Blow
EXT. MIRTHA’S HOUSE – MIAMI – 1989 – DAY
Nine-year old Kristina Sunshine Jung sits on the front porch as the sun goes down. Her bags are packed and ready to go.
GEORGE (V.O.) I had broken a promise. Everything I loved in my life goes away.
INT. OTISVILLE F.C.I. – 1989 – DAY
George is led into a small room and greeted by his lawyer, ARCHIE ZIGMOND.
ZIGMOND Here’s the deal, George. You’re not getting out. I tried to get you furloughed, but your mother squashed it. Said it would only upset him. I’m sorry.
George takes it in. Blinks. The years have not been kind.
GEORGE How’s he doing?
ZIGMOND Well, he’s out of the hospital, but there’s not much anyone can do for him. It’s just a matter of time. Listen, I brought a tape recorder in case you wanted to say something to him. That way he could hear your voice.
GEORGE Right.
Zigmond sets the tape recorder down and leaves the room. George stares long at the machine. He pushes the record button and looks at the red light.
GEORGE (CONT’D) Hello, Dad…
EXT. JUNG HOUSE – DAY
A sixty-nine year old Fred shuffles from his house to the blue LTD. He gets in, turns the key, and puts his son’s tape into the deck.
GEORGE (V.O.) You know, I remember a lifetime ago, I was about three-and-a-half feet tall, weighing all of sixty-pounds, every inch your son…
EXT. JUNG HOUSE – 1953 – DAY
Six-year old George runs through the leaves to the truck and rides to work with his father.
GEORGE (V.O.) …those Saturday mornings going to work with my Dad. We’d climb into that big yellow truck. I used to think it was the biggest truck in the world.
INT. FRED’S LTD. – 1989 – CONTINUOUS
CLOSE ON FRED
visibly moved.
GEORGE (V.O.) I remember how important the job we did was. How if it weren’t for us, people would freeze to death. I thought you were the strongest man in the world.
FLASHBACK – VISUALS MATCH DIALOGUE
Ermine as Loretta Young.
Fred Jung and his son tossing a baseball.
Tuna and George driving off in the black Oldsmobile convertible.
The FBI arresting George in his old bedroom.
GEORGE (V.O.) (CONT’D) Remember those home movies when Mom would dress up like Loretta Young? And the ice creams and the football games? Waino, the Tuna, and the day I left for California only to come home with the FBI chasing me?
INT. JUNG HOUSE – GEORGE’S BEDROOM – 1973 – NIGHT
James J. Trout pulls a handcuffed George’s boots over his socks as Fred and Ermine watch.
GEORGE (V.O.) And that FBI agent, Trout? When he had to get on his knees to put my boots on? You said…
FRED That’s where you belong…
INT. FRED’S LTD. – 1989 – CONTINUOUS
A choked up Fred repeats the words.
FRED …you sonofabitch. Putting on George’s boots.
GEORGE (V.O.) That was a good one, Dad. That was really something. Remember that?
INT. OTISVILLE F.C.I. – NEW YORK – 1989 – DAY
George’s eyes well up and he sparks a cigarette, as he keeps trying to tell his father goodbye.
GEORGE (V.O.) And that time you told me that money wasn’t real? Well, old man, I’m forty two years old. I finally learned what you tried to tell me so many years ago.
INT. FRED’S LTD. – 1989 – CONTINUOUS
Tears come crashing out of the old man’s stoic face.
GEORGE (V.O.) I finally understand. You’re the best, Dad. I just wish I could have done more for you. I wish we had more time.
EXT. OTISVILLE F.C.I. – NEW YORK – 1999 – DAY
A vision of Fred Jung sits on the ground before his fifty-two year old son.
GEORGE I guess I kind of lost sight of things. “May the wind always be at your back and the sun always upon your face, and the winds of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars.” Love, George.
FRED That was a beautiful message.
GEORGE I meant every word of it.
FRED Did you know I died two weeks after you sent me that tape?
The apparition of Fred disappears and George is left alone once again.
GEORGE Yeah, Dad. I knew that.
INT. OTISVILLE F.C.I. – NEW YORK – 1990 – DAY
George is led into the room where THREE FBI MEN await him. One of them is named FRED GARCIA.
GARCIA How are you doing, George?
GEORGE What do you guys want?
GARCIA You hear about your old friend, Diego?
GEORGE What about him?
Garcia tosses a newspaper onto the table. The Miami Herald. Inside is a full page letter addressed from Diego Delgado to Vice President George Bush. In the letter, Diego offers to make a deal. In exchange for immunity, Diego will rat out the entire cocaine business. Americans, Colombians, Noriega, Escobar, everybody. Just let him free.
GEORGE (CONT’D) What the fuck? Is he going to walk?
GARCIA He’s going down, George. It’s election year. We’re not making any deals.
FBI GUY #1 He’s never getting out. Orders from the top.
GARCIA So, how would you like to help us put him away?
FBI GUY #2 We’ve done our homework. We know you hate this motherfucker.
