The Next Three Days Page #5

51 INT. BRENNAN HOUSE - KITCHEN -- NIGHT 51

Dirty dishes piled in the sink, John unloads the dishwasher.

He finds the handle has cracked off Luke's favorite mug. He

places the cup and handle on the counter, opens a drawer

crammed with tools and screws and tape and such. He rummages

through it. Not finding what he is looking for, he pulls

handfuls of junk out of the drawer and slams it all down on

the counter. The harder he searches the more he becomes

frustrated, until he slams the drawer and leans on the

counter, feeling destroyed and needy.

And then a female hand appears beside him, opens another

drawer and reaches in. John stares at the hand, afraid to

move, afraid to look up. The hand finds a tube of glue,

places it on the counter and moves away.

John turns to see LARA walking away. She turns, smiling and

shaking her head, and disappears into the dining room.

Stunned, John looks down at the glue on the counter, then

suddenly pushes away and rushes into the dining room. No

sign of her. And she isn't in the living room. He bolts

into the foyer and finds the front door slightly ajar. He

flings it open...

52 EXT. BRENNAN HOUSE -- NIGHT 52

John rushes out into the street, looking up and down for her -finally

realizing she was never there.

(CONTINUED)

WHITE 9-10-09 25.

52 CONTINUED:
52

He stands in the middle of the street, now searching for some

way to survive.

53 INT. COMMUNITY COLLEGE - JOHN'S CLASSROOM -- DAY 53

Don Quixote is written on the chalkboard.

No takers.

JOHN:

So, what is it about? Julie?

JULIE:

That belief in someone's virtue is

more important than virtue itself?

JOHN:

No. I mean, yes, that's in there.

But what is it about?

JOHN (CONT'D)

It is about how rational thought

destroys the soul. It is about the

triumph of irrationality, and the

power that is in it.

54 INT. COMMUNITY COLLEGE - LIBRARY -- DAY 54

John drops an armload of books into a library cart, each

having something to do with prison or prison life.

He sits at a table at the back, flipping through them one at

a time and discards each in turn.

As the shadows grow longer we find him staring at the computer

screen linked to the school system.

ON THE SCREEN:
a book summary disappears, to be replaced by

the school search engine -- many of the items have already

been inspected. John finds one that reads "Over The Walls." *

He clicks on the link and the title page appears. The author

is DAMON PENNINGTON. There's a photo of him. The caption

reads that he LIVES IN BROOKLYN, NY.

55 EXT. BROOKLYN, NEW YORK - STREET -- DAY 55

John gets out of a cab and heads into a local dive bar.

56 INT. BAR -- DAY 56

A couple of guys at the bar yell at the dog race on the TV

screen. DAMON hands John a beer and nods toward a table.

*

*

(CONTINUED)

WHITE 9-10-09

56 CONTINUED:

JOHN:

It's a course that investigates what

drives men to be free, no matter the

cost.

DAMON:

Somebody else had dibs on Papillon?

JOHN:

You escaped from jail seven times.

Damon lights a cigarette. A TOUGH GUY nearby objects.

TOUGH GUY:

No smoking!!

DAMON:

Yeah, who would want to cut short

your precious life?

Damon takes a deep drag.

JOHN:

Mind if I tape you?

DAMON:

Go for it, it can't be used as

evidence. What do you want to know?

John sets up the small digital recorder.

JOHN:

How you escaped when no one else

could.

DAMON:

Balls and a little luck.

(beat)

No prison in the world is airtight.

Each one has a key. You have to

find it.

JOHN:

How do you do that?

DAMON:

A lot of looking. Especially at

things that break the daily routine.

Guards get comfortable doing the

same thing every day. Something

happens where they have to think,

adapt.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

26.

*

WHITE 9-10-09 27.

56 CONTINUED:
(2) 56

DAMON (CONT'D)

That's when they will make mistakes.

But when you see it you have to be

ready. You have to have the entire

plan already in place before you

even know how you are going to get

out of the jail.

Escaping is easy; the hardest part

is staying free.

57 INT. JOHN'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT 57

The tape recorder plays Damon's voice; John tears large sheets

of art paper from a pad and tacks them to his bedroom wall.

DAMON (O.S.)

You have to know where you are going

to go and how you are going to get

there. You have to know how they

plan to catch you, where, and when.

JOHN (O.S.)

How the hell do you know that?

He starts to write on the paper with a large felt marker.

DAMON (O.S.)

You pay off someone who knows. And

a lot depends on if the prison is in

the country or the city.

58 INT. BAR -- DAY 58

The city.

JOHN:

That came out too quickly. Damon now understands. John

sits, silent, knowing he blew it. Damon takes his time.

DAMON:

Where are you from?

JOHN:

...Pittsburgh.

DAMON:

Pittsburgh is tough; so many bridges

and tunnels they can block off.

59 INT. JOHN'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT 59

The art paper bunches and rips under the pressure of the

marker. John tears it off the wall.

(CONTINUED)

WHITE 9-10-09 28.

59 CONTINUED:
59

DAMON (O.S.)

From the time they make the call,

the police can have the center of

the city sealed tight in fifteen

minutes.

60 INT. BAR -- DAY 60

JOHN:

How can they be so exact?

DAMON:

After 9-11 Homeland Security made

every city have a lock-down plan -downtown

Pittsburgh, Philly, Boston,

Minneapolis -- fifteen minutes.

They can do DC in under ten.

61 INT. JOHN'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT 61

John draws a circle on the wall and writes in it: 15 MINUTES --

DAMON (O.S.)

Within thirty-five minutes they will

have cops at every tollbooth on the

interstate --

-- Surrounds it by a larger circle: 35 MINUTES.

62 INT. BAR -- DAY 62

DAMON:

And be running rolling stops on the

secondary roads. They won't have

your photograph yet, but they will

have your description.

63 INT. JOHN'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT 63

He draws spokes out from the circles.

JOHN (O.S.)

What if you can't make it out?

64 INT. BAR -- DAY 64

JOHN:

Thirty-five minutes isn't a lot of

time.

DAMON:

Then surrender.

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

WHITE 9-10-09 29.

64 CONTINUED:
64

DAMON (CONT'D)

Because they will shoot you on sight,

along with anyone you are with.

65 INT. JOHN'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT 65

John writes DESCRIPTION at the end of one spoke.

DAMON (O.S.)

Stay far away from the train and bus

stations.

66 INT. BAR -- DAY 66

DAMON:

Forget the local airports. Leave

from another state.

67 INT. JOHN'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT 67

John scribbles key words on the wall. DISTANT AIRPORT.

68 INT. BAR -- DAY 68

DAMON:

Second:
identity. It's easy to find

fake papers, harder to find ones

that will get you through an airport.

69 INT. JOHN'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT 69

John writes "IDENTITIES."

DAMON (O.S.)

You'll need a passport, driver's

license and a social security number.

70 INT. BAR -- DAY 70

DAMON:

If you have to rent a car, find a

place that will take a cash deposit.

They'll still run a credit check, so

use a real person's name on the ID.

(beat)

Third:
destination.

71 INT. JOHN'S BEDROOM -- NIGHT 71

John writes furiously on the wall. "DESTINATION."

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