Sin City

The Customer Is Always Right In a penthouse on the roof of a skyscraper overlooking Basin City, a fancy party is in progress. A woman (Marley Shelton), dressed in a red evening gown, is alone on the balcony. A man (Josh Hartnett), who is narrating, walks up behind her and offers her a cigarette. They exchange some small talk; he tells her that he sees in her eyes the "crazy calm" of someone who is tired of running, but doesn't want to face her problems alone. He tells her that he will save her, and take her far away. They kiss, and then he shoots her. She dies in his arms. He says that he does not know who she was running from, but will "cash her check in the morning." In the DVD commentary, Frank Miller explains that the victim in this story (the Customer of the title) is actually committing suicide. The unnamed woman had courted a mobster, and when she tried to break it off, he said that he would kill her in the most terrible way possible. She then used her connections to hire a hit-man (known as the Salesman) to provide her with quick death. [edit] That Yellow Bastard (Part 1) On the docks of Sin City, aging police officer John Hartigan (Bruce Willis) is attempting to stop serial paedocidist Roark Junior (Nick Stahl) from raping and killing eleven-year-old Nancy Callahan (Makenzie Vega). Junior is the son of the powerful Senator Roark (Powers Boothe), who has paid off the Basin City police to cover up his son's crimes, including Hartigan's partner Bob (Michael Madsen). Bob tries to convince Hartigan to walk away, and appears to succeed, but Hartigan sucker-punches him, knocking him out cold. Hartigan then makes his way into a warehouse, knocking unconscious two local criminals. Junior is inside with the frightened Nancy and two armed henchmen, who are making sure that Junior and Nancy "get along" before leaving them alone. Hartigan shoots and kills the henchmen, but Junior shoots Hartigan in the shoulder, grabs Nancy and runs out to the docks. Hartigan catches up to Junior and shoots off his ear, causing him to drop Nancy. Hartigan then asks Nancy to shut her eyes, he then shoots off Junior's hand and genitals, before being shot in the back several times by Bob, who has recovered. Hartigan tells little Nancy to run away, but Bob warns the already scared and shocked Nancy to not listen to Hartigan and not to run and stay where she is. Then Bob tells Hartigan to stay down, but Hartigan pulls his reserve gun, provoking Bob to shoot him several more times. As the sirens approach, little Nancy goes over and lies down in Hartigan's lap for protection, while Hartigan who has lost lot of blood and can hardly keep his consciousness passes out knowing that Nancy is safe, justifying himself with the words "An old man dies, a little girl lives; fair exchange." [edit] The Hard Goodbye Elijah Wood as Kevin.After a night of lovemaking, Marv (Mickey Rourke) awakens to find Goldie (Jaime King) murdered. The police arrive, and he flees the frame-up, vowing to avenge Goldie's death. He turns to Lucille (Carla Gugino), his lesbian parole officer, who patches his wounds and unsuccessfully warns him to give up on this mission. Marv heads to Kadie's Bar in search of information, where he interrogates and kills two hitmen sent after him. Marv then shakes down various informants, working his way up to a corrupt priest (Frank Miller), who reveals that a member of the Roark family was behind Goldie's murder. Marv kills the priest, but is then attacked and shot at by a woman with a strong resemblance to Goldie. Marv, recognizing that he has not taken his medication for his "condition" for a long time, considers her to be a hallucination. Marv arrives at the Roark family farm, where he is subdued by the silent stalker who killed Goldie without waking him. He awakens in the basement, with the heads of the stalker's past victims and Lucille, who was captured and forced to watch the killer eat her hand when she decided to look into Marv's story. She reveals to Marv that the killer is a cannibal. He learns that the killer's name is Kevin (Elijah Wood) and escapes, but Lucille surrenders to an arriving squad of police officers, who gun her down. Enraged, Marv kills them all, hearing from their leader that Cardinal Patrick Henry Roark (Rutger Hauer) arranged for Goldie's murder. Marv goes to Old Town, Sin City's red light district, seeking confirmation of the killer's identity. He is captured and allows Goldie's look-alike (her twin sister Wendy) to beat him, to convince her that he didn't kill Goldie. Convinced, she and Marv arm themselves and return to the farm. Marv dismembers and kills Kevin, taking the head to Cardinal Roark, who confesses his part in the murders: Kevin was the cardinal's lover and had begun killing and eating prostitutes to "swallow their souls", and the cardinal joined in; when Goldie began investigating, Roark had her killed. Marv kills the cardinal but is shot by his guards. Marv is taken to a hospital (an act he calls a waste of time, figuring that he'll be killed anyway). Police try to beat a confession out of him, which only amuses him. Ultimately, the police threaten to kill Marv's mother if he doesn't play along. He confesses to killing not only Roark and Kevin, but their victims as well, and is sentenced to death. He is visited on death row by Wendy, who thanks him for avenging her sister and spends the night with him, telling him he can call her "Goldie." Marv is executed the next day; He survives the first jolt of electricity, his final words being "Is that the best you can do, you pansies?" He finally dies after a second jolt. [edit] The Big Fat Kill Benicio del Toro as Jackie Boy.Shellie (Brittany Murphy), a barmaid from Kadie's, is being harassed by her abusive ex-boyfriend Jackie Boy (Benicio del Toro). Her current boyfriend Dwight (Clive Owen) is disgusted with his