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"Fight Club" (1999) by Jim Uhls.
Based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk.
Shooting Script. April 18, 1998
More info about this movie on imdb.com
SCREEN BLACK
JACK (V.O.)
People were always asking me, did I know Tyler Durden.
FADE IN:
INT. SOCIAL ROOM - TOP FLOOR OF HIGH-RISE - NIGHT
TYLER has the barrel of a HANDGUN lodged in JACK'S MOUTH. They
struggle intensely.
They are both around 30; Tyler is blond, handsome, eyes burning with
frightening intensity; and JACK, brunette, is appealing in a dry sort
of way. They are both sweating and disheveled; Jack seems to be losing
his will to fight.
TYLER
We won't really die. We'll be immortal.
JACK
oor -- ee-ee --uh -- aa-i --
JACK (V.O.)
With a gun barrel between your teeth, you speak only in vowels.
Jack tongues the barrel to the side of his mouth.
JACK (still distorted)
You're thinking of vampires.
Jack tries to get the gun. Tyler keeps control.
JACK (V.O.)
With my tongue, I can feel the silencer holes drilled into the barrel
of the gun. Most of the noise a gunshot makes is expanding gases. I
totally forgot about Tyler's whole murder-suicide thing for a second
and I wondered how clean the gun barrel was.
Tyler checks his watch.
TYLER
Three minutes.
Jack turns so that he can see down -- 71 STORIES.
PG 2
JACK (V.O.)
The building we're standing won't be here in three minutes. You take a
98-percent concentration of fuming nitric acid and add three times as
much sulfuric in a bathtub full of ice. Then, glycerin drop-by-drop.
Nitroglycerin. I know this because Tyler knows this.
Jack manages to SHOVE Tyler away. Then, he leaps onto him and they
fall onto a table, then roll off onto the floor. The gun falls and
slides. They wrestle with each other, then dash for the gun. Tyler
gets there first and grabs the gun. DURING THE ABOVE:
JACK (V.O.)
The Demolitions Committee of Project Mayhem wrapped the foundation
columns of this building with blasting gelatin. The primary charge
will blow the base charge, and this spot Tyler and I are standing on
will be a point in the sky.
Tyler drags Jack back to the glass wall and forces him to look out at
the city skyline.
TYLER
This is our world now. Two minutes.
JACK (V.O.)
Two minutes to go and I'm wondering how I got here.
MOVE IN ON JACK'S FACE.
SLOWLY PULL BACK from Jack's face. It's pressed against TWO LARGE
BREASTS that belong to ... BOB, a big moose of a man, around 35 years
old. Jack is engulfed by Bob's arms in an embrace. Bob weeps openly.
His shoulders inhale themselves up in a long draw, then drop, drop,
drop in jerking sobs. Jack gives Bob some squeezes in return, but his
face is stone.
JACK (V.O.)
Bob had bitch tits.
PG 3
PULL BACK TO WIDE ON
INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - NIGHT
All the men are paired off, hugging each other, talking in emotional
tones. Some pairs lean forward, heads pressed ear-to-ear, the way
wrestlers stand, locked. Near the door a temporary sign on a stand:
"REMAINING MEN TOGETHER".
JACK (V.O.)
This was a support group for men with testicular cancer. The big
moosie slobbering all over me was Bob.
BOB
I owned my own gym. I did product endorsements.
JACK
You were a six-time champion.
JACK (V.O.)
Bob, the big cheesebread. Always told me his life story.
BOB
We're still men.
JACK
Yes. We're men. Men is what we are.
JACK (V.O.)
Bob cried. Six months ago, his testicles were removed. Then hormone
therapy. He developed bitch tits because his testosterone was too high
and his body upped the estrogen. That was where my head fit -- into
his sweating tits that hang enormous, the way we think of God's as big.
Bob hugs tighter, then looks with empathy into Jack's eyes.
BOB
Maybe it's just seminoma. With seminoma, you have a hundred percent
survival rate.
The Leader steps forward and signals everyone.
LEADER
Okay. Group hug.
PG 4
Everyone converges into a cluster with arms thrown around shoulders,
making a big mass of sobbing, smiling goodwill.
JACK (V.O.)
No. Wait. Back up. Let me start earlier.
INT. JACK'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Jack lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. He hears VOICES from beyond
the wall. A FLY buzzes over his face. He swats at it, missing.
JACK (V.O.)
For six months. I couldn't sleep.
INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE - DAY
Jack, eyes puffy, face pale, sits before the Doctor, who studies him
with bemusement.
DOCTOR
No, you can't die of insomnia.
JACK
Maybe I already died. Look at my face.
DOCTOR
You need to lighten up.
JACK
Can you give me something?
JACK (V.O.)
Little red-and-blue Tuinal, lipstick-red Seconals.
DOCTOR (overlapping w/ above)
You need healthy, natural sleep. Chew valerian root and get more
exercise.
The Doctor ushers Jack to the door. They step into the
INT. HALLWAY
Where the Doctor starts moving away from Jack, picking up a chart on a
door.
JACK
I'm in pain.
PG 5
DOCTOR (facetious)
You want to see pain? Swing by Meyer High on a Tuesday night and see
the guys with testicular cancer.
The Doctor moves into the other room. Jack stares after him somberly.
MOVE IN ON JACK'S FACE.
PULL BACK TO WIDE ON:
INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - NIGHT
Jack stares at a group of men, including Bob, who are all listening to
a group member speak at a lectern. The speaker has death-white skin
and sunken eyes -- he's clearly dying.
SPEAKER
I ... wanted to have three kids. Two boys and a girl. Mindy wanted
two girls and one boy. We never agreed on anything.
The Speaker cracks a sad smile. Some men chuckle, happy to lighten the
mood.
SPEAKER
Well ... she had her first girl a month ago ... with her new husband.
Thank God, because she deserves ...
The speaker breaks down and WEEPS UNCONTROLLABLY. Jack is riveted. He
barely breathes. CUT TO:
INT. GYM - LATER
A Leader herds people into pairing-off.
LEADER
Find a partner.
Bob starts toward Jack, shuffling his feet. Jack watches him, still
moved by his experience, face full of intense empathy.
JACK (V.O.)
The big moosie, his eyes already shrink-wrapped in tears. Knees
together, invisible steps.
Bob takes Jack into an embrace.
JACK (V.O.)
He pancaked down on top of me.
PG 6
BOB
Two grown kids ... and they won't return my calls.
JACK (V.O.)
Strangers with this kind of honesty make me go a big rubbery one.
Jack's face is rapt and sincere. Bob stops talking and breaks into
sobbing, putting his head down on Jack's shoulder and completely
covering Jack's face.
JACK (V.O.)
Then, I was lost in oblivion -- dark and silent and complete.
Jack's body begins to jerk in sobs. He tightens his arms around Bob.
JACK (V.O.)
This was freedom. Losing all hope was freedom.
Jack pulls back from Bob. On Bob's chest, there's a WET MASK of Jack's
face from how he looked weeping.
JACK (V.O.)
Babies don't sleep this well.
INT. JACKS' BEDROOM - NIGHT
Jack lies sound asleep.
JACK (V.O.)
I became addicted.
INT. SMALL PROTESTANT CHURCH - NIGHT
Jack moves into a "group hug" of sickly people, men and women. In view
is a sign by the door "Free and Clear".
JACK (V.O.)
I felt more alive than I've ever felt.
INT. OFFICE BUILDING BASEMENT - NIGHT
Jack pulls back from a group hug of more sickly people. They pair-off.
Jack stands with a weeping middle-aged WOMAN. He gingerly takes her in
his arms, pats her back. He begins to cry along with her. In view is
a sign by the door: "Onward and Upward".
PG 7
JACK (V.O.)
