Donnie hands over the $300 — EMPTIES his wallet. Lefty takes
it, folds it into a ROLL. Puts the hundred on the outside…
LEFTY
Don’t be carrying your money in a
wallet no more. Wiseguy got his money
in a roll, like this. Beaner on the
outside.
DONNIE
You’re the boss.
LEFTY
I’m not the boss, Donnie. The boss
ends up dead or in jail. Why the
fuck would I want to be the boss?
DONNIE
It’s just an expression.
LEFTY
And shave off that moustache. That’s
against the rules.
DONNIE
Hey, Left, if it’s okay, I’m gonna
run. I’ll see you tomorrow.
LEFTY
Do I gotta school you in everything?
Tomorrow’s Mother’s Day. Wiseguys
don’t work on Mother’s Day.
CUT TO:
INT. NIGHT. THE COCKEYED CLAM
Donnie sits with Berada as he reads over some documents.
BERADA
Benjamin Ruggiero. a.k.a. ‘Lefty,’
‘Lefty Guns,’ ‘Lefty Two Guns.’ A
couple of bullshit cases, never did
time.
DONNIE
This is way beyond what we talked
about — fences and hijackers. This
is a made guy. Do you know what that
means? There’s only maybe 3000 made
guys in the whole fucking country.
BERADA
(smiles)
It means you’re in, kid.
DONNIE
Can you believe it — a made guy?
(muses)
A very peculiar made guy.
FLASH CUT TO:
INT. THE PRESENT. FBI HEADQUARTERS
Hogue reads a memorandum. LeBow on the phone.
BERADA (V.O.)
…In light of the above contacts,
we request an additional six months…
HOGUE
Berada’s the guy who ran this?
JULES
I took over when he retired.
LeBow covers the receiver with his hand.
LEBOW
The surveillance is in place at the
church hall.
CUT TO:
EXT. DAY. CHURCH HALL NEW JERSEY
A large RECEPTION HALL adjoining a Catholic CHURCH. Sounds
of a BIG BAND tuning up inside. Up the block:
MA BELL REPAIR VAN
parked by a telephone pole. FBI #1, in the guise of a
telephone LINESMAN, climbs the pole…
CUT TO:
INT. SAME TIME. SURVEILLANCE VAN
An FBI TECH TEAM monitors listening devices. An array of
SURVEILLANCE PHOTOS and MUG SHOTS as they’re spread over a
small table. TECH #1 looks with BINOCULARS through ONE-WAY
GLASS.
TECH #1
(to phone)
…By tonight we’ll have a guy
inside…
CUT TO:
INT. SAME TIME. FBI HEADQUARTERS
LeBow covers the phone, turns to Hogue.
LEBOW
They’re gonna put in one of our guys
as a busboy tonight.
JULES
Who?
LEBOW
I don’t know.
JULES
I want to know. If we’re gonna put a
guy inside, I want it to be one of
our best guys.
LeBow goes back to the phone. Hogue turns to Jules.
HOGUE
I want to talk to Berada.
FLASH CUT TO:
INT. THE PAST. PISTONE HOME
Donnie SHAVES his moustache in the bathroom. Sounds of the
FRONT DOOR unlocking and then closing downstairs.
MAGGIE (O.S.)
Joe?
DONNIE
Up here.
ON MAGGIE
as she heads up the stairs…
MAGGIE
I had no idea you were coming home.
I’m supposed to go to the movies
tonight with the Grants.
She enters the bathroom as he wipes the shaving cream off
his face.
He looks up, half his moustache SHAVED OFF. Her face FALLS.
MAGGIE
Oh, Joe, don’t —
(beat)
Forget it.
DONNIE
What’s the matter?
MAGGIE
I liked your moustache. It’s the
only thing I liked about this thing
of yours.
DONNIE
Well, what do you want me to do now?
MAGGIE
I want you to ask me.
DONNIE
You could’ve said something.
MAGGIE
What would you suggest I do — tell
Berada to get a message to you that
I like your moustache?
DONNIE
That’s not the point.
MAGGIE
I have to ask you about every frigging
thing.
She jockeys for room at the mirror to put on her makeup.
DONNIE
Maggie, I’ll be two seconds.
MAGGIE
They were supposed to pick me up
five minutes ago.
DONNIE
You’re going to the movies with the
Grants?
MAGGIE
Why don’t you come?
DONNIE
The last thing I want to do tonight
is go to the movies with the Grants.
MAGGIE
I’m not canceling.
Agitated, he starts to compulsively organize the medicine
chest, the shelves.
DONNIE
Where is everybody? I didn’t say
anything? I’m sure I said something.
MAGGIE
Joseph — I think I’d remember.
DONNIE
Well, they should be home anyway.
What time is it?
