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 1.
FADE IN:
1 EXT. COMMUTER TRAIN STATION - DAY 1
It's gray. The platform is packed with business commuters:
suits, overcoats. There is such a lack of color it almost
seems as if it's a black and white shot, except one
commuter holds a bright red heart-shaped box of candy under
his arm.
The platform across the tracks is empty.
As an almost empty train pulls up to that platform, one of
the suited men breaks out of the crowd, lurches up the
stairs two at a time, hurries across the overpass and down
the stairs to the other side, just at the empty train
stops. The doors open and the man gets on that train.
As the empty train pulls from the station, the man watches
the crowd of commuters through the train's dirty window. We
see his face for the first time.
This is Joel Barish. He is in his 30's, sallow, a bit
puffy.
His hair is a little messy, his suit is either vintage or
just old and dirty and sort of threadbare. His bright tie
has a photograph of a rodeo printed on it.
2 EXT. MONTAUK TRAIN STATION - DAY 2
Joel talks on a payphone. The wind howls around him. He
tries to shield the mouthpiece as he talks. His speech is a
self-conscious mumble, especially difficult to hear over
the elements.
JOEL
Hi, Cindy. It's Joel. Joel. I'm not
feeling well this morning. No, food
poisoning, I think. I had clams.
Clams! I'm sorry it took me so long
to call in, but I've been vomiting
a lot. I've been vomiting! Yes,
that's right, a lot!
3 EXT. BEACH - DAY 3
2.
Joel wanders the windy, empty beach, with his briefcase. He
passes an old man with a metal detector. They nod at each
other.
4 EXT. BEACH - DAY 4
Later: Joel looks out at the ocean.
5 EXT. BEACH - DAY 5
Later: Joel sits on a rock and pulls a big, tattered
notebook from his briefcase. He opens it and reads his last
entry.
JOEL (V.O.)
January 6, 2001. Nothing much.
Naomi and I coexisting. Roommates.
Nothing. Will it go on like this
forever? My best guess? Yes.
Under the entry is a detailed drawing of a paranoid, wild-
eyed man huddled in the corner of a damp basement lit by a
bare bulb on a cord. Joel notices something odd: a great
many pages have been torn out after the last entry. He
ponders it for a moment, then writes on the next page:
JOEL (V.O.)
Valentine's Day 2003. First entry
in two years. Where did those years
go? If you're not careful it gets
away from you. And then it's over
and you're dead. And within a few
years who even remembers you were
here?
(thinks)
Called in sick today. Took the
train out to Montauk.
(thinks)
Cold.
(thinks some more)
Don't know what else to say. I saw
Naomi last night. First time since
the break- up. We had sex. It was
odd to fall into our old familiar
sex life so easily. Like no time
has passed. Suddenly we're talking
about getting together again. I
guess that's good.
3.
He has no other thoughts, does some work on the drawing on
the opposite page. He glances up, spots a female figure in
the distance, walking in his direction. She stands out
against the gray in a fluorescent orange hooded sweatshirt.
This is Clementine.
She's in her early thirties, zaftig. He watches her for a
bit, then as she nears, he goes back to his drawing, or at
least pretends to. Once she has passed, he watches her walk
away. She stops and stares out at the ocean. Joel writes.
JOEL (V.O.)
Constitutionally incapable of
making eye- contact with a woman I
don't know. Guess I'd better get
back with Naomi. Ought to buy her a
Valentine. She loves roses, I
believe.
6 EXT. BEACH - DAY 6
LATER: Joel walks up near the beach houses closed for the
season. He peeks cautiously in a dark window.
7 EXT. BEACH - DAY 7
LATER: Joel digs into the sand with a stick.
8 INT. DINER - DAY 8
It's a local tourist place, but off-season empty. An old
couple drink coffee at the counter. Joel sits in a booth
and eats a grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of tomato
soup. In his notebook he is drawing a wizened old man with
a metal detector. His metal detector has led him to another
dead old man clutching a metal detector. Joel meekly,
unsuccessfully, tries to get the waitress's attention for
more coffee.
Clementine enters, looks around, takes off her hood. Joel
glances at her bright blue hair. She picks an empty booth
and sits. Joel studies her discreetly. The waitress
approaches her with a coffee pot.
CLEMENTINE
Hi, it's me again! My home away
from home.
WAITRESS
4.
Coffee?
CLEMENTINE
God, yes. You've saved my life!
Brrr!
The waitress pours the coffee.
WAITRESS
You know what you want?
CLEMENTINE
(laughing)
Ain't that the question of the
century.
The waitress is not amused. Clementine gets business-like.
CLEMENTINE
You got grilled cheese and tomato
soup again today?
WAITRESS
We're having a run on it.
The waitress heads to the grill. Clementine fishes in her
bag, brings the coffee cup under the table for a moment,
pours something in, then brings the cup back up.
CLEMENTINE
(calling)
And some cream, please.
Clementine looks around the place. Her eyes meet Joel's
before he is able to look away. She smiles vaguely. He
looks embarrassed, then down at his journal.
Clementine pulls a book from her purse and starts to read.
Joel glances up, tries to see the book's cover. It's blue
and white. He can't make out the title.
9 EXT. BEACH - DAY 9
Joel stares out at the ocean. Far down the beach Clementine
stares at it, too. Joel glances sideways at her then back
at the ocean.
10 EXT. MONTAUK TRAIN STATION PLATFORM - LATE AFTERNOON 10
5.
Joel sits on a bench waiting for the train. Clementine
enters the platform, sees Joel, the only other person
there. She waves, sort of goofily enthusiastic, playing as
if they're old friends. He waves back, embarrassed.
She takes a seat on a bench far down the platform. Joel
stares at his hands, pulls his journal from his briefcase
and tries to write in order to conceal his awkwardness.
JOEL (V.O.)
Why do I fall in love with every
woman I see who shows me the least
bit of attention?
11 INT. TRAIN - LATE AFTERNOON 11
Joel sits at the far end of the empty car and watches the
slowly passing desolate terrain. After a moment the door
between cars opens and Clementine enters. Joel looks up.
Clementine is not looking at him; she busies herself
deciding
where to sit. She settles on a seat at the opposite end of
the car. Joel looks out the window. He feels her watching
him. The train is picking up speed. Finally:
CLEMENTINE
(calling over the rumble)
Hi!
Joel looks over.
JOEL
I'm sorry?
CLEMENTINE
What? I couldn't hear you.
JOEL
I said, I'm sorry.
CLEMENTINE
Why are you sorry? I just said hi.
JOEL
No, I didn't know if you were
talking to me, so--
She looks around the empty car.
CLEMENTINE
6.
Really?
JOEL
(embarrassed)
Well, I didn't want to assume.
CLEMENTINE
Aw, c'mon, live dangerously. Take
the leap and assume someone is
talking to you in an otherwise
empty car.
JOEL
Anyway. Sorry. Hi. Hello. Hi.
Clementine giggles, makes her way down the aisle toward
Joel.
CLEMENTINE
It's okay if I sit closer? So I
don't have to scream? Not that I
don't need to scream sometimes,
believe you me.
(pause)
But I don't want to bug you if
you're trying to write something.
JOEL
(mumbling)
No, I'm just-- I don't really, um -
-
CLEMENTINE
What? You don't really what?
She hesitates in the middle of the car, looks back where
she came from.
JOEL
It's okay if you want to sit down.
CLEMENTINE
Just, you know, to chat a little,
maybe. I have a long trip ahead of
me.
(sits across aisle from
Joel)
How far are you going? On the
train, I mean, of course. Not in
life.
JOEL
Rockville Center.
7.
CLEMENTINE
Get out! Me too! What are the odds?
She stares at him. He gets uncomfortable.
CLEMENTINE
Do I know you?
JOEL
I don't think so.
CLEMENTINE
Hmmmm. Do you ever shop at Barnes
and Noble?
JOEL
Sure.
CLEMENTINE
That's it. That's me: book slave
there for, like, five years now. I
thought I'd seen you somewhere.
JOEL
Really? Because --
CLEMENTINE
Jesus, is it five years? I gotta
quit right now.
JOEL
-- I go there all the time. I think
I'd remember you.
CLEMENTINE
Well, I'm there. I've seen you,
man. I hide in the back as much as
is humanly possible. You have a
cell phone? I need to quit right
this minute. I'll call in dead.
I'll go on the dole like my daddy
before me. Might be the hair.
JOEL
What might?
CLEMENTINE
Changes a lot. That's why you might
not recognize me. What color am I
today?
(pulls a strand in front
of her eyes, studies it)
8.
Blue, right? It's called Blue Ruin.
The color. Snappy name, huh?
JOEL
I like it.
CLEMENTINE
Blue ruin is cheap gin, in case
you're wondering.
JOEL
Yeah. Tom Waits says it in --
CLEMENTINE
Exactly! Tom Waits. Which song?
JOEL
I can't remember.
CLEMENTINE
Anyway, this company makes a whole
line of colors with equally snappy
names. Red Menace, Yellow Fever,
Green Revolution. That'd be a job,
coming up with those names. How do
you get a job like that? That's
what I'll do. Fuck the dole.
JOEL
I don't really know how --
CLEMENTINE
Purple Haze, Pink Eraser.
JOEL
You think that could possibly be a
full- time job? How many hair
colors could there be? Fifty, tops?
CLEMENTINE
(pissy)
Somebody's got that job.
(excited)
Agent Orange! I came up with that
one. Anyway, there are endless
color possibilities and I'd be
great at it.
JOEL
(mumbly)
I'm sure you would.
CLEMENTINE
9.
My writing career! Your hair
written by Clementine Kruczynski.
(thought)
The Tom Waits album is Rain Dogs.
JOEL
You sure? I don't know that album -
-
CLEMENTINE
I think. Anyway, I've tried all
their colors. More than once. I'm
getting too old for this. But it
keeps me from having to develop an
actual personality. I apply my
personality in a paste. You?
JOEL
Oh, I doubt that's the case.
CLEMENTINE
Well, you don't know me, so-- you
don't know, do you?
JOEL
Sorry. I was just trying to be
nice.
CLEMENTINE
Yeah, I got it.
There's a silence.
CLEMENTINE
My name's Clementine, by the way.
JOEL
I'm Joel.
CLEMENTINE
No jokes about my name? Oh, you
wouldn't do that; you're trying to
be nice.
JOEL
I don't know any jokes about your
name.
CLEMENTINE
Huckleberry Hound?
JOEL
I don't know what that means.
10.
CLEMENTINE
Huckleberry Hound! What, are you
nuts?
JOEL
It's been suggested.
CLEMENTINE
(singing)
"Oh my darlin', oh my darlin', oh
my darlin' Clementine"? No?
Nothin'?
JOEL
Sorry. It's a pretty name, though.
It means "merciful", right?
Clemency?
CLEMENTINE
(impressed)
Yeah. Although it hardly fits. I'm
a vindictive little bitch, truth be
told.
JOEL
See, I wouldn't think that about
you.
CLEMENTINE
(pissy)
Why wouldn't you think that about
me?
JOEL
I don't know. I was just-- I don't
know. I was just-- You seemed nice,
so --
CLEMENTINE
Now I'm nice? Don't you know any
other adjectives? There's careless
and snotty and overbearing and
argumentative-- mumpish.
JOEL
(mumbling)
Well, anyway-- Sorry.
They sit in silence for a while.
CLEMENTINE
11.
I just don't think "nice" is a
particularly interesting thing to
be.
The conductor enters the car.
CONDUCTOR
Tickets.
Joel hands the conductor his ticket. The conductor punches
it and hands it back.
CLEMENTINE
What is nice, anyway? I mean,
besides an adjective? I guess it
can be an adverb, sort of.
The conductor turns to Clementine. She fishes in her bag.
CLEMENTINE
It doesn't reveal anything. Nice is
pandering. Cowardly. And life is
more interesting than that. Or
should be. Jesus God, I hope it is-
- someday.
(to conductor)
I know it’s here.
The conductor and Joel watch as she gets more agitated.
CLEMENTINE
I don't need nice. I don't need
myself to be it and I don't need
anyone else to be it at me.
JOEL
Okay, I understand.
CLEMENTINE
Shit. Shit. I know it's here. Hold
on.
She dumps the contents of the bag onto the seat and sifts
frantically through. Joel sees the book she was reading in
the diner. It's The Red Right Hand by Joel Townsley Rogers.
Joel eyes the book.
CLEMENTINE
Damn it. DAMN IT!
(there it is)
Oh. Here.
12.
She hands the conductor the ticket, smiles sweetly. He
punches it, hands it back to her, and walks away.
CONDUCTOR
Next stop Southampton.
The conductor heads into the next car. Clementine shoves
stuff back into her purse. Her hands are a little shaky.
She pulls an airline-sized bottle of alcohol from her
pocket, opens it, and downs it. Joel is watching all of
this but pretending not to. She looks out the window for a
while. The train pulls into the station. The doors open.
Nobody gets on.
The doors close. The train pulls out.
CLEMENTINE
Joel? It's Joel, right?
JOEL
Yes?
CLEMENTINE
I'm sorry I-- yelled at you. Was it
yelling? I can't really tell.
Whatever, I'm a little out of sorts
today.
JOEL
(trying for a joke)
Hey, Old Yeller would be a good
color.
CLEMENTINE
(not seeming to hear)
My embarrassing admission is I
really like that you're nice. Right
now, anyway. I can't tell from one
moment to the next what I'm going
to like. But right now I'm glad you
are.
JOEL
It's no problem. Anyway, I have
some stuff I need to -- I'm trying
to work out some -- I'm writing
some thoughts, sort of.
CLEMENTINE
Oh, okay. Well, sure, I'll just--
(stands throws bag over
shoulder)
Take care, then.
13.
JOEL
(pulling notebook from
briefcase)
Probably see you at the bookstore.
CLEMENTINE
(heading toward other end
of car)
Unless I get that hair-color-naming
job. Old Yeller is funny, by the
way.
Clementine sits and stares out the window.
JOEL
How about Karen Black?
CLEMENTINE
You're good! We could be partners.
They smile at each other. Joel drops the gaze first.
12 INT. TRAIN - DUSK 12
There are a few more people in the car now. Clementine has
inched a few seats closer to Joel. She watches him. His
head is buried in his notebook. He's drawing Clementine.
13 INT. TRAIN - NIGHT 13
It's dark out. The train is pretty crowded. A couple of
women hold bouquets of flowers, another has a red heart-
shaped box of candy. Joel stares out the window. Clementine
sits closer still to Joel, eyes him.
14 EXT. TRAIN STATION - NIGHT 14
The doors open and Joel emerges along with others. He heads
to the parking lot, arrives at his car. There's a big
dented scrape along the driver's side.
15 INT/EXT. JOEL'S CAR - NIGHT 15
MOMENTS LATER: Joel drives. He passes Clementine walking.
She looks cold. He considers, slows, rolls down his window.
JOEL
Hi. I could give you a ride if you
need.
14.
CLEMENTINE
No, that's okay. Thanks, though.
JOEL
You sure? It's cold.
CLEMENTINE
Yeah? It is frosty.
He pulls over. She climbs in. They drive.
JOEL
Where do you live?
CLEMENTINE
You're not a stalker or anything,
right?
JOEL
Stalker Channing. No, that's not
really a color, is it? Quit while
I'm ahead.
CLEMENTINE
You can't be too careful about
stalkers. I've been stalked. I've
been told by experts I'm highly
stalkable. I don't need that.
JOEL
I'm not a stalker. You talked to
me, remember?
CLEMENTINE
That's the oldest trick in the
stalker book.
(beat)
You know Sherman Drive?
JOEL
Yeah.
CLEMENTINE
Sherman Drive. Near the high
school.
Joel turns. They drive in silence.
CLEMENTINE
Look, I'm very sorry I came off
sort of nutso. I'm not really.
JOEL
15.
That's okay. I didn't think you
were.
There's a silence. She broods.
CLEMENTINE
Well, I am. Okay?
(pointing to a house)
Me.
Joel pulls over.
CLEMENTINE
Thanks very much. That was very
nice of you.
JOEL
Oh, well, I wouldn't want to be
nice --
CLEMENTINE
Jesus, I'm full of shit. I already
told you that.
(pause)
Anyway. See ya. Happy Valentine's
Day.
He looks at her. Clementine opens the car door.
JOEL
You too. I enjoyed meeting you.
CLEMENTINE
(turning back)
Hey, do you want to have a drink? I
have lots of drinks. And I could --
JOEL
Um --
CLEMENTINE
Never mind. Sorry, that was stupid.
I'm embarrassed. Good night, Joel.
16 INT. CLEMENTINE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 16
A FEW MINUTES LATER: Joel stands in the living room,
somewhat nervously. He tries to calm himself by focusing on
the surroundings. He looks at the books on her shelves.
Clementine is in the kitchen. We see her as she passes by
the doorway several times, preparing drinks and chatting.
16.
CLEMENTINE
Thanks! I like it, too. Been here
about four years. It's really
cheap. My downstairs neighbor is
old so she's quiet, which is great.
And the landlord's sweet, which is
bizarre, but great, and I have a
little porch in the back, which is
great, because I can read there,
and listen to my crickets and--
Clementine is in the living room now with two gin and
tonics.
CLEMENTINE
Two blue ruins--
Joel is looking at a framed black and white photograph of
crows flying.
CLEMENTINE
You like that?
JOEL
Very much.
CLEMENTINE
This-- this guy gave that to me,
just, like, recently. I like it,
too. I like crows. I think I used
to be a crow.
She caws and hands Joel a drink.
JOEL
Thanks. That's a good caw you did.
Your caw is something to crow
about.
CLEMENTINE
Huh?
Joel shakes his head embarrassedly and mumbles something.
CLEMENTINE
Do you believe in that stuff?
Reincarnation?
JOEL
I don't know.
CLEMENTINE
17.
Me neither. Oh, there's an
inscription on the back.
Clementine takes the photo off the wall and shows Joel the
inscription on back.
JOEL
Frost?
CLEMENTINE
(impressed)
Yeah. I'm not, like, a Robert Frost
lover by any stretch. His stuff
seems strictly grade school to me.
But this made me cry for some
reason. Maybe because it is grade
school. Y'know?
JOEL
It's pretty.
CLEMENTINE
I miss grade school. I don't know
why I'm calling it grade school all
of a sudden. When I went we called
it elementary school. But I like
grade school better. Sounds like
something someone from the forties
would call it. I'd like to be from
then. Everyone wore hats. Anyway,
cheers!
JOEL
Cheers.
