Stephen Metcalfe - Writer & Director

The Old Boy is based onthe play of the same name by A.R. Guerny. It was written for Touchstone Pictures.

T H E O L D B O Y

EXT. WASHINGTON D.C. - NIGHT
Establishing shots. Lights. Buildings. Rain on the streets. SUBTITLE: APRIL, 1985
A BLACK LIMO
glides along the late night streets. CLOSE ON - An official-looking Federal seal on the door of the limo.
IN THE LIMO’S BACK SEAT -
SAMUEL PIERCE stares out the window. He’s a conservatively-suited, handsome man in his forties. He looks tired; the kind of fatigue that doesn’t just come from lack of sleep.
THE LIMO
moves along a park drive. In the distance one can see a lighted monument. The wheels of the car cut through gathering puddles.
SAMUEL
stares out the window. He’s not looking at the passing buildings but at his own reflection in the glass.
THE LIMO
turns off into the driveway entrance of a luxury high rise.
THE LIMO
pulls to a stop. A uniformed doorman rushes forward with an open umbrella to open the rear door. Samuel gets out.
INT. APARTMENT - NIGHT
Even in the half light one can see the rich, luxurious furnishings. Samuel enters. He drops his overcoat and attache in a chair, turns on the light on a hall table. There’s a pile of mail on the table. Samuel sorts through it, uninterested. But then he pauses over something.
CLOSE ON - A prep school’s alumni magazine. The black and white photo of the New England countryside.
Folding the magazine, Samuel turns and moves down the hall.
INT. A LARGE STUDY/OFFICE - NIGHT
Samuel quietly pours scotch into a crystal glass. He’s listening to messages on the phone machine.
BOB (ON THE MACHINE)
Sam? Bob. Why carry a cell phone if you won’t answer it? Listen, great news. The National Mayors Conference wants you to be their keynote speaker. We are talking network coverage, VIP’s, full party support. It’s all coming together, big guy. Call me when you get in, I’ll be up.
Samuel sips his scotch. His expression never changes.
IN THE BEDROOM
Carrying magazine and glass, Samuel enters the dark bedroom. He puts them down, takes off his suit jacket, hangs it up. Picking up the glass, he moves to the window, looks out.
A WOMAN’S VOICE (O.C..)
(half-awake)
Sam?
Loosening his tie, Samuel turns from the window. He moves towards the bed. A woman is curled under the covers. Samuel turns on a reading light.
THE WOMAN
What time is it?
SAMUEL
Late.
He slips off his shoes. He reclines on the bed. Flips through the magazine. The woman rises. Moves into the bathroom. Even half-asleep, she’s elegantly beautiful; around thirty.
Samuel sees something that almost makes him smile - a photo - WINTER CARNIVAL. He flips pages. CLOSE ON - The magazine page. CLASS NOTES. Samuel flips the page. He reads. He blinks, suddenly shocked. He rereads. He closes the magazine, sick inside. He puts it aside.
The woman comes out of the bathroom; sees the look on Samuel’s face.
THE WOMAN
What?
Samuel quietly shakes his head. The woman gets into bed.
THE WOMAN (cont’d)
You looked like someone died.
SAMUEL
... someone did.
THE WOMAN
Hmmm?
SAMUEL
Go back to sleep.
She already is. Outside it’s begun to rain again. Samuel just stares, his face the color of ash. CLOSING ON - The alumni magazine cover - CLOSER - until it FILLS the screen.
And now, as the photo fills with the vivid hues of an AUTUMN DAY in New England we HEAR a boy’s choir singing a hymn. “Oh Paradise, Oh Paradise...”
The hymn CONTINUES as IN A SERIES OF CROSSFADES - we see different views, interior and exterior, of WESTMINSTER ACADEMY. The prep school speaks of old money, privilege and tradition. The BUILDINGS are distinguished, fortress-like; all heavy stone and ivy-covered brick. The LAWNS AND PLAYING FIELDS are manicured. The STUDENTS, on their way to classes, wear conservative blue blazers and ties.
The school’s CLASSROOMS are intimate and wood-lined, the desks ancient. The teachers are tweedy and scholarly looking. The students are attentive - no dawdlers here.
The LIBRARY, with it’s stacks of old volumes and high- backed, leather chairs, would do a college proud.
In the GYM LOBBY are cases filled with trophies, plaques and ancient pictures of student teams.
In the DORM ROOMS, the beds are made and the desks are neat. There are squash racquets and lacrosse sticks in the corner, college pennants on the wall - Harvard - Yale - Princeton.
In the SCHOOL CHAPEL that choir is SINGING.
EXT. THE CAMPUS - DAY
The HYMN ends. Leaves are falling from the trees. SUBTITLES: SEPTEMBER - 1961. A group of casually dressed students rake leaves into piles.
SAM
Come on, ya numbnuts, three piles! How hard is that -
Sam is 19 years old; big for his age, athletic looking.
SAM (cont’d)
- even for freshmen?