Daily Dialogue — August 9, 2012

EXT. RAHAD JACKSON’S HOUSE — NIGHT

The Corvette pulls up in front of a tacky one-story house in the hills of Studio City. The Corvette stops and CAMERA DOLLIES IN QUICK. Dirk, Reed, Todd sit in the parked car. In sotto;

DIRK: Okay.
TODD: You guys ready for this?
REED: I am.
TODD: Dirk?
DIRK: Me? Yeah . . . yeah, I’m ready. I was born ready.
TODD: Alright.

Todd takes out a .45 AUTOMATIC PISTOL and loads a cartridge.

DIRK: What the fuck is that?
TODD: It’s a big gun.
DIRK: I know, but why?
TODD: Just in case, just in case. Let’s go.

They pile out of the damaged Corvette and walk up. CAMERA (STEADICAM) follows them.

REED: I’m nervous.
TODD: It’ll be okay.
REED: Let’s get in and out, in and out.
TODD: Not too quick — that looks suspicious. Lemme do the talking –

They arrive and ring the doorbell.

INT. RAHAD JACKSON’S HOUSE — NIGHT — THAT MOMENT

A really big fat black BODYGUARD comes to the door and opens up:

BODYGUARD: Hello. Come on in.

The bodyguard leads them down a hall and into a tacky and spacious, sunken LIVING ROOM.

They’re greeted by a man in a silk robe, slightly open to show some bikini briefs and a thin sheen of sweat covering his body: RAHAD JACKSON (late 40s).

Off in a corner of the room, a YOUNG ASIAN KID is casually throwing some FIRECRACKERS around.

Rahad is DANCING around by himself to NIGHT RANGER, “SISTER CHRISTIAN.” He spots the men;

RAHAD: Hello, friends. Which one is Todd?
TODD: That’s me. We met before at the club –
RAHAD: Oh, yeah. Come on in here.
TODD: These are my friends Dirk and Reed.
RAHAD: Great to meet you. You guys want something to drink — or a pill — or some coke — or some dope?
DIRK/REED/TODD: No thank you, thanks, no.
RAHAD: So what do we have, we have, something, yeah?
TODD: Here it is . . . half a key . . . it’s really good, if you wanna test it out –
RAHAD: Oh, wait a minute, I love this part. (sings along) “SISTER CHRISTIAN, THERE’S SO MUCH IN LIFE, DON’T YOU GIVE IT UP BEFORE YOUR TIME IS DUE . . . IT’S TRUE!” (to Dirk) This song is so amazing. Anyway: What’s the price?
TODD: We were thinking five thousand.
RAHAD: That’s good. No problem, cool, cool.

The Bodyguard brings over a PAPER BAG FULL OF CASH and hands the bag to Todd in exchange for the PAPER BAG FULL OF BAKING SODA. Reed watches the Bodyguard take the bag and notices something. REED’S POV: a SHOULDER HOLSTER holds a .45 Automatic Pistol.

Rahad does an air guitar solo to the Night Ranger song . . . he walks across the room, picks up a COKE PIPE and looks to the guys;

RAHAD: You wanna play baseball?
DIRK/REED/TODD: No thank you.

Rahad strokes the pipe while dancing. Dirk looks across to an open bedroom door.

DIRK’S POV: Through the crack in the door, we can see a bloody, battered YOUNG BLACK WOMAN in a silk robe . . . she’s followed by another YOUNG WHITE GIRL in nothing.

RAHAD (OC): Check this out –

He takes out a nickel plated REVOLVER and loads a single bullet, spins the chamber and puts it to his head and sings:

RAHAD: SISTER CHRISTIAN — OH THE TIME HAS COME . . . AND YOU KNOW THAT YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE TO SAY . . . OK . . .

He pulls the trigger . . . Click . . . he smiles and casually speaks;

RAHAD: I put a mix tape together of all my favorite songs . . . This is song number three . . . I love putting mix tapes together, you know . . . if you buy an album or tape or something, those guys put the songs in their order and they try and say how you should listen to the songs, but I don’t like that. I don’t like to be told what to listen to, when to listen to or anything . . .

The Night Ranger song FADES OUT . . . BEAT . . . Rahad smiles at the Asian Kid who’s casually throwing some firecrackers around.

RAHAD: (to Dirk/Reed/Todd) He’s Chinese . . . he loves to set off firecrackers . . .

REO SPEEDWAGON, “CAN’T FIGHT THIS FEELING,” begins to play.

RAHAD: I CAN’T FIGHT THIS FEELING ANY LONGER AND YET I’M STILL AFRAID TO LET IT FLOW. WHAT STARTED OUT AS FRIENDSHIP HAS GROWN STRONGER — I ONLY WISH I HAD THE STRENGTH TO LET IT SHOW –

DIRK: Well . . . I think maybe . . . we better get going –
RAHAD: No, stay. Hang out. We’ll party.
DIRK: No, we really gotta split. We have to be somewhere and we –

Dirk and Rahad continue to haggle about leaving/not leaving. CAMERA BEGINS A SLOW DOLLY INTO A CU ON TODD.

TODD: We’re Not Leaving Yet.

Dirk and Reed look at Todd. He stands up.

TODD: We’re here now and we want something else. Hey — Hey. We Want Something Else From You.
RAHAD: What?
DIRK: Todd — what the hell are you doing?
TODD: In the master bedroom, under the bed, in a floor safe . . . You understand?

