Script To Screen: “Lethal Weapon”

The jumper scene from the 1987 movie Lethal Weapon, written by Shane Black.

IMDb plot summary: A veteran cop, Murtaugh, is partnered with a young suicidal cop, Riggs. Both having one thing in common; hating working in pairs. Now they must learn to work with one another to stop a gang of drug smugglers.

In this scene, Riggs and Murtaugh show up at a scene where a guy is threatening to jump off a building. Riggs volunteers to talk down the guy.

EXT. BUILDING — DAY

On the ground below, Roger Murtaugh reacts with disbelief.
His partner is taking an insane risk. Up above, Riggs
pauses. Around him the WIND BLOWS treacherously.

RIGGS
You’re not the first guy to think
of this, you know. Everyone’s got
problems.

MacCLEARY
You know shit.

RIGGS
Wrong. You’re wrong.
 (beat)
I almost tried this once.
Seriously. My wife. Got killed
in a car crash. Only person I
ever cared about. I never had
kids.

MacCLEARY
You’re breaking my heart.

Riggs takes out his wallet, flashes it at MacCleary.

RIGGS
This is her picture.

MacCLEARY
Nice. Fuck off.

RIGGS
I’m trying to tell you I understand,
you dope.

He takes a step closer.

MacCLEARY
Don’t touch me. I’m not doing
anything wrong.

RIGGS
I know that. Not like you’re
murdering anyone.

MacCLEARY
Right. Only one hurt is me.

RIGGS
Same way I look at it. I’m gonna
stand beside you, okay?

MacCLEARY
No!
 (beat)
Dammit, keep away.

RIGGS
Please. This is scary stuff.
Just … let me stand next to you.

MacCLEARY
Don’t try nothing.

RIGGS
I try something, we both go.

MacCLEARY
Right.

Riggs slowly steps up to the man. Shudders.

RIGGS
There. Fuckin’ cold,up here.
 (beat)
Helluva day for both of us, huh?
 (looks around at
 the sea of traffic
 far below)
Here we are.
 (beat)
God, this is really scary. I’m
scared.

MacCLEARY
Me, too.

RIGGS
You wanna smoke?
 (pulls out
 cigarettes)
Let’s smoke, okay?

MacCLEARY
Sure.

Riggs offers a smoke. MacCleary reaches for it. And Riggs
snaps a handcuff on his wrist. Snaps the other end onto
his own wrist.

MacCLEARY
Hey …

RIGGS
Sorry.
 (beat)
See this key?

He holds up the key to the cuffs. Flings it out into
space.

RIGGS
We’re together on this. You can
go if you want. But you take me
with you. Makes you a murderer.

MacCLEARY
You bastard.

RIGGS
You’ll be killing a cop.

Silence.

RIGGS
I’m going inside. What say you
come with me?

He turns, starts to ease along the ledge. MacCleary
swallows hard, says:

MacCLEARY
Fuck you, I’m jumping.

And suddenly Riggs turns on him. Eyes like steel.

RIGGS
You wanna jump … ? You really
want to … ?
 (long pause;
 then)
Fine. Let’s do it.

He steps to the edge.

MacCLEARY
Hey, what the fuck …

RIGGS
You asked for it.

MacCLEARY
Hey, wait a minute … !

Riggs does something very drastic. He jerks them both
off the ledge. Holy shit. The crowd gasps.

RIGGS
Geronimoooooo …

As down they plunge, all ten stories — Tumbling and
falling — MacCleary shrieking like a lunatic … And
suddenly, BAM — ! They land in a fireman’s net. Bounce
a few times. Come to rest, safe and unharmed … Riggs
rolls over with a sour look on his face. Cops surround
them. MacCleary is a trifle upset.

MacCLEARY
Get him away from me!! Cut me
loose!! Crazy fucker tried to
kill me!! Did you see that?? He
tried to kill me!!!

And so on, screaming and ranting — As a uniformed cop
cuts Riggs free with a set of clippers. Riggs stands
shakily. Steps away from the net. And there is Roger
Murtaugh. Visibly upset.

Did I say upset? I meant enraged. He grabs Riggs, slams
him against the wall. Tries to grab his collar. Riggs’
hand shoots out. Lightning fast. Stops Murtaugh’s hand.
Stops it cold. They stare into each other’s eyes.

RIGGS
Don’t … touch me.

Here is the scene from the movie:

There are some cosmetic differences, much of the dialogue presumably massaged and improvised on set, but the gist of the scene is very much the same. They did cut (or not shoot) Riggs sharing backstory about how his wife died. From a screenwriting perspective, it makes sense to use this jumper scene to lay in some key exposition, a way of hiding it in plain sight. But when you watch the movie, it doesn’t match the comedic tone of the scene as filmed, so that’s probably why that hit the cutting room floor.

One tonal change at the end: In the script, Riggs’ reaction post-jump is described as a “sour look on his face.” In the movie, Riggs is hooting and hollering, even suggesting they jump again. This heightens the sense of just how crazy Riggs is.

Lethal Weapon was a spec script that sold for a reported $250,000 and went on to spawn a big-time action comedy franchise. Well worth reading the script.

One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.

For more Script To Screen articles, go here.