Get Shorty Page #9

Leo looks over as Chili turns on the light behind him. But

what catches Leo's eye is the BRIEFCASE sitting on the couch

beside Chili.

CHILI:

I wouldn't think you're that dumb, leave over three hundred

grand in the closet, underneath the extra blanket, but I

guess you are.

LEO:

I didn't know where else to keep it.

(then)

Where would you?

CHILI:

You're here a while, what's wrong with a bank?

LEO:

They report it to the IRS.

CHILI:

You don't open an account, Leo, you put it in a safe deposit

box. Dip in whenever you want.

Leo nods in his sporty hat and undershirt, thinking it over,

what to do the next time he scams an airline.

CHILI:

You've been losing.

LEO:

I'm up twelve grand today.

CHILI:

From when? You left Vegas with four-fifty?

LEO:

Who told you that?

CHILI:

Now you're down to three-ten in the case. You must've cooled

off quite a bit since you got here.

LEO:

How'd you know I was here?

CHILI:

Here's another tip

Leo looks away, raises his preshaped plaid hat and recocks

it, then. . .

LEO:

It was Fay, wasn't it, told you about the money. She tell

you my whole life history, for Christ's sake?

CHILI:

I wouldn't let her if she tried. Why I'm here, Leo,

basically, is to save your ass.

LEO:

How? By taking my money?

CHILI:

You can keep what you won today. That's yours.

LEO:

It's all mine.

CHILI:

Sit down, Leo.

Leo sits down in the arm chair, stares sadly at the

briefcase.

CHILI:

I don't know how you got this far, you're so f***in' dumb.

But now you're through. I'm gonna explain to you why and I

hope you're not too dumb to understand what I'm saying.

Okay?

Leo nods.

CHILI:

Ray Bones is now the man you're dealing with. Ray Bones

finds out what you did, he's gonna want everything you have.

And when I say everything, I mean even that sporty little

hat if he wants it. Then after he takes all you got, he'll

most likely hit you with some kind of heavy object if he

doesn't shoot you, just so you won't tell on him.

Chili lets that sink in a minute.

CHILI:

I won't do that. Take your stuff or hurt you. You have

three-ten in the case, right? I'm gonna take the three

hundred you scammed off the airline, but the rest of it, the

ten grand? I'm gonna borrow that and pay you back sometime.

Leo's squinting at him now . . .

LEO:

You take all my money, but you're borrowing part of it?

CHILI:

At eighteen percent, okay? And don't ask me no more f***in'

questions. I'm leaving.

He picks up the briefrase as he rises from the sofa and Leo

gets out of his chair.

LEO:

But you won't know where I am. I don't even know where I'll

be.

CHILI:

I'll find you, Leo . . .

Chili reaches for the door, opens it and looks back at Leo .

. .

CHILI:

You leave a trail like a f***in' caterpillar.

INT. HALLWAY -- SAME TIME

As Chili starts for the elevator. Leo steps into his doorway

. . .

LEO:

Wait a minute. What's this eighteen-percent-a-year sh*t? You

want to borrow ten, the vig's three bills a week. Fifteen

for the vig plus the ten, that's twenty-five big ones you go

a whole year, buddy! You hear me?

Chili stops, turns around. As he starts back, he sees Leo's

scared look just before he slams the door shut. Chili shakes

his head, starts back for the elevator.

EXT. GRIFFITH PARK -- NIGHT

Chili drives a dark road up into the park. He rounds a

corner, and we see an explosion of light up ahead as we come

upon . . .

A MOVIE SET:

Chili pulls in behind a row of trailers. He gets out of the

car and heads for the set where Harry is now looking up at

the sky and yelling at someone . . .

HARRY:

How's anyone gonna see anything from way up there?

CHILI:

Hey, Harry.

HARRY:

Yeah, Chili. Hi.

(looking up)

You're fifty feet in the air!

The DIRECTOR -- early twenties, dressed like a frat boy --

sits on a crane about fifty feet above the set . . .

DIRECTOR:

Harry. I'm gonna boom down real fast, get a subjective

p-o-v.

CHILI:

Listen, I talked to Karen. She's gonna think about helping

you out.

HARRY:

Yeah, but whose point of view?

DIRECTOR:

Whatta you mean, whose point of view; The audience's point

of view.

HARRY:

Get down here. I wanna talk to you. Come on . . . right now

. . .

(to Chili)

She's gonna talk to Martin?

CHILI:

She's thinking about it. I just need the key to your office.

I just told her I'd pick up a script.

Harry tosses Chili a key-ring.

HARRY:

It's the red one. Take it off the ring.

Chili sits down in one of the director's chairs that sits

off to one side. He starts to take the key off the ring . .

.

VOICE:

Your name Vicky Vespa?

Chili looks up at a bored-looking ACTRESS standing there in

a blood-soaked nightie.

CHILI:

Excuse me?

ACTRESS:

I asked you, is your name Vicky Vespa?

CHILI:

No.

ACTRESS:

Then get the f*** outta my chair.

Chili sits forward, sees her name printed on the back. He

gets up. As she sits down, we see an ICE PICK sticking out

the other side of her head. Chili sits back down next to her

in the chair with HARRY ZIMM on the back.

HARRY:

(to the director)

What're you doing? I thought I told you to get down here?

The kid nods to the camera operator who lowers the crane as

we BOOM WAY UP. . .

HARRY:

All these camera moves and weird angles and sh*t are gonna

distance us from the emotion of the scene.

DIRECTOR:

What 'emotion?' Girl just got stabbed in the ear with an ice

pick.

HARRY:

She's scared! Fear is an emotion!

(then)

Look, kid, if you remember anything from your time working

with Harry Zimm, let it be the three key words to

filmmaking.

The kid fiddles with the crane controls.

DIRECTOR:

Yeah? What three words, Harry?

HARRY:

Pick 'n' Save.

DIRECTOR:

Hm?

HARRY:

You heard me, Pick 'n' Save.

Harry turns so the rest of the crew can hear him . . .

HARRY:

Now I'm gonna tell you a little story, happened to me years

ago when I was so broke I had to go to the Pick 'n' Save

over on Vine to buy a lousy candybar for my dinner.

Chili watches the crew stop what they're doing and listen.

HARRY:

I'm standing in line waiting to pay my two bits when I

overhear this lady, call her Mildred, talking to the cashier

about a movie.

The Director gives a look to his assistant like 'Jesus, you

believe this sh*t?'

HARRY:

So Mildred says to the cashier, 'I saw the new Streisand

picture.'

(gets into it the way Mildred did)

'God, I just love it at the end when she brushed Robert

Redford's hair off his forehead the way she did when they

were together, and the way they gave each other this look

that said they still loved each other, but knew they

couldn't be together. That look was so . . . romantic.'

DIRECTOR:

That's great, Harry. So what's the --

HARRY:

What she did not say was, 'I just loved the way the director

moved the camera so much it made me f***in' seasick.' All

she cared about was that look. All she remembered was that

look. And why do we remember things in movies? Because we

can see them.

Harry's right in the guy's face now . . .

HARRY:

So . . . keep this f***in' camera down here on the ground

and shoot this scene, so we can see what the f*** is goin'

on, before I get someone over sixteen to f***in' shoot it

for you!

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