MAGGIE
Sherry’s sleeping over at Mom’s,
she’s teaching her how to sew. Kerry’s
at choir practice.
DONNIE
Where’s Terry?
MAGGIE
She’s with her boyfriend.
(off his rearranging)
Leave my stuff alone.
DONNIE
What boyfriend?
MAGGIE
Kenny. What are you worried about? I
was 14 when we started dating.
DONNIE
That’s what I’m worried about.
MAGGIE
He’s a nice kid. Nice family. He’s
on the wrestling team.
DONNIE
I’m sure he is. I ‘m sure he’s
practicing his takedowns right now.
MAGGIE
Maybe I’11 shave my head next time —
see how you like it.
A car horn HONKS outside. Donnie’s rearranging grows more
agitated…
DONNIE
(angry)
I expect you to have some sense of
priorities. I put a roof over your
head. I put clothes on everybody’s
back. I put gas in the car.
Maggie grabs his wrists… He wrestles her off.
MAGGIE
Leave my stuff alone.
DONNIE
I give you whatever I can give. What
I can’t give you is a moustache. I
don’t have a choice. I have to shave
the moustache.
MAGGIE
I don’t give a shit about the
moustache. But if you’re gonna live
your life however the fuck you want
then let me live mine.
She storms out. He balls up a towel, HURLS it against the
wall.
CUT TO:
INT. NIGHT. PISTONE HOMEBEDROOM
Maggie sleeps. Donnie, WIDE AWAKE, stares at the ceiling.
Hears an ENGINE. A car door.
4:32 A.M.
on the clock. He gets up. Looks through the blinds. Sees his
daughter Terry as she kisses her boyfriend good night.
DONNIE’S POV
Terry kisses and kisses… And kisses… Falls back onto the
hood of the car and slides down it. Donnie senses that he’s
losing control of his family.
CUT TO:
INT. DAY. FBI HEADQUARTERS
Hogue looks up at the clock.
12 NOON
A tape plays on the TAPE RECORDER…
LEFTY (O.S.)
Hello?
DONNIE (O.S.)
Left? Donnie. I’m just checking in.
LEFTY (O.S.)
Where you been, Donnie? You gotta
check in.
DONNIE (O.S.)
That’s what I said. I’m checking in.
LEFTY (O.S.)
Did you see the paper?
DONNIE (O.S.)
I just woke up.
LEFTY (O.S.)
How come every morning you’re reading
the paper except this morning?
DONNIE (O.S.)
I just woke up, Left.
LEFTY (O.S.)
Fuggedaboudit. You better fucking
get down here.
Click! And a DIAL TONE…
CUT TO:
INT. DAY. CADILLAC
The FRONT PAGE of the New York Post — a PHOTOGRAPH of Carmine
Galante, his cigar still clenched in his teeth, sprawled
bloody, DEAD in a Brooklyn restaurant. Under the headline:
RUBOUT
Lefty folds the paper in disgust, lights an English Oval —
even more JUMPY than usual. Donnie drives Lefty’s Cadillac
across the Brooklyn Bridge.
LEFTY
The Boss gets whacked. The fucking
boss — you don’t even know the
fucking boss exists until he gets
whacked, and then your whole fucking
life gets turned around.
DONNIE
Where’re we going?
LEFTY
Brooklyn. I got sent for.
(mutters)
The boss gets whacked. Another thing
I get left out of.
DONNIE
What does that mean, you got sent
for?
LEFTY
What do you think it means? I got
sent for by Sonny Black. I’m telling
you, I’m sick with this.
DONNIE
Sonny Red?
LEFTY
Did I say Sonny Red? Not Sonny Red.
Sonny Black.
(gestures)
And don’t ride the brake. Don’t drive
my Cadillac the way you drive your
car.
DONNIE
How do you know what he wants?
LEFTY
That fucking Sonny Black. I know
him. He gets upped to skipper, first
thing he’s gonna do is go out and
buy a big fucking Mercedes.
DONNIE
They should up you before they up
Sonny Black.
LEFTY
It’s his reward for whacking the
boss. Do I have to explain every
fucking thing to you?
DONNIE
I thought you and Sonny Black were
friends.
LEFTY
If you ever whacked a guy, Donnie,
you wouldn’t ask such stupid
questions.
DONNIE
I whacked a guy once.
LEFTY
When?
DONNIE
In an argument.
LEFTY
An argument don’t count.
(derisive)
An argument — you whack your wife
in an argument.
DONNIE
I’m just saying.
LEFTY
Ain’t the question. Don’t say you
know when you don’t know.
DONNIE
It could be anything Sonny sent for
you for.
LEFTY
I got sent for, Donnie. With This
Thing, you go in alive and you come
out dead. And the one that kills you
is your best fucking friend.
Lefty lights another cigarette. Donnie powers the window
down a crack. Lefty glares at him. Donnie powers the window
back up.
