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Conspiracy Theory 阴谋理论
Jerry is a taxi driver who likes to talk to his customers. One of the things he often talks about is "the conspiracy theory" from the assassination of John F. Kennedy to the Vietnam War. The other great hobby of his is to watch Alice, who works for the Justice Department,1 from his taxi with binoculars at night. Obviously he has fallen in love with her, but has not found courage to speak to her. When Jerry finishes his work at midnight, he usually goes back to his apartment through the fire staircase to avoid being noticed by his neighbors. In his apartment, everything is firmly locked up, from the door to the fridge and even to the boxes inside the fridge. After eating something, he would go through newspapers to look for the connection between important events. This time he finds that NASA2 is to launch a space shuttle while the President of the United States is to visit Turkey where an earthquake has just happened. The next day, he bursts into Alice's office telling her that there is a conspiracy to murder the President. He asks her to inform the President of this urgent matter but is declined3 by Alice for its absurdity. One day when he is cruising on the street, Jerry discovers a van with government plate, from which come out a few CIA spooks.4 He follows them into a building but is trapped and taken to a dark room. A guy wearing glasses interrogates him wanting to know whom Jerry has been talking to. Jerry is confused and answers that he has been talking to lots of people who have taken his taxi and that he doesn't understand anything that the guy talks about. To get what he wants, the guy injects some gravy5 into Jerry's body and forces him to talk under strong spot light. As the guy gets close enough, Jerry bites off his nose and escapes in the chaos. In despair, Jerry hurries to Alice for help but is stopped by the guards because of the gun in his hand. He tells Alice that he is being hunted by CIA spooks for no reason and she must help him. Taking it as a mental problem of paranoia,6 Alice persuades him to calm down and put the gun down. As a result, Jerry is arrested and taken to the police hospital where he asks Alice to switch his chart7 with the patient of next bed to avoid being murdered at night. Alice does so though she is still suspicious of what Jerry said. The next morning when Alice comes to see Jerry, the body of so-called "Jerry Fletcher" is being removed from the ward. Alice rushes into the room, only to see a safe and sound Jerry eating his breakfast in bed. Now Alice begins to believe Jerry's story. At this moment, the guard tells Alice that FBI agent8 Lowry wants her to go downstairs to identify "Jerry's" body. There, she also meets some CIA men, one of whom is Dr. Jonas with a wounded nose. But Jonas explains that his nose was bitten by a dog. When they rush to the ward, Jerry is running for his life in the building. With Alice's help, Jerry sneaks out of the building at last. When Dr. Jonas asks Alice why Jerry only talks to her, Alice tells him that six months ago Jerry came to her rescue when she was being mugged after work and since then they have kept a special connection to each other. Searching for the things left in the ward, Lowry and Alice only find some gum, some keys and a book "The Catcher in the Rye". One of the policemen reminds them that when Chapman shot Lennon and Hinkley shot Reagan,9 the same book was found in the assassin's places. After the search, it's already dark and Alice finally is allowed to go home. When she gets into her car and starts the engine, Jerry greets her from the back seat out of her expectation. They go to Jerry's apartment where Alice finds many copies of "The Catcher in the Rye" and a newsletter10 Jerry and a few other guys subscribed. Alice is also surprised to see a huge picture of her riding a horse painted on the wall. Again, Jerry talks to Alice about "the conspiracy theory" but he cannot think of whom he really is. Just as they are about to have some coffee, the spooks come for Jerry. They use every means to break into the apartment. They even use tear gas to force Jerry out. In chaos, Jerry and Alice come out of the building in gas masks pretending to be firemen. They come to Alice's apartment where Alice questions Jerry why he is so familiar with her picture and has spent so much time painting it. Jerry has to admit that he has been secretly watching her jogging on the machine in her apartment. Then Jerry asks about Alice's father who was a judge and murdered a few months ago. He asks whether the assassin has been found. Alice is unhappy about Jerry's behavior and drives him out of her apartment. Before leaving, Jerry tells her to use the dead bolt11 to lock her door. Then he comes to a bookstore to buy "The Catcher in the Rye". When the shop assistant scans the code of the book on the computer, the CIA spooks notice it through the network and