If I didn't say anything, people assumed the worst. They cried harder.
I cried harder.
INT. CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL - NIGHT
Jack is in an embrace with a YOUNG MAN. They are both weeping.
JACK (V.O.)
I wasn't really dying. I wasn't host to cancer or parasites; no, I was
the warm little center that the life of this world crowded around.
INT. PUBLIC BUILDING CONFERENCE ROOM - NIGHT
Everyone settles in their seats and a Leader takes the microphone.
LEADER
Okay, everyone, close your eyes. Imagine your pain as a white ball of
healing light. Go down your secret path to your cave and join up with
your power animal.
EXT. ENTRANCE OF CAVE (JACK'S IMAGINATION)
Jack walks up to the entrance and out comes a PENGUIN. The penguin
looks at him, smiles.
PENGUIN
Slide.
EXT. STREET - NIGHT
Jack walks out of a doorway, saying goodbye to people. He walks down
the sidewalk, his face shining with peace.
JACK (V.O.)
Every evening I died and every evening I was born. Resurrected.
CUT BACK TO:
PG 8
INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - *RESUMING*
Jack still hanging in an embrace with Bob.
JACK (V.O.)
Bob loved me because he thought my testicles were removed, too. Being
there, my face against his tits, getting ready to cry -- this was my
vacation.
MARLA SINGER enters. She has short matte black hair and big, dark eyes
like a character from Japanese animation.
MARLA
This is cancer, right?
She raises a cigarette to her lips. The men gape at her, dumbfounded.
JACK (V.O.)
And *she* ruined everything.
CUT TO:
INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - LATER
Everyone paired-off. MOVE THROUGH ROOM and catch snippets of
intimate, painful CONVERSATION.
FIND JACK'S FACE as it stares, over Bob's shoulder, eyes full of deep
hostility.
JACK (V.O.)
Liar. Faker. Liar.
MOVE THROUGH ROOM, hearing more CONVERSATION.
FIND MARLA'S FACE, over the shoulder of a MAN she's being embraced by,
SMOKING, blowing smoke rings.
JACK (V.O.)
This ... chick ... Marla Singer... did not have testicular cancer. She
had no diseases. She was a liar. I saw her at "We Shall Overcome," my
melanoma group Monday night ...
INT. SMALL PROTESTANT CHURCH - NIGHT
Marla sits with the group, smoking, while a member speaks. Jack glares
at her.
PG 9
INT. CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL - NIGHT
Everyone sits with eyes closed while a speaker takes them through a
meditation. Various COUGHING around the room. Jack's eyes open and he
glares at Marla. Her eyes are closed and she's smoking a cigarette.
JACK (V.O.)
... at "Seize The Day," my tuberculosis group Friday night.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - RESUMING
Jack continues to glare at Marla. Her eyes briefly catch his, then
roll. Another puff of the cigarette.
JACK (V.O.)
Marla -- the big tourist. The faker. With her there, I was a faker,
too. Her lie reflected my lie. And all of a sudden, I felt nothing.
With her there, I couldn't cry.
INT. JACK'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Jack, fully clothed, lies on top of his bed, holding a cordless phone
to his ear. He stares at the ceiling and swats at a fly.
JACK (V.O.)
So, once again, I couldn't sleep.
Jack hears something on the phone. He sits up.
JACK
I've been holding for thirty minutes.
Spread all over the floor by Jack's feet are INVOICES for CREDIT CARDS.
JACK
Yes, that's right. Yes, but I transferred part of my balance to my
Visa to get the lower rate. Oh, wait. No, it wasn't your Visa. Okay,
I transferred all of the MasterCard ... to ... (MORE)
PG 10
JACK (CONT'D)
Look, can I just come down in person? I live here -- in Wilmington.
Yes, all my credit cards have main headquarters here. No? Why not?
Why can't I speak to an account rep? No, wait, don't put me on --
Jack reacts to being put on hold.
INT. BATHROOM - MOMENTS LATER
Jack sits on the toilet. He digs through a magazine rack. IKEA
catalogues, Pottery Barn catalogues and more of the kind. Jack opens
an IKEA catalog and flips through it.
JACK (V.O.)
I had become a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct. If I saw something
like the clever Njurunda coffee tables in the shape of a lime green Yin
and an orange Yang --
Move in on PHOTO of the tables. CUT TO:
INT. JACK'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Completely EMPTY.
JACK (V.O.)
I had to have it.
The Njurunda tables APPEAR.
INSERT - PHOTO OF SOFAS
JACK (V.O.)
The Haparanda sofa group ...
INT. JACK'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
The sofa group APPEARS.
JACK (V.O.)
... with the orange slip covers by Erika Pekkari. The Johanneshov
armchair in the Strinne green stripe pattern.
The armchair APPEARS.
PG 11
JACK (V.O.)
The Rislampa/Har lamps from wire and environmentally-friendly
unbleached paper.
The lamp APPEARS.
JACK (V.O.)
The Vild hall clock of galvanized steel.
The clock APPEARS.
JACK (V.O.)
The Klipsk shelving unit.
The shelving unit APPEARS.
INT. BATHROOM - RESUMING
Jack flips the page of the catalogue to reveal a full-page photo of an
entire kitchen and dining room set.
JACK (V.O.)
I would flip and wonder, "What kind of dining room set *defines* me as
a person?"
Jack drops the catalog down, open to this spread. PAN OVER to the
magazine stack -- there's an old, tattered PLAYBOY.
JACK (V.O.)
It used to be Playboys; now -- IKEA.
INT. JACK'S KITCHEN AND DINING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
-- Looking exactly like the photo in the catalogue. Jack walks in with
the cordless phone still glued to his ear.
JACK
I want to transfer my balance to get a lower interest rate.
Jack looks over the whole kitchen, dining room, and the living room
beyond.
JACK (V.O.)
The things you own, they end up owning you.
Jack opens a cabinet, takes out a plate.
PG 12
JACK (V.O.)
My hand-blown green glass dishes with the tiny bubbles and
imperfections, proof they were crafted by the honest, simple,
hard-working indigenous peoples of wherever.
He rummages through the refrigerator. It's practically empty. Jack
takes out a jar of mustard, opens it and uses a butter knife to eat it.
INT. BEDROOM - LATER
Jack lies on the bed, phone still at his ear.
JACK
I want to talk to a live person.
Jack reacts, listens, impatiently punches a single number; waits,
listens, punches another single number; listens. He rolls over, looks
at one of the bills on the floor and punches an entire credit card
number.
JACK (V.O.)
Next support group, after guided meditation, the white healing ball of
light, after we open our chakras, when it comes time to hug, I'm going
to grab that little bitch, Marla Singer, squeeze her arms down against
her sides and say ...
JACK
Marla, you liar, you big tourist. Get out.
Jack yawns, rubs his eyes. They stay wide open. He punches another
number into the phone. He sees a LEVITATING, STEAMING Starbucks paper
coffee cup move from side to side in front of his face.
INT. COPY ROOM - DAY
Jack stands over a copy machine. The Starbucks cup sits on the lid,
moving back and forth as the machine makes copies.
JACK (V.O.)
With insomnia, nothing is real. Everything is far away. Everything is
a copy of a copy of a copy.
Other people make copies, all with Starbucks cups, sipping.
PG 13
INT. OFFICE AREA - DAY
Floor-to-ceiling glass instead of walls. Industrial low-pile gray
carpet. Walls of upholstered plywood. There are four small offices
connected by a hallway to one large office.
INT. JACK'S OFFICE - SAME
Jack, sipping from a Starbucks cup, stares blankly at his Starbucks bag
on the floor, full of newspapers.
JACK (V.O.)
When deep space exploitation ramps up, it will be corporations that
name everything. The IBM Stellar Sphere. The Philip Morris Galaxy.
