Penitentiary II (1982) - full transcript
An ex-con, on parole and trying to straighten his life out, decides to resume his boxing career when one of his prison enemies escapes and kills his girlfriend.
Okay, you ready to go in the house, babe?
What you giving me that hand for?
I see, you want me to spin you around?
No. I will.
Here, let me take that. Oh, thanks, baby.
Mmm-hmm. How was your day today?
Oh, pretty good, pretty good. Good? Yeah?
Little tired, but other than that, you know.
Yeah, okay, yeah. Hey, you can pull the...
(GASPS) Brother!
Oh, Brother, I don't believe you're here!
You look great!
Mmm, you look good, too. Oh, Brother, Brother!
Chuckie Jr.! He's three years old now?
You sort of little for three, ain't you, boy?
What you talking 'bout, Too Sweet.
(LAUGHING) He's got a lot of mouth.
CHARLES: Yeah.
Just like his mama. ELLEN: Oh, you.
Gonna be a lawyer. It's in the family.
(LAUGHING)
Come, sweetie.
(FUNK MUSIC PLAYING)
(GRUNTING)
(WHISTLING)
(GRUNTING)
Yoo-hoo! Hey, sweetie, where's my pizza?
(LAUGHING)
Yeah, sweetay, you got a message for me?
As a matter of fact, yeah.
You're about to show your ass.
Oh!
BOXER: His ass is showing, man.
Sucker, I'll bust your head to the fat!
Little ol' punk!
You don't be coming in this gym talking no trash to me!
Boy, I'll kill you! I'll kill you!
Don't make me have to hit you.
Whoa, tough guy! All right, cool it. Get rid of this guy.
(YELLING)
Hey, Too Sweet. Come into my office.
BOXER: Boy, you dead! I'm gonna kill you, boy!
Who is he?
TRAINER: Okay, let's get to work, this ain't no sideshow.
BOXER: Boy, you don't slap me! Don't nobody slap me!
TRAINER: What you doing over there, boy? Come on, dig in, there.
BOXER: I'll kill you! I'll kill you!
Boy is dead!
SAM: Same old Too Sweet.
Boy, have I been waiting for you.
Where you been?
Here and there.
What have you been doing?
This and that.
Hey, don't get wise-ass with me.
I'm the guy that got your feet on the bricks, remember?
I appreciate that, but I'm no boxer, man.
I told your brother-in-law, the warden, just that.
Well, you may not wanna box,
you may not like to box,
but you can box, and that's what interests me.
Plus, you got style, class.
You're a winner.
Hey, I'm not boxing, man.
Your parole says...
My parole says I have to be in your employ for one year.
It says nothing about boxing.
Employ? Employ, my ass.
So, you don't wanna box, huh?
Well, let's get something straight.
I expect you to box.
You don't wanna box?
You wanna be a wise guy?
Well, I've got employment for you.
(FUNK MUSIC PLAYING ON STEREO)
Yeah.
Oh! Half Dead and Do Dirty,
back in their own neighborhood!
Yeah. (LAUGHING) Yeah.
Hey, man, how y'all break out the pen?
What do you mean how we break out? It's Half Dead.
Yeah! That Half Dead say,
"Open the door. Can you open the door?"
(ALL LAUGHING)
Whoo, look at the turn cut on that sister, damn!
DO DIRTY: Good googly moogly! HALF DEAD: Oh, that fine!
DO DIRTY: Hey there, baby! Whoo!
(DO DIRTY LAUGHING)
(SHUSHING) Hey, hey, hey, let's go by... Let's go by Willy's.
Yeah. See old Willy.
Willy's dead, man. Willy's dead?
And the dude owed me $5. Yeah.
Well, what about Beanie?
Well, he... He left town, man.
All right, well, damn. Let's go by Bobo's, then.
Yeah! Oh, I ain't seen Bobo in a long time.
Bobo in the joint, man.
Bobo is in the joint? Bobo is in the joint.
Hey, where... Where's everybody at, man?
Hey, don't nobody move. Hey, be... Be cool, man
What? The police behind us.
Them is really nasty.
Yeah, man, just be cool and drive the car.
Don't worry about it.
Don't worry about it.
Everything's gonna be all right.
Damn. Okay.
This is stupid.
Bust out the pen and come right back to the same neighborhood,
and ain't even trying to hide.
It's crazy! It's crazy and stupid.
Yeah, Dead, man.
Hey, don't you think y'all oughtta be cool, man?
I am cool, sucker.
The first law of nature, man.
You hide, somebody gonna find.
Besides, man, I got a score to settle, you understand?
And it's gonna be settled no matter what.
(BOXER GRUNTING)
(SOBBING)
Yeah. All right, who next?
Bring 'em on! Who wanna get in the ring with me?
All right! Bring them in, I'll knock 'em out!
Who next?
Who wanna get in the ring with...
(SCREAMS)
What? Come on! Somebody get this crazy fool! Check him!
I'm tired of you suckers always beating up on me!
I'm a sparring partner, not the damn sparring enemy!
(GRUNTING)
No fool pull a razor on me. What's wrong with you?
Ain't nobody pull a razor on me!
Ain't nobody pull a razor on me!
Ain't nobody pull a razor on me!
Nobody! Nobody! I'll kill him!
Nobody! Nobody pull a razor on me!
(CONTINUES YELLING)
(WHOOPS) It's a party out there.
Show that!
(FUNK MUSIC PLAYING)
Watch you don't fall, baby brother.
You know, I can almost tolerate you calling me "brother,"
but that "baby" stuff has got to go.
Okay, okay, Martell.
When we were kids, you used to skate like a partner back then.
(LAUGHS) Oh, you were a lot bigger than me then,
but now, it's a different story.
You know what I mean? Oh, yeah? Oh, yeah?
All right.
Do I or do you?
"Do I or do you"?
Is that the way they teach you to talk in law school?
Do I broach the subject or do you?
Look, Brother, I love you.
But you burn my butt sometimes.
You know, ever since you came back from Mom and Dad's funeral,
you've been evasive, cold,
and emotionally constipated.
Oh, yeah?
See what I mean?
Can't we at least talk?
Talk about what?
Talk about some drunken fool
that drives through an intersection
and kills the two people in the whole world that meant the most to us?
Talk about some damn war that was cruel enough to spare me?
Talk about me doing time for a killing I never even knew took place?
Talk about some crazy fool
that wants me to dance around in a ring
and pound the hell out of other people
for some money and some fame and some glory?
Is that what you wanna talk about?
I just don't wanna talk to you...
...about anything that isn't beautiful, or at least healthy.
Okay? But, Brother...
(GROOVY MUSIC PLAYING) EMCEE: Ooh-whee!
Get down, brothers and sisters! Get down, ladies!
Put the jack on your stack and everything gonna be all right
and cool today at the skate park, y'all!
Come on, now, boogie! Looking fine! All right.
(EMCEE CONTINUES CHATTERING)
EMCEE: All right! Who's next now. Come on now, y'all!
All right! Come on, come on, come on.
Come on, your turn. Get down.
Get in there, get in there. You'll never embarrass me.
Come on, Martell. Come on. Don't be so shy.
Hey, don't hurt me, now.
Oh, I'm not gonna hurt you. Hey!
There you go! Come on, Too Sweet.
All right! Hey, get down.
Hey, good. Yeah.
All right, watch it. Uh-oh, okay.
Put that hip into it.
Yeah! Just a little more.
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
WOMAN: Yeah!
All right.
Okay, I'll see you later.
Clarisse.
I missed you, Martell.
I missed you, too.
But you were better off without me.
Just too much pain.
Everything I love gets hurt.
But why didn't you write?
You didn't have to leave a return address,
but you could have let me know how you were, dead or alive.
I was...
...dead.
Ah, look out, baby. Didn't know I could do this, did you?
Yeah, that's called the goosestep.
EMCEE: Shake that body. Shake that body.
Move, move it. Move it now.
Shake that body. Shake that body.
Move, groove, move it now.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we're serving it right here tonight.
(ENGINE STALLING)
(RADIATOR HISSING)
Look, man, I'm gonna say this one more time.
Let's wait and catch this sucker in another neighborhood!
Look, man, let's get out of here!
Shut up, Do Dirty.
Look, man,
I ain't asking you to do nothing, you understand?
Nothing. But look out.
And if you don't look out, sucker, look out.
Get outta my face, Simp-a!
Yeah, okay.
DO DIRTY: Come on.
Let's go and kill this sucker, and get it over with.
No! No.
This one is mine.
Mine.
Mine, and mine alone.
(LAUGHING)
You know, you haven't given me a serious kiss since I've seen you.
And I don't intend to, either.
Oh, you don't? No.
Oh.
A bigger one.
Now that's what I call a nice, nice, kiss.
Whoo! (LAUGHING)
Give me a hand. You know I can't swim.
No!
(SCREAMING)
(LAUGHING)
(SIGHS)
Now, I'll tell you,
you can run, you can swim,
but you sure enough can't hide.
Martell, don't.
I don't feel right doing this in your sister's house.
Hey, come on, Clarisse.
Now, you know they're out of town for the weekend.
They're not even thinking about us.
So, now, why should you be so concerned about them, huh?
(CLARISSE MOANS)
(GRUNTS)
I love you so much.
I'll do anything for you.
I just don't wanna be separated from you ever again.
Clarisse, you don't have to do anything that you don't wanna do.
I know I don't have to do anything.
But I love you,
and I want you,
maybe more than you want me.
Martell Gordone,
I've never made love to a man, period.
I've waited for you.
But I want it right.
I love you, too, you know.
But right is what you make it.
I also need you.
Give me a couple of hygienic minutes.
Yo, Teddy, get ready.
(SOFT ROMANTIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(EXHALES)
Martell, I love you so much.
(GASPS)
One word, one word,
and I'm gonna throw your pretty head into the next room
without your body.
You do exactly what I say,
and maybe then I might spare your life.
Shut up, shut up, shut up.
Now, I'm gonna take my hand off your mouth.
One word...
Say one word...
...and you're dead.
(SHOWER RUNNING)
(SHUSHING) Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.
(CLARISSE SOBBING)
Clarisse.
Clarisse.
Yeah! Yeah!
(SHUSHING) Shut up.
Clarisse.
Clarisse.
Hey, baby, I heard of keeping yourself clean,
but now, this is ridiculous.
Too Sweet. It's too sweet, baby.
Clarisse.
(GRUNTING)
Clarisse!
Come on, Clarisse!
Dead.
Oh, you just predicted your fate, sucker.
Yeah, boy.
Yeah, come on.
Shit. Yeah.
Yeah.
You...
Kill me, too, you crazy fool!
(SCREAMING)
(GRUNTING)
(GASPING)
Come on, get in there! Yeah!
It's Half Dead. Yeah.
It's Half Dead, sucker.
(LAUGHING)
It's Half Dead.
You know me, boy. You know who I am.
You know who I am. It's Half Dead.
Boy, you dead.
Yeah. You're getting in my head.
I told you, sucker, you dead.
This is Half Dead.
And you're gonna know me. Yeah.
Boy, you're gonna die.
(BOTH GRUNTING)
(SCREAMS)
(SIREN WAILING)
This is the address, all right.
Come on, man. Let's get outta here.
Oh, I should have killed you a long time ago.
(TOO SWEET SOBBING)
Clarisse!
Clarisse! I love you!
Freeze!
You don't deserve to live.
(SOBBING HYSTERICALLY)
That beautiful, young creature, she died like an animal.
I know how you feel, Brother.
We all loved her.
Well, what are you gonna do?
Fight.
Fight. Fight who?
I'm gonna go to Cunningham, and I'm gonna box.
Hey, wait a minute. Wait a minute.
I thought you said you hated boxing.
I'm gonna be somebody, Ellen.
I'm gonna get respect.
I'm gonna talk to the kids
about the insanity in this world.
I'm gonna make a difference in this dirty, rotten world.
I'm gonna do it.
I'm gonna do it for Clarisse.
I'm gonna be the champion of the world.
Aw, man, what's the deal?
TRAINER: All right. Good hook. Good hook.
Where's your skates, Too Sweet?
Where's my gloves?
Huh?
You heard me.
Gloves? Gloves?
You want gloves?
(LAUGHING) Well, I'll give you gloves. I'll give you shoes.
I'll give you socks. I'll give you bagels. I'll give you lox.
I'll even give you jockstraps.
But more than that,
I'll give you the very best to teach you.
Mr. T!
Could have taken your head off. Keep your guards up.
I told you, keep your guards up.
I see your point.
Duck and cover.
Yeah, all right. You're getting better.
Switch, switch, switch. There you go.
Martell.
Okay. All right.
And you figure that out.
I think that's the end of the game, but, you know.
We'll play another.
You bet ya. Right now.
Come on, you little scrunt, come on, let's go.
(LAUGHING)
Seldom!
Seldom, how are you...
Back off, sucker.
Now, you know I laugh and I joke, but I do not touch.
Well, I see you haven't changed.
You look good, though.
I see you haven't changed either.
You look good, too.
Oh, excuse me.
This is my sister, Ellen, my brother-in-law, Charles, my little nephew, Chuckie Jr.
Everybody, this is Seldom Seen.
A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Seen.
Likewise.
My pleasure.
Why don't you have a seat?
