FOURTH DRAFT
AUGUST 30, 1991
9/10/91 BLUE
10/1/91 PINK
10/14/91 YELLOW
10/25/91 GREEN
10/31/91 GOLDENROD
*11/7/91 BUFF
H E R O
a screenplay by
David Webb Peoples
from a story by
Laura Ziskin & Alvin Sargent and David Peoples
Please note the following changes:
A.) INSPECTOR JENSEN
(previously changed to
INSPECTOR BENSON on revised BLUE page 94)
has been changed to
INSPECTOR DAYTON
B.) THE PERIGORD restaurant
has been changed to
THE BARCELONA restaurant
C.) TERRY WELLS
has been changed to
TOM WELLER
D.) CHANNEL 11
has been changed to
CHANNEL 13
E.) CHANNEL 7
has been changed to
CHANNEL 8
INT. COURTROOM - DAY
JUDGE GOINES turns to the Jury FOREMAN.
JUDGE GOINES
Mister Foreman, have you arrived
at a verdict?
FOREMAN
We have, your honor. We find the
defendant guilty of all the charges.
TITLES BEGIN OVER THE SCENE
ANGLE ON THE DEFENDANT, BERNIE LAPLANTE
Forty, rumpled, cheap suit, cheap haircut. He reacts, turning
to the jury, indignant.
His attorney, DONNA O'DAY, rises. She's twenty-four, looks
younger.
DONNA
Your honor, may I approach the
bench?
As BERNIE fumes, the JUDGE, DONNA and the youthful clean-cut
PROSECUTOR engage in an earnest, inaudible discussion.
Frustrated, Bernie is watching them when he notices something
that distracts him from his anguish.
Donna's wallet is lying in her open attache case. The open top
of the case screens the wallet from the view of the JURY, THE
JUDGE, COURT REPORTERS, etc.
Bernie looks around, checking the spectators section.
No spectators.
TITLE CONTINUE
Bernie gets the wallet to his lap. In between cautious glances
toward the bench where the conference continues inaudibly, he
surreptitiously selects some of the twenties and some of the
tens from the wallet.
AT THE BENCH
The conference breaks up, DONNA heads back toward the defense
table.
The wallet still concealed in his lap under the table, BERNIE
is indignant.
BERNIE
What's going on? "Guilty"! What
is this?
DONNA
I got your bail continued.
BERNIE
Bail, for Chrissake! I'm innocent!
The JUDGE gavels for order as BERNIE slips DONNA's "lightened"
wallet back into her attache case unseen.
JUDGE GOINES
Mister LaPlante, I have been
persuaded in view of your continued
employment and your lack of prior
convictions, to continue your bail
under the same conditions
heretofore, pending sentencing six
days from now. In the meantime you
will make an appointment with the
probation officer who will make a
recommendation to me regarding your
sentence. I urge you to use these
six days to set your personal
affairs in order in anticipation
of incarceration.
THE TITLES CONCLUDE
INT. CORRIDOR/HALL OF JUSTICE - MINUTES LATER (DAY)
BERNIE and DONNA are hurrying along the crowded corridor outside
the courtroom.
BERNIE
"Anticipation of incarceration"?
DONNA
(upset)
He means prison, Mr. LaPlante.
BERNIE
I know what he means. I'm not a
prison kinda guy, Miss O'Day. I'm
a goddamn working man for
Chrissake! Maybe I "augment" my
income a little with some
"business deals," maybe summa the
guys I sell to are crooks, how
would I know, I'm not an
investigator. You can't make it
on a wage no more, not in this
country.
DONNA
I think our best course right now
would be to focus on the Probation
Officer's report...
BERNIE
He gives a good report and I walk?
DONNA
We can hope.
(consulting her notes)
You still have your job, right?
BERNIE
Yeah, I been calling in sick. They
think I got the flu.
DONNA
And a son by your ex-wife? Joseph.
BERNIE
A son, yeah. What about him? Joey.
DONNA
Are you pretty involved in his
upbringing?
BERNIE
Involved! Christ! She attached my
goddamn paycheck! Child support.
Why do you think I can't afford a
lawyer?
(then...)
You know what I mean. Why I got
a court appointed lawyer instead
of a, uh, more experienced...
DONNA
I understand. How often do you see
your son?
BERNIE
Often, uh.
DONNA
How recently?
BERNIE
Uh, his birthday, uh, May. I
think.
DONNA
It's November.
BERNIE
(beat... beat...
beat...)
She don't like me to see him.
Says I'm a bad influence.
DONNA
I think you should visit your son.
And try and get your boss to write
a note about your performance on
the job. You need to create the
impression of a responsible, decent
citizen with familial
responsibilities who happened to
slip up once.
They have reached the front door. BERNIE nods, about to exit.
DONNA
(with difficulty)
Uh, I know you're having financial
difficulties, Mister LaPlante, but
I wonder if... I mean, the money
I loaned you...
BERNIE
Some of it. Right here. I got some
of it. I'll get the rest as soon
as I can.
BERNIE pulls out the crumpled bills he took from Donna's wallet
and hands them to her.
DONNA
(surprised and touched)
I know things are difficult for you,
Mister LaPlante. I don't want to
take your last dime...
BERNIE is already reaching for a twenty.
BERNIE
Right. I better keep some if I'm
gonna see the kid. For gas and
stuff.
Then, unable to resist the chance, he snatches another.
EXT. LION CAGES/ZOO - ANOTHER DAY
A LION lies glumly in his cage, staring balefully through the
bars at BERNIE who stares balefully back, contemplating the iron
bars. At BERNIE'S side is a ten year old boy, JOEY, whose neat,
scrubbed appearance is in sharp contrast to BERNIE'S rumpled,
slightly soiled look.
JOEY
Wow! Look at that one!
JOEY is indicating the next cage where a BLACK PANTHER is pacing
restlessly to and fro.
JOEY
If you were in there, he'd kill you,
wouldn't he...Dad?
As Bernie looks at the PANTHER, the muscular beast looks right
into BERNIE'S eyes with the furious yellow stare as if to say
"I'm waiting."
BERNIE
Yeah, yeah, something like that.
INT. FLUKY'S RESTAURANT - AN HOUR LATER (DAY)
BERNIE and JOEY facing each other in a booth, eating burgers.
BERNIE
This guy, this "friend" your
mother's seeing, he's a fireman,
huh? He ever... spend the night,
whatsisname?
JOEY
Sometimes. His name's Elliot. He
saved a guy's life one time. In
a fire.
BERNIE
Oh yeah? A hero, huh?
(a beat, then...)
Was he in the 'Nam, this guy Elliot?
JOEY
"The Nomm"? What's that?
BERNIE
It was this war. Viet Nam. Doesn't
matter.
JOEY
Were you in it? In the war?
BERNIE
You never saw that picture, huh?
JOEY
What picture?
BERNIE
Me in my uniform. Used to be on
the bookcase.
INT. MEN'S ROOM/FLUKY'S - TEN MINUTES LATER (DAY)
Deserted except for BERNIE and JOEY side by side at the urinals.
BERNIE glances at JOEY.
BERNIE
Whatcha gotta do there, buddy, is
ya gotta get in close so ya don't
piss on yer shoes.
It don't matter now cause you're
wearin' them sneakers but the time's
gonna come when you're gonna be
wearin' good shoes, expensive ones,
and you don't wanna piss on them,
you wanna protect 'em. From piss,
from tough guys, from everything.
-- ALTERNATE VERSION --
BERNIE
What I don't like about public
restrooms is how you're always
standing in piss. It don't matter
to you, you got those sneakers but
I'm standing in piss in very
expensive shoes. It's a breakdown
in custodial services.
JOEY steals a glance at BERNIE, sees him "shake it off" and zip
up. JOEY does likewise.
JOEY
Are you gonna take me somewhere next
weekend?
BERNIE
I'm working on that. It's just I
got some business problems and...
whatsa matter?
JOEY is heading for one of the stalls. He reaches underneath
and pulls out a wallet.
JOEY
Somebody lost a wallet.
BERNIE is extremely interested, takes the wallet JOEY holds out
and glances inside.
Cash. A couple of fifties.
INT. FLUKY'S - SECONDS LATER (DAY)
BERNIE and JOEY exit the Men's Room and head for the door to
the parking lot, BERNIE explaining...
BERNIE
You give it to the manager, he
pockets the dough, throws the wallet
away. Most people who work in
supervisory positions... I'm not
saying all... are crooks.
JOEY casts a hasty glance at TEENAGER who's wearing the
Manager Badge. The youth could not look more innocent if he
wore a halo.
EXT. PARKING LOT - DAY
A BAG LADY pushing two shopping carts through the parking lot
spots BERNIE and JOEY crossing her path...
BAG LAOY
Excuse me, sir, could you spare...?
BERNIE
No way, lady, not a chance.
BERNIE hurries past her, notices JOEY looking back at the
miserable woman.
BERNIE
You gotta resist the urge to be nice
to those people, they're con
artists, they take advantage of the
soft heart. A lot of 'em are
financially better off than the
rest of us.
Arriving at an ancient, battered Toyota, BERNIE searches for
his keys and then fusses with the lock.
BERNIE
What I'm gonna do on this wallet
thing is, Monday, day after
tomorrow, I'm gonna have my
secretary phone this guy up from
the name on his driver's license
Let the guy come and get his wallet
and make sure you get a reward.
You deserve a reward. You want
one, doncha? A reward? Gwan, get
in.
INT. TOYOTA/MOVING/FREEWAY - TWENTY MINUTES LATER (DAY)
BERNIE is at the wheel, the car is gasping, struggling.
BERNIE
Whatcha gotta do, you gotta look
out for number one. It sounds
harsh, but it's a goddamn (excuse
the vulgarity) jungle out there,
kid. That's why you gotta keep a
low profile! Right? A low
profile!
It's where you don't give nobody
nothin' to shoot at, stay outta
sight, be parta the woodwork, don't
ever tell 'em your name, they'll
use it against you.
JOEY is looking for the right exit sign. He spots it.
JOEY
Here. Get off here.
BERNIE
(a look at Joey)
Thanks. Thanks, pal.
JOEY looks pleased.
EXT. EVELYN'S HOUSE/INT. TOYOTA - LATER - DAY
BERNIE is turning onto a suburban street, checking the houses.
BERNIE
Listen, buddy, I'm really enjoying
this relationship we got going here.
I been missing out on not knowing
you better. Thing is, I got all
this business stuff...
JOEY
I could go to a movie Thursday
night. 'Cause we don't have
school on Friday.
BERNIE pulls the car up in front of a single story two bedroom
house.
BERNIE
Here we are. Yeah, that's a
possibility. A movie. Now you gwan
in, tell your mother I got you back
on time. Point that out to her.
She was always on my case for stuff
like that. She's still like that,
right?
JOEY
(a little grin, his
first)
Yeah.
(getting out)
I'll see ya... dad.
JOEY gets out and runs toward the house. BERNIE watches him
go. Then he pulls out the wallet, thumbs the cash, glances at
the credit cards.
INT. SHADOW LOUNGE - NIGHT
The bored, fiftyish bartender, CHICK, is watching the TV mounted
over the bar in this unfashionable, nearly-deserted joint. He
looks up when the door opens.
CHICK
Bernie! Where ya been, Pal?
Arriving at the bar, BERNIE surveys the dimly lit room, checking
the booths and tables for customers. Not many.
BERNIE
Some guys been looking for me,
Chick? Spanish kinda guys.
CHICK
Spanish kinda guys!
BERNIE
Business thing. Gimme a seven and
seven, willya?
BERNIE checks his watch, takes a seat, puts a twenty on the bar.
CHICK
What is it, five days now I don't
see you!
BERNIE
'Cause I'm up to my ass in shit is
why. I'm broke, plus I got legal
problems... Nobody was asking for
me, huh?
BERNIE looks around nervously, peering into the shadowy booths
and rear tables as CHICK puts a drink in front of him.
CHICK
Nope. Legal problems, you gotta
have a good attorney.
BERNIE
My attorney, she's just outta law
school, about a couple of years
older than my kid, for Chrissake.
CHICK
You gotta kid? How old's your kid?
BERNIE
Nine. I think. Maybe ten. Yeah,
ten. Nice kid.