Planet Starbucks.
Jack looks up as a pudgy MAN in his late thirties, enters. Starbucks
cup in hand, pulls up a chair, and slides a stack of reports on Jack's
desk. He pats Jack's back in a superficially-friendly way.
PUDGY MAN
I'm going to need you out-of-town a little more this week. We've got
some "red-flags" to cover.
JACK (V.O.)
It must've been Tuesday. My Boss was wearing his cornflower-blue tie.
JACK (listless "management-speak")
You want me to de-prioritize my current reports until you advise of a
status upgrade?
PUDGY MAN - "BOSS"
You need to make these your primary "action items".
JACK (V.O.)
He was full of pep. Must've had his latte enema.
BOSS
Here's your flight coupons. Call me from the road if there's any
snags. Your itinerary ...
Jack hides a yawn and pretends to listen.
PG 14
JACK (V.O.)
When you have insomnia, you're never really awake and you're never
really asleep, either.
INT. SMALL PROTESTANT CHURCH - NIGHT
Jack walks in and joins the crowd.
LEADER
Okay, everyone. Chloe.
Jack catches sight of Marla, scowls at her. Taking the lectern is
CHLOE, a pale, sickly girl whose skin stretches yellowish and tight
around her bones. She wears a head bandage. OVER the beginning of her
SPEECH:
JACK (V.O.)
Chloe looked the way Joni Mitchell's skeleton would look if you made it
smile and walk around a party being extra nice to everyone.
CHLOE
My status update is ... I'm still here -- but I don't know for how
long. That's as much certainty as they can give me. I'm in a pretty
lonely place. No one will have sex with me. I'm so close to death and
all I want is to get laid for the last time. I have pornographic
movies in my apartment, and lubricants and amyl nitrate ...
The LEADER hardly knows what to do. He inches his way to the lectern,
and gingerly takes control of the microphone.
LEADER
Thank you, Chloe. Everyone, close your eyes for meditation. Go to
your cave and find your power animal.
EXT. ENTRANCE OF CAVE (JACK'S IMAGINATION)
Jack walks up to the entrance and finds MARLA -- smoking a cigarette
blowing smoke into his face, rolling her eyes in condescension.
MARLA
Slide.
PG 15
INT. CHRUCH - RESUMING
Jack's eyes snap open and turn to Marla. He glowers, watching her
smoke with her eyes closed.
INT. CHURCH - LATER
The Leader, smiling opens his eyes and looks around the group.
LEADER
Good. Now. Pair off for the one-on-one. Pick someone special to you
tonight.
Everyone stands and mills about, slowly pairing-off. Jack sees the
ghastly spectre of Chloe coming towards him. He smiles at her. She
smiles back; it takes her some time to amble to him.
CHLOE
Hello, Cornelius.
JACK (V.O.)
I never gave my real name at support groups.
CHLOE
I'm showing signs of improvement.
JACK (V.O.)
Everyone was always getting better. They never said "parasite"; they
said "agent".
She smiles at him with a twisted, dying mouth. Her eyes eerily bright
with desperation. Jack's lip trembles as he, in a sincere attempt at
levity, chokes out:
JACK
You ... look ... like a pirate.
Chloe laughs, a little too much. Jack squeezes out a laugh. Then, he
sees Marla, off by herself. Someone is heading for her. Most people
have paired-off. Jack gives a quick nod to Chloe and darts for Marla,
grabbing her. Chloe watches in sad surprise.
STAY ON JACK AND MARLA as he drags her off to the periphery. He
whispers into her ear.
JACK
We need to talk.
PG 16
MARLA
O - *kay*. Sure.
JACK
You're a faker. You aren't dying. Okay, in the brainy brain-food
philosophy way, we're all dying. But you're not dying the way Chloe is
dying.
LEADER
Tell the other person how you feel.
MARLA
You're not dying, either ...
(reading his nametag)
... *Cornelius*.
LEADER
Share yourself completely.
JACK
These are my groups. I found them!
MARLA
I saw you practicing this.
JACK
What?
MARLA
-- Telling me off. Is it going as well as you thought it would?
JACK
I'll expose you!
MARLA
Go ahead.
MEDIATOR
Let yourself cry.
Marla puts her head down on Jack's shoulder as if she were crying.
Jack pulls her head back up. She deadpans at him.
JACK
I've put in some serious time on these groups -- I've been coming for a
year.
MARLA
Must've been tough to pull off.
PG 17
JACK
Anyone who might've noticed me in that time has either died or
recovered and never come back.
MARLA
Why do you do it?
JACK
Why do you?
No answer. The Leader passes right by Jack and Marla.
LEADER
Open up. share with each other.
JACK
... If people think you're dying, they really listen, instead of just
waiting for their turn to speak. Everything else about credit card
debts and sad radio songs and thinning hair goes out the window.
MARLA
It started with a lump. I went to a breast cancer support group. The
lump turned out benign. But I still needed my Monday fix. So, I went
to lymphoma, just to check it out. Dying people are so *alive*.
JACK
It becomes an addiction.
MARLA
Yeah ...
Jack almost smiles, then turns sullen. He pulls back from her.
LEADER
Now, the closing prayer.
JACK
Look, I can't go to a group with a faker present.
Marla's mood hardens.
MARLA
Well, I can't either.
LEADER
Oh, bless us and hold us ...
PG 18
JACK
We'll split up the week.
Marla starts out of the room. Jack follows her.
LEADER
... help us and help us.
EXT. CHURCH - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS
Marla gets to the sidewalk, moving quickly along.
JACK
You can have lymphoma, tuberculosis and --
MARLA
No, you take tuberculosis. My smoking doesn't go over well.
JACK
I think testicular cancer should be no contest.
MARLA
You have your balls, don't you? Technically, *I* have more of a right
to be there than you.
JACK
You're kidding.
MARLA
I don't know -- am I?
Jack follows Marla into
INT. LAUNDROMAT - CONTINUOUS
As she walks with authority up to an unwatched DRYER. She takes out
all the clothes, sets them on a table and sorts through them, picking
out jeans, pants and shirts.
MARLA
I'll take the parasites.
JACK
You can't have *both* parasites. You take blood parasites and --
MARLA
I want brain parasites.
She opens another dryer and does the same thing again.
PG 19
JACK
Okay. I'll take blood parasites and I'll take organic brain dementia
and --
MARLA
I want that.
JACK
You can't have the whole brain!
MARLA
So far, you have four and I have two!
JACK
Well, then, take blood parasites. Now, we each have three.
Marla gathers up all the chosen garments and heads back for the door.
She whooshes past Jack.
EXT. SIDEWALK - CONTINUOUS
Jack follows, bewildered.
JACK
You left half your clothes.
HONK! Jack starts. Marla's led him into the street with traffic
barreling down. She defiantly stomps in front of the cars, which
screech to a halt and blare their horns. Jack dashes across. Marla
heads into a THRIFT STORE. Jack follows.
INT. THRIFT STORE - CONTINUOUS
Marla drops all the clothes on a back counter. An old CLERK sifts
through the clothes, marks on a pad.
JACK
What are you doing? You're selling those clothes?
Marla steps down hard on Jack's foot. He jerks, wincing in pain.
MARLA (for the Clerk to hear)
Yes, I'm selling some clothes.
The Clerk starts to ring up the various amounts he's assessed.
PG 20
MARLA
So, we each have three -- that's six. What about the seventh day? I
want ascending bowel cancer.
JACK (V.O.)
The girl had done her homework.
JACK
*I* want ascending bowel cancer.
The Clerk gives Marla and Jack a strange look as he hands over money to
Marla.
MARLA
That's your favorite, too? Tried to slip it by me, huh?
JACK
We'll split it. You get it the first and third Sunday of the month.
MARLA
Deal.
They shake hands. Jack starts to withdraw his; Marla holds it.
MARLA
I guess this is goodbye.
JACK
Let's not make a big deal out of this.
She walks toward the door. Jack watches her go.
MARLA (not looking back)
How's this for not making a big deal?
EXT. SIDEWALK - CONTINUOUS
Jack dashes out and catches up to her.
JACK
Uh, Marla. Should we exchange phone numbers?
MARLA
Should we?
JACK
In case we want to switch nights.
PG 21
MARLA
Uh-hunh. Sure.
He takes out a business card and a pen. He writes his home number on
the back and hands it to her. She takes his pen, grabs his hand and
writes her number on his palm. She gives him a quick grin, slaps the
pen back into his palm, then saunters out into the middle of the
street, causing more screeching of tires and honking. She turns back,
holding up the card.
MARLA
It doesn't have your name on it. Who are you? Cornelius? Any of the
stupid names you give at group?
Jack starts to yell, but the traffic noise is too loud. Marla just
shakes her head at him, turns, and keeps moving away. A bus moves into
view and stops, obscuring her.
JACK (V.O.)
Marla's philosophy of life, I later found out, was that she could die
at any moment. The tragedy of her life was that she didn't.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - DAY
As the plane touches down for landing and the cabin BUMPS, Jack's eyes
pop open.
JACK (V.O.)
You wake up at O'Hare.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - DAY
Jack snaps awake again, looking around, disoriented.
JACK (V.O.)
You wake up at SeaTac.
EXT. HIGHWAY - DUSK
The rear end of a car is visible sticking up by the side of the road.
Jack stands near the car, marking on a document. The SUN SETS behind
him.
INT. AIRPORT - NIGHT
Jack walks up to a gate counter. An ATTENDANT smiles at him.
ATTENDANT
Check-in for that flight doesn't begin for another two hours, Sir.
PG 22
Jack looks at his watch, steps away and looks at an overhanging clock.
His eyes are bleary as he reads it, adjusts his watch.
JACK (V.O.)
Pacific, Mountain, Central. You lose an hour, you gain an hour. This
is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - DAY
Jack's eyes snap open as the plane LANDS.
JACK (V.O.)
You wake up at Air Harbor International.
INT. AIRPORT WALKWAY
Jack stands on a conveyor belt, briefcase at his feet, moving slowly
with the flow of the belt. His tired eyes watch people on the opposite
conveyor belt, moving past him.
JACK (V.O.)
If you wake up at a different time and a different place, can you be a
different person?
Jack's eyes catch sight of TYLER -- who we recognize from the opening
sequence -- on the opposite conveyor belt. They pass each other.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - IN FLIGHT - NIGHT
Jack sits next to a BUSINESSMAN. As they have idle CONVERSATION, we
MOVE IN ON Jack's fold-out tray.
An ATTENDANT'S HANDS set coffee down with a small packet of sugar and a
small container of cream.
JACK (V.O.)
The charm of traveling is: everywhere I go -- tiny life.
Single-serving sugar, single-serving cream.
CUT TO: The hands place a plastic dinner tray down. Jack opens the
various containers.
JACK (V.O.)
Single-serving butter, single-serving salt. Single-serving cordon
blue.
PG 23
INT. HOTEL ROOM - BATHROOM - NIGHT
Jack brushes his teeth.
JACK (V.O.)
Single-use toothbrush. Single-serving mouthwash, single serving soap.
Jack picks up an individual, wrapped Q-TIP, looks at it. He moves out
of the bathroom into
MAIN AREA
And sits on the bed. He turns on the television. It's tuned to the
"Sheraton Channel" and shows WAITERS serving people in a large BANQUET
ROOM. Jack stops brushing his teeth, feels something near him on the
bed, finds it, lifts it. It's a small MINT.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - IN FLIGHT - NIGHT
Jack sits next to a frumpy WOMAN and they chat. Jack turns to look at
his food and takes a bite. He turns back and it's
-- a BALD MAN sitting next to him, talking. He takes another bite,
turns back and it's
-- a BUSINESSMAN sitting next to him. He takes another bite, turns
back, and it's
-- a BUSINESS WOMAN sitting next to him.
JACK (V.O.)
The people I meet on each flight -- they're single-serving *friends*.
Between take-off and landing, we have our time together, then we never
see each other again.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - LANDING
Jack's eyes snap open.
JACK (V.O.)
You wake up at Logan.
EXT. CONCRETE LOT - DAY
Surrounded by cinderblock walls. Two TECHNICIANS in uniform lead Jack
to a WAREHOUSE door. They open it, revealing a BURNT-OUT SHELL of a
WRECKED AUTOMOBILE. They move into the
PG 24
INT. WAREHOUSE - CONTINUOUS
And Jack sets down his briefcase, opens it, and starts to make notes on
a FORM.
JACK (V.O.)
I'm a recall coordinator. My job was to apply the formula. It's
simple arithmetic.
TECHNICIAN #1
Here's where the baby went through the window. Three points.
JACK (V.O.)
It's a story problem. A new car built by my company leaves Boston
traveling at 60 miles per hour. The rear differential locks up.
TECHNICIAN #2
The teenager's braces locked around the backseat ashtray. Kind makes a
good "anti-smoking" ad.
JACK (V.O.)
The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now: do we
initiate a recall?
TECHNICIAN #1
The father must've been obese. See how the fat burned into the
driver's seat, mixed with the dye of his shirt? Kind like modern art.
JACK (V.O.)
You take the number of vehicles in the field (A) and multiply it by the
probable rate of failure (B), multiply the result by the average
out-of-court settlement (C). A times B times C equals X. If X is less
than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - TAKING OFF - NIGHT
Next to Jack, a chubby, middle-aged LADY gawks at him, appalled.
LADY
... Which ... car company do you work for?
PG 25
JACK
A major one.
LADY
Oh.
Jack turns his attention to the window as the PLANE ASCENDS. The
lady's VOICE FADES. Jack sees a PELICAN get SUCKED into the TURBINE.
His face remains bland during the following:
The plane BUCKLES -- the cabin wobbles loosely. People begin to panic.
Oxygen masks fall.
JACK (V.O.)
Life insurance pays off triple if you die on a business trip.
A forceful IMPACT with the ground and people -- except for Jack --
LURCH FORWARD, some jerking against their seatbelts, magazines and
other objects fly forward.
JACK (V.O.)
No more expense accounts, receipt required for over twenty-five
dollars.
A BALL OF FIRE swoops forward from the rear of the cabin and
INCINERATES EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY -- except Jack, who remains in his
same position in his seat, with the bland expression.
JACK (V.O.)
No more haircuts. Nothing matters, not even bad breath.
DING! -- the seatbelt light goes OUT.
*EVERYTHING IS NORMAL*.
JACK (V.O.)
Always the same fantasy. But -- no such luck.
Jack's eyes are closed. He seems asleep. From next to him, a VOICE
we've heard before.
VOICE
There are three ways to make napalm. One, mix equal parts of gasoline
and frozen orange juice.
PG 26
Jack's eyes snap open and he turns to see *Tyler*, who is staring out
the window. Without turning to Jack, he continues:
TYLER
Two, mix equal parts of gasoline and diet cola. Three, dissolve
crumbled cat litter in gasoline until the mixture is thick.
Jack's smile fades. Tyler turns to him and grins. He reaches down
under the seat in front of him and pulls up a briefcase. Jack looks at
it with trepidation.
JACK (V.O.)
This is how I met --
Tyler offers his hand, Jack takes it and Tyler squeezes firmly and
shakes hands.
TYLER
Tyler Durden. You know why they have oxygen masks on planes?
"Fight Club" (1999) by Jim Uhls.
Based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk.
