Strange Days (1995) Movie Script
- You ready?
- Yeah. Boot it.
(Garbled chatter)
That's it.
That's it. That's it. Excellent.
I'm recording.
You crazy? Wait till
I get this thing down.
- What the fuck you doing?
- God damn, you stupid pussy.
- Fuck!
- Don't call me a pussy.
- I'll fucking ID you!
- Take the gun.
You're giving me this piece of shit?
Is it even loaded? I want the auto.
Asshole!
Whoo! I love this shit, man!
- Don't fuckin'...
- Fuck you!
- Right there. Turn left. Turn right.
- (Driver) OK, OK, just relax.
- Make a...
- Relax!
Here we go. There it is.
Shh.
- Easy. Take it easy.
- Don't make a fuckin' noise.
Go!
(All yell)
(Shouting and gunfire)
Go, go, go! Down! Down, you fucker!
I said down!
(Yelling)
This is a robbery!
Everyone put your hands up!
Hands in the air! Hands in the air!
No, no, no, no, no.
Where you going, bitch? Over here!
- Get the fuckin' money!
- You! Open the fuckin' register!
You want to fuckin' die,
you little fuck?
Please! Please, don't shoot!
(All shouting, video camera crackles)
Here we go!
- Don't shoot us. Don't shoot.
- Come on! This way!
- OK!
- Go, man. Run!
Run, man, run! Run, man!
(2nd robber) Go, go, go, go, go!
Don't look at me, you fuckin' chink!
- Get in there!
- Get him inside!
- You get the money?
- (All) Yes!
- What are you doing, you asshole?
- Come on, we gotta go!
You get the money?
How much? How much?
- (Sirens)
- It's the police!
Fuck! I'm going. I'm going.
Um... fuck. Here. Come on, come on,
follow me, man.
Wait!
Go, man, go! Come on...
The fucking doors are locked!
Come on! Come on!
Where are the cops, man?
- (Gunshot)
- Fuck you!
- What are you doing, man?
- Go, man! Just go!
- Shit!
- (Gunshots)
Go!
(Alarm)
- (Cop) Drop your weapon!
- Come on! They're right behind us!
- Come on! Come on!
- Oh, shit!
- Go, man!
- Come on. Let's go.
(Screams)
Come on! Come on, jump!
- This is insane, man.
- (Cop) You! Stop, asshole!
Come on, grab my hand!
I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!
- You motherfucker!
- (Gunshot)
Uhh...
God damn it!
You know I don't deal in snuff!
Don't have a fucking coronary, man.
I hate the zap when they die.
It just brings down your whole day.
- Jesus, Tick.
- Sorry (!)
How come the cops didn't put
that tape into evidence?
With all the blood,
they didn't see the rig.
- How'd it get to you?
- I got ways, Lenny.
Some of the paramedics - my guy pages
me and I picked it up at the morgue.
What do you think? This clip's
got to be worth a grand, right?
Tick, not to dash your hopes, but
I don't deal this kind of product.
I'll give you four. I gotta cut the
last part. My customers want uncut.
Fuck that. The last part's the best.
Dry dive six stories and blammo!
Jacked into the big black.
I don't deal black-jack clips!
It's policy. I got ethics here.
Oh, yeah? When did that start?
Lenny, this is what people wanna see.
- So lay it off to somebody else.
- Lenny, Lenny...
I gotta get my rig fixed,
there's blood all over the heads.
- Get away.
- Gimme six, it's a good clip.
It gets you pumpin'.
The first part's OK.
It's better than your usual soaps.
Now, that is cold.
I always bring you choice.
Sure, like this low-grade shit here?
Some girl fighting her boyfriend.
Nothing happens. I'm snoring.
Lenny, you're always telling me,
bring you street life, real life,
that one man's desperate existence
is another man's Technicolor.
- I said that?
- Many times. That's a direct quote.
I'll take it for five.
You'll make out OK.
It's pure cream.
No cutback to the wearer.
- Yeah, that's for sure. OK.
- What else you got?
(Yelling)
# Think you can remember
what you said to me
# You say anything
that's from the six... #
(Radio) 'Calls are a little kooky
tonight.
'It's a little after 2am,
December 30, 1999.
'Second to last day of the century. '
Jer, hi. I'll drop the money
by tomorrow, next day latest.
Little crazy right now.
Would I lie? No. Never to you, Jer.
You're not wrong. You're not wrong.
Prick.
(Opera music)
- (Radio) 'Excited about New Year? '
- 'Not really. What's the point?
'Nothing changes New Year's Day.
'The economy sucks.
Gas is over three bucks a gallon.
'5th grade kids are shooting
each other at recess.
'The whole thing sucks.
What the hell are we celebrating? '
(# Heavy metal)
(Choir) # Amen, amen, amen
# Amen
# Amen, amen, amen
# Amen #
Get me the clip by Monday.
Client wants a guy and two girls.
The guy wears... I know.
He's trying to be original.
And the girls have to be young.
Don't use your mother like usual.
Yeah, you, too, asshole.
(Radio) 'Caller, you're on the air. '
(Caller) 'My name's Dewayne.
I got a resolution for the police. '
'5-0, you better get down
with the 2K.'
- (DJ) '2K, Dewayne? What is that? '
- 'The big 2000.
'Out with the old, in with the new.
'For the man, no news good news.
'Keep it the way it is, but we're
gonna take it and make it new.
- 'History's gonna start right here. '
- 'Dewayne... '
'I wanna give a shout to, uh... '
(DJ) 'You're on the air, Lori. '
'Lf you read the Bible,
'you'd know there won't be
another thousand years.
- 'We're in the last days... '
'The last days?
'You mean the apocalypse,
the rapture? '
'Look at the signs.
There are wars, rumours of wars... '
'Just so we know how much time
is left,
'when is the rapture supposed to hit?
- 'Is it midnight, New Year's Eve? '
- 'That's right. '
'Is that midnight LA time
or Eastern Standard Time or what?
- 'What time zone is God in? '
- 'I pray for you all. '
Ooh, yeah. Oh, yeah!
(Lenny) OK. I can use this.
It's not bad but honey,
move your eyes slower next time.
Much slower, like you're making love
with your eyes, OK?
(Man) Let me get this straight.
You'll pay me $200 to put on a
hairnet and bang some beautiful babe?
I got to think about this.
Let's wire you up.
I hope this grease on your hair
doesn't screw up the squid receptors.
What is all this squid shit, anyway?
Superconducting quantum
interference device. Squid.
The receptor rig on your head
sends a signal to the recorder.
We call it being wired,
but there's no wire.
Keep the recorder
five, six feet away max,
in your jacket, by the bed,
wherever you're gonna close escrow.
- Know what I mean?
- Yeah, right.
You got a half-hour of tape so give
me some lead-in, but not too long.
- I ain't going out for popcorn.
- Don't worry.
- Got it?
- No problem.
You look great. You look...
You look beautiful.
(Panting)
(Screams) Shit!
(Woman, on radio)
'Do you request backup? '
Uh, that's a negative.
Suspect is a black male, 35 to 40...
We're handling it.
(Bell)
- Freeze!
- You bitch!
You fuckin'...
(Screams)
Fuck! Fuck!
(Gunshots)
Oh, shit.
God!
(Helicopter overhead)
(Phone)
'Hi. It's Lenny.
Just what do you have in mind? '
(Beep)
Lenny...
God damn it, you gotta be there.
You got to help me.
Lenny, please pick up the phone.
Come on, pick up.
Come on, Lenny,
fuckin' pick up the phone!
'OK, I'll call you back. '
Watch what I do. You OK?
You're doin' good, honey.
(Lenny) You look so good!
- Faith, come back.
- You all right?
Do you need help?
Sweetie, you're doing good.
Lenny...
(Laughs)
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, baby. Are you OK?
Fine.
(# Bob Marley: "Three Little Birds")
# Don't worry
# About a thing
# Cos every little thing
# Gonna be all right... #
- How do you feel?
- (Lenny) Lucky.
Dry me.
# Cos every little thing
# Gonna be all right
# Woke up this mornin'... #
You wanna watch, or you gonna do?
Watch and see.
# Three little birds
# By my doorstep
# Singin' sweet thoughts
# Never as pure as you
# Baby, it's...
# This is my message to you...
# Don't worry
# About a thing... #
Oh, wow...
#... every little thing
gonna be all right
# Baby, don't worry
# Don't worry
# About a thing
# Cos every little thing
# Gonna be all right... #
Oh, baby, baby, baby...
(Lenny) You're so beautiful.
I love your eyes, Lenny.
I love the way they see.
# Sayin', this is my message to you
# Don't worry
# About a thing
# Cos every little thing
# Gonna be all right
# Baby, don't worry
# About a thing
# Cos every little thing... #
(Sirens outside)
(Beeps)
(Fanfare)
'New Year's Eve, 1999.'
'It's being called
the party of the century,
'but it may be
the biggest party ever.
'No one's seen such preparations,
but they require care and insurance,
'and the LAPD is one insurance
company that doesn't want accidents. '
# Put you on a reservation
Black nation
# Die under your step
and fetch a military lie... #
'The bodies of two men
found under the Hollywood Freeway
'have been identified
as rap star Jeriko One
'and band member James Polton,
known to fans as Replay.
'Both were shot in what police are
calling an execution-style killing.
'The body of an unidentified woman
'was found with them,
also shot numerous times.
'Police said the killings
appear to be gang-related.
'With his band, Prophets of Light,
'Jeriko One's politics and lyrics
have stirred nation-wide controversy.
'Meanwhile,
astrologers have been busy
'making predictions
for the coming century.
'Some of their fortune-telling
is incredible...
'Muammar Qaddafi will be awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize.
'Turkey will make
reparations to Armenia.
'By 2025, there will be
a second woman president... '
(Man) Hey, Lenny...
(Woman) How you doin', man?
Keith.
- Keith?
- Yeah.
Lenny. Lenny Nero.
We spoke on the phone.
OK...
Not to be rude, Keith,
but I got to ask. Are you a cop?
I understand. No, I'm not.
You understand. Attorney, right?
Attorney?
- Right?
- That's right.
Tassel shoes! Entertainment law
would be my guess.
It's my job to know people and what
they want, what's behind their eyes.
OK, so tell me, have you...
have you ever jacked in?
Have you ever wire-tripped?
Uh, no. No.
A virgin brain? Good.
Well, we'll start you off right.
Save us some time.
Tell me what you know.
Just what I've read, that the
technology was developed for the Feds
to replace the body wire,
and now it's gone black market.
That's right, so...
This conversation's
not taking place, OK?
- You're damn right.
- Good, good.
So do I get the deck from you?
I'll get one at cost.
My thing's the software.
- Clips, right?
- Clips. Right.
Listen, I want you to know
what we're talking about here, OK?
This is not "like TV only better. "
This is life.
It's a piece of somebody's life.
It's pure and uncut,
straight from the cerebral cortex.
You're there. You're doing it.
You're seeing it. You're hearing it.
You're feeling it.
What kind of things... exactly?
Exactly anything.
Whatever you want, OK?
Want to go skiing without
leaving your den, you can,
but I'm assuming a guy like you, you
wanna go skiing, you'd fly to Aspen.
That's not what
you're interested in. It's, uh...
It's about the stuff that you can't
have, right? The forbidden fruit.
Like running into a liquor store
with a. 357 Magnum,
feeling the adrenaline
pumping through your veins, huh?
Or... see that guy with the drop-dead
Filipino girlfriend?
Wouldn't you like to be that guy
for 20 minutes, the right 20 minutes?
Yeah.
I can make it happen and you won't
even tarnish your wedding ring.
- Sounds good.
- See, I can get you what you want.
I can get you anything.
Just talk to me.
You have to trust me,
cos I'm your priest.
I'm... I'm your shrink.
I am your main connection to the,
uh... switchboard of souls.
I'm the magic man.
Santa Claus of the subconscious.
You say it, you think it,
you can have it.
You want a girl?
You want two girls?
I don't know what your thing is,
what you're curious about.
You want a guy?
Maybe you want to be a girl. Hey...
Think of that. Be a girl.
See what that feels like.
Maybe you want a nun to tie you up.
It's all doable.
Talk to me about costs.
Before we get to numbers, I want you
to try a taste. I got a deck with me.
- Right here?
- Step into my office.
(Gasps)
Ohh.
Mmm.
Ooh.
You were just an 18-year-old girl
taking a shower.
You're beginning to see
the possibilities here?
Hey. So, where is he?
He's in the back, making a deal.
Next time, let's meet
someplace private.
Cops have more to worry about
than the squid trade.
Oh, yeah? Assume the position,
you miserable techno-perv puke.
Beat it, fuckwad!
Max, I was with a client.
You think that's funny?
Prick.
See that preppy puke's face?
Pissed all over his topsiders!
OK, it was funny,
but it could cost me money.
Come on, amigo. No one knows
how to work them like you do.
You could sell a rat's asshole
for a wedding ring.
I could.
- Let me buy you a drink. Bobby!
- Bobby!
Bobby!
Tequila, por favor. Double shots.
Make it a Tres Generaciones.
Nothing but the best for Lenny,
the finest cop to ever get
thrown off the vice squad.
- Fuck you.
- (Laughs)
Yeah. Nice tie.
- Thanks, Max.
- You dress like a fucking pimp.
- It cost more than your wardrobe.
- That's not saying much.
It's the one thing that stands
between me and the jungle.
The jungle, where some bird can cap
you in the head and ruin your day.
- You were lucky, Max.
- So darn lucky...
I wake up with a. 22 in my brain and
a cop pension I can't live off of.
Damn! It's a good thing
I wasn't luckier.
Bobby, hit me again.
- You seen Faith lately?
- No, she won't call me.
It's just as well.
Sure, Faith was the best woman you
could ever hope to get, and it's...
humiliating that she's gone,
but you got to face that it's over.
Thanks, chaplain.
I'm touched by your concern.
I just hate to see you pining away.
You're my friend.
It makes me want to vomit.
- Hey, Iris. You OK?
- I got to talk to you.
What happened?
Some john get rough on you?
No. Can we talk in private? Please?
I'm in trouble. So is Faith.
- There's the magic fucking word.
- Come with me to your car.
- There's something you have to see.
- What's going on?
It's a bad situation.
- What?
- If they get me, I know they'll...
Who?
- (Siren)
- Oh, shit.
Hang on! That's my car!
Not any more. It belongs to the bank.
Hey, wait a second.
- Whoops.
- Oh, yeah.
Two million years of human evolution,
that's the best you can come up with.
What do you get to repo a car?
200? 250?
I'll pay you 350 right now.
- You got the cash?
- I was gonna write you a cheque.
- See ya.
- I respect that. I would want cash.
They'll take my cheque inside.
Just give me two minutes.
Here. You can keep
my watch for collateral.
It's... It's a Rolex.
I'll be right back. Two minutes.
Two minutes?
Son of a bitch!
What happened to your car this time?
See, Lenny, if you packed your piece,
you could make the guy see sense.
Bobby, turn this up.
# You watch us take it all
then you'll understand our pain
# We'll make you the rat
that crawled through the cracks
# You love that red, white, and blue
# But you hate the black,
black, black
# And you try to make me think
I did this to myself
# When the drugs I smoke and the
guns I tote both came from your shelf
# I never had a dream, cos
# My life is a nightmare
# America's been my bogeyman
for 400 years #
'Are you asking me how I feel? '
'We felt Jeriko. We listened to him! '
'The LAPD is a military force
'turned against its own people.
'We live in a police state... '
Hey, Macey.
Shh.
'... with their social programmes
that don't work. '
(Applause)
'They're rearranging deck chairs
on the Titanic.
'But a new day is coming.
'2K is coming.
'The day of reckoning is upon us.
'History ends
and begins again...
'right here... right now. '
Right on! To the end of all things.
You know how I know
it's the end of the world?
- No. Tell me.
- Everything's already been done.
Every kind of music's been tried,
every government's been tried,
every fucking hairstyle,
bubble gum flavours,
you know, breakfast cereal.
What are we going to do? How are we
going to make another thousand years?
I'm telling you, man, it's over.
We used it all up.
- So, what's this week's sad story?
- They jerked my wheels.
It's outrageous the computer errors
the banks make. Have you noticed?
No, I haven't,
because I make my payments.
So, Max Peltier,
how's the PI business?
Sucks. But when I get
this new logo...
I want to hear this scumbag.
- 'Do you have any leads? '
- 'Was there adequate security? '
'There was adequate security
available. He chose not to have it. '
- Why is he a scumbag?
- You-know-who left Lenny for him.
- Faith left Lenny for him?
- Don't say Faith.
You use the "F" word around Lenny,
you got to tranquillise him.
Shh!
'I know I've lost a friend.
'A man of great courage, which is
more than I can say for most of us. '
- If you're riding...
- OK, let's go.
(Siren)
Fuck you, you pig!
(Macey) Driving Mr Lenny.
It's gonna be a big night.
Feel the energy in the air.
There's money to be made,
dreams to sell.
- Sleaze to peddle.
- That is so unenlightened.
I sell experiences.
The way I see it, I'm performing
a humanitarian service.
- I probably save lives.
- I don't want to hear this.
Everybody needs to walk to the dark
end of the street sometimes.
The risks... The streets are
a war zone. Sex can kill you.
Slip on the 'trodes,
get what you need almost as good as
the real thing and a lot safer.
Porno. Face it, you sell porno
to wireheads.
Harsh. Harsh and untrue.
My clients are professionals.
Some are even celebrities.
- What celebrities?
- The guy from the news.
- He does the weather.
- That counts.
- Hey, you passed La Cienega.
- I'm not taking La Cienega.
It's the quickest way to the club.
I've got business there.
I'm meeting people.
Mace, you're my friend.
I'll give you 25%
of what I make tonight.
This may be hard for you, but friends
don't have to pay their friends.
- Faith's singing there tonight.
- I should have known.
Look, I've pulled 12 hours.
I got to get some sleep.
I got a pick-up at the St James Club.
You can catch a cab. It'll take you
wherever you wanna go.
A taxi? Well, someone might see me.
(Cop) Hold it right there, ma'am.
Whoa. Hold it right there.
- You made me late.
- What's your pickup's name?
- Fumitsu.
- Fumitsu?
Fumitsu. Fumitsu.
(Cop) Leave the car right here.
- Oh, fuck.
- (Cop) Get the one on the right.
- Nero.
- Strickland.
Commissioner Strickland.
Since you shit-canned my career,
I don't even have to call you sir.
Aren't you a little far
from your usual gutter?
I was invited here by a friend,
Mr Fumitsu. He's over there.
I don't like disappointments. You
know what disappoints me very much?
Your sex life? Excuse me.
Mr Fumitsu.
- Konbanwa.
- Konbanwa.
Leonard Nero, BLS Limousine
and Security Service.
I've arranged for one of our finest
drivers Lornette Mason to take you.
She's a security specialist,
trained in defensive combat,
and the car's bulletproof
and fully armoured.
I'll be coming along to do our
routine periodic driver evaluation.
We do it to ensure
that our VIP clients
are always treated
as honoured guests.
Good evening, Mr Fumitsu.
Sir, please watch your head.
Excuse me, Mr Nero.
Excuse me, sir!
- What the fuck are you doing?
- Coming with you.
(Sighs)
You will not live
to see the morning.
Drive on.
- (Fumitsu speaks Japanese)
- Are you a cop?
No? Good. Have you ever been wired?
(Fumitsu) Wired?
- The latest technology.
- Oh...
That is beautiful.
You got to take a look at this, OK?
Yeah.
- You're gonna love it.
- You have more?
I have more. Believe me.
(Both laugh)
(Tyres screech)
Hey! Hey! Careful on the jacket.
It's Armani.
- Hey, are you angry?
- No wirehead shit in my car!
- You're on foot!
- In LA? Are you crazy?
Can I come in? I'm having a hard time
hearing the stereo!
I need my case.
It's still in the back.
Can we talk here,
like two rational adults?
Uhh!
Um, that would be no.
OK, you got my attention.
This is cutting off the circulation
in my head. Do you mind?
Macey...
It's cool, it's nothing. Two seconds.
This is uncharacteristic for you,
Miss Ice Water In Her Veins.
You pushed me too far! You made me
lose it in front of a client!
- I could get fired!
- Are we still friends?
Friendship is more than one person
doing favours for another.
- I know.
- I don't hustle my friends.
You just suck people along with
your schemes and your slick act.
- We're still buddies?
- Don't use the time I'm talking
to think about what
you're gonna say next.
- You listening?
- Yeah.
You're always broke, you go
from one score to the next.
You're strung-out.
You don't even see it.
It's your brain, so do whatever
the hell you want with it,
but not on my watch.
I got a child, I got rent,
and I got an ex-husband doing hard
time who doesn't send me a dime.
I'm just trying to hold on here.
I know you wouldn't say this if
you didn't care about me. Thanks.
You're getting out with Fumitsu,
and that's the end.
I'll get you to the Templars
in ten minutes.
- Sorry for the inconvenience.
- I'm changing my plans.
Mr Nero has recommended an excellent
club, the Retinal Fetish.
- It's on La Cienega.
- Yes, sir.
- Enjoy your evening, Mr Fumitsu.
- Mace, I appreciate it. Thank you.
Hey, come on.
Excuse us.
Excuse us.
Excuse us.
This is a friend of mine, Mr Fumitsu.
Can you take care of him?
(Hostess) John, could you take care
of this gentleman?
Hey. Bye.
- Hey, Lenny. How ya doing?
- Who's the new guy in Gant's posse?
Wade Beemer, played running back
for the Rams, '96, '97.
Like a fucking freight train.
- Rams... Football, right?
- No, ping-pong(!)
Hey, Iris was looking for you.
Hello, Lenny.
It's OK, Wade, he's an old friend
of mine, Lenny Nero.
Come to peddle me some clips
for old time's sake,
or just makin' a few bucks
for the holidays?
I wouldn't sell you
the sweat off a dead dog's balls.
I've already got everything
I need from you.
Cut it out, Philo.
Too bad about your guy Jeriko.
You lost your golden goose.
Show some respect.
He was an important artist.
Important for your label,
which is why you're mourning.
His records will sell out
now he's dead, and you'll make out.
Always do.
Faith, can I talk to you
for one second?
It's not a good idea right now.
Just for one second, OK?
- About what?
- That would be between me and Faith.
Funny, I don't feel anything
between you and Faith.
You see...
that's your problem, Lenny,
you assume too much.
You assume there's something
where there's nothing,
you assume that you have a life,
when in fact, you're just peddling
pieces of other people's lives
and the broken parts of your own.
Faith...
Get him to his car.
Call me, OK? Faith!
Call me!
Lenny the loser.
- Leave him alone, Philo, OK?
- You shouldn't talk to him.
You shouldn't talk to anybody,
not with everything that's going on.
You are too goddam paranoid.
You know that, Philo?
Paranoia's just...
reality on a finer scale.
(Lenny) Thank you(!)
Awoo! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
- Hey.
- Hey! What's up, my brother?
- Those rascals haven't grown back?
- No. Any day now. I just know it.
Hey, I got something for you.
It's a present,
something I had custom-made.
- Happy Millennium.
- Oh.
I got something for you, too.
Just showed up tonight.
I don't know who from.
Fan mail from some flounder?
Mmm.
- Hi.
- Hi.
# Strange days not like before #
(Cheering and applause)
# I can hardly wait
# I can hardly wait
# I can hardly wait
# I can hardly wait
# It's been so long
# I've lost my taste
# Say angel, come
# Say lick my face
# Let fall your drapes
# I'll play the part
# I open this mouth wide
# Eat your heart... #
(Cheering)
# Your heart
# I can hardly wait
# I can hardly wait
# I can hardly wait
# I can hardly wait
# Lips crack dry
# Tongue bursts
# Say angel, come
# Say lick my face
# It's been so long
# I've lost my taste
# Here, Romeo
# Make my watered brain #
Hi, baby.
I missed you.
Lenny, you have to leave. I mean it.
Iris said you were in trouble.
What did she mean?
- You talked to Iris? When?
- Tonight.
I haven't seen that girl in months.
Who knows what's going on
in that whore's head?
She used to be your best friend.
Iris? You're really running out of
excuses to come around, aren't you?
I know you. You're afraid
of something. What's going on?
Let it alone.
It will take care of itself.
It's Gant, isn't it? He's poison.
He's got you walled in
and he uses the wire too much.
He gets off on tape, not on you.
That's a good one coming from you.
- Why don't you just split?
- Cos I don't want to.
Do you love him? I don't think so.
To him, you're some kind of
possession. You're like a Ferrari.
You're just something
to show the other guys.
Yeah? He has his uses, too, you know.
What? He going to record you
on his label?
He might.
You never know, right?
Faith...
Faith, listen to me. I've watched you
create yourself out of nothing.
You're like a goddam cruise missile
targeted on making it, and you will.
I know I will.
It's you up on that stage, not him.
You don't need him.
Get out of here. If Philo
catches you, he'll hurt you.
- I'm already hurting.
- I'm serious. He's acting crazy.
He's doing way too much playback.
He's gotten completely paranoid.
He's such a control freak now, he's
even paying Max to follow me around.
- Max? You're kidding.
- Yeah, for about a month now.
Jesus.
Look, Lenny, just stay away
from Philo and stay away from me.
Stop trying to rescue me.
Those days are over.
I'm a big girl now. I've changed.
Stop trying to save me, I don't need
saving. Just give up on me!
I just... I just wanted to make sure
you were all right.
You know one of the ways that movies
are still better than playback?
Cos the music comes up,
there's credits,
and you always know when it's over.
It's over!
You were great.
Hey, man. I know what
you're thinking.
- She told me about your new gig.
- Man, I feel like shit about it.
- You should feel like shit.
- I do feel like shit. OK?
- Hey, you introduced me to Gant.
- I introduced him to Faith, too.
Questionable move,
given the historical perspective.
I can take his money. You wouldn't
believe what I'm charging.
And I make sure Faith is OK
at the same time.
Keep an eye on her, for you. OK?
Which you can't do without getting
your fingers bent the wrong way back.
I'm busted, man. I need the money.
- This does us both some good.
- Fairly twisted logic, even for you.
- Hey, you got a job.
- I got a job.
OK. I'm sorry. You got a job.
- That's great.
- I got a job!
Hey, listen. You got to stay on her.
Watch her for me, please.
- I'm on her.
- OK.
- Take it easy, all right?
- Yeah. You, too.
Come on.
Here, chicky, chicky, chicky,
chicky, chicky...
Hey, wait a minute. I recognise you.
You're Wade Beemer, right?
Running back for the Rams. '96, '97.
- Am I right?
- Yeah. Th-That's right.
I saw you play, man.
I mean, you were good, really good.
Like a fuckin' freight train.
What happened? Injuries or what?
- Oh, bullshit politics.
- It's always politics.
Like this thing.
He's paying you to tune me up.
I could pay you more not to.
- I could write a cheque right now.
- Ah... I got to go.
OK. Cash... Cash!
Here's everything I have on me.
Oh, look. What do you say?
How about, uh, a Rolex?
I got a real one.
Come on. It won't hurt too bad.
It's nothing personal.
Just one second, please.
It's my jacket. It's...
It's really expensive.
And just not... not the eyes.
You're bleeding.
Some jerk puked on the stairs,
and I slipped. I should sue.
You came back for me.
I came back to pick up my client.
No, you came back for me.
I got to lie down, Macey,
please, in the back?
Some piece of work, Lenny Nero.
You're calmly backstroking along
in the big toilet bowl,
and somehow,
you never let it touch you.
I mean, between working vice and your
current so-called occupation,
you must have seen every perversion.
But you just like some Teflon man.
Still come out this...
goofball romantic.
It's my sword and my shield, Macey.
All right. A little B & E action.
- What'd you say?
- Oh, nothing.
(Siren)
(Zip)
(Screams)
Shit.
No, no.
Please. Please.
Please...
You can let me go, please.
I haven't seen your face. Please.
L- Let me go.
Let me go, please...
Oh, my... Holy...
(Screams)
- (Gasping)
- Lenny...
Lenny!
Go to the Sunset Regent right now.
Go! Go!
(Tyres screech)
Oh, Christ.
He's jacking it into his own output!
She's seeing what he's seeing.
She's... She's seeing herself!
(Screams)
Ohh...
My God...
(Gasping)
God! (Gasps)
(Silence)
Oh, my God... Oh, my God...
Lenny... What is it?
- A black-jack.
- Black-jack?
A snuff clip.
It was Iris.
- The sick fucker killed her.
- Are you sure it's real?
(Cop) Tell 'em we got a 187.
Call it in.
(Heavy breathing)
(Panting)
(Moans)
Well, I lost my appetite...
for about a year.
- Wanna take a look?
- Hell, no. I don't fool with that.
- You all right?
- Yeah.
- You OK?
- No. Not really.
All right. Let's work it.
No, I... I can't.
Come on, Lenny,
you used to be good at this shit.
Let's play it down.
What's the perp doing?
- I can't.
- You used to be a fuckin' cop, OK?
Now, that is a fucking murder.
- What's he doing?
- OK. H-He stalks her.
And, uh...
he rapes her... and he does her.
And records it, right?
He wants to see it again and again.
He records himself
raping and killing.
- While sending a signal to her.
- So she feels what he feels
while he's inside her.
The thrill while he's killing her
is sent to her, heightening her fear,
which, in turn,
heightens the turn-on for him.
I've seen... I've seen a lot.
- So have I. Too much.
- It's a bad one.
He makes her see her own death,
feeds off the reaction.
He records it all. Everything.
- And gives it to you.
- Yeah. He wants to share it.
Of course he wants to share, man.
That's his deal.
He needs an audience.
This is a sick puppy.
- Why me?