CHICK
You got a ten year old attorney,
Bernie?
BERNIE
I can't afford no better. My ex,
she attached my pay check for child
support payments.
(turning)
You looking for Bernie LaPlante by
any chance?
A MAN who's just entered the lounge shakes his head no and heads
for a table where he's greeted by the COCKTAIL WAITRESS.
CHICK
I didn't even know you had a kid.
BERNIE
(thoughtful)
The thing about kids is, they're
so... young! They don't know
nothin' yet. When you're a kid,
you think you're gonna grow up an'
be a "wonderful person" instead of
an asshole, like everybody else.
CHICK
We're all assholes, Bernie?
BERNIE
(ignoring him)
When I was a kid, I thought I was
gonna be this fantastic wonderful
heroic human being.
ESPINOSA'S VOICE (O.S)
You Bernie Planta?
BERNIE turns.
Two Latinos are right behind him, low lifes, ESPINOSA and
VARGAS.
BERNIE
LaPlante. Bernie LaPlante. You the
guys Bunny called, huh?
INT. BACK BOOTH/SHADOW LOUNGE - MOMENTS LATER
Credit cards are being inspected. ESPINOSA, seated between
VARGAS and BERNIE, in a booth in the nearly deserted lounge,
looks the cards over dubiously.
ESPINOSA
Three hours is old, man. Very old.
BERNIE
Hey, he might not of reported 'em
at all yet. He might not know for
a couple hours.
VARGAS
You pick his pocket?
BERNIE
Yeah, more or less. Trust me, these
are very very fresh.
EXT. OFFICE BUILDING - DAY
JEFFREY BROADMAN is standing against the granite facade of a
downtown office building. Three thousand dollar suit, Hermes
tie, expensively cut silver grey hair ruffling slightly in the
breeze. Charming smile, candid eyes...
BROADMAN
To be honest, I can't make sense
of it either, Ms. Gayley.
Things seem to be on the upswing,
our differences with the SEC have
been favorably resolved. In a
business sense, I believe we've
"turned the corner..."
GALE GAYLEY, a TV reporter, is standing close to BROADMAN, a
microphone in her hand. She's thirty, attractive, dignified...
We can hear SIRENS in the distance and, closer, the CRACKLE
of radios and walkie talkies.
GALE
Mister Broadman, your wife and
children are on their way here as
we speak. Don't you think -- ?
BROADMAN
I feel I've done very well in
life: good health, wonderful
family, much wealth. I guess what
we're talking about here is a kind
of despair. I just have the
feeling that everything from here
on is going to be... downhill...
At a time like this, I think I'm
entitled, as the saying goes, to
"look out for number one" and put
my own needs first. That pretty
much concludes what I have to say.
Thanks for coming out here to let
me talk to you and your viewers.
A nice smile as he drops RIGHT OUT THE BOTTOM OF THE FRAME!
ANGLE ON GALE
Looking down, horrified.
GALE
Oh my god! Chucky, tilt down.
Her cameraman, CHUCKY, twenty-five, is already urgently tilting
his vidpak as WE REVEAL that he and GALE are standing on a ledge
many stories above the street.
GALE
Did you get it?
(then, doubly
horrified)
Jesus, did I say that?
CHUCKY
Yeah, I got it. Sports training.
You learn to follow the ball.
(looking up at Gale)
How about you do a wrap-up from
up here? I'll pan off that
skyscraper over there, find you
here, then reveal the drop.
GALE looks shaken.
TV IMAGE (EXT. OFFICE BUILDING LEDGE - DAY)
Later, the CAMERA "finds" GALE in mid-sentence standing on the
ledge, "wearing" her broadcast voice and persona...
GALE
(into mike)
Suicide number 137 of this year
in this city was neither a
destitute nor a lonely man, but
a successful executive with a
loving family and forty million
dollars in the bank. If there's
nameless "despair" in executive
offices, what can there be sixty
stories below where the hungry and
the homeless, the brutalized and
the addicted, fight their daily
battle for survival.
(beat)
From a ledge sixty stories above
the street, I'm Gale Gayley for
Channel Four News.
REVEAL: THE TV MONITOR IS IN AN OFFICE
INT. DEAKINS' OFFICE/CHANNEL 4 - LATE AFTERNOON
DEAKINS, fifty, shirtsleeves, News Director, and WALLACE, sixty,
Station Manager, suit and tie, patrician, are watching the
monitor while CHUCKY and PARKER, the boyish gofer, hover behind
them.
CHUCKY
Whadja think of the fall shot,
Chief? The guy drops twenty
stories in perfect focus, center
frame while I go smoothly from F16
to F5.6.
DEAKINS
Helluva shot, Chucky, beautiful.
(pulling out the video
tape)
Parker, run this down to Frazier,
tell him we open with it at six,
eleven and at seven a.m....
PARKER is already running out the door as Gale enters.
GALE
Hi, Chief. You like the suicide?
WALLACE
Never reach out!
GALE
Hello, Mister Wallace.
DEAKINS
(to Gale)
He's right. It's unprofessional.
WALLACE
(to Gale)
If you reach out, you could get
pulled over yourself.
GALE
What're we talking about? Reach
out for what?
CHUCKY
I told them how you were upset we
didn't save the guy...
DEAKINS
Saving people is not our job. It's
as wrong to step in and save someone
as it would be to push someone off.
WALLACE
You wouldn't push the guy, would
you?
GALE
I didn't say I thought we should
have saved him..
WALLACE
You didn't?
GALE
I said I wished it had at least
occurred to me to consider saving
him.
DEAKINS
What good would that do?
GALE sits on Deakins' desk.
GALE
It would make me feel like a human
being instead of a cynical,
hardbitten newswoman. Besides it
wouldn't be a bad story, would it,
"Newswoman Saves Suicide?"
DEAKINS
Unprofessional.
GALE
You just can't bear the idea of
good news.
DEAKINS
You're sitting on your ticket.
GALE finds an envelope on the desk under her butt.
WALLACE
Ticket! What's going on?
DEAKINS
She's flying to New York. She's
been nominated for a Silver Mike...
WALLACE
A Silver Mike! You're covering us
in glory!
GALE
I haven't won it yet.
(studying ticket, to
Deakins)
I notice you've got me scheduled
on a flight back an hour after the
ceremony.
WALLACE
An hour after...! Deak, for
Heaven's sake! Let's give her a
night in New York City. We'll put
her and her boyfriend up at a good
hotel...
DEAKINS
She broke up with her boyfriend.
(to Gale)
Listen, babe, we needja back.
You gotta follow up on the jumper,
find the human interest in the
grim, unending tale of woe that
pours from the wounded heart of
the heartless metropolis.
GALE
The story behind the story, the
ugly scandal behind the falling
millionaire, the dirt, you mean.
DEAKINS
That too.
GALE
(to Wallace)
Would the station put me up at a
good hotel...?
WALLACE
(a look toward Deakins)
Absolutely!
GALE gives DEAKINS a big grin and starts out.
DEAKINS
Okay, hell with it. Party hearty...
is that what they say? I'll figure
something out.
(once she's gone)
She's just pretending she's a
person. She's really a reporter.
Fifty bucks she's on the first
flight back.
CHUCKY
You know what I don't get? I don't
get why a guy who's gonna jump asks
to talk to a TV reporter?
DEAKINS
Cause how's he gonna know he's
jumped if it's not on the six
o'clock news.
EXT. STREET/CITY CIVIC CENTER - AFTERNOON
HORNS BLARE as a FORD VAN cuts off a CAB and squirms into a
parking place marked "HANDICAPPED ONLY."
The side of the van reads GUMLEY'S SUPER CARPET CARE and
features a cartoon logo and a phone number.
BERNIE, wearing Gumley overalls, jumps out of the van and
hurries up the steps to an imposing municipal building.
INT. CIVIC BUILDING - TEN MINUTES LATER (AFTERNOON)
A door reads "PROBATION DEPARTMENT." MOVE IN ON THE DOOR.
INT. OFFICE/PROBATION - DAY
Bernie is sitting across the desk from the stone-faced, balding
Probation Officer, PATRICK DUKE.
BERNIE
(agitated)
Hey! Do I have a record? Have I
ever done time? I mean I been
arrested a few times, who hasn't?
Parking tickets for Chrissake!
Suspicion of stuff! Have I ever
been convicted of anything?
DUKE
Mister LaPlante...
BERNIE
Take a look at my employment
record, you got my employment
record there, right? You see any
unemployment there, any welfare?
I'm a taxpayer. They eat me
alive, the tax people, they got
taxes on everything, taxes, taxes,
taxes, and forms! Taxes and forms
so I can pay your goddamn salary,
so you can sit there and write
stuff, guys like me pay your
wages...
DUKE
Mister LaPlante...
BERNIE
Do I hit anybody? You see me shoot
anybody? Hey, drugs! Do I sell
drugs? Jesus, I don't belong in
prison. I'm a family man.
DUKE
Mister LaPlante...
BERNIE
Look, I got this kid. We got a
goddamn relationship! I'm takin'
him to a movie tonight! He worships
me. If I go down what's this do
to my son? I'm his goddamn role
model for Christ sake!
DUKE looks up at the "family man's" plaintive look. Then...
Bernie ruins it.
BERNIE
Listen, if I coulda afforded an
experienced attorney, I woulda
walked. It was a shitty case,
very circumstantial. You gonna
send me downstate for having an
inexperienced lawyer? How you
gonna feel about the system if you
do that?
The brief flash of mercy is gone from DUKE'S eyes, replaced
with a hard glitter. BERNIE has just shot himself in the
foot.
INT. BALLROOM /N.Y. HOTEL - DAY
VIGOROUS APPLAUSE! GALE has just received the Silver Mike
Award, a tastefully small, mike-sized replica of a microphone,
from the MASTER OF CEREMONIES. Clutching it, she faces the
applauding AUDIENCE across a podium, speaking into a real
microphone.
GALE
Thank you, very much. I'm grateful
for this. Since you're all
colleagues here, you know what kind
of a team it takes... to put a story
on a screen. I don't have to
explain to you how much the
cameraman, the editor, the
assignment editor and the news
director, to mention a few did to
get me this award.
GALE pauses. She reaches into her purse and pulls out an onion.
She holds it up.
GALE
This is an onion.
(dramatic pause,
then...)
It's a metaphor for a news story.
Only a few hours ago I was standing
on a ledge sixty stories above a
street interviewing a man who
subsequently jumped to his death.
Forty million dollars in the bank,
happily married, good health. Great
story!
The AUDIENCE is attentive, mesmerized as they watch her rip off
the outer skin of the onion and toss it dramatically aside.
GALE
(continuing)
There's gotta be more. We're pros,
right? Some kinda extramarital
hanky panky, maybe? Another good
story!
(she peels another layer
of onion)
Maybe the guy's been accused of
child molesting. Terrific story!
(she peels more off the
onion)
Then it turns out the accusation
was false. Wonderful! More story.
The AUDIENCE watches, captivated as the onion gets smaller.
GALE
(continuing)
Maybe the alleged mistress was
lying, setting the guy up.
Sensational story!
(the onion is very
small)
We keep going, keep digging, keep
investigating. We expose the
guy's whole life, his family.
Why? Because we're pros!
Because...
(she pauses
dramatically)
we're looking for the truth!
GALE considers the tiny remains of the onion in her hand.
Then, she peels it down to nothing and lets it fall.
GALE
But what if, after all our
digging, after all our painstaking
investigation, what if it turns out
there wasn't any truth? Just
stories! One story after another,
one layer, then another layer,
until there's nothing left. And
if it's like that, do we have any.
obligation to stop at any point?
Or do we just keep going, digging,
digging, digging, peeling,
peeling, peeling, until we've
peeled it all away, until we've
destroyed what we were
investigating in the first place?
ANGLE ON AUDIENCE
attentive, as GALE pauses dramatically, then...
GALE
I'll bet all of you, like me,
yearn for just one story that
isn't about uncovering layer after
layer of human weakness; a story
that reveals with each new layer
of investigation, something finer
and nobler, something even...
inspirational.
GALE gazes soberly across the podium at the AUDIENCE.
TELEVISION IMAGE (EXT. SKID ROW STREETS - DAY)
A BAG LADY addresses the camera, a news interview.
