WARNING: The following article may contain brief objectionable language.
"Point Break" is an action/crime drama about a bright, newly-minted FBI agent named John "Johnny" Utah (played by Keanu Reeves) who goes undercover as a surfer in order to infiltrate an amazingly successful and elusive gang of four bank robbers. In addition to the unusual fact that the main character's name is "Utah" and the original title of the script was "Johnny Utah," this movie has another Latter-day Saint connection: Latter-day Saints are mentioned by name in the screenplay in a line referring to "yuppie Mormon" FBI agents. Johnny Utah's FBI supervisor Special Agent Ben Harp (who is apparently called a "Mormon" by Johnny Utah's partner), asks Johnny questions that amount to telling him to keep the Word of Wisdom.
The screenplay for "Point Break" was credited to W. Peter Iliff, based on an original story by Iliff and Rick King. Peter Iliff's script began about four years before the movie's release -- as a project for director Ridley Scott. A number of sources indicate that the film's director Kathryn Bigelow and executive producer James Cameron also contributed significantly to the writing, and are uncredited co-writers of the film. Bigelow and Cameron were married for a few years, but were divorced in the same year that "Point Break" was released.
It is likely that in the original screenplay, Supervising Agent Ben Harp was written as a Latter-day Saint character. In addition to Harp's missionary-like appearance, his Word of Wisdom speech, and the line that Johnny Utah's partner speaks about a "yuppie Mormon" FBI agent, Harp's dialogue in screenwriter W. Peter Iliff's script is free of curse words and profanities that active Latter-day Saint consider inappropriate. This stands out because virtually all of the other characters in the movie swear liberally. However, Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron re-wrote the screenplay considerably, and other dialogue changes appears to have been made during filming. Thus, the character of Ben Harp does swear in the movie. Also, the overt spoken reference to him being a Mormon has been omitted. The result is that a major character who was probably written as a Latter-day Saint in the screenplay seems less like one in the finished movie, and the movie has no overt references identifying him as such. People watching the movie almost certainly do not think of Agent Ben Harp as a Mormon.
Although Keanu Reeves is certainly the main character in "Point Break," and is on screen throughout most of the film, Reeves actually received second-billing in the movie. Co-star Patrick Swayze received top billing for his role as "Bodhi," the surfer who befriends Reeve's character, before Reeves learns that Bodhi is actually the leader of the "Ex-Presidents" bank robbery gang. "Point Break" was the first movie that Swayze appeared in after the release of his hugely popular supernatural romantic drama "Ghost" (1990). "Point Break" was released a few years before Keanu Reeves reached his later levels of superstardom achieved throgh movies such as "Speed" and the "Matrix" trilogy.
It is not entirely clear why the main character in "Point Break" is named "Utah." This is not a nickname for the character. The character's actual, legal name is "John Utah," and he is called "Agent Utah" throughout the film by fellow FBI agents. In this way, "Point Break" contrasts with the movie "One Night at McCool's," in which one of the main characters is known by everybody only as "Utah" (apparently because he is a lapsed Mormon), but his legal name is Earl Raymond Pitts. "Utah" is an actual surname, although it is extremely rare. As of this writing, phone books show two listings for families with this surname living in Ohio (where Johnny Utah's parents live), but none in California. There is no indication whatsoever that Johnny Utah is a Latter-day Saint or has ever lived in Utah.
The writer of "Point Break" may have named his protagonist "Johnny Utah" in order to underscore the by-the-book, reserved nature of the character in the beginning of the film. This persona contrasts with Johnny Utah's looser, more "spiritual," more life-embracing self after he learns lessons from the waves and from his New Age/Buddhist-inspired surfer/bank robber friend Bodhi (Swayze). Or the writer may have simply thought that "Johnny Utah" sounded like a cool action hero name.
James Cameron wasn't the original writer of "Point Break," and he did not choose the name "Johnny Utah." In an interview with Omni magazine (http://www.ldsfilm.com/directors/Cameron.html), Cameron said that he re-wrote the screenplay for "Point Break," which he was attracted to because of the script's wave motif. He does not surf, but he has a long-standing fascination with waves. Cameron noted that the script "was called Johnny Utah originally; there were nine drafts of the script floating around. The idea of surfing and the psychology of that was very interesting to me."
In this same interview, James Cameron states that thirteen years before making "Point Break," he was able to make his first feature film because he received funding from a group of wealthy Latter-day Saint dentists.
It is also interesting to note that the film editor for "Point Break" was Howard E. Smith, a native of Clearfield, Utah (born 5 December 1945). He is credited as "Howard Smith" in the film's opening credits.
In an interview conducted at the time that "Point Break" was released, Keanu Reeves said: "One of the things I dug was his name. I'm playing Johnny Utah, y'know? The energy from that name, like Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana -- it's all in there." (Source: "Typecasting? Bogus! Keanu Reeves likes Ted but prefers a character change," written by Bob Strauss of the Los Angeles Daily News, published in the Chicago Tribune, 18 July 1991; URL: http://www.reevesdrive.com/newsarchive/1991/chtrib91.htm).
"Point Break" begins with Johnny Utah arriving in Los Angeles, his first post after becoming an FBI agent. He is partnered with an experienced but possibly burnt out partner, Special Agent Angelo Pappas (played by Gary Busey). Busey (along with many other FBI agents) is working on tracking down the "Ex-Presidents," a gang of four successful bank robbers who wear rubber masks bearing the likenesses of Presidents Reagan, Nixon, Carter and Johnson. The Ex-Presidents have struck Los Angeles area banks over two dozen times in the previous few years, without leaving any physical evidence pointing to who they might be. Johnny Utah, who was in the top 2% of his graduating class, thinks he can contribute to solving the case. He goads Special Agent Pappas into telling him his theory of the case, a theory that is so far-fetched that the other FBI agents have ridiculed him for it to the point that he won't speak about it any more: Agent Pappas thinks the bank robbers are surfers.
Soon after being assigned to work with Special Agent Pappas (Busey), Johnny Utah (Reeves) is trying to come up with some new ideas for catching the Ex-Presidents. Johnny Utah's eager nature annoys Pappas, who tells him to forget about the case, and let other FBI agents handle it. In the screenplay, Special Agent Pappas specifically refers to Latter-day Saints among their fellow FBI agents, telling Special Agent Utah: "Forget about it, kid. They're ghosts. Let the goddamn yuppie Mormon affirmative action assholes handle it."
The "ghosts" Special Agent Pappas refers to here are the four bank robbers known as the "Ex-Presidents." He calls them "ghosts" because they have been so successful at eluding capture and committing their crimes without leaving any useful clues. It is amusingly ironic that the leader of these "ghost"-like bank robbers is played by Patrick Swayze, who played an actual ghost in the movie he made right before this one: "Ghost" (1990).
