The Next Three Days Page #3

LARA (CONT'D)

Was he scared going to school?

JOHN:

I walked him to class, gave him a kiss;

he didn't even look back to wave.

LARA:

What did you make him for lunch?

(CONTINUED)

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JOHN:

Turkey sandwich, just butter and

bread, no "vegetables" on it. He

swore he ate his apple.

He hands her a pack of photos. Lara devours them.

LARA:

Look at his friends. And his desk.

This is his teacher?

JOHN:

Miss Phillips.

LARA:

You may have to move to another school

district.

JOHN:

Already spoke to a realtor.

LARA:

(still looking at photos)

How was your first day?

JOHN:

Excellent. Over half my class stayed

awake. Talked to your mom.

LARA:

When is she coming?

JOHN:

She's having a lot of trouble with

her business.

LARA:

It's only been a couple of years,

I'm sure she'll get around to it.

(beat)

Have you heard anything?

JOHN:

About the appeal? Yes, and I'm just

not telling you. What did Meyer

say?

LARA:

--Don't-

JOHN:

-- It can take months for the court

to rule.

(CONTINUED)

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LARA:

I saw that woman. She was there.

She couldn't have just disappeared.

JOHN:

Meyer's looking for a new

investigator.

LARA:

Her coat snagged my purse, I felt a

button pop - they must have been

blind not to find it.

JOHN:

He'll go through all the evidence

again.

LARA:

Great, because I haven't quite

bankrupted us yet.

JOHN:

We're doing fine.

LARA:

(fondly)

You just lie and lie.

(strokes his face)

But you are very handsome.

(admiring him)

Can you do me a favor?

JOHN:

I don't know, I'm a little busy.

LARA:

I need you to run for governor.

JOHN:

-- Oh, that I can do.

LARA:

You can change this rule about no

conjugal visits, because I don't

think I can last another twenty years.

She smiles but is already traveling toward a dark place. He

reaches out and holds her tight, stroking her back.

LARA (CONT'D)

I'm okay. I'm okay.

(CONTINUED)

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JOHN:

I know. But it's going to be fine.

I promise.

She just stares at Luke, his back to them, playing.

LARA:

You think he'll ever want to kiss me

again?

25 INT. COUNTY JAIL - CONTACT VISITING ROOM -- LATER 25

The prisoners file out and are patted down. Lara turns and

blows Luke and John a kiss. They watch with the other

visitors, who all stand on the far side of the room.

26 INT. COUNTY JAIL - CHANGING ROOM -- MOMENTS LATER 26

Lara and the female inmates pull off their visiting jumpsuits

and hand them to a female guard, who searches them for

contraband. Lara retrieves her regular jump-suit and pulls

it on over her underwear. Another small, daily humiliation.

27 INT. JOHN'S BATHROOM -- NIGHT 27

Start VERY CLOSE ON JOHN'S DIGITAL WATCH. Widen to see Luke *

standing on a low step at the sink in his pajamas using a *

complicated-looking electric toothbrush. John sits on the

toilet, staring at his watch.

JOHN:

Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty.

Luke puts it down and checks his teeth in the mirror.

JOHN (CONT'D)

Good?

Luke nods.

28 EXT. BRENNAN HOUSE - GARAGE AND ALLEY -- MORNING 28

The garage door opens; the Prius has a lot more miles on it.

John backs out, Luke in his child seat. He brakes and finds

PAULA, the woman who lives behind them, at his window.

PAULA:

How's Lara?

JOHN:

She's doing okay.

(CONTINUED)

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PAULA:

Tell her we're pulling for her.

I will.

JOHN:

She holds up a plastic water bottle.

PAULA:

They won't recycle these unless you

take off the cap.

(cap vs. bottle)

This is trash. This is recyclable.

Ok.

JOHN:

Thanks.

John drives off, wondering what kind of world he lives in.

29 EXT. PARK -- DAY 29

Sitting on the park bench, John allows his feelings to wash

over his face. He watches Luke play with a girl his age.

Luke!

JOHN:

Let's go, Toad. Come on.

Luke runs to him. John pulls Luke's jacket on. He doesn't

notice the young mother on the next bench, NICOLE, watching

him admiringly. She calls to the girl Luke was playing with.

NICOLE:

Time to go, Carrie!

John glances in time to see CARRIE plop down in the sand,

arms folded. He shares a sympathetic smile with Nicole, who

heads to retrieve her daughter. John walks off with Luke.

