Mobster Paul Vitti is released into Dr. Ben Sobol's care, where only more chaos ensues.
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FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY
ANALYZE THAT
Screenplay by
PETER STEINFELD and HAROLD RAMIS and PETER TOLAN
Based on characters created by
KENNETH LONERGAN and PETER TOLAN
June 2002 Draft
FADE IN:
INT. DIMLY-LIT BAR - NIGHT
Two men, CAESAR and MARTY "DUCKS," stand at the end of the
deserted bar, talking quietly, oblivious to the exotic dancer
grinding her pelvis on a pole in the middle of the small
stage. Body language and charisma tell us that Caesar is the
boss, "Ducks" his lieutenant.
DUCKS
It's Peezee. Gotta be. He hates your
fuckin' guts.
CAESAR
(brooding)
I don't know.
DUCKS
Who else knew about the money? And
how did Peezee know they popped Tony
Cisco when we didn't even hear about
it 'til last night?
CAESAR
(sighs heavily)
I don't know.
DUCKS
(pressing)
What is so hard to understand here?
You said yourself Peezee was a
mamaluke and you couldn't trust him.
Now suddenly you're soft on the guy?
CAESAR
I just don't think it was him.
DUCKS
Okay, I'll bite. If not Peezee, then
who?
CAESAR
(slowly rising to
his full height)
I think it was you, Ducks.
Caesar starts to walk away as the bartender, now holding a
sawed-off shotgun, moves closer to Ducks. The exotic dancer
splits in a hurry through a curtain at the back of the stage.
DUCKS
(scared)
You gotta be kiddin'!
Caesar stops at the door where two of his soldiers have
2.
appeared, holding AUTOMATIC WEAPONS.
DUCKS
Caesar, you know me! What kind of
fuckin' idiot would I have to be to
try that shit with you?
CAESAR
A dead fuckin' idiot.
As he walks out the door, the soldiers OPEN FIRE on Marty
"Ducks." Caesar doesn't look back.
PULL BACK TO:
TV SCREEN
The title credits come up on the made-for-cable series we've
been watching, "Little Caesar." CLAPPING AND CHEERING from
O.S.
WIDEN TO:
INT. SING SING PRISON - NIGHT
Maximum-security prisoners are gathered around watching their
favorite show in the rec room. In the front row is PAUL VITTI,
former New York crime boss, and a couple of other wiseguys.
VITTI
Garbage. Change the channel.
WISEGUY
Okay, Paul.
The WISEGUY gets up and starts switching channels on the TV.
A couple of CONVICTS in the back start to protest.
CONVICT
Hey! What're you doin', asshole!
Vitti turns and stares at them. They fall silent
immediately.
CONVICT
Sorry, Mr. Vitti. Didn't mean any
disrespect.
WISEGUY
Punks.
Vitti turns the page and sees a huge headline in the Post:
MOB SHRINK TELLS ALL. He gets up, agitated.
3.
VITTI
I'm going to bed.
Vitti stands up and heads back to his cell.
CUT TO:
INT. CELL BLOCK - MOMENTS LATER
As Vitti approaches his cell, he sees a prison guard standing
by. His cellmate, EARL, a giant of a man, comes out of their
cell carrying his bedroll and a box containing his other
meager possessions.
VITTI
(suspicious)
What's goin' on, Earl?
EARL
They're transferring me.
VITTI
Why?
EARL
(shrugs)
Don't know. Thanks for looking out
for me, Mr. Vitti.
VITTI
Yeah. Take it easy.
He notices something in the box.
VITTI
Hey, Earl. Is that my after-shave?
EARL
(blanches)
I'm sorry. I just grabbed stuff -- I
didn't know --
VITTI
That's okay. Keep it. Go ahead.
EARL
Thanks. See you around.
Earl exits with the guard. Vitti hesitates a moment, then
warily steps into his cell.
CUT TO:
INT. VITTI'S CELL - MIDDLE OF NIGHT
The cellblock is quiet. A guard stops outside the darkened
cell, looks around to make sure no one is watching, then
4.
pulls out a GUN with a SILENCER, reaches through the bars and
FIRES REPEATEDLY into Vitti's shadowy form under the blanket.
Then he slips away as quietly as he appeared.
ON his exit we PAN DOWN TO Vitti, unhurt, curled up under his
bunk.
CUT TO:
INT. MEMORIAL CHAPEL - DAY
A deluxe casket flanked by elaborate floral displays and an
easel displaying a portrait of the deceased, Dr. Isaac Sobel.
Mourners fill the pews, standees at the back, an overflow
crowd. BEN SOBEL sits in the front row, staring at the
casket with his wife, LAURA, his son, MICHAEL, now a
teenager, BEN'S MOTHER, and her friend, DR. JOYCE BROTHERS.
At the podium, the RABBI is speaking.
RABBI
And now I'd like to call on Isaac's
son, Dr. Ben Sobel, who would like to
say a few words.
Ben rises and crosses solemnly to the podium.
BEN
(addressing audience)
It's very difficult for me to talk
about my father, because in a sense
I'm talking about two men.
BEN (CONT'D)
One, of course, is the public Isaac
Sobel, the eminent psychotherapist and
popular author known to millions of
readers around the world.
Laura, Michael and Ben's Mother listen proudly to the eulogy.
BEN
The second Isaac Sobel is the private
man -- my father -- Dad. And for
those of you who knew him well and
knew our family -- well, let's face it
-- my father was a psychotic, mind-
fucking prick. An arrogant, abusive,
ego-inflated --
A RINGING CELL PHONE interrupts him.
JUMP CUT TO:
BEN
5.
still seated in the front row, daydreaming. The RINGING
CONTINUES as all the mourners and even the Rabbi discreetly
check their cell phones.
Then Ben realizes it's his, fumbles for the phone in his
jacket pocket and answers it.
BEN
(whispers)
Hello?
The mourners mutter.
CUT TO:
INT. PRISON PAY PHONE - SAME TIME
VITTI
Guess who, you fuck!
INTERCUT WITH:
INT. CHAPEL
Ben turns away from Laura.
BEN
Paul?
(to Laura)
I have to, uh, take this.
(into phone)
This isn't a good time.
Vitti is disheveled, his hair messed, his shirt buttoned
wrong.
VITTI
Not a good time? Let me explain
something to you. I'm in fucking Hell
right now. This is not a good time.
BEN
(sotto voce)
I can't talk right now. My father
died!
VITTI
So what does that have to do with me?
BEN
Call me later --
VITTI
Don't hang up on, Sobel! They're
tryin' to kill me!
6.
Ben hangs up.
CUT BACK TO:
VITTI
He stands there for a long beat just staring, the DIAL TONE
BUZZING in his ear.
CUT TO:
INT. SING SING - MESS HALL - NEXT DAY
Vitti and another WISEGUY pass through the cafeteria line
with their trays. Vitti now looks catatonic.
WISEGUY #2
Ooh, they got tapioca. I love
tapioca.
(looks at Vitti)
You all right, Paul?
Vitti just stares, wild-eyed, actually drooling a little.
WISEGUY #2
Can I have your tapioca?
A guard, the one who tried to kill him, watches Vitti from
his post. Then he nods to someone across the room.
COYOTE, a heavily-muscled and tattooed gang member, nods in
response.
Vitti walks past the table where Coyote is sitting with other
tough Hispanic gang members.
COYOTE
(to Vitti)
Hey, Fredo! Or is it Guido?
His friends laugh.
Vitti stops and stares dumbly at them.
COYOTE
Just keep walkin', Don Corleone.
There is a tense moment, then Vitti bursts out laughing.
COYOTE
Shut up!
Vitti laughs harder, strangely manic.
COYOTE
I said, shut up, bitch!
7.
But Vitti can't stop. He drops his tray of slop, splattering
food on the men. Coyote leaps to his feet and pulls a shiv.
COYOTE
You're a dead man, jefe!
Coyote lunges at Vitti with the knife, but Vitti suddenly
whirls around, bashes Coyote in the face with his food tray
and bursts into song.
VITTI
(singing, with
appropriate dance
moves)
'When you're a Jet,
You're a Jet all the way,
From your first cigarette
To your last dyin' day...'
Prisoners and guards stare at him like he's nuts.
Coyote stabs at him again, but Vitti dodges and smashes him
over the head with the tray.
VITTI
'When you're a Jet,
If the shit hits the fan,
You got brothers around,
You're a family man...'
COYOTE
You're a dead man, jefe!
Coyote rushes him, but Vitti sidesteps and hits him in the
face.
Guards move in from all sides. Vitti jumps up on the
tabletop to escape them.
VITTI
(kicking at them,
singing)
'I like to be in America,
Okay by me in America...'
The guards drag him down and cuff his hands behind him, then
carry him out stiff as a board.
VITTI
'Tonight, tonight, won't be just
any night -- '
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. SOBEL HOUSE - LATER
A limo pulls up to an old, but well-maintained suburban
house, the family gets out and starts walking to the house.
8.
CUT TO:
EXT. SOBEL HOUSE - FRONT PORCH - MOMENTS LATER
The family crosses to the front door.
BEN
(sighs deeply)
I can't believe he's gone.
LAURA
I can't believe what you said about
him. Cold and withholding? You had
to tell everybody?
MICHAEL
Nice. Why didn't you just take a
swing at the casket?
Ben opens the front door and they go in.
CUT TO:
INT. FOYER - CONTINUOUS ACTION
The family enters the foyer.
BEN
Okay, I might have strayed from my
notes a little. I'm dealing with a
lot of stuff here. Grief is a
process.
Laura notices FBI AGENTS CERRONE and MILLER waiting for them
in the living room. Cerrone is an attractive woman in her
late twenties, wearing a dangerously-short skirt. Miller is
a clean-cut man in his thirties.
MILLER
Dr. Sobel, I'm Agent Miller, this is
Special Agent Cerrone, Federal Bureau
of Investigation. We'd just like to
ask you a few questions, if we could.
LAURA
(testy)
Can I ask what this is about? We just
came from the cemetery.
CERRONE
We know this is a difficult time for
you, Dr. Sobel. Sorry about your
father.
BEN
Thank you, I'm going to miss him
9.
terribly.
Ben gestures for them to sit.
Laura and Michael both look at him doubtfully.
BEN
I mean -- there were issues -- as, I
think, there are with any father and
son. He wasn't especially warm --
LAURA
Ben -- once today? Enough.
BEN
No, I'm just saying, in spite of all
that --
Agent Cerrone crosses her legs, a move that does not go
unnoticed by Ben and Michael.
BEN
-- he was a great, great legs.
(beat)
Man.
CERRONE
Dr. Sobel, you received a call this
morning from Paul Vitti?
Laura shoots him a look.
BEN
What makes you think Paul Vitti called
me?
MILLER
Because we monitor and record all his
phone calls from Sing Sing.
BEN
Then yes. He did.
LAURA
That was him on the phone?
BEN
Yes.
LAURA
And you didn't tell me?
MICHAEL
Wow. Talk about withholding.
BEN
Michael?
10.
LAURA
You told her --
(nodding at
Agent Cerrone)
You told her at the drop of a hat.
Agents Cerrone and Miller eye each other.
BEN
She's with the F.B.I. She needs to
know these things.
LAURA
Oh, I see. And I don't. Why tell
Laura? She couldn't possibly handle a
phone call.
BEN
Did I say that?
MILLER
You folks need a minute?
BEN
No, we're fine.
LAURA
If you don't need me anymore, I'll be
in the kitchen.
(to Agent Cerrone)
And two words of advice -- from one
professional woman to another -- Pant.
Suit.
She exits.
BEN
She's grieving. It's a process.
MILLER
We understand.
(prompting)
Vitti?
BEN
Oh, yes. Paul Vitti and I were
involved in some organized crime
activity a couple of years ago. I
mean, I wasn't involved -- not
'involved' involved -- I was just
trying to help him therapeutically,
and some people tried to, uh, kill us.
No big deal.
MILLER
Well, shortly after you spoke, he
11.
seemed to have some kind of breakdown.
BEN
What kind of breakdown?
MILLER
I think you'd better go up there and
see for yourself.
CUT TO:
INT. SING SING INFIRMARY - PSYCH WARD - DAY
Vitti huddles in the corner of a bare, white, padded cell,
rocking, completely out of his head.
VITTI
(singing)
'I feel pretty, oh, so pretty, I feel
pretty and witty and bright...'
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - SAME TIME
Ben watches through a two-way mirror with the prison
psychiatrist, DR. CUTLER. They can hear Vitti through a
wall-mounted speaker.
DR. CUTLER
I'm treating him with Thioridazine,
300 milligrams, T.I.D. That seems to
keep him pretty calm.
BEN
(watching Vitti)
That would keep a parade pretty calm.
He just keeps singing West Side Story
songs?
DR. CUTLER
'Tonight,' 'Maria,' the balcony scene.
BEN
The balcony scene? Both parts?
DR. CUTLER
Oh, yeah. Get him to do 'Officer
Krupke.' It's really good.
INT. PADDED CELL
Ben and Dr. Cutler enter. Vitti doesn't seem to notice.
VITTI
(singing)
'Who's the pretty girl in the mirror
12.
there? What mirror? Where? Who can
that attractive girl be?'
BEN
Paul, it's me. Ben Sobel. Paul?
(beat)
Maria?
VITTI
Tony?
BEN
(with a look to
Dr. Cutler)
Oh, boy.
(to Vitti)
What's going on, Maria?
VITTI
The rumble -- it's tonight! I have to
get out of here. I don't want to die.
No, Chino, no!
Vitti's jaw suddenly goes slack and he slumps in his seat,
staring forward.
BEN
Paul? Paul?
Ben waves a hand in front of Vitti's face. Nothing.
DR. CUTLER
This is how it's been. He sings for a
while, then he goes completely
catatonic.
BEN
(skeptical)
Really. Can we take him to an
examining room?
DR. CUTLER
Of course.
CUT TO:
INT. EXAMINING ROOM - MINUTES LATER
Vitti sits inert on the examination table.
BEN
You already did a neurological work-
up?
DR. CUTLER
Yep. No tumors, no aneurisms, no sign
of stroke --
13.
Ben slaps Vitti's face lightly a couple times.
BEN
Completely catatonic --
He pulls on Vitti's ears and nose. Vitti does not react.
BEN
Totally gone. Well, I don't think
he's smart enough to be faking.
Street smart, yes, but we're talking
about an I.Q. just north of a bedroom
slipper.
Ben checks Vitti out of the corner of his eye. No reaction.
Then Ben takes a sharp needle from an instrument tray.
BEN
So if I just stuck him with this
needle, he probably wouldn't even
respond.
DR. CUTLER
I don't know. Try it.
Ben hesitates for a moment to see if Vitti will crack, then
BEN
Okay --
He sticks the needle into Vitti's shoulder.
VITTI
(bursts into song)
'Boy, boy, crazy boy, keep cool, boy!
Got a rocket in your pocket, keep
cool-y cool boy -- '
CUT TO:
INT. SING SING - CONSULTATION ROOM - NEXT DAY
Vitti is sitting at a table facing Ben. Dr. Cutler observes
from a chair in the corner.
BEN
Paul, we're going to give you some
tests to assess your mental condition.
There's no pressure -- just answer as
best you can. Do I have your consent
to share the results of these tests?
VITTI
Mommy's mad at me because I made a
boom on the rug.
14.
BEN
I'll take that as a yes. Okay, I'm
going to show you ten cards, each
containing a picture of an inkblot. I
want you to look at each card and tell
me what you see.
VITTI
I see you. I see him. I see a table.
BEN
Focus, Paul. You haven't seen the
card yet.
(hands him first card)
What does this look like to you? Take
your time.
Vitti looks at the wrong side of the card. It's all white.
VITTI
It looks like snow.
BEN
No, Paul, the other side.
Vitti turns it over and makes a face.
VITTI
A bat. A big bat. Or a weasel.
BEN
(taking notes)
Bat or weasel. All right.
VITTI
And he's got a little girl -- no, it's
a little boy -- in his teeth -- and
he's shakin' him and shakin' him
'cause the kid didn't wipe himself
good -- and the kid is screaming
because the bat-weasel ripped out his
throat and the blood is shootin' out
of his neck vein.
(pointing)
That's the blood.