It is not entirely clear what Special Agent Pappas means when he speaks of "yuppie Mormon affirmative action a--holes," but he is probably speaking of the leadership at the FBI's Los Angeles office, which emphasizes investigation through extensive database mining, lab work, statistical analysis and other new-fangled, office-bound methods that the "old school" Pappas seems to chafe at.
Special Agent Ben Harp -- Pappas and Utah's uncompromising, strident FBI supervisor -- is probably a Mormon, or at least seems like one to Pappas. Special Agent Harp (played by John C. McGinley) looks and dresses even more like a Latter-day Saint Elder than the other FBI agents in the buttoned-down Los Angeles FBI office. When Johnny Utah first meets his new boss, the first conversation that Special Agent Ben Harp has with Johnny Utah amounts to telling him to keep the Word of Wisdom (the health code of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints):
Screenplay by W. Peter Iliff Draft script |
|
HARP
Eating solid breakfasts, Utah?
UTAH
Sir?
HARP
All the food groups? Avoiding
sugar? Caffeine? I see to it that
my people maintain cardiovascular
fitness. We stay off hard liquor,
cigarettes...
UTAH
(poker face)
I take the skin off chicken.
|
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP (John C. McGinley): You eat a solid breakfast, Utah?
SPECIAL AGENT JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Sir? SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: All the food groups? Avoiding caffeine, sugar? I like to make sure that all my people maintain sound cardiovascular fitness. We don't drink and we sure as hell don't smoke. SPECIAL AGENT JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Sir, I take the skin off chicken. SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Good man. |
John C. McGinley has the 5th-billed role in the movie for his role as (apparently) Mormon FBI agent Ben Harp. In the draft screenplay by W. Peter Iliff, the scenes with Supervising Agent Ben Harp comprise 372 lines of the script's total 6623 lines (5.6%).
It is interesting to compare undercover agent Keanu Reeves' supervisor at the FBI in "Point Break" to undercover agent Johnny Depp's supervisor at the FBI in the movie "Donnie Brasco" (1997). The basic plot of the two movies is very similar: An FBI agent goes undercover to break up a criminal enterprise, but finds himself feeling close to the criminals he is investigating and becomes close friends with one of them. In "Donnie Brasco," Johnny Depp's boss specifically tells Depp that he is a Mormon (when he tells him to not use vulgar langauge). Both of these LDS FBI supervisors serve essentially the same function. They seem like rigid jerks who don't fully appreciate or understand what the undercover agents are going through, and so they give the undercover agents a hard time when they break protocol or defy expectations.
In the final released version of the movie, the dialogue in the scene during which Johnny Utah examines the bank robbers' stolen getaway car has been changed considerably, and the overt reference to Latter-day Saints has been omitted. This line about Mormon FBI agents has been shortened to: "Listen, forget about it, kid. They are ghosts."
Screenplay by W. Peter Iliff Draft script |
|
UTAH
Well, what're your ideas on these
guys?
PAPPAS
Forget about it, kid. They're
ghosts. Let the goddamn yuppie
Mormon affirmative action assholes
handle it. See I'm almost 55... so
I must be senile, right? They
better get me out before I start
pissing myself in public. Drooling.
It would look bad for the Bureau,
right?
|
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): ...So a guy with that kind of time in must have a theory about these guys.
SPECIAL AGENT PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Leave it alone, Johnny. JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Okay, fine. You've given up. Fine. It doesn't mean I have to. SPECIAL AGENT PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Hey, hey. Listen, forget about it, kid. They are ghosts. |
Below is the dialogue from this entire scene as it can actually be heard in the film. In the released version of the movie, the lines have been moved around and changed considerably from how they appear in the screenplay. The following scene begins 9 minutes, 40 seconds after the start of the film:
[EXT. A foothill overlooking Los Angeles, the city where the movie takes place. Nighttime. Police vehicles and crime scene investigators are present. A car is hooked to a tow truck. A photographer takes pictues. Johnny Utah is sitting in the passenger seat of the car, looking it over with a flashlight. Another police officer with a flashlight stands behind him.]
FBI SPECIAL AGENT JOHNNY 'JOHN' UTAH (Keanu Reeves): This car doesn't have A.C. It was a scorcher.
CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATOR HALSEY (Jack Kehler): Sweat secretions in the seatbacks.
[The crime scene investigator moves away. Johnny Utah's partner Special Agent Angelo Pappas leans in.]
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Are you through, Mr. Wizard? Let me know if you find Jimmy Hoffa under the seat while you're at it.
[Special Agent Pappas stands up straight and Special Agent Johnny Utah gets out of the car. They both stand next to vehicle. Pappas looks at his wristwatch.] Oh, look at this. It's 7:30. Why, the night is still so young. The way you're goin', you're gonna be able to solve this case and start another one, huh? Drop car, my a--.
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): You been workin' bank robbery, what, twenty-two years?
SPECIAL AGENT PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Yeah. Twenty-two years. Man, L.A. has changed a lot during that time. The air got dirty and the sex got clean.
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Uh huh. So a guy with that kind of time in must have a theory about these guys.
SPECIAL AGENT PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Leave it alone, Johnny.
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Okay, fine. You've given up. Fine. It doesn't mean I have to.
SPECIAL AGENT PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Hey, hey. Listen, forget about it, kid. They are ghosts.
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Yeah, of course. What am I thinking? If you couldn't crack it with all your years of experience it's impossible to conceive that I might have something to offer, right? Well maybe I can do better than some over-the-hill burnout.
SPECIAL AGENT PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Watch your mouth.
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Maybe you better just take some early retirement right now and get some rent-a-cop night security job. Tell 'Nam stories.
[Johnny Utah and Pappas shout the next few lines at each other.]
SPECIAL AGENT PAPPAS (Gary Busey): [Grabs Johnny Utah by the lapels] Listen, you snot-nosed little sh--! I was takin' shrapnel in Que Sad while you were crappin' in your hands and rubbin' it on your face.
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): You mad?
SPECIAL AGENT PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Yeah! I'm mad!
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Good and mad?!
SPECIAL AGENT PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Yeah! What do you wanna do about it?!
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Feels good, doesn't it? Like you're still alive, right?!
SPECIAL AGENT PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Yeah!!!
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Well, since you're still alive, and you're not in the box just yet, why don't you tell me this theory of yours and we'll get these guys!
SPECIAL AGENT PAPPAS (Gary Busey): [Panting after the exertion of their shouting match.] Okay, hotshot. You wanna nail the bank robbers and be a big hero?
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Definitely.
SPECIAL AGENT PAPPAS (Gary Busey): "Definitely." Then here it is. The Ex-Presidents are surfers.
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Surfers.
SPECIAL AGENT PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Surfers.
