John Q

"John Q." -- ON BLACK: If I didn't have enough money, I'd be dead right now. - Carroll Shelby FADE IN: EXT. TWO-LANE HIGHWAY - DAY Mancini's "Ave Maria" fills the screen as a white BMW speeds along the road. CREDITS ROLL A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN is behind the wheel. We never see her face. Hanging from the mirror is a rosary with a crucifix. Her porcelain hand turns up the volume and the music swells. A silver bracelet dangles from her wrist. EXT. TWO-LANE HIGHWAY - CONTINUOUS A slow-moving semi obstructs her path. The woman leans out the window to see if the road is clear before moving into the oncoming lane. She steps on the gas. She's in the wrong lane and can't get over. There are headlights in the distance and the moan of an airhorn is heard. EXT. TWO-LANE HIGHWAY - CONTINUOUS Suddenly, the headlights are upon her. And airhorn blasts and she's trapped between two monstrous big rigs. She cuts the wheel hard, but too late. The oncoming truck clips her, sending her car end over end. SLO-MO The accident is violent and horrible. The BMW cartwheels along the highway in a grotesque ballet of destruction. The music crescendos and sparks fly as the car skids along the pavement on its roof. And as the BMW violently smashes headfirst into the embankment, the beautiful woman is slammed into the windshield like a crash-test dummy. EXT. MIDDLE AMERICAN TOWN - PRE-DAWN The indigo horizon shimmers with the first light of morning. Vapor spewing smokestacks dwarf brick and mortar homes.