Reagan Page #12

JACK:

Well, part of being a man is

knowing what’s right, not just

because someone is telling you.

70.

FRANK:

It’s harder when the people who are

telling you what’s right aren’t

telling you everything.

JACK:

I gave you a last name and a shitty

hairline. If I also gave you my

guts, you should listen to ‘em.

Pondering, Frank’s attention wanders to his mom and nephew.

GLADYS:

And do you know that one?

BRANDON:

That’s the Little Dipper.

GLADYS:

Right. And all the way at the end

of it:
that’s the North Star.

Frank freezes on her words. They start to ring in his head.

He slides over to his mother.

FRANK:

What did you just say? What about

the Little Dipper?

GLADYS:

Oh now you’re interested in

constellations. You used to not be

bothered; you’d run inside and

complain about the bugs...

FRANK:

Just tell me what you said about

the Little Dipper.

BRANDON:

It’s how you find the North Star.

FRANK:

The North Star...

Frank sifts through memories:

FLASHBACK:
THE MEETING WITH JOAN

JOAN QUIGLEY:

The Enterprise...is about the

Middle East. Or Central America.

FLASHBACK:
DON REGAN’S PARTY.

71.

Frank shakes hands with Oliver North.

FRANK:

Frank Corden.

OLIVER:

Ollie North. It’s an honor.

FLASHBACK:
DON REGAN’S BATHROOM WITH OLIVER.

FRANK:

This is a hell of a position you

put me in.

OLIVER:

Worked on Lebanon Once.

FLASHBACK:
THE NIGHT CLUB. OLIVER HOLDS THE HUGE BAG OF COKE.

OLIVER (CONT’D)

Nicaraguan Gold...

FLASHBACK:
JOAN AGAIN.

JOAN QUIGLEY:

Look to the Little Dipper.

FLASHBACK:
ONE MORE TIME.

OLIVER:

Ollie...North.

BACK TO PRESENT. Frank is agape.

FRANK:

Holy sh*t. That lunatic was right.

I gotta go.

GLADYS:

That’s a surprise. You should put

on bug spray.

BRANDON:

Bye, Uncle Frank!

His father stops him just before the door.

JACK:

Hey. Don’t take any wooden nickels.

FRANK:

I won’t, Dad.

He leaves on a mission.

72.

EXT. WASHINGTON POST PRINTING PRESS - NIGHT

A massive industrial building in Anacostia, VA.

INT. WASHINGTON POST PRINTING PRESS - SAME

The WHIRR of today’s edition being printed forces everyone to

yell. Frank does so with LOUIS (40s, tubby chain-smoker).

LOUIS:

You seriously want every Post from

the last year?

FRANK:

And ‘85 if you can do it. Just the

world news and politics.

LOUIS:

I can get you a microfiche. It’s

not going to be cheap.

FRANK:

Bill me.

He hands him a WHITE HOUSE BUSINESS CARD. Louis nods.

INT. FRANK’S APARTMENT - NIGHT

Cue up ‘A QUESTION OF TIME’ by Depeche Mode.

Frank removes the framed contents of a wall: his PRINCETON

DIPLOMA, a photo of him at the CAMPAIGN OFFICE, a poster of

MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. He replaces them with MAPS of

Central America and the Middle East.

Frank scans through the pages on his MICROFICHE machine. A

headline:
, ‘SANDANISTAS LOSE CRITICAL BRIDGE.’ Writes it down

in a log underneath another headline which reads, ‘HOSTAGE

RELEASED FROM IRAN.’

He punches a RED push-pin into the country where the story

took place. Goes back to searching. More headlines:

-‘FATHER JENCO RELEASED’; ‘BOMBS EXPLODE IN CORINTO HARBOR’

Ten RED pushpins are replaced by one BLUE.

-‘TOURIST TAKEN HOSTAGE IN LEBANON’; ‘CONTRAS TAKE AIRFIELD.’

Ten BLUE pushpins are replaced by one GREEN.

Frank puts another pot of coffee on. The night continues.

