Gold Page #4

KAY (CONT’D)

Dammit, Kenny--!

INT. PAWN SHOP - DAY

A GOLD ROLEX PRESIDENTIAL sliding off a wrist. It’s placed on

a counter, followed by a diamond pinky ring, sapphire cuff

links and Kay’s pendant watch.

A ROLL OF CASH changes hands.

WELLS (V.O)

I didn’t think twice. I was on my way.

EXT. PAWN SHOP - DAY

Pushing as Wells exits, counting his money, wiping frame...

17.

WELLS (V.O.)

It was like I was being called. It was

the gold calling. I know that sounds

crazy, but if you knew that feeling...

If you knew...

As a PASSENGER JET TAKES OFF just over the pawn shop.

EXT. JAKARTA, INDONESIA - ESTABLISHING - MORNING

The city sparkles -- it’s a collision of tradition and

technology; tall towers and shanty towns; soaring wealth and

crushing poverty. There’s something electric about it.

Super:
JAKARTA, INDONESIA

WE FIND Wells entering one of the finest hotels in the world.

INT. JAKARTA PALACE HOTEL - AFTERNOON

Lavish. Everything the name implies. Wells on a house phone.

One cigarette smolders in an ashtray as he lights another.

WELLS:

Yeah, Mike, it’s Kenny Wells. I’m in

the lobby of the Jakarta Palace...

leaving another message. We must have

gotten our wires crossed about the

time. Look, I have a few other

meetings, I’ll try and move things

around. Give me a jingle, okay?

He hangs up. He checks where his watch would be. Asks a

passing waiter the time. Still no Acosta. He drinks. Drags on

his smoke and burning ash falls on his jacket, making a hole.

WELLS (CONT’D)

Goddammit.

He starts to furiously brush it off when he hears -

ACOSTA (O.S.)

Wells?

And there’s ACOSTA. Calm and confident and smiling.

WELLS:

Hey, Mike! Thanks for coming. It’s

good to see you again.

Does Acosta remember him? Maybe. A hustler trying his best not

to look needy. Disapproving eyes from around the clubby lobby.

18.

ACOSTA:

I know a local place, a bit more

color, if you know what I mean.

WELLS:

What, they’re not pouring here?

Then Acosta remarks something in Indonesian and a lobby clerk

snaps obsequiously, ushers them toward the lounge.

WELLS (CONT’D)

Now you’re talking, Mike.

INT. JAKARTA PALACE HOTEL - LOBBY - LATER

A discreet bar cart navigates a lounge area now packed with

Jakarta’s international business elite.

WELLS (O.S.)

...So this salesman goes up to a house

and knocks on the front door. It's

opened by a ten year-old boy who has a

lighted cigar in one hand, a glass of

whiskey in the other and a Penthouse

magazine tucked under his arm.

Salesman:
"Hello son. Is your mom or

dad home?” The little boy: "What the

f*** do you think?"

Wells laughs loud. A BARMAN mixes their drinks. Acosta takes

his, glances at his watch.

ACOSTA:

So, Kenny, what are we talking about?

WELLS:

Ring of fire, Mike. Ring of fire.

Acosta gives a little laugh.

ACOSTA:

You’re playing my greatest hits, now.

Fire’s gone out of that one.

WELLS:

What are you talking about?

19.

ACOSTA:

Ring of fire hasn’t been proven. It’s

the opinion of my fellow esteemed

geologists that the whole thing is,

quoting here, a crock of sh*t.

Wells takes a moment, the wheels turning, then...

WELLS:

Well, what the hell? You called it

wrong, what are you gonna do?

Acosta shoots a look.

ACOSTA:

In this game there is no right or

wrong, there’s only hits and misses.

WELLS:

So, you still think you’re right?

ACOSTA:

I don’t think I’m right. I know I’m

right. There’s gold here.

WELLS:

I’m happy you said that, Mike. I truly

am. I believe you.

ACOSTA:

I hate to dash your hopes, but don’t

you think others have come along

before you, with the same thought and,

from the looks of it, deeper pockets?

WELLS:

Ring of fire is real. I knew it the

minute I heard it. It was like a

lightning strike. I never forgot it.

Acosta laughs. He can’t help it.

WELLS (CONT’D)

Go ahead and laugh. I’m used to it.

But hear this, I don’t just believe, I

know.

ACOSTA:

No one will back me on this one.

Wells mixes them both two more strong ones.

WELLS:

I will. I’ll get the money.

20.

ACOSTA:

You look like you had to rob someone

to get here.

WELLS:

Tell me where you want to dig, Mike,

and I’ll make sure the bills are paid.

ACOSTA:

You roll in here like we’re old pals?

I’m a mirage, mate. You know jack sh*t

about who I am.

WELLS:

You know it’s out there. I can see it

in your eyes. You still believe.

As Wells says this, we can see Acosta start to believe, maybe

for the first time in a while.

WELLS (CONT’D)

I get it. I was born on the side of a

mountain, too. My father scraped

everything he had out of the rocks. He

died with dirt under his fingernails.

I intend to do the same.

Acosta just might be wavering. Wells won’t let him get away.

WELLS (CONT’D)

This business wrote me off years ago,

and maybe you’re not running a hot

hand... Let’s prove ‘em wrong. Prove

all of them wrong. And you know why?

‘Cause Ring of Fire is right. Tell me

I’m crazy, I’ll be on the next plane.

Acosta is inscrutable. Wells waits, sweating. Finally:

ACOSTA:

You’re crazy.

Acosta rises from the table. He tosses cash down and brushes

past, leaving Wells like a raft with a hole in it.

ACOSTA (O.S.) (CONT’D)

Do you have a hat?

DISCOVER Acosta has stopped behind Wells with a kind of this

is the dumbest thing I’ll ever do expression.

WELLS:

Yeah, I got a hat.

21.

But Wells is starting to smile.

ACOSTA:

Good. I’m taking you upriver.

WELLS:

What river is that, Mike?

ACOSTA:

The only one that matters.

Acosta walks out. Wells drains his drink. And WE GO...

EXT. TALKING BIRD FISHING VILLAGE - DAY

A fishing village on market day. Talking birds, snake gazers,

and WELLS, weekend sporty, exiting a cab. The DRIVER yells and

points toward the river. Everyone wants to sell him something.

He sees Acosta waiting by a traditional freighter canoe with

the long-shaft outboard. The boatman, OBB, smokes a cigarette.

ACOSTA:

You’re late. This is Obb.

Wells eyes the boat warily.

WELLS:

That thing gonna make it?

ACOSTA:

Let’s hope so.

(messing with him)

Ever seen a Borneo pit viper?

WELLS:

Well I tell you, Mikey, I feel like

I’ve met a few -

ACOSTA:

Drop out of the trees. Good swimmers,

no bigger than this...

(hands 12 inches apart)

But if one gets you, find a phone,

call your loved ones.

Wells looks around. A few native faces. Huts. No phones.

WELLS:

(re:
their boat)

I went on the exact same thing once at

Weeky-Watchee.

Wells hops on the freighter canoe, rocking the sh*t out of it.

22.

INT./EXT. FREIGHTER CANOE - KENSANA (KIN-SANA) RIVER - DAY

Obb pulls away from the pier. Wells watches “civilization”

disappear behind a bend. And suddenly DAYAK TRIBESMEN panning

for gold. In 300 yards, they’ve gone 5000 years back in time.

ACOSTA:

The Dayak have been panning this river

for thousands of years. That’s how it

got it’s name, “Daya Kensana.”

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