The 2016 film "Mojave" is about two men, one a motion picture director and the other a drifter, who meet in California's Mojave desert, located east of Los Angeles, to discuss life and try to keep alive. Tom, the wealthy film director, becomes bored with his life and drives to the desert. There he meets Jack, a drifter, and the two have a long conversation. Tom returns to Los Angeles followed by Jack and later they meet again in the desert. At the second meeting both men bring guns and Jack shows Tom an 1893 $20 double eagle, a United States $20 gold coin, that he found in the desert and that he calls his "good luck coin."

Tom is a wealthy film director who lives in a nice Los Angeles house. One morning he wakes up, bored with his life, and drives east to the Mojave desert.

Tom arrives at a clearing and manages to wreck his car.

Tom pulls out camping equipment and goes to sleep. During the night Tom wakes up and finds that he has company, a man named Jack.

Jack has a rifle and a revolver handgun with him. The two men have a long conversation about life and Tom realizes that Jack is mentally ill and possibly a killer. The two men fight and Tom manages to get the guns away from Jack and chase him out of his camp. The next morning Tom walks around with the rifle.

The rifle is an old Winchester Model 94, manufactured from 1894 to 1964. They were made for 30 caliber ammunition (the 30-30) and for 32 caliber (32 special). The Winchester Model 94 rifle appears in many "western" films. Tom finds circular marks on the rifle's wooden stock.

Tom has suspicions about the reason for the marks. Tom, whose car was wrecked, manages to return to his home in Los Angeles and back to work.

At home Tom watches an old movie partly set in the desert.

"Greed" is a 1924 silent film about a San Francisco dentist who kills his wife and flees to Death Valley. It was based on the 1899 novel McTeague by Frank Norris. That film also features gold coins. For more information, please visit: Coins in Movies - Greed

Tom has a girlfriend, Milly, an actress.

Jack hitchhikes to Los Angeles, spends the night in a motel, gets a haircut, and cleans himself up. He took Tom's car registration paper from Tom's wrecked car and has his address.

The two men continue their discussion of life and Jack convinces Tom to visit him at a place in the desert. Tom drives to the desert and finds Jack living in a trailer.

Jack, armed with a shotgun, orders Tom to enter the trailer.

Jack begins talking about killing people and then holds up a gold coin.

The coin is an 1893 double eagle or $20 gold coin. Jack proposes that the men play "Russian roulette" with a revolver handgun and that he will flip the coin to decide who goes first.

Jack flips the coin but before it lands Tom picks up the revolver.

Tom fires the revolver at Jack. The coin lands as "tails" or reverse side up. Tom then returns to Los Angeles where his young daughter visits him.

Tom reads a story to his daughter.

Tom heads alone to the beach to think about his adventure.

Garrett Hedlund as Tom
Oscar Isaac as Jack
Louise Bourgoin as Milly
Director: William Monahan
Writers: William Monahan