BAG LADY/TV
First rule out here on the streets
is you gotta watch out for number
one. If you go down... break a
bone or something... you're gone!
Nobody's gonna pick you up.'
WINSTON'S VOICE (O.S)
Shitty color! Looka the skin tones.
REVEAL: THE TV SET IS IN BERNIE'S APARTMENT
INT. LIVING ROOM/BERNIE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT (RAIN)
WINSTON, fifty and fat, is scowling at the image on the TV
screen in BERNIE'S spartan and tasteless three room apartment.
BERNIE grabs the remote from WINSTON'S pudgy hands.
BERNIE
Chrissake! Homeless people are
supposed to have shitty skin tones.
Look!
BERNIE points the remote at the screen...
ON THE TV SCREEN
CLICK! A gunfight replaces the BAG LADY ON SCREEN, then a
sitcom, an old movie, MTV, and finally a slick commercial
featuring a sexy bikinied BLONDE.
INT. BERNIE'S APT. - NIGHT
BERNIE
There you go! Skin tones! Listen,
you gotta fish or cut bait. I
wouldn't even do this if I didn't
have these legal problems. Two
fifty. That's it. I gotta get
outta here, I gotta take my kid to
the movies tonight, I'm late.
WINSTON stares at the lithe thighs ON THE SCREEN as BERNIE
starts rummaging urgently in his closet.
WINSTON
I'll go two hundred.
BERNIE has just found his good shoes, notices a carton of brand
new jackets.
BERNIE
Two hundred! How about a jacket?
Wanna buy me a jacket?
INT. MAIN CABIN/BOEING 727 IN FLIGHT - NIGHT
The engines drone as we look into the sparsely populated main
cabin of the "baby Boeing". Among the many empty seats, a MR.
FLETCHER reads a magazine while his ten year son RICHIE plays
a pocket video game.
LESLIE SUGAR, one of the two Flight Attendants, is serving a
drink to Mr. Smith, a businessman while FREDDY, the other Flight
Attendant, is giving a pillow to an ELDERLY WOMAN.
We DISCOVER GALE, cradling a phone to her ear while she
awkwardly fishes in her purse and pulls out the Silver Mike
Award.
GALE
It's very nice actually.
(reading the
inscription)
"For Excellence in the Pursuit of
Truth." Uh, listen, I just wanted
you to know I got a seat back on
the early flight after all so...
What?
Reacting to what she hears on the phone, GALE overturns the
purse in her lap and the contents -- wallet, comb, lipstick,
notepad, etc. -- spill on the floor.
GALE
What do you mean you gave it to
Conklin? Conklin wasn't on that
ledge! Conklin wasn't...
INT. DEAKINS' OFFICE/CHANNEL FOUR - NIGHT
DEAKINS is grinning into his phone, winking at WALLACE who's
standing beside his desk.
DEAKINS
Gale, you were gonna do the town,
remember? Fancy suite at the
station's expense, see a show, get
laid maybe. What was I supposed
to do?
Still grinning, he breaks off and listens to Gale's faintly
audible response while holding out his palm to WALLACE in a
triumphant "pay me" gesture. Then he speaks into the phone...
DEAKINS
Okay, okay, you get back tonight,
doll, and I'll take Conklin off your
suicide. Fly carefully... and
congratulations on the award.
DEAKINS hangs up and smugly pockets the fifty WALLACE has fished
from his wallet, chuckling gleefully...
DEAKINS
What'd I tell ya! They're all like
that, the good ones. They're
junkies for the story. They can't
let go.
INT. MAIN CABIN/BOEING 727 IN FLIGHT - NIGHT
The eight-year-old, KELLY, seated next to GALE is helping GALE
pick up the contents of her purse from the floor.
GALE
Thank you. Very much.
KELLY beams. And GALE gives a look to KELLY'S mother SUSAN
who's seated on the other side of KELLY.
SUSAN
There's another credit card on the
floor.
GALE reaches down to pick up her Visa card from the floor.
GALE
Thanks.
GALE inserts the Visa Card in her wallet with the other cards.
EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT
Rain comes down in curtains as BERNIE'S Toyota chugs and farts
through curtains of water.
INT. MOVING CAR/CITY STREET - NIGHT
BERNIE is at the wheel, trying to see through the rain swept
windshield. He's talking to himself as he drives...
BERNIE
I know why it's raining. I coulda
predicted this. It's raining
because my wipers are fucked up.
If my wipers were okay, the fucking
sun would be shining right now.
At night!
INT. COCKPIT/727 - NIGHT
Engines DRONE monotonously. The Flight Engineer is looking at a
magazine while the PILOT and CO-PILOT, surrounded by glowing
instruments, stare into the blackness ahead... until something
catches the bored PILOT'S eye. A red light on the control
panel. He frowns and looks closer.
INT./EXT. BERNIE'S CAR/FREEWAY - NIGHT
Looking for exit signs, BERNIE can barely see through the sheets
of rain that his malfunctioning wipers do little to clear.
Suddenly a sign looms into view and disappears before he can
read it.
BERNIE
Damn!
INT. MAIN CABIN/727 IN FLIGHT - NIGHT
The engines drone. The cabin is peaceful, most PASSENGERS
dozing or talking softly as GALE glances up from her magazine,
sees SUSAN reading while KELLY sleeps peacefully, her head in
SUSAN'S lap.
PING! The electronic tone. Gale looks up, sees the "Fasten
Seat Belt" sign illuminated.
GALE looks toward the dark window. No sign of any lights below.
No city. No airport. strange.
The P.A. SYSTEM comes to life and the CAPTAIN'S mellifluous
VOICE murmurs soothingly...
P.A. SYSTEM
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your
Captain. We're experiencing a high
reading on one of our indicators.
Ten to one, it's a malfunction in
a gauge, but just as a precaution
I'm going to ask you to fasten your
seat belts while the Flight
Attendants run through some safety
procedures with you. I apologize
for the necessity and the
inconvenience.
Murmurs in the cabin. What does this mean? SUSAN looks a
question at GALE, puzzled as Flight Attendants LESLIE and FREDDY
take their positions to demonstrate safety procedures.
LESLIE
First make sure your seat belts are
fastened securely. Then brace your
arms against the seat ahead at you
like this. You can use pillows
or blankets...
KELLY
(waking up)
Mommy, what's going on?
SUSAN
Everything's going to be fine,
honey.
GALE'S eyes meet SUSAN'S eyes. Fear. Brave smile.
INT./EXT. BERNIE'S CAR/EXIT/HIGHWAY - NIGHT
Pulling off the freeway, BERNIE peers at the signs that greet
him as he slows to a stop at the foot of the exit.
Unable to read them through the windshield he has to open the
door and stand in the rain.
Even then, the sign is obscured by torrents of rain.
INT. MAIN CABIN/727 IN FLIGHT - NIGHT
All eyes are on LESLIE as she continues her instructions...
LESLIE
-- when you reach the bottom of the
chute you should immediately move
as far away from the plane as
possible in the event of a fire on
the aircraft.
Glancing around, GALE glimpses pale, strained FACES.
She sees the ELDERLY WOMAN holding the arm of a man, her SON.
She sees a MRS. BROWN squeezing a MR. BROWN'S hand tightly.
Looking back down the aisle she sees MR. FLETCHER putting his
arm around RICHIE'S shoulder, father and son united against
fate.
Beside her she sees SUSAN trying to comfort KELLY.
LESLIE
Those of you who can should help
others who may be unable to move
quickly.
GALE is acutely aware that everyone around her is comforting
someone else. Only she is alone.
INT. TOYOTA/HIGHWAY - NIGHT
Back at the wheel, BERNIE is turning right onto an unlit
highway, his single headlight stabbing weakly at the storm ahead
while his useless wipers clatter loudly and the engine chugs...
farts... misses.
BERNIE
I'm late already! Don't quit on me
now, for Chrissake! This ain't the
time!
The engine struggles, continues.
BERNIE
Come on, come on !
The engine surges to life again... then begins to throb with
downright vigor.
BERNIE frowns. It's getting louder.
AND LOUDER! AND LOUDER! IT'S ROARING.
BERNIE'S eyes bug with the realization that either he's about
to take off... OR THAT ISN'T HIS ENGINE THUNDERING, THUNDERING.
A great shadow blurs in the rain ahead.
BERNIE brakes hard, skidding, sliding wildly.
BAWHOOOOOOOOM! HUGE NOISE. IMPACT! GRINDING!
BERNIE skids to a halt, eyes shut tight to prevent himself from
dying.
But he's not dead. He opens his eyes. Stares out the
windshield.
A blank wall greets him, bouncing back his headlights in a blur
of rain.
BERNIE
Now what?
EXT. HIGHWAY - NIGHT
BERNIE gets out of his car. Everything is spooky quiet.
The tail section of a huge aircraft blocks the road directly
in front of Bernie's car. He skidded to a stop two feet short
of ramming the twenty-five foot high vertical fin. The rest
of the craft is sprawled off the low bridge and into the water,
lost for the most part in the darkness.
Suddenly, a VOICE calls out... from somewhere forward along the
fuselage.
VOICE
Hey! Help! Somebody! Help.
BERNIE frowns. Helping is not his instinct. Approaching the
edge of the bridge, he peers into the darkness.
The plane is corkscrewed through the bridge at such a freak
angle that the tail rear doors are wedged shut by the metal
super-structure, the wing exits are blocked by the up-bent wing
stubs, and the right forward doors are canted hopelessly toward
the sky while the left exit is partially jammed in the mud near
the river bank in three feet of water.
VOICE
Please! Help us. We're stuck.
Hello! Anybody!
BERNIE
Whatsa problem, pal?
INT. MAIN CABIN/727 AT REST - NIGHT
Engulfed in darkness except for strings of floor lights leading
to the exits, the cabin is a confusion of GROANS, COUGHS, CRIES
and the piercing WAIL of a screaming BABY. The floor lights
seem to be on the walls, high on one side and low on the other,
as the cabin is dramatically canted, making movement along
aisles nearly impossible.
LESLIE, battered from the impact, her uniform torn, is
struggling to open the forward emergency exit. Angled downward,
the door will only open six inches before being blocked by mud.
Water pours in around her ankles as she shoves furiously.
LESLIE
Somebody give me a hand.
A VOICE
We're on fire.
LESLIE
Let's stay calm, everybody.
Everybody, stay calm, please.
Please stay calm. Everything will
be all right if we stay calm.
Somebody give me a hand with this
door.
Her flashlight stabs the darkness, reveals frightened FACES.
Slumped, motionless forms.
LESLIE
Help the people around you,
everybody. Please help each other.
AAAAAAAAAH! SCREAMS as the plane suddenly shifts violently from
the interior movement, canting further.
ANGLE ON GALE
Staggering from her seat. WHAM! Hand luggage slams into her
from an overhead rack. As GALE goes down, a PASSENGER lands
on top of her catching her arm at an angle, breaking it. The
PASSENGER climbs off her and struggles down the slope.
GALE realizes she can't get up, her leg is wedged in the
framework of a seat. PASSENGERS are climbing past her, heading
forward.
SUSAN is fighting her way out of her canted seats, clutching
the terrified KELLY to her.
GALE
I... I can't move. I'm caught.
SUSAN glances at her and their eyes meet. KELLY is screaming.
SUSAN turns away from GALE and half-carries KELLY toward the
exit, leaving GALE alone, trapped, in pain and fear.
EXT. BRIDGE - NIGHT
BERNIE is climbing cautiously down the undercarriage of the
bridge toward the water, as OTHER VOICES callout from the
twisted fuselage.
BERNIE
Hold on there, hold on there. Just
a minute.
BERNIE is awkward and... very careful... climbing down, not
brave or dashing. He doesn't notice that, behind him, where
the plane is corkscrewed through the bridge a BOUQUET OF ORANGE
FLAMES IS BLOSSOMING IN THE FUSELAGE OF THE JET.
INT. MAIN CABIN/727 - NIGHT
Thick smoke is oozing through the cabin. PASSENGERS are
stumbling over each other, clogging the canted aisles while
OTHERS slump in their seats, immobilized.
RICHIE'S VOICE (O.S.)
Daddy! Daddy! Daddy, wake up!
LESLIE'S VOICE
Keep calm! Everybody, keep calm.
ANOTHER VOICE
Someone's coming!
