Gold Page #19

ANOTHER ANGLE:

Acosta holds out a Styrofoam coffee. Which he probably spiked

with Seagrams. MotherfuckingTheresa.

ACOSTA (CONT’D)

Here, get this down.

INT. MOTEL - ROOM - LATER

Acosta in the open doorway. Maybe a highway out there

somewhere. A gloomy day. Wells sits on the edge of a bed in

half light, the worse for wear.

WELLS:

I think Kay’s done with me.

ACOSTA:

Smart woman.

WELLS:

(beat)

Mike, I’m sorry.

ACOSTA:

You know what people say? That you’re

a drunk. Out of your league.

WELLS:

Yeah? Well f*** them. I need a big

lecture from Mr. Golden Boy in his

golden glow. How hard and messed up

everything is. Tell me that from your

perch at the bar of the Jakarta Palace

after you’ve used that instinct of

yours to find some other big strike

with some other people.

Acosta stares at him a moment.

99.

ACOSTA:

That’s what you think?

WELLS:

That’s what I know. That’s what

everybody knows. You’re

MikeFuckingAcosta.

ACOSTA:

I’ve never lacked for confidence...

Wells in agreement on that one. But Acosta seems to be

deciding whether to tell him something.

ACOSTA (CONT’D)

Okay. So we’re in North Sulawesi,

monsoon season -- this is 1980 -

WELLS:

The copper strike -

ACOSTA:

Yeah, the famous copper strike. Only

we were looking for bauxite. On the

way to where I’m planning to drill, I

get us stuck. Five feet of mud. We’ve

found nothing. We’ve drilled nothing.

We’re just sitting in the rain, day

after day, watching the metal rust.

WELLS:

What’d you do?

ACOSTA:

Under the theory that it’s better to

do something than nothing, I reported

this was where we were trying to get

to. Instead of being lost, we had

arrived. This was the spot... Nowhere

became somewhere -

WELLS:

The place you got stuck?

ACOSTA:

Yeah. The place I got stuck.

100.

Wells looks up and slowly everything changes, it has a charm,

a purpose, it’s cool. It’s the place to hit bottom, part of

the legend. He goes up to Acosta. A beat. Then...

WELLS:

I love that--!

Wells claps him on the back. Looks out at the same Reno he’s

always looked out at, the same grim futureless rain or dust or

whatever’s out there and now it looks different, too -- bright

and infinite and possible, just like his dream.

WELLS (CONT’D)

You were looking for bauxite and you

found copper. I went looking for gold

and I found a friend.

ACOSTA:

That may be the single hokiest thing

I’ve ever heard in my life.

(off Wells's hurt

expression)

Okay, it’s true. But you did con me

into signing that goddamn napkin.

It’s the moment of truth for Kenny Wells.

WELLS:

You know what we said when we started

this thing... So... you got a plan?

ACOSTA:

Don’t you?

But ACOSTA has the beginnings of a slow smile. THE ROAR OF A

JET PLANE -- Wells turns and looks out the door -- and the

VIEW THROUGH A MOTEL DOORWAY is A RUNWAY IN JAKARTA as an AIR

INDONESIA JET drops out of the sky...

WELLS (V.O.)

Turns out, Suharto had a son, his

youngest, Darmadi -Danny -- bit of a

screw-up, a real problem for the old

man. So I guess you could say, we all

understood each other.

EXT. CILIWUNG RIVER - DANNY SUHARTO ESTATE - DAY

Wells and Acosta are ferried down an urban river in a swanky

taxi boat. They arrive at a colonial boathouse and disembark.

101.

WELLS (V.O.)

Suharto had been trying to get Danny

set up for years, but everything Danny

touched turned to sh*t. I figured if

we could bring Danny on board as a

partner, maybe he could get daddy to

change his mind and swing things back

our way. It was a Hail Mary from our

own one yard line, but it was all I

had... It also didn’t hurt that Danny

had been regularly ignored by a

certain ex-president of the United

States who was a groomsman at his

father’s third wedding and also

happened to sit on the board of

Newport Holdings.