Well, that's okay,
I just stopped by to let Too know that I'm out.
Oh, it's okay.
They know all about my bit in the pen.
Well, why don't we leave you people alone, huh?
Yes, I'm sure the two of you have a lot to talk about.
If you'll excuse us?
Hey, your sister, she talk just like they do on TV.
Hey, come on, have a seat.
Okay. All right. No touching.
Well, Seldom, we're both on the streets,
and this time, we stay.
Right now, I'm training real hard for my first fight.
We start first thing tomorrow morning.
What do you say?
I have nothing better to do.
All right. All right.
Seldom Seen and Too Sweet.
Now, that's a hard combination to beat.
I mean, I'm still fast. I've been training.
Now, wait a minute. Oh, yeah.
Here's a right. Here's a right, left, right.
Right, left, right.
I'm not so old where I can't jump up and get a little bold
and knock a young chump like you out cold.
You been locked up. Let me see what you can do.
Let me see what you can do. Can you touch me?
♪ No, no, no
♪ No, no No, no
♪ No, no, no
♪ No, no No, no
♪ No, no, no
♪ No, no No, no
♪ Love vibrations reaching out for me
♪ Give me your sweet sensations
♪ Playing games on me
Keep going. Keep going.
(INDISTINCT)
Yeah, that's it, that's it.
One at a time.
Stop! Stop! Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
I told you, you got to hit the bag
with your palms up and the elbows in.
You're not listening to me!
We've been doing this all day!
If you won't listen to me, maybe you'll listen to a pro.
Archie Moore! Mr. Archie Moore!
Hey.
Would you give me some assistance here, please?
This is Too Sweet.
Too Sweet, Archie Moore, the Champion of the World. Nice to meet you.
Listen, Too Sweet.
You gotta put them together, turn them underneath.
Okay, like this. You do it like this, look...
Put them together in bunches.
You still look good. Well...
Still punch good, too.
Let me try. Put them together now.
More, more of 'em. More of 'em.
That's better. Yeah.
That's all right. Like that?
Yeah, like that. Just like that.
All right. Thanks, champ.
All right, you heard the champ! Heard the champ!
Put it in there! What'd the champ say?
Elbows in. Put your elbows in.
Keep your arms up. Feel it! Yeah!
That's it! Yeah!
Hey, Do Dirty, is this the floor?
How I supposed to know, Simp-a?
Damn.
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
WOMAN: (OVER PA) Calling Dr. Bentway.
Dr. Bentway. Calling Dr. Bentway.
Dr. Nivar. Dr. Nivar, report to surgery.
Yeah, this is it, all right.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Sit your ass down, shut your mouth up or I'll cut your head off.
Yes, sir.
Simp-a, hurry up and get Half Dead.
Oh, okay.
What you looking at?
Lay your sick ass down
before I give you something to be sick about!
Boy, Dead sure do look stupid when he's sleeping.
Hey.
Hey, Simp? Yeah, it's me.
Simp? Yeah.
Hey, man, where are the cuffs for these things?
I'll get them for you, Dead. All right, yeah.
Come on.
Keys, sucker.
Right over there. Yeah.
Anything you want. Shut up!
(PANTING)
DO DIRTY: Damn, what's that smell?
I didn't do nothing. Hey, Do Dirty,
you cut the cheese again?
Hell, no.
(STUTTERING) I think I done my bowels.
You know, I done doo-dooed.
(STUTTERING) My bowels.
You nasty. My bowels.
SIMP-A: (LAUGHING) Yeah, baby!
Hurry up, Simp-a! It stinks out here.
Come on!
Dude there doo-dooed on hisself.
Hey, man, I'm gonna doo-doo on you if you don't hurry up!
Okay, Dead. Simp.
Come on, Dead... Oh, Simp.
All right.
I'll get that thing outta the way.
Get my clothes, man. My clothes.
Your clothes? Okay, Dead. Yeah.
Yeah. All right.
Here you go, Dead. See?
Okay. Okay. Okay. All right.
Come on, Simp-a!
(LAUGHING) Yeah. All right.
Come on, Dead. Yeah.
Yeah, I got unfinished business, man.
Yeah, there's a stairway down the hall.
Why don't we get outta here?
(FUNK MUSIC PLAYING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
Seldom, you've got to relax, man.
You've got to get in the groove, cousin.
I got to find you one of these pretty ladies
before you get your nuts blow up and kill some damn body.
How many years has it been?
Look, if you want that training,
then I'm gonna hang to make sure you don't overdo it.
Hey, I'm just here to make sure you have a good time.
You know what I mean?
But, have no fear,
old Too will come through.
I sure hope so.
Uh, excuse me.
I saw you two ladies sitting here, and I was, uh...
Well, I was hoping that one of you
might spend some time dancing with my friend.
He's right over there.
Ooh. Damn.
Well, see, he's been away for a long time.
What about you?
Oh, I'm just here.
Okay, I'll spend some time and dance with your friend,
if you spend some time and dance with mine.
I'm not much of a dancer.
But I tell you what,
I would like to sit between the two of you and talk a bit.
Okay. Come on.
EMCEE: Winning Time.
Singing the tune that is burning up the charts.
Hi. And they hip too!
K-L-I-Q-U-E, Klique!
Bring it on!
♪ It's winning time
♪ There's no time
♪ For losin'
♪ It's winning time
♪ There's no time
♪ For less than the best
♪ You got a chance
♪ Why don't you take it now?
♪ Just take a stand
♪ With both feet on the ground
♪ The future is yours
♪ There's nothing in the way
♪ Open the door
♪ Open the door Come on... ♪
(CROWD CHEERING)
Hey. Oh.
Hey.
Hey, baby. How you feeling?
Hey, it's Half Dead, Sugar.
I ain't letting no light-weight mess get me down.
Right on, baby.
Look at you. Fine! Looking good.
I got some baloney and cheese in the refrigerator,
and I got some Golden Berry chicken.
Hey, you got some Golden Berry?
Some potato salad, too. Yeah.
You know that special, all the potato salad you can eat with a jumbo box?
You get the jumbo?
Nothing but the best for Dead.
That's my baby.
Yeah.
Hey, this potato salad ain't bad.
Mmm-hmm.
My old mama, she used to make some...
...some hellified potato salad.
(CHUCKLING)
Shit, you know I ain't had no potato salad like this
since I left home.
My mama...
Why don't you go on home to see your mama?
Why don't you just get things straight with your daddy
and go see your mama. I go see mine.
Yeah, 'cause they just right around the corner.
I'm talking about 1,000 miles away.
Can't just be up and going.
No, I...
I can't go back now.
Not till I get things right.
Money makes things right.
You want a beer?
Yeah, give me a beer.
What the hell is this?
Now, you offer me a beer, and you're drinking it all up.
Damn.
You know, Simp and Do Dirty
is ready to start making some money
as soon as you give the go-ahead.
Simp, huh? Mmm-hmm.
Yeah, well, look here, Simp and Do Dirty best be cool.
I got unfinished business.
Honey, can I say something?
No! No, you can't say nothing.
Honey, you know, it's like...
Sugar! Girl, don't start nothing, and it won't be nothing.
Well, I mean, what is it with you and this Too Sweet, anyway?
Hurting him don't mean no money.
And you know you gots to have some loot in your suit,
'cause your honey needs money.
Yeah. I told you, you can't say nothing!
I will tear your head off
and hang it up on one of them nails with them wigs of yours.
Yeah. Damn!
Talking 'bout that.
Damn! Talking all the time.
You ugly bastard...
What you gonna do with that, huh?
I'll kill you! You gonna cut Dead?
I'll cut your... Damn right.
You gonna... You gonna cut Dead?
I'll cut your throat. Yeah, all right.
Yeah.
"My honey needs money," huh?
Yeah! I wonder how much money we can get
for this potato salad, huh?
There. There, now look at you. (YELLS)
There, look at you. Mm-hmm.
(CHUCKLING)
Let me eat some, too.
Watch them elbows. Keep them elbows tucked.
SAM: Break.
All right, come over here.
We've got good news and bad news.
Well, I hope the good news is a good fight.
CHARLES: The good news is a good fight,
and the bad news is... it's tonight.
You fight the number one contender, Jesse Amos,
on his territory, the penitentiary.
Ralph Torrell's old lady threw a bucket of grits in his face
and he had to cancel.
Yeah, and the fight promoters,
they don't wanna blow the TV deal.
And if we win decisively on national TV, we're on our way.
Is he ready, Seldom?
Ready? (SIGHS)
He been up all night partying
and messing around with the ladies.
Hey, now, wait a minute, Seldom.
If this is my big shot, then I ain't about to blow it.
Besides, there's nobody I'd rather beat than big Jesse.
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
Ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
This is Gill McBride coming to you from ringside
at the gymnasium of the State's penitentiary.
Recently released from this very institution
for a homicide he still insists he didn't commit,
the young contender they call "Too Sweet,"
a sobriquet hopefully not earned
by extracurricular prison activities.
Returning to the place of his incarceration,
Too Sweet, tonight, faces Jesse "The Bull" Amos.
He's just that, a straight-ahead bull,
taking ten punches to return one smasher.
With me tonight, from Newton, Massachusetts,
the Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, Beauregard Flynn.
Beau, any observations on the fight tonight?
I gotta tell ya, Gill, I gotta tell ya, I'm happy to be here.
This is a great crowd. They know boxing. They really love it.
To me the fight, it looks like a classic match up
between a power puncher and a boxer. Simple as that.
Too fast, too quick, Too Sweet.
(MIDDLE-EASTERN FOLK MUSIC PLAYING)
Don't hold nothin'.
(INDISTINCT)
MAN 1: (ON TV) I got $200 on this fight, baby.
Yeah, Jesse's gonna knock him out!
Man, oh, man.
Too Sweet's a cramp and Jesse's the champ, man.
MAN 2: Come on, let's go. Let's go.
MAN 1: See y'all.
So that's the sucker, Too Sweet, huh?
Uh-uh-uh.
I can see why they call him Too Sweet.
Making love to him, you could wind up with diabetes.
(FIGHT BELL RINGS)
MAN: Come on, Jesse!
(CROWD CHEERING)
GILL: I can see now why they call this young fighter Too Sweet.
He's slipping, punching, jabbing,
doing complicated foot moves, prancing.
I mean, his movements are sweet.
Too sweet, as it were.
Looks to me, Gill, Too Sweet's got all the right stuff.
Excellent lateral movement,
good foot work, fast hands.
But he's untested, Gill. He's an unknown quantity.
Can he deliver the goods?
Does he have the heart? That's what I wanna know.
That is the question.
Enough of that violence.
I'm a lover, not a fighter.
Seven come eleven. (EXCLAIMS) That's it!
INMATE: All right, all right.
Aw, I got this money now.
Hey, I'm going to get me some pootang.
I'm going to get that woman over there,
and I'm gonna do it, man!
I'm gonna please my own, man!
(PLAYING UPBEAT TUNE)
MAN: Sweet! Get him, Sweet!
(CROWD CHEERING)
(BELL RINGS)
Round. Get off him!
Hi. Say, "Hi, Too Sweet."
Hi, Too Sweet. (LAUGHS)
An almost perfect matchup.
The grace, the pretty, the Too Sweet,
against the buffalo, the gorilla, the Bull.
And the Bull is again advancing with ferocious abandon,
and again Too Sweet is moving, gliding,
and sliding, moving. Looking good, looking sweet.
Jesse "The Bull" comes with a few hard, fast punches,
and the Sweet one is now on the attack!
And Jesse is down, ladies and gentlemen!
Too Sweet connected with a vicious right hook
and sent Jesse "The Bull" Amos to the canvas.
(ALL CHEERING)
Hey. With your bad self.
(EXCLAIMING)
I was wondering if I could spend a little money on you.
Oh, how much you got?
I got 80 bucks.
Oh, that ain't enough.
Hey, mama, you just tell me what you need,
and I'll get it for you.
I'll tell you what.
Get me a yard and a half,
and I'll put my zebra on you.
Oh-ho!
Take your time. Don't get careless! Don't get careless!
Come on, now. Use your left. Come on, baby. Come on. Come on.
Step back, step back, let T.C. in here.
Gonna win myself money for my honey.
Give me the dice. Let me roll. Let me roll.
Y'all look at this.
(EXCLAIMING)
Okay. Not that time.
Oh, that's the one. That's the one. That's the one.
(BELL RINGS) Give me the money, man.
(ALL CHEERING)
(INAUDIBLE)
(BELL RINGING)
He can't hurt me.
And the Bull has finally sunk a horn in the form of a right hand
into the Sweet matador.
Let it be. REFEREE: ...two, three...
Before he hits you anymore, give it up, please!
Ain't nobody's gonna kill Sweet.
(REFEREE COUNTING DOWN)
GILL: And Too Sweet is down again, ladies and gentlemen.
He is down for the second time.
I told you he wasn't ready. I told you he wasn't ready.
Jesse "The Bull" Amos with a punishing right to the head
sends Too Sweet, the sweet one himself,
(BELL RINGING) reeling to the canvas again.
As the bell sounds, fortunately...
Listen to me, Too Sweet. Listen to me!
The Bull smells blood. Stay out of his way. Stay away from him.
Don't stand up toe-to-toe with him.
He hits too hard, he'll kill you.