They clink glasses. Clementine giggles and takes a big gulp
of her drink. Joel sips. She plops down on the couch and
pulls her boots off.
CLEMENTINE
God, that feels so fucking good.
Take yours off.
JOEL
I'm fine.
CLEMENTINE
Yeah? Well, have a seat, anyway.
Joel sits in a chair across the room. Clementine finishes
her drink.
CLEMENTINE
18.
Ready for another?
JOEL
No, I'm okay for now.
She heads toward the kitchen with her glass.
CLEMENTINE
Well, I'm ready. Put some music on.
Joel crosses to the CD's and studies them.
JOEL
What do you want to hear?
CLEMENTINE (O.S.)
You pick it.
JOEL
You just say. I'm not really --
CLEMENTINE (O.S.)
I don't know! I can't see them from
here, Joel! Just pick something
good.
Joel studies the unfamiliar CD's. He picks up Bang On a Can
performing Brian Eno's Music for Airports to look at.
Clementine reenters with her drink.
CLEMENTINE
Oh, excellent choice.
She grabs it and sticks it in the CD player. The music is
dreamy and haunting and slow. Clementine falls back onto
the couch, closes her eyes and sips her drink.
CLEMENTINE
Mmmmmmm. Way to go, Joel. You pick
good.
Joel sits down in his chair and drinks. There's a silence,
which seems fine to Clementine but makes Joel anxious.
JOEL
Well, I should probably get going.
CLEMENTINE
No, stay. Just for a little while.
(opens her eyes,
brightly)
Refill?
19.
JOEL
No, I sort of have to go and --
CLEMENTINE
Stop mumbling.
She grabs Joel's drink from his hand, takes it into the
kitchen.
CLEMENTINE (O.S.)
God bless alcohol, is what I say.
Where would I be without it. Jesus,
Mary, and Joseph, maybe I don't
want to think about that.
She giggles. Joel looks around the room again. There are
several potatoes dressed as women in beautiful handmade
costumes: a nurse potato, a stripper potato, a
schoolteacher potato, a housewife potato. He stares at the
potatoes, confused. Clementine returns with Joel's drink
and a refill for herself.
JOEL
Thanks.
CLEMENTINE
Drink up, young man. It'll make the
whole seduction part less
repugnant.
Joel looks a little alarmed.
CLEMENTINE
I'm just kidding. C'mon. Or was I?
She laughs maniacally, sits back on the couch, closes her
eyes. Joel watches her, looks at her breasts. She opens her
eyes, smiles drunkenly at him, winks.
CLEMENTINE
Y'know, I'm sort of psychic.
JOEL
Yeah?
CLEMENTINE
Well, I go to a psychic and she's
always telling me I'm psychic. She
should know. Do you believe in that
stuff?
JOEL
I don't know.
20.
CLEMENTINE
Me neither. But sometimes I have
premonitions, so, I don't know.
Maybe that's just coincidence.
Right? Y'know, you think something
and then it happens, or you think a
word and then someone says it?
Y'know?
JOEL
Yeah, I don't know. It's hard to
know.
CLEMENTINE
Exactly. Exactly! That's exactly my
feeling about it. It's hard to
know. Like, okay, but how many
times do I think something and it
doesn't happen? That's what you're
saying, right? You forget about
those times. Right?
JOEL
Yeah, I guess. The human mind
creates order where there is none.
CLEMENTINE
(dreamy beat)
But I think I am. I like to think I
am. It's helpful to think there's
some order to things. You're kind
of closed- mouthed, aren't you?
JOEL
Sorry. My life isn't that
interesting. I go to work. I go
home. I don't know what to say. You
should read my journal. It's just,
like, blank.
CLEMENTINE
(considers this)
Does that make you sad? Or anxious?
I'm always anxious thinking I'm not
living my life to the fullest,
y'know? Taking advantage of every
possibility? Just making sure that
I'm not wasting one second of the
little time I have.
JOEL
I think about that.
21.
She looks at him really hard for a long moment. Joel tries
to hold her gaze, but can't. He looks down at his drink.
Clementine starts to cry again.
CLEMENTINE
You're really nice. I'm sorry I
yelled at you before about it. God,
I'm dreadful.
JOEL
I have a tendency to use that word
too much. It is a little
nondescript.
CLEMENTINE
I like you. That's the thing about
my psychic thing. I think that's my
greatest psychic power, that I get
a sense about people. My problem is
I never trust it. But I get it. And
with you I get that you're a really
good guy.
JOEL
Thanks.
CLEMENTINE
And, anyway, you sell yourself
short. I can tell. There's a lot of
stuff going on in your brain. I can
tell. My goal-- can I tell you my
goal?
JOEL
(mock put out)
Yeah, I guess.
CLEMENTINE
(ala Paul Simon)
What's the goal, Joel?
(laughs)
22.
My goal, Joel, is to just let it
flow through me? Do you know what I
mean? It's like, there's all these
emotions and ideas and they come
quick and they change and they
leave and they come back in a
different form and I think we're
all taught we should be consistent.
Y'know? You love someone -- that's
it. Forever. You choose to do
something with your life -- that's
it, that's what you do. It's a sign
of maturity to stick with that and
see things through. And my feeling
is that's how you die, because you
stop listening to what is true, and
what is true is constantly
changing. You know?
JOEL
Yeah. I think so. It's hard to --
CLEMENTINE
Like I wanted to talk to you. I
didn't need any more reason to do
it. Who knows what bigger cosmic
reason might exist?
JOEL
Yeah.
CLEMENTINE
I'm gonna marry you! I know it!
JOEL
Um, okay.
CLEMENTINE
(laughing)
You're very nice. God, I have to
stop saying that. You're nervous
around me, huh?
JOEL
No. Yeah. Sort of. Not really.
CLEMENTINE
I'm nervous. You don't need to be
nervous around me, though. I like
you. Do you think I'm repulsively
fat?
JOEL
23.
No, not at all.
CLEMENTINE
I don't either. I used to. But I'm
through with that. Y'know, if I
don't love my body, then I'm just
lost. You know? With all the
wrinkles and scars and the general
falling apart that's coming 'round
the bend. You ever inhale
hairspray? Fucking good high. I
don't anymore. It causes cellulite.
(beat)
So, I've been seeing this guy--
Joel looks slightly crestfallen.
CLEMENTINE
(off his reaction)
Oh, Joel, you're so sweet! Yay!
(kisses him on the cheek)
Just been seeing him for the last
week. He's kind of a kid. Kind of a
goofball, but he's really stuck on
me, which is flattering. Who
wouldn't like that? And he's, like,
a dope, but he says these smart and
moving things sometimes, out of
nowhere, that just break my heart.
He's the one who gave me that crow
photograph.
JOEL
Oh, yeah. Caw.
CLEMENTINE
It made me cry. But, anyway, we
went up to Boston, because I had
this urge to lie on my back on the
Charles River. It gets frozen this
time of year.
JOEL
That sounds scary.
CLEMENTINE
24.
Exactly! I used to do it in college
and I had this urge to go do it
again, so I got Patrick and we
drove all night to get there and he
was sweet and said nice things to
me, but I was really disappointed
to be there with him. Y'know? And
that's where my psychic stuff comes
in. Like, it just isn't right with
him. Y'know?
JOEL
I think so. I had a girlfriend two
years ago and just yesterday --
CLEMENTINE
I don't believe in that soulmate
crap anymore, but-- Patrick says so
many great things. We like the same
writers. This writer Joel Townsley
Rogers he turned me on to.
JOEL
Yeah, he's one of my favorites. I
saw you had his book in your purse.
One of the oddest locked room
mysteries.
CLEMENTINE
And this kid's cute, too. It's
fucked up. I mean, here it is
Valentine's Day and I can't bring
myself to call him.
(beat)
Joel, you should come up to the
Charles with me sometime.
JOEL
Okay.
CLEMENTINE
Yeah? Oh, great!
She sits closer to him.
CLEMENTINE
I'll pack a picnic -- a night
picnic -- night picnics and
different -- and --
JOEL
(shy)
25.
Sounds good. But right now I should
go.
CLEMENTINE
(pause)
You should stay.
JOEL
I have to get up early in the
morning tomorrow, so--
CLEMENTINE
(beat)
Okay.
Joel puts on his overcoat. Clementine heads to the phone
table, grabs a pen.
CLEMENTINE
I would like you to call me. Would
you do that? I would like it.
JOEL
Yes.
She scribbles her phone number on Joel's right hand. He
stands there uncomfortably for a moment, then forces
himself to speak.
JOEL
I don't think your personality
comes out of a tube. I think the
hair is just-- a pretty topping.
She tears up, swallows, and kisses him on the cheek.
JOEL
(shyly formal)
So, I enjoyed meeting you.
CLEMENTINE
You'll call me, right?
JOEL
Yeah.
CLEMENTINE
When?
JOEL
Tomorrow?
CLEMENTINE
26.
Tonight. Just to test out the phone
lines and all.
JOEL
Okay.
Joel exits. Clementine watches him through an open window
as Joel gets in his car.
CLEMENTINE
And wish me a happy Valentine's Day
when you call! That'd be nice!
17 INT/EXT. JOEL'S CAR - NIGHT 17
Joel drives home. He seems agitated. He parks in the lot
behind his apartment building, gets out of the car and
heads around to the front.
18 INT. VAN - NIGHT 18
It drives slowly down the street. There are two dark
figures inside.
STAN
I can't see any numbers.
PATRICK
(squinting)
One-thirty-seven?
Joel appears from the side of the house.
STAN
There! That's him, right?
PATRICK
I think so.
The van trails Joel, who looks back at it, then makes his
way toward his building. The van parks across the street.
19 EXT. JOEL'S APARTMENT BUILDING - CONTINUOUS 19
Joel heads up the walk to his building. He looks back at
the van, tries to see in. The window rolls down and a hand
comes out and waves cheerily.
MUFFLED PATRICK FROM INSIDE VAN
Thanks, Joel.
27.
Laughter from in the van. The window is rolled up. Joel
enters his building.
20 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT ENTRANCEWAY - CONTINUOUS 20
Joel pulls his mail from his box. In the light we see that
Joel has a blue dot drawn on either side of his forehead. A
man enters the building. This is Frank.
FRANK
Joel.
JOEL
Frank.
The man opens his mailbox, sifts through some envelopes.
FRANK
Jesus, shit. The only Valentine's
Day cards I get are from my mother.
How pathetic is that?
Joel chuckles, distracted.
FRANK
You're lucky you have Clementine,
man. She's way cool.
Joel looks at him. The guy continues to sift through his
envelopes. A yellow envelope with the name "Lacuna" in the
upper left catches Joel's eye.
FRANK
Any big Valentine's plans with her?
JOEL
No.
Joel continues to stare at the yellow envelope.
FRANK
It's only a day away, better make
reservations somewhere. Don't want
to end up at Mickey D's.
The guy laughs. Joel smiles wanly.
FRANK
McRomance!
28.
The guy laughs again, too much.
FRANK
Do you want fries with that shake?
JOEL
I've got to get to bed, Frank.
Frank looks at his watch.
FRANK
It's 8:30.
Joel shrugs, heads down the hall, unlocks his door, which
is on the first floor.
FRANK
What's with the dots?
21 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS 21
Joel changes into a pair of pajamas fresh from the package.
He picks up a small vial from his night table, opens it,
dumps a round pink pill into the palm of his hand, studies
it, then swallows it quickly. He looks around the room,
somewhat panicked, as if going through some checklist. He
crosses to the window and looks out into the night. He
tries again to squint into the van across the street.
22 INT/EXT. VAN - CONTINUOUS 22
The two figures inside are watching Joel in his apartment,
squinting out at them. Joel gives up and walks away from
the window.
PATRICK
(singing under breath)
She's a maniac, maniac on the floor
--
STAN
Patrick, stop it.
Silence.
PATRICK
(singing unconsciously)
-- and she's dancing like she's
never danced before --
29.
The lights in Joel's apartment click off.
PATRICK
Show time at the Apollo.
The two guys get out of the van.
23 EXT. VAN - CONTINUOUS 23
Stan, in hip glasses, and Patrick open the back of the van
and pull out a few briefcase-sized machines. They head up
the apartment building walkway.
24 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT BUILDING - MOMENTS LATER 24
Stan inserts a key and opens Joel's apartment door. He and
Stan enter. They switch on the light. Patrick unconsciously
hums "Maniac" as the two enter.
25 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 25
The room now looks a little vague. Joel changes into a pair
of pajamas fresh from the package. He picks up a small vial
from his night table, opens it, dumps a round pink pill
into the palm of his hand, studies it.
We see the pill from his POV. There's a code imprinted on
it, but we can't make it out. He swallows the pill quickly.
He looks around the room, somewhat panicked, as if going
through some checklist.
VOICE-OVER
Everything ready? Are they out
there?
Joel crosses to the window and looks out into the night. He
tries to squint into the van across the street. He can make
out the two figures but no detail. He stands there for a
moment, crosses to the bed, sits, dials the night table
phone.
RECORDED VOICE
The number you have dialed is no
longer in service. Please check
your number and --
JOEL
(weepy)
Bye.
30.
He hangs up the phone, turns off the light and lies on his
back on the bed. He stares up at the ceiling. The pills
seems to be taking effect and Joel is getting drowsy. But
something else is also happening: the room is getting
darker, less distinct. He tries to keep his eyes open to
watch this strange phenomenon, but can't.
His eyes close and the room plunges into darkness. We hear
a key in the door, the door opening, floorboards creaking
under shoes and someone quietly humming "Maniac." These
noises grow faint and disappear.
26 EXT. JOEL'S APARTMENT BUILDING - NIGHT 26
Joel gets out of his car, spots a van parked across the
street. There are two dark figures inside.
VOICE-OVER
Them.
The van window opens, a hand waves. Laughter. Joel hurries
inside the building. Footsteps loud.
27 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT ENTRANCEWAY - NIGHT 27
Joel pulls his mail from his box. A man enters the
building.
MAN
Hey, Joel. What's up?
JOEL
Oh, hi, Frank.
The man opens his mailbox, sifts through some envelopes.
MAN
I only get Valentine's Day cards
from my mom. How sad is that?
Joel chuckles.
MAN
You're lucky you have Clementine,
Joel.
Joel looks at the guy as he sifts through his mail. A
yellow envelope stamped with the "Lacuna" logo catches
Joel's eye.
MAN
31.
Any big Valentine's plans?
JOEL
No.
Joel continues to stare at the yellow envelope. He sees a
mole on the man's hand.
MAN
It's only a day away, better get --
The guy with the mail is just a shadow now. Joel studies
his ghostly form.
28 INT. ROB AND CARRIE'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT 28
MAN
-- crackin'.
Joel is pacing. He clutches a small gift box wrapped in red
paper. Rob and Carrie, 40's, watch from the couch.
JOEL
... so I get home from work tonight
and I'm just tired of the bullshit.
It's been going on long enough, so
I call her, I figure, y'know,
Valentine's day is three goddamn
days away and I want this resolved.
I'm willing to be the one to
resolve it. So --
29 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 29
Joel dials the phone.
VOICE-OVER
-- I called her.
RECORDED VOICE ON TELEPHONE
The number you have dialed has been
disconnected. If you --
Joel, startled, hangs up.
30 INT. STORE - ANTIC ATTIC - NIGHT 30
Joel looks through a display case of funky necklaces. He
talks as he examines the jewelry.
32.
JOEL
I thought, what the hell-- So I
hurried over to Antic Attic, y'know
--
31 EXT. ANTIC ATTIC - NIGHT 31
Quick shot of the exterior of Antic Attic.
32 INT. STORE - ANTIC ATTIC - NIGHT 32
JOEL
-- to look for something for her.
- A saleswoman wraps the jewelry box in red paper.
JOEL
I just thought, y'know, I'd go see
her at work, give her an early
Valentine. Because I'm going crazy.
- A hand writes on a heart-shaped card: "Clem -- I'm sorry.
I love you. Joel."
33 INT. BARNES AND NOBLE BOOKSTORE - NIGHT 33
Joel walks through the store with the small wrapped box in
his hand. He spots Clementine, now with magenta hair. He
approaches her, nervously.
JOEL
(quiet and mumbly)
What's wrong with your phone?
Clementine turns, smiles at him. It's a professional smile.
CLEMENTINE
I'm sorry, can I help you find
something?
Joel is taken aback. He just stares at her for a moment.
She continues to smile at him. Patrick, a young man with a
shadowy, vague face, approaches her from behind.
He seems almost out of breath. Joel registers that, for a
split second, Patrick glances at him before speaking to
Clementine.
PATRICK
Hey, Clem-ato!
33.
CLEMENTINE
Baby boy!
They kiss. Joel watches, confused and horrified.
CLEMENTINE
What you doin' here, baaaaaaay-
beeee?
(to Joel)
I'll be with you in a minute, sir.
34 INT. ROB AND CARRIE'S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT 34
Joel stops pacing, looks at Rob and Carrie.
JOEL
Why would she do that to me?
CARRIE
I don't know, honey. It's horrible.
ROB
Does anyone want a joint?
CARRIE
Fuck, Rob. Just give it a rest.
JOEL
She's punishing me for being
honest. I should just go to her
house.
ROB
I don't think you should go there,
man.
JOEL
Right, I don't want to seem
desperate.
CARRIE
Maybe you need to look at this as a
sign to move on. Just make a clean
break.
ROB
Joel, look, the thing is --
CARRIE
Rob!
ROB
34.
What the fuck do you suggest,
Carrie? What's your brilliant,
reasoned solution?
CARRIE
Jesus, does everything have to turn
into your shit about us? This is
not about us.
ROB
I agree. It's about Joel, who's an
adult. Not Mama Carrie's child.
Joel watches in confusion. Carrie boils over with rage and
frustration and storms from the room. Rob and Joel look at
each other.
35 INT. ROB AND CARRIE'S KITCHEN - NIGHT 35
Joel watches as Rob digs through a drawer. He finally pulls
out a yellow card and hands it to Joel. Joel reads it.
Dear Rob and Carrie Eakin:
Clementine Kruczynski has had Joel Barish erased from her
memory. Please never mention their relationship to her
again.
Thank you.
LACUNA, LTD. 424 GRAND STREET, NY, NY
Joel stares at the card, incredulous. It's the same yellow
as the Lacuna envelope his neighbor held.
36 EXT. LACUNA - DAY 36
Joel walks along the street. He sees a flash of himself
ahead carrying two garbage bags. The second Joel is almost
hit by a truck. The first Joel is confused for a moment
then pushes open a door marked Lacuna Inc.
