Big Fish Page #21

While Ping scans the horizon, Jing nuzzles with herboyfriend, Norther Winslow. It’s Ping who first spots theChevrolet.

PING:

He’s here!

The crowd CHEERS. The Ashton marching band PLAYS. JennyHill smiles. So does the Old Woman.

We PUSH IN on the Old Woman’s glass eye, where we see...

YOUNG EDWARD:

reflected. This is what he saw.

INT. THE CHEVROLET - DAY

Amazed, Will turns to his father.

WILL:

It’s unbelievable.

EDWARD:

Story of my life.

EXT. RIVERSIDE - DAY

Will gets out of the Chevrolet, overwhelmed by the crowd.

Behind him, Sandra, Josephine and Dr. Bennett pull up. Karl

comes just after that.

Crossing to the passenger side, Will lifts his father out.

Strangely, he’s gotten even lighter. Will carries him

easily.

Edward pulls off his shoes, tying the laces together. He

hands them to Josephine. She throws them up at thepowerline. They loop over. APPLAUSE and CHEERS.

The crowd parts to let Will and Edward get to the river. As

he passes, Edward shakes some hands, pats some people on thecheek, and gives others a good poke in the ribs.

WILL (V.O.)

And the strange thing is, there’s not asad face to be found. Everyone’s justso glad to see you, and send you offright.

116.

Will walks into the river, up to his knees. He turns back so

his father can face the crowd. Edward waves.

EDWARD:

Goodbye everybody! Farewell! Adieu!

THE CROWD (VARIOUS)

Goodbye Edward! / See ya! / We’ll missyou!

But one face is missing from the crowd -- Sandra. Will turns

to see she’s already standing in the river beside them.

The reflection of the light off the water gives Sandra anunearthly glow. She’s more tranquil and more beautiful thanwe’ve ever seen her.

EDWARD:

My girl in the river.

She kisses him. He tweaks her chin. The crowd HOLLERS in

approval, but their moment remains strangely private. OnlyWill is there to witness.

As the kiss ends, Edward tries to pull off his wedding ring.

But it’s stuck. Finally, he sucks on it, pulling it freewith his teeth.

A look to Will, a smile with a glint of gold. Will takes the

ring out of his mouth.

Edward suddenly drops out of Will’s arms with a SPLASH. For

he’s no longer a man, but rather

A FAT CATFISH:

swimming at his feet.

We watch as the catfish circles, then heads for deeper water,

disappearing.

Will and his mother stand knee-deep in the water, watchingEdward Bloom swim away into the sunlight. Josephine is backon the shore, along with the entire crowd.

MUSIC BUILDS to a climax, then...

Down the river, a GIANT FISH suddenly jumps out of the water,

cutting a beautiful arc across the sunset. It then dives

back under with a SPLASH.

CROSSFADE BACK TO:

117.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY

Will has tears hanging in the corners of his eyes.

WILL:

You become what you always were. A

very big fish.

(he smiles)

And that’s the way it happens.

EDWARD:

(a whisper)

Yes. Exactly.

Edward smiles, proud of both of them. His eyes are so paleand so open, we can almost see his soul. In every atom ofhis body, in every thought, Edward Bloom is entirely happy.

And this is how he goes.

INT. HOSPITAL HALLWAY - DAY

Will shuts the door to his father’s room behind him. The

walk to the payphones seems to take a lifetime.

He finds a quarter, starts to dial. He has to squint to seethrough the water in his eyes. It’s ringing. And ringing.

The other end answers.

WILL:

(voice cracking)

Hi.

That’s all he can get out before the dam breaks inside him.

He presses closer to the phone, trying to shield himself.

MUSIC begins that will carry us through the next passage.

INT. HOSPITAL RECEPTION - DAY

Will waits at reception as Sandra and Josephine come off theelevator.

INT. GUEST ROOM - DAY

Josephine opens the curtains, letting white sunlight in. She

strips the bed.

INT. BEDROOM - DAY

Will and his mother pick out one of Edward’s ties, for Willto wear at the funeral. Will tries to button the cuffs on

the shirt he borrowed, but they’re the kind that need links.

118.

He goes through the top drawer of the dresser, trying to find

a matching pair. Further down, he finds a ribbon tied to

THE KEY TO THE CITY.

He smiles, disbelieving. It’s a real thing.

EXT. CEMETERY / ROAD - DAY

Will helps his mother out of a black sedan. She’s well-

composed, not nearly the wreck we might have expected.

Josephine hugs Dr. Bennett and shakes hands with his WIFE.

The service is crowded, more than 200 people, many more thanexpected.

As his mother talks to a WELL-WISHER, Will looks left to seean Oldsmobile parking.

CLOSE ON the license plates. Missouri.

The passenger side opens, but the man who steps out is barelyvisible over the door. He shuts it to reveal himself to be

70.

It’s Amos Calloway. Will doesn’t recognize him.

The Driver climbs out, a size 15 foot on the gravel. We TILT

UP to see this man is huge.

This man is KARL, now 55. He’s not 12 feet tall, but atleast six-eight.

CLOSE ON Will, bewildered to see that this man really exists.

EXT. CEMETERY / GRAVESIDE - DAY

As the service gets ready to begin, Will guides his mother to

a seat near the grave.

Sitting beside Will, Josephine spots a stunning ASIAN WOMAN

(50) behind them. A beat later, an identical face withglasses peers out -- the woman’s twin sister.

It’s PING and JING.

Josephine almost GASPS. She elbows Will, who turns to look.

From this angle, the sisters seem conjoined, but then Jingsteps forward. They’re really two separate people.

A sea of familiar faces, all of them aged through the years:

BEAMEN, NORTHER WINSLOW, the MAYOR, and ZACKY PRICE.

119.

EXT. CEMETERY - DAY [LATER]

After the service, we see the crowd gathered in small groups.

By the LAUGHTER and hand gestures, we can see they’re tellingstories. They’re telling Edward’s stories.

We find Will watching them.

WILL (V.O.)

Have you ever heard a joke so manytimes you’ve forgotten why it’s funny?

But then you hear it again and suddenlyit’s new. You remember why you lovedit in the first place.

Will joins in, laughing.

We slowly CIRCLE BEHIND a monument, letting it black out the

screen.

TRANSITION TO:

EXT. BLOOM HOUSE BACKYARD - DAY [SUMMER]

Will sits on the porch with Sandra and Josephine, watchinghis SON play in the pool with two NEIGHBOR KIDS.

SON:

(to the other boys)

So he said he’d fight the giant who wasfifteen feet tall.

KID:

No way.

SON:

(calling over)

Dad, that’s right, isn’t it?

WILL:

Something like that.

SON:

See. So he was a giant but my grampawas going to fight him because hewasn’t afraid of anything because he’dseen how he was going to die in thisold lady’s glass eye...

Will smiles as his son continues the tale, which FADES.

Sandra takes Will’s hand in hers, just listening.

120.

WILL (V.O.)

That was my father’s final joke I

guess. A man tells his stories so manytimes that he becomes the stories.

They live on after him.

CROSSFADE TO:

EXT. RIVER / UNDERWATER - DAY

A fat and happy catfish swims towards us.

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