They are led into a pool area where DARMADI “DANNY” SUHARTO

plays “chicken” in the pool with a GIRL on his shoulders.

WELLS (O.S.)

So, this guy walks into a Cadillac

dealership, okay?...

EXT. ESTATE - DAY

A massive estate. Wells and Acosta sit in the pool pavilion

with Danny, now in a lush bathrobe. Danny looks every bit the

royal child with skin that glows. He listens as Wells, in full

form, nails the joke...

WELLS:

...Salesman says, “Excuse me sir, are

you thinking about buying a Cadillac?”

And the guy says, “No, I’m definitely

buyin’ a Cadillac. I’m thinking about

p*ssy!”

Wells laughs. Danny looks at Acosta and then back at Wells

who’s still laughing. Acosta drops his head as WE WAIT...

Danny stares at Wells. A long beat. Then...

DANNY:

Cadillac is p*ssy magnet.

Danny smiles, then laughs. They all start to laugh. Acosta

can’t believe it.

WELLS:

You like Cadillacs?

DANNY:

‘62 Eldorado. Finest car ever made.

102.

INT. DANNY’S ‘62 ELDORADO - DAY

The Pixies’ “Where is my mind?” plays. Danny driving through

downtown Jakarta. Wells in the front seat, Acosta in back.

Danny on a driving pillow which raises him up in the seat.

DANNY:

(yelling over music)

I love Pixies! I lived in Boston. My

sister went to Pine Manor. Dated -

Points at Acosta in the backseat.

ACOSTA:

Your sister’s crazy.

DANNY:

My sister is so crazy. Is it too early

for a drink?

He nods at the glove box. Wells finds a bottle of BLACK LABEL.

DANNY (CONT’D)

Red label is for peasants -

WELLS:

That’s what I always say -

INT. BAMBOO BAR - NIGHT

Danny, Wells, Acosta in a bar that hasn’t changed since the

Dutch were running things. Everyone knows Danny.

DANNY:

Gerald Ford, tall man. George H.W.

Bush, a very tall man. Mark Hancock a

tall man. My father a small man. Small

in stature. But he loves his family.

WELLS:

Mine, too. Then he died in the

driveway bringing in groceries.

Wells points to where his heart is. Danny raises a glass.

DANNY:

To father of Wells -

EXT. DANNY’S ESTATE - NIGHT

Voices in the dark, drunken, furtive. Then shapes emerge. Now

see Danny. A key tries to find a lock. Drops. Gropes.

103.

DANNY:

85-15 split, if you have the balls.

ACOSTA:

That’s robbery -

DANNY:

That’s deal. If you have balls. No

balls, no deal.

Now the key slowly fits in the lock. It makes a subtle

clicking sound.

ACOSTA:

50-50 and I’d consider it.

Danny shakes his head, no. CAMERA NOW FINDS WELLS... Sweat and

true Hail Mary desperation all over his face.

DANNY:

Kenny? Do you have balls?

ACOSTA:

Don’t do it. It’s not worth it.

Wells looks again through the bars of a cage. He swallows.

WELLS:

Open it.

The heavy bars slam shut behind him. Discover his eyes are

clenched shut. Slowly they open. Adjusting to the gloom.

WELLS'S POV -- YELLOW EYES, almost lit from within, moving,

belonging to SOMETHING VERY LARGE that paces in a circle.

DANNY:

(whispered to Acosta)

Only 50 left in world.

Wells takes another step. A low GROWLING. He FREEZES. Wells

looks back at Danny and Acosta. Then takes another step -As

a SUMATRAN TIGER

Moves forward into the moonlight. Crouched, ready to pounce.

DANNY (O.S.) (CONT’D)

(reverent)

Sumatran tiger... very rare.

Wells slowly reaches out his hand. Closer. Suddenly -The

TIGER ROARS.

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote