"Mine Field" Screenplay written by Peter Layton


FADE UP

EXT. FARM LAND - NOON

"BOSNIA 1992" fades up and down over TOM CARSON in a padded bomb
suit and face-shield helmet slowly sweeping a land mine detector around a
red-ribboned rural water well. Nearby, a blue-uniformed United Nations MAJOR
glances worriedly at the UN brass and local officials waiting some distance away.

MAJOR
Mister Carson, we can't delay this
much longer.

Wryly, pointedly, Carson glances past the Major at the assembled TV crews and
press photographers.

CARSON
Stop the presses…one mine-field
cleared, only a thousand more to go.

MAJOR
Tom, I know you don't care for this
ceremony, but right now the UN
really needs some positive--

BRING! The Major answers his cell phone.

MAJOR
Yes, I know, sir, just a few minutes
more. Tom Carson just wants to be--

BOOM! A sudden EXPLOSION blasts Carson into the air, flattens the Major.
Soldiers and medics rush to attend to the injured Major, but nothing can be done
for Carson.

INT. SUBURBAN AMERICAN HOME - DAY
Tom Carson's picture is on the fridge door that SARAH CARSON, mid-30's,
closes to answer the door bell. She opens the front door to two grim-faced men in
military uniforms and a MINISTER holding a Bible.

MINISTER
Sarah Carson?

EXT. BACK YARD - DAY

SHANE CARSON, 12, is doing what older brothers do best…beating up his kid
brother, JASON CARSON, 9. The wrestling match stops when the boys see a
shaky Sarah being guided by the men towards them.

SARAH
Jason…Shane…come here.

A MONTAGE shows Sarah, Shane, and Jason at the closed casket funeral, then
Sarah making speeches under a "World Wide Land Mine Ban Campaign" banner,
doing TV interviews with "Sarah Carson Land Mine Ban Activist" under her
image, and meeting politicians, military men, and heads of state.

SARAH (V/O)
Thousands of innocent civilians in the
world’s poorest countries are killed or
crippled every year from land mines.
These cruel weapons must be banned.

Shane and Jason take two very different paths in this montage. Jason begins
training in the United Nations de-mining program…following in his father's
footsteps. Shane goes from a rebellious teen brought home in a police car to a US
Army soldier being arrested by MPs outside a bar. We CUT from the wild-eyed,
long-haired Shane in jail to…

EXT. COUNTRY ROAD - AFTERNOON
…the wild-eyed, long-haired Shane riding in a jeep behind a mounted machine
gun. 'BURAK AFRICA PRESENT DAY" fades in and out.

SHANE
Whoa, whoa! Yallah, yallah, stop!

A convoy of pick-up trucks and jeeps slams to a halt. Shane squints
through binoculars at the red dirt road leading to a shot-up, bullet-ridden
guardhouse by the bridge. In the front seat, a CAPTAIN frowns up at Shane.

CAPTAIN
Problem, Mister Shane?

Nodding, Shane slaps an ammo clip into the machine gun, then FIRES a short
blast into the road ahead. The bullets kick up red dust until BOOM! BOOM!
BOOM!, three huge explosions rip apart impassable craters.

SHANE
Mines.

Shane looks over at an empty field with red skull and cross-bones MINE FIELD
warning signs at its edge.

SHANE
You want that bridge, Cap, we gotta
go through this field.

The Captain snaps an order in a tribal tongue. His soldiers grab two teen-age
boys, tying long ropes around their waists. One of them, LEONARD, cries out.

LEONARD
No, please, Mister Shane, not me!
I'm Leonard! I cook for you, I help
you, and I'm a Christian!

SHANE
Cap, Leonard's a good boy. I like him.
Send the other one first.

The soldiers force the first boy into the mine field. The rope trails behind as he
shakily walks through the grass. The Captain squints up at Shane.

CAPTAIN
Mister Shane, how did you know
the road ahead was mined?

Shane flashes the stern Captain a lopsided, drugged out grin.

SHANE
Smelled 'em, Cap, just smelled 'em.

Shane glances back out to the boy in the mine field.

SHANE
And this field stinks.

