SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE

SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE    
By Jeff Arch

Rewritten: Nora Ephron & Delia Ephron

May 10, 1992

 FADE IN:

 CLOSE ON SAM BALDWIN

 A card: Chicago.

 He's in his thirties.  His neck is pinched into a crisp
 dress shirt and tie.  His expression is vacant, faraway.
 A breeze blows but he doesn't react to it.  In the
 distance the architecture of the Chicago skyline.

     SAM
     Mommy got sick and it happened
     just like that and there was
     nothing anybody would do.
      (continued)

 And pull back to reveal:

 EXT. CHICAGO - A GRAVESITE - DAY

 Next to Sam is his son Jonah, age 9.  Sam's hand is on
 his shoulder.  As the mourners go past and each takes a
 turn shoveling a clod of dirt into an open grave --

     SAM
      If we start asking why we'll go
      crazy.  So, rule number one. 
      We don't ask why.

       CUT TO:

 CLOSE ON ANNIE REED

 Pretty, blonde, animated.  Jeans, a T-shirt, a Baltimore
 Orioles hat.

     ANNIE
      Why? I just want to know why?
      That's my first rule.  I always
      ask why.  Come on.  Tell me. 
      C'mon, c'mon, c'mon --

 And pull back to reveal:

 EXT. CHICAGO ALLEY - DAY

 Annie is talking to her boyfriend, a good-looking guy
 named SETH.  They're carrying packing boxes into the
 house they share in the Old Town section of Chicago. 
 The same stunning architecture in the b.g.  They go up
 the back wooden staircase to the house.

     SETH
      There's no why, Annie.  I'm
      just not up for it.  I never
      said I was.

     ANNIE
      Is there somebody else?

     SETH
      Nope.

     ANNIE
      You don't love me, is that it?

     SETH
      Nope.

 Follow them into:

 INT. KITCHEN - DUSK

 As they set down the packing boxes and Seth starts to
 assemble them.

     ANNIE
      How about ... you're too
      narcissistic to commit to
      another human being in a long-
      term way.

     SETH
      (agreeably)
      That's good.

       CUT TO:

 INT. SAM'S CHICAGO TOWN HOUSE - DAY

 An attractive, thirtyish couple, SUZY and GREG are
 stocking Sam's freezer with enough Ziploc meals for a
 months.  A number of friends and relatives talk quietly
 in the living room beyond.  Sam stands alone by a window
 that looks into the backyard.  We can see a garden of
 flowers -- clearly planted by Sam's wife.

     SUZY
      Five minutes in the microwave. 
      Any one of them, five minutes
      and done.  Ready to eat.  Do
      you know how to make juice?

     SAM
      Microwave.  Five minutes.

       CUT TO:

 ANNIE'S KITCHEN - SEVERAL DAYS LATER

 Packing boxes.  Seth is moving out.

     ANNIE
      You take the microwave?

     SETH
      What am I going to do with a
      microwave?

     ANNIE
      You turn it on, you open it and
      you stand in front of it for a
      very long time.

     SETH
      So you're angry.  Big deal.

       CUT TO:

 SAM'S OFFICE - DAY

 A large modern architectural firm in a Chicago high-
 rise.  Lake Michigan out the window.  A large space with
 several architects consulting, drafting, etc.  Sam is at
 his desk, working.  An older colleague, ROB, comes over
 to him.  Rob has a mustache, smokes a pipe; he's kind
 but a little stuffy.

     ROB
      Young man, it's none of my
      business, but maybe you should
      talk to someone.  I myself
      have consulted a professional. 
      I used to be up tight.

 On Sam's face.  It's hard to imagine Rob being any more
 uptight than he is.  Sam takes some business cards out
 of his shirt pocket and reads them off.

     SAM
      Hypnotherapy...Shiatu Massage...
      Loss of Spouse support groups...
      Single parent discussion nights...
      Parents without partners.
      (starts riffling, angry)
      Partners without parents. 
      People who need people.  Guys
      who go into the woods, beat
      drums and bond.  Get a shrink. 
      Hug a friend.  Hug yourself.

 He stops, realizing that everyone in the room is staring
 at him.  Quickly they pretend they weren't paying
 attention.  Someone whispers something to a client.

     SAM
      (continued)
      Don't mind him.  He's the guy
      who just lost his wife.
      (beat)
      What I really think is we need
      a change.