You know what I want you to do for the next round is dance,
stick and dance, and we got it made.
You can beat this sucker.
He's all right. 'Cause you're too fast, too quick.
You's Too Sweet.
(BELL RINGING)
Oh!
Lord, have mercy, this is the day!
I'm going to get it now. Don't... Don't hold me.
I'm going to get the pootang,
'cause I've been in here 13 years.
Give me the money, man.
Can he take a shot? Can he come back?
This is where training tells the story, Gill.
And Too Sweet is now reeling,
holding, grabbing, shaking his pretty head.
(ENCOURAGING)
(BOTH CRYING)
Look at his eyes. Look at his eyes.
He doesn't know where he is.
They oughtta stop it. They oughtta stop it now.
GILL: The referee is talking to an oblivious Too Sweet.
I told you he wasn't ready.
He's out on his feet, Gill. He's out on his feet.
Oh, no, Martell!
Ladies and gentlemen, Too Sweet is down again.
(YELLING)
You!
(SOBBING) Stop, please!
Please, stop! Don't let him hit you again!
He won't stay down. He's struggling to get back up.
What promise, what courage, what values!
(SOBBING) Let me take you home.
(BELL RINGING)
(MUFFLED) This ain't over yet.
We have more time.
(CONTINUES MUMBLING)
Whoo, Dead, if this pretty boy comes out for the next round,
you better quit messing around with him.
'Cause he has got to have God himself with him.
God?
Now what the hell's God got to do with a fight?
Shoot.
Fighting is strictly Devil's territory.
And like my mama always told me,
"Half Dead, you ain't got nothing but pure devil in you."
(BOTH LAUGHING)
Yeah.
You know, your mama wasn't messing around the pound.
GILL: It seems that the doctor wants to stop it,
but Too Sweet wants to keep going.
Too Sweet has won the heart of this audience,
indeed, I'm sure, the heart of America.
(BELL RINGS)
There is an eerie hush here in this arena.
An intense, saddened hush of profound respect.
Respect for the determination,
the courage shown by this fine, young champ, this...
Well, this almost pretty, young convicted felon
with the appropriate, but highly unlikely name of Too Sweet.
(CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Do you hear that? "Too Sweet, Too Sweet," is the chant.
BEAU: The guy's a fighter. He's a fighter.
To me, win or lose, he's got the potential to be a champion.
Only time will tell, Beau. Only time will tell.
Get up!
(CHEERING)
(CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
GILL: Not since the Olympic trials of Olga Korbut
has a young athlete been able to capture the hearts of an audience in defeat.
Defeat, can we call it that, Beau?
Indeed, to look at that fair-looking young gentleman, you...
Well, you somehow can't help but wonder
if even such a word as "defeat" shall ever touch...
Damn!
Jive sucker.
No good high-yella chump!
He gets the victory out of getting his ass kicked.
Just like a homosexual in juvie.
(CHANTING ON TV) Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Dead, I always knew you was crazy.
But if you keep messing with this dude, you is insane.
Dead, sucker.
Dead.
(CLICKING TONGUE)
Ah, to heck with Too Sweet.
(SWITCHES OFF TV)
(CHUCKLES)
I want you to be sweet to me.
Look at you.
Shit...
Shit, come here.
Warden Arnsworth, on behalf of K-A-K-A TV, the sports network,
we'd like to thank you for the use of your facilities this evening.
My pleasure, Gill.
And now from ringside,
an interview with the victor and with the vanquished.
First the winner of tonight's contest, Jesse "The Bull" Amos.
Beau.
Congratulations, Jesse.
Yeah, man. Yeah.
It was a rugged fight.
I almost felt like I was in there myself.
You went down in the first round, but you came back.
You're the winner. To me it's...
GIRL: Love you, Jesse.
To me, it clearly looked liked it was something personal
going on in the ring tonight.
You hurt him real bad.
Do you have anything to say about that?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I know him from before, you know. I mean, and...
Hey, man, this is the penitentiary.
And in here, I'm the champ, you know what I'm saying?
I'm the man in here, and pretty soon I'll be king out there,
and I'm gonna be the champ.
I am gonna be number one, you know what I'm saying?
Me, Jesse Amos.
Thanks... Thanks, Jesse.
I'm the one now, not none of these fools.
Thanks, Jesse "The Bull" Amos, tonight's winner.
Why you need him? You know what you need?
(MUTTERING ANGRILY)
I'm gonna bust your body. Wait, Jr.
Move!
ALL: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Ladies and gentlemen, here he is, the Sweet One.
I hope you can hear us over the still deafening roar of this audience.
Too Sweet, albeit you are the vanquished one tonight,
I still believe congratulations are in order
for the courage you displayed even in defeat.
And I can tell you this,
you've captured the hearts of this live audience,
not to mention that massive audience out there in TV country.
Your thoughts as we speak.
I have no excuse for losing.
We will be back.
That's right. He will get back,
'Cause he's too fast, he's too quick, he's Too Sweet.
(ALL MUMBLING)
You'll hear from us again.
Thanks very much.
Thanks, Martell "Too Sweet" Gordone
and Jesse "The Bull" Amos.
I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more
from both of these young fighters in the future.
And so, with a special thanks to Mr. Beauregard Flynn...
Thank you, Gill.
Always a pleasure, Beau.
This is Gill McBride at ringside,
coming to you from a place where people are doing time,
saying thanks for making our time your time for this time.
Till next time, good evening.
ALL: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Run along, ladies. The show's over.
(ALL CHANTING LOUDER)
Will you cut the goddamn thing off?
Look, I'm busy.
Look, I don't care if you represent the President of the United States,
I can't... Just a minute.
Is it all right if I...
Look, look, just call my attorney.
Charles Johnson, Century City.
Geez, I can't get these guys off my back.
Look at this. Do you see that? See this?
That is proof.
That is proof of our ticket to the big time.
We are gonna clean up.
We are gonna make big cash.
You know, and all this mail came in two days.
I had to keep some at the post office. I got no room to keep it.
And the TV networks, man, they are flooded with letters from...
Teenyboppers, mothers, fathers, little kids.
You have captured the imagination of America.
We are only interested in capturing the pocketbooks of America.
That's exactly what we're gonna do.
We're gonna carefully orchestrate Too's rise to the crown.
Gonna negotiate with closed-circuit TV.
Sign only with the highest bidder.
Carefully select the products that he endorses.
In short,
we are going to make Too Sweet too rich.
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
I know I'm not training hard enough
if I let my own sister run with me through an obstacle course.
Oh, quit complaining and just keep up.
Killing me softly.
Yeah, please, please, dance for me.
Lord have... Help, you all.
Hello there.
ELLEN: Ah, here we go. Here we go.
You all got me running. Whoo.
CHARLES: All right. Oh, that looks good.
Hey, you all, let's eat!
Hey, Two Sweet!
You gotta us running our ass off for some light beer?
Beer?
ALL: Light beer?
Ah, the Blue Nun.
That is my contribution.
Oh, we have a... Wait a minute, we have a toast.
All right, everybody, I wanna make a toast.
Goodness, all you all, we gotta sit down, there, ladies.
Sit down and look business, here, all right.
Yeah. Here, Evelyn, would you pour this for him?
Yeah.
Don't you wanna drink a toast to Uncle Too Sweet?
All right, everyone...
Yeah. ...a toast.
As of three months from now...
The next welterweight champion of the world...
Martell "Too Sweet" Gordone.
ALL: All right! All right!
MR. T: Just a minute. Just a minute.
I'll drink to that.
Our drink that counts as two.
(ALL LAUGHING)
You mean, we get to fight Big Jesse for the championship?
We got a few more things to work out,
but we already got a letter of intent.
I'd love to fight him again.
But I got one stipulation. I can name a term?
CHARLES: Sure, you're the media draw.
Yeah, we'll fight him again,
but on his own turf.
We go back to the penitentiary.
You get that and then we go ahead.
Go ahead. Go ahead.
ALL: Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead...
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
Hey, man, what's all the celebration about?
Well, Dead, they done set your boy up to fight for the championship.
He'll never make it.
Hey, Dead, man, why don't we leave this dude alone, man?
I mean, he don't seem like he that bad to me.
Shut up, Simp-a. You ain't in this shit anyhow!
We can't make no money off this dude, Dead.
Hey, just leave it all to me.
Yeah, you just leave it all to Dead.
Just drive the car, Simp-a.
Yeah, okay.
(CHUCKLING)
You ready, Dead?
(ENGINE STARTING)
NIKKI: Hey, that sure was good of you
to get us a chance to sing the National Anthem at the championship fight.
TOO SWEET: That's okay. You just sing pretty.
You gonna win the championship, Too Sweet.
I know you are.
When I lost Clarisse,
I promised myself that I'd win the championship.
And that way, people,
especially young people, would respect me.
They already respect you, Too.
You got respect.
(EVELYN EXCLAIMING)
Somebody get me away from that old, toothless fool!
Hey, hey, hey, hey, what's going on?
Toothless, my ass.
I got all my teeth.
Seldom.
Girl, I cannot believe it.
This old fella actually asked me to marry him.
Marry him! Seldom. Hey. Hey.
I'll bury him, that's what I'll do. Leave me alone.
Seldom.
EVELYN: Hey, I'm sorry, Martell.
I mean, a favor for you and Nikki, that's one thing.
TOO SWEET: Shut up, Evelyn.
What the hell is going on down there?
Oh, man, shut up and go on back to bed.
Who are these people anyway?
Who are these people?
(SCOFFS)
Why, this is the entourage of the next welterweight champion of the world!
Yes, and I will be the next to call the police,
if you don't get your old, molded, ancient, decrepit behind away from here.
You understand?
Hey, you just better cool it.
'Cause you're messing with Too Sweet's people.
Too Sweet?
That's the man that killed Monday
and whooped Tuesday and put Wednesday in the hospital.
Too Sweet, I got all my poker money betted on you!
I'll bet you a hard, fast and tender shoe up your...
Woman, is you crazy? What the hell is wrong with you?
ALL: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Hey, I think we better go
before we get somebody else in trouble.
Take care, my man! See you all later. Wish me luck now.
Seldom, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Seldom.
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
(CONTINUE CHANTING)
(POP MUSIC PLAYING SOFTLY)
I'm the domino champ around here.
Ten.
Ten.
Give me 10, too.
Ten? That ain't 10, Simp-a!
That is 10. That ain't 10.
It is 10. That ain't 10, Simp-a.
Oh, wait, I put the wrong...
You took your hand off.
Well, that was slipsies.
You took your hand off, Simp-a!
Well, but, I could... Put that back out there!
You took your hand off!
I didn't take my hand off.
Well, you, you better put that thing back out there.
Well, I call slipsies.
Slip... Put that out there, Simp-a!
SIMP: Go ahead on, then.
You just don't wanna play right, that's all.
I call slipsies.
DO DIRTY: Slipsies!
DO DIRTY: Okay. God.
Hey?
Y'all been worried
about me offing this dude Too Sweet
ain't gonna make us no money.
Well, I'm gonna show you how we can make some cash
off his little ass.
(SNAPS FINGERS)
In this bag
is $10,000.
We're in business.
Compliments of Mr. Julius Mark Stevens,
and we gonna put it all on our boy, Jesse.
Right on, Half Dead.
SIMP: All right, Dead. All right, Dead.
That's gonna work. It's gonna look good.
Now, listen up, 'cause this ain't no game.
(LIVE UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
(ALL CHEERING)
GILL: Ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
This is Gill McBride coming to you from ringside,
and this is it.
This is the moment of truth.
Live from the State penitentiary,
Martell "Too Sweet" Gordone versus Jesse "The Bull" Amos
for the championship of the world.
With me tonight at ringside,
the recently dethroned, and now ex-light heavyweight champion,
Beauregard Flynn.
Any comments, Beau,
on getting savagely knocked out in the first round last week?
TOO SWEET: I can't predict the round, but I do predict to win.
If not, we wouldn't even be here.
Champ, champ, people care about you from all over the world.
You got telegrams coming from everywhere, champ.
Even the Governor of Texas.
Governor Bill Clements wants you come to Texas after the fight,
and hopes you win the fight. He remembers the champ.
He's a good man. Tell him I said thanks.
Mr. Gordone, is it really true that you were responsible
for bringing the championship match
to the State penitentiary?
All right, that's all for one day. Let's go.
(ALL CLAMORING)
What is it with you and these reporters?
They can't leave you alone!
That's it. Let's go.
He needs time to himself. Gotta get his head together.
Let's go.
Yeah. Let's go.
(MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING)
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
(SILENCE)
(EXCLAIMING)
Yeah. Well, Mr. Too Sweet.
I could kill you, sucker.
Yeah, I could cut your filthy head off.
You know why not? Huh?
I'd like to kill you with my bare hands.
I mean, I could squeeze the life out of you, like a country chicken.
Now you're gonna lose. That's right, oh, yeah.
And then, you're gonna lose your life.
Because I got one ace in the hole,
and I got somebody at your sister's house right now.
That's right. Come on. Come on. Yeah.
If you win, they'll all be off-ed.
Yeah, if you win, win, sucker,
your little bitty... Your little bitty nephew will be the first to go.
Come on, that's right.
(GRUNTING)
Yeah.
