Hero Page #20

GALE ushers the dazed BUBBER toward a bank of elevators and

prevents others from joining them in the elevator.

INT. ELEVATOR - SECONDS LATER

GALE'S mood changes to amusement as she and BUBBER ascend alone.

Giggling, she "points" her chest at BUBBER.

GALE:

Uh, if you could, just, uh, support,

uh, a small airfield...

BUBBER:

(embarrassed)

It's been sometime since, uh, I

received any, uh, of that kind of,

uh... attention. A couple of...

years.

GALE stops giggling. Their eyes meet. A charged moment.

GALE:

Years?

(then...)

There are going to be lots of...

opportunities.

BUBBER:

Gale... you're a very nice person.

I wouldn't want to hurt you... in

any way...

They're struggling against an embrace that seems inevitable...

GALE:

I... I know that, John...

BUBBER:

You... you think I saved your...

life. I can't take advantage....

GALE:

You did save my life! And it's me!

I'd be taking advantage of you! I'm

a reporter, John, an experienced

professional... I...

Inevitably they embrace, KISS, can't help themselves.

BUBBER disengages suddenly, distraught.

BUBBER:

I... no... I don't have the right...

I...

GALE:

No, I don't have the right. You're

a news story!

BUBBER:

Uh, right. A... news story.

She pushes him out the elevator door.

GALE:

I know the truth, John. I'm flying

in some guys from your unit in

Vietnam tomorrow. Interviewing them

live on network hookup!

BUBBER:

(stunned)

Vietnam!

GALE:

Goodnight, John.

INT. BEDROOM/DRAKE SUITE

BUBBER wanders into the bedroom of the fabulous suite... in

a daze. He stares at BERNIE'S shoes on the floor. He shakes

his head as if to clear it.

TELEVISION SCREEN: INT. TV STUDIO - DAY

A fortyish black man, TOM WELLER, appears on the screen...

TOM/TV

Next thing I know, I'm in this

medical unit an' I see the other

dude, the one who was with me when

we got jumped, the one who I thought

was dead. There he is in the next

bed. I says "How'd we get here,

brother? We dead or what?"

He says, "That crazy white brother,

Johnny Bubber, he come back for us,

hauled us out." He shoulda been

wrote up, got a medal, but it was

fate. Wasn't no officers around

to observe it or nothing.

TELEVISION SCREEN: INT. TV STUDIO - DAY

A fortyish redneck type, CHARLIE BACON, is speaking to camera.

CHARLIE/TV SCREEN

The sonofagun goes out in the

paddies, pulling us outta there,

one after the other, six guys. Hey,

it don't surprise me one bit it was

Johnny Bubber went into that plane!

BERNIE VOICE (O.S.)

Fifty bucks says the a**hole was

never even in Vietnam.

INT. DAY ROOM JAIL - DAY

BERNIE is furious, glaring at the TV, surrounded by PRISONERS.

TOUGH PRISONER #2

Shut your face, dirt bag... That

guy's a goddamn hero and you're

nothin' but a cynical little turd.

ON THE SCREEN (INT. TV STUDIO - DAY)

BUBBER is embracing WELLER, CHARLIE and several other VETERANS

as GALE narrates...

GALE/VOICE OVER/TV

After an emotional reunion, Bubber's

fellow veterans watched as station

manager James Wallace presented

Bubber with a check for one million

dollars...

Surrounded by applauding MEDIA TYPES, SPECTATORS and VETERANS,

BUBBER is accepting the check...

GALE/TV

As Bubber reacted to his sudden

wealth, word came that the

Secretary of the Army, responding

to an urgent resolution from the

Senate has conferred on John

Bubber the Medal of Honor.

This for his actions in Vietnam more

than 20 years ago, heroism that was

not acknowledged at the time because

it was not witnessed or reported

by a ranking officer. Later I spoke

to him about his sudden change in

circumstances...

BUBBER appears full screen, head and shoulders, interview

footage. He's shy and awkward at first... tentative... then

gaining confidence as he speaks...

BUBBER/TV

Well, I don't feel... right... about

all that money, Miss Gayley. That's

too much money for one person. What

I'm gonna do is donate, uh, most

of it to different organizations

like the Homeless Vets and stuff,

and start up some programs... to

help people. See, when you're out

there in the cold like I was, on

the streets or sleeping under

bridges or in your car, the worst

thing, even worse than the hunger

and the cold, is the... feeling...

that you're just plain... useless.

You don't matter to a single soul

in this world, nobody needs you,

nobody wants you.

MONTAGE:
TELEVISION SCREEN AND VIEWERS

BUBBER'S INTERVIEW appears on screens in...

-HOME

-MOTEL ROOM

-WHITE HOUSE

The PRESIDENT watching.

-CHEAP HOTEL LOBBY

-SHADOW LOUNGE

CHICK watching.

-JAIL

BERNIE watching.

-EVELYN'S LIVING ROOM

JOEY, EVELYN, and ELLIOT watching.

-PRISON

INMATES, their tough faces momentarily solemn, watching.

-WINSTON'S APARTMENT

WINSTON smacks the TV he bought from Bernie to adjust the color.

Rate this script:1.6 / 9 votes