I Am Sam

INT. STARBUCKS - 7:30 A.M.

We're watching a pair of hands arrange white sugar packets,

blue Equal packets, and pink Sweet and Low into small

containers. With precision and lightning speed, the mixed up

colors and crumpled packets are transformed into neat little

color-coded rows. Wait, this container has three Equals and

four Sweet 'n' lows. The hand quickly plucks the mutant

Sweet 'n' Low. There. Symmetry.

We move up those hands and meet SAM DAWSON as he surveys his

domain. Something about him. He's extremely compelling,

uniquely handsome. But it's more than that. Those eyes,

they sparkle with the wonder of a child. Life's cynical edge

has not etched it's path across this face. They light on a

COFFEE CUP held by one of the Regulars.

SAM:

Double double decaf low-fat Cap.

BRUCE:

You got it, buddy.

SAM:

Good choice very good choice.

Sam moves along, commenting to CUSTOMERS as he places Sweet

'n Lows on tables, the self-appointed host of Starbucks.

SAM (CONT'D)

Mocha rumba Frappuccino no whipped, half

low, half non. Excellent choice. Very

good choice.

He stops in front of sale mugs and turns them so that the

logos all face the same way. His boss GEORGE approaches.

GEORGE:

Sam, they called. It's time for you to

go.

Sam FREEZES, but doesn't turn around.

GEORGE (CONT'D)

Sam, did you hear me?

SAM:

"It's time for you to go."

GEORGE:

Yes.

SAM:

It's time.

GEORGE:

Good luck.

Without another word, Sam walks straight out the door.

EXT. LOS ANGELES STREET - DAY

Sam, still in his white apron, walks down the busy street.

He has a fast, loping gait that doesn't slow or hesitate for

anyone. A COUPLE argue on the sidewalk. Sam WALKS RIGHT

BETWEEN THEM.

SAM:

It's time. It's time.

Sam keeps moving, he crosses the street without stopping.

Traffic SCREECHES to a HALT! Cars HONK, a taxi driver YELLS.

SAM (CONT'D)

It's time, it's time for you to go.

INT. HALLWAY - LATER

Sam plows down the hall and comes to room 324.

SAM:

Rebecca!

Sam pushes the DOOR OPEN. And we REALIZE we are entering: A

HOSPITAL LABOR DELIVERY ROOM AT LA COUNTY HOSPITAL.

REBECCA is in the middle of a major contraction. Her face is

the opposite of Sam's. Hardened. She lets out a scream that

stops Sam dead in his tracks. GERTIE, a no-nonsense Black

Nurse, looks up from the monitor.

GERTIE:

You the one responsible for this?

Sam nods, taking Gertie quite literally.

SAM:

I'm sorry.

GERTIE:

Too late for sorries, daddy, get over

here and hold her hand.

Sam reaches for Rebecca's hand. She pulls it away. ANOTHER

CONTRACTION - Rebecca screams. Sam SCREAMS.

NURSE:

You got a live one, Gert.

INT. LABOR ROOM - LATER

DR. JAMISON

Okay, this is it!

SAM:

(spins in circles)

This is it! This is it!

DR. JAMISON

And it's a girl...

The BABY lets out her first cry. Sam watches, awestruck.

Gertie wraps the baby in a blanket and holds her out to

Rebecca. Rebecca shakes her head - NOT NOW. Gertie walks

over to Sam.

GERTIE:

There's someone who's been waitin' an

awful long time to see you, Sam.

She places the BABY into SAM'S ARMS. Suddenly Sam's whole

body RELAXES and becomes very still. He looks to Rebecca,

but she has turned away. He meets Gertie's eyes. Then in

quiet amazement:

SAM:

This is it.

GERTIE:

What's her name?

SAM:

(looks at clock)

Let me see let me see let me see.

12:
17, March 2nd. Lucy in the Sky with

Diamonds. Recorded March 2nd. 1967.

Lyrics by John Lennon, music by Paul

McCartney. Lucy Diamond Dawson.

We hear LIKE A LULLABY, "Picture yourself on a boat in a

river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies..."

EXT. HOSPITAL - NEXT MORNING

Sam, holding the baby, and Becca, having just checked out,

walk down the steps of the hospital holding their

complimentary plastic baby bag. Sam is nervous haling the

precious cargo and Becca is agitated. They see the bus

pulling up and down the street and Sam moves quickly so they

can hurry and catch it. As he approaches the bus, he looks

to Becca by his side, but she is not there. He looks around

and no sign of her.

Frantically turning in a full circle, he sees the fabric of

her dress disappearing into the crowd down the street. He

screams.

SAM:

Becca! Becca!

The more he screams the faster she moves away. Till there's

no trace of her. Sam stands in the middle of the busy block

holding Lucy to his chest, devastated.

We hear, "Look for the girl with the clouds in her eyes, but

she's gone."

SMASH CUT TO:

INT. BUS - NIGHT

Sam holds the now sleeping baby to his chest. Next to him is

the plastic bag from the hospital containing diapers, two

cans of formula and a half empty bottle of milk. Sam is

surrounded by PASSENGERS, the eerie world of the underground

at night. Instinctively, Sam holds her even tighter, two

against the world.

INT. SAM'S APARTMENT - DAWN

A marvel of organization. A closet reveals clothes on

hangers exactly equidistant from each other; precisely folded

T-shirts, underwear and socks organized by color. A

carefully systemized record collection fills makeshift

bookshelves.

Beatles posters from every era decorate the walls. Becca's

things sit in one corner. An island of chaos in an "Hold

Everything" showroom. The kitchen counter has been

transformed into a changing table. Bottles and pacifiers

lined up next to a stack of cloth diapers. Underneath, a

clothes line of baby clothes.

The sound of a CRYING BABY breaks the silence. The camera

follows and finds the CRADLE: a DRAWER tucked snugly into a

blanket hanging like a hammock between two chairs. An

exhausted SAM POPS up from his bed, behind the hammock. He

swings the hammock, hoping against hope the baby will go back

to sleep.

SAM:

Didn't you just fall asleep, little

girl?

(Lucy cries harder)

Okay, if you say it's time to get up,

then it's time to get up, time to get

up.

(Sam sniffs the air)

Oh my, oh my, oh my. Quite a bit of

business.

He rushes over to the kitchen counter and unsnaps the baby's

pajamas, revealing a cloth diaper held together with

promotional buttons: one says "Hertz, #1 for Car Rentals",

the other a picture of Magic Johnson and reads "Go, Lakers,

Go!" Sam undoes it.

SAM (CONT'D)

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. Let me

see let me see let me see.

Sam attempts to clean and diaper her. He finally manages to

pin the buttons so that it at least stays on.

SAM (CONT'D)

You look very beautiful this morning,

very beautiful.

He holds her up, and the diaper falls down around her ankles.

CUT TO:

We pan across a row of diapers on a supermarket shelf:

HUGGIES, PAMPERS, EXTRA ABSORBENT PAMPERS, LUVS...

INT. WALMART - DAY

Sam stares at the "Great Wall of Diapers", awed. He reaches

for the Pampers, balancing Lucy, then the Luvs, no, the

Huggies. Sam stops moving, Lucy starts CRYING, so he jogs in

place. Sam decides on one of each. He heads to the FORMULA

AISLE. Gerber, Carnation, Carnation Iron Fortified. He

stops. Lucy WAILS. WE HEAR THE SONG "HELP, I NEED SOMEBODY"

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