged Serone attacks Terri, only to be incapacitated
by the newly awakened Cale, who soon loses consciousness again. Danny punches
Serone, knocking him into the river.
However, Terri and Danny are soon re-captured when Serone catches up to them. He
dumps a bucket of monkey blood on them and uses them as bait in an attempt to
capture a second, larger anaconda. The anaconda appears and coils around Terri and
Danny and begins to suffocate them. They are caught in a net by Serone, but the
snake breaks free. Serone tries to escape, but the anaconda finally manages to coil
around him and suffocate him. Terri and Danny cut their bonds and watch in horror
as the anaconda slowly swallows Serone whole. Terri finds a nest of baby anacondas
in a building, but the snake arrives and, after regurgitating the still twitching Serone,
chases her up a smoke stack. Danny traps the snake by pinning its tail to the ground
66

with a pickaxe. Danny ignites a fire below the smoke shack and burns the snake alive.
The burning anaconda is sent flying out of the building and plunges into the water
where it sinks. As Terri and Danny recuperate on a nearby dock, the snake appears
one final time. Danny repeatedly beats the anaconda with an axe until it is dead.
Afterwards, Terri and Danny reunite with Cale, who begins to revive on the boat. As
they float down the river, they accidentally locate the natives for whom they were
originally searching. They realize Serone was right and begin filming their
documentary as the film ends.

67

Script notes

68

Angela's Ashes (1999)

Angela's Ashes tells the story ofFrank McCourt and his childhood after his family are
forced to move from the United States back to Ireland because of financial difficulties
and family problems caused by his father's alcoholism. The film chronicles young
McCourt's life inLimerick, Ireland, during his childhood in the 1930s and 1940s, the
difficulties that arose, and Frank's way of earning enough money to return to the land
of his dreams: America.
The Haunting (1999)
Eleanor "Nell" Lance (Lili Taylor) has cared for her invalid mother for 11 years. After
her mother dies, her sister Jane (Virginia Madsen) and Jane's boyfriend Lou (Tom
Irwin) eject her. Nell receives a phone callabout an insomnia study, directed by Dr.
David Marrow (Liam Neeson) at Hill House, a secluded manor in theBerkshires of
western Massachusetts, and applies for it. At the house, she meets Mr. and Mrs.
Dudley (Bruce Dern, Marian Seldes), a strange pair of caretakers. Two other
participants arrive, Luke Sanderson (Owen Wilson) and Theodora (Catherine ZetaJones), along with Dr. Marrow and his two research assistants. Unknown to the
participants, Dr. Marrows true purpose is to study the psychological response to fear,
intending to expose his subjects to increasing amounts of terror. Each night, the
caretakers chain the gate outside Hill House, preventing anyone from getting in or
out until morning. During their first night, Dr. Marrow relates the story of Hill House.
The house was built byHugh Crain (Charles Gunning)a 19th-century textile tycoon.
Crain built the house for his wife, hoping to populate it with a large family of
children; however, all of Crain's children died during their birth. Crains wife Renee
killed herself before the house was finished and Crain became a recluse. After the
story, Marrow's assistants face is slashed by a snapped clavichord wire. The freak
accident causes Marrow's research assistants to leave. Nell begins to suspect that it
was no accident, as she notices that the wire was unwound by someone or
something. Theo and Nell begin to experience unusual happenings within the
house, such as a mysterious force trying to open the door to harm them, Nell starts
seeingghosts of children in curtains and sheets, Hugh Crain's wood portrait morphs
69

into a skeletal face and is vandalized with the words "Welcome Home Eleanor"
written inblood. Theo and Luke try to establish their innocence, but Nell tells them
that they don't know her.
Nell becomes determined to prove that the house is haunted by ghostly children
who are only terrorized and killed by Crain's cruelty. She learns that Crain kidnapped
thechildren from his cotton mills and slaughtered them, then burned their own
bodies in the fireplace, trapping their ghosts and forcing them to remain with him,
providing him with an 'eternal family'. She also learns that Crain had a second wife
named Carolyn, from whom she is descended. Dr. Marrow is skeptical of Eleanor's
claims, until he realizes he made a horrible mistake by bringing them to Hill House
when a statue tries to drown him in a pool of water in a greenhouse. After several
more terrifying events, Nell insists that she cannot leave the ghosts of the kids to
suffer for eternity at Crain's hands. Trying to convince the obviously mentallyunbalanced Eleanor to leave the house with them, Theo offers to let Nell move in
with her, but Nell reveals her relation to Carolyn and claims she must help the
children to "move on" to the afterlife.
Hugh Crain's ghost seals up the house, trapping them all inside. A frustrated Luke
defaces a portrait of Hugh Crain. Crain's enraged spirit drags Luke to the fireplace
where he is decapitated. Nell is able to lead Crain's spirit towards an iron door. The
spirits pull Crain into the door, dragging him down to Hell. Nell is pulled with him,
inflicting fatal trauma on her body, but the ghosts gently release her on the ground.
Her ghost rises up to Heaven, accompanied by the ghosts. After Nell's death and
when she moved on to Heaven along with the ghosts, Theo and Dr. Marrow wait by
the gate outside until the Dudleys come in the morning.
The Dudleys approach as the sun rises. Mr. Dudley asks Dr. Marrow if he found what
he wanted to know, but the traumatized psychiatrist does not give an answer, and
neither does Theo. When the gate opens, the two silently walk out and down the
road, leaving Hill House behind them.
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71

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is a seemingly ordinary boy, living with his hostile
relatives, the Dursleys in Surrey. On his eleventh birthday, Harry learns from a
mysterious stranger, Rubeus Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane), that he is actually a wizard,
famous in the Wizarding World for surviving an attack by the evil Lord
Voldemortwhen Harry was only a baby. Voldemort killed Harry's parents, but his
attack on Harry rebounded, leaving only a lightning-bolt scar on Harry's forehead
and rendering Voldemort powerless. Hagrid reveals to Harry that he has been invited
to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After buying his school
supplies from the hidden London street, Diagon Alley, Harry boards the train to
Hogwarts via the concealed Platform 9 in King's Cross Station.
On the train, Harry meets Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), a boy from a large, but poor,
pure-blood wizard family, and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), a witch born to
non-magical parents. Once they arrive at the school, Harry and all of the other firstyear students are sorted into four different houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff,Ravenclaw,
and Slytherin. As Slytherin is noted for being the house of darker wizards and
witches, Harry successfully begs the magical Sorting Hat not to put him in Slytherin.
He winds up in Gryffindor, along with Ron and Hermione. Ron's older brothers have
all gone to Gryffindor too: mischievous twins Fred and George, Percy (a Gryffindor
house Prefect), Charlie (who researches dragons in Romania) and Bill (who works for
Gringotts Bank).
At Hogwarts, Harry begins learning wizardry and also discovers more about his past
and his parents. He gets recruited for Gryffindor's Quidditch (a sport in the wizarding
world where people fly on broomsticks) team as a Seeker, as his father was before
him. One night, he, Ron and Hermione find a giant three-headed dog named Fluffy,
who belongs to Hagrid, on a restricted floor at the school. They battle a fully-grown
mountain troll on Halloween, and later find out the dog is guarding the
Philosopher's Stone, an item that can be used to grant its owner immortality. Harry
concludes that his potions teacher, the unfriendly Severus Snape (Alan Rickman), is
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trying to obtain the stone in order to return Voldemort to a human form, after seeing
an injury from Fluffy on his leg. Harry encounters Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest
where he, Ron, Hermione, and Slytherin first-year Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton) are
serving detention by helping Hagrid look for an injured unicorn after being caught
wandering around at night.
After hearing from Hagrid that Fluffy will fall asleep if played music, Harry, Ron and
Hermione decide to get to the stone before Snape does. They face a series of tasks
that are helping protect the stone and test each of their respective skills, which
include surviving a deadly plant, flying past hundreds of flying keys, and winning a
violent, life-sized chess game. During the chess game, Ron has no choice but to let
himself be taken by the queen so Harry can finish the game and proceed.
After getting past the tasks, Harry finds out that it was not Snape who wanted the
stone, but rather Defence Against the Dark Artsteacher Professor Quirrell. Quirrell
removes his turban and reveals Voldemort to be living on the back of his head.
Voldemort tries to convince Harry to give him the stone (which Harry suddenly finds
in his pocket as the result of an enchantment by the headmaster, Albus
Dumbledore), by promising to bring his parents back from the dead, but Harry
refuses. Quirrell tries to kill him, but Harry's touch prevents Quirrell from harming
Harry and causes his hand to turn to dust. Quirrell then tries to take the stone but
Harry grabs his face, causing Quirrell to turn into dust and die. As Harry examines the
stone, Voldemort's spirit forms and passes through Harry, knocking him unconscious,
before fleeing.
Harry wakes up in the school's hospital wing, with Professor Dumbledore at his side.
Dumbledore explains that the stone has been destroyed, and that, despite Ron
nearly being killed in the chess match, both he and Hermione are fine. The reason
Quirrell burned at Harry's touch was because when Harry's mother died to save him,
her death gave Harry a magical, love-based protection against Voldemort. Harry, Ron,
and Hermione are rewarded house points for their heroism, and Neville Longbottom
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(Matthew Lewis) is rewarded for bravely standing up to them, winning Gryffindor the
House Cup. Before Harry and the rest of the students leave for the summer, Harry
realizes that while every other student is going home, Hogwarts is truly his home.

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75

Groundhog Day (1993)

On February 1, misanthropic TV meteorologist Phil Connors (Bill Murray), news
producer Rita Hanson (Andie MacDowell), and cameraman Larry (Chris Elliott), of the
fictional Pittsburgh television station WPBH-TV 9 travel to Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania, to cover the annual Groundhog Day festivities. The following morning,
Phil, who does not like the assignment or Punxsutawney, grudgingly gives his report
on the festivities. He then gets his team on the road back to Pittsburgh, but a blizzard
shuts down all travel. The team is forced to return to Punxsutawney and stay another
night.
Phil wakes up to find that he is reliving February 2. The day plays out exactly as it did
before, with no one but Phil aware of the time loop. At first he is confused, but, when
the phenomenon continues on subsequent days, he decides to take advantage of
the situation with no fear of long-term consequences: he learns secrets from the
town's residents, seduces women, steals money, gets drunk, drives recklessly, and
gets thrown in jail. However, his attempts to get closer to Rita, to whom he has
become attracted, repeatedly fail.
Eventually, Phil becomes depressed and tries more and more drastically to end the
time loop; he gives ridiculous and offensive reports on the festival and eventually
kidnaps Punxsutawney Phil and, after a police chase, drives off a high overlook into a
quarry, killing both himself and the groundhog. However, Phil wakes up and finds
that nothing has changed; further attempts at suicide also fail to break the time loop,
as he continues to find himself waking at six o'clock on the morning of February 2
with the clock radio on his nightstand playing "I Got You Babe" by Sonny & Cher.
When Phil explains the situation to Rita, she spends the day with him and into the
early morning hours, but they fall asleep together and he awakens again, alone, still
in the time loop. Eventually, Phil endeavors to improve himself. He begins to use his
by-now vast knowledge of the day's events to help as many people around town as

76

possible, and uses the time to learn, among other things, how to play the piano, to
sculpt ice, and speak French.
Eventually, Phil is able to befriend almost everyone he meets during the day, using
his experiences to save lives, to help townspeople, and ultimately to impress Rita,
without having to resort to manipulation as on previous days. He crafts a report on
the Groundhog Day celebration so eloquent that all the other stations turn their
microphones to him. After the town's evening dance, Rita "buys" Phil at the event's
bachelor auction. Phil makes a snow sculpture of Rita's face and they kiss, then retire
to his room. He wakes the next morning and finds the time loop is broken; it is now
February 3 and Rita is still with him. They walk outside and Phil proposes that they
move to Punxsutawney together.

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Script notes

78

Grey Owl (1999)

Archibald Belaney (Brosnan) was a British man who grew up fascinated with Native
American cultureso much so that in the early 1900s he left the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland for Canada, where he reinvented himself as Archie Grey Owl
and lived in the wild as a North American Indian trapper. Eventually, Belaney
becomes an environmentalist after renouncing trapping and hunting.
The Green Mile (1999)
In a Louisiana nursing home in 1999, Paul Edgecomb becomes nervous while
watching the 1935 film Top Hat. His elderly friend Elaine becomes concerned, and
Paul tells her that the film reminded him of his past, when he was a prison officer in
charge ofdeath row inmates at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary during the summer of
1935. The scene shifts to 1935, where Paul works with fellow guards Brutus "Brutal"
Howell, Harry Terwilliger, and Dean Stanton. Unlike the other guards, Paul is a very
calm guard and is sympathetic with some inmates.
One day, John Coffey, an African-American man convicted of raping and killing two
young white girls, arrives in the prison, sentenced to death row. However, much to
the surprise of the other guards and inmates, he is very shy, soft-spoken, and a very
emotional person. John reveals extraordinary powers by healing Paul's bladder
infection and resurrecting a mouse only by his touch. Later, he heals the terminally ill
wife of Warden Hal Moores. When John is asked to explain his power, he merely says
that he "took it back."
Meanwhile, Percy Wetmore, a sadist with a fierce temper, has recently begun
working in the death row inmates block; his fellow guards dislike him, but are
unable to get rid of him because of his family connections to the governor.
Meanwhile, a psychopathic prisoner named "Wild Bill" Wharton is booked into the
jail for multiple murders committed during a robbery. After Percy scares inmate
Eduard "Del" Delacroix, Wharton seizes him onto the cell bars, which terrifies Percy,
causing him to wet his pants out of shock. Wharton eventually releases Percy when
Paul threatens him with his gun. Del is amused at Percy's pain. He requests to
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manage the execution of Del, promising that afterward, he will transfer to an

administrative post at a mental hospital. An agreement is made, but then Percy uses
the execution to punish Del. He leaves the electric chair's conductive sponge dry, the
sponge being a very important part of execution. When the switch is thrown, the
electricity flowing through the dry sponge causes it to burst into flames, burning Del
to death in front of an audience.
At one point Wharton seizes John's arm, and John psychically senses that Wharton is
also responsible for the crime for which John was wrongly convicted and sentenced
to death. John "takes back" the sickness in Hal's wife and regurgitates it into Percy,
who then becomes unable to talk and shoots Wharton to death and falls into a state
of permanent catatonia. Percy is then admitted to Briar Ridge Mental Hospital as a
patient rather than an administrator. In the wake of these events, Paul interrogates
John, who says he "punished them bad men" and offers to show Paul what he saw.
John takes Paul's hand and says he has to give Paul "a part of himself" in order for
Paul to see what really happened to the girls.
It is revealed that Wharton had raped and killed the two young girls, and that John is
innocent and was wrongfully convicted. Paul asks John what he should do, if he
should open the door and let John walk away. John tells him that there is too much
pain in the world, to which he is sensitive, and says he is "rightly tired of the pain"
and is ready to rest. For his last request on the night before his execution, John
watches the film Top Hat. When John is put in the electric chair, he, shedding tears,
asks Paul not to put the traditional black hood over his head because he is afraid of
the dark. Paul agrees, shakes his hand as a goodbye, and John is executed.
As an elderly Paul finishes his story, he notes that he requested a transfer to a youth
detention center, where he spent the remainder of his career. Elaine questions his
statement that he had a fully grown son at the time, and Paul explains that he was 44
years old at the time of John's execution, meaning that he is now over 108 years old.
This is apparently a side effect of John giving a "part of himself" to Paul. Mr. Jingles,
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Del's mouse resurrected by John, is also still alive but Paul believes his outliving all
of his relatives and friends to be a punishment from God for having let John be
executed, and wonders how long it will be before his own death. The film shows
glimpses of the future in which Elaine died and Paul is still living in the retirement
home.

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82

Grapes of Wrath (1940)

The film opens with Tom Joad (Henry Fonda), released from prison and
hitchhikinghis way back to his parents' family farm in Oklahoma. Tom finds an
itinerant ex-preacher named Jim Casy (John Carradine) sitting under a tree by the
side of the road. Casy was the preacher who baptized Tom, but now Casy has "lost the
spirit" and his faith (presaging his imminent conversion to communism). Casy goes
with Tom to the Joad property only to find it deserted. There, they meet Muley Graves
(John Qualen) who is hiding out. In a flashback, he describes how farmers all over
the area were forced from their farms by the deed holders of the land. A local boy
(Irving Bacon), hired for the purpose, is shown knocking down Muley's house with
aCaterpillar tractor. Following this, Tom and Casy move on to find the Joad family at
Tom's Uncle John's place. His family is happy to see Tom and explain they have
made plans to head for California in search of employment, as their farm has been
foreclosed on by the bank. The large Joad family of twelve leaves at daybreak, along
with Casy who decides to accompany them. They pack everything into a dilapidated
1926 Hudson "Super Six" sedan adapted to serve as a truck in order to make the
long journey to the promised land of California.
The trip along Highway 66 is arduous, and it soon takes a toll on the Joad family. The
elderly Grandpa (Charley Grapewin) dies along the way. Tom writes the
circumstances surrounding the death on a page from the family Bible and places it
on the body before they bury it so that if his remains were found, his death would
not be investigated as a possible homicide. They park in a camp and meet a man, a
migrant returning from California, who laughs at Pa's optimism about conditions in
California. He speaks bitterly about his experiences in the West.
The family arrives at the first transient migrant campground for workers and finds the
camp is crowded with other starving, jobless and desperate travelers. Their truck
slowly makes its way through the dirt road between the shanty houses and around
the camp's hungry-faced inhabitants. Tom says, "Sure don't look none too
prosperous."
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After some trouble with a so-called "agitator", the Joads leave the camp in a hurry.
The Joads make their way to another migrant camp, the Keene Ranch. After doing
some work in the fields, they discover the high food prices in the company store for
meat and other products. The store is the only one in the area, by a long shot. Later
they find a group of migrant workers are striking, and Tom wants to find out all about
it. He goes to a secret meeting in the dark woods. When the meeting is discovered,
Casy is killed by one of the camp guards. As Tom tries to defend Casy from the attack,
he inadvertently kills the guard.
Tom suffers a serious wound on his cheek, and the camp guards realize it will not be
difficult to identify him. That evening the family hides Tom under the mattresses of
the truck just as guards arrive to question them; they are searching for the man who
killed the guard. Tom avoids being spotted and the family leaves the Keene Ranch
without further incident. After driving for a while, they have to stop at the top of a hill
when the engine overheats due to a broken fan belt; they have little gas, but decide
to try coasting down the hill to some lights. The lights are from a third type of camp:
Farmworkers' Wheat Patch Camp (Weedpatch in the book), a clean camp run by
theDepartment of Agriculture, complete with indoor toilets and showers, which the
Joad children had never seen before.
Tom is moved to work for change by what he has witnessed in the various camps. He
tells his family that he plans to carry on Casy's mission in the world by fighting for
social reform. He leaves to seek a new world and to join the movement committed
tosocial justice.
Tom Joad says:
I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look, wherever
there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin'
up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way
kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people
are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build, I'll be there, too.
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85

Script notes

86

Grand Canyon (1991)

After attending a Lakers basketball game, an immigration lawyer named Mack
(Kevin Kline) finds himself at the mercy of potential muggers when his car breaks
down in a bad part ofLos Angeles late at night. The muggers are talked out of their
plans by Simon (Danny Glover), a tow truck driver who arrives just in time. Mack sets
out to befriend Simon, despite their having nothing in common.
In the meantime, Mack's wife Claire (Mary McDonnell) and his best friend Davis
(Steve Martin), a producer of violent action films, are experiencing life-changing
events. Claire encounters an abandoned baby while jogging and becomes
determined to adopt her. Davis suddenly becomes interested in philosophy rather
than box-office profits after being shot in the leg by a man trying to steal his watch,
vowing to devote the remainder of his career to eliminating violence from
thecinema.
The film chronicles how these charactersas well as various acquaintances, coworkers and relativesare affected by their interactions in the light of life-changing
events. In the end, they visit the Grand Canyon on a shared vacation trip, united in a
place that is philosophically and actually "bigger" than all their little separate lives.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Twenty-year-old Will Hunting (Damon) of South Boston is a self-taught, genius-level
intellect with an eidetic memory, though he works simply as a janitor at
theMassachusetts Institute of Technology, and spends his free time drinking with his
friends, Chuckie (Affleck), Billy (Cole Hauser) and Morgan (Casey Affleck). When
Professor Gerald Lambeau (Skarsgrd) posts a difficult problem taken fromalgebraic
graph theory as a challenge for his graduate students, Will solves the problem
anonymously, stunning both the graduate students and Lambeau himself. As a
challenge to the unknown genius, Lambeau posts an even more difficult problem
and chances upon Will solving it. Fearing he will lose his sole means of (a meager)
income, Will flees and skips going into work the next day. That night, Will meets
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Skylar (Driver), a British orphan about to graduate from Harvard, who plans on
attending medical school at Stanford.
Assaulting both a man who bullied him as a child and a police officer who attempts
to break up the fight, Will faces incarceration, but Lambeau arranges for him to forgo
jail time if he agrees to study mathematics under Lambeau's supervision while
simultaneously seeking psychotherapy. Will tentatively agrees but treats his first few
therapists with contempt; his refusal to open up is met with staunch defiance by
thebourgeois mentality of the therapists, who each refuse to treat Will further. In
desperation, Lambeau calls on Dr. Sean Maguire (Williams), his estrangedand
much more groundedcollege roommate, who now teaches psychology at Bunker
Hill Community College. Unlike the other therapists, Sean actually challenges Will's
weak defense mechanisms, and, after a few unproductive sessions, Will begins to
open up.
Will is particularly struck by Sean's story of how he met his wife by giving up his
ticket to the historic sixth game of the 1975 World Series, after falling in love at first
sight. Sean neither regrets his decision, nor does he regret the final years of his
marriage, when his wife was dying of cancer. This encourages Will to build a
relationship with Skylar, though he lies to her about his past and is reluctant to
introduce her to his friends or show her his rundown neighborhood. Will also
challenges Sean to take an objective look at his own life, since Sean has been unable
to move on from his wife's death.
Chafing under Lambeau's high expectations, Will makes a mockery of job interviews
that Lambeau arranges for him. When Skylar asks Will to move to California with her,
he panics and pushes her away, revealing that he is an orphan and that his foster
father physically abused him. Skylar tells Will that she loves him, but he denies
loving her and then leaves. He next storms out on Lambeau, dismissing the
mathematical research he has been doing. Sean points out that Will is so adept at
anticipating future failure in his interpersonal relationships that he deliberately
88

sabotages them in order to avoid emotional pain. When Will refuses to give an
honest reply about what he wants to do with his life, Sean shows him the door. Will
tells Chuckie he wants to be a laborer for the rest of his life; Chuckie responds that it
would be an insult to his friends for Will to waste his potential and that his fondest
wish is that Will should leave to pursue something greater.
Will walks in on a heated argument between Sean and Lambeau over his future.
Sean and Will share that they were both victims of child abuse. Sean helps Will to see
that he is a victim of his own inner demons and to accept that it is not his fault. Will
decides to accept one of the job offers arranged by Lambeau. Having helped Will
overcome his problems, Sean reconciles with Lambeau and decides to take a
sabbatical to travel the world. When Will's friends present him with a
rebuiltChevrolet Nova for his twenty-first birthday, he decides to pass on his job
offers and drive to California to reunite with Skylar. Sometime later, Chuckie goes to
Will's house to pick him up, only to find that he is not there. Sean comes out of his
house and finds a letter from Will in his mailbox, which tells him he is going to see
Skylar, much to his pleasure. In the final scene, Will drives away into the sunset.

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Script notes

90

Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956)

American reporter, Steve Martin (Raymond Burr), is brought to a hospital with
dozens of maimed and wounded citizens. In flashback, Martin recalls stopping over
in Tokyo, where a series of ship disasters catches his attention. When a survivor finally
washes up on Odo Island, Martin flies there for the story with Tomo Iwanaga (Frank
Iwanaga), a representative of the Japanese security forces and learns of the island
inhabitants' belief in a sea monster god known to them as "Godzilla", which they
believe is causing the disasters.
Martin returns to the island with Dr. Yamane (Takashi Shimura), who leads an
investigation crew to Odo Island, where radioactive footprints and a Trilobite are
discovered. An alarm rings and Martin, the villagers, and Dr. Yamane's crew head to a
hill for safety, only to come across Godzilla. Dr. Yamane returns to Tokyo to present his
findings and concludes that Godzilla was resurrected by repeated nuclear tests.
Martin contacts his old friend, Dr. Daisuke Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata), for dinner but
refuses due to planned commitments.
Emiko (Momoko Kochi), Dr. Yamane's daughter, goes over to Serizawa's to break off
her arranged engagement to him, due to her love for Hideo Ogata (Akira Takarada), a
salvage ship captain. However, Dr. Serizawa gives her a demonstration of his recent
project which horrifies her and is sworn to secrecy while unable to break off the
engagement. Godzilla surfaces from Tokyo Bay and attacks the city. The next morning,
the JSDF construct a line of tall electrical towers along the coast of Tokyo to use
against Godzilla.
Godzilla resurfaces that night and breaks through the electrical fences. Martin
documents Godzilla's rampage via tape recorder and is nearly killed during the
attack. The flashback ends and Martin wakes up back in the hospital with Emiko and
Ogata. Horrified by the destruction, Emiko reveals Dr. Serizawa's Oxygen Destroyer to
Martin and Ogata, which disintegrates oxygen atoms and the organisms die of a
rotting asphyxiation. Emiko and Ogata go to Dr. Serizawa to convince him to use the
91

Oxygen Destroyer but initially refuses. After watching a program displaying the
nation's current tragedy, Dr. Serizawa finally gives in to Emiko and Ogata's pleas.
A navy ship takes Ogata and Dr. Serizawa to plant the device in Tokyo Bay. After
finding Godzilla, Dr. Serizawa unloads the device and cuts off his air support, taking
the secrets of the Oxygen Destroyer to his death. The mission proves to be a success
but many mourn at the unexpected loss of Dr. Serizawa. Martin ends the film by
saying, "The menace was gone, so was a great man. But the whole world could wake
up and live again".
The Godfather (1972)
On the occasion of his daughter Connie's wedding, Vito Corleone hears requests in
his role as the Godfather, the Don of a New York crime family. Vito's youngest
son,Michael, wearing a Marine Corps uniform, introduces his girlfriend, Kay Adams,
to his family at the reception. Johnny Fontane, a famous singer and godson to Vito,
seeks his help in securing a movie role; Vito dispatches his consigliere, Tom Hagen,
to Los Angeles to talk the abrasive studio head, Jack Woltz, into giving Johnny the
part. Woltz is unmoved until he wakes up in bed with the severed head of his
prizedstallion.
Shortly before Christmas 1945, drug baron Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo, backed by the
Tattaglia crime family, asks Don Corleone for both investment in his narcotics
business and protection through his political connections. Wary of involvement in a
dangerous new trade that risks alienating political insiders, Vito declines. Suspicious,
he sends his enforcer, Luca Brasi, to spy on them. Sollozzo has Vito gunned down in
the street, then kidnaps Hagen. With Corleone first-born Sonny in command, Hagen
is pressured to persuade him to accept Sollozzo's deal, then released. Vito survives,
and at the hospital Michael thwarts another attempt on his father; Michael's jaw is
broken by NYPD Captain Marc McCluskey, Sollozzo's bodyguard. Sonny retaliates
with a hit on Tattaglia's son. The family receives two fish wrapped in Brasi's bulletproof vest, indicating that Luca "sleeps with the fishes." Michael plots to murder
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Sollozzo and McCluskey: on the pretext of settling the dispute, Michael agrees to
meet them in a Bronx restaurant. There, retrieving a planted handgun, he kills both
men.
Despite a clampdown by the authorities, the Five Families erupt in open warfare and
Vito's sons fear for their safety. Michael takes refuge in Sicily, and his brother, Fredo,
is sheltered by the Corleone's Las Vegas casino partner, Moe Greene. Sonny attacks
his brother-in-law Carlo on the street for abusing his sister and threatens to kill him if
it happens again. When it does, Sonny speeds for their home but is ambushed at a
highway toll booth and riddled with sub-machine gun fire. While in Sicily, Michael
meets and marries Apollonia Vitelli, but their euphoria is shattered when a car bomb
intended for him takes her life.
Devastated by Sonny's death, Vito moves to end the feuds. Realizing that the
Tattaglias are controlled by the now-dominant Don Emilio Barzini, Vito assures the
Five Families that he will withdraw his opposition to their heroin business and forgo
avenging his son's murder. His safety guaranteed, Michael returns home and enters
the family business. He and Kay reunite and marry the next year.
With his father at the end of his career and his brother too weak, Michael takes the
reins of the family, promising his wife the business will be legitimate within five
years. To that end, he insists Hagen relocate to Las Vegas and relinquish his role to
Vito because Tom is not a "wartime consigliere"; the older man agrees Tom should
"have no part in what will happen" in the coming battles with rival families. When
Michael travels to Las Vegas to buy out Greene's stake in the family's casinos, their
partner derides the Corleones for being run out of New York; Michael is dismayed to
see that Fredo has fallen under Greene's sway.
Vito suffers a fatal heart attack. At his funeral, Tessio, a Corleone capo, asks Michael to
meet with Don Barzini, signalling the betrayal that Vito had forewarned. The meeting
is set for the same day as the christening of Connies baby. While Michael stands at
the altar as the child's godfather, Corleone assassins murder the other New York dons
93

and Moe Greene. Tessio is executed for his treachery; Michael extracts Carlos
confession to his complicity in setting up Sonny's murder for Barzini. After Clemenza
garrotes Carlo with a wire, Connie accuses Michael of the murder, telling Kay that
Michael ordered all the killings. Kay is relieved when Michael finally denies it, but
when the capos arrive they address her husband as Don Corleone.

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Script notes

95

Glory (1989)
During the American Civil War, Captain Robert Shaw is injured in the Battle of
Antietam and sent home to Boston onmedical leave. He visits his family there, where
he meets the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, a former slave. Shaw is offered a
promotion to the rank of Colonel to command the first all-black regiment in the
Union Army, the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. He accepts and
asks his childhood friend, 2nd Lieutenant Cabot Forbes, to serve as his second in
command, with the rank of major. Their first volunteer is another friend, Thomas
Searles, a bookish free African American. Other recruits soon follow, including
gravedigger John Rawlins, timid freeman Jupiter Sharts and Silas Trip, an escaped
slave who does not trust Shaw. Trip instantly clashes with Searles and Rawlins must
keep the peace.
The men learn that the Confederacy has issued an order that all black soldiers found
in Union uniform will be summarily executed, as will their white officers, and are
offered a chance to take an honorable discharge, but none of them do. The black
soldiers undergo a severe training regimen under Irish Sergeant-Major Mulcahy.
When Shaw confronts Mulcahy about his methods he comes to realize that Mulcahy
is in fact training them fairly and is trying to prepare the men for the extreme
challenges that they will face.
When Trip goes AWOL and is caught, Shaw orders him flogged in front of the troops.
The scars from his beatings as a slave are exposed, giving pause to the abolitionist
Shaw. While talking to Rawlins, Shaw discovers that Trip had left to find shoes to
replace his worn ones. Shaw learns that his men are being denied regular supplies
and confronts the base's racist quartermaster on their behalf. He further supports
them through a pay dispute, as the Federal government decided to pay black
soldiers $10/month as opposed to the $13/month that white soldiers earn. Trip
encourages the men to go without pay in protest, and Shaw tears up his own pay
stub in solidarity, earning the respect and admiration of his men. In recognition for
96

his leadership among the troops, Shaw invests Rawlins with the rank of SergeantMajor.
Once the 54th completes its training, they are transferred under the command of
General Charles Garrison Harker. On the way to joining the war in South Carolina, the
54th is ordered to sack a Georgia town and burn it by Harker's second-in-command,
Colonel James Montgomery. Though Shaw initially refuses to obey an unlawful
order, he ultimately obeys under threat of being relieved and having his troops taken
away, and the town is destroyed. Shaw continues to lobby his superiors to allow his
men to join the fight, as their duties since being activated involved construction and
manual labor. Shaw finally gets the 54th into combat after he confronts Harker and
threatens to report the smuggling, looting, and graft he has discovered unless Harker
orders the 54th into action. In their first battle on James Island, South Carolina, early
success is followed by a bloody confrontation with many casualties. However, the
Confederates are beaten and retreat. During the battle, Thomas is wounded but saves
Trip, finally earning the respect of the former slave. He subsequently refuses to go
home to recover. Shaw offers Trip the honor of bearing the regimental flag in battle,
but he declines. Trip states that he doesn't believe the war will result in a better life
for slaves, but at the same time that he knows he must fight for the mere hope that it
might.
Sometime after, General George Strong informs Shaw and his other staff officers of a
major campaign to secure a foothold in Charleston Harbor. This will involve
assaulting the nearby Morris Island and capturing its impenetrable fortress, Fort
Wagner. The fort's only landward approach is via a small strip of beach with little
cover, and the first regiment to charge is sure to suffer extremely heavy casualties.
Shaw volunteers to have the 54th lead the charge. The night before the battle; the
black soldiers conduct a religious service where individual soldiers offer their prayers
amid hymn singing. Jupiter, Rawlins, and Trip make emotional speeches to inspire
the troops and to ask for God's help.
97

The 54th leads the charge on the fort and heavy casualties ensue from artillery fire.
As night falls, the bombardment continues, forestalling progress. Attempting to spur
his men forward, Shaw is shot and killed. Trip lifts up the flag and rallies the soldiers
to continue on. He is shot several times while doing so, but holds up the flag to his
last breath. Forbes takes charge of the regiment, and they are able to break through
the fort's outer defenses, but find themselves greatly outnumbered once they are
inside. The morning after the battle, the beach is shown littered with bodies of Union
soldiers and the Confederate flag is raised over the fort. The corpses are buried in a
mass grave, with Shaw and Trip's bodies next to each other.
The closing narration reveals that Fort Wagner was never taken by Union forces. The
sacrifice of the 54th, which lost nearly half its men in the battle, was not in vain; their
bravery resulted in the Union accepting thousands of black men for combat which
President Abraham Lincoln credited with turning the tide of the war.

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Script notes

99

Gladiator (2000)
In AD 180, Spanish-Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius leads the Roman
army to a decisive victory against the Germanic tribes near Vindobona, ending along
war on the Roman frontier and winning the favor of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Maximus, weary of battle, decides to retire at his Spanish farm estate at the
Emperor's behest, but the Emperor tells him that his son and heir to the
throne,Commodus, is unfit to rule and thus appoints him as regent to help save
Rome from corruption. Before he makes his decision, Commodus is confronted by
his father who tells him that he will not be emperor. Burdened by grief and believing
he was never valued by his father, Commodus kills him.
After mourning Marcus Aurelius' death, the new Emperor asks Maximus for his
loyalty, but the general suspects foul play and refuses. Soon after, Maximus is
arrested and is scheduled to be executed at dawn. Maximus manages to escape and
makes the long journey to his farm on horseback, but arrives to find it burnt and his
family dead, under orders of Commodus. He buries them and collapses in despair. A
passing slave caravan captures and takes him to Zucchabar, a North African province.
He is sold to a man named Proximo, who trains him as a gladiator. There he
befriends two of Proximo's gladiators: a Numidian named Juba and aGerman
named Hagen.
Reluctant at first, Maximus is forced to fight in local tournaments. He wins every
match because of his superior military skills and traumatized indifference to death.
His newfound fame and recognition is brought to Proximo's attention. Proximo
reveals to Maximus that he himself was once a gladiator, and had fought well
enough to have gained his freedom. He encourages Maximus to go to Rome and
fight in the Colosseum itself, where the Emperor has organized 150 days of games to
commemorate his late father. Proximo advises him to "win the crowd" and so earn
their respect and eventually his freedom. He could then use this leverage to possibly
overthrow or kill the Emperor as part of his plan for revenge.
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Maximus' first taste of gladiatorial combat in the Colosseum is depicted as a

reenactment of the Battle of Zama. With his team portrayed as Carthaginian infantry,
they defy all expectations and are able (solely due to Maximus' commands) to defeat
"Scipio's legionaries" who were supposed to obliterate them. A surprised and
delighted Commodus comes into the arena to personally congratulate them.
Maximus braces himself to kill the Emperor, but at the last moment decides against
it because of the presence of Commodus' young nephew Lucius Verus. He then
reveals himself to the startled Commodus and vows to have his vengeance. As
thePraetorian Guard prepares to kill him, the crowd chants "Live!" repeatedly,
earning their favor and showing their support. Commodus relents and leaves angrily.
Next, Maximus is pitted against the formidable Tigris of Gaul, an undefeated
gladiator. After a fierce and lengthy duel which Commodus attempted to fix,
Maximus is able to gain the upper hand, but spares his opponent's life despite the
crowd's urging that he kill him. Angered by this action, Commodus berates him,
even taunting him with harrowing details of his family's death. Undaunted,
Maximus turns around and walks away. This act of defiance, along with his victory
over Tigris, makes him more popular than the Emperor himself.
As Maximus is being escorted back to the gladiators' quarters, his former orderly
Cicero approaches him and says that he still has the loyalty of the legions, encamped
near Rome. Commodus' sister Lucilla and the chief senator Gracchus secure a
meeting with Maximus, and he obtains their promise to help him escape Rome,
rejoin his soldiers, topple Commodus by force, and hand power over back to the
Senate. Suspicious, Commodus learns of this plot from Lucilla by threatening young
Lucius, then dispatches his men to arrest and/or kill the conspirators. Gracchus is
quickly apprehended, while a contingent of Praetorians is sent to Maximus' quarters.
Proximo lets Maximus escape and sacrifices himself and his men (including Hagen)
to gain him more time. Maximus reaches the rendezvous point but falls into a trap;
Cicero is killed and Maximus is captured.
101

Commodus, desperate and jealous of Maximus' growing popularity, challenges him

to a duel in the Colosseum. Before the fight, and unknown to the crowd, he fatally
stabs him in the side to put him at a disadvantage. During the fight, however,
Maximus manages to evade Commodus' blows and disarm him. Commodus asks
the Praetorians to give him a sword, but his request is denied. He produces a
hiddenstiletto, but Maximus instinctively turns the blade back into his throat, killing
him.
Maximus succumbs to the stab wound, asking with his last words that reforms be
made, his gladiator allies freed, and that Senator Gracchus be reinstated. He is then
carried away for an honorable funeral as a "soldier of Rome". Some time later, Juba
revisits the Colosseum at night, and he buries Maximus' figurines of his wife and son
at the spot where he died. He promises that he will see Maximus again, "but not
yet".

102

Script notes

103

Girl, Interrupted (1999)

In April 1967, 18-year-old Susanna Kaysen (Winona Ryder), a depressed and
unmotivated girl is checked into Claymoore psychiatric hospital, after having a
nervous breakdown and taking an overdose of aspirin. She denies the accusation
from many that she was attempting to commit suicide, claiming that she was only
trying to get rid of her headache. Susanna's mother and father, along with the nurses
and therapists, are surprised when Susanna confesses that she does not actually
want to go to college and would like to become an independent, free spirited writer.
Once in the ward, Susanna quickly befriends fellow patients Polly Clark aka
"Torch" (Elisabeth Moss), a schizophrenic but childlike girl terribly disfigured due to
setting herself on fire. Georgina Tuskin (Clea DuVall), a pathological liar obsessed
with The Wizard of Oz. Daisy Randone (Brittany Murphy), an antisocial, pampered girl
withagoraphobia and an eating disorder. Janet Webber (Angela Bettis), an
anorexicballerina. And Cynthia Crowley (Jillian Armenante), a mentally disturbed
lesbian. Most of all, she is particularly enchanted by Lisa Rowe (Angelina Jolie), a
mischievous and charismatic girl diagnosed as a sociopath and who takes pleasure in
mocking and manipulating the people around her. Lisa encourages the easily
influenced Susanna to stop taking her medication, sneak out of their room together,
and resist therapy. On a group visit to a local ice cream shop, Susanna is confronted
and harassed by the daughter and wife of an English professor with whom she had
an affair. But Lisa, along with the other girls of the ward, defend Susanna, and
verbally threaten and tease the two women until they leave the shop.
Susanna is visited by her ex-boyfriend Toby (Jared Leto), who reveals that he is about
to be drafted and invites her to run away to Canada with him. He tries to convince her
that she is not crazy and that the girls in the asylum are not really her friends, but
Susanna, unsure about what she truly wants, refuses to go with him. That night, Polly
has an emotional breakdown and wakes half the ward up, screaming and crying. To
calm her down, she is placed in solitary confinement by the staff. To cheer her up,
Susanna steals a guitar from the music room and sits outside Polly's room with Lisa,
104

singing "Downtown" by Petula Clark. Lisa slips a pill into the mouth of the sleeping
orderly, and seduces another orderly to keep him from reporting them. Valerie
Owens, the African-American RN (Whoopi Goldberg), refers them to the therapists.
Susanna meets the head psychiatrist, Dr. Sonia Wick (Vanessa Redgrave), and
attempts to shut her out with a nasty attitude. In response, Wick decides to take
Susanna as her patient and she is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
Lisa is also taken to see the doctor but does not return, and Susanna falls into a
depression. Frustrated with Susanna's noncompliance, Valerie thows her into a cold
bath to give her a reality check and repels Susanna's insults, stating that in spite of
her disorder, she is not crazy, just a "lazy, self-indulgent little girl who is driving
herself crazy".
Lisa returns in the middle of the night, and she and Susanna break out of
Claymoore. They spend the night at the cozy apartment of the recently released
Daisy, whom Lisa antagonizes in her usual, cruel fashion. She viciously accuses Daisy
of having an incestuous relationship with her father, and taunts her for continuing to
cut herself, saying that Claymoore released her not because she truly recovered, but
because they gave up on trying to help her. Although Susanna expresses anger
toward Lisa, she is not able to stop her from verbally attacking Daisy, who is pushed
to her breaking point by Lisa's heartless comments. In the morning, Susanna
discovers that Daisy has slit her wrists and hanged herself in her upstairs bathroom.
Unfazed by the suicide, Lisa searches the pockets of Daisy's bath robe and steals
whatever cash she can find. She puts the money in Susanna's coat, who is disgusted
by Lisa's lack of remorse. Lisa decides that it is time to leave, but Susanna, devastated
by what has happened to Daisy, stays behind to phone an ambulance and
subsequently return to the hospital, while Lisa remains at large. Susanna also adopts
Daisy's cat, Ruby and takes her back to the ward. After Daisy's death, Susanna stops
feeling sorry for herself and in the next few weeks, she even begins to cooperate with
her doctors and responds to her therapy, expressing her feelings through writing and
painting. With Susanna seemingly healthier, she is scheduled to be released.
105

Lisa is finally caught and returned by the police. Upon learning about Susanna's
pending release, a jealous Lisa targets Susanna for ridicule and emotional abuse. On
her last night at Claymoore, Susanna awakens to discover Lisa in the maze of
restricted corridors beneath the ward, reading Susanna's stolen diary aloud to
Georgina and Polly, including all of her personal thoughts and private comments she
has made about the other patients, making Susanna look like the bad guy. To Lisa's
delight, the other girls quickly turn on Susanna, with Georgina verbally threatening
her and Lisa stating that she has done nothing wrong and that Susanna has betrayed
the girls. Susanna summons the courage to stand up to Lisa, telling her that Lisa
keeps coming back to the hospital only because she has nowhere else to go, and that
no one cares if she lives or dies because she is "already dead". Emotionally wounded,
Lisa decides to stab herself with a large hypodermic needle. Defeated, Lisa suffers a
mental breakdown and cries out in anguish, revealing that her sociopathy is possibly
false. A scene from the start of the film reveals that the four stayed in the basement
until being found by orderlies at daybreak; Polly holding Ruby, Georgina tidying up
the mess caused by the confrontation and Lisa resting in Susanna's lap.
Susanna is released the next day. Before she leaves, she visits Lisa, who is now
strapped down to a bed and confined in an isolated room. Susanna tells her that she
will get out and that she must come and visit her one day. Although depressed, Lisa
is now much more emotionally expressive and as Susanna leaves, Lisa tearfully
smiles and tells her that she isn't really dead. Susanna returns the smile and says she
knows. Susanna says goodbye to all her friends, giving Polly her cat Ruby and
reconciles with Georgina. At the end of the film, Susanna gets into a taxi, as she is
released back into society, leaving Claymoore behind, she acknowledges in voiceover that by the early 1970s, most of her friends in the ward had been released.
Some of which she eventually saw years later, and others never again. But that she
will never forget any of them, and they will always have a place in her heart.

106

Script notes

107

The Giant of Thunder Mountain (1991)

In the town of Waterton, signs of a circus are going up. Reports of a man-eating bearlike creature have prompted several hunters to buy some new bear traps. Meanwhile,
at a country house, a group of boys are holding a meeting. Several are telling a story
about a giant creature supposedly inhabiting the nearby Thunder Mountain, but the
others don't believe them. Later that evening two of the boys, Tommy (Chance
Michael Corbitt) and Ben (Ryan Todd) set out to find the mountain, but they get
caught in a thunderstorm and barely escape getting hit by lightning (this is what
gives Thunder Mountain its name). They take refuge inside a supposedly abandoned
house. Whilst there, they find mysterious statues and paintings, one of which is in
the shape of a bear and the other in the shape of a giant. Suddenly, the owner of the
cottage returns. They boys try to hide from him but he flips open the table they are
hiding under and they escape back into the woods. When they reach home, they tell
their family their amazing story, but no one believes them. The next morning, they
set out with another boy, Zeke MacGruder Daniel Pipoly) to go back to the cottage
and find the answer to what the giant is. Their younger sister, Amy (Noley Thornton)
follows them, but almost gets caught in a bear trap. The boys tell her to leave but she
persists and continues following them.
Eventually they reach the cottage and Amy manages to make first contact with the
surprisingly friendly owner, Eli Weaver (Richard Kiel). They help him with his chores
including chopping wood and getting water, and while they are there he explains to
them that a curse is residing in Thunder Mountain. He also says he makes statues of
monstrous creatures he supposedly sees while in the woods. The kids leave the
cottage and return home, and as the boys try to picture what the monster creature is
Amy goes to the general store of Hezekiah Crow (Jack Elam) to buy some food for Eli,
but she has no money. An old man named Doc (Foster Brooks) gives her money and
tells her that Eli can use this to help him buy food (as Eli has lived his whole life away
from civilization). Returning to Eli's cottage, Amy gives him the money and he asks
her what money is. After she explains, he thanks her and she wishes him good luck.
108

Developing a relationship with Amy, Eli makes a statue of her in return for helping
him.
That night, Eli stops by the Wilson's house and thanks the family for helping him.
They invite him to dinner and whilst there he tells stories of the giant of Thunder
Mountain and says that it appears out of nowhere and kills or takes people into the
woods, where they are never seen again. He advises the family to be careful and
reports of the creature are becoming more and more common. After Eli leaves the
house, he walks through the dark woods and supposedly witnesses the giant
hunting and killing a deer, disappearing as quickly and mysteriously as ever, into the
woods. The next morning, the circus the village was preparing for arrives, hosted by
Zeke's father, Mr. Macgruder (Ed Williams). The circus's many performers include a
juggling act, a trained lion, a boa constrictor, a long-legged clown act, a camel, a
high-jumping acrobat, and two white horses.
The final act arrives, a trained black bear act. This reminds Eli of the day that a
giantgrizzly bear (Bart the Bear) suddenly appeared out of nowhere and killed his
father. His mother rushed out with a loaded shotgun and took a shot at the bear, but
her shot only enraged the animal and it killed her too. As the circus continues, Eli
tells Amy the frightening story, but she says the menace is long gone. After the
elephantact ends, Amy plays some games and wins a doll in a contest. Amy's mother
than appears and scolds her for being with a stranger, taking her home. The town
becomes angry at Eli thinking he is a big mean stealer and they begin teasing him
about his ugliness. To get back at them, Eli crushes the doll's head with one squeeze
and warns the town not to mess with his strength. Amy tries to tell him to stay, but he
says that he will not visit a town that's disrespectful to him and storms off. The next
scene is at a bar, where several men (including old man Doc) are playing a card
game. The men talk about Eli and begin to believe that he himself is the monster of
Thunder Mountain. Meanwhile, at the cottage, Eli becomes so unhappy about his
humiliation that he ends his friendship with Amy out of sadness, destroying her
statue.
109

Despite these events, Amy and the boys have sympathy for Eli, and in an attempt to
renew their friendship, Amy stops by the cottage again to bring him food. He accepts,
Amy admits her mistakes about bringing him to the village, and the two are friends
again. While Eli is taking Amy to Thunder Mountain, Eli asks Tommy and Ben to
guard his cottage. However, three thieves led by Doc come to Eli's cottage, knock out
the boys, and begin stealing the statues and possessions of Eli. Meanwhile, at
Thunder Mountain, Eli shows Amy the biggest tree of them all, a huge sequoia. Eli
explains that this tree has been in the family for generations and will continue to
bloom as long as he is alive.
Just then, a giant grizzly bear appears out of nowhere and attacks them. Eli reveals
that this and the tree are the "giants" of Thunder Mountain and orders he to run. As
she takes refuge in a tree, Eli fights off the bear with a stick and knife, but is wounded
in the process. The bear chases Eli for a while before giving up and walking away, Eli
orders Amy to continue without him. Meanwhile, the cottage raiders have taken all
the statues and are about to leave when Amy arrives. Amy tells them to give the
statues back but they refuse and tie her up along with her mother who comes by to
help her. They then go on a hunt for Eli as they think he a ruthless monster who
deserves to be killed. Unable to outrun them, the wounded Eli's only defense is to
bury himself with leaves and play dead, hoping to fool the men. The plan barely
works, with the men just missing Eli buried in the leaves. The leader gets caught in
his own bear trap, giving Eli time to escape. Eli takes his gun and has a chance to kill
the man, but due to what Amy has taught him about friendship he refuses and lets
the man go. Impressed by Eli's act of mercy, the hunter orders his men not to pursue
Eli and they head back to the village, release Amy and her mom, and care for the
wounded Tommy and Ben.
However, when Tommy tells his story of how he and his friends got to know Eli, the
villagers mistakenly think that Eli was the one who injured Tommy (the men who did
lie about it), and, believing Eli is a threat to the village, burn down his house. Amy
agrees to find Eli a new home farther away from the villagers and the twos set off
110

again. Meanwhile, Doc and the other thieves wrest a confession about Eli from Zeke
(who lies that Eli was killed in the fire) and threaten to kill him and his family if they
don't answer. However, Eli and Amy arrive and mount a rescue operation. Eli
manages to trick Doc into thinking that he's surrendered and forces Doc to run out of
the house in fear. As Eli and Amy untie Zeke and his family, Doc goes into the woods
to follow Eli but is captured. When Eli threatens to feed him to the grizzly but doesn't,
right in front of the other men, they develop sympathy for him and arrest Doc for
lying and burning Eli's home. Later that evening Amy and her family say goodbye to
Eli as he leaves to find a new home, but Eli promises Amy that they will meet again
sometime. The movie ends with Amy telling (as an adult, narrating), that she will
never forget Eli as a friend.

