Pillmatic - Script

FADE in:

A montage of clips involving a young man flash across the screen. This is PETE.

- A break up with a girlfriend. She leaves angry.

- Eats dinner alone and then he gets sick.

- In his car. He looks at a map and through the windshield at street signs. He's upset.

- Kissing somebody. He turns away and wipes his mouth. He is disgusted.

- He writes at a desk. Most of the words are scratched out. The paper is a mess.

- A blur of somebody falling on the sidewalk. They sit up. Their knees are SCRAPED. The skin peels.

CUT TO:

INT. BATHROOM. NIGHT.

Pete's reflection in the mirror shows that he is holding his eyes in the palms of his hands. He looks at himself in the mirror. He has no expression on his face. He opens the medicine cabinet that is full of prescription bottles. He takes one out and SHAKES it. A few pills RATTLE around the bottom.

PETE
(Mumbles)
Dammit.

Pete shakes the last two pills into his hand. He puts them in his mouth one at a time. He turns the tap on, and water GUSHES from the faucet.

Pete cups his hands and drinks. He grabs a BLUE towel from the towel rack and dries his mouth and hands.

Pete's reflection is cut off where the medicine cabinet opens. We see him frown at himself.

FADE OUT

FADE IN:

INT. RADIO STUDIO. DAY.

Pete is doing a radio interview with his band mate. This is Patrick. Pete, Patrick, and the DJ wear head sets. Pete chews on the string of his sweater. His fingers DRUM on the table.

DJ
I'm sorry, that's feeding back. Could you stop that?

PETE
What?

Patrick looks at Pete.

DJ
Tapping your fingers.

PETE
Oh. Sorry.

Pete stops tapping his fingers. He continues to chew on the string.

DJ
OK. Two weeks into the tour. How does it feel being back on the road? Any crazy fan stories yet?

Patrick looks at Pete.

Patrick
You can take this one.

PETE
(shrugs)
Everybody's all a little boring. We're all a little insane too, I guess. Sort of.

DJ
Yeah? How so?

Pete shows the DJ his chewed and shredded pull string.

PETE
Me and my big bleeping mouth. That's how we're insane. And I censored myself. That's how we're boring.

DJ
You censor yourselves?

Patrick looks at Pete again. Pete looks down at the table. He pulls a rubber band out of his pocket.

PETE
Not all the time.

PATRICK
We all pretty much have mouths too big for our brains to keep track of.

Pete smiles.

PETE
Yeah. What he said. We catch ourselves when we can. You were lucky this time - you get to keep your job.

Pete FLINGS the rubber band at Patrick.

CUT TO:

INT. HOTEL BATHROOM. NIGHT.

Pete stares at himself in the mirror. He makes different faces at himself. Most of them deal with his mouth. He bites down several times. He smiles to himself without teeth. He smiles with teeth. He bites his lip. Pete finally lets his face fall.

PETE
So fake. Just. . .

Pete turns out the light.

FADE IN:

A montage of clips shows Pete

- He jumps from an amp at a concert.

- He hugs somebody he doesn't know.

- He looks down at his feet as a camera FLASHES

- He proposes to his new girlfriend.

INT. HOTEL BED. NIGHT.

Pete lies in bed. He looks at a BLACK MARK on the ceiling. He blinks. He imagines

INT. RESTAURANT. DAY.

This is the same scene where Pete proposes to his girlfriend. He gets up from the table and ON BENDED KNEE, at FLOOR LEVEL we see Pete take a SMALL BOX from his pocket. There is a BANG and another Pete runs up to Pete and his girlfriend and PUNCHES himself hard in the face.

INT. HOTEL BEDROOM. SAME TIME.

Pete winces and rolls over. He falls asleep.

CUT TO:

INT. BATHROOM. DAY.

Pete uncaps a bottle of prescriptions. THREE PINK PILLS fall into his open hand. He looks at himself in the mirror. At a SIDE ANGLE, Pete tosses back all three of the pills.

There is a KNOCK on the door.

Patrick
They need you, Pete. Come on. Hurry it up.

PETE
Just a sec, OK?

Pete rubs his eyes with the heels of his hand.

CUT TO:

A camera FLASHES bright in Pete's face. He, Patrick, Joe and Andy are at a photo shoot. Music plays in the background. It's loud. The band talk amongst themselves between shots.

Patrick
Hey, are you all right?

Pete doesn't look at Patrick. He looks at his feet. He glances at the photographer.

PETE
Yeah. I'll be OK.

The camera FLASHES three times.

CUT TO:

EXT. ALLEY. LATER.