It's Half Dead, sucker.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(ALL CHEERING)
(INAUDIBLE)
(CHEERING LOUDLY)
Oh, man, I told you he was all right. Too Sweet.
Your prayers never took that long before.
What's the matter with you, man?
Don't you know tonight's your big night?
Look, man, we gonna rumble tonight,
and you're gonna be champ tonight.
Can't a man take any time to himself around here?
You'll have plenty of time to yourself
after you dispose of the Bull.
I'm winning this fight today. All right.
What's wrong with you?
Nothing, just a little gas.
Gas, my ass, man. I said what's wrong with you?
I said nothing!
MAN: It's time.
Let's go. All right.
MAN: It's time to rumble. Mr. T: All right.
It's time to rumble. All right!
Big Jesse, you're in trouble! It's time to rumble! It's time to rumble!
This is certainly gonna be a classic rematch.
It seems like yesterday to me
that Too Sweet had his first TV start.
That was a big night for him.
Indeed, it was.
And I can remember the running joke
among the TV crew and technicians was his name, Too Sweet.
We all knew he had then only been recently released from the penitentiary
and wondered whether...
Well, whether he had been taken advantage of while doing time.
But the joke, of course, wound up being on us.
For this young man put on a show that night,
which captured the hearts and imaginations of millions of Americans,
young and old, rich and poor,
black and white, male and female.
Simp-a, get me some more of that red wine.
Okay.
Hey, no, man, why don't you try some of this little concoction
I'm getting ready to put together?
Little bit of this stuff in it here, see?
And I take some of this here "tunic" water...
Simp-a, what you doing?
What did I say? I want the red wine.
You can get your own wine. I got what I want.
Too Sweet is here! And it's time to rumble! Sweet is here!
Sweet is here!
(ALL CHEERING LOUDLY)
(MIDDLE-EASTERN FOLK MUSIC PLAYING)
ALL: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
I know he must feel a sense of accomplishment,
but you wouldn't know it to look at him.
He seems to be deep in concentration,
an almost pained concentration.
He looks different to me tonight, Gill.
(IN SING-SONG) Too Sweet, Too Sweet, you're so neat!
Knock Big Jesse off his feet!
(CHEERING)
Too Sweet, Too Sweet, welcome home.
You're just in time to hear our song.
Hit it, girls.
♪ Ooh!
♪ I'm coming out
♪ I want the world to know that I love you so ♪
Ain't that right, girls?
ALL: Yeah!
Your Too Sweet got a lot of class.
I'll let you good folks in on a little secret.
I like his style.
I'm so pleased to hear you say that, Mr. Dirty.
"Do" Dirty, lady! Do Dirty!
How many times I gotta tell you that?
Fix me something to eat.
Here comes Jesse!
(CHEERING)
(CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
(CHANTING) Jesse! Jesse! Jesse!
Hey, that's old Dead.
Hey, Dead!
Hey, Do Dirty, look, it's Dead and Sugar!
Hey, Dead. Hey, Sugar. Here we is!
I'll be damned.
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our home,
the State penitentiary!
(CHEERING)
We're here tonight for a championship fight
between the challenger, Martell "Too Sweet" Gordone.
(SCATTERED BOOING)
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
SUPPORTERS: Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
And in this corner, the champion, our own Jesse "The Bull" Amos!
(SUPPORTERS CHEERING)
PRISONER: Well, all right, Jesse.
Hit him once for me, Jesse!
Ladies and gentlemen,
would you please stand for the singing of the National Anthem?
Tonight, it shall be sung by two very lovely women,
Miss Nikki Thomas and Miss Evelyn Woods.
(ALL APPLAUDING)
♪ Lift every voice and sing
♪ Till Earth and Heaven ring
♪ Ring with the harmony of liberty
♪ Let our rejoicing rise
♪ High as the listening skies
♪ Let us march on
♪ Until victory
♪ Is won
(ALL CHEERING)
Brother doesn't look like himself, does he, Chuckie?
(SNICKERS)
"Chuckie"?
Is that what she call you, "Chuckie"?
You hear that, Simp-a? "Chuckie!"
(DO DIRTY LAUGHING)
Chuckie, Chuckie, Chuckie, Chuckie.
(DO DIRTY LAUGHING LOUDLY)
Yeah. Kind of dumb, ain't it, "Do Dirty"?
(SNICKERS) "Do Dirty."
He got you that time, Do Dirty.
Smart butt, huh?
High-class lawyer.
Well, we'll see how smart your butt is
when your Too Sweetie bites the dust.
Oh, yeah, we'll see.
That's right, lady, we will see.
He wins that one,
I win this one.
Now, fix me something to eat.
(BELL RINGS)
Come on in.
MAN: Come on. We gotta get him this time, Too Sweet!
Okay, I want a good, clean fight here.
No hitting below the belt.
When I say, "Break," I mean break immediately.
I don't wanna have to wrestle with you fellas.
Shake hands and let's have a good fight.
(ALL BOOING)
Go back in your corner!
Fight, fight!
WOMAN 1: Let's give it to him! Give it to him!
MAN 1: Come on, now! Watch out. Come on, man.
All right, it's your fight, your fight! Take him. Take him!
(CHEERING)
WOMAN 1: I need you right now, Sweetie! Come on through!
MAN 2: Knock that grin off, Too Sweet!
MR. T: Don't let him get you in that corner.
Don't let him get you in that corner.
You'll never get out of the corner.
MAN 1: ...around like that!
MAN 3: What do you mean? Come on, man, I'm sick of jumping around.
One, two. One, two.
Come on, man, fight! What's wrong with you? Use the left.
Come on, Too! Come on, baby!
WOMAN 2: Watch your face, Sweetie! Look out!
SELDOM SEEN: What's wrong with you, Too Sweet? Come on, come on!
MAN 1: Come on, Sweet, stay out of his way.
Come on, man, out of the corner! Get out of the corner!
Jab, jab, jab!
Come on, Sweet. Hit him.
WOMAN 2: Watch it! Watch it!
MAN 4: Get your hand out of my face, lady.
Use your left! Use your left, Too! Your left!
Dance! Dance around him! Dance around him!
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
(CROWD CHEERING)
WOMAN 1: I got all my money riding on you, Sweet!
Jesse! Jesse! You do the best you can!
Before I let you whoop up on Too Sweet, I'll turn man!
(ALL CHEERING)
SELDOM SEEN: Keep moving, keep moving. Stay away from the ropes!
Stay away from the ropes.
WOMAN 1: Hey, break his face! Break it now!
(CROWD BOOING)
Use the left! What happened to his side!
What in hell?
Son of a bitch! What happened?
Come on, move!
SELDOM SEEN: Off the ropes! Get off the ropes!
Combination! Combination!
BEAU: The Bull is clearly dictating this fight.
Too Sweet cannot fight the Bull's fight.
(PEOPLE LAUGHING)
BEAU: I've never seen anything like that
in my whole career, Gill, never.
GILL: Ladies and gentlemen, the referee went down!
(EXCLAIMING)
The first one got away, but the next one gotta pay.
First one got away, but the next one got to pay.
(BELL RINGING)
WOMAN 1: Sweet, use that right swing on him!
(ALL CHEERING)
(BELL RINGS)
GILL: Fights are won with points scored,
and one cannot score points if one doesn't throw punches.
The mood of the crowd here is one of loyal encouragement,
but crowds have been known to change quickly.
It does not look good to me for Too Sweet.
He's not using the jab
and the jab is the most important thing a stand-up fighter can use.
MAN 3: Aw, come on!
Come on! Fight! Fight!
God damn it, get up! Get up. Get up!
Get up, Too Sweet! Get up! Get up, Too Sweet!
GILL: Ladies and gentlemen, I would never have believed it,
had I not seen it with my own eyes.
"Too Sweet" Gordone had no more than stepped from his corner
when the Bull unleashed a devastating right to his head.
Is it deja vu, Beau?
But can he last, Gill? Can he last?
Can he indeed, Beau?
It certainly seems to be a different style of fighting
than I've seen him do from before.
Maybe he's trying to sap him in.
Beau, I understand he trained very hard for this fight,
pushing his well-defined body to the limits again and again.
Kill him, Dead! Hit him, hit him, hit him!
Oh, why didn't he stay down?
Hear me, Too! Get up! Please, get up!
(ALL CHEERING)
(BELL RINGING)
WOMAN 2: Come on, Too Sweet.
MAN: Aw, you gotta get him this round.
INMATE: Ah, leave alone.
There it is. Give me my money.
Gonna get some pootang. Gonna get some...
I've been in here 13 years, I gotta go.
Excuse me. Y'all excuse me.
Talented, pretty, as much a product of destiny as anyone I can think of.
Yes, "Too Sweet" Gordone now faces the ultimate test of his unique career.
You gotta stop playing with the man.
Hit the sucker. Hit him hard. Make him hurt like he made you hurt.
Stick and move. You're not using your left. What's wrong with your left?
You stay out the corner, fight him up like that.
(BELL RINGS)
WOMAN 1: Sweet, get him to bleed.
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
Hey. Hey, you. Hey, what's happening, mama?
Damn, you look good. Mmm-mmm!
I've been in this place for a long time, you know?
And I was wondering if I could spend a little money on you.
How much you got?
Mmm, 75 bucks.
Seventy-five bucks? Baby, you must be kidding.
You got to do better than that.
Hey, mama, you just tell T.C. what you need, and T.C.'ll get it for you.
Well, I need 200 bucks.
Hey, mama, you ain't said shit.
What you need, T.C.'ll get for you.
Don't you move. Don't you twitch. I'll be right back.
(BELL RINGING)
Too Sweet is no longer even dancing.
He has the look of a beaten man.
(BELL RINGING)
MR. T: Remember what I said. If you won't fight, I'm gonna stop it.
GILL: Hard left hook from the Bull and Too Sweet goes down again.
I've never seen anything like it.
At this point, they should take him out. He's taking too many shots.
He could be seriously hurt.
GILL: Too Sweet seems to be struggling to get to his feet again.
And he's getting up again, ladies and gentlemen.
The Sweet One is up!
DO DIRTY: He's going down! He's going down!
You're the man. You're the man.
There he is! Hit him again! Hit him again!
SIMP: Come on, Jesse. DO DIRTY: Hit him again.
Hit him, Jesse.
Come on, asshole. Come on, come on.
(BOTH GROANING)
Oh, all right. Come on.
Easy. I'm Do Dirty, lady. I'm Do Dirty.
Come on, Do Dirty.
SIMP: Mama, mama, mama, mama, help me, mama.
(SIMP GROANING)
Ah, shut up, sucker.
SIMP: I'm blind.
EVELYN: Come on, Too Sweet!
SELDOM SEEN: That's it. Over there.
WOMAN 2: That's right. Stay with him. Work it.
WOMAN 3: Move that ass, Too Sweet!
I need you right now, Sweetie!
MAN: Knock that clown out, Too Sweet!
I'm gonna put you in that corner.
I'm gonna put you in the corner.
Oh! Doggone it. I told you she wanted more money,
and that's why I'm here to give it to her.
They call me T.C., the moneymaker.
Let me go. The woman over there is waiting on me.
I got the cash to finally please my balls. Jesus.
MAN: Go! Jab, jab, jab!
Hit him!
GILL: There's a vicious right from the Bull,
and Too Sweet goes down for what may be the final time.
And the proverbial line between courage and stupidity
has been erased with a single blow.
(CROWD CHEERING INAUDIBLE)
Brother.
(PANTING)
Brother, can you hear me?
Brother?
Brother, we're here.
Brother, I love you.
(MUFFLED) I love you, too.
(CROWD CHEERING DISTINCTLY AUDIBLE)
CROWD: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Man, I ain't got no fight...
Right. Check!
(YELLING)
Ladies and gentlemen, I couldn't begin to tell you what happened,
but it looked like a young lady ran to ringside,
said something to Too Sweet,
and this has inspired him in some way.
He seemed to have gained strength from somewhere.
Finish him!
Finish him!
(ALL CHEERING)
For the first time tonight, ladies and gentlemen, he is on the offensive.
He is going after Jesse "The Bull."
He wants him, ladies and gentlemen.
And Jesse goes down on one knee!
And Too Sweet's giving his hard right to the Bull.
Hey, mama. I got your money.
As a matter of fact, I got 250 bucks.
Now, I know that calls for extra action, don't you agree?
WOMAN: Hey, baby. You meet me at the ring, okay?
Oh, shit!
WOMAN: (CHEERING) Sweetie is our man!
GILL: Bull misses the right.
And Too Sweet connects with a vicious right that sends Jesse "The Bull" Amos
through the ropes and out of the ring!
BEAU: That one hurt. He definitely felt that one, Gill.
You okay? Okay? Okay, come on.
Fight.
GILL: I believe in miracles.
I believe in America. I believe in Too Sweet! I believe in brotherhood!
I believe in apple pie! I believe! I believe!
I believe! I believe!
(LAUGHING) I believe in apple pie!
(SPECTATORS CHEERING)
GILL: I believe! I believe! I believe!
I believe!
I believe!
I believe!
I do believe!
WOMAN: Sweet, baby, you got what it takes!
ALL: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
GILL: I do! I say, I do believe!
WOMAN: (MOANING) I believe! I believe! I believe!
INMATE: Shit!
(PEOPLE CHEERING)
Jesse, you better listen!
And I repeat, we girls over here, we loud!
ALL: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
(GROANING)
(PANTING)
Punk, gonna break every bone in your body.
Got you now, punk. I'm gonna kill you slow.
(CHOKING) Okay, okay.
I'm gonna torture you. Gonna punish you.
(BONES CRACKING)
Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Too fast, too quick, he's Too Sweet.
(CHEERING CONTINUES)
(FUNK MUSIC PLAYING)
What you giving me that hand for?
I see, you want me to spin you around?
No. I will.
Here, let me take that. Oh, thanks, baby.
Mmm-hmm. How was your day today?
Oh, pretty good, pretty good. Good? Yeah?
Little tired, but other than that, you know.
Yeah, okay, yeah. Hey, you can pull the...
(GASPS) Brother!
Oh, Brother, I don't believe you're here!
You look great!
Mmm, you look good, too. Oh, Brother, Brother!
Chuckie Jr.! He's three years old now?
You sort of little for three, ain't you, boy?
What you talking 'bout, Too Sweet.
(LAUGHING) He's got a lot of mouth.
CHARLES: Yeah.
Just like his mama. ELLEN: Oh, you.
Gonna be a lawyer. It's in the family.
(LAUGHING)
Come, sweetie.
(FUNK MUSIC PLAYING)
(GRUNTING)
(WHISTLING)
(GRUNTING)
Yoo-hoo! Hey, sweetie, where's my pizza?
(LAUGHING)
Yeah, sweetay, you got a message for me?
As a matter of fact, yeah.
You're about to show your ass.
Oh!
BOXER: His ass is showing, man.
Sucker, I'll bust your head to the fat!
Little ol' punk!
You don't be coming in this gym talking no trash to me!
Boy, I'll kill you! I'll kill you!
Don't make me have to hit you.
Whoa, tough guy! All right, cool it. Get rid of this guy.
(YELLING)
Hey, Too Sweet. Come into my office.
BOXER: Boy, you dead! I'm gonna kill you, boy!
Who is he?
TRAINER: Okay, let's get to work, this ain't no sideshow.
BOXER: Boy, you don't slap me! Don't nobody slap me!
TRAINER: What you doing over there, boy? Come on, dig in, there.
BOXER: I'll kill you! I'll kill you!
Boy is dead!
SAM: Same old Too Sweet.
Boy, have I been waiting for you.
Where you been?
Here and there.
What have you been doing?
This and that.
Hey, don't get wise-ass with me.
I'm the guy that got your feet on the bricks, remember?
I appreciate that, but I'm no boxer, man.
I told your brother-in-law, the warden, just that.
Well, you may not wanna box,
you may not like to box,
but you can box, and that's what interests me.
Plus, you got style, class.
You're a winner.
Hey, I'm not boxing, man.
Your parole says...
My parole says I have to be in your employ for one year.
It says nothing about boxing.
Employ? Employ, my ass.
So, you don't wanna box, huh?
Well, let's get something straight.
I expect you to box.
You don't wanna box?
You wanna be a wise guy?
Well, I've got employment for you.
(FUNK MUSIC PLAYING ON STEREO)
Yeah.
Oh! Half Dead and Do Dirty,
back in their own neighborhood!
Yeah. (LAUGHING) Yeah.
Hey, man, how y'all break out the pen?
What do you mean how we break out? It's Half Dead.
Yeah! That Half Dead say,
"Open the door. Can you open the door?"
(ALL LAUGHING)
Whoo, look at the turn cut on that sister, damn!
DO DIRTY: Good googly moogly! HALF DEAD: Oh, that fine!
DO DIRTY: Hey there, baby! Whoo!
(DO DIRTY LAUGHING)
(SHUSHING) Hey, hey, hey, let's go by... Let's go by Willy's.
Yeah. See old Willy.
Willy's dead, man. Willy's dead?
And the dude owed me $5. Yeah.
Well, what about Beanie?
Well, he... He left town, man.
All right, well, damn. Let's go by Bobo's, then.
Yeah! Oh, I ain't seen Bobo in a long time.
Bobo in the joint, man.
Bobo is in the joint? Bobo is in the joint.
Hey, where... Where's everybody at, man?
Hey, don't nobody move. Hey, be... Be cool, man
What? The police behind us.
Them is really nasty.
Yeah, man, just be cool and drive the car.
Don't worry about it.
Don't worry about it.
Everything's gonna be all right.
Damn. Okay.
This is stupid.
Bust out the pen and come right back to the same neighborhood,
and ain't even trying to hide.
It's crazy! It's crazy and stupid.
Yeah, Dead, man.
Hey, don't you think y'all oughtta be cool, man?
I am cool, sucker.
The first law of nature, man.
You hide, somebody gonna find.
Besides, man, I got a score to settle, you understand?
And it's gonna be settled no matter what.
(BOXER GRUNTING)
(SOBBING)
Yeah. All right, who next?
Bring 'em on! Who wanna get in the ring with me?
All right! Bring them in, I'll knock 'em out!
Who next?
Who wanna get in the ring with...
(SCREAMS)
What? Come on! Somebody get this crazy fool! Check him!
I'm tired of you suckers always beating up on me!
I'm a sparring partner, not the damn sparring enemy!
(GRUNTING)
No fool pull a razor on me. What's wrong with you?
Ain't nobody pull a razor on me!
Ain't nobody pull a razor on me!
Ain't nobody pull a razor on me!
Nobody! Nobody! I'll kill him!
Nobody! Nobody pull a razor on me!
(CONTINUES YELLING)
(WHOOPS) It's a party out there.
Show that!
(FUNK MUSIC PLAYING)
Watch you don't fall, baby brother.
You know, I can almost tolerate you calling me "brother,"
but that "baby" stuff has got to go.
Okay, okay, Martell.
When we were kids, you used to skate like a partner back then.
(LAUGHS) Oh, you were a lot bigger than me then,
but now, it's a different story.
You know what I mean? Oh, yeah? Oh, yeah?
All right.
Do I or do you?
"Do I or do you"?
Is that the way they teach you to talk in law school?
Do I broach the subject or do you?
Look, Brother, I love you.
But you burn my butt sometimes.
You know, ever since you came back from Mom and Dad's funeral,
you've been evasive, cold,
and emotionally constipated.
Oh, yeah?
See what I mean?
Can't we at least talk?
Talk about what?
Talk about some drunken fool
that drives through an intersection
and kills the two people in the whole world that meant the most to us?
Talk about some damn war that was cruel enough to spare me?
Talk about me doing time for a killing I never even knew took place?
Talk about some crazy fool
that wants me to dance around in a ring
and pound the hell out of other people
for some money and some fame and some glory?
Is that what you wanna talk about?
I just don't wanna talk to you...
...about anything that isn't beautiful, or at least healthy.
Okay? But, Brother...
(GROOVY MUSIC PLAYING) EMCEE: Ooh-whee!
Get down, brothers and sisters! Get down, ladies!
Put the jack on your stack and everything gonna be all right
and cool today at the skate park, y'all!
Come on, now, boogie! Looking fine! All right.
(EMCEE CONTINUES CHATTERING)
EMCEE: All right! Who's next now. Come on now, y'all!
All right! Come on, come on, come on.
Come on, your turn. Get down.
Get in there, get in there. You'll never embarrass me.
Come on, Martell. Come on. Don't be so shy.
Hey, don't hurt me, now.
Oh, I'm not gonna hurt you. Hey!
There you go! Come on, Too Sweet.
All right! Hey, get down.
Hey, good. Yeah.
All right, watch it. Uh-oh, okay.
Put that hip into it.
Yeah! Just a little more.
(BOTH CHUCKLING)
WOMAN: Yeah!
All right.
Okay, I'll see you later.
Clarisse.
I missed you, Martell.
I missed you, too.
But you were better off without me.
Just too much pain.
Everything I love gets hurt.
But why didn't you write?
You didn't have to leave a return address,
but you could have let me know how you were, dead or alive.
I was...
...dead.
Ah, look out, baby. Didn't know I could do this, did you?
Yeah, that's called the goosestep.
EMCEE: Shake that body. Shake that body.
Move, move it. Move it now.
Shake that body. Shake that body.
Move, groove, move it now.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we're serving it right here tonight.
(ENGINE STALLING)
(RADIATOR HISSING)
Look, man, I'm gonna say this one more time.
Let's wait and catch this sucker in another neighborhood!
Look, man, let's get out of here!
Shut up, Do Dirty.
Look, man,
I ain't asking you to do nothing, you understand?
Nothing. But look out.
And if you don't look out, sucker, look out.
Get outta my face, Simp-a!
Yeah, okay.
DO DIRTY: Come on.
Let's go and kill this sucker, and get it over with.
No! No.
This one is mine.
Mine.
Mine, and mine alone.
(LAUGHING)
You know, you haven't given me a serious kiss since I've seen you.
And I don't intend to, either.
Oh, you don't? No.
Oh.
A bigger one.
Now that's what I call a nice, nice, kiss.
Whoo! (LAUGHING)
Give me a hand. You know I can't swim.
No!
(SCREAMING)
(LAUGHING)
(SIGHS)
Now, I'll tell you,
you can run, you can swim,
but you sure enough can't hide.
Martell, don't.
I don't feel right doing this in your sister's house.
Hey, come on, Clarisse.
Now, you know they're out of town for the weekend.
They're not even thinking about us.
So, now, why should you be so concerned about them, huh?
(CLARISSE MOANS)
(GRUNTS)
I love you so much.
I'll do anything for you.
I just don't wanna be separated from you ever again.
Clarisse, you don't have to do anything that you don't wanna do.
I know I don't have to do anything.
But I love you,
and I want you,
maybe more than you want me.
Martell Gordone,
I've never made love to a man, period.
I've waited for you.
But I want it right.
I love you, too, you know.
But right is what you make it.
I also need you.
Give me a couple of hygienic minutes.
Yo, Teddy, get ready.
(SOFT ROMANTIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(EXHALES)
Martell, I love you so much.
(GASPS)
One word, one word,
and I'm gonna throw your pretty head into the next room
without your body.
You do exactly what I say,
and maybe then I might spare your life.
Shut up, shut up, shut up.
Now, I'm gonna take my hand off your mouth.
One word...
Say one word...
...and you're dead.
(SHOWER RUNNING)
(SHUSHING) Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.
(CLARISSE SOBBING)
Clarisse.
Clarisse.
Yeah! Yeah!
(SHUSHING) Shut up.
Clarisse.
Clarisse.
Hey, baby, I heard of keeping yourself clean,
but now, this is ridiculous.
Too Sweet. It's too sweet, baby.
Clarisse.
(GRUNTING)
Clarisse!
Come on, Clarisse!
Dead.
Oh, you just predicted your fate, sucker.
Yeah, boy.
Yeah, come on.
Shit. Yeah.
Yeah.
You...
Kill me, too, you crazy fool!
(SCREAMING)
(GRUNTING)
(GASPING)
Come on, get in there! Yeah!
It's Half Dead. Yeah.
It's Half Dead, sucker.
(LAUGHING)
It's Half Dead.
You know me, boy. You know who I am.
You know who I am. It's Half Dead.
Boy, you dead.
Yeah. You're getting in my head.
I told you, sucker, you dead.
This is Half Dead.
And you're gonna know me. Yeah.
Boy, you're gonna die.
(BOTH GRUNTING)
(SCREAMS)
(SIREN WAILING)
This is the address, all right.
Come on, man. Let's get outta here.
Oh, I should have killed you a long time ago.
(TOO SWEET SOBBING)
Clarisse!
Clarisse! I love you!
Freeze!
You don't deserve to live.
(SOBBING HYSTERICALLY)
That beautiful, young creature, she died like an animal.
I know how you feel, Brother.
We all loved her.
Well, what are you gonna do?
Fight.
Fight. Fight who?
I'm gonna go to Cunningham, and I'm gonna box.
Hey, wait a minute. Wait a minute.
I thought you said you hated boxing.
I'm gonna be somebody, Ellen.
I'm gonna get respect.
I'm gonna talk to the kids
about the insanity in this world.
I'm gonna make a difference in this dirty, rotten world.
I'm gonna do it.
I'm gonna do it for Clarisse.
I'm gonna be the champion of the world.
Aw, man, what's the deal?
TRAINER: All right. Good hook. Good hook.
Where's your skates, Too Sweet?
Where's my gloves?
Huh?
You heard me.
Gloves? Gloves?
You want gloves?
(LAUGHING) Well, I'll give you gloves. I'll give you shoes.
I'll give you socks. I'll give you bagels. I'll give you lox.
I'll even give you jockstraps.
But more than that,
I'll give you the very best to teach you.
Mr. T!
Could have taken your head off. Keep your guards up.
I told you, keep your guards up.
I see your point.
Duck and cover.
Yeah, all right. You're getting better.
Switch, switch, switch. There you go.
Martell.
Okay. All right.
And you figure that out.
I think that's the end of the game, but, you know.
We'll play another.
You bet ya. Right now.
Come on, you little scrunt, come on, let's go.
(LAUGHING)
Seldom!
Seldom, how are you...
Back off, sucker.
Now, you know I laugh and I joke, but I do not touch.
Well, I see you haven't changed.
You look good, though.
I see you haven't changed either.
You look good, too.
Oh, excuse me.
This is my sister, Ellen, my brother-in-law, Charles, my little nephew, Chuckie Jr.
Everybody, this is Seldom Seen.
A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Seen.
Likewise.
My pleasure.
Why don't you have a seat?
Well, that's okay,
I just stopped by to let Too know that I'm out.
Oh, it's okay.
They know all about my bit in the pen.
Well, why don't we leave you people alone, huh?
Yes, I'm sure the two of you have a lot to talk about.
If you'll excuse us?
Hey, your sister, she talk just like they do on TV.
Hey, come on, have a seat.
Okay. All right. No touching.
Well, Seldom, we're both on the streets,
and this time, we stay.
Right now, I'm training real hard for my first fight.
We start first thing tomorrow morning.
What do you say?
I have nothing better to do.
All right. All right.
Seldom Seen and Too Sweet.
Now, that's a hard combination to beat.
I mean, I'm still fast. I've been training.
Now, wait a minute. Oh, yeah.
Here's a right. Here's a right, left, right.
Right, left, right.
I'm not so old where I can't jump up and get a little bold
and knock a young chump like you out cold.
You been locked up. Let me see what you can do.
Let me see what you can do. Can you touch me?
♪ No, no, no
♪ No, no No, no
♪ No, no, no
♪ No, no No, no
♪ No, no, no
♪ No, no No, no
♪ Love vibrations reaching out for me
♪ Give me your sweet sensations
♪ Playing games on me
Keep going. Keep going.
(INDISTINCT)
Yeah, that's it, that's it.
One at a time.
Stop! Stop! Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
I told you, you got to hit the bag
with your palms up and the elbows in.
You're not listening to me!
We've been doing this all day!
If you won't listen to me, maybe you'll listen to a pro.
Archie Moore! Mr. Archie Moore!
Hey.
Would you give me some assistance here, please?
This is Too Sweet.
Too Sweet, Archie Moore, the Champion of the World. Nice to meet you.
Listen, Too Sweet.
You gotta put them together, turn them underneath.
Okay, like this. You do it like this, look...
Put them together in bunches.
You still look good. Well...
Still punch good, too.
Let me try. Put them together now.
More, more of 'em. More of 'em.
That's better. Yeah.
That's all right. Like that?
Yeah, like that. Just like that.
All right. Thanks, champ.
All right, you heard the champ! Heard the champ!
Put it in there! What'd the champ say?
Elbows in. Put your elbows in.
Keep your arms up. Feel it! Yeah!
That's it! Yeah!
Hey, Do Dirty, is this the floor?
How I supposed to know, Simp-a?
Damn.
(TELEPHONE RINGING)
WOMAN: (OVER PA) Calling Dr. Bentway.
Dr. Bentway. Calling Dr. Bentway.
Dr. Nivar. Dr. Nivar, report to surgery.
Yeah, this is it, all right.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Sit your ass down, shut your mouth up or I'll cut your head off.
Yes, sir.
Simp-a, hurry up and get Half Dead.
Oh, okay.
What you looking at?
Lay your sick ass down
before I give you something to be sick about!
Boy, Dead sure do look stupid when he's sleeping.
Hey.
Hey, Simp? Yeah, it's me.
Simp? Yeah.
Hey, man, where are the cuffs for these things?
I'll get them for you, Dead. All right, yeah.
Come on.
Keys, sucker.
Right over there. Yeah.
Anything you want. Shut up!
(PANTING)
DO DIRTY: Damn, what's that smell?
I didn't do nothing. Hey, Do Dirty,
you cut the cheese again?
Hell, no.
(STUTTERING) I think I done my bowels.
You know, I done doo-dooed.
(STUTTERING) My bowels.
You nasty. My bowels.
SIMP-A: (LAUGHING) Yeah, baby!
Hurry up, Simp-a! It stinks out here.
Come on!
Dude there doo-dooed on hisself.
Hey, man, I'm gonna doo-doo on you if you don't hurry up!
Okay, Dead. Simp.
Come on, Dead... Oh, Simp.
All right.
I'll get that thing outta the way.
Get my clothes, man. My clothes.
Your clothes? Okay, Dead. Yeah.
Yeah. All right.
Here you go, Dead. See?
Okay. Okay. Okay. All right.
Come on, Simp-a!
(LAUGHING) Yeah. All right.
Come on, Dead. Yeah.
Yeah, I got unfinished business, man.
Yeah, there's a stairway down the hall.
Why don't we get outta here?
(FUNK MUSIC PLAYING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
Seldom, you've got to relax, man.
You've got to get in the groove, cousin.
I got to find you one of these pretty ladies
before you get your nuts blow up and kill some damn body.
How many years has it been?
Look, if you want that training,
then I'm gonna hang to make sure you don't overdo it.
Hey, I'm just here to make sure you have a good time.
You know what I mean?
But, have no fear,
old Too will come through.
I sure hope so.
Uh, excuse me.
I saw you two ladies sitting here, and I was, uh...
Well, I was hoping that one of you
might spend some time dancing with my friend.
He's right over there.
Ooh. Damn.
Well, see, he's been away for a long time.
What about you?
Oh, I'm just here.
Okay, I'll spend some time and dance with your friend,
if you spend some time and dance with mine.
I'm not much of a dancer.
But I tell you what,
I would like to sit between the two of you and talk a bit.
Okay. Come on.
EMCEE: Winning Time.
Singing the tune that is burning up the charts.
Hi. And they hip too!
K-L-I-Q-U-E, Klique!
Bring it on!
♪ It's winning time
♪ There's no time
♪ For losin'
♪ It's winning time
♪ There's no time
♪ For less than the best
♪ You got a chance
♪ Why don't you take it now?
♪ Just take a stand
♪ With both feet on the ground
♪ The future is yours
♪ There's nothing in the way
♪ Open the door
♪ Open the door Come on... ♪
(CROWD CHEERING)
Hey. Oh.
Hey.
Hey, baby. How you feeling?
Hey, it's Half Dead, Sugar.
I ain't letting no light-weight mess get me down.
Right on, baby.
Look at you. Fine! Looking good.
I got some baloney and cheese in the refrigerator,
and I got some Golden Berry chicken.
Hey, you got some Golden Berry?
Some potato salad, too. Yeah.
You know that special, all the potato salad you can eat with a jumbo box?
You get the jumbo?
Nothing but the best for Dead.
That's my baby.
Yeah.
Hey, this potato salad ain't bad.
Mmm-hmm.
My old mama, she used to make some...
...some hellified potato salad.
(CHUCKLING)
Shit, you know I ain't had no potato salad like this
since I left home.
My mama...
Why don't you go on home to see your mama?
Why don't you just get things straight with your daddy
and go see your mama. I go see mine.
Yeah, 'cause they just right around the corner.
I'm talking about 1,000 miles away.
Can't just be up and going.
No, I...
I can't go back now.
Not till I get things right.
Money makes things right.
You want a beer?
Yeah, give me a beer.
What the hell is this?
Now, you offer me a beer, and you're drinking it all up.
Damn.
You know, Simp and Do Dirty
is ready to start making some money
as soon as you give the go-ahead.
Simp, huh? Mmm-hmm.
Yeah, well, look here, Simp and Do Dirty best be cool.
I got unfinished business.
Honey, can I say something?
No! No, you can't say nothing.
Honey, you know, it's like...
Sugar! Girl, don't start nothing, and it won't be nothing.
Well, I mean, what is it with you and this Too Sweet, anyway?
Hurting him don't mean no money.
And you know you gots to have some loot in your suit,
'cause your honey needs money.
Yeah. I told you, you can't say nothing!
I will tear your head off
and hang it up on one of them nails with them wigs of yours.
Yeah. Damn!
Talking 'bout that.
Damn! Talking all the time.
You ugly bastard...
What you gonna do with that, huh?
I'll kill you! You gonna cut Dead?
I'll cut your... Damn right.
You gonna... You gonna cut Dead?
I'll cut your throat. Yeah, all right.
Yeah.
"My honey needs money," huh?
Yeah! I wonder how much money we can get
for this potato salad, huh?
There. There, now look at you. (YELLS)
There, look at you. Mm-hmm.
(CHUCKLING)
Let me eat some, too.
Watch them elbows. Keep them elbows tucked.
SAM: Break.
All right, come over here.
We've got good news and bad news.
Well, I hope the good news is a good fight.
CHARLES: The good news is a good fight,
and the bad news is... it's tonight.
You fight the number one contender, Jesse Amos,
on his territory, the penitentiary.
Ralph Torrell's old lady threw a bucket of grits in his face
and he had to cancel.
Yeah, and the fight promoters,
they don't wanna blow the TV deal.
And if we win decisively on national TV, we're on our way.
Is he ready, Seldom?
Ready? (SIGHS)
He been up all night partying
and messing around with the ladies.
Hey, now, wait a minute, Seldom.
If this is my big shot, then I ain't about to blow it.
Besides, there's nobody I'd rather beat than big Jesse.
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
Ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
This is Gill McBride coming to you from ringside
at the gymnasium of the State's penitentiary.
Recently released from this very institution
for a homicide he still insists he didn't commit,
the young contender they call "Too Sweet,"
a sobriquet hopefully not earned
by extracurricular prison activities.
Returning to the place of his incarceration,
Too Sweet, tonight, faces Jesse "The Bull" Amos.
He's just that, a straight-ahead bull,
taking ten punches to return one smasher.
With me tonight, from Newton, Massachusetts,
the Light Heavyweight Champion of the World, Beauregard Flynn.
Beau, any observations on the fight tonight?
I gotta tell ya, Gill, I gotta tell ya, I'm happy to be here.
This is a great crowd. They know boxing. They really love it.
To me the fight, it looks like a classic match up
between a power puncher and a boxer. Simple as that.
Too fast, too quick, Too Sweet.
(MIDDLE-EASTERN FOLK MUSIC PLAYING)
Don't hold nothin'.
(INDISTINCT)
MAN 1: (ON TV) I got $200 on this fight, baby.
Yeah, Jesse's gonna knock him out!
Man, oh, man.
Too Sweet's a cramp and Jesse's the champ, man.
MAN 2: Come on, let's go. Let's go.
MAN 1: See y'all.
So that's the sucker, Too Sweet, huh?
Uh-uh-uh.
I can see why they call him Too Sweet.
Making love to him, you could wind up with diabetes.
(FIGHT BELL RINGS)
MAN: Come on, Jesse!
(CROWD CHEERING)
GILL: I can see now why they call this young fighter Too Sweet.
He's slipping, punching, jabbing,
doing complicated foot moves, prancing.
I mean, his movements are sweet.
Too sweet, as it were.
Looks to me, Gill, Too Sweet's got all the right stuff.
Excellent lateral movement,
good foot work, fast hands.
But he's untested, Gill. He's an unknown quantity.
Can he deliver the goods?
Does he have the heart? That's what I wanna know.
That is the question.
Enough of that violence.
I'm a lover, not a fighter.
Seven come eleven. (EXCLAIMS) That's it!
INMATE: All right, all right.
Aw, I got this money now.
Hey, I'm going to get me some pootang.
I'm going to get that woman over there,
and I'm gonna do it, man!
I'm gonna please my own, man!
(PLAYING UPBEAT TUNE)
MAN: Sweet! Get him, Sweet!
(CROWD CHEERING)
(BELL RINGS)
Round. Get off him!
Hi. Say, "Hi, Too Sweet."
Hi, Too Sweet. (LAUGHS)
An almost perfect matchup.
The grace, the pretty, the Too Sweet,
against the buffalo, the gorilla, the Bull.
And the Bull is again advancing with ferocious abandon,
and again Too Sweet is moving, gliding,
and sliding, moving. Looking good, looking sweet.
Jesse "The Bull" comes with a few hard, fast punches,
and the Sweet one is now on the attack!
And Jesse is down, ladies and gentlemen!
Too Sweet connected with a vicious right hook
and sent Jesse "The Bull" Amos to the canvas.
(ALL CHEERING)
Hey. With your bad self.
(EXCLAIMING)
I was wondering if I could spend a little money on you.
Oh, how much you got?
I got 80 bucks.
Oh, that ain't enough.
Hey, mama, you just tell me what you need,
and I'll get it for you.
I'll tell you what.
Get me a yard and a half,
and I'll put my zebra on you.
Oh-ho!
Take your time. Don't get careless! Don't get careless!
Come on, now. Use your left. Come on, baby. Come on. Come on.
Step back, step back, let T.C. in here.
Gonna win myself money for my honey.
Give me the dice. Let me roll. Let me roll.
Y'all look at this.
(EXCLAIMING)
Okay. Not that time.
Oh, that's the one. That's the one. That's the one.
(BELL RINGS) Give me the money, man.
(ALL CHEERING)
(INAUDIBLE)
(BELL RINGING)
He can't hurt me.
And the Bull has finally sunk a horn in the form of a right hand
into the Sweet matador.
Let it be. REFEREE: ...two, three...
Before he hits you anymore, give it up, please!
Ain't nobody's gonna kill Sweet.
(REFEREE COUNTING DOWN)
GILL: And Too Sweet is down again, ladies and gentlemen.
He is down for the second time.
I told you he wasn't ready. I told you he wasn't ready.
