Minority Report Page #11

WIFE:

Just drink it before I pour it in

your lap.

He reluctantly takes it. She smiles at Anderton on her way

out.

ANDERTON:

Danny Witwer is scheduled for a

tour of Containment tomorrow --

BURGESS:

So give him a tour. He doesn't

know enough to ask the right

questions.

ANDERTON:

If he's looking for a flaw in the

system --

BURGESS:

He's not. He's looking for a flaw

in us, John.

Anderton notices the change in Burgess' tone. Burgess tosses

the CARD onto the coffee table in front of him, and considers

Anderton a moment.

BURGESS:

Lara called me.

ANDERTON:

What?

BURGESS:

She's worried about you. And,

quite frankly, so am I.

ANDERTON:

I'm fine.

BURGESS:

I hear you've been spending a lot

of time in the sprawl.

ANDERTON:

(beat)

I go running down there.

BURGESS:

In the middle of the night?

Anderton doesn't have an answer for that one.

BURGESS:

What if Danny Witwer came to you

right now and insisted on a full

chem run?

ANDERTON:

I'm fine, Lamar.

Burgess gets up and sits down next to Anderton, puts a hand

on his shoulder.

BURGESS:

(beat)

You understand, John, that the

minute Precrime goes national,

they're going to take it away from

us.

ANDERTON:

We won't let them.

BURGESS:

No? How's an old man and a cop on

the whiff ever going to stop them?

This stings Anderton. Burgess softens.

BURGESS:

My father once said to me that you

don't choose the things you believe

in, they choose you.

(then)

There's a reason you're here, John.

Had Precrime been in place just six

months earlier, the loss you and

Lara suffered would have been

prevented.

Anderton turns away.

BURGESS:

Remember the eyes, John --

Burgess COUGHS, motions for a second while he gets his breath

back, then...

BURGESS:

Remember, the eyes of the nation

are on us right now. We both know

I'm not the generation anyone

listens to.

(then)

People trust you, John. When you

speak of your absolute belief in

Precrime, they know it's a belief

born of pain and not politics.

I've always understood that. And

in some ways, I may have even

encouraged it, to help with the

cause. But now... your pain is

hurting both of us.

Anderton nods, finally gets up, puts his hand on Burgess'

shoulder, looks the old man in the eye.

ANDERTON:

They're not going to take it away

from us, Lamar.

(beat)

I won't let them.

INT. TELEVISION SOUND STAGE - MORNING

A talkshow. A woman MODERATOR sits in front of a backdrop

that reads "DOUBLE EXPOSURE". Anderton now in a suit and tie

sits with the MODERATOR and a WOMAN in a dark suit.

MODERATOR:

A week from today conventions will

meet in every state to vote on the

ratification of the precrime

amendment. With us to discuss this

historic decision are Chief John

Anderton of Precrime in Washington

D.C. and Ms. Dinola Margis,

Director of the American Freedom

Foundation. Both of you, thanks

for being here.

ANDERTON/MARGIS

Geraldine. Thanks for having me.

MODERATOR:

Ms. Margis, let me start with you.

Last year, more people in this

country lost their lives to murder

than to natural causes. Doesn't

such unparalleled violence require

that we protect our citizens,

whatever it takes?

MARGIS:

No, Geraldine, not at the price of

giving up our most fundamental

rights. For almost three centuries

now, every accused citizen has had

the right to be presumed innocent

until found guilty. But, here, we

have the beginnings of a system

that punishes people for crimes

that haven't even been committed.

I feel stuck in a nightmare.

And now we see Burgess standing in the wings, watching now as

Anderton smiles, revs up the charm.

ANDERTON:

You forget, Dinola, that the

Supreme Court has ruled that the

Precogs predictions as foregone,

metaphysical conclusions. Meaning

what the Precogs say is going to

happen, happens.

(then)

Unless we stop it.

MARGIS:

You know, the Eutruscans used to

read sheep livers to predict the

future. Maybe we should try that

one next.

ANDERTON:

That's funny. But the truth is,

our Constitution has always

recognized that in times of great

danger we may have to take actions

that... offend certain principles

in order to preserve the nation

itself.

Burgess looks at Anderton and nods. That's my boy. Anderton

nods back, turns back to the table as we...

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. SOLARIUM - NIGHT

Anderton, barefoot and shirtless, still in his suitpants,

eats a bowl of cereal while the TALKSHOW he taped earlier in

the day before plays out on the TELEVISION.

ANDERTON (TV)

In the middle of the civil war, for

example, Abraham Lincoln suspended

the writ of habeas corpus observing

that a limb may be sacrificed to

save a life, but a life is never

wisely given to save a limb.

Anderton doesn't watch it. Instead, he stares stupidly at

the images of SNAP, CRACKLE and POP dancing around on the

cereal box that sits on the coffee table in front of him.

MARGIS (TV)

Let me ask you something, Chief?

You're a former police officer --

when was the last time you

Mirandized someone?

The ON TV ANDERTON just smiles at her.

MARGIS (TV)

You have the right to remain

silent? You have the right to an

attorney?

He turns, looks up at the set and now we go...

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