The boy takes one step, then another. BOOM! A sudden EXPLOSION flips him
into the air. He crashes to the ground, lies howling in agony. Grim-faced, the
Captain FIRES two shots. The screams stop. Leonard is shoved into the field.

LEONARD
No! Mister Shane, help me!

Pushing past the soldiers, Shane goes over to the terrified Leonard, hands him
a ball of rolled up narcotic khat leaf, tucks into his mouth.

SHANE
Here…this kills pain and makes you
brave. Good luck.

Prodded by rifles, Leonard sets out into the mine field, whispering prayers.
Chewing on khat leaf, Shane lounges beside the Captain.

SHANE
Got a good feeling about him, Cap.
1000 Rand says he makes it.

Following the rope to the crater and the other boy's mangled body, Leonard walks
ahead, slowly planting his combat boots step after step into the soft grass.
Suddenly, CLICK! very loud, the amplified sound of a metal trigger locking.
Leonard stops dead, freezes like a statue. Shane sits up fast in the Jeep.

SHANE
Freeze, Leonard! Don't move!
You move, you're dead! Got it?

Wide-eyed, frozen in terror, Leonard barely nods. Shane sighs at the Captain.

SHANE
He's on a goddamn pressure release
mine. Explodes when you step off it,
a mind-fuck weapon. This area's
too hairy, Cap. I say we bug out.

Gesturing at his soldiers to retreat, the Captain aims his rifle at Leonard. Gently
pushing it aside, Shane snaps on a cell phone.

SHANE
Naw, let's give him a chance.

CAPTAIN
Who are you calling?

SHANE
The one guy in the whole world who'd
try to save a kid standing on a mine…

EXT. U.N. BASE CAMP - AFTERNOON
The blue and white United Nations flag flies over a military base camp. On a
roped-off training ground, Jason Carson kneels before a group of African men,
blowing dirt away to expose a drab green land mine.

JASON
Once you've found a mine, always
carefully feel underneath it. Here’s
how it might be booby-trapped.

Jason gently lifts the mine up. The men watching all crowd around, staring wide-
eyed at a second land mine lying underneath the first. A soldier comes up, hands
Jason a cell phone.

JASON
Hello?

SHANE'S VOICE
Jason, what the fuck are you doing here?

JASON
Shane? That you? Jesus! What...
where are you?

INT. JEEP - AFTERNOON
Sitting in the back of a Jeep, Shane grins, looks at the armed soldiers in the
convoy around him.

SHANE
In an insane asylum with homicidal
maniacs. The usual...now, listen up,
got some work for you heroes.

EXT. U.N. BASE CAMP - AFTERNOON
Ear pressed to his cell, Jason writes directions down quickly.

JASON
Pressure release, Jesus…okay, we
can be there in twenty minutes.
Uh, will you be there?

INT. JEEP - AFTERNOON
Idly toying with a hand grenade, Shane scowls up at the late afternoon sun.

SHANE
Fuck no, and neither will you, not now.
You come here tomorrow in daylight,
with lots of soldiers. I'm serious.

EXT. U.N. BASE CAMP
Jason sighs unhappily into the cell.

JASON
That kid will stand there all night…uh,
you know Mom's getting married?
Silence from the cell, no reply.

JASON
To Mark Harris…the city bomb squad.
Mom, men, and dynamite, huh?

INT. JEEP - AFTERNOON
Shane's thumb idly flicks the grenade pin as he listens to Jason’s voice coming
through loud and clear over the cell.

JASON'S VOICE
Wedding's this summer. Uh…you know
you’re invit--

SHANE
You're breaking up, I'm losing you.

Snapping off the cell, Shane stares darkly off at nothing.

INT. OFFICE - AFTERNOON
The same Major that was with Tom Carson in Bosnia is in his office with Jason.
Now using a cane for support, he stares at a map of Burak, then shakes his head.

MAJOR
Sorry, that area is outside our safe havens
and protected zones. I can't send troops
wherever I want. We're peacekeepers,
not an invading army or occupying force.

Shuffling stiffly over, the Major drops heavily into his chair.

MAJOR
Anyway, the boy’s probably dead now.
That mine is designed to kill rescuers,
the chances of success are--

JASON
I can do it.

MAJOR
Have you ever?

Jason just looks away. The Major smiles slightly.

MAJOR
You’re a lot like your father. I…I knew
him in Bosnia. He didn't suffer, son,
I was there…how I got this.

The Major indicates his stiff, useless leg. Jason leans in close to the Major.

JASON
Tell me, how did he miss that mine?
Was he tired, in a hurry?

The Major hesitates a long time, obviously mulling over his reply.

MAJOR
Tom was always cautious and careful.
Now, I never said this, and it's not in
the official report, but the mine that killed
him was probably a M-72.

JASON
M-72? That's American…the fucking
Einstein of smart mines. No wonder he
didn't find it. Why weren’t we told this
before?

MAJOR
It happened at a crucial time in the
peace negotiations. And a political
assassination attempt at a secure UN
site with a high tech American weapon
that may have been stolen, or sold,
to the other side…

JASON
...would've looked bad for you guys.
Fuck me, you covered it up, blamed
the victim.

MAJOR
You think I liked it? That I sacrificed
my leg for the good of the UN?

There’s a tense silence. The Major shuffles up to face Jason.

MAJOR
We know your brother is here now.

No reaction from Jason. The Major stares shrewdly at him.

MAJOR

So…you already knew that. Which
faction is he in? Where and when will--

JASON
Major, I haven't seen Shane in almost
2 years now. And I'm the last person
he'd tell. Now, if you'll excuse me...

Grim faced, Jason heads for the door.

MAJOR
Son, you're a civilian, free to leave
this compound anytime. But if you do,
we can't and won't help you.

EXT. MINE FIELD - NIGHT
Shivering under the moon-light, Leonard stands in the mine-field, listening to the
chirping insects, animal cries, and the faint "pop pop pop" of distant gunfire.

EXT. DIRT ROAD - EARLY MORNING
The sun burns just above the horizon as a battered Jeep races along a deserted
dirt road.

INT. JEEP - EARLY MORNING
Bouncing on the pitted road, Jason looks ahead, sees Leonard standing in the field.
Suddenly, BRAAAP! A volley of bullets rips up the road in front of Jason. He
slams on the brakes as two pick-up trucks roar out of the bush in ambush.

JASON
Holy shit!

Several armed MEN leap out of the trucks, rush up screaming towards Jason.
Wild-eyed, in dirty clothes, they appear drunk, high on drugs.

MEN
Out, out! Yallah, yallah!

Yanked out of the Jeep, Jason is thrown to the ground. One MAN holds a gun to
Jason's head as the others ransack his Jeep, tossing out a large duffel bag.

MAN
You spy! A government spy!

Unzipping the bag open, the men throw out pieces of padded bomb suit, a blast
helmet with glass shield, thick gloves, heavy boots and metal detectors.

MAN
What's this? You a soldier!

JASON
It's de-mining equipment! I work--

MAN
You lie! You die now!

CLICK! The man pulls the trigger. Nothing happens. A grinning Shane walks out
of the bushes, claps the laughing gun man on his back.

SHANE
Too stupid to load your gun, huh,
Bwanza? Kak for brains?

Grabbing Jason's UN blue beret, Shane slaps it on the head of the man, jokingly
aims his AK-47 automatic weapon at the man's groin.

SHANE
Hey, Mandela! You UN? Maybe I
shoot your little monkey nuts off!

They're all laughing and joking, but there's some tension in the air, Shane keeps
his gun out. Jason peers up stunned at Shane.

JASON
Shane?

Quickly kneeling, Shane shoves Jason down flat, mutters tensely.

SHANE
Shut up, stay down.

Taking out a thick roll of American dollars from his pocket, Shane pays off the
ambush men, winking, joking, punching shoulders.

SHANE
Here, Tarzan, go buy some khat, and
a boom boom woman, like your mama!

With rude gestures and drunken laughter, the men hop in their pick-ups, roar off.
Shane exhales loudly, in relief, then yanks Jason to his feet, shakes him roughly.

SHANE
The fuck you doing coming out here
alone? What did I tell you?

Scooping up the blue UN beret, Shane throws it in Jason's face.

SHANE
A little blue hat won't save you!
You're just goddamn lucky I had
someone watching the camp.

JASON
Jesus, Shane! All right, you scared me!
Happy? But while you're fucking me up…

Gesturing to the still figure of Leonard out in the field, Jason turns his back on
Shane, angrily shoving his equipment back into the duffel bag.

SHANE
Yeah, Jase, good to see you too.
Nice haircut.

Tossing the bag into the Jeep, Jason looks back at Shane, pauses, then abruptly
gives him a quick, rough hug.

JASON
You're still an asshole.

SHANE
You're still a punk.

The brothers break the hug, stand awkwardly looking at each other. Shane looks
at his vehicle hidden in the bush, then glances at his watch.

SHANE
Ah, I’ll give you a hand with Leonard.
I got time. We don't start raping and
pillaging until 11.

JASON
That's not funny.

SHANE
You haven't been here long enough.

EXT. MINE FIELD - MORNING
Shane and Jason pull up at the edge of the mine field.

JASON
I checked our records…this fucking field
has been cleared three times now.

Hopping out of the Jeep, Jason calls out to the cold, trembling Leonard.

JASON
Hang on, Leonard! I’m coming!

Jason gestures to Shane for his duffel bag in the back seat.

JASON
Toss me that, will ya?

When Shane hands Jason the bag, his shirt sleeves roll up, exposing long red slash
scars on both wrists. Jason stares wide-eyed at them, then up at Shane, who looks
away, then smiles tightly.

SHANE
Had an accident cutting my nails.

Cutting off any further conversation, Shane tosses the bag to Jason. Unzipping and
sorting quickly through it, Jason suddenly gestures angrily, kicks the bag.

JASON
Shit! Those assholes took my gloves
and helmet! Fuck!

SHANE
Ah...goddamn bongo heads. Sorry,
man, I'll buy them back later.

Furious, Jason glares at Shane, points to Leonard.

JASON
In case you hadn't noticed--

SHANE
Yeah, I know, I know...son of a bitch.
Poor Leonard.

Jason begins snapping on his padded bomb suit.

SHANE
Uh, Jason, what are you doing?

Grimly, Jason cinches up his body armor, hoists up a heavy sack of sand-bags.

SHANE
You're not going out there, man.
Jason snaps on a long wand metal detector, powering it up. Shane steps in front
of Jason, blocking his path.

SHANE
Listen to me, I'm telling you not--

Jason shoulders Shane aside, steps out onto the field, following the rope trailing on
the ground back to Leonard.

SHANE
Damn it, Jason, no gloves, no shields,
you're doing this just to piss me off!

EXT. MINE FIELD - MORNING

As Jason follows the rope towards Leonard, a flock of red-throated vultures hop
away from the mangled body of the first boy and huddle together, waiting.

JASON
Hi, Leonard, I'm Jason. You okay?

Leonard nods, his eyes blank, without hope. Untying the rope around the boy's
waist, Jason kneels down, gently brushes away the soil from the mine.

JASON
I know you're tired and cold.
Just hang on a little longer.

Stacking a small pile of sand bags to lie behind, Jason stretches out, carefully
feeling all around and a bit under the mine.

JASON
We gotta work together on this.
See, this mine is like a big gun with
the trigger pulled back.

Out of his pocket, Jason slips out a flat weight sensor device with a small pressure
pad on one end and a red LCD screen at the other.

JASON
If your weight changes too much,
up or down a couple of pounds, it'll
release the trigger. Lift your heel up
just a little bit…very, very slowly.

Holding his breath, Jason slips the thin metal sensor under Leonard's slightly raised
combat boot. He only exhales when the heel comes safely back down, then studies
the red numbers on the small screen that read "53.1 Kilos".

JASON
53 kilos…I'm American, I don't know
metric, but we have to keep 53 kilos
of weight on this, understand?

LEONARD
I don't want to die. I want to go home.

Leonard sways slightly, shudders uncontrollably. Grabbing Leonard's legs, Jason
stares up at the terrified boy.

JASON
Leonard, I'm as scared as you, okay?
But you're not going to die, you're going
to go home…I promise.

