"THE SCENIC ROUTE"
by Camille LaGuire
(WGA reg 1003091)
FADE IN:
INT. LIVING ROOM -- DAY
Urban, working class house. Worn, battered furniture. A
mix of brand new and tacky knick-knacks and stacks of
electronics reflect the hard-living and light-fingered
nature of the inhabitants.
LUTHER'S DAD, a lean angry man in his thirties, sits on the
couch in his undershirt, a TV remote in his hand. He glares
up at SOL'S MOTHER, a sweet, neat, twenty-something
housewife. She stands awkwardly, wearing a nice pastel
raincoat.
SOL'S MOTHER
I hate to say this, I really do,
but your son is just...he's just
no good.
LUTHER'S DAD
You got that right.
He gets up, throws down the remote.
LUTHER'S DAD
Luther!
SOL'S MOTHER
I just don't want him around my
son. He's a bad influence.
LUTHER'S DAD
Luther! Come 'ere!
He spots the boy next to the door. YOUNG LUTHER is eight
years old. He has both hands in a purse on the side table.
The purse matches Sol's Mom's coat. Luther freezes. His
dad heads toward him, unbuckling his belt.
Luther pulls out a fistful of money and dashes away. His
father gives chase.
Down the hall, through the kitchen. Luther evades, dodges
under the table, over a chair, and out and up the stairs.
Never once does he let go or even adjust his grip on that
fistful of money.
INT. UPSTAIRS -- DAY
At the top of the stairs, Luther dashes through a door.
Sound of the lock clicking. His father shoves a chair under
the knob.
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2.
LUTHER'S DAD
When I let you out of there,
you're gonna hurt!
INT. BATHROOM -- DAY
Luther doesn't look worried. He goes straight to the
narrow window, and pushes it open. The screen is loose from
its frame and he tugs it away with one hand. He keeps a
tight grip on the money with the other.
EXT. HOUSE -- DAY
Luther climbs out the small upstairs window onto a sloping
roof. Scoots carefully down the slope, and takes hold of a
trellis with his free hand to swing down.
Still holding the money the entire time.
He jumps to the ground and trots over to a car in the
driveway. YOUNG SOL, also eight, sits in the back, waiting
for his mother.
Luther knocks on the window. Sol edges over and opens the
door.
YOUNG LUTHER
Your ma said I was no good.
YOUNG SOL
I know.
YOUNG LUTHER
Your ma shouldn't say that. My ma
would never say that about you.
YOUNG SOL
Your mom's a stripper.
YOUNG LUTHER
So your ma should be better than
mine, but she's not.
YOUNG SOL
Hey!
Sol gets out. Luther holds up the money. Sol hesitates,
but then Luther's dad comes charging out of the house.
LUTHER'S DAD
You no good little punk!
Luther takes off running down the street. Sol looks
undecided. His mother comes out of the house.
YOUNG LUTHER
Come on!
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3.
Sol turns and runs after Luther.
EXT. BANK -- DAY
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS LATER
A boring, flat bank building in a boring flat midwestern
town. Very little activity or traffic.
In the distance, SIRENS. A slick silver Cadillac peels
into view and pulls up in front of the bank. Two men jump
out, dressed in long black trench coats and cool shades.
LUTHER CZMCK (pronounced JIM-check) is in the lead, 30s,
handsome and perhaps too smooth for his own good. SOL
GILHOOLY follows, same age, quiet and eager to please.
They pull bandannas over their faces and run into the bank,
and a moment later run out, guns and a garbage bag of money
in hand. An alarm sounds as they jump into the Caddy and
speed away.
INT. CADILLAC -- DAY
Sol drives. Luther looks at his watch. Both are excited.
LUTHER
That's three banks in...thirty-nine
minutes!
Sol hoots in triumph. Luther looks back.
LUTHER
That should put all the cops on
this side of town. Now we've got a
train to catch.
SOL
What if it's late?
LUTHER
It's never late, Sol. I've been
timing it every day for two weeks.
SOL
What if it's early?
LUTHER
Then we're shit out of luck.
He grins. Sol looks nervous.
BANK
Two police cars tear around the corner, sirens wailing. A
man stands outside the bank, shouting and pointing after
Luther and Sol.
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4.
One police car pulls up to the man, while the other pursues.
CADILLAC
Swerves around a corner and heads out of town. In the
distance a long freight train comes along at an angle to the
road.
LUTHER
There she is. Right on time.
SOL
It IS early.
LUTHER
Plenty of time. Just punch it.
A police car skids into view behind them. Sol punches it
just as a second car joins the pursuit from a cross street,
nearly cutting them off.
The Caddy slides onto a road parallel to the tracks. The
train is chugging along, but the Caddy is ahead. Sol
punches it again.
The first police car gains on them and the train, now about
even with the engine.
Ahead is a cross street, with cars stopped at the crossing.
Sol keeps up the speed. The occupants of the stopped cars
look frightened. Sol skids, and swerves across the tracks
at an angle, just ahead of the train.
Police cars skid to a stop. One cop talks into his radio,
another gets out and tries to direct the stopped traffic
back so they can continue the chase to the next crossing,
but it's too late.
INT. CADILLAC -- DAY
LUTHER
Yes! I am a genius.
SOL
Oh, man that was close.
LUTHER
It was perfect. Shit, we're good.
It'll be twenty minutes before that
train clears town, and nothing but
flat crossings for a hundred miles.
He picks up the garbage bag at his feet and paws through
the money in it. He reaches into the back seat and pulls up
a duffel bag. He begins to stuff handfuls of money into it.
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5.
SOL
Oh shit.
Luther looks up. In the distance ahead, flashing lights.
LUTHER
Keep cool
SOL
What'll we do?
LUTHER
Keel cool!
The police car approaches. A state trooper. It flashes
past at a high rate of speed, never slowing. Both Sol and
Luther let out a sigh of relief.
LUTHER
I bet they got the call to help out
in Gaylord. They'll be sitting on
this side of the tracks waiting for
the train to clear.
He laughs and stuffs the rest of the money into the duffel
bag. He turns around to put it in the back seat and sees
the trooper come to a stop.
LUTHER
Shit! He's turning around.
Sol floors it. There is some traffic ahead on the two lane
surface road. They weave in and out. The trooper races
after. Lights flash, wild siren.
LUTHER
Shit. We need another fucking
train.
SOL
It's okay. I got it.
An eighteen wheeler rolls along ahead of them. Luther
grins. Sol pulls out to pass, but stays alongside, half
watching the trooper catch up.
LUTHER
No, punch it.
SOL
I want to surprise him.
LUTHER
You'll surprise him. Pull ahead.
The Caddy pulls ahead and slides into the lane in front of
the semi. Traffic passes the other way. The trooper pulls
out to pass the truck. Luther points out a crossroad ahead.
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6.
LUTHER
There.
Sol brakes suddenly and shoots around the corner. The
eighteen wheeler brakes, starts skidding, sends the
trooper's car into a spin into the ditch.
Luther turns to watch the truck skid around. He lets out a
whoop.
LUTHER
You can drive, man.
SOL
You can plan. Where we headed now?
LUTHER
Keep going. We'll cut back and
cross our path. Head for the
Interstate that way.
EXT. BACK ROAD -- DAY
The Caddy flies along a narrow and poorly maintained road.
Cows and farms on either side, overgrown ditches.
They pull up and over a hill. The road dips in a steep
grade that ends at a cross road with a deep ditch on the
other side. The sign opposite them -- plain yellow, with
arrows pointing in each direction -- is bent. A set of worn
tracks shows others have overshot the turn and gone in the
ditch.
The Caddy pulls to a stop.
SOL
Which way?
LUTHER
Right.
Luther points left. The Caddy turns left.
DITCH
Behind the battered yellow sign is another sign, flattened
into the ditch. It's green, and says "Interstate, 6 mi."
and an arrow points right.
EXT. ROAD SOMEWHERE ELSE -- EVENING
Dusk begins to close in on the narrow dirt road. Trees and
brush, fewer farms. No farms. They bump along the road.
It's getting very dark.
LUTHER
Where the hell are we?
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7.
SOL
I have no idea.
Luther sighs. A deer runs across their path. Sol slams on
the brakes.
SOL
Jesus.
Three more deer run past.
LUTHER
Let's get the fuck out of here.
SOL
Where?
LUTHER
I don't care. They say a deer
jumps through your windshield, it'll
kick you to death. Pulverize you so
not even your dentist can identify
you.
SOL
Oh, man.
LUTHER
I mean, you ever see that clip they
show on Letterman all the time? The
deer attacks a guy?
Another deer stumbles across the road ahead, turns in their
direction.
LUTHER
Go! Go!
Sol kicks the car into reverse and they peel backward,
weaving on the narrow road. No place to turn around. The
trees and brush flash by, black and red in the tail lights.
LUTHER
Wait! Stop! Stop!
They stop. Sol looks at Luther.
LUTHER
They're probably back that way too.
SOL
Oh, man.
LUTHER
I mean, they're not creeping up on
us or anything, they're just there.
It's the woods, you know?
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8.
SOL
I saw that Letterman clip. It
kicked the shit out of that guy.
Luther pauses, peers out through the windshield. Sees only
murk. Sits up, a little more confident.
LUTHER
The guy was making fun of him.
Pointing arrows at him. You'd kick
him too.
SOL
What if it thinks we're invading
it's territory?
LUTHER
It's not going to attack a car. We
just don't want to hit one. We go
slow, we'll be okay.
Sol turns to look behind and sends the car careening
backwards just as fast as before.
LUTHER
What the hell you doing?
SOL
If we hit it going backwards, it'll
just kick around in the back seat.
LUTHER
Oh! Yeah.
Luther grins.
The Caddy weaves backwards, kicking up gravel.
LUTHER
There's a road!
They skid to a stop. Just ahead a blacktop road empties
onto the dirt road they're on. The Caddy moves forward,
cautiously, until it's on the pavement, and then they burn
rubber out of there.
EXT. ROAD -- NIGHT
The Caddy cruises along a blacktop road. Luther is now
driving. Sol is asleep. Ahead are the lights of a
convenience store with gas station.
LUTHER
Thank god.
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