37 INT. LACUNA WAITING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER 37
Joel is at the reception desk. He watches Mary, 25, busily
answering phones and printing out Lacuna envelopes.
MARY
(into phone)
35.
Good morning, Lacuna. No, I'm
sorry, that offer expired after the
new year. Yes. Certainly, we can
fit you in on the second. That's a
Wednesday. Great. Could you spell
that please. Great and we need a
daytime phone. Terrific. See you
then.
(hangs up, speaks to Joel
without looking up)
May I help you?
JOEL
Joel Barish. I have an appointment
with Dr. Mierzwiak.
38 INT. LACUNA OFFICE HALL - MOMENTS LATER 38
Joel walks behind Mary.
MARY
(not looking back)
How are you today?
JOEL
Not too good.
Stan, a young man in a lab coat, pops his head out from an
office.
STAN
(to Mary)
Boo.
MARY
Not now, Stan. I'm working.
STAN
Sorry. I just --
(to Joel)
Sorry. I was just --
MARY
Here we are, Mr. Barish.
Mary shows Joel Mierzwiak's office.
39 INT. LACUNA, HOWARD'S OFFICE - DAY 39
36.
MOMENTS LATER: Mierzwiak fingers the yellow card. Joel
looks from Mierzwiak to Mary. She stands behind the doctor
and eyes Mierzwiak longingly. Mierzwiak is unaware.
MIERZWIAK
(to Joel)
You should not have seen this. I
apologize.
JOEL
This is a hoax, right? This is
Clem's --
MIERZWIAK
I assure you, no.
Mary shakes her head "no" in agreement with Mierzwiak.
JOEL
There is no such thing as this!
MIERZWIAK
Look, our files are confidential,
Mr. Barish, so I can't show you
evidence. Suffice it to say Ms.
Kruczynski was not--
40 INT. ROB AND CARRIE'S KITCHEN - DAY - INT. LACUNA - DAY 40
Joel paces as Carrie busies herself making coffee.
Hammering sounds.
MIERZWIAK'S VOICE JOEL
-- happy and she wanted to "--
happy and she wanted to move on.
move on. We provide that
possibility." What the hell is
that? I was the nicest guy she ever
went out with. I mean - -
Joel looks over and sees Rob smoking a joint and hammering
a birdhouse in the other room.
CARRIE
Rob! For God's sake!
ROB
I'm making my birdhouse!
The hammering continues. Carrie strangles a frustrated
scream, then:
37.
CARRIE
Joel, Clementine met some woman on
line at the supermarket, the woman
told her about this company,
Lacuna. She decided to erase you,
almost as a lark.
JOEL
A lark?!
The scene splits in half. As Joel continues to talk to
Carrie, he also watches himself being led through the halls
of Lacuna by Mierzwiak.
MIERZWIAK CARRIE
Mr. Barish, we're certainly You
know Clementine, Joel. not here to
twist anyone's She's like that.
What can I arm. This is a personal
and say? Impulsive, profound
decision to make, but might I
suggest that you at least consider
the potential pitfalls of a psyche
forever spinning its wheels.
41 INT. JOEL'S CAR - NIGHT 41
Joel sits in his car crying. He is parked outside a drive-
in movie theater. As he cries the windows fog up until the
exterior is obliterated.
42 INT. LACUNA - MIERZWIAK'S OFFICE - NIGHT 42
Joel barges in followed by Mary. Mierzwiak looks alarmed.
MARY
I'm so sorry, Howard. He just --
JOEL
Okay, I want it done! Now!
MARY
I told him pre-Valentine's Day is
our busy time and --
MIERZWIAK
It's okay, Mary.
MARY
Really? There are people waiting
and --
38.
MIERZWIAK
Mr. Barish is in an unenviable
position for which we bear some
responsibility and we need to take
that into consideration.
MARY
Of course. You're right, Howard.
She exits.
MIERZWIAK
Now, then, Mr. Barish, first thing
we need you to do is go home and --
43 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - DAY 43
Joel drags around a big black plastic garbage bag and
places various objects in it.
MIERZWIAK'S VOICE
-- collect every single thing you
own that has some association with
Clementine. Anything. Photos.
Clothing. Gifts. Journal entries.
Perfume. Books she bought for you.
CD's you bought together. We want
to empty your home... your life of
Clementine.
Joel pulls books off the shelves, toiletries out of the
bathroom, clothing out of the closet, knickknacks, art
work, photographs from albums (he finds a photo of
Clementine as a little girl, wearing a pink cowboy hat and
posing with a puppy), perfume, the Rain Dogs CD, some
potatoes that are dressed up to look like different types
of women, a skeleton costume, a shoebox of letters from
Clementine, the wrapped giftbox from Antic Attic.
He rips pages out of various journals: writing, portraits
of Clementine he has drawn. As he does all this, his
apartment begins to look more and more barren.
MIERZWIAK'S VOICE
We'll use these items to --
44 EXT. NEW YORK STREET - DAY 44
39.
Joel walks carrying two big, full garbage bags. He is
almost hit by a truck as he crosses the street. It is a
replay of the near accident he witnessed earlier, but it is
now in the first person.
MIERZWIAK'S VOICE
-- create a map of Clementine --
45 INT. LACUNA WAITING ROOM - DAY 45
Joel sits with his garbage bags. A woman with red-rimmed
eyes and a cardboard box full of dog toys, dog bowls, and
other pet paraphernalia in her lap, sits across from him.
MIERZWIAK'S VOICE
-- in your brain.
Mary is on the phone at the reception desk. She hangs up
and acknowledges Joel.
MARY
How are you today, Mr. Barish?
Before Joel can respond, Mary is back into her work.
Mierzwiak pokes his head out from the inner office.
MIERZWIAK
Mr. Barish?
46 INT. LACUNA HALLWAY - DAY 46
Joel walks with his bags behind Mierzwiak. They pass Mary
printing out some yellow Lacuna cards in the reception
area.
She smiles professionally as they pass.
MIERZWIAK
February is very busy because of
Valentine's Day.
As they pass a lab, Mierzwiak stops. Joel glances in and
sees Stan working on a female client. She is being shown an
old super eight home movie.
MIERZWIAK
This is Stan Fink, one of our most
skilled and experienced
technicians. He'll be handling your
case tonight.
40.
Stan approaches Joel and shakes his hand.
STAN
Great to meet you, Mr. Barish.
Joel looks at the equipment in the lab.
47 INT. MIERZWIAK'S OFFICE - DAY 47
Joel enters with Mierzwiak. Mierzwiak directs Joel to a
sitting area. There's a tape recorder on the coffee table
between them.
MIERZWIAK
We'll start here. You and I will
chat a little. I'll tape record our
session, if you don't mind, and
we'll get a sense of the memory you
wish to erase. Okay?
Joel nods. Mierzwiak smiles kindly and switches on the tape
recorder. He moves a box of tissues closer to Joel.
MIERZWIAK
So please tell me your name and who
you are here to erase.
JOEL
My name is Joel Barish and I'm here
to erase Clementine Kruczynski.
MIERZWIAK
Very good. Tell me about
Clementine.
JOEL
Um, like what?
MIERZWIAK
Everything. We'll need everything.
(off Joel's confused
look)
Just begin talking. I'll direct the
conversation as need be.
JOEL
41.
Um, well, y'know, I was living with
this woman Naomi, about two years
ago, and my friends Rob and Carrie
invited us to a party on the beach.
Naomi couldn't go. She was working
on a paper for school. So I went. I
didn't really want to either. I
don't like parties. But I went. And
Clementine was there. In her orange
sweatshirt. And her hair. She was
really special.
Later.
JOEL
I mean, the whole thing with the
hair? It's all bullshit. And it's
sort of pathetic when you're thirty
and you're still doing that shit.
There's a noise, something's dropped. Joel looks over.
Patrick is in the corner of the room at a filing cabinet.
He's dropped some folders and he's bending down to pick
them up.
PATRICK
Sorry.
Patrick exits.
JOEL
So, um, I really liked her for some
reason, down there by the ocean. I
fall in love easily--
The room is starting to fade. Joel looks quizzically at the
eroding environment.
48 INT. LAB - DAY 48
Joel is now sitting in an examination chair. Stan draws a
blue dot on either side of his forehead.
As Mierzwiak talks, the room colors start to fade,
Mierzwiak's tone of voice is also affected; it becomes dry
and monotonous.
MIERZWIAK
42.
We'll start with your most recent
memories and go backwards -- more
or less. There is an emotional core
to each of our memories -- As we
eradicate this core, it starts its
degradation process -- By the time
you wake up in the morning, all
memories we've targeted will have
withered and disappeared. As in a
dream upon waking.
Joel watches Stan as he covers the blue dots with
electrodes.
JOEL
Is there any risk of brain damage?
MIERZWIAK
Well, technically, the procedure
itself is brain damage, but on a
par with a night of heavy drinking.
Nothing you'll miss.
49 INT. LACUNA LAB - DAY 49
Joel's outside himself watching himself in the chair. The
room is fading.
STANDING JOEL
(confused, disoriented)
Why am I -- I don't understand what
I'm looking at.
STAN
(turning to Standing
Joel)
Well, we're going to create a map
of your brain and --
STANDING JOEL
But how am I -- standing here and -
- Oh my God, deja vu! Deja vu!
(holding head)
This is so --
MIERZWIAK
So, let's get started -- If we want
to get the procedure underway
tonight, we have some work to do.
some work to do.
JOEL
43.
(to Mierzwiak)
I'm in my head already aren't I?
MIERZWIAK
(looking around at faded
room)
I suppose so, yes. This looks about
right. This is what it would look
like.
(back into memory)
Stan, if you will--
Stan pulls a snow globe from one of Joel's bags, shows it
to Joel.
STAN
Study this object, if you will.
Joel sees the equipment showing the map of his neural
connections getting more complex.
STAN
Very good.
Stan pulls out a potato dressed as a Vegas showgirl. Joel
studies it. The machines register his response.
MIERZWIAK JOEL
We'll dispose of these mementos
when we're done mementos when we're
done here. That way you won't be
here. That way you won't be
confused later by their confused
later by their unexplainable
presence in unexplainable presence
in your home. your home.
Stan pulls out a coffee mug with a photo of Clementine
printed on it. Joel looks at the cup. The machines record
his reaction.
STAN
Good. We're getting healthy
readouts.
The room, Stan, and Mierzwiak are now vague and wispy.
STAN'S VOICE
Patrick, do me a favor --
JOEL
(trying to remember)
44.
Patrick, Patrick, Patrick, Patrick,
Patrick--
PATRICK'S VOICE
Yeah, Stan?
Joel watches Stan. Stan is not speaking, yet his voice
continues.
STAN'S VOICE
Check the voltage levels. I'm not
wiping as clean as I would like
here.
Joel looks up. Stan's voice seems to be coming from above.
Joel looks past Stan.
Beyond him Joel sees a husky version of Mary leading him
down the hall; himself sitting in the waiting room; walking
down the block with his bags; collecting mementos in his
apartment. He screams.
50 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 50
Joel lies on his back in fresh pajamas. His eyes are closed
and electrodes connect his head to several machines. The
machines are operated by Stan, now in grubby street clothes
and in need of a shave, and by Patrick, dressed similarly.
The monitor on one of the machines traces a myriad of light
blips running like streams through an image of Joel's
brain.
Stan presses buttons and operates a joystick, aiming for
the lines. Patrick (who we saw earlier with Clementine at
the bookstore) studies a meter on one of the machines.
PATRICK
The voltage looks fine.
STAN
Then check the connections.
Patrick fiddles with some jacks.
PATRICK
Does that help?
STAN
Yeah, that looks better. Thanks.
45.
51 INT. LACUNA LAB ROOM - DAY 51
The memory is becoming vague, characters' affects flat.
Stan pulls out a pile of loose-leaf pages. Mierzwiak
smiles.
MIERZWIAK
Ah, your journal. This will be
invaluable.
STAN
(reading)
I met someone tonight. Oh, Christ.
I don't know what to do. Her name
is Clementine and she's amazing. So
alive and spontaneous and
passionate and sensitive. Things
with Naomi and I have been stagnant
for so long.
The scene is just a shell of itself as Stan rattles on.
STAN'S VOICE
I think we got this one. Let's push
on.
Standing Joel searches for the disembodied voices while
sitting Joel listens to Stan's monotonous reading.
PATRICK'S VOICE
So, this place is kind of a dump,
don't you think?
52 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 52
Patrick is checking out the apartment. Stan monitors the
equipment.
STAN
(uninterested)
It's an apartment.
PATRICK
Not a dump, then, but kind of
plain. Uninspired. And there's a
stale smell. Sort of stuffy. I
don't know. Eggy?
STAN
Patrick, let's just get through
this. We have a long night ahead of
us.
46.
PATRICK
Yeah.
Patrick returns to the bedside, focuses on the machines for
a moment. He glances at the unconscious Joel.
PATRICK
So who do you think is better-
looking, me or this guy?
Stan glances sideways at Patrick.
53 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 53
Joel sits in his dark, vague room and listens.
STAN'S VOICE
Listen, Mary's coming over tonight.
54 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 54
Stan works the joystick. Patrick sits on the bed with Joel.
PATRICK
Yeah?
STAN
Just wanted to let you know.
PATRICK
I like Mary. I like when she comes
to visit. I just don't think she
likes me.
STAN
She likes you okay.
PATRICK
I wonder if I should invite my
girlfriend over, too. I have a
girlfriend now.
STAN
You can if you want.
PATRICK
Did I tell you I have a new
girlfriend?
STAN
(re: memory on monitor)
47.
This one's history. Moving on--
PATRICK
The thing is -- my situation is a
little weird. My girlfriend
situation.
STAN
Patrick, we need to focus.
55 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 55
Joel distractedly reads a book, checks the clock, goes back
to the book. The door opens. He looks up. Clementine is
staggering in, drunk.
CLEMENTINE
Yo ho ho!
JOEL VOICE-OVER
It's three. Shit. The last time I
saw you.
CLEMENTINE
Anyhoo, sweetie, I done a bad
thing. I kinda sorta wrecked your
car--
JOEL
You're driving drunk. It's
pathetic.
CLEMENTINE
-- a little. I was a little tipsy.
Don't call me pathetic.
JOEL
Well it is pathetic. And fucking
irresponsible. You could've killed
somebody.
The scene is starting to degrade. The acting becomes
anemic.
JOEL
I don't know, maybe you did kill
somebody.
CLEMENTINE VOICE-OVER
48.
Oh Christ I didn't kill Right! She
called me an old anybody. It's just
a fucking lady here, too! And I
dent. You're like some old
remember, I said-- lady or
something.
JOEL
And what are you like? A wino?
CLEMENTINE
A wino? Jesus. Are you from the
fifties? A wino!
(laughs)
Face it, Joel. You're freaked out
because I was out late without you,
and in your little wormy brain,
you're trying to figure out, did
she fuck someone tonight?
JOEL
No, see, Clem, I assume you fucked
someone tonight. Isn't that how you
get people to like you?
This shuts Clementine up. She is stung and she starts
gathering up her belongings, which are strewn about the
apartment. Joel is immediately sorry he's said this. He
follows her around.
JOEL
I'm sorry. Okay? I didn't mean
that. I just-- I was just--
annoyed, I guess.
Clementine is out the door. Joel follows.
56 INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT 56
Joel looks for Clementine in the hallway, but she is gone.
57 EXT. JOEL'S STREET - NIGHT 57
Joel looks at his dented car slammed against a fire
hydrant, spots Clementine clomping off in the distance.
58 INT/EXT. JOEL'S CAR - NIGHT - CONTINUOUS 58
Joel drives to catch up to Clementine. He rolls down his
window to talk to her.
49.
JOEL
Let me drive you home.
CLEMENTINE
(without turning)
Fuck you, Joel. Faggot.
JOEL
(screaming)
Look at it out here. It's falling
apart. I'm erasing you. And I'm
happy.
She keeps clomping.
JOEL
You did it to me first. I can't
believe you did this to me.
He stops the car, gets out.
59 EXT. STREET - NIGHT 59
It's a street you might see in a dream, more an impression
of a quiet street than an actual one, with what little
detail there is obscured in darkness. In the distance
Clementine walks off, but as in an animated loop, she
doesn't get any farther away.
JOEL
(yelling after her)
By morning you'll be gone! Ha!
She keeps walking. Joel runs after her.
JOEL
You hear me? You'll be gone! A
perfect ending to this piece of
shit story!
He stops. He's in exactly the same place he was when he
started.
PATRICK'S VOICE
See, remember that girl? The one we
did last week? The one with the
potatoes?
Joel looks up, startled to hear a strange voice talking
about Clementine.
STAN'S VOICE
50.
Yeah, that's this guy's girlfriend.
Was.
60 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 60
Stan watches the screen. Patrick paces, fidgets, looks at
the unconscious Joel.
PATRICK
I gotta tell you something. I kind
of fell in love with her that
night.
STAN
She was unconscious, Patrick.
PATRICK
She was beautiful. So sweet and
funky and voluptuous. Crazy hair. I
kind of stole a pair of her
panties, is what.
STAN
Jesus, Patrick!
61 EXT. STREET - NIGHT 61
On the vague street, getting more vague by the second, Joel
listens to Patrick and Stan as he walks past the same
landmarks again and again. Clementine continues to walk
away in the distance.
PATRICK'S VOICE
I know. It's not like-- I mean,
they were clean and all.
STAN'S VOICE
Look, just don't tell me this
stuff. I don't want to know this
shit.
PATRICK'S VOICE
Yeah, okay.
STAN'S VOICE
We have work to do.
The scene fades completely away and Joel finds himself in -
-
51.
62 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 62
Joel and Clementine sit and eat dinner in front of the TV.
It's hard to make out what they're watching. They sit on
opposite ends of the couch. They look bored. The scene
quickly degenerates. The room fades.
PATRICK'S VOICE
Okay, but there's more.
Joel listens. Clementine doesn't seem to hear it.
PATRICK'S VOICE
After we did her, I went to where
she works and I asked her out.
JOEL
Jesus!
Joel looks over at the faded Clementine across the couch.
She stares straight ahead at the TV.
STAN'S VOICE
Patrick-- do you know how
unethical--
JOEL
There's some guy here who stole
your underwear.
CLEMENTINE
Where?
Joel points up. Clementine, bored, looks up at the ceiling.
CLEMENTINE
I don't see anyone.
