Danny Collins Page #15

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88.

86 INT. BACKSTAGE - LATER 86

We’re on a black curtain. Above it there’s a BLINKING

RED LIGHT. We hear the CROWD GOING NUTS. We watch as

the blinking light goes off.

DANNY (O.S.)

Thanks for coming everyone. Means

a lot. Thank you, thank you.

Danny ENTERS FRAME, safely out of sight from his adoring

masses. As soon as he’s behind the curtain, he sinks.

He’s a broken man.

And then, to our surprise...

SOPHIE (O.S.)

Danny!?

Sophie and Judd (Busywork) run over.

SOPHIE (CONT’D)

We heard about the gig and we came

to support our Sugar Daddy. I

used your credit card for the

flights, hope that’s okay.

JUDD:

When do you go on!?

Sophie SNIFFLES, rubs her nose. Danny stares at her

blankly, then:

DANNY:

What do you have on you?

SOPHIE:

What do you mean?

DANNY:

You know what I mean.

Sophie smiles.

SOPHIE:

I got it all, Baby.

87 INT. DRESSING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER 87

Danny chugs from a bottle of SCOTCH, numbing himself as

quickly as possible. Judd SMOKES in the corner. Sophie

pours some COKE OUT onto A TRAY, hands it to Danny.

SOPHIE:

Here you go, Danny.

(CONTINUED)

88A.

87 CONTINUED:
87

But it’s not a tray... she’s poured a line on the FRAMED

LETTER FROM LENNON.

Sad, horrific, irony.

Danny shakes his head, hesitates, then bends down to do

it. Just then:

HOPE (O.S.)

Grandpa!

Danny looks up and drops the letter to the ground, as

coke goes flying.

AT THE DOOR:

Tom, Samantha, and Hope stand there.

HOPE (CONT’D)

(confused)

Grandpa?

Samantha quickly pulls Hope back. Tom looks on, shocked.

(CONTINUED)

89.

87 CONTINUED:
(2) 87

TOM:

Nice.

(pointedly)

Real nice, Grandpa.

DANNY:

I’m sorry, I didn’t-

TOM:

Don’t. Don’t even bother.

He turns away, then turns back, furious. He moves at

Danny quickly. Grabs him. He could hit him, but he

catches himself. He looks at Danny, a beaten man.

TOM (CONT’D)

Jesus.

He turns to go. Danny calls out:

DANNY:

Yes, keep judging me, Tom, you’re

great at that. When you finish -

you know, being so perfect and

honorable - maybe you should talk

to your wife about what you did in

“Delaware.”

As soon as he says it he regrets it. Tom freezes.

Samantha (pushing Hope out the door) stops, confused.

SAMANTHA:

Huh?

Tom glares at Danny. Samantha looks at Tom, it’s too

weird not to comment on.

SAMANTHA (CONT’D)

What’s he talking about?

Tom turns to her. She looks at him, expectant. He knows

it’s over.

TOM:

We’ll talk at home, okay?

He leads his family out the door, but not before turning

back towards Danny.

TOM (CONT’D)

If you ever come near my family

again...

He trails off. The message is clear. Nothing left to

say. And with that...

(CONTINUED)

90.

87 CONTINUED:
(3)

87

He EXITS.

ON DANNY:

Completely undone. He bends down, picks up the LENNON

LETTER off of the ground.

ON THE LETTER:

It’s cracked, smattered with cocaine. Symbolic.

BACK TO DANNY:

Who turns towards Sophie and Judd.

DANNY:

Let’s get the f*** out of here.

CUE SONG:
Cold Turkey (TBD) written by John Lennon.

88

INT. DANNY’S HOTEL ROOM - NEXT MORNING 88

We hear a KEY go into a door. The door opens.

UNSEEN ENTRANT’S POV:

Walking through the small hotel room:

The room is trashed. Bottles and cans everywhere. The

LENNON LETTER lies on the floor, cracked.

There’s an overturned ROOM SERVICE TABLE in the center of

the room.

And on the bed, Danny is sprawled out, unconscious. His

shirt half unbuttoned. A BOTTLE OF BOOZE on his chest.

THE CAMERA TURNS AROUND

Revealing Mary, the source of our POV. Taking in the

train wreck. Just then...

SOPHIE stumbles out of the bathroom.

SOPHIE:

(wasted)

Who are you?

MARY:

I... um... I work for the hotel.

SOPHIE:

Oh, good. We need more towels,

can you do that? And some beer.

(CONTINUED)

91.

88 CONTINUED:
88

Yes.

MARY:

More towels. And some beer.

The conversation causes Danny to STIR.

eyes, sees...

He opens his

Mary.

DANNY:

Mary turns, walks out of the room.

89 INT. HOTEL HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS 89

Mary heads for the elevator. Half stumbling, halfdressed, Danny runs after her.

Mary!

DANNY:

Mary, wait!

Mary turns.

DANNY (CONT’D)

She’s not... it’s not what it

looks like.

MARY:

What the hell happened last night,

Danny?

Danny looks down.

DANNY:

It just wasn’t right.

the right time.

It wasn’t

MARY:

What are you talking about!?

You’ve been working so hard.

whole family was there-Your

I couldn’t.

nerve.

DANNY:

I just... lost my

She takes him in. He’s barely making eye contact.

MARY:

Yeah, well, you lost your dinner,

too.

Mary-DANNY

The elevator door opens.

(CONTINUED)

91A.

89 CONTINUED:
89

MARY:

You should have played the song,

Danny. You should have at least

played the one f***ing song.

Mary GETS IN THE ELEVATOR, leaving Danny alone in the

hallway.

92.

90 INT. DANNY’S HOTEL ROOM - CONTINUOUS 90

Danny RE-ENTERS his room. He picks up the LENNON LETTER

from the floor, looks at it.

DANNY:

(to letter)

F*** you, John.

91 INT. HOTEL ELEVATOR - MORNING 91

Danny rolls his SUITCASE into the elevator. He’s

leaving.

As the elevator descends, it plays THE MUZAK of Danny’s

most famous song. Danny NODS, knowingly.

One last final body blow before he goes.

92 INT. WOODCLIFF LAKE HILTON LOBBY - CONTINUOUS 92

Danny rolls his SUITCASE through the lobby. Jamie works

behind the front desk. Danny sees her.

DANNY:

You take care of yourself, Jamie.

JAMIE:

You too, Mr. Collins.

DANNY:

And be good to Nicky. He’s a good

boy. Wonderful face.

JAMIE:

Yours isn’t so bad either, Mr.

Collins.

DANNY:

Well look at that: now we’re

getting patter.

Danny looks behind Jamie, toward the OFFICE that hides

beyond the front desk. Jamie shakes her head “no.” Mary

doesn’t want to see him.

Danny nods, steps up to the desk, and yells out:

DANNY (CONT’D)

FOR THE RECORD:
MARY ANN’S REAL

NAME WAS DAWN WELLS AND SHE WAS

MISS NEVADA BEFORE SHE GOT FAMOUS

AND SHE COULDN’T HOLD A F***ING

CANDLE TO YOU.

(MORE) (CONTINUED)

93.

92 CONTINUED:
92

DANNY (CONT’D)

ALSO FOR THE RECORD: YOU RUN THE

BEST GODDAMN HILTON I’VE EVER

STAYED IN AND I STOLE LIKE FIFTY

OF THOSE LITTLE SOAP BAR THINGS

BECAUSE THEY MAKE ME SMELL NICE

BUT NOT GIRLY. GOODBYE!

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