immediately send people to catch Jerry. Again Jerry escapes by hiding in a cinema. In her office, Alice telephones the five subscribers of the newsletter that she found in Jerry's place but is shocked to learn that four of them died in accidents or heart attacks within the last 24 hours. As she is to investigate the matter further, a bunch of flowers is sent to her by Jerry with a card telling her how to meet him. With Jerry's clever plot, they manage to meet without being noticed by the CIA spooks. Alice asks Jerry about what's going on, and Jerry replies that there are two groups warring against each other. And again, Jerry changes the subject by saying that he loves Alice and wants to marry her in some old-fashioned way. Alice declines his love taking it as a crush.12 Sad Jerry takes the subway and leaves Alice who feels sorry for what she did to him. To search for truth, Alice manages to find the address of the only survivor among the five subscribers, Mr. Henry Finch in a big company. Upon seeing him, she is shocked because it is Dr. Jonas. He tells Alice that years ago he worked for CIA on the MK ULTRA program which is a sort of mind control to take an ordinary man and turn him into an assassin. The program was terminated in 1973, but Dr. Jonas has continued the research that involved hallucinogenic research, electroshock to induce vegetative states, and terminal experiments in sensory deprivation.13 Dr. Jonas tells Alice that the technology was stolen to be used in private sector and Jerry was one of his subjects who knows who did it. That's why he has to find out who programmed Jerry. He also convinces Alice that Jerry assassinated her father with Alice's picture in Jerry's place as evidence. Persuaded by Dr. Jonas, Alice decides to cooperate with CIA in catching Jerry. The next morning, Jerry sends a box of pizza to Alice with a note telling her to meet him at the city's northeast corner because he has something important to tell her. Jonas asks Alice to go as Jerry requested but he hides a micro bugging device14 in the pizza box. Jumping into Jerry's car, Alice tries to let him talk as much as possible. However, Jerry cannot think of what he wanted to tell Alice. On the bridge, suspicious Jerry feels that he is tailed15 and thus abandons the car and gets into a deserted one on the opposite track. Scared Alice switches on her mobile phone to send signal to Jonas without being noticed by Jerry. Without realizing it, Jerry takes Alice to the place where her father was murdered. Alice asks Jerry if he really killed her father, Jerry's memory is gradually coming back and tells what he can remember to Alice. It turns out that Jonas programmed Jerry to assassin Alice's father for his trying to open an important case but Jerry hesitated when he saw beautiful Alice. He and Alice's father became friends while Jonas sent another assassin to murder the old man. Jerry failed to prevent the murder and swore to protect Alice for the old man. As the two embraced each other, Jonas and his men arrive and surround them. Jerry is taken aboard a helicopter while Alice manages to run away. Leaving a man to chase Alice, Jonas takes Jerry to a deserted factory where Jerry is injected with gravy for him to talk. Just as the killer is aiming at the running Alice, he is shot dead by a FBI man sent by Lowry. Lowry tells Alice that they have been watching Jerry for a long time using him as a bait16 for the wicked Jonas. Despite Lowry's opposition, Alice gets away from the FBI building to rescue Jerry. Driving to where Jerry was taken away, Alice sees three smokestacks17 similar to a picture at Jerry's apartment. So she goes there and finds a hospital where a doctor tells her the way to the abandoned place. Alice tells the doctor to telephone the police while she goes to the place alone. After some search, she finally gets into the room where Jerry is locked. As she unties Jerry, Jonas appears and the three have a hard struggle during which Jerry throws Jonas into the small pool while the latter shoots him on the shoulder. Finally it's Alice who ends Jonas' life with her gun. The FBI men also arrive and get rid of Jonas' men. Seriously wounded Jerry is taken away to hospital leaving a sad Alice sobbing. Some days later, Alice comes to Jerry's grave to pay her respect putting the taxi union badge18 Jerry left her at the tombstone. Then she goes riding on her favorite white horse. At the same time, Jerry is watching her from a car with Lowry's company. They have made a deal that as long as Jerry remains "dead" Alice will be safe, but Jerry has to tell everything he knows to the FBI. However, what Lowry doesn't know is that Jerry had secretly put another badge of taxi union on the saddle of Alice's white horse. As Alice stops the horse for a break, she suddenly notices the badge and is overjoyed for it means Jerry is still alive. She goes on riding; her heart is full of hope.
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