RONIN Page #20

BACK ON Vincent - Who relaxes his grip on his gun. BACK ON

Sam and Jean-Pierre - And we're PULLING BACK, AWAY from the

Farmhouse, which glows in the morning sun as we -

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. A PARIS STREET - DAY

A BLACK COMPACT CAR sits in front of a Parisian Post Office.

Inside the car, behind the wheel, we see Deirdre. Now,

coming out of the Post Office, we see - Gregor and Seamus

Reilly. Seamus has a coat slung over his arm, hiding the gun

which he keeps pressed to Gregor's side. There's no sign of

the Briefcase as Seamus and Gregor get into -

INT. THE CAR - SAM TIME

THUNK! The door slams shut. Gregor and Seamus are in the

back seat. Almost instantly Seamus angrily snaps a pair of

handcuffs on Gregor. Immediately, Deirdre pulls out.

DEIRDRE:

Where's the case?

GREGOR:

(nervous)

There's a problem...

SEAMUS:

(jumping all over him)

Problem my ass! I think you're lying to

me, and if you are you're a dead man!

DEIRDRE:

Would somebody tell me what f***ing well

happened in there?

SEAMUS:

(disgusted)

Nothing.

GREGOR:

(eager to explain)

The package didn't come. I'm sure it

will tomorrow.

Suddenly Seamus seems to lose it. He grabs Gregor and slams

a gun against his head.

SEAMUS:

(he's almost foaming at the

mouth)

If you're lying to me you poor excuse for

a human being, I'm gonna blow your brains

all over this car.

GREGOR:

(beyond desperate)

I swear, it has to come here! It has

to...

BEAT. For one tension-filled moment, we think Seamus is

going to splash Gregor's brains all over the place. But then

he smiles, puts his weapon away, and pats Gregor gently on

the face.

SEAMUS:

Ease up, man...I'm just checking to make

sure you're on the level.

Gregor is beyond speech -- he can only whimper.

SEAMUS:

And it seems to me I saw a sign in there

that says they got a late afternoon

delivery. Why don't we come back later

today and do this all over again, huh?

Seamus smiles a smile that is more than a little bit

sadistic. Neither Gregor nor Deirdre smiles in return as we -

CUT TO:

EXT. ANOTHER STREET - PARIS - DAY

THE EIFFEL TOWER fills our eyes. And then we PULL BACK TO

REVEAL that it's a tacky, flyblown poster on a dingy street.

And now we're -

MOVING DOWN the Street, until we come to a store whose sign

advertises in English - HONG KONG MOVIES. The windows of the

store are filled with posters. We MOVE THROUGH TO

INT. THE STORE - SAME TIME

TONY SIMON, an expatriate black American, runs this place and

lives above it. His shelves are lined with action films made

in the Far East. Tony knows everything there is to know

about the films he sells -- but he also knows quite a bit

about what's going on in the Parisian Underworld. he's a

professional information broker. Right now he's talking to a

CUSTOMER in perfect French, with English Subtitles.

TONY:

Hey, man, they're both great movies. One

is more of a character study, the other

is more of a straight action thing, but

they're great movies, and he's an amazing

f***ing filmmaker.

Tony looks up and sees something that catches his attention.

TONY:

Excuse me...

Vincent and Sam have entered the store. Sam's ability to be

back on his feet in such a short time is amazing -- but we

can see that he's not the same guy he was at the start of the

film. what he does from here on in he does by sheer force of

will. Now - Tony moves to join them, and the conversation

immediately turns to English.

TONY:

(to Vincent)

My man, how you doing?

VINCENT:

I'm alright. And you?

TONY:

Doing well.

(with a look at Sam)

This is?

VINCENT:

A friend. I was telling him about how

you always have the latest tapes.

TONY:

Why don't we step into my office...

Tony's office, it turns out, is the area behind the COUNTER.

Tony raises a section of the counter that allows him to get

to the other side, and then he closes it behind him.

TONY:

So what can I do for you?

Vincent checks out the store before he starts speaking. The

place is empty except for - The single Customer Tony was just

talking to. The Customer is still considering the two films

Tony was showing him.

VINCENT:

I was wondering if you had any movies

that were particularly new.

TONY:

Matter of face there's this flick I've

been hearing about. I haven't seen it,

but from what I hear it's pretty cool.

SAM:

What's the story?

TONY:

It's an international thing. Several

different peoples involved, criminals

from all over the world, experts brought

together to do a job. But maybe the most

interesting thing about it is that

preeminent in the plot we find the

Russian Mob and the IRA in bed together.

An unlikely group of partners.

VINCENT:

Do you have the tape?

TONY:

I might know where you could get a copy.

The Customer approaches the counter. He has both tapes with

him.

TONY:

(to Vincent and Sam)

Let me do some business with my boy here,

and I'll meet you across the street in

five. I gotta make homes here feel like

he's getting a good deal while I give him

the pleasure of overpaying me for a

couple of second generation pirates.

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