
Inherent Vice
A sweet, young woman’s voice narrates.
SORTILEGE (V.O.)
She came along the alley and upthe back stairs the way she alwaysused to. Doc hadn’t seen her for
over a year. Nobody had. Back
then it was always sandals, bottomhalf of a flower print bikini,
faded Country Joe & the Fish T-
shirt. Tonight, she was all inflatland gear, hair a lot shorterthan he remembered, looking justlike she swore she’d never look...
FADE IN:
2 INT. DOC’S APARTMENT (GORDITA BEACH) - DUSK (1970) 2
DOC SPORTELLO sits half awake on his couch. He looks up,
notices someone standing at his door: SHASTA FAY
HEPWORTH (20s).
DOC:
Is that you, Shasta?
SHASTA:
Think you’re hallucinating...?
DOC:
No... just the new package, I
guess...
SHASTA:
... I need your help, Doc.
DOC:
Come in. (... you know I have anoffice now and everything? Just
like a day job.)
She walks in, Doc gets a slow rising BONER in hispants... casually tries to cover it up.
SHASTA:
I looked in the phone book andalmost went over there, but then Ithought better for everyone ifthis looked like a secret
rendezvous.
DOC:
2.
SHASTA:
... I just spent an hour on
surface streets trying to make it
look good.
DOC:
How about a beer?
Doc moves to the fridge, Shasta looks around, they sit
down at the kitchen table:
SHASTA:
So there’s this guy...
DOC:
Gentlemen of the straightworld
persuasion?
SHASTA:
Okay, Doc. He’s married.
DOC:
And the wife -- she knows about
you?
SHASTA:
But she’s seeing somebody, too.
Only it’s not just the usual -- I
think they’re working on some
creepy little scheme.
DOC:
To make off with the hubby’s
fortune? I think I’ve heard this
one once or twice...
SHASTA:
They want me in on it... they
think I’m the one who can reach
him when he’s vulnerable, or as
much as he ever gets.
DOC:
Bare-ass and asleep?
SHASTA:
I knew you’d understand.
DOC:
Are you still trying to figure out
if it’s right or wrong?
SHASTA:
Worse than that. How much loyalty
I owe him.
3.
DOC:
I hope you’re not asking me.
Beyond the usual boilerplate,
people owe anybody they’re fucking
steady...?
SHASTA:
Dear Abby said the same thing.
DOC:
Emotions aside, let’s look at the
money. How much of the rent’s he
been picking up?
SHASTA:
All of it.
DOC:
Pretty hefty?
SHASTA:
For Hancock Park.
DOC:
You’re giving him IOUs for
everything, of course...
SHASTA:
You fucker, if I’d known you were
still this bitter I wouldn’t have
come --
DOC:
Me? I’m just trying to be
professional. How much are the
wifey and boyfriend offering to
cut you in for...?
BEAT...
DOC:
So, this... this isn’t just a
couple of X-rated Polaroids, then.
Dope planted in the glove
compartment, nothin’ like that.
SHASTA:
It isn’t what you’re thinking,
Doc.
DOC:
Don’t worry, thinking comes later,
what else?
SHASTA:
I’m not sure, but it sounds like
they want to commit him to some
kind of loony bin.
4.
DOC:
You mean legally? Or a snatch of
some kind?
SHASTA:
Nobody’s telling me, Doc, I’m just
the bait...
CLOSEUP - SHASTA’S FACE
Looking at Doc.
ANOTHER ANGLE:
He looks at her. Can’t read her face.
DOC:
Are you still taking those acting
classes?
SHASTA:
Thing is:
I heard you’re seeingsomebody downtown.
DOC:
Oh, you mean Penny. Seeing?
Well. Nice flatland chick out in
search of hippie love thrills,
basically.
SHASTA:
Also some kind of junior D.A.?
DOC:
You think somebody there could
stop this before it happens?
SHASTA:
There’s not too many places I
could go with this, Doc.
DOC:
Okay, I’ll talk to Penny, see what
we can see. So your happy couple.
Do they have a names?
(1.00 / 1 vote)
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Citation
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"Inherent Vice" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2021. Web. 7 Mar. 2021. <https://www.scripts.com/script/inherent_vice_595>.