EXT. RIVER - NIGHT
Having reached the riverbank, BERNIE is reluctant to step in
the water. He hesitates, then he takes off his shoes, looks
in the darkness for a place to leave them.
VOICE
Help us! Help, please.
BERNIE
Hold on, buddy. I got hundred
dollar shoes here.
More cries. BERNIE steps cautiously into the water. Up to his
ankles. Deeper.
BERNIE wades along the huge fuselage, toward the VOICES,
stumbling, landing on all fours in the water.
BERNIE
Jesus Christ!
Struggling to his feet, hands muddy, he blunders toward the
Emergency Exit and finds it canted into the water, jammed into
the mud so that it only opens a crack.
MR. BROWN is wedged in the crack, trying to force the door open
without success. Glimpsing BERNIE'S hands in the crack, he
pleads.
MR. BROWN
Help us, please. We can't get out.
BERNIE makes a tentative attempt to open the door. He has no
effect whatsoever.
MR. BROWN
Push it! You gotta push hard.
BERNIE
Whaddaya (grunt) think I'm (grunt)
doing?
Reluctantly BERNIE digs his feet into the mud, puts his shoulder
into the door and shoves with all his might. Because he has a
better angle on the door and better purchase, he's actually able
to move it several inches.
MR. BROWN
Harder. Push it harder.
BERNIE leans back into the door again and pushes with all his
might. It gives ever so slightly. Another inch. MR. BROWN
is trying to squeeze out.
MR. BROWN
Again! Harder. Come on.
BERNIE
(grunting with effort)
I'm... pushing... it, buddy.
MR. BROWN
Harder!
BERNIE
I'm... pushing... it... asshole!
INT. MAIN CABIN/727 - NIGHT
PASSENGERS stumble over each other while a flashlight makes
panicky stabs at the darkness, RICHIE cries out for FLETCHER
to wake up, the BABY screams.
Someone's trying to get out the overhead exit, others are
hammering at an aft exit.
GALE slumped in her seat, fades in and out of consciousness.
Above her, across the canted aisle, SUSAN is calling out for
help... Then, GALE'S eyes flicker with awareness at the sound
of an urgent shout...
VOICE
THERE'S A GUY OPENING THE DOOR.
HE'S OPENING IT!
A sudden shadowy surge of movement in the darkness, PASSENGERS
urgently scrambling over seats toward the exit.
EXT. AIRPLANE/RIVER - NIGHT
BERNIE gives a great heave and goes down in the river face
first.
He's opened the door just wide enough for MR. BROWN to squirm
through the narrow opening, then pull MRS. BROWN through.
BERNIE, sputtering, is trying to get to his feet when the BROWNS
knock him down again in their frantic rush to get as far away
from the burning plane as they can.
As BERNIE struggles to his feet yet again, more PASSENGERS are
oozing out the door. They brush him aside, splashing toward the
river bank, while orange flames are flickering wildly now in
the tail section.
INT. MAIN CABIN/727 - NIGHT
LESLIE is beside the exit, using her flashlight to guide people.
Her face is bruised and bloody, her uniform torn, but she is
courage itself...
LESLIE
Once you're outside, immediately
move as far away from the aircraft
as you can. If you see someone who
needs help...
Scared PASSENGERS are struggling to get over the seats that are
close to where the floor ought to be.
LESLIE
Please, everybody, one at a time.
Please, one at a time.
Just then the young RICHIE, caught in the surge of PASSENGERS,
bumps into her.
RICHIE
Please, Miss, my father can't move.
He can't move.
LESLIE grabs him and shoves him bodily out the narrow exit as
she speaks urgently...
LESLIE
We'll try and help him, you wait
outside. Get as far away from the
plane as you can.
Just then LESLIE sees the bloody PILOT and CO-PILOT staggering
toward her.
She helps them out the narrow opening, half pushing them.
EXT. RIVERBANK - NIGHT
BERNIE'S face is smeared with mud! He staggers out of the water
in the flicker of firelight and starts searching for his shoes
on the muddy riverbank.
PILOT
Don't stop!
BERNIE
You gonna bUy me a new pair a shoes,
pal?
The sound of approaching SIRENS cuts through the rainy night.
EXT. AIRPLANE/RIVER - NIGHT
RICHIE is outside the plane, struggling in chest deep water.
He looks back at the plane, sobbing...
RICHIE
Dad! Dad!
He doesn't know what to do.
EXT. RIVERBANK - NIGHT
Muttering curses, BERNIE is floundering around on the riverbank
when a hand clutches at his sleeve.
BERNIE whirls, his face a mask of mud. Finds himself facing
RICHIE.
RICHIE
Sir! Please, sir. Sir, my father
can't move.
Where? BERNIE looks around.
RICHIE
He's in there! He's hurt!
In the plane? In there? BERNIE looks at the plane, reacts...
BERNIE
In there? Listen, kid, the cops
are coming... and the firemen.
They, uh, they got equipment and
stuff for this kindathing, they're,
uh, experts.
The sound of SIRENS, still. a ways off. RICHIE clutches at
BERNIE.
RICHIE
Please, sir! Please! It's on fire.
He can't move.
BERNIE stares into the desperate face... and suddenly,
recklessly, BERNIE loses it, forgets he's BERNIE, acts like
someone else.
BERNIE
Where is he?
YOUNG BOY
Inside! He's in the plane, he...
BERNIE
I know he's inside. Which way?
What's his name?
INT. NEAR THE EXIT/MAIN CABIN/727 - MOMENTS LATER (NIGHT)
Chaos and confusion. The smoke is thicker, LESLIE is upset...
LESLIE
Sir, you can't go back in. Sir,
you're blocking passengers. Sir,
no...
BERNIE, his muddy face unrecognizeable, is pushing his way into
the plane, shouldering coughing PASSENGERS aside.
BERNIE finds himself standing in the choking darkness,
PASSENGERS pushing past him. Holy smokes! This is ridiculous!
What's he doing here? Thicker smoke, can barely see anything,
VOICES cry out in pain and fear. Just then he spots something.
A flashlight lies on the floor sending a useless knife of light '
into the smoky darkness. He grabs for it, drops it urgently.
BERNIE
Jesus Christ!
The light is in a hand! He reaches again, snatches the light
and points it revealing FREDDY, the other Flight Attendant,
lying semiconscious on the floor, bloody, GROANING.
BERNIE hesitates. Then he leans down, still gripping the light
and half hauls FREDDY toward the nearby exit where LESLIE is
supervising PASSENGERS.
BERNIE
Hey, somebody, grab him, willya?
Help this guy, willya, goddamnit!
A MAN reluctantly turns and, with the help of LESLIE they manage
to shove FREDDY out the exit. LESLIE instructs the MAN...
LESLIE
Get him away from the plane, help
him.
LESLIE turns back in time to see BERNIE heading back into the
darkness, struggling around the stream of PASSENGERS.
For half a second, LESLIE'S face reveals her amazement at seeing
somebody go back into the the nightmare a second time. Then
she's helping the next passenger out... SUSAN and KELLY...
SUSAN
There's (cough cough) a woman back
there. She's caught.
LESLIE
Get as far away from the plane as
you can.
Urgently LESLIE shoves them through the door.
INT. "UP THE SLOPE"/MAIN CABIN/707 - NIGHT
BERNIE is struggling aft, up the steep slope of the nose-down
plane, coughing and cursing in the dark, calling out...
BERNIE
MISTER FLETCHER! HEY, MISTER
FLETCHER! MISTER FLETCHER, HEY
BUDDY, WHERE ARE YA, GODDAMNIT?
BERNIE pans the flashlight ahead of him. The blade of light
only cuts a few feet through the thickening smoke, revealing
only empty seats.
BERNIE
FLETCHER! HEY (cough cough) HEY,
FLETCHER, SPEAK UP, WILL YA? DON'T
BE AN ASSHOLE!
No answer.
BERNIE pans the light, turns and...
A SHARP GROAN!
BERNIE stumbles. He stepped on someone.
BERNIE
Fletcher?
Pans the light down.
BERNIE
Shit!
A woman! GALE. Semiconscious, in pain, she opens her eyes.
GALE P.O.V.: BERNIE'S MUDDY FACE
Looking up, all GALE can see is a vague vision of a muddy face
dimly visible in the spill of the flashlight.
BACK TO SCENE
GALE
My leg's caught.
BERNIE points the light toward her leg, overpans the leg, the
blade of light discovering her purse. Then he corrects the beam
back to reveal her leg wedged between two seats.
GALE
Can you... can you get me out of
here?
BERNIE pans the light back to the purse again.
BERNIE
Yeah, sure. I think.
BERNIE puts down the light and struggles her leg loose while
GALE groans in pain. Her head is near the floor lights, her
eyes open.
For a moment BERNIE'S face passes through the stationary beam
of the flashlight and GALE gets a glimpse of a smoky, muddy face
leaning close to her...AN OBSCURE VISION!
BERNIE
Okay, lady. You gotta make an
effort here. I don't happen to
be a goddamn bodybuilder.
BERNIE retrieves the flashlight lying near her purse. It's out
of her line of vision, behind her head. He only hesitates for
half a second before his hand shoots out for the purse, conceals
it under his jacket, and gets to his feet.
INT. EXIT/AREA/MAIN CABIN/727 - SECONDS LATER (NIGHT)
LESLIE is helping ANOTHER MAN out the exit.
LESLIE
Get away from the plane quickly.
It may explode.
Now she's alone. Heroically she turns back and probes the smoky
interior with her flashlight.
The blade of light is blunted by the smoky darkness. There's
nothing.
LESLIE hesitates. Should she run, save her own life or...?
Suddenly BERNIE steps into the beam of her light, emerging from
the thick smoke hauling GALE over his shoulder, his face
smudged, unrecognizeable, AN HEROIC VISION SHE'LL REMEMBER!
BERNIE
Gimme a (cough cough) hand, willya,
honey?
EXT. BRIDGE/HIGHWAY - NIGHT
SIRENS scream and lights FLASH as more Emergency Vehicles join
the ones already parked close to the bridge at a safe distance
from the burning tail of the plane. A FIRE CAPTAIN shouts "Move
that piece-a junk" at three FIREMEN who are already pushing
BERNIE'S Toyota off the bridge and away from the airplane while
a confusion of PARAMEDICS and POLICE hurry to the aid of dazed
PASSENGERS in torn and bloody clothing.
FIREMEN train hoses on the fiery tail of the plane while the
FIRE CAPTAIN shouts...
FIRE CAPTAIN
GET 'EM BACK! GET 'EM BACK!
ANGLE ON RICHIE
Staring at the smoking plane in horror when a hand grips his
shoulder. Turning he finds himself looking up at the MAN whose
back we saw LESLIE push out of the plane... FLETCHER!
RICHIE
DAD! OH, DAD!
FLETCHER
Son! Thank God! I couldn't find
you. I was terrified... terrified.
They're hugging.
INT. EXIT AREA/727 CABIN - NIGHT
LESLIE and BERNIE are awkwardly pushing GALE'S limp body out
the exit to a FIREMAN, DENTON in an asbestos suit just outside.
FIREMAN DENTON
(to Leslie)
You too, miss! Right away!
LESLIE turns to BERNIE.
LESLIE
I've lost (cough) lost count. I
think (cough) everybody's out.
But BERNIE isn't there! He's disappeared into the smoke. As
she stares in dismay, she hears him yelling...
BERNIE'S VOICE
HEY, FLETCHER! SPEAK UP, WILL YA?
INT. MAIN CABIN/727 - NIGHT
Coughing and choking BERNIE struggles through the cabin, his
light nearly useless now.
BERNIE'S VOICE
HEY (cough cough) FLETCHER!
Nothing! Darkness. BERNIE can see orange in the black near
the tail. Fire!
This is crazy! Time to turn back! He's turning toward the exit.
when suddenly...
A VOICE
Here! Over here! Help me, please.
At last! BERNIE waves the light in the direction of the VOICE
and stumbles that way through the smoke.
BERNIE
Where the (cough cough) hell are
ya, buddy?
VOICE
Over here. My leg's broken (cough
cough). I need help.
BERNIE finds an injured MAN crawling along the floor.
BERNIE leans down and grips him under the armpits.
BERNIE
Fletcher, right?
