Absolute Power

FADE IN:

1

INT. WASHINGTON MUSEUM -DAY 1

The saddest eyes you ever saw.

We are looking at an El Greco drawing. It is a study for

one of his paintings.

PULL BACK TO REVEAL -A

bunch of art students are doing sketches of the eyes,

the elongated fingers, the slender hands El Greco drew so

brilliantly.

Most of the students are around 20. A couple of suburban

housewives are there too.

And one older man.

This is LUTHER WHITNEY. Mid 60s, very fit, neatly

dressed. At quick glance, he seems as if he might be a

successful company executive.

As we watch him draw we can tell he is capable of great

concentration. And patient. With eyes that miss

nothing:
He has pilot’s eyes.

We’ll find out more about him as time goes on, but this

is all you really have to know: Luther Whitney is the

hero of this piece. As we watch him draw -

Luther’s sketchbook. He is finishing his work on the

eyes, and he’s caught the sadness: It’s good stuff.

Luther. It’s not good enough for him. He looks at his

work a moment, shakes his head.

GIRL STUDENT:

Don’t give up.

LUTHER:

I never do.

GIRL STUDENT:

May I?

She’s indicated his sketchbook. He nods. She starts

thumbing through.

The sketchbook as the pages turn.

Detail work. Eyes and hands. The eyes are good. The

hands are better. Very skillful.

(CONTINUED)

)B( ABSOLUTE POWER -Rev. 5/16/96 2.

1 CONTINUED:
1

The GIRL hands it back. Impressed.

GIRL STUDENT:

You work with your hands, don’t

you?

CLOSEUP -LUTHER *

An enigmatic smile. Now, from that -2

EXT. RED’S BAR -DAY 2

A nice working class part of town. Nothing fancy here

but there’s a pleasant feel. The streets are clean, the

houses neat and well tended.

Luther, carrying his sketchbook, walks along. It’s

afternoon now. Up ahead is a local bar: RED’S.

3 INT. RED’S BAR -DAY 3

Luther walks in. Nothing fancy here. Strictly working

class. And relatively empty. An overweight bald man

Luther’s age works behind the bar. This is RED. They

are good enough friends not to ask each other questions.

LUTHER:

(as they nod to

each other)

Redhead.

RED:

Luther.

(as Luther hands

him a videotape)

Your life would be a whole lot

simpler if you could learn to

operate a V.C.R.

LUTHER:

My only failing.

As he turns -4

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD -LUTHER’S HOUSE -DAY 4

A street of small row houses. Clean, well tended.

Luther walks toward one. Later in the afternoon. He

carries half a dozen small shopping bags, from the

market, the hardware store, the drug store, the cleaners.

3.

5 EXT. LUTHER’S HOUSE -DAY 5

A terra cotta planter to the right of the front door.

Luther shifts his packages, tilts the planter slightly,

bends down, pulls out a key, inserts it in the front

door.

6 INT. LUTHER’S HOUSE -KITCHEN -DAY 6

as he enters. Neat, tidy. A Cuisinart, a cheese slicer,

lots of other nice equipment. As he begins putting food

away -

7 INT. LUTHER’S HOUSE -DINING AREA -NIGHT 7

Evening now. Table set for one. A single candle.

Beside the candle is Luther’s sketch pad. Now Luther

himself moves INTO VIEW, carrying a tray. He puts it

down.

A gorgeous omelet is on a fine china plate, parsley

sprinkled neatly on top. An elegant green salad is on

another plate, covered with thinly sliced parmesan

cheese. An expensive water pitcher, a lovely glass.

Clearly, a great deal of thought has gone into dinner.

Luther lights the single candle. We are now aware of a

photograph nearby. The picture is old. A pretty little

girl stands in the center, smiling. Her mother stands

alongside, smiling too. A man is with them, looking at

them happily. It’s Luther. When he was young.

Luther studies the photo a moment. Then he turns, looks

out the window.

8 POV SHOT -SLIVER OF MOON 8

is visible. Lovely. Peaceful.