CUT TO:
EXT. DAY. TEE MOTION LOUNGE BROOKLYN
Donnie drives up Withers Street. Pulls up to a three-story
building in a working-class neighborhood. Lefty takes a last
drag of his cigarette, climbs out.
LEFTY
Anything happens, make sure Louise
gets the Cadillac.
CUT TO:
INT. DAY. MOTION LOUNGE
Nicky and Boobie play gin. Neil Diamond’s “Love on the Rocks” plays on the JUKEBOX. Lefty enters.
NICKY
(sings)
‘Love on the rocks, ain’t no
surprise.’ Look’t this hand. This
ain’t a hand. This’s a deformed
fucking Creature of the Black Lagoon
fucking claw.
BOOBIE
Left.
NICKY
Left. ‘Love on the rocks, ain’t no
surprise.’
(to Boobie)
Ming’! I knew you was gonna grab
that!
Lefty, white with fear, sits down with his back to the wall.
NICKY
‘Love on the rocks, ain’t no
surprise.’
BOOBIE
It ain’t no fucking surprise neither.
NICKY
(laying out cards)
Gin.
BOOBIE
Nicky, that ain’t gin.
NICKY
Geddadaheah, that’s gin.
BOOBIE
You got two sevens.
Boobie shows him his cards.
NICKY
Whaddaya mean I got two sevens? I
know I had three sevens.
BOOBIE
From now on we play the honor system.
You don’t even show me your hand.
CUT TO:
EXT. DAY. MOTION LOUNGE
Donnie sits in the car. Drums his fingers on the wheel.
THINKS… Then reaches behind himself —
UNSNAPS THE HOLSTER
strapped to his belt, holding his COMBAT KNIFE. Climbs out
of the car. Up a couple of steps. And through the door…
CUT TO:
INT. MOTION LOUNGE
…into the Motion Lounge. Nicky and Boobie shoot wary looks
at him.
Who’s this? Lefty turns to them.
LEFTY
It’s okay. He’s a friend of mine.
Lefty glares at Donnie — ACCUSES him with his eyes: who
told you to come in here? Donnie sits down — something in
the placid atmosphere that tells him: this is how it happens.
Nicky peers over as Boobie writes on the SCOREPAD.
NICKY
You giving me credit for that?
Boobie slides him the scorepad.
BOOBIE
Fine. You keep score.
NICKY
I don’t know how.
BOOBIE
How the hell can you play gin if you
don’t know how to keep score?
NICKY
I’m a natural.
THE FLUSH OF A TOILET
as Sonny emerges from the bathroom, reading a slip of paper.
Crumples it, throws it in the trash.
SONNY
(complaining)
Two hundred in action and we came
out with 35. That fucking Bootshe
runs that book like an old lady.
That’s gonna change.
(off Donnie)
Who’s this fucking guy?
BOOBIE
He’s with Lefty.
SONNY
(to Lefty)
C’mon. Let’s go take a ride.
(to Donnie)
You too.
Donnie and Lefty share a look of FEAR.
CUT TO:
EXT. DAY. MOTION LOUNGE
They emerge. Parked in the back — a brand-new MERCEDES.
Lefty looks at it. Turns to Donnie.
LEFTY
(mutters)
What the fuck did I tell you?
Sonny unlocks the car.
SONNY
Hey, Left — ride up front with me.
CUT TO:
INT. DAY. MERCEDES
Sonny drives on the Long Island Expressway. Lefty in the
front seat, EDGY. Boobie and Nicky flank Donnie in back. He
glances nervously at them. Sizes them up.
SONNY
Ain’t this beautiful, the ride on
this?
NICKY
Hey, Sonny — can’t you drive any
faster? I got a date tonight out in
Jersey.
SONNY
Which broad is this?
NICKY
This is the one from the calendar.
Remember that calendar I showed you?
Miss Pennzoil Air Filter of 1976.
Sonny and Boobie MIME holding two big BREASTS.
SONNY AND BOOBIE
(unison)
CHE MENNEL.
NICKY
That’s the one.
Lefty, NERVOUS, pulls down the sun visor. Looks at Boobie in
the mirror.
SONNY
Hey, Left, what’cha doing?
LEFTY
Just checking my part.
SONNY
(chuckling)
Ah, Left — what am I gonna do without
you?
(to Donnie)
What would you do without this guy,
hah, kid? You’d have to find yourself
a new goombah.
Lefty getting VERY NERVOUS…
NICKY
That was something about the boss,
wasn’t it?
SONNY
We all gotta go sometime.
Lefty, TERRIFIED, looks at Boobie again. Boobie nods. Donnie
WATCHES this… Thinks: what to do?
CUT TO:
EXT. DAY. KENNEDY AIRPORT
They walk from the parked Mercedes toward a FREIGHT HANGAR.
