The Insider Page #20

WIGAND:

(severely conflicted)

I can't seem to find...the criteria to

decide. It's too big a decision to make

without being resolved...in my own mind.

They're quiet. Jeffrey, getting nowhere. Lowell offers...

LOWELL:

Maybe things have changed...

Long pause on Jeffrey as he contemplates his future. And

something just got resolved. He asks Lowell, rhetorically...

WIGAND:

What's changed?

LOWELL:

(unsure)

You mean...since this morning?

WIGAND:

No. I mean since whenever...

Nothing's changed. Wigand looks at them. He found his own

answer.

WIGAND (CONT'D)

F*** it. Let's go to court.

And Dick Scruggs and Lowell look at this normal, somewhat

flawed, very courageous man...

RICHARD SCRUGGS:

(to unseen staff)

Dr. Wigand would like to leave now.

And there's a sudden flurry of activity. Jeffrey and Scruggs

walk to a Mississippi State Police car. Lowell gets into his

car and drives away, separately. Police, State Officials,

run to their cars. Cars starting, lights flashing, Wigand's

car pulls into position.

INT. SCRUGGS' CAR - JEFFREY - DAY

in the back seat with Scruggs. The driver's a State

Policeman. Jeffrey watches the small town of empty lots, old

buildings, a 1930's Deco school pass by. It's all

heightened, especially vivid to his eyes somehow. And he

exhales heavily to calm himself, to focus...

EXT. THE COURTHOUSE, PASCAGOULA, MISSISSIPPI - DAY

Some of the Tobacco Lawyers, their jackets off, still hanging

across Canty Street by their cars. And now they see the

police lights turning, coming around a corner, moving towards

the courthouse. The caravan stops. First, Scruggs gets out.

A moment, then Jeffrey appears. And the Reporters pounce on

Jeffrey, cameras flashing...Mississippi Police leading him

through the crowd... Moore appears at courtroom door

(already there). And as he's whisked away into the

courtroom.

INT. THE COURTROOM, PASCAGOULA, MISSISSIPPI - DAY

The tobacco lawyers become dead quiet. Cell phones are hung

up. Newspapers are put away. Jackets are donned. This is

now very serious business. Motley meets Jeffrey, all eyes on

him.

MOTLEY:

Okay, Jeff, I'm going to sit you down at

that table over there. I'm going to

start as fast as possible. I don't want

to give them a chance to get another

restraining order, okay? Let's go.

MICHAEL MOORE:

Good luck, Doc.

Motley calmly motions Wigand to take a chair. He settles in.

STENOGRAPHER:

Please stand. Raise your right hand...

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole

truth and nothing but the truth, so help

you God?

WIGAND:

I do.

STENOGRAPHER:

You may be seated.

MOTLEY:

You understand, Dr. Wigand, you are under

oath. This is a sworn deposition.

There's no judge. It's not a trial.

(understatement of the century)

Will you state your name for the record.

WIGAND:

(after a beat)

Jeffrey S. Wigand.

He spells it for them...

EXT. THE COURTHOUSE, PASCAGOULA, MISSISSIPPI - DAY

Lowell, waiting with the other journalists...

PHOTOGRAPHER:

Got any idea what's going on in there?

LOWELL:

No, I don't have a clue.

INT. THE COURTROOM, PASCAGOULA, MISSISSIPPI - DAY

Motley still conducting the inquiry... And the tobacco

lawyers, like a pack of dogs, waiting to pounce...

WIGAND:

That is correct.

MOTLEY:

In other words, it acts as a drug?

TOBACCO LAWYER:

Object to the form of the question!

MOTLEY:

It acts as a drug on the body?

TOBACCO LAWYER:

Object to the form!

MOTLEY:

It acts as a...

TOBACCO LAWYER:

Object!

MOTLEY:

There an echo in here? Your objection's

been recorded. She typed it into her

little machine over there. It's on the

record. So now I'll proceed with my

deposition of my witness. Does it act as

a drug?

TOBACCO LAWYER:

(shouts)

Dr. Wigand. I am instructing you...

(to Wigand)

...not to answer that question in

accordance to the terms of the

contractual obligations undertaken by you

not to disclose any information about

your work at the Brown & Williamson

Tobacco Company. And in accordance with

the force and effect of the temporary

restraining order that has been entered

against you to by the court in the State of

Kentucky! That means you don't talk!

(beat)

Mr. Motley, we have rights, here...

MOTLEY:

(explodes)

Oh, you got rights and lefts! Ups and

downs and middles! So what?! You don't

get to instruct anything around here!

This is not North Carolina, not South

Carolina nor Kentucky. This is the

sovereign State of Mississippi's

proceeding. Wipe that smirk off your

face! Dr. Wigand's deposition will be

part of this record. And I'm going to

take my witness' testimony! Whether the

hell you like it or not!

(to Wigand)

Answer the question, Dr...

WIGAND:

(slams it home)

Yes. It produces a physiological

response, which meets the definition of a

drug! Nicotine is associated with

impact, with satisfaction. It has a

pharmacological effect that crosses the

blood-brain barrier intact...

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