American Hustle Page #2

CARL ELWAY:

Help me get him back!

RICHIE DIMASO:

Go get him. He needs to take the

f***in' briefcase, Irving.

7.

IRVING ROSENFELD

I didn’t wanna do it in the first

place. This is your show, YOU go

get him.

RICHIE DIMASO:

No, you have no choice. You have

to go get him. Now, go get him, so

he takes the briefcase by himself!

That's the whole plan, Irving!

Irving stands up angry and gets in Richie’s face.

IRVING ROSENFELD

What were you doing pushing the

f***ing briefcase, dummy? Huh?

RICHIE DIMASO:

The whole f***in' thing was falling

apart. You know how much I paid

for this goddamn hotel that you

f***ing asked for?!

IRVING ROSENFELD

Now I gotta go mop up your mess.

I'm gonna go f***ing mop up your

mess!

Irving storms out of the hotel suite towards the Elevators to

get Carmine.

INT. PLAZA HOTEL SUITE FOYER - DAY

Irving paces back and forth as he waits for the elevator.

INT. PLAZA HOTEL LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS

We push in on the concerned face of Sydney as Richie rambles

on to her.

RICHIE DIMASO:

You understand what I'm saying,

right? It wasn't working.

INT. PLAZA HOTEL SUITE FOYER - CONTINUOUS

Irving continues to pace back and forth in the hall waiting

for the elevator.

8.

IRVING ROSENFELD (V.O.)

Did you ever have to find a way tosurvive and you knew your choiceswere bad?

Irving walks over and hits the elevator button again.

IRVING ROSENFELD

I learned how to survive when I was

a kid.

7 CUT TO:
7

IRVING ROSENFELD (V.O.) (CONT’D)

My father had a glass business.

28 IRV AS KID SMASHES PLATE GLASS WINDOWS OF BRONX STOREFRONTS 28

Drumming up business for his father.

EXT. ROSENFELD & SON GLASS REPAIR CO. - DAY 1940’S

Young Irving and his Father and Mother standing outside thefamily's glass repair shop in the Bronx as some toughcontractors march up to them.

IRVING ROSENFELD (V.O.)

I would rather be on the takingside than the getting taken sideany day of the week, especiallyafter I saw how my father gottaken. I mean, seeing that scarredme for life.

EXT. UNDISCLOSED STREET - DAY 1940’S

Young Irving runs by a store front as he throws a rockthrough each window on the store, smashing them all.

IRVING ROSENFELD (V.O.) (CONT’D)

I took it upon myself to drum upbusiness. I became a different kind

of guy than my father. I became acon artist -- from the feet up, forreal.

CUT TO:

THE BRONX:
STOREFRONT WITH SMASHED WINDOW. - DAY - PRESENT

Irv shakes his head, surveys the damage.

9.

IRVING ROSENFELD

I was gonna survive no matter what.

I still had the glass business and

a few dry cleaning stores on the

side.

7G INT. IRV’S DINGY OFFICE - DAY 7G

Irving paces around his office smoking a cigar and talking on

the phone. What looks to be stolen art sits on the floor all

around him.

IRVING ROSENFELD (V.O.)

And I did some art dealing on the

side. Stolen or forged art.

EXT./INT. POOL PARTY - LONG ISLAND HOUSE - DAY

Chicago’s “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” fades

up. Jamming early 70s HOLIDAY party -- LONG ISLAND LADIES IN

BIKINIS WITH HUGE HAIR IN FUR COATS SMOKING OUTSIDE THE GLASS

ENCLOSED POOL -while inside steamed glass SHINY BIKINI

CANDIDATES FOR NOSE JOBS; A FEW OTHERS WHO ARE LARGE, SEVERAL

GUYS WHO LOOK MOBBED UP, pale, out of shape, gold chains, in

swim trunks, EVEN MORE BURT REYNOLDS TYPE GUYS, slim, hairy,

chains.

IRVING ROSENFELD (V.O.)

So, one January I go to my friends

pool party in Long Island.

Irving sits holding court with some friends by the pool when

he turns and sees Sydney for the first time.

PUSH IN ON:
Irving. He looks up, they lock eyes across the

party.

SYD REACHES FOR A SLICE OF FRUIT ON HIGH SET PLATE WHEN

IRVING’S HAND GRABS HER ARM -- she turns, taken aback

IRVING ROSENFELD

Is that Duke Ellington on your

bracelet?

