THE INSIDER

     We see a brightly lit, golf driving range, empty, the wet
     grass under the lights vibrant, emerald green...  A caged
     cart, with one big yellow headlight, like some kind of
     strange insect, drives across the range, picking up golf
     balls.  And we see Jeffrey hitting golf balls, driving one
     after another, after another...  His swing is powerful,
     angry, a lone golfer, trying to chill out.  He pauses, spent.
     Settling down, he exhales.  Then, he looks down the way...
     And he slows...  He sees in the far distance, spot-lit, one
     other lone golfer, a Stocky Man, incongruously in a suit and
     tie, watching him...  And the Man in the suit right then,
     with great power and a tremendous follow through drives a
     golf ball...  The ball slamming into the steel net.  And the
     lights SUDDENLY go out.  The range closing for the night.
     The "insect" comes to a stop.  And it's quiet, dark.  Jeffrey
     gathers up his clubs.  He crosses, his golf shoes, the metal
     cleats, clicking on the pavement, toward the PARKING LOT.
     And there's the sound of the clicking of golf shoes behind
     him.  He turns.  And the stocky Man in the suit, carrying a
     golf bag walking some distance behind him, staring at him.
     Jeffrey comes to the parking lot.  It's empty.  Just
     Jeffrey's car, and despite all the empty spaces, another car,
     purposely or otherwise, parked right next to his.  He crosses
     to his car, getting in...

     INT. WIGAND'S CAR - NIGHT

     He drops the three clubs in the rear seat and settles behind
     the wheel.  He turns.  And he sees the Man in the suit has
     gotten in the car next to his.  They look at each other.  The
     Man, in no hurry, lights a cigarette, relaxes.  It's
     malevolent as hell.  And Jeffrey, suddenly, grabbing a golf
     club, jumps out of his car...

     EXT. THE PARKING LOT, DRIVING RANGE, LOUISVILLE - NIGHT

     Golf club in hand at the driver side window...

                         WIGAND
                   (motioning with the club,
                    threatening)
               Stay away from me!  You stay away from
               me!

     The Man starts his car, and drives off nonplussed.  It's
     still.  And as Jeffrey with the golf club stands in the empty
     parking lot, not knowing what's threatening him, something
     real, something imaginary...

     EXT. THE WIGAND HOUSE, LOUISVILLE - WIDE SHOT: WIGANDS'
     HOUSE - EARLY MORNING

     A violent rain's falling.  And we see Jeffrey coming out of
     the house holding an umbrella over his little Girls.  They
     start towards the car.  There's the sound of a car door
     shutting.  Liane, carrying lunch boxes, comes after them...

                         LIANE
               Jeffrey, you forgot their lunches --

     She slows, seeing someone.  Jeffrey turns:  it's Lowell.
     He's surprised.

                         LOWELL
               Mrs. Wigand, how do you do?

                         WIGAND
                   (to the girls, protectively)
               Jump in, quick, c'mon...

                         LOWELL
               I'm Lowell Bergman.  We spoke on the
               phone, remember?

     The Girls climb in the car.  Lowell crosses behind the Audi
     around the far side.

                         LOWELL (CONT'D)
               C'mere.  I want to talk to you.

                         WIGAND
               Good.  I want to talk to you.

     Jeff closes the door on his daughters and joins Lowell around
     the far side of the car.

                         WIGAND (CONT'D)
                   (confronting him)
               What do...

                         LOWELL
                   (running over)
               I did not burn you.  I did not give you
               up to anyone!

                         WIGAND
                   (continuing)
               This is my house...  In front of my wife,
               my kids?!  What business do we have?

                         LOWELL
               To straighten something out with you.
               Right here.  Right now.

                         WIGAND
               So, you didn't mention my name?  You
               haven't talked to anybody about me?

                         LOWELL
               Why am I gonna mention your name?

                         WIGAND
               How did Brown & Williamson know I spoke
               to you...?

                         LOWELL
               How the hell do I know about Brown &
               Williamson?

                         WIGAND
               It happened after I talked to you.  I do
               not like coincidences!

                         LOWELL
               And I don't like paranoid accusations!
               I'm a journalist.  Think.  Use your head.
               How do I operate as a journalist by
               screwing the people who could provide me
               with information before they provided me
               with it?

                         WIGAND
                   (skeptical)
               You came all the way down here to tell me
               that?

                         LOWELL
               No.  I did not.  Big Tobacco is a big
               story.  And you got something important
               to say.  I can tell.
                   (a beat, personal)
               But, yes.  I did.
               I came all the way down here to tell you:
               story, no story, fuck your story, I don't
               burn people.

     It starts to rain harder.  They look at each other.  Jeffrey,
     without saying a word, gets in the Car.  He backs out.
     Lowell, left standing in the driveway with Liane in the rain.
     Liane goes back into the house.  And Lowell starts back
     across the street to his car.  There's a sound.  He turns.
     Jeffrey's car, having gone around the corner, has come back
     and stopped in the street.

                         WIGAND
                   (after a beat)
               Ride with me while I take the girls to
               school...

     Lowell hesitates, then gets into the car in the back seat.

     INT. WIGAND'S CAR - MORNING

     They drive away.  Lowell, incongruously sitting in the back
     seat with Barbara.  Jeffrey and Deborah in the front seat.
     And it's quiet, just the sound of the wipers on the window.
     And as Lowell rides with them...

     EXT. A RIVERSIDE PARKING LOT IN LOUISVILLE - WIDE REAR SHOT
     - MORNING

     We see the Car's parked in a weed-strewn empty lot.  Rain,
     pounding on it and the surface of the river beyond...

                         WIGAND'S VOICE (OVER)
               ...and my little girl has acute asthma...
               Deborah.  My eldest daughter.

     INT. WIGAND'S CAR, LOUISVILLE - REAR TWO SHOT - MORNING

     The Girls are gone.  We enter mid-scene.  Lowell's still in
     the back seat...

                         WIGAND (CONT'D)
               And, I'm unemployed.  So I have to
               protect my medical coverage.
                   (the bottom line; turning to
                    look at Lowell in the rear
                    seat)
               ...so I left them a message this morning.
               Their expanded confidentiality agreement?
               I will sign it.

                         LOWELL
               They're afraid of you, aren't they?

                         WIGAND
               They should be.

     The sound of the rain...

                         LOWELL
                   (after a beat, trying to make
                    it easier for him)
               Talk to me outside the zone of your
               agreement?

                         WIGAND
                   (guarded)
               Like what?

                         LOWELL
               Like where'd you work before Brown &
               Williamson?

                         WIGAND
                   (a beat)
               Johnson & Johnson.  Union Carbide in
               Japan.  I was general manager and
               director of new products.  I speak
               Japanese.  I was a director of corporate
               development at Pfizer.  All health-
               related.
                   (wry)
               What else?  Outside the "zone"...?

                         LOWELL
               I don't know...you think the Knicks are
               gonna make it through the semi-finals?

     Wigand smiles...as their eyes meet in the rear view mirror.
     A subtle connection...  It passes...

                                                       DISSOLVE TO:

     INT. WIGAND'S CAR - WIDE FRONTAL - DAY

     Jeff's car in the field, the giant Colgate-Palmolive clock
     behind.  The rain stopped.  Steam rises from the weed strewn
     empty lot.  Lowell's in the front seat.  And we get the
     feeling they've been talking for hours...

                         LOWELL'S VOICE (OVER)
               Just give me an example...

                         WIGAND
               For example.  James Burke, the CEO of
               Johnson & Johnson...when he found out
               that some lunatic had put poison in
               Tylenol bottles, he didn't argue with the
               FDA...  He didn't even wait for the FDA
               to tell him.  He just pulled Tylenol off
               every shelf of every store right across
               America.  Instantly.  And then he
               developed the safety cap...  Because,
               look, as a CEO, sure, he's gotta be a
               great businessman, right?  But he's also
               a man of science.  He's not going to
               allow his company...to put on the
               shelf...a product that might hurt people.
                   (sarcastic)
               Not like the Seven Dwarfs...

                         LOWELL
               Seven dwarfs?

                         WIGAND
               The seven CEOs of Big Tobacco...they got
               up in front of Congress that time...it
               was on television...

                         LOWELL
               ...and swore under oath that they know
               nothing about addiction, disease...

                         WIGAND
               It was on C-SPAN.  Yeah.

                         LOWELL
               Okay, so, here you are...you go to work
               for tobacco.
                   (after beat)
               You come from corporate cultures where
               research, really, creative thinking,
               these are core values.  You go to
               tobacco...  Tobacco is a sales culture.
               Market and sell enormous volume.  Go to a
               lot of golf tournaments.  The hell with
               everything else.
                   (beat)
               What are you doing?  Why are you working
               for "tobacco" in the first place?

                         WIGAND
                   (deadly honest)
               I can't talk about it.  The work I was
               supposed to do...might have had some
               positive effect.  I don't know...it could
               have been beneficial.
                   (bitterness there)
               Mostly, I got paid a lot.  I took the
               money.  My wife was happy.  My kids had
               good medical.  Good schools.  Got a
               great house.
                   (simply)
               I mean, what the hell is wrong with
               that...?

     He looks at Lowell, as if needing validation...

                         LOWELL
               Nothing's wrong with that.  That's it;
               you're making money...you're providing
               for your family?  What could be wrong
               with that?

     It's quiet.  After some moments...

                         WIGAND
               I've always thought of myself...as a man
               of science.  That's what's wrong with it.

                         LOWELL
               Then...you're in a state of conflict,
               Jeff.

     Jeffrey doesn't say anything.

                         LOWELL (CONT'D)
               Because, look, here's how it lays out: if
               you got vital, insider stuff the American
               people for their welfare really do need
               to know...and you feel impelled to
               disclose it and violate your agreement in
               doing so, that's one thing.  On the other
               hand, if you want to honor this
               agreement, then that's simple.  You do
               so.  You say nothing.  You do nothing.
               There's only one guy who can figure that
               out for you.  And that's you.  All by
               yourself.

     Lowell's evenhanded...is it too evenhanded?  As Wigand
     contemplates the edge he's standing on, they're quiet.  Then
     Wigand sees the time...

                         WIGAND
               I've got to go pick up the girls.  They
               only had half a day...

     Lowell nods.  Jeffrey starts the car.  The windshield wipers
     screech on a dry window.  Their eyes meet.  As they drive
     off...we HOLD on the Colgate-Palmolive Clock.

     INT. A KITCHEN AREA, CBS OFFICES, NEW YORK - DAY

     We've entered mid-scene...  A monitor on a cart plays a 1/2-
     inch VCR of a C-SPAN broadcast.  Seven CEOs of Big Tobacco...
     in front of a bas relief of the American eagle.  Each in turn
     swears nicotine is not addictive or he doesn't know anything
     about health risks, they're not sure, maybe, maybe not,
     etc....

                         LOWELL (OVER)
               He referred to this...the Seven Dwarfs...

                         MIKE WALLACE (OVER)
               What "Seven Dwarfs?"