[End of scene. In the next scene, Special Agent Pappas is showing Johnny Utah the clues that have led him to believe the bank robbers are surfers.]
Below is the same scene from the transcript above, as it is written in the script by W. Peter Iliff. This particular script is labelled "Draft Script," and may be different from the actual shooting script.
EXT. MULHOLLAND SCENIC TURNOUT - NIGHT
The diamond field of LA glitters below. The small parking
area off Mulholland is filled with squad cars. Red and
blue disco.
A flock of UNIFORMS milling about a non-descript CHEVY.
INT. SEDAN FRONT SEAT
FLASHLIGHT BEAM prowls the interior, stopping on a small
printed card, folded like a pup tent, left upon the bench
seat. It reads "Sanitized For Your Protection."
PAPPAS
Cute huh? They love to f--- with
us.
UTAH & PAPPAS pull their heads out of the sedan. Forensic
expert, HALSEY, stands behind them.
PAPPAS
Don't tell me, let me guess. The
switch-car was stolen this morning...
(Halsey is nodding
his head)
They vacuumed and 409'd the
interior, did the windows, emptied
the ashtrays...
HALSEY
Yeah, the usual drill.
Utah pulls on a rubber glove and lifts the card off the
seat. Studies it. Talks to Halsey like Halsey's the one
that just out of Quantico, not Utah.
UTAH
Could've taken their gloves off
before setting that card. Laser it
for prints. Maybe held it to his
teeth -- check the edges for saliva.
(a beat)
Today was a scorcher. This Chevy
doesn't have air conditioning...
HALSEY
Sweat secretions in the seatbacks?
PAPPAS
You through, Mr. Wizard? Let me
know if you find Jimmy Hoffa under
the seat while you're at it.
(looks at his watch)
Hell, it's only 7:30. The night's
still young... you can solve this
case and start on another one.
UTAH
Well, what're your ideas on these
guys?
PAPPAS
Forget about it, kid. They're
ghosts. Let the goddamn yuppie
Mormon affirmative action assholes
handle it. See I'm almost 55... so
I must be senile, right? They
better get me out before I start
pissing myself in public. Drooling.
It would look bad for the Bureau,
right?
UTAH
So you're gonna coast to retirement,
when you could nail these guys and
go out with come dignity.
PAPPAS
You watch your f---ing mouth!
(pounds his chest)
Mr. Hoover himself pinned the Seal
of Honor right here!
The two men glare at each other. Utah looks away.
UTAH
Sorry.
PAPPAS
Yeah. That was thirty years ago
anyway.
(stares out at the
bright horizon)
L.A.'s changed a lot since then.
The air got dirty and the sex got
clean.
(after a beat)
So you want to nail the Ex-
Presidents? Be a big hero?
UTAH
Yeah. What's your theory?
PAPPAS
The f---ing punks are surfers.
[CUT TO: Ext. Los Angeles International Airport. An airplane lands.]
[CUT TO: Int. Entrance to the main Los Angeles FBI field office.]
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Hi. Johnny Utah.
FBI RECEPTIONIST (Marsha L. Carter): [Picks up phone and speaks into it.] Your nine o'clock appointment is here. [Points to a door.]
[Sound of a buzzer. Johnny Utah opens a door and walks through. Sound of a buzzer again. Johnny Utah opens a second door and walks through into a room already buzzing with FBI agent activity. Supervising Agent Ben Harp sees Johnny Utah and they beginning walking down hallways while Harp speaks to him.]
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP (John C. McGinley): Special Agent John Utah. Day number one in L.A. Welcome aboard. Been going over your personnel record. Very impressive.
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Thank you.
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: You may very well have been in the top two percent in your class at Quantico, but quite frankly, son, out here you have exactly zero hours of experience in the field. You know nothing. In fact, you know less than nothing. If you even knew that you knew nothing, that'd be something, but you don't.
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Yes, sir.
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: You eat a solid breakfast, Utah?
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Sir?
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: All the food groups? Avoiding caffeine, sugar? I like to make sure that all my people maintain sound cardiovascular fitness. We don't drink and we sure as hell don't smoke.
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Sir, I take the skin off chicken.
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Good man... Now, this is us. Bank robbery. You are now in the bank robbery capital of the world.
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Thirteen hundred and twenty-two last year in L.A. County, up twenty-six percent from the year before.
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: That's correct, and we nailed over one thousand of them. Miss Deer, take a look at that for me? [Hands a file to a woman.] Thank you. Do you know how we nail the bad guys, Utah? Do you know how we nail 'em? By crunching data. Good crime scene work. Good lab work. And most importantly, good database analysis. Special Agent Utah, are you receiving my signal?
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Zero distortion, sir.
[Ben Harp looks at Johnny Utah, and sees that Utah has picked up a donut from somebody's desk.]
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): I love these things.
[Johnny Utah puts the donut in his mouth. Ben Harp laughs, but is not really amused.]
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Now, you're a real blue-flame special, aren't you son? Young, dumb and full of [expletive]. I know. What I don't know is how-- how you got yourself assigned out here to Los Angeles with us. I mean, hell, I guess we just must have ourselves an asshole shortage, huh?
[Ben Harp smiles and winks at Johnny Utah, having joked with and insulted Johnny at the same time. He walks away.]
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): [Watching Ben Harp walk away.] Not so far.
[End of scene. End Timecode: 5 minutes, 6 seconds after start of film. Length of scene above: 2 minutes, 0 seconds.]
Start Timecode: 9 minutes, 8 seconds:
[CUT TO: Int. a bank in Los Angeles. In the previous scene the four expert bank robbers known as the "Ex-Presidents" have robbed the bank. Now FBI agents -- including Johnny Utah Pappas, Babbit, and Alvarez -- are looking at surveilance video and examining the crime scene Two other FBI agents have been ribbing Pappas about his theory that the bank robbers are surfers. In the background we see Supervising Agent Ben Harp approach from the bank entrance.]
SPECIAL AGENT ALVAREZ (Julian Reyes): Hang ten, Pappas! Like, totally rad, dude! [Laughing, and speaking to Johnny Utah.] I tell ya, the department loves it.
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): [Asking Pappas] What's he talking about, Angelo?
[Harp reaches them. He starts speaking to Agents Babbit and Alvarez.]
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: We found the drop car up on Mulholland Drive. I'd like you two--
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): We'll go work it.
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Oh, no. [Bowing his head slightly, expressing disdain for the idea that his greenie partner is volunteer them for a duty he finds distasteful.]
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Angelo.
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): [To Pappas] Come on.
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): [To Johnny Utah] Thank you. [To Ben Harp] We'll go work it.
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Good.
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Excuse me.
[Johnny Utah and Pappas walk away, to head to where the drop car (stolen getaway vehicle) has been found. End Timecode: 9 minutes, 31 seconds after start of film. Length of scene above: 22 seconds.]