- Cos you're the magic man, Lenny.
You make dreams happen.
If it's got something to do with
the wire, it washes up on your beach.
I've never dealt in black-jacks.
Never. Everybody knows that.
He's just skull-fucking you, buddy.
He just wants a reaction out of you.
He wants to make you do something
that you do not want to do.
Maybe he figures Lenny will
appreciate what he's created.
It's the dark end of the street.
How do you like it now?
- Jesus, Mace, back off.
- This guy's one of your squid-heads.
- He's somebody you know, Lenny.
- The problem with that is
Lenny knows... everybody.
- Take the tape to the cops.
- No.
No. I'll... They'll crucify me.
So this wire-freak
gets to keep running around, huh?
The police will think he's the perp.
They'll go through his client list,
and ruin his life...
such as it is.
I'll call my buddies at homicide,
say Iris was my friend.
That'll put me in the loop. I'll get
the forensics and all that shit.
Get some sleep. I'll call you
when I get something. Relax!
Lenny!
Keep moving, man.
Somebody's thinking about you a lot.
(Guitar continues, muffled)
Leave me alone!
Don't come to my house.
Are you trying to ruin my life?
Iris is dead. She was murdered.
- Who did it?
- Whoever he is, he's damaged goods.
Iris said you were in danger, too.
- I'm not in any danger.
- Faith! No more games.
Whatever you're hiding you have
to get out of here. Come with me now!
Then what? Are you gonna protect me?
Are you a tough guy?
You're a fucking talker.
You don't even own a gun.
I have a gun under my bed.
You don't know what you're
fucking with here.
- Tell me.
- (Philo) Tell him, Faith. Go on.
Uh, listen. Lenny just stopped by
to give me some bad news, OK?
An old friend of mine's
been murdered. Remember Iris?
How the fuck did you get up here?
Charm.
Tell you what, Lenny.
Just for you, hmm?
Make you a deal.
Why don't you just take her? Hm?
If she's so unhappy and she wants
to leave, she can go!
Besides, Faith always knows
what she wants. Don't you, baby?
See? Hands off.
I'll tell you something else.
I'll tell you this, you fuck.
If she says she stays, you go.
You crawl back to wherever
the fuck it is you came from
and never cross my vision again.
Faith...
Come on.
Come on...
I've made my choice, Lenny.
Get him out.
Get him out!
You're fucking crazy, Faith!
You're fucking crazy! Come with me!
Faith!
I don't love you any more.
Do you understand that?
You mean nothing to me!
Leave me alone, Lenny, please!
You said you were gonna get Iris
out of this, Philo.
Now you understand
the danger we're in.
So sweet what you said out there,
so touching. I almost believed it.
I don't think he even understands
you did it for him.
He doesn't know what's going on.
Leave him alone!
I'd love to leave him alone
if he'd stop coming round
and you'd stop talking!
The only time a whore should open
her mouth is when she's giving head.
Shit! Mace! Help!
Don't be shy, Lenny.
This is your floor.
Come on now, Lenny.
You're going to the hospital.
(Lenny) Can we be smart here?
I could make it worth your while.
I don't mind a couple of shots.
Just go light is all I'm saying.
Here, look. Take my Rolex.
Ooh, nice watch.
- Is this impact resistant?
- Sure.
You stupid piece of shit!
You stupid fuck. Get up!
Come on. Get up!
(Corto) Oh, ho. Pain. Pain!
We tried to find a smaller girl
to beat the shit out of you,
but it was short notice.
It was short notice!
Oh! Ow! That one had to hurt.
Safety's on.
Come on. Let's go.
Hey, wait!
- I need a drink.
- Lenny, get some rest.
The cops know they'll
never nail this guy
the second they walk in the room.
It's all about
what they see walking in...
dead hooker, handcuffs, penetration.
Cops are lazy, and they know nobody
gives a shit about a dead hooker.
They're roadkill, right?
So they'll take pictures, make jokes,
and just shrug it off
like it's a random kill.
- It's the kind you never solve.
- That doesn't add, does it?
Iris said she knew somebody
was after her. That is not random.
If they get me, I...
She said "they". "If THEY get me. "
Which means this whole random
sex killer thing is bullshit.
- Somebody whacked her for a reason.
- So this guy's not a psycho?
He's a psycho.
To do what's on that tape,
he's not a well-adjusted human being.
I got to get some sleep.
OK, Lenny. Put that down,
and I'll check on you tomorrow.
Hey, you wanna rub my neck?
- (Sighs)
- My shoulder's real sore.
OK. All right. Come here.
- Right here?
- Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Ohh...
Don't stop.
How's Zander?
Oh... He's fine.
- I miss him.
- He misses you, too.
I'm real sorry about being
so hard on you earlier.
I just see you getting sucked into
this deeper and deeper, and, um...
Macey, come on.
I know you still love me.
(Siren)
How can you do this
in front of your child?
In front of your son.
- Mace, hold on. Mace...
- In front of your son!
(Sobbing)
Zander!
Zander!
"When a child loves you
for a long, long time,
"not just to play with,
but really loves you... "
- Hi, honey.
- Hi, Mommy!
- This is Lenny.
- Hi.
(Phone)
'Hi, it's Lenny.
Just what do you have in mind? '
(Beep)
(Max) 'Hey, the last day of the world
and you spend it in bed? '
- What's up, Max?
- Not a whole lot, man.
They've just been saying
words over Jeriko.
Tension's running
pretty high down here.
- Faith OK?
- Yeah.
She's leaving with Gant,
so I got to boogie.
Iris checked into the Regent last
night under a false name. Paid cash.
- So she was hiding out.
- Yep.
I heard you dropped in
on Gant last night.
- 'Another slick Lenny move, huh? '
- He's in this somehow.
'Just stay close to Faith, OK? '
No worries, bro. I gotta jam.
(Zip)
(Panting)
(Door opens)
What up, Lenny?
- So, where we going?
- Anywhere.
- You're acting strange, what's up?
- Shh, Mace.
We'll talk about it in the car.
Hand me that box of tapes.
- Oh, shit.
- What's the matter?
This tie doesn't go with blue.
(Yelling)
(Macey) Lenny, would you relax?
We're not being followed.
- Stop being so paranoid.
- The guy had a knife to my throat
in my living-room.
Relaxing might be right out, OK?
(Panting)
Oh, man. Oh, that is one
unbelievable piece of eye-fuck.
Skip the art criticism, Tick. What
can you tell me about the wearer?
That guy is fucked up.
- We know that.
- He has some distortion
in the visual cortex.
The colour and grey-scale values
are messed up, like colour-blindness.
See the peak period ratios? There
could be a tumour or brain lesion.
Whoever's doing this is using a box
to split the signal...
- Ever make a box like that?
- A few. I can't see if it's mine.
I don't like this.
- This is not good.
- What?
It's cutting close to me.
She was just here, man!
- Who?
- Iris!
- Iris was here?
- She was shaking like a junkie,
saying she wanted me
to copy some clip.
- What clip?
- I don't know.
She said I wouldn't wanna see it.
She was gonna give it to you.
- She never gave me a tape.
- Think back to what she said.
She came in. She was crying.
She wanted to go to my car.
Let's go to your car.
There's something you have to see.
- Something about my car.
- In your car.
That's a handy little
attitude adjuster.
Damn. I'm boxed in.
- What's it say?
- Nothing.
Let's go play this back.
- Give us the tape right now.
- I'm just tryin' to get my car back.
Shut the fuck up.
- Give him the tape.
- It's in my case.
I'm gonna open my case.
Facing us, so we can see it.
Take it and turn her loose, OK?
Yeah. Absolutely.
(Tyres screech)
"Oh, no. No.
We're not being followed, Lenny. "
"Don't be paranoid. "
Shit!
- The glass is bullet-resistant.
- Whatever happened to bulletproof?
Shit!
Calm down. This is what I do.
Hang on!
Christ.
Shit!
God damn it. 911 is busy.
It's all right, Lenny.
They'd never make it in time.
It won't open!
Oh, you're crazy.
Oh, God!
- This is bad.
- The gas tank's gonna go any second.
Hold on.
Are you out of your fucking mind?
The fire is out, isn't it?
Get in here, Lenny.
Come on! Move it! Move!
Get ready to hold your breath.
Just kick out hard
and follow me, OK?
Let's get out of here.
I can't believe you had to give
them the damn tape.
Yeah. Me neither.
It was one of my favourites.
Me and Faith in the hot tub
on my birthday.
Are we impressed yet?
Yeah.
Pretty impressed.
# Here we kitty come, come,
here we kitty come, come... #
Well, I'm missing the party of the
century, hauling your asses around...
- Hey, Curtis. Just drive, all right?
- This shit is wack.
- Those two guys were cops.
- You sure?
It's the walk. Anyway, they'll get
your address. We got to keep moving.
#... that crawls through the cracks,
you love that red, white... #
What you doing all wet?
What's up? Zander, we're going
to Aunt Cecile's house.
- We'll see the fireworks from there.
- Aw, Ma.
Come on, boy. Chop chop.
Come on, Zander.
We're going for a ride, OK?
(Beeping)
- I want to know what's going on.
- Get in the car, Cecile...
- What's goin' on?
- Now.
Yo, what's up? How y'all doing?
- Yo, Mace. What's up?
- Hey, Ronnie.
- You never come around here no more.
- I'm working, brother.
- This is Lenny. He's with me.
- What's up?
- Watch the fireworks, baby.
- How you guys doing?
- Hey.
- Hey.
Good seeing you.
(Sighs)
Tell me.
I can't tell you.
- You gotta see it.
- I'm not doing it.
I know what you think about
the wire, but you gotta see it.
It's that important.
OK?
I'm sorry this has to be
your first playback.
It's all right. Keep your eyes
closed, or you'll see double.
- (Music on car radio)
- (Iris) Mm, baby, yes!
(Laughter)
(Man) I wanna thank you, Jeriko!
I owe you one for this, my brother.
(Jeriko) You owe me two,
you bastard. That's right!
(Man) I owe you three,
four, five, and six!
(Iris) Hey, baby.
What you doin' back there?
(Replay) Yes. Yes. Yes.
Oh, yeah, baby.
(Siren)
Lights! Damn. Look at this, man.
- Oh, god damn, man!
- Hey, just be cool, Jeriko. Yo.
(Iris) Slow down.
(Jeriko) I'm not speeding, man.
Man, what's the matter?
A black man can't own no jeep, huh?
(Cop) Pull all the way
to the foot of the ramp.
No problem.
You know how it is.
If we be cool, they gonna be cool.
I can't afford no trouble.
I'm upset.
A man can't do shit in this town.
I ain't going back, Iris. I don't
give a fuck. I ain't going back.
(Cop) Driver,
step out of the vehicle.
Get down on your knees. Put
your hands behind your head... now!
(2nd cop) Everyone else,
out of the car.
Damn, man. What the hell
you pull me over for?
If I went slower,
I'd have been parked.
Get down on your knees,
put your hands behind your head.
Put your hands on
the hood of the car.
Don't move. You, too.
I suppose you had suspects fitting
our description in the area.
Is that it? What was the description?
Two black males in a car?
Right(!)
Ow! Fuck!
You know what? You pulled over the
wrong black male tonight, officer...
What is it? Steckler.
Officer Steckler!
I'm that 800-pound
gorilla in your mist.
I make more money in a day
than you make in a whole year.
My lawyer loves spending my money
dragging Aryan, Robocop fuckers
like you into court.
Get a man down on the ground
with no probable cause.
- Shut the fuck up.
- He didn't...
Shut up and get back over there!
- You all right, man?
- Motherfucker kicked me, man.
- It's that rap-ass.
- You're that rapper puke.
Jeriko One?
You're the one that's been getting
all the gangbangers together,
forming citizen groups,
trying to rake the LAPD
over a cheese grater?
Yeah. That's right.
And you gonna be in my next song.
It's gonna be called Robo-Steckler.
It's all about a cop
who met his worst nightmare,
a nigger with enough political juice
to scrunch his ass like a stink bug.
- You gonna be famous, fucker!
- I don't think so.
(Cop) Stop that bitch!
Oh, no!
- Get her!
- Oh, no. Fuck.
(Iris screams)
(Gunshots)
There she goes! Get her!
(Screaming)
(Train horn blares)
(Cop) You bitch!
(Gunshots)
Hang on. Hang on, Max.
Mace.
You see?
You had to see it.
I see the world opening up
and swallowing us all.
Yeah. I know.
Max, are you there?
Meet me at Tick's in half an hour.
And, Lenny...
Don't get pulled over, OK?
Do you know what this tape could do
if it got out?
Yeah, I got a pretty good idea.
People finding out...
seeing...
that the LAPD just flat-out
executed Jeriko One.
Jesus.
Jesus.
- Maybe they ought to see.
- Maybe.
But tonight's probably not
the best night.
Mace... Come on. We're rolling.
I don't think those cops did Iris.
Whoever Iris wore for killed her.
- Why?
- To break the trail.
If those cops had gotten her,
they'd have found out who she was
wearing for and gone after them.
Our killer is as scared as we are,
which makes him really dangerous,
judging by how scared I am.
Move it up.
Let her go.
(Loud rock music)
Sounds like Tick's
already celebrating, huh?
- You're overdressed for this party.
- I want to look nice for you, Lenny.
Hey, Tick. I gotta talk to you.
(Music stops)
He's been cooked off.
- Is he dead?
- No.
But his frontal lobes
are like runny eggs.
They use an amplifier to boost
the signal, and it fries his brain.
Tick!
It's Lenny!
Hey, Tick! Come on!
(Echoing) Tick, it's me, Lenny!
Come on. Wake up. Tick!
Come on!
Come on, Tick! Come on!
He's totally cut off
from the outside world.
How long does it last?
Forever.
Those psycho cops are on
a slash-and-burn
to find the tape
and cover their tracks.
Since Tick is a duplicator,
they wanna find out if copies were
made or who wired Iris.
It's not even homicide,
since he's technically alive.
Yeah. That's right.
He's technically alive.
It seems sophisticated.
These are not subtle guys.
- There's more to this.
- What do you mean?
All I'm saying is, you don't know how
high up the food chain this goes.
- I heard stuff.
- What stuff?
I heard stuff, smoke, rumours.
I've heard stuff.
I've heard stuff
about a death squad.
They're a group of guys, cops,
loyal to the hard-line school.
Guys who've had too many years
of City Hall, review boards,
and the goddam media
pissing down their necks,
suspending cops, tying their hands,
while these same people
are squealing, "Save us! Save us!
"Do something, you morons.
Crime is out of control. "
- Bullshit. It's conspiracy paranoia.
- It's not about if you're paranoid.
It's about whether
you're paranoid enough.
Christ.
Exactly. Get religion.
I love you like my own blood, Lenny,
but don't walk near me in public.
The only card we got is the tape.
Get it to the media.
Right.
You run that on the news, by midnight
you got the biggest riot ever.
They'll see the smoke from Canada.
What are you saying?
Pretend it didn't happen?
