The Ice Storm Page #4

BEN (CONT'D)

Come on!

She gets up sullenly and goes to the phone.

WENDY:

Charles.

PAUL:

Charles. Have you been keeping out

of my sh*t? Have you refrained from

entering the sacred precincts of my

room?

WENDY:

I have not touched your sh--

(looks at father)

Stuff. You watching this?

PAUL:

Watching what?

WENDY:

Nixon, doofus! It's incredible. He

should be shot.

BEN:

(overhearing)

Hey, that's the president of the

goddam United States you're talking

about, Wendy!

From the kitchen, Elena overhears. She's dressed to go out,

but in the process of making a Kraft macaroni and cheese

dinner for Wendy.

WENDY:

He's a liar!

(still talking more to her

father than into the

phone)

Dean told him on March 21st about

Kalmback and Hunt, all about the

payoffs to the Watergate burglars,

so you tell me where the so-called

"Dean Report" is, but you can't

because it doesn't exist, because

he lied about Haldeman and

Erlichman and the April 17 tape,

that's why! Liar!

Ben retreats, going to the wet bar to pour another drink.

BEN:

(muttering)

OK, OK, the defense rests.

(to Elena in the kitchen)

Want another?

ELENA (O.S.)

No thank you. We should be off.

BEN:

Gotcha.

He puts the bottle back down without pouring.

INTERCUT BACK TO PAUL:

PAUL:

(on the phone)

Hey Charles. Charles, calm down --

I wasn't in on it.

Elena, putting on her coat, comes into the den and gives

Wendy a kiss on the forehead as Wendy mumbles her good-byes

to Paul on the phone.

ELENA:

Dinner's on the counter. We'll be

at the Williams's -- you know the

number.

(takes the phone from

Wendy)

Paul. Hi. Is there anything you'll

want, any particular kind of food

or snack or anything we can stock

up on?... You're all right? ... OK.

See you next week. I love you.

Back to Nixon on the TV.

NIXON:

We must recognize that one excess

begets another, and that the

extremes of violence in the 1960s

contributed to the extremes of

Watergate...

On Wendy as she regards the TV, hearing her parents'

farewells as they leave through the front door.

EXT. WILLIAMS HOUSE. NIGHT

A large New England Colonial, with a few modern additions and

touches. We hear the sound of dinner chatter.

INT. WILLIAMS DINING ROOM. NIGHT

The kitchen door swings open into the dining room, and Mikey

and Sandy Williams emerge, each holding platters of food.

Mikey, 15-and-a-half, lost in space, and Sandy, 14, a sullen

and barely pubescent boy, each have towels draped over their

forearms -- they are the evening's "waiters".

They move unsteadily to the table, at which sit their parents

Janey (38, a hard-edged, sharp-witted beauty) and Jim (43,

large and a bit goofy, a genius inventor), together with

their guests, Ben and Elena Hood, and neighbors Dorothy and

Ted Franklin.

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