Jesse "The Bull" Amos with a punishing right to the head
sends Too Sweet, the sweet one himself,
(BELL RINGING) reeling to the canvas again.
As the bell sounds, fortunately...
Listen to me, Too Sweet. Listen to me!
The Bull smells blood. Stay out of his way. Stay away from him.
Don't stand up toe-to-toe with him.
He hits too hard, he'll kill you.
You know what I want you to do for the next round is dance,
stick and dance, and we got it made.
You can beat this sucker.
He's all right. 'Cause you're too fast, too quick.
You's Too Sweet.
(BELL RINGING)
Oh!
Lord, have mercy, this is the day!
I'm going to get it now. Don't... Don't hold me.
I'm going to get the pootang,
'cause I've been in here 13 years.
Give me the money, man.
Can he take a shot? Can he come back?
This is where training tells the story, Gill.
And Too Sweet is now reeling,
holding, grabbing, shaking his pretty head.
(ENCOURAGING)
(BOTH CRYING)
Look at his eyes. Look at his eyes.
He doesn't know where he is.
They oughtta stop it. They oughtta stop it now.
GILL: The referee is talking to an oblivious Too Sweet.
I told you he wasn't ready.
He's out on his feet, Gill. He's out on his feet.
Oh, no, Martell!
Ladies and gentlemen, Too Sweet is down again.
(YELLING)
You!
(SOBBING) Stop, please!
Please, stop! Don't let him hit you again!
He won't stay down. He's struggling to get back up.
What promise, what courage, what values!
(SOBBING) Let me take you home.
(BELL RINGING)
(MUFFLED) This ain't over yet.
We have more time.
(CONTINUES MUMBLING)
Whoo, Dead, if this pretty boy comes out for the next round,
you better quit messing around with him.
'Cause he has got to have God himself with him.
God?
Now what the hell's God got to do with a fight?
Shoot.
Fighting is strictly Devil's territory.
And like my mama always told me,
"Half Dead, you ain't got nothing but pure devil in you."
(BOTH LAUGHING)
Yeah.
You know, your mama wasn't messing around the pound.
GILL: It seems that the doctor wants to stop it,
but Too Sweet wants to keep going.
Too Sweet has won the heart of this audience,
indeed, I'm sure, the heart of America.
(BELL RINGS)
There is an eerie hush here in this arena.
An intense, saddened hush of profound respect.
Respect for the determination,
the courage shown by this fine, young champ, this...
Well, this almost pretty, young convicted felon
with the appropriate, but highly unlikely name of Too Sweet.
(CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Do you hear that? "Too Sweet, Too Sweet," is the chant.
BEAU: The guy's a fighter. He's a fighter.
To me, win or lose, he's got the potential to be a champion.
Only time will tell, Beau. Only time will tell.
Get up!
(CHEERING)
(CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
GILL: Not since the Olympic trials of Olga Korbut
has a young athlete been able to capture the hearts of an audience in defeat.
Defeat, can we call it that, Beau?
Indeed, to look at that fair-looking young gentleman, you...
Well, you somehow can't help but wonder
if even such a word as "defeat" shall ever touch...
Damn!
Jive sucker.
No good high-yella chump!
He gets the victory out of getting his ass kicked.
Just like a homosexual in juvie.
(CHANTING ON TV) Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Dead, I always knew you was crazy.
But if you keep messing with this dude, you is insane.
Dead, sucker.
Dead.
(CLICKING TONGUE)
Ah, to heck with Too Sweet.
(SWITCHES OFF TV)
(CHUCKLES)
I want you to be sweet to me.
Look at you.
Shit...
Shit, come here.
Warden Arnsworth, on behalf of K-A-K-A TV, the sports network,
we'd like to thank you for the use of your facilities this evening.
My pleasure, Gill.
And now from ringside,
an interview with the victor and with the vanquished.
First the winner of tonight's contest, Jesse "The Bull" Amos.
Beau.
Congratulations, Jesse.
Yeah, man. Yeah.
It was a rugged fight.
I almost felt like I was in there myself.
You went down in the first round, but you came back.
You're the winner. To me it's...
GIRL: Love you, Jesse.
To me, it clearly looked liked it was something personal
going on in the ring tonight.
You hurt him real bad.
Do you have anything to say about that?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I know him from before, you know. I mean, and...
Hey, man, this is the penitentiary.
And in here, I'm the champ, you know what I'm saying?
I'm the man in here, and pretty soon I'll be king out there,
and I'm gonna be the champ.
I am gonna be number one, you know what I'm saying?
Me, Jesse Amos.
Thanks... Thanks, Jesse.
I'm the one now, not none of these fools.
Thanks, Jesse "The Bull" Amos, tonight's winner.
Why you need him? You know what you need?
(MUTTERING ANGRILY)
I'm gonna bust your body. Wait, Jr.
Move!
ALL: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Ladies and gentlemen, here he is, the Sweet One.
I hope you can hear us over the still deafening roar of this audience.
Too Sweet, albeit you are the vanquished one tonight,
I still believe congratulations are in order
for the courage you displayed even in defeat.
And I can tell you this,
you've captured the hearts of this live audience,
not to mention that massive audience out there in TV country.
Your thoughts as we speak.
I have no excuse for losing.
We will be back.
That's right. He will get back,
'Cause he's too fast, he's too quick, he's Too Sweet.
(ALL MUMBLING)
You'll hear from us again.
Thanks very much.
Thanks, Martell "Too Sweet" Gordone
and Jesse "The Bull" Amos.
I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more
from both of these young fighters in the future.
And so, with a special thanks to Mr. Beauregard Flynn...
Thank you, Gill.
Always a pleasure, Beau.
This is Gill McBride at ringside,
coming to you from a place where people are doing time,
saying thanks for making our time your time for this time.
Till next time, good evening.
ALL: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Run along, ladies. The show's over.
(ALL CHANTING LOUDER)
Will you cut the goddamn thing off?
Look, I'm busy.
Look, I don't care if you represent the President of the United States,
I can't... Just a minute.
Is it all right if I...
Look, look, just call my attorney.
Charles Johnson, Century City.
Geez, I can't get these guys off my back.
Look at this. Do you see that? See this?
That is proof.
That is proof of our ticket to the big time.
We are gonna clean up.
We are gonna make big cash.
You know, and all this mail came in two days.
I had to keep some at the post office. I got no room to keep it.
And the TV networks, man, they are flooded with letters from...
Teenyboppers, mothers, fathers, little kids.
You have captured the imagination of America.
We are only interested in capturing the pocketbooks of America.
That's exactly what we're gonna do.
We're gonna carefully orchestrate Too's rise to the crown.
Gonna negotiate with closed-circuit TV.
Sign only with the highest bidder.
Carefully select the products that he endorses.
In short,
we are going to make Too Sweet too rich.
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
I know I'm not training hard enough
if I let my own sister run with me through an obstacle course.
Oh, quit complaining and just keep up.
Killing me softly.
Yeah, please, please, dance for me.
Lord have... Help, you all.
Hello there.
ELLEN: Ah, here we go. Here we go.
You all got me running. Whoo.
CHARLES: All right. Oh, that looks good.
Hey, you all, let's eat!
Hey, Two Sweet!
You gotta us running our ass off for some light beer?
Beer?
ALL: Light beer?
Ah, the Blue Nun.
That is my contribution.
Oh, we have a... Wait a minute, we have a toast.
All right, everybody, I wanna make a toast.
Goodness, all you all, we gotta sit down, there, ladies.
Sit down and look business, here, all right.
Yeah. Here, Evelyn, would you pour this for him?
Yeah.
Don't you wanna drink a toast to Uncle Too Sweet?
All right, everyone...
Yeah. ...a toast.
As of three months from now...
The next welterweight champion of the world...
Martell "Too Sweet" Gordone.
ALL: All right! All right!
MR. T: Just a minute. Just a minute.
I'll drink to that.
Our drink that counts as two.
(ALL LAUGHING)
You mean, we get to fight Big Jesse for the championship?
We got a few more things to work out,
but we already got a letter of intent.
I'd love to fight him again.
But I got one stipulation. I can name a term?
CHARLES: Sure, you're the media draw.
Yeah, we'll fight him again,
but on his own turf.
We go back to the penitentiary.
You get that and then we go ahead.
Go ahead. Go ahead.
ALL: Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead...
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
Hey, man, what's all the celebration about?
Well, Dead, they done set your boy up to fight for the championship.
He'll never make it.
Hey, Dead, man, why don't we leave this dude alone, man?
I mean, he don't seem like he that bad to me.
Shut up, Simp-a. You ain't in this shit anyhow!
We can't make no money off this dude, Dead.
Hey, just leave it all to me.
Yeah, you just leave it all to Dead.
Just drive the car, Simp-a.
Yeah, okay.
(CHUCKLING)
You ready, Dead?
(ENGINE STARTING)
NIKKI: Hey, that sure was good of you
to get us a chance to sing the National Anthem at the championship fight.
TOO SWEET: That's okay. You just sing pretty.
You gonna win the championship, Too Sweet.
I know you are.
When I lost Clarisse,
I promised myself that I'd win the championship.
And that way, people,
especially young people, would respect me.
They already respect you, Too.
You got respect.
(EVELYN EXCLAIMING)
Somebody get me away from that old, toothless fool!
Hey, hey, hey, hey, what's going on?
Toothless, my ass.
I got all my teeth.
Seldom.
Girl, I cannot believe it.
This old fella actually asked me to marry him.
Marry him! Seldom. Hey. Hey.
I'll bury him, that's what I'll do. Leave me alone.
Seldom.
EVELYN: Hey, I'm sorry, Martell.
I mean, a favor for you and Nikki, that's one thing.
TOO SWEET: Shut up, Evelyn.
What the hell is going on down there?
Oh, man, shut up and go on back to bed.
Who are these people anyway?
Who are these people?
(SCOFFS)
Why, this is the entourage of the next welterweight champion of the world!
Yes, and I will be the next to call the police,
if you don't get your old, molded, ancient, decrepit behind away from here.
You understand?
Hey, you just better cool it.
'Cause you're messing with Too Sweet's people.
Too Sweet?
That's the man that killed Monday
and whooped Tuesday and put Wednesday in the hospital.
Too Sweet, I got all my poker money betted on you!
I'll bet you a hard, fast and tender shoe up your...
Woman, is you crazy? What the hell is wrong with you?
ALL: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Hey, I think we better go
before we get somebody else in trouble.
Take care, my man! See you all later. Wish me luck now.
Seldom, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Seldom.
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
(CONTINUE CHANTING)
(POP MUSIC PLAYING SOFTLY)
I'm the domino champ around here.
Ten.
Ten.
Give me 10, too.
Ten? That ain't 10, Simp-a!
That is 10. That ain't 10.
It is 10. That ain't 10, Simp-a.
Oh, wait, I put the wrong...
You took your hand off.
Well, that was slipsies.
You took your hand off, Simp-a!
Well, but, I could... Put that back out there!
You took your hand off!
I didn't take my hand off.
Well, you, you better put that thing back out there.
Well, I call slipsies.
Slip... Put that out there, Simp-a!
SIMP: Go ahead on, then.
You just don't wanna play right, that's all.
I call slipsies.
DO DIRTY: Slipsies!
DO DIRTY: Okay. God.
Hey?
Y'all been worried
about me offing this dude Too Sweet
ain't gonna make us no money.
Well, I'm gonna show you how we can make some cash
off his little ass.
(SNAPS FINGERS)
In this bag
is $10,000.
We're in business.
Compliments of Mr. Julius Mark Stevens,
and we gonna put it all on our boy, Jesse.
Right on, Half Dead.
SIMP: All right, Dead. All right, Dead.
That's gonna work. It's gonna look good.
Now, listen up, 'cause this ain't no game.
(LIVE UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
(ALL CHEERING)
GILL: Ladies and gentlemen, good evening.
This is Gill McBride coming to you from ringside,
and this is it.
This is the moment of truth.
Live from the State penitentiary,
Martell "Too Sweet" Gordone versus Jesse "The Bull" Amos
for the championship of the world.
With me tonight at ringside,
the recently dethroned, and now ex-light heavyweight champion,
Beauregard Flynn.
Any comments, Beau,
on getting savagely knocked out in the first round last week?
TOO SWEET: I can't predict the round, but I do predict to win.
If not, we wouldn't even be here.
Champ, champ, people care about you from all over the world.
You got telegrams coming from everywhere, champ.
Even the Governor of Texas.
Governor Bill Clements wants you come to Texas after the fight,
and hopes you win the fight. He remembers the champ.
He's a good man. Tell him I said thanks.
Mr. Gordone, is it really true that you were responsible
for bringing the championship match
to the State penitentiary?
All right, that's all for one day. Let's go.
(ALL CLAMORING)
What is it with you and these reporters?
They can't leave you alone!
That's it. Let's go.
He needs time to himself. Gotta get his head together.
Let's go.
Yeah. Let's go.
(MUSIC CONTINUES PLAYING)
(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
(SILENCE)
(EXCLAIMING)
Yeah. Well, Mr. Too Sweet.
I could kill you, sucker.
Yeah, I could cut your filthy head off.
You know why not? Huh?
I'd like to kill you with my bare hands.
I mean, I could squeeze the life out of you, like a country chicken.
Now you're gonna lose. That's right, oh, yeah.
And then, you're gonna lose your life.
