Tài liệu Writing the short film 3th - Part 37 docx

She opens it carefully. It’s full of perfectly displayed baseball cards. STEPHANIE (disappointed) Oh, Baseball Cards . . . MARTY Please be careful with those. I’ve been collecting these since I was a kid. Marty takes the album from her lap, and places it on his. He starts flipping through it. She gets up and gathers her things. STEPHANIE I’m sorry, Marty, I don’t think this is gonna work. MARTY What? But, but, you just got here. STEPHANIE I know, Marty, I tried, I really did. I’m just . . . not attracted to you. She starts to leave. The phone rings. MARTY Wait . . . Just let me get this quickly, don’t go anywhere. (answers the phone) Hello? Stephanie rolls her eyes and waits impatiently. MARTY (CONT.) (short) Hi, Mom, this isn’t a good time . . . What? Well, is she okay? . . . uh huh . . . Yeah, of course . . . Okay. Gotta go, gotta go, bye. Marty hangs up the phone. Stephanie just looks him, as if to say “Well?” 242 Writing the Short Film App-A.qxd 9/27/04 6:01 PM Page 242 MARTY (CONT.) (quickly) My grandmother had a heart attack. She’s dead. (back to the matter at hand) But, please don’t go. There is a moment of silence. Then Stephanie’s face melts into a sympathetic puddle. She hugs Marty close to her. STEPHANIE Oh, poor, baby . . . MARTY (a little baffled) They want me to deliver a eulogy . . . She hugs him even closer. Her boobs press up against him. STEPHANIE Oh, how terrible . . . don’t worry . . . it’ll be okay . . . She pulls herself away for a moment to look at him face to face. He looks confused. After seeing his lack of emotion, so does she. STEPHANIE You must be in shock. I’m going to go. Give you some privacy. MARTY But, I still need you. STEPHANIE Oh, you poor thing . . . I’ll be back for the memorial service . . . And then I won’t leave until you feel all better. She gives him one big, sloppy kiss. She gets up and leaves. Short Short Screenplays 243 App-A.qxd 9/27/04 6:01 PM Page 243 Marty doesn’t know what hit him. MARTY (to himself) Until I feel better? INT. FUNERAL HOME. DAY A service is in progress. Marty, wearing jeans, t-shirt and baseball cap, walks in and sits in the back. He pulls out a note pad and pen. The organ finishes a somber song and MIDDLE-AGED MAN leaves his seat next to a HOT WOMAN and goes up to the podium. MIDDLE-AGED MAN (composed) David was my brother, my business partner, my closest friend . . . Marty jots some notes. An OLD WOMAN quietly sobs, but the rest of the mourners, including the Hot Woman, seem less than enthralled. MIDDLE-AGED MAN To those who knew him, he was a wonderful man. To his family, he was loving, caring . . . And to those who shared his dreams, he was a truly remarkable man. David, you taught me so much— 1 loved my brother . . . And suddenly, the MIDDLE-AGED MAN loses it and goes a big blubbery one. He can’t speak he’s crying so hard. Marty looks around: now, everyone is crying. And crying the hardest is the HOT WOMAN, who gets up to hold the MIDDLE-AGED MAN. Marty chuckles and shakes his head. He’s figured it out. He makes a note: TEARS=LOVIN’. INT. STUDIO. DAY Marty, looking into a mirror, tries to deliver his eulogy: 244 Writing the Short Film App-A.qxd 9/27/04 6:01 PM Page 244 MARTY Grandma Friedman was a remarkable woman. She was a loving, caring . . . Marty squeezes his face up, hard, trying to make a crying face. But no tears come. He tries again: MARTY (CONT.) Grandma Friedman was an amazing woman . . . He gives a big GRUNT and squeezes. No tears. He goes to a DRAWER, pulls out a small, dusty photo album. He removes a picture of GRANDMA FRIEDMAN, just about the fattest old lady there ever was. He tries again: MARTY (CONT.) Grandma Friedman . . . Oh, my grannie . . . She . . . He looks long and hard at the picture. MARTY (CONT.) . . . needed