9 LUTHER 9

Now Luther opens the sketch pad, quickly flips past the

hands and eyes and faces -

--we are looking at something totally different: a

mansion.

HOLD ON Luther’s drawing of the mansion.

KEEP HOLDING.

PULL BACK to reveal -

4.

10 EXT. SULLIVAN MANSION -NIGHT 10

In the moonlight --it looks exactly like his drawing.

But no drawing could convey the size of the place --we

are looking at ten thousand square feet. Wealth and

power.

We’re in rolling hill country. The mansion is dark.

Totally deserted. Silence.

Now a sound -TIRES ON GRAVEL. A car comes rolling INTO

VIEW. The motor of the car has been turned off. The

lights of the car have been turned off. The car slides

to a stop. Again, silence...

HOLD ON mansion, a couple of hundred yards away. There

is a small field between the car and the estate. Now -

11 EXT. SULLIVAN MANSION/INT. LUTHER’S CAR -NIGHT 11

A man holds binoculars, studying the place. He wears

dark clothes, tennis shoes. He puts down the binoculars,

begins to smear his face with black camouflage cream -

--it’s Luther, and he’s been a professional thief his

entire life. He’s a three-time loser, but his last

sentence was so long ago and his skills are now so vast,

so refined, that it is unlikely he will ever get caught

again.

12 EXT. SULLIVAN MANSION -GROUNDS -NIGHT 12

The grounds as Luther glides through it. He wears a

backpack.

The night is cool.

He stops. All that separates him from the mansion now is

a stretch of gorgeous lawn. Except for Luther, it isn’t

gorgeous --it’s no-man’s land.

One final check of his surroundings --then he sets off,

in graceful motion, long strides eating up the ground.

He makes no sound at all.

13 EXT. SULLIVAN MANSION -FRONT DOOR -NIGHT 13

Thick wood with reinforced steel.

Luther stops by the door, takes off his backpack, opens

it. He puts on plastic gloves that have a special layer

of padding at the fingertips and palms. Now he takes a

key, inserts it in the front door, turns it, and the

instant he pushes the door open --ZOOM TO:

5.

14 INT. SULLIVAN MANSION -FOYER -NIGHT 14

The infrared SECURITY DETECTOR --it immediately starts

to BEEP and you can see the seconds being counted down:

forty, thirty-nine, thirty -

CUT TO:

15 LUTHER 15

--in his hands now is an automatic screwdriver, no more

than six inches long ---

he sets to work on the security panel that is inside

in the foyer next to the front door.

The screwdriver undoes the first screw, the second -CUT

TO:

16 SECURITY DETECTOR 16

Thirty-one, thirty, twenty -CUT

TO:

17 SCREWDRIVER 17

Now the third and fourth screws are in hands and he lifts

the security panel away.

The BEEPING sound is constant ---

and getting louder.

A tiny device, no bigger than a pocket calculator. It

has two wires protruding from it. It is, we are about to

find out, a tiny computer. Luther holds it like a baby.

CUT TO:

18 SECURITY DETECTOR 18

Eighteen, seventeen -CUT

TO:

19 LUTHER 19

probing with the wires into the heart of the security

panel.

(CONTINUED)

6.

19 CONTINUED:
19

The BEEPING is LOUDER still.

The security panel. Luther is attempting delicate work

and it’s dark so it isn’t easy but he continues to probe

with the wires and -CUT

TO:

20 SECURITY DETECTOR 20

Eleven, ten -CUT

TO:

21 LUTHER 21

and he’s got it attached!

22 COMPUTER 22

Now the face of the tiny computer is alive with numbers

--they fly by much too fast for us to make them out

clearly.

CUT TO:

23 SECURITY DETECTOR 23

Four, three, two -CUT

TO:

24 FACE OF TINY COMPUTER 24

as five numbers lock --7 --13 --19 --8 --11 -The

BEEPING sound dies.

CUT TO:

25 LUTHER 25

A glance across the foyer --the lights of the security

detector go from red to a warm looking green.

Safe.

(CONTINUED)

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