Pete stands outside. He opens the little ORANGE prescription bottle from earlier. He SHAKES out THREE more pills. He tosses them back. His head hits the building wall.

He rubs his head and pockets the bottle. The door SWINGS OPEN. Patrick appears next to Pete.

Pete looks at the ground. At FLOOR LEVEL we see Pete bend his foot to one side.

PETE
Hey.

PATRICK
What're you doing out here?

PETE
I needed some air. That make-up girl is in the bathroom.

Pete shrugs.

PATRICK
Is the air fresher in the bathroom?

PETE
No. I don't know. Maybe. What're you doing, Patrick?

PATRICK
They need you back inside.

Pete pushes past Patrick. The door SLAMS behind him, in Patrick's face. It reads NO SMOKING.

CUT TO:

INT. BUS. NEXT DAY.

Pete's band sit in the front of the tour bus. JOE and ANDY play video games. The LIGHTS and NOISE fill the small space. Pete watches them play. Patrick has headphones on. His laptop sits in his lap.

Pete glances over at him and then at the interviewer. His name is JAMES. He takes notes.

PETE
What're you writing?

He looks away from the TV at James.

JAMES
What everybody's doing right now. It helps me remember later how I want this to be written.

PETE
How do you want it to be written?

JAMES
Real. I've read some pretty nasty things in the press about you guys before and none of it really seems true.

Joe raises a fist and then points at James.

JOE
Can we keep him?

PETE
(looks at James)
Maybe. What kind of nasty things?

JAMES
(cautiously)
I don't know - that you all partied really hard, that the bus was full of drugs or. . .

JOE
Not always.

PETE
Andy smuggled in illegal and hard to find comic books. Could we get arrested for that? Or. I know. How about my stashing my meds under my bunk?

JAMES
Medication for what?

Pete looks over at Patrick, who CLICKS the track pad on his computer. Patrick looks over at Pete. Pete looks back at James.

PETE
For life.

JAMES
Oh. How long have you been taking them? Do they influence your writing? I know you're the bands lyricist and that Patrick (he points to Patrick) write all of the music.

PETE
They don't influence the way I write unless I'm off of them.

JAMES
Is a better or worse reaction when you write?

Pete looks over at Patrick. He sits up on the couch and pulls his hood over his head. His vision is blocked to where Patrick sits.

PETE
Once, when I was on them, Patrick punched me in the face for what I wrote. When I was off of them, one time he punched me in the face for what I wrote.

ANDY
I remember that. You hit the wall -(Andy looks at the TV)- Oh, come on! I totally beat you!

PETE
(to James)
It's a give and take. They help and they don't.

JAMES
Writing with somebody, you have to be pretty close friends, right?

The room goes quiet. The game is PAUSED. The only sound is the CLICKING every now and then of Patrick's computer mouse.

PETE
Joe's my best friend. I can go to Andy with any problem I have. And Patrick's. . .I've never had a relationship with any of my friends like I have with Patrick. Um. We can finish each other's sentences. Like we share a brain. Does that say enough? Too much?

Andy and Joe look at Patrick. The camera follows their eyes. Patrick holds his tongue between his teeth, as if trying not to smile.

PETE
(mumbles)
Too much.

FADE IN:

INT. BUS BATHROOM. NIGHT.

Pete leans against the wall. He shakes out SIX pills into his hand. He takes them one at a time, instantaneously. He holds the last one up to his eye and looks at himself in the mirror that way.

PETE
Bottoms up, Medicine Man.

CUT TO:

INT. BUNK BED. LATER.

The camera pans Pete's body. He lies awake. He is looking at he ceiling of his bunk. There is a SMALL LIGHT GLOWING next to him. It's his phone. His lips are pressed tightly together. As the camera pans down the rest of Pete's body, we see his fingers move quickly from his SWEATER ZIPPER. He ZIPS and UNZIPS it. His legs and feet SHAKE. OFF SCREEN Pete talks to himself.

PETE
(whispers)
I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die.

CUT TO:

EXT. GAS STATION. MORNING.

The sun beats down on everything. The driver fills the tank. Joe and Andy walk into the small store. Patrick gets off of the bus. He looks around and sees Pete standing alone. He walks over and touches Pete's arm.

PATRICK
Hey.

PETE
What's up, Trick?

PATRICK
I was gonna get something to drink. Um, do you want anything?

At GROUND LEVEL we see Pete's foot bend again.

PETE
I'm good, no.

PATRICK
Are you all right?

Pete still stares at his bent foot.

PETE
As all right as I can be. I guess. You?

PATRICK
Worried.