- I didn't say that.
- It happened.
The LAPD executed
an important black man.
Who are you to try to bury it?
...trying to rake the LAPD
over a cheese grater?
You want blood running waist-deep
in the storm drains, go do it.
200,000 gangbangers will burn this
city to the fucking ground, Mace.
Once the fire starts, the cops'll
cap off anything that moves.
It'll be an all-out war.
I don't think so.
Maybe it's time for a war.
You really want that
on your head, Mace, huh?
Really?
Whoever did Iris did Tick.
It's the same sick wirehead shit.
It's the same reason
to burn the trail.
If Faith knows anything about this,
- and she does...
- Somebody's going to kill Faith?
# Yeah, you're not rid of me
# No, you're not rid of me
# I'll make you lick my injuries
# I wanna twist your head off, see?
# Till you say don't you wish
you never, never met her?
# Don't you, don't you wish
you never, never met her?
# Don't you, don't you wish
you never, never met her?
# Don't you, don't you wish
you never, never met her?
# Don't you, don't you wish
you never, never met her?
# Don't you, don't you wish
you never, never met her?
# Don't you, don't you wish
you never, never met her? #
(Cheers)
(Screams)
Jesus, Lenny, you scared
the fuck out of me!
- What do you want?
- We know about Jeriko.
- Iris gave me a copy of the tape.
- I wanted to keep you out of this.
- How did it happen?
- Why was Iris with Jeriko, wired up?
Faith, listen...
Look at me. Look at me.
You gotta trust us.
We're here to help you.
All right. I'll talk to you alone.
- Mace is in this.
- Tell us.
Faith.
Philo, he's gotten
obsessed with playback.
He's a total wiretrip junkie.
He's such a control freak now,
he's been having people followed,
recording his business partners'
calls,
wiring up people left and right.
Philo and Jeriko weren't getting on.
He was afraid Jeriko would dump him,
but he wasn't sure,
so he starts with the surveillance.
A couple of nights ago,
he wires up Iris,
and he sends her and the other girl,
Diamanda, over to Jeriko's table.
Hi, baby.
Hi. My name is Iris.
Hey.
(Iris) I got a present for you.
And it's so beautiful.
So that night, Iris calls up crying.
She's freaking out.
She comes over
and she plays the tape.
Philo loses it. He can't believe
the disaster she's gotten him into.
'He's afraid the cops
will beat it out of her
'who she's been working for,
and then come looking for him. '
Why not go public,
save himself that way?
If it got out he spied on his own
artists he'd lose all his other acts,
and it'd be over for him.
'So he gives Iris some money. '
He tells her to check into a hotel
under an assumed name
- until he can figure out what to do.
- He figured it out, all right.
- You think he killed her?
- The killer knew where she was
because he put her there.
What a nightmare.
I don't know where the fuck she is,
but we're late. Let's go.
Philo, how do you want me to work it
tonight at the Bonaventure?
Downstairs, or upstairs at the suite?
Lenny.
Leave here with me right now.
Come on.
- We'll talk about that later.
- No, man. I need to know.
Joey, what the fuck you waiting for?
Get her. Go!
I just say things once, baby, OK?
So, we will talk about that... later.
Oh, OK, man. I'm cool. I'm cool.
I'm sorry, man.
Hey, Wade, go out for a pass, bro.
# Blue sky
# No white clouds
in my blue sky #
- Oh, shit!
- Get out of my fuckin' way!
Come on! Come on!
Lenny! Go! Go!
Pardon me! Sorry! Sorry!
Get out of my fuckin' way! Move it!
Move!
Faith.
Hello, Lenny, you fuck!
Let's go, darling. Happy New Year!
- Get out of the way!
- Lenny...
Excuse me. Get out of my fucking way!
(Screaming)
Vita... Vita, not now, baby.
Come on. Not here.
There he is.
Mr Gant, a few questions, sir?
(All shout questions)
Well, I'm certainly
in the mood for a party (!)
- Wade, take her up to the suite.
- No problem.
You go and have a glass
of champagne... or six.
See you up there in a bit,
help you ring in the new year.
I live for the moment.
Pussy-whipped,
sorry-ass motherfucker.
Take it easy.
So... So where are they now?
He's got her up in
the room, under guard.
Uh, he's still working the party,
acting smooth like nothing's nothing.
So, buddy... I say we work a trade.
- What do you mean?
- Give him the clip.
The tape for Faith.
I know he'll go for it.
This is what we laughingly
refer to as a plan?
Just get your butt down here.
If I'm not downstairs, go to
the room. It's 2203. You writing?
2-2-0-3.
If he gives us any shit...
we kill them all.
What do you say?
Really scatter the pigeons.
We got to get over there.
Can you borrow a dress
from Cecile or something?
- I'm not going.
- What do you mean?
- Gant's going to do her right there.
- Shut up.
Lenny, park your mouth and listen.
It's a set-up. Think about it.
Why is he sending tapes to you?
To freak you, get you to rush in,
put a bullet in you, one in her,
- and the gun in your hand?
- Yeah, that sounds right. I'm going.
You going to get yourself killed
for this? Huh?
For this toxic-waste bitch?
What the fuck are you doing?
This is your life!
Right here! Right now!
It's real time, you hear me?
Real time!
Time to get real, not playback.
You understand me?
She doesn't love you any more.
Maybe she did once,
but she doesn't now.
These are used emotions.
It's time to trade them in.
Memories were meant to fade, Lenny.
They're designed that way
for a reason.
Have you ever been in love with...
someone who didn't return that love?
Yeah, Lenny...
I have.
Didn't stop you from
loving them, right?
Or being able to understand them
or forgive them?
I guess.
Didn't stop you from wanting
to protect them... did it?
When I met Faith,
she was just another...
another runaway...
giving $20 blow jobs to buy crank.
Just another lost soul.
And she had this voice that was...
Well, that was scary.
Like she could take all the hurt
and rage of the entire world
and lift it up to heaven
in one voice.
I helped her.
And I promised her that I'll always
just be there...
to protect her.
See, it's not about what's in
her head. It's about what's in mine.
I can't let go of the promise.
It's like it's all I have left.
No, it's not.
Come on.
Let's go to a party.
(Cheering)
(Heavy metal)
The end of the world, yeah!
Shit!
Let's bail.
Hey, Mace...
You look great in that dress.
- I mean, better than I would.
- Thank you, I think.
Come on, let's go.
What's your plan for getting into
the most sold-out party in history?
Relax, Mace. This is what I do.
(Singing in African dialect)
- You see Gant?
- Uh-uh.
Shit.
Come on, Max. Come on, buddy.
Come on...
(Phone) 'The customer you have called
is unavailable... '
I still got one ace to play. Gant has
what I want, I have what he wants.
This is the original.
That's why it's a makable deal.
Look, this tape is
a lightning bolt from God.
It's worth more than you,
more than me,
and more than Faith,
you understand?
It can change things
that need changing
before we all go off
the end of the road.
You do not have the right
to use it for currency.
So if you go... you go alone.
You see, I care about you, Lenny,
a lot more than you know,
which makes us both
pretty stupid, huh?
But if you pawn this tape...
you mean nothing to me.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
You see that guy over there?
That's Deputy Commissioner
Palmer Strickland,
the prick who busted me out.
His ass is so tight,
only dogs hear his farts.
If there's a clean cop, it's him.
- Take it to him.
- You want me to trust a cop?
No. Trust me. Here.
What if you're wrong?
Go.
Excuse me.
Commissioner...
there's a clip in here
that you need to see right now.
If it weren't New Year's Eve,
I'd have you arrested for possession
of illegal equipment.
You wanna know who killed Jeriko,
you go into that stall
and hit "play. "
(Cop) Sir, is there a problem here?
- Damn it, I knew it.
- Come on, let's go.
- Let go of me!
- Sir?
Wade, can we talk here
like two human beings?
It's nothing personal.
(Bagpipes playing)
Remember me, you fucking bitch?
Come on! Come on!
What are you looking at?
God damn it!
Enjoy the party.
Steckler... Steckler!
Fuck!
I didn't hear you come in.
Ah!
No!
No... no!
Shit.
(Grunting)
OK?
Did I hurt you?
Huh?
I love you, Max.
You're so pretty, Faith.
Shit!
- Come here, you fucker...
- You want to fuckin' die?
You want to fuckin' die?
This piece of puke hired me
to kill you. Can you believe that?
- Ain't that right?
- I can't believe this is happening.
Believe it!
Bring me the 'trodes
and the deck. Quick!
Come here, big shot, suck on this.
You wanna suck on something?
What are you gonna do?
You can't just kill him, Max!
I'm not going to. Give me that.
Just a little poach job.
- (Gant groans)
- You shut the fuck up!
Shut up or I'll pull
this fucking trigger!
- (Fireworks explode)
- (Faith) Fuck!
- Here's how much I love you, baby.
- God, Max!
Hope you enjoy the show, Philo...
you fuck.
- Take it, you prick!
- No, Max, don't! Don't do it!
Take it! Take it!
Take it!
Don't make any assumptions
about our friendship, OK, Lenny?
I didn't know you
were colour blind, Max.
Only way I could stand your ties.
Manos arriba, amigo.
Ooh.
Glock. 23.
Nice.
- Where's Faith?
- I sent her to the party.
- I'll wait here until you kill Gant.
- What makes you think I will?
You just did.
Jesus!
You know, that's the second most
common word people say
right before they die...
"shit" being number one.
So... I killed Gant, then you ran in,
being on his payroll... and shot me.
That's just about the way
it happened.
Wait. I killed Iris, too, didn't I?
They'll find the original
of her snuff clip in your apartment.
The one I left at the club
was a copy.
Was I a busy guy? Did I do Tick, too?
- Oh, you bet. Did you like it?
- So, why, Max?
- Why did you have to do Iris?
- Oh, picture it.
I got to share this with somebody
cos it's just too perfect, OK?
- I won't say anything.
- Oh, I know.
I'm working for this puke who says
he'll pay me large to do the hooker.
I also got to do his girlfriend
cos she knows the score
and she's out of control.
Only he doesn't know about
me and Faith.
So I say to myself,
"If I turn the job down,
"he'll get somebody else,
and I lose Faith," to coin a phrase.
So to buy time, I do the skank,
but I still got to deal with Gant.
It's him or me, but I can't cap him
without some chump to take the fall.
And who better than his girlfriend's
loser ex-boyfriend...
known criminal and who's been seen
hassling him in public?
Who is, regrettably, also
your best fucking friend.
No plan is perfect, Lenny.
Cheer up, the world's gonna end
in ten minutes.
You must be so pleased.
I mean, I followed
your jelly bean trail right here,
like a good little chump.
- You got foggy on me a couple times.
- Oh?
Remember the death squad? I had to
keep you from going to the cops.
I've heard stuff
about a death squad.
It's not about if you're paranoid.
It's whether you're paranoid enough.
- So there never was a death squad.
- No.
Just two loose cops running round
covering their butts.
Zany, huh? All this shit
caused by a random traffic stop.
Nothing means nothing, man.
You know that.
Look around.
The planet's in fucking chaos.
The day of reckoning is upon us!
Get what you can while you can
cos some shit can put a. 22 in
the back of your head... any second.
How'd you hook up with Faith?
Hmm...
This fuck hires me about a month ago
to eyeball her, only...
Faith knows me from you.
She comes up and says,
"Max, why are you following me?"
And I say, "I'll buy you a drink.
I'll explain. "
And she says...
(Faith) Do you enjoy watching me?
You're supposed to go
downstairs, baby.
I know. I don't always do
what I'm told, Max, you know that.
So I said, "Do you enjoy
watching me?"
Come on, Max. Play with me.
And then what did you say?
I said I'd even do it for free.
Uh-huh.
I said, "That's good, because I like
the feeling of someone watching me. "
I acquired the taste from Lenny.
Then she said, "Since we're gonna be
spending so much time together... "
"Why don't we make the best of it?"
(Fireworks exploding)
The very best.
You know all about that,
don't you, Lenny?
Faith and me, we found a place
that you could never reach, Max.
Never.
Faith... I know it's gone...
but you, Max,
you can't fucking touch it.
Enjoy it.
Lenny!
Get off, you fucking bitch!
God!
Fuck you!
What the fuck are you doing?
You're coming with me!
Ohh!
Come here. Come here, Lenny!
I'm taking you with me,
you motherfucker! Come here!
Come here! You fuck!
Come here!
# They're selling Jesus again
they want your soul
# And your money, your blood,
and your votes
# They're selling Jesus again
# Selling love to you
# They're selling love, love
# Love... #
There she is!
Freeze!
I said, fucking freeze!
Down! All the way down! Right now!
Now pay attention, motherfucker!
Stay down.
Down! Down! Down! Down!
Down now! You son of a bitch!
You ain't goin' anywhere!
(Cop) Shut up and move!
Get back! In a circle!
Break this circle!
Put that gun down!
- Get on the ground now!
- Hold on. Hold on.
I'll tell you what's going on here.
Let me tell you what's going on.
Get on the ground now! Get down!
Let me tell you what happened,
all right?
Get on the ground now!
All right?
Get these fucking things off me!
- No! Don't uncuff him!
- Shut up! Get down!
(Screaming) Wait!
You don't know what happened!
(Steckler) Fuck her up!
Hit her! Hit her!
Leave her alone!
Commissioner Strickland!
That is the cause of all this!
Right fucking there!
These two are under arrest
for murder!
Read them their rights! Move it!
Yes, sir.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will
be used against you.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford an attorney...
Get this woman
some medical attention.
(Man) Get some medical attention!
Mace, are you OK?
I got 'em.
Get the fuck outta here! Everybody!
Back the fuck up!
Drop your weapon!
Drop it now!
No! NO!
NO!
Put that gun down!
- Drop your weapon!
- Drop the gun now!
Now! Drop it!
- Put it down right now!
- Drop your weapon!
Shoot!
You fucking... nigger bitch!
Lenny!
Lenny!
Lenny! Lenny!
No, no, Lenny, Lenny...
Lenny! Lenny!
Yeah?
What?
Are we under arrest?
Nah, they just have to ask us
a few questions...
for about six hours.
OK, where are you hurt, sir?
Ma'am, you OK? Ma'am?
Yeah.
We need to get that coat off you.
Hurt anywhere else?
(Crowd) Ten! Nine!
Eight! Seven!
Six! Five!
Four! Three!
Two! One!
(Cheering)
You need an ambulance, sir.
Let's go this way.
Go out this way, sir.
Hey, Lenny. We made it.
Yeah, we did.
You should get going.
Yeah. See you downtown.
See you there.
(Man) Make way.
# Ah
# Ah
# Ah
# Ah
# Ah
# It's in this moment
# Hold on
# When everything has come apart
# It's in this moment
# Right now
# We can go together
# Raise your sights
# What's there to lose?
# Fall in the light
# Fall in the light
# Fall in the light
# Will you catch me?
# Hold on, hold on, hold on
# I know you'll catch me #
- Yeah. Boot it.
(Garbled chatter)
That's it.
That's it. That's it. Excellent.
I'm recording.
You crazy? Wait till
I get this thing down.
- What the fuck you doing?
- God damn, you stupid pussy.
- Fuck!
- Don't call me a pussy.
- I'll fucking ID you!
- Take the gun.
You're giving me this piece of shit?
Is it even loaded? I want the auto.
Asshole!
Whoo! I love this shit, man!
- Don't fuckin'...
- Fuck you!
- Right there. Turn left. Turn right.
- (Driver) OK, OK, just relax.
- Make a...
- Relax!
Here we go. There it is.
Shh.
- Easy. Take it easy.
- Don't make a fuckin' noise.
Go!
(All yell)
(Shouting and gunfire)
Go, go, go! Down! Down, you fucker!
I said down!
(Yelling)
This is a robbery!
Everyone put your hands up!
Hands in the air! Hands in the air!
No, no, no, no, no.
Where you going, bitch? Over here!
- Get the fuckin' money!
- You! Open the fuckin' register!
You want to fuckin' die,
you little fuck?
Please! Please, don't shoot!
(All shouting, video camera crackles)
Here we go!
- Don't shoot us. Don't shoot.
- Come on! This way!
- OK!
- Go, man. Run!
Run, man, run! Run, man!
(2nd robber) Go, go, go, go, go!
Don't look at me, you fuckin' chink!
- Get in there!
- Get him inside!
- You get the money?
- (All) Yes!
- What are you doing, you asshole?
- Come on, we gotta go!
You get the money?
How much? How much?
- (Sirens)
- It's the police!
Fuck! I'm going. I'm going.
Um... fuck. Here. Come on, come on,
follow me, man.
Wait!
Go, man, go! Come on...
The fucking doors are locked!
Come on! Come on!
Where are the cops, man?
- (Gunshot)
- Fuck you!
- What are you doing, man?
- Go, man! Just go!
- Shit!
- (Gunshots)
Go!
(Alarm)
- (Cop) Drop your weapon!
- Come on! They're right behind us!
- Come on! Come on!
- Oh, shit!
- Go, man!
- Come on. Let's go.
(Screams)
Come on! Come on, jump!
- This is insane, man.
- (Cop) You! Stop, asshole!
Come on, grab my hand!
I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die!
- You motherfucker!
- (Gunshot)
Uhh...
God damn it!
You know I don't deal in snuff!
Don't have a fucking coronary, man.
I hate the zap when they die.
It just brings down your whole day.
- Jesus, Tick.
- Sorry (!)
How come the cops didn't put
that tape into evidence?
With all the blood,
they didn't see the rig.
- How'd it get to you?
- I got ways, Lenny.
Some of the paramedics - my guy pages
me and I picked it up at the morgue.
What do you think? This clip's
got to be worth a grand, right?
Tick, not to dash your hopes, but
I don't deal this kind of product.
I'll give you four. I gotta cut the
last part. My customers want uncut.
Fuck that. The last part's the best.
Dry dive six stories and blammo!
Jacked into the big black.
I don't deal black-jack clips!
It's policy. I got ethics here.
Oh, yeah? When did that start?
Lenny, this is what people wanna see.
- So lay it off to somebody else.
- Lenny, Lenny...
I gotta get my rig fixed,
there's blood all over the heads.
- Get away.
- Gimme six, it's a good clip.
It gets you pumpin'.
The first part's OK.
It's better than your usual soaps.
Now, that is cold.
I always bring you choice.
Sure, like this low-grade shit here?
Some girl fighting her boyfriend.
Nothing happens. I'm snoring.
Lenny, you're always telling me,
bring you street life, real life,
that one man's desperate existence
is another man's Technicolor.
- I said that?
- Many times. That's a direct quote.
I'll take it for five.
You'll make out OK.
It's pure cream.
No cutback to the wearer.
- Yeah, that's for sure. OK.
- What else you got?
(Yelling)
# Think you can remember
what you said to me
# You say anything
that's from the six... #
(Radio) 'Calls are a little kooky
tonight.
'It's a little after 2am,
December 30, 1999.
'Second to last day of the century. '
Jer, hi. I'll drop the money
by tomorrow, next day latest.
Little crazy right now.
Would I lie? No. Never to you, Jer.
You're not wrong. You're not wrong.
Prick.
(Opera music)
- (Radio) 'Excited about New Year? '
- 'Not really. What's the point?
'Nothing changes New Year's Day.
'The economy sucks.
Gas is over three bucks a gallon.
'5th grade kids are shooting
each other at recess.
'The whole thing sucks.
What the hell are we celebrating? '
(# Heavy metal)
(Choir) # Amen, amen, amen
# Amen
# Amen, amen, amen
# Amen #
Get me the clip by Monday.
Client wants a guy and two girls.
The guy wears... I know.
He's trying to be original.
And the girls have to be young.
Don't use your mother like usual.
Yeah, you, too, asshole.
(Radio) 'Caller, you're on the air. '
(Caller) 'My name's Dewayne.
I got a resolution for the police. '
'5-0, you better get down
with the 2K.'
- (DJ) '2K, Dewayne? What is that? '
- 'The big 2000.
'Out with the old, in with the new.
'For the man, no news good news.
'Keep it the way it is, but we're
gonna take it and make it new.
- 'History's gonna start right here. '
- 'Dewayne... '
'I wanna give a shout to, uh... '
(DJ) 'You're on the air, Lori. '
'Lf you read the Bible,
'you'd know there won't be
another thousand years.
- 'We're in the last days... '
'The last days?
'You mean the apocalypse,
the rapture? '
'Look at the signs.
There are wars, rumours of wars... '
'Just so we know how much time
is left,
'when is the rapture supposed to hit?
- 'Is it midnight, New Year's Eve? '
- 'That's right. '
'Is that midnight LA time
or Eastern Standard Time or what?
- 'What time zone is God in? '
- 'I pray for you all. '
Ooh, yeah. Oh, yeah!
(Lenny) OK. I can use this.
It's not bad but honey,
move your eyes slower next time.
Much slower, like you're making love
with your eyes, OK?
(Man) Let me get this straight.
You'll pay me $200 to put on a
hairnet and bang some beautiful babe?
I got to think about this.
Let's wire you up.
I hope this grease on your hair
doesn't screw up the squid receptors.
What is all this squid shit, anyway?
Superconducting quantum
interference device. Squid.
The receptor rig on your head
sends a signal to the recorder.
We call it being wired,
but there's no wire.
Keep the recorder
five, six feet away max,
in your jacket, by the bed,
wherever you're gonna close escrow.
- Know what I mean?
- Yeah, right.
You got a half-hour of tape so give
me some lead-in, but not too long.
- I ain't going out for popcorn.
- Don't worry.
- Got it?
- No problem.
You look great. You look...
You look beautiful.
(Panting)
(Screams) Shit!
(Woman, on radio)
'Do you request backup? '
Uh, that's a negative.
Suspect is a black male, 35 to 40...
We're handling it.
(Bell)
- Freeze!
- You bitch!
You fuckin'...
(Screams)
Fuck! Fuck!
(Gunshots)
Oh, shit.
God!
(Helicopter overhead)
(Phone)
'Hi. It's Lenny.
Just what do you have in mind? '
(Beep)
Lenny...
God damn it, you gotta be there.
You got to help me.
Lenny, please pick up the phone.
Come on, pick up.
Come on, Lenny,
fuckin' pick up the phone!
'OK, I'll call you back. '
Watch what I do. You OK?
You're doin' good, honey.
(Lenny) You look so good!
- Faith, come back.
- You all right?
Do you need help?
Sweetie, you're doing good.
Lenny...
(Laughs)
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, baby. Are you OK?
Fine.
(# Bob Marley: "Three Little Birds")
# Don't worry
# About a thing
# Cos every little thing
# Gonna be all right... #
- How do you feel?
- (Lenny) Lucky.
Dry me.
# Cos every little thing
# Gonna be all right
# Woke up this mornin'... #
You wanna watch, or you gonna do?
Watch and see.
# Three little birds
# By my doorstep
# Singin' sweet thoughts
# Never as pure as you
# Baby, it's...
# This is my message to you...
# Don't worry
# About a thing... #
Oh, wow...
#... every little thing
gonna be all right
# Baby, don't worry
# Don't worry
# About a thing
# Cos every little thing
# Gonna be all right... #
Oh, baby, baby, baby...
(Lenny) You're so beautiful.
I love your eyes, Lenny.
I love the way they see.
# Sayin', this is my message to you
# Don't worry
# About a thing
# Cos every little thing
# Gonna be all right
# Baby, don't worry
# About a thing
# Cos every little thing... #
(Sirens outside)
(Beeps)
(Fanfare)
'New Year's Eve, 1999.'
'It's being called
the party of the century,
'but it may be
the biggest party ever.
'No one's seen such preparations,
but they require care and insurance,
'and the LAPD is one insurance
company that doesn't want accidents. '
# Put you on a reservation
Black nation
# Die under your step
and fetch a military lie... #
'The bodies of two men
found under the Hollywood Freeway
'have been identified
as rap star Jeriko One
'and band member James Polton,
known to fans as Replay.
'Both were shot in what police are
calling an execution-style killing.
'The body of an unidentified woman
'was found with them,
also shot numerous times.
'Police said the killings
appear to be gang-related.
'With his band, Prophets of Light,
'Jeriko One's politics and lyrics
have stirred nation-wide controversy.
'Meanwhile,
astrologers have been busy
'making predictions
for the coming century.
'Some of their fortune-telling
is incredible...
'Muammar Qaddafi will be awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize.
'Turkey will make
reparations to Armenia.
'By 2025, there will be
a second woman president... '
(Man) Hey, Lenny...
(Woman) How you doin', man?
Keith.
- Keith?
- Yeah.
Lenny. Lenny Nero.
We spoke on the phone.
OK...
Not to be rude, Keith,
but I got to ask. Are you a cop?
I understand. No, I'm not.
You understand. Attorney, right?
Attorney?
- Right?
- That's right.
Tassel shoes! Entertainment law
would be my guess.
It's my job to know people and what
they want, what's behind their eyes.
OK, so tell me, have you...
have you ever jacked in?
Have you ever wire-tripped?
Uh, no. No.
A virgin brain? Good.
Well, we'll start you off right.
Save us some time.
Tell me what you know.
Just what I've read, that the
technology was developed for the Feds
to replace the body wire,
and now it's gone black market.
That's right, so...
This conversation's
not taking place, OK?
- You're damn right.
- Good, good.
So do I get the deck from you?
I'll get one at cost.
My thing's the software.
- Clips, right?
- Clips. Right.
Listen, I want you to know
what we're talking about here, OK?
This is not "like TV only better. "
This is life.
It's a piece of somebody's life.
It's pure and uncut,
straight from the cerebral cortex.
You're there. You're doing it.
You're seeing it. You're hearing it.
You're feeling it.
What kind of things... exactly?
Exactly anything.
Whatever you want, OK?
Want to go skiing without
leaving your den, you can,
but I'm assuming a guy like you, you
wanna go skiing, you'd fly to Aspen.
That's not what
you're interested in. It's, uh...
It's about the stuff that you can't
have, right? The forbidden fruit.
Like running into a liquor store
with a. 357 Magnum,
feeling the adrenaline
pumping through your veins, huh?
Or... see that guy with the drop-dead
Filipino girlfriend?
Wouldn't you like to be that guy
for 20 minutes, the right 20 minutes?
Yeah.
I can make it happen and you won't
even tarnish your wedding ring.
- Sounds good.
- See, I can get you what you want.
I can get you anything.
Just talk to me.
You have to trust me,
cos I'm your priest.
I'm... I'm your shrink.
I am your main connection to the,
uh... switchboard of souls.
I'm the magic man.
Santa Claus of the subconscious.
You say it, you think it,
you can have it.
You want a girl?
You want two girls?
I don't know what your thing is,
what you're curious about.
You want a guy?
Maybe you want to be a girl. Hey...
Think of that. Be a girl.
See what that feels like.
Maybe you want a nun to tie you up.
It's all doable.
Talk to me about costs.
Before we get to numbers, I want you
to try a taste. I got a deck with me.
- Right here?
- Step into my office.
(Gasps)
Ohh.
Mmm.
Ooh.
You were just an 18-year-old girl
taking a shower.
You're beginning to see
the possibilities here?
Hey. So, where is he?
He's in the back, making a deal.
Next time, let's meet
someplace private.
Cops have more to worry about
than the squid trade.
Oh, yeah? Assume the position,
you miserable techno-perv puke.
Beat it, fuckwad!
Max, I was with a client.
You think that's funny?
Prick.
See that preppy puke's face?
Pissed all over his topsiders!
OK, it was funny,
but it could cost me money.
Come on, amigo. No one knows
how to work them like you do.
You could sell a rat's asshole
for a wedding ring.
I could.
- Let me buy you a drink. Bobby!
- Bobby!
Bobby!
Tequila, por favor. Double shots.
Make it a Tres Generaciones.
Nothing but the best for Lenny,
the finest cop to ever get
thrown off the vice squad.
- Fuck you.
- (Laughs)
Yeah. Nice tie.
- Thanks, Max.
- You dress like a fucking pimp.
- It cost more than your wardrobe.
- That's not saying much.
It's the one thing that stands
between me and the jungle.
The jungle, where some bird can cap
you in the head and ruin your day.
- You were lucky, Max.
- So darn lucky...
I wake up with a. 22 in my brain and
a cop pension I can't live off of.
Damn! It's a good thing
I wasn't luckier.
Bobby, hit me again.
- You seen Faith lately?
- No, she won't call me.
It's just as well.
Sure, Faith was the best woman you
could ever hope to get, and it's...
humiliating that she's gone,
but you got to face that it's over.
Thanks, chaplain.
I'm touched by your concern.
I just hate to see you pining away.
You're my friend.
It makes me want to vomit.
- Hey, Iris. You OK?
- I got to talk to you.
What happened?
Some john get rough on you?
No. Can we talk in private? Please?
I'm in trouble. So is Faith.
- There's the magic fucking word.
- Come with me to your car.
- There's something you have to see.
- What's going on?
It's a bad situation.
- What?
- If they get me, I know they'll...
Who?
- (Siren)
- Oh, shit.
Hang on! That's my car!
Not any more. It belongs to the bank.
Hey, wait a second.
- Whoops.
- Oh, yeah.
Two million years of human evolution,
that's the best you can come up with.
What do you get to repo a car?
200? 250?
I'll pay you 350 right now.
- You got the cash?
- I was gonna write you a cheque.
- See ya.
- I respect that. I would want cash.
They'll take my cheque inside.
Just give me two minutes.
Here. You can keep
my watch for collateral.
It's... It's a Rolex.
I'll be right back. Two minutes.
Two minutes?
Son of a bitch!
What happened to your car this time?
See, Lenny, if you packed your piece,
you could make the guy see sense.
Bobby, turn this up.
