Angel Eyes

FADE IN:

EXT. CITY STREETS (LOS ANGELES) -NIGHT

CREDIT SEQUENCE.

As OPENING CREDITS play, we study the city’s nighttime

pulse, ribbons of headlights moving and cross-connecting

like blood through the veins of a body -impressionistic,

even beautiful, but what we’re hearing

is soulful trumpet-based MUSIC, mellow and haunting, the

modern classic --JAZZ sound of a Wynton Marsalis,

putting a voice to our story. As CREDITS END, we...

DISSOLVE TO:

POV -EXT. FREEWAY -NIGHT

Now the MUSIC is GONE, SOUNDS are MUFFLED and vision

blurred. We get the impression of urgent movement. We

hear BREATHING. There are VOICES, SHOUTS, even SCREAMS,

but MUFFLED, far away. Only the breathing is distinct.

We come to realize it is our breathing, and we are inside

someone, looking out. The man whose POV this is is on

the edge of consciousness and not far from death. He

lies on the pavement of a freeway at the site of an

accident only minutes after impact.

His VISION goes IN and OUT of clarity. People are

swarming around him and rushing by toward the carnage of

wrecked vehicles. A SIREN BLOOMS in the distance and

approaches haltingly. The man slips away, comes back

toward consciousness, slips again.

The crowd around the downed man parts to allow passage to

a police officer. It is a woman, Officer SHARON POGUE,

LAPD. She kneels at the man’s side, taking charge,

speaking, but we hear only SLIVERS of SOUND. He sees her

face clearly now, close above him.

Sharon is a dedicated professional and more. We see down

into her to a place of real caring. She stares into our

eyes and connects. We begin to hear her now --and there

are more SIRENS converging in b.g.

SHARON:

Can you hear me?

(shouting, off)

This one’s conscious!

VOICE (O.S.)

Paramedics on the way!

We are slipping away again. Sharon holds us with her

eyes, and she grips our hand.

(CONTINUED)

2.

CONTINUED:

SHARON:

Wait. Wait. Listen to me. Can

you feel that?

She holds on tight. We see that our hand, held in her

own, is bloody.

SHARON:

That’s my hand. Hold it. Go on

--as hard as you can.

We watch our hand gripping hers, and as we hold on, the

sights and sounds around us grow more clear.

SHARON:

It’s over, and I’ve got you, and

you’re safe. You’re safe now.

You got that? Don’t let go.

Don’t let me go.

But our eyes unlock from Sharon’s and DRIFT TO a patch of

night sky. Her voice fades awawy. Our POV begins TO

LIFT, MOVING TOWARD that sky, as the blue-black night

begins to turn white. We GO INTO that white light and...

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. LOS ANGELES CITYSCAPE -DAY

We PICK OUT a police car from the traffic and FOLLOW.

The beat being patrolled is a mixed neighborhood with

some very rough edges.

INT. POLICE CAR -DAY

Officer Sharon Pogue is driving the car. It is two years

since we saw her at the accident site. Her partner,

ROBBY LEWIS, sips coffee and keeps one eye on the CAD

monitor which lists all area police calls. She slows

behind a car that is crawling along, an old 60s car,

driven by a young man and woman who sit very close on the

bench seat. The car’s ENGINE is MISSING and smoking.

SHARON:

That car is older than they are.

ROBBY:

’67 Chevy Impala.

SHARON:

That’s what I said.

(CONTINUED)

3.

CONTINUED:

ROBBY:

Needs a servicing.

SHARON:

Don’t we all.

Robby nearly spits his coffee, laughing at what Sharon

has said and trying not to choke. Sharon smiles, shaking

her head.

SHARON:

Get it together, officer.

As Robby smiles, Sharon looks ahead at the young couple

who each have an arm around the other. She is stroking

his neck. He is making gentle circles in her hair.

Sharon watches this, and for a moment her eyes reveal a

depth that may be loneliness, but she quickly pushes her

thoughts away and hits the HORN, startling Robby and

startling the people ahead who now disengage and drive

on.

ROBBY:

Jesus, Pogo! Almost spilled my

coffee again! You didn’t like his

hair, or what?

SHARON:

I love Elvis hair. They were

going two damn miles an hour.

But Robby’s eyes have caught something on the monitor.

ROBBY:

Let’s roll to this --fight in

progress.

As Robby secures that coffee cup, Sharon hits the SIREN

and speeds around the car in front of them.

EXT. CITY STREET -DAY

At the same time, a few blocks away, an OLD, FRAIL MAN is

carrying two plastic grocery bags that are too heavy for

him.

Walking behind this man is a younger man named CATCH

LAMBERT, an attractive man with some scarring on his

face. His eyes, deep down, are haunted by something, but

there is energy in his step. He is dressed in a relaxed

and stylish manner, not expensive. He begins to pick up

his pace to catch up to the old man.

(CONTINUED)

4.

CONTINUED:

People glance at Catch, nad he glances back in an open

and unflinching way, ready for anything, a smile, a nod,

or --because these are some of L.A.’s mean streets --a

threatening or taunting look. These he also meets

openly, without a trace of fear. The man has been

through some kind of fire, and it has left him different

from us. Outside the usual boundaries.

Catch walks beside the Old Man, glancing at him.

Finally, the man glances back, wondering and suspicious,

but Catch has a slight, disarming smile, open and honest.

CATCH:

Y’know... since we’re both walking

the same way, I could take one of

those bags for you. That way, I

do some upper body work while I’m

walking along. Helps my back.

What d’you say?

The Old Man trudges on, proud and suspicious, too.

CATCH:

Right now your mind’s making

pictures of me robbing your

groceires, but, y’know, nine times

out of ten, people do the right

thing.

The Old Man glances at him, still not convinced, but he

soon has to stop and rest. Catch stops, too. The old

man looks at him, a bit embarrassed.

OLD MAN:

It’s the dog food that makes it so

heavy.

Catch nods, puts out his hand. The Old Man hesitates,

then decides and lifts a bag, and Catch takes it.

CATCH:

I guess it’s worth it... for a

good dog.

Catch isn’t kidding. He has that honesty. The Old Man

nods and starts trudging again. As they walk on

together, Catch reaches for that second bag. The man

relents and lets him take it. They continue on, Catch

carrying the bags and every now and then lifting them a

bit for his upper body work.

5.

EXT. VIDEO GAME ROOM -DAY

This is the call Sharon and Robby have sped to. It is a

chaotic scene of cops breaking up a fight between eight

boys, 16-20. A big KID, 18 or so, is being pulled off

another by Sharon and Robby. The Kid is wild and

resisting and Sharon shows her toughness and

professionalism and some anger, too, as she slams him

into a fence --and Robby holds him while she cuffs the

young man --who is very mouthy, playing to his friends.

KID:

Look at this b*tch. Whoo! Benny,

look at this!

Sharon and Robby are both very good at their jobs, taking

this Kid to their car while other cops contain the rest.

A crowd watches --mostly teens.

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