Danny Collins Page #8

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DANNY:

Your mom-

TOM:

Died of cancer ten years ago.

Never married, never spoke about

you except to say it was a wild

thing she did when she was twenty-

three and got drunk backstage

after a concert. I use her last

name. Anything else?

DANNY:

You’re clearly very angry.

TOM:

I’m not angry, I don’t care enough

to be angry. I’m thinking about

what I’m going to tell my daughter

about you, and I’m thinking that I

have to be back at work in twenty

minutes. Are we done?

DANNY:

I’ve sent you checks.

TOM:

Ripped them up. Okay? Nice to

meet you, have a good life.

Tom heads back inside. One last question stops him.

DANNY:

Are you happy?

TOM:

Am I happy?

(CONTINUED)

44.

41 CONTINUED:
(2) 41

DANNY:

Do you have a happy life?

Tom turns around. He finally slows down a little.

TOM:

I hate my boss. Mets break my

heart every year. But I have the

best wife in the history of wives.

An amazing little girl. I wish I

could do more for her. I’d do

anything for that. But yes. If

it makes you sleep better, I’m

happy. Oh, and f*** you, you

selfish prick. I am angry.

Tom ENTERS the house, slams the door behind him. Danny

stands there for a moment, then trudges back to his car.

CUE SONG:
Beautiful Boy (TBD) written by John Lennon.

42 EXT. WOODCLIFF LAKE HILTON - LATER 42

Danny drives the car up toward the valet. Nicky waits:

NICKY:

You were right! Jamie talked to

me today. She’s never talked to

me before!

DANNY:

That’s good, Kid. That’s real

good.

He trudges away, inside the hotel.

43 INT. WOODCLIFF LAKE HILTON LOBBY - CONTINUOUS 43

Danny walks in, passing Jamie at the counter.

JAMIE:

Hey, Mr. Collins!

DANNY:

Jamie, how ya doing?

Jamie is about to respond, but Danny doesn’t wait for a

reply. Jamie watches him go, surprised.

44 INT. HOTEL BAR - LATER 44

Danny rests his head on the hotel bar, cheek to bar.

He’s been here a while. His eyes are closed.

(CONTINUED)

45.

44 CONTINUED:
44

Mary steps into frame.

MARY:

Mr. Collins, how we doing tonight?

Danny doesn’t move, doesn’t open his eyes.

DANNY:

Peachy, thanks for asking.

MARY:

That’s good. Real glad to hear

that.

Neither of them moves. Danny just lies there. Mary just

stands there. After a beat:

MARY (CONT’D)

Mr. Collins?

DANNY:

(head still down)

Yes?

MARY:

Wonder if you could help me with

something? When a famous musician

starts getting fall-down drunk at

a hotel bar, and you’re the

manager of that hotel, is there a

protocol on how to handle the

situation? We’ve had a shortage

of famous fall-down drunk

musicians here lately and I’m a

bit out of my depth.

Danny finally opens his eyes, looks up.

DANNY:

I had a bad day.

MARY:

Okay.

He points at his glass.

DANNY:

That’s just water.

MARY:

Yes, but that’s because the ice

melted.

Danny nods. He suddenly looks very vulnerable.

(CONTINUED)

46.

44 CONTINUED:
(2) 44

DANNY:

Please don’t be mean to me. I

really did have a bad day.

She nods, SIGHS.

MARY:

Yeah, well, I had a bad day, too.

She sits down next to Danny, three seats away. Danny

looks over at her. She’s staring into space.

DANNY:

Can I buy you a drink?

Mary looks at Danny, blankly. Danny presses on.

DANNY (CONT’D)

Wine spritzer? Bay Breeze?

Something froz-

Mary WHISTLES.

MARY:

Josh? Tequila, rocks, something

a.ejo. Splash of soda.

BARTENDER:

Right away, Boss.

Danny looks at Mary, surprised.

MARY:

You’re not the only rock star in

this hotel.

DANNY:

Apparently not.

Danny takes in Mary. She’s back looking off into space.

These are two very lost souls.

DANNY (CONT’D)

Why’d you have a bad day?

MARY:

Oh, because I work with a bunch of

well-meaning but remarkably dim

twenty-somethings who are just

passing time until they go back to

school. And one of them screwed

up the computer system and it took

me half the day to reprogram every

reservation manually.

Her drink is delivered, she takes a sip.

(CONTINUED)

47.

44 CONTINUED:
(3) 44

You?

MARY (CONT’D)

Danny takes a sip, bracing himself. Then:

DANNY:

I tracked down my grown son whoI’d never met before. Met him,

his wife, my granddaughter. Then

he told me, quite emphatically, tofuck off and die.

She processes this, then:

MARY:

EVERY reservation, each one had to

be reprogrammed manually. I hopeI made that clear.

Danny LAUGHS. Mary leans forward, serious.

MARY (CONT’D)

Can I ask you a question?

DANNY:

Not if it’s about why I’ve never

met my son until today.

Sh*t.

MARY:

That was my question.

They sit there for a long beat, then, turn back to thebar, and sip their drinks in silence.

45 INT. HOTEL BAR - LATER 45

They’re still just sitting there, sipping. Finally:

DANNY:

We’ve lost our patter.

Mary NODS, sips. After a long beat...

MARY:

I saw you in concert once.

five years ago.

About

Yeah?

DANNY:

MARY:

My husb-(

correcting)

My ex was a fan. He loved it.

(CONTINUED)

48.

45 CONTINUED:
45

DANNY:

And you?

MARY:

I appreciated your... zeal.

DANNY:

(”ouch”)

Sh*t.

MARY:

“Zeal’s” not awful.

DANNY:

“Zeal’s” not great.

A beat. Then Danny LAUGHS.

DANNY (CONT’D)

“Zeal’s not awful, zeal’s not

great.” I’m telling you, Mary,

this is some kind of patter we

have! We should take this on the

road, we could be the new Nichols

and May.

She shrugs, takes a sip. A long beat of silence, then:

MARY:

May and Nichols.

Danny looks up.

MARY (CONT’D)

I’d want top billing.

Danny smiles.

CUT TO:

46 INT. HOTEL BAR - LATER 46

We pick them up, many minutes (and many drinks) later.

Danny now stands near Mary, who sits facing him (back to

bar).

DANNY:

... and then he writes, “What do

you think about that, Danny

Collins?”

MARY:

(repeating, laughing)

John Lennon writes, “What do you

think about that, Danny Collins!?”

(CONTINUED)

49.

46 CONTINUED:
46

DANNY:

Yes.

(as if answering)

I don’t know, John. I think you

should have sent the letter to my

house so I could have avoided

living a bullshit life for the

past forty years, that’s what I

think.

Mary explodes in laughter.

DISSOLVE TO:

47 LATER THAT NIGHT 47

As Mary reveals herself a little in front of a fireplace

inside the bar:

MARY:

She’s eighteen now. Rick and I

split last year. Yeah, most

parents try and wait till the kids

leave for college but we tried to

do it at the time when it would

screw her up most.

DANNY:

Did it work?

MARY:

Oh, yeah. She’s a complete mess.

Hates both of us. But guess what?

DANNY:

What?

Mary leans in, whispers conspiratorially:

MARY:

She hates him more.

DANNY:

Perfect!

Mary suddenly becomes emotional and vulnerable:

MARY:

Okay I don’t like joking about

this anymore. I’m a good mother,

I swear.

DANNY:

(whoa)

No, I know.

(CONTINUED)

50.

47 CONTINUED:
47

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