Start Timecode: 27 minutes, 35 seconds:
[CUT TO: A bank of television monitors shows Johnny Utah walking in the entrance of the FBI building, wearing surfer beach attire and carrying a surfboard.]
[CUT TO: Int. Ben Harp's office at the Los Angeles FBI headquarters. Johnny Utah stands quietly with his surf board. Pappas is next to him. Both wear beach clothes. Ben Harp is dressed in a white button-down shirt and tie. Ben Harp is lecturing them.]
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Special Agent Utah. This is not some job flippin' burgers at the local drive-in. Yes, the surfboard bothers me. Yes, your approach to this whole goddamn case bothers me. And yes, you bother me! And Pappas! Ohh, for the love of Christ. Just how the hell did I even let you talk me into this whole bone-headed idea to begin with?
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Harp, we're workin' undercover. It takes time. We produced a few--
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: No, no, no, no! NO!! Let me tell you what you produced! Over the last two weeks you two have produced exactly squat! Squat!! During which time, the Ex-Presidents have robbed two more banks! Now, for Christ's sake, does either one of you have anything even remotely interesting to tell me?
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): I caught my first tube this morning, sir.
["Tube" is a surfing term.]
[End of scene. End Timecode: 28 minutes, 32 seconds after start of film. Length of scene above: 57 seconds.]
Start Timecode: 57 minutes, 25 seconds:
[CUT TO: Int. A Los Angeles home that where a gang of surfer drug dealers live. Agents Johnny Utah and Pappas have concluded that the surfers who live here are the Ex-Presidents bank robbery gang. They raided the home, causing a shoot-out. In the end, they uncovered no evidence that these surfers are the bank robbers they have been looking for. Instead, the people living there are drug dealers. An undercover D.E.A. agent dressed like a surfer is showing Special Agent Johnny Utah a box in which a small amount of illegal narcotics had been stashed. Supervisor Ben Harp stands to the side.]
UNDERCOVER D.E.A. AGENT DEETS (Tom Sizemore): [Curses] Oh, hi, the cowboys, right. You're the real cowboys, right? Batman and Robin? You know what this is, huh? You know what this is, punk? This is two keys. ["keys"=kilos, or kilograms] Uncut. Crystal meth.
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Sh--.
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Special Agent Utah, I'd like you to meet Agent Deets. Works for the D.E.A. He was working deep cover until you--
AGENT DEETS (Tom Sizemore): You think I like this hair, man?! Huh? You think I like these clothes? My wife wants me to stay at Ramada. I been working on these [expletive] for three months! Three months! Now I finally got 'em wantin' to play Wheel-of-Fortune with me so I can found who their supply house is, and you [expletive] cowboys show up.
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Nice tatoo, Deets.
AGENT DEETS (Tom Sizemore): Oh, you like that, Pappas, huh? [Expletive] you!
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: He has a record of your suspects' movements for every day over the last three months.
AGENT DEETS (Tom Sizemore): [To Pappas] All I want to know, smart guy, okay, all I want to know, is how are these are guys robbin' Tarzana City National Bank on August 2nd when they were in Fort [Expletive] Lauderdale August 2nd. [To Johnny Utah] Why don't you figure that out?
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: It's not an easy thing to do, is it, Utah?
AGENT DEETS (Tom Sizemore): [Expletive] jerks! [Walks out of the room.]
[Johnny Utah says nothing. But his face shows that he knows he has made a huge mistake. Supervising Agent Ben Harp just looks at him disapprovingly, but says nothing and walks out of the room.]
[End Timecode: 58 minutes, 27 seconds after start of film. Length of scene above: 2 minutes, 2 seconds.]
Start Timecode: 1 hour, 34 minutes, 51 seconds:
[CUT TO: Int. Another Los Angeles bank. In the previous scene the Ex-Presidents robbed the bank, and they had Johnny Utah with them. They are holding his girlfriend Tyler Ann Endicott (Lori Petty) hostage, and thus forced him to help them rob the bank. To implicate him in their crime and thwart his investigation of them, they wore their usual President masks, but did not give him a mask. The usually smooth bank robbery was botched and three people were killed after a plain-clothes policeman tried to intervene. As the surviving Ex-Presidents fled, Bodhi cold-cocked Johnny, knocking him unconscious. This scene begins with Supervising Agent Ben Harp entering the bank, enraged about what has happened.]
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Ah, [profanity], who's in charge of this camera crew? This is a crime scene, for Christ's sake. Get' em the [expletive] out of here!
[Police officers begin pushing a news camera crew outside.]
POLICE: All right. Come on, let's go! Out!
[Special Agent Alvarez is putting handcuffs on a bruised and banged up Johnny Utah.]
SPECIAL AGENT ALVAREZ: You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. If you so desire, an attorney will be provided for you free of cost. Now, do you understand these rights I've just given you, Utah? Do you understand? Do you understand the rights I've just read you, Utah?
[Pappas enters the bank, sees Johnny Utah being cuffed, and rushes over to him.]
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Hey! [Pushes Alvarez away.] He understands his [profanity] rights. [To Johnny Utah] Jesus Christ, kid, are you okay? Here, stand up. [To Alvarez] Get these cuffs off.
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Leave the cuffs on!
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Now. Get 'em off!
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Leave 'em on!!
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Oh, boy.
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: You're partner's an accessory to murder. You understand that, Pappas? Utah, there are three dead people. One of 'ems a police officer. Huh? Let me show you something, pal. [Pulls him a few feet to where he can see the dead police officer on the floor.] How does that sit in your stomach? Huh?
JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Take your hand off me right now.
[Pushes Harp, separating him from Utah.]
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Harp. Harp. Listen. Look at me! Look at me! Don't sit him in with the black-and-whites like some punk. Let me ride him in.
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Yeah, sure, Angelo. Why not? I mean, that's why I put you two screw-ups together to begin with. You deserve each other, don't you? I mean, you're just as bad as he is. Only you're a little fatter, you're a little slower, and a little more pathetic. Crissake. It's like the blind leading the blind with you.
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Harp, I wanna tell you somethin'. I was in this Bureau when you were still poppin' zits on your funny face, and jackin' off to the lingerie section of the Sears Catalog.
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Is that right, Pappas?
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Yes, that's right, Harp. And there's one thing I learned out of all these years that you still haven't got.
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Oh yeah? Why don't you astonish me, sh--face.
[Pappas pulls his arm back and punches Ben Harp as hard as he can in the face, knocking the man to the floor.]
SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Respect for my elders. Plain and simple. [To Johnny Utah] Come on, kid. Let's go.
[Close up on Ben Harp's face on the floor. He is out cold.]