GEORGE I don’t think so.
GARCIA Don’t be stupid, George. We’ve got him. We’ve got him dead to rights. But like I said, this is top priority so we’re handing out free passes on this one. And the first one’s got your name on it. Cut your sentence in half, maybe more.
GEORGE No thanks, fellas. You’ve got the wrong fucking guy. I’m not a rat.
INT. OTISVILLE F.C.I. – VISITOR’S ROOM – 1990 – DAY
George sits in the chair behind the plexiglass. Mirtha enters and takes a seat on the other side.
GEORGE Mirtha, what’s going on? Everything okay with Kristina?
MIRTHA Kristina’s fine.
GEORGE Is she here? Is she coming?
MIRTHA Is she here? George, Kristina hates you. You fucked her over one too many times. And I’m not here to socialize. Did you hear about Diego?
GEORGE Yeah.
MIRTHA Well, I got a call from Pablo. He said this thing with Diego is a disaster. He’s giving up lab locations, names, bank accounts, he was very pissed off. Pablo said to take him down. His exact words were “Fuck Diego.”
GEORGE He wants me to testify? Is that what he’s asking me to do?
MIRTHA George, he wasn’t asking.
Mirtha gets up and starts to move away.
GEORGE Mirtha, how are you doing?
MIRTHA Better than you.
INT. COURTHOUSE HALLWAY – JACKSONVILLE – 1990 – DAY
George, Archie Zigmond and two armed guards walk down the corridor.
GEORGE Hey, Arch, you think the judge will let us get a cocktail after this is all over?
ZIGMOND I’ll see what I can do, George.
GEORGE Thanks, Arch.
They walk into the crowded courtroom.
INT. COURTHOUSE HALLWAY – JACKSONVILLE – 1990 – DAY
Packed. Nuts. Standing room only. The courtroom buzzes as George is led down the center aisle and is handed off to the bailiff. Over this we hear…
CLERK Sir, please state your name.
GEORGE I’m George Jung. Spelled J-U-N-G.
CLERK Thank you.
PROSECUTOR Mr. Jung, do you know Diego Delgado?
GEORGE Yes, I do.
PROSECUTOR Do you see him here in the courtroom?
GEORGE Yes, he’s sitting right there at the end of the table.
PROSECUTOR Let the record state the witness has identified, Diego Delgado.
The following sound bytes are dissolved together in montage style…
PROSECUTOR (CONT’D) Mr. Jung, can you describe the circumstances of how you began talking about cocaine with Mr. Delgado?
GEORGE Shortly after I arrived at Danbury Federal Correctional Institute I related to Diego that the crime I was in for was smuggling marijuana. Diego told me he had high level connections in Colombia and they needed to find someone to help them transport cocaine into America…
GEORGE (CONT’D) The first run was fifteen kilos, which we smuggled into Logan Airport in hard shelled suitcases.
GEORGE (CONT’D) We wrapped the cocaine in kitchen cabinet paper, and duct tape, that way if there were any dogs in customs…
GEORGE (CONT’D) I introduced Diego to a pilot named Jack Stevens, who helped us fly 300 kilos of cocaine per week into the United States via twin-engine Cessnas. Jack would fly into North Carolina, we’d meet him there and drive it down to different distribution points…
GEORGE (CONT’D) I never met Pablo Escobar. Diego Delgado was my only connection to cocaine from Colombia…
GEORGE (CONT’D) Diego convinced me to keep most of my money in a Panamanian bank. Diego had a close relationship with Manuel Noriega. In exchange for allowing us to keep our money there, we paid him a percentage.
GEORGE (CONT’D) There was an 85% chance that if you snorted cocaine between 1977-1984, it was ours. Initially with my LA connections, we invented the marketplace. In 1977, there was no other real competition.
GEORGE (CONT’D) The first year we made about 100 million dollars between us. It was an expensive operation. Eventually we built up to three different pilots doing multiple runs per week, connections on both coasts, everything was running smooth. We were like a corporation…
GEORGE (CONT’D) he was very anti-government. He talked about revolution, forming his own country or island, he was looking for power as well as money. I was just looking for money.
GEORGE (CONT’D) He disliked the United States, thought it was a police state. He hoped that by flooding the country with cocaine, it would disrupt the political system and tear down the morality of the country.
GEORGE (CONT’D) Well, yes, Derek Foreal was my connection, I met him back in 1968 when I first moved to Manhattan Beach. It was Foreal’s marijuana connections that kicked off our cocaine market.
GEORGE (CONT’D) Yes, it was my idea to bring the kilos to Los Angeles. When Diego finally got Derek Foreal’s name from me, it was only a matter of months before he’d cut me out.
GEORGE (CONT’D) I’m not sure how my relationship with my daughter and ex-wife have anything to do with this trial. I mean we’re here to talk about Diego Delgado, aren’t we?
CALIBANOS Yes, we are Mr. Jung.
