The Italian Job Page #6

EXT. SHUTTERS HOTEL -BALCONY -SUNSET

The five of them sit in chairs on the balcony of his hotel

room. There's a sweeping view of the Pacific.

CHARLIE:

We need an in to get a video blueprint of

the interior. We're not going into this

place blind. Half-Ear, you take the

first surveillance shift. Who goes in,

who goes out, levels of security, you

know the drill.

HALF-EAR

You got it.

CHARLIE ,

I also want audio surveillance on his

phone.

LYLE:

I'll hack into the phone company's

central office remote observance

monitoring system and fool it into

thinking there's a legal tap on the line.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

LYLE (CONT'D)

Reroute the digital copies of his calls

to our own listening post.

CHARLIE:

How long?

LYLE:

I'll burn through the night, have it up

and running before morning.

CHARLIE:

(to Handsome Rob)

We need to know how long to get from the

house to Union Station downtown.

HANDSOME ROB:

No problemo.

CHARLIE:

Stella. How much time will you need with

the safe?

STELLA:

I'll have it open in five minutes flat.

HANDSOME ROB:

It's not the same as opening a safe for

the cops. Your heart will be pounding in

your ears. Perspiration on your

fingertips. It's a whole different ball

game.

STELLA:

You get me to the safe, I'll open it.

Out over the ocean, the sun is in its death throes, bruising

the sky a coiling purple and orange.

EXT. STEVE'S HOUSE -MORNING

Nestled at the end of a cul-de-sac on Oporto Drive in the

Hollywood Hills. Chrome. Glass. Carved wood.

EXT. MARAVILLA DRIVE -MORNING

The U-Haul panel truck is parked on the side of the road that

overlooks Oporto Drive and Steve's house.

INT. U-HAUL -MORNING

It's been converted into their surveillance vehicle, the back

outfitted with monitors and surveillance equipment.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

Half-Ear peers through binoculars and says his ^notes' into a

micro-cassette recorder. His binoculars focus in on the

fence that surrounds the perimeter of the property.

HALF-EAR

(into recorder)

We've got an anti-scaling fence.

Hardened, electroplated steel. Hacksaw

won't work. We'll need Nitramon.

The binoculars SWISH PAN TO a guard booth where a guard keeps

an eye on the gate.

HALF-EAR (CONT'D)

Armed guard. 9MM semi-automatic in the

holster. Security booth is accessible

and ideal for a triple charger chemical

grenade.

.The binoculars SWISH PAN TO four Rottweilers prowling the

grounds.

HALF-EAR (CONT'D)

Sh*t. Dogs. Why do black men hate dogs?

I'll tell you why, Charlie. Because dogs

are racist. That's a natural fact.

Someoneelsedealwithem.

Someone else deal with 'em.

EXT. 101 FREEWAY -DAY

A sea of cars, gridlock in L.A. Crammed in the middle of the

traffic meltdown is Handsome Rob's rental car.

INT. RENTAL CAR (CRAWLING)

Timing out the getaway route. He's got a Thomas Guide on the

passenger seat and a stopwatch ticking away but he's going

nowhere fast. He futilely leans on the car horn.

INT. U-HAUL -DAY

Lyle's surveillance shift. He takes digital photos with a

telephoto camera. ZOOMS IN on a security pad on the front

door.

LYLE:

(into micro cassette player)

Advent Home Navigator Hybrid System.

Monitors 132 points for intrusion, fire,

and environmental hazards.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

LYLE (CONT'D)

Best way around it is to get a back door

password, trip the alarm during the

heist, then call it in as a false alarm.

CUT TO:

INT. STEVE'S HOUSE -OFFICE -DAY

A HAND turns the dial to a Worthington 1000 vault. The vault

opens and voila:
stacks and stacks of gold bricks.

EXT. STEVE'S HOUSE -DAY

The same hand clutches a very heavy duffle bag. OUR VIEW

BOOMS UP to see Steve, three years older than when we last

saw him, his beard shaved away.

INT. U-HAUL -SAME TIME

Through his digital camera lens, Lyle watches Steve walk

towards his car:
a Ferrari 550 Barchetta Pininfarina. It's

the first time he's seen Steve in three years.

LYLE:

(into micro cassette recorder)

15:
25. There he is. He's gained 15 to

20 pounds living off our money. And

Handsome Rob,' you're going to be pissed

when you see his wheels.

Lyle watches the security guard hit a switch in the guard

booth. The gate rises like the blade of a guillotine in

reverse. The Ferrari zooms away.

EXT. FIGUEROA STREET -DAY

Another route. Handsome Rob's rental car is in the left turn

lane waiting for the light to change.

INT. RENTAL CAR

The light finally is a green arrow but the lady in front of

Handsome Rob is so preoccupied with applying her make-up that

she doesn't go until he honks but by then it's too late as

she makes ,it through the light but he doesn't.

He checks his stopwatch. Simmers.

EXT. PENINSULA HOTEL -POOLS IDE -DAY

In a bikini, Stella lies on a lounge chair under a cabana,

reading a copy of Vogue magazine.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED:

But as we take a closer look, we see that she's really

reading the owner' s manual for the Worthington 1000 safe

which she' s inserted in the fold of Vogue.

INT. U-HAUL -DAY

Charlie's shift. He sees a Latina housekeeper get into her

car.

CHARLIE:

(into micro cassette recorder)

Housekeeper leaves at 17:30.

EXT. COIN & BULLION STORE -EVENING

Steve bangs a fist against the steel security door that

covers the closed store. The steel door rises up and a

Ukrainian named YEVHEN unlocks another door. He is the gold

dealer that Philly Steak told Charlie about.

YEVHEN:

You're right on time.

INT. COIN & BULLION STORE -EVENING

Yevhen is 50 and like many in the gold trade, there isn't a

conspiracy theory that he doesn't embrace. As they make

their way to a back room, he keeps his mouth in overdrive —

YEVHEN:

All those poor bastards out there putting

their life savings in banks and S&Ls and

mutual funds. What do they think — that

when the collapse comes they can depend

on the government? I don't think so.

Steve motions to a security camera that looms down on them.

STEVE:

Is the camera off?

YEVHEN:

Of course. .Just like you said. I never

tape you, you can see for yourself.

Steve sees the red light is off. He lays the duffel bag on a

table, unzips it, pulls out three 25 pound gold bricks with

the face of a Balinese Girl stamped on each one. As Yevhen

inspects them —

YEVHEN (CONT'D)

Governments are nothing more than puppets

on the strings of the Trilateral

Commission with their twisted gods.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUEDONTINUED:

Yevhen retrieves a briefcase, opens it, presenting Steve with

stacks of Ben Franklins: $100,000 worth. As Steve inspects

the cash —

YEVHEN (CONT'D)

I mean, it's so obvious that in a world

where NAFTA can overturn the Supreme

Court, not to mention Microsoft's

nefarious financial machinations, this, is

our only refuge —'• gold.

• Steve closes the briefcase.

YEVHEN (CONT'D)

Plus a little walking around money.

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