Philadelphia Page #3

HARGREAVE:

Who's this?

ANDREW:

Andrew Beckett. Hi, Karen. I'm

sorry I interrupted...

He punches out of the conference, back to his Mom (glancing

over his shoulder to make sure the door is shut).

ANDREW (CONT.)

Gillman says I'm fine. My blood

work is excellent. T-cells are up.

Just a sec ...

(conference call)

Yes, I think that would alleviate

most of our concerns.

(back to Mom)

My platelets look good too.

SARAH:

Are you on one of those conference

calls? I hate when you put me on

hold.

CUT ON ANDREW'S LAUGHTER TO:

THE MOON ABOVE THE WHEELER BUILDING LATE AT NIGHT (EXT.)

TITLE:
"One-thirty a.m."

CUT TO:

ANDREW AT WORK IN THE FIRM'S LIBRARY (INT./NIGHT) ...

Andrew's fingers FLY across the keys of a notebook computer.

Needing a reference, he shoves his rolling chair away from

the computer... opens a reference book... grabs a carton of

Chinese food... (NOTE: The library may be equipped with a

computer terminal which Andrew uses for reference, rather

than a book.)

Andrew eats sauteed string beans with chopsticks, finding a

relevant citation:

ANDREW:

Ah hah! Yes!

(chewing a string bean)

Rentworth v. Pennsylvania...

court of appeals affirms jury

award of punitive damages for

wrongful interference with

prospective economic

relations...

A SHADOW falls across Andrew. He IGNORES IT.

ANGLE:
TWO MEN IN SILHOUETTE. WALTER KENTON says:

KENTON:

Look at this f***ing guy. He's

an animal.

Andrew's hands DO NOT LEAVE the keyboard.

ANDREW:

Walter.

The SECOND MAN steps forward, a silhouette becoming visible

This is BOB SEIDMAN. He and Kenton wear tuxedos.

SEIDMAN:

Are we interrupting, Andy?

ANDREW:

In a word, Bob...

SEIDMAN:

Charles is right behind me.

ANOTHER SILHOUETTED FIGURE APPEARS. This image has a

horror-film feeling to it.

Andrew WHIPS AROUND to face them.

ANDREW:

I was just about to take a

break. Good evening, Charles.

CHARLES WHEELER, also in tuxedo, remains in shadow.

WHEELER:

Andy? Could you step into my

office for a sec?

(deadpan)

I feel like firing someone

tonight.

Andrew throws an arm over Seidman's shoulder.

ANDREW:

We're gonna miss you around

here, Bob...

CUT ON LAUGHTER TO:

THE RECEPTION AREA (INT./NIGHT): A DOMINO'S PIZZA DELIVERY

MAN, waiting for clearance from a SECURITY GUARD, on

Andrew's dim and quiet floor, WATCHES AS...

Seidman, Kenton and Andrew follow Charles Wheeler up a wide,

carpeted staircase. Wheeler finishes a story and everyone

LAUGHS...

CUT TO:

A BOX OF CIGARS BEING HANDED AROUND (INT./NIGHT) ...

SEIDMAN:

Andy's expressed a keen interest

in the Kronos Inc. situation,

Charles. Is that correct, Andy?

The lawyers have gathered in Wheeler's spacious office, with

its floor-to-ceiling view of the Philadelphia skyline.

ANDREW:

The fate of the participants

interests me, yes sir.

Wheeler, Kenton and Seidman proceed with the male ritual of

preparing cigars to be smoked: snipping the ends with a brass

clip, rolling them over their tongues to wet them, sliding the

cigars in and out of their rounded mouths.

Andrew, holding a cigar but NOT preparing to light it, watches

with a not completely concealed twinkle in his eye.

Wheeler leans back in his chair, swirling a brandy snifter.

He exhales cigar smoke with a great deal of pleasure.

KENTON:

It's good to be King, hey

Charles?

WHEELER:

Kings are out of fashion. I'd

rather be thought of as a

benevolent tyrant.

(prompting Andrew)

It's an anti-trust action.

ANDREW:

It is, and it isn't, Charles.

Macrosystem's new software

copies all the best-known

elements of Kronos' spreadsheet

program. If they're allowed to

sell it, Kronos will get undersold

right out of business. For me, the

legal principle, involved is

copyright infringement.

WHEELER:

Bearing in mind that Bill

Wright, the chairman of

MacroSystems, is a close, personal

friend of mine... which side of

this mess would you desire to be

on, Andy? And don't allow my very

tight, personal relationship with

Bill to influence your answer in

any way.

Andrew knows this is a test. And he loves it.

ANDREW:

Sorry, Charles, but...

Andrew is distracted -- BY A LIGHT FALLING ACROSS HIS FACE.

ANDREW (CONT.)

I'd like to see Kronos win.

Walter Kenton has shifted a lamp, so that its LIGHT FALLS

ACROSS ANDREW'S FACE, REVEALING: a faint purple blotch

about the size of a quarter, much like the blotches we saw

on the HISPANIC PATIENT in Andrew's doctor's office.

KENTON:

Why, Beckett?

ANDREW:

Because they deserve to, Walter.

Andrew lifts his hand, finding that his hair has been pushed

back, revealing the blotch.

He stands, nonchalantly running a hand through his hair to

cover the blotch.

ANDREW (CONT.)

If MacroSystems wins, an energetic,

young company will be destroyed,

five thousand Americans will be

out of work. Moreover, the laws of

copyright and anti-trust were

enacted to prevent exactly the

kind of bullshit Macrosystems is

trying to pull.

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