# You watch us take it all
then you'll understand our pain
# We'll make you the rat
that crawled through the cracks
# You love that red, white, and blue
# But you hate the black,
black, black
# And you try to make me think
I did this to myself
# When the drugs I smoke and the
guns I tote both came from your shelf
# I never had a dream, cos
# My life is a nightmare
# America's been my bogeyman
for 400 years #
'Are you asking me how I feel? '
'We felt Jeriko. We listened to him! '
'The LAPD is a military force
'turned against its own people.
'We live in a police state... '
Hey, Macey.
Shh.
'... with their social programmes
that don't work. '
(Applause)
'They're rearranging deck chairs
on the Titanic.
'But a new day is coming.
'2K is coming.
'The day of reckoning is upon us.
'History ends
and begins again...
'right here... right now. '
Right on! To the end of all things.
You know how I know
it's the end of the world?
- No. Tell me.
- Everything's already been done.
Every kind of music's been tried,
every government's been tried,
every fucking hairstyle,
bubble gum flavours,
you know, breakfast cereal.
What are we going to do? How are we
going to make another thousand years?
I'm telling you, man, it's over.
We used it all up.
- So, what's this week's sad story?
- They jerked my wheels.
It's outrageous the computer errors
the banks make. Have you noticed?
No, I haven't,
because I make my payments.
So, Max Peltier,
how's the PI business?
Sucks. But when I get
this new logo...
I want to hear this scumbag.
- 'Do you have any leads? '
- 'Was there adequate security? '
'There was adequate security
available. He chose not to have it. '
- Why is he a scumbag?
- You-know-who left Lenny for him.
- Faith left Lenny for him?
- Don't say Faith.
You use the "F" word around Lenny,
you got to tranquillise him.
Shh!
'I know I've lost a friend.
'A man of great courage, which is
more than I can say for most of us. '
- If you're riding...
- OK, let's go.
(Siren)
Fuck you, you pig!
(Macey) Driving Mr Lenny.
It's gonna be a big night.
Feel the energy in the air.
There's money to be made,
dreams to sell.
- Sleaze to peddle.
- That is so unenlightened.
I sell experiences.
The way I see it, I'm performing
a humanitarian service.
- I probably save lives.
- I don't want to hear this.
Everybody needs to walk to the dark
end of the street sometimes.
The risks... The streets are
a war zone. Sex can kill you.
Slip on the 'trodes,
get what you need almost as good as
the real thing and a lot safer.
Porno. Face it, you sell porno
to wireheads.
Harsh. Harsh and untrue.
My clients are professionals.
Some are even celebrities.
- What celebrities?
- The guy from the news.
- He does the weather.
- That counts.
- Hey, you passed La Cienega.
- I'm not taking La Cienega.
It's the quickest way to the club.
I've got business there.
I'm meeting people.
Mace, you're my friend.
I'll give you 25%
of what I make tonight.
This may be hard for you, but friends
don't have to pay their friends.
- Faith's singing there tonight.
- I should have known.
Look, I've pulled 12 hours.
I got to get some sleep.
I got a pick-up at the St James Club.
You can catch a cab. It'll take you
wherever you wanna go.
A taxi? Well, someone might see me.
(Cop) Hold it right there, ma'am.
Whoa. Hold it right there.
- You made me late.
- What's your pickup's name?
- Fumitsu.
- Fumitsu?
Fumitsu. Fumitsu.
(Cop) Leave the car right here.
- Oh, fuck.
- (Cop) Get the one on the right.
- Nero.
- Strickland.
Commissioner Strickland.
Since you shit-canned my career,
I don't even have to call you sir.
Aren't you a little far
from your usual gutter?
I was invited here by a friend,
Mr Fumitsu. He's over there.
I don't like disappointments. You
know what disappoints me very much?
Your sex life? Excuse me.
Mr Fumitsu.
- Konbanwa.
- Konbanwa.
Leonard Nero, BLS Limousine
and Security Service.
I've arranged for one of our finest
drivers Lornette Mason to take you.
She's a security specialist,
trained in defensive combat,
and the car's bulletproof
and fully armoured.
I'll be coming along to do our
routine periodic driver evaluation.
We do it to ensure
that our VIP clients
are always treated
as honoured guests.
Good evening, Mr Fumitsu.
Sir, please watch your head.
Excuse me, Mr Nero.
Excuse me, sir!
- What the fuck are you doing?
- Coming with you.
(Sighs)
You will not live
to see the morning.
Drive on.
- (Fumitsu speaks Japanese)
- Are you a cop?
No? Good. Have you ever been wired?
(Fumitsu) Wired?
- The latest technology.
- Oh...
That is beautiful.
You got to take a look at this, OK?
Yeah.
- You're gonna love it.
- You have more?
I have more. Believe me.
(Both laugh)
(Tyres screech)
Hey! Hey! Careful on the jacket.
It's Armani.
- Hey, are you angry?
- No wirehead shit in my car!
- You're on foot!
- In LA? Are you crazy?
Can I come in? I'm having a hard time
hearing the stereo!
I need my case.
It's still in the back.
Can we talk here,
like two rational adults?
Uhh!
Um, that would be no.
OK, you got my attention.
This is cutting off the circulation
in my head. Do you mind?
Macey...
It's cool, it's nothing. Two seconds.
This is uncharacteristic for you,
Miss Ice Water In Her Veins.
You pushed me too far! You made me
lose it in front of a client!
- I could get fired!
- Are we still friends?
Friendship is more than one person
doing favours for another.
- I know.
- I don't hustle my friends.
You just suck people along with
your schemes and your slick act.
- We're still buddies?
- Don't use the time I'm talking
to think about what
you're gonna say next.
- You listening?
- Yeah.
You're always broke, you go
from one score to the next.
You're strung-out.
You don't even see it.
It's your brain, so do whatever
the hell you want with it,
but not on my watch.
I got a child, I got rent,
and I got an ex-husband doing hard
time who doesn't send me a dime.
I'm just trying to hold on here.
I know you wouldn't say this if
you didn't care about me. Thanks.
You're getting out with Fumitsu,
and that's the end.
I'll get you to the Templars
in ten minutes.
- Sorry for the inconvenience.
- I'm changing my plans.
Mr Nero has recommended an excellent
club, the Retinal Fetish.
- It's on La Cienega.
- Yes, sir.
- Enjoy your evening, Mr Fumitsu.
- Mace, I appreciate it. Thank you.
Hey, come on.
Excuse us.
Excuse us.
Excuse us.
This is a friend of mine, Mr Fumitsu.
Can you take care of him?
(Hostess) John, could you take care
of this gentleman?
Hey. Bye.
- Hey, Lenny. How ya doing?
- Who's the new guy in Gant's posse?
Wade Beemer, played running back
for the Rams, '96, '97.
Like a fucking freight train.
- Rams... Football, right?
- No, ping-pong(!)
Hey, Iris was looking for you.
Hello, Lenny.
It's OK, Wade, he's an old friend
of mine, Lenny Nero.
Come to peddle me some clips
for old time's sake,
or just makin' a few bucks
for the holidays?
I wouldn't sell you
the sweat off a dead dog's balls.
I've already got everything
I need from you.
Cut it out, Philo.
Too bad about your guy Jeriko.
You lost your golden goose.
Show some respect.
He was an important artist.
Important for your label,
which is why you're mourning.
His records will sell out
now he's dead, and you'll make out.
Always do.
Faith, can I talk to you
for one second?
It's not a good idea right now.
Just for one second, OK?
- About what?
- That would be between me and Faith.
Funny, I don't feel anything
between you and Faith.
You see...
that's your problem, Lenny,
you assume too much.
You assume there's something
where there's nothing,
you assume that you have a life,
when in fact, you're just peddling
pieces of other people's lives
and the broken parts of your own.
Faith...
Get him to his car.
Call me, OK? Faith!
Call me!
Lenny the loser.
- Leave him alone, Philo, OK?
- You shouldn't talk to him.
You shouldn't talk to anybody,
not with everything that's going on.
You are too goddam paranoid.
You know that, Philo?
Paranoia's just...
reality on a finer scale.
(Lenny) Thank you(!)
Awoo! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!
- Hey.
- Hey! What's up, my brother?
- Those rascals haven't grown back?
- No. Any day now. I just know it.
Hey, I got something for you.
It's a present,
something I had custom-made.
- Happy Millennium.
- Oh.
I got something for you, too.
Just showed up tonight.
I don't know who from.
Fan mail from some flounder?
Mmm.
- Hi.
- Hi.
# Strange days not like before #
(Cheering and applause)
# I can hardly wait
# I can hardly wait
# I can hardly wait
# I can hardly wait
# It's been so long
# I've lost my taste
# Say angel, come
# Say lick my face
# Let fall your drapes
# I'll play the part
# I open this mouth wide
# Eat your heart... #
(Cheering)
# Your heart
# I can hardly wait
# I can hardly wait
# I can hardly wait
# I can hardly wait
# Lips crack dry
# Tongue bursts
# Say angel, come
# Say lick my face
# It's been so long
# I've lost my taste
# Here, Romeo
# Make my watered brain #
Hi, baby.
I missed you.
Lenny, you have to leave. I mean it.
Iris said you were in trouble.
What did she mean?
- You talked to Iris? When?
- Tonight.
I haven't seen that girl in months.
Who knows what's going on
in that whore's head?
She used to be your best friend.
Iris? You're really running out of
excuses to come around, aren't you?
I know you. You're afraid
of something. What's going on?
Let it alone.
It will take care of itself.
It's Gant, isn't it? He's poison.
He's got you walled in
and he uses the wire too much.
He gets off on tape, not on you.
That's a good one coming from you.
- Why don't you just split?
- Cos I don't want to.
Do you love him? I don't think so.
To him, you're some kind of
possession. You're like a Ferrari.
You're just something
to show the other guys.
Yeah? He has his uses, too, you know.
What? He going to record you
on his label?
He might.
You never know, right?
Faith...
Faith, listen to me. I've watched you
create yourself out of nothing.
You're like a goddam cruise missile
targeted on making it, and you will.
I know I will.
It's you up on that stage, not him.
You don't need him.
Get out of here. If Philo
catches you, he'll hurt you.
- I'm already hurting.
- I'm serious. He's acting crazy.
He's doing way too much playback.
He's gotten completely paranoid.
He's such a control freak now, he's
even paying Max to follow me around.
- Max? You're kidding.
- Yeah, for about a month now.
Jesus.
Look, Lenny, just stay away
from Philo and stay away from me.
Stop trying to rescue me.
Those days are over.
I'm a big girl now. I've changed.
Stop trying to save me, I don't need
saving. Just give up on me!
I just... I just wanted to make sure
you were all right.
You know one of the ways that movies
are still better than playback?
Cos the music comes up,
there's credits,
and you always know when it's over.
It's over!
You were great.
Hey, man. I know what
you're thinking.
- She told me about your new gig.
- Man, I feel like shit about it.
- You should feel like shit.
- I do feel like shit. OK?
- Hey, you introduced me to Gant.
- I introduced him to Faith, too.
Questionable move,
given the historical perspective.
I can take his money. You wouldn't
believe what I'm charging.
And I make sure Faith is OK
at the same time.
Keep an eye on her, for you. OK?
Which you can't do without getting
your fingers bent the wrong way back.
I'm busted, man. I need the money.
- This does us both some good.
- Fairly twisted logic, even for you.
- Hey, you got a job.
- I got a job.
OK. I'm sorry. You got a job.
- That's great.
- I got a job!
Hey, listen. You got to stay on her.
Watch her for me, please.
- I'm on her.
- OK.
- Take it easy, all right?
- Yeah. You, too.
Come on.
Here, chicky, chicky, chicky,
chicky, chicky...
Hey, wait a minute. I recognise you.
You're Wade Beemer, right?
Running back for the Rams. '96, '97.
- Am I right?
- Yeah. Th-That's right.
I saw you play, man.
I mean, you were good, really good.
Like a fuckin' freight train.
What happened? Injuries or what?
- Oh, bullshit politics.
- It's always politics.
Like this thing.
He's paying you to tune me up.
I could pay you more not to.
- I could write a cheque right now.
- Ah... I got to go.
OK. Cash... Cash!
Here's everything I have on me.
Oh, look. What do you say?
How about, uh, a Rolex?
I got a real one.
Come on. It won't hurt too bad.
It's nothing personal.
Just one second, please.
It's my jacket. It's...
It's really expensive.
And just not... not the eyes.
You're bleeding.
Some jerk puked on the stairs,
and I slipped. I should sue.
You came back for me.
I came back to pick up my client.
No, you came back for me.
I got to lie down, Macey,
please, in the back?
Some piece of work, Lenny Nero.
You're calmly backstroking along
in the big toilet bowl,
and somehow,
you never let it touch you.
I mean, between working vice and your
current so-called occupation,
you must have seen every perversion.
But you just like some Teflon man.
Still come out this...
goofball romantic.
It's my sword and my shield, Macey.
All right. A little B & E action.
- What'd you say?
- Oh, nothing.
(Siren)
(Zip)
(Screams)
Shit.
No, no.
Please. Please.
Please...
You can let me go, please.
I haven't seen your face. Please.
L- Let me go.
Let me go, please...
Oh, my... Holy...
(Screams)
- (Gasping)
- Lenny...
Lenny!
Go to the Sunset Regent right now.
Go! Go!
(Tyres screech)
Oh, Christ.
He's jacking it into his own output!
She's seeing what he's seeing.
She's... She's seeing herself!
(Screams)
Ohh...
My God...
(Gasping)
God! (Gasps)
(Silence)
Oh, my God... Oh, my God...
Lenny... What is it?
- A black-jack.
- Black-jack?
A snuff clip.
It was Iris.
- The sick fucker killed her.
- Are you sure it's real?
(Cop) Tell 'em we got a 187.
Call it in.
(Heavy breathing)
(Panting)
(Moans)
Well, I lost my appetite...
for about a year.
- Wanna take a look?
- Hell, no. I don't fool with that.
- You all right?
- Yeah.
- You OK?
- No. Not really.
All right. Let's work it.
No, I... I can't.
Come on, Lenny,
you used to be good at this shit.
Let's play it down.
What's the perp doing?
- I can't.
- You used to be a fuckin' cop, OK?
Now, that is a fucking murder.
- What's he doing?
- OK. H-He stalks her.
And, uh...
he rapes her... and he does her.
And records it, right?
He wants to see it again and again.
He records himself
raping and killing.
- While sending a signal to her.
- So she feels what he feels
while he's inside her.
The thrill while he's killing her
is sent to her, heightening her fear,
which, in turn,
heightens the turn-on for him.
I've seen... I've seen a lot.
- So have I. Too much.
- It's a bad one.
He makes her see her own death,
feeds off the reaction.
He records it all. Everything.
- And gives it to you.
- Yeah. He wants to share it.
Of course he wants to share, man.
That's his deal.
He needs an audience.
This is a sick puppy.
- Why me?
- Cos you're the magic man, Lenny.
You make dreams happen.