Joel finds himself in --
63 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 63
Joel watches TV. He hears Clementine coming and stretches
himself out on the floor pretending to be dead. Clementine
walks by in her underwear, looks at the TV. She does not
acknowledge Joel on the floor as she slips into a skirt.
CLEMENTINE
How can you watch this crap? I'm
fucking crawling out of my skin.
52.
Joel opens his eyes and sits up, embarrassed. The scene
starts to fade. Clementine puts on her shoes and heads out
the door.
CLEMENTINE
I should have left you at that flea
market.
64 EXT. FLEA MARKET - DAY 64
Joel and Clementine walk around unhappily. They barely look
at the wares. Clementine watches parents with babies.
JOEL
(to Clementine)
Want to go?
CLEMENTINE
(wistful)
I want to have a baby.
JOEL
Let's talk about it later.
CLEMENTINE
No. I want to have a baby. I have
to have a baby.
JOEL
I don't think we're ready.
CLEMENTINE
You're not ready.
JOEL
Clementine, do you really think you
could take care of a kid?
She turns violently toward him, glaring.
CLEMENTINE
What?!
JOEL
(mumbly)
I don't want to talk about this
here.
CLEMENTINE
53.
I can't hear you! I can never the
fuck understand what you're saying.
Open your goddamn mouth when you
speak! Fucking ventriloquist.
JOEL
(over-enunciating)
I don't want to talk about this
here!
CLEMENTINE
We're fucking gonna talk about it!
Joel looks around. People are watching.
CLEMENTINE
You can't fucking say something
like that and say you don't want to
talk about it!
JOEL
Clem, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have -
-
CLEMENTINE
(screaming now and
weeping)
I'd make a fucking good mother! I
love children! I'm creative and
smart and I'd make a fucking great
mother! It's you! It's you who
can't commit to anything! You have
no idea how lucky you are I'm
interested in you!
The scene starts to fade. Clementine's rant continues but
becomes attenuated and vague.
JOEL
Oh, thank God. It's going.
CLEMENTINE
I don't even know why I am! I
should just end it right here,
Joel. Leave you at the flea market
with the stupid costume jewelry.
Maybe you could find a nice antique
rocking chair to die in!
She's crying still, but it's almost animatronic, no real
emotion in it. The scene is a husk.
JOEL
54.
It's going, Clementine. All the
crap and hurt and disappointment.
It's all being wiped away.
She looks up at him.
CLEMENTINE
I'm glad.
Their eyes lock. She is fading before his eyes.
JOEL
Me, too.
65 INT. BAR - NIGHT 65
Joel makes his way with two drinks from the crowded bar to
a table where Clementine sits with another guy. She looks
up from her conversation.
CLEMENTINE
Joel, this is Mark. He likes my
boobs. He came over special to tell
me that. Isn't that nice. He
doesn't think I'm fat.
The scene starts to fade. Mark rises.
MARK
I didn't know she was with someone,
buddy.
JOEL
I don't think she's aware of it
either, buddy.
CLEMENTINE
S'okay, Marky-Mark. Joel doesn't
like my boobs.
(stage whisper)
I don't think he likes girls.
The bar gets quiet and vague.
JOEL
You're drunk.
CLEMENTINE
You're a whiz kid. So perceptive,
so --
55.
Clementine keeps talking but there are no more intelligible
words, just a whisper -- like a breeze.
A doorbell buzzes. Joel looks around. The bartender, across
the silent, vaguely populated, bar speaks in a whisper.
BARTENDER
That's your doorbell, isn't it,
Joel?
66 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 66
Patrick opens the door. Mary stands there in a winter coat,
carrying a backpack.
MARY
(coolly)
Oh, hey, Patrick.
PATRICK
Hi, Mary. How's it going?
She walks in past him.
STAN
Hey, you.
Stan and Mary kiss. She looks down at Joel as she takes off
her coat.
MARY
It's freezing out.
STAN
You found us okay?
MARY
Yeah.
(re: Joel)
Poor guy.
Mary sees a cooler of beer in one of the Lacuna cases.
MARY
Is there anything real to drink?
STAN
We haven't checked.
MARY
56.
Well, allow me to do the honors.
It's fucking freezing and I need
something.
She heads into the kitchen. Stan turns back to monitor the
slivers of light.
PATRICK
Mary hates me. I've never been
popular with the ladies.
STAN
Maybe if you stopped stealing their
panties.
PATRICK
(guilty beat)
Okay, there's more, Stan --
Stan looks over at Patrick. Mary returns with a bottle of
scotch and two glasses.
MARY
Hey, hey.
She pours the whiskey.
MARY
Oh, Patrick, you didn't want any,
did you?
PATRICK
Nah, I don't know. That's okay.
Mary hands a glass to Stan. She holds hers up in a toast.
MARY
Blessed are the forgetful, for they
get the better even of their
blunders.
Mary and Stan click glasses.
MARY
Nietzsche. Beyond Good and Evil.
Found it in my Bartletts.
STAN
That's a good one.
MARY
Yeah, I can't wait to tell Howard!
57.
STAN
(a little sulky)
It's a good one all right.
PATRICK
What's your Bartlett's?
STAN
It's a quote book.
MARY
I love quotes. So did Winston
Churchill. He actually has a
quotation in Bartlett's about
Bartlett's. Isn't that trippy?
PATRICK
(trying to engage)
Yeah. Cool.
MARY
"The quotations when engraved upon
the memory give you good thoughts."
PATRICK
Trippy. It's like it turns in on
itself.
MARY
I like to read what smart people
say. So many beautiful things. The
human race is having this constant
conversation with itself. Y'know?
STAN
Yup.
MARY
Don't you think Howard's like that?
Just so smart?
STAN
(beat)
Yup.
PATRICK
Definitely!
MARY
I think he'll be in Bartlett's one
day.
58.
Stan focuses on his monitor. Mary pours herself another
drink.
PATRICK
Definitely. Howard is pure
Bartlett's.
67 INT. JOEL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 67
It's dark. Joel and Clementine are in bed. The memory is
already in the midst of being erased. Clementine is talking
in a monotonous, robotic manner. She sips tea from a coffee
mug with her photo on it.
CLEMENTINE
You don't tell me things, Joel. I'm
an open book. I tell you
everything. Every damn embarrassing
thing. You don't trust me.
JOEL
You don't have to be afraid of
silence, Clementine. Constantly
talking isn't necessarily
communicating.
CLEMENTINE
(takes this in)
I don't do that. I want to know
you. I don't constantly talk.
Jesus. People have to share things.
That's what intimacy is. I'm really
pissed that you said that to me.
JOEL
(backing off)
I'm sorry. I just don't have
anything very interesting about my
life.
CLEMENTINE
Joel, you're a liar. You're like
one of those locked room mysteries.
I want to read some of those
journals you're constantly
scribbling in.
(complete monotone)
What do you write in there if you
don't have any thoughts or fears or
passions or love?
The scene is faded now. The coffee mug is blank.
59.
68 INT. CHINESE RESTAURANT - NIGHT 68
Joel and Clementine eat dinner in silence. Joel looks
around at other couples in the restaurant. Some seem happy
and engaged. Others seem bored with each other. He turns
back to his food.
JOEL VOICE-OVER
How's the chicken? Is that like us?
Are we just bored with each other?
I can't stand the idea of being a
couple that people think that
about.
CLEMENTINE
Good.
He watches her as she downs her wine and pours herself
another glass. She holds the wine bottle up to Joel.
CLEMENTINE
More?
JOEL VOICE-OVER
No. Thanks. She's going to be drunk
and stupid now.
There's a silence.
CLEMENTINE
Hey, would you do me a favor and
clean the goddamn hair off the soap
when you're done in the shower?
JOEL
Oh. Yeah. Okay.
CLEMENTINE
It's really gross. It's just,
y'know, it's repulsive. Anyway--
They continue to eat in silence as the scene dissolves.
PATRICK'S VOICE
Hi, Clementine!
Joel looks around, surprised.
JOEL
Someone you know?
Clementine doesn't respond, she continues to eat
robotically.
60.
PATRICK'S VOICE
Why, Clem-ato, what's wrong?
Joel looks over and sees:
69 INT. BARNES AND NOBLE BOOKSTORE - NIGHT 69
A decayed version of Barnes and Noble. Joel, at the Chinese
restaurant with Clementine, now inside Barnes and Noble,
watches himself talking to a Clementine with magenta hair.
The scene plays out as if dead. Patrick approaches her from
behind. Seated Joel tries to see Patrick's face but it is
in shadows.
PATRICK
Hey, Clem-ato!
CLEMENTINE
Patrick! Baby boy!
They kiss. Joel from the restaurant walks over to try to
get a closer look at Patrick. No matter how close he gets,
Patrick's face doesn't get any more detail in it.
70 INT. CHINESE RESTAURANT - NIGHT 70
Back in the Chinese restaurant, Joel listens to Patrick's
voice.
PATRICK'S VOICE
-- Oh, I'm sorry. -- Well, I'm not
sure I should come over right now,
I kind of have to study for my test
--
71 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 71
Patrick is on the phone next to Joel's bed. Stan watches
the lights on the computer screen.
PATRICK
Hold on. Let me ask my study
partner.
(covering mouthpiece)
Stan, can I leave for a little
while? My girlfriend is very --
STAN
Patrick, we're in the middle of --
61.
PATRICK
She's right in the neighborhood.
She's upset.
(trying for camaraderie)
Women.
Mary is in the kitchen. She pokes her head out. She's got
some pie on a plate.
MARY
Let him go, Stan. I can help.
STAN
(sighing, to Patrick)
Go.
PATRICK
(quietly)
Mary hates me. She wants me to go.
(into phone)
I'll be right over, Tangerine.
Joel, unconscious on the bed, jerks.
72 INT. VOID - DAY 72
Slowly, a fluorescent orange sweatshirt comes into being.
It gets filled by Clementine, who now has orange hair and
is modeling the sweatshirt for Joel in his living room,
which comes into focus around them.
CLEMENTINE
You like? I matched my sweatshirt
exactly.
She twirls.
JOEL
I like it. You look like a
tangerine.
CLEMENTINE
Clementine the tangerine, I like
that.
JOEL
How did he know to call you that?
CLEMENTINE
How did who know?
Joel looks at Clementine, something's beginning to click.
62.
JOEL
Oh, God--
Clementine is now on her side on the floor and Joel is next
to her. The room becomes --
73 INT. CLEMENTINE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 73
Candles are lit. Joel and Clementine are under a blanket on
the living room rug listening to music.
CLEMENTINE
Joely--
JOEL
Yeah, Tangerine?
CLEMENTINE
Do you know The Velveteen Rabbit?
JOEL
No.
CLEMENTINE
It's my favorite book. Since I was
a kid. It's about these toys.
There's this part where the Skin
Horse tells the Rabbit what it
means to be real.
(crying, then laughing at
herself)
I can't believe I'm crying already.
(reading from a worn copy
of the book)
He says, "It takes a long time.
That's why it doesn't often happen
to people who break easily or have
sharp edges, or who have to be
carefully kept. Generally by the
time you are Real, most of your
hair has been loved off, and your
eyes drop out and you get loose in
the joints and very shabby. But
these things don't matter at all,
because once you are Real you can't
be ugly, except to people who don't
understand."
She's weeping. Joel is stroking her hair. They kiss and
begin to make love under the blanket. It's sweet and gentle
and then it starts to fade.
63.
JOEL
(screaming)
Mierzwiak! Mierzwiak!
He looks down and Clementine's tear-streaked face is
fading.
She continues as if she's still being made love to, even
though Joel is completely beside himself. He jumps up naked
and yells at the ceiling.
JOEL
Please! Please! I've changed my
mind!
(looks down at fading
Clementine, then at
ceiling)
I don't want this. Wake me up! Stop
the procedure! Plea --
74 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 74
Joel is unconscious on the bed, completely still. Mary and
Stan watch the monitor and smoke a joint. After a silence:
MARY
It's amazing, isn't it? Such a gift
Howard is giving the world.
STAN
(a sigh)
Yeah.
MARY
To let people begin again. It's
beautiful. You look at a baby and
it's so fresh, so clean, so free.
Adults... they're like this mess of
anger and phobias and sadness...
hopelessness. And Howard just makes
it go away.
STAN
You, um, love him, don't you?
Mary seems surprised, taken aback, caught. She is silent
for a long moment.
MARY
No.
(beat)
64.
Besides, Howard's married, Stan.
He's a very serious and ethical
man. I'm not going to tempt him to
betray all he believes in.
STAN
That's cool.
Stan takes another drag on the joint, passes it to Mary.
75 EXT. CLEMENTINE'S STREET - NIGHT 75
Patrick, bundled up and carrying a full backpack, trudges
down the block.
76 INT. CLEMENTINE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 76
CONTINUOUS: Clementine watches out the window as Patrick
nears. She's crying. He makes his way up her front stairs.
She swings open the door and hugs him.
PATRICK
Oh, baby, what's going on?
CLEMENTINE
I don't know. I'm lost. I'm scared.
I feel like I'm disappearing. I'm
getting old and nothing makes any
sense to me.
PATRICK
Oh, Tangerine.
CLEMENTINE
Nothing makes any sense. Nothing
makes any sense.
She pushes herself out of the embrace and looks at Patrick.
CLEMENTINE
Come up to Boston with me?
PATRICK
Sure. We'll go next weekend and --
CLEMENTINE
Now. Now! I have to go now. I have
to see the frozen Charles! Now!
Tonight!
65.
PATRICK
(beat)
I'll call my study partner.
CLEMENTINE
Yay! It'll be great! I'll get my
shit.
She runs into the bedroom. Patrick is at the phone and
realizes he doesn't know Joel's number. After a moment's
thought, he *69's. The phone rings.
JOEL'S VOICE
Hi, it's Joel. Please leave a
message after the beep.
Beep.
PATRICK
(whisper)
Stan, it's Patrick. Pick up.
STAN'S VOICE
Hey, where are you?
PATRICK
I got into a situation with the old
lady. Can you handle things tonight
alone? I'm really sorry, man.
77 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS 77
Stan is on the phone. He's really stoned and watches Mary,
stoned herself, dancing in a sexy trance to something soft
and low on the stereo.
STAN
I can handle it. He's pretty much
on auto-pilot anyway.
78 INT. CLEMENTINE'S APARTMENT - DAY 78
PATRICK
Thanks, Stan. I owe you big time.
Patrick hangs up, rifles quickly through his backpack. He
pulls out the red gift-wrapped box Joel was going to give
Clementine for Valentine's Day, puts it in his pocket, then
pulls out a bunch of letters, flips through them, keeping
an eye on the bedroom door. He finds what he's looking for.
The handwriting is a woman's. He reads:
66.
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
Dear, dear Joel: Thank you so much
for joining me on the Charles River
last night. I know how nervous you
were about stepping onto the ice,
but that you overcame your fear
just to please me is so fucking
sweet I could eat you. I will! --
When we watched the stars on our
backs and you took my hand and
said, "I could--
79 EXT. CHARLES RIVER - NIGHT 79
Joel and Clementine lie together holding hands on the
frozen river. They look up at the stars.
JOEL
-- die right now, Clem. I'm just--
happy. I've never felt that before.
I'm just exactly where I want to
be.
Clementine looks over at him. Her eyes are filled with love
and tears. Then they get vague, clouded-over. The scene is
being erased. Joel is panicked.
JOEL
Clem, no! Please! Oh, fuck! Please!
(screaming at the fading
crumbling night sky)
Can you hear me? I want to call it
off! I'll give you a sign! I'll
give you a sign!
Joel scrunches his face, focuses intently, shakes with
concentration.
80 INT. JOEL'S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS 80
Joel's eyes roll almost imperceptibly. Stan and Mary are
dancing together now, not watching him.
81 EXT. CHARLES RIVER - CONTINUOUS 81
Crazily, Joel grabs the fading Clementine's hand and runs
toward shore. The slow dance music from Stan and Mary's
scene drifts through the night. Joel and Clementine run
through a series of decayed scenes:
67.
We see snippets, details: Joel and Clementine in front of a
diorama in the Natural History Museum, Joel and Clementine
arguing in a car, having sex on the hall stairs of
Clementine's apartment building, laughing and holding hands
at a movie, eating grilled cheese and tomato soup together
in bed, Joel watching her sleep, listening to Rain Dogs
together, drinking at a bar, Joel and Clementine playing a
board game with Rob and Carrie.
Joel arrives at a decayed version of his first meeting with
Mierzwiak. Still desperately clutching Clementine's hand,
he yells to Mierzwiak.
JOEL
Please!
Joel turns to look at Clementine. It's no longer her. He is
holding the hand of some woman he's never seen before. He
drops her hand with a panicked yelp. And runs into the
decayed Lacuna office.
82 INT. LACUNA MIERZWIAK'S OFFICE - NIGHT 82
Faded Joel sits across from Mierzwiak. A tape recorder
between them.
MIERZWIAK
Why don't you start now by telling
me everything you can remember
about --
JOEL
You have to stop this!
MIERZWIAK
What? What do you mean?
JOEL
I don't know! You're erasing her
from me! You erased me from her! I
don't know! You got a thing-- I'm
in my bed! I know it. I'm in my
brain! You're erasing Clementine!
Right? I love her! But I won't when
I wake up -- right? I won't know
her, so-- please, just leave me
alone! Please.
MIERZWIAK
68.
Yes, but-- I'm just something
you're imagining, Joel. What can I
do from here? I'm in your head,
too. I'm you.
Mierzwiak goes back to talking to the faded Joel in the
scene.
JOEL
Look! That guy!
Joel sees a shadowy Patrick down the hall watching them.
MIERZWIAK
He works here.
(oddly drawn out)
That's Paaaaa-trick. Baaaby-boy.
JOEL
He's stealing my identity. He stole
my stuff. He's seducing my girl
with my words and my things. He
stole her panties! Jesus! Her
panties!
Joel runs from the office.
83 INT. HALL - NIGHT 83
Joel runs toward the shadowy Patrick, who just stands
there.
But Joel doesn't get any closer.
84 INT. CLEMENTINE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 84
Patrick reads the letter.
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
-- and when we made love right on
the ice it was absolutely freezing
on my ass! I just have to tell you
that. It was wonderful.
Clementine enters, dressed for the cold. Patrick puts the
letter away.
CLEMENTINE
I'm so excited. Yay!
PATRICK
69.
I'm excited, too. Oh, and I wanted
to give you this. It's a little--
thing. Happy Early Valentine's Day.
