EXT. DAY. M.."'-.NICURE?ARLOR--QUEENS19A*
By ( Ir i' 5i/-vJI t09r) PAUL ATTANAilJ:O
The chipper CHOCK of a coffee cup on a saucer, the HUSIC of silverware, the ebb and flow of TR)\FFIC outside--restau.:::-ant ·sounds, as they would occu~ to an EXVESDROPPER.Over this:
Wir\'"T2R.--windows foggy", snow outside·. Late 1 78-- ''TELL VS SOM:ETHING GOOD"by Chaka Kh.a, arid Rufus plays on the jukebox. Chipped fonnica on the table:::-.ops, c.:::-ackeci leatherette 0!1 the banquettes.
Four men, neatly dressed in slacks ar1ci sport jackets, as they drink deznitasse at a table:
3£:NJ.~..}fIN "L;'::?'T:" ?.UGGI:::.~o, SO yea:z:-s old,. J1JNPY with nerves, hoarse from chain-smoking English Ovals. SWITC:-2D-ON, testy a,d :.-est.less.
NIC~ It's the better auto~obile. Head and shoulde!:"s
LE??"! Iain' t mad at him. I'~ mad at his stupidity.
Donnie sits with a Dailv News spread open before him. He wears JEANS. The Bartender refills his coffee cup and Donnie puts in a tablespoon of sugar, stirs it while he WATCHES...
DONNIE'S POV--IN THE MIRROR
Lefty, Sonny and the others at their table ...
As Lefty explicates the Cadillac Difference.*
SONNY* Mercedes got it all over both of* them.*
Lefty reacts as if he's smelled something bad.*
Nicky starts to laugh. Sonny and Boobie join in.*
Judy, a WAITRESS, approaches the table. Sweet as corn, early 20s, new to the job. Sonny takes her hand, KISSES it.
LEFTY WATCHES DONNIE
sipping coffee at the bar. Leans over to Nicky.
LEFTY* I'm saying if I had a thing, he* could lay it off?*
NICKY* C'mon Left. Whaddaya got to lay* · off?*
ANGLE ON--SONNY WITH JUDY*
as he punctuates his order with KISSES of her hand.
She giggles, kisses Sonny on the cheek.
They all look at each other.
LAUGHTER all around. Lefty steals another look at Donnie, as he sits placidly drinking his coffee.
4EXT. DAY. MARE CHIARO RESTAUR.''.NT4
Donnie emerges, his breath visible in the COLD.
ZZZZH! ZZZZH! ZZZZH! FREEZE FRAME and go to black-and-white.
Snapshots of Donnie.
5EXT. NIGHT. DONNIE'S BUILDING5
6INT. NIGHT. DONNIE'S APARTMENT6
PANNING around the LONELY room--no tchotchkes, no photos, no pet. "CHARLIE'S ANGELS"on a small TV, unwatched--BACKGROUND NOISE. WEIGHTS and a bench. Over this: h-UFFING A.'ID PUFFING as
in his underwear. He finishes. Goes to a GRID--amount of weight, number of repetitions--makes a note on it.
7EXT. NIGHT. PHONE BOOTH--MANHATTAN7
Donnie, his breath visible in the cold, talks on a PAY PHONE on a deserted city street ...
He stands alone on the street and listens on the phone.*
8INT. DAY. MARE CHIARO RESTAURANT8
Donnie sips coffee at the bar. Lefty approaches him.
Donnie looks up to the Bartender. The Bartender nods. Lefty reaches in his pocket, produces a SIX-CARAT DIAMOND RING.
Donnie looks it over. Slides it over to Lefty.
Lefty slides it back to him.
He returns the diamond to Lefty.
LEFT"! Are you for real? I 1 m asking if you want to middle a diamond here. All I want for my end's eight thous2""1d.
DONNI:C: It's a fake.
Donnie takes out an Ei."11/ELO?E,spills rive diamonds onthe* counter. Fits one dexterously in a ring-like holder,shows it* to Lefty.*
DONNIE* Here, look at this. Now that's a* beautiful thing.*
LEFTY* It's the same fucking thing. What* a.bout my diamond'* -- DONNI;::* Go ahead, try 2""1dsell it, you 1-1anna* be a dunsky.*
Lefty's ta~per starts to rev ... The Bartender hurriedly zaps club soda into a glass of white wine as Donnie carefully sweeps the• diamonds back in to the envelope.
Donnie makes a gesture of backing off, moves to exit.
Donnie shrugs, sits. The Bartender slides the spritzer over.
9INT. DAY. DONNIE'S COUPE DE VILLE9
Donnie drives. Lefty puffs on a.~ English Oval.
The SMOKE is THICK now. Donnie powers DOWNhis WINDOW.
Donnie powers the window back UP.
10INT. DAY. STRIP JOINT--MANHATTAN10
Lefty and Donnie sit over drinks. A PORTER vacuums. A BARTENDER cleans glasses. P~.NDAR, a steroidal bull, 30s, bleached hair, enters from the back, surprised to see Lefty.
What? ( off Donz1ie) Who's this?
The vacuum snaps off as the Porter FLEES into the back.
PAN'D.>3. What's a fugazy?
PAND."-"· Don't tell rne what I know.
DONNI:=:: You know what you did.
P}'.ND,:;__'l_ That's a Tiffanyfucking diamond. That's my wife'sfucking diamond ring.--
Lefty's eyes go dead ...
DONNE: It's a fugazy.
Pandar clenches m.s fist--thinks to take a swipe at Donnie. Then thinks better of it. Points his finger at him.
PAND.l\..ll. I don't know what your fucking game is, pal. {turns to Lefty) Bring that ring to a.~y kike on 47th Street--
Leftv oulls his collar close around his neck--a "tell" that things-are escalating ...