Doctor Cutler looks worried.
BEN
(skeptical)
See anything else?
VITTI
Just the pussy with the teeth.
15.
BEN
(making more notes)
Pussy with teeth. Next card.
CUT TO:
SHAPES TEST
Vitti is literally trying to pound a square peg into a round
hole.
CUT TO:
VITTI AND BEN
BEN
Now try repeating the numbers
backwards. For instance, if I was 1-
2-3, you will say 3-2-1. Okay, 7-3-8.
VITTI
3-2-1.
BEN
Try again. 7-3-8.
VITTI
Blue.
CUT TO:
THEMATIC APPERCEPTION TEST
Vitti studies a vague and ambiguous photograph of a man
standing beside a bed with a sleeping woman and child on it.
BEN
Just tell me what you think is going
on in this picture.
VITTI
This is a picture of a guy -- nice,
hardworking guy -- comes home and
finds out his wife's been screwin'
this midget while he was out of town.
BEN
(appalled, makes
a note)
Screwing a midget. And how does the
story end?
VITTI
I think he works over the midget for a
while, then he blows 'em away.
16.
BEN
The wife or the midget?
VITTI
(smirks)
Trick question, right? Both of 'em.
CUT TO:
ANOTHER TEST
BEN
Okay, Paul. Last test. In this one,
I'm going to start a sentence and you
complete it any way you want to.
Ready? 'I get
angry -- '
VITTI
Yes.
BEN
No, you're supposed to complete the
sentence.
VITTI
I did. I said 'yes.'
BEN
I wasn't asking if you agreed or
disagreed; it was more like, 'I get
angry when -- '
VITTI
-- whenever.
BEN
Well, that about does it for me.
CUT TO:
INT. U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE - DAY
Ben meets with RICHARD CHAPIN, the U.S. Attorney for the
Southern District of New York.
BEN
Based on his symptoms and the test
results, I'd say brief psychotic
disorder -- if it persists, possibly
schizophreniform disorder. And Dr.
Cutler agrees with my diagnosis.
CHAPIN
So he's crazy?
17.
BEN
Dr. Cutler? No, he's annoying, but --
CHAPIN
Vitti.
BEN
Not crazy. At least not permanently.
In certain people, continuous exposure
to an extremely stressful situation --
soldiers in combat, for instance,
disaster victims, a hostage situation,
or being locked up in a maximum
security prison with someone trying to
kill you -- it can produce a temporary
psychotic state.
CHAPIN
How temporary?
BEN
A day, a week, up to a month -- if the
precipitating stressors are removed.
CHAPIN
(musing)
Which means he's not going to get any
better while he's still in the can.
BEN
He could get worse. He could
deteriorate to the point where he'd be
permanently schizophrenic.
CHAPIN
Then I'd say he's got a real problem,
because he goes before the parole
board in four weeks.
BEN
You think they'll let him out?
CHAPIN
Oh, yeah, I'm sure they'll want to
release a major Mafia figure who's now
totally deranged on top of it.
BEN
(thinks)
Well, couldn't you release him to a
halfway house or some place where he
could get some decent treatment?
Based on my earlier work with him, I
don't think he's dangerous, and I
think he was making a real effort to
reform himself.
18.
CHAPIN
You do, huh?
(thinks for a
long moment)
Okay. Then I'll tell you what. I'm
gonna release him into your custody.
BEN
Mine? Me? No, this is a bad time for
me. My father just died -- and I've
got this bulging disc in my neck --
and we're redecorating, which is a
total nightmare. I can't --
CHAPIN
You want to see him killed in prison?
BEN
No, of course not.
CHAPIN
Or sent to a facility for the
criminally insane.
BEN
No --
CHAPIN
Then he's all yours. I'm going to
talk to the Bureau of Prisons and get
you certified as a temporary federal
institution.
BEN
(stricken)
What? I can't be an institution.
CHAPIN
(firm)
You've got thirty days to get him in
shape for his parole hearing. That
means sane, sober and gainfully
employed. But let me warn you,
Doctor. If he fucks up in any way --
if he flees, or if I find out that
this whole thing was just a setup so
he could get back on the street and
return to a life of crime -- I will
hold you totally responsible, and I'll
see that you are stripped of your
license and prosecuted to the full
extent of the law. Are we clear?
BEN
(gulp)
Yes. We're clear.
19.
CHAPIN
You still want him?
BEN
(long beat to
decide)
Yes.
CUT TO:
EXT. SING SING - FEW DAYS LATER
The gate opens and Ben coaxes Vitti outside. A guard watches
them.
BEN
Okay, Paul -- this way.
Vitti comes out carrying an overnight bag, walking like a
zombie. Ben leads him over to the car and opens the door for
him. Vitti keeps walking, passing the car.
BEN
This way, Paul. Over here. Here we
go.
Ben helps Vitti into the car. One of Vitti's legs is still
outside.
BEN
Leg, Paul. Leg up.
Ben lifts Vitti's leg into the car and closes the door.
CUT TO:
INT. CAR - MOMENTS LATER
Ben STARTS the CAR and pulls away with Vitti still slumped in
his seat. Once out of sight of the prison, Vitti straightens
and turns on Ben, suddenly lucid.
VITTI
(enraged)
You fucking son-of-a-bitch! Where the
fuck do you get off sticking me with a
needle?
BEN
I knew it! I knew you were faking!
You used me to get you out of prison!
VITTI
Took you long enough. I was singin'
West Side Story for three fuckin'
days. I'm half a fag already.
20.
BEN
What are you talking about?
VITTI
I call you to say somebody's trying to
kill me and you hang up on me?
BEN
I was at the funeral home!
VITTI
You're my fuckin' doctor!
BEN
My father died!
VITTI
Me me me me! He's dead! Get over it.
BEN
Are you hearing yourself?
VITTI
(perfunctorily)
I'm deeply sorry for your loss.
BEN
Yeah, I can see how touched you are.
VITTI
What's the difference? You hated him
anyway.
BEN
I loved my father. I'm feeling a lot
of grief right now.
VITTI
I'm not sensing it, but if you say so.
Ben nervously pops a pill and swallows it.
VITTI
(re: pill)
What's that?
BEN
Decongestant. I'm getting over a
cold. All right, what's going on?
Who's after you?
VITTI
I don't know -- take your pick. Could
be my old family, or could be the
Rigazzis. Ever heard of Lou Rigazzi -
- Lou 'The Wrench'?
21.
BEN
Why "The Wrench"?
VITTI
Because he twisted a guy's head off
once.
BEN
Off?
VITTI
Off. Fuckin' Calabrese -- animals.
And comin' from me you know that's a
big compliment.
BEN
I'm sure they'd be flattered. So --
VITTI
The feds are really putting the
pressure on. The families are
fighting each other again -- what's
left of 'em. It's the fall of the
fuckin' Roman Empire. It's
World War Three out there.
BEN
So what does that have to do with you?
VITTI
They knew I was gettin' out soon and
the last thing anybody wants to see is
me getting into it on either side.
BEN
Maybe if you just explain to
them -- that you're out of it now,
that you're starting a new life --
VITTI
Yeah, they'll probably want to throw
me a party and give me a gold watch.
Trust me -- nobody's lookin' forward
to me being out.
BEN
You are, aren't you?
VITTI
Me? Oh, yeah, my future looks real
fuckin' rosy.
Ben can't believe what he's gotten himself into.
CUT TO:
EXT. SOBEL HOUSE - LATER
22.
Ben and Vitti pull into the driveway and get out of the car.
BEN
Want to grab your stuff?
VITTI
I'm not gonna be here that long.
Jelly's pickin' me up in an hour.
BEN
Paul! I don't think you understand.
You're in my custody. I could get in
a lot of trouble if you screw up.
VITTI
Don't worry about it. I'll call you
tomorrow.
BEN
Oh, no. You want to go back to Sing
Sing? Thursday's meatloaf night. I
can have you back there in no time.
The U.S. Attorney was very clear. You
stay with me; therapy every day; you
can't leave the area without
permission --
VITTI
What are you, my father now?
BEN
And you have to get a job as soon as
you're well enough, which is now. So
are you coming in with me or do I have
to make a phone call?
Vitti relents and grabs his stuff from the back seat.
VITTI
I'm comin'. Some fuckin' life this is
gonna be.
He follows Ben up the stairs.
CUT TO:
INT. U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE - LATER
Chapin is conferring with another U.S. ATTORNEY, DAVIS, and
Agents Miller and Cerrone.
CERRONE
You really think Vitti is crazy?
CHAPIN
Yeah, he's about as crazy as I am.
23.
Think about it. Locked up, he was
absolutely no use to me. But back on
the street, Vitti's still powerful
enough to pose a threat to both
families. It's like throwing gasoline
on a fire.
DAVIS
If we can use Vitti to escalate this
war, we might just end up putting them
all away.
MILLER
That's if he goes back to his old
life.
CHAPIN
If? People like Paul Vitti don't
change. This guy's been a menace to
society since he was twelve years old.
Being a criminal is all he knows.
Trust me.
DAVIS
He's gonna head straight for trouble.
Then all we have to do is sit back and
pick up the pieces. We could get
twenty, maybe even thirty indictments
next time the grand jury convenes.
CHAPIN
(smiles)
You know, Giuliani started this way.
DAVIS
You running for mayor?
CHAPIN
Could happen. Just stick with Vitti.
CUT TO:
INT. SOBEL HOUSE - LATER
Ben and Laura are in the kitchen, cleaning up the dinner
dishes. Ben is wearing an apron that says "To Heck with
Housework!" and a pair of Playtex rubber gloves. Laura is
angrily muscling dishes around.
LAURA
How could you? How could you bring
him here? That --
(shuddering)
-- mobster -- in my home -- eating off
my dishes.
24.
(looking at the plate
in her hand, disgusted)
Ewww.
She scrubs the plate with manic energy.
BEN
I didn't have a lot of choice.
LAURA
Oh, there's a law that says you have
to bring a gangster home?
BEN
I told you. He's in my custody. I'm
a federal institution.
LAURA
You should be in an institution. Why
couldn't he just go home?
BEN
His wife and kids aren't here.
They're in Ohio.
LAURA
Ohio! Sure. Everyone gets to be in
Ohio except me.
BEN
His life was threatened and he didn't
want to endanger his family.
LAURA
How thoughtful! What about
endangering our family?
(worried)
I think my teeth are loose. Feel my
teeth.
BEN
Honey, your teeth are fine. I know
it's an imposition, but what could I
do? I didn't want him here. They -
LAURA
You didn't want him, I didn't want
him, but here he is!
She looks up and jumps when she sees Vitti standing there.
LAURA
(covering, cheerful)
Here he is!
VITTI
Coffee?
25.
LAURA
What?
VITTI
Somebody said something about coffee.
LAURA
That was you. You said you wanted
some.
VITTI
So what's the holdup?
LAURA
(to Ben)
Why don't you make your friend some
coffee. I'm going upstairs to take a
long bath and hopefully drown.
Laura smiles at the two men, then exits.
BEN
You'll have to forgive her. She's
usually a great hostess.
VITTI
I understand. She's uncomfortable.
The whole situation's a little awkward
with me bein' here -- but let's face
it, Emily fuckin' Post she's not.
BEN
Emily fuckin' Post. Well, that
explains why she rarely used her
middle name.
VITTI
Listen, I got a friend coming over. I
didn't want you to be surprised.
BEN
What kind of friend? Because if it's
'The Wrench,' or 'The Power Drill' or
any other kind of
tool --
VITTI
Not that kind of friend. It's a
personal thing.
BEN
They won't stay late, will they?
VITTI
(stares at him)
Are you really that pussy-whipped?
26.
BEN
I'm not -- this has nothing to do with
Laura.
VITTI
I heard her busting your balls.
BEN
We were having a disagreement. A
certain amount of conflict is normal
in a marriage.
VITTI
Or?
BEN
Or what?
VITTI
Or you're pussy-whipped.
BEN
Paul --
VITTI
Good night, Whippy.
BEN
(calls after him)
Remember, this is only temporary.
VITTI
Oh, really? I didn't hear you the
tenth fuckin' time.
He exits.
CUT TO:
INT. UPSTAIRS HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER
Ben knocks on Michael's door and walks in without waiting to
be asked.
CUT TO:
INT. MICHAEL'S ROOM - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Michael is sitting up in bed reading.
BEN
(oblivious)
Mike, can we talk for a second?
MICHAEL
Sure. What?
27.
BEN
I know the last few weeks have been
kind of tough with Grandpa -- dying
and everything -- and it might've felt
to you like I didn't have time for you
or I didn't care about how you feel.
MICHAEL
No, it didn't.
BEN
Good. Because I want you to know that
you can talk to me about stuff and
that I can really listen and
understand what you're going through.
MICHAEL
I do, Dad.
BEN
And if I seemed a little hard on
Grandpa, it's just that your
grandfather was a hard man in a lot of
ways. He wanted everything done his
way and sometimes I just felt like
nothing I ever did was good enough. I
don't want it to be that way with us.
MICHAEL
It's not.
BEN
And you know, at times like this we
all might start questioning our own
mortality and you might be thinking
how devastated you'd be if I died.
Right?
MICHAEL
No. Not really.
BEN
That's good. Good talk. And I
realize it's all a little hectic right
now, but this Paul Vitti thing is only
temporary, okay?
MICHAEL
Oh, really? I didn't hear you the
tenth fuckin' time.
BEN
That's not funny. Good night,
Michael.
28.
MICHAEL
Good night, Whippy.
Ben exits, shaking his head.
The moment he's gone, the rumpled blankets next to Michael
shift, and a CUTE, PUNKY 16-YEAR-OLD GIRL emerges from hiding
under the comforter.
CUTE GIRL
I gotta get home. What was that
about?
MICHAEL
I have no idea. Parenting stuff.
CUT TO:
EXT. SOBEL HOUSE - NIGHT
The suburban street is dark and quiet and all the lights are
off in the house.
WOMAN (V.O.)
Ohhhhh! Ohhhhh, Paul!
CUT TO:
INT. MASTER BEDROOM - SAME TIME
The room is dark. We PAN UP the foot of Ben and Laura's bed
and find them both wide awake staring straight up at the
ceiling, listening.
WOMAN (O.S.)
Ohhhh, God! Oh, oh, oh, oh!
BEN
This has to be some kind of record,
don't you think? It's been like forty
minutes.
LAURA
How long are you going to let them go
on?
BEN
Let them? How much longer can he go?
Another twenty minutes, I'm either
breaking it up or calling the Guinness
Book of Records.
The MOANING shifts into low gear, more guttural and bestial.
LAURA
Oh, give me a break. She's got to be
29.
faking. Nobody sounds like that.
BEN
(suggestively)
That's not entirely true.
LAURA
Okay, sometimes you do sound like
that.
The O.S. MOANING kicks up another notch. Laura rolls over
and jams her pillow over her ears. Ben growls, exasperated.
CUT TO:
INT. MICHAEL'S ROOM - SAME TIME
Michael's girlfriend is gone. He has his bedroom door open a
crack and he's standing there holding a small tape recorder
and smiling broadly.
WOMAN (O.S.)
(high-pitched now)
Ah, ah, ah, ah...!
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - SAME TIME
Agents Cerrone and Miller sit in a sedan with a small,
sophisticated-looking microphone trained on the Sobel house
just down the street. They hear the high-pitched MOANING.
Miller gives Cerrone a look.
CERRONE
Oh, come on. Nobody sounds like that.
CUT TO:
INT. HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER
Ben takes a deep breath and knocks sharply on the guest room
door. The heavy MOANING STOPS. After a moment, Vitti
appears wearing only a bathrobe. Ben can see the beautiful
SHEILA sitting naked on the bed.
VITTI
What?
BEN
(indignant)
I have a 17-year-old son.
VITTI
So let him get his own fuckin' girl.
30.
BEN
Can I talk to you, please?
VITTI
Actually, I'm right in the middle of
someone.
Sheila starts to light a cigarette.
BEN
Miss? Excuse me. There's no smoking
in this house.
CUT TO:
INT. MICHAEL'S ROOM - SAME TIME
Michael freezes, about to light a cigarette himself.
CUT TO:
INT. LIVING ROOM - MOMENT LATER
Ben comes down the stairs with Vitti.
