Limited Hangout - Feature Screenplay

INT. HARRY’S APARTMENT - BEDROOM - DAY

The blue Atlantic Ocean in the morning, through metal bars.

SUPER: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - MARCH 31, 1964

HARRY (late 30s, pale) swelters in his apartment, wearing only boxers. He fans himself by an open window. He looks toward the ocean, burglar bars blocking his view.

He picks his shirt off a chair. His movement wakes up a YOUNG BRAZILIAN MAN in his bed.

Harry speaks with a mid-Atlantic movie star accent, matching his good looks.

HARRY

Look at this. Ruined with sweat. It’s not just hot here. It’s wet and sticky.

Harry shakes out his shirt and puts it on.

HARRY

You know where it’s nice? Paris. Warm in the Summer, and all that rain. You can fall asleep to the rain.

Harry’s face brightens up more and more. He picks his pants off the floor and slips them on.

HARRY

Then in the Winter, it’s chilly but not cold. I’ve had enough of the cold. And everyone packs into cafés and clubs, you can meet handsome poets and musicians.

The young man sits up in bed.

HARRY

Do you even understand what I’m saying?

YOUNG BRAZILIAN MAN

Paris, you say? You go to França? Nothing to do there.

HARRY

Who said anything about taking you?

Harry kisses him on the lips.

YOUNG BRAZILIAN MAN

Can I sleep here tonight?

HARRY

Depends. You hear anything good at the café yesterday?

YOUNG BRAZILIAN MAN

General Filho coming to Rio.

HARRY

Because of the sailor strike? I thought they might try for a coup in a month but it’s moving fast.

YOUNG BRAZILIAN MAN

No, today. Whole army here.

There’s a loud knock at the door. Harry signals for the young man to stay put.

TITLE CARD: LIMITED HANGOUT

ESPIONAGE TERM - WHEN YOU CAN NO LONGER MAINTAIN A LIE, GIVE UP PART OF THE TRUTH TO DISTRACT FROM THE BIGGER PICTURE.

INT. HARRY’S APARTMENT - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Harry opens the door a crack to see a POLICE OFFICER.

HARRY

Yes?

POLICE OFFICER

All rooms check.

HARRY

Uno minuto.

Harry takes an American passport off of a shelf and hands it to the cop.

HARRY

American citizen. American reporter. AP.

The police officer opens it to see Harry’s picture and name: Harry Hanssen.

POLICE OFFICER

Desculpa. Excuse.

The cop leaves but Harry waits to make sure he’s gone. The young man comes out of the bedroom.

Harry rushes to his shelf. He opens the back of a book, with a Soviet passport taped to the back. He rips it off.

HARRY

You need to tell me when danger’s coming!

YOUNG BRAZILIAN MAN

This a good tip?

HARRY

You knew a coup was coming today! Why’d you hold out on me?

YOUNG BRAZILIAN MAN

I give tip, I sleep with you. I want to last longer.

Harry pushes him out the door before getting his keys.

HARRY

Get the fuck out. Don’t ever come back here.

Harry shuts the door, locking it behind him.

EXT. RIO STREETS - DAY

SUPERIMPOSE: RIO DE JANEIRO - MARCH 31, 1964.

Harry sprints down the street. Foreign tourists make their way to the beaches, with colorful bathing suits and umbrellas. It’s a beautiful tropical Spring day.

Aero-Willys and FNM JKs on the roads honk their horns as military vehicles barrel onto the streets.

Street bands disperse as soldiers grab people.

Harry looks at taxi cabs stuck in traffic. He spots a NEWSPAPER DELIVERY BOY on a bike.

HARRY

You!

Harry pulls out a wad of bills.

HARRY

Get me to the airport, fast.

NEWSPAPER DELIVERY BOY

My papers, I-

Harry hands him the money.

HARRY

That’ll cover it. And it’s an American world now, get a job in TV.

He knocks the papers onto the street, tucking one under his arm. He gets on the back of the bike and they ride off.

EXT. HIGHWAYS - DAY

The boy pedals on the side of the highway. Harry holds on.

Military vehicles go the other way.

EXT. GALEÃO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - DAY

Crowds of frustrated Brazilians wait outside the gates of the airport. Armed guards stop them as foreigners walk through.

Harry takes out his American passport and goes ahead.

Harry spots a PASSENGER with a ticket sticking out of his billfold. Harry cracks his newspaper open as he passes by and steals the ticket.

He folds the newspaper up and looks at the ticket: DALLAS.

Harry turns around and slips the ticket back in.

He pulls the same trick with a different passenger. This time: BERLIN.

INT. GALEÃO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - DAY

Harry pushes past people. He gets to the gate’s front desk with a CLERK.

HARRY

Checking in for the flight to Berlin.

As the clerk starts typing, GEORGE (40s, pale) saddles up to him, drenched in sweat.

GEORGE

Why didn’t you sound the alarm when this shit started? Why didn’t you do your job?

HARRY

Slipped my mind, George.

GEORGE

I barely had time to get me and my family out. Don’t get cute.

HARRY

Okay, you don’t like me, I don’t like you. Sooner we get on the plane, the sooner we can get to safety, then the office will send us to cities on opposite ends of the planet, and we’ll never see each other again. Dos vidanya.

GEORGE

No, you’re not getting reassigned. You’re done.

George whispers to him.

GEORGE

(in Russian; subtitled)

They know about your little secret now. You’re never getting out with their help.

HARRY

(in Russian; subtitled)

Then I’ll leave on my own.

The way they talk in Russian - they’re native speakers.

Harry turns to the clerk.

HARRY

Are there transfers from Berlin to Paris?

GEORGE

With that?

George points to Harry’s American passport.

GEORGE

Those got flagged a week ago. We all had to get replacements.

To read more of this screenplay, contact Michael Papich.