We come out of the montage, the defense attorney Diego Delgado, Joe Calibanos, a sleazy-Greek-like-ex-basketball weight lifter guy is now doing the questioning.
CALIBANOS (CONT’D) Mr. Jung, you’re a convicted felon, correct?
GEORGE Yes, I am.
CALIBANOS Do you have any agreement or understanding whatsoever with the United States government in regards to your testimony?
GEORGE No, I cam here out of my own volition.
CALIBANOS Excuse me?
GEORGE Something about vengance being best served cold.
CALIBANOS Really. Are you getting paid, Mr. Jung?
GEORGE Excuse me?
CALIBANOS Mr. Jung, don’t you have an agreement or understanding with the United States Government in connection with your testimony in this case?
GEORGE I’m doing sixty years at Otisville, no chance of parole. Even if they cut my sentence in half I’ll be seventy-three years old. That’s some fucking deal. I don’t know if the parole board, the judge, the pope or Jesus Christ himself can get me out of here. I have a really bad record, I’m not sure what’s going to happen.
CALIBANOS So you do have an agreement with the United States Government, Mr. Jung, correct?
George can’t respond. Looks to Diego. Looks from the jury, the judge, George is on the spotlight and it’s uncomfortable. He feels suddenly sleazy.
CALIBANOS (CONT’D) I thought so. No more questions.
Silence. The judge tells George he can step down. Calibanos laughs quietly with associates. George is bummed. He walks by Diego. They look at each other.
GEORGE You shouldn’t have taken the 30 million, Diego, I was out.
George is lead away.
CLERK The court calls Mr. Jack Stevens.
Jack Stevens is lead to the stand. WE SLOWLY DISSOLVE TO:
INT. CAR – 1999 – DAY
The green of the New York State countryside drifts by as a brown Mazda moves along Highway 19. Behind the wheel is a beautiful 20 year old woman wearing dark sunglasses. She drives absently, her mind somewhere else.
INT. OTISVILLE F.C.I. – VISITOR’S ENTRANCE – 1999 – DAY
The woman is buzzed through the double doors. She moves to the MAN behind the desk and takes off her sunglasses.
KRISTINA I’m here to see my father.
ADMISSIONS OFFICER Name?
KRISTINA Kristina Sunshine Jung.
EXT. OTISVILLE F.C.I. – LATE AFTERNOON
The GUARDS are rounding up the other prisoners and escorting them inside, but George is still planting sunflowers.
GUARD Hey, George, five more minutes, buddy.
INT. VISITOR’S ENTRANCE – CONTINUOUS
The admissions officer looks up from his paperwork.
ADMISSIONS OFFICER Jung.
Kristina grabs her papers and moves to the counter.
ADMISSIONS OFFICER (CONT’D) Belongings in here.
Kristina empties her pockets and deposits her possessions into a locker box. She is handed a key.
ADMISSIONS OFFICER (CONT’D) Feet on the blue line.
Kristina stands on a blue piece of tape and the admissions officer buzzes open the giant metal door. But Kristina doesn’t move.
ADMISSIONS OFFICER (CONT’D) Miss?
He presses the buzzer again, but she just stands there.
ADMISSIONS OFFICER (CONT’D) Miss? Something wrong?
EXT. OTISVILLE F.C.I. – CONTINUOUS
George turns around as a GUARD taps him on the shoulder.
GUARD George? George, come on. You’ve got a visitor.
George looks up to find Kristina being buzzed through the gate. She moves through the open area and onto the grass quickly. SLOW MOTION: Father and daughter come together at last in a long embrace.
GEORGE I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry.
KRISTINA It’s alright, Dad.
GEORGE I didn’t mean to…
KRISTINA I know, Dad. I know…
He hugs her hard.
GEORGE I fucked up.
KRISTINA Shhhh.
GEORGE I love you. I love you so much. You’ve got to know that. You’ve got to know.
KRISTINA I know, Dad. I love you too.
GEORGE After everything. After everything, the only thing left out of my whole life is you.
Kristina looks at her father, smiles, and disappears. There was no Kristina. The guard continues to tap.
GUARD George? George, come on. It’s getting dark.
George looks up to find a prison guard. His name is GUS, and he helps George to his feet.
GEORGE But I have a visitor.
GUS Not today, George. Time to go back.
GEORGE But I want to put her name on the list for tomorrow. My daughter.
GUS Okay, George.
GEORGE Because she’s visiting me.
GUS We’ll do that tomorrow, okay? It’s lockdown time.
The shadows grow long, and Gus leads George down a cement path that cuts through the grass. The huge structure of Otisville looms dark against the sky, and Gus and George take the long walk back.
EXT. OTISVILLE F.C.I. – NEW YORK – DUSK
Standing outside the fences, Kristina smokes a cigarette as she watches her father being led away. After a few moments, she turns around, walks to her car and gets in. Time to go home. And as the brown Mazda pulls out of the driveway, the taillights turn red, growing smaller and smaller, until they finally disappear.
THE END.