BEN
What do you think you're doing?
VITTI
Minding my own fuckin' business, like
you should be doin'.
BEN
Well, it's a little hard with the live
sex show going on in the guest room.
VITTI
I've been in prison for two and a half
years. What am I supposed to do?
BEN
Go to a hotel.
VITTI
That's what I wanted to do, but you
told me I had no choice -- it was
either here or Sing Sing.
BEN
I'm not trying to punish you. These
aren't my rules, but I have a
responsibility here. Besides, I
thought you might like a nice home-
cooked meal after being in prison that
long.
31.
VITTI
Yeah, that's what I've been jerkin'
off about for eight hundred
consecutive nights -- a nice home-
cooked meal.
(making a jerking
motion)
Ohhhh, tuna casserole.
BEN
That girl is not staying here.
VITTI
I think you're jealous.
BEN
Oh, yeah, I'm really jealous.
VITTI
I didn't hear nothin' comin' out of
your room.
BEN
We don't think it's necessary to wake
the neighbors every time we have sex.
VITTI
Hey, if you're really quiet, you might
be able to do it without even wakin'
up your wife.
SHEILA (O.S.)
(moaning)
Ohhh. Ohhh.
Ben looks curiously at Vitti.
VITTI
I told her if I wasn't back in two
minutes to start without me. I gotta
go.
Vitti heads back upstairs.
BEN
This is not a good start, Paul.
CUT TO:
INT. DINING AREA - NEXT MORNING
Laura and Ben are hosting a brunch for the out-of-town
relatives. Laura offers a basket of bagels to a seated,
older woman.
32.
LAURA
Aunt Ester, I'm so sorry we had to put
you up at the hotel. We wanted you
here with us, but we had an unexpected
house guest.
She glares at Ben.
AUNT ESTHER
(sighs)
Your father always had room for us.
BEN
I'm sorry.
(mutters to Laura)
Next time I lose a parent, I'll be
sure to reserve the guest room.
A DOOR SLAMS somewhere, then Sheila storms into the room
sobbing, her hair askew, tucking her blouse into her skirt.
SHEILA
(screaming)
Go to hell, Paul! You just go to
hell!
VITTI (O.S.)
Go ahead! Get out of here, you crazy
fuckin' whore.
Vitti charges into the room, his robe open. From the
reactions of everyone in the room, it's clear he's not
wearing anything under it.
VITTI
Go back to turning tricks in Jersey
for all I fuckin' care.
Sheila exits and slams the front door. Vitti sees everyone
staring at him. He closes his robe.
VITTI
How's it goin'?
(sees buffet)
Oh, we got food. Good.
Vitti heads for the buffet.
LAURA
(smiling)
Ben?
BEN
(quickly)
Paul?
33.
Vitti bellies up to the buffet, stepping between an older
couple. He eyes the food disdainfully.
VITTI
Oh, great. Jew food. Who do you have
to fuck to get some bacon around here?
The woman reacts in horror.
VITTI
Not you, I'm guessing.
BEN
(snags Vitti's arm)
Why don't we go to my office? I'll
make you a plate.
CUT TO:
INT. BEN'S OFFICE - MOMENTS LATER
Ben and Vitti enter. Vitti still in his robe.
VITTI
What is it with your relatives? They
tend to overreact quite a bit.
BEN
I know. All you did was flash
everybody in the dining room.
VITTI
So? From the look of 'em, some of
those broads haven't seen the old
salcicc' in a long time. It's good
for them.
BEN
Well, when the paramedics revive my
Aunt Goldie, I'll be sure to ask her.
Sit.
Vitti starts for Ben's chair.
BEN
Ah ah ah!
He points Vitti to the sofa and takes his own chair.
BEN
So what are you going to do, Paul?
VITTI
What do you mean?
BEN
With your life.
34.
VITTI
First I'm gonna find out who's tryin'
to kill me. I'm a target. Somebody
could shoot right through that window
-- blow my fuckin' head off.
Ben sees that he's in the line of fire, gets up and moves out
of the way.
BEN
Okay, that's a priority. Have you
thought about what you're going to do
for work?
VITTI
Yeah. I'm too big for a jockey so
I was thinkin' maybe a hairdresser.
They'll call me Mr. Paul.
BEN
Come on. There must be something you
like to do.
VITTI
I like hitting a guy on the head with
a baseball bat.
BEN
Oh, sporting goods. We'll check the
want ads tomorrow but don't get your
hopes up. Anything else?
VITTI
Shylocking, bookmaking, unions, the
usual --
BEN
Who are you?
VITTI
Who am I? I'm the guy who's paying
you $150 an hour to play these stupid
fuckin' games. You know who I am.
BEN
I know that. I mean what are you?
VITTI
What do you mean, 'What am I?'
BEN
I just want to know how you see
yourself.
35.
VITTI
You're making me very fuckin' nervous.
BEN
Just answer the question. What are
you?
VITTI
(shrugs)
I'm the boss.
BEN
Really? The boss of what -- Jelly?
You're not the boss of me. So what
are you the boss of?
VITTI
You, you're good. I see what you're
doing here.
BEN
What am I doing, Paul?
VITTI
You're pissing me off is what you're
doing. Look at me. It's starting
again, the anxiety.
BEN
I understand.
BEN (CONT'D)
You've spent your whole life becoming
who you are and now you can't be that
anymore -- that's gotta be scary. If
you're not Paul Vitti the mob boss,
who are you?
Vitti is at a loss.
BEN
Well, let's think. When you were a
kid, What did you want to be?
VITTI
I don't know. Who remembers that
stuff?
BEN
You must've wanted to be something
when you were little -- fireman?
VITTI
No.
BEN
Baseball player?
36.
VITTI
No.
BEN
Astronaut?
VITTI
No.
BEN
Al Capone?
VITTI
Yeah, maybe. What did you want to be?
BEN
We're not talking about me.
VITTI
I am.
BEN
Fine. I wanted to be a philatelist.
VITTI
You wanted to look up people's
assholes all day?
BEN
No, Paul, I believe you're thinking of
a proctologist. I wanted to collect
rare and unusual stamps.
VITTI
You must've been a lot of laughs when
you were a kid. Lonely, huh?
BEN
Oh yeah. Big time. So what did you
want to be?
VITTI
It's stupid.
BEN
You afraid to tell me?
VITTI
Yeah, I'm afraid.
BEN
Then tell me. I'm not here to judge
you.
37.
VITTI
(a beat)
Okay. When I was really little --
like seven or eight -- maybe I wanted
to be a cowboy.
BEN
A cowboy. Really?
VITTI
Yeah. My father gave me a cowboy
suit -- you know, the vest, the
chaps, the cap guns -- the whole
thing. And he used to take me up
to my uncle's farm in New Jersey
and lead me around on this pony.
Yippee-i-o. You happy now?
BEN
So you watched cowboy movies and TV
shows with your father.
VITTI
Everybody. The whole family. My
father loved 'Gunsmoke.'
BEN
Sheriff Dillon.
VITTI
(corrects him)
Marshal Dillon.
BEN
Marshal. So who were your favorite
cowboys?
VITTI
This is so fuckin' retarded.
BEN
Paul!
VITTI
All right. Gene Autry, Roy Rogers,
the Lone Ranger --
BEN
Interesting. They're all good guys.
VITTI
Yeah, I guess.
BEN
No, that's important. You didn't want
to be the bad guy. You wanted to be
the hero.
38.
VITTI
Yeah, so?
BEN
So what happened?
VITTI
I don't know. Nothing happened.
BEN
So why didn't you become a cowboy?
VITTI
I lived in East Harlem! I joined a
street gang when I was 12 and that was
it.
BEN
Something else happened when you were
twelve.
VITTI
What?
BEN
(prompting)
Something that made you very sad?
VITTI
The Dodgers moved from Brooklyn to
L.A. Everybody took it pretty hard.
BEN
Something else.
VITTI
We playin' a guessing game here?
BEN
Paul! Your father was murdered!
Right in front of you. Remember?
VITTI
Do I remember? I think about it every
fuckin' day of my life. What's that
got to do with it?
BEN
It's got everything to do with it. He
gave you the cowboy suit. With a
white hat. He was in the mob, but he
wanted you to be a good guy, didn't
he?
Vitti starts thinking about his father and starts to weep.
39.
VITTI
Yeah. He did.
BEN
He didn't want you in the gang life.
He only did it himself so you wouldn't
have to. He was trying to buy you a
better life than his.
VITTI
(crying harder)
He always said he wanted me to go to
college. I didn't even finish high
school.
He really starts sobbing now.
BEN
Well, Paul, this could be a great
opportunity for you. You're right
back where you were when you were
twelve. You've got some big choices
to make.
Vitti fights to regain control.
VITTI
Okay. Okay. That's enough of that
shit.
BEN
It's not shit, Paul. My point is,
when you're a child, you think
anything is possible. Wouldn't it be
great to think like that now?
VITTI
(retreating back into
his cynicism)
Yeah, just sprinkle some fuckin' fairy
dust on me.
BEN
I'm just saying you've got to keep
an open mind and explore some new
possibilities. Try some different
things -- maybe you'll connect with
one of them. There's a career
counselor I work with. I can call
him for you. He may be able to help
you find a job.
VITTI
You mean working for somebody? I'm
supposed to take orders from some guy
who used to get me coffee?
(starts sweating and
40.
breathing hard)
I can't do that. It's not right.
It's not me.
BEN
How do you know unless you try?
Suddenly one of the WINDOWS behind Vitti SHATTERS.
Ben dives for cover. Silence -- then another RAP on the
window. Ben looks out and sees JELLY in the back yard,
tossing stones at the window.
JELLY
(calls out)
Hiya, Doc. Sorry about the window.
Ben waves him around to the side door.
CUT TO:
INT. DINING AREA - MOMENTS LATER
Jelly is loading up a plate of food from the buffet, talking
to the elderly relatives. Laura stares at him.
JELLY
I love lox and bagels. I dated a
Jewish woman once. Actually, she
might have been the love of my life,
but my mother broke it up.
JELLY (CONT'D)
She was always hockin' me a chinick
about the madels. A wonderful woman,
my mother, but she fuckin' hates the
Hebes.
LAURA
Really.
(noting mountain of
food on his plate)
More smoked salmon? Don't be shy.
Ben enters.
BEN
Jelly -- what are you doing here?
JELLY
Makin' new friends. How's it going,
Doc? I brought some clothes for Mr.
Vitti.
LAURA
(indicating the door)
Ben?
41.
BEN
That's great, Jelly. I'd love to
catch up with you -- outside.
JELLY
(rising)
You got it.
(to Laura)
Thanks, Mrs. S.
(to others)
So long, everybody. Ess gesunterhait.
Jelly and Ben exit.
CUT TO:
EXT. SOBEL HOUSE - MOMENTS LATER
Ben and Jelly walk out to the driveway where Jelly's Buick is
parked.
JELLY
So. Long time no see. You look good,
Doc.
BEN
(trying to be pleasant)
And you, Jelly -- you look --
(can't find words for
how he looks)
Did you get a haircut? I thought you
were in prison.
JELLY
It would appear not.
BEN
How'd you get out?
JELLY
New trial. The evidence in my first
trail was, you know, tainted. Turns
out two of the witnesses against me
changed their minds -- and the third
one, he died after a short illness.
BEN
What did he have?
JELLY
Gunshot wound to the head.
BEN
That's not an illness.
42.
JELLY
Yeah, but it is short.
Vitti, now dressed, comes out of the house and crosses to the
car.
BEN
(to Vitti)
Where are you going?
VITTI
I got stuff to do.
BEN
What kind of stuff?
VITTI
(as he gets into
the car)
Calm down. I'll be back.
BEN
You can't leave without my permission.
VITTI
Oh, yeah? Watch me. Drive, Jelly.
Jelly STARTS the CAR and slowly backs out of the driveway.
Ben runs after the car, talking to Vitti through the open
window.
BEN
That's it, Paul. I forbid you to go.
VITTI
Stop sweating, Doc. I'll be back.
Vitti puts the window up.
BEN
(shouts anxiously)
If you screw this up, Paul -- Paul!
The car pulls away.
BEN
(angrily)
Shit! Shit, shit, shit!
Ben turns and sees his Aunt Goldie on the porch.
AUNT GOLDIE
So, the fat one -- he's single?
CUT TO:
43.
INT. KNIGHTS OF PALERMO SOCIAL CLUB - DAY
Soldiers lounge at the bar, keeping a respectful distance
from the capos seated at a table in the rear. All eyes turn
as the door opens and Vitti enters.
SAL MASIELLO, Vitti's old consigliere rises and warmly but
warily welcomes Vitti back into the fold.
MASIELLO
Paulie, great to see you! You're
lookin' good, kid. Lookin' very good.
Jelly, how are ya?
Vitti embraces him and they sit down with the others.
MASIELLO
So, Paul, we heard you had some
trouble while you were away. Some
'mental' problems.
VITTI
No, I'm okay. It was an act. I had
to pretend I was nuts. There were
people watching me all the time.
MASIELLO
Little people?
VITTI
Doctors. They never woulda let me out
if they thought I was normal.
MASIELLO
So you ain't crazy?
VITTI
You want to see crazy? Just tell me
who's trying to kill me. I'll show
you crazy.
MASIELLO
We're in a war, Paul -- nobody's safe
right now. The Rigazzis are walkin'
all over us. We got next to nothing
coming in, and I don't have to tell
you, you don't buy a lot of muscle
without money these days. We need
you, Paul. The family needs you.
VITTI
I can't do it, Sal. I'm out of it.
MASIELLO
Come on, Paulie. Nobody used to do
the big jobs like you. Air France--
they're still talkin' about it.
44.
VITTI
Sal, even if I wanted to -- the feds
MASIELLO
After your father died, I always
treated you like my own son. You know
that.
VITTI
I know.
MASIELLO
He was a good man. I still miss him.
VITTI
Yeah, I do too.
MASIELLO
So you'll think about it. For me,
Paulie?
VITTI
Yeah, okay, I'll think about it.
MASIELLO
(brightening)
Hey, what is this -- a fuckin' funeral
here? You just got back from college
for Chrissakes. We should be havin' a
party for you.
(to bartender)
Hey, Nino, give everybody a round
here. We gotta drink to Paul.
VITTI
I can't, Sal. I gotta go talk to the
boss.
MASIELLO
I understand. No problem. It's good
to have you back, Paul.
(embraces him)
Don't forget what I said. We're
countin' on you.
Vitti gives his old friend a pat on the back and exits.
CUT TO:
EXT. LOPRESTI HOUSE - SAME MORNING
Jelly pulls up, Vitti gets out and strides up to the front
door of a nice home on Staten Island and RINGS the BELL.
CUT TO:
45.
INT. ENTRY HALL - CONTINUOUS ACTION
The door is opened by EDDIE DEVOL, early thirties, dark and
sullen.
EDDIE
Yeah, what?
VITTI
'Yeah, what?' That's how you answer
the door?
EDDIE
You got a problem with that?
VITTI
Yeah.
Vitti punches Eddie in the mouth, sending him sprawling back
into the living room. Several other bodyguards are watching
television, caught off guard by Vitti's sudden entrance.
VITTI
Where is she?
PATTY (O.S.)
(calls out)
In the kitchen, Paul.
CUT TO:
INT. PATTY'S KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Vitti enters. PATTY LOPRESTI, mid-forties, still sexy even
in an apron, is mixing cake batter in a bowl with an electric
mixer.
PATTY
Paul -- what a nice surprise.
VITTI
How's it goin', Patty?
PATTY
Good. It's good. Give me a kiss,
you.
Patty hugs and kisses him, taking the opportunity to pat him
down for a weapon or a hidden wire.
VITTI
Sorry to hear about Carmine. He was a
good man.
PATTY
Yeah. You live with a person twenty-
one years, then one day they're
46.
pulling his torso out of the river.
It's hard.
VITTI
I'll bet -- especially with all the
talk about you being the one who put
him there.
PATTY
That's why I try not to gossip, Paul.
It's ugly. Just a sec.
(screaming to ceiling)
Michelle! Teresa! It's ten-thirty!
Stop fucking around and get ready for
ballet!
(to Vitti)
It's hard being a single parent and a
career woman.