73.

INT. FRANK’S APARTMENT - MORNING

Finishing off a bowl of CEREAL, a bloodshot Frank grabs his

coffee to go. He passes the maps, which are crammed with

pushpins, mostly in Nicaragua and Iran.

INT. OUTSIDE POINDEXTER’S OFFICE - NOVEMBER 1, 1986

Wilma tries to answer Frank’s questions.

WILMA:

It was a shock when Bud resigned.

But, something was going on.

There’d be a hostage and then

they’d get released for no reason.

FRANK:

When was the last one?

Wilma checks her calendar. She points to a date.

FRANK (CONT’D)

Oliver North came to see him the

day before.

(scans the calendar)

Oliver’s here every day before a

hostage is released. What are they

talking about?

Wilma shrugs. She’s told all she knows.

INT. OLIVER NORTH’S OFFICE - LATER

Frank is interrogating Matt G, now an assistant to North.

MATT G:

Lt. Colonel North is out of town.

FRANK:

Where?

MATT G:

I can’t tell you.

FRANK:

How about his assistant? Fawn Hall?

MATT G:

She’s out of town.

FRANK:

Where?

74.

MATT G:

I can’t tell you.

FRANK:

But she’s with Oliver. Are you

allowed to tell me that?

MATT G:

I actually don’t know.

(beat)

I probably can’t tell you.

FRANK:

This is ridiculous.

MATT G:

I’m sorry, man. Is there someone

else who can help you?

Frank thinks for a moment. Actually, there is somebody.

INT. OVAL OFFICE - NOVEMBER 2, 1986

Frank is in a chair...

FRANK:

Thanks for taking the time.

...across from Reagan.

REAGAN:

Not a problem. What can I do ya for?

FRANK:

John Ford brought me a script. A

western. I’m thinking about making

it my next picture; you’d be

perfect for it. But the story could

use a little workshopping.

REAGAN:

Well, I’m not a writer, but I do

know what works and what doesn’t.

Frank breathes deeply. Here we go.

FRANK:

You play the sheriff of Rockland,

Texas. Their enemy is a rival town

called...Tehranville.

REAGAN:

What’s their problem?

75.

FRANK:

They think Rockland had their old

mayor in their pocket. So they keep

on kidnapping people from Rockland.

Ransoming them for money. Meanwhile,

a group of...Indians keep raiding

this other town, Santa...Managua,

which is good for Rockland because

we--they don’t like them either.

REAGAN:

So Rockland is arming the Indians?

FRANK:

They’re not supposed to. But every

time the Indians win a battle,

Tehranville releases a hostage.

REAGAN:

Ah, the plot with the kidnappers is

connected! I like it!

FRANK:

And the Mayor of Rockland is

somehow at the middle of both,

but... he’s not all there upstairs.

Reagan “knowingly” nods.

FRANK (CONT’D)

We just need to tighten up the

connection a little bit.

REAGAN:

Hmm. What if in exchange for the

hostages, the sheriff has the

kidnappers arm the Indians?

FRANK:

I thought about that. But the

kidnappers need weapons too.

They’ve got their own war going on.

REAGAN:

What a world this is.

FRANK:

You’re tellin’ me.

Reagan looks at the AMERICAN FLAG, as if the answers lie

within the stripes. They apparently do.

76.

REAGAN:

How about this:
what if Rockland

knew they were going to kidnap

people. What if the sheriff sells

the kidnappers the weapons in

exchange for hostages to make it

look like a deal? And then they

give the profit to the Indians?

They could even take a taste for

themselves.

The wheels turn in Frank’s mind. Oh my god...

REAGAN (CONT’D)

Now that’s a story.

Yes. Yes it is. Holy sh*t.

INT. DON REGAN’S OFFICE - LATER

All the conspirators are present: Don, Caspar, Poindexter and

Oliver when Frank bursts into the room.

FRANK:

WHAT THE F***ING F***?!

CASPAR:

Well, I’m guessing you’re now

pretty much up to speed.

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