111

Script notes

112

Ghost (1990)
Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze), a banker and Molly Jensen (Demi Moore), a potter, are
a couple who renovate and move into an apartment in New York City with the help of
Sam's friend Carl Bruner (Tony Goldwyn). One afternoon, Sam makes the discovery of
unusually high balances in obscure bank accounts, but despite Carl's offer to help
investigate, Sam decides to investigate on his own. That night, while walking home,
Sam and Molly are mugged by a street thug who pulls a gun and demand's Sam's
wallet. Sam struggles with the attacker and is shot. After pursuing the street thug,
Sam runs back to Molly and discovers that he has died from the gunshot and
become a ghost after seeing Molly crying over his dead body. Sam stays by a
distraught Molly, trying to come to grips with his condition, when Carl comes over
and suggests they take a walk, but Sam cannot bring himself to follow. Moments
later, the mugger enters the apartment, evidently searching for something. When
Molly returns, Sam scares their cat into attacking the thug, who flees. Following him
to his apartment in Brooklyn, Sam learns that the man's name is Willie Lopez and he
was looking for something in Sam's apartment and will return to find it later. Sam
happens upon the parlor of Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg); a con artist posing
as a medium who realizes she has an actual gift when she can hear Sam. He
convinces her of the danger that Molly is in and to warn her. She is met by skepticism
until she relays information that only Sam would know.
When Molly goes to the police, they show her Oda Mae's record, convincing Molly
that she is a con artist. She tells this information to Carl, and he and Sam go to visit
Willie, but to Sam's surprise, Carl and Willie are working together and he'd had a
hand in Sam's death to obtain his book of passwords in order to access and
launderthe excess money from the bank accounts. Meeting a violent poltergeist,
Sam convinces him to teach him how to manipulate objects physically. After learning
to harness this ability, he approaches Oda Mae and advises her to withdraw the
money in the fake name that Carl had set up, then give the $4 million to charity to
prevent being caught. Sam tries to scare Carl away from Molly, but she lets it slip that
113

Oda Mae was at the bank withdrawing the money. Sam prevents Oda Mae from
being caught by Willie by terrorizing him and sending him into oncoming traffic.
Willie is hit by a car and killed, and his ghost is grabbed by creatures in the shadows
that drag him to Hell. Returning to the apartment, Sam convinces Molly that Oda
Mae is telling the truth about him by levitating a penny into her hand.
Oda Mae allows Sam to possess her body, so he and Molly can share a slow dance,
but Carl interrupts them and Molly and Oda Mae flee onto the fire escape. Carl
chases the women to a loft under construction and catches Oda Mae. When Molly
comes to save her, she is grabbed and held hostage. Sam disarms Carl and chases
him toward a window. He throws a hook at Sam, which swings back and shatters the
glass, and as Carl tries to climb through the window, it falls, impaling him through
the chest. Carl's ghost rises from his body and, as with Willie, he is grabbed by the
creatures from the shadows and carried to Hell. When Sam asks if the women are all
right, Molly can hear him. A heavenly light shines in the room, illuminating Sam, and
they both see him. Realizing that it is his time to go, he and Molly share tearful
goodbyes. Oda Mae tells him that he is being called home, and he thanks her for her
help. Sam then walks into the light and onward to Heaven.

114

Script notes

115

Angels in the Outfield (1994)

Young foster child Roger (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his friend J.P. (Milton Davis, Jr.)
love to sneak into baseball games of the hopelessly dreadful California Angels.
Still in limited contact with his widower father, Roger asks when they will be a family
again. His father replies sarcastically, "I'd say when the Angels win the pennant."
Taking his father's words literally, Roger prays for God to help the Angels win. After he
prays, a star, unseen by Roger, twinkles in the sky.
Then, in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays which Roger and J.P. attend, he sees a
group of angels led by Al (Christopher Lloyd) helping the team. Although Roger can
see them quite clearly, everyone else can only explain the seemingly impossible acts
as freak occurrences.
Roger's unique ability to see which players are receiving help from angels leads their
skeptical manager, George Knox (Danny Glover) to keep him around as a good luck
charm and consultant, including ending the use of profanity as a nod to the original
film. Due to the much needed help, the Angels start to win games and make a
surprising second-half surge to the top of their division. However, Roger's father
permanently gives up custody of his son instead.
As Roger laments his loss, J.P. accidentally reveals to antagonistic sports broadcaster
Ranch Wilder (Jay O. Sanders) that Roger has the ability to see angels, and that
George has been winning through the advice Roger's given him. Ranch, hoping to
destroy George due to a rivalry between the two dating back to their playing days
(Ranch had caused an injury to George that forced him to retire), informs the press of
this and their owner Hank Murphy (Ben Johnson) threatens to dismiss George for
this seemingly absurd notion that angels are helping the team. Roger comes clean to
his caretaker Maggie Nelson (Brenda Fricker) about his special ability and at a press
conference they and the entire team defend George in front of the press. Moved by
their faith, Murphy allows George to remain as manager of the Angels.
116

On the championship game none of the angels show up to help the team. Later on,
Al explains that championships must be played without help from them and that he
was just checking pitcher Mel Clark (Tony Danza) who will be one of them soon as he
has been a chain smoker. Throughout the game he has been in, but is getting tired
after throwing 159 pitches. When George goes in, everyone thinks he's going in to
take him out, but instead, he gives him some motivation, with help from Roger, the
team, and finally, the entire audience as well as Murphy and the broadcasters (minus
Ranch).
The Angels ultimately win the final game of the regular season without the help of
the angels and clinch the division pennant over the rival Chicago White Sox, thanks
to Mel. Murphy fires Ranch due to his snide remarks over the team. The film ends
with George adopting both Roger and J.P. as he wants to try be a father. J.P. sees Al at
the window and says "I knew it could happen." Al circles around the house and says
"We're always watching" and flying off into the stars, which re-enact a baseball
game.

117

Script notes

118

Antz (1998)
The setting for the story is an ant colony in Central Park in New York City. The
protagonist is Z-4195 (Woody Allen), or "Z" for short, a neurotic and
pessimisticworker ant living in a wholly totalitarian society who longs for the
opportunity to truly express himself. His friends include fellow worker Azteca
(Jennifer Lopez) and a soldier ant, Weaver (Sylvester Stallone). Z meets Princess Bala
(Sharon Stone) at a bar where she goes to escape from her suffocating royal life and
falls in love with her.
To see Bala again, Z exchanges places with Weaver and joins the army. He marches
with the ranks, befriending a staff sergeant named Barbatus (Danny Glover) in the
process. He is unaware that the army's leader and Bala's fianc, General Mandible
(Gene Hackman), is secretly sending all the soldiers loyal to the Queen to die so he
can begin to build a colony filled with powerful ants. At the base of a tree near
nightfall, Z realizes he is actually marching into battle, and all of the soldiers except
for Z are killed by acid-shooting termites. Following the battle, all Z can find of
Barbatus is his head. Before he dies, Barbatus tells Z to think for himself rather than
follow orders all his life, leaving Z saddened and depressed. Z returns home and is
hailed as a war hero, even though he did not do anything and was traumatized by
the fighting. He is also congratulated by the secretly irate General Mandible, and is
brought before the Queen. There he meets Bala, who eventually recognizes him as a
worker. When Z finds that he has been cornered, he panics and pretends to take Bala
"hostage" to trick the queen's guards into letting him leave rather than imprison
him. They escape the colony and hide, and Z begins searching for Insectopia, a
legendary paradise a drunken bar patron (John Mahoney) told him about.
Word of the incident immediately spreads through the colony, and Z's act of
individuality sparks a revolution in the workers and a few soldier ants as well,
grinding productivity to a halt. Seeing an opportunity to gain control, General
Mandible publicly portrays Z as a war criminal who only cares about himself.
Mandible then promotes the glory of conformity and promises them a better life,
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which he claims to be the reward of completing a "Mega Tunnel" planned by

himself. Mandible learns Z is looking for Insectopia after interrogating Weaver.
Knowing of the place's existence, Mandible sends his second-in-command, Colonel
Cutter (Christopher Walken), to retrieve the Princess and possibly kill Z. Cutter,
however, slowly begins to have second thoughts about Mandible's plans and
develops sympathy for the worker ants.
Z and Bala, after some misdirection, a brief separation and a perilous run-in with a
picnicking human child, finally find Insectopia, which consists of a human waste-bin
overfilled with decaying food. Bala begins to reciprocate Z's feelings. However, Cutter
arrives and flies Bala back to the colony against her will. Z finds them gone and
makes his way to rescue Bala, aided by a wasp named Chip (Dan Aykroyd), whom he
met earlier and who has made himself drunk grieving over the loss of his swatted
wife, Muffy (Jane Curtin). Z arrives at the colony, where he finds that Bala is being
held captive in General Mandible's office. After rescuing her, he learns that General
Mandible's "Mega Tunnel" leads straight to a body of water (the puddle next to
Insectopia), which Mandible will use to drown the queen and the workers who have
gathered at the opening ceremony. Bala goes to warn the workers and her mother at
the ceremony, while Z goes to the tunnel exit to prevent the workers from digging
any further. He fails, however, and the water leaks in. Z and Bala unify the workers
into a single working unit and build a towering ladder of ants towards the surface as
the water continues to rise.
Meanwhile, General Mandible and his soldiers are gathered at the surface, where he
explains to them his vision of a new colony with none of the "weak elements of the
colony". He is interrupted, however, when the workers successfully claw their way to
the surface and break through. Mandible angrily tries to kill Z but is stopped by
Cutter, who finally rebels against Mandible and instead tries to help Z and the worker
ants out of the hole "for the good of the colony." The enraged Mandible charges
toward Cutter, but Z pushes Cutter out of the way at the last minute and is tackled
into the flooded colony with Mandible. Mandible is killed when he lands upon a root
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while Z falls into the water. Cutter, taking charge, orders the other soldier ants to help
the workers and the queen onto the surface while he himself rescues Z. Although it
seems that Z is dead, Bala successfully resuscitates him. Z is lauded for his heroism
and marries Bala. Together they rebuild the colony, transforming the colony from a
conformist military state into a community that values each and every one of its
members.

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122

Any Given Sunday (1999)

The Miami Sharks, a once-greatAmerican football team, are now in turmoil and
struggling to make the 2001 Associated Football Franchises of America (AFFA)
playoffs. They are coached by 30-year veteran Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino), who has
fallen out of favor with young owner Christina Pagniacci (Cameron Diaz), who
inherited the team, and offensive coordinator Nick Crozier (Aaron Eckhart), who is
expected to succeed D'Amato as head coach.
In the 13th game of the season, against the Minnesota Americans, both the
Sharks'starting quarterback, Jack "Cap" Rooney (Dennis Quaid), and the secondstring quarterback, Tyler Cherubini (Pat O'Hara), are injured and forced to leave the
field. The desperate Sharks call upon third-string quarterback and former seventhrounddraft pick Willie Beamen (Jamie Foxx). Beamen is visibly nervous and makes a
number of errors, illustrating his lack of knowledge regarding the team's playbook.
He vomits in the huddle, which begins a ritual that he follows every game. Although
the Sharks lose this game by a small margin, Beamen, despite his initial struggles,
plays well and gains confidence.
During the next game, against the Chicago Rhinos, Beamen substitutes Cherubini
and quickly learns the team's offense. Much to D'Amato's chagrin, Beamen
disregards the team's conservative offense and changes the plays in the huddle, not
realizing the disrespect this shows to his coaches. Beamen displays his raw athletic
talent and starts to run and pass extremely successfully, leading the Sharks to the
playoffs after winning three of the last four games of the season including a road win
against the California Crusaders, in Los Angeles. Beaman's new-found success results
in growing narcissism and arrogance. He becomes "Steamin'" Willie Beamen, the
new poster boy for the AFFA, and receives lucrative advertisement deals, including a
music video.
Beamen's inability to handle his success leads to tension with players and coaches.
D'Amato confronts Beamen to ask why he has been changing the plays. He
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alsodemotes Beamen back to the bench, while picking Rooney to lead the Sharks
during the playoffs, telling Beamen just how far he still has to go to fulfill his
potential as the team's lead player. Beamen, lacking confidence in his coach after his
hard college career, and afraid of going back to anonymity, alienates the rest of the
team to the point that he gets his car sawn in half at a party.
Later, the Sharks are blown out at home in a game against the New York Emperors
that could have given them home field advantage in the playoffs. Beamen
contemplates and amends his self-centered behavior.
In the first round of playoffs, Miami goes to Dallas to face the Knights, one of the
league's strongest teams. Before the game, D'Amato gives a speech to his players
about working as a team to get the victory.
Rooney returns as starting quarterback. He plays strongly, until being injured after
scoring a touchdown in the end of the first half, and Beamen needs to replace him.
Willie apologizes for his actions in the huddle and leads the team to win the game.
Off-screen, Miami beats Minnesota for their conference championship but then loses
to San Francisco in the Pantheon Cup Championship 32-13.
At D'Amato's final press conference as the Sharks' head coach, he is thanked by
owner Pagniacci for his contributions to the team. D'Amato is then expected to
announce his retirement, but he instead drops a bombshell and announces that he
has been hired as head coach and general manager of an expansion team in New
Mexico, the Albuquerque Aztecs. He further infuriates the ungrateful Sharks owner
by adding that he has signed Beamen to be his starting quarterback and franchise
player, the Sharks having refused to extend Beamen's expiring contract when they
had the chance.[2]

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Script notes

125

Apocalypse Now (1979)

In 1967, during the Vietnam War, Special Forces Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon
Brando) has gone insane and now commands his own Montagnard troops
insideneutral Cambodia as a demi-god. U.S. Army Captain and special operations
veteranBenjamin L. Willard (Martin Sheen) is tasked with terminating the Colonel's
command with extreme prejudice.
Ambivalent about the mission, Willard joins a Navy Patrol boat, riverine (PBR)
commanded by "Chief" (Albert Hall) and crewmen Lance (Sam Bottoms),
"Chef" (Frederic Forrest) and "Mr. Clean" (Laurence Fishburne) to head upriver. They
rendezvous with surfing enthusiast Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore (Robert Duvall), a
commander of an attack helicopter squadron, to discuss going up the Nung river.
Kilgore initially scoffs at them, but befriends Lance when he discovers he is an expert
surfer and agrees to escort them through the Viet Cong-held coastal mouth of the
river where surfing conditions are particularly good. At dawn the helicopter raid
commences. Amid the attack, Kilgore calls in a napalm sortie on the local cadres and
the rivermouth is taken. Unfortunately for Kilgore, who only took the mission so he
could watch Lance surf, the updraft from the resulting fire ruins the surfing
conditions, causing Lance to refuse to surf. Willard gathers his men to the PBR, which
has been transported via helicopter, and begins the journey upriver after stealing
Kilgore's surfboard.
Tension arises between Chief and Willard as Willard believes himself to be in
command of the PBR while Chief prioritizes other objectives over Willard's secret
mission. Slowly making their way upriver, Willard reveals part of his mission to the
Chief to assuage the Chief's concerns about why his mission should take precedence.
As night falls, the PBR reaches the chaotic last US outpost on the Nng river, the Do
Long bridge. Willard and Lance enter the base seeking information on what is
upriver. Unable to find anyone in command of the base, Willard orders the Chief to
continue upriver as an unseen enemy launches a strike on the bridge.
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The next day, Willard learns from a dispatch that another Special Operations Group
(SOG) operative, Captain Colby (Scott Glenn), who was sent on an earlier mission
identical to Willard's, had joined Kurtz. (A few days before Willard received this
dispatch, Chief had told him that about six months prior to Willard's mission Chief
had taken another man north of the Do Long Bridge. Chief had heard this man shot
himself in the head.) Meanwhile, as the rest of the crew read letters from home,
Lance pops open a purple smoke grenade for fun. It attracts the attention of an
unseen enemy in the trees, and Mr. Clean is killed during the firefight. Later, in a
separate attack, Chief is killed.
The PBR arrives at Kurtz's outpost, and the surviving crew members are met by an
American freelance photographer (Dennis Hopper), who manically praises Kurtz's
genius. As they wander through the compound they come across Colby, who stands
nearly catatonic along with other US servicemen, now serving in Kurtz's renegade
army. After returning to the PBR, Willard later takes Lance with him to the village,
leaving Chef behind with orders to call an airstrike in the village if they do not return.
In the camp, Willard is subdued, bound and brought before Kurtz in a darkened
temple. Tortured and imprisoned, Willard screams as Kurtz drops Chef's severed
head into his lap, meaning there will be no airstrike. After several days, Willard is
released and given the freedom of the compound. Kurtz lectures him on his theories
of war, humanity and civilization while praising the ruthlessness and dedication of
the Viet Cong. Kurtz discusses his family and asks that Willard tell his son about him
in the event of his death.
That night, as the villagers ceremonially slaughter a water buffalo, Willard stealthily
enters Kurtz's chamber as Kurtz is making a tape recording and attacks him with
amachete. Lying mortally wounded on the ground, Kurtz, with his dying breath,
whispers "...The horror... the horror...". The villagers are now abuzz about something
amiss in Kurtz's quarters, and seeing Willard departing the rooms with bloody
machete in hand, they bow down and allow Willard to take Lance by the hand and
127

lead him to the boat. The two of them ride away as Kurtz's final words echo eerily as
the world fades to black.

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Script notes

129

Apollo 13 (1995)
On July 20, 1969, astronaut Jim Lovell hosts a party, where guests watch on
television as Neil Armstrong takes his first steps on the Moon during Apollo 11. After
the party, Lovell, who had orbited the Moon on Apollo 8, tells his wife Marilyn that he
intends to walk on the Moon's surface.
On October 30, 1969, as Lovell conducts a VIP tour of NASA's Vehicle Assembly
Building, his boss Deke Slayton informs him that he and his crew will fly the Apollo
13 mission instead of Apollo 14. Lovell, Ken Mattingly, and Fred Haise train for their
new mission. Days before launch, it is discovered that Mattingly was exposed
tomeasles, and the flight surgeon demands his replacement with Mattingly's
backup,Jack Swigert, as a safety precaution. Lovell initially resists breaking up his
team, but relents when Slayton threatens to relieve him of his command. As the
launch date approaches, Marilyn's fears for her husband's safety manifest in
nightmares, but she goes to Cape Kennedy the night before launch to see him off
despite her misgivings.
On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 Flight Director Gene Kranz gives the go-ahead from
Houston's Mission Control Center for launch. As the Saturn V rocket climbs into the
sky, an engine on the second stage cuts off prematurely, but the craft reaches Earth
orbit. After the third stage fires, sending Apollo 13 on a trajectory to the Moon,
Swigert docks the Command/Service Module Odyssey with the Lunar
ModuleAquarius and pulls it away from the spent stage.
Three days into the mission, the crew sends a live television transmission
fromOdyssey, but the networks decline to carry the broadcast live. When Swigert
performs a standard housekeeping procedure, one of two liquid oxygen tank
explodes, emptying its contents into space and sending the craft tumbling. The other
tank is soon found to be leaking. Mission Control aborts the Moon landing, Lovell
and Haise hurriedly power up Aquarius as a "lifeboat" for the return home, and
Swigert shuts down Odyssey before its battery power runs out. In Houston, Kranz
130

rallies his team and declares "failure is not an option". Controller John Aaron recruits
Mattingly to help restart Odyssey for the final return.
As Swigert and Haise watch the Moon pass beneath them, Lovell laments his lost
chance of walking on its surface, then turns their attention to the task of getting
home. With Aquarius running on minimum systems to conserve power, the crew
suffers freezing conditions. Swigert suspects Mission Control is unable to get them
home and is withholding this from them. In a fit of rage, Haise blames Swigert's
inexperience for the accident; Lovell quickly squelches the ensuing argument.
Whencarbon dioxide approaches dangerous levels, an engineering team quickly
invents a way to make the Command Module's square filters work in the Lunar
Module's round receptacles. With the guidance systems on Aquarius shut down, and
despite Haise's fever and the miserable living conditions, the crew succeeds in
making a difficult but vital course correction by manually igniting the Lunar
Module's engine.
Mattingly and Aaron struggle to find a way to power up the Command Module with
its limited available power, but finally succeed and transmit the procedures to
Swigert, who restarts Odyssey by transferring extra power from Aquarius. Jettisoning
the Service Module, the crew finally see the extent of the damage. They prepare for
re-entry, unsure whether Odyssey's heat shield is intact (if it is not, they will be
incinerated). They release Aquarius and re-enter the Earth's atmosphere inOdyssey.
After a tense, longer-than-normal period of radio silence due to ionization blackout,
the astronauts report all is well and splash down in the Pacific Ocean. Recovery
helicopters bring the three men aboard the amphibious assault ship USSIwo Jima.
As the astronauts receive a hero's welcome on deck, Lovell's narration describes the
events that follow their return from spaceincluding the investigation into the
explosion, and the subsequent careers and lives of Haise, Swigert, Mattingly and
Kranzand ends with him wondering when mankind will return to the Moon.

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132

The Apostle (1997)

Sonny (Duvall) is a charismaticPentecostal preacher. His wife Jessie (Fawcett) has
begun an adulterous relationship with a youth minister named Horace. She refuses
Sonny's desire to reconcile, although she assures him that she will not interfere with
his right to see his children. She has also conspired to use their church's bylaws to
have him removed from power. Sonny asks God what to do but receives no answer.
Much of the congregation sides with Jessie in this dispute. Sonny, however, refuses
to start a new church, insisting that the one which forced him out was "his" church. At
his child's Little League game, Sonny, in an emotional fit, attacks Horace with a bat
and puts him into a coma. Horace later dies.
A fleeing Sonny ditches his car in a river and gets rid of all identifying information.
After destroying all evidence of his past, Sonny rebaptizes himself and anoints
himself as "The Apostle E. F." He leaves Texas and ends up in the bayous of Louisiana,
where he convinces a retired minister named Blackwell (Beasley) to help him start a
new church. He also begins a dating relationship with a local radio station's
employee (Richardson).
With Sonny's energy and charisma, the church soon has a faithful and racially
integrated flock. Sonny even succeeds in converting a racist construction worker
(Thornton) who shows up at a church picnic intent on destruction. While at work in a
local diner, Sonny sees his new girlfriend out in public with her husband and
children, apparently reconciled. Sonny walks out, vowing never to return there.
Jessie hears a radio broadcast of the Apostle E. F. and calls the police on Sonny. The
police show up in the middle of an evening service but allow Sonny to finish it while
they wait outside. In the poignant finale, Sonny delivers an impassioned sermon
before telling his flock that he has to go. In the final scene, Sonny, now part of a chain
gang, preaches to the inmates as they work along the side of a highway.

133

Script notes

134

Armageddon (1998)
A massive meteor shower destroys the orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis and bombards
a swath of land from America's East Coast from South Carolina through Finland.NASA
discovers that a rogue asteroid the size of Texas passed through the asteroid belt and
pushed forward a large amount of space debris. The asteroid will collide with Earth in
18 days, causing an extinction event that will even wipe out bacteria. NASA scientists,
led by Dan Truman, plan to trigger a nuclear detonation 800 feet (240 m) inside the
asteroid to split it in two, driving the pieces apart so both will fly past the Earth. NASA
contacts Harry Stamper, considered the best deep-sea oil driller in the world, for
assistance. Harry travels to NASA with his daughter Grace, to keep her away from her
new boyfriend and one of Harry's drillers, A. J. Frost. Harry explains he will need his
team, including A. J., to carry out the mission. They agree to help, but only after their
list of unusual rewards and demands are met.
NASA plans to launch two shuttles, Freedom and Independence, to increase the
chances of success; the shuttles will refill with liquid oxygen from the Russian space
station Mir before making a slingshot maneuver around the Moon to approach the
asteroid from behind. NASA puts Harry and his crew through a short and rigorous
astronaut training program, while Harry and his team re-outfit the mobile drillers,
"Armadillos", for the job.
The destruction of Shanghai by an asteroid fragment forces NASA to reveal the
asteroid's existence, as well as their plan. The shuttles are launched and arrive at Mir,
where its sole cosmonaut Lev helps with refueling. A major fire breaks out during the
fueling process, forcing the crews, including Lev, to evacuate in the shuttles before
Mir explodes. The shuttles perform the slingshot around the moon, but approaching
the asteroid, the Independence's engines are destroyed by trailing debris, and it
crashes on the asteroid. Grace, aware A.J. was aboard theIndependence, is
traumatized by this news. Unknown to the others, A.J., Lev, and "Bear" (another of
Harry's crew) survive the impact and head towards the Freedomtarget site in their
Armadillo.
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Meanwhile, Freedom safely lands on the asteroid, but overshoots the target zone,
landing on a much harder metallic field than planned. Their drilling quickly falls
behind schedule. The military initiates "Secondary Protocol" to remotely detonate the
nuclear weapon on the asteroid's surface, despite Truman and Harry's insistence that
it would be ineffective. Truman delays the military, while Harry convinces the shuttle
commander to disarm the remote trigger. Harry's crew continues to work, but in their
haste, they accidentally hit a gas pocket, blowing their Armadillo into space. As the
world learns of the mission's apparent failure, another asteroid fragment devastates
Paris.
All seems lost until the arrival of the Independence's Armadillo. With A.J. at the
controls, they reach the required depth for the bomb. However, flying debris from the
asteroid damages the triggering device, requiring someone to stay behind to
manually detonate the bomb. The crew draw straws, and A.J. is selected. As he and
Harry exit the airlock, Harry rips off A.J.'s air hose and shoves him back inside, telling
him he is the son Harry never had, and he would be proud to have A.J. marry Grace.
Harry prepares to detonate the bomb and contacts Grace to bid his final farewell.
After some last minute difficulties involving the shuttle engines and the detonator,
the Freedom moves to a safe distance and Harry manages to press the button at the
last moment, while experiencing flashbacks of happy times in his last moments as
the bomb successfully splits the asteroid, avoiding the collision with Earth. Freedom
lands, and the surviving crew are treated as heroes. A.J. and Grace get married, with
photos of Harry and the other lost crew members present.

136

Script notes

137

At First Sight (1999)

Amy Benic (Mira Sorvino) takes a vacation at a spa outside New York City. Virgil
Adamson (Val Kilmer) is a masseur at the spa and gives Amy a massage. Amy
inexplicably cries and Virgil comforts her. While complimentng Virgil on the
massage, Amy realizes that Virgil is blind. Virgil asks her out, and the two eventually
begin a relationship.
Virgil lives alone, though his over-protective sister Jennie (Kelly McGillis) lives next
door and takes care of him. Virgil reveals that he went blind when he was three and
that the last thing he saw was something fluffy. While researching Virgil's condition,
Amy learns of Doctor Charles Aaron, a specialist in eye treatment who suggests to
Virgil that, with surgery, he could restore his sight. Virgil angrily refuses. Jennie
reveals that their father left the family after putting Virgil through several kinds of
treatments in order to restore his sight.
Virgil eventually decides he will give the operation a try. It is a success, but after
Virgil regains sight, he becomes confused and disoriented, unable to perceive light
and distance. Dr. Aaron suggests that he should visit Phil Webster (Nathan Lane), a
visual physiotherapist. Webster in turn suggests that Virgil needs to learn everything
from scratch himself, through experience.
Virgil and Amy begin living in New York City. The pair begin drifting apart, as Virgil
finds it hard to decipher the look on Amy's face at times. Amy finds herself constantly
having to explain basic things to Virgil. While at a party, Virgil walks into a glass pane
due to his poor perception.
Virgil's father sees him on television and arranges a reunion; Virgil goes to his
father's workplace, but decides at the last minute that he cannot face him yet.
On one of the regular visits with Webster, they engage in a deep conversation, where
Webster notes that instead of just "seeing", Virgil should instead "look"; there are a

138

lot of things that sight alone cannot solve. Virgil confesses that he and Amy are
drifting apart, but insists that Amy is the most important thing in his life.
Upon returning from a work trip to Atlanta, where she and her ex-husband shared a
sensual moment, Amy decides to save the relationship. She finds Virgil in a park
looking for "the horizon" in the city.
Virgil's sight begins deteriorating. After consulting with Dr. Aaron, Virgil realizes that
he is losing his sight yet again. He decides to look for his father. Virgil reveals to him
that he is going blind again, and asks him why he left. His father tells him that he felt
he was a failure when he did not find a way to help his son regain sight. Virgil states
that he should not have left because his mother and sister suffered greatly after his
father walked away.
Virgil looks for Amy, who tells him about her plans to travel with him to places like
Egypt and Europe. Withholding the fact that he is again going blind, Virgil tells her
there is one thing he really wants to see, and brings her to a New York Rangersgame.
At the game, Virgil realizes that the "fluffy cloud" he last remembers seeing was
cotton candy. He suffers a lengthened vision blackout and admits to Amy that he is
going blind, which Amy refuses to accept. Back home, Virgil and Amy argue. He asks
if she wants to spend her life with him if he is going to be blind forever. Amy
hesitates, and Virgil decides to return home. Virgil eases back into his old way of life.
While losing his sight, Virgil decides to look at as many things as possible, going
through magazines and pictorial books in the library. He stays up to watch the
sunset, seeing the horizon for the first and last time.
After he has been blind again for some time, Virgil is at a park with a guide dog. Amy
approaches and they reconnect. Amy apologizes to Virgil for trying to change him
and for moving too fast. She asks if he wants to take a walk and "see what they see".
They leave the park together.

139

Script notes

140

Awakenings (1990)
In 1969, Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) is a dedicated and caring physician at a
local hospital in the New York City borough of The Bronx. After working extensively
with the catatonic patients who survived the 19171928 epidemic of encephalitis
lethargica, Sayer discovers certain stimuli will reach beyond the patients' respective
catatonic states; actions such as catching a ball, hearing familiar music, and
experiencing human touch all have unique effects on particular patients and offer a
glimpse into their worlds. Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro) proves elusive in this
regard, but Sayer soon discovers that Leonard is able to communicate with him by
using a Ouija board.
After attending a lecture at a conference on the subject of the L-Dopa drug and its
success with patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease, Sayer believes the drug
may offer a breakthrough for his own group of patients. A trial run with Leonard
yields astounding results: Leonard completely "awakens" from his catatonic state.
This success inspires Sayer to ask for funding from donors so that all the catatonic
patients can receive the L-Dopa medication and experience "awakenings" back to
reality.
Meanwhile, Leonard is adjusting to his new life and becomes romantically interested
in Paula (Penelope Ann Miller), the daughter of another hospital patient. Leonard
also begins to chafe at the restrictions placed upon him as a patient of the hospital,
desiring the freedom to come and go as he pleases. He stirs up a revolt by arguing
his case to Sayer and the hospital administration. Sayer notices that as Leonard grows
more agitated, a number of facial and body tics are starting to manifest, which
Leonard has difficulty controlling.
While Sayer and the hospital staff are thrilled by the success of L-Dopa with this
group of patients, they soon find that it is a temporary measure. As the first to
"awaken", Leonard is also the first to demonstrate the limited duration of this period
of "awakening". Leonard's tics grow more and more prominent and he starts to
141

shuffle more as he walks, and all of the patients are forced to witness what will
eventually happen to them. He soon begins to suffer full body spasms and can
hardly move. Leonard puts up well with the pain, and asks Sayer to film him, in
hopes that he would someday contribute to research that may eventually help
others. Leonard acknowledges what is happening to him and has a last lunch with
Paula where he tells her he cannot see her anymore. When he is about to leave,
Paula dances with him, and for this short period of time his spasms disappear.
Leonard and Sayer reconcile their differences, but Leonard returns to his catatonic
state soon after. The other patients' fears are similarly realized as each eventually
returns to catatonia no matter how much their L-Dopa dosages are increased.
Sayer tells a group of grant donors to the hospital that although the "awakening" did
not last, another kind one of learning to appreciate and live life took place. For
example, he himself overcomes his painful shyness and asks Nurse Eleanor Costello
(Julie Kavner) to go out for coffee, many months after he had declined a similar
proposal from her. The nurses also now treat the catatonic patients with more respect
and care, and Paula is shown visiting Leonard. The film ends with Sayer standing over
Leonard behind a Ouija board, with his hands on Leonard's hands, which are on the
planchette. "Let's begin," Sayer says.

142

Script notes

143

Babbette's Feast (1987)

The elderly and pious Protestantsisters Martine (Birgitte Federspiel) and Philippa
(Bodil Kjer) live in a small village on the remote western coast of Jutland in 19thcenturyDenmark. Their father was a pastor who founded his own Pietistic conventicle.
With their father now dead and the austere sect drawing no new converts, the aging
sisters preside over a dwindling congregation of white-haired believers.
The story flashes back 49 years, showing the sisters in their youth. The beautiful girls
have many suitors, but their father rejects them all, and indeed deridesmarriage.
Each daughter is courted by an impassioned suitor visiting Jutland Martine by a
charming young Swedish cavalry officer, Lorens Lwenhielm, and Philippa by a star
baritone, Achille Papin, from the Paris opera, on hiatus to the silence of the coast.
Both sisters decide to stay with their father and spurn any life away from Jutland.
Thirty five years later, Babette Hersant (Stphane Audran) appears at their door. She
carries only a letter from Papin, explaining that she is a refugee from counterrevolutionary bloodshed in Paris, and recommending her as a housekeeper. The
sisters cannot afford to take Babette in, but she offers to work for free. Babette serves
as their cook for the next 14 years, producing bland meals typical of the abstemious
nature of the congregation. Her only link to her former life is a lotteryticket that a
friend in Paris renews for her every year. One day, she wins the lottery of 10,000
francs. Instead of using the money to return to Paris and her lost lifestyle, she decides
to spend it preparing a delicious dinner for the sisters and their small congregation
on the occasion of the founding pastor's hundredth birthday. More than just a feast,
the meal is an outpouring of Babette's appreciation, an act of self-sacrifice; Babette
tells no one that she is spending her entire winnings on the meal.
The sisters accept both Babette's meal and her offer to pay for the creation of a
"realFrench dinner". Babette arranges for her nephew, a merchant, to go to Paris and
gather the supplies for the feast. The ingredients are plentiful, sumptuous and exotic,
and their arrival causes much discussion among the villagers. As the various never144

before-seen ingredients arrive, and preparations commence, the sisters begin to

worry that the meal will become a sin of sensual luxury, if not some form of devilry.
In a hasty conference, the sisters and the congregation agree to eat the meal, but to
forego speaking of any pleasure in it, and to make no mention of the food during the
dinner.
Martine's former suitor, Lorens, now a famous general married to a member of
theQueen's court, comes as the guest of his aunt, the local lady of the manor and a
member of the old pastor's congregation. He is unaware of the other guests' austere
plans, and as a man of the world and former attach in Paris, he is the only person at
the table qualified to comment on the meal. He regales the guests with abundant
information about the extraordinary food and drink, comparing it to a meal he
enjoyed years earlier at the famous "Caf Anglais" in Paris. Although the other
celebrants refuse to comment on the earthly pleasures of their meal, Babette's gifts
breaks down their distrust and superstitions, elevating them physically and
spiritually. Old wrongs are forgotten, ancient loves are rekindled, and a mystical
redemption of the human spirit settles over the table.
The sisters assume that Babette will now return to Paris. However, when she tells
them that all of her money is gone and that she is not going anywhere, the sisters
are aghast. Babette then reveals that she was formerly the head chef of the Caf
Anglais, and tells them that dinner for 12 there has a price of 10,000 francs. Martine
tearfully says, "Now you will be poor the rest of your life", to which Babette replies,
"An artist is never poor."

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146

Babe (1995)
A piglet named Babe is left orphaned after his mother is slaughtered, and is chosen
for a "guess the weight" contest at a county fair. The winning farmer, Arthur Hoggett,
brings him home and allows him to stay with a Border Collie named Fly, her mate,
Rex, and their puppies in the barn.
An eccentric duck named Ferdinand poses as a rooster to spare himself from being
eaten and wakes the farm each morning by crowing. He persuades Babe to help him
destroy the alarm clock that threatens his secret mission. Despite succeeding in this
goal, they startle the Hoggetts' cat, Duchess, awake, and in the confusion that
ensues, they all accidentally destroy the living room. Rex instructs Babe to stay away
from Ferdinand (now a fugitive) and the house, or else. Sometime later, when Fly's
puppies are put up for sale, Babe asks if he can call her "Mom".
Christmas brings a visit from the Hoggetts' relatives. Babe is almost chosen
forChristmas dinner but a duck is picked instead after Arthur remarks to his wife,
Esme, that Babe may bring a prize for ham at the next county fair. On Christmas Day,
Babe justifies his existence by alerting Arthur to sheep rustlers stealing sheep from
one of the fields who immediately depart. The next day, Arthur sees Babe sort the
hens, separating the brown ones from the white ones. Impressed, he takes him to
the fields and allows him to try and herd the sheep. Encouraged by an elder ewe
named Maa whom he had met previously on the farm, the sheep cooperate, but Rex
sees Babe's actions as an insult to sheepdogs and confronts Fly in a vicious fight for
encouraging Babe. He injures her leg and accidentally bites Arthur's right hand
when he tries to intervene. Rex is then chained to the dog house, muzzled, and
sedated, leaving the sheepherding job to Babe.
One morning, Babe is awakened by the sheep's cries and sees three feral
dogsattacking them. Despite managing to scare them off, Maa is mortally injured
and dies as a result. Arthur arrives, thinking that Babe killed her because he has
blood on his snout when he had nuzzled her, prepares to shoot him for doing so. Fly
147

is so anxious to find out whether he is guilty or innocent that, for the first time in her
life, instead of barking orders at the sheep, talks to them to find out what happened.
They tell her that he is innocent and saved them. She barks to distract Arthur from
shooting him, delaying him until Esme mentions that the police say feral dogs have
been killing sheep on neighboring farms, whereupon he realizes that Babe was
innocent.
When Esme leaves on a trip, Arthur signs Babe up for a local sheepherding
competition. The night before, it is raining, so Arthur lets him and Fly in the house.
However, Duchess scratches him while he tries to speak to her, so Arthur immediately
confines her outside. When she is let back inside later, she gets revenge on Babe by
revealing that humans eat pigs. Horrified, he runs out to the barn and learns from Fly
that this is true.
The next morning, Fly discovers that Babe has run away. She and Rex alert Arthur,
and they all search for him. Rex finds him in a cemetery and Arthur brings him home.
However, he is still demoralized by Duchess' story and refuses to eat, despite
encouragement from Rex, who has softened his attitude towards him. Arthur gives
him a drink from a baby bottle, sings "If I Had Words" to him, and dances a jig for
him. This restores his faith in Arthur's affection, and he begins eating again.
Later, at the competition, Babe meets the sheep that he will be herding, but they
ignore his attempts to speak to them. As Arthur is criticized by the bemused judges
and ridiculed by the public for using a pig instead of a dog, Rex quickly runs back to
the farm to ask the sheep what to do. They give him a secret password ("Baa-ramewe"[5]), first extracting a promise from him that he will treat them better from now
on. He returns in time and conveys the password to Babe. When he recites it to the
sheep, they follow his instructions flawlessly and he is wildly acclaimed by the crowd
and unanimously given the highest score. He sits next to Arthur, who praises him, in
his understated way, by saying, "That'll do, Pig. That'll do."

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Script notes

149

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

In 1947, John Nash (Crowe) arrives at Princeton University. He is co-recipient, with
Martin Hansen (Lucas), of the prestigious Carnegie Scholarship for mathematics. At a
reception, he meets a group of other promising math and science graduate students,
Richard Sol (Goldberg), Ainsley (Jason Gray-Stanford), and Bender (Rapp). He also
meets his roommate Charles Herman (Bettany), a literature student.
Nash is under extreme pressure to publish, but he wants to publish his own original
idea. His inspiration comes when he and his fellow graduate students discuss how to
approach a group of women at a bar. Hansen quotes Adam Smith and advocates
"every man for himself", but Nash argues that a cooperative approach would lead to
better chances of success. Nash develops a new concept of governing dynamicsand
publishes an article on this. On the strength of this, he is offered an appointment at
MIT where Sol and Bender join him.
Some years later, Nash is invited to the Pentagon to crack encrypted enemy
telecommunication. Nash can decipher the code mentally, to the astonishment of
other decrypters. He considers his regular duties at MIT uninteresting and beneath
his talents, so he is pleased to be given a new assignment by his mysterious
supervisor, William Parcher (Harris) of the United States Department of Defense. He
is to look for patterns in magazines and newspapers in order to thwart a Soviet plot.
Nash becomes increasingly obsessive about searching for these hidden patterns and
believes he is followed when he delivers his results to a secret mailbox.
Meanwhile, a student, Alicia Larde (Connelly), asks him to dinner, and the two fall in
love. On a return visit to Princeton, Nash runs into Charles and his niece, Marcee
(Cardone). With Charles' encouragement, he proposes to Alicia and they marry.
Nash begins to fear for his life after witnessing a shootout between Parcher and
Soviet agents, but Parcher blackmails him into staying on his assignment. While
delivering a guest lecture at Harvard University, Nash tries to flee from people he
150

thinks are foreign agents, led by Dr. Rosen (Plummer). After punching Rosen in an
attempt to flee, Nash is forcibly sedated and sent to a psychiatric facility he believes is
run by the Soviets.
Dr. Rosen tells Alicia that Nash has paranoid schizophrenia and that Charles, Marcee,
and Parcher exist only in his imagination. Alicia investigates and finally confronts
Nash with the unopened documents he had delivered to the secret mailbox. Nash is
given a course of insulin shock therapy and eventually released. Frustrated with the
side-effects of the antipsychotic medication he is taking, which make him lethargic
and unresponsive, he secretly stops taking it. This causes a relapse and he meets
Parcher again.
After an incident where Nash endangers his infant son and accidentally knocks Alicia
and the baby to the ground (thinking he's stopping Parcher from killing her), she
flees the house with their child. Nash steps in front of her car to prevent her from
leaving, after he realizes that he's known Marcee for a long time, yet she never grew
older. He finally accepts that Parcher and other figures are hallucinations. Against Dr.
Rosen's advice, Nash decides not to restart his medication, believing that he can deal
with his symptom himself. Alicia decides to stay and support him in this.
Nash approaches his old friend and rival, Martin Hansen, now head of the Princeton
mathematics department. He grants Nash permission to work out of the library and
to audit classes. Years pass and as Nash grows older, he learns to ignore his
hallucinations and earns the privilege of teaching again.
In 1994, Nash is honored by his fellow professors for his achievement in
mathematics. He wins the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics for his revolutionary
work on game theory. The movie ends as Nash and Alicia leave the auditorium in
Stockholm; Nash sees Charles, Marcee, and Parcher standing to one side and
watching him.

151

Script notes

152

Bedazzled (2000)
The opening sequence takes the form of a computer simulation run by Satanto
analyze souls and determine individual weaknesses to exploit and corrupt. The
program finally settles on Elliot Richards (Brendan Fraser), a geeky, over-zealous man
working a dead-end technical support job in aSan Francisco computer company. He
has no friends and his co-workers are always avoiding him. He has a crush on his
colleague, Alison Gardner (Frances O'Connor), but lacks the courage to ask her out.
After Elliot is again ditched by his co-workers at a bar while trying to talk to Alison, he
says to himself that he would give anything for Alison to be with him. Satan, in the
form of a beautiful woman (Elizabeth Hurley), overhears him and offers to give Elliot
seven wishes in return for his soul.
As a test, he wishes for a Big Mac and Coke. Satan takes him to McDonald's and
places the order. Elliot has to pay for it, because, "there ain't no such thing as a free
lunch." After taking Elliot to her office, based at a nightclub in Oakland, Satan
convinces Elliot to sign her contract, and delivers further wishes. Each wish has Elliot
living them out with Alison and his co-workers in surrogate roles. However, he
doesn't know that Satan will always spoil his wishes by adding something he doesn't
want. Elliot wishes to be rich and powerful, with Alison as his wife. Satan makes him
a Colombian drug lord whose wife despises him and cheats on him with Raoul, his
co-worker, who is secretly planning to get rid of Elliot and take his position and
property. Soon after there is a firefight between his and Raoul's people where Elliot
"dies". When he returns to the real world, Satan points out that he never wished for
Alison to love him.
Secondly, Elliot wishes to be emotionally sensitive so he will understand the needs
and desires of women. Satan makes him so sensitive that he spends most of his time
crying over how beautiful the world is, and constantly asks Alison, his girlfriend of
"three magical weeks," whether he has hurt her or if she needs anything. Alison says
she has had enough of it and wants to be with a man who is strong and shallow. She
then leaves Elliot for a man who is strong, rude and completely different from the
153

romantic and emotionally sensitive Elliot. Elliot then wishes to be a superstar athlete
who would be a woman magnet. Satan makes him a clich-spewing NBA star, but
also gives him a small penis and a low IQ, which causes Alison, a sports reporter, to
lose interest in him shortly after they meet.
He then wishes to be intelligent, witty and well-endowed. Satan grants this by
making him a famous writer whom Alison falls in love with at a cocktail party. When
they arrive at Elliot's home to make love it is revealed that Elliot is gay and living with
a flamboyant male partner. Lastly, Elliot wishes to be President of the United Statesto
try to improve the world and get Alison to take him seriously. Satan makes
himAbraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre on the night of his assassination which he
nearly avoids. After each wish is renounced, Elliot meets with Satan and she blames
him for not being specific enough. Eventually he returns to work, thinking about
what he should do with the last two wishes. Satan then appears on the computer
screen, pointing out that he only has one wish left. This is because on their first
meeting he asked for a Big Mac and Coke, although she had stated that it was a test
wish and granted it before Elliot signed the contract. Elliot loses his patience and
storms out of his office.
Elliot visits a church looking for God's help, where he briefly confesses to a priest
who seems sympathetic. However, after being asked whether he thinks asking Satan
for a Big Mac and Coke counts as a wish, the priest, believing he is drunk, has Elliot
arrested. The sergeant books him, and Satan, dressed as a police officer, throws him
in a cell, telling him that she does like him, and it would not hurt to have her as a
friend. Elliot's cellmate (Gabriel Casseus) tells him that he cannot possibly sell his
soul as it belongs to God, and although Satan may try to confuse him, in the end he
will realise who he truly is, and what his purpose is. Elliot questions the man as to his
identity, but the response is simply "a really good friend", hinting that he may in fact
be God, or at least, an angel.

154

Elliot asks Satan to cancel their contract. When Satan refuses, Elliot states he will not
use his final wish. Satan teleports them to Hell, where she transforms first into a
black horned monster, then into a giant. When Satan pushes him to make a final
wish, Elliot wishes that Alison could have a happy life - with or without him. Satan
sighs and Elliot falls into the depths of Hell. Elliot wakes up on a marble staircase,
wondering if it is Heaven. Satan tells him that because a provision in the
contract'sfine print, unread by Elliot, states that a selfless wish voids the contract,
Elliot keeps his soul. Elliot admits that despite her manipulation of him he has come
to like Satan and regards her as a friend, something she does not object to. She also
advises that Heaven and Hell can be found on Earth; it is up to humans to choose.
Elliot finally asks Alison out, only to learn that she is already dating another man. He
continues with his life, but with a better understanding of who he is.
Later Elliot is confronted by Bob, one of his co-workers, who starts ridiculing Elliot at
the encouragement of his co-workers. Elliot loses his temper and grabs a terrified
Bob by the shirt, but lets go, simply saying, "Nice talking to you." A threatening look
sends his other co-workers scurrying away in fear. At home, he meets a new
neighbor, Nicole Delarusso (also played by Frances O'Connor), whose looks resemble
Alison's, but whose personality, interests and fashion sense are much closer to his.
He offers to help her unpack and they begin a relationship. While the two walk along
a boulevard, Satan and Elliot's cellmate, both dressed in white, are seen playing
chess, looking at Elliot and his new girlfriend, with Satan taking the opportunity to fix
the game but get caught by the guy, who only laughs about that. The scene ends
with Satan's computer program listing foibles of Nicole's and Elliot's, which they
both tolerate.

155

Script notes

156

Bed of Roses (1996)

Lisa Walker (Mary Stuart Masterson) is a business executive who has gotten used to
being alone but doesn't like it very much. She was abandoned by her birth parents
and then spent most of her childhood being raised by Stanley (S.A. Griffin), a foster
father who never really loves Lisa after her adopted mother died.
One day, Lisa gets word that Stanley has died; alone in her apartment, after
attempting to feed her now dead pet fish, she breaks down and cries uncontrollably.
The next day at work, Lisa gets an unexpected delivery of flowers from a secret
admirer. Puzzled, she presses the delivery man for information on who might have
sent her the flowers. He says the sender wants to remain anonymous. Lisa asks her
friends for names and visits the flower shop to no avail.
After getting to know each other better, he confesses that he sent them. Lewis
(Christian Slater) runs a flower shop and often takes long walks through the
neighborhood at night, trying to lose memories of his deceased wife and child. He
saw Lisa crying in her window and hoped the roses would cheer her up. Before long,
Lisa and Lewis begin dating but each has emotional issues to resolve before their
story can have a happy ending.