Patrick pulls the box from his pocket, hands it to her.
CLEMENTINE
Wow. What is it?
PATRICK
I don't know! Open it up!
Clementine pulls the wrapping, opens the box, pulls out the
necklace Joel bought for her earlier.
CLEMENTINE
(slipping it on)
Oh! It's gorgeous.
(kisses him)
Just my taste. I've never gone out
with a guy who bought me a piece of
jewelry I liked.
(kisses him)
Thank you so much!
85 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 85
Stan and Mary have sex on the floor next to Joel's bed.
86 EXT. FOREST - DAY 86
A wide shot of the trees in springtime. Joel and Clementine
are hiking, Clementine in front. The sounds of Stan and
Mary's sex play inconspicuously in the distance. As we move
into close-up the forest seems wintry and dead.
CLEMENTINE
Such a beautiful view.
JOEL
(looking at her)
Yes.
(snapping out of memory)
Shit! They're erasing you, Clem!
CLEMENTINE
Oh, look at the flowers! What are
those, tulips? I don't know fuck
about flowers.
JOEL
70.
Focus! I hired them. I'm sorry. I'm
so stupid! I'm --
CLEMENTINE
Calm down, sweetie. Enjoy the
scenery.
JOEL
I need it to stop, before I wake up
and don't know you anymore.
CLEMENTINE
Okay, well, y'know, just tell them
to cancel it then.
JOEL
What the hell are you talking
about? I can't cancel it. I'm
asleep.
She sits on a rock and looks out at the vista. Joel sits
next to her. He holds her hand. She has a thought.
CLEMENTINE
(cheerfully shaking him)
Just wake yourself up!
JOEL
Stop it. I took some pill. I can't
just --
CLEMENTINE
Joel, you're always so negative.
Just try. You never try anything.
Remember all the times I tried to
get you to taste sour cream and you
wouldn't? Remember? Then you tasted
it and you loved it.
(shakes him again)
I rest my case.
JOEL
Okay, fine. You want me to try?
Will that make you happy? Look,
trying--
Joel concentrates, pulls open his eyes with his fingers.
Suddenly the sky changes to --
87 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 87
71.
For a brief moment we are looking through Joel's eyes at
the apartment ceiling. The night table lamp and some Lacuna
electronic equipment are in our field of vision. There are
vague sounds of sex.
88 EXT. FOREST - DAY 88
The sky is once again the sky. Joel is flipped out.
JOEL
It worked. For a second. But I
couldn't keep my eyes open. I
couldn't move. It wasn't going to
work. I don't even think anyone's
there. It must be done robotically
or something.
CLEMENTINE
Well, isn't that just another one
of Joel's self-fulfilling
prophecies. It's more important to
prove me wrong than to actually --
JOEL
Look, I don't want to have this
discussion right now. Y'know? It
didn't work.
CLEMENTINE
Well, it did work.
JOEL
Fine, but I couldn't do anything
once I was there.
CLEMENTINE
Fine. Then what? I'm listening.
JOEL
I don't know!
(blurting angrily)
You did it, too! You erased me
first. It's the only reason I'm
doing it.
CLEMENTINE
I'm sorry. You know me. I'm
impulsive.
He stares at her a long time, softens.
JOEL
72.
It's what I love about you.
The memory and Clementine are fading around him. Even
though the sky is clear, Joel hears the sound of rain. He
looks over and sees a window hanging in midair.
JOEL'S VOICE
That day--
It's raining outside the window.
89 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - DAY 89
It's raining out. Joel and Clementine are lying huddled on
the couch. They are reading a book together. It's The Red
Right Hand by Joel Townsley Rogers. Joel finishes the page
first. Clementine, in panties and bra, reads slowly, uses
her finger.
JOEL
Done?
CLEMENTINE
Nope.
JOEL
Poke. Pokey. Pokemon. Pocahontas.
Joel looks out the window at the rain. He feels her skin
against him. He looks at her bare legs, her crotch, her
feet in bulky socks.
VOICE-OVER JOEL
She's so sexy. I loved you on this
day. I love this memory. The rain.
Us just hanging.
Clementine looks over at him, smiles.
CLEMENTINE
Done. This book is weird. But cool.
Joel turns the page. They read.
CLEMENTINE
(furrowing brow)
So I have an idea.
JOEL
Does it involve fucking?
CLEMENTINE
73.
Seriously. I have another idea for
this thing, this problem. Like,
okay, suppose you want to keep me
from being erased, right? So, like,
if you have memories of me, that's
where these eraser-guys go, right?
JOEL
I assume. I don't know.
CLEMENTINE
(formulating)
I mean, here. This is a memory of
me. The way you wanted to fuck on
the couch after you looked down at
my crotch.
JOEL
(embarrassed)
Yeah.
CLEMENTINE
Well then they're coming here. So
what if you take me somewhere else,
somewhere where I don't belong?
(proud)
And we hide there till morning.
JOEL
No. That's stu --
(considering)
Well, maybe it's not bad.
CLEMENTINE
It's fucking great. I'm a genius!
The scene and Clementine are beginning to dissolve. Joel
looks around, horrified. He focuses on the rainy window. It
starts to rain in the room. Then:
Fragments of memory: rainy sidewalk with earthworms on it,
a little hand picks up a worm; a puddle with raindrops
falling in it; a broken rain gutter spouting water, kids
feet in yellow rubber rain boots; a young Joel giggling and
running under an overhang for protection from a sudden
rainstorm.
90 INT. DATED KITCHEN - DAY 90
Four year old Joel runs and hides under the kitchen table.
74.
Joel watches his mother at the stove stirring a saucepan
and talking to a neighbor woman also in period clothes. The
neighbor has Clementine's face, but is completely engaged
in
conversation with the mother. We can't make out what
they're saying. Joel draws a picture in crayon on the
bottom of the table top. Joel's mother excuses herself and
leaves the room.
Clementine looks around, spots Joel under the table. She
approaches, bends down to his level.
CLEMENTINE
Jesus, it worked.
(checking herself out)
I love this dress, man. Wish I
could take it with me. Who am I?
JOEL
Mrs. Hamlyn. I must be about four.
(oddly)
I want my mommy. She's busy. She's
not looking at me. No one ever
looks at me!
(beat)
I want my mommy!
CLEMENTINE
(giggling)
This is sort of warped.
Joel starts to cry. Clementine tries to comfort him. She
hugs him.
CLEMENTINE
It's okay, Baby Joel.
JOEL
(crying still)
I want mommy.
(adult, to Clementine)
I don't want to lose you, Clem.
CLEMENTINE
I'm right here.
JOEL
I'm scared. I want my mommy. I
don't want to lose you. I don't
want to lose--
CLEMENTINE
75.
Joel, Joely, look-- it's not
fading. The memory. I think we're
hidden. Look, honey, my crotch is
still here just as you remember it.
She lifts her skirt to reveal the underwear from the
previous scene. Joel looks, sucks in some snot. His mother
hurries back in. The room is not decaying. Joel smiles.
91 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 91
Stan and Mary lie on the floor, their stoned minds
wandering after sex. Stan suddenly perks up. He looks at
the monitor.
STAN
It's stopped.
MARY
What?
STAN
Listen, it's not erasing.
He makes his way, naked, to the computer screen.
STAN
It's not erasing. He's off the
screen.
MARY
Where?
STAN
I don't know!
Stan tries to break through his marijuana haze. He fiddles
nervously with the equipment.
STAN
I don't know what to do! I don't
know what to do! Crap. Crap--
MARY
Well, what should we do?
(STAN
I don't know! I just said that!
MARY
Sor-ry.
(beat, stoned)
76.
So, what should we do? Oh, sorry.
But we have to do something. He
can't wake up half-done. All gooey
and unbaked inside. Hey, that
sounds good. I'm hungry.
Mary giggles.
STAN
Shit!
He jerks the joystick spastically. Mary, also naked, gets
up and looks over his shoulder at the screen.
MARY
(definitively)
We need to call Howard.
Stan turns and looks at her. He's stoned and trying to
understand her motivation.
STAN
No, sir. I can handle this.
MARY
This guy's a half-baked cookie.
There's no time to fuck around,
Stan!
Stan tries to think. He paces. Mary watches him. Finally:
STAN
(without making eye
contact)
Okay.
(dials the phone, waits)
Hello, Howard?
92 INT. MIERZWIAK'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 92
CONTINUOUS: The room is dark. A groggy Mierzwiak is in bed
on the phone. His wife lies beside him, eyes open,
listening.
MIERZWIAK
Stan? What's going on?
STAN'S VOICE
The guy we're doing? He's
disappeared from the map. I can't
find him anywhere.
77.
MIERZWIAK
Okay, stay calm. What happened
right before he disappeared?
STAN'S VOICE
I was away from the monitor for a
second. I had it on automatic. I
had to go pee.
MIERZWIAK
Well, where was Patrick?
STAN'S VOICE
He went home sick.
MIERZWIAK
Jesus. All right, what's the
address.
STAN'S VOICE
159 South Village. Apartment 1E,
Rockville Center.
Mierzwiak writes it down on a bedside note pad. He hangs
up.
93 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 93
Stan hangs up the phone, looks for Mary. She's in the
kitchen eating some cookies.
MARY
He's coming?
STAN
You better go.
MARY
Hell no.
She tromps into the living room, starts getting dressed.
MARY
Shit, I'm so stoned. I don't want
him to see me stoned. Stop being
stoned, Mary!
She hurries into the bathroom with her bag.
MARY (O.C.)
God, I look like shit! God!
78.
Mary slams the bathroom door. Stan puts his head in his
hands.
94 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 94
Joel and Clementine are under the table having sex. Joel's
mother reaches down as she hurries by and pats Joel on the
head. Startled, Joel pulls off of Clementine.
MOTHER
How's my baby boy?
JOEL
I really want her to pick me up.
It's weird how strong that desire
is.
Clementine holds his hand. He looks over at her.
CLEMENTINE
(very focused)
You'll remember me in the morning.
And you'll come to me and tell me
about us and we'll start over.
JOEL
I loved you so much this day. It
was raining. On my couch in your
panties. I remember I thought, how
impossibly lucky am I to have you
on my couch in your panties.
She kisses him.
JOEL
You smelled so good, like you just
woke up, slightly sweaty. And I
said something like --
CLEMENTINE
-- another rainy day. Whatever
shall we do?
He laughs. They begin to make love again. Joel's mother
hurries around the kitchen. Joel stops, looks at
Clementine.
JOEL
This Patrick guy is copying me!
CLEMENTINE
What Patrick guy?
79.
JOEL
He's here. In my apartment.
(pointing up)
He's one of the eraser guys, okay?
And he fell for you when they were
doing you. So he introduced himself
the next day as if he were a
stranger and now you're dating him.
CLEMENTINE
Really? Is he cute?
JOEL
He stole a pair of your panties!
CLEMENTINE
Gross! You've got to tell me this
in the morning. Don't forget! Okay?
JOEL
And I think using the stuff I said
in my session to seduce you.
CLEMENTINE
I'm, like, so absolutely freaked
out now.
(beat)
Which pair?
95 INT/EXT. CLEMENTINE'S CAR - NIGHT 95
It's a rust bucket. Clementine drives. She's crying and
holding Patrick's hand.
CLEMENTINE
What's wrong with me?
PATRICK
Nothing is wrong with you. You're
the most wonderful person I've ever
met. You're kind and beautiful and
smart and funny and nice and pretty
and, um, --
She glances gratefully at him then starts to cry even
harder.
Patrick is over his head.
96 INT. JOEL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 96
80.
Stan works on trying to get the signal back. His hair is
combed and he's dressed neatly, looking professional but
still stoned. Mary is pacing nervously to and from the
window, looking out into the light. She's dressed also, and
she's wearing more make-up now. Her hair is pulled up into
some sort of style. The intercom buzzes.
MARY
There he is. Oh my God. Oh my God.
Do I look okay?
Stan doesn't say anything.
MARY
I'm still stoned. Are you? Crap.
She looks in the mirror.
MARY
(to Joel)
Your prescription eye drops didn't
do shit, fella.
The doorbell buzzes. Mary lunges for the door, then calms
herself before opening it. Mierzwiak, holding an equipment
bag, looks surprised.
MIERZWIAK
Mary. What are you doing here?
STAN
She came to help, Howard.
MARY
I wanted to learn as much about the
procedure as possible, Howard. I
think it's important for my job--
to understand the inner workings of
the-- work-- we do. Well, not me,
but the work that is done by others
where I also work. The work of my
colleagues. You know?
Mierzwiak looks from Mary to Stan, nods, and enters. Mary
closes the door. Mierzwiak crosses to the equipment.
MIERZWIAK
Let's get to the bottom of this.
Shall we?
He sits down in front of the computer and does some
fiddling.
81.
MIERZWIAK
Odd.
He fiddles some more. Mary looks on, fascinated.
STAN
I tried that already.
MIERZWIAK
Did you try going in through C-
Gate?
STAN
Yeah, of course. I mean, yes.
Mierzwiak ponders. He unzips his equipment bag, pulls out
another laptop computer and plugs it into the system.
MIERZWIAK
I'm going to do a search through
his entire memory, see if anything
comes up.
Mierzwiak presses some more buttons. The program starts up.
A much more complex and detailed human brain appears on
this screen. It rotates. Eventually Mierzwiak sees a small
distant light in the brain. He zeroes in on it.
MIERZWIAK
Okay, here it is. I don't know why
it's off the map like that, but --
97 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 97
Joel is being bathed in the oversized sink by his mother.
Clementine sits in the water with him, laughing. The mother
doesn't seem to see her.
MOTHER
Little baby getting awwwwl clean.
Awl clean.
JOEL
(to Clementine)
I love getting bathed in the sink.
It's such a feeling of security.
CLEMENTINE
(giggling)
I've never seen you happier, Baby
Joel.
82.
JOEL
Look, it's my Huckleberry Hound
doll! I told you about that,
remember?
Clementine looks over.
CLEMENTINE
Where?
The doll can be seen now on the counter, an undefined lump
of blue synthetic fur.
JOEL
(distraught)
Oh! It's going! Oh!
As he tries to lunge for it, the elements of the scene
flash explosively away: Joel's mother, his Huckleberry
Hound doll, the details of the kitchen, Clementine. Joel,
alone, starts to slip and drown in the sink. He gasps and
then:
98 INT/EXT. JOEL'S CAR - NIGHT 98
He sits with Clementine in the parked car, outside a drive-
in movie theater. The movie on the giant screen is
partially obscured by a fence. Joel and Clementine drink
wine.
99 INT. JOEL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 99
Mierzwiak looks up from the computer screen.
MIERZWIAK
Okay, we're back in.
MARY
That was beautiful to watch,
Howard. Like a surgeon or a concert
pianist.
MIERZWIAK
Well, thank you, Mary.
STAN
(sighing)
You get some sleep, Howard. I'll be
fine here.
MIERZWIAK
83.
Yeah, probably a good idea. I'm an
old man, guys. An old, cranky man.
MARY
Oh, nonsense.
She giggles and then is suddenly stoned and self-conscious.
100 INT. JOEL'S CAR - NIGHT 100
Clementine and Joel laugh as they try to give voice to what
the characters on the drive-in screen are saying.
CLEMENTINE
Can't you see-- I love you,
Antoine.
JOEL
Don't call me Antoine. The name's
Wally.
CLEMENTINE
Yes, but who could love a man named
Wally?
She starts to fade. Joel looks confused. The scene starts
to fade.
JOEL
(remembering)
Oh!
CLEMENTINE
Shhh! I want to watch the movie!
JOEL
Clem, think! They'll find you here.
He looks over and she's gone.
101 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 101
Mierzwiak watches a blip disappear from the screen.
MIERZWIAK
Got it.
102 INT/EXT. JOEL'S CAR - NIGHT 102
84.
Joel lunges and desperately hugs the air where Clementine
was.
JOEL
Tangerine.
She reappears in her arms, seemingly willed back into
existence.
103 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 103
Mierzwiak and Stan watch the blip reappear on the screen.
MIERZWIAK
Odd. It popped back.
Mierzwiak fiddles with some controls.
104 INT/EXT. JOEL'S CAR - NIGHT 104
Joel pushes open the door and pulls Clementine out of the
car. They run off. Joel never lets go of his tight grip on
her.
JOEL
(looking back and seeing
that the car is gone)
Shit!
The sky turns into --
105 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 105
We see the ceiling from Joel's POV. Howard, Stan, and Mary
hover over Joel at the edges of the frame.
MIERZWIAK
His eyes are open. Has that
happened before with him?
STAN
No.
MIERZWIAK
This is no good. Here. Give him
this.
We see a brief flash of a hypodermic passing over Joel's
face and we are back in --
85.
106 INT/EXT. JOEL'S CAR - NIGHT 106
Joel is thrust back into the world of his memory.
JOEL
(LOOKS AT FADING
CLEMENTINE)
Shit!
He stops, tries to figure out which way to go.
CLEMENTINE
Hide me somewhere deeper? Somewhere
really buried? Joel, hide me in
your humiliation.
He looks at her. Then, holding her close, runs through
already dark, decayed memories of their time together.
107 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 107
Mierzwiak and Stan watch a trail of light on the monitor.
Mierzwiak glides after it, erasing its wake.
STAN
It doesn't make any sense. He's in
memories I already erased.
MIERZWIAK
Well, at least we know where he is
and we're back on track. Right?
108 EXT. STREET - NIGHT 108
Joel drags Clementine through decayed New York Streets. He
sees a silhouette of himself hauling two garbage bags to
Lacuna, almost getting hit by a UPS truck.
JOEL
Humiliation. Humiliation.
Humiliation.
CLEMENTINE
Think!
109 INT. JOEL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 109
Stan is back at the controls. Unconscious Joel's face
screws up slightly. Mierzwiak's at the door with Mary.
86.
STAN
Wait, Howard, they've disappeared
again.
MIERZWIAK
Oh dear.
MARY
I'm so sorry, Howard. You must be
exhausted.
He nods distractedly. She smiles to herself as he heads
back to the equipment.
110 INT. BLACK VOID - NIGHT 110
Joel and Clementine crouch in murky blackness.
JOEL
(under his breath)
Humiliation, humiliation, humil --
111 INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT 111
It's dark. Joel, junior high school size, is in bed
masturbating. He has a flashlight trained on a comic book
he has been drawing which seems to be getting increasingly
pornographic as it progresses. Clementine is there, too,
slightly faded.
JOEL
-- iation.
CLEMENTINE
(mock offended)
Joel!