EXT. EDGE OF FIELD - MORNING
Sitting in the Jeep, Shane suddenly spots a vehicular dust cloud on the horizon.
A caravan of jeeps are on the other side of the river, parallel to the bridge.
Whipping out field glasses, Shane studies the indistinct, distant line of vehicles.

EXT. MINE FIELD - MORNING
Lying flat on the ground behind the sand bags, Jason carefully unties the shoelace
of Leonard's combat boot on the mine and speaks casually, conversationally.

JASON
Leonard, you ever heard of the
campaign to ban land mines?
Jason gently tugs Leonard's boot tongue aside, rolls up the pant leg.

JASON
My mother's the head of that.
She's met two presidents, Princess
Diana, been in Time, Newsweek...

Quickly fastening together a vise-like device, Jason threads the screws of a flat
metal plate to a grooved center rod, snaps out tripod legs.

JASON
She was just an ordinary mom who
became this amazing woman.

Jason slips the vice over Leonard's boot, the metal plate resting just above it, not
touching.

JASON
Okay, I'm going to drop this plate
while lifting your foot up. We have to
keep your weight steady. Here we go…

Taking a deep breath, eyes fixed on the weight sensor, Jason begins slowly twisting
the handle, tightening the plate gently onto Leonard's boot.

EXT. EDGE OF FIELD - MORNING
Squinting through the glasses, Shane sees the vehicles suddenly stop. Distant
tiny figures look over and point at Jason and Leonard in the field.

SHANE
Shit! Jason, get back here! Now!

EXT. MINE FIELD - MORNING
Leonard stiffens at Shane's shouts. The weight sensor under his boot ticks up…
53.1…53.2. Jason grabs Leonard's ankle.

JASON
Don't move, don't move!

EXT. EDGE OF FIELD - MORNING
Watching through binoculars, Shane sees the convoy back up and turn around,
heading for the bridge.

SHANE
Unfriendles! We're bugging out!

EXT. MINE FIELD - MORNING
Concentrating on the weight scale numbers, Jason carefully slips Leonard's foot
slowly out of his boot while gently lowering the metal plate.

JASON
Hang on, we're almost there.
The digital kilo numbers twitch up and down…53.1…53.3…52.9…

EXT. EDGE OF THE FIELD - MORNING
Training his glasses on the approaching vehicles, Shane sees a bizarre rag-tag army
of soldiers dressed in wigs, dresses, and tie-dyed clothes.

SHANE
Shit! Charlie Martin suicide squad!
They're fucking psychos!

EXT. MINE FIELD - MORNING
Delicately balancing on one leg, Leonard glances fearfully over his shoulder at the
vehicles racing towards him.

LEONARD
Charlie Martin's men drink blood…
eat brains.

The weight sensor snaps up to 54 kilos.

JASON
Stay still!

LEONARD
They slowly cut off your fingers,
then the hands...arms...

Sweating, Jason holds Leonard's ankle and eases his bare foot higher out while
tapping the lever to nudge the plate down on the boot.

SHANE'S VOICE
I'm not waiting! I'm fucking going!

EXT. EDGE OF THE FIELD - MORNING

The keys are in the ignition. Shane revs the ignition, roars off, slams on the brakes.

SHANE
Fuck!

Suddenly jerking the wheel, Shane spins the tires, and races off towards the
bridge. He slams to a stop, jumps up in the seat and starts SHOOTING his
AK-47 automatic weapon into the road ahead.

EXT. MINE FIELD - MORNING
Leonard jerks, flinches at the staccato gunfire ripping into the road near them.
Lying on the ground, Jason slips Leonard's foot out, then clinches down the
metal plate onto the boot, trapping it on the mine at exactly 53 kilos of weight.

JASON
Yeah, got it!

BOOM! An EXPLOSION rips the road apart, a land mine blowing up from being
struck by a bullet from Shane's AK-47.

JASON
Shit! Go, go! Follow the rope!

EXT. ROAD TO BRIDGE - MORNING
The convoy screeches to a halt at the sight of the smoking crater in the road
ahead. The bizarre soldiers in their wigs and dresses watch Shane continue
stitching the red dirt road with bullets. BOOM!, another EXPLOSION.

