The Big Cigar (2024) s01e01 Episode Script

1
[NARRATOR] They say
it's a nation of laws.
But, uh, what governs
everything in the universe
is the law of contradictions.
It's how I, Huey P. Newton,
was set free into a prison.
It's how the image captured the man.
Contradictions that would have me
south of the border running for my life.
The conditions of hate, forcing
me to flee with true love.
The Black Panther Party founder
with two Hollywood producers.
While the government of life,
liberty and pursuit of happiness
- [GRUNTS]
- [BANGS]
[HUEY] pursues us for exercising
our rights based on their laws.
Contradictions. Murderous feds
posing as, uh, peaceful hippies.
A war-mongering nation declaring us
the greatest threat to its security.
All power to the people!
[FEDERAL OFFICER] Huey!
[HUEY] Contradictions. When
they stop, life ceases.
And contrary to propagated
belief, I'm not living to die.
But I am refusing to
live without liberation.
[GUNSHOT]
The story I'm about to tell you is true.
At least, uh, mostly true
At least how I remember it.
- [DOORBELL RINGS]
- [KNOCKS]
[HUEY] But it is coming
through the lens of Hollywood,
so let's see how much of my story
they are really willing to show.
[PRODUCER] Huey?
What's happening? Why
are you dressed like that?
[PANTS] The FBI is after me, say
I killed some girl. Some bullshit.
[BREATHES HEAVILY] I
gotta get off the street.
Were you followed?
I think we're clear.
[PRODUCER] Hey, Jeffrey. Go
out back, peek over the hedges,
and see if anyone suspicious
is parked on the street.
[JEFFREY] Sure, Dad.
- What the fuck is going on?
- They framed him.
- You know the feds are watching me too.
- What are you talking about?
Since we got back from China,
they've been tracking my movements.
I got a copy of my FBI file.
- You see? You see?
- [PARTNER] It's okay.
[PRODUCER] By morning,
you're gonna be number one
on the most wanted list. The first
place they're gonna look is right here.
Right. Right. So where
am I supposed to go?
[DOORBELL RINGS]
[HUEY] Bert took Gwen and I to the
dude who's been cleaning up his shit
since they were five years old,
his producing partner, Steve Blauner.
I didn't know I was having company.
Come on in.
You can't have an accused
killer in this house, Steve.
I will leave you.
Go back to your ex-wife if you
wanna play fucking cops and robbers.
Your brother stayed here for a month,
- stunk up the place with flatulence
- Oh, come on. Don't even.
I had to throw that mattress away.
- Listen. What Steve's trying to say
- [SPOUSE] Stay out of it Bert. You
Do you know that he's got
hemorrhoids because of you?
- Jesus fucking Christ.
- I cause hemorrhoids?
[SPOUSE] Oh, yeah. Stress.
When a person gets stressed,
they tighten up their sphincter
and put pressure on the rectum.
Steve's had hemorrhoids
since he was seven.
This is bullshit.
I'll be in the john
moisturizing my asshole.
Okay. We're good.
A massive nationwide
manhunt is now underway.
Huey P. Newton, the co-founder
of the Black Panther Party
is wanted in the shooting of a
17-year-old Bay Area prostitute.
Oakland police are searching
for a burgundy '56 Pontiac
with the license plate H7J
[SIGHS]
- [GRUNTS, BREATHES DEEPLY]
- It's all gonna be okay.
It is all gonna be okay.
- [BREATHES DEEPLY]
- Yeah.
[INHALES DEEPLY, SIGHS]
[HUEY] This was not my
first run-in with the law.
My family moved to Oakland from
Louisiana when I was seven,
expecting it to be different.
Within two hours the cops
pulled my pops out of the car
and roughed him up in front of us.
- [CRASH]
- [PARENT GRUNTS]
[HUEY] Now you might see
the police as protection,
but to us they're an occupying
army in our community.
Now, fast-forward to 1967,
and ain't nothing changed.
[HUEY] Police were still
beating and killing
Black people in the streets.
But Bobby and I decided
to do something about it.
So, what California statute says
it's illegal to shoot a whale
from a moving car or a a crop duster?
A crop duster? Nah, man.
It's illegal to shoot any game
or marine mammal from a car,
unless it's a whale.
It's 3002.
Goddamn. [LAUGHS] Now,
why did they do that?
A better question, how you know that?
- Got my head in the books, man.