The scene is otherwise DESERTED. Lefty NERVOUS, lights a
cigarette.
Planes periodically ROAR overhead.
NICKY
(sings)
‘Love on the rocks, ain’t no
surprise.’
LEFTY
Sonny, what is this? We glomming
something?
Sonny opens the door.
SONNY
After you.
Lefty walks into the DARKNESS… A terrifying SILENCE…
Then —
RRRRRRROAR!
CUT TO:
INT. HANGAR
The LIGHTS come up. A pale and shaken Lefty looks straight
into the eyes of a LION CUB as it GROWLS. A bluff FREIGHT
HANDLER holds the lion on a leash.
LEFTY
Christ. I think I shit my pants.
FREIGHT HANDLER
It was supposed to go to some animal
dealer. Fuck him. I’ll tell him it
got lost.
SONNY
Look, Left, he likes you.
The cub nuzzles and sniffs at Lefty.
LEFTY
(to Lion)
Get the fuck outta here.
SONNY
That’s for you, Left. For your
birthday. Batter late than never.
LEFTY
That’s why you sent for me?
SONNY
Yeah, why? Whaddayou think, you was
gonna get whacked?
(laughing)
Lefty thought he’s gonna get whacked!
NICKY
(laughing)
What a pisser!
SONNY
What, over that 175 grand you owe
down in Little Italy? Don’t worry,
chooch.
(hard)
Now you owe it to me.
CUT TO:
EXT. NIGHT. THE MOTION LOUNGE
Donnie, Lefty and the Lion pile into the Cadillac. Sonny,
Nicky and Boobie wave as they drive off.
CUT TO:
INT. NIGHT. CADILLAC
They drive back to Manhattan, the Lion GROWLING in the back
seat.
Lefty turns around.
LEFTY
(to Lion)
Jesus Christ — shaddup already!
DONNIE
He’s hungry, Left,
INT. NIGHT. WHITE CASTLE
CUT TO:
“Home of the Square Hamburger.” Lefty and Donnie approach
the counter.
LEFTY
Forty hamburgers.
CUT TO:
EXT. NIGHT. WHITE CASTLE
Donnie and a melancholy Lefty sit on the hood of the Cadillac,
throwing hamburgers to the Lion.
LEFTY
Thirty years, there ever was a piece
of work to be done — call Lefty —
I never complained. But do I get
upped? They passed me by. Sonny Black
gets upped. I don’t get fucking upped.
DONNIE
At least you got Louise.
LEFTY
Sonny Black has four broads don’t
add up to Louise. You got a girl?
DONNIE
Yeah. I told you, in California.
LEFTY
That’s a good thing. One broad’s
enough. She’s a good woman, Louise.
My son Tommy, she’s more of a mother
to him than my ex-wife, that bitch,
(beat)
My own fucking son’s a junkie, you
believe it?
DONNIE
You should give him a smack in the
mouth once in a while.
LEFTY
Believe me, I got bruises on my hands.
My daughter, Janet — 28 years old,
she ain’t married. My daughter
Francine, she’s out in California.
She ain’t married. I’m telling you,
Donnie, I gotta worry 24 hours a
day. A woman like Louise, I can’t do
right by her — I ain’t got three
bucks in my pocket. I got cancer of
the prick. My ex-wife, she still
lives in the building. I see her on
the stairs, I gotta have three
spritzers just to calm down.
DONNIE
What do you mean, cancer of the prick?
LEFTY
Cancer of the prick. Oh, yeah, you
didn’t know that? Fuggedaboudit. I’m
in the medical books with that.
DONNIE
I never heard of that.
LEFTY
I ain’t a mutt — 30 years busting
my hump, for what? Sonny Black they
up to skipper. Do I get upped? I’m
like Claude Rains — I’m the Invisible
fucking Man.
DONNIE
You know, Left, not for nothing, but
six hours ago you thought you’s gonna
get whacked.
LEFTY
Ain’t the question, Donnie. Did I
say I was gonna get whacked?
DONNIE
No.
LEFTY
Don’t say you know when you don’t
know, Donnie. You don’t know.
DONNIE
I don’t know ’cause you don’t tell
me. How come you didn’t tell me about
that money you owe?
LEFTY
Fugggedabqudit. You know what the
vig is on that? That fucking
Blackstein is gonna have the arm on
me every fucking week.
DONNIE
Maybe I could help you out.
LEFTY
I’ll tell you something — I went in
front of all the skippers, Sonny Red
and Philly Lucky and all of them. I
went on the record with you. You
know what that means?
DONNIE
I don’t know.
LEFTY
You don’t?
DONNIE
I do?
LEFTY
You got no fucking idea, my friend.
I’m your man now — Jesus Christ
can’t touch you because I represent
you.