157

Script notes

158

Being Human (1993)

In the first incarnation, which appears to be a caveman, a man's family is taken from
him by raiders due to his cowardice and hesitation. Before his wife is taken away, she
says, "Don't lose the children!"
The next incarnation is in Ancient Rome in which he, Hector, is a slave to a "foolish
master" who loses his fortune and is compelled to kill himself by his creditors and
orders Hector to join him. Hector longs to be free to find the children and wife he had
before he became a slave, but he has fallen in love with another slave and forgets his
waiting family.
Third incarnation: He is a Scottish crusader on his way home to his children. The
master from his life in Rome as a slave is now a crusader trying to decide whether to
become a priest. They travel together until Hector finds his soul mate from the life in
Rome. She is a widow and wishes Hector to join her family, but his duties to the
children in Scotland pull at him.
Fourth incarnation: Hector is finally forced to confront his capacity for cowardly
indecision. He is a Portuguese man in The Renaissance shipwrecked on the coast of
Africa. He is the master in this life, his wife from the first incarnation shipwrecked
with him as his spurned lover, and the raider who spirited her away is her steadfast
friend.
Fifth incarnation: He is a modern man in New York, paying the consequences of
cowardly indecision and gaining the strength to address the children he lost
lifetimes ago. He is joined in this life by his master/slave/friend/soul mate, and
former wife Janet and her husband/raider from lifetimes past. They support him but
are people who are trying to find their own way, just as in the past lives.
Being John Malkovich (1999)
Craig Schwartz (Cusack) is an unemployed puppeteer in a forlorn marriage with his
pet-obsessed wife Lotte (Diaz). Gaining a file clerk job through Dr. Lester (Bean) at
159

LesterCorp, in the strange Floor 7 low-ceiling offices of the Mertin-Flemmer

Building in New York City, he develops an attraction to his coworker Maxine (Keener),
who does not return his affections. Craig enters a small door hidden behind a filing
cabinet and finds himself in the mind of actor John Malkovich; able to observe and
sense whatever Malkovich does for fifteen minutes before he is ejected and dropped
into a ditch near the New Jersey Turnpike. Craig reveals the portal to Maxine and they
let others use it for $200 a turn.
Craig tells Lotte, who becomes obsessed with the experience, allowing her to live out
her transgender desires. Lotte becomes attracted to Maxine and they begin a sexual
relationship via Lotte being inside Malkovich's head while Maxine has sex with
Malkovich. Craig, forsaken by both women, locks up Lotte in a cage, then enters
Malkovich's mind and has sex with Maxine. Craig discovers that he is able to control
Malkovich's actions while in his head, causing the actor to become paranoid. After
consulting with his friend Charlie Sheen, Malkovich trails Maxine to the MertinFlemmer building, where he tries the portal and is placed in a world where everyone
looks like him and can only say "Malkovich"; he is ejected and meets Craig by the
turnpike. Malkovich demands that the portal be closed, but Craig refuses.
Lotte escapes and phones Maxine, revealing that Craig was having sex with her.
Maxine is annoyed but accepts it as she enjoyed the experience. Seeking help, Lotte
finds Lester, who reveals himself to be Captain Mertin, the creator of LesterCorp; he is
aware of the portal and has a room dedicated to Malkovich. Lester explains that the
person connected to it becomes "ripe" for occupation on the eve of their 44th
birthday. However, after the old host turns 44, the portal moves to its next host, an
unborn child. The former allows one to increase their life before moving on to
another host while the latter means being trapped within the unborn child. Lester,
who has been using the portal to prolong his life, reveals his plan to use Malkovich
for himself and several of his friends. Offered the chance to join Lester's group, Lotte
warns him that Craig has control.
160

Craig finds he is able to remain in Malkovich indefinitely. He spends the next eight
months in Malkovich's body, and through his control turns Malkovich into a worldfamous puppeteer. Malkovich marries Maxine and learns that she is pregnant as
their relationship grows distant. As Malkovich's 44th birthday approaches, Lester and
his friends cut a deal with Maxine and fake her kidnapping. They call up Craig
threatening to kill her if Craig does not leave Malkovich. Craig ends the call, causing
Lester to think that he called their bluff. Lotte loses hope and attempts to kill Maxine,
but they end up at the turnpike after falling through the portal and Malkovich's
shame-ridden subconscious. Maxine reveals that she conceived when Lotte was
inside Malkovich's body and kept the child because it is theirs. The revelation
cements their love for each other.
Craig calls back Lester thinking Maxine is still in danger. Realizing his opportunity,
Lester continues his bluff, convincing Craig to leave Malkovich's body. Lester and his
friends enter the portal, taking control of Malkovich. Craig, discovering that Lotte and
Maxine are together again, enters the portal to become Malkovich and regain
Maxine, but finds himself in the next host: Emily, the baby of Maxine. Craig is
permanently trapped inside her and is supposedly powerless as he watches Maxine
and Lotte living happily through Emily's eyes. Years later, an aging Malkovich, under
the collective mind of Lester and his friends, reveals to Sheen a plan to prolong their
lives through Emily.

161

Script notes

162

Beloved (1998)
Sethe is a former slave living on the outskirts of Cincinnati shortly after theCivil War.
An angry poltergeistterrorizes Sethe and her three children, causing her two sons to
run away forever. Eight years later, Sethe (Oprah Winfrey) lives alone with her
daughter, Denver (Kimberly Elise). Paul D. (Danny Glover), an old friend from Sweet
Home, the plantationSethe had escaped from years earlier, finds Sethe's home,
where he drives off the angry spirit. Afterwards, Paul D. proposes that he should stay
and Sethe responds favorably. Shortly after Paul D. moves in, a clean, mentally
handicapped young woman (Thandie Newton) named Beloved stumbles into Sethe's
yard and also stays with them.
Denver is initially happy to have Beloved around, but learns that she is
Sethe'sreincarnated daughter. Nonetheless, she chooses not to divulge Beloved's
origins to Sethe. One night, Beloved, aware that Paul D. dislikes her, immobilizes him
with a spell and proceeds to assault him sexually. Paul D. resolves to tell Sethe what
happened, but instead tells what has happened to a co-worker, Stamp Paid (Albert
Hall). Stamp Paid, who has known Sethe for many years, pulls a newspaper clipping
featuring Sethe and tells her story to the illiterate Paul D.
Years ago, Sethe was raped by the nephews of Schoolteacher, the owner of Sweet
Home. She complained to Mrs. Garner, Schoolteacher's sister-in-law, who confronted
him. In retaliation, Schoolteacher and his nephews whip Sethe. Heavily pregnant
with her fourth child, Sethe planned to escape. Her other children were sent off
earlier to live with Baby Suggs, Sethe's mother-in-law, but Sethe stayed behind to
look for her husband, Halle (Hill Harper) Sethe was assaulted while searching for him
in the barn. The Schoolteacher's nephews held her down, raped her and forcibly took
her breast milk.
When Halle failed to comply, Sethe ran off alone. She crossed paths with Amy
Denver, a white girl who treated Sethe's injuries and delivered Sethe's child, whom
Sethe named Denver after Amy. Sethe eventually reached Baby Sugg's home, but her
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initial happiness was short-lived when Schoolteacher came to claim Sethe and her
children. In desperation, Sethe cuts her older daughter's neck and tried to kill her
other children. Stamp Paid managed to stop her and the disgusted Schoolteacher
leaves them alone.
Paul D., horrified by the revelation and suddenly understanding the origin of the
poltergeist, confronts Sethe. Sethe justifies her decision without apology, claiming
that her children would be better off dead than enslaved. Paul D. departs shortly
thereafter in protest. After Paul D.'s departure, Sethe realizes that Beloved is the
reincarnation of her dead daughter. Feeling elated yet guilty, Sethe spoils Beloved
with elaborate gifts while neglecting Denver. Beloved soon throws a destructive
tantrum and her malevolent presence causes living conditions in the house to
deteriorate. The women live in squalor and Sethe is unable to work. Denver becomes
depressed yet, inspired by a memory of her grandmother's confidence in her, she
eventually musters the courage to leave the house and seek employment.
After Denver attains employment, women from the local church visit Sethe's house
at the request of her new co-worker to perform an exorcism. The women from the
church comfort the family, and they are praying and singing loudly when Denver's
new employer arrives to pick her up for work. Sethe sees him and, reminded of
Schoolteacher's arrival, tries to attack him with an icepick, but is subdued by Denver
and the women. During the commotion, Beloved disappears completely and Sethe,
freed from Beloved's grip, becomes permanently bedridden.
Some months later, Paul D. encounters Denver at the marketplace. He notices she
has transformed into a confident and mature young woman. When Paul D. later
arrives at Sethe's house, he finds her suffering from a deep malaise. He assures
Sethe that he and Denver will now take care of her. Sethe tells him that she doesn't
see the point, as Beloved, her "best thing", is gone. Paul D. disagrees, telling Sethe
that she herself is her own best thing.

164

Script notes

165

Bicentennial Man (1999)

In 2005, an NDR series android(Robin Williams) is sent to the Martin family home to
perform housekeeping and maintenance duties. After mistakingly hearing him
being called "Andrew" by the youngest daughter, the family adopts it as his name.
The family's reactions range from acceptance and curiosity to outright rejection and
deliberate vandalism by the eldest child Grace (Lindze Letherman), which leads to
the discovery that Andrew can both identify emotions and reciprocate in kind. When
Andrew accidentally breaks a figurine belonging to the youngest child "Little Miss"
Amanda (Hallie Kate Eisenberg), he carves a replacement out of wood after being
rejected. The family is astonished by this creativity and Sir Richard Martin (Sam
Neill) takes Andrew to NorthAm Robotics to inquire if all the robots are like him. The
company's CEO Dennis Mansky (Stephen Root) sees this development as a problem
and wishes to scrap Andrew. Instead, "Sir" takes Andrew home and allows him to
pursue his own development.
In 2025, Andrew has an accident in which his thumb is cut off, and Sir again takes
him to NorthAm for repairs. Andrew requests that, while he is being repaired, his face
be upgraded to allow him to convey the emotions he feels but cannot express.
Mansky informs them that upgrade modification will be very expensive, but the price
is well within Andrew's means due to his carpentry earnings, after opening an
account for him via the family lawyer. Andrew is upgraded just in time for the
wedding of Little Miss (Embeth Davidtz) to Frank Charney.
In 2037, Andrew realizes there are no more orders for him to run, so he asks to
purchase freedom, much to Sir's dismay. His elderly owner grants the request, but
banishes Andrew so he can be "completely" free, after feeling jealousy of his being
of sentience. Andrew eventually builds himself a home at the beach and lives alone.
In 2053, after being asked, Andrew sees Sir one last time. On his deathbed, Sir
apologizes for banishing Andrew, knowing that letting him have his freedom was the
right thing to do as he dies peacefully.
166

After reluctant help from Lloyd Charney (Bradley Whitford), Little Miss's son after her
divorce from Frank, Andrew attempts to locate more NDR series robots to discover if
others have also developed sentience. After more than a decade of futility, he finds
Galatea (Kiersten Warren), an NDR robot that has been given feminine attributes and
personality as part of her programming, but unfortunately, has not developed
sentience. Galatea is owned by Rupert Burns (Oliver Platt), the son of the original
NDR robot designer who eventually was kicked out. Rupert's father started a project
before passing that was handed over to Rupert; to create a more human look for
robots, but has been unable to attract funding. Andrew agrees to finance Rupert's
research, and the two work to give Andrew a superficial human appearance.
In 2073, Andrew comes back to visit, but finds Little Miss has aged significantly and
meets Portia Charney (Embeth Davidtz), Little Miss's granddaughter (and Lloyd's
daughter) who looks almost exactly like a younger version of Little Miss due to a
genetic anomaly. As Andrew gets to know Portia, Little Miss is hospitalized after
suffering a stroke. Andrew and Portia visit her, noticing that she is clutching the
wooden horse Andrew carved for her when she was young. After Little Miss passes
away, Andrew is upset that he feels pain at her death, but is unable to cry and realizes
that every human being he cares for will eventually die.
When time passes, Andrew and Rupert attempt to produce mechanical equivalents
of human organs, which could be compatible with human donors as well including
acentral nervous system which eventually allows Andrew to acquire tactile
sensationsand taste. Meanwhile, his friendship with Portia evolves into romance.
When Andrew and Portia realize that their relationship would never be socially
accepted, Andrew petitions the World Congress to recognize him as a human being,
which would allow him and Portia to be legally married. The Congress Speaker
(George D. Wallace) rejects the proposal, however, arguing that while society can
tolerate an immortal machine, an immortal human would create too much jealousy
and resentment, thus leaving Andrew and Portia unable to be married.
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Years later in the 23rd Century, Andrew's medical breakthroughs have allowed Portia
to age more gradually, but she decides that she doesn't want to have her life
prolonged forever. Realizing that he wouldn't want to live without her, Andrew asks
an elderly Rupert to introduce blood into his system, which will cause his positronic
brain to gradually decay and allow him to age.
Decades later, Andrew and Portia are physically elderly. Andrew meets with the
World Congress a second time to once again petition to be declared human with
Portia watching. This time, the Congress President Marjorie Bota (Lynne Thigpen)
decides to review the case before making a final determination.
Sometime afterwards, Andrew and Portia are on their deathbed. As they listen to a
broadcast, the Congress President finally acknowledges Andrew's humanity by
declaring that the 200 year old Andrew is ("with the exception of Methuselah and
other biblical figures") the oldest human being in recorded history and validates his
marriage to Portia. Despite his life support machine, Andrew unfortunately dies
peacefully while listening to the broadcast. Afterwards, Portia asks a human-looking
Galatea to unplug her from life support and then dies hand-in-hand with Andrew
after saying "I'll see you soon", ending the film ambiguously while the screen fades
to black.

168

Script notes

169

Billy Elliot (2000)

The film is set in the fictional County Durham mining town of Everington Village
during the 1984-85 UK miners' strike, and centres on the character of 11-year-old
Billy Elliot, his love of dance, and his hopes of becoming a professional ballet dancer.
Billy lives with his widowed father, Jackie, and older brother, Tony, both coal miners
out on strike (the latter being the union leader), and also his maternal grandmother,
who probably has Alzheimer's disease and once aspired to be a professional dancer.
Billy's mother, Jenny, died on 2 December 1983, aged 38.
Billy's father sends him to the gym to learn boxing, but Billy dislikes the sport. He
happens upon a ballet class that is using the gym while their usual basement studio
is temporarily being used as a soup kitchen for the striking miners. Unknown to
Jackie, Billy joins the ballet class. When Jackie discovers this, he forbids Billy to take
any more ballet. But, passionate about dancing, Billy secretly continues lessons with
his dance teacher Sandra Wilkinson's help.
Mrs. Wilkinson believes Billy is talented enough to study at the Royal Ballet Schoolin
London, but due to Tony's arrest during a skirmish between police and striking
miners, Billy misses the audition. Mrs. Wilkinson tells Jackie about the missed
opportunity, but fearing that Billy will be considered to be gay, both Jackie and Tony
are outraged at the prospect of Billy becoming a professional ballet dancer.
Over Christmas, Billy learns his best friend, Michael, is gay. Although Billy is not, he
is supportive of his friend. Later, Jackie catches Billy dancing in the gym and realises
his son is truly gifted; he will do whatever it takes to help Billy attain his dream. Mrs
Wilkinson tries to persuade Jackie to let her pay for the audition, but he replies that
Billy is his son and he does not need charity. Jackie attempts to cross the picket lineto
pay for the trip to London, but Tony blocks him. Instead, his fellow miners and the
neighbourhood raise some money and Jackie pawns Billy's mother's jewellery to
cover the cost, and Jackie takes him to London to audition for the Royal Ballet School.
Although very nervous, Billy performs well, but he punches another boy in his
170

frustration at the audition and the fear that he has ruined his chances of attaining his
dream. He is sternly rebuked by the review board, but when asked what it feels like
when he is dancing, he describes it as being like electricity. Seemingly rejected, Billy
returns home with his father. Sometime later, he receives confirmation that he has
been accepted by the Royal Ballet School, and he leaves home to attend.
The film's final scene is set fourteen years later (approximately 1999): the mature
Billy takes the stage to perform the lead in Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, as Jackie,
Tony, and Michael watch from the audience.

171

Script notes

172

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

The film opens with introductory text:
In October of 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods
nearBurkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary. A year later their
footage was found.
In the footage, Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard set out to
produce a documentary about the fabled Blair Witch. They travel to Burkittsville,
Maryland, formerly Blair, and interview locals about the legend of the Blair Witch.
The locals tell them of Rustin Parr, a hermit who kidnapped seven children in the
1940s and brought them to his house in the woods where he tortured and murdered
them. Parr brought the children into his house's basement in pairs, forcing the first
child to face the corner and listen to their companion's screams as he murdered the
second child. Parr would then murder the first child. Eventually turning himself in to
the police, Parr later pleaded insanity, saying that the spirit of Elly Kedward, a witch
hanged in the 18th century, had been terrorizing him and promised to leave him
alone if he murdered the children, but was hanged.
The second day, the students explore the woods in north Burkittsville to look for
evidence that the Blair Witch exists. Along the way, two fishermen warn them that the
woods are haunted and recall that in 1888, a young girl named Robin Weaver went
missing, and when she returned three days later, she talked about "an old woman
whose feet never touched the ground." The students hike to Coffin Rock, where five
men were found ritualistically murdered in the 19th century, and then camp for the
night. The next day they move deeper in despite being uncertain of their exact
location on the map. They eventually locate what appears to be an old cemetery with
seven small cairns. They set up camp nearby and then return to the cemetery after
dark. Josh accidentally disturbs a cairn and Heather hastily repairs it. Later they hear
crackling sounds in the darkness that seem to be coming from all directions, but
assume the noises are from animals or locals.
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The third day, they attempt to return to their vehicle but cannot find their way. That
night, they again hear crackling noises but cannot see anything. The next morning
(their fourth), they find three cairns have been built around their tent during the
night. Heather realizes her map is missing and Mike reveals he kicked it into a creek
out of frustration the previous day. They realize they are now hopelessly lost and
decide simply to "head south". They discover a multitude of humanoid stick figures
suspended from trees. That night they hear sounds of children and bizarre
"morphing" sounds. When an unknown force shakes the tent, they flee in a panic
and hide in the woods until dawn, starting their fifth day. Upon returning to their tent
they find that their possessions have been rifled through and Josh's equipment is
covered with a peculiar translucent slime. Later, they pass a log over a stream that
was identical to the one they had passed earlier despite having traveled directly
south all day, seemingly going in circles.
The sixth morning, Heather and Mike awaken to find that Josh has disappeared.
After trying in vain to find him, they slowly move on. That night, they hear Josh
screaming in the darkness but are not able to find him. The seventh morning,
Heather finds a bundle of sticks and fabric outside their tent. As she searches through
it, she finds it to contain blood-soaked scraps of Josh's shirt, as well as teeth, hair,
and possibly a tongue, but though thoroughly distraught by the discovery, she does
not mention this to Mike. As night falls, Heather films herself apologizing to the coproducers of her project as well as their families and breaks down crying and
hyperventilates, understanding that something terrible is hunting her and Mike and
will eventually take them. Later that night, they again hear Josh's agonized cries for
help, and discover a derelict, abandoned house in the woods, which contains runic
symbols and children's handprints on the walls. Mike races upstairs, following what
sounds like Josh's voice, while Heather tries to follow. Mike then claims he hears
Josh in the basement. He runs downstairs and after what seems to be a quick
struggle, goes silent and drops the camera. Heather enters the basement screaming
in fear while her camera catches a glimpse of Mike facing the corner. Something
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unseen is heard hitting Heather, causing her to drop her camera violently to the floor
and the footage ends.

175

Script notes

176

Bless the Child (2000)

Maggie O'Connor's (Kim Basinger) life revolves around her job as a nurse at a busy
New York hospital, until one rainy night, her sister Jenna (Angela Bettis) abandons
her newborn autistic daughter, Cody, at her home. Maggie takes Cody in, and she
becomes the daughter she never had.
Six years later, Jenna suddenly re-appears with a mysterious new husband, Eric
(Rufus Sewell), and abducts Cody (Holliston Coleman). Despite the fact that Maggie
has no legal rights to Cody, FBI agent John Travis (Jimmy Smits), an expert inritual
murder and occult-related crime, takes up her case when he realizes that Cody shares
the same birth date as several other recently missing children.
Cody, it soon becomes clear, is more than simply "special." She manifests
extraordinary powers that the forces of evil have waited centuries to control, and her
abduction sparks a clash between the soldiers of good and evil that can only be
resolved, in the end, by the strength of one small child and the love she inspires in
those she touches.
Blues Brothers (1980)
"Joliet" Jake Blues (John Belushi) is released from prison after serving three years
for armed robbery. Jake is irritated at being picked up by his brother Elwood (Dan
Aykroyd) in the Bluesmobile, a battered former Mount Prospect police car, instead of
the Cadillac the brothers used to own. The brothers visit their childhood home,
aRoman Catholic orphanage, and learn that it will be closed unless $5,000 in
property taxes is collected. The brothers visit an evangelical church service where
Jake has an epiphany: they can legitimately raise the funds by re-forming their
rhythm and blues band. Elwood calls the quest "a mission from God."
That night, Elwood absent-mindedly runs a red light, which alerts two Illinois State
Police troopers who learn that his license is currently suspended. When they attempt
to arrest him, he speeds off, escaping through the Dixie Square Mall, destroying
177

everything in the process. As the brothers arrive at the flophouse where Elwood lives,
a mystery woman (Carrie Fisher) launches a bazooka attack that leaves them
unharmed. The next morning, she detonates a bomb that demolishes the building,
which also fails to injure the brothers and saves them from being arrested. Jake and
Elwood begin tracking down members of the band. Trombonist Tom "Bones"
Maloneand the rhythm section, (Willie "Too Big" Hall, Steve "The Colonel" Cropper,
Donald "Duck" Dunn, and Murphy "Murph" Dunne), are playing in a nearly empty
Holiday Innlounge, and are easily persuaded to rejoin. Trumpeter "Mr. Fabulous",
now matre d'at a restaurant, is harder to sway, but Jake and Elwood rudely convince
him. En route to meet saxophonist Louis "Blue Lou" Marini and guitarist Matt
"Guitar" Murphy, the brothers drive through a rally of "Illinois Nazis", adding another
enemy to the brothers' growing list. Marini and Murphy are at the soul food
restaurant which Murphy owns with his wife. Against her advice, the two musicians
leave and rejoin the band. The reunited group get instruments and equipment from
Ray's Music Store (with Ray Charles accepting an IOU).
While attempting to book a gig, the mystery woman destroys the phone booth that
Jake was using, making him unable to book a gig in advance. However, the band
stumbles into a gig at Bob's Country Bunker, a country bar. After a rocky start, the
band wins over the bottle-tossing crowd. At the end of the evening, however, not
only is their bar tab greater than the pay for the gig, but the brothers infuriate the
band that was actually meant to play, the Good Ol' Boys. The Blues Brothers
blackmail their old booking agent into securing a gig for them;a performance at the
Palace Hotel Ballroom, located 106 miles (171 km) north of Chicago. After being
driven all over the area promoting the concert, the Bluesmobile runs out of gas,
making Jake and Elwood late for the concert. The ballroom is packed, and the
concert-goers are joined by the Good Ol' Boys and scores of police officers. Jake and
Elwood sneak into the venue and perform two songs. A record company executive
offers them a cash advance on a recording contract, more than enough to pay off the
orphanage's taxes and Ray's IOU, and tells the brothers how to slip out unnoticed.
178

As the brothers escape via a service tunnel, they are confronted by the mystery
woman, whereupon it is revealed she is Jake's ex-fiance. She fires an M16 rifle at
them, but Jake charms her before dropping her, allowing the two brothers to escape
to the Bluesmobile. They head back to Chicago with dozens of state/local police and
the Good Ol' Boys in pursuit. Jake and Elwood eventually elude them all, leaving
piled-up police cars in their wake. After a gravity-defying escape from the Illinois
Nazis, Jake and Elwood arrive at the Richard J. Daley Center, where the Bluesmobile
literally falls to pieces. They rush inside the adjacent Chicago City Hallbuilding, soon
followed by hundreds of police, state troopers, SWAT teams, firefighters, Illinois
National Guardsmen, and the Military Police. Finding the office of the Cook County
Assessor, the brothers pay the tax bill. Just as their receipt is stamped, they are
arrested by a large crowd of armed law officers. Jake, Elwood, and the rest of the
band are sent to prison where they play "Jailhouse Rock" for fellow inmates.

179

Script notes

180

Blue Velvet (1986)

Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) returns to his logging home town of
Lumberton, North Carolina from Oak Lake College after his father suffers a near-fatal
stroke. While walking home from the hospital, he cuts through a vacant lot and
discovers a severed ear. Jeffrey takes the ear to police detective John Williams
(George Dickerson), through whom he reacquaints with the detective's daughter,
Sandy (Laura Dern). She tells him details about the ear case and a suspicious woman,
Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini), who may be connected to the case. Increasingly
curious, Jeffrey enters Dorothy's apartment by posing as an exterminator, and while
Dorothy is distracted by a man dressed in a yellow suit at her door (whom Jeffrey
later refers to as the Yellow Man), Jeffrey steals her spare key.
Jeffrey and Sandy attend Dorothy's nightclub act, in which she sings "Blue Velvet",
and leave early so Jeffrey can sneak into her apartment to snoop. He hurriedly hides
in a closet when she returns home. However, Dorothy, wielding a knife, discovers
him and threatens to kill him. Believing his curiosity is merely sexual and aroused by
his voyeurism, Dorothy makes Jeffrey undress at knifepoint and begins to fellate him
before their encounter is interrupted by a knock at the door. Dorothy hides Jeffrey in
the closet. From there he witnesses the visitor, Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper), inflict
his bizarre sexual proclivitieswhich include inhaling an unidentified gas (possibly
nitrous oxide), dry humping, and sadomasochismupon Dorothy. Frank is an
extremely foul-mouthed, violent sociopath whose orgasmic climax is a fit of both
pleasure and rage. He continually refers to her as "Mommy" and to himself as both
the "Daddy" and the "Baby", who "want to fuck." Frank has kidnapped Dorothy's
husband and son to force her to perform sexual favors; to "Do it for van Gogh." When
Frank leaves, a sad and desperate Dorothy tries to seduce Jeffrey again and demands
that he hit her, but when he refuses, she tells him to leave. When Jeffrey moves to
leave, she asks him to stay, though he leaves anyway.
Jeffrey relays his experience to Sandy, asking her why there are people like Frank.
Sandy in turn tells him of a wonderful dream she had about robins that she
181

interprets as a sign of hope for humanity. Jeffrey and Sandy are attracted to each
other, though Sandy has a boyfriend.
Jeffrey again visits Dorothy's apartment and she tells him that although she knows
nothing about him, she has been yearning for him. Jeffrey attends another of
Dorothy's performances at the club, where she sings the same song. At the club,
Jeffrey spots Frank in the audience fondling a piece of blue velvet fabric he cut from
Dorothy's robe. Jeffrey follows Frank and spends the next few days spying on him.
Shortly afterwards, two men that Jeffrey calls the Well-Dressed Man and the Yellow
Man exit an industrial building that Frank frequently visits. Jeffrey concludes the
men are criminal associates of Frank, and tells his new findings to Sandy. The two
briefly kiss, though she feels uncomfortable about going any further. Jeffrey
immediately visits Dorothy again, and the two have sex. However, when he refuses to
hit her, she pressures him, becoming more emotional. In a blind rage he knocks her
backwards and is instantly horrified, but Dorothy derives pleasure from it.
Afterwards, Frank catches Dorothy and Jeffrey together and forces them both to
accompany him to the apartment of Ben (Dean Stockwell), his suave, effeminate
partner in crime who is holding Dorothy's son. Ben lip-syncs a performance of Roy
Orbison's "In Dreams", sending Frank into maudlin sadness, then rage. Frank takes
Jeffrey to a lumber yard and when he molests Dorothy, Jeffrey stands up to Frank by
punching him. Frank's cronies drag Jeffrey out of the car and Frank kisses Jeffrey's
face, intimidates him, and then savagely beats him to the overture of "In Dreams".
Jeffrey wakes the next day at the same place and walks home, overcome with guilt
and despair. He goes to the police station, where he notices that Sandy's father's
partner is the Yellow Manan officer named Lieutenant Detective Tom Gordon (Fred
Pickler). Later, at Sandy's home, her father is amazed by Jeffrey's story, but warns
Jeffrey to stop his amateur sleuthing lest he endanger himself and the investigation.
Jeffrey and Sandy go to a dance together and profess their love, only to be
confronted by Sandy's boyfriend. A confrontation is averted when the group finds
Dorothynaked, battered, and distressedon Jeffrey's front lawn. Barely conscious,
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Dorothy reveals her intimacy with Jeffrey, causing Sandy to become upset and to slap
Jeffrey, although she later forgives him.
Jeffrey insists on returning to Dorothy's apartment and tells Sandy to immediately
send the police there, including her father. At Dorothy's apartment, Jeffrey finds
Dorothy's husband (Don Green), who is dead from a gunshot to the head and
identifiable by his missing ear, as well as the Yellow Man, who bears a gruesome
head wound and appears to have suffered a crude lobotomy. When Jeffrey tries to
leave, he sees the Well-Dressed Man coming up the stairs and recognizes him as
Frank in disguise. Jeffrey talks to Detective Williams over the Yellow Man's police
radio, but lies about his location inside the apartment. Frank enters the apartment
and brags about hearing Jeffrey's location over his own police radio. While Frank
searches for him in the wrong room, Jeffrey retrieves the Yellow Man's gun and hides
in the same closet in which he hid during his first visit to the apartment. Frank fires
sporadically, killing the Yellow Man, and when he opens the closet door, Jeffrey
fatally shoots him through the head. Detective Williams, gun drawn, enters with
Sandy a moment later. Jeffrey and Sandy now go ahead with their relationship and
note the unusual appearance of robins in their town. A montage sequence ends the
film, which shows Dorothy and her son reunited.

183

Script notes

184

The Bone Collector (1999)

The film begins in late 1999.Tetraplegic forensics expert Lincoln Rhyme (Denzel
Washington) and a patrol cop, Amelia Donaghy (Angelina Jolie), team up to solve a
string of murders all connected to a serial killerby his signature: a single shard of
bone is removed from each of the victims. Rhyme was paralyzed from the neck down
in an earlier accident and is bed-bound and completely reliant on machines and his
nurse Thelma (Queen Latifah) to function. He communicates with Amelia via headset
as she examines the various crime scenes and collects evidence and reports back to
him.
The killer poses as a New York taxi driver, and abducts and kills those who get in his
taxi. The first two victims are a married couple named Alan and Lindsay Rubin, who
take a taxi home but then find themselves kidnapped by the killer. Amelia finds
Alan's body buried in a Civil War-era railroad bed. She also finds a collection of clues
including a pile of piece-ground oyster shells, which eventually leads Amelia - now
working with Rhyme - to Alan's wife, and a scrap of paper. The detectives find Mrs.
Rubin, too late, at a steam junction in a below-ground services area of a building in
the financial district, secured using old antique handcuffs or shackles at the mouth of
a pipe which emits steam. She has been scalded to death from the steam. The killer
has also removed a bit of flesh and bone from her arm. Amelia finds another scrap of
paper at the scene.
The killer then abducts an NYU student. He is taken to a derelict slaughterhouse
where he is tied to a pole and part of his thigh bone is surgically removed, and left
for rats to feed on. Amelia and Rhyme, using the clues left by the killer at the scene of
Lindsay Rubin's death (rat hairs embedded in a bone from a cow's body), find the
victim, but again too late to save him. Again, the killer has removed a piece of the
victim's bone. Amelia is able to collect the evidence, including another scrap of
paper. The pressure of the tense investigation and bureaucratic challenges to both
Amelia's and Rhyme's involvement with the case are having serious impacts on
Rhyme's health and stability.
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After piecing together the message the killer was sending using the scraps of paper,
Amelia and Rhyme are led to an old crime novel, whose crimes the killer was
replicating. This leads them to his next victims, a grandfather and granddaughter
tied to a pier as the tide rises. The girl is the first victim they manage to save, but her
grandfather dies. At the scene, Amelia finds another bone, part of an old police
badge, and an old subway map. These clues, and an earlier clue left by the killer at
the scene of Mrs. Rubin's death (asbestos) lead Amelia to an abandoned subway
station, in which Amelia sees some numbers which have been tampered with to spell
out Rhyme's police badge number. Amelia then figures out that the killer is after
Rhyme.
The killer arrives at Rhyme's house, and after killing Rhyme's nurse, Thelma, and
Captain Howard Cheney (Michael Rooker), it is revealed that he is the medical
technician who cares for Rhyme's medical equipment, Richard Thompson (Leland
Orser). Richard's real name is Marcus Andrews. An ex-forensic cop whom Rhyme's
testimony helped convict of planting false evidence at crime scenes, Marcus intends
to exact his revenge. Rhyme manages to crush Marcus's right hand by suddenly
dropping his bed horizontal, and in the struggle to free himself, Marcus pulls Rhyme
with him and they both collapse to the floor. Rhyme then manages to bite Marcus in
the neck, causing massive bleeding. Marcus once again manages to free himself,
grabbing his knife. As Marcus raises the knife for a killing blow, Amelia suddenly
arrives at the apartment and shoots Marcus who falls down dead.
The film ends at a Christmas celebration at Rhyme's apartment. Rhyme, having
given up his plans to commit suicide, faces his sister and niece coming to visit him
along with Amelia and his other colleagues on Christmas Eve. It is implied that
Rhyme and Amelia have a relationship.
Boogie Nights (1997)
In 1977, Eddie Adams is a high school dropout who lives with his stepfather and
emotionally abusivealcoholic mother in Torrance, California. He works at a
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Resedanightclub owned by Maurice Rodriguez, where he is discovered byporn

director Jack Horner, who auditions him by watching him have sex with Rollergirl, a
porn starlet who always wears skates. After a heated argument with his mother about
his girlfriend and sex life, Adams moves in with Horner at his San Fernando Valley
home.
Adams gives himself the screen name "Dirk Diggler" and becomes a star because of
his good looks, youthful charisma and unusually large penis. His success allows him
to buy a new house, an extensive wardrobe and a "competition orange" 1976
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. He and his friend, porn star Reed Rothchild, pitch and
star in a series of successful action-themed porn films. At a New Year's Eve party at
Horner's house marking the year 1980, assistant director Little Bill Thompson
discovers his porn star wife having sex with another man, he shoots them with the
gun and kills himself.
Jack and his main source of funding, Colonel James, have a discussion on New
Year's Eve with Floyd Gondolli, a "theater" magnate in San Diego and San Francisco,
who insists on cutting costs by shooting on videotape, a format that Jack detests.
Subsequent to James' imprisonment for child pornography and due to the
technological changes in the industry away from film and towards video tape, Jack
cedes and works with Floyd. He is upset with the lack of scripts and character
development in the projects Gondolli expects him to churn out. One of these projects
involves him and Rollergirl riding in a limousine searching for random men for her
to have sex with while a crew tapes it. When a man recognizes Rollergirl as a former
high school student, he insults both her and Jack. Rollergirl beats up and leaves him
bleeding and half-conscious on the street. Leading lady Amber Waves, who took Dirk
under her wing when he joined Jack's stable of actors, finds herself in a custody
battle with her former husband. The court determines she is an unfit mother, due to
her involvement in the porn industry, prior criminal record and cocaine addiction.
Buck Swope marries fellow porn star Jessie St. Vincent, who shortly thereafter
becomes pregnant. Because of his past, Buck is disqualified from a bank loan which
187

he needs to open his stereo equipment store. At the donut shop, he finds himself in
the middle of a holdup that the clerk, the robber and an armed customer are killed in
the resulting shootout, so Buck escapes with the money that the robber demanded.
Dirk becomes addicted to cocaine; consequently, he finds it increasingly difficult to
achieve an erection and falls into violent mood swings. After having a argument with
Jack during a film shoot, he and Reed pursue their dream of rock and roll stardom, a
move supported by Scotty, a boom operator who is in love with Dirk. However, they
squander their money on drugs, leaving themselves unable to pay the recording
studio for the demo tapes. Desperate for money, Dirk resorts to prostitution, but he is
assaulted and robbed by a gang of thugs. Dirk, Reed and their friend Todd attempt to
scam drug dealer Rahad Jackson by selling him a half-kilo of baking soda disguised
as cocaine. Dirk and Reed wish to leave quickly before Rahad's bodyguard inspects
the product, but Todd tries to rob Rahad and is killed in the ensuing gunfight.
Frightened by his brush with death, Dirk reconciles with Jack. In 1984, Buck opens
his own store and his son has been born, Reed practices a successful magic act at a
topless bar, The Colonel becomes a victim of beatings in prison, and Amber finds a
career in directing local commercials and porn films under Jack's guidance. Rollergirl
and Dirk move in with Jack and prepare to start shooting again.

188

Script notes

189

Boys Don't Cry (1999)

Brandon Teena (Hilary Swank) is a young trans man whose birth name was Teena
Renae Brandon.[4] When Brandon is discovered to be transgender by a former
girlfriend's brother, he receives physical threats. Soon after, he is involved in a bar
fight and is evicted from his cousin's trailer. Brandon moves to Falls City, Nebraska,
where he befriends ex-convicts John Lotter (Peter Sarsgaard) and Tom Nissen
(Brendan Sexton III), and their friends Candace (Alicia Goranson) and Lana Tisdel
(Chlo Sevigny). Brandon becomes romantically involved with Lana, who is unaware
of his biological sex and troubled past. The two make plans to move to Memphis,
where Brandon will manage Lana's karaoke singing career.
The police detain Brandon on charges that arose prior to his relocation; they place
him in the women's section of the Falls City prison. Lana bails Brandon out and asks
why he was placed in a women's prison. Brandon lies to her, saying he was born
ahermaphrodite and will soon receive a sex change. Lana declares her love for
Brandon, regardless of his sex or gender. Tom and John become suspicious after
reading a newspaper article about Brandon that refers to him by his birth name,
Teena Brandon. They force Brandon to remove his pants and reveal his genitals. They
try to make Lana look, but she shields her eyes and turns away. After this
confrontation, Tom and John drag Brandon into John's car and drive to an isolated
location, where they violently beat and rape him. Afterwards, they take Brandon to
Tom's house. Though injured, Brandon escapes through a bathroom window.
Although his assailants threatened Brandon and warned him not to report the attack
to the police, Lana persuades him to do so.
One evening, John and Tom get drunk and decide to kill Brandon. Lana attempts to
stop them, but the pair drive to Candace's remote house where they find Brandon,
who has been hiding in a nearby shed. John shoots Brandon under the chin. Tom
shoots Candace in the head as Lana fights with them, urging them to stop. Tom stabs
Brandon's lifeless body and tries to shoot Lana but John stops him. John and Tom
flee the scene while Lana lies with Brandon's body. The next morning, Lana awakens
190

next to Brandon's corpse. Her mother arrives and takes her away from the scene. As
Lana leaves Falls City, a letter Brandon wrote to her is heard in a voiceover.

191

Script notes

192

Braveheart (1995)
n 1280, King Edward "Longshanks" (Patrick McGoohan) invades and
conquersScotland following the death of Alexander III of Scotland, who left no heir to
the throne. Young William Wallace (James Robinson) witnesses Longshanks'
treachery, survives the deaths of his father (Sean Lawlor) and brother (Sandy Nelson),
and is taken abroad on a pilgrimage throughout Europe by his paternal Uncle Argyle
(Brian Cox), where he is educated. Years later, Longshanks grants his noblemen land
and privileges in Scotland, including Prima Nocte (or droit du seigneur, the right of
the lord to have sex with female subjects on their wedding nights). Meanwhile,
Wallace (Mel Gibson) returns to Scotland and is reunited with his childhood friend,
Hamish Campbell (Brendan Gleeson). Wallace falls in love with his other childhood
friend, Murron MacClannough (Catherine McCormack); they marry in secret so she
will not have to spend the night with the local English lord. Wallace rescues Murron
from being raped by English soldiers, but as she fights off their second attempt,
Murron is captured and publicly executed. In retribution, Wallace leads his clan to
slaughter the English garrison in his hometown and send the occupying garrison at
Lanark back to England.
This enrages Longshanks, who orders his son, Prince Edward (Peter Hanly), to stop
Wallace by any means necessary. Wallace rebels against the English, and as his
legend spreads, hundreds of Scots from the surrounding clans join him. Wallace
then leads his army to victory at Stirling and then sacks the city of York, killing
Longshanks' nephew (Richard Leaf) and sending his decapitated head to the king.
Wallace seeks the assistance of Robert the Bruce (Angus Macfadyen), the son of
nobleman Robert the Elder (Ian Bannen) and a contender for the Scottish crown.
Robert is dominated by his father, who wishes to secure the throne for his son by
submitting to the English. Worried by the threat of the rebellion, Longshanks sends
his son's wife, Isabella of France (Sophie Marceau), to try to negotiate with Wallace,
hoping Wallace will kill her and thus draw the French king to declare war. Wallace
refuses the bribe sent with Isabella by Longshanks, but after meeting him in person,
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Isabella becomes enamored of Wallace. Meanwhile, Longshanks prepares an army to

invade Scotland.
Warned of the coming invasion by Isabella, Wallace implores the Scottish nobility
that immediate action is needed to counter the threat and to take back the country.
Leading the English army himself, Longshanks confronts the Scots at Falkirk where
noblemen Lochlan (John Murtagh) and Mornay (Alun Armstrong) betray Wallace. The
Scots lose the battle, and Morrison (Tommy Flanagan) and Campbell, senior (James
Cosmo) die at the battle. As Wallace charges toward the departing Longshanks on
horseback, he is intercepted by one of the king's lancers, who turns out to be Robert.
Remorseful, Robert gets Wallace to safety before the English can capture him.
Wallace kills Lochlan and Mornay for their betrayal, and wages a guerrilla war against
the English for the next seven years, assisted by Isabella, with whom he eventually
has an affair. Robert, intending to join Wallace and commit troops to the war, sets up
a meeting with him in Edinburgh. However, Robert's father has conspired with other
nobles to capture and hand over Wallace to the English. Learning of his treachery,
Robert disowns his father. Isabella exacts revenge on the now terminally ill
Longshanks by telling him she is pregnant with Wallace's child, and intent on
ending Longshanks' line and ruling in his son's place.
In London, Wallace is brought before an English magistrate (David Gant), tried
forhigh treason, and condemned to public torture and beheading. Even whilst
beinghanged, drawn and quartered, Wallace refuses to submit to the king. As cries
for mercy come from the watching crowd deeply moved by the Scotsman's valor, the
magistrate offers him one final chance, asking him only to utter the word, "Mercy",
and be granted a quick death. Wallace instead shouts, "Freedom!", and the judge
orders his death. Moments before being decapitated, Wallace sees a vision of
Murron in the crowd, smiling at him.
In 1314, Robert, now Scotland's king, leads a Scottish army before a ceremonial line
of English troops on the fields of Bannockburn, where he is to formally accept
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English rule. As he begins to ride toward the English, he stops and invokes Wallace's
memory, imploring his men to fight with him as they did with Wallace. Robert then
leads his army into battle against the stunned English, winning the Scots their
freedom.

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196

The Breakfast Club (1985)

On Saturday, March 24, 1984, five students report at 7:00 a.m. for all-day detention
at Shermer High School in Shermer, Illinois. While not complete strangers, each of
them comes from a different clique, and they seem to have nothing in common: the
beautiful and pampered Claire Standish, the state champion wrestler Andrew Clarke,
the bookish Brian Johnson; the reclusive outcast Allison Reynolds, and the rebellious
John Bender.
They gather in the high school library, where assistant principal Richard Vernon
instructs them not to speak, move from their seats, or sleep for the next eight hours
and 54 minutes. He assigns them a 1,000-word essay, in which each must describe
"who you think you are." He then leaves, returning only occasionally to check on
them. Bender, who has a particularly antagonistic relationship with Vernon, ignores
the rules and frequently riles up the other students, teasing Brian and Andrew and
harassing Claire. Allison is initially quiet, except for the occasional random outburst.
The students pass the hours by talking, arguing, and, at one point, smokingcannabis
that Bender retrieves from his locker. Gradually, they open up to each other and
reveal their deepest personal secrets: Allison is a compulsive liar; Andrew can't easily
think for himself; John comes from an abusive household; Brian has attempted
suicide due to a bad grade and years of pressure of his overbearing parents; and
Claire is a virgin who feels constant pressure from her friends. They also discover that
they all have strained relationships with their parents: Allison's parents ignore her
due to their own problems; Andrew's father constantly criticizes his efforts at
wrestling and pushes him as hard as possible; John's father verbally and physically
abuses both John and his mother; Brian's parents put immense pressure on him to
get good grades and keep it that way; and Claire's parents use her to get back at
each other during frequent arguments. The students realize that even with their
differences, they face similar pressures and complications in their lives.

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Despite their differences in social status, the group begins to form friendships (and
even romantic relationships) as the day progresses. Claire makes it her mission to
show Allison just how pretty she really is, and Allison's new look sparks the romantic
interest of Andrew, who is stunned when Allison's beauty is revealed. Claire decides
to break her "pristine" virgin appearance by kissing Bender in the closet and giving
him a hickey. Although they suspect that the relationships would end with the end of
their detention, their mutual experiences would change the way they would look at
their peers afterward.
As the detention comes to its final moments, the group requests that Brian complete
the essay for everyone, and Brian agrees, leaving the essay in the library for Vernon
to read after they leave. The students part ways outside the school. Allison and
Andrew kiss, as do Claire and John. Allison rips Andrew's state champion patch from
his letterman jacket to keep, and Claire gives John one of her diamond earrings,
which he attaches to his earlobe. Vernon reads Brian's essay (read by Brian invoiceover), in which Brian states that Vernon has already judged who they are, "in the
simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions: a brain, an athlete, a basket case,
a princess, and a criminal." Brian signs the letter as "The Breakfast Club." As the
movie ends, John raises his fist in triumph as he walks across the football field for
home.

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199

Breaking the Waves (1996)

Breaking the Waves tells the story of Bess McNeill, a pretty young Scottish woman
with a history of psychological problems. She marries atheist oil rig worker Jan,
despite disapproval from her community and her Free Scottish Presbyterian Calvinist
church. Bess is steadfast and pure of heart, but extremely simple and childlike in her
beliefs. During her frequent visits to the church, she prays to God and carries on
conversations with Him using her own voice, believing that He is responding directly
through her.
Bess has difficulty living without Jan when he is away on the oil platform. Jan makes
occasional phone calls to Bess in which they express their love and sexual desires.
Bess grows needy and prays for his immediate return. The next day, Jan is severely
injured in an industrial accident and is flown back to the mainland. Bess believes her
prayer was the reason the accident occurred, that God was punishing her for her
selfishness in asking for him to neglect his job and come back to her. No longer able
to perform sexually and mentally affected by the paralysis, Jan asks Bess to find a
lover. Bess is devastated and storms out. Jan then attempts to commit suicide and
fails. He falls unconscious and is readmitted to hospital.
Jan's condition deteriorates. He urges Bess to find another lover and tell him the
details, as it will be as if they are together and will revitalize his spirits. Though her
sister-in-law Dodo constantly reassures her that nothing she does will affect his
recovery, Bess begins to believe these suggestions are the will of God and in
accordance with loving Jan wholly. Despite her repulsion and inner turmoil to be
with other men, she perseveres in her own sexual debasement as she believes it will
cure her husband. Bess throws herself at Jan's doctor, but when he rebuffs her, she
takes to picking up men off the street and allowing herself to be brutalized in
increasingly cruel sexual encounters. The entire village is scandalized by these
doings, and Bess becomes excommunicated. In the face of being cast out from her
church, she proclaims "you cannot love words. You cannot be in love the Word. You
can only love a human being."
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Dodo and Jan's doctor agree the only way to keep Bess safe from herself is to have
her committed, and as far away from her husband as possible. It is then that Bess
decides to make what she thinks is the ultimate sacrifice for Jan: she unflinchingly
goes out to a derelict ship full of barbarous sailors, who rape and murder her. The
church refuses to give a funeral for her and damns her soul to hell. Jan is later shown
burying her in the ocean, in deep grief but fully restored to health. The film ends as
church bells ring in the sky.