VITTI
Yeah, I'm sure you're very busy.
PATTY
The pressure -- it's awful. For
instance, a lot of people think, now
that you're out, you're going to try
and take the family back from me. But
I said, no, Paul would never do that.
(smiling)
By the way, how are Marie and the
kids? Still in Ohio? In Shaker
Heights? At 1356 Locust?
Vitti explodes, reaches across the counter and grabs her by
the shoulders.
VITTI
(enraged)
You even go near them, you crazy bitch
--
PATTY
(quietly)
Don't make me call my guys in. You
may need the shit kicked out of you,
but not in here. I just mopped.
Vitti lets her go.
PATTY
(smoothing clothes,
flushed and a little
excited)
Wow. Have you been working out?
VITTI
Yeah, I been workin' out who's trying
47.
to kill me. I'd love to hear your
thoughts on that.
PATTY
It's a dog-eat-dog world out there.
Nobody's gonna be safe unless we can
end this thing with the Rigazzis.
VITTI
So then you didn't have nothin' to do
with it.
PATTY
(hurt)
Oh, Paul. You actually think I would
kill you? All the years we've known
each other -- the Christmas parties,
the fun times at the beach. It
wouldn't be right. I want us to be
friends.
(smiles demurely)
Who knows? Maybe we'll be more than
friends. Want to lick my beaters?
She holds the beaters out to him.
VITTI
(declining)
Thanks. I gotta see a guy about a
business thing.
PATTY
What kind of business? You know, if
you get something going, we would
expect some kind of consideration -- a
little taste.
VITTI
No, this is a legitimate business.
PATTY
(shudders)
Oh, Paul. I just got a chill.
VITTI
I just want to be left alone. Put my
life back together -- straight up this
time. Put the word out, will ya?
Nobody's got nothin' to worry about
from me.
PATTY
Sure, Paul. I understand.
He heads for the door.
48.
PATTY
(calls after him)
Don't be a stranger!
After Vitti leaves, Eddie enters from the other door.
PATTY
(turning to Eddie)
Watch him like a hawk. If he steps
out of line, it would break my heart,
but shoot him in the fuckin' head.
CUT TO:
EXT. PARK AVENUE AUDI DEALERSHIP - LATER
Vitti is trying to sell an $80,000 Audi to the
MacINERNYS, an upscale middle-aged couple. Vitti opens
the trunk.
VITTI
Look at the size of that trunk. You
could fit three people in there.
(off their
shocked looks)
Not people -- suitcases. It's a joke.
The MacInernys laugh uncertainly.
VITTI
So what are you driving now?
MR. MacINERNY
We have a Lexus.
VITTI
(nods)
It's a fancy Toyota, right? The Japs
make good cars, but I ain't that quick
to forget Pearl Harbor.
The MacInernys look doubtful.
CUT TO:
INT. MORETTI'S STEAK HOUSE - NIGHT
A crowd of well-heeled New Yorkers surround Vitti at the
captain's station. Vitti, the new host, greets a prominent
sports figure who embraces him like an old friend.
VITTI
(signals the MAITRE D')
Mario, put Mr. Torre at table five.
JOEY BOOTS, an old acquaintance of Vitti's, enters with a
couple of his cronies.
49.
JOEY BOOTS
Paul, I heard you were out.
VITTI
Hey, Joey.
JOEY BOOTS
All dressed up for dinner, huh?
VITTI
Yeah.
The Maitre D' crosses away and waves at Vitti.
MAITRE D'
Paul, that table for six is ready.
You can send them back.
JOEY BOOTS
You're working here?
VITTI
(dying)
Nah -- not really. It's like -- I'm
on parole, so I just -- I come in, I
greet people.
Joey and his friends nod condescendingly.
JOEY BOOTS
Okay. I get it. Nice seein' you,
Paul. Don't want to hold you up. You
got people to seat.
Joey and his guys walk away, they turn back and glance at
Vitti, then whisper something in audible to each other
and laugh.
Vitti burns, humiliated.
CUT TO:
FLASH PHOTO
Vitti poses for a picture with some notables.
CUT TO:
ANOTHER PHOTO
Vitti with some Broadway actors.
CUT TO:
ANOTHER PH0TO
50.
Vitti poses grimly with a BUSINESSMAN and his friends.
BUSINESSMAN
Thanks, Paul. Appreciate it.
Vitti moves to leave.
BUSINESSMAN
Hey, could you get us a big bottle of
Pellegrino and another round of
drinks?
He slips Vitti a couple of bills. Vitti stares at the money
in his hand.
BUSINESSMAN
And more bread when you get a chance.
VITTI
You want more bread?
He takes a small loaf from the breadbasket on the next table,
stuffs it into the Businessman's mouth and walks off.
VITTI
I'll get your drinks now.
CUT TO:
INT. IMPERIAL DIAMONDS - DAY
Two Hassidim are in the back of a 47th Street jewelry store,
sorting through a huge pile of diamonds.
Behind the display counter, Vitti stares at the diamonds,
breathing hard, starting to perspire. His customers, a
thirty-ish YOUNG MAN and his FIANCEE, study the diamond
engagement ring on her finger.
YOUNG MAN
This stone is supposed to be a 'G'
color, but it looks kind of yellow,
doesn't it?
VITTI
(distracted)
Fluorescent light. Makes everything
look yellow.
He starts instinctively casing the store.
QUICK CUT TO:
ARMED SECURITY GUARD
BACK TO FIANCEE
51.
FIANCEE
I thought fluorescent light makes
everything look blue?
CUT TO:
FANTASY - SECURITY GUARD
bound and gagged.
END FANTASY.
BACK TO VITTI
VITTI
(sweating)
What am I -- Edison? I'm telling you,
it's a 'G.'
He glances at the surveillance cameras.
YOUNG MAN
Can I look at it with a lens?
CUT TO:
FANTASY - SPRAY-PAINTING
the camera lens and clipping the alarm wires.
END FANTASY.
BACK TO VITTI
VITTI
(completely distracted)
What?
FIANCEE
A lens. Do you have a lens?
CUT TO:
FANTASY - SAFE
in the back as it BLOWS UP.
END FANTASY.
OWNER
Ben's cousin, approaches Vitti who is now
hyperventilating.
52.
OWNER
Are you all right?
VITTI
I'm gonna do us both a big favor. I
quit.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. CAR DEALERSHIP - DAY
The MacInernys are trembling.
VITTI
You want to see the manager?
(grabs his crotch)
Here's the manager. Now take a hike,
you fuckin' deadbeats.
The MacInernys rush out of the showroom.
VITTI
(calls after them)
Get a Hyundai!
CUT TO:
DREAM SEQUENCE - INT. BEN'S OFFICE - NIGHT
Vitti is on the sofa. He's wearing a shiny, silk, short-
sleeved shirt with the sleeves turned up, tight, black chino
pants and short, black, pointy-toed boots. His hair is oiled
and coifed like early Frankie Avalon.
VITTI
(distraught)
I can't deal with this shit. My
grades suck, I'm gettin' in fights
every day, and if I get suspended
again my mother's gonna fuckin' kill
me -- if the nuns don't kill me first.
BEN
is listening to Vitti, but dressed as Sigmund Freud.
BEN
(nodding)
Eins, zwei, drei!
VITTI
What?
VITTI'S MOTHER is sitting next to him.
53.
VITTI'S MOTHER
(elbows him)
Sit up straight! Pay attention when
the doctor talks to you. This is
costing money.
Ben (Freud) has a large TAXI METER TICKING away beside him.
VITTI
Ma? What are you doin' here?
BEN (FREUD)
(snorts some cocaine)
Acht gemacht gehunden nicht.
VITTI'S MOTHER
I tell him the same thing.
Suddenly, the WINDOWS are SHATTERED by GUNFIRE.
DOOR
BLASTS open, flying off the hinges. Jelly enters, pushed
into the room by a gang of thugs, led by Patty LoPresti,
Eddie DeVol and his guys, all at least ten-feet-tall and all
holding huge guns.
VITTI
leaps to his feet and reaches for his gun, but instead pulls
out a long sword. Confused but desperate, he holds up the
sword to menace the intruders, but the sword suddenly goes
limp. He tries to make the blade stand up, but it just keeps
dropping like a piece of soft rope.
Patty, Eddie, and the thugs laugh contemptuously at Vitti,
while Jelly looks on with an incredible stream of tears
pouring from his eyes.
END DREAM SEQUENCE.
CUT TO:
INT. GUEST ROOM - NEXT DAY
Vitti is back in bed in his robe, still asleep. The door
opens and Laura enters with an interior decorator who has
fabric samples over her arm.
LAURA
Now in here, I thought we'd get rid of
the wallpaper and maybe put in some
wainscoting --
She sees Vitti and quickly steers the decorator back outside.
54.
LAURA
(to decorator)
Don't look, don't look.
She comes back in, closes the bedroom door and confronts
Vitti who is still groggy from his troubling dream.
LAURA
Do you realize it's almost noon?
VITTI
Really? Do me a favor, honey -- make
me a sandwich.
LAURA
You want a sandwich? Make it
yourself. I'm not afraid of you, Mr.
Oh-I'm-A-Great-Big-Mobster Man. I
want you out of my house.
LAURA (CONT'D)
I've had it with the bathrobe and the
skulking around and the girlfriend
who, I'm sorry, is so obviously faking
it's not even funny. Enough!
VITTI
Coulda had that sandwich made by now.
LAURA
(tries new tack)
Okay. You don't like me and I don't
like you. We can at least agree on
that, right?
VITTI
Okay.
LAURA
I'm going to be honest with you -- I'm
a very anxious person --
VITTI
Hey! Me, too.
LAURA
We have so much in common. Anyway,
this is not helping me, it's not
helping my marriage, and I know Ben
really needs some alone time. So I'm
asking you -- as a human being --
could you please leave?
(off Vitti's look)
Yes, I'll make you a sandwich.
55.
VITTI
Ham, cheese, lettuce, tomato,
mayonnaise, no onion.
CUT TO:
EXT. SOBEL FRONT PORCH - LATER
Jelly comes out the front door with Vitti's suitcases as Ben
pulls into the driveway. He gets out of the car holding a
small bag from the drugstore and sees Vitti coming out the
front door. Ben stops him on the porch.
BEN
(concerned)
Where are you going?
VITTI
Where am I going? The orphanage found
my real parents. They want me back.
(to Jelly)
Put those in the car.
(to Ben)
I'm goin' to Jelly's.
Jelly carries the luggage to his car parked in the driveway.
BEN
(to Vitti)
The hell you are. You're supposed to
be in my custody. We have therapy
today.
VITTI
For what? The more we talk the worse
I get. I had that dream again.
BEN
The one where you're Mussolini?
VITTI
No, the other one.
BEN
The limp sword dream?
JELLY
(at car)
I probably shouldn't be listening to
this.
VITTI
So don't!
JELLY
Sorry.
56.
BEN
(to Vitti)
Do you think this dream might be
sexual?
VITTI
I know what you're thinkin'. The
sword is my cock and I can't get it
up, but that ain't it. I saw Sheila
last night and I had a hard-on you
could swing from.
BEN
(winces)
I don't want to know that.
VITTI
You coulda hung wet towels on it.
JELLY
(calls out)
He's like a racehorse in that area.
BEN
Okay! I get it.
VITTI
(to Jelly)
Wait in the car!
(to Ben)
So what does it mean?
Ben sits on the wicker divan.
BEN
Sex can represent a lot of things. In
your case I think it's about
performance anxiety. Trying to find a
job that fits.
VITTI
Doc -- nothing's gonna fit. That
nine-to-five bullshit -- I'll fuckin'
kill myself if I have to do that for
the rest of my life. You know they
take taxes out of your check? What
the fuck is that? I'm doomed. I'm
gonna end up selling hot dogs on the
street.
(starts breathing hard
and sweating)
Look at me. I'm havin' a fuckin'
panic attack here. My heart's beatin'
like a rabbit.
BEN
You're hyperventilating.
57.
He empties the drugstore bag and hands it to Vitti.
BEN
Breathe into this.
Vitti sits on a wicker chair.
VITTI
(speaks through bag)
This is your fault.
BEN
Excuse me?
VITTI
Tellin' me I have to get a job like
I'm some fuckin' nobody. It was
humiliating! Thanks a lot.
BEN
(jumps up, in a
total rage)
Hey, I'm doing the best I can! If you
can't appreciate that, or if my best
isn't good enough for you, then maybe
you should find somebody else to talk
to, you selfish prick!
Ben breaks down and cries what amounts to one racking sob,
then quickly pulls himself together.
BEN
Sorry.
VITTI
What the hell was that?
BEN
I'm fine. I'm grieving. It's a
process.
Ben takes a pill bottle out of his pocket and pops a couple
of pills.
VITTI
Now what are you takin'?
BEN
Echinacea and goldenseal. Do you know
the TV show 'Little Caesar'?
VITTI
Yeah, I know it.
BEN
The producer of that show is a man
58.
named Raoul Berman. A mutual friend
told him I knew you and Mr. Berman
called me this morning. He wants to
meet you.
VITTI
For what?
BEN
Meet him and find out.
CUT TO:
EXT. NOGO RESTAURANT - NIGHT
Ben and Laura walk up to a trendy Japanese restaurant in
Chelsea. Ben is really keyed up.
LAURA
We finally got him out of the house --
why are we having dinner with him? I
mean, how professional is that?
BEN
This is not social. Paul's meeting a
television producer who might have a
job for him. He's nervous and wants
me here as a buffer. I'm a buffer,
that's all.
LAURA
He's a grown man. I don't see why he
needs a chaperone.
BEN
He doesn't. He needs a buffer. I'm
here in buffer capacity only.
LAURA
Ben, if you say 'buffer' one more time
--
Ben pops a couple of pills.
LAURA
Didn't you just take two of those?
BEN
No, that was something else.
LAURA
Well, you better not drink anything.
You know what happens.
BEN
Laura? I'm a doctor? I think I know
what I'm doing.
59.
Ben opens the door and motions for Laura to enter.
BEN
(quietly, behind
her back)
Buffer.
CUT TO:
INT. FBI CAR - SAME TIME
Cerrone and Miller watch the front of the restaurant.
MILLER
(into radio)
They're all inside. We're going to
get something to eat. We'll be back
before they finish dinner.
They drive off.
CUT TO:
INT. NOGO RESTAURANT - LATER
Seated at a table are Ben and Laura, Vitti and Sheila, Jelly,
and the producer RAOUL BERMAN and his uptight, downtown
GIRLFRIEND. Jelly inspects a piece of raw octopus, while
Raoul gushes over a platter of sushi and sashimi.
RAOUL
I adore this place. Best sushi in
town. Have you tried the yellowtail,
Paul?
Raoul picks up a floppy piece of raw fish with his
chopsticks.
VITTI
(makes a face)
No. We gettin' any real food? This
is like eatin' fuckin' bait.
Raoul chuckles and glances uncomfortably at his girlfriend.
Ben laughs loudly to cover the awkward moment. He's
suffering from some reaction between the pills and the booze
and he's oddly thick-lipped.
BEN
Bait! That's funny. Honey, did you
hear what Paul just said? He said
this is like eating bait.
LAURA
(not amused)
I heard him. And I think it was
'effing bait.'
60.
VITTI
Why you talkin' like that?
BEN
Like what?
VITTI
Like a fuckin' retard.
BEN
(pointing to his
lower lip)
Oh -- this? I took a couple ibuprofen
before we got here -- I shouldn't have
had the saki. I'll be fine. It only
lasts a couple hours.
(to Raoul)
Rah-oo. Row. Rowl. I guess you need
both lips for that name. You know
what I love about Paul? He
was born without a filter. He
says exactly what he's thinking --
just lays it right out there. He
doesn't edit himself.
VITTI
(quietly)
You wanna shut the fuck up?
BEN
See? He just told me to shut the fuck
up. No filter. I love that.
(to Raoul)
Isn't he great?
LAURA
(aside to Ben)
Too much buffering. Way too much.
RAOUL
(eyeing Ben oddly)
Yes. Paul, I'm such a huge fan of
yours -- not a fan, but you know, an
admirer.
VITTI
Don't admire me too much.