- [SCOFFS]
Say, what you, uh
What you think about
Black Panther Party For
Revolutionary Action?
I don't know, brother.
That's a whole lot of words.
[CHUCKLES]
Hey, brother, we
getting low on gas, man.
- How much longer do you wanna do this?
- Whoa. Right there.
[POLICE RADIO CHATTER]
That's Lil Bobby from the center.
[OFFICER] The fuck is this?
Who the hell do you think you are?
- The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.
- The what?
- You heard me.
- Drop your weapons.
- [SCOFFS]
- [COCKS GUN]
We here to make sure that this
citizen's rights are not being violated.
You have no basis in
law to take my weapon.
California code 119.2 says
I have the right to carry
this weapon on public property,
so long as it is not being concealed
or brandished in a threatening manner.
Call for backup.
[HUEY] Man, the cops did not like this.
But the community did.
And the party took off.
You know, I was thinking,
I get my own gun.
And be out there with you and
Bobby, patrolling the police.
You know, that's where it's at.
[CHUCKLES]
Slow down, young blood.
Your time will come.
Dig it, man. The party is,
uh is an organization, right?
And organizations have structures.
Members have, uh, positions.
And everybody's gotta
contribute in their own way.
Now, your, uh your mama tells me
that you, uh, pretty good at math?
Sound like a treasurer to me.
Well, I can be a treasurer if you want,
but that's not revolutionary. You know?
I wanna be out in the streets too.
Yeah, see Che?
Che was a revolutionary and a doctor.
Fanon was a revolutionary
and a psychiatrist.
And now, Lil Bobby can be a
revolutionary and a treasurer. You dig?
Tell me, man. What, uh What
is that's got you so, uh
so fired up to go out
there and risk your life?
I I'm sick of white people
treating us like three-fifths a person.
I'm sick of police hitting
us in the back of the head.
And I'm tired of the
mold in my apartment.
I wanna change it all.
What do you think? Is that possible?
I think I think that if
we can organize the people,
I think that if we can,
uh, listen to the people
and if we can fight for the people
and if young cats like you, right,
get out there and carry the baton,
man, I don't think there's anything
we can't accomplish. You dig?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
[HUEY] Folks joined from all
over. Kids like Lil Bobby.
But when white folks saw
Black people with guns,
Ronald Reagan flipped out.
I see no reason why,
on the street today,
a citizen should be
carrying a loaded weapon.
[HUEY] We went to the State
Capitol to, uh, debate the bill.
And we believe this
racist law was designed
to keep Black people unarmed
against the fascist police
who continue to brutalize
us on a daily basis.
[HUEY] But the NRA and GOP
teamed up to pass gun control.
Mm-hmm. Contradictions.
When Malcolm X's widow
arrived on the anniversary
of her husband's death,
we showed up at the
airport to provide escort.
That's when Eldridge
Cleaver became a Panther.
And I became a symbol of the party,
which put me in the crosshairs
of every cop in the country.
[SIREN WAILING]
- [CAR DOORS OPEN, CLOSE]
- [PANTHER] This shit again.
Cowardly motherfucker.
[POLICE RADIO CHATTER]
Well, well. The great Huey P.
Newton. Step out of the car.
- Why? I'm not stepping out of my car, man.
- Get out of the car.
What's the cause for getting me
out of my car? Did I break any laws?
Step out of the car.
Be cool, man. Be cool, be cool.
- Right there's fine.
- Why you hassling me, man?
- You go right there.
- Man, why you hassling me?
- Excuse me? What did you say to me?
- Am I under arrest?
- Am I under arrest?
- Where's your gun, Huey?
- I thought you had a gun.
- Nobody said nothing about no gun.
- You the motherfucker with a gun.
- Thought you fuckers carried guns.
This racist-ass motherfucker
talking about a gun?
If I did have a gun, pig, I
have a right to carry a gun.
- Article one, section one
- Fuck is this?
of the California constitution
guarantees my right to, uh, defend
myself, my life, and my liberty.
I don't give a fuck about
your life and your liberty.
- I will do so under the second amendment
- This nigger's got a gun.
- You a fucking racist-ass pig.
- You got a gun. This nigger's got a gun.
- Nigger? Are you saying "nigger"?
- Yeah, you got a
- [GUNFIRE]
- [GRUNTS]
[GUNFIRE]
[HUEY] They said I had
a gun. But I didn't.