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202

Galaxy Quest (1999)

The film follows the cast of a once-popular television space-drama series
calledGalaxy Quest. The fictional series starred Jason Nesmith (Allen) as the
commander of a spaceship called the NSEA Protector, Alexander Dane (Rickman) as
the ship's alien science officer, Fred Kwan (Shalhoub) as the chief engineer, Gwen
DeMarco (Weaver) as the computer officer and Tommy Webber (Mitchell) as a
precocious child pilot. Guy Fleegman (Rockwell) played an unnamed security officer,
who was quickly killed off in his only appearance on the show.
Eighteen years after the show was cancelled, at a Galaxy Quest convention full of
dedicated fans, Jason is approached by a group of people who say they are
"Thermians from the Klaatu Nebula". Jason goes with them to what he assumes will
be an amateur filming session but the Thermians really are aliens,
octopoidalcreatures using a device that makes them appear human. Technologically
advanced but having no concept of fiction, they have mistaken broadcasts of Galaxy
Quest for historical documentaries and impressed by the idealized presentation,
modeled their society on the ethos presented in the episodes. They have invented
and built real versions of the technologies portrayed in the show, including the
Protector.
The Thermians transport Jason onto the Protector to negotiate with Sarris, a reptilian
humanoid warlord waging a genocidal war against the Thermian people. Sarris
demands the Omega 13, a device used at the end of Galaxy Quest's final episode.
Still believing the situation is fictional, Jason casually orders the Thermians to fire
upon Sarris's spaceship and then insists on returning home but when they teleport
him through space to Earth, he finally realizes the events were real. The Thermians
then come back to Earth and ask for more help negotiating a surrender with Sarris.
Jason, believing Sarris is the one surrendering, asks his co-stars to join him and they
agree, believing that the mission is just an acting job. Once the actors are aboard
theProtector, they realize the truth but Sarris prevents them from leaving, so they
assume their television roles, to save the Thermians.
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The actors are not competent at controlling a real spaceship and their encounter with
Sarris goes poorly. They escape by flying through a minefield, which damages
theberyllium sphere that powers the ship's reactor. The actors acquire a new sphere
from a nearby planet after battling various alien creatures but when they return to
the ship, Sarris has boarded it and taken control. Sarris interrogates Jason about the
Omega 13 and forces him to admit the truth about Galaxy Quest to Mathesar, leader
of the Thermians, who is heartbroken, equating fiction with deception and lies.
Sarris's men activate the ship's self-destruct but Jason and Alexander use a gambit
from one of the show's episodes to kill the aliens guarding them.
Not knowing how the ship works, Jason contacts an avid Galaxy Quest fan named
Brandon in his suburban home on Earth, using one of the Thermians'
Voxcommunicators that he accidentally swapped at a promotional store opening.
Brandon and his friends use their extensive knowledge of the ship to help Jason and
Gwen abort the self-destruct. Brandon also explains that, while some people believe
the Omega 13 was a bomb capable of destroying all matter in the universe, he and
others believe it is a time machine that sends its user 13 seconds into the past
"enough time to redeem a single mistake," as Jason observes.
With Jason in command of the Protector, the actors and Thermians destroy Sarris'
ship and set course back to Earth. Sarris sneaks aboard the Protector and starts killing
the crew but Jason activates the Omega 13, is sent back in time 13 seconds and
thwarts his attack. As the Thermians take control of the ship, the actors detach the
command deck and land on Earth with Brandon's help, accidentally crashing into the
building where the Galaxy Quest convention is taking place. They emerge from the
wreck to enthusiastic applause from the audience, who assume the crash is part of
the entertainment; when Sarris exits from the wreckage and attacks again, Jason
disintegrates him with a blaster pistol and receives even greater applause. Later that
year Galaxy Quest is revived, starring the original cast, along with Laliari, a female
Thermian who chose to stay on Earth with Fred and with Guy playing a new role as
the ship's chief of security.
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Script notes

205

The Game (1997)

Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas) is a wealthy investment banker, but his
success has come at a cost. He is estranged from both his ex-wife (Anna Katarina) and
his only sibling, younger brother Conrad (Sean Penn). He remains haunted from
having seen his father (Charles Martinet) commit suicide on the latter's 48th
birthday. For Nicholas' own 48th birthday, Conrad presents Nicholas with an unusual
giftavoucher for a "game" offered by a company called Consumer Recreation
Services (CRS). Conrad promises Nicholas that it will change his life.
Nicholas has doubts about CRS, but he meets club members who enjoyed the game.
He goes to CRS's offices to apply and is irritated by the lengthy and time-consuming
series of psychological and physical examinations required. He is later informed that
his application has been rejected. Nicholas begins to believe that his business,
reputation, finances, and safety are at risk. He encounters a waitress, Christine
(Deborah Kara Unger), who appears to have been endangered by the game. Nicholas
contacts the police to investigate CRS, but they find the offices abandoned.
Eventually, Conrad appears to Nicholas and apologizes, claiming that he, too, has
come under attack by CRS. With no one else to turn to, Nicholas finds Christine's
home. He soon discovers that she is a CRS employee and that her apartment was
staged. Christine tells Nicholas that they are being watched. Nicholas attacks a
camera, and armed CRS troops begin to swarm the house and fire upon them.
Nicholas and Christine are forced to flee. Christine tells Nicholas that CRS has
drained his financial accounts using the psychological tests to guess his passwords.
In a panic, Nicholas calls his bank and gives a verification code to check his account
balancezero. Just as he begins to trust Christine, he realizes she has drugged him.
As he loses consciousness, she admits that she is actually part of the scam and that
he made a fatal mistake by giving up his verification code.
Nicholas wakes up to find himself entombed in a cemetery in Mexico. He sells his
gold watch to escape. He returns to find his mansion has been foreclosed and most
206

of his possessions have been removed. He retrieves a hidden gun and seeks the aid
of his ex-wife. While talking with her and apologizing for his neglect and
mistreatment, he discovers that Jim Feingold (James Rebhorn), the CRS employee
who had conducted his psychological test, is an actor who works in television
advertisements. Nicholas locates and forces Feingold to take him to CRS, whereupon
he takes Christine hostage. He demands to be taken to the leader of CRS. Attacked by
CRS troops, Nicholas takes Christine to the roof and bars the door behind them. The
CRS troops begin cutting through the door. Christine realizes that Nicholas's gun is
not a prop and is terrified. She frantically tells Nicholas that the conspiracy is a hoax,
a fiction that is just part of the game, that his finances are intact, and that his family
and friends are waiting on the other side of the door. He refuses to believe her. The
door bursts open, and Nicholas shoots the first person to emerge: his brother
Conrad, bearing an open bottle of champagne. Distraught, Nicholas leaps off the
roof, just as his late father did.
Nicholas's life passes before his eyes as he falls. He smashes through a glass roof
and lands on a giant air bag. Emergency medical technicians carefully remove him,
and he finds himself in a ballroom full of his friends, family, and every figure
involved in his Game. Even his shooting of his brother had been part of the game,
and his suicide attempt had been anticipated. Conrad is alive and presents Nicholas
with a T-shirt that reads: "I was drugged and left for dead in Mexico and all I got was
this stupid shirt." He explains that he initiated the game to get his brother to
embrace life and not end up like their father. Nicholas breaks into tears, relaxes, and
begins to enjoy the party once his shock has dissipated. Later, Nicholas splits the bill
for the game with Conrad (and is surprised to discover how expensive it all was).
When he sees that Christine has left the party, he follows her outside to her cab. He
asks her to dinner, and she offers to share a coffee with him before her flight takes
her to her next game assignment in Australia.

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Script notes

208

The Fugitive (1993)

Dr. Richard Kimble (Ford) a prominent Chicago vascular surgeon, arrives home one
night to find his wife Helen (Ward) fatally wounded by a one-armed man. Although
Kimble struggles with the killer, the assailant escapes. The lack of evidence of a
break-in, his being the beneficiary of Helen's lucrative life insurance, and a
misunderstood 9-1-1 call, result in his conviction of first degree murder. On his way
to death row aboard a bus, his fellow prisoners attempt an escape. The
pandemonium results in a number of dead and wounded, causing the bus to fall
down a ravine and into the path of an oncoming train. Kimble escapes the
destructive collision and flees the scene. Deputy U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard (Jones),
and his colleagues Renfro (Pantoliano), Biggs (Roebuck), Newman (Wood) and Poole
(Caldwell), arrive at the crash site and formulate a search plan to apprehend the
escaped convicts. Kimble sneaks into a hospital to treat his wounds and alter his
appearance. He eludes the authorities and makes a getaway. Kimble is eventually
cornered by Gerard at the leading edge of a storm drain flowing into a dam. Kimble
leaps from the viaduct into the raging water and escapes.
Kimble returns to Chicago to hunt for the murderer and acquires some money from
his friend and colleague Dr. Charles Nichols (Krabb). Posing as a janitor, Kimble
enters Cook County Hospital's prosthetic department to obtain a list of people who
had their prosthetic arm repaired shortly after his wife's murder. Following a police
lead confirming Kimble's recent whereabouts, Gerard speculates that Kimble must
be looking for the one-armed man. Later, Kimble breaks into the residence of one of
the people on the list, a former police officer named Fredrick Sykes (Katsulas). Not
only does Kimble confirm that Sykes is the murderer, but he also discovers that Sykes
is employed by a pharmaceutical company, Devlin MacGregor, which is scheduled to
release a new drug called Provasic. Kimble had investigated the drug in the past, and
revealed that it caused liver damage, which would have prevented it from being
approved by the FDA. He also deduces that Nichols, who is leading the drug's
development, arranged a cover-up, and ordered Sykes to kill him; his wife's death
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was incidental. Gerard follows Kimble's lead to Sykes' home and draws the same
conclusion.
As Kimble takes an elevated train to confront Nichols at the drug's presentation in a
hotel, Sykes appears and attacks him. In the ensuing struggle, Sykes shoots a transit
cop before being subdued and handcuffed to a pole by Kimble. Kimble arrives at the
pharmacon conference and interrupts Nichols's speech, accusing him of falsifying his
medical research and orchestrating his wife's consequent murder. They begin to fight
while being chased by the marshals and police. Kimble, Nichols, Renfro and Gerard
find themselves in the hotel's laundry room. Gerard calls out to Kimble and says that
he is aware of the conspiracy fabricated by Nichols. Hearing this, Nichols knocks out
Renfro and takes his gun. Nichols then attempts to shoot Gerard, but Kimble attacks
him from behind, rendering him unconscious. Kimble surrenders to Gerard, who
escorts him out of the hotel. Nichols and Sykes are arrested, while Kimble is
exonerated and driven away from the crime scene by Gerard.

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Script notes

211

Forrest Gump (1987)

n 1981, Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), a man with below-average intelligence, watches
a feather fall from the sky at a bus stop in Savannah, Georgia. As he sits down on a
bench, he removes a copy of The Adventures of Curious George from his suitcase and
places the feather inside the pages. He introduces himself and begins telling his life
story to strangers who sit next to him on the bench, recounting his childhood in
Greenbow, Alabama. As a child in the 1950s, Forrest (Michael Connor Humphreys)
had to wear leg braces for which other children make fun of him. He lives with his
single mother (Sally Field) in a very large house outside of town, which they rent
rooms to travelers. His father apparently left and he never knew him. Despite his
limited mental capacity, Mrs. Gump tells her son that "stupid is as stupid
does" (which he later uses as a retort when called "stupid") and also assures him that
he is no different from any of the other children. Forrest is admitted to public school
despite his IQ being below the cut-off, but only after his mother agrees to a onenight stand with the principal, Mr. Hancock (Sam Anderson). On his first bus ride to
school, Forrest is rejected by nearly all of his peers except for Jenny Curran (Hanna R.
Hall). He and Jenny become best friends, and he helps her hide from her abusive,
alcoholic father. One day, while fleeing from bullies, Forrest's leg braces break apart
and he discovers that he can run very fast. A few years later, Forrest inadvertently runs
onto the field during a local high school football match and catches the attention of
Coach Bryant from the University of Alabama who is scouting for players. Forrest
attends the university on an athletic scholarship and becomes a college football star,
earning him a spot on the College Football All-America Team and a trip to the White
House to meet President John F. Kennedy.
After graduating, Forrest enlists in the United States Army, where he befriends
former shrimp fisherman Benjamin Buford "Bubba" Blue (Mykelti Williamson), and
they agree to go into the shrimping business together once they end their service.
Jenny (Robin Wright) meanwhile had gotten herself thrown out of college after she
exposes herself on the cover of Playboy Magazine and "fulfills" her aspirations of
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becoming a famous folk singer by performing nude at a strip club. Forrest goes to
one of her shows after seeing the cover and intervenes when she is harassed by club
patrons. He tells her that his unit is being sent to Vietnam so Jenny tells Forrest that
if he is ever in trouble: run. Once they arrive in Vietnam, they are assigned to First
Lieutenant Dan Taylor (Gary Sinise). One day while on patrol their platoon is
ambushed. Forrest carries several wounded soldiers to safety including Lieutenant
Dan and his friend Bubba, but Bubba is severely wounded and dies shortly
thereafter. Forrest himself is also wounded in the buttocks and Lieutenant Dan, who
has had both of his legs amputated due to his injuries, is furious at Forrest for
leaving him a cripple and cheating him out of his destiny to die in battle, as all of his
ancestors had. After he recovers from his wounds, Forrest travels to Washington
DCwhere he receives the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Lyndon B.
Johnson and goes to an anti-war rally where Abbie Hoffman invites him to speak
before the crowd. After speaking, Forrest reunites with Jenny, who is now living
ahippie counterculture lifestyle with a commune of anti-war activists and has
experimented with various substances including LSD.
Forrest discovers an aptitude for ping pong and begins playing for the U.S. Army
team, eventually competing against Chinese teams on a goodwill tour. After his
return from China, he appears on the The Dick Cavett Show with John Lennon, which
after describing his experience in China as best as he can, inspires Lennon to write
the song "Imagine". He then encounters Lieutenant Dan, now a wheelchair-bound
embittered drunk living on welfare. Dan is scornful of Forrest's plans to enter the
shrimping business and mockingly promises to be Forrest's first mate if he ever
succeeds. Forrest and Lieutenant Dan spend New Years together. He visits the White
House again and meets President Richard Nixon, who provides him a room at the
Watergate hotel, where Forrest inadvertently helps expose the Watergate scandal.
Forrest is discharged from the military as a sergeant and uses money from a ping
pong endorsement to buy a shrimping boat, fulfilling his wartime promise to Bubba.
Lieutenant Dan keeps his own promise and joins Forrest as first mate. They initially
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have little luck, but after Hurricane Carmen wrecks every other shrimping boat in the
region, the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company becomes a huge success. Both of them
are wealthy. Forrest returns home to care for his mother when she becomes
terminally ill and passes away. He leaves the company in the hands of Dan, who
invests the proceeds of the company in shares of the recently founded
AppleComputers, which Forrest assumes is "some kind of fruit company", making
them both more wealthy. He gives most of his money to various causes (such as
taking care of Bubba's family) and continues to live in the house where he grew up.
Jenny returns to visit Forrest and stays with him. He proposes but she turns him
down. They have sex, but she quietly leaves the next morning. Distraught at
discovering this, Forrest decides to go for a run, which turns into a three-year coast-tocoast marathon. Forrest becomes a celebrity, attracting a band of followers. One day
he stops his marathon suddenly and returns home, where he receives a letter from
Jenny, who had seen him on the news during his running, asking to meet.
This brings Forrest to the bus stop where he began telling his story at the start of the
film. During his reunion with Jenny, she introduces him to her young son, also
named Forrest (Haley Joel Osment). She says that the boy is named for his father,
which Forrest assumes is someone else named Forrest until she tells him that he
himself is the father. Forrest is initially overwhelmed as he believes that his son also
has below-average intelligence, but Jenny assures him that he is a very smart child.
Jenny finds out that she is suffering from an unknown viral illness, presumablyHIV/
AIDS. She proposes and he accepts, and they return to Alabama with Forrest Jr. and
marry. At the wedding, Lieutenant Dan, who now has titanium alloy prosthetic legs
and can walk, attends as well as his fiance.
Eventually, Jenny dies of her illness. Though he misses her terribly, he becomes a
devoted father to Forrest Jr. Speaking to Jenny's tombstone, Forrest tearfully says he
does not know if life has a meaning or purpose like Lieutenant Dan said, or if life is
entirely random, like his mother saidbut he has a feeling that, somehow, "maybe
214

it's both". The film ends with Forrest waiting for his son to come home from school
on the bus after his first day of school, and watching the feather float off in the wind.

215

Script notes

216

Footloose (1984)
Ren McCormack (Kevin Bacon), a teenager raised in Chicago, moves to the small
town of Beaumont to live with his aunt and uncle. Soon after arriving, Ren makes a
friend, Willard Hewitt (Chris Penn), and from him learns the city council has banned
dancing and rock music. He soon begins to fall for a rebellious girl named Ariel (Lori
Singer), who has a boyfriend, Chuck Cranston (Jim Youngs), and a domineering
father, Reverend Shaw Moore (John Lithgow), an authority figure in the town.
After trading insults with Cranston, Ren is challenged to a game of chicken involving
tractors, and despite having never driven one before, he wins. Rev. Moore distrusts
Ren, grounding Ariel and forbidding her to see him. Ren and his classmates want to
do away with the no dancing law and have a senior prom.
Ren goes before the city council and reads several Bible verses to cite scriptural
support for the worth of dancing to rejoice, exercise, or celebrate. Although Rev.
Moore is moved, the council votes against him. Vi, Moore's wife, is supportive of the
movement, and explains to Moore he cannot be everyone's father, and that he is
hardly being a father to Ariel. She also says that dancing and music are not the
problem. Moore soon has a change of heart after seeing some of the
townsfolkburning books that they think are dangerous to the youth. Realizing the
situation has gotten out of hand, Moore stops the burning.
The following Sunday, Rev. Moore asks his congregation to pray for the high school
students putting on the prom which is set up at a grain mill outside of the town
limits. Shaw and Vi are seen outside, dancing for the first time in years.

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Script notes

218

Flatliners (1990)
Nelson Wright (Kiefer Sutherland), convinces four of his medical school classmates
Joe Hurley (William Baldwin), Dave Labraccio (Kevin Bacon), Randy Steckle (Oliver
Platt) and Rachel Manus (Julia Roberts) to help him discover what lies beyond
death. To do this they must stop his heart, producing a flat line graph on the heart
monitor signal. Nelson flatlines for one minute before his classmates resuscitate him.
While "dead", he experiences a sort of afterlife. He sees a vision of a boy he bullied
as a child, Billy Mahoney. He merely tells his friends that he can't describe what he
saw, but something is there. The others decide to follow Nelson's daring feat. Joe
flatlines next, and he experiences an erotic afterlife sequence. He agrees with
Nelson's claim that something indeed exists. Dave is third to flatline, and he sees a
vision of a girl, Winnie Hicks (Kesha Reed), that he bullied in grade school. The three
men start to experience vivid hallucinations that are related to their afterlife visions,
but Nelson's circumstances are particularly freakish; he is repeatedly physically
attacked by Billy Mahoney and each day presents with fresh cuts and wounds. Joe,
engaged to be married, is haunted by home videos that he secretly filmed of his
sexual trysts with other women. Dave is confronted by a vision of Winnie Hicks on a
train, and she verbally taunts him like he did to her.
At Rachel's insistence, the group agrees to let her flatline next. Dave, disturbed by
his hallucinations, has a change of heart and tries to stop the others from giving
Rachel their same fate, but she has already flatlined by the time he arrives. They are
almost unable to bring Rachel back to life after the power goes out, as the men
cannot shock her with the defibrillator paddles. Luckily they manage to resuscitate
her, but she, too, begins experiencing haunting flashbacks: in her case, memories of
her father, a Vietnam War veteran, committing suicide when she was a young girl.
One by one, the other men open up about their harrowing experiences to one
another, and Dave decides to put his visions to a stop. He tracks down a now-grownup Winnie Hicks (Kimberly Scott), travels to her home, and offers an apology. Winnie
thanks him, and accepts his apology. Dave immediately feels a weight lifted off his
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shoulders. Nelson, who has accompanied Dave on the trip, remains alone in Dave's
truck and catches a glimpse of Billy Mahoney darting past outside. Suddenly Billy
appears inside the truck and attacks him with a pickaxe. Nelson struggles to fend
him off and Dave arrives on the scene just in time to end the hallucination and
prevent serious injury to Nelson, revealing that Nelson was alone in the truck and
that he was attacking himself with the pickaxe. Meanwhile, Joe's fiance Anne (Hope
Davis) unexpectedly comes to his apartment, and she breaks off their engagement
after discovering his videos. Joe's visions cease after Anne leaves him. Rachel seeks
comfort in the arms of Dave, and the two spend the night together in bed. While
Rachel and Dave are together, Nelson brings Steckle and Joe to the grave site of Billy
Mahoney. He reveals a long-kept secret: he and his friends accidentally killed Billy
and his dog, as youngsters when they chased Billy up a tree and pelted him with
rocks, causing a branch to fall and break, crushing the dog, and causing Billy to fall to
his death. Nelson mutters to himself about making amends, then suddenly storms
off, leaving Joe and Steckle stranded.
Dave leaves Rachel alone in order to pick up Joe and Steckle from the cemetery.
While alone, Rachel goes to the bathroom, and encounters her father. He apologizes
to his daughter, and her guilt over his death is lifted when she discovers that he was
addicted to heroin. Rachel receives a phone call from Nelson, who tells her that he
needs to flatline again in order to make amends. He apologizes for involving her and
their friends in his plan before hanging up. Rachel and the other three men realize
what Nelson is planning and race to save him, eventually reaching him more than
nine minutes after his phone call. They work feverishly to save him, but too much
time has passed and they decide to give up. Meanwhile, in the afterlife a young
Nelson has reversed roles with Billy Mahoney and is being pelted with rocks by him
and his other friends while up in the tree. Young Nelson falls from the tree, morphing
into the older Nelson just before hitting the ground. He looks up to see Billy
Mahoney standing over him and smiling before slowly walking away into a bright
light with his dog walking beside him, having made peace. In an act of utter
220

frustration, Dave gives Nelson one last shock. Miraculously, Nelson is resuscitated,
and after regaining consciousness he tells them, "Today wasn't a good day to die."

221

Script notes

222

The Fisher King (1991)

Jack Lucas (Bridges), a selfish, misanthropic shock jock, becomes suicidally
despondent after his insensitive on-air comments inadvertently prompt an unstable
caller to commit a mass murder-suicide at a popular Manhattan restaurant. Three
years later, Jack is working with his girlfriend Anne (Ruehl) in a video store in a
mostly drunken, depressed state. One night while on a bender, he attempts suicide.
Before he can do so, he is mistaken for a homeless person and is attacked and nearly
set on fire by thugs. He is rescued by Parry (Williams), a deluded homeless man who
is on a mission to find the Holy Grail, and tries to convince Jack to help him. Jack is
initially reluctant, but comes to feel responsible for Parry when he learns that the
man's condition is a result of witnessing his wife's horrific murder at the hands of
Jack's psychotic caller. Parry is also continually haunted by a hallucinatory red knight,
who terrifies him.
Jack learns that Parry's real name is Henry Sagan and he was a teacher at Hunter
College. Following his wife's death, Henry slipped into a catatonic state. When he
emerged he took on the persona of Parry and got obsessed with the legend of
theFisher King.[note 1] Jack seeks to redeem himself by helping Parry find love again.
He sets Parry up with Lydia (Plummer), a shy woman with whom Parry is smitten and
who works as an accountant for a Manhattan publishing house. Jack and Anne then
join them for a dinner date. Following dinner, Parry declares his love for Lydia but is
once again haunted by the Red Knight. As he flees his hallucinatory tormentor, he is
attacked by the same thugs who had earlier attacked Jack, which causes Parry to
become catatonic again. Jack breaks up with Anne and begins to rebuild his career,
but has a crisis of conscience during a sitcom pitch after snubbing a vagrant (Jeter)
who had previously done him a favor.
Wearing Parry's clothing, Jack infiltrates the Upper East Side castle of a famous
architect and retrieves the "Grail", a simple trophy which Parry believed to be the real
Grail. When he brings it to Parry, the catatonia is broken and Parry regains
consciousness. Jack learns that he inadvertently thwarted the famous architect's
223

suicide attempt by triggering the alarm when leaving the Upper East Side castle.
Lydia comes to visit Parry as usual in the hospital. She finds that Parry is awake and
hears him and Jack leading the patients of the mental ward in a rousing rendition of
"How About You?". Parry and Lydia embrace. Afterwards Jack goes back to the video
store and tells Anne that he loves her. She slaps him and then grabs him and kisses
him. The film ends with Jack and Parry lying naked in Central Park looking at the
clouds.

224

Script notes

225

Finding Forrester (2000)

Sixteen-year-old Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown) plays basketball with his friends in New
York. A recluse, William Forrester (Sean Connery), lives on the top floor of the
building across from the court. The kids regularly notice him watching them. One of
the boys dares Jamal to sneak into the apartment and retrieve an item. Jamal takes a
letter opener only to be surprised by Forrester and inadvertently leaves his backpack
behind. Forrester later drops Jamal's backpack onto the street. Jamal goes home to
find that Forrester wrote notes in his journals. Jamal returns to Forrester's apartment
and asks him to read more of his writing. Forrester tells him to begin with 5,000
words on why Jamal should "stay the fuck out of my home", which he completes and
leaves on the doorstep the following day.
Jamal returns the next day, and is invited inside. Forrester knows that a
representative from Mailor-Callow, a prestigious private school, offered Jamal a full
academic scholarship, partly for his skill on the basketball court and partly for his test
scores. Jamal learns that Forrester is the author of a famous book, Avalon Landing,
and that he has never published another. Forrester agrees to help Jamal with his
writing as long as Jamal does not ask about his personal life.
Jamal's writing improves, which causes Robert Crawford (F. Murray Abraham), a
professor at Mailor-Callow, to suspect plagiarism.
Jamal convinces Forrester to attend a game at Madison Square Garden, but Forrester
cannot handle the crowds and has an anxiety attack. Jamal takes him instead to see
Yankee Stadium late at night after everyone has gone where Forrester tells Jamal
details about his family, which explains the basis of his book, specifically his
brother's post-war trauma, alcoholism and Forrester's indirect role in his death. He
also explains how the subsequent deaths of his parents soon after affected him and
led to his becoming a recluse.

226

Forrester gives Jamal some of his own essays to rewrite, with the condition that
Jamal is not to take them from the apartment. Nonetheless, Jamal submits a work
that Forrester started (the title and first paragraph) but Jamal wrote to the school
writing contest. Crawford finds the parallels with Forrester's piece and brings Jamal
up on plagiarism charges. Jamal must either cite Forrester's work or prove he had
Forrester's permission to use the material. He refuses to do either to keep his
promise to Forrester. Crawford demands that Jamal write an apology letter to his
classmates and read it in front of the class. Jamal tells Forrester what he has done
and asks him to defend him, but Forrester is angry at Jamal for breaking his promise
about taking the work out of the apartment. Jamal accuses Forrester of being scared
and selfish for not helping him.
Jamal is told by the school that they will drop the plagiarism charges if he wins them
the state championship. Jamal misses two free throw shots at the end of the game,
costing the team the championship. Jamal writes an essay to Forrester that discusses
the gift of friendship. Jamal's brother, Terrell, (Busta Rhymes) finds the essay sealed
in an envelope and gives it to Forrester.
Jamal attends the school contest. During the readings by other students, Forrester
appears, announces himself and receives permission to read an essay that draws
overwhelming applause from the students. As Crawford is praising the work,
Forrester acknowledges his friendship with Jamal and reveals that the essay he had
just read was written by Jamal. He also explains that Jamal had written the contest
essay using the published title and first paragraph with permission. Crawford
adamantly states that this will not change any of the board's decisions. The board
overrules him and drops the plagiarism charges, readmitting Jamal's entry to the
competition. After the competition, Forrester thanks Jamal for his friendship and tells
him of his desire to visit Scotland where he was born.
A year later, Forrester's attorney (Matt Damon) meets with Jamal and tells him that
Forrester died of cancer, with which he had been diagnosed before he met Jamal.
227

The lawyer gives Jamal the keys to Forrester's apartment, a package, and a letter in
which Forrester thanks Jamal for helping him rekindle his desire to live. The package
contains the manuscript for Forrester's second novel, for which Jamal is expected to
write the foreword.

228

Script notes

229

Fight Club (1999)

The unnamed narrator (Edward Norton) is a traveling automobile company
employee who suffers from insomnia. One night he visits a support group
fortesticular cancer victims, where they assume that he too is a victim, and he
spontaneously weeps into the nurturing arms of another man, finding a "freedom"
that euphorically relieves his insomnia. He becomes addicted to participating in
support groups of various kinds, never preventing the groups from assuming he
does not suffer what they do. However, he begins to notice the presence of another
impostor, Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter), whose presence disturbs his bliss,
so he negotiates with her to avoid their attending the same groups.
After a flight home from a business trip, the narrator finds his apartment demolished
by an explosion. He calls Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), a soap salesman whom he
befriended on the flight, and they meet at a bar. A conversation about
consumerismleads to Tyler inviting the narrator to stay at his place, and the narrator
later moves into Tyler's dilapidated mansion permanently. Outside the bar Tyler
requests that the narrator hit him, which leads the two to engage in a fistfight. They
have further fights outside the bar on subsequent nights, and these fights attract
growing crowds of men. The fighting eventually moves to the bar's basement where
the men form a "fight club", a routine opportunity to fight recreationally.
Marla overdoses on pills and telephones the narrator for help; he ignores her, but
Tyler answers the call and saves her. Tyler and Marla become sexually involved, and
Tyler warns the narrator never to talk to Marla about him. More fight clubs form
across the country and, under Tyler's leadership, they become the anti-materialistand
anti-corporate organization called "Project Mayhem". The narrator complains to Tyler
that he wants to be more involved in the organization, but Tyler suddenly disappears.
When a member of Project Mayhem is killed by the police during a botched
sabotage operation, the narrator tries to shut down the project, and follows evidence
of Tyler's national travels to track him down. In one city, a Project member greets the
narrator as Tyler Durden. The narrator calls Marla from his hotel room and discovers
230

that Marla also believes him to be Tyler. He suddenly sees Tyler in his room, and Tyler
reveals that they are dissociated personalities in the same body. When the narrator
has believed himself to be asleep, Tyler has in fact been controlling his body.
The narrator blacks out after the conversation. When he wakes, he discovers from his
telephone log that Tyler made calls during his blackout. He uncovers Tyler's plans to
erase debt by destroying buildings that contain credit card companies' records. The
narrator tries to contact the police but finds that the officers are members of the
Project. He attempts to disarm explosives in a building, but Tyler subdues him and
moves him to the upper floor. The narrator, held by Tyler at gunpoint, realizes that in
sharing the same body with Tyler, he himself is actually holding the gun. He fires it
into his mouth, shooting through the cheek without killing himself. Tyler collapses
with an exit wound to the back of his head, and the narrator stops mentally
projecting him. Afterward, Project Mayhem members bring a kidnapped Marla to
him, believing him to be Tyler, and leave them alone. The explosives detonate,
collapsing the buildings around them; the narrator and Marla, holding hands, look
on.

231

Script notes

232

The Fifth Element (1997)

In 1914, aliens known as Mondoshawans arrive at an ancient Egyptian temple to
collect, for safekeeping, the only weapon capable of defeating a great evil that
appears every 5,000 years. The weapon consists of four stones, representing the four
classical elements, and a sarcophagus containing a fifth element in the form of a
human, which combines the power of the other four elements into a divine light
capable of defeating the evil. The Mondoshawans promise their human contact, a
priest from a secret order, that they will come back with the element stones in time to
stop the great evil when it returns.
In 2263,[b] the great evil appears in deep space in the form of a giant ball of black
fire, and destroys an attacking Earth spaceship. The Mondoshawans' current contact
on Earth, priest Vito Cornelius (Ian Holm), informs the President of Earth (Tom Lister
Jr.) of the history of the great evil and the weapon that can stop it. As the
Mondoshawans return to Earth they are ambushed by Mangalores, a race hired by
the industrialist Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (Gary Oldman), who has been
instructed by the great evil to acquire the stones.
The Mondoshawans' spacecraft is destroyed, though the stones are not on board; the
only item recovered is a hand of The Fifth Element. Scientists take it to a New York
City laboratory and use it to reconstruct a humanoid woman who takes the name
Leeloo (Milla Jovovich). Terrified of the unfamiliar surroundings, she escapes
confinement and jumps off a ledge, crashing into the flying taxicab of Korben Dallas
(Bruce Willis), a former major in the special forces.
Dallas delivers Leeloo to Cornelius and his apprentice, David (Charlie Creed-Miles),
whereupon Cornelius learns that the Mondoshawans entrusted the four element
stones to the alien Diva Plavalaguna (Mawenn Le Besco), an opera singer. Zorg kills
many of the Mangalores because of their failure to obtain the stones, but their
compatriots determine to seize the artifacts for themselves. Upon learning from the
Mondoshawans that the stones are in Plavalaguna's possession, General Munro
233

(Brion James), Dallas' former superior, re-enlists Dallas and orders him to travel
undercover to meet Plavalaguna on a luxury intergalactic cruise; Dallas takes Leeloo
with him. Meanwhile, Cornelius instructs David to prepare the ancient temple
designed to house the stones, then stows away on the space plane transporting
Dallas to the cruise liner.
Plavalaguna is killed when the Mangalores attack the ship, but Dallas succeeds in
retrieving the stones. During his struggle with the Mangalores he kills their leader.
After shooting and seriously wounding Leeloo, Zorg finds a carrying case which he
presumes contains the stones, and takes it back to his spacecraft, leaving behind
atime bomb that forces the liner's occupants to evacuate. Discovering the case to be
empty, Zorg returns to the ship and deactivates his bomb, but a dying Mangalore
sets off his own device, destroying the ship and killing Zorg. Dallas, Cornelius, Leeloo,
and talk-show host Ruby Rhod (Chris Tucker) escape with the stones aboard Zorg's
spacecraft.
The four join up with David at the weapon chamber in the Egyptian temple as the
great evil approaches. They activate the stones, but having witnessed and studied so
much violence, Leeloo has become disenchanted with humanity and refuses to
cooperate. Dallas confesses his love for Leeloo and kisses her. In response, Leeloo
combines the power of the stones and releases the divine light; the great evil, now
dormant, becomes another moon in Earth orbit.

234

Script notes

235

Field of Dreams (1989)

Ray Kinsella is a novice Iowa farmer who lives with his wife Annie and daughter
Karin. In the opening narration, Ray explains how he had a troubled relationship
with his father, John Kinsella, who had been a devoted baseball fan. While walking
through his cornfield one evening, Ray hears a voice whispering, "If you build it, he
will come." Ray continues hearing the voice before finally seeing a vision of a
baseball diamond in his field. Annie is skeptical of his vision, but she allows Ray to
plow the corn under in order to build a baseball field. As Ray builds the field, he tells
Karin the story of baseball's 1919Black Sox Scandal. As months pass and nothing
happens at the field, Ray's family faces financial ruin until, one night, Karin spots a
uniformed man in the field. Ray recognizes the man as Shoeless Joe Jackson, a
deceased baseball player idolized by Ray's father. Thrilled to be able to play baseball
again, Joe asks to bring others to the field to play. He later returns with the seven
other players banned as a result of the 1919 scandal.
Ray's brother-in-law, Mark, cannot see the baseball players and warns Ray that he
will go bankrupt unless he replants his crops. While in the field, Ray hears the voice
again, this time urging him to "ease his pain."
Ray attends a PTA meeting at which the possible banning of books by radical author
Terence Mann is discussed. Ray decides the voice was referring to Mann. Ray comes
across a magazine interview dealing with Mann's childhood dream of playing for the
Brooklyn Dodgers. After Ray and Ann both dream about Ray and Mann attending a
baseball game together at Fenway Park, Ray convinces his wife that he should seek
out Mann. Ray heads to Boston and persuades a reluctant, embittered Mann to
attend a game with him at Fenway. While at the ballpark, Ray again hears the voice;
this time urging him to "go the distance." At the same time, the scoreboard "shows"
statistics for a player named Archibald "Moonlight" Graham, who played one game
for the New York Giants in 1922, but never had a turn at bat. After leaving the game,
Mann eventually admits that he, too, saw the scoreboard vision.
236

Ray and Mann then travel to Chisholm, Minnesota where they learn that Graham
had become a doctor and had died sixteen years earlier. During a late night walk, Ray
finds himself in 1972 and encounters the then-living Graham, who states that he
had moved on from his baseball career. He also tells Ray that the greater
disappointment would have been not having a medical career. Graham declines
Ray's invitation to fulfill his dream; however, during the drive back to Iowa, Ray picks
up a young hitchhiker who introduces himself as Archie Graham. While Archie
sleeps, Ray reveals to Mann that he had denounced Shoeless Joe as a criminal to his
father and that was the reason for the rift between father and son. After the fight, Ray
refused to play catch with his father; something that he now regrets. When the three
arrive back at Ray's farm, they find that enough players have arrived to field two
teams. A game is played and Archie finally gets his turn at bat.
The next morning, Mark returns and demands that Ray sell the farm. Karin says that
they will not need to sell because people will pay to watch the ball games. Mann
agrees, saying that "people will come" in order to relive their childhood innocence.
Ray, after much thought, refuses to sell and a frustrated Mark scuffles with him. Karin
is accidentally knocked off the bleachers during the scuffle. The young Graham runs
from the diamond to help, becoming old "Doc" Graham the instant he steps off of
the field, and saves Karin from choking. Ray realizes that Graham sacrificed his young
self in order to save Ray's daughter. After reassuring Ray that his true calling was
medicine and being commended by the other players, Graham leaves. Suddenly,
Mark is able to see the players and urges Ray not to sell the farm.
After the game, Shoeless Joe invites Mann to enter the cornfield; Mann accepts and
disappears into the corn. Ray is angry at not being invited, but Joe rebukes him: if
Ray really wants a reward for having sacrificed so much, then Ray had better stay on
the field. Joe then glances towards home plate, saying "If you build it, he will come".
The catcher then removes his mask, and Ray recognizes him to be his father as a
young man. Shocked, Ray realizes that "ease his pain" referred to John Kinsella, and
237

believes that Joe was the voice all along; however, Joe implies that it was Ray
himself.
Ray introduces his father to Annie and Karin. As his father heads towards the
cornfield, Ray asks him if he wants to have a game of catch. They begin to play and
Annie happily watches. Meanwhile, hundreds of cars can be seen approaching the
baseball field, fulfilling Karin and Mann's prophecy that people will come to watch
baseball.

238

Script notes

239

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

n 1905, Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman living in the Russian village of
Anatevka,explains to the audience what keeps the Jews of Anatevka going is the
balance they achieve through following their ancient traditions, comparing their
precarious to a fiddler on a roof: trying to scratch out a pleasant tune, while not
breaking their necks. The fiddler appears throughout the film as a metaphoric
reminder of the Jews' ever-present fears and danger, and also as a symbol of the
traditions Tevye is trying to hold on to as his world changes around him. While in
town, Tevye meets Perchik, a radical Marxist from Kiev. Tevye invites Perchik to stay
with him and his family, and as a deal, offers him food, in exchange for Perchik
tutoring his daughters.
Through Yente, a matchmaker, Tevye arranges a marriage for his oldest daughter,
Tzeitel, to Lazar Wolf, a wealthy butcher. However, Tzeitel is in love with her childhood
sweetheart, Motel (pronounced "mottle") Kamzoil the tailor, and begs her father not
to make her marry the much older butcher. Initially angry because he has already
made an "agreement" with Wolf, Tevye realizes that Tzeitel loves Motel and yields to
his daughter's demands. To get Tzeitel and Tevye out of the agreement with Lazar,
Tevye claims to have had a nightmare, which he repeats to his wife Golde. In the
nightmare, he says that Golde's deceased Grandmother Tzeitel told him that Tzeitel is
supposed to marry Motel, as it was decided in heaven. Also in the nightmare, Lazar
Wolf's late wife, Fruma-Sarah, warns Tevye that if Tzeitel marries Lazar, she will kill
Tzeitel after three weeks of marriage. Golde concludes that the dream was a message
to be followed from their ancestors, and Tzeitel and Motel arrange to be married.
Meanwhile, after one of Perchik's lessons with Bielke and Shprintze (the youngest of
Tevye's daughters), Tevye's second daughter, Hodel, mocks Perchik's interpretation of
the story of Leah he told her sisters. He, in turn, criticizes her for hanging on to the
old traditions of her religion and tells her that the world is changing. To illustrate this,
he dances with her, because the opposite sexes dancing together is considered
240

forbidden to Orthodox Jews. The two are shown to be falling in love, and Perchik tells
Hodel that they just changed an old tradition.
The constable is basically sympathetic to the Jewish villagers, though not enough to
give up his job in their defense. He resists when ordered to put on a "spontaneous"
anti-Jewish demonstration, but gives in to keep his job. Before Tzeitel's wedding, he
warns Tevye of the impending demonstration.
Later, at Tzeitel and Motel's wedding, an argument breaks out between Tevye and
Lazar Wolf, who first decides to accept the fact that he is not married by giving the
new couple gifts. However, when Tevye wants to share something with him, Lazar
Wolf angrily does not want to listen to him and states that he should have been
married to Tzeitel, as it was first promised. Another argument breaks out over
whether a girl should be able to choose her own husband. Perchik addresses the
crowd and says that, since they love each other, it should be left for the couple to
decide and creates further controversy by asking Hodel to dance with him. The two
begin to dance, and gradually, the crowd warms to the ideawith Tevye and Golde
joining, then Motel and Tzeitel. The wedding then proceeds with great joy. Suddenly,
the military presence in the town and the constable arrive and begin a pogrom,
attacking the Jews and their property. The constable stops the attack on the wedding
celebration after the "radical" Perchik is wounded in the scuffle with the Tsar's men;
however, he allows the pogrom to continue in the form of massive property damage
to the village of Anatevka. Tevye and the immediate family stand still, until Tevye
angrily orders them to clean up, following the damage, instead of standing around.
Tevye has no words to say, except silently, asking why God allowed this to happen to
them, without any answers.
Act 2[edit]
Months later, Perchik prepares to leave Anatevka for the revolution and proposes to
Hodel, to which she accepts. When they tell Tevye, he is furious that they have
decided to marry without his permission and with Perchik leaving Hodel behind in
241

Anatevka, but again he relents because they love each other. This time, Tevye tells
Golde the truth and, as a side effect, they are prompted to re-evaluate their own
arranged marriage and relationship, realizing that, despite paired by a matchmaker,
they do love each other.
Weeks later, Perchik is arrested in Kiev and is exiled to Siberia. Hodel decides to join
him there. She promises Tevye that she and Perchik will be married under acanopy
there. Meanwhile, Tzeitel and Motel become parents, and Motel finally buys the
sewing machine for which he has long scrimped and saved. By now they are
becoming respected members of the community, and a close, almost parent-child
relationship is developing between Motel and Tevye and Goldewho, not so long
ago, had scorned Motel as a nobody.
Meanwhile, Tevye's third daughter Chava has fallen in love with a young Russian
peasanta Russian Orthodox Christiannamed Fyedka. When Fyedka introduces
himself to Tevye, with just a few words, Tevye advises Chava to be just distant friends,
because of his religion, however, when she eventually works up the courage to ask
Tevye to allow her to marry him, not agreeing with the tradition of not being allowed
to marry outside the family's faith. Horrified, Tevye forbids her to see him again, as
well as to not have any contact or to mention his name again, but they elope and are
married in a Russian Orthodox church, as Golde would find out when she meets up
with the priest upon hearing about the marriage. Grief-stricken, she runs off to find
Tevye doing his rounds and tells him everything. He then urges Golde to go home to
the other children, telling her that Chava is dead to the family, and that they shall
forget her all together. Chava later arrives to ask Tevye to accept both Fyedka and
Chava as married. In a soliloquy reminiscent of those spoken by Tevye concerning his
other daughters, but with a radically different conclusion, Tevye concludes that he
cannot accept Chava marrying a non-Jew, in effect abandoning the Jewish faith, so
he disowns her.

242

One winter day, the Jews of Anatevka are notified that they have to leave the village
or be forced out by the government; they have three days. Tevye, his family and
friends begin packing up to leave, heading for various parts of the United States and
other places: Yente the matchmaker to Ottoman Palestine, Lazar Wolf to Chicagoand
Tzeitel and Motel to Warsaw (until they make enough money to join the rest of the
family in New York). Tevye did receive letters from Hodel mentioning that while
Perchik stays in the Siberian prison that Hodel is working hard, and it's hoped that
when Perchik is released, that they would join the others in the United States. Chava
and her husband Fyedka come to Tevye's house and tell her family that they are
leaving, toounable to stay in a place that would force innocent people out. They
head to Krakw, Poland. Tevye shows signs of forgiving Chava by murmuring under
his breath "And God be with you", silently urging Tzeitel to repeat his words to Chava.
Golde calls out to Chava and Fyedka, telling them where they will be living in New
York.
As the mass evacuation of Anatevka takes place, the Constable silently watches. The
community forms their circle at a crossroad for one last time before scattering in
different directions. Tevye spots the fiddler and motions to him to come along,
symbolizing that even though he must leave his town, his traditions will always be
with him.

243

Script notes

244

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

In the Second Age of Middle Earth, the Dark Lord Sauron forges the One Ring
inMount Doom to conquer the land. An alliance of men and elves battle Saurons
forces in Mordor, where Isildur destroys Sauron by chopping off the Ring from his
body. However, the Rings power corrupts Isildur to prevent its destruction. Isildur is
assassinated by Orcs, but the Ring is lost for 2500 years until discovered bySmagol
who is consumed by the Ring and later named Gollum. After 500 years, it abandons
him, only to be unexpectedly recovered by a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins.
Sixty years later, Bilbo celebrates his 111th birthday and is visited by his
friendGandalf the Grey. Bilbo reveals he intends on leaving the rural Shire to stay
with the elves of Rivendell, and leave his inheritance to his nephew Frodo. After
literally vanishing from his party, Bilbo prepares to leave but Gandalf convinces him
to leave the Ring behind for Frodo. Concerned about the Ring, Gandalf investigates
its origins discovering the truth and warns Frodo, revealing Saurons spirit survived
and a captured Gollum informed Saurons forces of Bilbos home. Gandalf
catchesSamwise Gamgee, Frodos friend, eavesdropping and forces him to
accompany Frodo to the village of Bree. Gandalf goes to Isengard to speak to
Saruman the White, learning Sauron has unleashed the Ringwraiths to retrieve the
Ring. Saruman is revealed to be aiding Sauron, and he imprisons Gandalf on the roof
of his towerOrthanc.
Frodo and Sam meet fellow Hobbits, Merry and Pippin, but they have to hide from
the Ringwraiths. Arriving in Bree, they learn Gandalf is missing, but are joined by a
mysterious ranger named Strider who escorts them to Rivendell. The Hobbits are
ambushed by the Ringwraiths, one stabbing Frodo with a deathly morgul blade until
Strider fends them off. Frodo is taken to Rivendell by Striders lover, the Elvin princess
Arwen, and is healed by her father Lord Elrond. Gandalf arrives, having escaped
Isengard on an eagle. Elrond holds a council to decide the fate of the Ring, Frodo
volunteering to throw it into Mount Doom, which is the only way to destroy the Ring
and Sauron along with it. He forms the Fellowship of the Ring, accompanied by
245

Gandalf, Sam, Merry, Pippin, dwarf Gimli, elf Legolas, Boromir of Gondor, and Strider,
actually revealed to be Aragorn, a descendant of Isildur and rightful king of Gondor.
Bilbo gives Frodo his old sword Sting as a weapon.
The Fellowship set out but when Saruman magically blocks off their path, they must
venture into the dwarf Mines of Moria. They discover all of the dwarves have been
slain by Orcs, and Gollum is secretly stalking them. They are attacked by the enemy
accompanied by a troll but escape, only for a fiery demonic Balrog to awaken.
Gandalf prevents the Balrog from pursuing the group, but is dragged into a chasm
by the beast, believed to be dead. Aragorn leads the mourning Fellowship to
Lothlrien, home of Galadriel and Celeborn. Galadriel privately informs Frodo that
the Ring will be a burden, and one of his friends will try to take the Ring. Meanwhile,
Saruman forms an army of Uruk-hai to hunt down the Fellowship and bring the
carrier of the Ring unharmed.
The group sail on to Parth Galen, where Boromir attempts to take the Ring from
Frodo. Afraid of losing his friends to the Ring, Frodo decides to go off alone. The Urukhai arrive, and in the commotion, Merry and Pippin are taken captive, believed to be
carriers, and Boromir is fatally shot with three arrows by the Uruk-hai commander
Lurtz. Aragorn beheads Lurtz and helps the dying Boromir find peace. Sam pursues
Frodo, informing him he must follow him as a promise he made to Gandalf. Aragorn,
Legolas, and Gimli go to rescue Merry and Pippin, while Frodo and Sam head for
Mordor.

