Birdman Page #8

SAMFor what?

RIGGANAll of it. You've been doing a good job.

And I've been...

SAMYeah.

RIGGANSo, I just wanted to say that--

(He stops abruptly.)

What is that?

SAMWhat...?

RIGGANThat smell.

SAMI don't--

RIGGANLook at me.

SAMWhat are you--

RIGGANLook at me.

She does. He examines her eyes, then immediately rises, scouring

the room.

SAMDad...

RIGGAN(Continuing to search.)

You have to be shitting me... Where is it?

SAMCould we not do this?

Riggan pulls a jar of peanut butter from the trash.

RIGGANWhat is this?

SAMThat is chunky peanut butter that happens,

by the way, to have Omega--

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(CONTINUED)

Riggan pulls a stubbed joint out of the jar.

RIGGANThis.

SAMOh. That's pot.

RIGGANSam.

SAMAlright, just relax.

RIGGANRelax? What the hell are you doing?

SAMProtecting myself from cataracts?

RIGGANYou can't do this to me!

SAMTo you?

RIGGANSHUT UP! You know what I'm talking about.

SAMYeah. You're talking about you. What else

is new?

RIGGANDon't try to--

SAMWhat? Make it about me? I wouldn't dream of

it.

RIGGANListen to me. I'm trying to do something

that's important...

SAMThis is not important.

RIGGANIt's important to me! Alright? Maybe not to

you, or your cynical playmates whose sole

ambition is to end up going viral and who,

by the way, will only be remembered as the

generation that finally stopped talking to

one another. But to me... To me... This is--

God. This is my career, this is my chance

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(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

to do some work that actually means

something.

SAMMeans something to who? You had a career

before the third comic book movie, before

people began to forget who was inside the

bird costume. You're doing a play based on

a book that was written 60 years ago, for

a thousand rich, old white people whose

only real concern is gonna be where they

go to have their cake and coffee when it's

over. Nobody gives a sh*t but you. And

let's face it, Dad, it's not for the sake

of art. It's because you just want to feel

relevant again. Well, there's a whole

world out there where people fight to be

relevant every day. And you act like it

doesn't even exist! Things are happening

in a place that you willfully ignore, a

place that has already forgotten you. I

mean who are you? You hate bloggers. You

make fun of twitter. You don't even have a

Facebook page. You're the one who doesn't

exist. You're doing this because you're

scared to death, like the rest of us, that

you don't matter. And you know what?

You're right. You don't. It's not

important. You're not important. Get used

to it.

Silence. Riggan seems devastated, and Sam can see that.

Sam (CONT'D)

Dad...

She looks at him sympathetically, but not knowing what to

say... exits.

After a moment Riggan gets up and heads for the trash can. He

digs out the roach, grabs some matches and lights it. Music

begins to sound. He inhales deeply and holds the smoke for a

few seconds and finally exhales. He coughs, tosses away the

joint and heads out of the kitchen. We follow him...

INT. HALLWAY - THEATRE - CONTINUOUS2121...as he slowly walks until he disappears into the darkness of

the corridor. We keep moving forward until we end up...

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RIGGAN (CONT'D)

INT. BACKSTAGE - THEATRE - EVENINGA21A21...backstage. We are in the middle of the second preview. The

music continues, it belongs to the play.

Laura is by herself on stage performing the end of a scene. She

stands in the middle of a surrealistic forest set, at dusk.

There is fog, and trees. A strong, artificial wind blows

through Laura’s hair. Desolate music.

LAURA:

(To the audience as soliloquy.)

In the days before Nick’s depression really

started to eat away at him, he had no idea

I was pregnant. And I never intended on

telling him. I guess we make choices in

life, and we choose to live with them. Or

not. I didn’t want that baby...

Three dancers on stage pass by in front of Laura. We follow

the dancers backstage where we find Mike and Lesley wearing

pajamas.

LAURA (O.S.) (CONT’D)

...Not because I didn’t love Nick. And not

because I didn’t love the-- The idea of

it. But because I just wasn’t ready to

love myself. There’s a certain distance to

it all now. A wistful distance.

Underscored by a gentle breeze and the

sound of the birds... laughing at the

whimsy of it all.

A stage hand helps Mike and Lesley into a double bed. The

camera slips under the covers with them and stays there.

MIKE(Whispering.)

Hey, Les...

LESLEY(Whispering.)

What?

MIKEI'm hard.

LESLEYNo, you're not. It's just that sometimes

you don't consider other people's feelings.

MIKENo. I'm hard. Feel.

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(CONTINUED)

LESLEYOh, you gotta be kidding.

The stage begins to revolve as we hear...

INT. STAGE - THEATER - CONTINUOUS2222...music through the transition. It remains dark.

MIKELet's really do this. Let's f***.

LESLEYAre you crazy? No.

Mike rolls on top of Lesley.

LESLEY (CONT'D)

Cut it out...

Mike continues to maneuver himself.

LESLEY (CONT'D)

I'm serious, Mike. Stop!

MIKEI'm Mel. Not Mike. Mel.

A knock on a door.

RIGGAN (O.S.)

Terri! Terri!

A furious Lesley tries to reposition herself under Mike.

RIGGAN (O.S.) (CONT'D)

Terri! I know you're in there!

The knocking gets louder.

RIGGAN (O.S.) (CONT'D)

Terri???

Mike, lost in his libido, has begun to have sex with Lesley.

The camera comes out from under the covers and pans to Riggan

who stumbles into what is now the Motel Room set. He wears a

mustache and a long wig, that makes him look like a wild man.

He holds a gun in his right hand. A neon "Motel" sign is

illuminated. A clever effect of falling rain is visible behind

the set, accompanied by the appropriate sound effect. Riggan

is wet because of the "rain".

Lesley uses Riggan's entrance to escape from Mike.

10/29/14 / 52.

(CONTINUED)

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