[End Timecode: 1 hour, 36 minutes, 24 seconds after start of film. Length of scene above: 1 minute, 35 seconds.]
The total length of the scenes featuring Supervising Agent Ben Harp is: 6 minutes, 56 seconds, or 5.7% of the film's total running time. The 5.7% of screen time that Ben Harp is featured in is almost identical to the 5.6% figure calculated from the screenplay (372 lines from scenes featuring him out of the script's total of 6623 lines).
EXT. FEDERAL BUILDING
Looking down the face of the concrete monolith at Wilshire
and Veteran. Ant-like, Johnny Utah's tiny figure moves
toward the entrance.
VOICE (OVER) [Ben Harp]
Day One in LA, special agent Utah.
You may have been top two percent of
your class at Quantico but you have
exactly zero hours in the field
here. You know nothing...
INT. FEDERAL BUILDING - FBI BULLPEN
Supervising Agent BEN HARP leads Utah across the bullpen.
Rows of desks. Agents sitting at computer terminals.
Data hell. Looks like he got a job at Xerox.
HARP
You know less than nothing. If you
even knew that you knew nothing, at
least that would be something, but
you don't.
UTAH
Yes, sir.
Utah is wearing a suit, carrying a briefcase. Harp is
mid-thirties, confident of stride, tanned of skin, perfect
of hair. GQ. Aggressive.
HARP
Eating solid breakfasts, Utah?
UTAH
Sir?
HARP
All the food groups? Avoiding
sugar? Caffeine? I see to it that
my people maintain cardiovascular
fitness. We stay off hard liquor,
cigarettes...
UTAH
(poker face)
I take the skin off chicken.
Harp glances at him, eyes narrowing. They reach a
glassed-in compound of small offices. Harp swings the
door open and the other agents look up as Utah enters.
HARP
This is us. Bank Robbery. And
you're in the bank-robbery capital
of the world--
UTAH
1322 last year in LA county. Up 26
percent from the year before.
HARP
That's right. And we nailed over a
thousand of them. We did it by
crunching data. Good crime-scene
work, good lab work, good data-base
analysis. Nobody had to tackle a
car once. You getting the signal,
special agent?
UTAH
Zero distortion, sir.
He picks up a donut from someone's desk, a succulent
glazed jelly.
UTAH
I love these things.
He looks right at Harp. Takes a big f----you bite.
HARP
You're a real blue-flame special,
aren't you, Utah? I don't know why
they sent you to LA. Must be an
asshole shortage.
UTAH
Not so far.
End Timecode: 5 minutes, 6 seconds after start of film.
Start Timecode: 9 minutes, 8 seconds:
Harp raps glass. Cole and Munoz look sharp.
Harp enters addressing Pappas and Utah.
HARP
They found the drop car up on
Mulholland. I want you two to go
work it.
PAPPAS
What? Now I'm working the drop car?
Who's handling the scene here?
HARP
Cole and Munoz. I'm uh... letting
them run with the ball for a while.
Cole and Munoz gloat.
PAPPAS
Cole and Munoz? I been on this case
for two years.
HARP
(zeroing in on
Pappas)
That's the point, isn't it?
PAPPAS
Yeah, I get it. Time to play let's
dick the old guys, huh, Harp?
HARP
Supervising Special Agent, Harp.
Now I want you to go work the drop
car, okay, Angelo? Okay?
The Greek rises like a proud bull.
PAPPAS
Sure. No problem. How about your
office? Your office need vacuuming?
We could do that too.
Pappas and Utah move toward the door. It's a tight
squeeze as they pass Cole and Munoz. Especially Pappas.
PAPPAS
Excuse me.
Read as f--- you.
End Timecode: 9 minutes, 31 seconds after start of film.
Start Timecode: 27 minutes, 35 seconds:
INT. BULLPEN
Utah tries to act casual as he carries the board to his
desk on the other side of the room. He has to walk past
the entire gauntlet to get there.
SEVERAL AGENTS
Gnarly, man... hang ten...
cowabunga... surf patrol... rip it
up!
Harp comes straight for him like a homing missile.
HARP
How was the beach?
UTAH
Fine.
HARP
Surf conditions okay?
UTAH
A little mushy.
HARP
A little mushy! You think the
taxpayers would like it, Utah, if
they knew they were paying a federal
agent to surf and pick up girls?
UTAH
Babes.
HARP
What?
UTAH
The correct term is babes, sir. Uh,
this type of undercover operation is
entirely dependent on picking up the
idiom of the speech. Otherwise
penetration is not possible, sir.
Of the social infrastructure, I
mean.
Harp inhales through his nose. A bad sign.
HARP
Where is Pappas?
Utah points across the room. Harp turns.
PAPPAS, sitting behind his desk in his "Surf This" T-shirt
and pink shorts, lifts the purple Vuarnets like Tom Cruise
in Risky Business.
Looks directly at Harp. Smiles innocently.
INT. HARP'S OFFICE
Harp paces. Type-A suppressed rage.
Utah and Pappas endure Harp's wrath.
HARP
Special Agent Utah, this is not some
job flippin' burgers at the drive-in.
Yes, the surfboard bothers me. Yes,
your approach to this case bothers
me. And yes, you bother me. You
two have produced squat in the last
two weeks, during which time the Ex-
Presidents have robbed two more
banks!! Do you have anything even
remotely interesting to tell me?
UTAH
Caught my first tube this morning.
Pappas signals, unseen by Harp, for Utah to shut the f---
up.
End Timecode: 28 minutes, 32 seconds.
Timecode: 57 minutes, 25 seconds:
HARP emerges from the interrogation room, we hear a sliver
of Warchild's battle cry. He spies Utah.
HARP
This is agent Dietz, DEA. He's got
a record of your suspect's movements
every day for the last three months.
DIETZ
(stabbing the air
with the packets)
All I wanna know is how are these
guys supposed to be holding up
Tarzana City National on August 2nd,
when they are in Fort-f---ing-
Lauderdale August 2ND!!!
HARP
Not an easy thing to do, is it,
Utah?
UTAH
Aw sh--.
PAPPAS
Nice tattoo, Dietz.
End Timecode: 58 minutes, 27 seconds
Start Timecode: 1 hour, 34 minutes, 51 seconds:
INT./ EXT. FIRST SECURITY BANK - LATER
Ten minutes later the bank "crime scene" is in full swing.
UNIFORM COPS are everywhere, trying to get statements from
sobbing witnesses. HARP, MUNOZ, COLE AND PAPPAS represent
the FBI contingent. Cole has one arm strapped to his body
in a fairly elaborate sling, and he moves slowly.
Harp is barking orders to everyone in sight. Outside
(visible beyond the doors) it's total pandemonium, with
cops and ambulances, and of course a huge crowd of
rubberneckers. A MINICAM CREW shows up. Harp starts
shouting at them.