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247

Fearless (1993)
While taking a business trip, architectMax Klein (Jeff Bridges) survives a crash of a
flight headed from San Francisco to Houston. As the plane descends, Max
inexplicably becomes at peace when he accepts he is going to die. The revelation
inspires him to comfort many of the fearful passengers, even moving to sit next to
Byron Hummel (Daniel Cerny), a young boy flying alone. Thepsychological trauma of
the experience transforms his personality and he enters analtered state of
consciousness, rethinking his life and becoming preoccupied with the eternal
meanings and the existential questions of life and death itself. Max's reaction to this
awakening itself questions the reality of what is real and unreal and what his mind
perceives as real through his interaction with others and the chance of living again in
everyday life.
Immediately after the crash, Max, one of the plane's few survivors, rents a car and
drives from the crash site in Bakersfield to Los Angeles, stopping on the way to visit
his old high school sweetheart, Alison (Debra Monk), whom he hasn't seen in 20
years. During their meal at a restaurant Alison notices Max eating a strawberry and
inquires about his allergy to them. Max grins and explains he's "gotten past" his
allergic reaction and somehow, confidently finishes it with no problems. He's tracked
down at a hotel room the next morning by F.B.I. agents who question his odd choice
to not contact his wife and family or remain at the crash site with the other survivors.
The airline sends a representative who compensates him with train tickets to go
home to San Francisco. Max declines the tickets, stating adamantly that he wants to
fly home and has no fear of air travel anymore. On the flight he meets Dr. Bill
Perlman (John Turturro), an airline-contracted psychiatrist who offers to counsel Max
for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dr. Perlman accompanies Max back to his home where his wife Laura (Isabella
Rossellini) begins noticing his strange behavior. Max matter-of-factly tells Nan
Gordon (Deirdre O'Connell), the wife of his friend and business partner, that her
husband Jeff (John de Lancie) died in the crash. The media dubs Max "The Good
248

Samaritan" and tries to interview him as Byron comes to publicly thank him for the
way he comforted the passengers during the crash, but Max avoids making a
statement. Over time Max becomes distant from Laura and his son Jonah (Spencer
Vrooman) because of his preoccupation with his near death experience. He begins
drawing abstract pictures of the crash and his sense of a hole opening in the sky
before him. He comes to think of himself as invulnerable to death causing Dr.
Perlman to become concerned that Max is delusional. Perlman encourages Max to
meet with another survivor, Carla Rodrigo (Rosie Perez), in the hope that the two can
help support one another. Carla, who lost her baby son in the crash, struggles with
survivor's guilt, punishing herself for not holding onto him tightly enough when his
seat belt on the plane malfunctioned. Max and Carla bond and develop a close
friendship as he helps her to get past her depression and free herself from her guilt.
Max, Laura and Nan meet with attorney Steven Brillstein (Tom Hulce), who
encourages Max to exaggerate his testimony in order to increase Nan'scompensation
settlement offer from the airline. Max states his discomfort with lying but reluctantly
agrees when he considers Nan's financial predicament as a widow. The unease of
lying causes Max to have a panic attack and he runs out of the office to the roof of the
building where he climbs onto the ledge. As Max stands on the ledge, looking down
at the streets below, his panic attack subsides and he rejoices in his fearlessness.
Laura follows Max onto the roof and upon finding him, blindly spinning around on
the ledge with his overcoat billowing across his face, she believes him to be suicidal.
Eventually Max's increasingly dramatic attempts (culminating with an intentional car
crash into a brick wall) at pushing the boundaries between life and death succeed in
jolting Carla from her uncertain state. Afterwards, Carla meets with Laura and the two
clarify the misunderstanding that she and Max are past a co-dependency state and
are in fact, in love with each other. Moreover, Carla explains that she regards Max as
he sees himself - an angel - and Laura now understands their shared delusion.
However, after Carla reluctantly parts company with Max, he remains aloof in his
relationship with his wife and son, struggling to come to terms with his implied
249

immortality. One night, Brillstein arrives at the Klein home to celebrate the pending
settlement offer, and brings a basket with an assortment of fruits. Max eats one of
the strawberries but, unlike at the restaurant, this time he experiences an immediate
allergic reaction and suffocates. As he lies choking, Max goes into a state of vision
where he sees various flashbacks and starts toward the proverbial light at the end of
the tunnel (in the guise of an aisle in the airplane fuselage) as Laura's voice is
overheard repeatedly "calling him back" to the world. Max accepts the reality of his
imminent death when suddenly he's resuscitated by Laura. He survives and (it's
implied) recovers his emotional connection to his family, to the world and to the
reality of yet another chance at life.

250

Script notes

251

The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish (1991)
Louis Aubinar (Bob Hoskins), a humble, middle-aged photographer, specializes in
religious pictures. Louis lives in a small apartment in Paris with his psychotic sister,
Elizabeth, who cooks terrible meals, including grinding an entire sailfish into paste.
His employer, Norbert, a prestigious religious articles curator, has commissioned a
series of portraits of the Saints. Norbert decides to discard their next project, John the
Baptist, and move directly to Jesus. Louis, who is already cash-strapped, faces the
prospect of being fired if he does not find an appropriate model for Jesus. Louis'
friend Zalman is also worried, as he was supposed to have posed as John the Baptist
for the cancelled photo, and now his flu will interfere with another job in filmdubbing that he counts on keeping. He asks Louis to do him a favour and cover his
part until he's well.
In spite of his terrible situation, Louis agrees and goes to Zalman's job, which turns
out to be voice dubbing for pornographic films. In shock, he takes his place near
Sybil (Natasha Richardson). Dazed and traumatized, he inadvertently has a loud,
intense orgasm, impressing Sybil. They meet cute, and Louis introduces himself as
Zalman, to cover his friend's absence.
Sybil tells Louis the story of her last unfortunate relationship with a passionate but
delusional Pianist (Jeff Goldblum), who worked in the same restaurant as she did. A
girl having her birthday party at the restaurant offered Sybil a watch, so that Sybil
would make the Pianist smile while he played. They become close, and their passion
improves his playing, and by consequence the reputation of the restaurant. A
Violinist begins playing at the restaurant, also performing passionately, and is
attacked by the Pianist in a jealous rage which landed him in prison for three years,
due to be released the next day.
Louis, moved by Sybil's story, lends her money to buy a suit for the Pianist, and
promises to be there with her at the prison gates. Sybil's sickly grandfather has a
complication that makes Sybil miss their meeting at the prison gates, so Louis
252

follows the wrong person. Later he is confused when he sees the suit returned to the
shop's window. By a stroke of fate, the Pianist finds Norbert's card and arrives there
in a downpour of rain. Louis finds the Pianist is the perfect model for Jesus, and
helps him obtain a very well-paying contract from Norbert.
Louis is taking the best pictures of his career with the Pianist (who gives various
names to himself, including Frdric Chopin) as Jesus. However, life is becoming
complicated for the Pianist; he is being identified as Jesus by the public that has
seen his posters. By another stroke of fate, he is forced to try to cure a blind boy and,
during his pretended concentration, a golf ball hits the boy on the head and the
boy's sight is restored. Doubting his own identity, the Pianist starts believing that he
is Jesus. Through friendly conversations with Louis, he also starts understanding that
Louis is disclosing to him his feelings for the same Sybil from the Pianist's past.
Meanwhile, Sybil had returned the suit to the store and returns the borrowed money
to the real Zalman, who happens to be too sick to open the door. Still trying to locate
Louis, who she thinks is Zalman, she arrives at Norbert's, from where the Pianist has
recently been fired. As the Pianist sees Sybil talking to Norbert, he attacks Louis. Louis
is caught off guard, as he is still completely unaware of the Pianist's former relation
with Sybil.
Finally, the Pianist believing himself to be Jesus tries to walk on water and drowns in
a river. Louis, still confused, is carrying his ashes in an urn when Sybil finally finds
him. The film ends with the two of them getting close to each other again. At the very
end, Sybil, who still believes that Louis is Zalman, notices that he is wearing the very
watch that she was once given.

253

Script notes

254

The Family Man (2000)

Jack Campbell is a single, wealthyWall Street executive living the high life in New
York City. He is in the midst of putting together a multi-billion dollar merger and has
ordered an emergency meeting on Christmas Day to ensure its success. The concept
of family life clearly has little or no meaning for him. In his office, on Christmas Eve,
he is surprised to hear that his former girlfriend, Kate, tried to call him after many
years. After reminiscing a bit, he walks into aconvenience store where a
lotterycontestant, Cash, barges in saying that he has a winning ticket worth $238. The
store clerk believes that Cash is lying and refuses to give him his winnings. Cash
pulls out a gun and is about to shoot the clerk before Jack offers to buy the ticket
from him for $200, thus averting disaster. Jack and Cash settle their business deal
outside. Jack offers to help Cash. In return, Cash questions Jack, asking him if he is
missing anything in his life. Jack assures him he has everything he needs. The two
part company, but not before Cash cryptically tells Jack that actions have
consequence and that Jack has brought whatever is coming on himself. Jack returns
to his penthouse and sleeps away the night alone.
The next morning, on Christmas Day, Jack wakes up in a suburban New
Jerseybedroom with Kate and two children. Shocked and confused, he hurries back
to his office and condo in New York, but not even his closest friends recognize him.
Confused, Jack runs out to the street and encounters Cash, who is now driving Jack's
Ferrari. Cash explains that Jack is experiencing a glimpse of an alternate universe in
order to learn a lesson. The crux of the lesson is unknown and is personal to Jack's
life. He advises Jack to take the time to learn whatever it is that he needs to learn.
Jack realizes that he is living the life he could have had if he had not gone to London
to study and become an investment banker but had stayed in the United States with
his girlfriend at the time. He instead has a modest family life, where he is a car tire
salesman and Kate is a non-profit lawyer. Very soon, Jack's young daughter realizes
his secret, thinks he is an alien and decides to assist him in surviving his new life.
Jack struggles to fit into the role of a family man, making many serious blunders
255

such as missing opening Christmas presents, flirting with a married woman, and
forgetting his anniversary. He begins to succeed in his life, bonding with his children,
falling in love with his wife, and working hard at his dull job.
As a consequence of a chance meeting, he suddenly finds himself being offered a
contract to work at the very same investment firm from his real life, having impressed
the Chairman of the firm with his business savvy when he came in for a tire change.
His old mentor once again gladly offers him a job, while a formerly
sycophanticemployee is instead in Jack's old position, with an assertiveness he did
not possess as a subordinate. While he is wowed by the potential salary and other
complimentary extreme luxuries, Kate argues that they are very happy where they
are and that they should be thankful for the life they have.
Just as Jack is finally realizing the true value of his new life, he sees Cash again (now
a store clerk) and demands to stay in this life, but, though sorrowful of Jack's
situation, Cash informs him that there is nothing he can do. So, his epiphany jolts
him back to his wealthyyet as he now realizes, lonely and unfulfilledformer life on
Christmas Day. In desperation, he forgoes closing his $130 billion pharmaceutical
acquisition deal to intercept Kate, who had left the message the day before. He finds
her moving out of a luxury townhouse. Like Jack, she also focused on her career and
became a very wealthy corporate lawyer. Furthermore, she had only called him to
give back some of his old possessions. Before she moves to Paris, he runs after her at
the airport and describes the family they had in the alternate universe in an effort to
win back her love. Shocked but intrigued, she agrees to have a cup of coffee at the
airport, suggesting that they will have a future after all.

256

Script notes

257

Fallen (1998)
An ancient and diabolic spiritual being, Azazel, is supernaturally condemned to
eternally transmigrate at will between unwitting and susceptible human souls who
act as hosts for possession. On rare occasions, Azazel's spiritual transmigration is
blocked by an unreceptive human host who appears to be immune. These rare
exceptions become special targets for Azazel's sustained spiritual stalking through
subtler means.
Detective Hobbes gains notoriety for capturing a serial killer named Edgar Reese.
While Edgar is in prison on death row, Hobbes visits Edgar, and unknown to Hobbes,
a spiritual being inside Edgar tries to transmigrate into Hobbes through the physical
contact of a handshake through the prison bars. Somehow Hobbes is immune to this
transmigration attempt and is able to unwittingly block the transmigration of the
spiritual being into Hobbes's body. After Reese is executed, Hobbes and his partner
Jonesy investigate a string of murders by an apparent copycat killer. Hobbes,
through hints given initially by Reese, and later by the apparent copycat killer, tracks
down a woman named Gretta Milano. Gretta explains that her father, a detective in
the same city as Hobbes, killed himself after accusations and evidence of murders
began to pile up on him. Hobbes goes to her family's lake-house, and finds books
concerning demonic possession and angels. He also finds a name with which he is
completely unfamiliar drawn on the wall, initially hidden by paint, of a being named
Azazel.
Hobbes inquires after the name to Gretta, who gravely advises him to drop the case
to protect his life and family. Gretta explains that Azazel is a fallen angel who
possesses humans due to punishment from God. She explains that Azazel cannot live
a single breath without a host, and can pass between living beings by touch. Hobbes
realizes that Azazel, while possessing Edgar Reese, touched Hobbes before the
execution, but was not able to possess him. Therefore, Gretta explains that the
demon will try to ruin his life by another way, and warns him of the inevitability of
Azazel's victory. Azazel finds Hobbes at his precinct, and through his coworkers,
258

torments him. Hobbes reveals his knowledge of Azazel's true identity, to which the
demon responds, "Fear my wrath", and disappears into the city.
To provoke Hobbes, Azazel possesses his nephew Sam and attacks
John'sintellectually disabled brother Art in their home. He flees into other people on
the street, ending up in a schoolteacher. As the teacher, Azazel draws a gun and
forces Hobbes to shoot his host in front of a group of bystanders. Azazel boasts to
Hobbes that even if his current host body is killed, he can transfer to any new host
body in the surrounding area, without even needing to touch them.
Lieutenant Stanton informs Hobbes that his fingerprints were found at one of the
murder scenes and along with the bizarre circumstances of the shooting of the
teacher Azazel possessed, he has become a suspect for all the murders. Azazel
inhabits several of the witnesses and gives false accounts that the shooting was
unprovoked, thereby throwing further suspicion on Hobbes, framing him for the
crime.
Hobbes, after consulting with Gretta, formulates a plan to end Azazel. He escapes to
the lakeside cabin where he originally found Azazel's name and draws the demon to
him. Stanton and Jonesy show up, confusing Hobbes due to their relationships.
Jonesy reveals his possession when he kills Stanton dramatically and pursues
Hobbes throughout the cabin. After ambushing the demon, Hobbes shoots Jonesy in
the stomach, and reveals his plan. Hobbes smokes poison-laced cigarettes,
explaining that Azazel will not find another host in the remote wilderness, which will
force Azazel to inhabit Hobbes's dying body and die with him. He frantically tries to
find a new host but succumbs to the poison in Hobbes' system. Azazel drifts around
until a last second reveal that he finds a host, a tawny cat.

259

Script notes

260

Fail-Safe (1964)
The film begins with VIPs visiting the headquarters of the Strategic Air Command
(SAC) at Offutt AFB in Omaha, Nebraska. During the trip, an alert is initiated by
USAF's early warning radar that an unidentified flying object is making an
unauthorised intrusion into American airspace. Defence protocols dictate that SAC
must always keep several bomb groups airborne 24hours-a-day in the event of
anuclear attack on the USA. Following the alert, bombers are ordered to proceed to
pre-identified aerial "fail-safe points" to await their final "go" orders before
proceeding towards Soviet targets.
Shortly after reaching those points, the alert is canceled because the intruder is
identified as an off-course civilian airliner. However a technical error sends an errant
"go code" to one bomber group ordering them to attack their predetermined target:
Moscow. SAC headquarters begins trying to rescind the order. But this fails because
coincidentally and simultaneously a new Russian countermeasure has begun radio
jamming communications between the bomber group and SAC. With his orders
confirmed, Colonel Jack Grady (Edward Binns), the US bomber group's commander,
starts the attack on Russia.
With pressure mounting, the President of the United States (Henry Fonda) and his
advisers attempt to recall the group or shoot them down. Communications are
begun with the Soviet Chairman, whereupon mistakes on both sides (the American
accidental launch of the mission and the coincidental Soviet jamming) are
acknowledged. The jamming is reversed; however SAC training and protocols cause
the crew to reject the counter-orders to abort and continue with their mission.
The US President, realizing the consequences of the situation, desperately seeks a
resolution that will stop the Russians from launching a counter-attack that will lead to
an all-out nuclear holocaust. Ultimately the President orders an American bomber
towards New York City. His reasoning is that it would be destroyed by the Soviets
anyway, along with many other American cities, in any reprisal strike.
261

After the bombers cannot be stopped from destroying Moscow, the President orders
General Black (Dan O'Herlihy) whose wife and children live in New York to drop
the same nuclear payload that struck Moscow on the city. This act, he hopes, will
appease the Soviets from attacking. Prior to the mission, the President's advisors in
the Pentagon discover that the First Lady is on a visit to New York City. After releasing
the bombs, Black, who is flying the bomber, commits suicide.

262

Script notes

263

Face Off (1998)

FBI Special Agent Sean Archer (Travolta) has a personal vendetta against civil
freelance terrorist Castor Troy (Cage) who six years earlier killed Archer's son Michael
while trying to assassinate Archer. Archer lays an ambush to capture Castor and his
younger brother and terrorist accomplice Pollux at a small Los Angeles airport.
During the ambush, Castor goads Archer with knowledge of a bomb located
somewhere in the city set to go off in a few days, but is knocked into a coma before
Archer can learn more.
Archer affirms the threat is real, but is unable to convince Pollux to talk where the
bomb is located. At suggestion of his partner Tito, Archer secretly undergoes a highly
experimental face transplant procedure by Dr. Walsh to take on Castor's face and
appearance. Archer (now played by Cage) is taken to the same high-security prison
where Pollux is, and slowly convinces Pollux that he is Castor, gaining information on
the bomb's location. Meanwhile, Castor wakes up from his coma prematurely and
discovers his face missing. He calls his gang, and they force Dr. Walsh to put Archer's
face on him. Castor (now played by Travolta) then kills Dr. Walsh and Tito, eliminating
all those that knew about the surgery, and uses his new appearance to take over
Archer's life, including getting close to Archer's wife Eve and daughter Jamie. Castor
(Travolta) visits the prison where Archer (Cage) is ready to leave to goad him and
leaving Archer to languish, and then goes and disarms his bomb in a dramatic
fashion, gaining him respect from Archer's fellow FBI agents.
Archer starts a prison riot that allows him to escape, and he then retreats to Castor's
headquarters. There, Archer meets Sasha, the sister of Castor's primary drug kingpin,
and her son Adam that bears a striking resemblance to Michael. Archer learns that
Adam is Castor's son. Castor learns of Archer's escape and hastily assembles a team
to raid his headquarters. The raid turns bloody, killing many FBI agents and many of
Castor's gang, including Pollux; Archer, Sasha, and Adam are able to escape. Archer's
supervisor Director Victor Lazarro blames Castor for the numerous deaths, but Castor
264

kills him privately, making it look like a heart attack. Castor is promoted to Acting
Director as plans are made for Lazarro's funeral.
Archer finds safety for Sasha and Adam and approaches Eve; though he is unable to
convince her immediately of his true identity, Eve has become suspicious enough to
take a sample of Castor's blood to test. When she finds the blood matches that of
Castor, she apologizes to Archer, and explains that while Castor is nearly untouchable
with his new position, he will be vulnerable at Lazarro's funeral. At the funeral, Archer
finds that Castor has anticipated his actions and takes Eve hostage. Sasha arrives, and
a gunfight ensues; Sasha manages to save Eve but after fatally taking a bullet. Before
she dies, Archer promises to take care of Adam for her. Castor flees the church with
Archer following him. After a boat chase, Archer forces Castor to shore and kills him
with a spear gun. As the FBI arrive and surround Archer, Eve is able to convince the
agents this is her husband. The face transplant surgery is undone, and Archer (back to
Travolta) is able to return home, with Adam having been adopted into his family to
keep his promise to Sasha.

265

Script notes

266

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Dr. Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) and his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), are a young couple
living in New York. They go to a Christmas party thrown by a wealthy patient, Victor
Ziegler (Sydney Pollack). Bill meets an old friend from medical school, Nick
Nightingale (Todd Field), who now plays piano professionally. While a Hungarian
man named Sandor Szavost (Sky du Mont) tries to pick up Alice, two young models
try to take Bill off for a tryst. He is interrupted by a call from his host upstairs, who
had been having sex with Mandy (Julienne Davis), a young woman who has
overdosed on a speedball. Mandy recovers with Bill's aid.
The next evening at home, while smoking cannabis, Alice asks him if he had sex with
the two girls. After Bill reassures her, she asks if he is ever jealous of men who are
attracted to her. As the discussion gets heated, he states that he thinks women are
more faithful than men. She rebuts him, telling him of a recent fantasy she had
about a naval officer they had encountered on a vacation. Disturbed by Alice's
revelation, Bill is then called by the daughter of a patient who has just died; he then
heads over to her place. In her pain, Marion Nathanson (Marie Richardson)
impulsively kisses him and says she loves him. Putting her off before her fiance Carl
(Thomas Gibson) arrives, Bill takes a walk. He meets a prostitute named Domino
(Vinessa Shaw) and goes to her apartment.
Alice phones just as Domino begins to kiss Bill, after which he calls off the awkward
encounter. Meeting Nick at the jazz club where he's just finishing his last set, Bill
learns that Nick has an engagement where he must play piano blindfolded. Bill
presses for details. He learns that to gain admittance, one needs a costume, a mask,
and the password (which Nick writes down for him). Bill goes to a costume shop. He
offers the owner, Mr. Milich (Rade Serbedzija), a generous amount of money to rent a
costume. In the shop, Milich catches his teenage daughter (Leelee Sobieski) with two
Japanese men and expresses outrage at their lack of a sense of decency.

267

Bill takes a taxi to the country mansion mentioned by Nick. He gives the password
and discovers a quasi-religious sexual ritual is taking place. Although he is masked, a
woman takes Bill aside and warns him he does not belong there, insisting he is in
terrible danger. She is then whisked away by someone else, so Bill spends some time
wandering from room to room in the mansion, where groups of masked people are
engaged in various types of sexual acts, while others watch. He is then interrupted by
a porter who tells Bill that the taxi driver wants to speak urgently with him at the
front door. However, the porter takes him to the ritual room, where a disguised redcloaked Master of Ceremonies confronts Bill with a question about a second
password. Bill says he has forgotten. The Master of Ceremonies insists that Bill
"kindly remove his mask", then his clothes. The masked woman who had tried to
warn Bill now intervenes and insists that she be punished instead of him. Bill is
ushered from the mansion and warned not to tell anyone about what happened
there.
Just before dawn, Bill arrives home guilty and confused. He finds Alice laughing
loudly in her sleep and awakens her. While crying, she tells him of a troubling dream
in which she was having sex with the naval officer and many other men, and
laughing at the idea of Bill seeing her with them. The next morning, Bill goes to
Nick's hotel, where the desk clerk (Alan Cumming) tells Bill that a bruised and
frightened Nick checked out a few hours earlier after returning with two large,
dangerous-looking men. Nick tried to pass an envelope to the clerk when they were
leaving, but it was intercepted, and Nick was driven away by the two men.
Bill goes to return the costume but not the mask, which he has misplaced and
Milich, with his daughter by his side, states he can do other favors for Bill "and it
needn't be a costume." The same two Japanese men leave; Milich implies to Bill that
he has sold his daughter for prostitution. Bill returns to the country mansion in his
own car and is met at the gate by a man with a note warning him to cease and
desisthis inquiries. At home, Bill thinks about Alice's dream while watching her tutor
their daughter.
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Bill reconsiders his sexual offers the night before. He first phones Marion, but hangs
up after Carl answers the phone. Bill then goes to Domino's apartment with a gift.
Her roommate Sally (Fay Masterson) is home, but not Domino. After Bill attempts to
seduce Sally, she reveals to him that Domino has just tested positive for HIV. Bill
leaves and notices a man is following him. After reading a newspaper story about a
beauty queen who died of a drug overdose, Bill views the body at the morgue and
identifies it as Mandy. Bill is summoned to Ziegler's house, where he is confronted
with the events of the past night and day. Ziegler was one of those involved with the
ritual orgy, and identified Bill and his connection with Nick. His own position with the
secret society has been jeopardized by Bill's intrusion since Ziegler recommended
Nick for the job.
Ziegler claims that he had Bill followed for his own protection, and that the warnings
made against Bill by the society are only intended to scare him from speaking about
the orgy. But he implies the society is capable of acting on their threats, telling Bill:
"If I told you their names, I don't think you'd sleep so well". Bill asks about the death
of Mandy, whom Ziegler has identified as the masked woman at the party who'd
"sacrificed" herself to prevent Bill's punishment, and about the disappearance of
Nick, the piano player. Ziegler insists that Nick is safely back at his home in Seattle.
Ziegler also says the "punishment" was a charade by the secret society to further
frighten Bill, and it had nothing to do with Mandy's death; she was a hooker and
addict and had indeed died from another accidental drug overdose. Bill clearly does
not know if Ziegler is telling him the truth about Nick's disappearance or Mandy's
death, but he says nothing further and lets the matter drop.
When he returns home, Bill finds the rented mask on his pillow next to his sleeping
wife. He breaks down in tears and decides to tell Alice the whole truth of the past two
days. The next morning, they go Christmas shopping with their daughter. Alice
muses that they should be grateful they have survived, that she loves him, and there
is something they must do as soon as possible. When Bill asks what it may be, she
simply says: "Fuck".
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Script notes

270

The Exorcist (1973)

Lankester Merrin is a veteran Catholic priest who is on an archeological dig in Iraq.
There he finds an amulet which resembles the statue of Pazuzu, a demon who Merrin
defeated years ago. Merrin then realizes the demon has returned to seek revenge.
Meanwhile in Georgetown, actress Chris MacNeil is living on location with her preteen daughter Regan (Linda Blair). After playing with a Ouija board Regan begins
acting strangely including making mysterious noises, using constant bad language
and exhibiting abnormal strength. Regan also causes her bed to shake, much to her
and Chris's horror. In response, her mother consults several physicians but despite
undergoing a series of diagnostic tests, Dr. Klein and his associates find nothing
medically wrong with her, unaware that she is now fully possessed by Pazuzu.
One night Regan kills Chris's director, Burke Dennings. His murder is investigated by
Lieutenant William Kinderman, who interviews Chris as well as priest and
psychiatrist Father Damien Karras, who has lost faith in God after his frail mother
died.
After the doctors decide that an exorcism may be the only way to help Regan, Chris
arranges a meeting with Karras. Karras at first refuses to get permission to perform
an exorcism, despite Regan now being completely possessed by the demon. After
getting a recording of her talking in reverse and seeing the words "Help Me" on her
stomach Karras decides to perform an exorcism with Merrin chosen to assist.
In Regan's bedroom both men try to exorcise the demon but a stubborn Pazuzu toys
with them, especially Karras, including insulting his late mother. After a break and
hint of faltering, Karras is dismissed. Merrin attempts the exorcism alone. Karras
enters the room and discovers Merrin has died and confronts the mocking, laughing
spirit of Pazuzu. At Karras' plea, Pazuzu then possesses Karras, leaving Regan's body.
In a moment of self-sacrifice, the priest throws himself out of the window before
Pazuzu can compel him to harm Regan, and dies from his injuries.
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A few days later Regan, who is now back to her normal self, returns home to Los
Angeles with her mother. Kinderman, who narrowly misses them, befriends Father
Dyer, an old friend of Karras, as he investigates how Karras died.

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273

Excalibur (1981)
The sorcerer Merlin retrieves Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake for Uther
Pendragon, who secures a brief alliance with Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall. Uther's
lust for Cornwall's wife Igrayne soon ruins the truce, and Merlin agrees to help Uther
to seduce Igrayne on the condition that he gives Merlin whatever results from his
lust. Merlin transforms Uther into Cornwall's likeness with the Charm of Making.
Cornwall's daughter Morgana senses her father's mortal injury during his assault on
Uther's camp and, while Igrayne is fooled by the disguise and Uther impregnates
her, Morgana sees through it, watching Uther as Cornwall dies in battle. Nine months
later, Merlin takes Uther's son Arthur. Uther pursues but is mortally wounded by
Gorlois' knights. Uther thrusts Excalibur into a stone, and Merlin proclaims, "He who
draws the sword from the stone, he shall be king."
Years later Sir Ector and his sons, Kay and Arthur, attend a jousting tournament.
SirLeondegrance wins the chance to try pulling Excalibur from the stone, but fails.
Kay's sword is later stolen, and Arthur pulls Excalibur from the stone while trying to
replace the stolen sword. Word spreads, and Merlin announces to the crowd that
Arthur is Uther's son and hence the rightful ruler. Leondegrance immediately
proclaims his support for the new king, but not all are willing to accept. While the
others argue, Merlin and Arthur enter the forest, where he tells Arthur that he is the
rightful king, and that the king and the land are one. Overwhelmed, Arthur falls into
a long sleep. When he wakes, Arthur goes to aid Leondegrance, whose castle is under
siege by Arthur's enemies, led by Sir Uryens. During the battle, Arthur defeats Uryens
and then demands Uryens knight him, handing him Excalibur to do so. Uryens is
tempted to kill him but is deeply moved by Arthur's display of faith and decides to
knight him (Merlin is stunned by something he did not foresee). Uryens falls to his
knees to declare his loyalty, which leads the others to follow suit. Arthur meets
Leondegrance's daughter Guenevere soon afterwards and is smitten but Merlin
foresees trouble.

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Years later, the undefeated knight Lancelot blocks a bridge and will not move until
he is defeated in single combat, seeking a king worthy of his sword. Lancelot defeats
Arthur and his knights, so Arthur summons Excalibur's magic and defeats Lancelot
but breaks Excalibur. Arthur is ashamed of abusing the sword's power to serve his
own vanity and throws the sword's remains into the lake, while admitting his
mistake. The Lady of the Lake offers a restored Excalibur to the king, Lancelot is
revived and Arthur and his knights unify the land. Arthur creates the Round Table,
buildsCamelot and marries Guenevere; Lancelot confesses that he has fallen in love
with her too. Arthur's half-sister Morgana, a budding sorceress and still bitter towards
Arthur, becomes apprenticed to Merlin in hopes of learning the Charm of Making
from him.
Lancelot stays away from the Round Table to avoid Guenevere. He meets Perceval, a
peasant boy and takes him to Camelot to become a squire. Sir Gawain, under
Morgana's influence, accuses Guenevere of driving Lancelot away, "driven from us by
a woman's desire", forcing Lancelot to duel with Gawain to defend his and
Guenevere's honour. The preceding night, Lancelot duels against himself in a
nightmare and awakens to find himself wounded by his own sword. Arthur hastily
knights Perceval when Lancelot is late to the duel but Lancelot appears just in time
and defeats Gawain, while nearly dying from his wounds. Merlin heals him and he
rides out to the forest to rest. Guenevere realises her feelings for Lancelot and they
consummate their love in the forest; meanwhile, Merlin lures Morgana to his lair to
trap her, suspecting that she is plotting against Arthur.
Arthur finds Guenevere and Lancelot asleep together. Heartbroken at their betrayal,
he thrusts Excalibur into the ground between the sleeping couple. Merlin's magical
link to the land impales him on the sword and Morgana seizes the opportunity to
trap him in a crystal, with the Charm of Making. Morgana takes the form of
Guenevere and seduces Arthur. On awakening to the sight of Excalibur, Lancelot flees
in shame and Guenevere lies weeping.
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Morgana bears a son, Mordred and a curse caused by Mordred's unnatural,

incestuous origin, strikes the land with famine and sickness. A broken Arthur sends
his knights on a quest for the Holy Grail, in hopes of restoring the land. Many of his
knights die or are bewitched by Morgana. Morgana captures Perceval, who narrowly
escapes. Perceval encounters an ugly bearded old man with armour under his
tattered robes, who preaches to followers that the kingdom has fallen because of
"the sin of Pride". A shocked Perceval recognises the man as Lancelot. After Perceval
fails to convince Lancelot to come to Arthur's aid, Lancelot and his followers throw
Perceval into a river. Perceval has a vision of the Grail, during which he realises that
Arthur and the land are one. Upon answering the riddle he gains the Grail and takes
it to Arthur, who drinks from it and is revitalised, as is the land, which springs into
blossom.
Arthur finds Guenevere at a convent and they reconcile. She gives him Excalibur,
which she has kept safe since the day she fled. Frustrated in preparation for battle
against Morgana's allies, Arthur calls to Merlin, unknowingly awakening the wizard
from his enchanted slumber. Merlin and Arthur have a last conversation before
Merlin vanishes. The wizard then appears to Morgana as a shadow and tricks her into
uttering the Charm of Making, producing a fog from the breath of the Dragon, and
exhausting her own magical powers which had kept her young. She rapidly ages and
her own son kills her, repulsed by the sight of his once beautiful mother now
reduced to a decrepit old crone.
Arthur and Mordred's forces meet in battle, with Arthur's army benefiting from the
fog that conceals their small size. Lancelot arrives unexpectedly and turns the tide of
battle, later collapsing from his old, self-inflicted wound which had never healed.
Arthur and Lancelot reconcile and Lancelot dies with honour. Mordred stabs Arthur
with a spear but Arthur further impales himself to get closer and kills Mordred with
Excalibur. Perceval refuses to carry out Arthur's dying wish, that he throw Excalibur
into a pool of calm water, reasoning that the sword is too valuable to be lost. Arthur
tells him to do as he commands and reassures him that one day a new king will
276

come and the sword will return again. Perceval throws Excalibur into the pool, where
the Lady of the Lake catches it. Perceval returns to see Arthur lying on a ship,
attended by three ladies clad in white, sailing into the sun toward the Isle of Avalon.

277

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278

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

In a California forest, a group of alien botanists collect flora samples. When
government agents appear on the scene, they flee in their spaceship, leaving one of
their own behind in their haste. The scene shifts to a suburban home, where a 10year-old boy named Elliott is trying to spend time with his 15-year-old brother,
Michael, and his friends. As he returns from picking up a pizza, he discovers that
something is hiding in their tool shed. The creature promptly flees upon being
discovered. Despite his family's disbelief, he leaves Reese's Pieces candy to lure it to
his bedroom. Before he goes to sleep, he realizes it is imitating his movements. He
feigns illness the next morning to stay home from school and play with it. Later that
day, Michael and their five-year-old sister, Gertie, meet it. They decide to keep it
hidden from their mother, Mary. When they ask it about its origin, it levitates several
balls to represent its solar system and then demonstrates its powers by reviving a
dead chrysanthemum.
At school the next day, Elliott begins to experience a psychic connection with the
alien, including exhibiting signs of intoxication due to it drinking beer, and he
begins freeing all the frogs in his biology class. As the alien watches John Wayne
kissMaureen O'Hara in The Quiet Man, Elliott kisses a girl he likes; but he goes too
far and has to go to the principal's office.
The alien learns to speak English by repeating what Gertie says as she
watchesSesame Street and, at Elliott's urging, dubs itself "E.T." He reads a comic strip
whereBuck Rogers, stranded, calls for help by building a makeshift communication
device and is inspired to try it himself. E.T. then gets Elliott's help in building a device
to "phone home" by using a Speak & Spell toy. Michael notices that his health is
declining and that Elliott is referring to himself as "we."
On Halloween, Michael and Elliott dress E.T. as a ghost so they can sneak him out of
the house. Elliott and E.T. ride the former's bike to the forest, where E.T. makes a
successful call home. The next morning, Elliott wakes up in the field, only to find E.T.
279

gone, so he returns home to his distressed family. Michael searches for and finds E.T.
dying in a ditch and takes him home to Elliott, who is also dying. Mary becomes
frightened when she discovers her son's illness and the dying E.T., just as
government agents invade the house. Scientists set up a medical facility there,
quarantining Elliott and E.T. Their link disappears and E.T. then appears to die while
Elliott recovers. A grief-stricken Elliott is left alone with the motionless E.T. when he
notices a dead chrysanthemum, the plant E.T. had previously revived, coming back to
life. E.T. reanimates and reveals that his people are returning. Elliott and Michael
steal a van that E.T. had been loaded into and a chase ensues, with Michael's friends
joining them as they attempt to evade the authorities by bike. Suddenly facing a
police roadblock, they escape as E.T. uses telekinesis to lift them into the air and
toward the forest.
Standing near the spaceship, E.T.'s heart glows as he prepares to return home. Mary,
Gertie, and "Keys," a government agent, show up. E.T. says goodbye to Michael and
Gertie, as she presents him with the chrysanthemum that he had revived. Before
boarding the spaceship, he tells Elliott "I'll be right here," pointing his glowing
finger to his forehead. He then picks up the chrysanthemum, gets on the spaceship,
and it takes off, leaving a rainbow in the sky as everyone watches it leave.

280

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281

Bringing Out the Dead (1999)

In Manhattan in the early 1990s, Frank Pierce (Cage) is a burned-outparamedic who
works the graveyard shift in a two-man ambulance team with various different
partners. Usually exhausted and depressed, he has not saved any patients in months
and begins to see the ghosts of those lost, especially a homeless adolescent girl
named Rose whose face appears on the bodies of others. Frank and his first partner
Larry (Goodman) respond to a call by the family of a man named Mr. Burke who has
entered cardiac arrest. Frank befriends Mr. Burke's distraught daughter Mary
(Arquette), a former junkie. Frank discovers Mary was childhood friends with Noel
(Anthony), a brain-damaged drug addict and delinquent who is frequently sent to
the hospital.
After a few minor calls (one involving Noel), Frank and Larry respond to a shooting
and he tends to one of the surviving victims. Frank notices two vials of a drug named
"Red Death", a new form of heroin that has started plaguing the streets of New
Yorkand caused cardiac arrest calls to sky-rocket, roll out from the victim's sleeve
which implies it was a shooting by a rival drug gang. While in the back of the
ambulance with Frank and Noel the victim goes into denial and repents his drug
dealing ways but dies before they can reach the hospital.
The next day Frank is paired with his second partner Marcus (Rhames), an eccentric
and religious man. They respond to the call of a man in a gothic club who has
suffered a heart attack. Frank diagnoses that he has in fact suffering from a heroin
overdose caused by Red Death. As Frank injects the man with the antidote, Marcus
starts a prayer circle with the baffled club-goers and just as his preaching climaxes
the overdosed man becomes conscious again. On the way back to the hospital Frank
swings by Mary's apartment building to tell her that her father's condition is
improving. Frank and Marcus then respond to a call by a young Puerto Rican man
whose girlfriend is giving birth to twins despite his claims they are both virgins,
calling it a miracle. Frank rushes one baby to the hospital but it later dies. In a
282

moment of desperation Frank starts drinking and Marcus soon joins in, crashing the
ambulance into a parked car.
The following morning, Frank sees a stressed Mary leaving the hospital and follows
her to an apartment block; she tells Frank that she's going to visit a friend and he
escorts her to the room. After a while Frank goes to the room and barges his way in
the door, only to discover it's in fact a drug den run by a friendly dealer named Cy
Coates (Curtis). Mary has turned back to drugs to cope with her father's fluctuating
condition and Frank tries to get her to leave but he is dissuaded by Cy who offers
Frank some pills. In another moment of desperation he swallows the drugs and
begins to hallucinate, seeing more ghosts of patients and the moment when he tried
to save Rose. Once over, he grabs Mary and carries her out of the building. While
visiting a comatose Mr. Burke in the hospital Frank starts hearing Burke's voice in his
head, telling Frank to let him die but he resuscitates Burke instead.
The next shift Frank is paired with his third partner Tom Wolls (Sizemore), an
enthusiastic man with violent tendencies. At this point Frank is slowly beginning to
lose his mind - while tending to a suicidal junkie Frank manages to scare the patient
away. The pair are then called to Cy's drug den where another shooting has occurred,
and find Cy impaled on a railing, having attempted to jump to safety. Frank holds on
to Cy as the other emergency services cut the railing but Cy and Frank are nearly
flung off the edge before being pulled back up. Cy then thanks Frank for saving his
life - the first patient Frank has saved in months. Afterwards Frank agrees to help Tom
beat up Noel, but Frank is distracted and Noel flees into an area beneath the houses.
Tom and Frank chase after Noel but Frank starts to hallucinate again, snapping out of
it just as he comes upon Tom beating Noel with his bat. During his second visit to Mr.
Burke, the voice again pleas to let him die, and this time Frank removes Burke's
breathing apparatus causing him to enter cardiac arrest, ending his life. Frank then
heads to Mary's apartment to inform her, and she seems to accept her father's death.
Frank is invited in, falling asleep at Mary's side.
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Script notes

284

A Brush With Fate (Hallmark TV, 2003)

Richard is a new art teacher at a high school. Cornelia Englebrecht (played by Glenn
Close) is a history teacher who invites Richard to see a painting of a young girl at a
table, which she believes to be a genuine Vermeer, where she tells him stories, which
are portrayed as flashbacks about the people who owned the painting in the past. All
of the stories take place in the Netherlands, and the flashbacks happen mostly before
the one preceding it. The first story, from the late 1800s, involved a romance and had
flashbacks within flashbacks. Another story took place in the early 1700s when a
baby was abandoned during a flood after a dike break. The painting accompanied
the baby and was intended to be sold for the baby's expenses.
In the next story, a man left a university to take a job working with the machinery
used for the dikes. He got interested in a servant girl who was punished by being put
in stocks. It is revealed in this story where the baby came from.
The next story was very brief, and in it, a woman, who was unsuccessful in bidding
for the painting at an auction, seemed to know more about the painting than the
auctioneer. The next story revealed how Vermeer came to paint the girl's picture.
Finally, Cornelia tells us how she came in possession of the painting, and it is
perhaps the most interesting story of them all
Tagline: A mystery hidden for generations. Now the truth will finally be revealed.

285

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286

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)

High school senior Buffy Summers(Kristy Swanson) is introduced as a stereotypical,
shallow cheerleader at Hemery High School in Los Angeles. She is a carefree popular
mean girl whose main concerns are shopping and spending time with her rich,
snooty friends and her boyfriend, Jeffrey. While at school one day, she is approached
by a man who calls himselfMerrick (Donald Sutherland). He informs her that she is
The Slayer, or Chosen One, and he is a Watcher whose duty it is to guide and train
her. She initially rebukes his claims, but finally becomes convinced that he is right
when he is able to describe a recurring dream of hers in detail. In addition, Buffy is
exhibiting uncanny abilities not known to her, including heightened agility, senses,
and endurance, yet she repeatedly tries Merrick's patience with her frivolous nature
and sharp-tongued remarks.
Meanwhile Oliver Pike (Luke Perry), and best friend Benny (David Arquette), who
resented Buffy and her friends due to differing social circles, are out drinking when
they are attacked by vampires. Benny is turned but Oliver is saved by Merrick. As a
vampire, Benny visits Oliver and tries to get him to join him. Later, when Oliver and
his boss are discussing Benny, Oliver tells him to run if he sees him. Not only this,
but a studious girl from Buffy's class, Cassandra, is abducted one night by Lothos'
acolyte, Amilyn (Paul Reubens), and sacrificed to Lothos. When her body is found, the
news spreads through LA and Hemery High, but her murder is met with indifference
from Buffy's clique.
After several successful outings, Buffy is drawn into conflict with a local vampire king
named Lothos (Rutger Hauer), who has killed a number of past Slayers. During an
encounter with Amilyn and his tribe of vampires, Buffy, Oliver, and Merrick fight
against them in the forest as Amilyn loses his arm. Amilyn flees the fight to talk to
Lothos who now realizes Buffy is the slayer. After this encounter, Buffy and Oliver start
a friendship, which eventually becomes romantic and Oliver becomes Buffy's partner
in fighting the undead.
287

During a basketball game, Buffy and Oliver find out that one of the players is a
minion of Lothos. After a quick chase to a parade float storage yard, Buffy finally
confronts Lothos, shortly after she and Oliver take down his gang. Lothos puts Buffy
in a hypnotic trance, which is broken due to Merrick's intervention. Lothos turns on
Merrick and impales him with the stake he attempted to use on him. Lothos leaves,
saying that Buffy is not ready. As Merrick dies, he tells Buffy to do things her own way
rather than live by the rules of others. Because of her new life, responsibilities, and
heartbreak, Buffy becomes emotionally shocked and starts dropping her Slayer
duties. When she arrives at school, she attempts to explain everything to her friends,
but they refuse to understand her as they are more concerned with their upcoming
school dance, and Buffy falls out with them as she realizes she is outgrowing their
immature, selfish behavior.
At the senior dance, Buffy tries to patch things up with her friends but they turn
against her, and she is dismayed to find Jeffrey has dumped her for one of her
friends. However she meets up with Oliver and as they start to dance and eventually
kiss, Lothos leads the remainder of his minions to the school and attacks the students
and the attending faculty. Buffy confronts the vampires outside while Oliver fights
the vampiric Benny. After overpowering the vampires, she confronts Lothos inside
the school and stabs Amilyn. Lothos hypnotises Buffy again but she uses a cross and
hairspray to create a makeshift flame-thrower and burns Lothos before heading back
into the gym. Buffy sees everybody recover from the attack, but Lothos emerges
again getting into a fight with Buffy, who then stakes him.
The film ends with Buffy and Oliver leaving the dance on a motorcycle, and a news
crew interviewing the students and the principal about the attack during the credits.

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Script notes

289

Cabaret (1972)
In 1931 Berlin, young American Sally Bowles performs at the Kit Kat Klub. A new
British arrival in the city, Brian Roberts, moves into the boarding house where Sally
lives. A reserved academic and writer, Brian gives English lessons to earn a living
while completing his doctorate. Sally tries seducing Brian and suspects he may be
gay. Brian tells Sally that on three previous occasions he has tried to have physical
relationships with women, all of which failed. They become friends, and Brian
witnesses Sally's anarchic, bohemian life in the last days of the German Weimar
Republic. Sally and Brian become lovers despite their earlier reservations; they
conclude that his previous failures with women were because they were "the wrong
three girls".
Sally befriends Maximilian von Heune, a rich playboy baron who takes her and Brian
to his country estate; it becomes ambiguous which of the duo Max is seducing. After
a sexual experience with Brian, Max loses interest in the two and departs for
Argentina. During an argument, when Sally tells Brian that she has been having sex
with Max, Brian reveals that he has as well. Brian and Sally later reconcile, and Sally
reveals that Max left them money.
Sally learns that she is pregnant, but is unsure of the father. Brian offers to marry her
and take her back to his university life in Cambridge. After a picnic between Sally and
Brian in which Brian acts distant and disinterested, Sally starts to doubt continuing
with the pregnancy, and ultimately has an abortion. When Brian confronts her, she
shares her fears and the two reach an understanding. Brian departs for England and
Sally continues her life in Berlin, embedding herself in the Kit Kat Club.

290

Script notes

291

Cape Fear (1991)

Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte) is a lawyer in the quiet town of New Essex, North Carolina.
Max Cady (Robert De Niro) is a former client whom Bowden defended 14 years
earlier when he was working as a public defender in Atlanta. Cady was being tried for
the violent rape and battery of a young woman. Bowden, appalled by Cady's crime,
buried crucial evidence about the victimthat she was promiscuouswhich might
have lightened Cady's sentence or even secured his acquittal, violating his ethical
and professional duty as a defense attorney. Cady was illiterate at the time and
unaware of Bowden's actions. After his release from prison, Cady tracks down
Bowden. The former convict learned to read and studied law in prison, and even
assumed his own defense, unsuccessfully appealing his conviction several times.
Cady hints strongly that he has learned about Bowden burying the report, stating
that the judge and prosecutor in his case did their jobs while Bowden betrayed his
own client.
Several incidents involving Cady begin to impact the Bowden family, which consists
of Bowden's wife Leigh (Jessica Lange) and their teenage daughter Danielle (Juliette
Lewis). Cady is seen at night perched on the wall just outside the Bowden property
limits. The family dog, Ben, is mysteriously poisoned. Bowden attempts to have Cady
arrested, but local police lieutenant Elgart (Robert Mitchum) reminds Bowden that
there is no evidence Cady has committed any crime. At a bar, Cady meets Lori Davis
(Illeana Douglas), a female colleague of Bowden with whom the latter may or may
not be having a love affair. Later at her house, Cady cuffs her hands behind her back,
breaks her arm, bites a chunk of flesh from her cheek, and brutally rapes her. While
recuperating in the hospital, Lori refuses to press charges against Cady, fearful that
her philandering and possible infidelity would be revealed. Bowden, finally having
had enough, hires private investigator Claude Kersek (Joe Don Baker) to follow Cady.
Cady next approaches Danielle at her school by impersonating her new drama
teacher and goes as far as kissing her.

292

Bowden approaches Cady in a restaurant and gives him a firm warning to leave his
family and him alone or suffer the consequences. Cady refuses to give in, and he
secretly tapes the conversation with a recorder hidden under the table. Kersek
eventually persuades Bowden to hire three men to beat Cady in an effort to
intimidate him, but as Bowden watches from a hiding place, Cady quickly turns the
tide on his attackers and viciously beats them. Cady hears Bowden from behind his
hiding spot and steadily approaches him, intimidating him with psychotic ramblings
and a literary quote, but decides to leave. Cady uses the recording of Bowden's threat
and an exaggerated display of his own injuries to file for a restraining order against
Bowden. Cady's new lawyer, Lee Heller (Gregory Peck), also files a complaint with the
North Carolina State Bar, vowing to have Bowden disbarred.
Kersek reasons that Cady may try to enter the Bowden house during Bowden's
appearance at a bar hearing out of town. They fake Bowden's departure and hide in
the house, hoping that Cady will break in so that he can be shot in self-defense. As
they wait, Cady, disguised as the maid Graciella (Zully Montero), attacks and kills
Kersek in the kitchen before escaping. Bowden, Leigh, and Danielle discover his
body, as well as that of Graciella. Horrified, they flee in their car to their house-boat,
which is docked upstate along Cape Fear. Cady follows them by tying himself to the
chassis of the Bowdens' car. That night, he attacks the family on the boat, beating and
tying up Bowden, and prepares to rape both Leigh and Danielle while Bowden
watches. Danielle reveals that she suspected that Cady is following her. When Leigh
offers herself in Danielle's place, Danielle sprays Cady with lighter fluid while he
lights a cigar, engulfing him in flames and causing him to jump off the boat to
extinguish the fire. However, Cady clings to a rope tied to the boat and pulls himself
back on board.
As the boat is rocked by a violent thunderstorm, a badly burned Cady ferociously
confronts Bowden with a mock trial. Bowden finally admits to having buried the
potentially exculpatory report, but counters that the woman's promiscuity was no
justification to defend Cady's brutal rapes. An enraged Cady prepares to kill Bowden,
293

but the storm, combined with the river's harsh current, knocks Cady off his feet,
allowing Bowden to gain the upper hand once the women make it to shore. The two
men fight furiously, until Bowden finally manages to use Cady's handcuffs to shackle
Cady to the boat. When the boat hits a stationary rock and is destroyed, the fight
continues on shore. There, Bowden almost manages to crush Cady's head with a
large stone; however, a raging tide carries Cady away, as he is madly screaming in
tongues. For a moment, Bowden and Cady stare at each other before the wreckage of
the boat sinks and pulls Cady with it, drowning him in the process. Bowden then
performs a cathartic washing of his blood from his hands before rejoining Leigh and
Danielle further up the riverbank.