DONNIE
You and me, Left.
LEFTY
I got Louise and I got you.
They toss hamburgers to the Lion, the White Castle beside
them, lit bright against the bleak urban landscape.
CUT TO:
INT. DAY. PISTONE HOME
A party for Kerry’s CONFIRMATION. A PRIEST hobnobs with
Donnie’s extended family. UNCLE BOB arrives, looks for Kerry.
UNCLE BOB
Where’s Kerry?
(finding her)
Kerry, that’s the prettiest
confirmation dress I’ve ever seen.
Terry sulks in a corner. Maggie enters with a tray of cookies.
UNCLE BOB
Is Joe here?
MAGGIE
He’s on the phone.
The cheery hubbub subsides as the noise of Donnie’s hollering
CRESCENDOES in the next room…
DONNIE (O.S.)
I don’t give a fuck, Left!… What
the fuck do you want me to do?… I
don’t give a fuck what that
motherfucker says — you believe him
or me?
Awkward looks all around. MRS. PISTONE, 60s, Donnie’s MOTHER,
sidles up to Maggie.
MRS. PISTONE
Who’s bothering Joseph?
CUT TO:
INT. NIGHT. PISTONE BEDROOM
Donnie sleeps. Maggie lies awake.
MAGGIE
I want a divorce.
DONNIE
There hasn’t been a divorce in my
family back to Julius Caesar. Divorce
someone else.
MAGGIE
I’m serious.
DONNIE
Maggie, I’m tired. Go to sleep.
MAGGIE
Will you see a therapist?
DONNIE
It’s just another six months.
MAGGIE
I can’t sleep for six months, Joe.
CUT TO:
INT. DAY. OFFICE
SHELLY BERGER, late 40s, flannel shirt, earth shoes —
PSYCHOTHERAPIST — sits with Donnie and Maggie.
MAGGIE
…He comes home at all hours of the
night, without announcing when or
why, or where he’s been for three
weeks. Or three months. Then he
expects everything to be just the
way he wants it. He vacuums the entire
house. Do you know another man who
vacuums? It’s abnormal. Of course,
he expects the girls to drop their
lives when he shows up…
DONNIE
I’m their father, Maggie. I ring
that doorbell I expect them home.
MAGGIE
They think it’s a Jehovah’s witness.
(to Berger)
You’d think he’d tell me where he
goes or what he’s doing —
DONNIE
That’s for your own protection.
MAGGIE
Ha!
(to Berger)
I know he’s cheating on me —
DONNIE
I don’t have to listen to that
bullshit.
MAGGIE
No, why don’t you just leave? That’s
what you’re good at.
BERGER
Please just listen without saying
anything — that’s the task for today.
Otherwise you just replay the old
pathology.
(beat)
Maggie, you were talking about Joe’s
disappearances.
MAGGIE
I never go out anymore. What couple
wants to go out with a third wheel?
Even when he’s home it’s not like we
have any friends any more.
BERGER
So you resent him for expressing
your autonomy needs?
MAGGIE
Yes, I resent him.
BERGER
For expressing your autonomy needs.
MAGGIE
(unsure)
Yes.
BERGER
And you, Joe — what do you think
you’re running from?
DONNIE
I ain’t runnin’ from nothin’.
MAGGIE
(mimics)
‘I ain’t runnin’ from nuttin’. The
man I married was a college man.
(to Berger)
Sorry.
BERGER
(resuming, to Donnie)
Being the distancer forces Maggie
into the role of the pursuer. That
gives you a feeling of power.
Simultaneously you resent Maggie for
expressing the very intimacy needs
that in your own life you’ve —
DONNIE
I’m an undercover agent for the FBI!
MAGGIE
I didn’t marry the FBI, Joe.
He writes on a pad. Donnie tries to peek at what he’s writing.
BERGER
Okay. I want you to split the week
in half. Monday, Wednesday and Friday
are Joe’s intimacy days. Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and Saturdays are Maggie’s.
On your day, you make one intimacy
request. Your partner agrees in
advance to meet it. Whatever it is.
DONNIE
What’s that — an intimacy request?
BERGER
An intimacy request. Like ‘Rub my
back,’ or ‘Help me work out this
problem with the kids.’ Odd day,
even day, Sunday’s off.
(beat)
And masturbate. I recommend it, for
both of you. It’s a good way to blow
off stress.
CUT TO:
INT. EVENING. CADILLAC
Donnie drives. Maggie SULKS, looks out the window.
DONNIE
Can I ask you something?
MAGGIE
NO.
DONNIE
How much is this costing?
Maggie doesn’t say anything.
DONNIE
Okay, Maggie — I want you to answer
my question. This is my intimacy
request.
MAGGIE
A hundred dollars.
DONNIE
That was a hundred dollars?