They said I killed a cop.
Lot of bullets was flying
that night, but none was mine.
- Didn't matter.
- [BUZZER SOUNDS]
[GRUNTING]
[HUEY] Threw me in the soul breaker.
[GRUNTS]
[GRUNTS] Fuck you, pig. [SIGHS]
[HUEY] Three years in solitary
for a murder I didn't commit.
[BREATHING SHAKILY]
[HUEY] My mind was, uh
[SIGHS] torn apart.
Everything I did wrong,
every regret, every fear.
[CRYING]
[GRUNTING, SHOUTING]
[HUEY] Then I heard what
happened to Lil Bobby.
They wanted to see me destroyed.
[SOBS] Our freedom for our political
prisoners. Our Black [MUMBLES]
We want the end of police
brutality [SCREAMS]
End of police brutality.
[BREATHES SHAKILY]
[HUEY] I couldn't give 'em that.
Yet somewhere deep inside,
I knew I had to fight.
For him and for everyone who needed us.
Somehow the message, the, uh,
ideas, they brought me back.
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
[HUEY] They tried to break
me but they couldn't do it.
I-I got I got my mind right.
[KEYS JINGLING]
[HUEY] Then my conviction was
overturned, so they did what they did,
what they had to do.
Cleaned me up, and
said I was free to go.
Free? [SCOFFS] Yeah, right.
I was set free a marked man,
and worse, a goddamn idol.
[SUPPORTERS CHANTING]
Free Huey! Free Huey!
[SUPPORTERS CHEERING]
["GIVE THE PEOPLE WHA
THEY WANT" PLAYING]
Power to the people! Whoo-hoo!
More power to the people!
[STEVE] Let's just do what we gotta do.
- Bert, studio wants to stunt cast this.
- [PRODUCER] They want Monte Landis.
- I think we should think about Rock.
- [PRODUCER] Hudson?
[STEVE] No, the Rock of Gibraltar.
[HUEY] "Celebrity" is
its own kind of prison.
[SHUSHES]
[HUEY] But that's how these
producers took notice.
- Bert Schneider and, uh, Steve Blauner.
- I am free!
[HUEY] See, Bert's dad ran Columbia.
He scored his pops a-a
cash-cow with the Monkees,
but wanted to kill the golden
goose to make a biker pic.
With all you have, and all
the meshugas in this world,
can't you just leave it
alone and enjoy your life?
Like you did, Pop?
[HUEY] Bert's father remained
silent during the McCarthy trials.
Some of us can't just sit on the side.
[SCOFFS]
I'll distribute the stupid biker
thing, but I'm not paying for it.
It's your money, your bet.
Mine is, you're gonna lose your shirt.
Bullshit. There's gonna
be lines around the block.
[HUEY] That stupid biker thing
turned out to be Easy Rider.
And there were indeed
lines around the block.
[SUPPORTERS CHEERING]
Talk about a star. That
guy's a fucking star.
Here we go.
[HUEY] Bert was tired of
cultural revolutionaries,
and when he saw me he saw cinema verité.
- [CHUCKLES] Real revolution.
- Right on!
[HUEY] Ho Chi Minh in
the home land. [CHUCKLES]
And he And he could
never turn that off.
Say, man, who who are
all these people, man?
I don't know who half these
people are. Where Where's Gwen?
Gwen's with the kids, but it's
good to have you back, brother.
Ain't out the woods yet,
man. Still got another trial.
Another expensive trial.
Between you, Ericka, George Jackson,
the Siete de la Raza, it all adds up.
[PANTHER] Hell, we need gas.
Help get folks up to see
our comrades in prison.
I hear that, sister.
I know y'all hear that,
but are you listening?
We're running on empty.
I got somebody
to help lighten the load on
legal fees, gas, you name it.
Anything else you might need.
[HUEY] Teressa was a rising
star within the party.
[HUEY] Who the hell is Berton Jerome?
Bert Schneider. A friend of Elaine's.
- Wonderbread?
- Whole lot of bread.
Produces movies. Easy Rider,
Five Easy Pieces.
Got one coming out later this
fall, uh, Last Picture Show.
The party could use Bert's money
to support the survival programs.
Hollywood is the fast track
to capitalist co-optation.
[PANTHER 2] You got that right.
[PANTHER 3] You disagree?
He wants in. He's willing
to do whatever it takes.
White mother country radicals
already in the movement, brother.
