Untitled Document

Plot

(Contains Spoilers)

James Cole (Bruce Willis), a convict in the year 2035, becomes a time-traveler extraordinaire as he chases down the pure form of an apocalyptic virus. The virus is released in 1996 and quickly mutates and kills 99% of the word's population. The surviving 1% of humanity is forced to move underground. The only hope they have of returning to topsoil is to find the original form of the virus so they can understand the pattern of mutation.

Cole is sent back in time, on three separate occasions. The first time he is sent to Baltimore in the year 1990 whereupon he is immediately deemed insane and put into a mental institution. In the institute, Cole meets Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt), the son of a famous scientist, and Dr. Railly (Madeleine Stowe), Cole's psychiatrist. Goines gives a passionate speech about the faults of humanity and how the insane are really the sane. While Goines makes no assumptions about the state of Cole's mind, Railly is convinced that Cole is mentally divergent. She tries convincing Cole he is not from the future but is living in a false reality in order to escape actual problems in his life. The psychiatrists at the mental institution refuse to believe Cole's claim to be a time-traveler. They ignore his warnings and lock him up. The scientists from the future save him by bringing him back to 2035.

Cole did not find any information on the virus when they sent him to 1990, so the scientists send him to 1996 instead. In 1996 Cole kidnaps Railly after she gives a presentation on “Madness and Apocalyptic Message.” He forces her to drive him to Philadelphia . When they get there, Cole sneaks into Goines's home because he suspects Goines (who is now leader of a revolutionist group called the Army of the Twelve Monkeys) of releasing the virus. Goines denies the accusation and calls Cole insane and paranoid. Railly still thinks Cole in insane and Cole is still convinced he is not. The police are surrounding Cole and Railly in some woods in Philadelphia when the scientists from 2035 bring him back to 2035 leaving an empty spot where he stood moments before.

Once Railly is back safe from being kidnapped, her colleague Dr. Owen Fletcher questions Railly about why she doubts the insanity of Cole. He does not think there is an inkling of truth in Cole's story and is confused by Railly's hesitance. Assuming Cole's story is not real, Fletcher states, “You're a rational person. You're a trained psychiatrist. You know the difference between what's real and what's not.” Railly replies, “And what we say is the truth is what everybody accepts. Right, Owen? I mean, psychiatry: it's the latest religion. We decide what's right and wrong. We decide who's crazy or not. I'm in trouble here. I'm losing my faith.” Several factors lead to Railly's change of heart. Cole not only disappears from the mental institution in 1990, but he also disappears from the woods in 1996; Railly can not explain either. Next, when Cole kidnaps Railly, a news story about a boy stuck in a well is being broadcast on the car radio. Cole says that it is a hoax; the boy is hiding in a barn. Cole knows this because he heard the broadcast when he was a child in 1996; Railly is shocked when he is right. The final proof Railly needs before she is convinced is to see a WWI picture that Cole is in and a WWI bullet that is lodged in his leg which she removes in the year 1996. (The scientists accidentally send Cole to WWI instead of 1996. He is shot in the leg and photograph is taken of him and published).

While this is happening, Cole is being interrogated by the scientists in 2035. They give him a jail-sentence pardon for his work, but he requests to be sent back to the past. He realizes how amazing life is before the virus, and hopes the “future” really is a false reality. He convinces himself he is insane, and that the only way to cure his insanity is to return to the past forever. The Doctors, not suspecting Cole's plan, send him back to 1996. When Cole arrives in 1996 and sees Railly, he tells her she was right – he is insane. At this point, though, Railly believes he is actually from the future. After convincing Cole he is sane, they hurry to prevent the release of the virus. The Army of the Twelve Monkeys turns out to be a group of kids fighting for animal rights and have nothing to do with the release of the virus. The innocence of the Twelve Monkeys presents the question of who does release the virus? In the end, Cole and Railly's effort to stop the fall of humanity is thwarted because the past cannot be changed. Cole is sent into the past to find the pure sample of the virus, not to save humanity.

A final twist is thrown in at the end, borrowed from the film “La Jetee.” In the third to last scene, we see Cole being shot by a police officer in an airport. There is a little boy who also sees the shooting; the boy turns out to be Cole as a child. What adult-Cole thought was a reoccurring nightmare, really was his childhood memory of seeing his own death. Railly sees the boy and smiles, realizing while adult-Cole has died, child-Cole is still alive and will live to become an adult.

Quotes taken from: http://scifiscripts.com/scripts/twelvemonkeys.txt 5/2/05

Setting

There are four time periods in 12 Monkeys: 2035, 1990, 1996, and WWI.

There are five locations in 12 Monkeys: a prison in the future, a mental institution in Baltimore (1990), Baltimore outside the institution (1996), Philadelphia (1996), and a battlefield (WWI).

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