Gold Page #12

WELLS:

We’ve done all right up to now.

WOOLF:

There is no doubt about that.

He smiles.

59.

WOOLF (CONT’D)

May I speak plainly, Mr. Wells?

Wells looks at Acosta, then back to Woolf.

WELLS:

That’s the only way to speak, Bryan.

WOOLF:

Our clients will want to see a serious

plan to turn lab results in a volatile

region into an investment we can all

stake our reputations on.

WELLS:

That’s not gonna be a problem -

WOOLF:

It’s not a problem, per se, but there

remains the fact that neither of you

have taken a find of this magnitude

all the way through production.

WELLS:

Now wait a minute. We found it. We can

dig it up. It’s not that complicated.

WOOLF:

(choosing words carefully)

Actually, historically, what we’ve

found is it can be quite complicated

and we’d like to help formulate how

you present the operations side.

Suddenly Wells is beginning to feel a little pushed.

WELLS:

What does that even mean? What’s he

saying?

WOOLF:

I’d like you both to consider bringing

on a strategic partner.

Wells is suddenly wary. And we see how small town he really

is. He lifts Woolf’s business card -

WELLS:

(reads)

Managing Director of Substrate

Minerals, Metals, Oil, and Gas. I

don’t even know what that is.

(MORE)

59A.

WELLS (CONT'D)

Have any of you ever set one of your

hand-made loafers down in a hole on

the side of a mountain? Washoe has

history.

60.

WOOLF:

We’ve done a fairly thorough analysis

of Washoe, Mr. Wells. And we believe

you need some strategic help.

WELLS:

It’s a new day. And Indo is goddamn

different.

(bangs table)

I know how to bring this baby in!

Acosta observes Wells for a moment. We think Acosta is going

to judge him, pile on... instead:

61.

ACOSTA:

Wells came and found me. I was at a

low point, I’ll admit. It happens in

this business. Ups and downs. He

backed me with his last cent. More

than that he risked his life. Almost

lost it, too. And now we have the bull

by its horns.

WELLS:

A big-ass bull!

ACOSTA:

I’ve worked with the best and I can

tell you Kenny Wells is up there with

them. Which must count for something.

A declaration of friendship, and faith. This means the world

to Wells.

WOOLF:

It does, Mr. Acosta. We’re not by any

stretch of the imagination suggesting

that anyone take a backseat, we’re

simply asking you to be open to

strategic alliances.

WELLS:

No f***ing way.

That’s that. Acosta goes to the window. He looks out.

ACOSTA:

There’s something about finding gold --

it’s difficult to put into words --

the taste of it on your tongue, gritty

and electric, the feel of it between

your fingers. It’s like a drug. It

hooks you. It’s what you’re missing

here in the city; so you must

understand why we feel a bit

possessive over it.

(beat)

So I have proposal: put together your

institutional players, the guys who

rep the big money, whomever needs to

kick the tires on this thing... And

we’ll take them on a little trip up

the river...

Now Wells is looking at Acosta, starting to go with it -

ACOSTA (CONT’D)

You know what river that is?

61A.

WELLS:

The only river that matters -- the

KENSANA --!

ACOSTA:

And they can decide for themselves if

we’re ready to scale this thing up.

CUT TO:

INT. DIMLY LIT ROOM - NIGHT

JENNINGS:

So it was Acosta who proposed the

junket to Kensana? Or did you cook

that up together?

Wells looking at Jennings.

WELLS:

You just don’t get it. We weren’t

“cooking up” anything.

(MORE)

62.

WELLS (CONT'D)

I was getting hit from all sides by

people wanting in -- Hart Hubbard, my

neighbor, lawn care professional,

usually worried about Kay’s mulberry

over his back fence, only now he’s

dropping mining terms, “Kenny, I hear

the grade purity at Kensana is quite

high. How is the core frequency?” Hart

Hubbard. He cuts grass for a living.

JENNINGS:

We’ve interviewed Mr. Hubbard.

Wells looks at Jennings and Banks and Levine. All dressed up

in their middle-class rectitude.

WELLS:

I’m just saying I wasn’t feeling like

I had to cook up anything.

JENNINGS:

So it was Acosta who proposed the

banker junket?

WELLS:

(beat)

Yes.

(can’t help himself)

And it was a genius move. I don’t

exactly cut the right figure in a Wall

Street boardroom. They didn’t like my

suit or the smell of my whiskey. And

let’s be clear: we were in a fight, a

fight for control. With that one move

Mike shifted the balance of power.

CUT TO:

INT. JAKARTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - DAY

A group of BANKERS blinking in blinding tropical sunlight as

they follow Wells out of the terminal.

WELLS (V.O.)

They were coming to our house and that

was a whole new ball game.

OWENS (40), BINKERT and JACKSON (30’s). These are men set free

from the concrete jungle, ready for a taste of the real thing.

They all pull wheeled carry-ons, some dressed in the latest

“in” safari-wear from Ralph Lauren.

They’re met by Mike Acosta, in full bush gear. Suddenly the

Bankers’ outfits look foolishly ersatz.

63.

WELLS:

Gentlemen, this is Mike Acosta.

ACOSTA:

Anyone who wants to turn back, this is

your last chance.

They all look at him, “Is he f***ing kidding?...”

WELLS:

He’s messin’ with you, come on.

A few of the Bankers sigh, some aren’t sure.

WELLS (CONT’D)

Welcome to Indo, boys.

EXT. KENSANA RIVER - DAY

The front of a canoe breaks the plane, followed by Owens,

Binkert, Jackson... taking it all in. It’s one of those

perfect tropical days -- a balmy breeze, glorious sunshine and

billowing clouds hanging in an impossibly blue sky.

They pass TRIBESMEN panning along the bank.

WELLS:

They’ve been panning this river for

five thousand years. That’s how it

got its name... Kensana. It means -

He shoots a look to Acosta, making the Bankers wait for it...

ACOSTA:

River of gold.

OWENS:

That’s not real?

A smile between Wells and Acosta -- this is the show and

they’re loving it. And RISING UP the river is indeed gold

colored, snaking through hills of green.

EXT. WASHOE SITE - DAY

-- A BULLDOZER CLEARS A SECTION OF JUNGLE -- a CREW works a

DRILL RIG. Acosta shouts over the din, machete in his hand.

ACOSTA:

When we got the hit, we stepped out in

a radiating pattern...We’ll keep going

until we have the complete picture of

(MORE)

64.

ACOSTA (CONT'D)

the underlying geology-- how long, how

wide, how deep. It’s this mapping that

gives us the real sense of what we’re

sitting on.

The men look down at the ground. It’s just ground. But their

imaginations are working. Acosta points all around them.

ACOSTA (CONT’D)

It’s everywhere.

INT. WASHOE SITE - CORE SHED - DAY

Acosta leads the group into the CORE SHED. Throughout the

building, lying in wooden cradles, are the CORE SAMPLES -- six

foot long cylinders of rock and earth.

ACOSTA:

Our typical drill depth is between

three and five hundred feet. We pull

out our core samples in six foot

segments, six inches in diameter

packed solid with rock and soil.

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