15 Minutes Page #13

OLEG:

Good idea!

EDDIE:

You really think you'll be able to fool

a jury with this bullshit? How f***in'

stupid are you?

EMIL:

Smarter than Americans. You're fed cry

baby talk shows all day long. Not only

will Americans believe me, they'll cry

for me.

(laughs)

So...Detective Eddie Flemming, would you

like to say goodbye to your Nicolette?

Maybe you can propose to her now?

Eddie says nothing. Just stares at Emil. Emil puffs on

Eddie's cigar.

EMIL (CONT'D)

Okay. He has nothing to say.

(signaling Oleg)

Start the camera!

OLEG:

Cut!

Emil looks at Oleg.

OLEG (CONT'D)

This is my project. I say 'action.' I

am the director! You are the talent.

You wait for me to say 'action!'

Emil looks at Eddie as if to say, "See what I have to put up

with." Oleg gestures from behind the videocamera.

OLEG (CONT'D)

And...action!

Oleg FILMS as Emil raises Eddie's service revolver. Eddie

suddenly KICKS at Emil's hand, but Emil pulls it away,

backing out of Eddie's reach.

EMIL:

Bad last moment - I cut that out.

Emil raises the pistol again - pointing the gun at Eddie's

left temple. Emil c*cks the hammer, but Eddie avoids the

gun, ducking his head to the side of Emil's arm. Standing

and following his head up Emil's arm and pushing him over

into the desk. Eddie then knocks Emil with the chair and

Emil falls off the desk and onto the floor.

Oleg still grips the videocamera. Eddie continues around

with the chair and drives Oleg back across the room - pinning

him to the wall.

Eddie comes back from Oleg to the gun at the same time as

Emil is limping for it. Eddie knocks Emil out of the way

with the chair and then stabs him with the legs of the chair

repeatedly.

Eddie comes up and around again at Oleg who is coming at him

from the wall. Eddie knocks Oleg over the coffee table and

onto the sofa. Falling on top of him, rolling over and

leaving Oleg on the sofa.

Eddie manages to get up from the sofa and position the chair

in such a way that he can fall over backward and grab the

gun. Emil limps toward the gun at the same time and it is

not clear in the darkness who has the gun.

Oleg gets up from the sofa and goes over to get the

videocamera. Eddie has managed to get the gun and comes up

as Oleg is moving in with the camera and starts shooting

toward Oleg - managing to shoot one of the blinds off the

window and one of the lampshades off the lamp.

Oleg crouches down with the camera and Eddie starts to turn

toward Emil who comes at him with the knife and stabs him in

the stomach.

Emil steps back, revealing the knife is BURIED IN EDDIE'S

STOMACH.

Eddie stumbles backward, falling over but still attached to

the chair - holding the gun. Eddie can't believe he got

stabbed. Blood swells around his stomach. He can't be

dying. This can't be happening. He looks at Emil. The pain

is terrible. Oleg has knelt down next to Eddie - getting a

close up.

Emil looks at Eddie.

EMIL (CONT'D)

Die. Die.

Emil looks around. Grabs a black pillow and finishes Eddie

off, suffocating him.

BLACKNESS:

We are moving through a tunnel - pitch black, so dark all you

feel is the motion. We are travelling very fast. Finally,

in the distance, a speck of light which fills the frame.

We slowly pull back from the white light to discover it is a

tiny pixel on a TV screen.

WIDENING:

further out we see Eddie's funeral on the evening news. It's

an enormous gathering - a sea of blue uniforms and

dignitaries. In the upper right hand corner, superimposed

over the funeral, is a picture of Eddie from his ID and in

his NYPD uniform. We see Oleg's reflection on the set with

the videocamera. He is filming the TV. We hear the audio

from Eddie's funeral.

NEWSCASTER (ON T.V.)

..Detective Flemming was one of the most

decorated NYPD detectives in the history

of New York. He made several thousand

arrests during his career, including the

famed Stephen Geller case. Beloved by

the community in which he served. His

partner eulogized him...

Leon is at the mic.

LEON (ON T.V.)

...Eddie was my mentor, my best friend

and my partner...he taught me the

meaning of the word 'cop.' He was a man

in every sense of the word. I'll miss

him...

(choking on tears)

Sleep well, brother.

Leon begins to sing "Amazing Grace." Oleg PANS from the TV

and focuses it on a lightbulb. Hands enter the frame -

carefully pouring clear liquid into an ashtray. A long

hypodermic needle slides into the ashtray - the plunger is

pulled back and the needle quickly fills with liquid.

Gingerly, the needle is inserted into the lightbulb. Again,

the plunger moves and the lightbulb is filled and placed on a

table...next to a CAN OF GASOLINE. VIDEOCAMERA ZOOMS OUT

revealing...Emil sitting at a hotel desk doing this.

INT. P.B. HERMAN'S RESTAURANT - DAY

It's packed with COPS drinking. Prosecutors...lawyers...many

who were at the funeral, including Leon. All wear the black

ribbon on their badges. There's a quality of an Irish wake -

boisterous, guys cursing...many cops in uniform. A buffet

has been laid out.

Hawkins enters in a black suit, wearing a black ribbon. He

greets people, shaking hands, embracing Leon.

HAWKINS:

Awful...what an awful day. He was New

York City.

Hawkins notices a young man by the window. Teary-eyed. It's

Tommy. Hawkins nods to him.

TOMMY:

I never got to tell him how much I

admired him.

HAWKINS:

I know, son, I know. We all loved him.

Hawkins moves on...greeting others. He notices at the end of

the bar - sitting alone on a stool - is Nicolette. He moves

to her. Pulls up a stool alongside her. She turns, looks at

him. Just stares at him for a long beat. She is bombed.

Definitely drunk. She's had many. She turns to Hawkins.

NICOLETTE:

You know...you know he was gonna propose

to me. The crime guys found a card he'd

written out to me. And a ring

box...these f***ers that killed him -

have my ring. They have my diamond

engagement ring...

Hawkins touches her shoulder with compassion.

HAWKINS:

I know.

NICOLETTE:

What do you mean you know? He told you

he was gonna propose to me?

HAWKINS:

Well, he...

NICOLETTE:

(overriding)

I want to hear everything he said.

HAWKINS:

I'm trying to tell you.

NICOLETTE:

Alright. Go ahead.

HAWKINS:

That morning. He was talking to me and

Leon about marriage.

NICOLETTE:

Oh my G-d. We were having lunch here.

He started making overtures - talking

about little shoes next to his in his

closet but I got a call to anchor - and

I walked out on him. I walked out on

him when he was trying to ask me to

marry him!!

Nicolette is crying now. She angrily wipes away a tear.

NICOLETTE (CONT'D)

I'd never had a great relationship

before. I'd never made great choices

with men. And he wasn't easy to get to

know. He was older, my parents told me

I was nuts to get involved with him.

But he was so great to me. Always

encouraging, telling me I could do

anything...

(beat)

He was the one. You know, I'd give up

everything - everything - for just a

little more time. I would've spent

fifteen minutes with him if that's all I

knew I had.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes