The Player Page #15

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- The D.A. is at a moral crossroads.

- Tom! Jesus Christ.

We open outside

the largest penitentiary in California.

It's night. It's raining.

A limousine comes through the gate...

...past demonstrators holding

a candlelight vigil.

The candles under the umbrellas

glow like Japanese lanterns.

That's nice. I haven't seen that before.

That's good.

A lone demonstrator, a black woman,

steps in front of the limousine.

The lights illuminate her

like a spirit.

Her eyes fix upon those

of the sole passenger.

The moment is devastating

between them.

He's the D.A. She's the mother

of the person being executed.

You're good!

I told you he's good.

Go on.

The D.A. Believes

in the death penalty.

And the execution is a hard case.

Black, 19, and definitely guilty.

The greatest democracy in the world, and

36% of people on death row are black.

Poor, disadvantaged black.

He swears the next person

he sees to die...

will be smart, rich and white.

- You, me, whoever.

- What a hook! Beauty hook.

Cut to the chase.

Cut from the D.A. To an up-market

suburban neighborhood.

A couple have a fight.

He leaves in a fit, gets in a car.

It's the same rainy night.

The car spins out

and goes into a ravine.

The body is swept away.

When the police examine the car, they

find the brakes have been tampered with.

It's murder, and the D.A. Decides

to go for the big one.

He's going to put the wife

in the gas chamber.

But the D.A. Falls in love

with the wife.

Of course! But he puts her

in the gas chamber anyway.

Then he finds that the husband

is alive.

That he faked his death.

The D.A. Breaks into the prison,

runs down death row...

...but he gets there too late.

The gas pellets have been dropped.

She's dead.

I tell you,

there's not a dry eye in the house.

She's dead?

She's dead. She's dead

because that's the reality.

The innocent die.

- Who's the D.A.?

- No one.

No one?

No stars on this project.

We're going out on a limb on one.

Like unknown stage actors...

...or maybe somebody English

like what's-his-name.

- Why?

- Why?

This story is too damned important to

risk being overwhelmed by personality.

That's fine for action pictures,

but this is special.

We want real people.

We don't want people coming

with any preconceived notions.

- We want 'em to see a district attorney.

- Bruce Willis.

Not Bruce Willis or Kevin Costner.

This is an innocent woman

fighting for her life.

- Julia Roberts.

- If we can get her.

We can!

If I'm perfectly honest,

this isn't even an American film.

- It's not?

- No. There are no stars.

No pat happy endings,

no Schwarzenegger, no stickups...

...no terrorists.

This is a tough story, a tragedy

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