The MAN cries out in pain as BERNIE half drags him over seats.
MAN
Aaaaaaaah! Smith!
BERNIE
You're not Fletcher?
BERNIE lets him go.
SMITH
Please help me. My name's Smith.
BERNIE looks around with the light.
Thick smoke. Flames back toward the tail.
BERNIE
I'm looking for Fletcher! HEY,
FLETCHER!
BERNIE waves the light at the darkness and...it goes out.
BERNIE
Shit!
BANG! BANG! BERNIE bangs the flashlight against a seat.
SMITH
Don't leave me. Please don't leave
me.
BERNIZ
Awright, awright.
Angrily BERNIE grabs him and hauls him urgently toward the exit
while SMITH cries out in pain.
BERNIE
Don't count yer chickens here,
Smith. I can't see shit.
EXT. AIRPLANE/RIVER - NIGHT
A dazzling worklight shining down from the bridge illuminates
the fuselage and the partially opened exit as TWO FIREMEN in
asbestos fire suits splash through the water carrying GALE from
the plane.
FIREMAN DENTON stands at the narrow exit, too narrow for him
to enter in his bulky asbestos suit and shouts through his
helmet.
FIREMAN DENToN
You've gotta come outta there, miss.
Right now! This thing's gonna go.
LESLIE squeezes out of the exit, looks back...
LESLIE
There's another...
FIREMAN DENTON
(grabbing her)
RIGHT GODDAMN NOW! COME ON!
As LESLIE and FIREMAN DENTON splash the ten yards to the
riverbank flames eat their way toward the wings where the fuel
is stored.
Suddenly BERNIE'S VOICE cuts through the chaos...
BERNIE'S VOICE (O.S.)
HEY! GIMME A HAND HERE. HEY YOU!
IN THE BUNNY SUIT.
LESLIE looks back and sees BERNIE awkwardly pulling SMITH out
of the narrow exit.
FIREMAN DENTON slogs back to BERNIE.
FIREMAN DENTON
I'll help him, buddy, you run for
it.
FIREMAN DENTON tries to grab SMITH but BERNIE won't let go.
BERNIE
I gat this guy, you go get the guy
who's still in there.
FIREMAN DENTON is lifting SMITH bodily.
FIREMAN DENTON
Get out of here, pal, she's gonna
blow.
BERNIE
You're not goin' in? There's a guy
in there! You got a fucking suit.
FIREMAN DENTON
SHE'S GONNA EXPLODE, YOU DUMB SHIT.
FIREMAN DENTON starts to stagger away from the plane, carrying
SMITH.
BERNIE looks back at the plane, sees the fury of flames and
suddenly he splashes through the water after FIREMAN DENTON.
EXT. RIVERBANK - SECONDS LATER (NIGHT)
FIREMAN DENTON is staggering up the slope carrying SMITH when
he glances back.
He sees BERNIE poking around at the edge of the riverbank.
FIREMAN DENTON
HURRY 'UP, BUDDY!
In the orange glow of the fire, BERNIE gives a delighted grunt
as he finds half of what he's looking for... a single shoe.
FIREMAN DENTON
COME ON, YOU STUPID SHIT!
BERNIE
I LOST MY GODDAMN SHOE!
BERNIE is looking around frantically when...
EXT. RIVERBANK - NIGHT
BOOOOOOOOOOM! BERNIE is knocked backward by a tremendous
explosion. Suddenly he's sitting in the mud, the night around
him bright with flames.
BERNIE
Holy shit!
Then he's running, clutching one shoe, no longer worried at all
about the other...
BAAAAAAAAAAAAA-DOOOOOOOOOOM! A SECOND BLAST! MUCH BIGGER!
EXT. ACCIDENT SCENE/HIGHWAY - NIGHT
From the relative safety of the road, CHUCKY's pointing his
vidpak with the Channel Four logo at the exploding plane.
Panning the camera from the furious mountain of flames he picks
up a marvelous image.
CHUCKY
(excited, under his
breath)
Tight on fire, yes, yes, pulling
back, flame everywhere, find
survivors backlit in orange glow,
yes, yes, yes, awesome, major award,
cameraman of the year,go Chucky,go,
baby, how you shoot it.
A Flight Attendant (LESLIE) in a torn uniform is staggering up
the slope followed by an heroic FIREMAN (DENTON) carrying a
Crash Victim (SMITH) on his brave shoulders. What a shot!
EXT. RIVERBANK - NIGHT
BERNIE stands on the riverbank in the pouring rain and looks
back at the burning plane. He shakes his head sadly, imagines
FLETCHER in the inferno.
BERNIE
Sorry, pal. Woooo! What a way to
go!
EXT. ACCIDENT SCENE/HIGHWAY - NIGHT
TWO PARAMEDICS are struggling with GALE who's trying to get off
the stretcher they're putting into an ambulance.
GALE
I'm okay. Please, I'm okay, I'm
a reporter, I...OW!
PARAMEDIC
Lady, you're not okay.
GALE gets off the stretcher in spite of their efforts and
staggers a few feet, grabs one of them for support.
PARAMEDIC
Miss, please, you've got a broken
arm.
GALE
It's my leg. My leg hurts...
(suddenly shouting)
CHUCKY! OVER HERE, CHUCKY! CHUCKY!
ANGLE ON CHUCKY
Taping SURVIVORS, when he hears GALE'S voice and looks around
for her.
CONKLIN, the reporter with him, spots her first.
CONKLIN
Holy shit! It's Gayley!
ANGLE ON THE AMBULANCE
Where GALE is half on the stretcher as CHUCKY and CONKLIN rush
up to her.
CONKLIN
Gayley! You were on the plane?
GALE
This is my story, Conk. I did the
research.
PARAMEDIC
Please, she's injured, she's gotta
go to the hospital...
CHUCKY is already pointing the vidcam at her, taping as the
PARAMEDICS shove her onto the stretcher and into the ambulance
with her talking all the way.
GALE
Get the Flight Attendant, the one
who manned the door. Also some guy,
a passenger, pulled me out. Talk
to him. Then get down to the
hospital and I'll do an interview
and an intro and close. Make
sure...
BANG! The PARAMEDICS slam the door behind her.
CONKLIN shakes his head as CHUCKY lowers his camera and the
ambulance pulls away.
CONKLIN
She's a real piece of work!
Unbelievable! "It's 'my story, I
did the research."
CHUCKY
You're not going to believe the shot
I got back there. Major Awards!
ANGLE ON BERNIE
wearing only one shoe he limps right past CHUCKY and CONKLIN,
unnoticed in the confusion of FIREMEN, PARAMEDICS, and
SURVIVORS.
ANGLE ON RICHIE AND FLETCHER
Standing between an ambulance and a firetruck, father and son
are hugging each other warmly. They don't notice Bernie
trudging past them and he doesn't notice them.
ANGLE ON BERNIE
reacting with sudden horror at something he sees.
ANGLE ON THE BRIDGE
The spot where BERNIE left his car. FIREMEN are spraying
retardant on the firey fuselage of the plane. No sign of the
car!
BERNIE
Christ! My car! Where's my car?
BERNIE moans mournfully and suddenly a STATE POLICE OFFICER
is at his side.
STATE POLICE OFFICER
Where are you hurt, sir?
BERNIE
Huh? Hurt? What?
BERNIE is urgently concerned with the purse poorly concealed
under his jacket.
STATE POLICE OFFICER
How about coming over to the
ambulance, sir, let the medical
people check you out.
The STATE POLICE OFFICER has a hand on the arm BERNIE is using
to keep the purse under his jacket.
BERNIE
(pulling away)
Hey, I don't need no ambulance.
I'm just looking for my car... It
musta burned up or something.
The purse is visible though the OFFICER hasn't yet noticed it.
He's patronizing BERNIE, insisting.
STATE POLICE OFFICER
You weren't in your car, sir, you
were in an airplane crash. But
everything's going to be okay, we'll
just go see the doctor and...
Just then MRS. BROWN rushes up and clutches the OFFICER,
grabbing his arm.
MRS. BROWN
Please, please, my husband's been
waiting for medical attention...
As she pulls the OFFICER away, BERNIE hides the purse deeper
under his coat, breathes a sigh of relief... and notices
something!
BERNIE'S POV OF HIS CAR
Virtually unrecognizable, moved to the side of the bridge,
buried under a mountain of fire retardant foam.
ANGLE ON BERNIE
Limping up to his car, wiping the foam off the windshield.
BERNIE
This shit has gotta be great for
the paint job!
INT. JOEY'S BEDROOM/EVEYLYN'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Dark except for the eerie flicker of the TV set.
JOEY is in bed, surreptitiously watching the TV, turned very
low.
BANG! CRACK! Gunshots? Not from the TV, from outside.
JOEY scrambles out of bed and heads for the window.
JOEY'S P.O.V.: EXT. EVELYN'S HOUSE - NIGHT
BERNIE is getting out of his Toyota in the glow of a
streetlight. It's still raining. BERIE is soaking wet,
wiping off his face. He trudges toward the house wearing only
one shoe.
EXT. FRONT DOOR/EVELYN'S HOUSE - LATER (NIGHT)
The door swings open violently, revealing EVELYN standing in
the doorway looking furious. She's thirty-five, tough, plain,
not ugly.
EVELYN
He waited for you three hours!
BERNIE
You are not gonna believe this,
Evelyn! Absolutely fantastic! I'm
on my way --
EVELYN
I am so tired of your bullshit,
Bernie.
BERNIE
Ev, it's not my fault! I'm trying
to tell you this incredible --
EVELYN
It's never your fault, Bernie!
Never ever! You screwed up my life,
now you're gonna screw up Joey's
life, but you're never gonna accept
responsibility for anyth--
BERNIE
Is he here, your friend. The
fireman?
EVELYN
He had an emergency call... a real
emergency.
BERNIE
Why doncha let me in so we don't
wake everybody in the
neighborhood?
INT. LIVING ROOM/EVELYN'S HOUSE - MOMENTS LATER
Suburban. Inexpensive furniture. EVELYN and BERNIE ranting...
BERNIE
Willya lemme talk for Chrissake?
I'm trying to tell you what
happened. What happened is...
EVELYN
The same thing that always happens!
You blew it!
And this time you broke your son's
heart instead of mine! He was so
proud, looking forward to going to
a movie with his father... and you
let him down! Like you let
everybody down, always! What did
you do, take a mudbath?
ANGLE ON JOEY
eyes wide, crouched at the top of the staircase in his pyjamas,
spying on his parents in the living room below.
ANGLE ON BERNIE AND EVELYN
BERNIE
That's what I'm trying to... to...
okay, nevermind. Just lemme talk
to Joey to... to apologize.
EVELYN
He's in bed! You're not gonna wake
him and make him crazy, do you
understand? He comes home from the
zoo, he wants to know if Elliot's
a "war hero" like you... he wants
to know how many people you
killed...
BERNIE
"Elliot"? The heroic goddamn
fireman?
EVELYN
I had to explain your tendancy to
"exaggerate", How you were actually
"in country" all of two weeks and
how you killed about as many people
as the other clerk-typists in your
outfit, no more, no less...
BERNIE
Three weeks, Ev. I didn't tell him
I killed anybody...
EVELYN
Maybe not,... but you let him
believe it! And then I gotta
explain about the homeless...
BERNIE
The homeless!
EVELYN
How not all of them own apartment
complexes, how not all of them play
the stock market, how not all of
them rent babies when they're
panhandling. He's ten years old,
Bernie! Impressionable!
ANGLE ON JOEY
Watching from the staircase.
ANGLE ON BERNIE AND EVELYN
BERNIE
Listen, it's important, Ev, I gotta
see him, I got my reasons, very
goddamn important...
EVELYN
Use the phone, Bernie, call him
tomorrow, he'd like to hear from
you. Where's your other shoe?
Never mind! I don't want to know.
Some fantastic adventure, right?
Something really crazy.
BERNIE
I was giving him some advice is all.
Preparing him for life. You don't
want him to grow up soft, Ev , it's
tough out there, it's a goddamn
jungle.
EVELYN
(firmly, opening the
door)
Back to the jungle, Bernie. Good
night.
EXT. FRONT DOOR/EVELYN'S HOUSE - NIGHT
BERNIE steps out and the door slams hard behind him. He pauses,
sighs, starts toward his car...