If it's got something to do with
the wire, it washes up on your beach.
I've never dealt in black-jacks.
Never. Everybody knows that.
He's just skull-fucking you, buddy.
He just wants a reaction out of you.
He wants to make you do something
that you do not want to do.
Maybe he figures Lenny will
appreciate what he's created.
It's the dark end of the street.
How do you like it now?
- Jesus, Mace, back off.
- This guy's one of your squid-heads.
- He's somebody you know, Lenny.
- The problem with that is
Lenny knows... everybody.
- Take the tape to the cops.
- No.
No. I'll... They'll crucify me.
So this wire-freak
gets to keep running around, huh?
The police will think he's the perp.
They'll go through his client list,
and ruin his life...
such as it is.
I'll call my buddies at homicide,
say Iris was my friend.
That'll put me in the loop. I'll get
the forensics and all that shit.
Get some sleep. I'll call you
when I get something. Relax!
Lenny!
Keep moving, man.
Somebody's thinking about you a lot.
(Guitar continues, muffled)
Leave me alone!
Don't come to my house.
Are you trying to ruin my life?
Iris is dead. She was murdered.
- Who did it?
- Whoever he is, he's damaged goods.
Iris said you were in danger, too.
- I'm not in any danger.
- Faith! No more games.
Whatever you're hiding you have
to get out of here. Come with me now!
Then what? Are you gonna protect me?
Are you a tough guy?
You're a fucking talker.
You don't even own a gun.
I have a gun under my bed.
You don't know what you're
fucking with here.
- Tell me.
- (Philo) Tell him, Faith. Go on.
Uh, listen. Lenny just stopped by
to give me some bad news, OK?
An old friend of mine's
been murdered. Remember Iris?
How the fuck did you get up here?
Charm.
Tell you what, Lenny.
Just for you, hmm?
Make you a deal.
Why don't you just take her? Hm?
If she's so unhappy and she wants
to leave, she can go!
Besides, Faith always knows
what she wants. Don't you, baby?
See? Hands off.
I'll tell you something else.
I'll tell you this, you fuck.
If she says she stays, you go.
You crawl back to wherever
the fuck it is you came from
and never cross my vision again.
Faith...
Come on.
Come on...
I've made my choice, Lenny.
Get him out.
Get him out!
You're fucking crazy, Faith!
You're fucking crazy! Come with me!
Faith!
I don't love you any more.
Do you understand that?
You mean nothing to me!
Leave me alone, Lenny, please!
You said you were gonna get Iris
out of this, Philo.
Now you understand
the danger we're in.
So sweet what you said out there,
so touching. I almost believed it.
I don't think he even understands
you did it for him.
He doesn't know what's going on.
Leave him alone!
I'd love to leave him alone
if he'd stop coming round
and you'd stop talking!
The only time a whore should open
her mouth is when she's giving head.
Shit! Mace! Help!
Don't be shy, Lenny.
This is your floor.
Come on now, Lenny.
You're going to the hospital.
(Lenny) Can we be smart here?
I could make it worth your while.
I don't mind a couple of shots.
Just go light is all I'm saying.
Here, look. Take my Rolex.
Ooh, nice watch.
- Is this impact resistant?
- Sure.
You stupid piece of shit!
You stupid fuck. Get up!
Come on. Get up!
(Corto) Oh, ho. Pain. Pain!
We tried to find a smaller girl
to beat the shit out of you,
but it was short notice.
It was short notice!
Oh! Ow! That one had to hurt.
Safety's on.
Come on. Let's go.
Hey, wait!
- I need a drink.
- Lenny, get some rest.
The cops know they'll
never nail this guy
the second they walk in the room.
It's all about
what they see walking in...
dead hooker, handcuffs, penetration.
Cops are lazy, and they know nobody
gives a shit about a dead hooker.
They're roadkill, right?
So they'll take pictures, make jokes,
and just shrug it off
like it's a random kill.
- It's the kind you never solve.
- That doesn't add, does it?
Iris said she knew somebody
was after her. That is not random.
If they get me, I...
She said "they". "If THEY get me. "
Which means this whole random
sex killer thing is bullshit.
- Somebody whacked her for a reason.
- So this guy's not a psycho?
He's a psycho.
To do what's on that tape,
he's not a well-adjusted human being.
I got to get some sleep.
OK, Lenny. Put that down,
and I'll check on you tomorrow.
Hey, you wanna rub my neck?
- (Sighs)
- My shoulder's real sore.
OK. All right. Come here.
- Right here?
- Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Ohh...
Don't stop.
How's Zander?
Oh... He's fine.
- I miss him.
- He misses you, too.
I'm real sorry about being
so hard on you earlier.
I just see you getting sucked into
this deeper and deeper, and, um...
Macey, come on.
I know you still love me.
(Siren)
How can you do this
in front of your child?
In front of your son.
- Mace, hold on. Mace...
- In front of your son!
(Sobbing)
Zander!
Zander!
"When a child loves you
for a long, long time,
"not just to play with,
but really loves you... "
- Hi, honey.
- Hi, Mommy!
- This is Lenny.
- Hi.
(Phone)
'Hi, it's Lenny.
Just what do you have in mind? '
(Beep)
(Max) 'Hey, the last day of the world
and you spend it in bed? '
- What's up, Max?
- Not a whole lot, man.
They've just been saying
words over Jeriko.
Tension's running
pretty high down here.
- Faith OK?
- Yeah.
She's leaving with Gant,
so I got to boogie.
Iris checked into the Regent last
night under a false name. Paid cash.
- So she was hiding out.
- Yep.
I heard you dropped in
on Gant last night.
- 'Another slick Lenny move, huh? '
- He's in this somehow.
'Just stay close to Faith, OK? '
No worries, bro. I gotta jam.
(Zip)
(Panting)
(Door opens)
What up, Lenny?
- So, where we going?
- Anywhere.
- You're acting strange, what's up?
- Shh, Mace.
We'll talk about it in the car.
Hand me that box of tapes.
- Oh, shit.
- What's the matter?
This tie doesn't go with blue.
(Yelling)
(Macey) Lenny, would you relax?
We're not being followed.
- Stop being so paranoid.
- The guy had a knife to my throat
in my living-room.
Relaxing might be right out, OK?
(Panting)
Oh, man. Oh, that is one
unbelievable piece of eye-fuck.
Skip the art criticism, Tick. What
can you tell me about the wearer?
That guy is fucked up.
- We know that.
- He has some distortion
in the visual cortex.
The colour and grey-scale values
are messed up, like colour-blindness.
See the peak period ratios? There
could be a tumour or brain lesion.
Whoever's doing this is using a box
to split the signal...
- Ever make a box like that?
- A few. I can't see if it's mine.
I don't like this.
- This is not good.
- What?
It's cutting close to me.
She was just here, man!
- Who?
- Iris!
- Iris was here?
- She was shaking like a junkie,
saying she wanted me
to copy some clip.
- What clip?
- I don't know.
She said I wouldn't wanna see it.
She was gonna give it to you.
- She never gave me a tape.
- Think back to what she said.
She came in. She was crying.
She wanted to go to my car.
Let's go to your car.
There's something you have to see.
- Something about my car.
- In your car.
That's a handy little
attitude adjuster.
Damn. I'm boxed in.
- What's it say?
- Nothing.
Let's go play this back.
- Give us the tape right now.
- I'm just tryin' to get my car back.
Shut the fuck up.
- Give him the tape.
- It's in my case.
I'm gonna open my case.
Facing us, so we can see it.
Take it and turn her loose, OK?
Yeah. Absolutely.
(Tyres screech)
"Oh, no. No.
We're not being followed, Lenny. "
"Don't be paranoid. "
Shit!
- The glass is bullet-resistant.
- Whatever happened to bulletproof?
Shit!
Calm down. This is what I do.
Hang on!
Christ.
Shit!
God damn it. 911 is busy.
It's all right, Lenny.
They'd never make it in time.
It won't open!
Oh, you're crazy.
Oh, God!
- This is bad.
- The gas tank's gonna go any second.
Hold on.
Are you out of your fucking mind?
The fire is out, isn't it?
Get in here, Lenny.
Come on! Move it! Move!
Get ready to hold your breath.
Just kick out hard
and follow me, OK?
Let's get out of here.
I can't believe you had to give
them the damn tape.
Yeah. Me neither.
It was one of my favourites.
Me and Faith in the hot tub
on my birthday.
Are we impressed yet?
Yeah.
Pretty impressed.
# Here we kitty come, come,
here we kitty come, come... #
Well, I'm missing the party of the
century, hauling your asses around...
- Hey, Curtis. Just drive, all right?
- This shit is wack.
- Those two guys were cops.
- You sure?
It's the walk. Anyway, they'll get
your address. We got to keep moving.
#... that crawls through the cracks,
you love that red, white... #
What you doing all wet?
What's up? Zander, we're going
to Aunt Cecile's house.
- We'll see the fireworks from there.
- Aw, Ma.
Come on, boy. Chop chop.
Come on, Zander.
We're going for a ride, OK?
(Beeping)
- I want to know what's going on.
- Get in the car, Cecile...
- What's goin' on?
- Now.
Yo, what's up? How y'all doing?
- Yo, Mace. What's up?
- Hey, Ronnie.
- You never come around here no more.
- I'm working, brother.
- This is Lenny. He's with me.
- What's up?
- Watch the fireworks, baby.
- How you guys doing?
- Hey.
- Hey.
Good seeing you.
(Sighs)
Tell me.
I can't tell you.
- You gotta see it.
- I'm not doing it.
I know what you think about
the wire, but you gotta see it.
It's that important.
OK?
I'm sorry this has to be
your first playback.
It's all right. Keep your eyes
closed, or you'll see double.
- (Music on car radio)
- (Iris) Mm, baby, yes!
(Laughter)
(Man) I wanna thank you, Jeriko!
I owe you one for this, my brother.
(Jeriko) You owe me two,
you bastard. That's right!
(Man) I owe you three,
four, five, and six!
(Iris) Hey, baby.
What you doin' back there?
(Replay) Yes. Yes. Yes.
Oh, yeah, baby.
(Siren)
Lights! Damn. Look at this, man.
- Oh, god damn, man!
- Hey, just be cool, Jeriko. Yo.
(Iris) Slow down.
(Jeriko) I'm not speeding, man.
Man, what's the matter?
A black man can't own no jeep, huh?
(Cop) Pull all the way
to the foot of the ramp.
No problem.
You know how it is.
If we be cool, they gonna be cool.
I can't afford no trouble.
I'm upset.
A man can't do shit in this town.
I ain't going back, Iris. I don't
give a fuck. I ain't going back.
(Cop) Driver,
step out of the vehicle.
Get down on your knees. Put
your hands behind your head... now!
(2nd cop) Everyone else,
out of the car.
Damn, man. What the hell
you pull me over for?
If I went slower,
I'd have been parked.
Get down on your knees,
put your hands behind your head.
Put your hands on
the hood of the car.
Don't move. You, too.
I suppose you had suspects fitting
our description in the area.
Is that it? What was the description?
Two black males in a car?
Right(!)
Ow! Fuck!
You know what? You pulled over the
wrong black male tonight, officer...
What is it? Steckler.
Officer Steckler!
I'm that 800-pound
gorilla in your mist.
I make more money in a day
than you make in a whole year.
My lawyer loves spending my money
dragging Aryan, Robocop fuckers
like you into court.
Get a man down on the ground
with no probable cause.
- Shut the fuck up.
- He didn't...
Shut up and get back over there!
- You all right, man?
- Motherfucker kicked me, man.
- It's that rap-ass.
- You're that rapper puke.
Jeriko One?
You're the one that's been getting
all the gangbangers together,
forming citizen groups,
trying to rake the LAPD
over a cheese grater?
Yeah. That's right.
And you gonna be in my next song.
It's gonna be called Robo-Steckler.
It's all about a cop
who met his worst nightmare,
a nigger with enough political juice
to scrunch his ass like a stink bug.
- You gonna be famous, fucker!
- I don't think so.
(Cop) Stop that bitch!
Oh, no!
- Get her!
- Oh, no. Fuck.
(Iris screams)
(Gunshots)
There she goes! Get her!
(Screaming)
(Train horn blares)
(Cop) You bitch!
(Gunshots)
Hang on. Hang on, Max.
Mace.
You see?
You had to see it.
I see the world opening up
and swallowing us all.
Yeah. I know.
Max, are you there?
Meet me at Tick's in half an hour.
And, Lenny...
Don't get pulled over, OK?
Do you know what this tape could do
if it got out?
Yeah, I got a pretty good idea.
People finding out...
seeing...
that the LAPD just flat-out
executed Jeriko One.
Jesus.
Jesus.
- Maybe they ought to see.
- Maybe.
But tonight's probably not
the best night.
Mace... Come on. We're rolling.
I don't think those cops did Iris.
Whoever Iris wore for killed her.
- Why?
- To break the trail.
If those cops had gotten her,
they'd have found out who she was
wearing for and gone after them.
Our killer is as scared as we are,
which makes him really dangerous,
judging by how scared I am.
Move it up.
Let her go.
(Loud rock music)
Sounds like Tick's
already celebrating, huh?
- You're overdressed for this party.
- I want to look nice for you, Lenny.
Hey, Tick. I gotta talk to you.
(Music stops)
He's been cooked off.
- Is he dead?
- No.
But his frontal lobes
are like runny eggs.
They use an amplifier to boost
the signal, and it fries his brain.
Tick!
It's Lenny!
Hey, Tick! Come on!
(Echoing) Tick, it's me, Lenny!
Come on. Wake up. Tick!
Come on!
Come on, Tick! Come on!
He's totally cut off
from the outside world.
How long does it last?
Forever.
Those psycho cops are on
a slash-and-burn
to find the tape
and cover their tracks.
Since Tick is a duplicator,
they wanna find out if copies were
made or who wired Iris.
It's not even homicide,
since he's technically alive.
Yeah. That's right.
He's technically alive.
It seems sophisticated.
These are not subtle guys.
- There's more to this.
- What do you mean?
All I'm saying is, you don't know how
high up the food chain this goes.
- I heard stuff.
- What stuff?
I heard stuff, smoke, rumours.
I've heard stuff.
I've heard stuff
about a death squad.
They're a group of guys, cops,
loyal to the hard-line school.
Guys who've had too many years
of City Hall, review boards,
and the goddam media
pissing down their necks,
suspending cops, tying their hands,
while these same people
are squealing, "Save us! Save us!
"Do something, you morons.
Crime is out of control. "
- Bullshit. It's conspiracy paranoia.
- It's not about if you're paranoid.
It's about whether
you're paranoid enough.
Christ.
Exactly. Get religion.
I love you like my own blood, Lenny,
but don't walk near me in public.
The only card we got is the tape.
Get it to the media.
Right.
You run that on the news, by midnight
you got the biggest riot ever.
They'll see the smoke from Canada.
What are you saying?
Pretend it didn't happen?
- I didn't say that.
- It happened.