RAOUL
Is there any chance you might be
interested in working on 'Little
Caesar' as a consultant? Give us
technical advice, coach the actors,
make sure the dialogue rings true --
61.
BEN
Wow. That would be incredible. Did
you hear that, Paul? Raoul wants to
know if you'd be interested in working
on his show as a consultant. You
know, give technical advice, coach the
actors --
VITTI
(quietly to Ben)
In two seconds I'm gonna put a fork in
your eye.
BEN
(suddenly cowed)
Got it.
RAOUL
So what do you think, Paul?
VITTI
Yeah, sure, whatever.
RAOUL
Fantastic!
SHEILA
This is so exciting. Mr. Berman, I
love your show. Anthony Bella, the
guy who plays Nicky Caesar -- I think
he grew up in Bensonhurst next door to
my cousin's friend's husband.
VITTI
That's her claim to fame.
(to Sheila)
I hate to bust your bubble, but he's
not from Bensonhurst. He's a
professional Italian. He grew up in
Connecticut or something like that.
SHEILA
Well, wherever he's from, I think he's
a wonderful actor.
JELLY
Yeah, I bet he gets a lot of pussy.
Laura chokes on her drink.
VITTI
What's the matter with you? We got
women at the table.
JELLY
You said 'fuckin'.'
62.
VITTI
That's different. It's colorful.
BEN
Hey, speaking of colorful -- this
peacock walks into a bar --
LAURA
Oh, my god.
(to a passing waiter,
rising her half-empty
drink)
Could I get another one, please?
BEN
And one for me.
LAURA
No. No more for the Buffer.
She glares at Ben as the table descends into silence.
VITTI
(tries a desperate save)
So. I see in the paper where
Oklahoma! might win the Tony award.
Vitti's eyes suddenly go wide.
VITTI
(shouts)
Down!!!
He grabs Sheila and pulls her down as GUNFIRE rakes the wall
behind them. Everybody else at the table hits the floor.
Other diners scream in terror. Jelly pulls a GUN and SHOOTS
back.
A LONE GUNMAN
runs from the restaurant. After a long beat, the frightened
patrons start to get up and chatter nervously.
BEN'S TABLE
Nobody's hurt. Vitti helps Sheila to her feet.
BEN
(to Vitti)
What the hell was that?
VITTI
I think somebody's got it in for
Raoul.
63.
Raoul crawls up from behind the table.
RAOUL
(wide-eyed)
Holy fucking shit.
(grinning)
That was phenomenal!
CUT TO:
EXT. MIDTOWN STREET - LATER THAT NIGHT
Jelly stands in front of an apartment building parking
garage. A guy comes walking up the ramp toward him. As he
comes nearer, we see that the guy is the Gunman from the
restaurant.
JELLY
Hey, pal -- got a light?
The guy stops, pulls out a Zippo and lights it for Jelly.
GUNMAN
Where's your cigarette?
JELLY
I'm trying to cut down.
The Gunman recognizes Jelly and desperately reaches for the
gun in his pocket, but Jelly hauls off and whacks the guy
across the back of the head with a sap. As he slumps into
Jelly's arms, Vitti steps out of a doorway and Jelly drags
the gunman into the garage.
CUT TO:
INT. SOBEL HOUSE - SAME TIME
Ben and Laura are getting ready for bed.
LAURA
I don't know why you feel you have to
save this man.
BEN
It's my job. He needs me.
LAURA
So that automatically means you have
to help him? You're always doing this
-- putting other people's needs ahead
of your own, like you're this martyr
or saint or something. It's like
living with Mother Teresa.
64.
BEN
Actually, I hear she was tough to live
with. Lot of parties, loud music --
lepers.
LAURA
You don't need this in your
life -- especially not now. You
really need to be grieving for your
father.
BEN
I am.
LAURA
Really? I haven't seen it.
BEN
Well, you know, it's a process. I
mean, we had issues -- there's some
anger -- but I'll work it out.
Laura goes to Ben and embraces him.
LAURA
It's okay, honey. You can let it go.
Ben almost starts to break, but he holds it back.
BEN
No, I'm -- it's okay.
Ben sits heavily on the bed.
BEN
It's just a confusing time. I became
a therapist because he was a
therapist, so obviously his approval
was very important to me. But is that
the only reason I did it? I don't
know. And now that he's gone, why do
I keep doing it? Is this what I
really want?
She sits next to him and takes his hand.
LAURA
I just want you to be happy.
She kisses him.
BEN
Maybe you're right.
(kisses her)
Maybe it's time I started focusing on
me, and, you know, satisfying some of
65.
my desires.
He looks at her expectantly.
LAURA
(apologetic)
Oh, honey, I just brushed my teeth.
BEN
No, that's not what I meant. I just
need --
(at a loss)
I don't know what.
She puts her arms around him and holds him.
CUT TO:
EXT. ROOFTOP - LATER THAT NIGHT
Vitti and Jelly stand with the Gunman on the roof of the
parking garage, four stories above the ground. The guy's
arms are bound. Jelly ties a rope around his ankles.
VITTI
I'm gonna ask you once nicely. Who
you working for?
GUNMAN
Fuck you.
VITTI
Fuck me? Fine. Jelly?
Jelly shoves the guy to the parapet at the edge of the roof,
grabs him by the legs and hangs him over the side of the
building. The guy screams.
VITTI
I'll ask you again. Who you working
for?
The guy keeps screaming.
JELLY
He's screamin' too loud. Hold on a
second.
Jelly swings the guy against the building, hitting his head
and dazing him momentarily.
JELLY
Go ahead.
VITTI
Who are you working for?
66.
GUNMAN
Nobody!
VITTI
Drop him, Jelly.
GUNMAN
Okay! Okay! Rigazzi! I'm working
for Rigazzi!
VITTI
Pull him back up.
Jelly drops the guy.
The Gunman plunges three stories and lands heavily in a
dumpster full of garbage.
VITTI
What's the matter with you?
JELLY
You said drop him.
VITTI
I said pull him back up.
JELLY
That's not what I heard.
VITTI
You heard what you wanted to hear.
JELLY
Okay, you got me there.
CUT TO:
EXT. RIGAZZI PLUMBING AND HEATING - NEXT MORNING
A "family" business in Jersey.
CUT TO:
INT. BACK ROOM - NEXT MORNING
The light from outside barely penetrates the painted windows
of the shabby office.
LOU RIGAZZI, aka "Lou the Wrench," the aging boss of the
Rigazzi family, sits in the half-light as a couple of his
soldiers enter with the battered and hobbling Gunman between
them.
RIGAZZI
What the hell happened to you?
67.
GUNMAN
Vitti threw me off a roof.
RIGAZZI
Vitti? You talked to Vitti? What did
you say to him?
GUNMAN
Nothing. I didn't tell him anything.
Mr. Rigazzi, can I
go -- I think my leg's broken.
RIGAZZI
That must hurt.
Rigazzi pulls out a GUN with a silencer and SHOOTS the
Gunman.
RIGAZZI
I hate to see people in pain.
(to soldiers)
Get him out of here.
SOLDIER
What about Vitti?
RIGAZZI
(musing)
He's a hard man to kill. But he's not
immortal. Our time will come.
CUT TO:
EXT. BACK-YARD SWIMMING POOL - DAY
A big, family barbecue is going on in a back yard in Queens.
Several children are splashing in an over-sized, above-ground
swimming pool. Oddly, the children appear to be shouting and
laughing but make no sound.
At the barbecue, Nicky Caesar is watching his friend MELLO
turn Italian sausage on the grill.
CAESAR
I like mine burnt.
MELLO
I don't know how you like your
sausage? Twenty fuckin' years we been
doin' this. So you got the money?
The wind shifts and blows the smoke from the barbecue in
their faces.
68.
CAESAR
(coughing, eyes
watering)
Not all of it. I'm still light about
fifteen large.
(blinded by smoke)
Can we cut? This is ridiculous.
RAOUL (O.S.)
(shouts)
Cut! Can you do something about the
fucking smoke?
We PULL BACK to reveal the set of "Little Caesar." Assistant
directors and production assistants echo the director:
"We're cut!" "Reset!" "Effects!"
Vitti observes the action sitting in a director's chair,
still brooding over the previous night's events. Raoul sits
next to him.
RAOUL
(to Vitti)
This is the problem with shooting on
location. But it's worth it for the
authenticity.
VITTI
Yeah, this is real authentic.
RAOUL
(calls out)
Tony! Come here a second.
(to Vitti)
Anthony Bella. He plays Nicky Caesar.
VITTI
I know who he is. They used to watch
the show up at Sing Sing.
RAOUL
(delighted)
Are you shitting me?
ANTHONY BELLA joins them.
RAOUL
Tony, this is Paul Vitti.
TONY BELLA
(Australian accent)
You don't have to tell me who he is.
(shakes Paul's hand)
It's a pleasure, mate.
69.
VITTI
(reacting to accent)
Mate? I don't believe this! You're
an English guy? You ain't even
Italian.
TONY BELLA
Australian-Italian. We got some
paisans down under.
VITTI
Down under what?
RAOUL
(to Tony Bella)
How incredible is this? Paul tells me
they watch the show in Sing Sing!
TONY BELLA
Fantastic! That's so fuckin' great.
VITTI
I wouldn't wet my pants over it. They
watch 'Supermarket Sweep,' too.
Raoul laughs hard.
VITTI
You laugh too much.
TONY BELLA
So, Paul, you going to join us?
Vitti looks around, his future plans now beginning to form.
VITTI
Yeah. You got a good setup here.
TONY BELLA
Great. See you later then.
He exits. Vitti turns to Raoul.
VITTI
Coupla things, though. I don't know
who makes these decisions, but some of
this, it don't look right.
RAOUL
(concerned)
I sensed it myself. Which elements
strike you as wrong?
VITTI
The people mainly. I mean, you got a
boss who speaks Australian. What the
fuck is that? And I'm guessing your
70.
background is -- what?
RAOUL
The theater, mostly.
VITTI
Yeah, the theater. So how about if I
bring in some guys that I know -- you
know, more 'authentic.'
RAOUL
I would be eternally grateful.
Anything else?
VITTI
(thinks)
Yeah. One of those trailers like the
stars have.
RAOUL
(slight hesitation)
Done.
(shakes his hand)
I'll put that in the works right now.
He hurries off to talk to his assistant. Jelly comes up to
Vitti.
JELLY
You really gonna do this?
VITTI
No fuckin' way. I've had it with this
job bullshit. A week of this and I'd
either shoot myself or shoot Raoul.
But it's good cover while I figure out
my next move. Call the guys.
JELLY
You got it.
CUT TO:
MONTAGE
Jelly and Vitti's old crew, MO-MO, BIGS, TUNA, EDDIE COKES,
and eight or nine other wiseguys walk en masse into base
camp.
Vitti's guys go to the front of the lunch line, forcing the
crew aside.
A big, pop-out trailer labeled "Mr. Vitti," guarded by three
of his guys. Tuna brings a lunch tray and knocks on the
door. Jelly opens the door and takes the tray.
Vitti conferring with Raoul and Tony Bella on the script,
71.
ripping out whole sections.
Vitti in the makeup trailer getting a haircut and manicure
while he smokes a cigar and talks on his cell phone.
Vitti with the costumer, approving and nixing various
wardrobe choices, while Jelly steals an expensive watch in
the b.g.
Vitti in a massage chair getting a backrub from a masseuse.
A PRODUCTION ASSISTANT approaches him.
P.A. (PRODUCTION ASSISTANT)
They're ready to start shooting, Mr.
Vitti.
VITTI
Yeah, ten minutes, tell 'em.
Eddie Devol, Patty LoPresti's guy, watches Vitti from a safe
distance.
CUT TO:
EXT. SHOPPING MALL - DAY
Ben comes out of the market carrying several grocery bags and
a small prescription bag. Two Mafia SOLDIERS step up beside
him and urge him toward a big stretch LIMO IDLING at the
curb.
SOLDIER
Walk this way.
BEN
There must be some mistake. I didn't
order a limo.
SOLDIER
Get in the car.
CUT TO:
INT. KNIGHTS OF PALERMO - LATER
Ben enters timorously, still carrying his groceries.
Patty LoPresti, Masiello and a couple of other heavyweights
are sitting at the table, all except Patti smoking cigars.
Ben immediately recognizes their status and grasps the
gravity of their mood.
BEN
(nervous, but trying
to keep it light)
Hello. I'm Ben Sobel. And you are --
?
72.
The Soldier sits Ben down. The other soldier takes his
groceries. Ben looks at Patty, trying to gauge her role.
MASIELLO
You're the shrink who's taking care of
Paul Vitti?
BEN
Yes, sir. That's right.
(to guy with
groceries)
Could you be careful, because I think
they put the eggs on the bottom.
He drops the bags heavily onto the bar.
MASIELLO
So? Is he nuts or what?
BEN
Who?
MASIELLO
Paulie. Is he nuts?
BEN
I can't discuss a patient's case with
anyone --
MASIELLO
Discuss it.
BEN
I'd say he's still suffering from
chronic anxiety and --
He hesitates.
MASIELLO
And what.
BEN
We call it Antisocial Personality
Disorder. Sociopathy.
MASIELLO
Meaning what?
BEN
(very carefully)
Meaning -- he -- fails to conform to
societal norms with respect to --
lawful behavior.
MASIELLO
I'm getting a fuckin' headache here.
73.
What are you saying?
BEN
He's got a -- criminal temperament.
MASIELLO
(stares at him)
He's a criminal? This is news? And
for that you need a doctor
degree? So what are you doin' with
him?
BEN
Well, I'm trying to at least show him
the possibility of change --
PATTY
Wrong. You do not want him to change.
Ben looks at her, sensing her command of the group.
BEN
We haven't really been
introduced --
MASIELLO
This is Mrs. LoPresti.
PATTY
Patty.
BEN
Ben Sobel.
Ben offers his hand but she ignores it.
PATTY
Ben, Paul Vitti is important to this
family. We don't want to see you turn
him into a stromboni.
BEN
A stromboni? That thing they clean
the ice with at hockey games?
MASIELLO
That's a Zamboni, asshole. Stromboni.
PATTY
It's a bull with his balls cut off.
She reaches under the table and grabs Ben's balls. He winces
in pain.
BEN
(squeezed)
No, we don't want to do that.
74.
PATTY
Not unless you want to be one, too.
BEN
(in pain)
Me? No. I'm very attached to my
balls. As you can probably tell.
PATTY
(lets go)
Then do the right thing, understand?
BEN
(greatly relieved)
Yes, I understand completely. May I
go now? I have perishables --
He takes his groceries and edges away.
CUT TO:
INT. "LITTLE CAESAR" SET - DAY
Vitti is sitting at a table with Jelly and some of his main
guys. From a distance it looks like they're playing cards.
Up close it's a different story.
VITTI
We're gonna need a grapple or a crane
with maybe a fifty-foot boom.
MO-MO
I seen one -- in Bayonne -- but I'll
call around.
VITTI
See what you can come up with. And
we're gonna need a city bus.
JELLY
I got a guy in the Transit Authority.
He owes me. Just let me know when.
PATTY (O.S.)
Paul! Hello!
Vitti turns to see Patty, Eddie Devol and his men heading
across the set.
PATTY
I guess everybody's gone Hollywood,
huh?
VITTI
How you doin', Patty.
75.
PATTY
Jelly -- you're working here, too?
JELLY
I'm an extra.
PATTY
An extra what?
JELLY
A supernumerary. An 'atmosphere.' It
ain't bad. You just stand around all
day waitin' for them to shoot and they
pay you eighty bucks.
PATTY
Eighty bucks? For standin' around all
day? You used to sneeze eighty bucks.
How much you make shootin' craps?
JELLY
Today? About eight hundred maybe.
PATTY
And how about bookin' bets for the
Teamsters and the crew?
JELLY
Another grand. One of the producers
really likes the ponies.
PATTY
So eighteen hundred bucks.
JELLY
Plus eighty --
PATTY
I know -- extra.
They all laugh.
An ASSISTANT DIRECTOR approaches the group.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
This is a closed set. We're about to
start shooting.
EDDIE
Yeah? So am I.
Eddie grabs the Assistant Director and walks him away.
CUT TO:
EXT. "LITTLE CAESAR" BASE CAMP - SAME TIME
76.