EXT./INT. BERNIE'S TOYOTA/PARKED - A MOMENT LATER (NIGHT)
As BERNIE gets in the car he notices the purse sticking out from
under the passenger seat where he hid it. He reaches down,
takes the purse, rummages in it, pulls out the Silver Mike,
glances at it, might be worth something, pockets it moves on
to the wallet, the credit cards, the cash... some hundreds,
fifties', twenties...
INT. LIVING ROOM/EVELYN'S HOUSE - MOMENTS LATER (NIGHT)
EVELYN is shutting off the last of the lights and starting up
the stairs when the doorbell rings. EVELYN scowls. She's
furious.
EXT. FRONT DOOR/EVELYN'S HOUSE - NIGHT
The door opens and EVELYN stands there scowling.
BERNIE holds out a twenty dollar bill.
BERNIE
Sorry, Ev, to bother you again.
This is for Joey, his reward... for
this wallet he found. When I, uh ,
returned it I told the guy he hadda
give my kid something for finding
it, for the honesty. So the kid
would learn how honestly pays.
Eyes meet. She doesn't believe it for a moment and he knows
it.
BERNIE
Just give it to him, okay, Ev?
EXT. HIGHWAY - LATER (NIGHT)
An AIRHORN BLARES, a truck thunders past BERNIE, who's pushing
his Toyota to the side of the road, steering one-handed from
outside.
EXT. HIGHWAY - LATER YET (NIGHT)
A blonde GIRL tosses an empty beer can from the window of a
speeding car full of laughing TEENAGERS.
The can clatters to the road beside BERNIE who lowers his
"hitch-hiking thumb" as the car speeds off leaving him alone.
EXT. HEAVY TRAFFIC/FREEWAY - DAWN (HOURS LATER)
Rush hour! Bumper to bumper TRAFFIC oozing toward the city.
We HEAR A VOICE!
BUBBER'S VOICE (O.S.)
You actually went into it? A
burning airplane?
BERNIE'S VOICE (O.S.)
"Into it"! "Into it", for
Chrissake! I was practically living
in the goddamn thing... every time
I turned around, some other person
wants me to save 'em.
Looking for the VOICES, we MOVE IN on a single lane of crawling
traffic and finally FOCUS ON a battered, rusted 76 Chevy with
a crumpled fender, a trunk tied closed and cracked windows...
INT. CHEVY/MOVING/FREEWAY - DAWN
BERNIE is sitting on bare springs and tatters of upholstery in
the passenger seat, muddy, rumpled, weary...
BERNIE
(continuing)
Couldn't see a fucking foot in front
of me, smoke... then booooom! It
explodes! I could be dead!
JOHN BUBBER is at the wheel, a shabbily dressed, tired, haunted
man. He gives BERNIE a look. Should he believe?
BUBBER
And you pulled people out?
You're... a hero.
BERNIE
Nah, I fucked it up. I was tryin'
to impress this kid, don't ask me
why. I was gonna rescue his old
man, but I couldn't find the poor
bastard. He musta blew up.
(then...)
I got the hell outta there. I
didn't have the nerve to face the
kid.
BUBBER
(thoughtful, serious)
A lotta people wouldn't have tried.
It was pretty brave even trying...
BERNIE
Try stupid.
BUBBER brakes for traffic and a cardboard box from the back seat
hits BERNIE and cascades crushed cans all over him.
BUBBER
Sorry about that. Just toss them
in back.
(very serious)
A lot of people would say that's
what heroism is... stupidity. Doing
something that if you thought about
it, you wouldn't do it, it's not
in your... interest.
BERNIE indicates the clutter of cans.
BERNIE
You got a drinking problem or what?
BUBBER
I sell them at the recycling center.
Gives me a little for gas and food.
BERNIE
(considering the back
seat)
Looks like you live in here, for
Chrissake!
BUBBER
In bad weather, yeah. Mostly I camp
out in the woods. I thought maybe
you were down on your luck too when
I picked you up.
BUBBER indicates BERNIE'S muddy, torn clothes, stocking foot.
BERNIE
Down on my luck! Hey, I toldja,
a goddamn plane fell on me outta
the sky. In America, for Chrissake!
See this shoe! Hundred dollar pair
of shoes. One shoe!
BUBBER glances at the shoe BERNIE'S waving.
BUBBER
You should give it to someone with
only one leg.
BERNIE
One leg! Like the Red Cross or
something?
BUBBER
I know a guy who only has one leg.
BERNIE drops the shoe on the floor, shakes his head, disgusted.
BERNIE
Sell it to him. You get a couple
bucks, it pays for the ride.
(a beat, then...)
I got a job, nice apartment. I do
okay.
BUBBER
They interview you or anything?
At the plane crash?
BERNIE
Hey, do I look crazy? I don't go
for that shit... interviews, media.
They're manipulators. "Keep a low
profile," that's my motto.
EXT. FREEWAY - DAWN
The Chevy inches forward as the traffic moves again, heading
slowly toward the city.
BERNIE'S VOICE (O.S.)
(continuing, grandly)
Besides, I got these legal problems.
My attorney don't want me giving
statements to the press.
Traffic is still crawling.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
GALE sits up in bed in spite of an I.V. in one arm and a cast
on the other. There's a big bandage across the bridge of her
nose and her left leg is also heavily bandaged...
GALE.
I don't understand. You can't find
him?
She stares incredulously at her trio of visitors, CONKLIN,
CHUCKY, and DEAKINS. DEAKINS, uncomfortable outside his
office, is awkwardly trying to vase a bouquet of flowers.
DEAKINS
There's a lot of confusion around
what went on last night, it's not
clear...
GALE
You said all the passengers were
accounted for...
DEAKINS
Apparently the guy who pulled you
out wasn't a passenger...
A NURSE gracefully relieves DEAKINS of the flowers he's
destroying and skillfully vases them while GALE questions...
GALE
A paramedic? A fireman? He didn't
have a uniform...
CONKLIN
From what we could get, there's a
kind of... sort of... "mystery
guy"... involved.
DEAKINS
We're piecing together different
accounts and...
GALE
A "mystery guy!" "Not a passenger."
Who?
CONKLIN
We don't know who he is, he...
DEAKINS
He disappeared.
GALE
(incredulous)
A non-passenger, non-rescue-worker
went into a burning plane and pulled
me out and... disappeared?
GALE starts to get up, struggling with covers, I.V., etc.
CONKLIN
Not just you. Apparently this guy
is the one who opened the emergency
exit from the outside...
DEAKINS
Everybody! He saved everybody on
the plane! Because of him, no
fatalities! I don't think you're
supposed to move around like that,
Gale. You're attached there...
GALE is getting out of bed, the I.V. still inserted in her arm.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - LATER (DAY)
LESLIE looks directly into the camera as CHUCKY tapes her over
GALE'S shoulder.
LESLIE
And all of a sudden, this...
"civilian"... rushed into the
plane. Next thing you know he's
hauling Freddy... he's the other
flight attendant... out and then he
goes back in.
(a beat, a tear,
then... )
That's what gave me the courage to
hang in there even though I knew
the plane could blow any minute...
GALE
What did he look like?
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - LATER (DAY)
MR. SMITH is being interviewed in his bed. He's emotional...
MR. SMITH
It was just this face, all dirty,
it just appeared. I really thought
I was going to die.
GALE
Did he say anything to you?
MR. SMITH
He... asked if I was "Fletcher."
INT. OFFICE/CARPET CARE - DAY
A man named ROBINSON, fifty, sloppy, screams apoplectically...
ROBINSON
ONE WORD! ONE WORD, LAPLANTE, AND
YOU'RE FIRED! GOT THAT? ONE WORD!
Exhausted, shoeless BERNIE follows ROBINSON in the cluttered
Carpet Care Office...
BERNIE
Bill, I...
ROBINSON
DON'T SAY "BILL," BERNIE! DON'T
SAY ONE WORD! DIDN'T I SAY "ONE
WORD AND YOU'RE FIRED?"
BERNIE
I...
ROBINSON
YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE IT'LL BE AN
EXCUSE! IT'LL BE "BERNIE LAPLANTE
EXCUSE NUMBER FOUR THOUSAND ONE
HUNDRED AND SIX." NO, FOUR THOUSAND
ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE. THAT'S HOW
MANY EXCUSES YOU HAVE GIVEN ME, I
KEEP TRACK OF THEM ELECTRONICALLY.
I HEARD THEM ALL, BERNIE.
BERNIE
Bill, I got some legal problems and
I...
ROBINSON
THAT'S IT! YOU TALKED! YOU'RE
FIRED! OUTTA HERE! GET OUTTA HERE!
BERNIE
Bill, listen...
ROBINSON
OUT! I TOLDJA. JESUS CHRIST, I
GOT CUSTOMERS WAITING! AN' YOU WERE
GONNA GO OUT LIKE THAT? AN' MEET
THE PUBLIC IN STOCKING-FUCKING-FEET?
BERNIE
Bill, I got financial problems
and...
ROBINSON
I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR PROBLEMS,
I'M GONNA THINK ABOUT MY PROBLEMS.
YOU'RE ONE A MY PROBLEMS. GET OUT!
OUT! OUT!
EXT. CITY STREET - MINUTES LATER (DAY)
BERNIE is trudging wearily up the busy sidewalk, dirty, tattered
and shoeless, BERNIE doesn't notice BUBBER staring in the window
of an electronics store where dozens of television screens show
the burning fuselage of Flight 104.
INT. LIVING ROOM/FLETCHER HOME - DAY
CHUCKY shoots over GALE'S shoulder as she interviews FLETCHER
in his living room.
GALE
He was asking for Mr. Fletcher...
FLETCHER
My son and I got separated in the
confusion and smoke. The very
courageous stewardess at the exit
told me my boy had got out so I got
out too. But my son had already
told this... man that I was still
in there.
EXT. APARTMENT HOUSE/CITY STREET - DAY
Disheveled, in stocking feet, BERNIE trudges wearily up the
front steps of the shabby apartment house where he lives,
enters.
INT. RICHIE'S ROOM/FLETCHER HOME - MINUTES LATER (DAY)
Posters, youthy icons. CHUCKY shooting GALE interviewing RICHIE.
RICHIE
I thought my dad was still... still
in there. So I asked the man to save
my father.
GALE
What did the man say, Richie?
RICHIE
He said... uh... he said...
(not sure, thinking,
then... )
"I'll save him." He said, "I'll
save your father."
INT. BERNIE'S APARTMENT - DAY
The door opens and BERNIE enters. He pulls the contents of
GALE'S wallet from his pocket and tosses them on a table... the
plastic windows full of credit cards and cash. Then he pulls
off his jacket, ruefully inspecting a tear in the muddy sleeve.
He's about to toss it on the ratty sofa when he notices it felt
funny. He reaches in another pocket and pulls out the Silver
Mike Award, considers it for a moment. What's it worth?
Sitting on the sofa, he leans back... and starts to doze off.
VIDEO IMAGE/EXT. "EXPLODING" PLANE - NIGHT
FRAME BY FRAME the image inches forward, sweeping off the fire
that fills the screen to the riverbank... frame by frame... fire
... fire... fire... then faster as the riverbank is darkening
the frame and then LESLIE and the THIRD FIREMAN sweep into the
foreground as the camera discovers them... the dramatic shot we
remember of them coming up the riverbank.
GALE'S VOICE (O.S.)
Back. Go back. You missed it.
Zip zip zip the image highspeeds back to the exploding plane.
Again the screen is filled with fire...
GALE'S VOICE (O.S.)
Now. Go forward again.
Frame by frame the blossom of fire blooms consuming the plane.
GALE'S VOICE (O.S.)
Keep going.
INT. EDIT BAY - DAY
REVEAL: GALE in an editing bay at Channel Four, peering
intently at the fiery scene on the video monitor while the young
tape editor, JOAN, operates the controls.
CONKLIN, DEAKINS, PARKER, CHUCKY flank GALE.
GALE
There! Right there.
ON THE SCREEN (EXT. AIRPLANE - NIGHT)
A tiny silhouetted FIGURE appears in the far right corner of
the frame. Then, as one more frame clicks off, the FIGURE
appears near the center of the next frame of the pan.
