Big Eyes Page #23

WALTER:

You crossed over from sentimentality

to KITSCH!

He THROWS the match at them.

JANE:

Ow!

MARGARET:

STOP IT!

He lights ANOTHER MATCH.

WALTER:

You like making me look bad?? You

enjoy people laughing at me??!

He PUNCHES the wall, then tosses the match. Fwoosh!

MARGARET:

Walter!

He throws ANOTHER MATCH.

86.

WIDE:

Margaret grabs Jane and starts running.

They rush into the blackness.

Walter squints woozily, then starts to CHASE --

INT. HALLWAY

The ladies run for their lives.

Violent THUDS behind them!

Something SMASHES.

Margaret reaches the Painting Room. She YANKS Jane inside,

then SLAMS the door!

Walter staggers up.

WALTER:

LET ME IN!

INSIDE THE PAINTING ROOM

Margaret LOCKS the door. She backs away.

INT. HALLWAY

Walter tugs the door. He POUNDS it, crazed.

WALTER:

Lemme in, you B*TCHES!!

INSIDE THE PAINTING ROOM

Margaret and Jane shudder.

All around them, Big Eyes stare down from above.

INT. HALLWAY

In his haze, Walter remembers the hidden key. Raging, he

drunkenly pulls over the chair, then stands on it.

But he's too wobbly -- and falls.

Bam!

WALTER:

Ow!

INSIDE THE PAINTING ROOM

Margaret hugs Jane.

87.

JANE:

Mom, what are we gonna do??!

Margaret thinks.

INT. HALLWAY

Walter laughs crazily and lights another MATCH. It flickers.

WALTER:

You got all that paint and turpentine

in there? Well I'm gonna burn you up!

He pushes the lit match through the KEYHOLE.

WALTER:

You're gonna blow like an atom bomb!

INSIDE THE PAINTING ROOM

The match drops on the floor -- then goes out, harmless.

That's it. Margaret makes a decision.

MARGARET:

We're leaving.

Determined, Margaret runs to the curtained wall. She whips it

aside -- revealing the sliding glass doors.

INT. LIVING ROOM - MINUTES LATER

Walter is lighting another match -- when he spins. Through

rheumy eyes, HEADLIGHTS orbit across the front window.

He peers, confused...

CUT TO:

INT. CAR - DRIVING - NIGHT

Margaret and Jane drive fast. Adrenaline pumping. Lights of

the city flash across their faces.

MARGARET:

I'm sorry I wasn't the mother I could

have been. I -- I should have done

this years ago...

JANE:

But where are we going?

(FLUMMOXED)

We don't even have any clothes!

88.

MARGARET:

Where we're going, we won't need much.

(LONG PAUSE)

Hawaii.

Jane freezes, not sure whether to believe.

JANE:

Really...?

Margaret smiles softly. We slowly PUSH IN to her.

MARGARET:

Yes, Hawaii. Because it's paradise.

There's flowers, and birds, and

beautiful colors.

(GENTLE)

And... we're going to make a new life

for ourselves.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. HAWAIIAN HOUSE - DAY

Hawaii, paradise indeed. A dense, tropical forest of deep

greens and giant blooming flowers.

Margaret stands on the porch of her small, lovely house,

breathing in the clean air. She looks lightened.

In a clearing, Jane plays with some LOCAL TEENS.

INT. HAWAIIAN HOUSE - SAME TIME

The house is simple. In one light-filled corner is an EASEL.

Margaret is painting Nature: Splaying ferns. Wild succulents.

In the window, a BIRD flies by, its plumage a dazzling red.

Margaret thinks -- then takes out a tube of RED PAINT. She

starts to apply the vivid color onto her canvas...

When -- a RINGING PHONE. Margaret reacts, startled.

This is unexpected. And unsettling. It RINGS. RINGS.

RINGS. Finally, she hurries to her one telephone, mounted on

the kitchen wall. She slowly answers it.

MARGARET:

Hello?

WALTER (O.S.)

Maggie --?

She freezes.

INTERCUT:

89.

WALTER ON THE PHONE - WOODSIDE

He is strangely controlled and forboding.

WALTER:

Boy, you were sure hard to track down.

Thought I might never find you...

(a menacing chuckle)

I'm a little agitated. I got the

strangest papers in the mail today.

Margaret tries to stay cool.

MARGARET:

It's a decree of legal separation. I

would appreciate if you signed it.

WALTER:

Aren't you acting too rash?

MARGARET:

Walter, our marriage is over.

WALTER:

Granted, our romance may have seen its

better days. The bloom is off the

rose.

(BEAT)

But I'm looking out for both of us.

What about Keane Incorporated?! We're

a professional couple. Like Roy

Rogers and Dale Evans.

MARGARET:

Walter, I want a divorce.

WALTER:

Whew. It hurts to hear you say those

words.

Silence. He is feigning "hurt feelings." Struggling for a

response. Finally, his thoughts sharpen up, smart and shrewd.

WALTER:

I sure hate that it's come to this.

(BEAT)

Well... I SUPPOSE I can agree to a

split -- as long... as you assign me

all rights to every painting ever

produced.

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