Reagan Page #15

PEGGY:

Yeah. But presidents are supposed

to be better than people.

90.

REAGAN:

This led to my failure to recollect

whether I approved an arms shipment

before or after the fact. I did

approve it; I just can’t say

specifically when.

Peggy can’t take any more and marches out. Frank follows.

INT. OUTSIDE THE OVAL OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

Peggy tries to breathe the cleaner air. Frank just breathes.

PEGGY:

He was it. The last one. They’re

all the same.

FRANK:

Peggy, Reagan didn’t really know...

PEGGY:

But you f***ing did. My whole career

I’ve been kept in the dark by men who

were as respectful as I could see

them. You could have been different.

There was hope for you.

FRANK:

There’s more to it...

PEGGY:

No. There isn’t. You’ve got a dick

and an Ivy League diploma. It’s a

license to lie to the rest of us.

FRANK:

You don’t understand. I work for them!

PEGGY:

Yeah. You sure do.

Before Frank can consider honesty, Reagan opens the door.

REAGAN:

I want to talk to you, Frank.

Peggy rolls her eyes. Frank silently joins the President.

INT. OVAL OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

Frank and Reagan return to the room as it slowly empties. The

door finally shuts. They’re alone.

91.

REAGAN:

What the hell was that?

FRANK:

Campbell’s Ordeal. Emotional low-

point. It’s over now.

REAGAN:

I heard what I said. Am I the bad

guy in this picture?

FRANK:

No you just...have a tragic flaw.

REAGAN:

Stubbornness is a tragic flaw.

Heroes don’t lie. I always play the

hero. I want a rewrite. Now. Let’s

do it again.

FRANK:

We can’t.

REAGAN:

I don’t play bad guys. And if that’s

what this part is...then I’m done.

He takes off his coat and tosses it on the floor.

FRANK:

Done? What do you mean done?

REAGAN:

I mean, I quit. You want an actor

to play a villain, I bet Lee

Marvin’s available.

FRANK:

Sir, you can’t just quit.

REAGAN:

I was the President of the Guild,

Frank. I think I know my rights.

He heads for the door. Frank waited as long as he could.

FRANK:

Sir, it’s not a movie!

Reagan stops.

FRANK (CONT’D)

You’re actually the President of the

United States. You were elected;

(MORE)

92.

FRANK (CONT’D)

twice. We made up all this movie

stuff because we were worried you

couldn’t run the country anymore. You

can’t quit, sir. You’re the most

powerful man in the world. Tell me

you remember!

Clouded confusion washes over Reagan’s face. Beneath the

visage, a tiny glimmer of recollection.

REAGAN:

Frank, were you ever an actor?

FRANK:

I was Chorus in a high school

production of Grease.

REAGAN:

Then you’ve had the Actor’s

Nightmare. We all do. You sort of

come to and find yourself onstage

in front of a thousand people. You

don’t know your part. Don’t know

your lines. Everyone’s waiting for

a performance that you can’t do.

FRANK:

Sir.

(beat)

Do you know you’re the President?

REAGAN:

I’m looking at two doors: one with

what I think I am and another where

I don’t know any of my lines. The

only upside of getting old is that

you can choose your door.

(beat)

Goodbye, Mr. Capra.

He exits. Frank is alone.

INT. WHITE HOUSE - HALLWAY

The lamp is on top of a box of Frank’s personal effects. He

walks toward the exit, dodging the looks of those around him.

EXT. WHITE HOUSE - PARKING LOT

Frank sets the box in his car. The bottle of MOUTHWASH is in

his trunk; he never took it out. Now’s as good a time as any

to pitch it in the bin.

93.

EXT. CORDEN RESIDENCE - BACK PORCH - NIGHT

Frank balances his head in his hands. Sipping a bottled

lager, Jack does his fatherly best with the situation.

JACK:

So you get another job.

FRANK:

It’s not just a job, Dad.

JACK:

‘Course it is. You put up drywall,

you argue in court, you pull little

race cars out of baby noses. It’s

all just punching a clock.

FRANK:

All I ever wanted to be was in

politics.

JACK:

You’re a good kid. And if he

doesn’t know that, then Kennedy’s a

bigger idiot than I thought he was.

Circumstances prevent Frank from curbing his frustration.

FRANK:

Reagan! The President is Ronald

Reagan!

JACK:

...What did I say?

FRANK:

You said ‘Kennedy’.

Jack covers his embarrassment with a sip.

JACK:

What’s the difference. You don’t

need to prove anything to anybody.

FRANK:

Yes I do. I need to prove it to you.

JACK:

Since when?

FRANK:

Since always! Every step I’ve taken

has been in the pursuit of your

approval!

(MORE)

94.

FRANK (CONT'D)

Henry has his money and his family

and his shore house. I could have

had those things! Instead I was

slapping together a life that you’d

want to hear about. And with all

that’s going on now, Dad...

(beat)

I wanted you to remember me.

They’ve never talked like this. Jack fumbles to set down his

beer. Leans to his son.

JACK:

Francis. I can see the writing on

the wall, here. I’m doing the diet,

I’m taking the pills. But I’m going

to outlive myself. Know what I

mean? You need to know right now

that I’ve always been proud of you.

And no matter what happens, I’ll

never forget that.

Long overdue tears start in Frank’s eyes.

FRANK:

I wanted to be something great.

JACK:

That’s on me. Kids get screwed up

when you ask ‘em, ‘what do you want

to be when you grow up?’ ‘I wanna

be this, I wanna be that’. They

spend their whole lives worrying

about Being Something. You know how

you be something? You do something.

You say ‘the hell with what happens

to me. I did something.’

Jack can only pat his boy on the shoulder.

JACK (CONT’D)

The whole lot of em in Washington:

they could all give that a try.

INT. BUDWEISER BOARD ROOM, ST. LOUIS - MAY 9, 1986

Bright FLUORESCENTS illuminate a long room. Henry is at the

head of the table, hands in their Pitch Stance.

HENRY:

Rambo.

95.

The BUDWEISER EXECS listen with notepads around the length of

the table. Next to Henry sits Frank, who’s bored shitless.

HENRY (CONT’D)

He’s walking through the jungle.

Hacking it away with a machete.

There are snakes, there’s a weird

eye sticking out of the swamp. He

reaches a clearing. A village,

surrounded by walls. Guys with

spears on them...menacing.

Starving, tattered villagers wait

to see what he’s going to do. And

he holds up...ice cold Budweiser.

And then everyone’s in bikinis.

Song. Logo. Slogan.

The Executives exchange looks.

BUDWEISER EXEC #1

I’m not saying I don’t like it,

because bikinis are very much our

thing. I just don’t know...

BUDWEISER EXEC #2

Why is Rambo bringing beer to the

starving villagers?

HENRY:

He’s the hero. He’s coming to their

town, he helps ‘em party down.

(lightbulb!)

He’s an AMERICAN BUD!

(to Frank)

See if we can get the rights to

that song.

Even if he knew what that meant, Frank would roll his eyes.

BUDWEISER EXEC #2

Shouldn’t he bring them food?

Medicine?

HENRY:

You’re a strange industry to

suddenly take a moral high ground.

He’s a hero! Heroes drink Bud!

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