Look at the Freedom
Riders, Young Patriots.
They got a role to play
if they willing to play.
Sounds like something to
consider, Brother Huey.
Let me explain something to you.
All right. Them Appalachian white folks.
Them, uh, working class thugs.
They ain't Hollywood. They poor
folks just like us. You dig?
The police whoop their
ass, just like us.
They got rats in their walls and
and cockroaches in their
cereal, just like us.
They don't want in the movement,
brother. You understand?
They don't want in the movement.
What they want is to survive.
And they can dig that the Black
Panther Party will help them
more than any white police officer,
any white politician ever would.
[PANTHER 4] Right on.
So, Brother David is right.
We gotta find another way.
I don't want us getting
mixed up in no Hollywood.
Tell your pops he's all paid up.
- All right.
- All right.
[TERESSA] Are you crazy? Out
here on your own. No protection.
Can't be scared to be on the
streets with our own people, Teressa.
Yeah.
- [SUPPORTER] All power to the people.
- All power to the people, brother.
You know, my pops, uh,
worked harder than anybody
I've ever seen, his whole life.
- It's good to have you home, brother.
- Thank you, sis.
He had two, three jobs at a
time, always paid his bills
[SCOFFS] never got in trouble
with the law. Never, uh
- See you at the rally next week.
- [HUEY] All right.
[TERESSA CHUCKLES]
Never got ahead either. You know,
always a half step better than broke.
You get money for your programs,
you can change all that.
- Brother Larry
- Hey, Brother Larry's a sucker.
He talks a good game, but he
ain't never been in no fight.
- It ain't always about fighting.
- It is about fighting, Teressa.
My father always said, "Always look
'em in the eye. Always advance."
I can tell you everything
you need to know about a man
by what he does in a fight.
Well, I'll tell you this,
for what you wanna do,
you should check out Bert.
Did you give him some, Teressa?
Oh, shit. You did, didn't you?
[SCOFFS] Guess you got
that $100,000 thing, huh?
Well, you should know. Can't
put a price tag on perfect.
[LAUGHS] But no.
Huey, my daddy didn't struggle
like yours did. He split.
And my mom had it twice as hard
raising us on top of all those jobs.
I think about all she
did to get me here.
And how much it would have meant to
lighten the load just a little bit.
Just give him a shot, Huey.
You did give him some, didn't you?
I ain't saying nothing.
["JUMPIN' JACK FLASH" PLAYING]
[PEOPLE CHATTERING, LAUGHING]
I heard somebody say Jack
Nicholson was gonna be in here.
Oh, shit. Brando! I gotta thank
him for what he said at my thing.
- I'ma go find Bert.
- All right.
Damn. Huey motherfucking Newton.
- Richard Pryor.
- What's happening?
Bert trying to get
down with the Panthers?
- [SCOFFS] Yeah, he's trying, brother.
- Oh, far fucking out.
Say, man, what do you think
about these white folk?
Oh, this here is a
special breed of honky.
One that, deep in their
genes, they got a lot of guilt.
[SCOFFS]
They willing to pay a
steep price for absolution.
Now here come the best
argument yet for segregation.
Bert, dig.
Richard Pryor as Huey P. Newton
in The Huey Newton Story.
Well, don't we look alike?
- Not really. [LAUGHS]
- Oh, damn.
The one time I need a white
guy who can't tell us apart,
I get the pasty Panther.
[LAUGHS]
Now he'll probably get
Warren Beatty or somebody.
Put some shoe polish on his face
and have him play you. Ain't that right?
I'ma let y'all talk y'all business.
I'ma tell all my people
I met you tonight.
- They gonna shit.
- Same, brother.
Play nice.
- Be cool.
- I'm cool.
Let me show you around.
I think I get it.
[STAMMERS] There's really nothing
to get. Could all burn tomorrow.
I don't know, man. Look like to
me you got it made in the shade.
Why you wanna mess around with us?
Ah, well, who says I'm messing?
Can't be no other way.
Revolution's survival to
me. It's optional to you.
That's exactly why I gotta do it.
Look, America's not Cuba.
You're not gonna
overthrow the government
with 42 people hanging
out in the jungle.
You have to change the
way that people think.
Yeah, that's cool for you down here.
But in Oakland, we're fighting a
low-grade guerrilla war every day.
[BERT] Look at that thing in-in Algeria.
Look at Algeria.