The trucks and trailers are arranged on a parking lot. A car
pulls up and Lou Rigazzi gets out with his bodyguards.
DRIVER
Should I wait here, Mr. Rigazzi?
RIGAZZI
No, pull the car up your ass and wait
there.
CUT TO:
EXT. SET - SAME TIME
Patty takes Vitti's arm and walks with him.
PATTY
I heard you had some more trouble.
VITTI
One of Rigazzi's guys took a shot at
me.
She stops at the extras' makeup table and starts primping in
the mirror.
PATTY
I don't have to tell you, Paul. Alone
on the street you don't stand a
chance. That's what the family's all
about. Since the old days, when the
grandfathers first came over. That's
not something you just walk away from.
VITTI
Yeah, I know. When you're a Jet,
you're a Jet all the way.
PATTY
So you want to tell me what's going on
here? It looks like you got your
whole crew back together.
VITTI
Nothing's going on. They're actors.
PATTY
Don't bullshit me, Paul. You're
planning something. I'm feeling very
left out.
VITTI
(quietly)
Okay. Something big is going down,
but you're getting a cut. My hand to
God.
77.
PATTY
You're a good friend, Paul. And I
would never think of insisting on
this, but I'd feel better if you
brought in Eddie and some of my guys
to help with the job.
VITTI
I don't think so.
PATTY
Then I'll have to insist.
VITTI
Whatever.
Raoul approaches and eyes Patty disdainfully.
RAOUL
Oh, dear God. First of all,
sweetheart, we're not shooting the
hooker scene until tomorrow. And the
hair -- please, what is that?
PATTY
Excuse me?
VITTI
Raoul, this is a friend of mine.
Patty LoPresti.
Raoul freezes, recognizing the name.
RAOUL
Mrs. LoPresti -- I am so very, very
Raoul wheels on a production assistant who happens to be
passing by.
RAOUL
How dare you not inform me Mrs.
LoPresti was on the set. You're
fired!
(to Patty)
Enjoy your visit with us. If there's
anything I can do --
PATTY
Go fuck yourself.
RAOUL
Immediately.
Raoul moves away quickly. Patty turns back to Vitti.
PATTY
It's good to have you back, Paul.
78.
(kisses Vitti on
the cheek)
We'll be in touch.
She exits.
CUT TO:
EXT. PARKING LOT - MOMENTS LATER
As Patty and her men walk away down one aisle of trucks and
campers, Rigazzi and his men walk down the next aisle heading
for the set.
They narrowly miss seeing each other.
CUT TO:
EXT. BASE CAMP - MOMENTS LATER
Ben arrives looking for Vitti. He sees Patty approaching and
freezes, then quickly ducks behind a nearby truck, shielding
his crotch. Patty and her men pass by. Ben waits until they
pass, then comes out of hiding and hurries on.
CUT TO:
EXT. BACK-YARD SET - SAME TIME
A mildly-distraught Raoul is huddled with Vitti.
RAOUL
I mean, tell me -- was she angry? Am
I in any danger?
VITTI
No, you're fine. But you might want
to have somebody else start your car
the next couple of weeks.
RAOUL
I'll have Brian do it. He's new.
Rigazzi and his men join them.
RIGAZZI
(to Vitti)
Could I talk to you for a second?
RAOUL
(eyeing Rigazzi)
Oh, what is this now, the bus and
truck tour of Guys and Dolls?
VITTI
This is Lou Rigazzi.
79.
Raoul freezes.
RAOUL
(a horrified whisper)
'The Wrench.'
RAOUL (CONT'D)
(taking Rigazzi's
hand)
Please, forgive me. I'm on
painkillers -- half the time I don't
know what I'm saying.
Raoul kisses Rigazzi's hand. Rigazzi yanks it away.
RIGAZZI
Get lost.
RAOUL
Certainly.
(as he exits)
Brian! Get my car!
RIGAZZI
(to Vitti)
I need a couple minutes.
VITTI
(nodding)
This way.
CUT TO:
EXT. CRAFT SERVICES TABLE - MOMENTS LATER
Vitti and Rigazzi stand at the table. Rigazzi's soldiers are
nearby.
RIGAZZI
The guy who shot at you -- he was
acting on his own. I never gave an
order.
VITTI
Is that right?
RIGAZZI
And he's been taken care of. There
won't be another incident. Unless
you're thinkin' of workin' for Patty
LoPresti.
VITTI
Me? No.
RIGAZZI
Good. Then I got no beef with you.
80.
VITTI
Thanks. I'll sleep much better.
RIGAZZI
Because that would not be the way to
go. You want to back a winner, which
is gonna be me. It only makes sense.
You come work for us. I'll treat you
right.
VITTI
I don't think so.
RIGAZZI
(a beat)
Well, so much for sleeping better.
Rigazzi smiles and pats Vitti's cheek, then exits with his
soldiers.
CUT TO:
INT. EXTRAS HOLDING TENT - SAME TIME
Ben walks in and sees Vitti's guys sitting around.
JELLY
Hey, Dr. Sobel?
BEN
Jelly, hi.
(recognizing some
of the others)
Hey! Yo-Yo!
JELLY
It's Mo-Mo.
BEN
Right. I was thinking of the cellist.
How's it going?
MO-MO
Goin' good. I did a 'Law and Order'
last week, I had a line on 'Sex and
the City' --
TUNA
I'm up for a recurring on 'NYPD Blue.'
BEN
That's great. Have you seen Paul?
JELLY
Yeah, I think he's in his camper.
81.
BEN
His camper.
CUT TO:
INT. VITTI'S TRAILER - MOMENTS LATER
There's a loud KNOCK on the door and Ben storms in.
VITTI
(surprised to see him)
Hey, Doc. What are you doing here?
BEN
No, what are you doing here? I came
to tell you we have a preliminary
meeting with your parole officer and
who do I run into? Patty LoPresti.
VITTI
Patty who?
BEN
What is this -- a knock-knock joke?
Patty-who-kidnapped-me-and-threatened-
to-cut-off-my-balls. Stop lying to
me, Paul. Your whole gang is here.
VITTI
Who says I'm lying? I finally get a
straight job and start putting my life
in order and you come in here and
start accusing me! That's how much
you trust me?
BEN
(off balance)
It's not that I don't trust you, I
just don't -- trust you. Are you
lying to me? Because I know you,
Paul. You'll say or do anything to
get your own way.
VITTI
This is what's so hard about being an
ex-con. You make one little mistake
in your life and people never let you
forget it.
BEN
Oh, so now you're the victim? I want
the truth.
VITTI
Wait a second. Say that again.
82.
BEN
Say what?
VITTI
'I want the truth.' Say it -- like
you did just now.
BEN
I want the truth?
VITTI
No, strong, like before.
BEN
(forceful)
I want the truth!
VITTI
Yeah, that's good!
BEN
Paul --
VITTI
No, I'm serious. That had power. I
believed it. You could be an actor.
BEN
I'm not an actor --
VITTI
Hey, you're as good as most of the
bums I see around here. They have
this part. You could do it.
BEN
Actually, I did The Music Man in tenth
grade.
VITTI
Of course. I'm gonna talk to Raoul.
BEN
About being on the show? I couldn't -
-
VITTI
No, this part you could do. It's
perfect. Believe me.
CUT TO:
EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING - DAY (LATER)
The camera rolls.
83.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
We're rolling.
SOUNDMAN
Sound speed.
RAOUL
(shouts)
Action!
ON ROOFTOP
Jelly and Tony Bella drag Ben kicking and screaming to the
edge of the roof and hang him over the edge.
On the ground, Raoul and Vitti look up, watching the action.
RAOUL
(doubtful)
Does that screaming sound real to you?
VITTI
Oh, yeah. That sounds real.
CUT TO:
INT. BEN'S CAR - LATER
Ben drives, pissed off. Vitti chuckles to himself.
BEN
It's not funny! There was no safety
harness or anything. They could have
dropped me.
VITTI
Hey, if you didn't want to do it, why
didn't you say something?
BEN
I know exactly what that was about.
You resent the fact that you've been
put in my custody, so you passive-
aggressively arranged things to make
me look like a fool.
VITTI
Come on -- you were great.
BEN
(turning on a dime)
Really? I was scared at first, but on
the second take, I think I found some
good stuff. I was able to texture the
screaming --
84.
Vitti is laughing.
BEN
Oh, screw you, Paul. Just screw you.
He pops two pills.
VITTI
What, are you self-medicating again?
And don't give that decongestant
multi-vitamin bullshit.
BEN
Don't worry about me. Just worry
about what you're going to say to this
parole officer. What are you going to
say? That you've moved out of my
house. That you've got your old gang
back together. For what, a high
school drop-out reunion?
VITTI
I'm gonna say that's none of his
fuckin' business.
BEN
It's my business. I want to know.
I'm a federal institution.
VITTI
(checks side-
view mirror)
You recognize that car?
BEN
Which car?
VITTI
The one that's been following us the
last mile and a half.
Ben jerks his head around to look and sees a black Mercedes
behind him.
VITTI
Lose 'em.
BEN
What do you mean, 'lose 'em'?
Vitti stomps his foot down on Ben's, flooring the
accelerator.
CUT TO:
EXT. HOBOKEN STREET - CONTINUOUS ACTION
85.
Ben's car speeds up suddenly. The black Mercedes behind him
speeds up, too, as does a third car that has joined the
chase.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. BEN'S CAR - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Ben is on the edge of panic.
BEN
Maybe I should just pull over. It
could be the F.B.I.
VITTI
No, they're two cars back. You gotta
be a little more observant, Doc. Turn
left.
Ben executes a hard, SKIDDING left. The Benz stays right
with him.
BEN
What if we just stop and get out?
They're not going to shoot us in broad
daylight.
VITTI
Broad daylight's the best time. You
can see better. Take a right. Now!
EXT. HOBOKEN STREET - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Pedestrians scatter as Ben makes a sudden turn into a bank
drive-thru. He over-steers and wipes out an ATM machine,
sending up a cloud of bills that flutter down like confetti.
INT. CAR
BEN
Sorry!
MERCEDES
follows right behind him, then the bystanders run to pick up
the cash, blocking the drive-thru, forcing Miller in the FBI
car to stop.
CUT BACK TO:
EXT. HOBOKEN STREET - MOMENTS LATER
Two police officers are parked at the curb. They hear a HORN
HONKING, and turn just as Ben's car comes flying past them.
The cops start to pull out but stop short as the Benz blows
86.
by, swerving to avoid hitting them. The cops take off in hot
pursuit.
CUT TO:
INT. BEN'S CAR - CONTINUOUS ACTION
BEN
(frantic)
We can't do this, Paul! We have to
stop! This is a lease!
GUNFIRE SHATTERS the rear WINDOW of the car.
BEN
(shouting back at
the Mercedes)
It's a goddamn lease!
VITTI
(looks back)
Move over. I'll drive.
BEN
Move over? Where?
Vitti puts his left foot on the gas pedal and his left hand
on the wheel.
VITTI
Backseat. Now!
Ben tries to launch himself into the backseat but is stopped
by his seat belt.
BEN
Seat belt.
He releases the belt, then twists and crawls over the top of
the driver's seat into the back, while Vitti slides into the
driver's seat.
CUT TO:
EXT. PARKWAY - MOMENTS LATER
Ben's car races past an industrial area with the Mercedes
right on its tail.
CUT TO:
EXT. INDUSTRIAL PARK - MOMENTS LATER
Ben's car bounces over some railroad tracks and sails into a
warehouse complex on the river with the Mercedes still only a
few car lengths behind.
87.
CUT TO:
INT. BEN'S CAR - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Vitti drives down the narrow lane between two big warehouses.
VITTI
(determined)
Hang on.
BEN
It's gonna get worse?
CUT TO:
EXT. PARKING LOT - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Vitti rockets out from between buildings and races through a
parking lot toward the river with the Benz on his tail.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. BEN'S CAR - CONTINUOUS ACTION
BEN
They're right behind us!
(shouts at them)
Get away!
He starts whipping things out the shattered back window -- a
tennis racket, sneakers, an empty Macy's box.
CUT TO:
INSERT - TENNIS RACKET
is crushed under the Mercedes' wheels.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. BEN'S CAR - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Ben picks up the only thing left -- the New York Times. He
starts leafing through it.
VITTI
What the fuck are you doing?
BEN
I wanted to save the crossword.
VITTI
Throw it!
Bent throws the paper out the window.
88.
CUT TO:
BENZ DRIVER'S POV
The Times hits the windshield and one double-page sticks,
totally OBSCURING the driver's VIEW.
EXT. PARKING LOT - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Vitti throws a 180, SKIDDING to a stop just inches from the
river's edge. The Benz, with the newspaper covering the
windshield, sails past them and right off the embankment. It
seems to hang in the air for a long time, then lands with a
big splash and starts to sink almost immediately.
BEN AND VITTI
They jump out of the car and watch the Mercedes disappear
under the water.
BEN
(aghast)
You think they'll get out?
VITTI
Yeah, that's James Bond and the 'Sea
Hunt' guy in there, so they got a
pretty good shot.
They hear POLICE SIRENS APPROACHING. Vitti starts walking
away quickly. Ben follows after him.
BEN
Where're you going?
VITTI
I gotta take care of something.
BEN
But your parole officer --
VITTI
Send my regrets.
BEN
I'm warning you. If you leave now --
VITTI
So long, Doc.
Vitti takes off running, ducking behind the rows of parked
cars.
89.
BEN
(calling after him)
That's it! I'm finished! You're on
your own now, pal! I'm --
POLICE CARS and the FBI CAR SCREECH into the parking lot and
surround Ben.
BEN
(quietly)
-- screwed.
CUT TO:
EXT. RIVERBANK - LATER
Police divers search for the sunken Mercedes in the middle of
the channel.
On shore, Ben leans against a government car looking tired
and distraught while Chapin berates him.
CHAPIN
Where is he, Dr. Sobel?
BEN
I wish I knew.
CHAPIN
Well, considering that he's in your
custody, that's not quite the answer I
was looking for. He's got something
big in the works. You want to tell me
what you know?
BEN
I don't know anything. As far as I
can tell, he's making a real effort to
go straight.
CHAPIN
Yeah, that's why I've got two corpses
at the bottom of the river.
He reaches through the open car window into his briefcase and
pulls out a file of photographs.
CHAPIN
Here. Vitti with Sal Masiello. Vitti
with Patty LoPresti. Vitti with Lou
Rigazzi. Let me know -- I can order
some wallet size for you. I've got
more than enough to put him away again
without these. Violation of parole,
second-degree murder here. When I
really start digging, it'll be amazing
90.
what I come up with. You have twenty-
four hours to find him and deliver him
to me. Otherwise you're looking at
obstruction of justice, and accessory
to felony manslaughter. And trust me,
Dr. Sobel, if you don't like me now,
you really don't want to see me in
court.
BEN
I'm getting that. Can I go now?
He starts for his car.
CHAPIN
You can't take your car. We're
impounding it as evidence.
BEN
(exasperated)
Then can somebody give me a ride home?
CHAPIN
Yeah, the government runs a limousine
service. The number is 1-800-Fuck
Off.
Chapin walks away.
CUT TO:
INT. VITTI'S TRAILER - DAY
Vitti is hurriedly collecting his stuff, talking to Jelly and
a few of his old gang.
VITTI
I don't have a lot of time. They're
probably gonna come lookin' for me, so
we'll go over everything later, okay?
JELLY
Paul, not that I'm questioning, but
what do we want with Eddie DeVol?
Guy's a fuckin' scumbag.
VITTI
Look, I'm not happy about it, but if
it keeps Patty off my back, so be it.
They're meeting us at the club. Let's
head out.
(as they all get up)
Not all at once. I gotta tell you
everything?
A PRODUCTION ASSISTANT KNOCKS and sticks her head in the
door.
91.
P.A.
Mr. Vitti? Mr. Bella asked if you
could meet him in the makeup trailer.
VITTI
No, I gotta go.
P.A.
He said it was important.
VITTI
(annoyed)
I'll talk to him tomorrow.
He hands the P.A. some money.
VITTI
Here -- tell him you couldn't find me.
Vitti exits. The P.A. looks at the money.
CUT TO:
EXT. MAKEUP TRAILER - LATER
Vitti makes his way past the trailers, heading for his car.