     ROB
      Good idea.  Take a few weeks
      off, get some sun, take Jonah
      fishing --

     SAM
      (shaking his head no)
      A real change.  New city. 
      Someplace where every time I go
      around a corner I don't think
      of Maggie.

 And hold on Sam for a moment and--

       DISSOLVE:

 EXT. WRIGLEY FIELD - DAY

 Sam, Jonah and Maggie walking toward the field.  It's a
 gorgeous day for a game.  They high-five each other.

     ROB (V.O.)
      Where you going to go?

 And cut back to:

 INT. SAM'S OFFICE - DAY

 As Sam snaps out of it.

     SAM
      I was thinking about Seattle.

 INT. CHICAGO TRIBUNE - DAY

 The Living Section of the paper.  Annie is blowing her
 nose as she finishes telling her tale of woe to her
 boss, LAURIE JOHNSON.

     LAURIE
      Honey, he wasn't right for you.

     ANNIE
      (blowing her nose)
      I know.

     LAURIE
      He wasn't even wrong for you,
      like cosmically wrong, so don't
      beat up on yourself for
      wasting...however long it was.

     ANNIE
      I know.
      (blowing her nose
       again)

 She pours Annie a cup of hot water.  Annie pulls a
 teabag out of her pocket, puts it into the water.

     LAURIE
      Maybe you should see a shrink.

            ANNIE
      I want my money.

     LAURIE
      Go home for the weekend.

     ANNIE
      (after a beat)
      That's what I'm going to do. 
      I'm going to go home.
      (she thinks about it)
      I quit.  Laurie, I quit.  I'm
      going back to Baltimore.
      (she's giddy)
      How does a blonde do a high-
      five?

 She smacks herself in the head.

       CUT TO:

 O'HARE AIRPORT - DAY

 The X where walkway K crosses with walkway L.  Coming
 down walkway K are Sam, Jonah, Suzy, Greg, their son
 MACK, and several other friends.

 And coming down walkway L is Annie with Laurie and a
 couple of FRIENDS from the paper, JUDITH and DIANE.

 They pass each other going in diagonal directions and
 continue on.

 We stay with Sam's group:

     JONAH
      (to Mack)
      Dad says I'm going to get used
      to it, but I don't think you
      can ever get used to a
      designated hitter.

 overlap:

     SUZY
      (to Sam)
      Eventually, in a few months,
      you'll start seeing women,
      you'll meet someone.

     SAM
      Move on.  Right.  That's what
      I'm going to do.  In a few
      months, boom, I'll be fine,
      I'll just grow a new heart.

     SUZY
      I'm sorry --

     GREG
      Sam, she didn't mean --

 Sam is shaking his head no as they reach the gate for
 the Seattle plane.

     SAM
      I know, I know.
      (emphatic)
      Look, it doesn't happen twice.

       CUT TO:

 Annie's group, as they approach the gate for the
 Baltimore plane.

     ANNIE
      I'm going to meet someone,
      someone nice and stable who
      wears a hat so he won't catch a
      cold, and I'm going to marry
      him and have three children
      and live happily ever after. 
      I mean, I am not cut out for this
      --

     DIANE
      For what?

     ANNIE
      For life as we know it.

     LAURIE
      Just make sure he isn't fat
      like my Michael or you'll spend
      your whole life worrying he's
      going to drop dead.

     JUDITH
      God, you guys are so romantic.

     ANNIE
      Do you know how long romance
      lasts?
      (she snaps her fingers)
      That long.

     DIANE
      Steven still brings me flowers
      every Friday and we've been
      married 10 years.

     LAURIE
      (to Diane)
      Honey, nobody wants to hear
      that.
      (to Annie)
      Here, darling, have some Tic
      Tacs.

 Kissing everyone.  Annie starts toward the plane, loaded
 with stuff.

     ANNIE
      The next time you see me I am
      going to be incredibly happy.

 INT. PLANE - NIGHT

 Sam and Jonah sitting together as the plane waits on the
 runway.  He notices his father's distractedness, reaches
 over and takes his hand.  Sam comes back into focus.

     SAM
      I'm your dad.  Don't ever
      forget that.  That's rule
      number two.
      (beat)
      It's you and me, kid.

 INT. PLANE - NIGHT

 Annie sitting by herself as the plane waits on the
 runway.

     ANNIE
      (to herself)
      I guess it's just us.