People fought, and they didn't let go.
Okay, no, I'm talking about
The Battle of Algiers.
- The movie.
- Right. Right.
That-that's the cri de cœur for
all those kids out in the streets.
All right.
Yeah, a lot of kids saw it, and
it got 'em high on revolution.
That movie minted fighters.
That's the power of the silver screen.
Hollywood's always
been late to the party,
but these people are
trying to change all that.
You're looking at the
world's best storytellers,
and there's no politics without a story.
Yeah, but what story you trying to
tell? And why should you tell it?
No, not tell it.
Just make it possible.
I wanna finance the revolution.
[SNIFFING]
- In order for people to survive, right
- Yeah.
they have to understand how
to survive in this racist system.
But it's all about consciousness.
- Gotta raise it.
- Then the people will pick up the gun.
- Nah, I'm putting the gun aside.
- Go after the superstructure.
- Capitalism is the cornerstone.
- Gotta knock out that block.
We're doing it block to block.
Up in Oakland, right, we're
we're, uh, educating our own.
We're feeding our own, clothing,
shelter, and health care.
So you nationalize the community.
Show the lumpenproletariat
that they can do better
than the imperialists.
So you do it up there,
and then other communities
will see what's possible.
Fire is lit. The
revolution starts to spread.
This is a This is a dangerous idea.
You're gonna be the most
dangerous man in America.
You ask J. Edgar Hoover, I already am.
["CHANGES" PLAYING]
Smoke this.
You know, I'm I'm not
trying to control your message.
I'll do whatever the party needs.
Propaganda for the people.
And what happens when
the law comes knocking
or these studios stop taking your call?
Well, I have a saying
when we pick projects.
"If it's not worth risking everything
to do, it's not worth doing."
Right. What about your life?
What would you die for, Bert?
Well, I I think what
you're really asking is,
how full of shit am I?
Seems like I'm always measuring
my actions against my convictions
and coming up short.
If I take this money,
who-who am I accountable to?
Nobody.
That's not how I work.
I hire the best artists,
and I give them free rein.
Jack, isn't that right?
He writes the checks and
stays away. [CHUCKLES]
[BERT] I let the talent tell the story.
Right.
- Right. And who do you see as the talent?
- Well, I think that's obvious.
The face of the
revolution has to be you.
And, uh, by me, you mean, uh
You mean the guy in the chair with
the with the rifle and spear.
Yeah.
The baddest motherfucker on the planet.
Think about it.
[BERT] What is it? Did
I say something wrong?
[TERESSA] No. He just doesn't feel
it's the right direction for the party.
What direction? I throw
money his direction.
He can do whatever he wants.
He doesn't wanna get
in bed with Hollywood.
Let me come up there
and meet with him again.
- Five minutes, he owes me that.
- Owes you?
Bert, he doesn't want to.
Everybody wants to meet with
me, I'm Bert fucking Schneider.
Once we get in there I need
you to handle it, all right?
[BERT] Huey! Huey.
Man, are you tailing me?
No.
Well, kinda.
Can you please just
give me five minutes?
I wanna help, that's all.
I can help you finish
building the houses.
I can help build the schools.
I can help build the clinics.
Right. Right. And then what?
Then you wanna put
your name over the door?
Of course not.
[CHUCKLES]
Yeah, you say that now,
but, once you write that check,
you gonna want something for it.
Like what?
Well, you gonna want people to know.
Not my style.
Look, I know you mean well,
but see, the thing is, uh,
we got money coming in
from our own people now.
So, uh, there just ain't
no place in the movement
for a Hollywood white boy, you dig?
[SCOFFS]
- Huey, he
- Don't start with me, Teressa.
I ain't saying nothing.
Hey. Hey, listen.
Only the people can transform
society, Teressa. Not stars.
Now, I don't want
Hollywood sidetracking us.
That's not protecting the party.
You worried about them sidetracking
the movement or sidetracking you?
Same thing.
[SIREN BLARES]
Got a report of loitering.
What you guys doing, huh?
- Penal code 647H PC
- Penal code.
makes it a crime for a person
to loiter on someone's property
- [OFFICER] Who the fuck
- [MEMBER] You motherfu
[OFFICER] Watch my mouth?
- You call me a cracker?
- Yeah, pig.
- Yeah, I did. Fuck you, cracker.
- Be cool.
Are you out of your head
Get your fucking hands off her.