Shooting Script. April 18, 1998
More info about this movie on imdb.com
SCREEN BLACK
JACK (V.O.)
People were always asking me, did I know Tyler Durden.
FADE IN:
INT. SOCIAL ROOM - TOP FLOOR OF HIGH-RISE - NIGHT
TYLER has the barrel of a HANDGUN lodged in JACK'S MOUTH. They
struggle intensely.
They are both around 30; Tyler is blond, handsome, eyes burning with
frightening intensity; and JACK, brunette, is appealing in a dry sort
of way. They are both sweating and disheveled; Jack seems to be losing
his will to fight.
TYLER
We won't really die. We'll be immortal.
JACK
oor -- ee-ee --uh -- aa-i --
JACK (V.O.)
With a gun barrel between your teeth, you speak only in vowels.
Jack tongues the barrel to the side of his mouth.
JACK (still distorted)
You're thinking of vampires.
Jack tries to get the gun. Tyler keeps control.
JACK (V.O.)
With my tongue, I can feel the silencer holes drilled into the barrel
of the gun. Most of the noise a gunshot makes is expanding gases. I
totally forgot about Tyler's whole murder-suicide thing for a second
and I wondered how clean the gun barrel was.
Tyler checks his watch.
TYLER
Three minutes.
Jack turns so that he can see down -- 71 STORIES.
PG 2
JACK (V.O.)
The building we're standing won't be here in three minutes. You take a
98-percent concentration of fuming nitric acid and add three times as
much sulfuric in a bathtub full of ice. Then, glycerin drop-by-drop.
Nitroglycerin. I know this because Tyler knows this.
Jack manages to SHOVE Tyler away. Then, he leaps onto him and they
fall onto a table, then roll off onto the floor. The gun falls and
slides. They wrestle with each other, then dash for the gun. Tyler
gets there first and grabs the gun. DURING THE ABOVE:
JACK (V.O.)
The Demolitions Committee of Project Mayhem wrapped the foundation
columns of this building with blasting gelatin. The primary charge
will blow the base charge, and this spot Tyler and I are standing on
will be a point in the sky.
Tyler drags Jack back to the glass wall and forces him to look out at
the city skyline.
TYLER
This is our world now. Two minutes.
JACK (V.O.)
Two minutes to go and I'm wondering how I got here.
MOVE IN ON JACK'S FACE.
SLOWLY PULL BACK from Jack's face. It's pressed against TWO LARGE
BREASTS that belong to ... BOB, a big moose of a man, around 35 years
old. Jack is engulfed by Bob's arms in an embrace. Bob weeps openly.
His shoulders inhale themselves up in a long draw, then drop, drop,
drop in jerking sobs. Jack gives Bob some squeezes in return, but his
face is stone.
JACK (V.O.)
Bob had bitch tits.
PG 3
PULL BACK TO WIDE ON
INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - NIGHT
All the men are paired off, hugging each other, talking in emotional
tones. Some pairs lean forward, heads pressed ear-to-ear, the way
wrestlers stand, locked. Near the door a temporary sign on a stand:
"REMAINING MEN TOGETHER".
JACK (V.O.)
This was a support group for men with testicular cancer. The big
moosie slobbering all over me was Bob.
BOB
I owned my own gym. I did product endorsements.
JACK
You were a six-time champion.
JACK (V.O.)
Bob, the big cheesebread. Always told me his life story.
BOB
We're still men.
JACK
Yes. We're men. Men is what we are.
JACK (V.O.)
Bob cried. Six months ago, his testicles were removed. Then hormone
therapy. He developed bitch tits because his testosterone was too high
and his body upped the estrogen. That was where my head fit -- into
his sweating tits that hang enormous, the way we think of God's as big.
Bob hugs tighter, then looks with empathy into Jack's eyes.
BOB
Maybe it's just seminoma. With seminoma, you have a hundred percent
survival rate.
The Leader steps forward and signals everyone.
LEADER
Okay. Group hug.
PG 4
Everyone converges into a cluster with arms thrown around shoulders,
making a big mass of sobbing, smiling goodwill.
JACK (V.O.)
No. Wait. Back up. Let me start earlier.
INT. JACK'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Jack lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. He hears VOICES from beyond
the wall. A FLY buzzes over his face. He swats at it, missing.
JACK (V.O.)
For six months. I couldn't sleep.
INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE - DAY
Jack, eyes puffy, face pale, sits before the Doctor, who studies him
with bemusement.
DOCTOR
No, you can't die of insomnia.
JACK
Maybe I already died. Look at my face.
DOCTOR
You need to lighten up.
JACK
Can you give me something?
JACK (V.O.)
Little red-and-blue Tuinal, lipstick-red Seconals.
DOCTOR (overlapping w/ above)
You need healthy, natural sleep. Chew valerian root and get more
exercise.
The Doctor ushers Jack to the door. They step into the
INT. HALLWAY
Where the Doctor starts moving away from Jack, picking up a chart on a
door.
JACK
I'm in pain.
PG 5
DOCTOR (facetious)
You want to see pain? Swing by Meyer High on a Tuesday night and see
the guys with testicular cancer.
The Doctor moves into the other room. Jack stares after him somberly.
MOVE IN ON JACK'S FACE.
PULL BACK TO WIDE ON:
INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - NIGHT
Jack stares at a group of men, including Bob, who are all listening to
a group member speak at a lectern. The speaker has death-white skin
and sunken eyes -- he's clearly dying.
SPEAKER
I ... wanted to have three kids. Two boys and a girl. Mindy wanted
two girls and one boy. We never agreed on anything.
The Speaker cracks a sad smile. Some men chuckle, happy to lighten the
mood.
SPEAKER
Well ... she had her first girl a month ago ... with her new husband.
Thank God, because she deserves ...
The speaker breaks down and WEEPS UNCONTROLLABLY. Jack is riveted. He
barely breathes. CUT TO:
INT. GYM - LATER
A Leader herds people into pairing-off.
LEADER
Find a partner.
Bob starts toward Jack, shuffling his feet. Jack watches him, still
moved by his experience, face full of intense empathy.
JACK (V.O.)
The big moosie, his eyes already shrink-wrapped in tears. Knees
together, invisible steps.
Bob takes Jack into an embrace.
JACK (V.O.)
He pancaked down on top of me.
PG 6
BOB
Two grown kids ... and they won't return my calls.
JACK (V.O.)
Strangers with this kind of honesty make me go a big rubbery one.
Jack's face is rapt and sincere. Bob stops talking and breaks into
sobbing, putting his head down on Jack's shoulder and completely
covering Jack's face.
JACK (V.O.)
Then, I was lost in oblivion -- dark and silent and complete.
Jack's body begins to jerk in sobs. He tightens his arms around Bob.
JACK (V.O.)
This was freedom. Losing all hope was freedom.
Jack pulls back from Bob. On Bob's chest, there's a WET MASK of Jack's
face from how he looked weeping.
JACK (V.O.)
Babies don't sleep this well.
INT. JACKS' BEDROOM - NIGHT
Jack lies sound asleep.
JACK (V.O.)
I became addicted.
INT. SMALL PROTESTANT CHURCH - NIGHT
Jack moves into a "group hug" of sickly people, men and women. In view
is a sign by the door "Free and Clear".
JACK (V.O.)
I felt more alive than I've ever felt.
INT. OFFICE BUILDING BASEMENT - NIGHT
Jack pulls back from a group hug of more sickly people. They pair-off.
Jack stands with a weeping middle-aged WOMAN. He gingerly takes her in
his arms, pats her back. He begins to cry along with her. In view is
a sign by the door: "Onward and Upward".
PG 7
JACK (V.O.)
If I didn't say anything, people assumed the worst. They cried harder.
I cried harder.
