The Stunt Man

FADE IN:

EXT. ROADSIDE DINER - EARLY MORNING

A strip of two-lane highway runs through a tall pine forest. There

is a truck-stop coffee shop beside the roadway. A few 14-WHEELERS

are scattered across the big dusty parking lot. Morning sunlight

glints off their chrome stacks. It bakes the asphalt and warms the

mangy hides of stray DOGS asleep in the dirt. A HELICOPTER hovers

about the treetops like a lazy hummingbird. It's the beginning of a

perfect day.

A highway PATROL CAR slowly trolls among the trucks and dogs and

parks beside the slat and shingled building.

TWO TELEPHONE LINEMEN are scaling a power pole at the forest's edge.

POWER POLE - ANGLE ON TELEPHONE LINEMEN

High on the pole, the linemen lean back against their safety straps

to work, their bodies forming a "Y." One of them suddenly turns,

pointing at a nearby treetop.

FIRST LINEMAN:

Lookee there!

He grabs a PORCELAIN INSULATOR from his belt, c*cks his arm and

hurls it across the open stretch. It lands smack in the middle of

the tree. SQUAWK! A rattle of leaves, a rustle of feathers and a

HUGE BUZZARD comes flapping out. The lineman cackles over his

marksmanship.

CLOSE ANGLE ON BUZZARD - MOVING SHOT

The big, frightened beady-eyed bird is lumbering through the sky,

flapping for its life and suddenly...SPLAT! It crashes head-on into

the bubble of the passing HELICOPTER.

INT. HELICOPTER

The ship rocks as the PILOT wrestles the controls. There are THREE

OTHERS in the cabin. The man beside the pilot, ELI CROSS, is

sketching in a manuscript and eating an apple. He glances up in

irritation.

ELI:

Hey, will you stop wiggling?!

- 2

PILOT:

Don't yell at me...yell at the

goddamn crazy bird! It tried to

kill us!

ELI:

(back to his manuscript)

Oh yeah, that's your story. What's

the bird got to say about it?

Eli bites into his apple, grimacing at the mushy mouthful He tosses

it out the hatch.

5

EXT. FOREST - TREETOPS

The apple drops into the trees, bounces down from branch to branch

and falls on the slanted roof of the ROADSIDE DINER beneath. It

rolls down the eaves, off the edge and lands on top of the parked

Highway Patrol car.

6

INT. PATROL CAR

FIRST POLICEMAN:

Something hit the roof.

SECOND POLICEMAN

So will the Chief...if we don't grab

this guy Cameron.

They climb out as we see a SECOND PATROL CAR sliding up behind them.

MORE POLICEMEN emerge from the second car.

7

EXT. DINER - ON POLICEMEN

They huddle, then move toward the diner entrance.

open WINDOW the CAMERA HOLDS.

8

INT. DINER

As they pass an

A FRY COOK serves behind the long counter where MEN on stools eat

watching the overhead TV. There is a PINBALL MACHINE in action.

The policemen are seen ENTERING b.g. A TRUCK DRIVER ambles up and

straddles a stool.

TRUCK DRIVER:

Gettin' hot early. It's gonna be a

scorcher.

The fry cook fills the driver's empty water glass from a pitcher,

then move down the counter.

- 3

9

ANGLE ON CAMERON

He sits a few stools away. He's about 25, even-featured, bone-

weary. His appealing face needs a shave. The cook fills his water

glass. The ice cubes rattle as Cameron's hand trembles. His eyes

are riveted on the policemen.

10

CAMERON'S POV

Two policemen take seats at a booth across from the counter; one

policeman moves to a WALL TELEPHONE, another stands near the CASH

REGISTER looking at a magazine. They seem nonchalant, but are

placed to block all avenues of escape.

11 ANGLE ON CAMERON

Suddenly startled as someone slaps him on the arm. He whirls to

face the man beside him.

MAN:

That's really a beaut...really a

beaut!

The MAN is staring at the TATOO which shows below the rolled-up

sleeve of Cameron's shirt, a large American Eagle with elaborate

scrollwork and a patriotic slogan. The man pulls up his own sleeve

to show a small tatoo of an anchor.

MAN (CONT'D)

My wife still yells about this...but

yours -- that's some eagle...like a

billboard.

CAMERON:

(eyes on police)

Yeah, that's the grand old bird.

(a half-smile)

Right now I just wish the son-of-a

b*tch could fly.

Cameron rises and moves across the diner to the pinball machine.

12

ANGLE ON PINBALL

The PLAYER wiggles and contorts, using body English to influence the

balls.

- 4

HECKLER:

Hey Morton, you think your ass is

connected to the machine? You

wiggle, it's gonna make the ball go

where you want?

12A

Cameron's eyes scan the room, passing the TV above the counter. On

it, the commercial shows a beautiful girl (who we'll later know as

NINA FRANKLIN) bending over a bowl of dog food. Her ass, too,

12B

wiggles engagingly. The pinball player leaves the machine.

Cameron, stalling for time, works the plunger while a cop stalks

closer; like the cat to the mouse hole.

POLICEMAN:

Hey, you're lucky. Somebody left a

free ball.

CAMERON:

Uh huh.

Cameron shoots. The ball bounces crazily inside the machine, lights

and buzzers flashing. Another policeman approaches.

SECOND POLICEMAN

You got 20,000! You're gonna win...

CAMERON:

Win what?

SECOND POLICEMAN

A free game!

CAMERON:

Terrific...

He rests his hands on the machine, glancing about. Escape seems

hopeless.

CAMERON (CONT'D)

...that's just what I needed...one

more chance to lose.

In a lightning-swift motion, the cop clamps his hands down over

Cameron's wrists, snapping the HANDCUFFS on. The trap has sprung.

CLOSE ON COP AND CAMERON

Cameron nods his head in resignation. A big uncontrollable grin

breaks and spreads over the cop's face.

14

15

16

- 5

Then suddenly, Cameron bolts, desperately springing full speed for

the back door. He flings it open. The cops are moving toward him.

One has almost got his gun out.

POLICEMAN:

Cameron! Halt! I'll shoot!

Cameron lunges through the doorway, not realizing in his frenzy the

screen door still blocks his path. He tears through it, but gets

stuck halfway.

CAMERON:

(panicked)

No!...God, don't shoot!

Swinging his manacled arms like a club against the tangled mesh, he

breaks free and runs.

EXT. REAR OF DINER

As Cameron flies down the back steps, a COP stationed at the rear

door, caught off-guard, tries to stop him but is shoved flat on his

back. Cameron weaves and scrambles across the yard, over fences,

between the shed and the barn, rolling beneath a building, out the

other side. Behind him, distant shouts and a gunshot.

INT. FOREST - MOVING SHOT ON CAMERON - DAY

As Cameron runs, he moves with a skill that suggests forests are not

alien to him. He crouches low, following tiny avenues in the maze

of tree trunks, scrambling on all fours over needles and fallen

cones. Sweat pours down his face. His breath rasps in his throat.

He breaks into a clearing and FREEZES...suddenly face to face with a

MAN who crouches, blocking his path. It is one of the telephone

linemen we saw earlier.

WIDER ANGLE:

The lineman, kneeling at his tool chest, is surprised by Cameron.

The other lineman is halfway up the power pole. They both stare at

Cameron's handcuffs. Cameron edges back, his escape route blocked.

The man on the ground grabs a WRENCH and moves forward with the same

gleam in his eye we saw when he scared that bird from the tree.

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