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turning to page one
turning to page one
The bar is dirty, more than a little run down. If there is ever a cook on duty, he's not here now. As we pan across several empty tables, we can almost smell the odor of last nights beer and crushed pretzels on the floor.
CHUCKIE
Oh my God, I got the most fucked up
thing I been meanin' to tell you.
As the camera rises, we find FOUR YOUNG MEN seated around a table near the back of the bar.
ALL
Oh Jesus. Here we go.
The guy holding court is CHUCKIE SULLIVAN, 20, and the largest of the bunch. He is loud, boisterous, a born entertainer. Next to him is WILL HUNTING, 20, handsome and confident, a soft-spoken leader. On Will's right sits BILLY MCBRIDE, 22, heavy, quiet, someone you definitely wouldn't want to tangle with. Finally there is MORGAN O'MALLY, 19, smaller than the other guys. Wiry and anxious, Morgan listens to Chuckie's horror stories with eager disgust.
All four boys speak with thick Boston accents. This is a rough, working class Irish neighborhood and these boys are its product.
CHUCKIE
You guys know my cousin Mikey Sullivan?
ALL
Yeah.
CHUCKIE
Well you know how he loves animals
right? Anyway, last week he's drivin'
home...
(laughs)
ALL
What? Come on!
CHUCKIE
(trying not to laugh)
I'm sorry, 'cause you know Mikey, the
fuckin guy loves animals, and this is
the last person you'd want this to
happen to.
WILL
Chuckie, what the fuck happened?
CHUCKIE
Okay. He's driving along and this
and so he hits this cat--
Chuckie is really laughing now.
MORGAN
--That isn't funny--
CHUCKIE
--and he's like "shit! Motherfucker!"
And he looks in his rearview and
sees this cat-- I'm sorry--
BILLY
Fuckin' Chuckie!
CHUCKIE
So he sees this cat tryin to make it
across the street and it's not lookin'
so good.
WILL
It's walkin' pretty slow at this point.
MORGAN
You guys are fuckin' sick.
CHUCKIE
So Mikey's like "Fuck, I gotta put
this thing out of its misery"--So he
gets a hammer--
WILL/MORGAN/BILLY
OH!
CHUCKIE
--out of his tool box, and starts
chasin' the cat and starts whackin' it
with the hammer. You know, tryin' to
put the thing out of its misery.
MORGAN
Jesus.
CHUCKIE
And all the time he's apologizin' to
the cat, goin' "I'm sorry." BANG,
"I'm sorry." BANG!
BILLY
Like it can understand.
CHUCKIE
And this Samoan guy comes runnin'
out of his house and he's like "What
the fuck are you doing to my cat?!"
Mikey's like "I'm sorry"--BANG--" I hit
your cat with my truck, and I'm just
trying to put it out of it's misery"--
BANG! And the cat dies. So Mikey's
like "Why don't you come look at the
front of the truck." 'Cause the other
guy's all fuckin flipped out about--
WILL
Watching his cat get brained.
Morgan gives Will a look, but Will only smiles.
CHUCKIE
Yeah, so he's like "Check the front of
my truck, I can prove I hit it 'cause
there's probably some blood or
something"--
WILL
--or a tail--
MORGAN
WILL!
CHUCKIE
And so they go around to the front of
his truck...and there's another cat on
the grille.
WILL/MORGAN/BILLY
No! Ugh!
CHUCKIE
Is that unbelievable? He brained an
innocent cat!
BLACKOUT:
The opening credits roll over a series of shots of the city and the real people who live and work there, going about their daily lives.
We see a panoramic view of South Boston.
Will sits in his apartment, walls completely bare. A bed, a small night table and an empty basket adorn the room. A stack of twenty or so LIBRARY BOOKS sit by his bed. He is flipping through a book at about a page a second.
Chuckie stands on the porch to Will's house. His Caddilac idles by the curb. Will comes out and they get in the car.
We travel across crowded public housing and onto downtown. Finally, we gaze across the river and onto the great cement- domed buildings that make up the M.I.T. campus.
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