Concussion Page #11

Now explosion of wood and glass as he smashes the guitar into

the wall.

KEANA STRZELCZYK (CONT’D)

(weeping now; terrified)

Oh my god baby what are they

saying, baby, please tell me what

the voices are saying-

STRZELCZYK:

Kill you!

(and now--)

KEANA STRZELCZYK

GET OUT GET OUT GET THE HELL OUT!!!

STRZELCZYK:

I don’t know what I’m doing! I

don’t know what’s happening to me!?

Strzelczyk’s looking straight into his little boy’s stricken

face. Terrified by the terror in his kid. The part of him

that knows drags the other part of him out.

KEANA STRZELCZYK

(cuddling the kids)

Baby shh I need you to call 911

right now for me baby and tell them

that daddy is in pain and to come

here right away baby, shh, it’s

going to be okay-

And bolting out the door after Strzelczyk-

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 52.

SON (O.S.)

(into phone)

My daddy’s Justin Strzelczyk the

football player, WHAT IS HAPPENING

PLEASE HURRY UP!

And now PRE-LAPPING sirens -- engines gunning -- police

scanners toning, urgent ... now we’re--

80 INT. STRZELCZYK’S TRUCK

Eyes in the rear-view. In conversation with someone inside

his face. “Webby, what did we do?”

Hanging from the mirror: two pairs of baby shoes. His eyes

see those, calm. Now. A moment of repose. Searches the

mirror. There you are. He’s crying. He knows what he needs to

do. Hands gripping the wheel sure as ever. CUT TO BLACK.

Horns wailing-

BROADCAST/TV (PRE-LAP)

-this is live footage of the

aftermath of a horrific head-on

collision on the New York Thruway -

(and up to--)

81 PIXILATED TV FOOTAGE OF THE NY STATE THRUWAY SPRAYED WITH A

VAST SMOLDERING DEBRIS FIELD

The two trucks mere piles of powder. Body bag in the grass.

BROADCAST/TV (OVER)

-KDKA has learned that one of the

drivers was retired Pittsburgh

Steeler offensive star Justin

Strzelczyk, who led police on a

forty-mile high-speed pursuit (

fades out as--)

PULL BACK TO REVEAL Julian Bailes watching this on his

kitchen TV, and we cut to and find-

A81 EXT. FOOTBALL FIELD (UNIV OF LOUISVILLE) - DAY

Bennet standing in the rain/snow, watching the university

team finish up practice. A mud bowl. Burpies. Windsprints.

Everyone’s filthy. Pigs in sh*t. Looks fun. End whistle, one

player breaks away. Stampeding at us. Bennet starts to laugh.

This is AMOBI OKOYE, 19 and enormous: 6’2”/300.

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15

53.

OKOYE:

Bennet!? Nwokem kedu?

BENNET:

(big laughter)

You giant American baby! You look

like a giant American dirty baby!

Kedu ka mma-mma gi meah?

BENNET (CONT’D)

OKOYE:

O noh na nke Ifeoma?

Eeah. Maalu na oge obuna icho

ibia, anom mia, oge obuna.

And big laughter. In his native tongue, and with his cousin,

he is more the man of where he comes from. Bigger.

BENNET:

(me and the giant--)

They sent us both to America. To

see which one survives. The David

and the Goliath!

(and his hands say who is

who, and then--)

OKOYE:

You are just a professional

student! Do you have time for any

other thing?

BENNET:

Superman!

Now Amobi realizes how far Bennet’s come. Confused.

OKOYE:

What are you doing here, my cousin?

Did somebody die?

B81 INT. DINER - LOUISVILLE - NIGHT

Bennet and Amobi. Coffee. Untouched. The glee has gone.

Bennet has told him.

OKOYE:

What are the chances?

BENNET:

For your position? They’re good.

OKOYE:

You’re not even sure of this thing.

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 54.

BENNET:

You’ll forget your own name. Amobi

Okoye. Can you imagine not knowing

that?

OKOYE:

Who imagines that?

BENNET:

You are part of me. I watched you

be born. I am asking you. Stop.

OKOYE:

I step on the field I always know I

can be hurt. More than hurt-

(and snaps his fingers.

Like that.)

Maybe I play two years then I’m

out. You know what’s next? Most of

them get fat, bankrupt. They sell

cars, insurance (sneakers), I don’t

know what they do.

(--)

This is my time before that time.

(then the crux of it, the

arrogance returns)

They are saying I will be drafted

first. The youngest player ever

drafted into the NFL. I will cash a

check for millions of dollars.

Millions just for saying yes.

BENNET:

God didn’t put anyone on earth to

cash a check.

OKOYE:

Look where I am, Cousin. Look what

I am. I’m not going to let anyone

take this from me now. Daalu

nwanem, agam akpo gi mgbe nmaah

abia.

And as we HOLD on Bennet, we cut to-

INT. ALLEGHENY COUNTY CORONER - PITTSBURGH -MORNING

Bennet WALKING STRAIGHT INTO CAMERA, up the hallway. Peeling

gloves, lab coat. (In b.g., the slabs, a pair of upturned

feet.)

The Techs - Sullivan - no one’s saying a thing. And into-

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 55.

His shitbox office. Where a warm bottle of cheap champagne

sits on his desk, with a copy of Neurosurgery Journal. A post-

it stuck to the neck says: “Enjoy with your new friend. Best,

Cyril.”

83 INT. BENNET’S CONDO - AFTERNOON

Bennet enters with the bottle, to find Prema studying

Bennet’s article. With a dictionary. He watches her until she

feels him and looks up. Tears in his eyes.

PREMA:

This is very amazing. Now what

happens?

BENNET:

(nervous to say it)

I called them.

PREMA:

Who did you call?

BENNET:

The National Football League.

PREMA:

What did you say?

BENNET:

I said I’d be happy to come in and

discuss it.

PREMA:

(on alert)

What did they say?

BENNET:

They said they’d get back to me.

(and a hard cut to--)

(SC.84 MOVED TO AFTER SC.87)

85 EXT. 280 PARK AVE - MANHATTAN - MORNING

A MAN carrying a stack of magazines enters a 60-story glass

office tower, in the heart of midtown, between two logos:

Credit Suisse, and the NFL’s shield. And into-

CHERRY PAGES 1.21.15 56.

86 INT. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE MAIN OFFICE - MANHATTAN

Tracking the man - CHRISTOPHER JONES, 43, African American -

through a massive office, through the quiet confidence of a

major multinational corporation. To his executive suite.

(There are Harvard undergraduate and law diplomas.)

Jones picks Neurosurgery off the top, opens it to the CTE

article, and, into the intercom-

JONES:

Get me Elliot Pellman.

87 INT. DOCTOR’S PRIVATE OFFICE - LONG ISLAND - DAY

DR. ELLIOT PELLMAN is absorbed in Neurosurgery. He’s 48,

shlubby, a bad comb-over. Surrounded by memorabilia for the

NFL’s New York Jets and the NY Islanders hockey team.

PELLMAN:

(picks up the phone)

I’m just looking at it.

JONES/PHONE (OVER)

Anything to be concerned about?

PELLMAN:

This Omalu looks like a nobody. But

let me get into it.

(and a hard cut to--)

84 INT. KITCHEN - BAILES’ HOME - MORNING/SIMULTANEOUS

Bailes at the kitchen table in sweatpants. Breakfast.

Bailes’s wife, COLLEEN, 40, slips her arms around him.

Bailes reading a copy of Neurosurgery Journal (open to

“Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in a National

Football League player” ... Omalu, DeKosky, Hamilton, Wecht.)

Rate this script:4.0 / 1 vote