Jerry Maguire Page #7

Back to the other call.

_

34.

SUGAR:

(continuing)

So Jennifer...

INT. JERRY'S OFFICE

Jerry is still on the same Tidwell call. Looking at his

watch.

TIDWELL:

Alright, we're just getting

started on my list of things you

need to know. Take notes if you

want to.

JERRY:

(dying)

Okay.

INT. TIDWELL HALLWAY -- NIGHT

Tidwell walks down the hallway, past clippings and citations

from his career. Marcee follows, always listening.

TIDWELL:

Good, 'cause see, I am a valuable

commodity. I go across the

middle. I see the ball and a dude

coming right at me, wanting to

kill me, I tell my brain "get

killed, catch the ball." That's

New York Steak, baby. Rare. And

yet, nobody's giving me LOVE.

Nobody's giving me PROPS. Nobody.

I went to Arizona State, I'm from

Arizona, I break Arizona records,

I'm a Sun Devil, man!!!

JERRY:

Now you want Arizona dollars.

TIDWELL:

Exactly. And I'm sitting here

with an ant problem, look! And my

brother Tee Pee's room is flooded

with water. Say hello to Jerry

Maguire --

We meet the messy-haired and slightly overweight brother of

Tidwell, TEE PEE, 24. Tee Pee, who lives free of charge in

Rod's house, is a nakedly jealous and more political version

of his brother. He says into the phone:

TEE PEE:

Hello Jerry Maguire.

_

35.

Tidwell takes the phone back, and continues through the

house, with Tee Pee now following the procession of family

monitoring the important call.

TIDWELL:

-- the house is fallin' apart, we

don't even know where we're gonna

live in a year, and I'm supposed

to be a "superstar," man! Are you

catching my flow, here?

Jerry looks at his watch. Doomed.

JERRY:

I need a decision from you, Rod.

INT. SUGAR'S OFFICE -- NIGHT

Sugar has three phones going.

SUGAR:

Killer, Steve, good decision.

(next call)

So it's yes, right? Excellente.

(next call)

Tell me it's yes... yes? YES!

Tidwell enters bedroom. Marcee, Tyson and Tee Pee in tow.

TIDWELL:

-- now to recap, I want to stay

in Arizona, I want my new

contract, I like you, you're nice

to my wife, I will stay with you,

that's what I'm doing for you, but

here's what you're gonna do for

me. You listening?

JERRY:

(dying)

Mmm. Hmm.

TIDWELL:

It's a very personal, very

important thing. It's a family

motto. So I want to share it with

you. You ready?

JERRY:

Yes.

TIDWELL:

Here it is. "Show me the money."

(pause)

Show. Me. The. Money.

_

36.

JERRY:

I got it.

TIDWELL:

Now doesn't that just make you

feel good to say it? Say it with

me.

The lights have gone down in the city, and he hasn't had a

chance to turn his own light on. He sits in the oncoming

darkness, watching the blinking white lights on the phone

bank on the desk.

JERRY:

Show. Me. The. Money.

TIDWELL:

Congratulations. You're still my

agent.

Tidwell hangs up. Feeling good about the decision, he enters

his closet and adds today's shoes to an enormous shoe

collection. Nearby, Tee Pee shakes his head.

TEE PEE:

An African-American man running

with a little ball, working for

white owners and white agents.

It's the iconography of rascism...

(off Tidwell's

dismissive look)

... but I woulda stayed at the

bigger company.

INT. SUGAR'S OFFICE -- DAY

Sugar crosses the last call off his sheet, and throws himself

on the sofa. He lands in reclining mode with a soft pooof.

The younger turks watch their new leader. Victory is his.

INT. JERRY'S OFFICE -- NIGHT

Jerry stands at the door, holding some belongings. He looks

back and symbolically flips the light switch off.

Unfortunately he hasn't realized the lights are already off.

So, in his final gesture, surprising himself, he has weirdly

turned the lights on.

EXT. CORNER OFFICE -- NIGHT

Bam. Jerry's door opens. He exits his office with box. He

is now in a state of advancing melancholy, slightly unhinged.

Many of the other agents now try not to watch him leaving.

_

37.

JERRY:

Well, don't worry! I'm not going

to do what you think I'm going to

do, which is FLIP OUT!

JERRY:

(continuing)

Jerry goes to a water dispenser, calming himself, and fills

a small Dixie cup. Downs it and fills it again, rubbing his

face..

JERRY:

(continuing)

But let me just say, as I ease out

of the office I helped build --

sorry, but it's a fact --

ON DOROTHY -- WATCHING

from her cubicle.

JERRY:

-- that there is such a thing as

manners. A way of treating

people...

He notices the fish tank nearby. He attemps to be profound.

JERRY:

(continuing)

These fish have manners! They

have manners.

And now Jerry feels bravado, mixed with a wave of anger.

Another cup of water as he finds power.

JERRY:

(continuing)

In fact. They're coming with me!

I'm starting a new company, and

the fish will come with me and...

you can call me sentimental.

He begins dipping into the tank, grabbing the one exotic fish

that failed to escape his cup. It's a fire-tailed Peruvian

beauty. He grabs a baggie from an assistant's desk, shakes

out some crumbs, and dumps the fish inside.

JERRY:

(continuing; to fish)

it's okay... it's okay...

Nearby, a Xerox Repair Guy watches the human train wreck.

_

38.

JERRY:

(continuing)

But if anybody else wants to come

with me, this moment will be the

ground floor of something real and

fun and inspiring and true in this

godforsaken business and we will

do it together! Who's coming with

me besides... "Flipper" here?

But clearly even Flipper is not happy with the new

arrangement. Panicked, he whips around the small baggie.

JERRY:

(continuing)

Anybody going with me?

Silence, someone coughs, as agents and office personnel look

on with equal parts pity and embarrassment. Jerry downs

another small cup of water. His lid is blowing off with each

second.

JERRY:

(continuing)

Wendy? Shall we?

Assistant Wendy looks at Maguire. Painfully polite:

WENDY:

I'm three months away from the pay

increase, Jerry. I have to, uh...

you know, stay.

Jerry absorbs the blow, and takes the keys from the top of

her desk. She can't look at him. Jerry stands alone, the

blue Mission Statement on Wendy's desk sits accusingly in

frame. There is only silence now, the loudest kind.

JERRY:

Okay, anybody else?

ON DOROTHY:

She looks around. Doesn't anybody believe in the very thing

they were applauding three days ago? She has an odd

reaction, a muscle twitch of the soul. Before she knows it,

she stands boldly, unfortunately knocking a cup of coffee

onto herself in the process.

DOROTHY:

I'll go with you.

(quietly, on her

coffee mess)

Wonderful...

_

39.

She dabs at her pants. Next to her, Cleo looks on sadly.

ON JERRY:

halfway across the office.

JERRY:

Dorothy Boyd! Thank you!

She gathers her things, increasingly aware of what she's done.

JERRY:

(continuing)

We will see you all again. Sleep

tight!

He walks to Dorothy, and together they exit down the hallway

corridor, past the framed posters and awards.

WIDE-SHOT

rising over the huge office. For the first time, we see the

full expanse of the huge SMI headquarters. And down in the

corner of the frame, two small figures leave carrying boxes.

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