Tony LaScala

The husband strolls in from work. He’s drunk. A lonely meal is set on the dinning room table. A single candle burns. As he hangs his coat, he hears the clanking of pots and pans. He enters the kitchen to see his wife, her back to him. An empty Shiraz bottle on the counter, she takes the last swig from her wine glass. The husband probes, “Hey, Sandy.” She says nothing. Then SLAMS the cupboard. “You okay,” the husband asks. She turns, shooting daggers of contempt. “I’m fine,” she says. Then exits. Now that’s a scene full of subtext – not much dialogue, but clearly,…

Screenplay Genre: Crime / Drama Movie Time: 121 minutes 1. INCITING INCIDENT Having given up poker nine months earlier after losing $30k to Teddy KGB (John Malkovich), law student Mike McDermott (Matt Damon) makes a delivery to Abe Petrovsky (Martin Landau) during one of the legendary judges' poker games. Mike starts raising for Petrovsky and then bets Judge Marinacci (Tom Aldredge) a summer internship that he can guess the hand Marinacci is holding. To everyone's amazement, Mike is able to guess everyone's hands. They invite him to join the game, but Mike tells them…