294

Script notes

295

Cast Away (2000)

In 1995, Chuck Noland is a time-obsessed systems engineer, who travels worldwide
resolving productivity problems at FedEx depots. He is in a long-term relationship
with Kelly Frears, with whom he lives in Memphis,Tennessee. Although the couple
wants to get married, Chuck's busy schedule interferes with their relationship. A
Christmas with relatives is interrupted when Chuck is summoned to resolve a
problem in Malaysia. While flying through a violent storm, his plane crashes into the
Pacific Ocean. Chuck escapes the sinking plane and is saved by an inflatable life-raft
but loses the raft's emergency locator transmitter. He clings to the life-raft, loses
consciousness, and floats all night before being washed up on an island. After he
awakens, he explores the island and soon discovers that it is uninhabited.
Several FedEx packages from the crashed plane wash up on the shore, as well as the
corpse of one of the pilots (which he buries). He initially tries to signal for rescue and
makes an escape attempt with the remnants of his life-raft but cannot pass the
powerful surf and the coral reefs surrounding the island. He searches for food, water,
shelter, and opens the packages, finding a number of potentially useful items. He
leaves one package, with a pair of wings painted on it, unopened. During a first
attempt to make fire, Chuck receives a deep wound to his hand. In anger and pain,
he throws several objects, including a Wilson volleyball from one of the packages. A
short time later he draws a face in the bloody hand print on the ball, names it Wilson,
and begins talking to it.
Four years later, Chuck is dramatically thinner, bearded, with longer hair, and
wearing a loincloth. He has become adept at spearing fish and making fires. He also
has regular conversations and arguments with Wilson, his volleyball friend. A large
section from a portable toilet washes up on the island; Chuck uses it as a sail in the
construction of a raft. After spending some time building and stocking the raft and
deciding when the weather conditions will be optimal (using an analemma he has
created in his cave to monitor the time of year), he launches, using the sail to
overcome the powerful surf. After some time on the ocean, a storm nearly tears his
296

raft apart. The following day, Wilson falls from the raft and is cast away into the ocean,
leaving Chuck overwhelmed by loneliness. Later, a passing cargo ship finds him,
drifting.
Upon returning to civilization, Chuck learns that he has long been given up for dead;
his family and acquaintances have held a funeral, and Kelly has since married
Chuck's dentist and has a daughter. After reuniting with Kelly, the pair profess their
love for each other but, realizing a future together would be impossible because of
her commitment to her family, they part. Kelly gives Chuck the keys to the car they
once shared. After buying a new volleyball, Chuck travels to Canadian, Texas to return
the unopened FedEx package to its sender. The house at the address is empty, so he
leaves the package at the door with a note saying that the package saved his life. He
departs and stops at a remote crossroads. A woman passing by in a pickup truck stops
to explain where each road leads. As she drives away, Chuck notices the illustration
on her truck is identical to the one on the parcel. Chuck is left looking down each
road and then towards the departing woman in the truck, smiling as the wind blows
in her direction.

297

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298

The Cell (2000)

Child psychologist Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez) is an expert in an experimental
treatment for comapatients: a virtual reality device that allows her to enter into the
minds of her patients and attempt to coax them into consciousness. When serial
killerCarl Rudolph Stargher (Vincent D'Onofrio) falls into a coma before theFBI can
locate his final victim, Agent Peter Novak (Vince Vaughn) persuades Deane to enter
Stargher's mind and discover the victim's location.[1] Stargher's victim is imprisoned
in a cell in the form of aglass enclosure that is slowly filling with water by means of
an automatic timer.
Deane enters Stargher's twisted mind, where she is confronted by both the violent
and the innocent parts of the killer's psyche. The innocent half shows her the abuse
he suffered at his father's hands and the birth of his pathology when he drowned an
injured bird as a mercy killing. Deane attempts to nurture the innocent side of
Stargher's mind, but his murderous half thwarts her at every turn.
Despite Deane's best efforts, she becomes trapped in Stargher's dark dreamscape.
Novak volunteers to enter Stargher's mind and attempts to rescue her. He breaks
Deane from Stargher's hold and discovers clues to the whereabouts of his victim.
Novak relates his revelations to his team and they are able to track down the location
of Stargher's victim (Stargher had been entrusted by a company to take care of an
advanced water pump, which he used to fill the cell with water). Novak discovers
Stargher's secret underground room and saves Stargher's victim just in time.
Meanwhile, Deane decides to reverse the process and pull Stargher's mind into her
own. She presents Stargher's innocent side with a paradise, but his murderous side
is always present and manifests as a serpent. This time, however, Deane has all the
power; she attacks the serpent/Stargher but discovers she cannot destroy one half
without killing the other. Stargher's innocent side reminds her of the bird he
drowned, and she kills him to put him out of his misery. She adopts Stargher's dog
and successfully uses her new technique on her other coma patient (Colton James).
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Script notes

300

Changing Lanes (2002)

A successful New York City attorney, Gavin Banek, is in a rush to file apower of
appointment, which will prove a dead man signed his foundation over to Banek's
law firm. He has a collision on FDR Drive with another car, belonging to an insurance
salesman, Doyle Gipson, who is also in a rush to a hearing to try to gain custody of
his children and to prevent his estranged wife from taking them to Oregon. Banek
tries to brush Gipson off with a blank checkthereby disobeying the law. After Gipson
refuses to accept the check and voices his desire to "do the right thing", that is, filing
a police report and insurance claim, Banek strands Gipson, telling him, "better luck
next time". After arriving to the court late, Gipson learns that it proceeded without
him and that it did not go in his favor.
Unfortunately for Banek, he dropped the crucial power of appointment file at the
scene of the accident, and the judge gives him until the end of the day to re-obtain
the papers and present them. Gipson, who took the papers, is in a state of dilemma
on whether to return the file especially after the events of the day. On the other hand,
Banek desperate to get his papers back, goes to someone skilled with computers and
gets him to switch off Gipson's credit. Gipson needed credit for a loan so he could
buy a house for his family, and he becomes further enraged, determined to make life
difficult for Banek.
Both men continue to do morally reprehensible things in an attempt to one-up each
other, and eventually they begin to question their actions. Though it is made clear
that Banek and Gipson are radically different, they both have an angry, vengeful
streak, each capable of abandoning his morals just to punish the other. The film ends
with both men having a new outlook on life, concentrating on ethics and the moral
implications of their actions. Ultimately the two men apologize to each other and
Gipson returns the file, but it looks to be too late for both of what they were trying to
do. Banek ends up using the file to force his boss to do the right thing and plans to
represent Gipson pro bono so he can get the house he wants. Banek also visits
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Gipson's wife to explain everything to her, knowing he owes Gipson that much. The
movie ends with Gipson's wife and children smiling at him from across the street.

302

Script notes

303

Chariots of Fire (1981)

In 1919, Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) enters the University of Cambridge, where he
experiences anti-Semitism from the staff, but enjoys participating in the Gilbert and
Sullivan club. He becomes the first person to ever complete the Trinity Great Court
Run running around the college courtyard in the time it takes for the clock to strike
12. Abrahams achieves an undefeated string of victories in various national running
competitions. Although focused on his running, he falls in love with a leading Gilbert
and Sullivan soprano, Sybil (Alice Krige).
Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), born in China of Scottish missionary parents, is in
Scotland. His devout sister Jennie (Cheryl Campbell) disapproves of Liddell's plans to
pursue competitive running. But Liddell sees running as a way of glorifying God
before returning to China to work as a missionary.
When they first race against each other, Liddell beats Abrahams. Abrahams takes it
poorly, but Sam Mussabini (Ian Holm), a professional trainer whom he had
approached earlier, offers to take him on to improve his technique. This attracts
criticism from the Cambridge college masters (John Gielgud and Lindsay Anderson),
who allege it is not gentlemanly for an amateur to "play the tradesman" by
employing a professional coach. Abrahams dismisses this concern, interpreting it as
cover for anti-Semitic and class-based prejudice.
When Eric Liddell accidentally misses a church prayer meeting because of his
running, his sister Jennie upbraids him and accuses him of no longer caring about
God. Eric tells her that though he intends to eventually return to the China mission,
he feels divinely inspired when running, and that not to run would be to dishonour
God, saying, "I believe that God made me for a purpose. But He also made me fast,
and when I run, I feel His pleasure."
The two athletes, after years of training and racing, are accepted to represent Great
Britain in the 1924 Olympics in Paris. Also accepted are Abrahams' Cambridge
304

friends, Lord Andrew Lindsay (Nigel Havers), Aubrey Montague (Nicholas Farrell), and
Henry Stallard (Daniel Gerroll). While boarding the boat to Paris for the Olympics,
Liddell learns the news that the heat for his 100 metre race will be on a Sunday. He
refuses to run the race despite strong pressure from the Prince of Wales and the
British Olympic committee because his Christian convictions prevent him from
running on the Sabbath.
Hope appears when Liddell's teammate Lindsay, having already won a silver medal
in the 400 metres hurdles, proposes to yield his place in the 400 metre race on the
following Thursday to Liddell, who gratefully agrees. His religious convictions in the
face of national athletic pride make headlines around the world.
Liddell delivers a sermon at the Paris Church of Scotland that Sunday, and quotes
from Isaiah 40, ending with:
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up
with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and
not faint.
Abrahams is badly beaten by the heavily favoured United States runners in the 200
metre race. He knows his last chance for a medal will be the 100 metres. He
competes in the race, and wins. His coach Sam Mussabini is overcome that the years
of dedication and training have paid off with an Olympic gold medal. Now Abrahams
can get on with his life and reunite with his girlfriend Sybil, whom he had neglected
for the sake of running. Before Liddell's race, the American coach remarks
dismissively to his runners that Liddell has little chance of doing well in his now far
longer 400 metre race. But one of the American runners, Jackson Scholz, hands
Liddell a note of support for his convictions. Liddell defeats the American favourites
and wins the gold medal.
The British team returns home triumphant. As the film ends, onscreen text explains
that Abrahams married Sybil, and became the elder statesman of British athletics.
305

Liddell went on to missionary work in China. All of Scotland mourned his death in
1945 in Japanese-occupied China.

306

Script notes

307

Chicken Run (2000)

Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy run a failing chicken farm in Yorkshire; the chickens are caged
in the style of a prison camp with a high fence and barbed wire, with two dogs that
patrol the grounds. As their chickens are producing fewer eggs, Mrs. Tweedy comes
up with the idea of converting their product from eggs to chicken pies, and orders a
large automatic pie maker.
One chicken, Ginger, has long had visions of escaping with the help of her hen
friends Babs, Bunty, and Mac, and two rats, Nick and Fetcher, that helps to acquire
"contraband" from the Tweedy's to aid Ginger's plans. However, she is always caught
and put into solitary for some time. During one such escapade, she learns of Mrs.
Tweedy's plan, and hastens her attempts to flee the camp. While thinking of a new
plan, Ginger witnesses a Rhode Island Red rooster fly over the fence, and crash into
one of the coops, breaking his wing. Ginger and the other chickens help to hide him
from the Tweedys and care for his wing, learning that his name is Rocky. Ginger is
particularly interested in Rocky's ability to fly, and begs him to help train her and the
other chickens to do the same. Rocky is coy, but proceeds to try to help train the
chickens, unable to fully demonstrate due to his broken wing.
The pie making machine finally arrives and after some time, Mr. Tweedy completes
the assembly and immediately goes for Ginger to test it out. Rocky is able to save
Ginger and helps to damage the machine, giving the chickens only a short time to
plan to escape while Mr. Tweedy repairs it. Amid the training, Rocky holds a large
party to help relieve the stress, where it is revealed his wing is healed, and Ginger
demands he show them how to fly the next day. When morning arrives, Ginger finds
Rocky has fled, leaving behind a part of a poster that shows him to be a stunt rooster,
shot out of a cannon from a nearby circus, and unable to fly on his own. Ginger and
the other chickens are depressed. Fowler the rooster tries to cheer Ginger up by
telling tales from his days as an RAF mascot, leading Ginger to the idea of creating an
airplane to flee the Tweedy's. All the chickens with extra help from the rats secretly
construct the required parts for the plane from their coops while racing against Mr.
308

Tweedy's repairs. Meanwhile, Rocky, traveling the countryside, sees a billboard for
Mrs. Tweedy's Chicken Pies, and is inspired to go back to help.
With the machine fixed, Mr. Tweedy again goes for Ginger, but the chickens are
ready to escape. With Rocky helping to knock Mr. Tweedy out, they tie Mr. Tweedy up
and distract the dogs long enough to complete assembly of their plane. As they are
taking off, Mrs. Tweedy chases them down and catches onto a light strand caught in
the wheels. Mrs. Tweedy climbs the strand, intent on chopping Ginger's head off,
while Ginger races to severe the strand. Ginger does so in time, and sends Mrs.
Tweedy straight into the vent of the pie machine, causing it to rupture, the force of
the escaping gravy knocking down the barn they had constructed it in.
Later, the chickens have found a quiet glade where they can enjoy their freedom and
raise their chicks, while Ginger and Rocky have developed a romantic relationship.

309

Script notes

310

City Hall (1996)

John Pappas is the mayor of New York City and has far more grand ambitions,
including the governor's office and the White House. His loyal deputy mayor is Kevin
Calhoun, a young man from Louisiana who grew up loving politics.
One day, an off-duty police detective named Eddie Santos is ambushed by Tino
Zapatti, a criminal with mob ties. They kill each other in a shootout, with a stray bullet
also causing the death of an innocent small boy named James Bone.
An investigation leads to a question as to why Judge Walter Stern, an old friend of
the mayor's, had set Zapatti free on probation for a recent crime rather than sending
him to jail. Legal aid Marybeth Cogan, meanwhile, attempts to see that Santos'
widow receives his full benefits, but there seems to be a conspiracy to paint the slain
detective as less than honest.
While the mayor speaks at the child's funeral, Calhoun digs for answers. He is wary
of Frank Anselmo, a Brooklyn politician who has connections to organized crime boss
Paul Zapatti, the uncle of the cop-killer. Anselmo plants money at Zapatti's behest, to
smear the detective's good name.
The deputy mayor and Cogan continue to seek the truth from a number of sources,
including Santos' partner and another Zapatti relative. After the murder of probation
officer Larry Schwartz, they ultimately conclude that Judge Stern had to be on the
take.
Pappas agrees that Stern must resign. The scandal snowballs to the point where
Zapatti instructs Anselmo to "take the pressure off" himself, by which he means
commit suicide rather than become an informer or go to jail. To protect his family,
Anselmo shoots himself.
The scandal is nearly at an end, but Calhoun knows one more thinghis idol, the
mayor, is also involved. It is the mayor who put Stern together with Anselmo to
311

receive a bribe and leave the young Zapatti on the street. Calhoun soon tells Pappas
there is only one choiceto quit as mayor and leave politics for good. ("You're gonna
take yourself out, John. You're gonna take yourself out.")

312

Script notes

313

City of Angels (1998)

Seth (Nicolas Cage) is one of manyangels who watch over humans and protect them
in unseen ways. Seth's main responsibility is to appear to those who are close to
death andguide them to the next life. As part of this task, Seth and one of his fellow
angels, Cassiel (Andre Braugher), like to ask people what their favorite thing in life
was. Despite these daily encounters, they have trouble understanding human beings
and their ways.
While waiting to escort a man who will not survive heart surgery to the other world,
Seth is impressed by the vigorous efforts of the surgeon, Maggie Rice (Meg Ryan), to
try to save the ill-fated man's life and her sincere anguish at her failure to do so. Seth
soon becomes preoccupied with Maggie and decides to become visible to her
despite his obvious inability to give her many convincing details about himself, such
as what he does for a living or even his last name. Despite this, they develop a
friendship which soon turns to mutual attraction, although Maggie is already
involved with one of her colleagues, Jordan Ferris (Colm Feore), at the hospital. Seth
then meets Nathaniel Messinger (Dennis Franz), one of Maggie's patients, who can
sense Seth's presence and that of other angels. Nathaniel soon relates to Seth that
he, too, had once been an angel but, by way of the free will granted to angels,
decided to become human through the process he refers to as "falling". Seth begins
to consider exercising this option so that he can be with Maggie in a fully physical
and emotional relationship. When Maggie receives a marriage proposal from
Jordan, she finds herself having to choose between him and Seth.
Having realized that Seth is impervious to injury, Maggie confronts him and
demands to know who or what he really is, but she is unable to accept the revelation
and sends him away. Maggie later talks with Nathaniel, who gradually reveals his
own angelic origin, explaining why he himself chose to become human and telling
her that Seth is thinking of doing the same. Seth decides to become human through
the symbolic gesture of jumping from the top of a skyscraper. Immediately upon
awakening, he starts to experience all of the human feelings and sensations that he
314

had never been able to understand, beginning with physical injury and pain. Up
until this point, Seth's personality and emotions, like those of all the other angels,
had been very subdued, but that starts to change. Now human, Seth heads to the
hospital to see Maggie, but is told that she has gone to her uncle's mountain cabin
for a break. Penniless and naive, he cannot pay for the journey and ends up getting
mugged and having his boots taken by a gang of roving predators. He eventually
hitches a ride to Lake Tahoe and appears, soaked and cold, at Maggie's doorstep.
Seeing the split lip and condensed breath coming from his mouth in the cold air,
Maggie realizes that he has given up his exalted status for her love. She sees to his
wounds and they enjoy warm, passionate lovemaking at last.
The next morning, as Seth is in the shower, enjoying his first sensation of running
hot water on his body, Maggie rides her bike to a local store to buy some pears for
him. On her way back, happy and fulfilled, she rides her bike with her eyes closed
and her arms wide open. Her happiness is cut short by a truck that catches her by
surprise when it pulls out in front of her. Seth senses that Maggie is in trouble and
runs to her aid. He arrives in time for Maggie to tell him that she sees the angel who
has come to escort her away. Although Seth is no longer able to see the angels, he
knows they are there and frantically begs Maggie not to look at them. Maggie tells
him that she is not afraid anymore and that when they will ask her what her favorite
thing in life used to be, she will say it was Seth, before she passes away.
Grieving and alone, Seth is visited by Cassiel. Seth questions if he is being punished
for leaving heaven to be a human, which Cassiel assures him is not the case: He tells
Seth people die, and one day, so will he. Cassiel offers comfort and asks Seth if he
had known this would happen, would he still decide to become human. Seth
answers, "I would rather have had one breath of her hair, one kiss of her mouth, one
touch of her hand, than eternity without it. Just one."
The final scene recalls an earlier one with Nathaniel. It shows Seth at the beach
where the angels meet every day at dawn to listen to the celestial music while
315

watching the sunrise. With Cassiel and the rest of the angels watching, Seth
expresses his joy in being human and the fact that he has come to terms with his
new life by running into the water and playing in the waves. In a rare moment of
emotion, Cassiel is seen laughing joyfully for his old friend.

316

Script notes

317

City Slickers (1991)

New Yorker Mitch Robbins has just turned 39 years old, and is having amidlife crisis.
His best friends are also having crises of their own: Phil Berquist is stuck managing
his father-in-law's grocery store, while trapped in a 12-year sexless marriage with his
ruthless wife, Arlene, and Ed Furillo (Bruno Kirby) is a successful sporting-goods
salesman and playboy, having recently married an underwear model, but is
struggling with the idea of monogamous marriage and the pressure to have kids.
At Mitch's birthday party, Phil and Ed present a joint gift: a two-week cattle drive in
the southwestern United States. Mitch initially declines, having promised to visit wife
Barbara's parents in Florida. When Nancy a clerk from Phil's grocery store
inadvertently reveals an affair they had, Arlene files for divorce and Phil is dismissed.
Barbara has Mitch go along both to cheer up Phil and to help himself find some
purpose before he is tempted into adultery and/or suicide.
In New Mexico, they meet ranch owner Clay Stone and others there for the cattle
drive. As they "learn the ropes" of moving a herd, there is a tense encounter with the
ranch's professional cowboys, Jeff and T.R., who drunkenly proposition vacationer
Bonnie Rayburn (Helen Slater). The standoff is abruptly halted when Curly
Washburn, the trail supervisor, lassos Jeff into a chokehold, then chastises both for
being intoxicated on the job. He demands an apology to Bonnie, who appreciates
Mitch's efforts on her behalf.
Curly, Jeff, T.R., and the ranch's guests begin the long drive to Colorado. Curly
overhears Mitch insult him and later humiliates Mitch in retaliation. After a
destructive stampede is Mitch's fault, as punishment Curly chooses a fearful Mitch to
accompany him to find stray cows. They spend the night alone and slowly begin to
bond. Mitch discovers that despite Curly's tough exterior, he is a very wise man. Curly
advises him how to face his problems: by singling out the "one thing" that is most
important in life.

318

The next morning, Curly and Mitch deliver a pregnant cow's calf. Curly is forced to
euthanize its ailing mother by delivering a coup de grace, so Mitch informally adopts
the newborn and names it Norman.
The drive runs into trouble when Curly suffers a fatal heart attack. As they proceed
without him, Cookie the cook gets drunk and injures his legs. Without Curly's
presence, Jeff and T.R. become freely intoxicated, goading Mitch into challenging
them. Ed intervenes and Phil disarms both, furiously ordering them to go to bed.
Fearing reprisals from their supervisor, Jeff and T.R. abandon the city folk in the
wilderness, leaving them with no trail supervisor, food, or map. The vacationers
decide to abandon the herd and seek civilization, except for Ed and Phil, who intend
to drive the cattle to Colorado despite Mitch's objections. The others ride on ahead,
but Mitch unexpectedly returns to rejoin his fellow "city slickers" and finish the drive.
The final test involves crossing a dangerous river. Despite a violent storm, the men
successfully drive most of the herd across, but Norman the calf is caught up in the
river's rapid current. Mitch chases and successfully lassos it, but in turn gets caught
in the rapids; seeing this, Phil and Ed rush to save Mitch and Norman. As the trio
collapse on the river bank, life's problems seem far behind them. From there the
three easily lead the herd to the Colorado ranch, where they are warmly received by
the others. Stone rewards the entire group, and the trio in particular, by fully
refunding their fees but also decides to sell the cows to a meat company for a fine
price.
Ed returns home to tell his newlywed wife he is fine with having children. Phil starts
a new relationship with Bonnie. Mitch returns to New York City with Norman as a
happier man, having realized that his family is his "one thing". Mitch explains he has
spared Norman from the slaughter by purchasing him and bringing him home.

319

Script notes

320

Chocolat (2000)
Vianne Rocher (Juliette Binoche), an expert chocolatier, drifts across Europe with her
daughter Anouk (Victoire Thivisol), following the north wind. In the beginning of the
Lenten season in 1959, "fifteen years after the War," they travel to a quiet French
village that closely adheres to tradition, as led by the village mayor, the Comte de
Reynaud (Alfred Molina). Just as the villagers begin observing the forty days of Lent,
Vianne opens a chocolate shop, much to Reynaud's displeasure.
Vianne wears more colorful clothing than the village women, is an atheist, and has
an illegitimate child. She does not fit in well with the townspeople, but is
nevertheless optimistic about her business. Her friendly and alluring nature begins
to win the villagers over one by one, causing Reynaud to openly speak against her
for tempting the people during a time of abstinence and self-denial. The Comte will
not admit that his wife has left him; he is romantically interested in Caroline, but he
does not pursue her.
One of the first to fall under the spell of Vianne and her confections is Armande (Judi
Dench), her elderly, eccentric landlady. Armande is unhappy that her cold, devoutly
pious daughter Caroline (Carrie-Anne Moss) will not let Armande see her grandson
Luc because Caroline thinks Armande is a "bad influence". Vianne arranges for Luc
and his grandmother to see each other in the chocolaterie, where they develop a
close bond. Caroline later reveals to Vianne that her mother is a diabetic, though
Armande continues to eat the chocolate despite her condition. Having lost her
husband, Caroline is overly protective of Luc and does not even want her son to play.
Vianne also develops a friendship with a troubled woman, Josephine (Lena Olin),
who is a victim of brutal beatings by her abusive husband Serge (Peter Stormare).
After a particularly violent blow to the head, Josephine leaves her husband and
moves in with Vianne and Anouk. As she begins to work at the chocolate shop and
Vianne teaches her her craft, Josephine becomes a self-confident, changed woman.
At the same time, under the instruction of Reynaud, Serge, having seemingly
321

changed into a better man, asks Josephine to come back to him. Finally happy and
fulfilled on her own, Josephine declines his request. A drunken Serge breaks into the
chocolaterie later that night and attempts to attack both women, before Josephine,
in a moment of empowerment, knocks him out with a skillet.
As the rivalry between Vianne and Reynaud intensifies, a band of river gypsies camp
out on the outskirts of the village. While most of the town objects to their presence,
Vianne embraces them, developing a mutual attraction to the Traveller Roux(Johnny
Depp). Together they hold a birthday party for Armande with other village members
and gypsies on Roux's boat. When Caroline sees Luc, who sneaked out to the party,
dancing with his grandmother, she begins to see how strict she has been with her
son and that his grandmother's influence in his life may after all be beneficial. After
the party, Josephine and Anouk fall asleep on a boat, while Roux and Vianne make
love. Late that night, Serge sets the boat, where Josephine and Anouk are sleeping,
on fire. Both escape unharmed, but Vianne's faith in the village is shaken.[citation
needed]. Luc helps Armande home from the party; her death soon after devastates both

him and his mother. After the fire, Roux packs up and leaves with his group, much to
Vianne's sadness.
With the return of the north wind, Vianne decides that she cannot win against
Reynaud or the strict traditions of the town.[citation

needed]

She decides to move

elsewhere. Anouk refuses to go and during a scuffle, Vianne's mother's urn falls and
shatters. After a moment, Vianne goes into her kitchen to see a group of
townspeople, who have come to love her and the way she has changed their lives,
making chocolate for the festival Vianne had planned on Easter Sunday. Realizing
that she has brought change to the town, she decides to stay.[citation needed]
Despite the shifting sentiment in the town, Reynaud remains staunch in his
abstinence from pleasures such as chocolate. On the Saturday evening before Easter,
he sees Caroline leave the chocolatier, which devastates him. Convinced now that
chocolate will make people stray from their faith, he sneaks into Vianne's house in
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order to ruin Vianne's preparations for the Easter festival.[citation

needed]After

accidentally tasting a bit of chocolate that fell on his lips, he finally yields to
temptation and devours much of the chocolate in the window display before
collapsing into tears and eventually falling asleep. The next day, Vianne awakens the
chastened mayor, and a mutual respect between them is established. Both the Easter
Sunday sermon and the festival are a success.
Roux returns in the summer to be with her, and despite her constant need for
change, Vianne resolves to stay, having found a home for herself and her daughter in
the village.

323

Script notes

324

Erin Brockovich (2000)

In 1993, Erin Brockovich (Julia Roberts) is an unemployed single mother of three
children, who has recently been injured in a traffic accident with a doctor and is suing
him. Her lawyer,Ed Masry (Albert Finney), expects to win, but Erin's explosive
courtroom behavior under cross-examination loses her the case, and Ed will not
return her phone calls afterwards. One day he arrives at work to find her in the office,
apparently working. She says that he told her things would work out and they didn't,
and that she needed a job. He feels bad for her, and decides to give her a try at the
office.
Erin is given files for a real-estate case where the Pacific Gas and Electric
Company(PG&E) is offering to purchase the home of Hinkley, California, resident
Donna Jensen. Erin is surprised to see medical records in the file and visits Donna,
who explains that she had simply kept all her PG&E correspondence together. Donna
appreciates PG&E's help: she has had several tumors and her husband hasHodgkin's
lymphoma, but PG&E has always supplied a doctor at their own expense. Erin asks
why they would do that, and Donna replies, "because of the chromium". Erin begins
digging into the case and finds evidence that the groundwater in Hinkley is seriously
contaminated with carcinogenic hexavalent chromium, but PG&E has been telling
Hinkley residents that they use a safer form of chromium. After several days away
from the office doing this research, she is fired by Ed until he realizes that she was
working all the time, and sees what she has found out.
Rehired, she continues her research, and over time, visits many Hinkley residents
and wins their trust. She finds many cases of tumors and other medical problems in
Hinkley. Everyone has been treated by PG&E's doctors and thinks the cluster of cases
is just a coincidence, unrelated to the "safe" chromium. The Jensens' claim for
compensation grows into a major class action lawsuit, but the direct evidence only
relates to PG&E's Hinkley plant, not to the senior management.

325

Knowing that PG&E could slow any settlement for years through delays and appeals,
Ed takes the opportunity to arrange for disposition by binding arbitration, but a large
majority of the plaintiffs must agree to this. Erin returns to Hinkley and persuades all
634 plaintiffs to go along. While she is there, a man approaches her to say that he
and his cousin were PG&E employees, but his cousin recently died from the poison.
The man says he was tasked with destroying documents at PG&E, but, "as it turns out,
I wasn't a very good employee".
He gives Erin the documents: a 1966 memo proves corporate headquarters knew
the water was contaminated with hexavalent chromium, did nothing about it, and
advised the Hinkley operation to keep this secret. The judge orders PG&E to pay a
settlement amount of $333 million to be distributed among the plaintiffs.
In the final scene, Ed hands Erin her bonus payment for the case but warns her he
has changed the amount. She explodes into a complaint that she deserves more
respect, but is astonished to find that he has increased itto $2 million.

326

Script notes

327

The End of the Affair (1999)

Novelist Maurice Bendrix (Ralph Fiennes) narrates the film as he begins a book with
the line "This is a diary of hate."
On a rainy London night in 1946, Bendrix has a chance meeting with Henry Miles
(Stephen Rea), husband of his former mistress Sarah (Julianne Moore), who abruptly
ended their affair two years before. Bendrix's obsession with Sarah is rekindled: he
succumbs to his own jealousy and works his way back into her life.
As the story unfolds in 1946, we also see flashbacks of Bendrix with Sarah as they
began their affair duringWorld War II. Henry tells Bendrix that he believes Sarah is
having an affair, so Bendrix hires the bumbling but amiable Parkis (Ian Hart), who
uses his young birthmarked son (Sam Bould) to investigate. Sarah asks Bendrix to
meet to talk about Henry and the cold tentativeness of their interaction is contrasted
with the passion of their earlier encounters.
Bendrix learns from Parkis that Sarah has been making regular visits to a priest
(Jason Isaacs) under the guise of false dentist visits and he grows increasingly
jealous. Flashbacks show Bendrix expressing jealousy of Henry and asking Sarah to
leave him.
Though Sarah and Bendrix express love to each other, the affair ends abruptly when
a V-1 flying bomb explodes near Bendrix's building as he is out in the hallway.
Bendrix falls down a staircase and awakes later, bloodied but not seriously hurt. He
walks upstairs, where Sarah is shocked that he is alive. Bendrix accuses Sarah of
being disappointed that he survived and she leaves, telling him "Love doesn't end,
just because we don't see each other."
In 1946, Parkis obtains Sarah's diary and passes it on to Bendrix: it shows the affair
from her perspective. After Bendrix is hurt by the bomb, Sarah runs downstairs and
finds him still and not breathing. After trying to revive him, she runs back upstairs

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and begins to pray for Bendrix's life. Just as she says to God that she will stop seeing
Bendrix if he is brought back, Bendrix comes into the room.
Now knowing why Sarah ended the affair, Bendrix follows Sarah and begs her to
reconsider. Sarah tells Bendrix that she has felt dead without him and can no longer
keep her "promise" to God. Henry, who has figured out that it is Bendrix who was
Sarah's lover, desperately asks Sarah not to leave him. But, with more persuasion
from Bendrix, Sarah agrees to go away with him for a weekend. Henry tracks the
couple down to tell them that Sarah has a terminal illness.
Bendrix stays with Henry and Sarah over her final days and at her funeral, Parkis tells
Bendrix that a chance encounter with Sarah cured his son of his birthmark. At Henry
and Sarah's house, Bendrix completes his book and it is revealed that his diary of
hate is directed toward God. While Sarah doesn't need to see God to love Him,
Bendrix prays God will leave him alone, thereby finally acknowledging His existence.

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Script notes

330

End of Days (1999)

In 1979, a priest in the Vaticanwitnesses a comet arching over the moon, described
as the "Eye of God", heralding the birth of the one chosen to be the mother of the
child of Satan. The priest is sent on a mission by thePope to find and protect the girl
from Satan at all costs; however, a few Vatican Knights (led by a corruptcardinal)
insist that she must be killed to prevent Satan's plans. Meanwhile, in New York City, a
newborn girl named Christine York is identified bySatanists - including her physician,
Dr. Abel, and her nurse and future guardian, Mabel - as the one chosen to bear
Satan's child during the last hour on New Year's Eve, 1999. The Satanists practice
occult rites on the newborn.
Twenty years later, near the end of 1999, Satan emerges from hell and possesses an
unnamed investment banker in a restaurant. Satan then destroys the restaurant,
killing many people inside.
Suicidal and alcoholic former police detective Jericho Cane, in a constant state
ofdepression since his wife and daughter were murdered by contract killer(s), works
for a private security company called Striker, and blames God for his plight. He and
his co-worker Bobby Chicago are assigned to protect the possessed banker. A priest,
Thomas Aquinas, attempts to kill the banker but fails. Jericho pursues and captures
him, but not before he tells Jericho that "the thousand years has ended, the dark
angel is loosed from his prison". He also mentions a girl being central to this. Jericho
shoots and incapacitates Aquinas, who is arrested by the New York Police Department
(NYPD). Marge Francis, an NYPD detective and Jericho's former colleague, challenges
his claim that Aquinas spoke as he has no tongue.
Jericho and Bobby begin investigating the case on their own. They learn that
Aquinas was a priest trained at the Vatican, and that he was sent to New York and
recently disappeared. Jericho questions Father Kovak, a priest who knew Aquinas.
Kovak asks if Jericho believes in God and Jericho says he has not since his family
died; Kovak tells Jericho that Aquinas was driven mad by forces that an atheistcannot
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understand. The two travel to Aquinas apartment where they find his self-severed
tongue in a jar, along with messages and symbols written in what appears to be
blood on the walls. Police including Marge arrive and make the two leave before they
can investigate further. Satan infiltrates the hospital where Aquinas is being held,
aided by a Satanic cop, and crucifies him on the ceiling. He survives this but is shot
by the cop. Jericho and Chicago see Latin text and the words "Christ in New York"
scratched into Aquinas' skin and begin searching for Christine York, who they believe
is the girl Aquinas previously referenced.
Jericho and Chicago find the now-adult York in her apartment. They save her from a
group of Vatican Knights who attempt to assassinate her to prevent Satan from
having a child with her. That evening, Chicago and Jericho stakeout Christines home.
Mabel is instructed to bring Christine to Satan but says she cannot because she
would be followed to their temple. Eventually, Jericho goes inside to talk to Christine.
Satan then arrives on the scene and proceeds to blow up Chicago's van, killing him
immediately. As Jericho and Christine try to flee, Mabel tries to stop them, but
Jericho subdues her. Satan enters the house and kills Mabel for failing him, while
Jericho and Christine escape. Outside, Marge and another officer-both Satanistsconfront him, demanding he hand over Christine. Jericho kills them both, but Satan
resurrects Marge for her usefulness as an NYPD detective to have the police search
for Jericho and Christine, who have gone to Father Kovaks church. Kovak explains to
Jericho and Christine that Satan must impregnate Christine between 11:00 and
12:00 the next night in order to usher in the "end of days". Kovak offers to protect
her, as a church can cloak her from Satan; Christine agrees to remain with Kovak.
Jericho discovers that Satan has infiltrated his apartment. Satan shows him a
visionof his family being murdered. He tells Jericho that he will return his family to
him if Jericho tells him where Christine is, knowing she is hiding somewhere in a
religious building. Jericho refuses. The two fight and Jericho throws Satan out of his
apartment window. Chicago soon shows up, alive and well. Despite Jericho's initial
332

suspicion, they make a plan to retrieve Christine and Jericho tells Bobby where
Christine is.
At the church, the corrupt cardinal and his knights arrive and try to kill Christine
again, but are stopped by Jericho. Satan then appears, but Jericho and Christine flee
while Satan kills the Vatican clergy. Jericho and Christine arrive outside and find
Chicago waiting with a car. Chicago then betrays the two, revealing that he is the one
who told Satan of where Christine is, leaving with her while Jericho is beaten by a
mob of Satanists, crucified and left for dead. The next morning, Jericho is found and
rescued by Kovak. He wakes up in the church at 7:00 on the last day of 1999, with
just a few hours before Satan will reproduce. Jericho goes to the Striker office where
he arms himself, and uses a computer to find the location of the car Chicago was
driving. He travels to this location, where he discovers a Satanic temple. There, he
manages to rescue Christine and kill Marge for the second time. Chicago steps in to
stop Jericho, revealing that Satan resurrected him in exchange for his help capturing
Christine. He manages to fight off Satan's influence after some persuasion by his
friend; in retaliation, Satan burns him alive. Enraged, Jericho opens fire on Satan and
escapes with Christine.
The two make their way through Satan's hideout and into a subway tunnel. They
board a train but Satan catches up with them and kills the driver. In the ensuing
fight, Jericho fires a grenade launcher at Satan, wrecking the train and buying them
time to escape. The banker's body is now irreparably damaged, and Satan leaves it to
find a new host.
Jericho and Christine escape to the streets and into another church where he prays
to God to help him fight Satan. Satan smashes through the floor and confronts
Jericho in his true form: a massive, winged, demonic creature. He enters Jericho's
body and possesses him. Now controlled by Satan, Jericho attempts to rapeChristine,
but with the help of her begging words, he is able to fight Satan's control for a few
seconds. Using his last opportunity to redeem himself, Jericho impales himself on
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the sword protruding from a fallen statue of Saint Michael The Archangel, thus
disabling his body for the few remaining seconds before midnight. At the stroke of
midnight beginning the year 2000, the will of God frees Jericho's body and sends
Satan back to the depths of Hell for the next thousand years. After being granted a
vision of his wife and daughter smiling and waiting for him on the "other side,"
Jericho dies content. Christine thanks him for saving her life as she holds onto him
one last time.

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Script notes

335

Empire of the Sun(1987)

Japan had been at war with China since 1937 before declaring war on the United
States and the United Kingdom. Amidst the war, Jamie Graham, a British upper
middle class schoolboy fascinated with Japanese planes and pilots, is enjoying a
privileged and spoiled life in the Shanghai International Settlement. At a costume
party he attends with his parents, he wanders off and encounters a Japanese
airplane that had been shot down. Nearby he finds a camp full of Japanese troops in
a trench and is taken aback. Jamie's father finds him and forces him to leave, Jamie
not realizing the impending danger. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the
Japanese begin to occupy the Shanghai International Settlement and in the ensuing
chaos to escape the city and catch the next ferry out of Shanghai, Jamie is separated
from his parents in the crowds of panicking people. Over the crowds of people
Jamie's mother shouts at him to wait for them back at their house and promises that
they will come back for him. He spends some time living in his deserted house,
occupying his time by waiting and eating remnants of food but eventually he
ventures out into the city and finds it bustling with Japanese troops.
Hungry, he desperately tries to surrender to the Japanese troops who shrug and
laugh him off. After being chased by a street kid, and almost hit by a truck, he is
taken in by Basie (an American expatriate and somewhat of a con-man) and his
companion, Frank, who nicknames him "Jim". They intend to leave the boy in the
streets when they are unable to sell his teeth for cash, but Jamie promises that he
knows where there are houses filled with opulent things they can sell and leads
them to his neighborhood and home. Jamie's house is lit and a wispy figure can be
seen through the windows as one of Jamie's mother's favorite pieces of music is
heard being played on a piano inside the house. Jamie runs to the house calling for
his mother and the door flies open as Japanese soldiers, who had been occupying
the house as a rest area, come pouring out the front door. Basie and Frank try to
escape in their ramshackle truck but are captured by the Japanese troops and
severely beaten. Jamie along with Basie are taken to Lunghua Civilian Assembly
336

Center in Shanghai. At the center, life hangs in the balance and Basie teaches Jim
how to survive by any means possible as Jim nurses Basie back to health. Later, a
truck arrives to take selected internees to the Soochow Creek Internment Camp.
Basie is among those selected to go but Jamie is not. Because he knows of the
camp's location, Jamie convinces them to take him by providing directions to the
driver with whom he is in constant disagreement about which way to go. On arrival at
the camp Jim is drawn to the sounds of men working and finds himself wandering
amongst men servicing a squadron of Zero fighters. As Jim reaches out to touch the
gleaming metal of one of the planes, he is confronted by a trio of fighter pilots. Jim,
out of respect, salutes the pilots, and they, in return, stand at attention and salute
Jim.
It is now early 1945, a few months before the end of the Pacific War, Jim has
established a good living, despite the poor conditions of the camp. He has an
extensive trading network, even involving the camp's commanding officer, Sergeant
Nagata. Dr. Rawlins, the camp's British doctor, becomes a father figure and teacher to
Jim. Life at the camp is a mixture of terror, disease, and tight living conditions. One
night after a B-29 raid and the crashing of a plane near the camp Nagata orders the
destruction of the prisoners' infirmary as a reprisal. When Dr. Rawlins, attempts to
prevent the destruction he is beaten by Nagata who only stops when Jim, now fluent
in Japanese, begs forgiveness. Through the barbed wire fencing, Jim befriends a
Japanese teenager, who is a trainee pilot. Still friends with Basie, Jim frequently
visits him in the American prisoners' barracks. Jim idolizes the Americans, for not
only being pilots, but also for just being American. At one point, Basie charges him to
set snare traps outside the wire of the camp; while Jim succeeds, thanks to the help
of the his Japanese teenage friend, the real reason for sending Jim into the marsh
was actually to test the area for land mines. As a reward, Basie allows Jim to move
into the American barracks with him. Basie then plots to escape.
During a surprise inspection of the American barracks Nagata discovers a bar of soap,
from Nagata's personal supplies, that Jim had stolen as a gift for Basie. Nagata
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severely beats Basie and while he is in the infirmary, his possessions are stolen by
other men in the barracks. One morning at dawn, Jim witnesses akamikaze ritual of
three Japanese pilots at the air base. Overcome with emotion at the solemnity of the
ceremony, he begins to sing the Welsh song "Suo Gn". As the Zeros begin to take off
the base comes under attack by a group of American P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft.
Jim is overwhelmed and climbs the ruins of a nearby pagoda to better watch the
airstrike. Dr. Rawlins chases Jim up the pagoda to get him out of harm's way, but Jim
refuses to leave, too excited by the planes flying by. Jim finally breaks down in a pool
of emotions and confesses to Dr. Rawlins that he cannot remember what his mother
looks like. As a result of the attack the Japanese decide to evacuate the camp. During
the confusion, Basie escapes, leaving Jim behind, although he had promised to take
Jim with him. The camp's prisoners march through the wilderness where many die of
fatigue, starvation, and disease. During the march, Jim witnesses flashes from the
atomic bombing of Nagasaki hundreds of miles away, and later hears news of
Japan's surrender and the end of the war.
Jim sneaks away from the group at a football stadium near Nantao, filled with items
confiscated by the Japanese, and goes back to Soochow Creek, nearly dead from
starvation. He encounters the Japanese teenager he knew earlier, who has since
become a pilot but whose plane would not start and now lives in shame that he
could not fulfill his obligations to the Empire as a kamikaze. The youth remembers
Jim and offers him a mango, and will cut it for him with his katana. As the teenager
draws back his blade over Jim holding the mango, Basie reappears with a group of
armed Americans, who have arrived to loot the Red Cross containers. One of the
Americans, thinking Jim is in danger, shoots and kills the Japanese youth. Jim,
furious, beats the American who shot his friend. Basie drags him off and promises to
take him back to Shanghai to find his parents, but Jim refuses the offer and stays
behind. He is found by American soldiers and put in an orphanage in Shanghai with
other children who had lost their parents. When his parents come looking for him,
Jim is so rugged and scarred from his experiences that his parents do not initially see
338

him but his mother soon recognizes him as only a mother could. The film ends with
Jim hugging his mother inside the orphanage.

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Script notes

340

The Elephant Man (1980)

London Hospital surgeon Frederick Treves finds John Merrick in a Victorian freak
show in London's East End, where he is kept by Mr. Bytes. His head is always hooded,
and his "owner," who views him as retarded, is paid by Treves to bring him to the
hospital for exams. He shows Merrick to his colleagues and highlights his monstrous
skull, which forces him to sleep with his head on his knees, since if he were to lie
down, he would asphyxiate. On Merricks return he is beaten so hard by Bytes that an
apprentice calls Treves to bring him back to hospital. When Bytes accuses Treves of
likewise exploiting Merrick for his own ends, he vows to do what he can to help
Merrick.
John is tended and quarantined by Mrs. Mothershead, the formidable matron, since
the other staff cringe away from Merrick. Mr. Carr-Gomm, the hospitals Governor, is
against housing Merrick as the ward is no place for incurables. To prove to CarrGomm that Merrick has skills, Treves makes him say a few phrases. Carr-Gomm sees
through the ruse but as he walks off, he and Treves are stunned to hear John recite
the 23rd Psalm, which Treves did not teach. He now permits John to stay, and the
patient starts drawing, reading, and building a model of a cathedral he sees from his
window.
When Merrick has tea with Ann Treves, he is so overwhelmed that he shows them his
mothers picture. He hopes she would love him if she could see his lovely friends.
Later on he starts to have guests in his rooms, including the actress Madge Kendal,
and becomes an object of curiosity and charity to high society. Mrs. Mothershead
says he is still treated as a freak, though in a more upper-class style. This rebuke and
his role in the matter trouble the surgeon, who now questions his morals. And while
John is treated well by day, a night porter by the name of Jim makes money by
bringing clients from nearby pubs to gawk at Merrick.
Through her daughter-in-law Alexandra, the hospitals royal patron, Queen
Victoriasends word that Merrick will have permanent hospital care with all funds
341

arranged. But his problems resurface when Bytes uses the night porters viewings
to reach John and take him to continental Europe, where he is once again put on
show and brutalized. Consumed with guilt over Merricks plight, Mr. Treves sacks the
porter with Mrs. Mothersheads help.
His fellow attractions help Merrick flee, though at Liverpool Street station he is
taunted by several boys and accidentally knocks down a girl. He is chased,
unmasked, and cornered by an angry mob, at which point he cries, I am not an
elephant! I am not an animal! I am a human being! I ... am ... a ... man! before
collapsing. When policemen return him to the hospital he goes back to his room. He
recovers a little, but it is revealed that he is dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease. Mrs. Kendal bids him go to the theatre, where he, Treves, Mrs. Mothershead
and a nurse will see an enrapturing show. A white-tied John Merrick stands up in the
royal box to reap hearty applause, having had the performance dedicated to him
from Mrs. Kendal. Back in the hospital, Merrick thanks Treves for all he has done and
completes his church model. To copy the sleeping child on his wall-hung sketch, he
takes off the pillows he needs to sleep upright, lies down and dies, consoled by a
vision of his mother, who quotes Alfred, Lord Tennysons Nothing Will Die.

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Script notes

343

El Cid (1961)
General Ibn (pronounced Ben) Yusuf (Herbert Lom) of the Almoravid dynasty has
summoned all the Emirs of Al-Andalus to North Africa and chastises them for their
complacency in dealing with the infidels and reveals his plan for Islamic world
domination.
Later, while on the way to meet his bride-to-beDoa Ximena (Sophia Loren), Don
Rodrigo, El Cid (Charlton Heston), becomes involved in a battle against a Moorish
army. Two of the Emirs, Al-Mu'tamin (Douglas Wilmer) of Zaragoza and Al-Kadir
(Frank Thring) of Valencia, are captured, but Rodrigo releases them on condition that
they pledge never again to attack King Ferdinand of Castile's (Ralph Truman) lands.
The Emirs proclaim him "El Cid" (the Castillian Spanish pronunciation of the Arabic
for Lord: "Al Sidi") and swear allegiance to him.
For this act of mercy, Don Rodrigo is accused of treason against the King by Count
Ordez (Raf Vallone), and later by Ximena's father, Count Gormaz (Andrew
Cruickshank). Rodrigo's father, Don Diego (Michael Hordern), calls Count Ordez a
liar. Ordez strikes Don Diego, effectivly challenging the old man to a duel.
Gormaz, who is the King's Champion, refuses to take back the challenge, and
Rodrigo kills him in a duel. Ximena swears revenge upon her father's killer. Rodrigo
then takes up the mantle of the King's Champion in single combat for control of the
city of Calahorra, which he wins. Rodrigo is sent upon a mission to collect tribute
from Moorish vassals of the Castillian crown, but Ximena, in league with Count
Ordez, plots to have him killed. Rodrigo and his men are ambushed but are saved
by Al-Mu'tamin, one of the pair to whom he showed mercy at the beginning of the
story. Returning home, his reward is the hand of Ximena in marriage. But the
marriage is not consummated she removes herself to a convent.
On the death of King Ferdinand, his elder son, Prince Sancho (Gary Raymond),
becomes king. The younger son, Prince Alfonso (John Fraser), also desires the throne;
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their sister, Princess Urraca (Genevive Page) has Sancho assassinated. At Alfonso's
coronation, El Cid has him swear upon the Bible that he had no part in the death of
his brother. Since he had no part in it (as his sister was responsible), he swears, and
has Rodrigo banished for his impudence. Ximena's love for El Cid is rekindled. She
chooses banishment with him.
But Rodrigo is called into service by other exiled Spanish fighters and eventually
into the service of the king to protect Castille from Yusuf's North African army.
Rodrigo does not join the king, but allies himself with the Emirs who fight at
Valencia, where Rodrigo relieves the city from the wicked Emir Al-Kadir, who betrayed
him.
Count Ordez brings Ximena from where the king had imprisoned her and her
children after his defeat by the Moors. Valencia falls and Emir Al-Mu'tamin, Rodrigo's
army and the Valencians offer the crown to Rodrigo, "The Cid", but he refuses and
sends the crown to King Alfonso. Rodrigo then repels the invading army of Ben
Yusuf, but is wounded in battle by an arrow before the final victory. If the arrow were
removed, he would be unable to lead his fighters, but he would have a chance of
recovery. El Cid obtains a promise from Ximena to leave the arrow, choosing to ride
out, dying or dead. King Alfonso comes to his bedside and asks for his forgiveness.
Rodrigo, El Cid, dies, and so his body is secured upon his horse and sent out at the
head of his army with King Alfonso and Emir Al-Mu'tamin riding on either side.
When Yusuf's army see him with his eyes still open, they believe that El Cid's ghost
has come back from the dead. Babieca, his horse, tramples on and kills Ben Yusuf,
who is too terrified to fight. The invading North African army is smashed. King
Alfonso leads Christians and Moors in a prayer "for the purest knight of all".