MAGGIE
That’s what I said, Joe.
DONNIE
A hundred dollars. And how many of
these do you think we’ll need?
MAGGIE
I don’t know.
DONNIE
One hundred dollars.
MAGGIE
Is this still your intimacy request?
Because otherwise I’d rather not
discuss it anymore.
DONNIE
I gotta work a ten hour day risking
my life to make a hundred dollars!
MAGGIE
Who are you risking your life for?
Not me, Joe.
DONNIE
(mincing)
‘Will you rub my back’? Va’a’fonaooll.
MAGGIE
You’re an animal.
DONNIE
You know what my intimacy request is
for him? It’s very intimate. He can
take that bill he’s gonna send me
and shove it up his ass.
Maggie starts to PUNCH him.
MAGGIE
You’re an animal! Animal!
Donnie tries to fend her off while he drives. The car swings
wildly.
Approaching the opposite way:
A TRACTOR TRAILER
Donnie SWERVES. The car tumbles off the road onto a soft
shoulder.
Maggie continues to hit at Donnie. He wrestles with her.
MAGGIE
I hope
(punch)
those guys you’re hanging out with
(punch)
are laying you
(punch)
because I’m
(punch)
not anymore!
He looks at her. She looks at him. And they
KISS PASSIONATELY
grappling in the front seat… He grabs her. Pulls her toward
him.
Realizes that she is encumbered by something. She deftly
unhooks the belt. Kisses his neck…
MAGGIE
(under her breath)
Do it.
But he’s not buying.
DONNIE
Maggie — who told you to wear a
seat belt?
MAGGIE
What?
DONNIE
It’s a simple question. You never
wore a seat belt before, Maggie.
MAGGIE
Wait a minute — is this — you think
I’m having an affair?
DONNIE
I didn’t say that. It’s interesting
that you would say that, though.
MAGGIE
You’re right — I’m secretly seeing
a man who wants me to ‘Buckle Up for
Safety’. We have three children, Joe —
remember them? One of us has to play
it safe.
She SLAMS out of the car…
OUT ON THE SHOULDER
with cars whipping by… Donnie chases after her.
DONNIE
I just asked a simple question. You’re
the one that brought it up with the
affair.
MAGGIE
Bullshit. It’s so frigging ironic
that you’d think I’m up to something.
My nights are homework and basketball
games. What are your nights?
DONNIE
You know what I’m doing.
MAGGIE
I don’t know a goddam thing.
DONNIE
I’m doing the job. That’s the job.
MAGGIE
I live like a widow, Joe. That’s the
only way I can deal with this, with
the photographs and memories and our
children, and I go on with my life.
Like you’re already dead.
DONNIE
It’s for your own protection.
MAGGIE
It’s not protecting me — it’s killing
me.
CUT TO:
INT. NIGHT. PISTONE HOME
Maggie sleeps. Donnie lies awake.
DONNIE
When did you all of a sudden from
nowhere start saying, ‘Do it’, Maggie?
MAGGIE
What? Go to sleep.
DONNIE
‘Do it.’ You never said that — ‘Do
it’. You never talked that way before.
CUT TO:
INT. MORNING. PISTONE HOME
Kerry wakes up to an odd groaning and whining noise…
DOWNSTAIRS
Donnie compulsively vacuums the living room.
CUT TO:
INT. LATER. PISTONE BEDROOM
Bursey INSTALLS a special BLACK PHONE. The girls WATCH with
Donnie.
BURSEY
This is a New York number — it
patches through to here.
Maggie flutters through wearing her SWEATSUIT.
MAGGIE
I’m sorry to run out, honey. I have
an aerobics class. Take care of
yourself.
She gives him a peck on the cheek, exits. Donnie turns to
the girls
DONNIE
That’s a special phone. You don’t
call on it. You don’t answer it.
Nobody touches that phone under any
circumstances. Understood?
TERRY
Jawohl, Herr Commandant!
Terry gives Donnie a NAZI SALUTE. Goosesteps out of the
bedroom.
DONNIE
Hey. Hey!
Donnie CHASES her a couple of steps. She HURTLES down the
stairs.
SLAMS out the door. Donnie turns back. Bursey shrugs,
continues to install the phone. Kerry and Sherry indict him
with their eyes.
Exit the bedroom.
CUT TO:
INT. MORNING. CADILLAC
Donnie drives through a driving RAIN. Looks in the REAR-VIEW
MIRROR.
Gets suspicious. Turns. A car turns with him… FOLLOWING
him.
DONNIE TENSE
He turns again. Again, the car FOLLOWS. Donnie looks again
in the rear-view mirror. Something FAMILIAR about that car…
Turns again.
A scowl of RECOGNITION plays across Donnie’s face. And he
goes COLD… Approaching an intersection:
A YELLOW LIGHT
Donnie slows, then SPEEDS through the intersection as the
yellow light goes RED… Checks his mirrorthe other car is
STUCK at the light.