JOEL
(continuing to
masturbate)
I don't like it either, I'm just
trying to find horrible secret
places to --
Joel's mother pops her head in the door.
MOTHER
Joel, I was just --
(sees what's going on)
Oh. Um-- I'll ask you in the
morning, honey. Good night.
87.
The mother backs out, closes the door. Joel cringes.
Clementine laughs. Suddenly the walls of the room are gone
and the bed is on the beach. Clementine glances up.
CLEMENTINE
Look. Look where we are.
112 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 112
Mierzwiak is at the machines.
MIERZWIAK
Okay, we got him back on track.
Stan, I think I'm just going to
have to get through this manually.
We're running late.
113 EXT. BEACH - DAY 113
It's cold. Joel and Clementine walk, all bundled up. She
points at a house up the beach.
CLEMENTINE
Our house! Our house!
She runs ahead, laughing. The scene is decaying. Joel
chases after her.
JOEL
C'mon!
The house is gone. Joel grabs Clementine's arm and yanks.
114 INT. JOEL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 114
Joel lies on his back. Clementine sits over him holding a
pillow. They are both laughing.
CLEMENTINE
Okay, ready? Again?
He stops laughing, nods seriously. She puts the pillow over
his face and holds it down hard. Joel struggles and
screams, muffled by the pillow. Suddenly he goes limp.
Clementine pulls the pillow off his face and looks
horrified.
CLEMENTINE
88.
Joel! Joel? Are you okay? Joel! Oh
my God. Oh my God!
She shakes him dramatically. He remains limp for a moment,
then starts to laugh.
CLEMENTINE
That was terrible! That was like
three seconds.
JOEL
(trying to stop laughing)
Okay, okay, let me try again.
CLEMENTINE
All right, once more. Then I get to
go.
He watches her start to fade.
JOEL
Oh, Clem! Don't!
He closes his eyes. The room becomes:
115 EXT. JOEL'S CHILDHOOD SUBURBAN STREET - DAY 115
Joel is one of a group of five year olds. He holds a hammer
and is poised to hit a dead bird in a red wagon. The other
boys are goading him. Clementine, now the little girl with
the puppy we saw in the photograph earlier, watches with
the other kids.
BOYS
C'mon, Joel, you have to. Do it
already.
Joel doesn't want to.
JOEL VOICE-OVER
I can't. I have to go home. I
didn't want to do this. I'll do it
later. But I had to or they
would've called me a girl.
Joel miserably smashes the bird repeatedly with the hammer.
Red jelly guts cover the hammer and the wagon bottom. The
kids hoot.
VOICE-OVER
89.
I can't believe I did that. I'm so
ashamed.
A live bird watches from a tree. Clementine pulls Joel away
from the other boys. The two of them walk down Joel's
suburban street.
CLEMENTINE
It's okay. You were a little kid.
She kisses him and they walk holding hands.
JOEL
God, I wish I knew you when we were
kids. My life would've turned out
so differently.
(pointing to a house)
That's where I live. Lived.
She lays down on the front lawn of the childhood house.
CLEMENTINE
It's my turn, sweetie.
She hands him a pillow. He smiles and puts it over her
face.
She struggles, then acts dead. After a long moment of no
reaction from Clementine, Joel pulls the pillow from her
face. She is gone. His childhood house is crumbling.
116 INT. JOEL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 116
Mierzwiak works the equipment. He has located a small area
of light in the brain imaging and eradicates it.
MIERZWIAK
I'm getting the hang of it. I still
don't understand it. But I am
finding him quickly enough. I'm
hopeful there won't be too much
collateral eradication.
Mary sits on the bed.
MARY
(a little giggly)
I like watching you work.
Stan grabs his coat.
STAN
90.
I'll go out for a smoke. If no one
minds. I mean, it seems like
everything is under control here.
MIERZWIAK
(not looking up)
That's fine, Stan.
Mary doesn't say anything. Stan huffs and is out the door.
Mierzwiak continues to find and erase points of light. Mary
gets up her courage to speak.
MARY
Do you like quotes, Howard?
MIERZWIAK
How do you mean?
MARY
Oh, um, like famous quotes. I find
reading them inspirational to me.
And in my reading I've come across
some I thought you might like, too.
MIERZWIAK
Oh. Well, I'd love to hear some.
Mary is thrilled, beside herself. She tries to calm down.
MARY
Okay, um, there's one that goes
"Blessed are the forgetful, for
they get the better even of their
blunders."
MIERZWIAK
Is that Nietzsche?
MARY
Yeah, yeah it is, Howard. And here
I was thinking I could tell you
something you didn't know.
MIERZWIAK
It's a good quote, Mary. I'm glad
we both know it.
He smiles at her. She's flustered, flattered.
MARY
(sputtering)
91.
There's another one I like, I read.
It's by Pope Alexander.
MIERZWIAK
Alexander Pope?
MARY
Yes, shit. Oops, sorry!
(puts hand over mouth)
Sorry. It's just I told myself I
wasn't going to say Pope Alexander
and sound like a dope and then I go
ahead and do it. Like a psyched
myself out into saying it wrong.
MIERZWIAK
It's no big deal.
MARY
You are such a sweetheart.
There's an embarrassed moment as that line hangs in the
air.
Then Mary plunges ahead to bury it.
MARY
The quote goes "How happy is the
blameless Vestal's lot! The world
forgetting, by the world forgot:
Eternal sunshine of the spotless
mind! Each prayer accepted, and
each wish resign'd."
She smiles, proud and embarrassed.
MIERZWIAK
I didn't know that one. And it's
lovely.
MARY
Really? I thought it was
appropriate, maybe. That's all.
(beat, then quickly)
I really admire the work that you
do. I know it's not proper to be so
familiar but I guess since we're
outside the workplace I feel a
certain liberty to --
MIERZWIAK
It's fine, Mary. I'm happy to hear
it.
92.
MARY
Okay. Good. Great. Thanks.
(blurting)
I like you, Howard-- an awful lot.
Is that terrible?
Mierzwiak seems momentarily taken aback, then returns to
his unflappable self.
MIERZWIAK
You're a wonderful girl, Mary.
She leans over and kisses him, then pulls away quickly.
MARY
I've loved you for a very long
time. I'm sorry! I shouldn't have
said that.
MIERZWIAK
I've got a wife, Mary. Kids. You
know that.
MARY
(suddenly weepy)
I wish I was your wife. I wish I
had your kids. I would be so happy-
-
Mierzwiak comforts her with a hug. It turns into a kiss. He
pulls away.
MIERZWIAK
We can't do this.
MARY
No, you're right. Once again.
You're a decent man, Howard.
He smiles sadly at her. She smiles courageously at him.
MIERZWIAK
I want you to know it's not because
I'm not interested. If that means
anything.
They look at each other for a long while, then Howard goes
back to locating and eradicating blips of light.
117 INT/EXT. THE VAN - JOEL'S APARTMENT BUILDING - DAY 117
93.
Stan sits in the van and smokes a cigarette. He has an
unobstructed view into Joel's bedroom window. He watches
Mierzwiak and Mary. They're talking as Howard works. It
appears to be a very serious discussion. A car pulls up
outside. Stan turns to see. A middle-aged woman gets out.
In the window, Mierzwiak's resolve has apparently weakened
and he and Mary kiss again. This leads to groping, partial
undressing, and falling onto the bed alongside the
unconscious Joel. The woman checks the address on Joel's
building. Stan recognizes her.
As the woman approaches the only lit window, Stan agonizes
over what to do. He honks his horn. The woman looks back at
the van, then hurries to the window. Mierzwiak and Mary, in
partial undress, squint out into the night. The woman and
Mierzwiak lock eyes. He practically shrieks and jumps up.
118 EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - DAY 118
Joel and Clementine walking, hand-in-hand, look up
simultaneously.
119 INT. JOEL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 119
Mary looks confusedly at Howard.
MARY
Who is it?
(realizing)
Oh my God!
Mierzwiak is already in his coat. He's out the door.
120 EXT. JOEL'S APARTMENT BUILDING - CONTINUOUS 120
The woman is at her car. Stan watches from the van.
Mierzwiak hurries to the woman.
MIERZWIAK
Hollis! Hollis!
HOLLIS (THE MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN)
I knew it, Howard. I don't even
know why I bothered to copy the
damn address and get out of bed. I
could've used the sleep.
MIERZWIAK
94.
It didn't start out to be this. I
came here to work. It's a one-time
mistake.
Mary is right behind Mierzwiak now. Hollis is in her car.
MARY
(heroically)
Mrs. Mierzwiak, it's true. And it's
not Mr. Mierzwiak's fault. I'm a
stupid little girl with a stupid
little crush. I basically forced
him into it. I swear.
Hollis turns, looks at Mary and then at Mierzwiak.
HOLLIS
Don't be a monster, Howard. Tell
the girl.
Stan is out of the van now, listening. Mary shivers in the
cold, hugs herself. There's a long silence. Then:
MARY
Tell me what?
Hollis and Mierzwiak have locked eyes. Mary looks back and
forth between them. Hollis starts her car.
HOLLIS
Poor kid. You can have him. You
did.
She drives off. Mary watches Howard with increased
foreboding.
MARY
What, Howard?
MIERZWIAK
We-- have a history. I'm sorry. You
wanted the procedure. You wanted it
done-- to get past. I have to
finish in there. It's almost
morning. We'll talk later.
He shuffles inside. Mary stands there, unable to digest
this, struggling in vain to remember. Stan watches.
STAN
Let me take you home.
Mary shakes her head "no." She walks off, dazed.
95.
121 EXT. CHARLES RIVER - NIGHT 121
Clementine and Patrick lie on the their backs on the frozen
river and look up at the night sky.
PATRICK
I could die right now, Clem. I'm
just happy. I've never felt that
before. I'm just exactly where I
want to be.
Clementine looks over at him. Their eyes meet. She sobs.
CLEMENTINE
I want to go home.
She hurries toward the shore, slips on the ice, gets up,
and continues, now running.
122 INT. JOEL'S BEDROOM - NIGHT 122
It's deathly silent as Mierzwiak and Stan work on
completing the job. Mierzwiak locates a light hidden very
deep in the map of Joel's brain. He targets it.
123 EXT. ROWBOAT - INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - DAY 123
Joel and Clementine sit in his apartment on the couch.
Clementine is dressed in a skeleton costume. Joel draws a
portrait of her. The reverse angle is Joel's father fishing
in a rowboat.
CLEMENTINE
(peeking)
That's so great. Creepy.
JOEL
Thanks. The subject is inspiring.
The father is drunk and sullen. He faces away from Joel,
looks out at the lake.
FATHER
Don't be like me, son. Don't waste
your life. You'll come to a point
someday where it'll be too late.
You'll be sewn into your fate--
JOEL
96.
It was horrifying, seeing my father
like that. There was no hope for me
if his life was such a failure. And
he saw failure in me, too, written
in my future.
Clementine watches the confused, frightened Joel.
CLEMENTINE
Joel, you're not sewn in. He's
wrong.
FATHER
-- and there'll be nowhere to go
except where you're headed, like a
train on a track. Inevitable,
unalterable.
(a quiet dirge-like
afterthought)
Chooo-chooo.
The scene pops out of existence with a flash of light.
124 EXT. THEATER - NIGHT 124
Clementine leads Joel into a crowd of people outside a
Broadway theater. They listen to conversations around them.
Clementine adopts a mock-sophisticated tone, attempting to
make it look like they are playgoers.
CLEMENTINE
Blah blah blah good acting. Blah
blah blah iambic pentameter.
JOEL
(laughing)
You always break into places?
CLEMENTINE
Second Acting is a subversive act.
Ticket prices are insane. Theater
belongs to the masses.
The theater lights flash and the crowd begins to head back
inside. Joel looks nervous. Clementine takes his hand and
leads him into the crowd.
VOICE-OVER JOEL
Your hand, I remember it. I'm done,
Clem. I'm just going to ride it
out. Hiding is clearly not working.
97.
CLEMENTINE
Yeah.
JOEL
I want to enjoy my little time left
with you.
CLEMENTINE
This is our first "date" date.
JOEL
Do you remember what we talked
about?
125 INT. THEATER - NIGHT 125
Joel and Clementine walk past the usher.
CLEMENTINE
Naomi, I guess.
JOEL
Yeah.
CLEMENTINE
What was I wearing?
JOEL
God, I should know. Your hair was
red. I remember it matched the
curtains.
CLEMENTINE
Egad, were you horrified?
JOEL
No! Oh, I think you were wearing
that black dress, y'know, with the
buttons.
She is wearing the black dress with the buttons.
CLEMENTINE
No, you were with me when I bought
that. At that place on East 6th. It
was later.
126 INT. DRESS SHOP - DAY 126
The scene has already been erased. It's just a decayed
husk.
98.
A vague Joel watches a vague Clementine model a black
dress.
127 INT. THEATER - NIGHT 127
Clementine wears a generic black dress now. As the paying
customers take their seats, Joel and Clementine search
discreetly for unoccupied seats.
JOEL
Right. Something black though.
CLEMENTINE
I'll buy that. Black's always good.
Slenderizing.
JOEL
We did talk about Naomi.
CLEMENTINE
I said: Are you sure? You seem
unsure.
JOEL
I'm sure, I said.
CLEMENTINE
But you weren't. I could tell.
JOEL
(beat)
I am now. I'm so sure.
She tears up. They kiss.
JOEL
I was nervous. I remember I
couldn't think of anything to say.
There were long silences.
There is a long silence. They both stare straight ahead and
watch the still lowered curtain.
JOEL
I thought I was foolish. I thought
I'd mistaken infatuation for love.
You said:
CLEMENTINE
So what. Infatuation is good, too.
JOEL
99.
And I didn't have an argument.
128 INT/EXT. JOEL'S CAR - NIGHT 128
Joel and Clementine pull up to Clementine's house.
JOEL
I dropped you off after. You said -
-
CLEMENTINE
(Mae West)
Come up and see me-- now.
JOEL
It's very late.
CLEMENTINE
Yes, exactly. Exactly my point.
129 INT. CLEMENTINE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 129
Joel and Clementine are in the midst of awkward shy sex.
JOEL
This was our first time.
The scene starts to fade. Joel watches Clementine
disappear.
130 INT. LACUNA RECEPTION AREA - NIGHT 130
Mary enters the dark room, frazzled. She flips on the
fluorescent lights and searches the file folders, pulling
them out and dropping them on the floor. She can't find
what she's looking for. She exits into the inner office
area.
131 INT. MIERZWIAK'S OFFICE - NIGHT 131
Mary rifles through Mierzwiak's desk, through his personal
file cabinets, pulls boxes of papers out of the closet and
rifles through them. She finally comes upon a file with her
name on it. Her jaw drops and with a shaky hand she puts
the tape into the player the office and presses "play."
MIERZWIAK'S VOICE
100.
Okay, so just tell me what you
remember. And we'll take it from
there.
MARY'S VOICE
(shaky)
Um, okay, I like you immediately.
At the job interview. You seemed
so-- important and mature. And I
loved that you were helping all
these people. You didn't come on to
me at all. I liked that. I was so
tongue-tied around you at first. I
wanted you to think I was smart.
You were so nice. I loved the way
you smelled. I couldn't wait to
come to work. I had these fantasies
of us being married and having kids
and just--
(starts to cry)
-- and so-- then-- when-- that one
day, when I thought you looked at
me back-- like.-- Oh, Howie, I
can't do this? How can I do this?
MIERZWIAK'S VOICE
It's what's best, Mary. You know
that.
Mary slumps to the floor. We move into her eyes.
MARY'S VOICE
Yeah, I know. Oh, God. Okay, well,
I was I so excited--
A flirtatious look from Mierzwiak.
MARY'S VOICE
-- Remember you bought me that
little wind-up frog?
A vague shot of a wind-up frog.
MARY'S VOICE
And you said--
A vague shot of Mierzwiak mouthing to Mary's voice.
MARY'S VOICE
"This is for your desk. Just a
little token."
Back to Mary sitting on the floor, listening to the tape.
101.
MARY'S VOICE
I knew then-- I knew something was
going to happen-- something
wonderful.
132 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 132
Joel sits in the quiet living room. The scene is fading.
JOEL
Naomi.
VOICE-OVER
On the couch. Dark. Quiet. I
wondered if I had made a terrible
mistake. I almost reached for the
phone about a thousand times. I
thought I could take it back, erase
it, explain I had momentarily lost
my mind. Then I told myself we
weren't happy. That was the truth.
That what we were was safe. It was
unfair to you and to me to stay in
a relationship for that reason. I
thought about Clementine and the
spark when I was with her, but then
I thought what you and I had was
real and adult and therefore
significant even if it wasn't much
fun. But I wanted fun. I saw other
people having fun and I wanted it.
Then I thought fun is a lie, that
no one is really having fun; I'm
being suckered by advertising and
movie bullshit-- then I thought,
maybe not, maybe not. And then I
thought, as I always do at this
point in my argument, about dying.
133 INT. ROOM - DAY 133
An elderly man sits.
VOICE-OVER
I projected myself to the end of my
life in some vague rendition of my
old man self. I imagined looking
back with a tremendous hole of
regret in my heart.
102.
134 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 134
Joel sits on the couch. A ghostly image of Naomi sits
curled up on the other end of the couch.
JOEL
I didn't pick up the phone to call
you, Naomi. I didn't pick up the
phone.
The scene dissolves.
135 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 135
Joel sits on the couch. A ghostly image of Naomi sits
curled up on the other end of the couch.
JOEL
I didn't pick up the phone to call
you, Naomi. I didn't pick up the
phone.
The scene dissolves.
136 INT. BORDER'S BOOKSTORE - NIGHT 136
Joel talks to Clementine. The scene is fogging over.
JOEL
I told her today I need to end it.
CLEMENTINE
Is that what you want?
JOEL
I did it. I guess that means
something.
Clementine shrugs. The scene fades.
137 EXT. PARK - DAY 137
Joel walks with Naomi.
NAOMI
So what's going on, Joel?
JOEL
103.
I don't know, I've just been
thinking, maybe we're not happy
with each other.
NAOMI
What?
JOEL
Y'know, we've been, I don't know,
sort of, unhappy with each other
and --
NAOMI
Don't say "we" when you mean "you."
JOEL
I think maybe, we're both so used
to operating at this level that --
How can one person be unhappy? If
one person is unhappy, both have to
be-- by definition.
NAOMI
Bullshit. Who is it? You met
someone.