COLE, with evident pleasure, cinches down a pair of
handcuff's on Utah's wrists with his good hand. Johnny
has a deep cut on his forehead, and the blood is trickling
into his eyes, but he seems not to notice. Not to hear
MUNOZ speaking monotonously--
MUNOZ
-- if you so desire, an attorney
will be provided for you free of
cost. Do you understand these
rights I have explained to you?
Utah?
Pappas charges through the crowd, pushing Munoz aside.
PAPPAS
He knows his goddamn rights!
(looks at Utah)
Jesus, kid. I knew you were getting
too close to these guys.
(turns to the other
agents)
Gimme the goddamn key to these
things, Cole. Christ!
He gestures to the cuffs still cutting into Johnny's
wrists.
Cole hands him the key.
Harp storms toward them.
HARP
Don't take those off. Just leave
them on! Your partner's an
accessory to murder. You realize
that?
Harp spins Johnny by the shoulder to look at--
Paramedics carrying the covered body of the off-duty cop.
Beyond, still on the floor, is Grommet, his eyes staring
in death.
He was right about not making thirty.
HARP
Three men dead. One of them a cop.
How's that sit in your gut, Utah?
UTAH
(cold and scary)
Take your hand off my shoulder right
now.
Harp pulls back instinctively. Utah's eyes burn into him.
Looks like Johnny's not in the FBI anymore.
PAPPAS
Look, Harp. Don't turn him over to
the uniforms like some punk. Let me
ride him in.
HARP
Yeah, sure. Why not? You two
screw-ups deserve each other.
That's why I put you together in the
first place. Christ Pappas, you're
as bad as he is... talk about the
blind leading the blind--
Pappas steps close to the Supervising Agent.
PAPPAS
Harp, let me tell you something. I
was an agent in this bureau when
your mommy was still wiping your
shinny pink ass, and you know one
thing I learned in all those years
that you still haven't?
HARP
What that?
Angelo steps in with a roundhouse that has all of his 280
pounds behind it.
Harp's head snaps back, and he flops in a heap.
PAPPAS
Respect your elders.
(he takes Utah by
the arm)
Let's go kid.
Harp struggles to sit up, rubbing his jaw, as Pappas
stuffs Utah into his car. Harp is so shocked he doesn't
say a word.
End Timecode: 1 hour, 36 minutes, 24 seconds.
Screenplay by W. Peter Iliff Draft script |
||
VOICE (OVER) [Ben Harp]
Day One in LA, special agent Utah.
You may have been top two percent of
your class at Quantico but you have
exactly zero hours in the field
here. You know nothing...
HARP
You know less than nothing. If you
even knew that you knew nothing, at
least that would be something, but
you don't.
|
HARP: Special Agent John Utah. Day number one in L.A. Welcome aboard. Been going over your personnel record. Very impressive.
UTAH: Thank you. HARP: You may very well have been in the top two percent in your class at Quantico, but quite frankly, son, out here you have exactly zero hours of experience in the field. You know nothing. In fact, you know less than nothing. If you even knew that you knew nothing, that'd be something, but you don't. |
|
UTAH
Yes, sir.
|
UTAH: Yes, sir. | |
HARP
Eating solid breakfasts, Utah?
|
HARP: You eat a solid breakfast, Utah? | |
UTAH
Sir?
|
UTAH: Sir? | |
HARP
All the food groups? Avoiding
sugar? Caffeine? I see to it that
my people maintain cardiovascular
fitness. We stay off hard liquor,
cigarettes...
|
HARP: All the food groups? Avoiding caffeine, sugar? I like to make sure that all my people maintain sound cardiovascular fitness. We don't drink and we sure as hell don't smoke. | |
UTAH
I take the skin off chicken.
|
UTAH: Sir, I take the skin off chicken.
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Good man... |
|
HARP
This is us. Bank Robbery. And
you're in the bank-robbery capital
of the world--
|
HARP: Now, this is us. Bank robbery. You are now in the bank robbery capital of the world. | |
UTAH
1322 last year in LA county. Up 26
percent from the year before.
|
UTAH: 1322 last year in LA County. Up 26 percent from the year before. | |
HARP
That's right. And we nailed over a
thousand of them. We did it by
crunching data. Good crime-scene
work, good lab work, good data-base
analysis. Nobody had to tackle a
car once. You getting the signal,
special agent?
|
HARP: That's correct, and we nailed over one thousand of them. Miss Deer, take a look at that for me? Thank you. Do you know how we nail the bad guys, Utah? Do you know how we nail 'em? By crunching data. Good crime scene work. Good lab work. And most importantly, good database analysis. Special Agent Utah, are you receiving my signal? | |
UTAH
Zero distortion, sir.
|
UTAH: Zero distortion, sir. | |
He picks up a donut from someone's desk, a succulent glazed jelly. |
[Ben Harp looks at Johnny Utah, and sees that Utah has picked up a donut from somebody's desk.] | |
UTAH
I love these things.
|
UTAH: I love these things. | |
He looks right at Harp. Takes a big f----you bite. |
[Johnny Utah puts the donut in his mouth. Ben Harp laughs, but is not really amused.] | |
HARP
You're a real blue-flame special,
aren't you, Utah? I don't know why
they sent you to LA. Must be an
asshole shortage.
|
HARP: Now, you're a real blue-flame special, aren't you son? Young, dumb and full of [expletive]. I know. What I don't know is how-- how you got yourself assigned out here to Los Angeles with us. I mean, hell, I guess we just must have ourselves an asshole shortage, huh? | |
UTAH
Not so far.
|
JOHNNY: Not so far. | |
| [End of scene. Timecode: 5 minutes, 6 seconds after start of film. Length of scene above: 2 minutes, 0 seconds.] | ||
Screenplay by W. Peter Iliff Draft script |
||
|
[CUT TO: Int. a bank in Los Angeles. In the previous scene the four expert bank robbers known as the "Ex-Presidents" have robbed the bank. Now FBI agents -- including Johnny Utah Pappas, Babbit, and Alvarez -- are looking at surveilance video and examining the crime scene Two other FBI agents have been ribbing Pappas about his theory that the bank robbers are surfers. In the background we see Supervising Agent Ben Harp approach from the bank entrance.]
SPECIAL AGENT ALVAREZ (Julian Reyes): Hang ten, Pappas! Like, totally rad, dude! [Laughing, and speaking to Johnny Utah.] I tell ya, the department loves it. JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): [Asking Pappas] What's he talking about, Angelo? [Harp reaches them. He starts speaking to Agents Babbit and Alvarez.] SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: We found the drop car up on Mulholland Drive. I'd like you two-- JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): We'll go work it. SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Oh, no. [Bowing his head slightly, expressing disdain for the idea that his greenie partner is volunteer them for a duty he finds distasteful.] SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Angelo. JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): [To Pappas] Come on. SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): [To Johnny Utah] Thank you. [To Ben Harp] We'll go work it. SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Good. SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Excuse me. |
Harp raps glass. Cole and Munoz look sharp.