INSIDE THE OTHER CAR
It’s Maggie. She SMACKS the steering wheel in ANGER.
MAGGIE
Fuck you. Fuck fuck fuck you.
FLASH CUT TO:
EXT. THE PRESENT. FBI HEADQUARTERS
A HELICOPTER whips across the familiar face of Washington,
D.C. Lands on the roof of FBI headquarters. FBI MEN, including
Marshall, rush to meet it. Emerging from the chopper — IT’S
BERADA.
Indomitable black eyes burn in a face grey with illness.
CUT TO:
INT. DAY. FBI HEADQUARTERS
Berada, surrounded by suits. Hogue paces with DOCUMENTS.
HOGUE
$9,000 for miscellaneous —
miscellaneous what?… A $22,000
car… $40,000 for X-rated videotapes?
FLASH CUT TO:
INT. THE PAST. THE COCKEYED CLAM
Donnie meets with a younger Berada.
BERADA
…I got an agent down in Florida,
Fred Calvin — I got my finger in
the dike and he’s got his thumb up
his ass. A million bucks in it and
Calvin’s got nothing.
DONNIE
Meanwhile three years I’ve been
undercover and I can’t get a fucking
two thousand dollar raise.
BERADA
Joe —
DONNIE
(correcting him)
Donnie. Call me Donnie — I don’t
wanna get confused.
BERADA
We’ve been through this. To get a
raise you gotta go up to supervisor
grade.
DONNIE
I supervise my prick. Not even three
years — three and a half years.
BERADA
GS-14 is supervisors. That’s the
rules.
DONNIE
Fuggedaboudit.
BERADA
Now what the hell’s this about porno
tapes?
DONNIE
I need 40 grand, I gotta middle some
porno tapes.
BERADA
Forty grand for porno tapes?
DONNIE
You’ll get it back. It’s nothing.
Half of them are for fags.
BERADA
Oh, that makes me feel much better.
You don’t watch it, you’re gonna be
back in the buckets listening to the
Bulgarians all day.
FLASH CUT TO:
INT. THE PRESENT. FBI HEADQUARTERS
Berada addresses Hogue from his wheelchair.
BERADA
He has to do some not-so-nice things,
sir. He’s not undercover in the Camp
Fire Girls.
HOGUE
(reading)
‘UCA requests four handguns,
preferably .38 caliber, to assist in
a bank robbery’?
CUT TO:
INT. THE PAST. THE COCKEYED CLAM
DONNIE
You take out the firing pin. The
guns don’t work. What the fuck are
you worried about?
BERADA
NO.
DONNIE
Why not?
BERADA
How’m’ I gonna explain that to
Washington?
DONNIE
Hey, Guy, you have to explain this
to Washington, that’s your fucking
job. For me to do my job I need the
fucking guns.
BERADA
There’s no procedures for this.
DONNIE
I don’t give a fuck about the fucking
procedures. You think
(gestures)
they have fucking procedures? Hah? I
want the fucking guns and I want the
fucking money. Understood?
Berada stares at Donnie, frightened. On his face we see his
doubts about what’s happening to Donnie.
FLASH CUT TO:
INT. THE PRESENT. FBI
BERADA
You guys said no to the guns. I don’t
see why it’s coming up now.
LEBOW
There’s a 209 that says Sonny Black
might get hit tonight. And Joe would
get hit as one of his crew.
BERADA
What does Joe say?
MARSHALL
We don’t know where Joe is.
BERADA
What do you mean — you lost him?
HOGUE
Didn’t you think at any point that
this was getting a little out there?
BERADA
Everything in this operation was a
judgement call, sir. And we relied
on his judgement. He was the one in
the field.
HOGUE
(with documents)
These requests have your name on
them. Why the hell did you go ahead
with this?
CUT TO:
INT. THE PAST. THE COCKEYED CLAM
DONNIE
Santo Trafficante — how long’s he
been the boss of Florida? You could
put his head on your wall.
(Berada thinks)
If I go down to Florida and vouch
for this jerkoff, whatever his name
is —
BERADA
Fred Calvin.
DONNIE
Every door in Florida will open for
this guy Calvin like it was on ball
fucking bearings. But I want the
guns. The money. And no more fucking
bullshit.
BERADA
Don’t talk to me like you’re talking
to them, Joe.
DONNIE
Donnie.
BERADA
Joe.
DONNIE
Don’t waste my time. With all this
bullshit about procedures, you’ll do
whatever it takes to get these guys.
Same as me.
Berada mulls it over a beat.
BERADA
You really think we could get
Trafficante?
Donnie gets up. Turns.
DONNIE
If I vouch for this guy and he fucks
up — I’ll put a bullet in his fucking
head.