As he passes the makeup trailer, the door opens and Tony
Bella sticks his head out.
TONY BELLA
Paul! Excellent!
VITTI
Can't really talk right now, mate.
Headin' out.
TONY BELLA
Two seconds. Please, Paul. It's
really important.
Vitti looks pissed.
CUT TO:
INT. MAKEUP TRAILER - MOMENTS LATER
Vitti watches impatiently while the makeup artist touches up
Tony Bella.
TONY BELLA
(script in hand)
I'm looking for something to do when
my character finds out he's being
indicted. I was thinking of punching
the wall, but I did that when they
killed Uncle Lenny, and I did it again
92.
when Franny left me. Oh, and I
punched a car, a van actually, when
Peezee screwed up the big drug deal.
So I'd like to find something
different, that doesn't involve, you
know, punching anything.
VITTI
Try kickin' something. Let me know
how it works out.
Vitti starts for the door.
TONY BELLA
Wait, Paul. That's interesting. Like
what?
VITTI
(impatient)
I don't know. You could kick a guy in
the face.
TONY BELLA
Who?
VITTI
(irritated)
Just some guy! You knock him down,
give him a couple quick kicks in the
head while he's on the ground.
TONY BELLA
Why?
VITTI
Why not? Because he's there and
you're pissed off.
TONY BELLA
You've done that?
VITTI
Maybe once or twice. Look, I got
people waiting.
TONY BELLA
(thinks about it,
decides not)
My character wouldn't do that. What
else?
VITTI
(at a loss, getting
angrier)
I don't know. You could yell real
loud?
93.
TONY BELLA
Yell real loud? That's original.
VITTI
(pops)
Or keep your fuckin' mouth shut! Who
gives a shit what you do, for cryin'
out loud?
Tony Bella likes something about Vitti's inflection.
TONY BELLA
(imitates him)
Who gives a shit what you do, for
cryin' out loud?
VITTI
What are you doin'?
TONY BELLA
What are you doin'?
VITTI
(irritated)
Okay, you can cut that shit out right
now.
TONY BELLA
Okay, you can cut that shit out right
now.
VITTI
(menacing)
Hey, I'm serious, asshole!
TONY BELLA
Hey, I'm serious, asshole!
CUT TO:
EXT. MAKEUP TRAILER - MOMENT LATER
The door flies open and Tony Bella comes flying out of the
trailer backwards, hitting the pavement hard. Vitti charges
out of the trailer and storms away. Tony wipes blood from
under his nose.
TONY BELLA
That was good. My character could do
that.
CUT TO:
EXT. SOBEL HOUSE - LATER
A cab pulls up to the house, and Ben gets out.
94.
He walks up the driveway and sees Jelly's car parked at the
back door and a big man in a dark suit and tie wiping the
windshield.
BEN
(irritated)
Jelly! Where's Paul?
The guy in the suit turns. It's Michael.
BEN
Michael? What are you doing?
MICHAEL
Working.
BEN
(pleasantly
surprised)
You got a job? That's great. Look
how handsome you look in that suit.
What's the job?
MICHAEL
(reluctantly)
I'm working for Mr. Vitti. I'm his
driver.
BEN
Oh, no, you're not!
MICHAEL
You keep telling me to get a job!
BEN
I meant making sandwiches at the
Subway, not driving a getaway car!
MICHAEL
He's paying me twenty dollars an hour.
BEN
I don't care if he pays you two
hundred an hour, you're not doing it.
MICHAEL
Dad --
BEN
He had no right to ask you without my
permission. Where is he?
MICHAEL
I can't tell you.
BEN
What do you mean you can't tell me?
95.
MICHAEL
I promised I'd never repeat anything I
heard in the car. I took an oath.
BEN
You took an oath! Oh, my God! Was
there blood involved?
MICHAEL
Dad, I gave my word.
Laura comes out of the house.
LAURA
Ben? Where've you been? What
happened to you?
BEN
(minimizing)
I was in a car chase. There was a
little shooting -- not that much
really -- then they -- drove into the
river. It wasn't as bad as it sounds.
LAURA
When is this going to end?
BEN
Tonight, I hope. I just have to find
him and --
LAURA
Why? A few days ago you weren't even
sure you still wanted to be a
therapist. Now you're going to risk
your life again for that lout.
BEN
Yeah, but he's an amazing lout, isn't
he? I can't quit now. You know that.
LAURA
(relents)
Go. Just don't get shot -- please?
BEN
I love you.
They kiss. Then Ben turns to Michael.
BEN
All right, where is he?
MICHAEL
I can't.
96.
LAURA
(pops)
You tell your father right now or I'll
give you such a smack it won't even be
funny!
MICHAEL
(surprised)
Okay! I dropped him at the club.
BEN
What club?
MICHAEL
Little Darling's in Queens.
BEN
Okay, Mafiaboy, give me your car keys.
MICHAEL
I'm grounded?
BEN
No, I'm borrowing your car.
He kisses Laura again and takes off.
CUT TO:
EXT. LITTLE DARLING'S - LATER THAT NIGHT
Several limos are parked outside a family-owned nightclub in
Queens.
Ben pulls up, leaning way back in the driver's seat of
Michael's, half-painted, modified '82 Honda Civic with the
BUBBLING MUFFLERS.
CUT TO:
INT. CIVIC - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Ben takes out a bottle of pills. He tries to remove the
child-safety cap but his hands are shaking so badly he can't
do it. Frustrated, he tries to bite the cap off, then gives
up and throws the bottle away.
CUT TO:
EXT. LITTLE DARLING'S - SAME TIME
Ben enters the club.
A moment later, Cerrone and Miller cruise by in an unmarked
car and park at the end of the block.
97.
CUT TO:
INT. CLUB ENTRANCE - MOMENT LATER
Ben enters the nightclub and starts moving through the crowd,
looking for Vitti.
He pushes through and sees Jelly and a few of the guys
watching an exotic dancer, a beautiful young blonde in a
skimpy costume, standing on a platform grinding in mock
ecstasy.
BEN
Jelly!
JELLY
(yelling over music)
Hey, Doc. What are you doin' here?
BEN
Where's Paul?
Jelly tucks a few bills into her G-string. She looks at Ben
and winks suggestively.
JELLY
I think she likes you, Doc. Give her
a couple of bucks.
Ben reluctantly digs in his pocket and holds out a bill to
the stripper.
BEN
Can you break a twenty?
The stripper sensuously fingers the top of her G-string, and
Ben gingerly sticks the twenty in it.
BEN
Do I just make my own change?
He tentatively reaches for some smaller bills in her G-string
but she dances away.
BEN
(calls to her)
A ten and five ones -- when you have
the chance.
He turns around to talk to Jelly, but he's already gone.
Ben finds Jelly at a table with Vitti.
BEN
Okay, Paul, what's going on?
98.
VITTI
(keyed up)
What are you doing here?
BEN
I could ask you the same thing.
VITTI
What's it look like? We're just
blowin' off a little steam. What's
the big deal?
Eddie DeVol enters, flanked by his main guys, AL PACINO and
ENORMOUS BOBBY.
EDDIE
How's it goin', Paulie? You know my
guys -- Enormous Bobby and Al Pacino?
VITTI
(looks at him)
Al Pacino? That's your real name?
AL PACINO
No. People call me that because I
look like Al Pacino.
(beat)
The actor.
VITTI
Anybody ever call you Carol Burnett?
AL PACINO
No. Why?
VITTI
'Cause you look about as much like
Carol Burnett as you look like Al
Pacino.
Ben laughs. Al Pacino glares at him.
BEN
I do see a little Pacino there --
around the eyes.
EDDIE
So we're all here. Let's do it.
He heads for the back of the club with his guys. Vitti and
Jelly start to follow.
BEN
(stops Vitti)
Let's do what?
99.
VITTI
You better get out of here.
BEN
(lays a hand
on his arm)
I'm not going until you tell me what's
going on here.
Vitti violently shakes off Ben's hand.
VITTI
(menacing)
Don't make me hurt you. Get the fuck
out of here.
He walks away leaving Ben frozen.
Ben watches as they disappear through a door leading to the
back of the club. He starts toward the door.
CUT TO:
INT. BASEMENT ROOM - MOMENTS LATER
Vitti is seated at a big table in the crowded, smoke-filled
room. Jelly sits at his side. He's surrounded by his crew,
about a half-a-dozen guys, and Patty's man, Eddie DeVol.
Several street maps and diagrams are spread out on the table.
VITTI
Okay, this is big and we only get one
shot at it; and there's only about a
million ways this fuckin' thing can go
bad, so listen up.
Vitti pulls a street map to the center of the table and taps
a spot downtown.
VITTI
The Federal Gold Depository in Lower
Manhattan. Three times a year a
shipment of gold bars goes in a
heavily-guarded armored truck from the
Depository to the vault at the Federal
Reserve to hold for foreign
governments that trade in bullion. At
three o'clock in the morning -- eight
hours from now --we're gonna hijack
that truck.
CUT TO:
INT. LITTLE DARLING'S - SAME TIME
Ben enters the back room of the club, looks around, and
starts down the stairwell leading to the basement.
100.
CUT TO:
INT. BASEMENT STAIRWAY - MOMENTS LATER
Ben makes his way down the cramped, dimly-lit stairway and
approaches the door to the basement room.
He raises his hand to knock, then hesitates and stands there
for a moment listening to the MUFFLED VOICES inside.
Suddenly he is grabbed from behind and slammed up against the
door by Enormous Bobby. Bobby slams him against the door a
couple of more times, using Ben's head as a doorknocker. The
door is opened by someone inside and Enormous Bobby shoves
Ben into the room.
CUT TO:
INT. BASEMENT ROOM - CONTINUOUS ACTION
Ben hits the floor to a chorus of surprised reactions from
the guys. Enormous Bobby pulls Ben off the floor by his
lapels.
EDDIE
What the fuck is this?
ENORMOUS BOBBY
I found this guy listening at the
door.
BEN
(dazed)
Hey, guys. How's it going?
EDDIE
Who is this guy?
BEN
(not looking
at Eddie)
Ben Sobel. Sorry, I can't move my
head to the right. Boy, I hope that's
not permanent.
EDDIE
Get rid of him.
Al Pacino puts his gun to Ben's head.
BEN
(still dazed)
Hi, Carol.
AL PACINO
You're a dead man, asshole. Let's go.
101.
He starts muscling Ben to the door.
VITTI
What are you doing?
EDDIE
What do you think? He can make every
guy in this room.
BEN
Oh, I'm not into that, fellas.
VITTI
Get your fuckin' hands off him! He's
with me.
EDDIE
What, on the job?
Vitti hesitates.
EDDIE
(impatiently)
Either he's in, or he's dead. Which
is it?
BEN
I think in is better.
VITTI
(reluctantly)
He's in. He's my responsibility.
EDDIE
(to Vitti)
Okay, no more surprises. And from
this moment on, no one leaves my
sight. Got it? Now go through it one
more time.
VITTI
Okay -- everybody listen up.
BEN
Wait!
(sits)
Okay. Go ahead.
CUT TO:
EXT. LITTLE DARLING'S - LATER THAT NIGHT
Agents Cerrone and Miller watch the front of the club from
their car parked across the street.
102.
CERRONE
(yawns, checks watch)
I wonder what it costs to keep that
many limos waiting for three-and-a-
half hours.
THEIR POV
A dozen men looking like Vitti and his crew come out of the
club and get into the limos.
MILLER (O.S.)
Everybody stand by. They're leaving.
The limos drive off.
At the corner, the FBI car pulls out and follows at a
discreet distance.
CUT TO:
EXT. QUEENSBOROUGH BRIDGE - NIGHT
The FBI car follows the limos across the bridge into
Manhattan.
CUT TO:
EXT. TIMES SQUARE - LATER
The limos pull up at the WWF Restaurant. The FBI car stops
up the block.
CERRONE (V.O.)
(over radio)
312, all units. W.W.F. Restaurant.
Times Square.
The limo doors open and the passengers get out -- all
nondescript nobodies.
CUT TO:
INT. FBI CAR - SAME TIME
Miller watches intently.
MILLER
Where's Vitti? I don't see Vitti.
Cerrone stares with the growing awareness that they've been
had.
CERRONE
Damn it!
103.
(grimly, into radio)
Call it off. We lost them.
CUT TO:
INT. MANHATTAN WAREHOUSE - MIDDLE OF NIGHT
Vitti's guys are dressed like construction workers as they
load their gear into two trucks. Vitti supervises while
others work on a New York City bus.
Eddie DeVol, Al Pacino and Enormous Bobby stand guard over
the whole scene, in case anyone is thinking of defecting.
Ben is wearing heavy dungarees and an oversized plaid shirt,
struggling to lace his work boots. Jelly approaches him and
tosses a bulletproof vest on the table.
JELLY
Here. See if this'll fit under your
shirt.
BEN
(extremely nervous)
I could fit you under my shirt. Don't
they have anything smaller?
JELLY
This ain't Bloomingdale's. Nobody
knew you were comin'. You're lucky
you're alive, Doc.
He glances at Eddie DeVol.
BEN
(hisses)
Nobody's going to be alive when this
is over. What kind of plan is this?
It's crazy. It's stupid!
JELLY
Watch it. It may be crazy but it
ain't stupid. If you want to stay
alive, just keep your mouth shut, do
everything I tell you and try not to
pee in your pants.
(quietly)
Can you handle an M-16?
He holds up an automatic rifle.
BEN
You mean shoot it?
JELLY
No, I mean twirl it like a fuckin'
baton. How about an A.K.?
104.
He holds up another rifle.
BEN
(exasperated)
Jelly --
JELLY
(rummaging through
pile)
Kalashnikov, MAC-10, Uzi -- stop me if
I hit one you like.
Ben sees Eddie watching him and gingerly picks up a 9mm
handgun.
BEN
Couldn't I just take this?
JELLY
Yeah, that's a good one. That gun
brings back a lot of fond memories.
Use it in good health.
Ben puts the gun into the waistband of his dungarees, but it
slips through and drops into his pants.
BEN
(winces)
Ooh, cold -- cold.
He jams his hand down the front of his pants and starts
searching around in there. Eddie and Enormous Bobby stare at
him as they walk by.
BEN
(explaining)
My gun -- fell down in my --
He shakes his leg and the gun drops out of his cuff and
clatters onto the floor. He smiles weakly and picks it up.
Vitti approaches. He looks agitated but under tight control.
VITTI
(to Jelly)
Check the bus.
Jelly exits.
VITTI
(quietly, to Ben)
If we can, I'm gonna get you out
before the real shit goes down. Just
don't flip out on me, okay?
105.
BEN
You are making a huge mistake. You
know that, don't you?
VITTI
You said it yourself. It's my nature.
BEN
It's not your nature! You have a
choice.
VITTI
What are you, fucking Jiminy Cricket?
I don't know what planet you live on,
but here on Earth it's 'might makes
right.' Read the papers. The guys
with the guns make the rules.
BEN
(holding up the
pistol)
So I guess that makes me a real man
now. What happened to the white hat,
Paul? Your father wasn't wrong. You
could be one of the good guys.
VITTI
Enough. Say one more word about my
father and I'll break your fuckin'
head.
BEN
(quietly)
Okay.
Vitti walks off.
CUT TO:
INT. BATHROOM - SAME TIME
Vitti comes in, locks the door and has a full-blown panic
attack -- gasping for breath, sweating, whimpering, trying to
stifle his panic. Then he sees his tortured face in the
mirror and starts pulling himself together.
CUT TO:
INT. WAREHOUSE - FEW MINUTES LATER
The guys are getting into the trucks. Ben keeps letting
everybody go in front of him, then starts to back away, but
Eddie and Enormous Bobby come up behind him and push him up
into the truck.
EXT. MANHATTAN WAREHOUSE - NIGHT
106.
The big doors open and two trucks roll out carrying Vitti,
Ben and the crew.
CUT TO:
INT. LEAD TRUCK - SAME TIME
The guys are sitting on the floor in the back of the truck,
lined up along the sides like paratroopers waiting to jump.
Ben is sitting next to Jelly and across from Vitti who is
just staring intently.