INT. CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL - NIGHT
Jack is in an embrace with a YOUNG MAN. They are both weeping.
JACK (V.O.)
I wasn't really dying. I wasn't host to cancer or parasites; no, I was
the warm little center that the life of this world crowded around.
INT. PUBLIC BUILDING CONFERENCE ROOM - NIGHT
Everyone settles in their seats and a Leader takes the microphone.
LEADER
Okay, everyone, close your eyes. Imagine your pain as a white ball of
healing light. Go down your secret path to your cave and join up with
your power animal.
EXT. ENTRANCE OF CAVE (JACK'S IMAGINATION)
Jack walks up to the entrance and out comes a PENGUIN. The penguin
looks at him, smiles.
PENGUIN
Slide.
EXT. STREET - NIGHT
Jack walks out of a doorway, saying goodbye to people. He walks down
the sidewalk, his face shining with peace.
JACK (V.O.)
Every evening I died and every evening I was born. Resurrected.
CUT BACK TO:
PG 8
INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - *RESUMING*
Jack still hanging in an embrace with Bob.
JACK (V.O.)
Bob loved me because he thought my testicles were removed, too. Being
there, my face against his tits, getting ready to cry -- this was my
vacation.
MARLA SINGER enters. She has short matte black hair and big, dark eyes
like a character from Japanese animation.
MARLA
This is cancer, right?
She raises a cigarette to her lips. The men gape at her, dumbfounded.
JACK (V.O.)
And *she* ruined everything.
CUT TO:
INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - LATER
Everyone paired-off. MOVE THROUGH ROOM and catch snippets of
intimate, painful CONVERSATION.
FIND JACK'S FACE as it stares, over Bob's shoulder, eyes full of deep
hostility.
JACK (V.O.)
Liar. Faker. Liar.
MOVE THROUGH ROOM, hearing more CONVERSATION.
FIND MARLA'S FACE, over the shoulder of a MAN she's being embraced by,
SMOKING, blowing smoke rings.
JACK (V.O.)
This ... chick ... Marla Singer... did not have testicular cancer. She
had no diseases. She was a liar. I saw her at "We Shall Overcome," my
melanoma group Monday night ...
INT. SMALL PROTESTANT CHURCH - NIGHT
Marla sits with the group, smoking, while a member speaks. Jack glares
at her.
PG 9
INT. CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL - NIGHT
Everyone sits with eyes closed while a speaker takes them through a
meditation. Various COUGHING around the room. Jack's eyes open and he
glares at Marla. Her eyes are closed and she's smoking a cigarette.
JACK (V.O.)
... at "Seize The Day," my tuberculosis group Friday night.
CUT BACK TO:
INT. HIGH SCHOOL GYMNASIUM - RESUMING
Jack continues to glare at Marla. Her eyes briefly catch his, then
roll. Another puff of the cigarette.
JACK (V.O.)
Marla -- the big tourist. The faker. With her there, I was a faker,
too. Her lie reflected my lie. And all of a sudden, I felt nothing.
With her there, I couldn't cry.
INT. JACK'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
Jack, fully clothed, lies on top of his bed, holding a cordless phone
to his ear. He stares at the ceiling and swats at a fly.
JACK (V.O.)
So, once again, I couldn't sleep.
Jack hears something on the phone. He sits up.
JACK
I've been holding for thirty minutes.
Spread all over the floor by Jack's feet are INVOICES for CREDIT CARDS.
JACK
Yes, that's right. Yes, but I transferred part of my balance to my
Visa to get the lower rate. Oh, wait. No, it wasn't your Visa. Okay,
I transferred all of the MasterCard ... to ... (MORE)
PG 10
JACK (CONT'D)
Look, can I just come down in person? I live here -- in Wilmington.
Yes, all my credit cards have main headquarters here. No? Why not?
Why can't I speak to an account rep? No, wait, don't put me on --
Jack reacts to being put on hold.
INT. BATHROOM - MOMENTS LATER
Jack sits on the toilet. He digs through a magazine rack. IKEA
catalogues, Pottery Barn catalogues and more of the kind. Jack opens
an IKEA catalog and flips through it.
JACK (V.O.)
I had become a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct. If I saw something
like the clever Njurunda coffee tables in the shape of a lime green Yin
and an orange Yang --
Move in on PHOTO of the tables. CUT TO:
INT. JACK'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Completely EMPTY.
JACK (V.O.)
I had to have it.
The Njurunda tables APPEAR.
INSERT - PHOTO OF SOFAS
JACK (V.O.)
The Haparanda sofa group ...
INT. JACK'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
The sofa group APPEARS.
JACK (V.O.)
... with the orange slip covers by Erika Pekkari. The Johanneshov
armchair in the Strinne green stripe pattern.
The armchair APPEARS.
PG 11
JACK (V.O.)
The Rislampa/Har lamps from wire and environmentally-friendly
unbleached paper.
The lamp APPEARS.
JACK (V.O.)
The Vild hall clock of galvanized steel.
The clock APPEARS.
JACK (V.O.)
The Klipsk shelving unit.
The shelving unit APPEARS.
INT. BATHROOM - RESUMING
Jack flips the page of the catalogue to reveal a full-page photo of an
entire kitchen and dining room set.
JACK (V.O.)
I would flip and wonder, "What kind of dining room set *defines* me as
a person?"
Jack drops the catalog down, open to this spread. PAN OVER to the
magazine stack -- there's an old, tattered PLAYBOY.
JACK (V.O.)
It used to be Playboys; now -- IKEA.
INT. JACK'S KITCHEN AND DINING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
-- Looking exactly like the photo in the catalogue. Jack walks in with
the cordless phone still glued to his ear.
JACK
I want to transfer my balance to get a lower interest rate.
Jack looks over the whole kitchen, dining room, and the living room
beyond.
JACK (V.O.)
The things you own, they end up owning you.
Jack opens a cabinet, takes out a plate.
PG 12
JACK (V.O.)
My hand-blown green glass dishes with the tiny bubbles and
imperfections, proof they were crafted by the honest, simple,
hard-working indigenous peoples of wherever.
He rummages through the refrigerator. It's practically empty. Jack
takes out a jar of mustard, opens it and uses a butter knife to eat it.
INT. BEDROOM - LATER
Jack lies on the bed, phone still at his ear.
JACK
I want to talk to a live person.
Jack reacts, listens, impatiently punches a single number; waits,
listens, punches another single number; listens. He rolls over, looks
at one of the bills on the floor and punches an entire credit card
number.
JACK (V.O.)
Next support group, after guided meditation, the white healing ball of
light, after we open our chakras, when it comes time to hug, I'm going
to grab that little bitch, Marla Singer, squeeze her arms down against
her sides and say ...
JACK
Marla, you liar, you big tourist. Get out.
Jack yawns, rubs his eyes. They stay wide open. He punches another
number into the phone. He sees a LEVITATING, STEAMING Starbucks paper
coffee cup move from side to side in front of his face.
INT. COPY ROOM - DAY
Jack stands over a copy machine. The Starbucks cup sits on the lid,
moving back and forth as the machine makes copies.
JACK (V.O.)
With insomnia, nothing is real. Everything is far away. Everything is
a copy of a copy of a copy.
Other people make copies, all with Starbucks cups, sipping.
PG 13
INT. OFFICE AREA - DAY
Floor-to-ceiling glass instead of walls. Industrial low-pile gray
carpet. Walls of upholstered plywood. There are four small offices
connected by a hallway to one large office.
INT. JACK'S OFFICE - SAME
Jack, sipping from a Starbucks cup, stares blankly at his Starbucks bag
on the floor, full of newspapers.
JACK (V.O.)
When deep space exploitation ramps up, it will be corporations that
name everything. The IBM Stellar Sphere. The Philip Morris Galaxy.