Donnie exits. Berada WORRIES that this is getting out of
hand.
CUT TO:
INT. THE PRESENT. FBI HEADQUARTERS
Berada stares at Hogue, stone-faced.
BERADA
There was never any moment when I
thought Joe or the operation was out
of control, sir.
CUT TO:
EXT. THE PAST. MOTION LOUNGE
A LION IN WINTER. Lefty in his overcoat, the Lion on its
leash. A cold DRIZZLE falls. The Lion stops, sniffs at an
AUTOMOBILE. Lifts a leg:
PEES ON THE TIRE
Lefty, embarrassed, looks around. NEIGHBORS watch from windows —
some amused, some disapproving. The Lion moves to the next
car.
Sniffs. Pees on the tire. And then to the next:
SONNY’S MERCEDES
The Lion sniffs. Lefty tugs on the leash. The Lion resists,
sniffs some more. Lefty tugs harder. The Lion lifts its leg…
Lefty YANKS on the leash — the Lion ROARS. Lefty DRAGS the
Lion into the Motion Lounge.
CUT TO:
INT. DAY. MOTION LOUNGE
Donnie takes a football bet on the pay phone.
DONNIE
We got the Colts giving two and a-
half. Yeah,
(writing)
nickel on the Colts.
INSIDE
Sonny presides over a BOARD MEETING of the Sonny Black
Corporation.
Nicky, Boobie and other WISEGUYS — including BOOTS and LEGS —
pore over crumpled scraps of paper. Sonny makes notes in a
little spiral NOTEBOOK. Donnie joins them.
BOOBIE
We had that load of jeans — remember?
Two hundred grand on that…
The Lion shakes its mane, SPRAYS WATER over everyone.
NICKY
Va’n’aool’, all over everything!
Lefty — how’m I gonna read this?
LEFTY
That’ll teach you to improve your
penmanship.
Lefty lays a PARKING METER out on a card table. Picks up a
SLEDGE HAMMER.
BOOTS
There’s that guy that’s making the
Quaaludes for us.
DONNIE
What’re we selling that for? I know
a guy I think I could off them to.
NICKY
Sixty cents apiece. I think it’s 60.
Is it 60?
BOOTS
We’re doing a dime a week.
WHAM!
an echoing CLANGOR as Lefty whacks at the parking meter with
the sledge hammer.
SONNY
If you’re holding out on me, Boots,
I’m gonna chop you up.
BOOTS
I ain’t holding out. It’s ten grand
a week. That’s it.
SONNY
It should be 25.
(to Boobie)
You ever off that load of sunglasses?
Boobie nods, gives thumbs up.
NICKY
Bullshit, Boobie.
BOOBIE
I did so, Nicky.
NICKY
Who you gonna lay off 18 cases of
sunglasses to?
BOOBIE
I laid it off… to the same guy I
heisted it from.
(to Sonny)
Twenty-five grand.
Sonny writes in his notebook.
WHAM! Another deafening smash at the parking meter.
SONNY
Will you stop it with that?
LEFTY
How else’m I gonna open it? Open
sesame?
SONNY
What are you gonna get out of that,
Left? Fifty bucks?
LEFTY
Ain’t the question.
SONNY
You know, you guys — you don’t
fucking think. I’m the skipper now —
I gotta answer. Sonny Red’s got 75
million alone just with that trucking
company out in Jersey and I got fifty
bucks of fucking dimes.
LEFTY
A score’s a score.
SONNY
You’re like a bunch of fucking niggers
on welfare.
DONNIE
What about Florida? I know a guy
down there, he has some vending
machines he’s trying to move.
LEFTY
Let him move them to New York.
DONNIE
Plus he has a club down there. He’s
looking for partners that can give
him peace of mind.
SONNY
You know this guy?
WHAM! Another bang at the parking meter. Lefty GLOWERS at
Donnie. A look that says: SHUT UP.
DONNIE
I knew him ten years ago, in
Baltimore. He was okay then.
SONNY
Where in Florida? The Beach?
DONNIE
Tampa.
LEFTY
For your information they got their
own outfit down there and their own
boss.
LEGS
Santo Trafficante.
LEFTY
Thank you.
NICKY
All the economy’s moving down there,
Florida, ’cause of the Oil Crisis. I
heard it on the news.
BOOBIE
The economy gotta be good for there
to be good moneymaking for crooks.
LEGS
Who can get a fucking thing going in
this fucking city? It’s 5000 wiseguys
all chasing the same nickel.
NICKY
Hey, Sonny, maybe we could do
something with Disneyworld down there.
Wiseguy Mountain. Wiseguys of the
Caribbean. Everybody fucks Minnie
Mouse up the ass. Can you imagine?
(gestures)
You grab her by those big fucking
ears —
