The Insider Page #29

EXT. THE BEACH, THE CARIBBEAN - NIGHT

AN OPERATOR'S VOICE (OVER)

Sir, there's still no answer in that

room.

LOWELL:

Alright. Get me the manager's office...

INT. THE HOTEL MANAGER'S OFFICE, LOUISVILLE - NIGHT

HOTEL DESK CLERK

David? David, you've got a call on line

4. I think you better take it.

A thin Man answers the phone.

THE HOTEL MANAGER

This is David MacDougal. How can I help

you?

LOWELL'S VOICE (OVER)

Mr. MacDougal, my name is Lowell Bergman.

I'm a producer for "60 Minutes"...

I'm concerned with a friend of mine who's

staying at your hotel right now.

INT. THE HOTEL CORRIDOR, LOUISVILLE - NIGHT

And we see the Hotel Manager, walking along with a Security

Guard, and now KNOCKING on Jeffrey's door...

And when there is no response, the Manager nods to the

Security Guard, the Guard using a pass key, unlocking the

door. But the door stops, the chain-lock drawn. The Manager

looks in through the chain...and he can see Jeffrey sitting

in the chair...

THE HOTEL MANAGER

Mr. Wigand? Mr. Wigand?

Jeffrey's still. The Manager quickly takes a cell phone from

the Security Guard.

EXT. THE CARIBBEAN - NIGHT

Lowell, standing on the beach anxiously waiting.

THE HOTEL MANAGER'S VOICE (OVER)

(upset)

I think I need to call the police. He

won't respond...

LOWELL:

No, no. Don't call the police!

(urgent)

Just tell him I'm on the phone with

you... My name is Lowell Bergman...

Just tell him that.

INT. THE HOTEL CORRIDOR, LOUISVILLE - NIGHT

THE HOTEL MANAGER

(through the door, frightened)

Mr. Wigand...Mr. Bergman is on the

telephone.

Jeffrey's quiet.

EXT. THE CARIBBEAN - NIGHT

LOWELL:

Did he hear you?

THE HOTEL MANAGER'S VOICE (OVER)

You're breaking up. I can't hear you.

Lowell goes deeper into the water.

LOWELL:

What about now?

THE HOTEL MANAGER'S VOICE (OVER)

What?

LOWELL:

Hello, can you hear me now?

INT. WIGAND'S HOTEL ROOM, LOUISVILLE - NIGHT

And now the walls behind MORPH into a green daytime garden,

the garden behind his house. And as we DOLLY AROUND Wigand,

more walls MORPH into the side yard, and, turning slowly, he

sees Barbara and Deborah in the emerald-green grass. They

stop and smile, then they stare at us, at their father. And

he looks at his children, at an idyll lost... The chair, the

man are the only real objects left in the view from inside

his head...

EXT. THE CARIBBEAN - NIGHT

Lowell anxiously moves along the beach, trying to be heard,

the phone chattering with static...

LOWELL:

(alarmed)

What's happening?!

THE HOTEL MANAGER'S VOICE (OVER)

(afraid)

He doesn't seem to be listening...

LOWELL:

(on the cell phone, shouts,

urgent)

Alright, now listen to me. I want you -

I want you to tell him, in these words:

get on the f***ing phone...!

THE HOTEL MANAGER'S VOICE (OVER)

I can't say that!

LOWELL:

No, you can. Tell him to get on the

f***ing phone!

INT. THE HOTEL CORRIDOR - NIGHT

THE HOTEL MANAGER

(at the door, to Jeffrey, loud)

He told me to tell you, to get on...the

f***ing phone...!

And even he's surprised by his language. And suddenly

Jeffrey gets up, unlatches the door, grabs the phone from the

Hotel Manager. Wigand in the hotel corridor, Lowell standing

knee-deep in the water...

WIGAND:

(on the phone, angry)

You manipulated me into this...!

LOWELL:

That's bullshit, Jeff!

WIGAND:

You greased the rails!

LOWELL:

I greased the rails for a guy who wanted

to say yes. I helped him to say yes.

Alright. You're not a robot, Jeff!

That's all. You got a mind of your own,

don't you?

WIGAND:

(running on)

"Up to you, Jeffrey. That's the power

you have, Jeffrey. Vital insider

information the American public need to

know." Lowell Bergman, the hot show who

never met a source he couldn't turn

around.

LOWELL:

(running on)

I fought for you...and I still fight for

you.

WIGAND:

You fought for me...?!

(running on)

...you manipulated me...into where I am

now...staring at the Brown & Williamson

Building. It's all dark. Except the

10th floor! That's the legal department.

That's where they f*** with my life!

LOWELL:

(beat)

Jeffrey, where you going with this? So

where you goin'?

(quiet)

You are important to a lot of people,

Jeffrey. You think about that. You

think about them.

CLOSE ON JEFFREY: standing in the room with the blowing

curtains...

LOWELL (CONT'D)

I'm running out of heroes, man...

(after a beat)

Guys like you are in short supply.

And for the first time, Wigand smiles.

WIGAND:

(a beat, wry)

Yeah, guys like you, too.

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