Planet Starbucks.
Jack looks up as a pudgy MAN in his late thirties, enters. Starbucks
cup in hand, pulls up a chair, and slides a stack of reports on Jack's
desk. He pats Jack's back in a superficially-friendly way.
PUDGY MAN
I'm going to need you out-of-town a little more this week. We've got
some "red-flags" to cover.
JACK (V.O.)
It must've been Tuesday. My Boss was wearing his cornflower-blue tie.
JACK (listless "management-speak")
You want me to de-prioritize my current reports until you advise of a
status upgrade?
PUDGY MAN - "BOSS"
You need to make these your primary "action items".
JACK (V.O.)
He was full of pep. Must've had his latte enema.
BOSS
Here's your flight coupons. Call me from the road if there's any
snags. Your itinerary ...
Jack hides a yawn and pretends to listen.
PG 14
JACK (V.O.)
When you have insomnia, you're never really awake and you're never
really asleep, either.
INT. SMALL PROTESTANT CHURCH - NIGHT
Jack walks in and joins the crowd.
LEADER
Okay, everyone. Chloe.
Jack catches sight of Marla, scowls at her. Taking the lectern is
CHLOE, a pale, sickly girl whose skin stretches yellowish and tight
around her bones. She wears a head bandage. OVER the beginning of her
SPEECH:
JACK (V.O.)
Chloe looked the way Joni Mitchell's skeleton would look if you made it
smile and walk around a party being extra nice to everyone.
CHLOE
My status update is ... I'm still here -- but I don't know for how
long. That's as much certainty as they can give me. I'm in a pretty
lonely place. No one will have sex with me. I'm so close to death and
all I want is to get laid for the last time. I have pornographic
movies in my apartment, and lubricants and amyl nitrate ...
The LEADER hardly knows what to do. He inches his way to the lectern,
and gingerly takes control of the microphone.
LEADER
Thank you, Chloe. Everyone, close your eyes for meditation. Go to
your cave and find your power animal.
EXT. ENTRANCE OF CAVE (JACK'S IMAGINATION)
Jack walks up to the entrance and finds MARLA -- smoking a cigarette
blowing smoke into his face, rolling her eyes in condescension.
MARLA
Slide.
PG 15
INT. CHRUCH - RESUMING
Jack's eyes snap open and turn to Marla. He glowers, watching her
smoke with her eyes closed.
INT. CHURCH - LATER
The Leader, smiling opens his eyes and looks around the group.
LEADER
Good. Now. Pair off for the one-on-one. Pick someone special to you
tonight.
Everyone stands and mills about, slowly pairing-off. Jack sees the
ghastly spectre of Chloe coming towards him. He smiles at her. She
smiles back; it takes her some time to amble to him.
CHLOE
Hello, Cornelius.
JACK (V.O.)
I never gave my real name at support groups.
CHLOE
I'm showing signs of improvement.
JACK (V.O.)
Everyone was always getting better. They never said "parasite"; they
said "agent".
She smiles at him with a twisted, dying mouth. Her eyes eerily bright
with desperation. Jack's lip trembles as he, in a sincere attempt at
levity, chokes out:
JACK
You ... look ... like a pirate.
Chloe laughs, a little too much. Jack squeezes out a laugh. Then, he
sees Marla, off by herself. Someone is heading for her. Most people
have paired-off. Jack gives a quick nod to Chloe and darts for Marla,
grabbing her. Chloe watches in sad surprise.
STAY ON JACK AND MARLA as he drags her off to the periphery. He
whispers into her ear.
JACK
We need to talk.
PG 16
MARLA
O - *kay*. Sure.
JACK
You're a faker. You aren't dying. Okay, in the brainy brain-food
philosophy way, we're all dying. But you're not dying the way Chloe is
dying.
LEADER
Tell the other person how you feel.
MARLA
You're not dying, either ...
(reading his nametag)
... *Cornelius*.
LEADER
Share yourself completely.
JACK
These are my groups. I found them!
MARLA
I saw you practicing this.
JACK
What?
MARLA
-- Telling me off. Is it going as well as you thought it would?
JACK
I'll expose you!
MARLA
Go ahead.
MEDIATOR
Let yourself cry.
Marla puts her head down on Jack's shoulder as if she were crying.
Jack pulls her head back up. She deadpans at him.
JACK
I've put in some serious time on these groups -- I've been coming for a
year.
MARLA
Must've been tough to pull off.
PG 17
JACK
Anyone who might've noticed me in that time has either died or
recovered and never come back.
MARLA
Why do you do it?
JACK
Why do you?
No answer. The Leader passes right by Jack and Marla.
LEADER
Open up. share with each other.
JACK
... If people think you're dying, they really listen, instead of just
waiting for their turn to speak. Everything else about credit card
debts and sad radio songs and thinning hair goes out the window.
MARLA
It started with a lump. I went to a breast cancer support group. The
lump turned out benign. But I still needed my Monday fix. So, I went
to lymphoma, just to check it out. Dying people are so *alive*.
JACK
It becomes an addiction.
MARLA
Yeah ...
Jack almost smiles, then turns sullen. He pulls back from her.
LEADER
Now, the closing prayer.
JACK
Look, I can't go to a group with a faker present.
Marla's mood hardens.
MARLA
Well, I can't either.
LEADER
Oh, bless us and hold us ...
PG 18
JACK
We'll split up the week.
Marla starts out of the room. Jack follows her.
LEADER
... help us and help us.
EXT. CHURCH - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS
Marla gets to the sidewalk, moving quickly along.
JACK
You can have lymphoma, tuberculosis and --
MARLA
No, you take tuberculosis. My smoking doesn't go over well.
JACK
I think testicular cancer should be no contest.
MARLA
You have your balls, don't you? Technically, *I* have more of a right
to be there than you.
JACK
You're kidding.
MARLA
I don't know -- am I?
Jack follows Marla into
INT. LAUNDROMAT - CONTINUOUS
As she walks with authority up to an unwatched DRYER. She takes out
all the clothes, sets them on a table and sorts through them, picking
out jeans, pants and shirts.
MARLA
I'll take the parasites.
JACK
You can't have *both* parasites. You take blood parasites and --
MARLA
I want brain parasites.
She opens another dryer and does the same thing again.
PG 19
JACK
Okay. I'll take blood parasites and I'll take organic brain dementia
and --
MARLA
I want that.
JACK
You can't have the whole brain!
MARLA
So far, you have four and I have two!
JACK
Well, then, take blood parasites. Now, we each have three.
Marla gathers up all the chosen garments and heads back for the door.
She whooshes past Jack.
EXT. SIDEWALK - CONTINUOUS
Jack follows, bewildered.
JACK
You left half your clothes.
HONK! Jack starts. Marla's led him into the street with traffic
barreling down. She defiantly stomps in front of the cars, which
screech to a halt and blare their horns. Jack dashes across. Marla
heads into a THRIFT STORE. Jack follows.
INT. THRIFT STORE - CONTINUOUS
Marla drops all the clothes on a back counter. An old CLERK sifts
through the clothes, marks on a pad.
JACK
What are you doing? You're selling those clothes?
Marla steps down hard on Jack's foot. He jerks, wincing in pain.
MARLA (for the Clerk to hear)
Yes, I'm selling some clothes.
The Clerk starts to ring up the various amounts he's assessed.
PG 20
MARLA
So, we each have three -- that's six. What about the seventh day? I
want ascending bowel cancer.
JACK (V.O.)
The girl had done her homework.
JACK
*I* want ascending bowel cancer.
The Clerk gives Marla and Jack a strange look as he hands over money to
Marla.
MARLA
That's your favorite, too? Tried to slip it by me, huh?
JACK
We'll split it. You get it the first and third Sunday of the month.
