Animal Kingdom Page #17

house. There’d be reasonable grounds

with all the strange activity and

comings and goings day and night, and

maybe a neighbour spotted a gun

somewhere. This is your field of

expertise. I don't mean to tell you

how to suck eggs. What do you think?

Roache is now massaging his face.

ROACHE:

I really don't see how anything can be

done.

SMURF:

Randall.

(beat)

I feel sick right now. I’m not happy

about this at all. Not one bit. But we

do what we must. Just because we don’t

want to do it doesn’t mean it can’t be

done.

Roache looks up at Ezra, who is doodling on a note pad.

150 INT. KITCHEN / SAFE HOUSE 2 - DAY 150

J and Leckie in the kitchen of a new suburban safe house. J is

at the stove stirring a pot. Leckie pulls a jar from a plasticshopping bag and screws its lid open.

LECKIE:

This is the stuff. This Vietnamese

noodle soup place on Russell St makes

it. Smell that.

Leckie puts the jar under J's nose. J recoils.

LECKIE:

That's real chilli sauce.

J laughs. His nostrils are burning.

(CONTINUED)

Animal Kingdom - GREEN REVISIONS 99.

CONTINUED:

LECKIE:

I didn't say suck it in. I said give

it a whiff.

Leckie screws the lid back on and grabs his keys and wallet.

LECKIE:

Alright, I have to take off. Keep the

noodles in the stock for another

minute or two. I'd say. Or just taste

them - whenever they're ready. And

then pull it off and chuck the rest

in. Yeah?

J:

Yep. Do I need to keep stirring?

LECKIE:

No. Just pull it off in a minute. OK.

Top work. I'll see you later.

J keeps stirring.

J:

See ya later.

151 INT. SAFE HOUSE 2 - DAY 151

TOM, a new PSG, sits in a chair by the front door with amagazine. The house is quiet. J is in the lounge watching TV andeating noodle soup. He's struggling with chopsticks.

PSG SANTO, signals urgently to Tom towards the front door. Tompeers outside through the blinds.

Across the street, two men in sneakers and jeans creep towardsthe house carrying shotguns. Then, two more appear.

TOM:

F***.

152 EXT. SAFE HOUSE 2 - DAY 152

Roache holds back, still on the far side of the street. He has ashotgun. He's edgy. He crosses the street warily.

153 INT. SAFE HOUSE 2 - DAY 153

PSGs Tom, Santo and GARY are now at the front door, guns drawn.

Tom peeks through the blinds. Four people creep towards thehouse. J hangs back, watching from a doorway.

(CONTINUED)

Animal Kingdom - GREEN REVISIONS 100.

CONTINUED:

TOM:

They look like cops.

GARY:

Jesus Christ. What are we doing?

J backs away into the house.

154

EXT. SAFE HOUSE 2 - DAY 154

As officers approach the house, Roache peels away alone, downthe side of the house, gun ready. He knows where he’s going.

155 INT. SAFE HOUSE 2 - DAY 155

The PSGs are panicked. Gary looks through the blinds.

SANTO:

F*** it. We surrender.

GARY:

There's about six of them.

TOM:

I'm pretty sure they're cops.

SANTO:

I'm not fighting a war. There's no wayI'm fighting a war over some fuckwitkid. F*** it, I'll shoot him myself.

156 INT. BEDROOM & BATHROOM / SAFE HOUSE 2 - DAY 156

J crosses through the bedroom to the en-suite bathroom. Heclimbs onto the toilet seat and opens the window.

157 INT. SAFE HOUSE 2 - DAY 157

Santo puts his gun down and kneels, hands behind his head. Tomdoes the same.

158 EXT. SAFE HOUSE 2 - DAY 158

J crouches on the window ledge. He looks around to see Roacheapproaching. They lock eyes. J jumps onto the neighbouringfence. Roache raises his gun, but J is gone.

ROACHE:

F***!

(into walkie-talkie)

Abort! They’re cops! F***!

Animal Kingdom - GREEN REVISIONS 101.

159 EXT. SUBURBAN BACKYARD - DAY 159

J runs through a neighbouring backyard. Two boys his own agestand beside a swimming pool in board shorts. They look up athim, stunned, as he passes.

160 INT. SMURF'S APARTMENT - DAY 160

Smurf prepares cookie mix. An old lady, HELEN, sits at thekitchen table reading a magazine.

SMURF:

Oh goodness, no. I don't like him. Histeeth are crooked.

HELEN:

I don't care for him.

SMURF:

You would've thought the executives atthat station, if they need a new hostfor their show, they could findsomeone with straighter teeth.

KNOCK at the door. Smurf wipes her hands, goes to answer it.

SMURF:

I don't mind his personality, but hismouth is very off-putting.

Smurf answers the door. J is there.

SMURF:

Oh my goodness.

J:

I need to talk to you.

SMURF:

What are you doing here?

J:

Is anyone inside?

SMURF:

My neighbour Helen's here, love.

J:

I need to talk to you. I'm gonna getPope out of jail. I can't live likethis.

Animal Kingdom - GREEN REVISIONS 102.

I/E. SMURF'S APARTMENT - DAY

J leads Smurf to a quiet spot just outside her flat.

J:

I wanna set up a meeting with Ezra andthat barrister from the committal.

SMURF:

Of course. OK.

J:

I don't trust Ezra. I'm not going toanyone's house. It has to be somewherepublic. But it also has to besomewhere that no one we know would

go.

SMURF:

OK, honey. OK. I'm just glad yourhome.

INT. NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA - DAY

J, Ezra, Smurf and barrister JOHN HOPPER sit on benches in themiddle of a major hall of the art gallery. Hopper observes,

occasionally glancing at the art around him.

J:

I'm not coming home.

EZRA:

Mate, if you really want to help theboys, coming home's the thing to do.

J:

I'm not coming home. I'm not safethere.

SMURF:

Yes, you are, dear.

J:

I'm not. I'm not safe in witness

protection either, but I'd rather takemy chances there.

SMURF:

You'll be safe at home, honey.

J:

You can't promise me that.

(CONTINUED)

Animal Kingdom - GREEN REVISIONS 103.

CONTINUED:

SMURF:

I can. I can.

J:

I'm not coming home. I'm going back

there. I'm just here to let you know

that I'm gonna help.

Smurf looks to Hopper. Hopper shrugs, leans back.

HOPPER:

I think J's made his position clear.

Where that leaves us now is to decide

how best to proceed given the brave

offer of assistance he's made.

(beat)

This thing's going to trial, with or

without J. That's a given. What we

want is to win it. What I liked about

the committal hearing - despite the

fact that we've been ordered to stand

trial, of course - but what I liked

about the committal was that, for the

most part, their case looked pretty

flimsy to me, largely dependent on

testimony that shouldn't be too hard

to discredit I wouldn't have thought.

And if the committal was any

indicator, J here's their little star.

If he's not there, they'll need to

strengthen their brief with something

else, which they will do. And they'll

have the time to do it. And I'd

personally rather tackle the evidence

I saw at the committal than whatever

rejigged brief they come up with

should J suddenly decide to leave. You

know what I mean?

(to J)

So now we should just make proper use

of the time we have. We'll need to go

over a bunch of things here. Like, for

instance, this whole business of the

car you claim you stole and that you

claim you saw on the TV. It was just a

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