Empire Australasia – August 2019

Miller’s Crossing Chosen by directorDREW GODDARD

PHONEVOICE:Thatain’t gonna

begoodenough.

TOM:Whatwould be good

enough?

PHONEVOICE:Lazarre ain’t

gonnalikeit.

TOM:TellLazarreif he’snot

happy,hecansendsomeoneoverto

breakmylegs.I won’tsquawk.

Hehangsup.DuringthecallTom

hasbeenstaringatsomething.

TOM:Hello,Bernie.

WeseeBernie(JohnTurturro),

recentlysparedbyTom.

BERNIE:Hello,Tom. What’s

therumpus?

TOM:Comeon in, make yourself

athome.

BERNIE:Yeah,youweren’there

soI thoughtI’ddothat.I didn’t

wannaanswerthephone,though.

I figuredit wasn’tforme.

Bernie starts cleaning a knife that

he’sbeenusingtosliceanapple.

Tomwatches.Bernielaughs.

BERNIE:I getit.Gettothepoint,

huh?Okay.Thepoint is,I’m

a goodguy.

TOM:I’veheardthat from a lot of

peopletoday.

BERNIE:Goodguy,lotsafriends,

that’sthewayit works.Maybe

if you’dappreciatedmea little

more, youwouldn’tbemaking

waveswithLeo.It’sa badtimeto

bedoingthat.I mean,rightnow,

bothofusareina jam.I hear

you’reona badstreak,shorton

funds.I gotthatcrazydagomad

atme.Don’taskmewhy.I’mjust

a smalltimer,tryingtogetbylike

everyoneelse.I needhelpfrom

myfriends,likeLeoandyou.

TOM:Leogetsyoursister.

Whatareyousellingme?

BERNIE:Comeon,Tom.It’snot

likethatatall.It wasn’tmyidea.

She’llsleepwithanyone,you

knowthat.Sheeventriedto

teachmea thingortwoabout

bed artistry. Can you believe that?

Myownsister.Somecrackpotidea

aboutsavingmefrommyfriends.

She’sa sicktwist,alright.

TOM:Shespeakshighlyofyou.

BERNIE:Yeah,well,youstickby

yourfamily.Thepointis,I can

helpyouwithyourdebtsif that

wouldmakeusfriends.Mymotto

is,a guycan’thavetoomany.Big

paydaySaturday, Tom. You could

beinonit.

TOM:Anotherfix?Whichfight?

BERNIE:That’sconfidential

atthemoment.Butit doesn’t

havetostaythatway.

TOM:Howcomeyouknowso

muchaboutit?Casparisn’tlaying

anymorebetswithyou.[Bernie

smiles] Youreallymusthave Mink

jumpingthroughhoops.

BERNIE:LikeI say,youcan’t

havetoomany.Wegota deal?

TOM:I’llthinkaboutit.

BERNIE:I wouldn’t wantit

any other way.

INTTOM’SAPARTMENT

—DAY

Thephoneis ringing.Wehearthe

dooropen.Tom(GabrielByrne)

enters.Hewalkstothechairby

thephone,sitsdown,takesoffhis

hat.A longpause. He picks up.

TOM:Yep?

PHONEVOICE:Lazarrewants

hismoney.Hewantsit now.

TOM:I needa coupladays.

PHONEVOICE:Why a couple of

days?

TOM:BecauseI don’thaveit.

PHONEVOICE:Alright. Howdo

I knowyou’llgetit?

TOM:Because I say so.

DREWGODDARD:“Thisis certainlya scene
thathasbeeninfluentialtome.GabrielByrne
comesin,sitsdown,answersthephone.It’s
shotfromonesideandwhenhehangsup,we
seeBerniehasbeensittingacrossfromhim
theentiretime.Thentheyhavethescene.It’s
an extraordinary entrance for a character.”

CLASSIC

SCENE

Standoutsequences

fromthe

great movies