The picture freezes there, a startling dramatic image of an
UNRECOGNIZABLE FIGURE (BERNIE) in silhouette, dwarfed by the
gigantic explosion. IT'S AN AWESOME IMAGE. NO ARTIST OR AD
MAN COULD DO BETTER... A TINY, ANONYMOUS FIGURE, ALONE, AGAINST
A GIGANTIC MOUNTAIN OF PURE FIRE. AND FROM NOW ON IT WILL BE
REFERRED TO AS "THE IMAGE."
INT. EDIT BAY - DAY
DEAKINS
That's him?
GALE
Who else? We've accounted for
everyone else. That's our hero!
She stares at "The Image." It's powerful, stirring.
CHUCKY
I didn't see the guy when I shot
it. I thought I was getting the
last survivors when I panned over.
DEAKINS
Any chance we could do some kind
of electronic enhancement, you
think? Get a clear picture,
identify him?
JOAN
(peering closely at the
screen)
There's no face really, nothing to
work with. Big dots, that's all
you'll get.
GALE
Look at the guy! He just saved fifty
people. Now he's going to disappear.
Who is he?
INT. BERNIE'S APARTMENT - DAY
UUUUHHHHOOOOOOOW! BERNIE snores loudly, asleep on his sofa,
still in his rumpled, torn clothes. He SNORES again.
MONTAGE: TELEVISION SCREENS IN CARS, HOMES, TV STORES
VIDEO IMAGE: INT. RICHIE'S BEDROOM - DAY
ON THE SCREEN, RICHIE is talking directly at the CAMERA, the
interview in his room on videotape...
RICHIE/TV
He said... uh, he said... "I'll save
your father."
VIDEO IMAGE: INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
LESLIE appears ON SCREEN, her interview...
LESLIE/TV
-- all of a sudden, this...
civilian... He rushed into the
plane.
VIDEO IMAGE: FREDDY'S HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
Freddy appears talking directly at the CAMERA...
FREDDY/TV
I woke up in an ambulance. Leslie,
the other flight attendant, told
me the guy dragged me to the exit.
VIDEO IMAGE: INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
Leslie appears ON THE SCREEN again...
LESLIE/TV
"Here, give this guy a hand," he
said. The next thing I knew, he
was going back in there, into all
that smoke...
VIDEO IMAGE: INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
MR. SMITH appears ON THE SCREEN...
MR. SMITH/TV
I was crawling around on the floor.
I thought I was a goner!
OFF THE SCREEN/MONTAGE
YOUNG PEOPLE, OLD PEOPLE, RICH PEOPLE, POOR PEOPLE, CONVICTS,
DENTISTS, BLACK PEOPLE, BROWN PEOPLE, WHITE PEOPLE, CHINESE
PEOPLE are watching the report in...
-HOME
-BARBERSHOP
-ELECTRONICS SHOWROOM
-JAIL CELL
-SKID ROW HOTEL LOBBY
-SHADOW LOUNGE
CHICK watching the report.
-CLASSROOM
JOEY watching the report in a classroom.
-EVELYN'S KITCHEN
EVELYN watching the report in her kitchen.
-ALLEY
BUBBER is listening to the report on a radio in an alley.
ON THE SCREEN
VIDEO IMAGE: INT. TV STUDIO - DAY
GALE, bandaged, casted, stands in front of a BLUE SCREEN.
GALE/TV
-- out of the darkness... out of
the smoke and the fear... came a
man with no name... no uniform...
but an abundance of courage.
The CAMERA ZOOMS IN SLOWLY on GALE and simultaneously DISSOLVES
SLOWLY TO... "THE IMAGE". It fills the screen as GALE narrates
VOICEOVER...
GALE'S VOICEOVER/TV
A man who was thinking not about
himself but about others, risking
his own life for ours...
(a beat then...)
He's out there now somewhere...
and... whoever you are, I, and the
other survivors of Flight 104, say,
"Thank you! God bless!"
MUSIC SWELLS as the CAMERA ZOOMS IN on "THE IMAGE" emphasizing
the tiny FIGURE alone in the frame surrounded by fire...
INT. DEAKINS' OFFICE - DAY
Flanked by GALE and CHUCKY, DEAKINS is watching the preceding
material on the monitor.
DEAKINS
Not bad. But if you gotta wear a
cast, you oughtta feature it more
it's parta the story.
(seeing Wallace enter
the room)
Network's taking everything we give
'em. They wanta feed off our six
o'clock whether we find the mystery
guy or not. We're very big
nationally.
WALLACE
It's a wonderful piece. Emotional.
I love it.
DEAKINS
We're gonna feature Gale's cast
more. The trick is gonna be keeping
the upper hand on this piece.
As long as we have Gale and there's
no mystery guy, we're the center
of the story. But if he shows up
and somebody else gets him first
or exclusive...
WALLACE
What about a reward for coming
forward?
DEAKINS answers a RINGING phone. GALE frowns, frets.
GALE
There could be problems with
something like that Mister Wallace.
What if...?
DEAKINS
(into phone)
WHAT? THEY FOUND WHAT?
Everybody looks at DEAKINS.
INT. LIVING ROOM/EVELYN'S HOUSE - NIGHT
Ignoring the open schoolbook on the floor in front of him, JOEY
is sprawled on the floor, eyes on the TV screen.
ON THE SCREEN: EXT. CRASH SITE - NIGHT
A CLOSE-UP of a muddy shoe WIDENS to REVEAL the shoe nestled
in GALE'S sling on top of her cast. She addresses the camera
from a spot directly in front of the crash site while behind
her WORKMEN comb the wreckage under bright halogen lights.
GALE/VOICEOVER/TV
A phone check with survivors has
confirmed that the shoe does not
belong to any of the crew or
passengers of Flight 104. Several
witnesses recall the mysterious
man who saved fifty-four people
referring to his missing shoe.
The conclusion; the unknown hero,
know to many as "The Angel of
Flight 104," wears a size 10B shoe.
EVELYN'S VOICE (O.S.)
Joey! Dinner! Now! Turn that
thing off.
INT. EVELYN'S HOUSE - NIGHT
ELLIOT is at the table with EVELYN as JOEY joins them.
JOEY
He lost a shoe!
EVELYN
Who lost a shoe? Wash your hands.
JOEY
The "unknown hero." They found his
shoe right beside the plane crash.
ELLIOT
Superman, you mean? Lost a shoe!
What next?
EVELYN
Elliot! The man saved hundreds of
people!
ELLIOT
Fifty-four! I was there, remember?
You know why I didn't rush into that
plane? Because I'm a trained
fireman, that's why! Part of a
team! A disciplined team. We take
risks all the time, save people.
But we don't take crazy chances.
This guy does something really dumb
and he lucks out. So the media go
crazy about his shoe for god's sake!
What kind of message are they giving
to youth?
EVELYN
(indicating Joey)
What kind of message are you giving
to youth? Sneering at someone for
sticking his neck out. You sound
like my ex for heaven's sake...
Mister Cynicism.
ELLIOT gets up, shrugs.
ELLIOT
So what can I say? Give your ex
credit for being smart enough not
to do something stupid. Maybe the
man's not all bad. I'm gonna watch
TV, hoping it's not all this
"Superman stuff."
ELLIOT walks over to the TV and turns it on, leaving JOEY and
EVELYN alone. JOEY is excited.
JOEY
My father didn't have his shoes on
when he... when he came here.
EVELYN
(surprised)
You were in bed. Weren't you?
JOEY
I... I saw him out the window.
EVELYN frowns, hesitates a moment. Was the kid listening?
Then...
EVELYN
You think your father would do
something like that? Rescue people?
(sadly)
Your father is Bernie LaPlante,
Joey. It's against his religion
to stick his neck out.
ANGLE ON THE TV (INT. NEWS SET - NIGHT)
Where an ANCHORPERSON speaks from a news set.
CHANNEL 4 ANCHORPERSON/TV
-- where the leader of a religious
group claimed today that the
mysterious hero is, in fact, an
angel who is anticipated in
scripture.
INT. SHADOW LOUNGE - NIGHT
Washing glasses behind the bar, CHICK is watching the same show
on the TV over the bar when he turns to see BERNIE enter
(wearing a brand new pair of cheap running shoes.)
CHICK
Bernie, how'sa kid?
BERNIE
You don't wanna know, Chick, you
don't wanna know. Those guys been
in here?
CHICK
(pouring a 7&7)
You in business with those guys or
what? I wouldn't want a problem
for the establishment, Bern.
BERNIE
You couldn't have a problem, Chick,
because I personally have got them
all. I cornered the whole goddamn
market. You wouldn't believe...
Oh, how ya doin'...?
ESPINOSA and VARGAS have entered the bar. They have another guy
with them, MENDOZA.
ESPINOSA
We bring our frenn this time, okay?
Something about MENDOZA spells trouble. it's almost palpable.
BERNIE doesn't notice, but CHICK does. He looks worried.
BERNIE
Excuse me here, Chick, I gotta do
these guys a little favor.
ANGLE ON BOOTH
As BERNIE, MENDOZA and ESPINOSA slide into a booth intent on
business, ESPINOSA looks around for VARGAS and spots him
lingering back at the bar watching the TV.
ESPINOSA
(calling out to Vargas)
Hey, vato! Vamos.
ANGLE ON THE BAR
Where VARGAS and CHICK are staring at the screen.
ANGLE ON THE TV SCREEN: INT. NEWS SET - NIGHT
Where the ANCHORPERSON is introducing WALLACE who stands there
in a suit and tie looking ill at ease...
CHANNEL 4 ANCHORPERSON/TV
-- bring you a special announcement
from Channel Four station Manager,
James Wallace.
Framed alone now, WALLACE smiles awkwardly at the camera.
WALLACE
Good evening. We at Channel Four,
like you, have been stirred by the
courage and...
ESPINOSA'S VOICE (O.S.)
Hombre! Por aqui!
INT. SHADOW LOUNGE - NIGHT
ANGLE ON VARGAS
Eyes lingering on the TV, backing toward the booth.
ANGLE ON BOOTH
BERNIE has spread GALE'S credit cards on the table in front of
ESPINOSA and MENDOZA. ESPINOSA examines them, questions
BERNIE...
ESPINOSA
How many you got there? Eight?
Ten?
VARGAS slides into the booth before BERNIE can answer.
VARGAS
They offer him a million dollars
reward.
MENDOZA
Who?
VARGAS
The "plane crash guy".
ESPINOSA
(to Bernie)
Is that all of them? Eight?
BERNIE
(distracted)
What "plane crash guy"?
VARGAS
The one-shoe dude who saved all
those people, man. Channel Four
gonna give him a million for an
interview.
ESPINOSA tries to turn BERNIE'S attention back to "business."
ESPINOSA
Come. on, hombre, we doin' business
here. You got more or not?
ANGLE ON CHICK
Watching the TV
ANGLE ON THE TV SCREEN (INT. NEWS SET - NIGHT)
Where WALLACE is concluding...
WALLACE/TV
The offer is absolutely
unconditional. All he has to do,
is satisfy our reporter, Gale
Gayley, and the other passengers
who had contact with him that he
is indeed the brave man who...
BERNIE'S VOICE (O.S.)
(yelling)
HEY! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? WHAT'S
GOIN' ON HERE?
INT. SHADOW LOUNGE - NIGHT
ANGLE ON CHICK
Turning, seeing a commotion at the booth.
ANGLE ON THE BOOTH
Where MENDOZA is handcuffing the outraged BERNIE while ESPINOSA
reads him his rights...
ESPINOSA
You have the right to remain silent,
you have the right to --
BERNIE
Hey, this is bullshit! Do you guys
know who I am? You know where I
got the goddamn plastic? I got a
million bucks coming. I'm the guy
who...
ESPINOSA
(continuing)
You have the right to the counsel
of an attorney...
ANGLE ON CHICK
Watching BERNIE being hustled out of the bar, handcuffed,
protesting loudly.
BERNIE
CHICK, CALL MY ATTORNEY! THIS IS
BULLSHIT! ENTRAPMENT! I GOT A
MILLION BUCKS COMING, FOR CHRISSAKE!
MONTAGE: PRINTING PRESSES - DAY
Newspapers roll off the presses one after another.
