Just One Night
Script
Scene 2 - Accidents
Will Happen
2.1
INT.
PRISON CAFETERIA CHOW LINE. Tom is waiting to get a cup of coffee.
TOM
It was a pretty typical
day for me. Put on the Armani suit and the Gucci shoes and the Cartier
watch and hopped in the BMW and off I went down the road with my
cup of coffee. [Picks up cup from rack and shows
it to the camera.] I had a meeting with my corporate attorneys.
Kind of an important day for me.
Tom
walks out of frame. Cut to ...
2.2
INT.
PRISON CAFETERIA COFFEE DISPENSER. Start tight on coffee spigot as cup
is filled with coffee. Widen out to Tom as he removes the cup from the
dispenser. He turns to camera ...
TOM
We were talking about a
$2 million piece of business that I had got us involved in, and quite
frankly, if I was successful in this, there may have been another
$30 million behind it. And that's big for us [takes
a sip of coffee] - big.
Tom
walks off frame. Cut to ...
2.3
INT.
PRISON CAFETERIA TABLE. Tom is sitting with his coffee. The camera is sitting
across the table from him. We will dissolve to and from B-Roll throughout.
TOM
If this deal went through,
it would mean financial security for my family, and for the employees
who depended on me to help them provide for their families. So I
spent 5 hours with my attorneys - which is forever with attorneys - and
then it was back to business. One of my reps had a trade show
- so I went there next. And I didn't have breakfast and I didn't
have lunch, because you know, when you're a big shot like me, you
don't have time for things like that. So the trade show ends.
Afterwards they have this cocktail hour, and it's cocktails and food
and - this isn't a party - this is just a drink after the trade show
[gestures with coffee cup as if it were a drink],
I've done it a hundred times. In my world, that's just something
that people do. I had a drink. A drink. Not a party,
not looking to catch a buzz, not looking to get drunk. Just
a drink after work.
I had an appointment the
next morning, in Boston, pretty early, and it was getting to be 8
o'clock at night. And the last thing I felt like doing after my day
was driving down to Boston. I decided to stay in Concord and try
to catch up with some high school friends. So we met at a local bar,
and I had a beer and a half and a cup of coffee and the only reason
I know that is that the police report tells me so.
2.4
Cut
to extreme tight shot at table level in front of Tom. Coffee cup enters
frame from top and hits table jarringly. Cut to MCU of Tom ...
TOM
We weren't out getting
drunk. There was no party. No hustle going on. It was a beer
with a couple of high school friends.
So we decided to go over
to their place - husband, wife and kids - hung out for
a while and had a couple more beers. No big deal, just
a couple of beers with some high school friends.
He
pushes back chair and stands as he prepares to leave.
Anyway, it got to be 11
o'clock which is late so I said goodnight and got in the car to go
to my hotel. [Starts to walk away, but then
he turns and faces camera.] You know something? I hate
hotels. I've just spent too many nights on the road. So I decide
- great choice here - to stop and have one more drink. And that's
what I did - I stopped to have a drink at a bar, by myself. There
was no hustle, no dancing, none of that - just a beer.
Dissolve
to Bar Re-Enactment with voiceover ...
TOM
So I finished my drink,
got up, walked down the bar and went to the cash register.
I pulled out my gold card and gave it to the bartender. There were these
3 guys at the bar, sitting next to me. You know, regular guys from Concord.
They had just gotten off a late night work shift, and they were having
a beer after work. And they were nice guys, I'm a nice guy, we start
talking. I bought them a round, they bought me a round, I bought
them a round - I don't remember exactly how that went but - they
were telling jokes - innocent, clean jokes - kind of ha, ha, light-hearted
kind of conversation. It was just a nice way to end a long
day. [We hear another man's voice saying
" Hey buddy, can you do me a favor?"]
Cut
to ...
2.5
INT.
PRISON CAFETERIA EXIT. Tom is standing near the door as he is about to
leave the room.
TOM
That's the last thing I
remember. And that's the truth.
He
opens the door to the outside and leaves which overexposes the shot. Flash
to white and then to ...
2.6
INT.
CORRIDOR LEADING TO R&D CELL. Will cover Tom's V/O with Re-Enactment
from hospital occasionally cutting back to Tom in the R&D Cell Corridor.
TOM [V/O]
Next thing I know, I'm
lying on the gurney at Concord Hospital. Looking up, all lights
and white walls - and this trooper - Rod Forey - is looking down
at me. I ask ‘where am I.' Well, Trooper Forey
explained the situation to me.
TROOPER FOREY [In Hospital]
Mr. Boyle, you crashed
your car into a Concord city snowplow at speeds in excess of 100
miles per hour.
Cut
to quick audio/video montage of prison doors slamming and echoing then
to ...
TOM [In R&D Cell
Corridor]
No way, right? I
don't even have a speeding ticket on my record. Never had an
accident in my life.
TROOPER FOREY [In Hospital]
Mr. Boyle, I said
you crashed your car into a Concord city snowplow at 100 miles per
hour and you killed your passenger. I need to know who he was.
TOM [V/O]
My response?
Cut
to Tom on camera in R&D Cell Corridor. He's looking down at his feet.
Slight pause then looks up at camera ...
TOM
I didn't even know anyone
was in the car. So a guy I just met asks me for a ride, and I end
up killing him. And I didn't even know his name. (pause)
Wow, this is a bad time coming, you know?
At
this point a prison officer walks into frame, gestures towards the
R&D Cell. Tom keeps trying to turn back to the camera as he continues
...
TOM
So anyway, the process
begins. Trooper Forey arrests me and off we go. I get brought to
this bail hearing and I'm taken into this cell.
The
officer places Tom into the cell and closes the door. Camera walks up to
cell and shoots through the bars to Tom as he walks around cell as if remembering
and describes ...
TOM
And I'm sitting with a
bandage on my head, broken hand, and a suit all sliced up - and I'm
soaked in blood. I'd like to tell you it was my blood but the truth
is it wasn't. Anyway, it's kind of a small space and there's
these 3 young guys in there with me. They're 16-17 years old.
And they're talking amongst themselves and I'm listening - they're
in for possession of heroin. And I thought, boy are they screwed.
One of them gets
called away to go and see the judge, but he's back in a heartbeat.
He couldn't have been gone for more than a minute. [Tom
pauses slightly as he moves right up to the camera.] You
see, the court had bigger fish to fry that day. [Tom
resumes his pacing around the cell.] So he comes back in and
he says' did you hear, did you hear? There's a guy in here who crashed
his car into a snowplow at 100 miles an hour and killed his passenger.
Boy, is he screwed!' [Tom walks back
towards camera.] I knew then I was in serious trouble.
I mean I've got this teenager charged with heroin possession worried
about me. Anyway, I go up to see the judge and Trooper Forey speaks.
Fortunately for me, I wasn't going to be kept in jail. The judge
figures, I'm not going to run. I've got a wife and children
and a successful business. So he sets the bail at $25,000.
I could have put it on my gold card. So I pay up and I'm allowed
to go.
Officer
opens cell door and Tom walks out. Fade to black and then up on ....Scene
3 - Family Matters |