to lose some weight. Christ, no wonder the cow had a heart attack. Marty stops for a second. He feels underneath his eyes, looks hopeful . . . And finds no tears. Nuts. STUDIO. LATER Marty, ball of tissue in one nostril, turns on the TV. He plops down on the couch, with remote poised in hand. T.V. (O.S.) Welcome back to our Sunday Movie: Tears on the Wings of Sorrow. He turns up the volume. Short Short Screenplays 245 App-A.qxd 9/27/04 6:01 PM Page 245 SAME. LATER Defeated and bored, Marty’s in the same general position. He’s in total disbelief. He puts two fingers to his wrist, and reads his watch, checking his pulse. It appears he’s not dead. He closes his eyes, falls sideways on the couch. Beat. He lies there eyes closed. They slowly open and blankly look ahead. He’s facing the coffee table. His blank stare slowly changes to recognition, then excitement. He bolts up. Directly in front of him on the coffee table is the ALBUM OF BASEBALL CARDS. He pauses. A look of trepidation crosses his face, but he picks up the album anyway. FUNERAL HOME. DAY Everyone is gathered around, dressed in head to toe black. The horrible picture of Grandma Friedman is present. Stephanie looks especially mournful. Marty rises and begins to speak. MARTY Grandma Friedman was a truly remarkable woman . . . She taught me so very much . . . His hands are busy under the podium. MARTY (CONT.) . . . she was always there for me . . . And she made the best macaroons . . . Marty starts to cry. So do all the onlookers. Stephanie is bawling. Marty is fiddling with something under the podium. MARTY (CONT.) (really crying now) . . . and. . . she loved to eat . . . He looks down, cringes and wails. The faint sound of RIPPING. UNCLE LOUIE is crying. He hears the ripping. Cocks his head. Goes back to crying. 246 Writing the Short Film App-A.qxd 9/27/04 6:01 PM Page 246 MARTY (CONT.) .when she’d hug you with those big arms . . . and her smell . . . god, her smell! In the podium lies RIPPED UP BASEBALL CARDS. Marty looks down to the Roger Maris rookie card in his hands. He rips, hard. Marty can’t even go on with his eulogy. He’s crying too hard. Stephanie runs up to him. He pushes the cards deep into the shadows under the podium. STEPHANIE Oh, my poor baby . . . She grabs him and holds him, hard. He glances over her shoulder and sees a piece of a Mickey Mantle card lying on the floor. He breaks down further. INT. FUNERAL HOME. LATER Marty and Stephanie sit close on a couch. She’s feeding him grapes off of a paper plate. He looks spent. Uncle Louie approaches, with bagel and lox in hand. UNCLE LOUIE That was some beautiful speech Marty. You were really close to her, weren’t ya? MARTY It meant a whole lot to me. Marty puts his head in his hands. Stephanie pulls him into her arms. Uncle Louie leaves the two alone. Marty willingly enters her embrace, putting his head on her shoulder. His face shows no sign of tears or sorrow. STEPHANIE It’s ok, let it out. She’ll always be with you in spirit. Short Short Screenplays 247 App-A.qxd 9/27/04 6:01 PM Page 247 Marty is facing a framed picture of grandma. MARTY I know, but I don’t know how I’m going to manage. STEPHANIE Shhhh. I’m here for you. MARTY It’s gonna take me a while. She pulls him out of the embrace to stare him right in the eyes. He puts on a sad face. STEPHANIE I’m not going anywhere. She kisses him on the lips and puts him back on her shoulder. FADE TO BLACK. 248 Writing the Short Film App-A.qxd 9/27/04 6:01 PM Page 248 . go, gotta go, bye. Marty hangs up the phone. Stephanie just looks him, as if to say “Well?” 242 Writing the Short Film App-A.qxd 9/27/04 6:01 PM Page 242. RIPPING. UNCLE LOUIE is crying. He hears the ripping. Cocks his head. Goes back to crying. 246 Writing the Short Film App-A.qxd 9/27/04 6:01 PM Page 246 MARTY