The Bodyguard turns his head. Dirk and Reed are confused;

DIRK: Todd . . . what the fuck, man, c’mon –
TODD: Shut up, Dirk. I told you I got a plan. I got a good plan.
RAHAD: Are you kiddin’ me, kittie?
TODD: No I’m not. I’m not kidding. We want what’s in the safe. We want what’s in the safe in the floor under the bed in the master bedroom.
DIRK: Todd — don’t be crazy. (to Rahad) Sir — we don’t know anything about this. This is not the thing that we wanted.
TODD: SHUT THE FUCK UP, DIRK.

The BODYGUARD reaches into his coat . . .

. . . Todd pulls his REVOLVER quickly and AIMS at the Bodyguard.

TODD: Don’t reach for your gun.

. . . Rahad reacts by AIMING HIS GUN AT TODD . . .

RAHAD: You don’t wanna do this, friendly.
TODD: You’ve only got one bullet.

Rahad PULLS THE TRIGGER . . . a bullet FIRES from the gun and strikes Todd in the SHOULDER . . . the gun in his hand falls to the floor and he stumbles back . . .

. . . The Bodyguard takes this moment to GRAB HIS OWN GUN from the holster and FIRE off shots at Dirk and Reed . . .

. . . Bullets graze past them and they DUCK FOR COVER . . .

. . . The GIRLS in the bedroom SCREAM and SHOUT at the gunfire . . .

. . . A STRAY BULLET HITS the ASIAN KID in the heart, but he doesn’t fall . . .

. . . TODD reaches hold of his gun, crouches for cover and FIRES a bullet STRAIGHT INTO the Bodyguard . . . who falls back DEAD . . . Todd looks right and sees:

RAHAD scuttles into the bedroom with the women . . . Todd looks over his shoulder to Dirk and Reed;

DIRK: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, TODD?
TODD: He went in the bedroom.
DIRK: ARE YOU CRAZY? WHEN DID YOU GO CRAZY?
TODD: He’s got cash and coke in the safe under the bed — if we leave here without it we’re fools.
REED: Let’s just split, let’s just split right now, Todd. Don’t be stupid. This wasn’t part of the deal.
TODD: I’m goin’ in that bedroom and get what’s in that safe. Are you coming?
DIRK: Fuck no. Todd. Don’t. Don’t do it.

Todd gets up and heads for the bedroom with his revolver at the ready . . . he inches closer to the door and twists the door knob, then KICKS THE DOOR OPEN;

. . . Rahad is standing right there, holding a SAWED OFF SHOTGUN. He pulls the trigger . . . Todd blinks . . .

. . . Rahad’s SHOTGUN BLAST blows Todd BACK and UP in the air about fifteen feet . . . he FALLS to the ground with a HOLE in his STOMACH about the size of a basketball . . . Rahad calls out to Dirk and Reed;

RAHAD: C’mon out, little puppies. You want to come and see, come and see, to get what is coming down. Coming down.

Rahad peers out from his bedroom, sees a sliver of Dirk behind the wall. Rahad FIRES HIS SHOTGUN . . . which cuts right past Dirk’s head and SHREDS the wall near him . . .

Reed and Dirk make a DASH for the front door . . .

. . . Rahad FIRES another shot . . .

. . . a BLAST BREEZES PAST THEIR HEADS . . .

Dirk and Reed make it OUTSIDE . . . Rahad chases after them . . .

EXT. RAHAD’S HOUSE — THAT MOMENT

Reed and Dirk make a dash for the Corvette — they’re steps away when a SHOTGUN BLAST BLOWS INTO THE PASSENGER’S SIDE DOOR — Reed heads away from the car — makes a run diagonally across the street for shelter behind some SHRUBS and TREES — (he gets lost from CAMERA)

Dirk gets around to the driver’s side of the Corvette, shielded and crouched — he opens the door and starts to get in –

ANOTHER SHOT BLOWS THE PASSENGER’S SIDE WINDOW OUT.

GLASS SPRAYS IN HIS EYES AND HIS HAND SLIPS DOWN, RELEASING THE EMERGENCY BRAKE OF THE CAR — WHICH BEGINS TO ROLL DOWN THE STREET–

Dirk stumbles back from the car. He looks to the house:

Rahad is about to FIRE the shotgun again . . .

. . . he looks down the street: the Corvette is ROLLING away and picking up speed as it goes down the hill –

Dirk gets on his feet and makes a run for the car, Rahad FIRES . . .

. . . Dirk catches up with the car, hops in — gets the key in the ignition and starts it up, peels off down the street –

— Todd (Thomas Jane), Dirk (Mark Wahlberg), Reed (John C. Reilly), Rahad (Alfred Molina), Rahad’s Bodyguard (B. Philly Johnson), Boogie Nights (1997), written by Paul Thomas Anderson

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is drug deals suggested by Jonathan Webb. Today’s suggestion by Timothy Minneci.

Trivia: The entire film is based on the short film The Dirk Diggler Story, also by Paul Thomas Anderson. It was a This Is Spinal Tap-like mockumentary, which would go on to be redone for the short “Dirk Diggler Story” in this film. In the original short film, Robert Ridgely, who plays The Colonel here, played Jack Horner. The man with whom Don Cheadle is talking in the stereo store is Michael Stein, who played Dirk Diggler. The original script was 300 pages, cut down to 180 pages.

Dialogue On Dialogue: This would be a great Script To Screen post as there are some intriguing differences between the script and what appears in the movie. Great scene. Where did PTA come up with the idea of the guy setting off firecrackers? So random, so disconcerting [in a good way] in the context of the scene. 

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