Screenplay

EXT. Typical Alley - night

The camera comes to rest on a homeless man sleeping in sleeping bag by a dumpster. The camera is shot from the back of the alley so one can the homeless man sleeping in front of the dumpster on the left and see the street and the street lamp on the right. The homeless man has a scraggly beard and an old wrinkly face, but one can easily tell that he was once handsome. In fact, if he had a good shave and a cleaning up he could be handsome now. His face is hardened and he seems troubled in his sleep. The narrator's voice then starts. His voice is slow and deliberate. There is emphasis on every word but no emotion.

Narrator

(the voice is slow and deliberate)

My name is Stan Lincoln. I am fifty-seven years old, but I wasn't always this old. I was once eighteen and decided to do something with my life. I devoted my life to my country without being asked and enlisted in the army. I had...

the camera pans up

ext. Jungle - Between the dead of night and dawn

camera pans back down

A line of men pass through the jungle. It is easy to tell that these men are soldiers because they are caring heavy gear necessary and distinctive to war. The last man to pass at the end of the line is a much younger version of the homeless man we saw in the first shot. One can tell from his handsome features, but his face isn't hardened yet and it seems innocent and young.

NARRATOR

...never let the city in which I grew up, but before I was nineteen I traveled across the world and was submitted to something I had never experienced before: the jungle.

camera swivels to follow last guy

One can then see a tiny rural village. The village is submerged in great poverty. The houses are made from mud and other things scrapped together and area looks like a slum.

NARRATOR

I drudged through the jungle day after day after day, only stopping at small villages along the way. The villages were horrible.

Our main character notices a poor women and her daughter. They both stare at him. The scene cuts back to the man's face and it displays a mix between horrified and sympathy. Someone has to come back to grab him because he fell behind staring at the woman and child.

narrator

The poverty was unspeakable and the people lived in squalor. These people lived in a way that you can't even imagine. This reconfirmed why I was over there and made me proud to live in America.

fade

Ext. typical alley - dawn

A security guard is yelling at the homeless to get up and motioning him to leave. We can't hear the yelling but it is easy to tell the guard is leaving. The homeless man wakes up and acts like the security guard isn't even there. He packs up his backpack and slings it over his back. He moves with complete deliberation. He moves past the camera.

narrator

I was thankful to my country for allowing me to escape such a fate that these people had to suffer. I was able to continue everyday through the jungle because I was serving the country that gave me opportunity.

camera focuses on pack and swivels to follow it

ext. ruined village - dawn

The soldiers who we saw early are coming upon one of those poor villages, but this one has been ravaged. The houses are torn down or burnt down and no one is in sight except for a body. There is a dead teenage boy in the top left of the shot.

narrator

I saw my first dead body when I was twenty-one.

The camera shows a close up of the boy. He is between 13 and 17 and is clearly dead. The camera swivels to show the men's faces as the pass by. Our main character is at the back and one can clearly see his face as he passes by. His face is completely hardened now and there is no trace of innonence left. He doesn't stare or even look at the body. The shot follows the men as they walk away and our main character steals back one look. We can see his face and a flash of innocence returns.

narrator

It took me three years to see my first dead body and thank god I was already drinking by then. It was a gruesome, terrible site. The kid didn't have a chance to live before he died. I thought long and hard about that kid and still do today.

cut

ext. soup kitchen - day

The homeless man is waiting in line outside of a building. There is a sign off the side of the building that says "Benedict's Soup Kitchen." There is a multitude of homeless men in line but our homeless man is at the front of the line. The shot comes to focus on the sign.

NARRATOR

It made me thankful for my freedom. It justified what I was doing because my sweating through the jungle protected freedom back home. I was making sure that things like this didn't happen in my country.

Pan up

Int. unemployment office

The soup kitchen signs turns into an unemployment office sign and the camera pans down. The first person in line just got through talking to the women at the desk so the second person in line is being motioned forward. We recognize the second person to the soldier who we focused on in earlier scenes. We can tell through the hardness and handsomeness of his features. He sits down and the camera focuses on his face. He begins to talk to the women with an expressionless tone.

NARRATOR

I was twenty-five when I arrived back home. I was happy and thankful to be home. I was glad to leave the jungle and return to my country. The home of the free and the brave. The land of opportunity.

int. soup kitchen

The camera cuts from the man talking to the unemployment women to the unemployment women, except that it isn't an unemployment women. It's actually a soup kitchen women serving our homeless man. The camera cuts back to the homeless man's face to show us what is going on and then cuts back to the women finishing up putting food on his plate.

NARRATOR

By the time I was thirty I was having a tough time keeping a job. I couldn't seem to focus on the task at hand and tended to show up late for work or not show up at all. My employers thought I had a drinking problem, but I didn't think so.

The camera is from behind the homeless man now and we see him turn and stop. The camera is a close up of his face and he is stopped and staring at something. His face still retains that emotionless state but there is something more to it. He has emotion without emotion.

NARRATOR

I did drink from time to time and whiskey was my vice but I didn't think it was a problem.

The camera turns to show a poor women and child sitting at a table in the soup kitchen. At first they don't notice the homeless man but the little girl turns and looks at the camera. The mom recognizes the daughter is looking at something and then turns to look at the camera as well. We are instantly reminded of the poor women and child from the poverty stricken village seen earlier in the film.

NARRATOR

I don't blame them though. My employers. This country is successful because it holds people accountable. This country is built on hard work and if I was being lazy then I deserved to be fired.

The camera moves from the poor women and child to the left to see the homeless man making his way to the exit.

NARRATOR

This nation allows everyone opportunity and gives everyone a chance, I just couldn't seem to make mine work.

EXT. liquor store - night

The exiting of the soup kitchen leads right into our homeless man exiting a liquor store. You think we'll cut to a scene of him outside the soup kitchen but it's actually a liquor store and now it's night time. Our guy has brown paper bag in hand and it's definitely alcohol.

NARRATOR

When I was forty one I decided that this was probably going to be my life. At this point my drinking was a problem. I used to only drink...

cut

Our homeless man takes a left to go around the side of the liquor store so our shot can't see him anymore. Up until this point we were filming him from the front of the store as he walked to the side of the building. When he turns the corner the camera cuts and shows a shot of his face. His face is still hardened and emotionless but you can tell he is seeing something.

narrator

...when I thought about that kid from the jungle, but now I only...

The camera cuts to show a dead teenager. It's a black kid who is maybe 18 years old and he is dead in the alley. We are reminded of the kid from the jungle who our homeless man saw when he was young. The camera then pans up a little bit to show our homeless man walk past him down the alley.

narrator

...thought about that so I was always drinking. I don't mind my life though. I keep busy and I can rest easy knowing I served my country.

fade

ext. typical alley - night

We return to our opening scene our homeless man sleeping in a back alley by a trash can.

narrator

Knowing I upheld every thing this nation stands for. I'm OK with my life because I still live in America where at least I know I'm free........

cut to black screen

narrator

...right?