Harp enters addressing Pappas and Utah.
HARP
They found the drop car up on
Mulholland. I want you two to go
work it.
PAPPAS
What? Now I'm working the drop car?
Who's handling the scene here?
HARP
Cole and Munoz. I'm uh... letting
them run with the ball for a while.
Cole and Munoz gloat.
PAPPAS
Cole and Munoz? I been on this case
for two years.
HARP
(zeroing in on
Pappas)
That's the point, isn't it?
PAPPAS
Yeah, I get it. Time to play let's
dick the old guys, huh, Harp?
HARP
Supervising Special Agent, Harp.
Now I want you to go work the drop
car, okay, Angelo? Okay?
The Greek rises like a proud bull.
PAPPAS
Sure. No problem. How about your
office? Your office need vacuuming?
We could do that too.
Pappas and Utah move toward the door. It's a tight
squeeze as they pass Cole and Munoz. Especially Pappas.
PAPPAS
Excuse me.
Read as f--- you.
|
|
| [End of scene. Timecode: End Timecode: 9 minutes, 31 seconds after start of film. Length of scene above: 22 seconds.] | ||
Screenplay by W. Peter Iliff Draft script |
||
|
[CUT TO: A bank of television monitors shows Johnny Utah walking in the entrance of the FBI building, wearing surfer beach attire and carrying a surfboard.]
[CUT TO: Int. Ben Harp's office at the Los Angeles FBI headquarters. Johnny Utah stands quietly with his surf board. Pappas is next to him. Both wear beach clothes. Ben Harp is dressed in a white button-down shirt and tie. Ben Harp is lecturing them.] SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Special Agent Utah. This is not some job flippin' burgers at the local drive-in. Yes, the surfboard bothers me. Yes, your approach to this whole goddamn case bothers me. And yes, you bother me! And Pappas! Ohh, for the love of Christ. Just how the hell did I even let you talk me into this whole bone-headed idea to begin with? SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Harp, we're workin' undercover. It takes time. We produced a few-- SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: No, no, no, no! NO!! Let me tell you what you produced! Over the last two weeks you two have produced exactly squat! Squat!! During which time, the Ex-Presidents have robbed two more banks! Now, for Christ's sake, does either one of you have anything even remotely interesting to tell me? JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): I caught my first tube this morning, sir. ["Tube" is a surfing term.] |
INT. BULLPEN
Utah tries to act casual as he carries the board to his
desk on the other side of the room. He has to walk past
the entire gauntlet to get there.
SEVERAL AGENTS
Gnarly, man... hang ten...
cowabunga... surf patrol... rip it
up!
Harp comes straight for him like a homing missile.
HARP
How was the beach?
UTAH
Fine.
HARP
Surf conditions okay?
UTAH
A little mushy.
HARP
A little mushy! You think the
taxpayers would like it, Utah, if
they knew they were paying a federal
agent to surf and pick up girls?
UTAH
Babes.
HARP
What?
UTAH
The correct term is babes, sir. Uh,
this type of undercover operation is
entirely dependent on picking up the
idiom of the speech. Otherwise
penetration is not possible, sir.
Of the social infrastructure, I
mean.
Harp inhales through his nose. A bad sign.
HARP
Where is Pappas?
Utah points across the room. Harp turns.
PAPPAS, sitting behind his desk in his "Surf This" T-shirt
and pink shorts, lifts the purple Vuarnets like Tom Cruise
in Risky Business.
Looks directly at Harp. Smiles innocently.
INT. HARP'S OFFICE
Harp paces. Type-A suppressed rage.
Utah and Pappas endure Harp's wrath.
HARP
Special Agent Utah, this is not some
job flippin' burgers at the drive-in.
Yes, the surfboard bothers me. Yes,
your approach to this case bothers
me. And yes, you bother me. You
two have produced squat in the last
two weeks, during which time the Ex-
Presidents have robbed two more
banks!! Do you have anything even
remotely interesting to tell me?
UTAH
Caught my first tube this morning.
Pappas signals, unseen by Harp, for Utah to shut the f---
up.
|
|
| [End of scene. Timecode: End Timecode: 28 minutes, 32 seconds after start of film. Length of scene above: 57 seconds.] | ||
Screenplay by W. Peter Iliff Draft script |
||
|
[CUT TO: Int. A Los Angeles home that where a gang of surfer drug dealers live. Agents Johnny Utah and Pappas have concluded that the surfers who live here are the Ex-Presidents bank robbery gang. They raided the home, causing a shoot-out. In the end, they uncovered no evidence that these surfers are the bank robbers they have been looking for. Instead, the people living there are drug dealers. An undercover D.E.A. agent dressed like a surfer is showing Special Agent Johnny Utah a box in which a small amount of illegal narcotics had been stashed. Supervisor Ben Harp stands to the side.]
UNDERCOVER D.E.A. AGENT DEETS (Tom Sizemore): [Curses] Oh, hi, the cowboys, right. You're the real cowboys, right? Batman and Robin? You know what this is, huh? You know what this is, punk? This is two keys. ["keys"=kilos, or kilograms] Uncut. Crystal meth. SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Sh--. SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Special Agent Utah, I'd like you to meet Agent Deets. Works for the D.E.A. He was working deep cover until you-- AGENT DEETS (Tom Sizemore): You think I like this hair, man?! Huh? You think I like these clothes? My wife wants me to stay at Ramada. I been working on these [expletive] for three months! Three months! Now I finally got 'em wantin' to play Wheel-of-Fortune with me so I can found who their supply house is, and you [expletive] cowboys show up. SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Nice tatoo, Deets. AGENT DEETS (Tom Sizemore): Oh, you like that, Pappas, huh? [Expletive] you! SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: He has a record of your suspects' movements for every day over the last three months. AGENT DEETS (Tom Sizemore): [To Pappas] All I want to know, smart guy, okay, all I want to know, is how are these are guys robbin' Tarzana City National Bank on August 2nd when they were in Fort [Expletive] Lauderdale August 2nd. [To Johnny Utah] Why don't you figure that out? SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: It's not an easy thing to do, is it, Utah? AGENT DEETS (Tom Sizemore): [Expletive] jerks! [Walks out of the room.] [Johnny Utah says nothing. But his face shows that he knows he has made a huge mistake. Supervising Agent Ben Harp just looks at him disapprovingly, but says nothing and walks out of the room.] |
HARP emerges from the interrogation room, we hear a sliver
of Warchild's battle cry. He spies Utah.
