Collateral Beauty Page #3

As soon as I started doing this,

everything got easier, you know?

Our life is like

this improvisational game.

She just... She says wackadoodle stuff,

and I respond to it.

And, uh, she's totally happy

and I kind of have fun.

- And that made me think of something else.

- Mmm.

Okay.

When I was at FBW,

I had this account

for a psychostimulant drug, right?

And they went with some

bullshit generic campaign,

- but I kept the Hispanic market.

- (SPEAKING SPANISH)

Here, watch this. Okay.

So, the teacher is really stressing.

He's saying, uh,

"Well, you talk all the time!

You never listen!"

And then here comes the monster.

"It doesn't have to be this way."

Teacher, "Who are you?"

Monster, "I'm your anger, man."

And the teacher says...

"I can't stand you, man.

You dominate my life."

And anger says,

"There's a solution, my friend.

"Docotrin, say goodbye to your anger."

Do you see where I'm going with this?

- (SIGHS) Not really.

- Okay, okay. Look, look.

We can't get Howard to deal with this

reality that we need him to deal with.

And he's writing letters to abstractions

which makes no sense.

But... But he's doing it.

So, what if we just go into his reality

and we get those abstractions

to answer him?

I'm sorry, I... I don't follow.

What if Love, Time and Death

show up in person

and answer the letters

that Howard's been writing to them?

How are Time, Love and Death

gonna show up?

Actors.

We hire actors to be Love, Death and Time.

They find Howard and they confront him.

So, you want us to gaslight your boss?

- Huh? I'm sorry?

- Gas Light.

You know? It was a play,

then it was a movie.

Gas Light? Oh, my God.

Does nobody ever watch anything

longer than eight seconds anymore?

What she's saying is

you want us to make him think he's crazy?

No, no, no. It's not about

making Howard think he's crazy.

Howard's not in a good mental state,

and we know that.

It's about underlining that fact

so that other people can see it, too.

Okay. So you want us to perform

in this intervention,

and for that

you're gonna finance our play?

- That's it.

- Exactly.

Yeah, we'll finance whatever...

I mean, this looks

like a storage facility, but...

Okay. Well, actors. What do we think?

- No. No, no, no.

- Oh, no.

Listen, listen!

We take $15,000 each.

- Okay? $15,000.

- AMY:
Are you completely out of your mind?

Okay, we'll do it.

$20,000, each.

Uh-uh! I just... You guys just said 15.

I heard you say 15.

- Mmm... I like 20.

- I like 20 as well.

Well, 20's just...

I don't know, it's a little steep.

I'm like... I was thinking two.

These guys probably live in Brooklyn.

- They pay 600 bucks a month.

- Stop talking. Just stop.

You did a good job pulling them down.

This is horrible.

This is completely wrong.

No, Amy. This is the work. This is acting.

Did you not hear them say

that this man's lost his child?

Yes. And that's why he's reaching out

to the cosmos for answers.

Well, we get to be that cosmos.

Okay, so you want us to manipulate

this guy's pain so that, what?

What, you cash out?

You make a lot of money?

- SIMON:
No!

- No, no, no, no!

That doesn't sound good

when you put it that way.

- It's a lot more complicated than that.

- Is it?

CLAIRE:
We love this man.

And he's not just a boss, he's a friend.

Howard is a brilliant,

creative, charismatic guy

who used to be fearless.

He used to love life,

and right now, he hates it.

And you really think

that this is gonna help him?

CLAIRE:
He lost his child.

And now he doesn't care

if he loses everything else.

We just can't let that happen.

We have to bring him back.

$20,000's worth it.

- (STAMMERING) I'll pay for it.

- Claire!

I'll pay for it. I'll pay for it myself.

I don't care.

So, what are the rules?

Well, first, we'd have to sign

a confidentiality agreement.

And make sure

that you don't talk about it, 'cause...

No, I don't mean the legal rules.

I mean, the rules

of the theatrical device.

I mean, do other people see us,

or only Howard?

- Yeah, do other people see them, Whit?

- Whit?

I guess... I guess only Howard.

That's the effect

we're looking for, right?

- Guess?

- You guess? I mean...

I'm sorry, have you thought this through?

- Sure. Sure.

- No.

- I mean, to a degree.

- No, we haven't.

No, we haven't, Whit. Shut up! Like...

We haven't.

For instance, what if they go into a bar

and they want to order a drink?

How can they do that if...

Do you see Howard walking

into a lot of bars these days?

Whatever. Doesn't matter.

- I mean, what if Howard goes clubbing?

- They're actors.

- They need to know hypothetically.

- Okay. Okay. Enough. Enough.

We have the power to be seen

by whomever we want, whenever we want.

- How's that?

- I like that, I like that.

- I told you they were good.

- I like that, yeah.

We should just leave it to them.

Let's move on.

What's next?

Well, Howard wrote three letters

to Love, Death and Time.

So, I guess the only question is

who plays who?

Casting. Very important.

Love.

Death.

Time.

Great. When do we get paid?

BRIGITTE:
"Dear Death,

you travel with so much mythology,

"cause so much pain, inspire such fear.

"But you're a paper tiger to me.

"You're just pathetic

and powerless middle management.

"You don't even have the authority

to make a simple trade."

As you can see,

it's not exactly a fan letter.

- Yeah, well, Death doesn't have any fans.

- (COUGHING)

I don't understand why,

because it's a liberation.

Hey, you okay?

Mmm-mmm.

CLAIRE:
He goes to work, and the dog park.

And that's it.

Okay. So, here's how I'm gonna do it.

I'm gonna come to him angry.

Like, pissed off. Like, we got a problem.

No, no, no. Don't do that.

He's calling me wood and dead tissue.

He's calling me out.

How's he calling you out?

Time.

He's calling out Time, and I'm Time.

Look, I don't want

you antagonizing Howard.

Do you get that?

AMY:
But the letter only consists

of one word, "Goodbye."

Look.

"Dear Love, goodbye."

What am I even supposed to say to him?

Um, it's...

It's a letter to Love

saying goodbye, right?

- Yeah.

- So, what if you approach him,

and you refuse to accept that?

You say he can't

get rid of you that easily.

Tell him that

we don't get to choose who we love

and who loves us back.

Tell him that you're within him,

you're within everything,

whether he likes it or not.

And if he accepts that,

then maybe... I don't know.

Maybe he gets to find his life again.

(DOG YIPPING)

They grieve.

Dogs.

They grieve,

and they fully understand death.

You called me a paper tiger.

In the letter you wrote me.

You said I was pathetic.

Mmm.

You don't remember?

You went on about middle management,

making a deal, paper tiger.

Oh, Howard, it wasn't that long ago.

Where did you get that?

- Who are you?

- Who did you write the letter to?

(CHUCKLES)

I wrote the letter to Death.

Nice to meet you. Charmed, I'm sure.

No.

I know, I know.

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