She does have on a Duke Ellington charm bracelet.

SYDNEY PROSSER:

As a matter of fact, it is. He died

this year, you know.

10.

IRVING ROSENFELD

I know. I doubt anyone else here

knows or cares about it.

SYDNEY PROSSER:

Well I care. He saved my life many

times.

Irving takes a good look at her, impressed.

IRVING ROSENFELD

(impressed)

Mine too. Which one?

SYDNEY PROSSER:

Jeep’s Blues.

IRVING ROSENFELD

(smiles, warm)

Jeep’s Blues. Oh yeah.

Awkward pause.

IRVING ROSENFELD (CONT’D)

You wanna hear it?

SYDNEY PROSSER:

Right now?

IRVING ROSENFELD

Yeah.

SYDNEY PROSSER:

Sure.

CUT TO:
PORTABLE RECORD PLAYER PLAYS START OF JEEP’S BLUES as

Irving and Sydney nod to it - he watches her foot in her high

wedge and her tanned leg rocking as she sits on arm of sofa.

IRVING ROSENFELD

Who starts a song like that?!

SYDNEY PROSSER:

It’s magic.

IRVING ROSENFELD

Magic.

They listen to the record, Edith checks Irving out.

11.

SYDNEY PROSSER (V.O.)

He wasn't necessarily in good

shape, and he had this comb-over

that was rather -- elaborate. He

had this air about him. And he had

this confidence that drew me to

him. He was who he was and he

didn’t care.

IRVING ROSENFELD (V.O.)

Like me, she was a very particular

person. Like me, she came from a

place where her options were

limited -- and she had been someone

she didn't want to be in her past.

CUT TO -- SYDNEY DANCES IN A SMALL TOWN, OLD FASHIONED STRIP

BAR.

SYDNEY PROSSER (V.O.)

It actually can feel kind of sexy

sometimes. There's a boldness in

it. But where would that boldness

take me? I didn't know. But I was

gonna find out.

8 CUT TO:
8

SYDNEY WALKS DOWN A BLEAK INDUSTRIAL STREET.

CUT TO -- RECORD STORE WHERE EDITH FLIPS THROUGH ALBUMS OF

THE OLD GREATS -- ELLA FITZGERALD, DUKE ELLINGTON, AND MORE

OF THE OLD GREATS -- A WORLD OF ELEGANCE, SOPHISTICATION, AND

CULTURE A MILLION MILES AWAY FROM WHERE SHE LIVES.

IRVING ROSENFELD (V.O.)

Like me, she learned to survive and

reinvent herself. She knew she had

to reinvent her life and her

identity. And like me, she

envisioned a better elegant future

for herself. Like me, she knew you

had to have a vision.

EXT. NY STREET -- DAY

Sydney looks at scrap of paper with info in her hand -- looks

up at office building address -- enters.

IRVING ROSENFELD (V.O.)

She came to New York. She

envisioned it.

(MORE)

12.

And just like that, she applied fora job at Cosmopolitan Magazine.

IRVING ROSENFELD (V.O.) (CONT'D)

12 INT. COSMOPOLITAN MAGAZINE OFFICES - DAY 12

Clean bright colors, huge blown up Cosmo covers -Sydney

-- innocent, plain, slacks and blouse, hair back,

nervously awaits interview.

SHE IS CALLED IN -- NERVOUSLY STANDS, small crumpled scrap ofpaper in hand, FIXES HER HAIR --

13 INT. COSMO INTERVIEW OFFICE - CONTINUOUS 13

COSMO INTERVIEWER GIRL

Well you’re obviously here for a

reason. Let’s get to it.

Alright.

SYDNEY PROSSER:

COSMO INTERVIEWER GIRL

Our cover story right now is oncunnilingus. What do you thinkabout that?

SYDNEY PROSSER:

I like it.

COSMO INTERVIEWER GIRL

Do you have any clerical skills?

Yes.

SYDNEY PROSSER:

COSMO INTERVIEWER GIRL

Can you type?

IRVING ROSENFELD (V.O.)

She was unlike anybody I ever knew.

She was smart. She saw throughpeople in situations. And she knewhow to live with passion and style.

She understood Duke Ellington.

14 COSMO MAGAZINE OFFICES: SYDNEY PUSHES MAIL CART DELIVERS MAIL

TO SOPHISTICATED MAGAZINE EDITORS AND EXECUTIVES, SOME TOUGH

BIRDS, MOST ELEGANT.

14

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