Carole A. Parker

EXT. RANCH - DUSK TITLE CARD READS: OJAI, CALIFORNIA. It’s magic hour in the desert. The mid-summer heat shimmers in rippling waves in the air. The crops. The blacktop road. A small ranch in a green valley. Giant mountains behind it. Can you say incredible view? Old, Spanish mission style house. Big barn. Rustic pickup truck parked in the drive. In the distance, a deep blue lake glows in the fading light. It’s picture-postcard time, folks. Doesn’t get much more gorgeous and idyllic than this. EXT. LAKE - DUSK A young WOMAN (18) lies on an inner tube reading a book, lazily floating on the water. She takes a hit from a joint. Holds it in. EXHALES. Turns the page. Riveted. Meet KELSEY HAZARD, tomboy deluxe. Pretty, but she’s done everything she can to hide it. Her long, sleek black hair tied tight in a ponytail. Baseball cap. Shades. Bare lips. The problem is the tiny bikini she’s almost wearing. Her killer figure undulates around her tall, lean frame. Ouch. A TALL, OLDER GUY (60) walks out on the rickety wooden pier. Meet DOC HAZARD, her grandfather. Looks like your typical old cowboy. Except for the Grateful Dead T-shirt and biker boots. DOC Supper’s almost ready. KELSEY (eyes on the book) Be right there. Just let me finish this chapter. DOC (under his breath) Goddamn crime novels. If she’d only be as interested in her school books -EXT. LOS ANGELES - TEN FREEWAY - DUSK Clogged with rush hour traffic heading west toward the beach. But not so much heading east into downtown LA. We see an ARMORED CAR heading that way in sparse traffic. (CONTINUED) 2. CONTINUED: It reaches an off ramp, turns, then starts descending into the dirty City of Angels. INT. ARMORED CAR - DUSK Behind the wheel sits GINO CONTI (30’s). Wiry. Dark-haired. Dark-skinned. He smiles, chewing on a toothpick. Turns and looks at the HULKING BRUTE sitting in the passenger seat. GINO Look at that sky. Beautiful. In the cinema they call it magic hour. GUY In my book, they call it money hour. Meet GRIFF HAZARD (40), heister extraordinaire. Built like a block of granite. Face like a potato. Eyes burning with purpose. Intense. Mouth a cruel dark slash. GINO You wrote book? What is it about? Griff stares ahead. Silent. Watching the road. IN THE REAR COMPARTMENT Sits CHELLE HAZARD (39), Griff’s wife. A gorgeous brunette. Curvy goblet of sin poured into a leather catsuit. Armed to the gills. Packing, too. She speaks into a headset. CHELLE Come in, Houston. This is The Eagle. Are we cleared for landing? Over. GRIFF’S Eyes flicker. Approach a smile. Don’t quite make it. GRIFF (into his headset) This is Houston. Approaching our target in -(looks at his watch) T-minus two minutes. Over. CHELLE Smiles grimly. Nods. CHELLE Copy that, Houston. Over. (CONTINUED) 3. CONTINUED: Sitting to her left is HELMUT WOLF (40’s), expert marksman, German expat. Dolph Lundgren, without the looks. HELMUT I still don’t like space travel names. Is too silly. CHELLE That’s funny. I don’t remember asking your opinion. Sitting to her right is ATLAS DEMO (30’s), medium-height, barrel-chested. Jet-black hair. Third generation Greek. ATLAS Don’t listen to him. It’s fucking genius. Anybody hears us, they don’t know what the fuck we’re talking about. ZVI ROZEN (20’s), Israeli computer hacker extraordinaire. Hunched over an old-school briefcase-sized laptop. Looks up. ZVI (to Helmut) You just have chip on shoulder because you came in job late because someone dropped out. You should be GRATEFUL, not ruining vibe. CHELLE Enough bickering. We need to work as a team, GOT IT? Helmut and Zvi glare at each other. Reluctantly nod. Zvi returns to his laptop. Starts briskly typing out commands. CHELLE (CONT'D) (to Zvi) All set with the power grid? ZVI (smiles, gives a thumbs-up) Like taking electricity from a baby. INT. DOC'S FARMHOUSE - KITCHEN - DUSK Right out of Norman Rockwell. Enough knickknacks and quaint furnishings to choke Martha Stewart. Doc and Kelsey sit at the table waiting for dinner to be served. DOC You do any more thinking about going back to school? (CONTINUED) 4. CONTINUED: KELSEY Why the fuck would I do that? DOC Not having a diploma kinda limits the kinda jobs you can get. KELSEY Not if I’m gonna be a heister. DOC A heister? Where on earth did you -Doc’s wife JO (60) approaches the table with a big tray of food. Once a great beauty, now a bit faded, but still tough, with the twinkling eyes of a con artist. Which she was. JO Dinner’s served. She sets it down. Sits. Doc and Kelsey help themselves. DOC Thanks, honey. This looks great. JO So how was your day, Kelsey? KELSEY Okay, I guess. DOC Kelsey’s thinking about taking up a life of crime. JO Is that so. KELSEY If it’s good enough for Griff and Chelle -DOC Now where did you get that idea? Your parents are in sales. KELSEY (snorts) Yeah, GUN sales. EXT. DOWNTOWN CITY STREET - DUSK The armored car stops at a red light. 5. EXT. AERIAL VIEW OF LOS ANGELES - DUSK All the lights in the city SHUT OFF. INT. ARMORED CAR - DUSK Zvi looks up from his laptop. Smiles eagerly. ZVI Let there be DARK. IN THE FRONT Griff looks out the window. Sees the lights are out. GRIFF (into his headset) Copy that, Eagle. (to Gino) Better get a move on. Traffic’s about to clusterfuck. Gino nods. STEPS on it. They LURCH into the intersection. IN THE BACK Chelle nods at Zvi. CHELLE Commence phases two, three and four. ZVI Rockets red glare, coming right up. His fingers start FLYING across the keyboard. EXT. UNION STATION - DUSK A giant EXPLOSION on the front lawn. A GIANT CLOUD OF BLACK SMOKE envelopes the building. Pedestrians RUN, screaming. INT. UNION STATION - CONTINUOUS People inside SCREAM. DUCK for cover. INT. POLICE HEADQUARTERS - DUSK Complete bedlam. Officers answer phones. Work computers. Trying to get control of the situation. (CONTINUED) 6. CONTINUED: FRONT DESK OFFICER (on the phone) I don’t KNOW if it’s connected. Just send units to Union Station, NOW. IN THE ARMORED CAR Zvi looks at Chelle. Gives a thumbs up. ZVI Go Metro GONE. EXT. CITY HALL - DUSK An enormous EXPLOSION rocks the front of the building. A GIANT CLOUD OF BLACK SMOKE starts enveloping the area. ZVI (O.C.) Just fought City Hall -EXT. STAPLES CENTER - DUSK A HUGE EXPLOSION rocks the front of the building with a GIANT CLOUD OF BLACK SMOKE. Pedestrians RUN and SCREAM. ZVI (O.C.) Swish. IN THE ARMORED CAR Zvi looks at Chelle. Smiles. ZVI (CONT'D) We have a trifecta. EXT. DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - CITY STREET - NIGHT There’s a RIOT going on. Complete mayhem. LOOTERS smash windows. RUN down the street with stolen goods. A GANG-BANGER throws a MOLOTOV COCKTAIL at a police car. It EXPLODES. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT The armored car turns a corner. IN THE ARMORED CAR Griff speaks into his headset. GRIFF Eagle, this is Houston. Prepare for impact. Over. (CONTINUED) 7. CONTINUED: IN THE REAR Chelle nods. Speaks into her headset. CHELLE Copy that. Over. (to the rest) Buckle up. It’s gonna be a bumpy heist. Everyone SNAPS on shoulder harnesses that crisscross their torsos. Pull their caps down over their faces until they become ski masks. One by one, they give a thumbs up. EXT. BANK - NIGHT The First National Bank of California. A beautiful building. Facade is two stories of shiny glass and mirrors. EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT The armored car pulls up in front of the bank, looks like it’s going to park, but instead makes a turn, BUMPS over the curb -- ACCELERATES -- and starts HEADING RIGHT TOWARD IT. IN THE FRONT Gino and Griff slip on MOTORCYCLE HELMETS. IN THE BACK Everyone BRACES for the impact. EXT. BANK - NIGHT The armored car reaches the facade, and -- IN SLOW MOTION -CRASHES THROUGH with a BANG. Glass and debris go FLYING. INT. BANK - NIGHT BANK CUSTOMERS RUN for cover. SCREAM. The armored car stops. The doors FLY OPEN. Everyone PILES OUT. Gripping automatic weapons. Griff blasts a SPRAY OF BULLETS at the ceiling. GRIFF This is a ROBBERY. Do WHAT WE SAY -- and NOBODY GETS HURT. (looks around) Got it? Everyone nods, terrified. Chelle spins around in a slow circle, aiming her Uzi at them. (CONTINUED) 8. CONTINUED: CHELLE Everyone down on the ground, NOW. ZVI Sits down at a loan officer’s desk. Flips open his laptop. The emergency generator kicks in. The lights TURN ON. ZVI That didn’t take TOO long. (fingers work the keyboard) Sorry, Charlie. Only the real tuna gets to be star-fucked. The power SHUTS DOWN. ATLAS Approaches the teller windows, pointing his Uzi with one hand. Duffle bag in the other. Evil smile behind the mask. He THROWS the bag at a SCARED SHITLESS FEMALE TELLER. ATLAS No tricks, no dye-packs, or you’ll DIE. GOT IT? (of her terrified nod) In the bag there’s more bags. Give ‘em to the other tellers -- and start EMPTYING YOUR DRAWERS. GRIFF Waves his Uzi across everyone on the floor. GRIFF Which one of you is the manager? A SHORT GUY WEARING A SUIT AND GLASSES raises his hand. SHORT GUY IN SUIT AND GLASSES I am. GRIFF Let’s go take a trip to the vault. ON THE STREET IN FRONT A JAPANESE GANG ON MOTORCYCLES drives by, bikes dripping with stolen loot. They SCREECH to a halt. Turn their heads. JAPANESE GANG LEADER Sees what’s happening. Turns to his Second-In-Command. (CONTINUED) 9. CONTINUED: (2) JAPANESE GANG LEADER Looks like our lucky day. SECOND-IN-COMMAND Me rob you long time. They pull out AUTOMATIC WEAPONS strapped to their backs. HIT THE GAS and ROAR TOWARD THE BANK. INT. BANK - NIGHT Just as Griff walks Bank Manager past Chelle, the gang SQUEALS into the bank and starts FIRING at everybody. Griff and Bank Manager get SHREDDED TO RIBBONS. Atlas and Zvi RUN. Chelle gets HIT with MACHINE GUN SPRAY. Her body JERKS like a puppet in a dance of death. INT. DOC'S FARMHOUSE - NIGHT Doc, Jo and Kelsey sit at the kitchen table, the remains of dinner strewn about. Having pie and coffee. KELSEY You can deny it all you want, but I know the truth. I found your scrapbook. DOC What scrapbook? KELSEY The one under your mattress. DOC What were you doing SNOOPING around in my bedroom? KELSEY I was looking for your stash. I hadn’t found a connection yet. (big smile) You were quite the heister. Doc stares. Speechless. The phone RINGS. Jo gets up. JO I’ll get it. (answers it, listens) Oh my god. (turns and looks) Doc? (CONTINUED) 10. CONTINUED: DOC What’s wrong? JO Griff and Chelle -KELSEY (turns white) What. JO They’re dead. (looks at Kelsey) They were -- trying to rob a bank.