JOEL
No. I just need some space, maybe.
NAOMI
The thing is, Joel, whatever it is
you think you have with this chick,
once the thrill wears off, you're
just going to be Joel with the same
fucking problems.
JOEL VOICE-OVER
It's not somebody else. I hate
myself.
Naomi walks off. Joel watches her. The scene fades.
138 INT. BARNES AND NOBLE BOOKSTORE - NIGHT 138
Joel enters, looks around. There's no sign of Clementine.
Joel approaches a male employee.
JOEL
Is there a Clementine who works
here?
104.
MALE EMPLOYEE #1
(calling to another male
employee)
Mark, is Clem on tonight?
MALE EMPLOYEE #2
On my dick, bro.
(turns, sees Joel,
embarrassed)
Oh, hey. Yeah, I think she's in
Philosophy.
Joel climbs stairs, searches the aisles, spots Clementine.
JOEL
Hi.
She turns.
CLEMENTINE
I didn't think you'd show your face
around me again. I figured you were
humiliated. You did run away, after
all.
JOEL
Sorry to track you down like this.
I'm not a stalker. But I needed to
see you.
CLEMENTINE
(seemingly uninterested)
Yeah?
JOEL
I'd like to-- take you out or
something.
CLEMENTINE
Well, you're married.
JOEL
Not yet. Not married.
CLEMENTINE
Look, man, I'm telling you right
off the bat, I'm high maintenance.
So I'm not going to tiptoe around
your marriage or whatever it is you
got going there. If you want to be
with me, you're with me.
JOEL
105.
Okay.
CLEMENTINE
So make your domestic decisions and
maybe we'll talk again.
She goes back to stacking. Joel stands there helplessly.
JOEL
I just think that you have some
kind of-- quality that seems really
important to me.
The scene is disintegrating. Clementine's speech is
delivered without passion.
CLEMENTINE
Joel, I'm not a concept. I want you
to just keep that in your head. Too
many guys think I'm a concept or I
complete them or I'm going to make
them alive, but I'm just a fucked-
up girl who is looking for my own
peace of mind. Don't assign me
yours.
JOEL
I remember that speech really well.
CLEMENTINE
(smiling)
I had you pegged, didn't I?
JOEL
You had the whole human race
pegged.
CLEMENTINE
Probably.
JOEL
I still thought you were going to
save me. Even after that.
CLEMENTINE
I know.
JOEL
It would be different, if we could
just give it another go around.
CLEMENTINE
106.
Remember me. Try your best. Maybe
we can.
The scene is gone.
139 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - DAY 139
Joel is at his closet, putting on a sweater. Naomi is at
the dining room table, papers spread out before her,
writing.
Joel turns and watches her for a moment.
JOEL
So you don't mind?
NAOMI
I've got to finish this chapter
anyway.
The scene is fading.
JOEL
Okay. I wish you could come.
VOICE-OVER
This is it. The day we met. My God,
it's over.
NAOMI
Me, too.
He approaches Naomi, kisses her on the top of her head. She
continues to write.
NAOMI
Say hi to Rob and Carrie. Have some
fun! Get laid! Just kidding.
JOEL
I hope you get your work done.
NAOMI
(sighing)
Maybe when we're ninety.
140 EXT. BEACH PARKING LOT - DAY 140
Rob, Carrie, and Joel emerge from the car, parked amidst a
small cluster of cars in an otherwise empty parking lot.
107.
141 EXT. BEACH - DAY 141
Joel watches his shoes in the sand as he trudges along.
CARRIE
Is this the right way? Rob? Rob?
142 EXT. BEACH - DAY - MOMENTS LATER 142
Joel, Rob, and Carrie step out of the brush and see a
bonfire down the beach. People and music can be heard.
143 EXT. BEACH - DAY - LATER 143
Joel sits on a log, a paper plate of chicken and corn on
his lap. People warm themselves at the fire. Joel watches
couples talking, kissing, Rob sharing a joint with a guy.
JOEL
You were down by the surf. I could
just make you out in the distance.
Joel looks down to the water. There's Clementine, in her
orange sweatshirt, looking out to sea.
JOEL VOICE-OVER
Your back to me. In that I remember
being drawn to you orange
sweatshirt I would even then. I
thought, how come to know so well
and even odd, I'm drawn to
someone's hate eventually. At the
time back. I thought, I love this I
thought, how cool, an woman because
she's alone orange sweatshirt. down
there looking out at the ocean.
JOEL
But I went back to my food. The
next thing I remember, I felt
someone sitting next to me and I
saw the orange sleeve out of the
corner of my eye.
A shot of the orange sleeve. Joel looks up.
CLEMENTINE
Hi there.
JOEL VOICE-OVER
108.
Hi. I was so nervous. What were you
doing there, I wondered. Your hair
was lime green. Green revolution.
A shot of her green hair.
JOEL
You said--
CLEMENTINE
I saw you sitting over here. By
yourself. I thought, thank God,
someone normal, who doesn't know
how interact at these things
either.
JOEL
Yeah. I don't ever know what to
say.
CLEMENTINE
I can't tell you how happy I am to
hear that. I mean, I don't mean I'm
happy you're uncomfortable, but,
y'know-- I'm such a loser. Every
time I come to a party I tell
myself I'm going to be different
and it's always exactly the same
and then I hate myself after for
being such a clod.
JOEL VOICE-OVER
Even then I didn't believe But I
thought, I don't know, you
entirely. I thought how I thought
it was cool that could you be
talking to me if you were sensitive
enough to you couldn't talk to
people? know what I was feeling and
that you were attracted to it.
CLEMENTINE
But, I don't know, maybe we're the
normal ones, y'know? I mean, what
kind of people do well at this
stuff?
VOICE-OVER
And I just liked you so much.
CLEMENTINE
You did? You liked me?
109.
JOEL
You know I did.
CLEMENTINE
Yeah, I know. I'm fishing.
JOEL
You said --
She picks a drumstick off of Joel's plate.
CLEMENTINE
I'm Clementine. Can I And you
picked it out of my borrow a piece
of your plate before I could answer
chicken? It felt so intimate like
we were already lovers.
JOEL VOICE-OVER
I remember -- The grease on your
chin in the bonfire light.
Shot of a smudge of chicken grease on Clementine's chin.
CLEMENTINE
Oh God, how horrid.
JOEL VOICE-OVER
I'm Joel. No, it was lovely.
CLEMENTINE
Hi, Joel. So no jokes about my
name?
JOEL
You mean, like--
(singing)
Oh, my darlin', oh, my darlin', oh,
my darlin', Clementine-- ?
Huckleberry Hound? That sort of
thing?
CLEMENTINE
Yeah, like that.
JOEL
Nope. No jokes. My favorite thing
when I was a kid was my Huckleberry
Hound doll. I think your name is
magic.
She smiles.
110.
CLEMENTINE
(eyes welling)
This is it, Joel. It's gonna be
gone soon.
JOEL
I know.
CLEMENTINE
What do we do?
JOEL
Enjoy it. Say goodbye.
She nods.
Joel and Clementine are walking near the surf.
JOEL VOICE-OVER
So you're still on the Next thing I
remember we were Zoloft? walking
down near the surf. You were
walking as close as you could to
the water without getting wet.
CLEMENTINE
No, I stopped. I didn't want to
feel like I was being artificially
modulated.
JOEL
I know what you mean. That's why I
stopped.
CLEMENTINE
But my sleeping is really fucked
up.
JOEL
I don't think I've slept in a year.
CLEMENTINE
You should try Xanax. I mean, it's
a chemical and all, but it works--
and it works just having it around,
knowing that it's there. Like
insurance.
JOEL
Sleep insurance. The latest thing.
CLEMENTINE
111.
I'll give you a couple. See what
you think.
JOEL
Okay.
CLEMENTINE
Have you ever read any Anna
Akhmatova?
JOEL
I love her.
CLEMENTINE
Really? Me, too! I don't meet
people who even know who she is and
I work in a bookstore.
JOEL
I think she's great.
CLEMENTINE
Me too. There's this poem --
JOEL CLEMENTINE
Did this conversation come I think,
before or after we saw the house?
JOEL
Seems too coincidental that way.
CLEMENTINE
Yeah, maybe.
144 EXT. BEACH - NEAR BEACH HOUSE - DUSK 144
Joel and Clementine wander near some beach houses closed
for the winter.
CLEMENTINE
Do you know her poem that starts
"Seaside gusts of wind,/And a house
in which we don't live--
JOEL
Yeah, yeah. It goes "Perhaps there
is someone in this world to whom I
could send all these lines"?
CLEMENTINE
Yes! I love that poem. It breaks my
heart. I'm so excited you know it.
112.
(pointing to houses)
Look, houses in which we don't
live.
Joel chuckles appreciatively.
CLEMENTINE
I wish we did. You married?
JOEL
Um, no.
CLEMENTINE
Let's move into this neighborhood.
Clementine tries one of the doors on a darkened house. Joel
is nervous.
JOEL
I do sort of live with somebody
though.
CLEMENTINE
Oh.
She walks to the next house, tries the door.
CLEMENTINE
Male or female?
JOEL
Female.
CLEMENTINE
At least I'm not barking up the
wrong tree.
She finds a window that's unlatched. She lifts it.
CLEMENTINE
Cool.
JOEL
What are you doing?
CLEMENTINE
It freezing out here.
She scrambles in the window. Joel looks around, panicked.
JOEL VOICE-OVER
(whisper)
113.
I couldn't believe you did
Clementine. that. I was paralyzed
with fear.
The front door opens and Clementine stands there beckoning.
CLEMENTINE
C'mon, man. The water's fine.
Nobody's coming here tonight,
believe me. This place is closed
up. Electricity's off.
JOEL
I hesitated for what seemed I could
see you wanted to like forever.
He walks cautiously toward the door.
CLEMENTINE
As soon as you walked in. I knew I
had you. You knew I knew that,
right?
145 INT. BEACH HOUSE - CONTINUOUS 145
Joel enters the darkened house and Clementine closes the
door behind him.
JOEL
I knew.
CLEMENTINE
I knew by your nervousness that
Naomi wasn't the kind of girl who
forced you to criminally trespass.
JOEL
It's dark.
CLEMENTINE
Yeah. What's your girlfriend's
name?
JOEL
Naomi.
She's searching through drawers for something. She pulls
out a flashlight, shines it in Joel's face.
CLEMENTINE
Ah-ha! Now I can look for candles,
matches, and the liquor cabinet.
114.
JOEL
I think we should go.
CLEMENTINE
No, it's our house! Just tonight --
(looking at envelope on
counter)
-- we're David and Ruth Laskin.
Which one do you want to be? I
prefer to be Ruth but I'm flexible.
(opens cabinet)
Alcohol! You make drinks. I'm going
find the bedroom and slip into
something more Ruth. I'm ruthless
at the moment.
She runs upstairs, giggling. The room is drying out,
turning into a husk.
JOEL VOICE-OVER
(calling after her)
I didn't want to go. I was I really
should go. I really too nervous. I
thought, need to catch my ride.
maybe you were a nut. But you were
exciting. You called from upstairs.
CLEMENTINE
(flat)
So go.
JOEL
I did. I walked out the door. I
felt like a scared little kid. I
thought you knew that about me. I
ran back to the bonfire, trying to
outrun my humiliation. You said,
"so go" with such disdain.
CLEMENTINE
(poking her head
downstairs)
What if you stay this time?
JOEL
I walked out the door. There's no
more memory.
CLEMENTINE
Come back and make up a good-bye at
least. Let's pretend we had one.
115.
Clementine comes downstairs, vague and robotic, making her
way through the decaying environment.
CLEMENTINE
Bye, Joel.
JOEL
I love you.
She smiles. They kiss. It fades.
CLEMENTINE
I --
146 EXT. BEACH - NIGHT 146
Joel finds himself hurrying back to the bonfire. This
scene, too, is disintegrating. It dries up and Joel is just
standing there on a faded beach at night, the bonfire
frozen in the distance like a photograph.
147 INT/EXT. ROB AND CARRIE'S CAR - NIGHT 147
Joel sits in the back seat, Rob and Carrie are in the
front.
CARRIE
Did you have fun?
Joel nods glumly.
Carrie continues to talk, but her voice goes under as Joel
studies the faded husks of memories, piled up like refuse
outside the moving car window.
He sees dried-out version of previous interactions with
Clementine playing out in loops. He looks back and sees the
memory of his ride home from the beach with Rob and Carrie.
It, too, is decaying. Soon all has crumbled into dust.
Everything goes black.
148 INT. JOEL'S BEDROOM - EARLY MORNING 148
Howard watches the monitor. The last specks of light are
fading. It grows dark. He is tired, his eyes are hollow. He
turns to Stan, who is staring out the window at the dawn.
116.
MIERZWIAK
Okay.
Stan turns and wordlessly begins the clean-up. He pulls the
electrodes off of Joel's scalp, coils cable, packs bags.
Howard dials the bedside phone. He waits as it rings.
HOLLIS'S VOICE
Hi, you've reached the Mierzwiaks.
We can't come to --
Howard hangs up.
149 INT. MIERZWIAK'S OFFICE AREA - EARLY MORNING 149
Mary sits in the corner listening to the tape and crying.
MARY'S VOICE
-- then you said I had to have a,
y'know, an abortion.
MIERZWIAK'S VOICE
Mary, you know we both agreed to
that.
MARY'S VOICE
You said, it would be for the best.
MIERZWIAK'S VOICE
I think it was.
MARY'S VOICE
But I can't forget about the baby,
Howard! My baby. Our baby.
MIERZWIAK'S VOICE
That's why we need to take this
additional step, sweetheart. So you
can be the happy Mary you once
were.
MARY
Yes.
150 EXT. JOEL'S APARTMENT BUILDING - EARLY MORNING 150
Stan and Howard load the last of the equipment into the
back of the van. He and Howard look at each other.
STAN
117.
So, I've got to drop the van off.
MIERZWIAK
Thanks, Stan. Thanks.
(beat)
We'll talk.
Stan doesn't respond, just gets in the van and drives off.
151 INT/EXT. CLEMENTINE'S CAR - EARLY MORNING 151
Patrick and Clementine are heading home from Boston.
Clementine is silent and depressed. Patrick tries to break
the silence.
PATRICK
You want to stop for coffee or
something?
Clementine shakes her head "no." Long silence.
PATRICK
Well, it was sure beautiful on that
river. Thanks for sharing it with
me.
Clementine doesn't say anything. Silence.
PATRICK
We'll do it again soon.
152 EXT. CITY STREET - EARLY MORNING 152
Stan parks the van in front of "Lacuna." He gets out,
crosses to his car. Mary is walking out of the office with
a cardboard box of stuff.
STAN
Hey.
MARY
(walking past him toward
her car)
Hey.
STAN
I take it you're not coming back.
Got your stuff, I see.
MARY
118.
That's right. My stuff.
STAN
I don't blame you. I wouldn't come
back either.
Mary stops and turns back to Stan.
MARY
Do you swear you didn't know?
STAN
I swear.
MARY
So you didn't do the erasing.
STAN
Of course not. God. No.
MARY
(studies him)
And you never even suspected we
were together? Never saw us
behaving in any unusual way
together?
STAN
Once, maybe.
She watches him closely, waiting for him to continue.
STAN
It was here. At his car. I was
coming back from a job and spotted
you together. You seemed caught. I
waved. You giggled.
MARY
How did I look?
STAN
(beat)
Happy. Happy with a secret.
Mary starts to cry.
MARY
And after that?
STAN
119.
I never saw you together like that
again. So I figured I was imagining
things.
Mary says nothing.
STAN
I really like you, Mary. You know
that.
MARY
Do you remember anything else? What
I was wearing? Was I standing close
to him? Was I leaning against his
car like I owned it? How did he
look at me when I giggled? Tell me
everything.
STAN
(thinking)
You were in red. That red sweater
with the little flowers, I think.
You were leaning against his car.
(thinking)
He looked a little like a kid. Kind
of goofy and wide-eyed. I'd never
seen him look like that before.
Happy. You looked beautiful. You
looked in love.
MARY
(heading toward her car)
Thanks, Stan.
She stops but doesn't turn to face him.
MARY
You're really nice.
(beat)
But I love him. I knew I loved him.
I knew it! Now I know. So what am I
supposed to do?
He nods. She waves without looking back and heads to her
car.
When she arrives at it and opens the trunk, we see that is
already filled with boxes and boxes of Lacuna files. She
adds the last box and closes the trunk.
153 INT. JOEL'S BEDROOM - MORNING 153
120.
Joel awakens. The apartment is neat, like when he went to
sleep. He gets out of bed and heads into the bathroom.
154 EXT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - MORNING 154
Joel sees the dent in his car, doesn't know why it's there.
He touches it, looks around.
155 EXT. COMMUTER TRAIN STATION - MORNING 155
Joel waits on the crowded platform. The platform across the
tracks is empty. Joel's train arrives. It's packed. He
squeezes on with all the other commuters.
156 INT/EXT. MARY'S CAR - MORNING 156
Mary listens to her tape on the car radio. She cries. The
backseat of her car is piled high with Lacuna files.
157 INT. JOEL'S OFFICE - MORNING 157
Joel works in his cubicle over the light table. He seems
distracted. He dials his phone. He's nervous.
JOEL
Hi-- Naomi? Yeah, hi! How are you?
I know, I know. It's been a long
time. Not too much. You? Oh, that's
great! Congratulations! Maybe I
could buy you dinner to celebrate?
Tonight? I'm free. Okay, good!
158 INT. MARY'S APARTMENT - MORNING 158
Mary sits on the floor in an unkempt pile. Mierzwiak,
tired-looking, stares out the window. After a long silence.
MARY
Patrick Henry said, "For my part,
whatever anguish of spirit it may
cost, I am willing to know the
whole truth; to know the worst, and
to provide for it." I found that
quote last night. Patrick Henry was
a great patriot, Howard.
MIERZWIAK
121.
It's a good quote.
MARY
I don't like what you do to people.
MIERZWIAK
I understand. I'm sorry.
(beat)
I really do need the files back,
Mary.
MARY
No. The memories are mine now.
159 EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT 159
Joel and Naomi walk, both bundled up.
NAOMI
(oddly cautious)
So-- you haven't been involved with
anyone in all this time?
JOEL
It's been a pretty lonely couple of
years.
NAOMI
I'm sorry.
JOEL
Well, it was my fault -- the break-
up. I'm sorry. I don't even know
what happened.
NAOMI
Oh, sweetie. It really does cut
both ways. We were taking each
other for granted and --
JOEL
I miss you.