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Script notes

346

Dragonslayer (1981)
A sixth-century post-Roman kingdom called Urland[2] is being terrorized by a 400year-old dragon named Vermithrax Pejorative.[3] To appease the dragon, King
Casiodorus (Peter Eyre) offers it virgin girls selected by lottery twice a year. An
expedition led by a young man called Valerian (Clarke) seeks the last sorcerer, Ulrich
of Craggenmoor (Richardson), for help. A brutishcenturion from Urland named Tyrian
(Hallam), who has followed the expedition, intimidates the wizard. Ulrich invites
Tyrian to stab him to prove his magical powers. Tyrian does so and Ulrich dies
instantly, to the horror of his young apprentice Galen Bradwarden (MacNicol) and his
elderly servant Hodge (Sydney Bromley). Hodge cremates Ulrich's body and places
the ashes in a leather pouch, informing Galen that Ulrich wanted his ashes spread
over a lake of burning water.
Galen inherits the wizard's magical amulet, and takes it upon himself to journey to
Urland. On the way, he discovers Valerian is really a young woman, who disguised
herself to avoid being selected in the lottery. In an effort to discourage the
expedition, Tyrian kills Hodge; before dying, he hands Galen the pouch and dies with
the words "Burning water..." on his lips.
Arriving in Urland, Galen inspects the dragon's lair and attempts to seal its entrance
by causing rocks to fall from the cliff. Tyrian apprehends Galen and takes him to the
court of King Casiodorus. King Casiodorus guesses that Galen is not a real wizard and
complains that his attack may have angered the dragon instead of killing it, as his
own brother and predecessor once did. The king then confiscates the amulet and
imprisons Galen. His daughter Elspeth (Chloe Salaman) comes to taunt Galen, but is
shocked when he informs her of rumours that the lottery is rigged to exclude her
name and those who are rich enough to pay to have their children' names removed.
Casiodorus is unable to lie convincingly when she confronts him regarding this.
Meanwhile, the dragon frees itself from its prison and causes an earthquake. Galen
narrowly escapes, but without the amulet. The village priest, Brother Jacopus (Ian
347

McDiarmid), leads his congregation to confront the dragon, denouncing it as the

Devil, but the dragon incinerates him and then heads for the village, burning all in
its path.
When the lottery begins anew, Princess Elspeth rigs the draw so that only her name
can be chosen. The King returns the amulet to Galen so that he might save Elspeth.
Galen uses the amulet to enchant a heavy spear that had been forged by Valerian's
father (which he had dubbedSicarius Dracorum, or "Dragonslayer") with the ability to
pierce the dragon's armored hide. Meanwhile, Valerian gathers some molted dragon
scales and uses them to make Galen a shield, and the two realize they have romantic
feelings for one another. As Galen attempts to rescue Princess Elspeth, he fights and
kills Tyrian. The Princess, determined to make amends for all the girls whose names
had been chosen in the past, descends into the dragon's cave and to her death.
Galen follows her and finds a brood of young dragons feasting upon her corpse
(which Valerian warned him about earlier). He kills them and then finds Vermithrax
nesting by an underground lake of fire. He manages to wound the monster but the
spear is broken and only Valerian's shield saves him from incineration.
After his failure to kill Vermithrax, Valerian convinces Galen to leave the village with
her. As the two lovers prepare to leave, the amulet gives Galen a vision that explains
his teacher's final wishes. Ulrich had asked that his ashes be spread over "burning
water", and Galen realizes that the wizard had planned his own death and cremation
after realizing he was not physically able to make the journey by himself. He used
Galen to deliver him to Urland. Galen returns to the cave. When the ashes are spread
over the lake, the wizard is resurrected within the flames. Ulrich reveals that his time
is short and that Galen must destroy the amulet when the time is right. The wizard
then transports himself to the mountaintop and confronts the dragon as the moon
covers the sun. After a brief battle, the monster grabs the old man and flies away with
him. Galen crushes the amulet with a rock, causing the wizard to explode and kill the
dragon, whose corpse falls out of the sky.
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Inspecting the wreckage, the villagers credit God with the victory, while the king
arrives and drives a sword into the dragon's broken carcass to claim the glory for
himself. As Galen and Valerian leave Urland together, he confesses that he misses
both Ulrich and the amulet. They both realize that the age of wizards and dragons
may be finished. However, when he says "I just wish we had a horse," a white horse
appears to take the incredulous lovers away, signifying that Galen may have finally
gained magic of his own.

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Script notes

350

Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb(1964)
United States Air Force Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) is
commander of Burpelson Air Force Base, which houses the Strategic Air Command
843rd Bomb Wing, equipped with B-52 bombers. The 843rd is currently in-flight on
airborne alert, a few hours from the Soviet border.
General Ripper orders his executive officer, Group Captain Lionel Mandrake (Peter
Sellers) of the UK Royal Air Force, to put the base on alert. Ripper also issues "Wing
Attack Plan R" to the patrolling aircraft, one of which is commanded by Major T. J.
"King" Kong (Slim Pickens). All of the aircraft commence an attack flight on Russia
and set their radios to allow communications only through the CRM 114
discriminator, which is programmed to accept only communications preceded by a
secret three-letter code known only to General Ripper.
Mandrake discovers that no war order has been issued by the Pentagon and tries to
stop Ripper, who locks them both in his office. Ripper tells Mandrake that he believes
the Soviets have been usingfluoridation of the United States' water supplies to
pollute the "precious bodily fluids" of Americans; at this point, Mandrake realizes
that Ripper is insane.
At the Pentagon, General Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott) briefs President Merkin
Muffley (also Peter Sellers) and other officers and aides about the attack in the "War
Room". President Muffley is shocked to learn that such orders could be given without
his authorization, but Turgidson reminds him that Plan Renabling a senior officer to
launch a strike against the Soviets if all superiors have been killed in a first strike on
Washington D.C.allows such an action. Turgidson reports that his men are trying
every possible three-letter CRM code to issue the stand-down order, but that this
could take over two days and the planes are due to reach their targets in about an
hour. Muffley orders the Army chief to storm the base and arrest General Ripper.

351

Turgidson attempts to convince Muffley to let the attack continue and use the
element of surprise to annihilate the Soviet military altogether before they can strike
back; Muffley, however, refuses to be party to a nuclear first strike. Instead, he brings
Soviet ambassador Alexei de Sadeski (Peter Bull) into the War Room, to telephone
Soviet premier Dimitri Kissov on the "hot line". Muffley warns the Premier of the
impending attack and offers to reveal the planes' positions and targets so that the
Russians can protect themselves.
After a heated discussion in Russian with the Premier, the ambassador informs
President Muffley that the Soviet Union has created a doomsday device, which
consists of many buried bombs jacketed with "Cobalt-Thorium G" connected to a
computer network set to detonate them automatically should any nuclear attack
strike the country. Within two months after detonation, the Cobalt-Thorium G would
encircle the earth in a radioactive cloud, wiping out all human and animal life,
rendering the surface of the earth uninhabitable for 93 years. The device cannot be
dismantled or "un-triggered", as it is programmed to explode if any such attempt is
made. When the President's wheelchair-bound scientific advisor, former Nazi Dr.
Strangelove (again, Peter Sellers), points out that such a doomsday device would
only be an effective deterrent if everyone knew about it, de Sadeski replies that the
Russian Premier had planned to reveal its existence to the world the following week
(on the leader's birthday).
Meanwhile, United States Army forces arrive at Burpelson, which is still sealed by
General Ripper's order. A bloody battle ensues, and the Army forces eventually take
over the base. Ripper kills himself, fearing he will be tortured into revealing the
recall code. A soldier named Colonel "Bat" Guano (Keenan Wynn) forces his way into
Ripper's office, where Mandrake identifies Ripper's CRM code from his desk blotter
("OPE," a variant of both Peace on Earth and Purity of Essence).[4] Mandrake relays
this code to the Pentagon with difficulty via payphone, the only working method of
communication. Using the recall code, SAC successfully recalls most of the aircraft;
however, Muffley learns that a surface-to-air missile has ruptured the fuel tank of
352

Major Kong's plane and destroyed its communications device, making it impossible
to recall this particular plane even with the correct recall code. President Muffley tells
the Soviets the plane's target to help them find it, but doesn't realize that because of
the shortened range of the crippled aircraft, Major Kong has selected a closer target.
As the plane approaches the new target, the crew is unable to open the damaged
bomb doors. Major Kong adjusts the wiring, whereupon the doors open. With Kong
straddling it, the nuclear bomb falls and detonates, triggering the doomsday
machine.
Dr. Strangelove recommends that the President gather several hundred thousand
people to live in deep mineshafts where the radiation will not penetrate. He suggests
a 10:1 female-to-male ratio for a breeding program, to repopulate the Earth when
the radiation has subsided. Turgidson, worried that the Soviets will do the same,
warns about a "mineshaft gap", when the wheel chair bound Strangelove suddenly
stands and says "Mein Fhrer, I can walk!!". The film then cuts to a montage of
nuclear detonations, accompanied by Vera Lynn's recording of "We'll Meet Again".

353

Script notes

354

Double Jeopardy (1999)

Nick Parsons (Bruce Greenwood) and his wife Elizabeth (Ashley Judd), known as
Libby, wealthy residents of Whidbey Island, Washington, borrow a friend's yacht and
set off sailing for the weekend. After a session of love making, Libby falls asleep. She
wakes to find her husband missing and blood all over her hands, clothes, legs, and
the boat's floors. A Coast Guard vessel appears and Libby is spotted holding a bloody
knife she found lying on the deck. She is arrested, humiliated in the media, tried,
and convicted of her husband's murder.
Libby asks her best friend, Angela Green (Annabeth Gish), to look after her 4-year-old
son, Matty (Benjamin Weir), for the duration of her prison sentence. On a phone call
with Matty from prison, Libby hears a door open in the background, then Matty
exclaims, "Daddy!" right before the line goes dead.
Libby realizes that Nick possibly faked his death and framed her, leaving their son as
the sole beneficiary of his life insurance policy, as people convicted for murder are
not allowed to collect the life insurance on their victims. After attempting
(unsuccessfully) to get investigative help, she is told by a fellow inmate named
Margaret (Roma Maffia) that if she were to get paroled for good behavior, she could
kill Nick with impunity due to the Double Jeopardy Clause in the Fifth Amendment
of the U.S. Constitution.
Libby is paroled after six years and begins searching for Nick and Matty, while living
in a halfway house under the supervision of parole officer Travis Lehman (Tommy Lee
Jones). Libby violates her curfew and is caught breaking into Matty's school on
Whidbey Island to try to get Angela's records, but manages to escape from Lehman
and continue her search.
After discovering Angela has recently died in Colorado, Libby recognizes a Kandinsky
painting in a newspaper photo. Tracing it through a dealer's database (which nearly

355

again allows her capture by Lehman) leads her to New Orleans, where she finds Nick
living a luxurious lifestyle under an assumed name, Jonathan Devereaux.
Libby confronts him after making a winning bid of $10,000 on him at a bachelor's
auction. She demands he return Matty in exchange for her silence about his real
identity. Nick agrees to bring Matty to a meeting in a cemetery. There, while a band at
a funeral plays the St. James Infirmary Blues in the background, he uses a decoy boy
to distract Libby, knocks her unconscious, and locks her in a casket inside a
mausoleum. Using a .38 caliber handgun she had snatched from Lehman, Libby
manages to shoot the hinges off the lid of the casket and escape the mausoleum by
throwing a flower vase through a stained glass window.
While tracking Libby in New Orleans, Lehman himself becomes suspicious of Nick's
death and begins to believe Libby's story, based on the clues uncovered in his search.
He finds a picture of a different Nicholas Parsons when searching the Washington
State DMV records to prove his suspicions, and later confirms them when he
uncovers six DMV records under that name, including Nick's DMV application and
photograph. After seemingly capturing Libby later in the city, the two actually team
up. Lehman visits Nick in his office under the pretense of asking for money to keep
his identity secret. He records a remark by Nick that he had murdered his wife, the
only witness to his true past. Libby enters, holding Nick at gunpoint. Nick is given a
choice of surrendering to the authorities or getting shot by his vengeful ex-wife,
whom he believes would go free for this deed because of double jeopardy.
Nick responds with violence. In the ensuing melee, Nick pulls out a hidden gun,
shoots Lehman, and fires away at Libby. Lehman manages to bring Nick down before
he can shoot Libby. Nick gets the upper hand, but before he can kill the wounded
parole officer, Libby shoots him dead.
Lehman promises to help Libby get fully pardoned. Together, they travel to Matty's
boarding school in Georgia, where he is playing soccer. Matty (Spencer Treat Clark),
356

now eleven years old, recognizes his mother and they embrace with Travis watching
them.

357

Script notes

358

Do the Right Thing (1989)

Mookie (Spike Lee) is a young black man living in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn with
his sister, Jade (Joie Lee). He and his girlfriend, Tina (Rosie Perez), have a son. He's a
pizza delivery man at the local pizzeria, but lacks ambition. Sal (Danny Aiello), the
pizzeria's Italian-American owner, has been in the neighborhood for twenty-five
years. His older son Pino (John Turturro) intensely dislikes blacks, and does not get
along with Mookie. Pino is at odds with his younger brother, Vito (Richard Edson),
who is friendly with Mookie.
The neighborhood is full of distinct personalities, including Da Mayor (Ossie Davis), a
friendly local drunk; Mother Sister (Ruby Dee), who watches the neighborhood from
her brownstone; Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn), who blasts Public Enemy on his
boombox wherever he goes; and Smiley (Roger Guenveur Smith), a mentally
disabled man, who meanders around the neighborhood trying to sell hand-colored
pictures of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.
While at Sal's, Mookie's friend, Buggin' Out (Giancarlo Esposito), questions Sal
about his "Wall of Fame", a wall decorated with photos of famous Italian-Americans.
Buggin' Out demands that Sal put up pictures of black celebrities since Sal's pizzeria
is in a black neighborhood. Sal replies that he doesn't need to feature anyone but
Italians as it is his restaurant. Buggin' Out attempts to start a protest over the Wall of
Fame. Only Radio Raheem and Smiley support him.
During the day, the heat and tensions begin to rise. The local teenagers open a fire
hydrant and douse the street, before police officers intervene. Mookie and Pino
begin arguing over race, which leads to a series of scenes in which the characters
spew racial insults into the camera. Pino and Sal talk about the neighborhood, with
Pino expressing his hatred, and Sal insisting that he is not leaving. Sal almost fires
Mookie, but Jade intervenes, before Mookie confronts her for being too close to Sal.

359

That night, Buggin' Out, Radio Raheem, and Smiley march into Sal's and demand
that Sal change the Wall of Fame. Raheem's boombox is blaring and Sal demands
that they turn the radio down, but the men refuse. Sal, in a fit of frustration, tells
Raheem he will "tear his niggerass," then destroys the boombox with a baseball bat.
Raheem attacks Sal, leading to a huge fight that spills out into the street, attracting a
crowd. The police arrive, break up the fight, and apprehend Radio Raheem and
Buggin' Out. One officer refuses to release his chokehold on Raheem, killing him.
Realizing they have killed Raheem in front of onlookers, the officers place his body in
the back of a squad car, and drive off, leaving Sal, Pino, and Vito unprotected.
The onlookers, enraged about Radio Raheem's death, blame Sal and his sons.
Mookie grabs a trash can and throws it through the window of Sal's pizzeria, causing
the crowd to rush into the restaurant and destroy it, with Smiley finally setting it on
fire. Da Mayor pulls Sal, Pino, and Vito out of the mob's way. Firemen and riot patrols
arrive to put out the fire and disperse the crowd. After police issue a warning, the
firefighters turn their hoses on the rioters, leading to more fighting and arrests.
Mookie and Jade sit on the curb, watching in disbelief. Smiley wanders back into the
smoldering building and hangs one of his pictures on what is left of Sal's Wall of
Fame.
The next day, after having an argument with Tina, Mookie returns to Sal, who feels
that Mookie betrayed him. Mookie demands his weekly pay, leading to an argument,
before they cautiously reconcile, and Sal finally pays him. Mister Seor Love Daddy
(Samuel L. Jackson), a local DJ, dedicates a song to Raheem.
The film ends with two quotes about violence from Martin Luther King and Malcolm
X before fading to a photograph of them shaking hands.

360

Script notes

361

Dogma (1999)
Bartleby (Affleck) and Loki (Damon) are fallen angels, banished for eternity from
Heaven toWisconsin for insubordination after an inebriated Loki (with Bartleby's
encouragement) resigned as the Angel of Death. When the trendy Cardinal Glick
(Carlin) announces that he is rededicating his cathedral in Red Bank, New Jersey in
the image of the "Buddy Christ", the angels see their salvation: Anyone entering the
cathedral during the rededication festivities will receive a plenary indulgence; all
punishment for sin will be remitted, permitting direct entry into Heaven.[5] They
receive encouragement from an unexpected source: Azrael (Lee), a demon, once a
Muse, also banished from Heaven (for refusing to take sides in the battle between
God and Lucifer); and theStygian Triplets (Barret Hackney, Jared Pfennigwerth, and
Kitao Sakurai), three teenage hoodlums who serve Azrael in Hell.
Bethany Sloane (Fiorentino)a downhearted, infertile, divorced abortion clinic
employeeattends a service at her church in Illinois. Donations are being solicited to
help a hospitalized, comatose homeless manknown only as John Doe Jersey (Cort)
who was beaten senseless outside a skee ball arcade in New Jersey by the Triplets.
Later that day, Metatron (Rickman)the Voice of Godappears to Bethany in a pillar
of fire and declares that she is the last relativeof Jesus Christ. He explains that
Bartleby and Loki cannot be allowed to succeed: By re-entering Heaven, they would
be overruling the word of God, thereby disproving the fundamental concept of God's
omnipotence, and nullifying all of existence. She, together with two prophets who
will appear to her, must stop the angels and save the universe.
Now a target, Bethany is attacked by the Triplets, and is rescued by the two foretold
prophetsdrug-dealing stoners named Jay and Silent Bob (Mewes and Smith). Azrael
then summons a Golgothan (a vile creature made of human excrement) to find and
kill Bethany, but Silent Bob immobilizes it with aerosol deodorant. Other allies in
Bethany's mission are Rufus (Rock), the thirteenth apostle (never mentioned in the
Bible, he says, because he is black), and Serendipity(Hayek), a Muse with writer's
block.
362

On a train to New Jersey, a drunken Bethany reveals her mission to Bartleby, who
tries to kill her; a melee ensues, and Silent Bob throws the angels off the train.
Bartleby and Loki now realize the potential consequences of their scheme; and while
Loki wants no part of destroying all existence, Bartleby remains angry at God for his
expulsionand for granting free will to humans while demanding servitude of
angelsand to Loki's horror, resolves to proceed.
Bethany and her allies discuss the situation: Who is really behind the angels' plan,
and why has God not intervened? Metatron explains that God's whereabouts are
unknown; he disappeared while visiting New Jersey in human form to play skee ball.
At the cathedral, the group attempts in vain to persuade Cardinal Glick to cancel the
celebration; Jay angrily steals Glick's golf club.
At a nearby bar, Azrael captures Bethany and her protectors and reveals that he is the
mastermind behind the angels' planhe would rather not exist at all than spend
eternity in Hell. Silent Bob kills Azrael with Glick's blessed golf club. Serendipity tells
Bethany to bless the bar sink, turning its contents to holy water, and Jay, Rufus and
Serendipity drown the Triplets in it. Bartleby and Loki reach the cathedral; Bartleby
kills all the celebrants, and when Loki attempts to stop him he tears off Loki's wings,
making him mortal. When the protectors block Bartleby's entry into the church,
Bartleby kills Loki and fights off Rufus, Serendipity and Bob, but as he flees, Jay
shoots off his wings with a machine gun.
During his latest of several attempts to seduce Bethany, Jay mentions John Doe
Jersey. Realizing that the homeless man is the mortal form that God assumed,
Bethany and Bob race to the hospital. Bethany disconnects John Doe's life support,
liberating God, but killing herself. As Bartleby again attempts to enter the cathedral,
God manifests before him as a woman (Morissette), and kills him with the power of
her voice. When Bob arrives with Bethany's lifeless body, God resurrects her and
conceives a child within her womb. God, Metatron, Rufus, and Serendipity return to
Heaven, leaving Bethany and the two prophets to reflect on what has happened.
363

Script notes

364

Die Hard 2 (1990)

On Christmas Eve two years after the Nakatomi Tower Incident, John McClane is
waiting atWashington Dulles International Airport for his wife Holly to arrive from Los
Angeles. Reporter Richard Thornburg, who exposed Holly's identity to Hans Gruber
in the Nakatomi Tower, is assigned a seat across the aisle from her. In the airport bar
McClane spots two men in army fatigues carrying a package, one of whom has a gun.
He follows them into the baggage area. After a shootout, he kills one of the men
while the other escapes. Learning the dead man is a mercenary thought killed in
action, McClane relates the situation to airport police Captain Carmine Lorenzo, but
Lorenzo has McClane ejected from his office.
Former U.S. Army Special Forces Colonel Stuart and other members of his unit set up
a base in a church near Dulles. They take over the air traffic control systems, cut off
communication to the planes and seize control of the airport. Their goal is to rescue
General Ramon Esperanza, a drug lord and dictator of Val Verde, who is being
extradited to the United States to stand trial on drug trafficking charges. They
demand a Boeing 747 cargo plane so they can escape to another country, and warn
the airport controllers not to try to restore control. McClane realizes his wife is on one
of the planes circling above Washington, D.C. with too little fuel to be redirected. He
prepares to fight the terrorists, allying himself with a janitor, Marvin, to gain larger
access to the airport.
Dulles communications director Leslie Barnes heads to the unfinished Annex
Skywalk with aSWAT team to re-establish communications with the planes. Stuart's
henchmen ambush the group at a checkpoint, killing the SWAT team. With Marvin's
help, McClane reaches the massacre scene, rescuing Barnes and killing Stuart's men.
Stuart responds by recalibrating theinstrument landing system and then
impersonating air traffic controllers to crash a British jet, killing all 230 passengers
and crew on board. A U.S. Army Special Forces team is called in, led by Major Grant. A
two-way radio dropped by one of Stuart's henchmen tips McClane that Esperanza is
landing.
365

With Marvin's aid, McClane reaches the aircraft before Stuart's henchmen, but Stuart
traps him and throws grenades into the cockpit. McClane escapes via the ejection
seat as the aircraft explodes. Barnes helps McClane locate the mercenaries's hideout
and they tell Grant and his team to raid the location, but the mercenaries escape on
snowmobiles. McClane pursues them, but the gun he picked up does not kill anyone
when fired. He discovers that the gun is loaded with blanks, and concludes that the
mercenaries and Special Forces have been working together all along.
McClane contacts Lorenzo to intercept the Boeing 747 in which the mercenaries will
escape, proving his story by firing at Lorenzo with the blank gun. A suspicious
Thornburg is monitoring airport radio traffic, and learns about the situation from a
secret transmission to the circling planes from Barnes. He phones in a sensational
and exaggerated take on what is happening, leading to panic and preventing the
officers from reaching the escape plane. Holly subdues Thornburg with a taser.
McClane hitches a ride on a news helicopter that drops him off on the wing of the
mercenary plane. He blocks the ailerons with his jacket, preventing the plane from
taking off. Grant emerges and fights McClane, but is sucked into the jet engine and
killed. Stuart then comes out and succeeds in knocking McClane off the plane, but as
he falls McClane opens the fuel hatch. McClane uses his cigarette lighter to ignite the
trail of fuel, which destroys the jet, killing Esperanza, Stuart and all on board. The
passenger planes in the sky then use the lighted trail to land, and McClane and his
wife are reunited.

366

Script notes

367

The Devil's Advocate (1997)

Kevin Lomax (Keanu Reeves), a defense attorney from Gainesville, Florida, has never
lost a case. He defends a schoolteacher, Lloyd Gettys (Chris Bauer), against a charge
of child molestation. Kevin believes his client is guilty, and a reporter tells him a
guilty verdict is inevitable. However, through a harsh cross-examination, Kevin
destroys the victim's credibility, securing a not guilty verdict.
A representative of New York City law firm Milton, Chadwick & Waters offers Kevin a
large sum of money to help with a jury selection. After the jury delivers a not guilty
verdict, the head of the firm, John Milton (Al Pacino), offers Kevin a large salary and
an upscale apartment if he joins thefirm. Kevin accepts the job, along with his wife
Mary Ann (Charlize Theron) to stay in Manhattan. He is soon spending all his time at
work, leaving Mary Ann feeling isolated. Kevin's mother, Alice (Judith Ivey), visits
New York and suggests they both return home. He refuses.
Kevin defends Alex Cullen (Craig T. Nelson), a billionaire accused of murdering his
wife, her stepson and a maid. This case demands more of Kevin's time, further
separating him from Mary Ann. He begins to fantasize about co-worker Christabella
(Connie Nielsen). Mary Ann begins seeing visions of the partners' wives becoming
demonic, and has a nightmare about a baby playing with her removed ovaries; she
wakes up with her gown covered in blood. After a doctor declares her infertile, she
begs Kevin to return to Gainesville. Milton suggests Kevin step down from the trial to
tend to his wife; but Kevin claims, if he does, he will resent her.
Eddie Barzoon (Jeffrey Jones), the firm's managing partner, is convinced that Kevin
is competing for his job when he discovers Kevin's name is on the firm's charter thus
making Kevin a partner. Although a surprised Kevin denies any knowledge, Eddie
threatens to inform the United States Attorney's office of the law firm's activities.
Kevin tells Milton about Eddie's threats, but Milton dismisses them saying Eddie is
suffering from manic depression. Meanwhile, Eddie is beaten to death by vagrants,
who take on demonic appearances. Mary Ann witnesses this, disturbing her further.
368

While preparing Melissa (Laura Harrington) to testify about Cullen's alibi, Kevin
realizes she is lying and tells Milton he believes Cullen is guilty. Milton offers to back
Kevin no matter what he decides to do. Kevin proceeds with her testimony and wins
an acquittal. Afterwards, Kevin finds Mary Ann in a nearby church, naked and covered
with claw marks. She claims Milton raped and mutilated her; but, as Kevin saw
Milton in court with him, he believes Mary Ann injured herself and has her
committed to a mental institution.
Kevin is approached by United States Attorney Mitch Weaver (Vyto Ruginis) about
the firm being investigated for illegal activities in drugs and weapons. Kevin ignores
him, but Weaver then tells him about the discovery of a dead girl in the car trunk of
his former client, Gettys. While approaching Kevin, Weaver is killed by a car. Alice,
along with Kevin and Pam Garrety (Debra Monk), Kevin's case manager, visit Mary
Ann at the mental institution. When Mary Ann sees Pam' face suddenly take on a
demonic appearance in a mirror that Pam was holding for her, she attacks Pam with
the mirror and locks herself in the room. As Kevin breaks down the door, Mary Ann
commits suicide by cutting her throat with a shard of glass from the broken mirror.
Alice reveals that Milton is Kevin's father. Kevin leaves the hospital to confront
Milton, who admits to raping Mary Ann. Kevin fires a pistol into Milton's chest, but
the bullets are ineffective. Milton reveals himself as Satan. Kevin blames Milton for
everything that happened, but Milton explains that he merely "set the stage" and
that Kevin could have left at any time. Kevin realizes he always wanted to win, no
matter the cost. Milton tells Kevin that he wants Kevin and Christabella, Kevin's halfsister, to conceive a child: the Antichrist. Kevin rejects his heritage, citing free will,
and shoots himself in the head.
Kevin finds himself at the recess of the Gettys trial. Kevin announces that he cannot
represent his client despite the threat of being disbarred. The reporter pleads for an
interview, promising to make Kevin a star. Encouraged by Mary Ann, Kevin agrees.

369

After they leave, the reporter transforms into Milton. Breaking the fourth wall, he
says, "Vanity. Definitely my favorite sin."

370

Script notes

371

The Defiant Ones (1958)

The film starts with a truck driving at night. It swerves to miss another truck and
crashes through a barrier. The rescuers clear up the debris and cover the people
killed... mainly prisoners in the back. It is revealed that two are missing: a black man
shackled to a white man, because "the warden had a sense of humor". They are told
not to look too hard as "they will probably kill each other in the first five miles".
Nevertheless a large posse and many bloodhounds are dispatched the next morning
to find them.
The setting is in the American South, the men are the black Noah Cullen (Poitier) and
the white John "Joker" Jackson (Curtis). Despite their mutual loathing, they are
forced to cooperate, as they are chained together. At first their cooperation is
motivated by self-preservation but gradually, they begin to respect and like each
other.
Cullen and Joker flee through difficult terrain and weather, with a brief stop at a
turpentine campwhere they attempt to break into a general store, in hopes of
obtaining food and tools to break the chain that holds them together. Instead,
however, they are captured by the inhabitants, who form a lynch mob; they are saved
only by the interference of "Big" Sam (Chaney), a man who is appalled by his
neighbors' bloodthirst. Sam persuades the onlookers to lock the convicts up and turn
them in the morning, but that night, he secretly releases them, after revealing to
them that he is also a former chain-gang prisoner.
Finally, they run into a young boy named Billy. They make him take them to his
home and his mother (Williams), whose husband has abandoned his family. The
escapees are finally able to break their chains. When they spend the night there, the
lonely woman is attracted to Joker and wants to run off with him. She advises Cullen
to go through the swamp to reach the railroad tracks, while she and Joker drive off in
her car. The men agree to split up. However, after Cullen leaves, the woman reveals
that she had liedshe sent Cullen into the dangerous swamp to die to eliminate any
372

chance he would be captured and perhaps reveal where Joker had gone. Furious,
Joker runs after his friend; as he leaves, Billy shoots him.
Wounded, Joker catches up to Cullen and warns him about the swamp. As the posse
led by humane Sheriff Max Muller (Bikel) gets close, the escapees can hear the dogs
hot on their trail. But they also hear a train whistle and run towards the sound. Cullen
hops the train and tries to lift Joker on as well, but is unable to drag him aboard.
Both men tumble to the ground. Too exhausted to run anymore, they realize all they
can do is wait for their pursuers. The sheriff finds Cullen singing defiantly and Joker
nearly passed out in his arms.

373

Script notes

374

Defending Your Life (1991)

TDaniel Miller (Albert Brooks), a 40-year-old Los Angeles advertising executive, dies
in a car accident on his birthday and is sent to the afterlife. He arrives in Judgment
City, a Heaven-like waiting area populated by the recently deceased of the western
half of the United States, where he is to undergo the process of having his life on
earth judged. Daniel and the rest of the recently deceased are offered many Earthlike amenities and activities in the city while they undergo their judgment processes
from all-you-can-eat restaurants (which cause no weight gain and serve the best
food), to bowling alleys and comedy clubs.
As his defense attorney, Bob Diamond (Rip Torn), explains to Daniel that people from
Earth use so little of their brains (only three to five percent) that they spend most of
their lives functioning on the basis of their fears. "When you use more than five
percent of your brain, you don't want to be on Earth, believe me," says Diamond. If
the Judgment[1] court determines that Daniel has conquered his fears, he will be
sent on to the next phase of existence, where he will be able to use more of his brain
and thus be able to experience more of what the universe has to offer. Otherwise, his
soul will be reincarnated on Earth to live another life in another attempt at moving
past his fears.
Daniel's judgment process is presided over by two judges (played by Lillian Lehman
and George D. Wallace). Diamond argues that Daniel should move onto the next
phase. His formidable opponent is Lena Foster (Lee Grant). Diamond informs Daniel
that she is known as "the Dragon Lady." Each utilizes video-like footage from select
days in the defendants' lives, shown to the judges to illustrate their case.
During the procedure, Daniel meets and falls in love with Julia (Meryl Streep), a
woman who lived a seemingly perfect life of courage and generosity, especially
compared to his. The proceedings do not go well for Daniel. Foster shows a series of
episodes in which Daniel did not overcome his fears, as well as various other bad
decisions and mishaps. The final nail in his coffin, it seems, is when Foster, on the last
375

day of arguments, plays footage of his previous night with Julia, in which he declines
to sleep with her, for what Foster believes is his same fear and lack of courage. It is
ruled that Daniel will return to Earth. Meanwhile, Julia is judged worthy to move on.
Before saying goodbye Diamond comforts Daniel with the knowledge that the court
is not infallible and just because Foster won it doesn't mean she's right. Daniel
remains disappointed.
Daniel finds himself strapped to a seat on a tram poised to return to Earth, when he
spots Julia on a different tram. On an impulse, he unstraps himself, escapes from the
moving tram, and risks electrocution and injury to get to Julia. Although he cannot
enter her tram at first, the entire event is being monitored by Diamond (and Foster),
who convinces the judges that this last-minute display of courage has earned Daniel
the right to move on. The judges agree and open the doors on Julias tram, allowing
Daniel in, reuniting him with Julia and allowing them to move on to the next phase
of existence together.

376

Script notes

377

Close Encounters of the Third Kind(1977)

In the Sonoran Desert, French scientist Claude Lacombe (Franois Truffaut) and his
American interpreter, mapmaker David Laughlin, along with other government
scientific researchers, discover Flight 19, a squadron of Grumman TBM Avengers that
went missing more than 30 years earlier. The planes are intact and operational, but
there is no sign of the pilots. An old man who witnessed the event claimed "the sun
came out at night, and sang to him." They also find a lost cargo ship in the Gobi
Desert named SS Cotopaxi. At an air traffic control center in Indianapolis, a controller
listens as two airline flights narrowly avoid a mid-air collision with an apparent
unidentified flying object (UFO), which neither pilot chooses to report, even when
invited to do so. In Muncie, Indiana, 3-year-old Barry Guiler is awakened in the night
when his toys start operating on their own. Fascinated, he gets out of bed and
discovers something or someone (off-screen) in the kitchen. He runs outside, forcing
his mother, Jillian, to chase after him.
Investigating one of a series of large-scale power outages, Indiana electrical lineman
Roy Neary experiences a close encounter with a UFO, when it flies over his truck and
lightly burns the side of his face with its bright lights. The UFO, along with three
others, are pursued by Neary and three police cars, but the spacecraft fly off into the
night sky. Roy becomes fascinated by UFOs, much to the dismay of his wife, Ronnie.
He also becomes increasingly obsessed with subliminal, mental images of a
mountain-like shape and begins to make models of it. Jillian also becomes obsessed
with sketching a unique-looking mountain. Soon after, she is terrorized in her home
by a UFO encounter in which Barry is abducted by unseen beings.
Lacombe and Laughlinalong with a group of United Nations expertscontinue to
investigate increasing UFO activity and strange, related occurrences. Witnesses in
Dharamsala, India report that the UFOs make distinctive sounds: a five-tone musical
phrase in a major scale. Scientists broadcast the phrase to outer space, but are
mystified by the response: a seemingly meaningless series of numbers (104 44 30
40 36 10) repeated over and over until Laughlin, with his background in cartography,
378

recognizes it as a set of geographical coordinates. The coordinates point to Devils

Tower near Moorcroft, Wyoming. Lacombe and the U.S. military converge on
Wyoming. The United States Army evacuates the area, planting false reports in the
media that a train wreck has spilled a toxic nerve gas, all the while preparing a secret
landing zone for the UFOs and their occupants.
Meanwhile, Roy's increasingly erratic behavior causes Ronnie to leave him, taking
their three children with her. When a despairing Roy inadvertently sees a television
news program about the train wreck near Devils Tower, he realizes the mental image
of a mountain plaguing him is real. Jillian sees the same broadcast, and she and Roy,
as well as others with similar visions and experiences, travel to the site in spite of the
public warnings about nerve gas.
While most of the civilians who are drawn to the site are apprehended by the Army,
Roy and Jillian persist and make it to the site just as dozens of UFOs appear in the
night sky. The government specialists at the site begin to communicate with the
UFOs by use of light and sound on a large electrical billboard. Following this, an
enormous mother ship lands at the site, releasing animals and over a dozen of long
missing adults and children; farmers, soldiers, little girls in pigtails, and all from
different past eras. Among these returned abductees include the missing pilots from
Flight 19 and sailors from the Cotopaxi, and all of whom have strangely not aged
since their abductions. Barry is also returned and reunited with a relieved Jillian. The
government officials decide to include Roy in a group of people whom they have
selected to be potential visitors to the mothership, and hastily prepare him. As the
aliens finally emerge from the mothership, they select only Roy to join them on their
travels. As Roy enters the mothership, one of the aliens pauses for a few moments
with the humans. Lacombe uses Curwen hand signs that correspond to the five-note
alien tonal phrase. The alien replies with the same gestures, smiles, and returns to its
ship, which ascends into the galaxy.

379

Script notes

380

The Color Purple (1985)

Taking place in the Southern United Statesbetween Winter 1909 and Autumn 1937,
the movie tells the life of a poor African Americanwoman named Celie Harris
(Whoopi Goldberg) whose abuse begins when she is young. By the time she is 14,
she has already had two children by her father Alphonso "James" Harris (Leonard
Jackson). He takes them away from her at childbirth and forces the young Celie
(Desreta Jackson) to marry a wealthy young local widower Albert Johnson, known to
her only as "Mister" (Danny Glover), who treats her like a slave. Albert makes her
clean up his disorderly household and take care of his unruly children. Albert beats
and rapes her often, intimidating Celie into submission and near silence. Celie's
sister Nettie (Akosua Busia) comes to live with them, and there is a brief period of
happiness as the sisters spend time together and Nettie begins to teach Celie how to
read. This is short-lived; after Nettie refuses Albert's predatory affections once too
often, he kicks her out. Before being run off by Albert, Nettie promises to write to
Celie saying, "Nothing but death can keep me from it!".
Albert's old flame, jazz singer Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), for whom Albert has
carried a torch for many years, comes to live with him and Celie. Delirious with
sickness, Shug initially declares Celie as "ugly" on their first meeting. Despite this,
they eventually become close friends and Shug helps Celie raise her self-confidence.
Shug and Celie enter into a sexual relationship (more pronounced in the book, but
only hinted at in the film).[3] Celie also finds strength in Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), who
marries Albert's son Harpo (Willard E. Pugh). Sofia has suffered abuse from the men
in her family, but unlike Celie, she refuses to tolerate it. This high-spiritedness proves
to be her downfall, as a rude remark to the town mayor's wife and a retaliatory punch
to the mayor himself ends with Sofia beaten and jailed.
Meanwhile, Nettie has been living with the couple who adopted Celie's two children,
now missionaries in Africa, and writing frequently to Celie - however, Celie is
unaware of the correspondence, as Albert has confiscated the letters, forbidding Celie
to touch the mailbox, telling Celie that she will never hear from her sister again.
381

During a visit from Shug and her new husband Grady, Celie and Shug discover many
years' worth of Nettie's correspondence. Reconnecting with her sister and the
assurance that she is still alive helps give Celie the strength to stand up to Albert. She
prepares to slit his throat while shaving him, but is physically stopped by Shug.
During a subsequent family dinner, Sofia is shown to be prematurely aged and
permanently disfigured due to the severe beatings she received in jail, and
demoralized into an almostcatatonic state. At the dinner, Celie finally asserts herself,
excoriating Albert and his father. Shug informs Albert that she and Grady are leaving,
and that Celie is coming with them. Harpo's girlfriend Squeak (Rae Dawn Chong)
declares she is going with them as well. Despite Albert's attempts to verbally abuse
Celie into submission, she stands up to him by mentioning that he kept Nettie away
from her because Nettie was the only one who really loved her. Seeing Celie stand up
for herself, Sofia returns to her normal self, laughing hysterically at a dumbfounded
and embarrassed Albert. She also warns Celie not to follow in her own footsteps as
Celie holds a knife to Albert's throat. It is at this point Celie curses Albert saying,
"Until you do right by me, everything you think about gonna fail". As Shug, Grady,
Squeak, and Celie go quickly to the car, Albert readies to beat Celie, but she stands
up on the sideboards of Grady's car and curses Albert by raising her hand in his face
with a determined stare. Dumbfounded, Albert backs away and the car drives off.
In Tennessee, Celie opens a haberdashery, making and selling one-size-fits-all slacks
for men and women. Upon the death of her father, she learns that he was, in fact, her
stepfather, and that she has inherited her childhood home, the farm, and a shop
from her real father. She opens her second slacks shop in town, naming it Miss
Celie's Folks Pants, while Harpo and Sofia reconcile. Meanwhile, Albert is feeling the
effects of Celie's words. His fields and home languish into almost nonexistence as he
slips into alcohol-fueled idleness, spending most of his time at Harpo's Juke joint. At
one point, his father is seen suggesting that he find a new wife, but Albert casually
grabs his father by the arm and turns him off his property. Years of guilt finally catch
up with Albert, with the knowledge that he has been a horrible person most of his
382

life, especially to Celie. In a sudden act of kindness unknown to her, Albert takes all
the money he has saved over the years, goes to the immigration office, and arranges
for Nettie, her husband, and Celie's two children and daughter-in-law to come back
to America from Africa. Celie's children, Adam and Olivia, are reunited with her at
Celie's farm. Albert looks on from a distance, and Shug smiles at him because he
finally did the right thing. Nettie and Celie play their childhood clapping game as the
sun sets.

383

Script notes

384

The Confession (1999)

After his young son dies from the negligience of medical professionals at a hospital,
Harry Fertig (Kingsley) takes matters into his own hands and kills the negligent
doctors responsible. Slick lawyer Roy Bleakie (Baldwin), looking only to win a case
and not caring of the matters involved, is assigned Fertig's case. Shocked to hear that
his client wants to plead guilty, the case causes Bleakie to question his own morals by
defending an honorable man.
Cool Hand Luke (1967)
Decorated Korean War veteran Lucas "Luke" Jackson (Paul Newman), is arrested for
cutting the "heads" off parking meters one drunken night. He is sentenced to two
years in prison and sent to a Florida chain gang prison run by a sadistic warden, the
Captain (Strother Martin), and a stoic rifleman, Boss Godfrey (Morgan Woodward),
whose eyes are always obstructed by a pair of dark sunglasses.
Luke refuses to observe the established pecking order among the prisoners and
quickly runs afoul of the prisoners' leader, Dragline (George Kennedy). When the
pair have a boxing match, the prisoners and guards watch with interest. Although
Luke is severely outmatched by his larger opponent, he refuses to acquiesce.
Eventually, Dragline refuses to continue the fight. Luke's tenacity earns the prisoners'
respect. Later, Luke wins a poker game by bluffing with a hand worth nothing. Luke
comments that "sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand," prompting Dragline to
nickname him "Cool Hand Luke".
After a visit from his sick mother Arletta (Jo Van Fleet), Luke becomes more
optimistic about his situation. The other prisoners start to idolize him after he makes
and wins a spur-of-the moment bet that he can eat fifty hard-boiled eggs in one
hour. He continually confronts the Captain and the guards, and his sense of humor
and independence prove to be both contagious and inspiring to the other prisoners.
Luke's struggle for supremacy peaks when he leads a work crew in a seemingly
impossible but successful effort to complete a road-paving job in less than one day.

385

One day, after Luke uses a stick to lift up a deadly rattlesnake in the grass, causing
Boss Godfrey to kill it with his gun, and tossing the snake to the boss as a joke,
Dragline advises Luke to be more careful about his actions. However, a rainstorm
causes everyone to prematurely end their work. Before he joins the other prisoners in
the truck, Luke shouts to God, testing him. On that same evening, Luke receives a
painful letter explaining that his mother has died.
After news of his mother's death reaches Luke, the Captain, anticipating that Luke
might attempt to escape in order to attend his mother's funeral, has him locked in
the prison punishment box. After being released from the box, Luke is determined to
escape. Under the cover of a Fourth of July celebration, he makes his initial escape
attempt. He is later recaptured by local police and returned to the chain-gang, but
not before one of the blood hounds sent after him dies from strain caused by
struggling through barbed-wire fences. After his capture and return, the Captain has
Luke fitted with leg-irons and delivers a warning speech to the other inmates,
explaining, "What we've got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just
can't reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it.
Well, he gets it. I don't like it any more than you men."
A short time later, Luke escapes again by using string to shake a bush and distract
the guards, visiting a nearby house where he uses an axe to remove his shackles. To
keep the guard dogs from following his scent, he spreads curry powder and chili
powder across the ground to send them into sneezing fits and overload their
sensitive sense of smell. While free, Luke mails Dragline a magazine that includes a
photograph of him with two beautiful women. He is soon recaptured, beaten,
returned to the prison camp and fitted with two sets of leg irons. Luke is warned by
the Captain that if he ever attempts to escape again, he will be killed on the spot.
Luke is now annoyed by the other prisoners fawning over the magazine photo and
reveals it to be a fake. At first, the other prisoners are angry, but after a long stay in
the box, when Luke is forced to eat a huge serving of rice, they come together help
him to finish it.
386

As punishment for his escape, he is forced to repeatedly dig a grave-sized hole in the
prison camp yard, fill it back in, then be beaten. The prisoners observe his
persecution, singing spirituals. Finally, as the other prisoners watch from the
windows of the bunkhouse, an exhausted Luke collapses in the hole, begging God
for mercy and pleads with the bosses not to hit him again. Believing Luke is finally
broken, the Captain stops the punishment. Boss Godfrey warns Luke that he will be
killed if ever he runs away again, which Luke promises in tears not to do. The
prisoners begin to lose their idealized image of Luke, and one tears up the
photograph of Luke with the women.
Seemingly broken, and again working on the chain gang, Luke stops working to give
water to a prisoner. Following Boss Godfrey's orders and being watched by the
disappointed prisoners, he runs to one of the trucks to take his rifle and bring it to
him. After Boss Godfrey shoots a snapping turtle, Luke retrieves it from a slough for
him, complimenting the boss for his shot. Luke takes one last stab at freedom when
he is ordered to take the turtle to the truck. He steals the dump truck, as well as the
keys to the other trucks. In the excitement of the moment, Dragline jumps in the
dump truck and joins Luke in his escape. Later, Luke tells Dragline that they should
part ways. Luke enters a church, where he talks to God and blames Him for
sabotaging him so he cannot win in life. Moments later, police cars arrive and
Dragline walks in, telling Luke that the police, understanding what Luke is going
through, have promised not to hurt him if he surrenders peacefully. But Luke, feeling
that his life is no longer worth living, walks to a window facing the police and mocks
the Captain by repeating the first part of his speech ("What we've got here is a failure
to communicate."). He is immediately shot in the neck by Boss Godfrey. Dragline,
reacting to Luke's terminal injury, launches himself at Boss Godfrey and attempts to
strangle him until he is beaten and subdued by the other guards. In tears, Dragline
implores Luke to live. The local police want to take Luke to a nearby hospital, but the
Captain tells them to take him to the prison hospital instead, a long enough distance
that Luke's chances of survival are slim. As the captain's car drives away, it crushes
387

Boss Godfrey's glasses. After Luke's implied death, Dragline and the other prisoners
reminisce about him. In the final scene, the prison crew is seen working near a rural
intersection, with Dragline now wearing leg irons. As the camera zooms out, the torn
photograph of Luke grinning with the two women is superimposed on a bird's eye
view of the cross-shaped road junction.

388

Script notes

389

Courage Under Fire (1996)

While serving in the Gulf War, Lt Col Serling (Denzel Washington) accidentally
destroys one of his own tanks during a confusing night-time battle, killing his friend
Cpt Boylar. The US Army covers up the details and transfers Serling to a desk job.
Later, Serling is assigned to determine if Cpt Karen Emma Walden (Meg Ryan)
should be the first woman to receive a (posthumous) Medal of Honor. She was the
commander of a MedevacHuey who was sent to rescue the crew of a shot-down Black
Hawk. When she encountered a T-54, her crew destroyed it by dropping a fuel
bladder onto the tank and igniting it with a flare gun. However, her own helicopter
was shot down soon after. The two crews were unable to join forces, and on the next
day when further rescue arrived, Walden was reported dead.
Serling notices inconsistencies between the testimonies of Walden's crew. SPC Ilario,
the medic (Matt Damon), praises Walden heavily. SSG Monfriez (Lou Diamond
Phillips) claims that Walden was a coward and that Monfriez himself led the crew in
combat, and that the fuel bladder technique was originated by him. Sgt Altameyer,
who is dying in a hospital, complains about a fire. WO1 Rady, the co-pilot, was
injured early on and rendered unconscious. Meanwhile, the crew of the Black Hawk
claims that they heard firing from an M16, which Ilario and Monfriez deny.
Under pressure from the White House and his commander, Brigadier General
Hershberg (Michael Moriarty), to wrap things up quickly, Serling leaks the story to
newspaper reporter Tony Gartner (Scott Glenn) to prevent another cover up. When
Serling puts pressure on Monfriez during a car ride, Monfriez forces him to get out of
the vehicle at gunpoint, then commits suicide by driving into an oncoming train.
Serling tracks down Ilario using details about Ilario's preferred vacation spot. Ilario
tells the true story, revealing that Monfriez wanted to flee while leaving Rady behind.
As a result, Monfriez held Walden at gun-point. When Walden shot an approaching
enemy, Monfriez reacted by shooting Walden in the stomach, then voluntarily
390

backing off. The next morning, Walden covered her men's retreat using an M16, with
the expectation that the rescue team would come back for her. However, Monfriez
lied to the rescuers, saying that Walden was dead, which led to A10s dropping
napalm on the entire area, leading to Walden's death. Altameyer tried to tell the
truth but he was too injured to speak. Ilario was too scared and remained silent.
Serling presents his final report to Hershberg. Walden's young daughter receives the
Medal of Honor at a White House ceremony. Later, Serling tells the truth to the
Boylars about the manner of their son's death. In the last moments of the film, it is
shown that Walden was coincidentally the pilot who had evacuated Boylar's body
after Serling's friendly fire incident.