PETE
About what? The show will go fine.

PATRICK
No - I mean about you.

OFF SCREEN, Pete kicks a pebble and it SKIDS across the street.

PETE
I said I'm all right, Trick. Don't. Don't worry about me. I'm fine.

PATRICK
You were talking in your sleep last night.

PETE
I didn't fall asleep last night, Patrick.

PATRICK
So you purposely told yourself you were going to die? And I shouldn't be worried?

Pete looks up just as Patrick walks away. Pete kicks the buses tire.

PETE
Damn it.

FADE IN:

INT. CLUB. NIGHT.

The band is on stage. They're well into the tour, the concert. Lights FLASH around the stage as a song ends. Pete stands in front of his microphone. He speaks into it.

PETE
OK. You guys are awesome. How many of you tonight - how many of you are in love?

The crowd SCREAMS. Pete adjusts his microphone and looks around. He smiles at Patrick. He looks behind him at Andy.

PETE
That's what I thought. This next song - I wrote this next song when I felt like everybody here does.

He looks at Patrick. The songs starts.

FADE IN:

INT. BUS. LATER.

Andy and Joe play video games in the back. The MUSIC, NOISE and LIGHTS can be heard and seen from the front where Pete sits on the couch. He watches HOOK. Patrick enters.

PATRICK
Hey.

PETE
Hey.

PATRICK
Can I watch?

Pete MOVES over to give Patrick room to sit down. Pete looks at Patrick for a long minute.

Patrick's body FADES into a montage of clips

- Pete and Patrick meet for the first time.

- They play their first show.

- Pete takes pills in a bathroom.

- Pete takes pills in the alley.

- Pete and Patrick laugh at an interview.

- Patrick punches Pete in the face.

The montage fades back to Patrick. He's looking at Pete.

PATRICK
What?

PETE
What?

PATRICK
You're staring.

PETE
No. I'm just not blinking.

PATRICK
It's the same thing.

PETE
No it isn't.

PATRICK
How are you feeling, Pete? Really?

PETE
I'm OK.

PATRICK
Oh. Yeah, OK. Now tell me honestly.

PETE
I don't know.

PATRICK
How you feel?

Pete nods.

Patrick (continued)
About not sleeping?

PETE
Swing the hammer again. You're close.

PATRICK
About writing?

PETE
With feeling, Trick.

PATRICK
Pete, I don't know. I'm not - I can't read your mind.

PETE
You can. You have. You know this isn't OK right now. Trick, come on.

Patrick flails a little bit.

PATRICK
You've been really quiet lately. You won't - You don't look me in the eye anymore -

PETE
You hit it.

Pete moves across the couch to sit closer to Patrick. He pulls on Patrick's sleeve.

PATRICK
Why?

PETE
If they see. . .

PATRICK
See what? Who? Pete, are you. . . You're on your meds, right? I mean, I don't wanna -

PETE
I'm always on them. I can't not be on them. Trick, you're not listening to me.

PATRICK
My ears couldn't get any bigger. That's how much I'm listening.

Pete looks Patrick in the eye, finally, and Joe YELLS out a victory over Andy. Pete glances at the door and then back at Patrick.

PETE
I never mean it.

Pete grips Patrick's sleeve, hard. His fingers turn WHITE.

PATRICK
What? Mean what?

PETE
To not look at you. If - if they see it, they'll - we'll be so screwed up. Everything won't work anymore.

Pete pulls Patrick's other hand over his lap. He holds on to it. He CRINKLES the sleeve in his hand.

PETE(continued)
If they catch the stars in my eyes when I look at you. Nothing will work anymore.

Pete holds Patrick's hands down and falls against his shoulder.

PATRICK
That's not true. That's not even the point. Pete, you're my best friend. Come on, nothing will change that. You know it.

PETE
They can't know you make me forget.

Patrick presses his lips to Pete's shoulder.

PATRICK
Then dump them, if that's what I do to you.

FADE TO:

INT. PETE'S BATHROOM. DAY.

Pete looks at himself in the mirror. He PULLS the medicine cabinet OPEN. He takes a bottle down and TWISTS it OPEN. Inside we see the bottle is HALF FULL of LITTLE GREEN PILLS.

Pete FLUSHES them down the toilet and throws the bottle away. He takes another bottle down and repeats the sequence.

PETE
I'm not gonna die. I'm not gonna die. I'm not gonna die.

The bottles FADE AWAY. The garbage PILES with ORANGE bottles. Pete grabs the last one from the medicine cabinet. He CLOSES the mirror.

He pockets the last bottle.

The screen FADES TO BLACK.