Daily Dialogue — November 15, 2011
KAREN (OS): Jack?
He sees Midge looking at him, closes his eyes, sags against the wall.
KAREN (OS) (CONT’D): I know you’re up there.
INT. FOYER — SAME
As Foley steps into the hallway, his ski mask now pulled down over his face. He holds Kenneth’s shotgun in one hand and his pistol in another.
KAREN: Come on, Jack — don’t.
FOLEY: Pretend I’m somebody else.
KAREN: You think I’d shoot you?
Foley brings up the pistol and the shotgun. AND NOW WE HEAR THE SIRENS…
FOLEY: If you don’t, one of those guys will.
KAREN: What’re you now, a desperado? Put the gun down.
FOLEY: I told you, I’m not going back.
He raises the guns hip-high and we hear sounds behind Karen, but she’s quick to raise her hand, though she doesn’t turn or look around.
KAREN: Don’t do this. Please.
They stand there staring at each other.
FOLEY: No more time outs.
He raises the guns. She sadly shakes her head.
KAREN: You win, Jack.
She fires and he falls to the staircase, dropping the guns, grabbing hold of his right thigh. And now Cruz and several other cops enter… Karen motions them to stop…
CRUZ: Karen, I told you not to–
KAREN: Wait, I know him –okay?
She goes up the staircase to where Foley is lying and gently lifts the ski mask and looks at his sad eyes.
KAREN (CONT’D): I’m sorry, Jack, but I can’t shoot you.
FOLEY: You just did, for Christ sake.
KAREN: You know what I mean.
She glances about, makes sure no one can hear, then leans closer to him.
KAREN (CONT’D): I wish things were different. I’m sorry, Jack.
— Karen (Jennifer Lopez), Foley (George Clooney), Out Of Sight (1998), screenplay by Scott Frank, novel by Elmore Leonard
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is cop meets crook, suggested by Désirée. Out Of Sight suggested by Teddy Pasternak.
Trivia: Out of Sight is one of George Clooney’s favourite films on his resume. He said “It was the first time where I had a say, and it was the first good screenplay I’d read where I just went “That’s it.” Even though it didn’t do very well box-office wise-we sort of tanked again-it was a really good film.”
Dialogue On Dialogue: What a great scene. And what’s especially impressive is how underplayed the dialogue is. The stakes are obvious, the characters’ goals are obvious, you don’t need that much dialogue to make it work, in fact it works best with the minimal dialogue as it is. May have to do this for Script To Screen.
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