Ocean’s Eleven
25 EXT. TISHKOFF'S OPULENT BACK YARD (LAS VEGAS) - DAY
REUBEN TISHKOFF, the grimace of a man in mid-movement,
forever cemented on his face, scrutinizes his two lunch
guests (Danny and Rusty) at his poolside.
TISHKOFF
Are you listening to me? You are,
both of you, nuts. I know more
about casino security than any man
alive. I invented it, and it
cannot be beaten. They got
cameras, they got watchers, they
got locks, they got timers, they
got vaults. They got enough armed
personnel to occupy Paris. Okay,
bad example...
DANNY
It's never been tried.
TISHKOFF
Oh, it's been tried. A few guys
even came close. You know the
three most successful robberies in
Vegas history?
26 FLASHBACK - INT. SANDS CASINO FLOOR (1965)
An Adlai Stevenson-lookalike approaches a lockbox carrier
from behind and snatches the box.
He takes almost three steps before five security men leap
at him and -- FREEZE FRAME on his wide-eyed expression of
horror...
TISHKOFF (V.O.)
Number three. The bronze medal.
Pencilneck grabs a lockbox at the
Sands. He got two steps closer to
the door than any living soul
before him.
RESUME ACTION: Adlai Stevenson gets a taste of what NFL
quarterbacks experience every Sunday... five fold.
27 INT. FLAMINGO CASINO FLOOR (1971)
A hippie races toward the electronic sliding doors,
clutching a tray full of chips, and as the doors begin to
part for him -- FREEZE FRAME: A billy club appears out
of nowhere...
TISHKOFF (V.O.)
Second most successful robbery.
The Flamingo '71. This guy
actually smelled fresh oxygen
before they got him.
RESUME ACTION: The billy club comes down -- whap! --
across the hippie's skull and it's Chicago '68 all over
again.
TISHKOFF (V.O.)
Course, he was breathing out of a
hose the next three weeks, goddamn
hippie.
28 EXT. REUBEN TISHKOFF'S BACK YARD - DAY (PRESENT)
TISHKOFF
And the closest any man has gotten
to robbing a Las Vegas casino...
29 FLASHBACK - EXT. CAESAR'S PALACE ENTRANCE (1987)
Tourists and valets scatter as a Euro-thief (pastel
T-shirt beneath a white linen suit) bursts from the
casino and takes five steps before -- FREEZE FRAME:
GLASS EXPLODES from three different doors behind him and
he arches his back in agony...
TISHKOFF
Outside of Caesar's in '87. He
came, he grabbed, he got
conquered.
RESUME ACTION: BULLETS rip the man to shreds and he
collapses on Caesar's steps a bloody pulp.
30 EXT. REUBEN TISHKOFF'S BACK YARD - DAY (PRESENT)
TISHKOFF
But what am I saying? You guys
are pros, the best. I'm sure you
can make it out of the casino. Of
course, lest we forget, once
you're out the front door, you're
still in the middle of the fucking
desert!
Both Danny and Rusty look chastened.
RUSTY
You're right.
(to Danny)
He's right.
DANNY
Reuben, you're right. Our eyes
are bigger than our stomachs.
RUSTY
That's exactly it. Pure ego.
TISHKOFF
Yeah yeah blah blah.
DANNY
Thank you so much for setting us
straight. Sorry we bothered you.
They both rise to go.
TISHKOFF
Look, we all go way back. I owe
you from that thing with the guy
in the place, and I'll never
forget it.
DANNY
It was our pleasure.
RUSTY
I'd never been to Belize.
TISHKOFF
Give Dominic your addresses, I got
some remaindered furniture I wanna
send you.
Danny and Rusty begin to circle the pool to leave.
Tishkoff, of course, won't let them go that easily.
TISHKOFF
Just out of curiosity, which
casinos did you geniuses pick to
rob?
Danny stops, almost as if he's been waiting for this
question, which of course he has.
DANNY
The Bellagio, Mirage, and the
M.G.M. Grand.
TISHKOFF
(nostrils flared, smelling a rat)
Those are Terry Benedict's
casinos.
RUSTY
Say, you know, he's right.
Tishkoff waves them back, sipping on his umbrellaed
cocktail.
TISHKOFF
You guys... Whadda you got against
Terry Benedict?
DANNY
What do you have against him?
That's the real question.
TISHKOFF
He torpedoed my casino, muscled me
out, now he's gonna blow it up
next month to make way for another
fuckin' eyesore. Don't think I
don't see what you're doin'.
RUSTY
What are we doing, Reuben?
TISHKOFF
You gonna steal from Terry
Benedict, you better goddamn know.
This sorta thing used to be
civilized. You'd hit a guy, he'd
whack you. Done. But Benedict...
(bristles)
At the end of this he better not
know you're involved, not know
your names, or think you're dead.
Because he'll kill you, and then
he'll go to work on you.
DANNY
That's why we've got to be very
careful. We have to be precise.
We have to be well-funded.
TISHKOFF
Yeah, you gotta be nuts, too. And
you're gonna need a crew as nuts
as you are.
(pregnant silence)
Who do you have in mind?
Danny and Rusty both smile; they've hooked their fish.
And so it begins...
Ocean’s Eleven/scenes 25-301