CUT TO:
EXT. WEST SIDE HIGHWAY - NIGHT
The trucks make their way past the aircraft carrier Intrepid
heading downtown.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE - NIGHT (LATER)
Vitti, Ben, and Eddie DeVol stand next to the treads of a
giant crane.
VITTI
(checks his watch)
I have five to three. They should
start movin' any minute.
BEN
(looking at his watch)
I have three-o-six.
VITTI
Let's see your watch.
Ben slips it off and hands it to him. Vitti smashes it on a
rock with the butt of his gun, then tosses it back to Ben.
Vitti's RADIO SQUAWKS and the spotter's voice is heard.
SPOTTER (V.O.)
(filtered)
They're moving!
Vitti keys his radio twice as a signal and holds up his
clenched fist to alert the guys on site with him.
CUT TO:
EXT. FEDERAL BUILDING - NIGHT
A CONVOY of vehicles emerges from the bowels of the building
and turns onto the street. In front and back are specially-
equipped SUVs, full of heavily-armed federal marshals; an
armored truck in the middle carries the gold.
107.
CUT TO:
EXT. ANOTHER STREET - SAME TIME
The convoy RUMBLES past a block-long, high-rise construction
site, totally enclosed by a plywood wall around the
perimeter.
VITTI
He can hear the convoy passing outside the wall.
SPOTTER
He looks down on the convoy from a vantage point on a
scaffold high above the street. When the trucks are in the
right position, he waves to Vitti on the ground.
VITTI
sees the signal.
VITTI
(on walkie)
Go!
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS ACTION
A forty-foot, flat-bed trailer truck loaded with cement
conduit backs across the street and stops, blocking the path
of the convoy.
The lead SUV HONKS. The truck doesn't move. The CAPTAIN of
the marshals gets out and walks up to the truck. The driver
has slipped out the other side and disappeared.
Suddenly, a huge steel claw drops down from above and closes
around the top of the armored truck, its sharp points
crunching into the metal sides. Then the truck starts rising
off the pavement. A couple of determined marshals jump out
of their vehicles, race over and grab onto the bumpers as the
armored truck is lifted off the ground.
CUT TO:
EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE - CONTINUOUS ACTION
A hundred-foot tower crane lifts the truck straight up. The
marshals hang on as long as they can, then prudently let go
and drop heavily to the street. Two marshals are still
clinging to the truck as it rises to a height of thirty feet,
then swings silently over the perimeter fencing.
108.
INT. CONSTRUCTION SITE
A bank of arc lights is switched on illuminating the site as
the truck is lowered to the ground. Heavily-armed gangsters
in ski masks surround the truck and herd the driver, the
shotgun guard and the frightened marshals
into a construction shack, while men with acetylene torches
attack the back doors.
Vitti pulls down his ski mask and taps Ben.
BEN
Paul, it's not too late. Don't do
this.
VITTI
Let's go.
He strides off to take charge. Ben pulls down his mask and
hurries after him, but runs right into a pole.
BEN
Shit! Ow!
He raises his mask and scampers after Vitti rubbing the
painful bump on his forehead.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - SAME TIME
The marshals run around, frantically searching for a way into
the construction site.
CUT TO:
VITTI
Totally in charge, he strides up to the armored truck just as
his men finish cutting through the steel plate doors. Vitti
yanks the doors open..
Vitti and Ben stare in awe at the exposed contents of the
truck -- a fortune in gold bars.
VITTI
(shouts)
Get the ramp!
Eddie and his guys run up with a long, narrow track with
metal rollers and set it up at the rear of the gold truck.
EDDIE
(very excited)
You know, this might just fuckin'
work.
109.
BEN
You're gonna get in so much trouble.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - SAME TIME
The marshals are trying to climb over the construction site
wall, but they're stopped by rolls of razor wire and
SUPPRESSING FIRE from inside the site.
LIEUTENANT
They can't get over the wire.
CAPTAIN
Then knock down the gates!
CUT TO:
EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE
The guys take the heavy bars out of the armored truck and run
them quickly along the rolling track into the bus.
CUT TO:
INT. BUS - SAME TIME
Jelly is pulling on the hat and jacket of a transit authority
bus driver. The floor boards of the bus have been lifted out
and the guys are laying the gold bars in the hollow under the
floor.
VITTI
(pops his head in)
Forty bars. That's all we need.
BEN
How much is that?
VITTI
$350 an ounce, 16 ounces in a pound,
90 pounds in each bar -- do the math.
JELLY
(a beat)
Actually, gold is measured in troy
ounces. 14.6 ounces to the pound.
That would be... $18,396,000.
BEN
Really?
JELLY
Give or take.
He hears a LOUD CRASH and all eyes turn to the gates.
110.
BEN
Well, so much for not peeing in my
pants.
Eddie goes off to help transfer the gold.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - SAME TIME
The marshals back up one of the SUVs and run it into the
gates again.
CUT TO:
INT. CONSTRUCTION SITE
The big, wooden GATES SHUDDER but Vitti's men roll two
enormous earthmovers up to reinforce the gates.
BEN
You know what you said about not
flipping out?
VITTI
Yeah?
BEN
Sorry.
(flipping out)
What did I do? What did I do? I had
a perfect life, I threw it away.
VITTI
Don't do this.
Vitti drags him off toward the building structure.
BEN
I can't help it! My life is over!
I'm going to jail. Some people
can handle prison -- I'm not one of
them. I have delicate features. I'm
small. I'll be way too popular!
VITTI
Calm down.
BEN
I can't calm down! I'm gonna die!
Inside the structure, Vitti spins him around and shakes him.
VITTI
You're not gonna die!
111.
BEN
I can't breathe! I'm suffocating!
VITTI
(shaking him)
For Chrissake, get hold of yourself!
BEN
I can't! I'm dying! We're all going
to die!
Suddenly, he slaps Vitti hard across the face. They both
freeze.
BEN
Did I just hit you?
VITTI
Yeah. Feel better now?
BEN
(breaking down)
I'm sorry, Paul. I blame myself for
this. I wanted to help you. I wanted
to be there for you. But I just
wasn't good enough.
VITTI
You were good. It isn't your fault.
BEN
No, it is. Since my father
died --
(starts crying)
I've lost my way. I don't know
anything anymore. I mean, what's the
point? I didn't think it would hit me
so hard --
VITTI
Would you just shut up about your
father!
BEN
I'm grieving, goddammit! Have a
little respect!
VITTI
He was an asshole -- you said it
yourself. What are you grieving for?
BEN
I'm grieving for myself, you fucking
idiot!
Ben lets it all go, sobbing for all the years of pain.
112.
VITTI
(surprised, shrugs)
Jeez, I'm sorry.
BEN
Now I know how you must have felt when
your father was killed.
Vitti looks at him.
BEN
(crying more)
I mean, it had to be ten times worse
for you -- being murdered right in
front of you. And you were so young -
-
VITTI
We don't have time for this.
BEN
(really sobbing)
It must've been so painful!
VITTI
(eyes filling with
tears)
I'm warning you -- don't do
this --
BEN
I mean, it's like all his hopes for
you died with him. And that's so sad.
VITTI
(starting to cry)
There I go. You happy now? You see
what you're doing here?
Both men are crying now.
BEN
Your father really loved you.
VITTI
I loved him, too. I did.
BEN
(hugs him)
I know. I know.
Jelly comes around the corner and sees the two men in a weepy
embrace.
JELLY
Oh, boy. This is bad.
113.
Another huge CRASH as the marshals ram the gates again, this
time tearing loose one of the big hinges.
JELLY
Maybe we oughta should go.
Vitti, Ben and Jelly run to the bus, but Eddie pulls a gun
and stops them. Al and Bobby cover Jelly and the rest of the
crew. Vitti backs away slowly.
EDDIE
Did you really think you were gonna
live through this?
VITTI
I had my hopes.
EDDIE
Yeah, well, nice work. Mr. Rigazzi
will be very grateful.
BEN
(to Vitti)
Rigazzi? I thought he worked for
Patti LoPresti.
VITTI
That's what Patty thought, too. This
scumbag's been playin' both sides
against the middle.
EDDIE
There's only one side as far as I'm
concerned. Mine. What did you think?
I was just gonna stand by and let some
fuckin' has-been move back in? So
long, Mr. Vitti.
He cocks the gun and is about to pull the trigger when Ben
suddenly roars and slams him in the head with his gun. Vitti
and Jelly quickly cover Al Pacino and Enormous Bobby.
BEN
(beating the shit
out of Eddie)
I can't take it anymore! That's what
I hate about you fucking sociopaths!
You just keep changing the rules to
suit yourselves. Well, not this time,
you anti-social asshole. You fucked
with the wrong shrink!
Sitting on Eddie's chest, he presses the gun against Eddie's
nose.
BEN
Don't you read the papers? The guy
114.
with the gun makes the rules.
VITTI
Yeah, what?
They shove Eddie, Enormous Bobby and Al Pacino into the back
of the armored truck, Vitti gives a signal and the crane
lifts it off the ground.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS ACTION
The armored truck comes down fast and drops heavily to the
street. Federal MARSHALS swarm the truck and find Eddie, Al,
and Bobby sprawled in the back.
CAPTAIN
(screaming)
On the floor! Face-down! Now!
AL PACINO
(to Eddie)
Nice goin'. Good plan.
ENORMOUS BOBBY
What's a sociopath?
The marshals handcuff them.
Suddenly, the marshals hear AUTOMATIC WEAPONS FIRE coming
from the next block.
Uniformed SWAT COPS come running from that direction and
shout to the marshals.
SWAT LEADER
They're escaping out the back! Get
over there! Move it!
The marshals rush toward the sound of the GUNFIRE and
disappear around the corner.
CUT TO:
NEXT BLOCK
As the marshals round the corner, they see a police shoot-out
in progress.
Wiseguys are FIRING AUTOMATIC WEAPONS at cops who are pinned
down behind police cruisers.
The Captain of the marshals FIRES a warning SHOT in the air.
CAPTAIN
(on a bullhorn)
Freeze! Drop your weapons!
115.
The head wiseguy, Anthony Bella, turns in surprise.
TONY BELLA
What the hell is this?
RAOUL (O.S.)
(on his own bullhorn)
Cut, cut, cut! What the hell's going
on?
Raoul strides out into the street, furious, still talking
through his bullhorn.
RAOUL
(to the Captain)
Who are you? What are you doing in my
shot?
The Captain and the marshals look around and see that they're
on the set of "Little Caesar."
CAPTAIN
What are you doing on my street?
The Captain walks toward Raoul until they are almost face to
face, shouting at each other through their BULLHORNS.
RAOUL
I have a permit!
CAPTAIN
I don't give a shit about your permit!
The ASSISTANT DIRECTOR addresses the TV crew.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
All right, people. Back to one and
let's try it again!
(into his walkie-talkie)
Release the traffic and reset for
another take.
On the perimeters of the set, the PA's signal the off-duty
cops who work the set to release the real traffic they've
been holding on the cross streets.
A city bus passes behind Raoul and Tony Bella who are still
screaming at the Federal Marshal.
CUT TO:
EXT. 11TH AVENUE - MINUTES LATER
In mid-block, SWAT cops step into the street and wave the bus
to a halt.
116.
CUT TO:
INT. BUS - SAME TIME
Ben is sitting in the back with Vitti as the helmeted SWAT
cops board the bus.
BEN
(sees them coming)
That's it. We're screwed.
The cops walk toward the back and confront Ben.
LEAD SWAT
You!
BEN
Yes, Officer?
LEAD SWAT
You're one tough shrink.
The cops unmask. It's Mo-Mo, Cokes, and Tuna. They laugh
and slap hands with Vitti and Ben.
CUT TO:
EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS ACTION
The bus pulls out and joins the flow of traffic heading
downtown.
CUT TO:
INT. BUS - MINUTES LATER
All the guys are looking pretty happy with their score.
Ben turns to Vitti.
BEN
Feeling pretty good, huh?
VITTI
I felt worse.
BEN
So what now? You go on the run for
the rest of your life? Back to Sing
Sing? Or you turn up dead in an alley?
VITTI
Those are my choices? What happened
to lying on a beach in Costa Rica
for the next twenty years? You
can't let me enjoy this for five
fuckin' minutes?
117.
BEN
Five minutes? And then what?
VITTI
And then what? I'll show you.
CUT TO:
EXT. RIGAZZI PLUMBING AND HEATING - NEXT MORNING
A Rigazzi company van is forced open by a team of FBI agents led
by Agent Miller. Stacked inside are forty gold bars.
Agent Cerrone comes out of the building with Lou Rigazzi and
several associates in handcuffs.
U.S. Attorney Chapin makes a statement to the media.
CHAPIN
Acting on intelligence we developed in
the last few days, the Justice
Department and the F.B.I. took very
aggressive action to recover the
stolen gold and bring the perpetrators
to justice. I'm happy to tell the
people of New York that the streets
are safe again.
CUT TO:
EXT. PATTY'S HOUSE - SAME TIME
Vitti knocks on the front door. Patty answers it in her
robe.
PATTY
Hi, Paul. How'd it go?
VITTI
Not so good.
PATTY
Yeah, I heard. It's all over the
television. I never should've trusted
Eddie. But, you know, a woman alone
in the world is very vulnerable.
VITTI
Yeah, I know.
PATTY
At least I don't have to worry about
the Rigazzis no more. Thanks to you.
VITTI
I told you -- I just want to be left
118.
alone.
PATTY
I know. I'll make sure. How about
some breakfast? I could make you some
waffles and -- whatever else you want.
She adjusts her robe, providing Vitti a quick peek.
VITTI
Can't do that.
Patty smiles and shrugs.
PATTY
Well, if you ever change your mind --
(kisses him)
Good luck, Paul.
CUT TO:
EXT. EAST RIVER BOARDWALK - LATER MORNING
Ben is leaning against the railing gazing at the water when
Vitti walks up.
BEN
Did you see Patti?
VITTI
Yeah.
BEN
(ruefully)
Did she grab your balls?
VITTI
What kind of question is that? She's
cool. She's just happy to have 'the
Wrench' out of the way.
BEN
Well, I talked to the U.S. Attorney.
VITTI
Did he grab your balls?
BEN
No, Paul, he did not grab my balls.
He thanked me for tipping him off
about the gold. And he said he won't
be coming after you if you stay out of
trouble. So what do you think?
VITTI
I'm gonna go to Ohio -- get Marie and
the kids -- then we'll probably
disappear for awhile -- figure out all
119.
this future stuff
-- away from all the pressure.
BEN
Good idea. Change is hard, Paul. But
you did the right thing.
VITTI
Yeah, you, too. You hung in there.
That took a lot of guts.
BEN
Well, I just --
VITTI
No, you were like an animal back
there.
BEN
I just vented my displaced aggression
VITTI
No. I'm telling you. You're a
monster. I saw the beast in you.
BEN
I'm not a beast. I can handle myself
if I have to --
VITTI
Handle yourself? You were fuckin'
John Wayne.
BEN
Well, I wrestled a bit in high school
-- 122 pounds.
VITTI
Yeah, I could tell. You're good, you.
BEN
I'm not --
VITTI
Paul, I just --
VITTI
No. You are good. You got a gift, my
friend.
Ben gives up.
BEN
Fine. I have a gift.
VITTI
So -- happy ending, huh?
120.
BEN
Well, I think so. Don't you feel
better now?
VITTI
Are you kidding? I feel like shit.
All that work for nothing. 20 million
bucks.
BEN
You're grieving -- it's a process.
VITTI
Take it easy, Doc.
BEN
You, too, Paul.
They embrace. Then Vitti starts to walk away toward Jelly
who has been waiting at a respectful distance.
Vitti stops and turns.
VITTI
Hey, Doc!
(sings)
'There's a place for us -- '
BEN
(sings)
'A time and place for us -- '
JELLY
(joins in)
'Hold my hand we're halfway there -- '
ALL TOGETHER
'Hold my hand and I'll take you there.
(belting)
Somehow, someday, somewhere.'
The ORCHESTRA SWELLS as we CRANE UP TO the Brooklyn Bridge
and Lower Manhattan beyond.
DISSOLVE TO:
FADED 8MM COLOR HOME MOVIE FOOTAGE
A little boy in a cowboy suit sitting on a pony as his father
leads him around the ring.
FADE OUT.
THE END