INT. JEEP - MORNING
Shane stops firing his AK-47 when he sees the convoy hurriedly pulling over for a
heavy vehicle with an anti-aircraft gun mounted in the back.

SHANE
Oh fuck! Anti-aircraft!
Slamming into reverse, Shane floors the gas pedal.

EXT. MINE FIELD - MORNING
Stiff and sore, Leonard can't follow the rope in a straight line, he keeps stumbling
off to the side. Jason has to keep grabbing him, pushing him forward.

JASON
Damn it! Stay on the rope!

INT. BACK OF VEHICLE - MORNING
A black SOLDIER in a red fright wig and black cocktail dress cranks the
elevation wheel on the big anti-aircraft gun, lowering the barrel down towards
Shane's back-tracking Jeep.

SOLDIER
Yallah, yallah! Quick, quick!
Another soldier on the gun platform yanks open a box of ammo, stuffs a long
cartridge belt of six inch fifty-caliber shells into the loading breech.

EXT. EDGE OF FIELD - MORNING

Shane reverses back to the edge of the field, gestures frantically at Jason.

SHANE
Get in, get in! They've got a fucking
anti-aircraft—

BRAAAAPPP! A volley of red tracer lines burn through the air over the Jeep.
Trees a quarter mile away suddenly blast into bits. INT. BACK OF VEHICLE - MORNING
A long tongue of flame belches out of the gun. Over the thunderous roar, the
soldier waves urgently at the gunner, gesturing "Lower, lower!' with his hand.

INT. JEEP - MORNING

Shane shoves the Jeep into forward gear, stomps on the gas pedal just as Jason
hurls Leonard into the back and dives on top of him. Tracer shells shrieks into the
bushes beside the Jeep, blowing them into shreds.

JASON
Go, go, go!

Right beside Shane, a shell punches a head-sized hole in the windshield glass.

SHANE
Fuuuuuck!

The front bumper blasts off, flies through the air ahead of the bouncing Jeep as
rounds howl past, shredding trees and bushes all around them.

EXT. FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD - MORNING
Red dust billowing behind the Jeep, Shane roars around a corner, then stops beside
his vehicle hidden by the road. The tracer fire slowly dies off behind them.

SHANE
Holy shit! Fifty cal anti-aircraft!
Blow holes in a battleship! Shoot
an elephant four miles away!

Shane's hands shake as he stuffs a ball of rolled up khat leaf into his mouth.

SHANE
And Charlie Martin's men, sweet
Jesus, would those fucking cannibals
love to get a hold of me! I worked
against them up in Liberia!

JASON
Shane!

SHANE
They're juiced up meth-heads, you see
the fucking wigs and dresses? They do
that to scare the shit out of—

JASON
Shane! Why we stopping? Keep going!

SHANE
Naw, they're not crossing that bridge.
They might be maniacs, but they're not
stupid. And…

Shane gestures to his hidden Jeep.

SHANE
…this is where we split up.
(to Leonard)
And you, you're walking from here.
Out you go.

Shane grabs Leonard, lifts him out of the Jeep. Reaching into a pocket, Shane
hands Leonard some candy bars, then gives him a push down the road.

SHANE
Here. Now get going.

JASON
The hell you doing? The town's miles
from here. I'll give him a lift.

SHANE
No. He rides with you, he's a UN spy.
He rides with me, he's a mercenary.
Either way gets him a bullet in the head.

Watching the miserable Leonard limp off on one combat boot, Shane offers Jason
a ball of rolled up khat leaf.

SHANE
Here. This'll take the edge off, kill
the adrenaline buzz. Otherwise, you'll
be shaking all day.

Jason frowns, shakes his head. Shane grins widely.

SHANE
You do land mines, but not drugs?

JASON
How did you know where to shoot?

SHANE
What?

JASON
Back there, on the road, you aimed at
where the mines were. There's only one
way you could've known that.

Jason and Shane lock eyes, then Shane looks away and hops out of the Jeep.

SHANE
Think whatever you want, Jason,
I don't give a shit.