brutish rival. He shoves Jackie Boy's head into a urine-filled toilet bowl, warning him to leave Shellie alone. Jackie Boy flees with his friends, heading to Old Town to cause further trouble. Dwight follows and sees them harass young prostitute Becky (Alexis Bledel). Also watching is Gail (Rosario Dawson), one of the head prostitutes and Dwight's on-and-off lover. When Jackie Boy threatens Becky with a gun, martial arts expert Miho (Devon Aoki) sweeps down, severing Jackie Boy's hand and killing his friends. As it becomes apparent Jackie Boy will not die quickly, Dwight asks Miho to finish him. Miho nearly severs his head, making "a Pez dispenser out of him." As the prostitutes collect the dead men's money, they realize Jackie Boy is actually well-respected police officer Lieutenant Jack Rafferty. If the circumstances of his death are discovered, they spell a certain end to the truce between the police and prostitutes, and a war against Old Town will be inevitable. Dwight agrees to take the corpses to the local tar pit, while a traumatized Becky returns home. On the way, Dwight has a hallucinatory conversation with Jackie Boy's corpse, who taunts him as he is chased by a cop. Dwight talks his way out of the situation and arrives at the tar pit, where he is shot by Irish mercenaries. Meanwhile, head mercenary Manute (Michael Clarke Duncan) arrives in Old Town and kidnaps Gail, explaining that an informant has revealed everything and that mob boss Wallenquist's men are moving to invade Old Town. Dwight survives the mercenary's bullet, which was stopped by Lt. Rafferty's badge. He kills several mercenaries but is knocked into the tar by a grenade; Dwight nearly drowns before Miho saves him. The other mercenaries escape with Jackie Boy's severed head. Dwight and Miho engage them in a violent shoot-out that ends with the death of both mercenaries and the retrieval of Jackie Boy's head. They return to Old Town. As Gail is being tortured, she learns that Becky was the traitor, informing the mercenaries out of fear and greed. Manute receives a letter from Dwight via an arrow from Miho, offering Jackie Boy's head in exchange for Gail. They meet in the alley, where the trade is made, though the mercenaries plan to kill them anyway. Dwight suddenly activates a grenade he had placed in Jackie Boy's Head, completely destroying it and any evidence that could have been taken to the cops. The other prostitutes of Old Town then reveal themselves on the rooftops and gun down the mercenaries. Amidst the gunfire, an injured Becky escapes while Dwight and Gail passionately kiss. [edit] That Yellow Bastard (Part 2) Roark Junior (Nick Stahl) torturing Nancy (Jessica Alba) in "That Yellow Bastard"Hartigan is recovering in a hospital. Senator Roark informs him that Junior is in a coma and all plans for the Roark legacy are now in serious jeopardy. Senator Roark reveals that Hartigan will be framed for Junior's crimes and serve the resultant jail term. Additionally, if Hartigan tells anyone the truth, they will die. A grateful Nancy visits to thank him, promising to write letters every week while he is in prison. Hartigan goes to jail, knowing it is the only way to protect his wife and Nancy, although he refuses to officially confess to the crimes. He receives a weekly letter from Nancy as promised. After eight years, the letters stop. Hartigan receives a severed finger instead. Realizing Nancy could have been kidnapped, Hartigan finally confesses to all charges, knowing this will lead to a parole. He reunites with his old partner, Bob, who has come to regret his actions. Bob tells him that Hartigan's wife has remarried. Unknowingly being stalked by a deformed, yellow-skinned man, Hartigan searches for Nancy, eventually finding her at Kadie's Bar, where she has become a 19-year-old erotic dancer (Jessica Alba). Realizing that the severed finger was a fake and that he was set up to lead the yellow man to Nancy, he tries to leave unnoticed. Nancy, however, jumps into his arms and kisses him passionately. Now noticed by the yellow man, they escape in Nancy's car. The yellow man follows and Hartigan shoots him in the neck. Hartigan turns back to confirm the kill, but the yellow man hides in the back of Nancy's car. At a hotel, Nancy reveals that she is in love with Hartigan and tries to seduce him. Hartigan reminds himself that he is old enough to be her grandfather. The deformed man returns and attacks again, revealing himself as Junior Roark, although Hartigan now refers to him as the Yellow Bastard. Disfigured by years of surgery necessary to regenerate his missing body parts, the Yellow Bastard proceeds to hang Hartigan and leave him for dead. Nancy is taken to the Roark farm to be raped and killed. Hartigan escapes and tracks the Yellow Bastard to the farm, where he has whipped Nancy and is about to attack her with his knife. Hartigan kills the guards. He then corners the Yellow Bastard and fakes a heart attack to fool him into letting go of Nancy, giving Hartigan a chance to stick a knife in his stomach, castrate him again (this time with his bare hands), and beat him to death. Hartigan tells Nancy his plan to reveal Senator Roark's corruption to the police and to finally bring down organized crime in Sin City. They kiss. Knowing that the Senator would never stop hunting them, Hartigan commits suicide in order to ensure Nancy's safety once and for all. He justifies himself with the words: "An old man dies, a young woman lives; fair trade." [edit] Epilogue An injured Becky, having survived the crossfire, departs from a hospital, talking on a cell phone with her mother. Upon entering the elevator she encounters the Salesman from the prologue. He offers Becky a cigarette, implying that he is about to kill her. He then thinks to himself: "Turn the right corner in Sin City and you can find anything... anything."