PART 2 David sits in the studio. He yells in frustration.

The Adjustment Bureau

PART 1 Announcer: Congressman David Norris

DAVID

Hello, I grew up not far away from here in Red Hood

MAN: Brooklyn

WOMAN 1: I love you, David

WOMAN 2: I love you more

I love you both.

But we had a rule in my neighborhood when you got into a fight, it wasn’t whether or not you got knocked down, it what you do when you get back up (CHEERING)

And l came here to tell you tonight the I will get back up (CHEERING)Pause. Silence

It’s bullshit. We didn’t have that saying in my neighborhood. (Said in low voice)

It’s just one of those phrases that had some traction with the focus group and so we kept using it, but it’s not true.

In 1998, I did a cover story for GQ. The title was “Youngest Congressman Ever”. And since then, every story has tried to explain how I got here so fast. And the word the people kept using was authentic…

(CHEERING)

But there’s the problem. This isn’t even my tie. This tie was selected for me by a group of specialists in Tenafly, New Jersey, who chose it over 56 other ties we tested. In fact, our data suggests that I have to stick to either a tie that is red or a tie that is blue. A yellow tie made it look as if I was taking my situation lightly, and I may in fact pull my pants down again at any moment. (ALL LAUGHING) A silver tie meant that I’d forgotten my roots.

My shoes… You know shiny shoes… we associate with high-priced lawyers and bankers. If you want to get a working man’s vote you need to scuff up your shoes a little bit. But you can’t scuff them up so much that you alienate the lawyers and the bankers because you need them to pay for the specialists back in Tenafly.

So, what is the proper scuffing amount? You know, we actually paid a consultant $7,300.

Was it $7,300, Charlie? (to Charlie)

$7,300, for a consultant to tell that this is the perfect amount of scuffing.

PART 2 David sits in the studio. He yells in frustration.

THOMPSON

Frustrating, isn’t it? My name is Thompson

DAVID

Whatever happened to free will?

THOMPSON

We actually tried free will before. After taking you from hunting and gathering to the height of the Roman Empire we stepped back to see how you’d do on your own. You gave us the Dar Ages – for five centuries – until finally we decided we should come back in.

The chairman thought maybe we just needed to do a better job of teaching you how to ride a bike before taking the training wheels off again. So we gave you the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Scientific Revolution…

For six hundred years we taught you to control your impulses with reason. Then in 1910 we stepped back. Within fifty years you brought us World War I, the Depression, Fascism, the Holocaust and capped it off by bringing the entire planet to the brim of destruction in the Cuban Missile Crisis. A decision was taken at that point that we should step in again before you did something e ven we couldn’t fix. You don’t have free will, David, you have the appearance of free will.

DAVID

You expect me to believe that? I make decisions every day.

THOMPSON

You have free will over which toothpaste you use, or what beverage to order at lunch. But humanity just isn’t mature enough to control the important things.

DAVID

So, you handle the important things? The last time I checked the world is a pretty screwed-up place

THOMPSON

It’s still here. If we’d left things in your hands, it wouldn’t be.

DAVID

Tell me why I can’t be with Elise, because the last guy didn’t know.

THOMPSON

Meeting Elise at the Waldorf three years ago wasn’t chance. That was us. We knew she would inspire you to give that speech. That speech that brought you back from the edge of oblivion and overnight made you the frontrunner in this coming election.

DAVID

What are you saying? You want me to win the elections?

THOMPSON

This one and four more after it. And I’m not just talking about elections to Senate.

THOMPSON

You can matter, David. Really matter. What your father wanted when he took you to the Senate gallery when you were ten. What your brother wanted when he made you promise, the day before he overdosed, that you wouldn’t be like him. Why do you think you have that yearning to be in front of people? That terrible emptiness when you are not?

DAVID

Don’t do that!

THOMPSON

David,, you can change the world, but that doesn’t happen if you stay with her.

DAVID

Why do you people care who I love?

THOMPSON

It’s not about her… it’s about you, what being with her does to you.

DAVID

What it does to me? I’m better when I’m with her. Even you said it. The speech.

THOMPSON

In small doses, Elise was the cure. But in large doses… she rubs off on you.

DAVID

Stop.

THOMPSON

David, the president can’t be a loose cannon.

DAVID

Stop talking. It’s not working.

THOMPSON

Why do you refuse to accept what should be completely obvious by now? You’ve seen what we can do. You can’t doubt who we are who we say we are.

DAVID

Look, it’s not about who you are, it’s about who I am.

THOMPSON

Can’t outrun your fate, David.

DAVID

I just disagree with you about what my fate is. I know what I feel for her and it’s not going to change. All I have are the choices that I make. And I choose her [pause] come what may.

THOMPSON

It’s 6:20. If you leave now, you can make Elise’s show.

David jumps into a taxi and drives to Cedar Lake.

In the theatre.

THOMPSON

She’s a beautiful dancer.

DAVID

I thought I made myself clear

THOMPSON

There’s one more piece to all this I haven’t mentioned you. I guess I didn’t have the heart. If you stay with her, it not only kills your dreams, it kills hers.

DAVID

What?

THOMPSON

Elise is about to become on of the most famous dancers in the country… and eventually on of the world’s greatest choreographers .[pause] If she stays with you… she ends up teaching dance to six-year-olds. [pause]

When you look back at all this, David, just remember, we tried to reason with you.

David watches Thompson go... then he turns around and sees Elise’s graceful jump. When she lands, her ankle cracks. The audience gasps. David brings her to the hospital.

THOMPSON

I always hear people saying “you can’t blame yourself for what happens to other people,” but in this case, really, you can.

David stands up and punches Thompson in the face.

THOMPSON

This is what you do, David. This is what you did getting into a bar fight the night you first got elected. What you did to get that embarrassing photo in The New York Post. We give you opportunities other people would kill for and you squander them with impulse. It doesn’t take a genius t see Elise isn’t exactly helping you with this.

It’s a sprain, David. But if you stay with her, you’ll take away the only thing she ever cared about. It’s up to you.

Thompson walks away.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-26