The Truman Show Page #6

We focus on the lantern room of a nearby lighthouse. From the

light's POV, through the green hue of a night vision camera, we

observe Truman get to his feet and walk towards the dark water.

TRUMAN:

(shouting at the surf)

I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

INT. DIMLY-LIT ROOM SOMEWHERE. NIGHT.

CHRISTOF's dispassionate face is reflected in the screen of a

television monitor that displays the distraught TRUMAN at the

water's edge.

INT. TRUMAN'S HOUSE. NIGHT.

At the Formica kitchen table, TRUMAN makes calculations in a

school notebook, a bottle of beer close at hand. MERYL appears

in her robe, a glimpse of black negligee beneath, restless. She

throws her arms around Truman's neck.

MERYL:

(suggestive)

What are you doing? Come to bed.

TRUMAN:

(ignoring the suggestion)

I figure we could scrape together eight

thousand.

MERYL:

(suddenly exasperated)

Oh. God, everytime you and Marlon--

TRUMAN:

--We could bum around the world for a year

on that.

MERYL:

And then what, Truman? We'd be back to

where we were five years ago. You're talking

like a teenager.

TRUMAN:

Maybe I feel like a teenager.

Getting to his feet. Truman holds Meryl by the arms, talking

excitedly to her the way we imagine he did when they were

courting.

TRUMAN:

Meryl, it'd be an adventure.

MERYL:

We said we'd try for a baby. Isn't that

enough of an adventure?

TRUMAN:

That can wait. I want to get away. See

some of the world. Explore.

Meryl gives a derisive laugh.

MERYL:

You want to be an explorer? You mean like

all the other great explorers from Queens?

You don't even have a passport, Truman. I

bet you don't even know how to get one.

The words sting. Truman turns away.

Seeing the pain she's caused, she changes tack.

MERYL:

This'll pass. Everybody thinks like this

now and then.

(making one more attempt

at seduction)

Come to bed.

EXT. A NIGHTWATCHMAN'S OFFICE SOMEWHERE. NIGHT.

In a nightwatchman's office, two UNIFORMED GUARDS drink coffee.

GUARD 1

How can they have a child?

GUARD 2

It's not gonna be his, you idiot.

GUARD 1

Why not?

GUARD 2

You think she'd go through with it?

(reassessing his own opinion)

Guess I always thought they'd adopt.

INT. TRUMAN'S HOUSE - BEDROOM. NIGHT.

TRUMAN stands in the darkened bedroom in his Hanes underwear

looking down at his bed. MERYL has fallen asleep waiting for

him, snoring lightly. Truman rests his hand tentatively on the

bed. The surface rocks. A waterbed. The motion triggers a

flashback in his head.

EXT. LONG ISLAND SOUND. DAWN, TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS EARLIER.

As always the flashback appears to play on a television screen.

The SEVEN-YEAR-OLD TRUMAN sits on the upturned hull of a small

dinghy in calm, deep water.

TRUMAN:

(plaintively calling into the mist)

Daddy!!...Daddy!!...

His cries go unanswered.

INT. A LIVING ROOM SOMEWHERE. NIGHT.

Two OLD WOMEN, seventies, sit beside wach other on a sofa

against a bare wall, looking directly into camera as they

talk. Nothing else of the room is seen.

OLD WOMAN 1

(playing amateur psychiatrist)

It left him with more than his obvious fear

of the water. It's as if he felt his father

had gone beyond his limitations and he vowed

never to repeat the mistake. He was never

the same curious little boy again.

OLD WOMAN 2

We're all born with a pound of cocaine

up our nose. By the time we're eleven

it runs out.

OLD WOMAN 1

Half the people I knew named their

babies after him.

EXT. LOWER MANHATTAN. MORNING.

TRUMAN emerges from the subway station and as usual stops at the

newspaper stand. He picks up a copy of Vogue and flips through

the glossy cosmetic ads, surreptitiously tearing CLAUDIA

SCHIFFER's nose from one of the pages. He returns the magazine

to the rack and begins his daily pilgrimage to work through the

rush hour pedestrian traffic.

Pausing to check his profile in the mirrored building, he

glimpses the reflection of a HOMELESS MAN standing directly

behind him. Truman, spellbound by the man, suddenly wheels

around to face him. The Homeless Han is in his late-sixties.

more well-groomed and well-fed than the average vagrant, with a

serene smile on his face.

From a new angle we see a two-shot of Truman and the Man on a

television screen. The Homeless Man places his hand ever so

gently on Truman's cheek. Truman makes no effort to withdraw.

He is transfixed by the the man's eyes. He appears to recognize

him.

TRUMAN:

(almost to himself, mouthing

the word)

Daddy...

Suddenly a distinguished OLD WOMAN walking a small dog and a

YOUNG MALE BUSINESS EXECUTIVE carrying a briefcase, walking in

opposite directions along the sidewalk, grab the Homeless Man,

one taking each arm.

A bus suddenly screeches to a halt beside the struggling group,

doors already open, and before Truman can react, the Old Woman

and the Young Executive force the Homeless Man onto the bus.

Truman lurches after them, but he is met by the bus doors,

closing sharply in his face.

TRUMAN:

(to BUS DRIVER)

Hey, stop! Stop!!

Truman thumps against the doors, but the BUS DRIVER ignores his

cries and the bus roars away from the curb. He starts to run

after the bus, colliding with several PEDESTRIANS who make no

attempt to avoid him.

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