30 INT. CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE -- DAY 30

John waits as a courtroom lets out. MEYER FISK steps out

with a young associate. He spots John and approaches.

MEYER:

John, I said my office at four

o'clock. I can't leave, I'm in -JOHN

(holds up a Subway bag)

I figured you had to eat.

Meyer relents, turns and calls to his associate.

(CONTINUED)

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MEYER:

Do you have the ruling in Brennan?

She kneels and digs through her rolling briefcase.

31 INT. COURTROOM -- A SHORT TIME LATER 31

John sits on a bench, pale and shaken, flipping through the

ruling. The courtroom is empty, save a bailiff eating at

his desk. During this he gets up and walks out past them.

JOHN:

But what if we find the woman who *

was leaving the parking lot? *

MEYER:

The PCRA was rejected. No new

evidence can be submitted. Not

anymore.

JOHN:

It was a robbery! Someone stole her

purse!

MEYER:

And if they'd used her credit cards

we would have had something to argue.

I'm sorry; this really...sucks.

John offers a smile at Meyer's unlawyer-like choice of words.

JOHN:

So, that's it. Now we just have the

Supreme Court.

MEYER:

John, in the last thirty years, the

Supreme Court hasn't heard one murder

case. No decent lawyer would even

file the pleadings.

JOHN:

So, I need to find an indecent one?

MEYER:

No, I'm going to file it. But I

need you to do something for me.

JOHN:

Anything.

(CONTINUED)

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MEYER:

I need you to look at the evidence

and just forget Lara is your wife.

JOHN:

(stopped by that)

I've seen the evidence, Meyer.

MEYER:

I'm not saying judge her innocent or

guilty, I'm just saying look at it.

He co-worker sees her leaving the

scene, she has the victim's blood on

her clothes, her fingerprints on the

murder weapon--

*

*

*

JOHN:

(is this a bad joke?)

We went out for dinner! How do you

do that after you kill somebody?

She would have to be a psychopath!

MEYER:

-- And the fight in the office.

JOHN:

Everyone fights with their boss!

MEYER:

But this one ended up dead.

John looks at Meyer anew, feeling profoundly betrayed.

JOHN:

So, you never believed she was

innocent?

MEYER:

How can you say that?

JOHN:

So, what are you saying, Meyer?!

MEYER:

That it no longer matters what we

believe; Lara's not getting out.

And you have no idea how much I hate

saying that.

JOHN:

(exiting)

I'll find someone to file the

pleadings.

(CONTINUED)

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31 CONTINUED:
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John!

JOHN!!

MEYER:

Come on! For Christ's sake.

John is long gone. Meyer hurls his sandwich into the trash.

32 INT. COUNTY JAIL - VISITING BOOTHS -- DAY 32

John waits alone on the visitors' side of the glass. The

door opens, and Lara steps up on the other side. John smiles

and picks up the phone, but Lara sees something in his face

and doesn't pick up her phone, just stares at him.

John fights to keep his smile and nods for her to pick up

her phone -- but now she can see the verdict chiseled on his

face. Lara gasps and cries inconsolably.

John keeps the smile plastered on his face, but now tears

run down his cheeks. He taps on the glass and points at her

phone, but she doesn't respond. He taps harder and harder -desperately

wanting to comfort her, but she won't allow it.

He bangs on the glass with his fist, drawing the attention

of the guard on his side.

Lara turns and exits. John stands and yells her name, but

she can't hear it, and neither can we.

33 EXT. GRACE AND GEORGE'S HOUSE -- DAY 33

We're in an old working class neighborhood.

his car, trying to pull himself together.

John sits in

34 INT. GRACE AND GEORGE'S HOUSE -- DAY 34

MICK opens the door. GRACE, their mother, looks up from

clearing the lunch dishes. John's face tells them everything

they need to know. Mick slams his fist against the door.

*

*

In the back yard with Luke, GEORGE, John's father turns to

see Grace tearfully embrace John. George looks away,

uncomfortable, and distracts Luke's attention.

35 EXT. GRACE AND GEORGE'S HOUSE - BACK YARD -- LATE AFTERNOON 35

John, Mick and Grace sit in the worn wicker chairs on the

back porch. Erit steps out with beers to replace their

empties. She sits and they stare off, watching Luke and

George play with the dog. After a moment Erit looks to John:

*

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