FIGHT CLUB
by
Jim
Uhls
based on a novel by Chuck Palahnuik
(this layout and
description by mustard)
OPENING CREDITS...PULL BACK THROUGH SWEAT
GLAND TO GUN BARREL STICKING IN JACK'S MOUTH.
JACK (V.O.)
(in
a dry, patient tone, like all the voice-overs)
People were always
asking me if I knew Tyler Durden.
FADE IN:
INT. SOCIAL
ROOM - TOP FLOOR OF HIGH RISE -- NIGHT
TYLER holds a HANDGUN with
the barrel lodged in JACK'S MOUTH.
They are both sweating and
dishevelled, both around 30; Tyler looks exactly like a movie star and
Jack looks like an ordinary guy - but in a nice way.
Tyler looks
at his watch.
TYLER
One minute.
(looking out
window)
This is the beginning. Ground zero. Do you want to say a few
words, to mark the occasion?
JACK
... i... ann....iinn..
ff....nnyin...
JACK (V.O.)
With a gun barrel between your
teeth, you only speak in vowels.
Tyler pulls the gun out of
Jack's mouth.
TYLER
Excuse
me?
JACK
(sulkily)
I can't think of
anything.
JACK (V.O.)
For a second, I totally forgot about
Tyler's whole controlled
demolition thing and I wondered how clean this
gun is.
He makes spitty grimaces.
Tyler checks his pocket
watch over-casually, and looks out across the
city.
TYLER
It's getting exciting now.
JACK
(V.O.)
That old saying, how you always hurt the one you love, well, it
works double the other way.
Jack turns so that he can see down
-- 31 STORIES.
(The camera swoops down and across, into a van
through a bullet-hole, and along to similar basements)
JACK
(V.O.)
We have front row seats for this Theatre of Mass Destruction.
The
Demolitions Committee of Project Mayhem wrapped the foundation
columns of ten buildings with blasting gelatine. In two
minutes, primary
charges will blow base charges, and those buildings will be reduced to
smouldering rubble.
I know this because Tyler knows this.
TYLER
Think of what we've accomplished. Thirty seconds.
JACK
(V.O.)
And somehow, I realise all of this -- the gun, the bombs, the
revolution -- is really about a girl called Marla Singer.
Huge
close-up of Jack's face, badly bruised, worried. This match-cuts to a
cleaner face being pushed against TWO LARGE BREASTS that belong to...BOB,
45, a vast soft man. He pushes Jack's head into his chest and weeps
openly.
JACK (V.O.)
Bob had bitch tits.
PULL BACK to
wide on...
INT. CHURCH MEETING ROOM - NIGHT
Men are
paired off, hugging, talking in emotional tones. Near the
door, a SIGN on
a stand: "REMAINING MEN TOGETHER."
JACK (V.O.)
This was a
support group for men with testicular cancer. The big
moosie slobbering
all over me...that was Bob.
BOB
(tearily)
We're still
men.
JACK
(tired and faintly ironic)
Yes. We're men. Men is
what we are.
JACK (V.O.)
Six months ago, Bob's testicles were
removed. Then hormone
therapy. He developed bitch tits because his
testosterone was too
high and his body upped the oestrogen. That was
where my head
fit -- into his huge, sweating tits that hung enormous, the
way we
think of God's as big.
BOB
They're gonna have to open
my pecs again to drain the fluid.
Bob hugs tighter; then looks
with empathy into Jack's eyes.
BOB
Okay. You cry
now.
Jack looks at Bob. He then turns his head to ponder his
place in the scene.
JACK (V.O.)
Wait. Back up. Let me start
over here.
INT. JACK'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Jack lies in bed,
staring reflectively at the ceiling.
JACK (V.O.)
Like many of
you, I was stuck. I couldn't sleep.
INT. COPY ROOM -
DAY
Jack, sleepy, stands over a copy machine. His Starbucks cup
sits on the lid, moving back and forth as the machine copies. His long,
gloomy face is intermittently lit with an eerie glow.
JACK
(V.O.)
With insomnia, nothing is real. Everything is far away.
Everything
is a copy of a (Tyler frame) copy of a
copy.
Other people make copies, all with Starbucks cups, sipping.
Jack picks up his cup and his copies and leaves.
INT. JACK'S
OFFICE - SAME
Jack, sipping, stares blankly at a Starbucks bag on
the floor, full of newspapers and FAST FOOD GARBAGE. The camera floats
through enormous food packets like parked spaceships.
JACK
(V.O.)
When deep space exploration ramps up, it will be corporations
that name everything. The IBM Stellar Sphere. The Microsoft
Galaxy.
Planet Starbucks.
Jack looks up as a pudgy man, Jack's BOSS,
enters, Starbucks cup in hand, and slides a stack of reports on Jack's
desk. His head is out of shot.
BOSS
I'm going to need you
out-of-town a little more this week. We've got some "red-flags" to
cover.
JACK (V.O.)
It must've been Tuesday. he was wearing
his "cornflower-blue" tie.
JACK
(in a neutral drone)
You
want me to de-prioritise my current reports until you advise of a status
upgrade?
BOSS
(not catching the sarcasm)
You need to make
these your primary "action items." Here are your flight coupons. Call me
from the road if there are any snags.
JACK (V.O.)
He was
full of pep. Must've had his Grande latte enema.
(He cranes his neck
to follow the putative enema)
INT. BATHROOM - JACK'S CONDO -
NIGHT
Jack sits on the toilet, CORDLESS PHONE to his ear, flips
through an "FURNI" catalogue. He is wearing a shirt and tie, but no
trousers. It is not a good look for him.
JACK (V.O.)
Like
everyone else, I had become a slave to the IKEA nesting
instinct.
VOICE ON PHONE
Hello,
Furni?
JACK
(into phone)
Yes. I'd like to order the Erika
Pekkari dust ruffles.
Jack drops the open catalogue on the floor
and wanders round the apartment with the phone.
MOVE IN ON
CATALOGUE -- In a highly-detailed effects scene, the catalogue springs to
life and every item appears as he mentions it. The item's catalogue
description floats alongside.
JACK (V.O.)
If I saw something
like a clever coffee table in the shape of a yin
and yang, I had to have
it.
The COFFEE TABLE appears, with catalogue entry.
JACK
(V.O.)
Like the Johanneshov armchair in the Strinne green stripe
pattern...
INT. LIVING ROOM/DINING AREA/KITCHEN
The
armchair APPEARS. PAN OVER next to armchair...
JACK (V.O.)
Or
the Rislampa wire lamps of environmentally-friendly unbleached
paper.
The lamps APPEAR. PAN OVER to wall...
JACK
(V.O.)
Even the Vild hall clock of galvanised steel, resting on the
Klipsk
shelving unit.
The clock APPEARS as the shelving unit
APPEARS on the wall.
JACK (V.O.)
I would flip through
catalogues and wonder, "What kind of
dining set defines me as a person?"
We used to read pornography.
Now it was the Horchow
Collection.
A dining room set APPEARS. Jack, the cordless phone
still glued
to his ear, walks INTO FRAME and continues.
Jack
opens a cabinet and looks at his plates.
JACK (V.O.)
I had it
all. Even the glass dishes with tiny bubbles and
imperfections, proof
they were crafted by the honest, simple,
hard-working indigenous peoples
of wherever.
He rummages through the refrigerator. It contains
very little real food, but a silly array of sauces. Jack takes out a jar
of mustard, opens it and uses a butter knife to eat out of
it.
INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE - DAY
Jack, looking like chewed
string, sits before an INTERN, who studies him with cynical
disinterest.
INTERN
(wearily)
No, you can't die of
insomnia.
JACK
Maybe I died already. Look at my
face.
INTERN
You need to lighten up.
JACK
Can't
you give me something?
JACK (V.O.)
Red-and-blue Tuinal,
lipstick-red Seconals.
INTERN
(overlapping w/ above)
You
need healthy, natural sleep. Chew valerian root and get
some more
exercise.
JACK
(little worried frown, but no real
emotion)
What about narcolepsy? I wake up in strange places, I have no
idea how I got there.
The Intern ushers Jack to the door. They
step into the...
INT. HALLWAY
The Intern walks away from
Jack, picks up a chart.
JACK
Come on, I'm in pain
here.
INTERN
You want to see pain? Swing by First Methodist
Tuesday nights.
See the guys with testicular cancer. That's (Tyler flash)
pain.
The Intern moves into the other room. Jack stares after
him.
EXT. FIRST METHODIST CHURCH - NIGHT
Jack heads for
the front door.
INT. FIRST METHODIST CHURCH MEETING ROOM -
NIGHT
Jack stares at a group of men, including Bob, who are all
listening to a group member speak at a lectern. The SPEAKER has
pale
skin and sunken eyes -- he's clearly dying.
SPEAKER
I...
wanted three kids. Two boys and a girl. Mindy wanted two
girls and one
boy. We never could agree on anything.
The Speaker cracks a sad
smile. Some men chuckle, happy to
lighten the
mood.
SPEAKER
Well, she had her first child a month ago, a
girl, with her new
husband... And, thank god. I'm glad for her, because
she
deserves...
The speaker breaks down, WEEPS
UNCONTROLLABLY.
Jack watches. A couple of the men go up to the
speaker,
comforting him, leading him away. A LEADER comes up and takes
the Speaker by the shoulders.
LEADER
Everyone, let's thank
Thomas for sharing himself with us.
Jack, uncomfortable, joins
EVERYONE ELSE:
EVERYONE
(in unison)
Thank you,
Thomas.
LEADER
(in glowing therapy-speak)
I look around
this room and I see a lot of courage. And it gives
me strength. We give
each other strength.
Jack looks around. Many of the men are
sniffling, sobbing. Jack
squirms in his seat.
LEADER
It's
time for the one-on-one. Let's follow Thomas's example and
open
ourselves. (Tyler flash)
Everyone gets out of their chairs and
begins pairing-off. Jack sits,
uncomfortable.
LEADER
Can
everyone find a partner?
Bob, his chin down on his chest, starts
toward Jack, shuffling his
feet. Jack looks terrified.
JACK
(V.O.)
The big moosie, his eyes already shrink-wrapped in tears. Knees
together, invisible steps.
BOB
I'm Bob, and I need a
hug.
Bob takes Jack's hand and drags him to his feet, then hugs
him.
JACK (V.O.)
Bob was a champion bodybuilder. You know
that chest
expansion program you see on TV? That was his
idea.
BOB
...using steroids. I was a juicer. Diabonol, then,
Wisterol -- it's for
racehorses, for Christsake. Now I'm bankrupt,
divorced, my two
grown kids won't return my calls...
JACK
(V.O.)
Strangers with this kind of honesty make me go a big rubbery
one.
Bob breaks into sobbing, putting his head on Jack's
shoulder and
completely covering Jack's face. After a long beat of
crying, Bob
raises up his head, looks at Jack's NAME
TAG.
BOB
Go ahead, Cornelius. You can cry.
They look
at each other. Jack looks plain frightened. Bob forces
Jack's head onto
his ample bosom, meeting some resistance.
JACK
(V.O.)
Then... something happened. I was lost in oblivion -- dark and
silent and complete.
Jack tightens his arms around Bob, and
starts sobbing loudly.
JACK (V.O.)
I found freedom. Losing
all hope was freedom.
Jack pulls away from Bob. On Bob's chest,
there's a WET MASK
of Jack's face from how he looks
weeping.
INT. JACK'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Jack lies sound
asleep.
JACK (V.O.)
Babies don't sleep this
well.
INT. CHURCH CORRIDOR.
JACK (V.O.)
I became
addicted.
Jack faces a notice board, with a list of meetings with
names like
'Glorious Day'. He looks sneakily around, and then steals the
list. The next scenes are intercut with him ringing meeting groups in the
newspaper and yellow pages.
INT. SMALL PROTESTANT CHURCH -
NIGHT
Jack stands in the centre of a group of people who all
decide to hug around him. He looks puzzled for a minute, and then is
buried in bodies.
INT. OFFICE BUILDING BASEMENT -
NIGHT
Jack stands with a weeping middle-aged WOMAN. He begins to
cry along with her. A sign by the door: "Onward and
Upward."
JACK (V.O.)
If I didn't say anything, people assumed
the worst. They cried
harder. I cried harder.
INT. PUBLIC
BUILDING CONFERENCE ROOM - NIGHT
Everyone, including Jack, sits
back in their seats, EYES CLOSED.
The Leader speaks into a
microphone.
LEADER
(She is a real princess of the soothing
voice)
Tonight, we're going to open the green door -- the heart
chakra...
JACK (V.O.)
I wasn't really dying, I wasn't host to
cancer or parasites; I was
the warm little centre that the life of this
world crowded around.
LEADER
...And you open the door and you
step inside. We're inside our
hearts. Now, imaging your pain as a white
ball of healing light.
That's right, the pain itself is a ball of healing
light.
Jack, eyes closed, is silent...
LEADER
It
moves over your body, healing you. Keep this going and step
forward,
through the back door of the room. Where does it lead?
To your cave. Step
forward into your cave.
INT. CAVE - JACK'S
IMAGINATION
Jack walks along, moving through an ICE
CAVERN...
His breath puffs out visibly and he walks slowly and
dreamily away from the entrance.
LEADER'S VOICE
That's right.
You're going deeper into your cave. And you're
going to find your power
animal...
Jack stops before a small hole. A sweet PENGUIN
shuffles out and cocks her head at Jack. He cocks his head too, puzzled.
PENGUIN
(in a serene, rather coy
voice)
Slide.
The penguin chuckles and jumps onto a patch of
ICE, sliding past Jack into the darkness. Jack watches her go,
surprised.
EXT. STREET - NIGHT
Jack walks out a doorway,
saying good-bye to people. He walks
down the sidewalk, shining with
peace.
JACK (V.O.)
Every evening I died and every evening I
was born again.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. FIRST METHODIST
CHURCH MEETING ROOM -
RESUMING
Jack's still in an embrace
with Bob.
JACK (V.O.)
Bob loved me because he thought my
testicles were removed
too. Being there, my face against his tits, ready
to cry -- this was
my vacation.
MARLA SINGER enters. She looks
like a Judy Garland goth doll.
JACK (V.O.)
And she ruined
everything.
Marla looks around, raises a cigarette to her
lips.
MARLA
This is cancer, right?
Bob and Jack
stare, dumbfounded.
INT. FIRST METHODIST CHURCH MEETING ROOM -
LATER
Everyone paired-off. MOVE THROUGH ROOM... FIND JACK'S
FACE
as he stares... MOVE THROUGH ROOM... FIND MARLA'S
FACE. She's drinking
coffee, smoking a cigarette.
JACK (V.O.)
This ... chick ...
Marla Singer ... did not have testicular cancer. She
was a
liar.
INT. SMALL PROTESTANT CHURCH - NIGHT
Marla sits
with the group, smoking, listening intently while a
member speaks. Jack
sits across from her, glowering. He looks about five.
JACK
(V.O.)
She had no diseases at all. I had seen her at my melanoma
Monday night group ...
INT. CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL -
NIGHT
Marla sits at the end of a row, smoking. All the faces down
the
row are turned toward her, incredulous...
JACK (V.O.)
...
and at "Free and Clear," my blood parasites group Thursdays.
Jack
leans out further than the others, scornful.
JACK (V.O.)
--
And, again, at "Seize The Day," my tuberculosis Friday night.
CUT
BACK TO:
INT. FIRST METHODIST CHURCH MEETING ROOM - ANOTHER
NIGHT
Jack watches... Marla's eyes are closed, her head on the
shoulder
of the MAN she's embraced by. She opens her eyes, catching
Jack's stare. Jack looks away.
JACK (V.O.)
Marla -- the big
tourist. Her lie reflected my lie.
Marla rests her chin on the
man's shoulder. Tears roll down her
cheeks. She wipes at
them.
EXT. FIRST METHODIST CHURCH - NIGHT
Marla walks
out with the group. Jack exits away from them, and watches Marla walk off
for a long time.(Tyler flash).
JACK (V.O.)
And suddenly, I
felt nothing. I couldn't cry. So, once again, I
couldn't
sleep.
INT. BEDROOM - LATER
Jack is lying in bed, his arms
around his head, balefully awake.
JACK (V.O.)
Next group,
after guided meditation, after we open our chakras,
when it's time to
hug, I'm going to grab that little bitch, Marla
Singer, pin her arms
against her sides and say...
INT. MEETING ROOM - NIGHT - JACK'S
IMAGINATION
CLOSE ON JACK as he CLAMPS his arms around Marla. She
is smoking fiercely and her eye makeup is very
smudged.
JACK
(with a force not seen in him
before)
Marla, you liar, you big tourist! I need this! Get
out!
INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Jack, in pyjamas, stares
at Home Shopping Network on his TV.
There is an advert for one of those
'look a bit less bald' sprays.
JACK (V.O.)
When you have
insomnia, you're never really asleep and you're
never really awake. I
hadn't slept in four days...
INT. SMALL PROTESTANT CHURCH -
NIGHT
Jack walks in and joins the crowd, looking around. People
are
chattering with each other. It's the find-your-cave
group.
LEADER
Okay, everyone.
Everyone sits in pews,
facing the lectern. They are scattered sparsely. Jack catches sight of
Marla.
LEADER
To open tonight's communion, Chloe would like
to say a few
words.
Taking the lectern is CHLOE, a pale, sickly
girl whose skin
stretches yellowish and tight over her bones. She wears a
head
bandage. She clears her throat.
JACK (V.O.)
Ahh, Chloe.
Chloe looked the way Meryl Streep's skeleton would
look if you made it
smile and walk around a party being extra
nice to
everyone.
CHLOE
Well, I'm still here -- but I don't know for
how long. That's as
much certainty as anyone can give me. but I've got
some good
news -- I no longer have any fear of death.
APPLAUSE
from around the room.
CHLOE
But... I am in a pretty lonely
place. No one will have sex with me.
I'm so close to the end and all I
want is to get laid for the last time.
I have pornographic movies in my
apartment, (she leans right into the microphone) and lubricants and amyl
nitrate ...
The LEADER gingerly takes control of the
microphone.
LEADER
Thank you, Chloe. Everyone, let's thank
Chloe.
EVERYONE
Thank you, Chloe.
LEADER
Now,
you're standing at the entrance to your cave. You step
inside your cave
and you walk. Keep walking.
Jack sneaks a look at Marla, who has
her eyes closed.
JACK (V.O.)
If I did have a tumour, I'd name
it Marla. Marla...the little scratch
on the roof of your mouth that would
heal if only you could stop
tonguing it, but you
can't.
LEADER
Now, find your power animal.
INT. CAVE
- JACK'S IMAGINATION
Jack finds Marla sitting like a queen in the
cave's centre. She is dressed in black and smoking a cigarette. Marla
cocks her head,
indicating where she wants him to
sit
MARLA
(in a casual, throaty
voice)
Slide.
Jack backs away, looking
disturbed.
INT. SMALL PROTESTANT CHURCH -
RESUMING
Jack's eyes open and turn to Marla, watching her blow
smoke rings with her eyes closed.
INT. SMALL PROTESTANT CHURCH -
MEETING ROOM
Everyone stands and mills about, making coffee and
avoiding each other.
LEADER
Pick someone special to you
tonight.
STAY ON JACK AND MARLA as Jack CLAMPS his arms around
her. He whispers into her ear.
JACK
We need to
talk.
MARLA
Sure.
They walk across the hall a
little, muttering.
JACK
I'm on to you. You're a faker. You
aren't dying.
MARLA
What?
Jack stops and confronts
her with his usual ironic drone.
JACK
Okay, in the Sylvia
Plath, Tibetan philosophy way, we're all
dying. But you're not dying the
way Chloe back there is dying.
LEADER
Tell the other person
how you feel.
JACK
(casting an irritated glance at the
leader)
You're a tourist. I saw you at melanoma, tuberculosis and
(he
breaks into an incredulous grimace) testicular
cancer.
MARLA
(with shiny amusement)
And I saw you
practicing this...
JACK
Practicing
what?
MARLA
Telling me off. Is it going as well as you
hoped... ? (reads his
name tag) "... Rupert."?
JACK
(pointing
with an attempt at determination)
I'll expose
you.
MARLA
Go ahead. I'll expose
you.
LEADER
Share yourself completely.
Marla puts
her head down on Jack's shoulder as if she were crying. Jack rolls his
eyes but lets her stay.
JACK
Why are you doing
this?
MARLA
It's cheaper than a movie, and there's free
coffee. Why do you do it?
JACK
I... I don't know. I guess...
when people think you're dying, they
really listen,
instead...
MARLA
- Instead of just waiting for their turn to
speak.
JACK
Yeah.
Brief recognition between them,
broken as the Leader passes.
JACK
It becomes an
addiction.
MARLA
Really?
Jack pulls away
urgently.
JACK
Look, I can't cry with another faker
present.
MARLA
Candy-stripe a cancer ward. It's not my
problem.
JACK
Please. Can't we do something...
?
Marla starts out of the room. Jack follows her.
EXT.
CHURCH - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS
Marla gets to the sidewalk, moving
quickly along.
JACK
We'll split up the week. You can have
lymphoma, tuberculosis
and --
MARLA
You take tuberculosis.
My smoking doesn't go over at all.
JACK
I think testicular
cancer should be no contest.
MARLA
Well, technically, I have
more of a right to be there than you. You still have your
balls.
JACK
You're kidding.
He hurries to catch up
and follows Marla into...
INT. LAUNDROMAT -
CONTINUOUS
Marla goes up to three or four DRYERS. She takes out
clothes, picks out jeans, pants and shirts.
MARLA
I'll take
the parasites.
JACK
You can't have both parasites. You can
take blood parasites --
MARLA
I want brain
parasites.
JACK
Okay. I'll take blood parasites and organic
brain dementia --
MARLA
I want
that.
JACK
(presses his temples tiredly)
You can't have
the whole brain!
MARLA
So far, you have four and I only have
two!
JACK
Then, take blood parasites. It's yours. Now we each
have three.
Marla gathers the chosen garments and heads out past
Jack...
EXT. SIDEWALK - CONTINUOUS
Jack follows,
bewildered.
JACK
You... left half your
clothes.
Marla rolls her eyes derisively and drifts into the
traffic. Marla walks on, oblivious as CARS screech to a halt, HORNS
BLARING. Jack dashes, following...
INT. THRIFT STORE -
CONTINUOUS
Marla drops the pile of clothes on a counter. An old
CLERK sifts
through the clothes, begins writing on a
pad.
JACK
(nastily)
What, are you selling
those?
Marla steps down hard on Jack's foot. He winces in
pain.
MARLA
(for the Clerk to hear)
Yes, I'm selling some
clothes.
The Clerk starts to ring up the assessed
amounts.
MARLA
So, we each have three -- that's six. What
about the seventh day? I want ascending bowel cancer.
JACK
(V.O.)
The girl had done her homework.
JACK
I want bowel
cancer.
The Clerk gives a strange look as he hands money to
Marla.
MARLA
That's your favourite, too? Tried to slip it by
me, eh?
JACK
We'll split it. You get it the first and third
Sunday of the month.
MARLA
Deal.
They shake. Jack
tries to withdraw his hand; Marla holds it.
MARLA
Looks like
this is good-bye.
JACK
Let's not make a big thing out of
it.
She walks to the door, pocketing money, not looking
back.
MARLA
How's this for not making a big
thing?
Jack watches her go. A moment, then he follows
after...
EXT. SIDEWALK - CONTINUOUS
Jack hurries after
her, until he reaches the road-edge. She is in the road, calmy between
busy lanes of traffic.
JACK
Um... Marla, should we maybe
exchange numbers?
MARLA
Should we?
JACK
In case
we want to switch nights.
MARLA
I suppose.
She walks
through two lanes to the pavement. Jack takes out a business card, writes
his number on the back, hands it to her. She takes the pen, grabs his hand
and writes her number on his palm. He looks sarcastic.
She walks
back into the road, causing more SCREECHING and HONKING. She turns, holds
up the card.
MARLA
It doesn't have your name. Who are you?
Cornelius? Rupert? Any
of the stupid names you give each
night?
A BUS moves into view, obscuring her.
INT.
AIRPLANE CABIN - DAY
The plane touches down; the cabin BUMPS.
Jack's eyes open. He looks surprisingly pink and healthy.
JACK
(V.O.)
You wake up at O'Hare.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN -
DAY
Jack snaps awake again, looking around,
disoriented.
JACK (V.O.)
You wake up at SeaTac.
EXT.
HIGHWAY - DUSK
The rear of a CRASHED CAR sticks up by the side of
the road.
Jack stands by it, taking photgraphs. He is terribly thin. The
SUN SETS behind. The shot is beautifully composed, with a line of trees
stretching to the frame edge.
INT. AIRPORT - NIGHT
Jack
stands at a gate counter. An ATTENDANT smiles at
him.
ATTENDANT
Check-in for that flight doesn't begin for
another two hours, Sir.
Jack looks with blearing eyes at his
watch, steps away and looks
at an overhanging CLOCK.
JACK
(V.O.)
Pacific, Mountain, Central. Lose an hour, gain an hour. This is
your life, and it's ending one minute at a time.
INT. AIRPLANE
CABIN - DAY
Jack's eyes snap open as the plane LANDS. He looks
awful.
JACK (V.O.)
You wake up at Air Harbor International.
INT. AIRPORT WALKWAY
Jack stands on a conveyor belt,
briefcase at his feet. He watches
PEOPLE MOVING PAST on the opposite
conveyor.
JACK (V.O.)
If you wake up at a different time and
in a different place, could
you wake up as a different
person?
Jack misses seeing TYLER on the opposite conveyor belt.
They
pass each other.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - IN FLIGHT -
NIGHT
Jack sits and watches an attendant bring food. We MOVE IN
ON
Jack's tray. An ATTENDANT'S HANDS set coffee down with a
small
container of cream.
JACK (V.O.)
Everywhere I travel -- tiny
life. Single-serving sugar, single-serving cream, single pat of
butter.
CUT TO:
HANDS place a dinner tray down. It looks
like the opposite of
edible nutrition.
JACK (V.O.)
Microwave
Cordon Bleu hobby kit.
INT. HOTEL ROOM - BATHROOM -
NIGHT
Jack brushes his teeth in the MIRROR.
JACK
(V.O.)
Shampoo/conditioner combo. Single-serving mouthwash, tiny bar
of soap.
Jack picks up an individual, wrapped Q-TIP, looks at it.
He moves out of the bathroom into...
MAIN ROOM
Jack sits
on the bed. He turns on the TV. It's tuned to the "Sheraton Channel,"
shows WAITERS greeting the camera. One of
them is Tyler. Jack stops
brushing his teeth, feels something on
the bed, lifts it -- a small
DINNER MINT.
JACK (V.O.)
The people I meet on each flight --
they're single-serving friends.
Between take-off and landing, we have our
time together, but
that's all we get.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN -
LANDING
Jack's eyes snap open.
JACK (V.O.)
You wake
up at Logan.
INT. WAREHOUSE - CONTINUOUS
A giant
corrugated METAL DOOR opens.
JACK (V.O.)
On a long enough
time line, the survival rate for everyone drops
to zero.
Two
TECHNICIANS lead Jack to the BURNT-OUT SHELL of a
WRECKED AUTOMOBILE.
Jack sets down his briefcase, opens it
and starts to make notes on a
CLIPBOARDED FORM.
JACK (V.O.)
I'm a recall co-ordinator. My
job is to apply the formula. It's a story problem.
TECHNICIAN
#1
Here's where the infant went through the windshield. Three
points.
JACK (V.O.)
A new car built by my company leaves
somewhere travelling at
60 miles per hour. The rear differential locks
up.
TECHNICIAN #2
(pointing delicately with his biro)
The
teenager's braces around the back seat ashtray would make
a good
"anti-smoking" ad.
JACK (V.O.)
The car crashes and burns with
everyone trapped inside. Now:
do we initiate a
recall?
TECHNICIAN #1
The father must've been huge. See how
the fat burnt into the
driver's seat with his polyester shirt? Very
"modern art."
JACK (V.O.)
Take the number of vehicles in the
field, (A), and multiply it by
the probable rate of failure, (B), then
multiply the result by the
average out-of-court settlement, (C). A times
B times C
CUT TO:
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - JUST AFTER
TAKE-OFF
Jack is speaking to the BUSINESSWOMAN next to
him.
JACK
(with quiet humour)
Equals X... If X is less
than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.
BUSINESS
WOMAN
Are there a lot of these kinds of
accidents?
JACK
(with dark relish)
Oh, you wouldn't
believe.
BUSINESS WOMAN
... Which... car company do you work
for?
JACK
(smiling and perky)
A major
one.
Turgid silence. Jack puts a fork to his mouth and pauses,
turning
to the window. An appallingly cynical smirk crosses his face, as
he watches the runway lights bank away from him.
Jack watches the lights suddenly HIT THE PLANE. He
jumps a little but remains calm as the side of the plane is ripped away. A
man is sucked out of the cabin, still in his chair. DEbris whirls, people
scream. Jack watches all this, detached. he even turns round to watch the
carnage behind him.
JACK (V.O.)
Life insurance pays off
triple if you die on a business trip.
DING! -- the seatbelt light
goes OUT. Jack SNAPS AWAKE.
EVERYTHING IS NORMAL. Some passengers get
out of their
seats. From next to Jack, a VOICE we've heard
before...
VOICE
(reading)
"If you have trouble opening
the emergency exit, please ask to be re-seated by a member of
staff"
JACK
That's a lot of responsibility.
JACK
(V.O.)
This is how I met --
TYLER
Tyler
Durden.
Tyler offers his hand. Jack takes
it.
TYLER
You know why they have oxygen masks on
planes?
JACK
To help you breathe?
TYLER
(very
calm, with an undercurrent of amusement)
Oxygen gets you high. In a
catastrophic emergency, you're
taking giant, panicked
breaths...
Tyler grabs a safety instruction CARD from the
seatback, hands it
to Jack.
TYLER
Suddenly, you become
euphoric. Docile. You accept your fate.
Tyler points to passive
faces on the drawn figures.
TYLER
Emergency water landing,
600 miles per hour. Blank faces - calm
as Hindu cows.
Jack
laughs.
JACK
What do you do, Tyler?
TYLER
What
do you mean?
JACK
(with an odd, quirky expression)
I mean
-- for a living.
TYLER
Why? So you can pretend like you're
interested?
JACK
(to himself)
Okay then...
Jack
laughs. Tyler reaches under the seat in front of him and lifts
a
BRIEFCASE.
TYLER
You have that kind of sick desperation in
your life?
Jack points to his own briefcase.
JACK
We
have exactly the same briefcase.
Tyler pops the latches and
raises the lid to reveal quaintly-wrapped bars of
SOAP.
TYLER
Soap -- the yardstick of civilisation. (reaches
in his pocket) I
make and I sell soap...
Tyler hands Jack his
card. "THE PAPER STREET SOAP
COMPANY." in quaint
lettering.
TYLER
If you were to add nitric acid to the
soap-making process, one
would get nitro-glycerine. With enough soap, one
could blow up
the world... if one were so inclined.
Tyler SNAPS
the briefcase shut. Jack stares.
JACK
Tyler, you are by far
the most interesting "single-serving" friend
I've ever
met.
Tyler stares back, blandly, or maybe with shattering
sarcasm.
Jack, enjoying his own chance to be witty, leans closer to
Tyler.
JACK
You see, when you travel, everything is small,
self-contained--
TYLER
Oh, I get it. You're very
clever.
JACK
(knowing it's a rise, but trying to out-cool
him)
Thank you.
TYLER
How's that working out for
you?
JACK
What?
TYLER
Being
clever.
JACK
(thrown)
Well, uh...
great.
TYLER
Keep it up, then. Keep it right
up.
Tyler stands, looks towards the aisle.
TYLER
Now
a question of etiquette... As I squeeze past, do I give you the ass or the
crotch?
Tyler moves to the aisle, his ass toward Jack, walks
away...
Tyler goes to the curtain dividing First Class, (giving
the air-
hostess 'the crotch') slaps the curtain aside and sits in an
empty
seat. Jack watches.
JACK (V.O.)
How I came to live
with Tyler is: airlines have this policy about
vibrating
luggage.
INT. BAGGAGE CLAIM AREA - NIGHT
Utterly empty
of baggage. Jack forlornly watches the carousel, then walks to the
SECURITY TASK FORCE MAN. The Security TFM, smirking, holds a receiver to
his ear from an official phone on the wall.
JACK
Was it
ticking?
SECURITY TFM
(to Jack)
Throwers don't worry
about ticking. Modern bombs don't tick.
JACK
Excuse me?
"Throwers?"
SECURITY TFM
Baggage handlers. But when a
suitcase vibrates, the throwers have to call the
police.
JACK
Excuse me, my suitcase was
vibrating?
SECURITY TFM
Nine time out of ten, it's an
electric razor. But, every once in a
while ... (whispers) ...it's a
dildo. It's airline policy not to imply
ownership in the event of a
dildo. We use the indefinite article: "A
dildo." Never "Your
dildo."
The security man looks directly at Jack as he says
this.
JACK
I don't own a ... never mind.
Jack sees,
through the window, Tyler, at the curb, throwing his
briefcase into the
back of a shiny, red CONVERTIBLE. Tyler leaps
over the door into the
driver's seat and PEELS OUT. Jack turns
away, looks at the Security
TFM.
In the background, a HARRIED MAN dashes after Tyler and the
convertible, SCREAMING.
JACK
(V.O)
I had everything in
that bag. My C.K. shirts... my D.K.N.Y shoes...
He walks sadly
away from the security man, who is still smugly
on the
phone.
INT. TAXI - MOVING - NIGHT
Along a residential
street. Jack looks ahead, sees a tall, grey, bland BUILDING on the
corner.
("Pearson Apartments - A Place To Be Somebody")
JACK
(V.O.)
Home was a condo on the fifteenth floor of a filing cabinet for
widows and young professionals. The walls were solid concrete.
A foot of
concrete is important when your next- door neighbour
lets her hearing aid
go and has to watch game shows at full
volume...
The taxi turns
a corner and Jack sees the front of the building. A
diffuse CLOUD of
SMOKE wafts away from a BLOWN- OUT
SECTION of the fifteenth floor.
FIRETRUCKS, POLICE CARS and a
MOB are all crowded around the lobby
area.
JACK (V.O.)
-- Or when a volcanic blast of debris that
used to be your
furniture and personal effects blows out your floor-
to-ceiling windows and sails flaming into the night.
EXT. STREET
IN FRONT OF BUILDING
Jack, gaping at the sight above him,
absently gives the Cabbie money. The taxi pulls away.
Jack turns away
from the carnage with an expression we ought to
call shock, but which
actually looks more like something else.
Jack starts toward the
building. He pushes through the fray of
people, into the...
INT.
LOBBY
The DOORMAN sees Jack enter, gives a look of respectful
pity,
shakes his head. Jack starts for the
elevator.
DOORMAN
There's nothing up there.
Jack
presses the button. The Doorman moves next to
him.
DOORMAN
You can't go into the unit. Police
orders.
The elevator doors open. Jack hesitates. The doors close.
Jack
heads out the lobby doors. The Doorman follows...
EXT.
CONDO BUILDING - CONTINUOUS
Jack walks past SMOKING, CHARRED DEBRIS --
a flash of h of
ORANGE from the Yang table, a CLOCK FACE from the hall
clock, part of an arm from the GREEN ARMCHAIR. His feet
CRUNCH
glass.
The FRIDGE lies on its side with MUSTARD staining the
door.
JACK (V.O.)
How embarrassing. A houseful of condiments
and no food.
DOORMAN
(as if to the recently bereaved)
Do
you have somebody you can call?
CLOSE SHOT - JACK'S
STOVE
Hissing.
JACK (V.O.)
The police would later tell me
that the pilot light might have gone out... letting out just a little bit
of gas.
EXT. PAYPHONE - RESUMING
Jack gets to a
PAYPHONE.
Jack picks up the receiver, puts in a quarter. He looks at
Marla's
number a long moment.
(He calls
it)
MARLA
Who is this? I can hear you breathing, you
asshole...
Jack hangs up the phone and rummages in his coat
pocket.
CLOSE SHOT - JACK'S ENTIRE CONDO - KITCHEN AND LIVING
ROOM. THE CAMERA GOES FROM THE COOKER'S GAS
OUTLET, DOWN THE BACK OF THE
FRIDGE AND INTO THE
MOTOR.
The SOUND of the
HISS...
JACK (V.O.)
The gas could have slowly filled the
condo. Seventeen-hundred
square feet with high ceilings, for days and
days.
INSERT - CLOSE ON THE BASE OF JACK'S
REFRIGERATOR
JACK (V.O.)
Then, the refrigerator's compressor
could have clicked on...
Click. KABOOM! SCREEN GOES
WHITE.
EXT. PAYPHONE - RESUMING
Jack finds Tyler's
BUSINESS CARD in his pocket. Jack stares at
Tyler's card.
JACK
(V.O.)
If you asked me now, I couldn't tell you why I called
him.
Jack re-deposits the quarter, dials Tyler's number. It
RINGS... and
RINGS and RINGS. Jack sighs and hangs up the phone. A
moment, then the phone RINGS.
Jack turns slowly towards the
phone, looking tense.
JACK
Hello?
TYLER'S
VOICE
Who's this?
JACK
Tyler?
TYLER'S
VOICE
(obviously eating a bag of crisps)
Who's
this?
JACK
Uh... I'm sorry. We met on the plane. We had the
same briefcase.
I'm... you know, the clever guy.
TYLER'S
VOICE
Oh, yeah.
JACK
I just called a second ago. There
was no answer. I'm at a payphone.
TYLER'S VOICE
I
star-sixty-nined you. I never pick up my phone. What's
up?
JACK
You're not going to believe this...
EXT.
LOU'S TAVERN - NIGHT
A small building in the middle of a concrete
parking lot.
INT. LOU'S TAVERN - SAME
Jack and Tyler sit
in the back, with a pitcher of BEER.
JACK
You buy furniture.
You tell yourself: this is the last sofa I'll ever
need. No matter what
else happens, I've got the sofa issue
handled. Then, the right set of
dishes. The right dinette.
Tyler lights a
cigarette.
TYLER
Shit, man, now it's all
gone.
JACK
All gone.
Tyler offers cigarettes. Jack
declines.
JACK
I don't smoke
TYLER
Could be
worse. A woman could cut off your penis while you're
asleep and toss it
out the window of a moving car.
JACK
There's always
that.
TYLER
I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's a
terrible tragedy for
you.
JACK
...no ...no
...
TYLER
I mean, you did lose a lot of versatile solutions
for modern living.
Jack laughs, nods. He shakes his head,
drinks.
JACK
My insurance'll cover it
anyway.
TYLER
Oh, yeah, you gotta start making the
list.
JACK
What list?
TYLER
The "now I get to go
out and buy the exact same stuff all over
again" list. That
list.
JACK
I don't... think so.
TYLER
This time
maybe get a widescreen TV. You'll be occupied for
weeks.
JACK
Well, I have to file a claim...
TYLER
(momentous pause)
The things you own end up owning
you.
Jack looks thoughtful, as well he might.
EXT.
OUTSIDE BAR
They are both a little loose, but not badly
drunk.
JACK
(looks at watch)
God, it's late. I should
find a hotel...
TYLER
A
hotel?
JACK
Yeah.
TYLER
So, you called me up,
because you just wanted to have a drink
before you... go find a
hotel?
JACK
I don't follow...
TYLER
Three
pitchers of beer and you still can't
ask.
JACK
Huh?
TYLER
You called me so you could
have a place to stay.
JACK
Oh, look, no,
I...
TYLER
Why don't you cut the foreplay and ask if you can
stay at my
place?
JACK
Would that be a
problem?
TYLER
Is it a problem for you to
ask?
JACK
Can I stay at your
place?
TYLER
Sure.
JACK
Thank
you.
TYLER
You're welcome. But first I want you to do me a
favour.
JACK
What's that?
TYLER
I want you to
hit me as hard as you can.
Freeze picture.
JACK
(V.O.)
Let me tell you a little bit about Tyler
Durden.
EXTREME CLOSE-UP - FILM FRAME
-- And we see it's
PORNOGRAPHY.
INT. PROJECTIONIST ROOM - THEATRE -
NIGHT
Jack, in the foreground, FACES CAMERA. In the BACKGROUND,
Tyler sits at a bench, looking at individual FRAMES cut from
movies.
Near him, a PROJECTOR rolls film.
JACK
(straight to camera in
a chatty tone. He looks quite healthy for a
change)
Tyler was a night
person. He sometimes worked as a
projectionist. A movie doesn't come in
one big reel, it's on a few.
In old theatres, two projectors are used, so
someone has to
change projectors at the exact second when one reel ends
and
another reel begins. Sometimes you can see two dots on screen in
the
upper right hand corner...
Tyler points to the side of OUR FRAME
and the TWO DOTS
briefly APPEAR ONSCREEN.
TYLER
(his back to
us, splicing, but still talking to us)
In the trade, we call them
"cigarette burns."
JACK
It's called a "changeover." The
movie goes on, and nobody in the audience has any idea.
TYLER
Why would anyone want this shitty
job?
JACK
It affords him other interesting
opportunities.
TYLER
-- Like splicing single frames from
adult movies into family films.
JACK
In reel three, right
after the courageous dog and the snooty cat --
who have celebrity voices
-- eat out of a garbage can, there's the flash of Tyler's
contribution...
In the AUDIENCE, CHILDREN suddenly start
squirming, confused, looking at each other.
More
soon...
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