THE TIMES features "The Image" with a headline over the firey
scene trumpeting "AN ANGEL FOR FLIGHT 104?"
THE MIRROR is tighter on the image featuring an enlargement of
the silhouette of Bernie with a headline asking "WHO IS HE?"
THE HERALD features a full page photo of the single muddy shoe
with a headline supered over it announcing "SEARCH FOR MR.
CINDERELLA!"
and finally THE TRIBUNE screams in massive black letters "ONE
MILLION DOLLAR REWARD!"
EXT. STREET CORNER/CITY - DAY
A NEWS VENDOR is waving a paper and shouting...
NEWS VENDOR
ONE MILLION DOLLAR REWARD TO THE
UNANIMOUS HERO! ONE MILLION BUCKS
FOR THE "ANGEL" WHO SAVED FIFTY
PEOPLE AND TOOK OFF!
A WOMAN walks by with a tee-shirt featuring "The Image." The
spectacular picture looks great on the contours of her chest!
EXT. TV STATION - DAY
PARKER, the youthful Channel Four gofer/runner, moves along a
seemingly endless line of WANNABE HEROES that stretches along
the sidewalk outside Channel Four and disappears around the
corner. He's addressing them at the top of his lungs...
PARKER
PLEASE, IF YOUR FOOT ISN'T A SIZE
10-B, DON'T REMAIN IN LINE. WE'RE
ONLY SEEING SIZE 10-B "HEROES."
GROANS and CATCALLS from the WANNABES, as we MOVE ALONG the line,
eavesdropping on various WANNABES...
AFRICAN AMERICAN
Thass a racist perspective, assuming
that because something heroic was
done that a white man done it. A
man with mud on his face could be
a man of any color, most likely was,
which is true in this case cause
it was me! With mud all over me.
Two other WANNABES are squaring off to fight...
1ST FIGHTER
You call me a liar, I'm gonna kick
your ass.
2ND FIGHTER
Hey, it's not just me sayin' you
ain't no hero. Everybody in the
goddamn line says you ain't the
hero.
ANOTHER WANNABE
Can you believe this? Must be more
than a thousand phonies after my
reward.
A WANNABE with mud smeared on his face spots GALE approaching
the front door of the station, a look of amazement on her face
at the length of the line.
MUD-FACE WANNABE
HEY, MISS GAYLEY! HEY, GALE!
REMEMBER ME? I'M THE GUY! I SAVED
YOUR LIFE! REMEMBER --
Rolling her eyes good naturedly, GALE walks briskly up the steps
to the front door of the station, passing PARKER who's measuring
a TALL WANNABE'S feet. The TALL WANNABE calls out to her.
TALL WANNABE
My foot's only eight and a half but
I wear a ten B for the comfort.
I swear!
(she keeps walking)
Hey, Miss Gayley, I saved your life!
Just as GALE is about to enter the TV station, PARKER catches
up to her.
PARKER
Hey, Miss Gayley, there's a cop
looking for you. From Robbery
Detail, Inspector Dayton. He wants
you to call him.
GALE
What about?
PARKER
I didn't ask him.
GALE
Call him back. Ask him.
(indicating the line)
I'm a little...busy.
GALE disappears into the TV Station.
INT. DEAKINS' OFFICE - DAY
WALLACE is looking down at the line of WANNABES.
INT. COURTROOM - DAY
JUDGE GOINES is addressing a miserable looking CRIMINAL...
JUDGE GOINES
Bail in this matter will remain
in the sum of five thousand
dollars. Next.
DISCOVER MENDOZA, ESPINOSA AND VARGAS
carrying on a whispered discussion with an African American
detective (DAYTON) in the spectator section (AS THE COURT
PROCEEDINGS CONTINUE IN THE BACKGROUND). MENDOZA indicates
something at the rear of the room to DAYTON who follows his
look.
DAYTON'S P.O.V.
A group of PRISONERS have just been led in the side door from
a holding cell and a BAILIFF is removing the handcuffs that
tied the PRISONERS together. One of the PRISONERS is BERNIE
LAPLANTE. DONNA approaches him as the BAILIFF uncuffs him.
She speaks to him but her words are inaudible to DAYTON.
ANGLE ON DAYTON
as he watches BERNIE from a distance, nods affirmatively to
something MENDOZA whispers in his ear. We realize we'll be
seeing DAYTON again...
ANGLE ON DONNA
astonished, reacting to BERNIE in a sharp whisper...
DONNA
"The Angel of Flight 104!" You're
telling me you're the A...?
BERNIE
(whispering)
"Angel!" I didn't say "angel,"
that's a little strong. Listen,
here's the thing, I gotta get over
there to the TV station to collect
my million bucks.
DONNA
Mister LaPlante, I really want to
help you, but crazy stories are
only going to make it worse. The
D.A. is asking your bail be set
at twenty-five thousand dollars
because you were arrested again
while you were out on bail...
BERNIE
Twenty-five grand is peanuts! All
you gotta do is get me outta here
long enough to collect.
BAILIFF
The People versus Bernard LaPlante.
JUDGE GOINES scowls at the sight of BERNIE moving toward him
talking already.
BERNIE
Your honor, my attorney here says
the prosecutor there wants
twenty-five grand bail...
DONNA looks horrified, the JUDGE furious...
JUDGE
Mister LaPlante, you will be silent
unless the court recognizes you...
BERNIE
(continuing grandly)
--which is fine by me. I got no
problem with that at all.
In fact, your honor, I'd be proud
to double it. Fifty grand! A tip
for "the people," your honor, if
I could just...
GOINES is banging his gavel angrily, glaring at BERNIE, not
noticing a SECOND BAILIFF hurry into the courtroom.
JUDGE GOINES
Mister LaPlante, unless you stop
chattering immediately, I am going
to ask the Bailiff to...
JUDGE GOINES breaks off, eyes furious, as he spots BAILIFF CLAY,
the Court Reporter, DE TAGLIO and the SECOND BAILIFF engaged
in urgent whispering.
JUDGE GOINES
DAMNIT! I SAID I WANTED ORDER!
CLAY
Sorry, your honor...
SECOND BAILIFF
We got carried away.
DETAGLIO
They found him.
JUDGE GOINES
Found who?
CLAY
The "Angel of Flight 104".
SECOND BAILIFF
It was on the news! Just now! He's
gonna be on Channel Four at noon!
BERNIE reacts, jaw sagging in disbelief. The JUDGE sneaks a
hasty look at his watch.
JUDGE GOINES
We'll sustain bail at twenty-five
thousand dollars. That ought to
keep Mister LaPlante out of trouble
for a minute or two...
DONNA
But your honor, my client is a
responsible family man with limited
resources who...
[PAGE 66 IS MISSING FROM THE SCRIPT]
GALE
But finally you did come forward.
Why?
BUBBER looks her right in the eyes, gives a sheepish grin.
BUBBER/TV
The money, Gale. I wouldn't have
come forward at all if it wasn't
for the reward.
GALE'S VOICE (O.S.)
Cut right there, right on that look!
INT. EDIT BAY - DAY
REVEAL GALE in an editing room looking over editor JOAN'S
shoulder as JOAN freezes the image and makes a note.
JOAN
You didn't mention he was cute.
GALE is staring intently at BUBBER'S modest, humble face frozen
on the screen.
GALE
He saved my life.
VIDEO IMAGE (INT. TV STUDIO)
The humble, honest face of BUBBER, freeze framed as GALE'S
VOICE narrates...
GALE/TV VOICE OVER
--were shocked to learn that the
hero who appeared out of the smoke
and the fire and pulled them to
safety was indigent and tragically
hadn't slept in a bed in more than
three years.
INT. DAY ROOM/JAIL - DAY
Seeing BUBBER'S honest face on the TV screen in the day room
enrages BERNIE...
BERNIE
The guy's a fake, for Chrissake!
He's a goddamn homeless bum. He
ain't no here, trust me on this,
buddy.
PRISONERS, standing in a group under the TV turn from the screen
to BERNIE, like "who's this asshole?" A BIG PRISONER glares
at BERNIE ominously...
BIG PRISONER
"Trust you"!
INT. DEAKINS' OFFICE - DAY
The office has become command-central. REPORTERS hurry in and
out, tearing off faxes, answering the phones, chattering at each
other, GALE among them. WALLACE is fretting to DEAKINS...
WALLACE
I thought they'd all go "It's him!
It's him!" and hug the guy or
something.
DEAKINS
Relax, Wally. He had the shoe and
the shoe checks out.
WALLACE
Does this mean I can stop worrying?
Where'd we put him?
DEAKINS
Drake Hotel, Penthouse Suite. Never
stop worrying. I figure we'll do
a sidebar on what it's like to go
from sleeping in your car and
collecting cans to sleeping in the
poshest suite in town. Also Gale's
onto something, digging into his
background.
PARKER rushes up to GALE...
PARKER
Excuse me, Ms. Gayley. That guy
Inspector Dayton... he's recovered
a bunch of your credit cards and
he wants...
GALE
Who?
PARKER
Inspector Dayton, the cop from
Robbery Detail who was looking for
you. They caught the guy who stole
your credit cards trying to sell
them and he wants...
GALE
Nobody stole my credit cards. They
burned up in the crash. Which
reminds me, did you get me cash?
And what about the reservations?
[PAGES 69-71 ARE MISSING FROM THE SCRIPT]
INT. COMMON ROOM/JAIL - NIGHT
Surrounded by the jailhouse cacophony, BERNIE stares glumly at a
plate of shit on a shingle in front of him while close at hand a
TOUGH PRISONER snarls at ANOTHER PRISONER...
TOUGH PRISONER #1
You mess with me, I'm gonna cut yer
heart out and eat it.
INT. FANCY RESTAURANT - NIGHT
The CAPTAIN finishes scribbling and seizes the menus.
CAPTAIN
Very good, sir. It's a special
privilege to serve you.
BUBBER smiles uneasily as the haughty CAPTAIN glides away.
BUBBER
Uh, er... I...
GALE
(amused and charmed)
You were saying you don't want a
million dollars.
BUBBER
(blurting)
Well, I'm not entitled to a million
dollars. I... I... didn't expect...
I didn't expect...
GALE
All the adulation? It makes you
feel like a fake, doesn't it?
BUBBER
Uh, actually... yes... I... should
never have come forward and
presented myself as --
Just then a distinguished MILLIONAIRE on the way to his table
barks gruffly at BUBBER...
MILLIONAIRE
You're a credit to the goddamn human
race. Coulda been me in that plane.
Or my family.
BUBBER
Uh, thank you.
GALE
Instant celebrity is overwhelming
to anybody. You've known John
Bubber all your life, you're used
to him, you know you're the same
human being you were before all the
excitement. So you feel like a
fraud...
BUBBER
Yes.
GALE
...unworthy of the adoration. We
all do.
A bluehaired MATRON, extravagantly bejeweled, pauses to loom
over BUBBER on her way out.
MATRON
I'm going to donate a half million
to charity in your name. Would
small animals be all right?
BUBBER
(startled)
Uh, "small animals"?
MATRON
(delighted)
I knew a man like you would adore
small animals. God bless you,
Mister Bubber.
(to Gale)
And you, my dear, you do so much
for women.
And then she's gone in a swish of silk, leaving BUBBER stunned.
BUBBER
Is she... serious? A half a million
dollars? In my behalf?
GALE
You're a celebrity, John. People
are going to want to please you...
or use you... or both.
Bubber hears this, digests it, considers it. He takes a bite
of food, thinking.
EXT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT
As the door to the restaurant opens, BUBBER finds himself
blinded by winking electronic flashes and sun guns. A CROWD
OF FANS and MEDIA engulf him and GALE. It's overwhelming. WE
SEE EAGER FACES and BLINDING FLASHES from BUBBER'S P.O.V. and
HEAR the CACOPHONY OF QUESTIONS.
GALE too is adrift in a churning sea of MEDIA and ONLOOKERS.
POLICE OFFICERS move close to help guide GALE and BUBBER to a
waiting limo.
ANGLE ON BUBBER'S P.O.V.
Again we see the chaos from BUBBER'S P.O.V., A POLICEMAN is
reaching to help him. Just then BUBBER glimpses something
else... beyond the CROWD in the fringes... HOMELESS PEOPLE in
the shadows, some applauding him, too shy to come forward. In
particular