391

Script notes

392

Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989)

The story follows two main characters: Judah Rosenthal, a successful
ophthalmologist, and Clifford Stern, a small-time filmmaker.
Judah, a respectable family man, is having an affair with flight attendant Dolores
Paley. After it becomes clear to her that Judah will not end his marriage, Dolores,
scorned, threatens to inform his wife of their affair. Dolores's letter to Miriam is
intercepted and destroyed by Judah, but she sustains the pressure on him with
threats of revelation. She is also aware of some questionable financial deals Judah
has made, which adds to his stress. He confides in a patient, Ben, a rabbi who is
rapidly losing his eyesight. Ben advises openness and honesty between Judah and
his wife, but Judah does not wish to imperil his marriage. Desperate, Judah turns to
his brother, Jack, who hires a hitman to kill Dolores. Before her corpse is discovered,
Judah retrieves letters and other items from her apartment (where he sees her
bloody corpse) in order to cover his tracks. Stricken with guilt, Judah turns to the
religious teachings he had rejected, believing for the first time that a just God is
watching him and passing judgment.
Cliff, meanwhile, has been hired by his pompous brother-in-law, Lester, a successful
television producer, to make a documentary celebrating Lester's life and work. Cliff
grows to despise him. While filming and mocking the subject, Cliff falls in love with
Lester's associate producer, Halley Reed (Mia Farrow).
Despondent over his failing marriage to Lester's sister Wendy, he woos Halley,
showing her footage from his ongoing documentary about Prof. Louis Levy (the
psychologist Martin S. Bergmann[3]), a renowned philosopher. He makes sure Halley
is aware that he is shooting Lester's documentary merely for the money so he can
finish his more meaningful project with Levy.
Cliff's dislike for Lester becomes evident during the first screening of the film. It
juxtaposes footage of Lester with clownish poses of Benito Mussolini addressing a
393

throng of supporters from a balcony. It also shows Lester yelling at his employees
and clumsily making a pass at an attractive young actress.
Cliff learns that Professor Levy, whom he had been profiling on the strength of his
celebration of life, has committed suicide, leaving a curt note, "I've gone out the
window." When Halley visits to comfort him, he makes a pass at her, which she
gently rebuffs, telling him she isn't ready for another romance.
Adding to Cliff's burdens, Halley leaves for London, where Lester is offering her a
producing job; when she returns several months later, Cliff is astounded to discover
that she and Lester are engaged. Hearing that Lester sent Halley white roses "round
the clock, for days" while they were in London, Cliff is crestfallen as he realizes he is
incapable of that kind of ostentatious display. His last romantic gesture to Halley had
been a love letter which, he admits with humor, he had mostly plagiarized from
James Joyce.
In the final scene, Judah and Cliff meet by happenstance at the wedding of the
daughter of rabbi Ben, who is Cliff's brother-in-law and Judah's patient. Once deeply
anguished by the murder he arranged, Judah has worked through his guilt and is
enjoying life once more; the murder had been blamed on a drifter with a criminal
record. He draws Cliff into a supposedly hypothetical discussion that draws upon his
moral quandary. Judah says that with time, any crisis will pass; but Cliff morosely
claims instead that one is forever fated to bear one's burdens for "crimes and
misdemeanors."

394

Script notes

395

Critical Care (1997)

Critical Care is a 1997 film directed by Sidney Lumet. The film is a satire about
American medicine.[1][2] The screenplay by Steven Schwartz is based on the novel by
Richard Dooling and stars James Spader, Kyra Sedgwick, Anne Bancroft, Helen
Mirren, Jeffrey Wright, and Albert Brooks. Rick Baker provided special makeup
effects. The film is about a doctor who finds himself involved in a fight with two half
sisters over the care of their ailing father.
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)
The film is set in the Qing Dynasty during the 43rd year (1779) of the reign of the
Qianlong Emperor. Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-fat) is an accomplishedWudang swordsman.
Long ago, his master was murdered by Jade Fox (Cheng Pei-pei), a woman who
sought to learn Wudang skills. Mu Bai is also a good friend of Yu Shu Lien (Michelle
Yeoh), a female warrior. Mu Bai and Shu Lien have developed feelings for each other,
but they have never acknowledged or acted on them. Mu Bai, intending to give up
his warrior life, asks Shu Lien to transport his sword, also referred to as theGreen
Destiny, to the city of Beijing, as a gift for their friend Sir Te (Sihung Lung). At Sir Te's
estate, Shu Lien meets Jen (Zhang Ziyi), the daughter of Governor Yu (Li Fazeng), a
visitingManchu aristocrat. Jen, destined for an arranged marriage and yearning for
adventure, seems envious of Shu Lien's warrior lifestyle.
One evening, a masked thief sneaks into Sir Te's estate and steals the sword. Mu Bai
and Shu Lien trace the theft to Governor Yu's compound and learn that Jade Fox has
been posing as Jen's governess for many years. Mu Bai makes the acquaintance of
Inspector Tsai (Wang Deming), a police investigator from the provinces, and his
daughter May (Li Li), who have come to Peking in pursuit of Fox. Fox challenges the
pair and Sir Te's servant Master Bo (Gao Xi'an) to a showdown that night. Following a
protracted battle, the group is on the verge of defeat when Mu Bai arrives and
outmaneuvers Fox. Before Mu Bai can kill Fox, the masked thief reappears and
partners with Fox to fight. Fox resumes the fight and kills Tsai before fleeing with the
thief (who is revealed to be Fox's protege, Jen). After seeing Jen fight Mu Bai, Fox
396

realizes Jen had been secretly studying the Wudang manual and has surpassed her
in combative skills.
At night, a desert bandit named Lo (Chang Chen) breaks into Jen's bedroom and
asks her to leave with him. A flashback reveals that in the past, when Governor Yu and
his family were traveling in the western deserts, Lo and his bandits had raided Jen's
caravan and Lo had stolen her comb. She chased after him, following him to his
desert cave seemingly in a quest to get her comb back. However, the pair soon fell
passionately in love. Lo eventually convinced Jen to return to her family, though not
before telling her a legend of a man who jumped off a cliff to make his wishes come
true. Because the man's heart was pure, he did not die. Lo came to Peking to
persuade Jen not to go through with her arranged marriage. However, Jen refuses to
leave with him. Later, Lo interrupts Jen's wedding procession, begging her to come
away with him. Nearby, Shu Lien and Mu Bai convince Lo to wait for Jen at Mount
Wudang, where he will be safe from Jen's family, who are furious with him. Jen runs
away from her husband on the wedding night before the marriage could be
consummated. Disguised in male clothing, she is accosted at an inn by a large group
of warriors; armed with the Green Destiny and her own superior combat skills, she
emerges victorious.
Jen visits Shu Lien, who tells her that Lo is waiting for her at Mount Wudang. After an
angry dispute, the two women engage in a duel. Although Shu Lien is the superior
fighter, Jen, wielding the Green Destiny, destroys each weapon that Shu Lien wields,
until Jen loses to a broken sword held at her neck. When Shu Lien shows mercy and
lowers the sword, Jen injures Shu Lien's arm. Mu Bai arrives and pursues Jen into a
bamboo forest. Following a duel where Mu Bai regains possession of the Green
Destiny, he decides to throw the sword over a waterfall. In pursuit, Jen dives into an
adjoining river to retrieve the sword and is then rescued by Fox. Fox puts Jen into a
drugged sleep and places her in a cavern; Mu Bai and Shu Lien discover her there.
Fox suddenly reappears and attacks the others with poisoned darts. Mu Bai blocks
the needles with his sword and avenges his master's death by mortally wounding
397

Fox, only to realize that one of the darts hit him in the neck. Fox dies, confessing that
her goal had been to kill Jen because she was furious that Jen had hid the secrets of
Wudang's far superior fighting techniques from her.
As Jen exits to gather up an antidote for the poisoned dart, Mu Bai prepares to die.
With his last breaths, he finally confesses his romantic affections for Shu Lien. He dies
in her arms as Jen returns, too late to save him. The Green Destiny is returned to Sir
Te. Jen later goes to Mount Wudang and spends one last night with Lo. The next
morning, Lo finds Jen standing on a balcony overlooking the edge of the mountain.
In an echo of the legend that they spoke about in the desert, she asks him to make a
wish. He complies and wishes for them to be together again; back in the desert. Jen
then suddenly leaps over the side of the mountain.

398

Script notes

399

The Crucible (1986)

Early morning in 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, some young village girls meet in the
woods with a Barbadian slave named Tituba (Charlayne Woodard). One of the girls,
Abigail Williams(Winona Ryder), kills a chicken and drinks the blood, wishing for
John Proctor's wife to die. They are surprised by Abigail's uncle, Reverend Samuel
Parris (Bruce Davison), who discovers them. As the girls run away, Parris' daughter,
Betty (Rachael Bella), falls over unconscious.
Parris questions Abigail about the events that took place in the woods; Betty will not
awaken, nor will Ruth (Ashley Peldon), the daughter of Thomas and Ann Putnam
(Jeffrey Jones and Frances Conroy), who was also dancing. This strikes Mrs. Putnam
hard as she has had seven other children before Ruth who died at childbirth. The
Parris house is also visited by Giles Corey (Peter Vaughan), who suspects that the
children are just acting out, and John Proctor (Daniel Day-Lewis), with whom Abigail
had an affair and whose wife she wants dead. Abigail still loves Proctor, but Proctor
feels that he made a mistake and leaves her. The Putnams and Reverend Parris
believe that Betty and Ruth are demonically possessed, so they call Reverend John
Hale(Rob Campbell) from Beverly, to examine Betty. To save herself and the other
girls from punishment, Abigail claims that Tituba was working with the devil. After a
brutal whipping, Tituba confesses to being a witch. Struck by their newfound power,
the other girls begin naming other women whom they "saw" with the devil. One of
these is Elizabeth Proctor (Joan Allen), John Proctor's wife.
John, determined not to give his lover her vengeance, insists that his servant, Mary
Warren (Karron Graves), one of the "afflicted" girls, testify in court that the witchcraft
was faked. Although Mary Warren is frightened of Abigail, she eventually agrees. In
the court, Francis Nurse gives a list of names of people who vouch for the accused; in
response, the judges order that all on the list be arrested and brought in for
questioning. Giles Corey insists that when Ruth Putnam accused Rebecca Nurse
(Elizabeth Lawrence), Mr. Putnam was heard to tell his daughter that she had won
him a "fine gift of land" (the Nurses' property was coveted by the Putnam family).
400

Corey refuses to give the name of the person who heard this remark, and the judges
order Corey's arrest. Meanwhile, Mary Warren insists that she only thought she saw
spirits. Elizabeth said that she is pregnant and will be spared from death until the
baby is born, but he insists on charging the girls with false witnesses.
The other girls are called in and asked if they were lying about the witchcraft but
cause a commotion, screaming that Mary Warren is putting a spell on them. In order
to demonstrate that Abigail is not an innocent person, John confesses to having had
an affair with her. He then claims that Abigail accused Elizabeth in order to get rid of
her, so that she could marry him. Elizabeth is called in to see if the accusation is true.
However, not knowing that John confessed and wanting to save his reputation, she
lies. The girls turn the court further against the Proctors by screaming that Mary
Warren is attacking them in the form of a yellow bird. To save herself from being
hanged as a witch, Mary Warren accuses John. When asked if he will return to God,
John despairingly yells "I say God is dead!" and is arrested as a witch.
On the day before John is to be hanged, Abigail attempts to convince the court that
Reverend Hale's wife is also a witch; this plot backfires on her as the judges believe
that a reverend's wife is too clean to be possessed by Satan. In time, the girls become
outcasts and Abigail steals Reverend Parris's money to catch a ship to flee to
Barbados, but not before asking John to go with her, telling him she never wished
any of this on him. He refuses. On the eve of John's hanging, Parris, fearing that his
execution will cause riots in Salem directed at him, allows John to meet with
Elizabeth to see if she can make her husband "confess" to save his life. John agrees.
The judges insist that the confession must be publicly displayed to prove his guilt
and to convince others to confess, but John angrily tears up the confession,
determined to keep his name pure for his sons. He is taken away to be hanged.
Before being hanged, he, Rebecca Nurse and Martha Corey recite the Lord's Prayer.

401

Script notes

402

Cry Freedom (1987)

Following a news story depicting the demolition of a slum in East London, South
Africa, journalist Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) seeks more information about the
incident and ventures off to meet black activist Steve Biko (Denzel Washington). Biko
has been officially banned by the South African government and is not permitted to
leave his defined banning area at King William's Town. Woods is formally against
Biko's banning, but remains critical of his political views. Biko invites Woods to visit a
black township to see the impoverished conditions and to witness the effect of the
government-imposed restrictions, which make up the apartheid system. Woods
begins to agree with Biko's desire for a South Africa where blacks have the same
opportunities and freedoms as those enjoyed by the white population. As Woods
comes to understand Biko's point of view, a friendship slowly develops between
them.
After being arrested for speaking at a gathering of black South Africans outside of his
banishment zone, Biko is arrested and interrogated by South African security forces.
Following this, he is brought to court in order to explain his message directed toward
the South African government. After he speaks eloquently in court and advocates
non-violence, the security officers who interrogated him visit his church and
vandalize the property. Woods assures Biko that he will meet with a government
official to discuss the matter. Woods then meets with Jimmy Kruger(John Thaw), the
South African Minister of Justice in his house in Pretoria in an attempt to prevent
further abuse by the security force. Kruger first expresses discontent over the actions
of security force, however Woods is later harassed by security forces at his home. The
security men that harass Woods insinuate that their orders to visit Woods came
directly from Kruger.
Later, Biko decides to travel to Cape Town to speak at a student-run meeting. En
route, security forces stop his car and arrest him. He is held in harsh conditions and
beaten, causing a severe brain injury. A doctor recommends consulting a nearby
specialist in order to best treat his injuries, but the police refuse out of fear that he
403

might escape. (This would have been nearly impossible, considering that the severity
of his injuries left him with nearly complete inability to move on his own.) The
security forces instead decide to take him to a police hospital in Pretoria, around 700
miles (1 020 km) away from Cape Town. He is thrown into the back of a prison van
and driven on a bumpy road, aggravating his brain injury and resulting in his death.
Woods then works to expose the police's complicity in Biko's death. He attempts to
expose photographs of Biko's body that contradict police reports that he died of a
hunger strike, but he is prevented just before boarding a plane to leave and
informed that he is now banned, therefore not able to leave the country. Woods and
his family are targeted in a campaign of harassment by the security police. He later
decides to seek asylum in England to expose the corrupt and racist nature of the
South African authorities. After a long trek, Woods is eventually able to escape to the
Kingdom of Lesotho, disguised as a priest. His wife Wendy (Penelope Wilton) and
their family later join him, and are flown to Botswana with the aid of Bruce Haigh
(John Hargreaves), a controversial Australian diplomat who uses his diplomatic
immunity to help them. In the film, however, Hargreaves's character is an Australian
journalist.
The film's epilogue displays a graphic detailing a long list of anti-apartheid activists
(including Biko), who died under suspicious circumstances while imprisoned by the
government. Contrary to popular belief, the listing's dates in the graphic actually
stopped in June 1987, a few months before the film's release, as the Apartheid
government stopped releasing the increasingly obviously false "official
explanations" for deaths in custody.

404

Script notes

405

Dad (1989)
John Tremont (Ted Danson) is a busy executive. He learns during a meeting that his
mother has collapsed and been rushed to the hospital. Flying immediately to Los
Angeles, he ends up becoming a caretaker of his father Jake (Jack Lemmon) while
Bette Tremont (Olympia Dukakis) recovers from her heart-attack. A retired aerospace
industry worker, Jake has become somewhat feeble and totally reliant on his wife, so
John attempts to get him more involved in day-to-day things like taking care of the
house.
Father and son bond. John invites his dad to a business meeting and takes him out
for a Bingo game. They play catch with a baseball in the yard. Late one night, collegeaged grandson Billy (Ethan Hawke) turns up as well. John begins to appreciate while
spending quality time with his dad that he has been neglecting his own boy.
Bette returns home from the hospital. She is a strong, willful woman with little
personal warmth. Jake is very happy to have everyone around him again during
family dinners with the kids, including daughter Annie (Kathy Baker) and son-in-law
Mario (Kevin Spacey), but the glum Bette resents the intrusion. One day, Jake
Tremont finds blood in his urine and is taken to a doctor. John has a single request at
the hospitalto avoid the word "cancer," which terrifies his dad. An arrogant doctor
named Santana (J. T. Walsh) who feels he knows what's best decides that a patient
has a right to know. Jake immediately loses his bearings and ends up in a coma.
A fiercely protective John stays by his dad's side constantly and a more sympathetic
doctor named Chad (Zakes Mokae) volunteers his help. Jake unexpectedly wakes up
one day and seems perfectly fine. Upon coming home, Jake acts reborn and
reinvigorated. He confuses his wife by dressing in an odd manner, studying new
languages, visiting the neighbors and even wanting sex at night. John feels his dad
is just trying to enjoy life, something his bitter mother seems incapable of doing.
Something more is definitely wrong with Jake, however. He is having delusions
about being the head of a different family, a far-away farm.
406

A psychiatrist concludes that Jake sought joy in a fantasy world while being unable
to experience a sufficient amount in his own. Jake has a relapse. In the hospital, he
reminisces with his son about things that made him happiest, like work and
baseball, before passing away. John, a better man for the experience, returns to his
old life.

407

Script notes

408

Dancer in the Dark (2000)

The film is set in Washington state in 1964 and focuses on Selma Jekov (Bjrk), a
Czechimmigrant who has moved to the United States with her son, Gene Jeek
(Vladica Kostic). They live a life of poverty as Selma works at a factory with her good
friend Kathy (Catherine Deneuve), whom she nicknames "Cvalda" (which means
"chubby" in Czech). She rents a trailer home on the property of town policeman Bill
Houston (David Morse) and his wife Linda (Cara Seymour). She is also pursued by the
shy but persistent Jeff (Peter Stormare), who also works at the factory.
What no one in Selma's life knows is that she has a hereditary degenerative disease
which is gradually causing her to go blind. She has been saving up every penny that
she makes (in a candy tin in her kitchen) to pay for an operation which will prevent
her young son from suffering the same fate. To escape the misery of her daily life,
Selma accompanies Cvalda to the local cinema where together they watch fabulous
Hollywood musicals (or more accurately, Selma listens as Cvalda describes them to
her, to the annoyance of the other theater patrons, or acts out the dance steps upon
Selma's hand using her fingers).
In her day-to-day life, when things are too boring or upsetting, Selma slips into
daydreams or perhaps a trance-like state where she imagines the ordinary
circumstances and individuals around her have erupted into elaborate musical
theater numbers. These songs use some sort of real-life noise (from factory machines
buzzing to the sound of a flag rapping against a flag pole in the wind) as an
underlying rhythm. Unfortunately, Selma slips into one such trance while working at
the factory. Soon Jeff and Cvalda begin to realize that Selma can barely see at all.
Additionally, Bill reveals to Selma that his materialistic wife Linda spends more than
his salary, there is no money left from his inheritance, and he is behind in payments
and the bank is going to take his house. He asks Selma for a loan, but she declines.
He regrets telling Selma his secret. To comfort Bill, Selma reveals her secret
blindness, hoping that together they can keep each other's secret. Bill then hides in
409

the corner of Selma's home, knowing she can't see him, and watches as she puts
some money in her kitchen tin.
The next day, after having broken her machine the night before through careless
error, Selma is fired from her job. When she comes home to put her final wages away
she finds the tin is empty; she goes next door to report the theft to Bill and Linda
only to hear Linda discussing how Bill has brought home their safe deposit box to
count their savings. Linda additionally reveals that Bill has "confessed" his affair with
Selma, and that Selma must move out immediately. Knowing that Bill was broke and
that the money he is counting must be hers, she confronts him and attempts to take
the money back. He draws a gun on her, and in a struggle he is wounded. Linda
discovers the two of them and, assuming that Selma is attempting to steal the
money, runs off to tell the police at Bill's command. Bill then begs Selma to take his
life, telling her that this will be the only way she will ever reclaim the money that he
stole from her. Selma shoots at him several times, but due to her blindness manages
to only maim Bill further. In the end, she performs a coup de grce with the safe
deposit box. In one of the scenes, Selma slips into a trance and imagines that Bill's
corpse stands up and slow dances with her, urging her to run to freedom. She does,
and takes the money to the Institute for the Blind to pay for her son's operation
before the police can take it from her.
Selma is caught and eventually put on trial. It is here that she is pegged as a
Communistsympathizer and murderess. Although she tells as much truth about the
situation as she can, she refuses to reveal Bill's secret, saying that she had promised
not to. Additionally, when her claim that the reason she didn't have any money was
because she had been sending it to her father inCzechoslovakia is proven false, she
is convicted and given the death penalty. Cvalda and Jeff eventually put the pieces of
the puzzle together and get back Selma's money, using it instead to pay for a trial
lawyer who can free her. Selma becomes furious and refuses the lawyer, opting to
face the death penalty rather than let her son go blind, but she is deeply distraught
as she awaits her death. Although a sympathetic female prison guard named Brenda
410

tries to comfort her, the other state officials show no feelings and are eager to see her
executed. Brenda encourages Selma to walk. On her way to the gallows, Selma goes
to hug the other men on death row while singing to them. However, on the gallows,
she becomes terrified, so that she must be strapped to a collapse board. Her hysteria
when the hood is placed over her face delays the execution. Selma begins crying
hysterically and Brenda cries with her, but Cvalda rushes to inform her that the
operation was successful and that Gene will see. Relieved, Selma sings the final song
on the gallows with no musical accompaniment, although she is hanged before she
finishes. A curtain is then drawn in front of her body, while the missing part of the
song shows on the screen: "They say it's the last song/They don't know us, you see/
It's only the last song/If we let it be."

411

Script notes

412

Dances With Wolves (1990)

In 1863, First Lieutenant John J. Dunbar is wounded in the American Civil War.
Choosing suicide over having his foot amputated, he takes a horse and rides up to
and along the Confederate front lines, distracting them in the process. Despite
numerous pot shots, the Confederates fail to shoot him off his mount. Whilst they are
distracted, the Union army attacks the line, and the battle ends in a Confederate rout.
Dunbar survives, and is allowed to recover properly, receives a citation for bravery,
and is awarded Cisco, the horse who carried him, as well as his choice of posting.
Dunbar requests a transfer to the western frontier so he can see it before it
disappears. Dunbar is initially posted at Ft. Hays, a large fort presided over by a
mentally ill and suicidal major who despises Dunbar's enthusiasm. Dunbar requests
that the major transfer him to a real frontier fort. Just before he takes his life, The
major sends him to an abandoned fort, Fort Sedgewick, with Timmons, a mule
wagon provisioner. Dunbar finds the fort deserted and in need of repair. Despite the
threat of nearby Indian tribes, he elects to stay and man the post himself. He begins
rebuilding and restocking the fort and prefers the solitude afforded him, recording
many of his observations in his diary.
In the meantime, Timmons, the Mule wagon driver who transported Dunbar to Fort
Sedgwick, is killed and scalped by Pawnee Indians on his way back to Fort Hays.
Timmons' death and the suicide of Major Fambrough, who had sent them there,
prevents other soldiers from knowing of Dunbar's assignment to the post, effectively
isolating him. Dunbar notes in his diary how strange it is that no other soldiers join
him at the post.
Dunbar initially encounters his Sioux neighbors when several attempts are made to
steal his horse and intimidate him. In response, Dunbar decides to seek out the
Sioux camp in an attempt to establish a dialogue. On his way he comes across Stands
With A Fist, who is attempting suicide in mourning her deceased husband. She is the
white, adopted daughter of the tribe'smedicine man Kicking Bird, her original family
having been killed by the aggressive Pawnee tribewhen she was young. Dunbar
413

returns her to the Sioux to be treated, which changes their attitude toward him.
Eventually, Dunbar establishes a rapport with Kicking Bird and warrior Wind In His
Hair who equally wish to communicate. Initially the language barrier frustrates them,
so Stands With A Fist, though with difficulty remembering her English, acts as
translator.
Dunbar finds himself drawn to the lifestyle and customs of the tribe and begins
spending most of his time with them. Learning their language, he is accepted as an
honored guest by the Sioux after he locates a migrating herd of buffalo and
participates in the hunt. When at Fort Sedgwick, Dunbar also befriends a wolf he
dubs "Two Socks" for its white forepaws. When the Sioux observe Dunbar and Two
Socks chasing each other, they give him the name "Dances with Wolves". During this
time, Dunbar also forges a romantic relationship with Stands with a Fist and helps
defend the village from an attack by the rival Pawnee tribe. Dunbar eventually wins
Kicking Bird's approval to marry Stands with a Fist, and abandons Fort Sedgwick.
Because of the growing Pawnee and white threat, Chief Ten Bears decides to move
the tribe to its winter camp. Dunbar decides to accompany them but must first
retrieve his diary from Fort Sedgwick as he realises that it would provide the army
with the means of finding the tribe. However, when he arrives he finds the fort reoccupied by the U.S. Army. Because of his Sioux clothing, the soldiers open fire,
killing Cisco and capturing Dunbar, arresting him as a traitor. Senior officers
interrogate him, but Dunbar cannot prove his story, as a corporal has found and
discarded his diary. Having refused to serve as an interpreter to the tribes, Dunbar is
charged with desertion and transported back east as a prisoner. Soldiers of the escort
shoot Two Socks when the wolf attempts to follow Dunbar, despite Dunbar's attempts
to intervene.
Eventually, the Sioux track the convoy, killing the soldiers and freeing Dunbar. At the
winter camp, Dunbar decides to leave with Stands With A Fist, since his continuing
presence will put the tribe in danger. As they leave, Wind In His Hair shouts to
414

Dunbar, reminding him of their friendship. U.S. troops are seen searching the
mountains but are unable to locate them, while a lone wolf howls in the distance. An
epilogue[note 1] states that thirteen years later the last remnants of the free Sioux were
subjugated to the American government, ending the conquest of the Western
frontier states and the livelihoods of the tribes on the plains.

415

Script notes

416

Dark City (1998)

John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakens in a hotel bathtub, suffering from amnesia.
He receives a phone call from Dr. Daniel Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland), who urges him
to flee the hotel to evade a group of men who are after him. During the phone talk,
Murdoch discovers the corpse of a brutalized, ritualistically murdered woman, along
with a bloody knife. He flees the scene, just as the group of men (known as the
Strangers) show up to investigate the room.
Eventually Murdoch learns his own name, and finds he has a wife named Emma
(Jennifer Connelly). He is also sought by police inspector Frank Bumstead (William
Hurt) as a suspect in a series of murders committed around the city, though he
cannot remember killing anybody. While being pursued by the Strangers, Murdoch
discovers that he has mind powerswhich the Strangers also possess, and refer to as
"tuning"and he manages to use these powers to escape from them.
Murdoch explores the city, where nobody realizes that it is always nighttime. At
midnight, he watches as everyone except himself drops off as the Strangers stop
time and physically rearrange the city as well as changing people's identities and
memories. Murdoch learns that he comes from a coastal town called Shell Beach, a
town familiar to everyone, though nobody knows how to leave the city to travel there,
and all of his attempts to arrive to Shell Beach end up failing. Meanwhile, the
Strangers inject one of their men, Mr. Hand (Richard O'Brien), with memories
intended for Murdoch in an attempt to predict his movements and track him down.
Murdoch is eventually caught by inspector Bumstead, who acknowledges he is
innocent, and by then has his own misgivings about the nature of the city. They
confront Dr. Schreber, who explains that the Strangers are endangered
extraterrestrial parasites who use corpses as their hosts. Having a hive mind, the
Strangers have been experimenting with humans to analyze their individuality in the
hopes that some insight might be revealed that would help their race survive.

417

Schreber reveals that Murdoch is an anomaly who inadvertently awoke during one
midnight process, when Schreber was in the middle of imprinting his latest identity
as a murderer. The three embark to find Shell Beach, but it exists only as a billboard
on a wall at the edge of the city. Frustrated, Murdoch and Bumstead break through
the wall, revealing outer space on the other side. The men are confronted by the
Strangers, including Mr. Hand, who holds Emma hostage. In the ensuing fight
Bumstead along with one of the Strangers falls through the hole, revealing the
city as an enormous space habitat surrounded by a force field.
The Strangers bring Murdoch to their home beneath the city and force Dr. Schreber
to imprint Murdoch with their collective memory, believing Murdoch to be the final
answer to their experiments. Schreber betrays them by inserting false memories in
Murdoch which artificially reestablish his childhood as years spent training and
honing his psychokinetic skills and learning about the Strangers and their machines.
Murdoch awakens, fully realizing his skills, frees himself and battles with the
Strangers, defeating their leader Mr. Book (Ian Richardson) in a psychokinetic fight
high above the city.
After learning from Dr. Schreber that Emma's personality is gone and cannot be
restored, Murdoch exercises his new-found powers, amplified by the Strangers'
machine, to create an actual Shell Beach by flooding the area within the force field
with water and forming mountains and beaches. On his way to Shell Beach, Murdoch
encounters Mr. Hand and informs him that the Strangers have been searching in the
wrong place the mind to understand humanity. Murdoch makes the habitat lit by
a sun, so that the city experiences daylight for the first time.
He opens the door leading out of the city, and steps out to view the sunrise. Beyond
him is a pier, where he finds the woman he knew as Emma, now with new memories
and a new identity as Anna. Murdoch reintroduces himself as they walk to Shell
Beach, beginning their relationship anew.

418

Script notes

419

The Day After (TV 1983)

The story follows several citizens and people they encounter after a nuclear attack on
Lawrence, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. The film's narrative is structured as a
before-during-after scenario: the first segment introduces the various characters and
their stories, the second shows the nuclear disaster itself, and the third details the
effects of the fallout on the characters.
Dr. Russell Oakes (Jason Robards) lives in the upper-class Brookside neighborhood
with his wife (Georgann Johnson) and works in a hospital in downtown Kansas City.
He is scheduled to teach a hematology class at the University of Kansas (KU) hospital
in nearby Lawrence, Kansas, and isen route when he hears an alarming Emergency
Broadcast System alert on his car radio. He exits the crowded freeway and attempts to
contact his wife but gives up due to the incredibly long line at a phone booth. Oakes
attempts to return to his home via the K-10 freeway and is the only eastbound
motorist. The nuclear attack begins, and Kansas City is gripped with panic as air raid
sirens wail. Oakes' car is permanently disabled by the electromagnetic pulse from
the first high altitude detonation, as are all motor vehicles and electricity. Oakes is
about 30 miles (48 km) away from downtown when the missiles hit. His family, many
colleagues, and almost all of Kansas City's population are killed. He walks 10 miles
(16 km) to Lawrence, which has been severely damaged from the blasts, and, at the
university hospital, treats the wounded with Dr. Sam Hachiya (Calvin Jung) and
Nurse Nancy Bauer (JoBeth Williams). Also at the university, science Professor Joe
Huxley (John Lithgow) and students use a Geiger counter to monitor the level of
nuclear fallout outside. They build a makeshift radio to maintain contact with Dr.
Oakes at the hospital as well as to locate any other broadcasting survivors outside the
city.
Billy McCoy (William Allen Young) is an Airman First Class in the United States Air
Force, stationed at Whiteman AFB near Kansas City, and is called to duty during the
DEFCON 2 alert. As a missile repair technician at a silo, he is among the first to
witness the initial missile launches, indicating full-scale nuclear war. After it becomes
420

clear that a Soviet counterstrike is imminent, the soldiers panic. Several airmen
stubbornly insist that they should stay at their post on duty and take shelter in the
silo, while others, including McCoy, point out that it is futile because the silo will not
withstand a direct hit. McCoy tells them they have done their jobs and speeds away
in an Air force truck to retrieve his wife and child in Sedalia, but the truck is
permanently disabled and stalls from the EMP effect of the first high altitude
detonation. Realizing what has happened, McCoy abandons the truck and takes
shelter inside an overturned semi truck trailer, barely escaping the oncoming nuclear
blast. After the attack, McCoy walks towards a town and finds an abandoned store,
where he takes candy bars and other provisions, while gunfire is heard in the
distance. While standing in line for a drink of water from a well pump, McCoy
befriends a man who is mute and shares his provisions. McCoy asks another man,
who is walking along the road with other injured survivors, what happened to
Sedalia, and the man indicates that Sedalia and Windsor no longer exist. As McCoy
and his companion both begin to suffer the effects of radiation sickness, they leave a
refugee camp and head to the hospital at Lawrence, where McCoy ultimately
succumbs to the radiation sickness.
Farmer Jim Dahlberg (John Cullum) and his family live in rural Harrisonville,
Missouri, about 37 miles (60 km) from Kansas City[3] but very close to a field of
missile silos. While the family is preparing for the wedding of their elder daughter,
Denise, to KU senior Bruce Gallatin, Jim is forced to prepare for the impending attack
by converting their basement into a makeshift fallout shelter. As the missiles are
launched, he forcefully carries his wife Eve (Bibi Besch), who refuses to accept the
reality of the escalating crisis and continues making wedding preparations,
downstairs into the basement. While running to the shelter, the Dahlberg's son,
Danny, inadvertently looks directly at a nuclear explosion and is flash-blinded.
A KU student, Stephen Klein (Steve Guttenberg), while hitchhiking home to Joplin,
Missouri, stumbles upon the farm and persuades the Dahlbergs to take him in. After
several days in the basement, Denise, distraught over the situation and the unknown
421

whereabouts of Bruce, who, unbeknownst to her, was killed in the attack, escapes
from the basement and runs about the field that is cluttered with dead animals. She
sees a clear blue sky and thinks the worst is over. However, the field is actually
covered in radioactive fallout. Klein goes after her, attempting to warn her about the
effects of the nuclear radiation that - though invisible, intangible, and tasteless - is
going through her cells like x-rays, but Denise, ignoring this warning, tries to run
from him. Eventually, Klein is able to chase Denise back to safety in the basement,
but not before Denise runs to the stairs to find her wedding dress. Because she ran
about the contaminated field, Denise slowly develops radiation sickness and, during
a makeshift church service, she begins to bleed externally, while the minister tries to
express how lucky they are to have survived and a Presidential address remarks that
there is a ceasefire between the United States and the Soviet Union, which has
suffered similar damage, and states that there has not been and will not ever be any
surrender by the United States.
Klein takes Danny and Denise to Lawrence for treatment. Dr. Hachiya unsuccessfully
attempts to treat Danny, and Klein also develops radiation sickness. Dahlberg, upon
returning from an emergency farmers' meeting, confronts a group of survivors
squatting on his farm and is shot and killed.
Ultimately, the situation at the hospital becomes grim. Dr. Oakes collapses from
exhaustion and, upon awakening several days later, learns that Nurse Bauer has died
from meningitis. Oakes, suffering from terminal radiation sickness, decides to return
to Kansas City to see his home for the last time, while Dr. Hachiya stays behind.
Oakes hitches a ride on an Army National Guardtruck, where he witnesses military
personnel blindfolding and executing looters. After somehow managing to locate
where his home was, he finds the charred remains of his wife's wristwatch and a
family huddled in the ruins. Oakes angrily orders them to leave his home. The family
silently offers Oakes food, causing him to collapse in despair, as a member of the
family comforts him.
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As the scene fades to black, Professor Huxley calls into his makeshift radio: "Hello? Is
anybody there? Anybody at all?" There is no response.

423

Script notes

424

Dead Man Walking (1995)

Matthew Poncelet has been in prison for six years, awaiting his execution by lethal
injection for killing a teenage couple. Poncelet, held in the Louisiana State
Penitentiary,[1]committed the crimes with a man named Carl Vitello, who received life
imprisonment. As the day of his execution comes closer, Poncelet asks Sister Helen,
with whom he has corresponded, to help him with a final appeal.
She decides to visit him. He is arrogant, sexist, and racist, not even pretending to feel
any kind of remorse. He affirms his innocence, insisting Vitello killed the two
teenagers. Convincing an experienced attorney to take on Poncelet's case pro bono,
Sister Helen tries to have his sentence commuted to life imprisonment. After many
visits, she establishes a special relationship with him. At the same time, she gets to
know Poncelets mother, Lucille, and the families of the two victims. The families do
not understand Sister Helen's efforts to help Poncelet, claiming she is "taking his
side." Instead they desire "absolute justice"his life for the lives of their children.
Sister Helens application for a pardon is declined. Poncelet asks Sister Helen to be
his spiritual adviser through the day of execution, and she agrees. Sister Helen tells
Poncelet that his redemption is possible only if he takes responsibility for what he
did. Just before he is taken from his cell, Poncelet admits to Sister Helen that he
killed the boy and raped the girl. As he is prepared for execution, he appeals to the
boy's father for forgiveness and tells the girl's parents he hopes his death brings
them peace. Poncelet is executed and later given a proper burial. The murdered boy's
father attends the ceremony still filled with hate, but shortly after begins to pray with
Sister Helen, ending the film.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
In 1959, shy Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke) begins his senior year of high school at
Welton Academy, an elite prep boarding school. He is assigned one of Welton's most
promising students, Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard), as his roommate and is quickly
accepted by Neil's friends: romantic Knox Overstreet (Josh Charles), overachiever
425

Richard Cameron (Dylan Kussman), best friends Steven Meeks (Allelon Ruggiero)
and Gerard Pitts (James Waterston), and mischievous beatnik Charlie Dalton (Gale
Hansen).
On the first day of classes, they are surprised by the unorthodox teaching methods of
their new English teacher, John Keating (Robin Williams), a Welton alumnus who
encourages his students to "make your lives extraordinary", a sentiment he
summarizes with the Latin expression carpe diem ("seize the day"). His subsequent
lessons include standing on his desk to teach the boys how they must look at life in a
different way, telling them to rip out the introduction of their poetry books which
explains a mathematical formula used for rating poetry, and inviting them to make
up their own style of walking in a courtyard to encourage them to be individuals. His
methods attract the suspicious attention of the strict Headmaster, Gale Nolan
(Norman Lloyd).
Upon learning that Keating was a member of the unsanctioned group the Dead
Poets Society while he was at Welton, Neil restarts the club and he and his friends
sneak off campus at night to a cave where they read poetry and verse, including their
own compositions. As the school year progresses, Keating's lessons and their
involvement with the club encourage them to live their lives on their own terms.
Knox pursues Chris Noel, a girl who is dating a football player and whose family is
friends with his. Neil discovers his love of acting and gets the lead in a local
production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, despite the fact that his domineering
father (Kurtwood Smith) wants him to go to medical school. Keating also helps Todd
come out of his shell and realize his potential when he takes him through an exercise
in self-expression, resulting in his composing a poem spontaneously in front of the
class.
Charlie, however, takes the inspiration and Keating's teachings too far, publishing an
article in the school newspaper in the name of the Dead Poets Society which
demands that girls be admitted to Welton. Nolan uses corporal punishment to force
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Charlie to tell him who else is in the Dead Poets Society, but he refuses. Nolan also
speaks to Keating, warning him that he should discourage his students from
questioning authority.
Neil's father discovers Neil's involvement in the play and tells him to quit on the eve
of the opening performance. Devastated, Neil goes to Keating, who advises him to
stand his ground and prove to his father that his love of acting is something he takes
seriously. When Keating asks the next day if Neil has spoken to his father, Neil lies
and says that his father will let him pursue an acting career provided that he keeps
up with his schoolwork. He discovers he is wrong when his father unexpectedly
shows up at the performance. He takes him home and tells him he is forcing him
into military school so he can eventually go to Harvard University. Lacking the
courage to stand up to his father, Neil commits suicide.
Nolan begins an investigation into Neil's death, at the request of the Perry family.
Cameron goes to him, blames Neil's death on Keating to escape punishment for his
own participation in the Dead Poets Society, and names Knox, Meeks, Pitts, Todd, Neil
and Charlie as the other members. Later, confronted by Charlie, Cameron urges the
rest of them to let Keating take the fall. Charlie punches Cameron and is later
expelled. Each of the boys is called to Nolan's office to sign a letter attesting to the
truth of Cameron's allegations, even though they know they are false. When Todd's
turn comes, he initially is reluctant to sign, but seeing that the others have complied,
does so.
Keating is fired and Nolan takes over teaching the class. Keating interrupts the class
to collect some personal articles, but before he leaves Todd shouts that all of them
were forced to sign the letter that resulted in his dismissal and that Neil's death
wasn't his fault. Nolan makes Keating leave, but before he can do so Todd stands on
his desk and salutes Keating with the words "O Captain! My Captain!". Knox, Meeks,
Pitts and over half the rest of the class does the same, despite Nolan's threats to
expel them. Deeply touched by their gesture, Keating thanks the boys.
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Script notes

428

Deconstructing Harry (1997)

One night, Lucy (Judy Davis) gets a taxi to the home of author Harry Block (Woody
Allen). She has just read Harry's latest novel. In the novel, the character Leslie (Julia
Louis-Dreyfus) is having an affair with her sister's husband Ken (Richard Benjamin).
Lucy is angry because the novel is patently based on her and Harry's own affair; as a
result, everyone knows about it. Lucy pulls a gun out of her purse, saying she will kill
herself. She then turns the gun on Harry and begins firing. She chases him out onto
the roof. Harry insists that he has already been punished: his latest girlfriend Fay
(Elisabeth Shue) has left him for his best friend Larry (Billy Crystal). To distract Lucy,
Harry tells her a story he is currently writing: a semi-autobiographical story of a sexobsessed young man named Harvey (Tobey Maguire) who is mistakenly claimed by
Death.
In therapy, Harry realizes he has not changed since he was a sex-obsessed youth.
Harry discusses the honoring ceremony at his old university, taking place the next
day; he is particularly unhappy that he has nobody to share the occasion with. After
the session, Harry asks his ex-wife Joan (Kirstie Alley) if he can take their son Hilliard
(Eric Lloyd) to the ceremony. She refuses, stating that Harry is a bad influence on
Hilliard. She is also furious at Harry for the novel he wrote. In it, the character Epstein
(Stanley Tucci) marries Helen (Demi Moore), but the marriage begins to crumble
after the birth of their son.
Harry runs into an acquaintance, Richard (Bob Balaban), who is worried about his
health. After accompanying Richard to the hospital, Harry asks him to come to the
university ceremony. Richard appears uninterested. Harry then goes to meet his exgirlfriend Fay, who reveals that she is now engaged. Harry begs Fay to get back
together with him. He asks Fay to accompany him to his ceremony, but it clashes with
Fay's wedding, scheduled the following day.
That night, Harry sleeps with a prostitute, Cookie (Hazelle Goodman). Harry then asks
Cookie to accompany him to his ceremony.
429

In the morning, Richard unexpectedly arrives to join Harry and Cookie on the
journey. On a whim, Harry decides to "kidnap" his son Hilliard. Along the way, they
stop at a carnival, then at Harry's half-sister Doris's (Caroline Aaron). Doris, a devoted
Jew, is upset by Harry's portrayals of Judaism in his stories, as is her husband (Eric
Bogosian). During the journey, Harry also encounters his fictional creations Ken and
Helen, who force him to confront some painful truths about his life. Just before
arriving at the university, Richard dies peacefully in the car.
Distressed, Harry literally slides out of focus, becoming blurred like one of his own
fictional characters. Cookie helps him restore focus. The university's staffers gush over
Harry, asking what he plans to write next. He describes a story about a man (based on
himself) who journeys down to Hell to reclaim his true love (based on Fay) from the
Devil (based on Larry - both being played by Billy Crystal). Harry and the Devil
engage in a verbal duel as to who is truly the most evil of the two. Harry gets as far as
arguing that he is a kidnapper before the story is interrupted by the arrival of the
police. Harry is arrested for kidnapping Hilliard, for possessing a gun (it was Lucy's),
and for having drugs in the car (belonging to Cookie).
Larry and Fay come from their wedding to bail Harry out of jail. Harry reluctantly
gives them his blessings. Back at his apartment, a miserable Harry fantasizes that the
university's ceremony is taking place. Harry realizes that he can only function in art,
not in life. The film ends with Harry returning to his writing.

430

Script notes

431

Deep Impact (1998)

On May 10, 1998, teenage amateur astronomerLeo Biederman[7] discovers an
unusual object near the stars Mizar and Alcor at a star party inRichmond, Virginia
with his school's astronomy club. His teacher alerts astronomer Dr. Marcus Wolf, who
realizes that the object is a comet on a collision course with Earth. Wolf dies in a car
accident before he can alert the world.
One year later, MSNBC journalist Jenny Lerner investigates the sudden resignation
of Secretary of the Treasury Alan Rittenhouse and his connection to "Ellie",
supposedly a mistress. After interviewing Rittenhouse, she is intercepted by the FBI
and brought before President Tom Beck. Lerner realizes that Ellie is not a mistress but
an acronym: "E.L.E.", for "Extinction-Level Event". Due to Lerner's investigation,
President Beck makes an announcement earlier than planned: the comet named
Wolf-Biederman (named after Wolf and Biederman, mistakenly assuming young
Biederman was killed along with professor Wolf) is headed for Earth. It is 7 miles (11
km) long, large enough to cause a mass extinction, and possibly wipe out humanity,
if it hits the Earth. He also reveals that the United States and Russia have been
constructing an Orion spacecraft called Messiah in orbit, in order to transport a team
led by Oren Monash and including veteran astronaut Spurgeon Tanner to the comet,
so that its path toward Earth may be diverted using nuclear weapons.
After landing on the comet, the crew members plant nuclear bombs beneath the
surface, but are delayed and caught in outgassing explosions when sunlight hits the
comet surface. While fleeing to the space vehicle, Monash is blinded due to direct
unfiltered sunlight and suffers severe facial burns, and Gus Partenza is lost, ejected
from the surface by an outflow of gas. When the bombs detonate, the ship is
damaged from the blast, and the team loses contact with Earth. President Beck
announces the crew's failure; the nukes did not destroy the comet, but split it into
two smaller rocks nicknamed "Biederman" (1.5 miles (2.4 km) long) and "Wolf" (6
miles (9.7 km) long), both heading for Earth.
432

After President Beck announces the Messiah crew's failure, he declares martial law
and reveals that governments worldwide have been building underground shelters.
The United States' shelter is in the limestone caves of Missouri. The US government
conducts a lottery to select 800,000 Americans under age 50 to join 200,000 preselected individuals as well as a massive supply of food plus genetically viable
populations of significant animals and the seeds of every species of plant. Lerner and
the Biederman family are pre-selected, but Leo's girlfriend Sarah Hotchner and her
family are not. Leo marries Sarah to save her family, but they are left off the evacuee
list. Sarah refuses to leave without her parents.
A last-ditch effort to use Earth's missile-borne nuclear weapons to deflect the comets
fails. President Beck reports on this and reveals the final trajectories of the comets.
The Biederman fragment will impact the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Hatteras, which will
cause a tsunami up to 3,500 feet (1,100 m) high. The people who would be in its
way are advised to evacuate. The Wolf fragment will impact western Canada, creating
a cloud of dust that will block out the sun for two years, killing all life on Earth in a
matter of weeks. Leo returns home looking for Sarah, but her family has left for the
Appalachian Mountains and is caught in a traffic jam. Leo catches up to the family
using a motorcycle from their garage. Sarah's parents urge Leo to take Sarah and her
baby brother to high ground. Sarah complies and she and her parents part ways.
Lerner gives up her seat in the last evacuation helicopter to her friend Beth and
Beth's young daughter. She joins her estranged father Jason at their beach house,
where they reconcile.
The Biederman fragment impacts in the Atlantic Ocean, creating a megatsunami.
Lerner, Jason, Sarah's parents and millions of others are killed as the tsunami
devastates the Atlantic coasts of North America, South America, Europe, and Africa.
Too low on fuel and life support to be able to safely attempt a second landing, the
crew of Messiah decides that their only chance to destroy Wolf and save the world is
to undertake a suicide mission with the remaining nuclear warheads to obliterate the
Wolf fragment. After they say goodbye to their loved ones by video conference, the
433

ship reaches the Wolf fragment and enters a fissure to blow itself up, which breaks
the fragment into pieces that burn up in Earth's atmosphere.
After the waters recede, President Beck speaks to a large crowd in front of the United
States Capitol building, which is being reconstructed. He urges the nation and the
world to continue their recovery, and to remember the heroes for their sacrifice that
saved the world.

434

Script notes

435

The Deep End of the Ocean (1999)

Beth Cappadora (Michelle Pfeiffer) and her husband Pat (Treat Williams) experience
a parent's worst fear when their 3-year-old son Ben vanishes in a crowded hotel
lobby during Beth's high school reunion. The ensuing frantic search is unsuccessful,
and Beth goes through a sustainednervous breakdown. Unable to cope with her
devastation, Beth unintentionally neglects her other children, Vincent (Jonathan
Jackson) and Kerry (Alexa Vega).
After nine years, the family has seemingly accepted that Ben has gone forever, when
a familiar-looking boy (Ryan Merriman) turns up at their house, introducing himself
as Sam and offers to mow their lawn. Beth is convinced that Sam is actually her son,
and begins an investigation that culminates in the discovery that Ben was kidnapped
at the ill-fated high school reunion years ago, by a mentally unstable woman who
was a high school classmate of Beth's. This woman brought up Ben as her own child,
until she committed suicide. The attempted re-integration of Ben back into the
Cappadora family produces painful results for all involved.
Eventually, the family decides that what's best for Ben is to return him to his
adoptive father, but one night, Vincent finds him playing basketball outside. Ben
reveals that he remembered something from before his abduction, playing with
Vincent and Vincent finding him, causing him to feel safe. Vincent, who has carried
guilt for letting go of Ben at the reunion, is forgiven by Ben who decides to return to
living with his real family, but first plays a game of basketball with his brother with
their parents secretly watching from their bedroom window.

436