Why y'all always fucking with us?
Huh? Why you always fucking with us?
What are you two doing? Are
you crazy? We'll run you in.
- Get the fuck out of here.
- Fucker.
[OFFICER 2] Fuck you and all
the niggers that follow you.
[BLACK PANTHERS, POLICE
OFFICERS CLAMORING]
Hey, whoa, whoa!
Officer! Officer! Officer!
- They weren't doing anything.
- [PANTHER] Get away from me.
- Back up!
- I'm Bert Schneider.
I'm here from Los Angeles.
Back the fuck up! I don't give a shit!
Hey, you get your hands
off me. Don't you touch me!
Fuck you!
[BLACK PANTHERS, OFFICERS CLAMORING]
- [GRUNTS]
- [GRUNTS]
- You got him. You don't need
- Back up! Back up!
["I WISH I KNEW HOW IT WOULD
FEEL TO BE FREE" PLAYING]
This is bullshit.
A massive nationwide
manhunt is now underway.
Huey P. Newton is wanted in the shooting
of a 17-year-old Bay Area prostitute.
[HUEY] So that's how I ended up here,
hiding out in a little girl's
bedroom in a mansion in Bel Air.
It's all gonna be okay.
Bert's gonna get you
that fancy white lawyer.
We were in his house for five
minutes, and he shoved us out the door.
You know you couldn't get
rid of Bert if you tried.
He'll come through for us.
[LAWYER] They sound extremely confident.
The state says they have shell
casings, forensics, eyewitnesses.
It's a frame-up, Bill.
You know, their eyewitness
is a streetwalker.
[CHUCKLES] Probably coercing
her six ways to Sunday.
Huey didn't kill that girl.
This is a setup.
You should get as far
away from this as possible.
You're harboring a fugitive.
If you destroy evidence
You're not destroying evidence, are you?
[BERT] You've never heard
the words "Huey" or "Newton".
- We need the car in the hole.
- Shut the fuck up. You're robbing me.
Fucking sold!
- Of course not.
- No.
- Why would we do that?
- Little offended at the suggestion.
Good.
Huey's only chance right
now is to turn himself in.
You're out of your fucking tree.
I can't look at their evidence
and start to fight till
after he's in custody.
He was in solitary for 34
months. He'd die sooner.
Then you probably all will.
Wait, I'm I'm sorry. What?
If he keeps running, they will find him.
They will kill him and anyone he's with.
They created SWA
specifically to raid Panthers.
This isn't a movie, Bert. There
won't be any knock at the door.
- There won't be a warrant. They'll just
- [CLICK]
[SHUSHES]
- [BOOTS SHUFFLING]
- [BILL] Did you hear that?
What? Do you hear that?
Let's go.
[BERT] What was that?
Bert, let's just go.
- [STEVE] We should go.
- Oh, shit.
- [GUNSHOTS]
- [STEVE SCREAMS]
- [SWAT LEADER] Move! Move! Move!
- [STEVE] Fuck! Oh, shit!
- [SCREAMS]
- Shit! [SCREAMING]
[SCREAMING]
It'll go something like that.
If you love Huey, don't
let him martyr himself.
Get him to come in.
[RICHARD] I mean, I can dig this.
You out here hiding in plain sight, huh?
Figure that's the last place
they'd think to look for me.
That shit I got from Big Bob.
You know I met his
scary ass in an alley?
That is one morose
motherfucker right there, man.
I mean he ain't crack
nary a smile, you dig?
Consider that my contribution
to the revolution.
Thank you, brother.
Scared?
Shit, I get nervous just going
up telling jokes sometimes.
I mean, I can't imagine
what you're going through.
After Malcolm and Martin.
Man, I always, uh I always knew
I was living on borrowed time, man.
I always knew I was gonna
die for the revolution.
That don't mean I ain't scared.
That's the definition
of courage right there.
Doing it anyway.
That or insanity.
Shit. I mean, I can't
keep the two straight.
Me neither, man.
Uh-oh.
[GRUNTS, CHUCKLES] Too slow.
[GRUNTS] No. No, no. [CHUCKLES]
- Okay. You got me.
- Oh, hey. There's my guys.
- I love this duo, huh?
- [HUEY CHUCKLES]
All right. Hey, Mike,
what Let's let, uh,
Uncle Bert and Huey talk, okay?
Come on.
- Fine.
- All right, fine.