HARP
This is agent Dietz, DEA. He's got
a record of your suspect's movements
every day for the last three months.
DIETZ
(stabbing the air
with the packets)
All I wanna know is how are these
guys supposed to be holding up
Tarzana City National on August 2nd,
when they are in Fort-f---ing-
Lauderdale August 2ND!!!
HARP
Not an easy thing to do, is it,
Utah?
UTAH
Aw sh--.
PAPPAS
Nice tattoo, Dietz.
|
|
| [End of scene. Timecode: End Timecode: 58 minutes, 27 seconds after start of film. Length of scene above: 2 minutes, 2 seconds.] | ||
Screenplay by W. Peter Iliff Draft script |
||
|
[CUT TO: Int. Another Los Angeles bank. In the previous scene the Ex-Presidents robbed the bank, and they had Johnny Utah with them. They are holding his girlfriend Tyler Ann Endicott (Lori Petty) hostage, and thus forced him to help them rob the bank. To implicate him in their crime and thwart his investigation of them, they wore their usual President masks, but did not give him a mask. The usually smooth bank robbery was botched and three people were killed after a plain-clothes policeman tried to intervene. As the surviving Ex-Presidents fled, Bodhi cold-cocked Johnny, knocking him unconscious. This scene begins with Supervising Agent Ben Harp entering the bank, enraged about what has happened.]
SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Ah, [profanity], who's in charge of this camera crew? This is a crime scene, for Christ's sake. Get' em the [expletive] out of here! [Police officers begin pushing a news camera crew outside.] POLICE: All right. Come on, let's go! Out! [Special Agent Alvarez is putting handcuffs on a bruised and banged up Johnny Utah.] SPECIAL AGENT ALVAREZ: You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. If you so desire, an attorney will be provided for you free of cost. Now, do you understand these rights I've just given you, Utah? Do you understand? Do you understand the rights I've just read you, Utah? [Pappas enters the bank, sees Johnny Utah being cuffed, and rushes over to him.] SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Hey! [Pushes Alvarez away.] He understands his [profanity] rights. [To Johnny Utah] Jesus Christ, kid, are you okay? Here, stand up. [To Alvarez] Get these cuffs off. SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Leave the cuffs on! SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Now. Get 'em off! SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Leave 'em on!! SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Oh, boy. SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: You're partner's an accessory to murder. You understand that, Pappas? Utah, there are three dead people. One of 'ems a police officer. Huh? Let me show you something, pal. [Pulls him a few feet to where he can see the dead police officer on the floor.] How does that sit in your stomach? Huh? JOHNNY UTAH (Keanu Reeves): Take your hand off me right now. [Pushes Harp, separating him from Utah.] SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Harp. Harp. Listen. Look at me! Look at me! Don't sit him in with the black-and-whites like some punk. Let me ride him in. SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Yeah, sure, Angelo. Why not? I mean, that's why I put you two screw-ups together to begin with. You deserve each other, don't you? I mean, you're just as bad as he is. Only you're a little fatter, you're a little slower, and a little more pathetic. Crissake. It's like the blind leading the blind with you. SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Harp, I wanna tell you somethin'. I was in this Bureau when you were still poppin' zits on your funny face, and jackin' off to the lingerie section of the Sears Catalog. SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Is that right, Pappas? SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Yes, that's right, Harp. And there's one thing I learned out of all these years that you still haven't got. SUPERVISING AGENT BEN HARP: Oh yeah? Why don't you astonish me, sh--face. [Pappas pulls his arm back and punches Ben Harp as hard as he can in the face, knocking the man to the floor.] SPECIAL AGENT ANGELO PAPPAS (Gary Busey): Respect for my elders. Plain and simple. [To Johnny Utah] Come on, kid. Let's go. [Close up on Ben Harp's face on the floor. He is out cold.] |
INT./ EXT. FIRST SECURITY BANK - LATER
Ten minutes later the bank "crime scene" is in full swing.
UNIFORM COPS are everywhere, trying to get statements from
sobbing witnesses. HARP, MUNOZ, COLE AND PAPPAS represent
the FBI contingent. Cole has one arm strapped to his body
in a fairly elaborate sling, and he moves slowly.
Harp is barking orders to everyone in sight. Outside
(visible beyond the doors) it's total pandemonium, with
cops and ambulances, and of course a huge crowd of
rubberneckers. A MINICAM CREW shows up. Harp starts
shouting at them.
COLE, with evident pleasure, cinches down a pair of
handcuff's on Utah's wrists with his good hand. Johnny
has a deep cut on his forehead, and the blood is trickling
into his eyes, but he seems not to notice. Not to hear
MUNOZ speaking monotonously--
MUNOZ
-- if you so desire, an attorney
will be provided for you free of
cost. Do you understand these
rights I have explained to you?
Utah?
Pappas charges through the crowd, pushing Munoz aside.
PAPPAS
He knows his goddamn rights!
(looks at Utah)
Jesus, kid. I knew you were getting
too close to these guys.
(turns to the other
agents)
Gimme the goddamn key to these
things, Cole. Christ!
He gestures to the cuffs still cutting into Johnny's
wrists.
Cole hands him the key.
Harp storms toward them.
HARP
Don't take those off. Just leave
them on! Your partner's an
accessory to murder. You realize
that?
Harp spins Johnny by the shoulder to look at--
Paramedics carrying the covered body of the off-duty cop.
Beyond, still on the floor, is Grommet, his eyes staring
in death.
He was right about not making thirty.
HARP
Three men dead. One of them a cop.
How's that sit in your gut, Utah?
UTAH
(cold and scary)
Take your hand off my shoulder right
now.
Harp pulls back instinctively. Utah's eyes burn into him.
Looks like Johnny's not in the FBI anymore.
PAPPAS
Look, Harp. Don't turn him over to
the uniforms like some punk. Let me
ride him in.
HARP
Yeah, sure. Why not? You two
screw-ups deserve each other.
That's why I put you together in the
first place. Christ Pappas, you're
as bad as he is... talk about the
blind leading the blind--
Pappas steps close to the Supervising Agent.
PAPPAS
Harp, let me tell you something. I
was an agent in this bureau when
your mommy was still wiping your
shinny pink ass, and you know one
thing I learned in all those years
that you still haven't?
HARP
What that?
Angelo steps in with a roundhouse that has all of his 280
pounds behind it.
Harp's head snaps back, and he flops in a heap.
PAPPAS
Respect your elders.
(he takes Utah by
the arm)
Let's go kid.
Harp struggles to sit up, rubbing his jaw, as Pappas
stuffs Utah into his car. Harp is so shocked he doesn't
say a word.
|
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| [End of scene. Timecode: End Timecode: 1 hour, 36 minutes, 24 seconds after start of film. Length of scene above: 1 minute, 35 seconds.] | ||