Lefty pulls his collar tighter, springy with homicidal longings ...
PANDA..tz Hey, vou don't want it, give it back* to me~ Okay? Fine.* {gestures to Donnie)* Have Harry fucking Winston here throw it in the fucking street.
LEFTY* Eight thousand dollars.*
Donnie insists with a gesture. Lefty goes to the bar.
Then Donnie SLAPS Pandar hard with a flat palm. He topples with his chair to the floor. Donnie sticks two fingers in his nose, lifts him like a bowling ball onto his chair. With his fingers still in Pandar's nose, Donnie brings his face close, looks in his eyes, and WHISPERS.
Pandar looks into Donnie's eyes and sees nothing--no reflection, no sparkle of humanity. He sees death there, impersonal and matter-of-fact. Pandar whimpers pathetically.
Lefty signals for another spritzer, then looks at Pandar. Itching to put a bullet .in him ...
Don.~ie takes a ten dollar bill off the table. Stuffs it in Pandar's mouth.
11EXT. DAY. LATER. DONNIE'S CADILLAC11*
Jury-rigged CHAINS run from the trailer hitch to hooks under the Porsche's front end.*
12INT. DAY. SAME TIME. CADILLAC12
Donnie drives through the Lower East Side WATERFRONT,peering through billows of Lefty's cigarette smoke.
Shouldn't've said that about the hits.•
DONNI:2 Chop up that Porsche, you can get twenty grand from it.
13INT./EXT. DAY. LATER. CADILLAC13
TOOLS out on the front seat. In discomfort, Lefty labors beneath the dashboard. Donnie leans in.
DONNI:2 The vise grip or the needle nose?
This's a brand new car. I never had problems with this car before.
Lefty and Donnie PULL OFF the dashboard. Looks inside. Feels around.
DONNIE* Hey, Left, what are you doing?*
LEFTY* I'm feeling around.*
Donnie flares as he realizes what Lefty is up to.
DONNIE* Hey, what do you think, I got a wire* in mv car? You wanna call me a* stoolpigeon, pal, say it to my face.*
OONNI2* Go ahead, call r:-,e a stoolpigeon.*
14EXT. NIGHT. LEFTY'S APARTHENT14
Lefty and Donnie admire Donnie's Cadillac, parked on the street outside Lefty's projects.
LEFT'! I got the Fleetwood Brougha".
OONNI2* .. With the velour?
LEFTY* T Fuggedaboudit. (beat) You married?
Lefty looks at Donnie. Then shakes his head.
Donnie watches as Lefty enters the project. Then climbs into his Cadillac. Drives off.
15EXT. NIGHT. CAR WASH15
Donnie EMPTIES an ashtray full of Lefty"s CIGARETTE BUTTS. Runs a VACUUMthrough the car. SPRAYS the inside with a can of AIR FRESHENER.*
Through the car wash in his Cadillac, tiles his chair back as the wet cloth slaps at the windows. Then he breathes deeply, runs a hand through his· hair, groans, and, in the privacy of the soap suds, exposes the tension he has hidden all day.
16INT. NIGHT. OFFICE16
TIM CURLEY, an OFFICE WORKERin shirtsleeves, answers the phone.
He CR.l\DLES the phone with his shoulder, TYPES.
As Curley types, we catch FRAGMENTS.. .
Then: ... BENJAMIN RUGGIERO, a.k.a. LEFTY, a.k.a. LEFTY GUNS, a.k.a. LEFTY TWO GUNS... (carriage return) ... a.k.a HALF COCK, a.k.a. HORSE COCK...
Then: ... Special Agent JOSEPH D. PISTONE ...
Then: .. . in an undercover capacity utilizing the name DON BRASCO...
CURL.:.f Okay. G'night.
Curley hangs up the phone. Slides the sheet into his OUT box.
A Fonn 302, with the heading,
FEDERAL BUREAUOF INVESTIGATION
17EXT. NIGHT. TURNPIKE--REST STOP17
With a sigh, Donnie hangs up a PAY PHONE. Moves to his yellow CADILLAC COUPE DE VILLE, parked alongside the pay phone.
18INT. NIGHT. PISTONE HOME--NEWJERSEY18
The lights are out as Donnie enters. Closes the door silently. Slips off his shoes. 'I'iptoes upstairs. !-loves along a dark corridor ...
INSIDE THE BEDROO!-!
M.~GGIE, 30, blonde and energetic, sleeps in a king-sized bed. Donnie, strinned down to his shorts now, slios into bed beside her. She turns as he touches her, half-awake-as he kisses her ears, her mouth ... He unbuttons her nightie and it falls away ... They begin to make love passionately ...
Donnie runs nis ringer along a line between her breasts and down her belly ... As his hand turns, we see on his ring finger
AN IRISH cr.A.!)DAGHRING
Hands holding a heart, with a crown on it, symbolizing love, friendship, and loyalty ...
Then his ha.~C continues do;,.;n her bellv and out of fra.~e, as she moa.,s ... She bites his ear a.,d he rolls on top of her ...
19INT. MORNING. PISTONE HOME--BEDROOM19
SUNLIGHT on }!aggie' s face as she rolls over and we see that Donnie is GOc\l-:S. ;;..s TER.1".Y,8, runs in wearing a BRA, chased by SHER.1".Y,11.
Haggie wakes t:p, disoriented, as the girls wrestle over the bra and KER.""-Y,7, nms in and JUMPS on top of her.
Where's Joe? Was that him last night? Or a dream?
Donnie waits outside in his Cadillac with the motor running.* Watches the street. Dnnns on the steering wheel.*
CUT TO:*