NAOMI
Miss you, too.
(awkward pause)
I have been seeing someone for a
little while.
JOEL
(trying for enthusiasm)
Oh! Great. That's great!
122.
NAOMI
A religion instructor. A good guy.
He's a good guy.
JOEL
I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have
- -
NAOMI
I'm glad you called.
There is a silence and then Naomi kisses Joel.
160 INT. CLEMENTINE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 160
Clementine lies in bed crying. Patrick sits by the window
and flips furiously through Joel's journal looking for
tips.
161 EXT. COMMUTER TRAIN STATION - MORNING 161
It's gray. The platform is packed with business commuters:
suits, overcoats. There is such a lack of color it almost
seems as if the scene is in black and white. A man holds a
red heart-shaped box. The platform across the tracks is
empty.
As an almost empty train pulls up to that platform, Joel
breaks out of the crowd, lurches up the stairs two at a
time, hurries across the overpass and down the stairs to
the other side, just as the empty train stops. The doors
open and Joel gets on the train.
162 INT. CLEMENTINE'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 162
Joel says goodbye to Clementine.
CLEMENTINE
So you'll call me, right?
JOEL
Yeah.
CLEMENTINE
When?
JOEL
Tomorrow?
CLEMENTINE
123.
Tonight. Just to test out the phone
lines.
JOEL
Yeah.
Joel exits. We stay on Clementine as she watches Joel head
to his car.
163 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 163
Joel enters, drops his overcoat on a chair, and hurriedly
dials the phone.
NAOMI'S VOICE
Hello?
JOEL
Hi, Naomi, it's Joel.
(beat)
How's it going?
NAOMI'S VOICE
Good. I called you at work today.
They said you were home sick.
JOEL
I know. I had to take the day to
think.
NAOMI'S VOICE
Yeah, I tried you at home, too. Did
you get my message?
JOEL
I just got in.
NAOMI'S VOICE
Long day's thinking into night.
Joel flips on messages with volume down.
JOEL
Yeah, I suppose so.
NAOMI ON MACHINE
(cheerful)
Hi. They told me you were sick! So-
- Where are you?! I had a really
nice time last night. Just wanted
to say hi, so-- hi. Call me. I'm
home. Call me, call me, call me!
124.
NAOMI'S VOICE
That's me.
JOEL
There you are.
(pause)
Naomi, it's just-- I'm afraid if we
fall back into this fast without
considering the problems we had--
NAOMI
(long exhalation)
Okay, Joel. I suppose you're right.
JOEL
I had a good time last night. I
really did.
NAOMI
So I'm going to get some sleep. I'm
glad you're okay.
JOEL
We'll speak soon.
NAOMI
'Night.
She hangs up and Joel stands there for a minute feeling
creepy, then he dials the number on his hand.
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
What took you so long?
JOEL
I just walked in.
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
Hmmm. Do you miss me?
JOEL
Oddly enough, I do.
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
Ha Ha! You said, "I do." I guess
that means we're married.
JOEL
I guess so.
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
Tomorrow night-- honeymoon on ice.
125.
164 EXT. CHARLES RIVER - NIGHT 164
Clementine steps out onto the ice. Joel follows nervously.
CLEMENTINE
Don't worry. It's really solid this
time of year.
JOEL
I don't know.
She takes his hand and he is suddenly imbued with
confidence.
JOEL
This is so beautiful.
She squeezes his hand.
CLEMENTINE
Isn't it?
She runs and slides on the ice. She slips and falls hard on
her ass. Joel is by himself now, watching her.
CLEMENTINE
(laughing)
Ouch! My ass. Oh my God!
JOEL
You okay?
CLEMENTINE
Yeah, come join me.
JOEL
I don't know. What if it breaks?
CLEMENTINE
What if? Do you really care right
now?
Clementine lies on her back and stares up at the stars.
Joel is paralyzed. He looks back at the shore.
JOEL
I think I should go back.
CLEMENTINE
Joel, come here. Please.
126.
He hesitates then gingerly makes his way over to her. She
reaches for his hand and gently pulls him down. He lies on
his back beside her, their bodies touching. He wants to
turn to her, but out of shyness, doesn't. She holds his
hand. They look up at the stars. She smiles, doesn't say
anything and snuggles closer to him.
JOEL
Listen, did you want to make love?
CLEMENTINE
Make love?
JOEL
Have sex. Y'know -- I don't know
what you call it.
CLEMENTINE
Oh, um--
JOEL
Because I just am not drunk enough
or stoned enough to make that
happen right now.
CLEMENTINE
That's okay. I --
JOEL
I'm sorry. I just wanted to say
that. This seems like the perfect
romantic exotic place to do it and
- -
CLEMENTINE
Hey, Joel --
JOEL
-- and I'm just too nervous around
you right now.
CLEMENTINE
I'm nervous, too.
JOEL
Yeah? I wouldn't have thought that.
CLEMENTINE
Well, you obviously don't know me.
JOEL
I'm nervous because I have an
enormous crush on you.
127.
She smiles up at the sky.
CLEMENTINE
Show me which constellations you
know.
JOEL
Um-- oh-- I don't know any.
CLEMENTINE
Show me which ones you know!
JOEL
Okay. There's Osidius.
CLEMENTINE
Where?
JOEL
There. See? It's sort of a swoop
and then a cross? Osidius the
Emphatic.
CLEMENTINE
You're full of shit. Right?
She looks at him. He continues to study the sky.
JOEL
Nope. Osidius the Emphatic. Right
there. Swoop and cross.
She punches him in the arm, looks back at the sky.
CLEMENTINE
Shut the fuck up.
165 INT. JOEL'S CAR - MORNING 165
Joel drives and sips from a paper cup of coffee. Clementine
is asleep in the seat next to him. He pulls up in front of
her house. He sits there for a few moments, shyly uncertain
about waking her; she seems so peaceful. He gingerly
touches her arm. She doesn't wake. He touches it again.
Still nothing. He touches her face.
JOEL
(whispering)
Clementine?
Nothing. He sits there. He shakes her a little.
128.
JOEL
I'm sorry to have to wake you but -
-
She opens her eyes.
CLEMENTINE
(groggy smile)
Hey.
JOEL
Hi. I'm sorry to wake you but we're
here.
She cranes her neck, sees her house.
CLEMENTINE
Okay.
(closes her eyes again,
beat)
Can I come over to your house? To
sleep? I'm so tired.
JOEL
(beat)
Yeah, sure. Okay. It's probably a
mess.
CLEMENTINE
Let me get my toothbrush.
Joel nods. She smiles and leaves the car. Joel watches her
head to the house. He leans his head back against the
headrest and closes his eyes.
He's happy, tired, and a bit anxious. He opens his eyes and
casually watches a distant figure walking in the direction
of Clementine's house on the otherwise empty sidewalk. As
the figure nears, Joel sees it's a young man.
The young man gets closer and we see that it's Patrick.
Joel watches him without any particular interest; it's just
something to look at. Patrick gets close and seems to be
about to head up to Clementine's house when he happens to
glance into Joel's car and spots Joel.
He reacts but barely and keeps walking down the block past
Clementine's house. Joel watches in his rearview mirror as
Patrick continues down the street. Joel closes his eyes
again. After a few moments there's a tap on the driver's-
side window. Joel opens his eyes and sees Patrick standing
there.
129.
Joel rolls down his window.
JOEL
Yes?
PATRICK
Can I help you?
JOEL
What do you mean?
PATRICK
Can I help you with something?
JOEL
No.
Patrick doesn't know how to continue. He takes another
stab.
PATRICK
What are you doing here?
JOEL
I'm not really sure what you're
asking me.
PATRICK
Oh.
(long pause)
So I was just wondering if I could
bum a cigarette, mister.
JOEL
No, I don't smoke. Sorry.
PATRICK
Okay, thanks.
Patrick walks off. Joel watches him again in his rearview
mirror.
166 INT. CLEMENTINE'S APARTMENT - MORNING 166
Clementine wanders around putting things in an overnight
bag.
Her toothbrush is in her mouth. She's being overly
selective in her choice of a change of clothing and
toiletries. A phone message is playing in the background.
PATRICK'S VOICE
130.
-- so where are you, Clem? I'm
worried. I feel like you're mad at
me and I don't know what I did.
What did I do? I love you so much.
I'd do anything to make you happy.
Just tell me what you want me to do
and I'll do it. Listen, I'm going
to stop by in the morning just to
make sure you're okay. I'm worried.
167 INT. JOEL'S CAR - MORNING 167
Joel waits. Clementine emerges from her place with her
overnight bag and her mail. She gets into the car.
CLEMENTINE
Vamanos, senor.
Joel smiles at her, starts the car and drives off. They
pass Patrick sitting on someone's stoop watching them.
Neither of them notices him. Clementine sifts through her
mail.
JOEL
I had a really nice time last
night.
CLEMENTINE
Nice?
JOEL
I had the best fucking time I've
ever had in my fucking life last
night.
CLEMENTINE
That's better, senor.
She looks at a small padded manila envelope with her name
and address scrawled on it. She rips it open, pulls out a
note and an audio cassette. She reads the note.
CLEMENTINE
This is weird.
(reading aloud)
Dear Clementine. We've met but you
don't remember me. I worked for a
company you hired to have part of
your memory erased.
JOEL
It's a teaser ad or something.
131.
CLEMENTINE
(reading)
You've erased your two year
relationship with Joel Barish from
your memory.
JOEL
Jesus, that's creepy. How'd they
know we even know each other?
Clementine shrugs and inserts the cassette in the tape
player. (note: the tape plays throughout the scene under
Joel and Clementine's dialogue)
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
My name is Clementine Kruczynski
and I'm here to erase Joel Barish.
MIERZWIAK'S VOICE
Tell me all about your
relationship.
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
Well, he's a giant asshole. Is that
enough?
MIERZWIAK'S VOICE
No, I'm afraid we really do need to
delve.
JOEL
What is this?
CLEMENTINE
I don't know.
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
I can't stand to even look at him.
His pathetic, wimpy, apologetic
smile. That sort of wounded puppy
shit he does. Y'know? Is it so much
to ask for an actual man to have
sex with?
JOEL
What are you doing?
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
132.
-- I might as well be a lesbian. At
least I could have someone pretty
to look at while I'm fucking. Not
that we fuck anymore. I mean, I
don't call it fucking on the rare
occasions that it happens. Not
fucking-- faking. Honey, let's fake
tonight. Make a few faces, get it
over with. Shit-
JOEL
Why did you make this tape?
CLEMENTINE
I didn't do this! I completely
don't understand what you're doing.
JOEL CLEMENTINE
It's your voice! I know!
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
-- Now the only fuel keeping it
going is my feeling sorry for him.
He's so needy. The way he looks at
me, like I should be ashamed of
myself for going out and having
some fun in my life. I mean, I've
got to have it somewhere, right? I
suppose I could sit and watch
television with him until we both
kick. There's a plan. Y'know Joel
is a guy who is never going to do
anything with his life--
CLEMENTINE
Joel, I don't understand. I swear.
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
-- I remember this time I made him
come out onto this frozen river
with me. He was terrified. Like a
goddamn girl--
Joel turns the car around.
JOEL
So someone just recorded you saying
this without you knowing you were
saying it.
CLEMENTINE
133.
I don't know! Maybe it's This is
fucked up! That's some kind of
Future thing, ridiculous. This is
fucked like a look into the future.
up! It's called A Christmas Like
that thing in Scrooge! Carol, not
Scrooge. Maybe some force is trying
to help us. I think I've read about
that happening. I'm sure I have.
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
-- Ugh. I don't want to think about
all the time I've wasted in this
quote- unquote relationship. Isn't
it about fun?
Joel stops the car in back in front of Clementine's house.
She's crying.
CLEMENTINE
I didn't say this. I don't know
what this is. Look, I just --
She stops talking.
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
-- I mean, shouldn't the good times
out number the shit times? I don't
know. I don't know what the hell to
expect. But the bloom is certainly
fucking off the rose at this point.
I want to have kids. I can't be
wasting my time with this kind of
disaster. Not to mention, do I want
my kids to have his creepy little
genes?
Joel just stares straight ahead.
CLEMENTINE
(quietly, resignedly)
Okay. I'm gonna go.
She gets out of the car.
CLEMENTINE'S VOICE
--How could I even look at them if
they looked like him? How could
anybody? Y'know, I think about
that--
Joel ejects the tape, hands it to her, and closes the door.
134.
He drives off, leaving her just standing there, crying.
After a moment, Patrick appears seemingly from nowhere.
PATRICK
Clem, what's wrong? Oh, sweetheart-
- I was just coming over to --
CLEMENTINE
Get away from me! Get the fuck away
from me! Get away from me! Get away
from me!
168 INT. CLEMENTINE'S CAR - MORNING 168
It's a bit later. Clementine drives slowly down Joel's
street. In her hand she's got a ripped out page from a
phone book with his address circled. She spots his car on
the street and parks behind it.
169 EXT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - MORNING 169
Clementine approaches the apartment entrance. As she nears,
the door opens and Frank the neighbor emerges. He holds the
door open for her.
FRANK
Hey, Clementine.
She has no idea who he is and she's freaked out.
CLEMENTINE
Hey.
170 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT BUILDING - MORNING 170
Clementine watches the hall looking at apartment numbers
until she comes to Joel's. The door is ajar. Inside she can
hear Joel's voice, but can't make out what he's saying. She
stands there for a moment then enters.
171 INT. JOEL'S APARTMENT - DAY 171
Clementine looks around; the place is not what she
expected.
She comes upon Joel in his study. The room looks as if it's
been ransacked. He's listening to a tape of his own voice
and holding a drawing. She stands and listens, too,
unbeknownst to him.
135.
JOEL'S VOICE
-- that's Clementine all over.
Complete selfishness. Complete and
utter disregard for anyone else's
feelings.
CLEMENTINE
Hi.
He looks, up, his eyes are red-rimmed and wild-looking.
They stare at each other.
JOEL
Hey.
Joel's taped voice drones on in the background. He holds up
the drawing for Clementine to see. It's the picture of her
in the skeleton costume.
JOEL
Look what I found.
She studies it, touched and confused. She doesn't know what
to say.
CLEMENTINE
Well, you made me look skinny.
JOEL'S VOICE
She's like a train wreck, tearing
people apart leaving chaos and
destruction in her wake. And --
CLEMENTINE
It's a nice place you have.
JOEL
Thanks. Y'know, it's-- relatively
cheap. I like it. The location's
good. It's not usually this messy.
CLEMENTINE
It's nice.
JOEL'S VOICE
-- seems obvious to me that it's
all based on some kind of mammoth
insecurity.
JOEL
I'm sorry I yelled at you.
JOEL'S VOICE
136.
She plays at being this rebel,
free-spirit.
CLEMENTINE
It's okay.
(beat)
I like you so much. I hate that I
said mean things about you.
JOEL
I'll turn this off.
CLEMENTINE
No. I think it's-- I think it's
only fair.
JOEL'S VOICE
I mean, the whole thing with the
hair? It's all bullshit. And it's
sort of pathetic when you're thirty
and you're still doing that shit.
JOEL
I really like your hair.
CLEMENTINE
Thank you.
JOEL
Can I get you something to drink?
CLEMENTINE
Do you have any whiskey? I'm cold.
JOEL
Yeah.
Clementine enters the study as Joel exits into the kitchen.
172 INT. KITCHEN - DAY 172
Joel finds his almost empty bottle of scotch in the
cabinet.
He pours the little left into two glasses, exits.
173 INT. JOEL'S STUDY - DAY 173
Joel enters with the two glasses of whiskey. Clementine
sits on the couch, looking stunned. He hands her a glass.
137.
JOEL
Sorry, I thought there was more.
JOEL'S VOICE
-- that's what's occurred to me
that night, that the only way Clem
thinks she can get people to like
her is to fuck them or at least
dangle the possibility of getting
fucked in front of them. And I
think she's so desperate and
insecure that she'll sooner or
later she'll just go around fucking
everyone.
CLEMENTINE
I don't do that.
JOEL
I wouldn't have thought so.
CLEMENTINE
Because I don't.
JOEL
I know.
Joel turns off the tape.
CLEMENTINE
(crying)
Because it really hurts me that you
said that. Because I don't do that.
JOEL
Okay. I'm sorry.
They both stare off. Finally:
CLEMENTINE
I'm sorry about this. I'm Okay.
Yeah.
JOEL
I'm sorry. going to go. I'm a
little confused. I don't think I
can be here.
Clementine gets up.
CLEMENTINE
So-- bye. It was nice meeting you
and all.
138.
JOEL
Yeah, you too. I had a good time.
She exits.
174 INT. APARTMENT HALLWAY - DAY 174
Clementine walks down the hall. Joel appears behind her.
JOEL
Hey, wait.
CLEMENTINE
What?
JOEL
I just wanted to--
He doesn't know what to say, stops.
CLEMENTINE
What?
JOEL
I just wanted to-- Um, I was just
wondering-- how your bruise is?
From falling. Y'know?
CLEMENTINE
It hurts. My ass is purple.
JOEL
I'm sorry. It was a nasty fall. I
mean, it was sort of funny once I
realized you weren't dead.
CLEMENTINE
I'm good for a laugh, anyway.
JOEL
No, that's not what I meant.
CLEMENTINE
Anyway, look, I'm gonna go. Take
care of yourself.
JOEL
You too.
She heads down the hall.
139.
JOEL
Wait!
CLEMENTINE
What?
JOEL
I came up with another hair color.
CLEMENTINE
(not turning)
Oh, yeah?
JOEL
Brown versus The Board of
Education.
CLEMENTINE
(walking, no change of
expression)
It's a little cumbersome.
JOEL
Wait!
She stops and turns.
CLEMENTINE
(impatiently)
What, Joel? What do you want?
JOEL
(at a loss)
I don't know.
JOEL
(pause)
Just wait. I just want you to wait
for a while.
They lock eyes for a long moment: Clementine stone-faced,
Joel with a worried, knit brow. Clementine cracks up.
CLEMENTINE
Okay.
JOEL
Really?
CLEMENTINE
140.
I'm not a concept, Joel. I'm just a
fucked-up girl who is looking for
my own peace of mind. I'm not
perfect.
JOEL
I can't think of anything I don't
like about you right now.
CLEMENTINE
But you will. You will think of
things. And I'll get bored with you
and feel trapped because that's
what happens with me.
JOEL
Okay.
CLEMENTINE
Okay.
THE END