Arlington Road Page #5

Synopsis: In suburban Reston, Virginia, George Washington University American History professor Michael Faraday is still mourning the death of his wife, FBI agent Leah Faraday, after three years. His inside knowledge of the agency colors what he teaches in his classes. Although on good terms with Leah's ex-partner, Whit Carver, and the agency in general, Michael wants the agency at least to acknowledge their responsibility in her death in the line of duty. Michael is moving on with his personal life, he being in a serious relationship with his former teaching assistant Brooke Wolfe. Although he likes Brooke, Michael and Leah's nine year old son, Grant Faraday, may not yet be quite ready for Brooke to be a permanent part of their lives. It is only in helping adolescent Brady Lang who he sees in medical distress that Michael meets his new neighbors, Oliver and Cheryl Lang, Brady's parents. In the process, Michael and Brooke becomes friends with the Langs, as Grant and Brady become friends. However
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Director(s): Mark Pellington
Production: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
  5 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.2
Metacritic:
65
Rotten Tomatoes:
62%
R
Year:
1999
117 min
Website
865 Views


- Yeah, the '70s--

- Is that The Kansas City Star?

- Yeah.

- That's the paper I read growin' up.

- It's for a lecture course.

I got a class...

that deals with extremist groups.

You know, American history.

Background on state militias.

There's one in Kansas.

Seems they got one everywhere.

Jeez, I didn't know you taught

a course in terrorism.

- That a pretty frightening subject.

- Yeah.

- You got time for a drink?

- No, today's not good.

Yeah, I hear ya.

I got a building contract...

that's kickin' my butt

tryin' to put it together.

Get back to work.

Sorry to drop by.

Catch you back at the ranch.

Good to see you.

Will you just hear me out?

Hear what I'm saying?

The guy changed his name, Brooke.

Why?

To help hide his background.

Why? Because there's something in it.

Yeah, something that's

not your business.

When he was 16 years old,

he tried to blow up some offices.

Read the paper! A government agency

that was cheating his father's farm.

He served time

in a juvenile program.

Pipe bomb as a kid.

Why would you

go to these lengths...

to hide that part of your history

if it wasn't an isolated event?

If you thought you might

try it again someday?

It says it didn't even go off.

He was a kid.

Brady practically killed himself

with a bunch of fireworks in March.

Come on! Where do you think

Brady gets an idea like that?

What are you saying?

I'm saying that he's gone to these

great lengths to hide his past.

I'm saying that he was in St. Louis

when the federal building was bombed.

And I'm saying that there is

a blueprint in his house...

that he does not want me to see!

- Are you listening to yourself?

- Are you listening to me?

- Your neighbor?

- Yes!

Is a terrorist?

He's been blowing up buildings?

There's something going on over there.

Something is being planned.

Something's being planned?

Yeah, and in his spare time...

hey pays the mortgage

and takes his kid to camp.

- That house is not normal.

- That house is normal!

Remember when we were over there

the other night?

- Him discussing politics?

- Yeah, we disagree about politics.

And Washington?

And Leah?

- Do you remember this?

- Oh, my--

The guy is testing me.

He wants to see

if I'm an enemy or an ally.

You are the one who brought up Leah.

Is that what this is about?

No, it's not about Leah!

You know, this class...

that you slave over...

to carry on Leah's work,

to have something in her memory?

You know,

plots and conspiracies...

and red flags going up.

Yeah, this is Leah's world now.

I'm--

I can't.

Listen, I know...

that he's changed his name--

- Stop it, for me.

- He lived in St Louis...

when the bombs were goin' off.

He's working on this building

that he doesn't want me to see.

I don't think

I can stay here tonight.

I'm not staying.

Never did like that picture.

You know me, Michael?

You think you know me?

Yeah, you know me better

than I know myself, don't you?

Kansas City Star.

I saw you.

You wanna tell me something

I don't know?

- I know what I read.

- You know a 16-year-old kid.

You don't know me.

You know a kid at 16.

Damn you!

You've been a guest in my house!

You're a guest in mine, Fenimore.

Bill, Will, William--

What do I call you?

Who the hell do you think you are

judging me? What gives you the right?

You ever worked on a farm?

Make your living,

support your family?

The government stole my father's water--

a stream running through our land.

Said they were appropriating it

for other uses.

We couldn't grow crops,

we couldn't raise cattle.

We had loans we couldn't pay.

My father woke up one mornin'...

and he realized

he was worth more dead than alive.

His skin and bones...

were worth more

in insurance money...

than as a damn farmer.

I found his tractor...

at the bottom ot the bluffs

behind our house.

He made it look like an accident.

I found his body.

And the note?

He wrote it to me.

Insurance money paid off

what Mom could...

but it wasn't enough.

Neighbors--

Neighbors took our land at auction.

All because some bureaucrat

stuck a pin in a map...

in some creek in the middle of Kansas,

said we couldn't use our own water.

Doesn't give you the right

to build a bomb.

I was sixteen.

Sixteen!

You ever do anything wrong

when you were 16?

You ever crash your car?

You ever, uh, steal anything?

You ever screw the wrong girl?

You gonna tell your kid everything

you did when you were 16?

The lies you told?

The drugs you took?

I've been judged for this!

I got sent away for it, and it was

the best thing that ever happened to me.

The best thing.

Who's Oliver?

He was my best friend growin' up.

He died when we were both 25.

I did it to honor him...

to carry on his name.

And to hide.

Yeah, to hide.

I didn't want any son I had

knowing what I did.

I didn't want my kids

to be burdened...

with people looking through

old newspapers.

I'm not proud of this.

This isn't pride.

I wish it never happened.

You know, I wish to God...

that my family could have...

my father's good name.

You know, you have a right

to know who lives next door...

who talks to your kid,

who considers himself your friend.

But you also have the right--

If you have a problem with me,

if you have issues with me...

you could have the decency

to walk across the street...

and tell me to my face.

Hi, this is Michael.

Leave a message.

It's me. Listen.

I think you're right.

I saw Oliver...

at the mall in the garage.

He switched cars with somebody,

and I followed him...

to this warehouse delivery place.

They were unloading

these long, metal boxes.

I want to talk to you.

I'm coming over, okay?

I knew it was you.

What are you doing here?

Just shopping.

What are you doing here?

Shopping.

Great.

Yeah.

They say a man was shot several times

while driving along 19th street.

The car struck several other vehicles

before slamming into a tree.

The victim was pronounced

dead at the scene.

Elsewhere, a single-car accident

near Reston is tying up...

evening traffic on westbound

Route 7 at this hour.

Details are sketchy at this point.

What we can tell you...

from our overhead shot is that

the accident took place...

near the Pine Glenn Outlet Center.

No other vehicles appear to be

involved in what police say...

is a fatal crash.

We'll have more information for you

when it becomes available.

The driver of the car, described

as a woman in her mid-20s...

has been pronounced dead

at the scene.

Police say it appears she lost control

of the light blue 1989 Mustang...

and crashed through a guardrail

along the ravine.

Investigators believe

she was killed upon impact--

Sir, you can't go down there.

Sir, you can't come down here.

- You can't go down there.

- Where is she?

- She's gone sir. Been taken away.

- Where?

- She's gone.

- Where?

I'm sorry.

Hey, General,

how you holding up?

You wouldn't believe it!

It's so cool.

We went swimming and climbing, and

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Ehren Kruger

Ehren Kruger is an American screenwriter and film producer. He is best known for writing three of the four films in the Transformers film series which are Revenge of the Fallen, Dark of the Moon and Age of Extinction. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "Arlington Road" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/arlington_road_3091>.

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