The LAPD executed
an important black man.
Who are you to try to bury it?
...trying to rake the LAPD
over a cheese grater?
You want blood running waist-deep
in the storm drains, go do it.
200,000 gangbangers will burn this
city to the fucking ground, Mace.
Once the fire starts, the cops'll
cap off anything that moves.
It'll be an all-out war.
I don't think so.
Maybe it's time for a war.
You really want that
on your head, Mace, huh?
Really?
Whoever did Iris did Tick.
It's the same sick wirehead shit.
It's the same reason
to burn the trail.
If Faith knows anything about this,
- and she does...
- Somebody's going to kill Faith?
# Yeah, you're not rid of me
# No, you're not rid of me
# I'll make you lick my injuries
# I wanna twist your head off, see?
# Till you say don't you wish
you never, never met her?
# Don't you, don't you wish
you never, never met her?
# Don't you, don't you wish
you never, never met her?
# Don't you, don't you wish
you never, never met her?
# Don't you, don't you wish
you never, never met her?
# Don't you, don't you wish
you never, never met her?
# Don't you, don't you wish
you never, never met her? #
(Cheers)
(Screams)
Jesus, Lenny, you scared
the fuck out of me!
- What do you want?
- We know about Jeriko.
- Iris gave me a copy of the tape.
- I wanted to keep you out of this.
- How did it happen?
- Why was Iris with Jeriko, wired up?
Faith, listen...
Look at me. Look at me.
You gotta trust us.
We're here to help you.
All right. I'll talk to you alone.
- Mace is in this.
- Tell us.
Faith.
Philo, he's gotten
obsessed with playback.
He's a total wiretrip junkie.
He's such a control freak now,
he's been having people followed,
recording his business partners'
calls,
wiring up people left and right.
Philo and Jeriko weren't getting on.
He was afraid Jeriko would dump him,
but he wasn't sure,
so he starts with the surveillance.
A couple of nights ago,
he wires up Iris,
and he sends her and the other girl,
Diamanda, over to Jeriko's table.
Hi, baby.
Hi. My name is Iris.
Hey.
(Iris) I got a present for you.
And it's so beautiful.
So that night, Iris calls up crying.
She's freaking out.
She comes over
and she plays the tape.
Philo loses it. He can't believe
the disaster she's gotten him into.
'He's afraid the cops
will beat it out of her
'who she's been working for,
and then come looking for him. '
Why not go public,
save himself that way?
If it got out he spied on his own
artists he'd lose all his other acts,
and it'd be over for him.
'So he gives Iris some money. '
He tells her to check into a hotel
under an assumed name
- until he can figure out what to do.
- He figured it out, all right.
- You think he killed her?
- The killer knew where she was
because he put her there.
What a nightmare.
I don't know where the fuck she is,
but we're late. Let's go.
Philo, how do you want me to work it
tonight at the Bonaventure?
Downstairs, or upstairs at the suite?
Lenny.
Leave here with me right now.
Come on.
- We'll talk about that later.
- No, man. I need to know.
Joey, what the fuck you waiting for?
Get her. Go!
I just say things once, baby, OK?
So, we will talk about that... later.
Oh, OK, man. I'm cool. I'm cool.
I'm sorry, man.
Hey, Wade, go out for a pass, bro.
# Blue sky
# No white clouds
in my blue sky #
- Oh, shit!
- Get out of my fuckin' way!
Come on! Come on!
Lenny! Go! Go!
Pardon me! Sorry! Sorry!
Get out of my fuckin' way! Move it!
Move!
Faith.
Hello, Lenny, you fuck!
Let's go, darling. Happy New Year!
- Get out of the way!
- Lenny...
Excuse me. Get out of my fucking way!
(Screaming)
Vita... Vita, not now, baby.
Come on. Not here.
There he is.
Mr Gant, a few questions, sir?
(All shout questions)
Well, I'm certainly
in the mood for a party (!)
- Wade, take her up to the suite.
- No problem.
You go and have a glass
of champagne... or six.
See you up there in a bit,
help you ring in the new year.
I live for the moment.
Pussy-whipped,
sorry-ass motherfucker.
Take it easy.
So... So where are they now?
He's got her up in
the room, under guard.
Uh, he's still working the party,
acting smooth like nothing's nothing.
So, buddy... I say we work a trade.
- What do you mean?
- Give him the clip.
The tape for Faith.
I know he'll go for it.
This is what we laughingly
refer to as a plan?
Just get your butt down here.
If I'm not downstairs, go to
the room. It's 2203. You writing?
2-2-0-3.
If he gives us any shit...
we kill them all.
What do you say?
Really scatter the pigeons.
We got to get over there.
Can you borrow a dress
from Cecile or something?
- I'm not going.
- What do you mean?
- Gant's going to do her right there.
- Shut up.
Lenny, park your mouth and listen.
It's a set-up. Think about it.
Why is he sending tapes to you?
To freak you, get you to rush in,
put a bullet in you, one in her,
- and the gun in your hand?
- Yeah, that sounds right. I'm going.
You going to get yourself killed
for this? Huh?
For this toxic-waste bitch?
What the fuck are you doing?
This is your life!
Right here! Right now!
It's real time, you hear me?
Real time!
Time to get real, not playback.
You understand me?
She doesn't love you any more.
Maybe she did once,
but she doesn't now.
These are used emotions.
It's time to trade them in.
Memories were meant to fade, Lenny.
They're designed that way
for a reason.
Have you ever been in love with...
someone who didn't return that love?
Yeah, Lenny...
I have.
Didn't stop you from
loving them, right?
Or being able to understand them
or forgive them?
I guess.
Didn't stop you from wanting
to protect them... did it?
When I met Faith,
she was just another...
another runaway...
giving $20 blow jobs to buy crank.
Just another lost soul.
And she had this voice that was...
Well, that was scary.
Like she could take all the hurt
and rage of the entire world
and lift it up to heaven
in one voice.
I helped her.
And I promised her that I'll always
just be there...
to protect her.
See, it's not about what's in
her head. It's about what's in mine.
I can't let go of the promise.
It's like it's all I have left.
No, it's not.
Come on.
Let's go to a party.
(Cheering)
(Heavy metal)
The end of the world, yeah!
Shit!
Let's bail.
Hey, Mace...
You look great in that dress.
- I mean, better than I would.
- Thank you, I think.
Come on, let's go.
What's your plan for getting into
the most sold-out party in history?
Relax, Mace. This is what I do.
(Singing in African dialect)
- You see Gant?
- Uh-uh.
Shit.
Come on, Max. Come on, buddy.
Come on...
(Phone) 'The customer you have called
is unavailable... '
I still got one ace to play. Gant has
what I want, I have what he wants.
This is the original.
That's why it's a makable deal.
Look, this tape is
a lightning bolt from God.
It's worth more than you,
more than me,
and more than Faith,
you understand?
It can change things
that need changing
before we all go off
the end of the road.
You do not have the right
to use it for currency.
So if you go... you go alone.
You see, I care about you, Lenny,
a lot more than you know,
which makes us both
pretty stupid, huh?
But if you pawn this tape...
you mean nothing to me.
Excuse me.
Excuse me.
You see that guy over there?
That's Deputy Commissioner
Palmer Strickland,
the prick who busted me out.
His ass is so tight,
only dogs hear his farts.
If there's a clean cop, it's him.
- Take it to him.
- You want me to trust a cop?
No. Trust me. Here.
What if you're wrong?
Go.
Excuse me.
Commissioner...
there's a clip in here
that you need to see right now.
If it weren't New Year's Eve,
I'd have you arrested for possession
of illegal equipment.
You wanna know who killed Jeriko,
you go into that stall
and hit "play. "
(Cop) Sir, is there a problem here?
- Damn it, I knew it.
- Come on, let's go.
- Let go of me!
- Sir?
Wade, can we talk here
like two human beings?
It's nothing personal.
(Bagpipes playing)
Remember me, you fucking bitch?
Come on! Come on!
What are you looking at?
God damn it!
Enjoy the party.
Steckler... Steckler!
Fuck!
I didn't hear you come in.
Ah!
No!
No... no!
Shit.
(Grunting)
OK?
Did I hurt you?
Huh?
I love you, Max.
You're so pretty, Faith.
Shit!
- Come here, you fucker...
- You want to fuckin' die?
You want to fuckin' die?
This piece of puke hired me
to kill you. Can you believe that?
- Ain't that right?
- I can't believe this is happening.
Believe it!
Bring me the 'trodes
and the deck. Quick!
Come here, big shot, suck on this.
You wanna suck on something?
What are you gonna do?
You can't just kill him, Max!
I'm not going to. Give me that.
Just a little poach job.
- (Gant groans)
- You shut the fuck up!
Shut up or I'll pull
this fucking trigger!
- (Fireworks explode)
- (Faith) Fuck!
- Here's how much I love you, baby.
- God, Max!
Hope you enjoy the show, Philo...
you fuck.
- Take it, you prick!
- No, Max, don't! Don't do it!
Take it! Take it!
Take it!
Don't make any assumptions
about our friendship, OK, Lenny?
I didn't know you
were colour blind, Max.
Only way I could stand your ties.
Manos arriba, amigo.
Ooh.
Glock. 23.
Nice.
- Where's Faith?
- I sent her to the party.
- I'll wait here until you kill Gant.
- What makes you think I will?
You just did.
Jesus!
You know, that's the second most
common word people say
right before they die...
"shit" being number one.
So... I killed Gant, then you ran in,
being on his payroll... and shot me.
That's just about the way
it happened.
Wait. I killed Iris, too, didn't I?
They'll find the original
of her snuff clip in your apartment.
The one I left at the club
was a copy.
Was I a busy guy? Did I do Tick, too?
- Oh, you bet. Did you like it?
- So, why, Max?
- Why did you have to do Iris?
- Oh, picture it.
I got to share this with somebody
cos it's just too perfect, OK?
- I won't say anything.
- Oh, I know.
I'm working for this puke who says
he'll pay me large to do the hooker.
I also got to do his girlfriend
cos she knows the score
and she's out of control.
Only he doesn't know about
me and Faith.
So I say to myself,
"If I turn the job down,
"he'll get somebody else,
and I lose Faith," to coin a phrase.
So to buy time, I do the skank,
but I still got to deal with Gant.
It's him or me, but I can't cap him
without some chump to take the fall.
And who better than his girlfriend's
loser ex-boyfriend...
known criminal and who's been seen
hassling him in public?
Who is, regrettably, also
your best fucking friend.
No plan is perfect, Lenny.
Cheer up, the world's gonna end
in ten minutes.
You must be so pleased.
I mean, I followed
your jelly bean trail right here,
like a good little chump.
- You got foggy on me a couple times.
- Oh?
Remember the death squad? I had to
keep you from going to the cops.
I've heard stuff
about a death squad.
It's not about if you're paranoid.
It's whether you're paranoid enough.
- So there never was a death squad.
- No.
Just two loose cops running round
covering their butts.
Zany, huh? All this shit
caused by a random traffic stop.
Nothing means nothing, man.
You know that.
Look around.
The planet's in fucking chaos.
The day of reckoning is upon us!
Get what you can while you can
cos some shit can put a. 22 in
the back of your head... any second.
How'd you hook up with Faith?
Hmm...
This fuck hires me about a month ago
to eyeball her, only...
Faith knows me from you.
She comes up and says,
"Max, why are you following me?"
And I say, "I'll buy you a drink.
I'll explain. "
And she says...
(Faith) Do you enjoy watching me?
You're supposed to go
downstairs, baby.
I know. I don't always do
what I'm told, Max, you know that.
So I said, "Do you enjoy
watching me?"
Come on, Max. Play with me.
And then what did you say?
I said I'd even do it for free.
Uh-huh.
I said, "That's good, because I like
the feeling of someone watching me. "
I acquired the taste from Lenny.
Then she said, "Since we're gonna be
spending so much time together... "
"Why don't we make the best of it?"
(Fireworks exploding)
The very best.
You know all about that,
don't you, Lenny?
Faith and me, we found a place
that you could never reach, Max.
Never.
Faith... I know it's gone...
but you, Max,
you can't fucking touch it.
Enjoy it.
Lenny!
Get off, you fucking bitch!
God!
Fuck you!
What the fuck are you doing?
You're coming with me!
Ohh!
Come here. Come here, Lenny!
I'm taking you with me,
you motherfucker! Come here!
Come here! You fuck!
Come here!
# They're selling Jesus again
they want your soul
# And your money, your blood,
and your votes
# They're selling Jesus again
# Selling love to you
# They're selling love, love
# Love... #
There she is!
Freeze!
I said, fucking freeze!
Down! All the way down! Right now!
Now pay attention, motherfucker!
Stay down.
Down! Down! Down! Down!
Down now! You son of a bitch!
You ain't goin' anywhere!
(Cop) Shut up and move!
Get back! In a circle!
Break this circle!
Put that gun down!
- Get on the ground now!
- Hold on. Hold on.
I'll tell you what's going on here.
Let me tell you what's going on.
Get on the ground now! Get down!
Let me tell you what happened,
all right?
Get on the ground now!
All right?
Get these fucking things off me!
- No! Don't uncuff him!
- Shut up! Get down!
(Screaming) Wait!
You don't know what happened!
(Steckler) Fuck her up!
Hit her! Hit her!
Leave her alone!
Commissioner Strickland!
That is the cause of all this!
Right fucking there!
These two are under arrest
for murder!
Read them their rights! Move it!
Yes, sir.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will
be used against you.
You have the right to an attorney.
If you cannot afford an attorney...
Get this woman
some medical attention.
(Man) Get some medical attention!
Mace, are you OK?
I got 'em.
Get the fuck outta here! Everybody!
Back the fuck up!
Drop your weapon!
Drop it now!
No! NO!
NO!
Put that gun down!
- Drop your weapon!
- Drop the gun now!
Now! Drop it!
- Put it down right now!
- Drop your weapon!
Shoot!
You fucking... nigger bitch!
Lenny!
Lenny!
Lenny! Lenny!
No, no, Lenny, Lenny...
Lenny! Lenny!
Yeah?
What?
Are we under arrest?
Nah, they just have to ask us
a few questions...
for about six hours.
OK, where are you hurt, sir?
Ma'am, you OK? Ma'am?
Yeah.
We need to get that coat off you.
Hurt anywhere else?
(Crowd) Ten! Nine!
Eight! Seven!
Six! Five!
Four! Three!
Two! One!
(Cheering)
You need an ambulance, sir.
Let's go this way.
Go out this way, sir.
Hey, Lenny. We made it.
Yeah, we did.
You should get going.
Yeah. See you downtown.
See you there.
(Man) Make way.
# Ah
# Ah
# Ah
# Ah
# Ah
# It's in this moment
# Hold on
# When everything has come apart
# It's in this moment
# Right now
# We can go together
# Raise your sights
# What's there to lose?
# Fall in the light
# Fall in the light
# Fall in the light
# Will you catch me?
# Hold on, hold on, hold on
# I know you'll catch me #