- Bye, Huey.
- Give me five.
- All right.
- [STEVE] Don't let me catch you. C'mon.
How's, uh How's Kunstler?
He all fired up for a fight?
He thinks you should turn yourself in.
[CHUCKLES]
And did you tell him to go fuck himself?
Oh, I see how it is.
After all that?
"I always wanna be down with
the movement", but when the
when the rubber meets the
road, suddenly you a pedestrian?
Gwen.
Gwen! We leaving!
Look, nobody wants to see you in prison,
and nobody wants to see you dead either.
Actually, a lot of people
wanna see me dead, Bert.
You think cops don't
kill niggas in the pen?
"I'll do whatever it takes to
be down with the movement, Huey."
Those were your words.
Knew it was jive when you said it.
How's it help the
movement if you're dead?
There's nowhere in the country you
can hide where they won't find you.
That's why I'm leaving the country.
[CHUCKLES] This isn't gonna work.
And tell me why not.
[BERT SIGHS]
Hmm?
Th They're expecting
you at every crossing.
You're gonna need disguises,
transportation, a whole ton of shit.
Where you gonna stay when
you get where you're going?
How are we gonna keep
you from being extradited?
- It's logistically impossible.
- Yeah. Well, I will figure it out, Bert.
Ah, it's not that simple.
You're the hotshot producer, man.
You wanna produce
something? Produce this.
[BERT] How about we put
you in a car to Canada
No. Man, they'd hunt me
down like the Weathermen.
Well, we can't do Mexico, either.
Not with those fascists in power.
You gotta be dry-humping
me this is what's happening.
- Hush. This is good.
- Oh, I'm sorry, is this not my house?
[BERT] Gotta be a place
with no extradition.
- It's gotta be communist. Tanzania or
- China?
Algeria.
- No. Hell no. That's where Eldridge is.
- [GWEN] Mm-mmm.
Cuba.
Cuba.
[AGENT] Believe the
suspect is at the house.
He's believed to be armed and dangerous.
All units proceed with caution.
Ninety miles off the coast of Florida.
- Castro would welcome you with open arms.
- Wait a second.
You're not actually
considering this, are you?
Bert, what's he gonna do?
No, please, tell me, Huey,
what are you gonna do?
You gonna skyjack a plane?
Is that what's on the menu?
No, that's déclassé for a
revolutionary of his stature.
We'll find another way.
I don't know how yet.
Doesn't matter. It's plot, execution.
It's not execution.
We're gonna get executed.
Cuba could work. [CHUCKLES]
[STEVE] It's not gonna work, Bert.
Not with the Feds watching us here.
What we do is Check it out.
What we do is, we make
it look like it's
- like it's one of your movies.
- [BANG]
[HUEY] It's just some
cats doing a production.
Exactly. It's a location shoot
as far as the Feds are concerned.
We got hair, makeup, wardrobe,
travel, a star. [CHUCKLES]
Call Karen Carpenter.
- We're gonna need some cash.
- No.
No, no, no we gonna keep
the circle small, man.
[STEVE] No. You No.
Gentlemen, stop.
[SWAT LEADER] Move! Move! Move!
[STEVE] You heard Kunstler, okay?
This is not a movie.
Those bullets are real.
They go inside you, the end.
- [BERT] Steve.
- [STEVE] Don't Don't "Steve" me. C'mon.
- Don't look at him.
- Steve.
This is me, baby. Come on. Come on.
Bert, bring your brain back from lunch.
- Steve.
- Buddy, come on.
Let's just go back to
our projects, right?
- Let's just go find the next big picture.
- Steve, it's over.
I don't care anymore.
We revolutionized
movies, big fucking deal.
This, Huey's fight, this is real life.
- Something worth risking everything to do.
- [STEVE SCOFFS]
This is our next big picture.
[OFFICER GRUNTS]
Check those doors.
Let's get this motherfucker.
[TEENAGER] What did we do?
We were just in a school play.
[AGENT] The fuck are
Schneider and Newton?
You've gotta be fucking kidding me.
[HUEY] That's right, y'all
remember that hippie Fed
who was hunting me down?
And yes, the FBI really
did raid Bert's house.
And a theater-school toga party
[AGENT] Fuck!
To Cuba.
- To Cuba.
- To Cuba.
Hasta la Victoria, siempre.
["I JUST WANT TO CELEBRATE" PLAYING]