MARLA
Deal.
They shake hands. Jack starts to withdraw his; Marla holds it.
MARLA
I guess this is goodbye.
JACK
Let's not make a big deal out of this.
She walks toward the door. Jack watches her go.
MARLA (not looking back)
How's this for not making a big deal?
EXT. SIDEWALK - CONTINUOUS
Jack dashes out and catches up to her.
JACK
Uh, Marla. Should we exchange phone numbers?
MARLA
Should we?
JACK
In case we want to switch nights.
PG 21
MARLA
Uh-hunh. Sure.
He takes out a business card and a pen. He writes his home number on
the back and hands it to her. She takes his pen, grabs his hand and
writes her number on his palm. She gives him a quick grin, slaps the
pen back into his palm, then saunters out into the middle of the
street, causing more screeching of tires and honking. She turns back,
holding up the card.
MARLA
It doesn't have your name on it. Who are you? Cornelius? Any of the
stupid names you give at group?
Jack starts to yell, but the traffic noise is too loud. Marla just
shakes her head at him, turns, and keeps moving away. A bus moves into
view and stops, obscuring her.
JACK (V.O.)
Marla's philosophy of life, I later found out, was that she could die
at any moment. The tragedy of her life was that she didn't.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - DAY
As the plane touches down for landing and the cabin BUMPS, Jack's eyes
pop open.
JACK (V.O.)
You wake up at O'Hare.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - DAY
Jack snaps awake again, looking around, disoriented.
JACK (V.O.)
You wake up at SeaTac.
EXT. HIGHWAY - DUSK
The rear end of a car is visible sticking up by the side of the road.
Jack stands near the car, marking on a document. The SUN SETS behind
him.
INT. AIRPORT - NIGHT
Jack walks up to a gate counter. An ATTENDANT smiles at him.
ATTENDANT
Check-in for that flight doesn't begin for another two hours, Sir.
PG 22
Jack looks at his watch, steps away and looks at an overhanging clock.
His eyes are bleary as he reads it, adjusts his watch.
JACK (V.O.)
Pacific, Mountain, Central. You lose an hour, you gain an hour. This
is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - DAY
Jack's eyes snap open as the plane LANDS.
JACK (V.O.)
You wake up at Air Harbor International.
INT. AIRPORT WALKWAY
Jack stands on a conveyor belt, briefcase at his feet, moving slowly
with the flow of the belt. His tired eyes watch people on the opposite
conveyor belt, moving past him.
JACK (V.O.)
If you wake up at a different time and a different place, can you be a
different person?
Jack's eyes catch sight of TYLER -- who we recognize from the opening
sequence -- on the opposite conveyor belt. They pass each other.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - IN FLIGHT - NIGHT
Jack sits next to a BUSINESSMAN. As they have idle CONVERSATION, we
MOVE IN ON Jack's fold-out tray.
An ATTENDANT'S HANDS set coffee down with a small packet of sugar and a
small container of cream.
JACK (V.O.)
The charm of traveling is: everywhere I go -- tiny life.
Single-serving sugar, single-serving cream.
CUT TO: The hands place a plastic dinner tray down. Jack opens the
various containers.
JACK (V.O.)
Single-serving butter, single-serving salt. Single-serving cordon
blue.
PG 23
INT. HOTEL ROOM - BATHROOM - NIGHT
Jack brushes his teeth.
JACK (V.O.)
Single-use toothbrush. Single-serving mouthwash, single serving soap.
Jack picks up an individual, wrapped Q-TIP, looks at it. He moves out
of the bathroom into
MAIN AREA
And sits on the bed. He turns on the television. It's tuned to the
"Sheraton Channel" and shows WAITERS serving people in a large BANQUET
ROOM. Jack stops brushing his teeth, feels something near him on the
bed, finds it, lifts it. It's a small MINT.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - IN FLIGHT - NIGHT
Jack sits next to a frumpy WOMAN and they chat. Jack turns to look at
his food and takes a bite. He turns back and it's
-- a BALD MAN sitting next to him, talking. He takes another bite,
turns back and it's
-- a BUSINESSMAN sitting next to him. He takes another bite, turns
back, and it's
-- a BUSINESS WOMAN sitting next to him.
JACK (V.O.)
The people I meet on each flight -- they're single-serving *friends*.
Between take-off and landing, we have our time together, then we never
see each other again.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - LANDING
Jack's eyes snap open.
JACK (V.O.)
You wake up at Logan.
EXT. CONCRETE LOT - DAY
Surrounded by cinderblock walls. Two TECHNICIANS in uniform lead Jack
to a WAREHOUSE door. They open it, revealing a BURNT-OUT SHELL of a
WRECKED AUTOMOBILE. They move into the
PG 24
INT. WAREHOUSE - CONTINUOUS
And Jack sets down his briefcase, opens it, and starts to make notes on
a FORM.
JACK (V.O.)
I'm a recall coordinator. My job was to apply the formula. It's
simple arithmetic.
TECHNICIAN #1
Here's where the baby went through the window. Three points.
JACK (V.O.)
It's a story problem. A new car built by my company leaves Boston
traveling at 60 miles per hour. The rear differential locks up.
TECHNICIAN #2
The teenager's braces locked around the backseat ashtray. Kind makes a
good "anti-smoking" ad.
JACK (V.O.)
The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now: do we
initiate a recall?
TECHNICIAN #1
The father must've been obese. See how the fat burned into the
driver's seat, mixed with the dye of his shirt? Kind like modern art.
JACK (V.O.)
You take the number of vehicles in the field (A) and multiply it by the
probable rate of failure (B), multiply the result by the average
out-of-court settlement (C). A times B times C equals X. If X is less
than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.
INT. AIRPLANE CABIN - TAKING OFF - NIGHT
Next to Jack, a chubby, middle-aged LADY gawks at him, appalled.
LADY
... Which ... car company do you work for?
PG 25
JACK
A major one.
LADY
Oh.
Jack turns his attention to the window as the PLANE ASCENDS. The
lady's VOICE FADES. Jack sees a PELICAN get SUCKED into the TURBINE.
His face remains bland during the following:
The plane BUCKLES -- the cabin wobbles loosely. People begin to panic.
Oxygen masks fall.
JACK (V.O.)
Life insurance pays off triple if you die on a business trip.
A forceful IMPACT with the ground and people -- except for Jack --
LURCH FORWARD, some jerking against their seatbelts, magazines and
other objects fly forward.
JACK (V.O.)
No more expense accounts, receipt required for over twenty-five
dollars.
A BALL OF FIRE swoops forward from the rear of the cabin and
INCINERATES EVERYTHING AND EVERYBODY -- except Jack, who remains in his
same position in his seat, with the bland expression.
JACK (V.O.)
No more haircuts. Nothing matters, not even bad breath.
DING! -- the seatbelt light goes OUT.
*EVERYTHING IS NORMAL*.
JACK (V.O.)
Always the same fantasy. But -- no such luck.
Jack's eyes are closed. He seems asleep. From next to him, a VOICE
we've heard before.
VOICE
There are three ways to make napalm. One, mix equal parts of gasoline
and frozen orange juice.
PG 26
Jack's eyes snap open and he turns to see *Tyler*, who is staring out
the window. Without turning to Jack, he continues:
TYLER
Two, mix equal parts of gasoline and diet cola. Three, dissolve
crumbled cat litter in gasoline until the mixture is thick.
Jack's smile fades. Tyler turns to him and grins. He reaches down
under the seat in front of him and pulls up a briefcase. Jack looks at
it with trepidation.
JACK (V.O.)
This is how I met --
Tyler offers his hand, Jack takes it and Tyler squeezes firmly and
shakes hands.
TYLER
Tyler Durden. You know why they have oxygen masks on planes?
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