Because I got one ace in the hole,
and I got somebody at your sister's house right now.
That's right. Come on. Come on. Yeah.
If you win, they'll all be off-ed.
Yeah, if you win, win, sucker,
your little bitty... Your little bitty nephew will be the first to go.
Come on, that's right.
(GRUNTING)
Yeah.
It's Half Dead, sucker.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
(ALL CHEERING)
(INAUDIBLE)
(CHEERING LOUDLY)
Oh, man, I told you he was all right. Too Sweet.
Your prayers never took that long before.
What's the matter with you, man?
Don't you know tonight's your big night?
Look, man, we gonna rumble tonight,
and you're gonna be champ tonight.
Can't a man take any time to himself around here?
You'll have plenty of time to yourself
after you dispose of the Bull.
I'm winning this fight today. All right.
What's wrong with you?
Nothing, just a little gas.
Gas, my ass, man. I said what's wrong with you?
I said nothing!
MAN: It's time.
Let's go. All right.
MAN: It's time to rumble. Mr. T: All right.
It's time to rumble. All right!
Big Jesse, you're in trouble! It's time to rumble! It's time to rumble!
This is certainly gonna be a classic rematch.
It seems like yesterday to me
that Too Sweet had his first TV start.
That was a big night for him.
Indeed, it was.
And I can remember the running joke
among the TV crew and technicians was his name, Too Sweet.
We all knew he had then only been recently released from the penitentiary
and wondered whether...
Well, whether he had been taken advantage of while doing time.
But the joke, of course, wound up being on us.
For this young man put on a show that night,
which captured the hearts and imaginations of millions of Americans,
young and old, rich and poor,
black and white, male and female.
Simp-a, get me some more of that red wine.
Okay.
Hey, no, man, why don't you try some of this little concoction
I'm getting ready to put together?
Little bit of this stuff in it here, see?
And I take some of this here "tunic" water...
Simp-a, what you doing?
What did I say? I want the red wine.
You can get your own wine. I got what I want.
Too Sweet is here! And it's time to rumble! Sweet is here!
Sweet is here!
(ALL CHEERING LOUDLY)
(MIDDLE-EASTERN FOLK MUSIC PLAYING)
ALL: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
(CHANTING CONTINUES)
I know he must feel a sense of accomplishment,
but you wouldn't know it to look at him.
He seems to be deep in concentration,
an almost pained concentration.
He looks different to me tonight, Gill.
(IN SING-SONG) Too Sweet, Too Sweet, you're so neat!
Knock Big Jesse off his feet!
(CHEERING)
Too Sweet, Too Sweet, welcome home.
You're just in time to hear our song.
Hit it, girls.
♪ Ooh!
♪ I'm coming out
♪ I want the world to know that I love you so ♪
Ain't that right, girls?
ALL: Yeah!
Your Too Sweet got a lot of class.
I'll let you good folks in on a little secret.
I like his style.
I'm so pleased to hear you say that, Mr. Dirty.
"Do" Dirty, lady! Do Dirty!
How many times I gotta tell you that?
Fix me something to eat.
Here comes Jesse!
(CHEERING)
(CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
(CHANTING) Jesse! Jesse! Jesse!
Hey, that's old Dead.
Hey, Dead!
Hey, Do Dirty, look, it's Dead and Sugar!
Hey, Dead. Hey, Sugar. Here we is!
I'll be damned.
ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our home,
the State penitentiary!
(CHEERING)
We're here tonight for a championship fight
between the challenger, Martell "Too Sweet" Gordone.
(SCATTERED BOOING)
Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
SUPPORTERS: Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
And in this corner, the champion, our own Jesse "The Bull" Amos!
(SUPPORTERS CHEERING)
PRISONER: Well, all right, Jesse.
Hit him once for me, Jesse!
Ladies and gentlemen,
would you please stand for the singing of the National Anthem?
Tonight, it shall be sung by two very lovely women,
Miss Nikki Thomas and Miss Evelyn Woods.
(ALL APPLAUDING)
♪ Lift every voice and sing
♪ Till Earth and Heaven ring
♪ Ring with the harmony of liberty
♪ Let our rejoicing rise
♪ High as the listening skies
♪ Let us march on
♪ Until victory
♪ Is won
(ALL CHEERING)
Brother doesn't look like himself, does he, Chuckie?
(SNICKERS)
"Chuckie"?
Is that what she call you, "Chuckie"?
You hear that, Simp-a? "Chuckie!"
(DO DIRTY LAUGHING)
Chuckie, Chuckie, Chuckie, Chuckie.
(DO DIRTY LAUGHING LOUDLY)
Yeah. Kind of dumb, ain't it, "Do Dirty"?
(SNICKERS) "Do Dirty."
He got you that time, Do Dirty.
Smart butt, huh?
High-class lawyer.
Well, we'll see how smart your butt is
when your Too Sweetie bites the dust.
Oh, yeah, we'll see.
That's right, lady, we will see.
He wins that one,
I win this one.
Now, fix me something to eat.
(BELL RINGS)
Come on in.
MAN: Come on. We gotta get him this time, Too Sweet!
Okay, I want a good, clean fight here.
No hitting below the belt.
When I say, "Break," I mean break immediately.
I don't wanna have to wrestle with you fellas.
Shake hands and let's have a good fight.
(ALL BOOING)
Go back in your corner!
Fight, fight!
WOMAN 1: Let's give it to him! Give it to him!
MAN 1: Come on, now! Watch out. Come on, man.
All right, it's your fight, your fight! Take him. Take him!
(CHEERING)
WOMAN 1: I need you right now, Sweetie! Come on through!
MAN 2: Knock that grin off, Too Sweet!
MR. T: Don't let him get you in that corner.
Don't let him get you in that corner.
You'll never get out of the corner.
MAN 1: ...around like that!
MAN 3: What do you mean? Come on, man, I'm sick of jumping around.
One, two. One, two.
Come on, man, fight! What's wrong with you? Use the left.
Come on, Too! Come on, baby!
WOMAN 2: Watch your face, Sweetie! Look out!
SELDOM SEEN: What's wrong with you, Too Sweet? Come on, come on!
MAN 1: Come on, Sweet, stay out of his way.
Come on, man, out of the corner! Get out of the corner!
Jab, jab, jab!
Come on, Sweet. Hit him.
WOMAN 2: Watch it! Watch it!
MAN 4: Get your hand out of my face, lady.
Use your left! Use your left, Too! Your left!
Dance! Dance around him! Dance around him!
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
(CROWD CHEERING)
WOMAN 1: I got all my money riding on you, Sweet!
Jesse! Jesse! You do the best you can!
Before I let you whoop up on Too Sweet, I'll turn man!
(ALL CHEERING)
SELDOM SEEN: Keep moving, keep moving. Stay away from the ropes!
Stay away from the ropes.
WOMAN 1: Hey, break his face! Break it now!
(CROWD BOOING)
Use the left! What happened to his side!
What in hell?
Son of a bitch! What happened?
Come on, move!
SELDOM SEEN: Off the ropes! Get off the ropes!
Combination! Combination!
BEAU: The Bull is clearly dictating this fight.
Too Sweet cannot fight the Bull's fight.
(PEOPLE LAUGHING)
BEAU: I've never seen anything like that
in my whole career, Gill, never.
GILL: Ladies and gentlemen, the referee went down!
(EXCLAIMING)
The first one got away, but the next one gotta pay.
First one got away, but the next one got to pay.
(BELL RINGING)
WOMAN 1: Sweet, use that right swing on him!
(ALL CHEERING)
(BELL RINGS)
GILL: Fights are won with points scored,
and one cannot score points if one doesn't throw punches.
The mood of the crowd here is one of loyal encouragement,
but crowds have been known to change quickly.
It does not look good to me for Too Sweet.
He's not using the jab
and the jab is the most important thing a stand-up fighter can use.
MAN 3: Aw, come on!
Come on! Fight! Fight!
God damn it, get up! Get up. Get up!
Get up, Too Sweet! Get up! Get up, Too Sweet!
GILL: Ladies and gentlemen, I would never have believed it,
had I not seen it with my own eyes.
"Too Sweet" Gordone had no more than stepped from his corner
when the Bull unleashed a devastating right to his head.
Is it deja vu, Beau?
But can he last, Gill? Can he last?
Can he indeed, Beau?
It certainly seems to be a different style of fighting
than I've seen him do from before.
Maybe he's trying to sap him in.
Beau, I understand he trained very hard for this fight,
pushing his well-defined body to the limits again and again.
Kill him, Dead! Hit him, hit him, hit him!
Oh, why didn't he stay down?
Hear me, Too! Get up! Please, get up!
(ALL CHEERING)
(BELL RINGING)
WOMAN 2: Come on, Too Sweet.
MAN: Aw, you gotta get him this round.
INMATE: Ah, leave alone.
There it is. Give me my money.
Gonna get some pootang. Gonna get some...
I've been in here 13 years, I gotta go.
Excuse me. Y'all excuse me.
Talented, pretty, as much a product of destiny as anyone I can think of.
Yes, "Too Sweet" Gordone now faces the ultimate test of his unique career.
You gotta stop playing with the man.
Hit the sucker. Hit him hard. Make him hurt like he made you hurt.
Stick and move. You're not using your left. What's wrong with your left?
You stay out the corner, fight him up like that.
(BELL RINGS)
WOMAN 1: Sweet, get him to bleed.
(INDISTINCT CHATTERING)
Hey. Hey, you. Hey, what's happening, mama?
Damn, you look good. Mmm-mmm!
I've been in this place for a long time, you know?
And I was wondering if I could spend a little money on you.
How much you got?
Mmm, 75 bucks.
Seventy-five bucks? Baby, you must be kidding.
You got to do better than that.
Hey, mama, you just tell T.C. what you need, and T.C.'ll get it for you.
Well, I need 200 bucks.
Hey, mama, you ain't said shit.
What you need, T.C.'ll get for you.
Don't you move. Don't you twitch. I'll be right back.
(BELL RINGING)
Too Sweet is no longer even dancing.
He has the look of a beaten man.
(BELL RINGING)
MR. T: Remember what I said. If you won't fight, I'm gonna stop it.
GILL: Hard left hook from the Bull and Too Sweet goes down again.
I've never seen anything like it.
At this point, they should take him out. He's taking too many shots.
He could be seriously hurt.
GILL: Too Sweet seems to be struggling to get to his feet again.
And he's getting up again, ladies and gentlemen.
The Sweet One is up!
DO DIRTY: He's going down! He's going down!
You're the man. You're the man.
There he is! Hit him again! Hit him again!
SIMP: Come on, Jesse. DO DIRTY: Hit him again.
Hit him, Jesse.
Come on, asshole. Come on, come on.
(BOTH GROANING)
Oh, all right. Come on.
Easy. I'm Do Dirty, lady. I'm Do Dirty.
Come on, Do Dirty.
SIMP: Mama, mama, mama, mama, help me, mama.
(SIMP GROANING)
Ah, shut up, sucker.
SIMP: I'm blind.
EVELYN: Come on, Too Sweet!
SELDOM SEEN: That's it. Over there.
WOMAN 2: That's right. Stay with him. Work it.
WOMAN 3: Move that ass, Too Sweet!
I need you right now, Sweetie!
MAN: Knock that clown out, Too Sweet!
I'm gonna put you in that corner.
I'm gonna put you in the corner.
Oh! Doggone it. I told you she wanted more money,
and that's why I'm here to give it to her.
They call me T.C., the moneymaker.
Let me go. The woman over there is waiting on me.
I got the cash to finally please my balls. Jesus.
MAN: Go! Jab, jab, jab!
Hit him!
GILL: There's a vicious right from the Bull,
and Too Sweet goes down for what may be the final time.
And the proverbial line between courage and stupidity
has been erased with a single blow.
(CROWD CHEERING INAUDIBLE)
Brother.
(PANTING)
Brother, can you hear me?
Brother?
Brother, we're here.
Brother, I love you.
(MUFFLED) I love you, too.
(CROWD CHEERING DISTINCTLY AUDIBLE)
CROWD: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Man, I ain't got no fight...
Right. Check!
(YELLING)
Ladies and gentlemen, I couldn't begin to tell you what happened,
but it looked like a young lady ran to ringside,
said something to Too Sweet,
and this has inspired him in some way.
He seemed to have gained strength from somewhere.
Finish him!
Finish him!
(ALL CHEERING)
For the first time tonight, ladies and gentlemen, he is on the offensive.
He is going after Jesse "The Bull."
He wants him, ladies and gentlemen.
And Jesse goes down on one knee!
And Too Sweet's giving his hard right to the Bull.
Hey, mama. I got your money.
As a matter of fact, I got 250 bucks.
Now, I know that calls for extra action, don't you agree?
WOMAN: Hey, baby. You meet me at the ring, okay?
Oh, shit!
WOMAN: (CHEERING) Sweetie is our man!
GILL: Bull misses the right.
And Too Sweet connects with a vicious right that sends Jesse "The Bull" Amos
through the ropes and out of the ring!
BEAU: That one hurt. He definitely felt that one, Gill.
You okay? Okay? Okay, come on.
Fight.
GILL: I believe in miracles.
I believe in America. I believe in Too Sweet! I believe in brotherhood!
I believe in apple pie! I believe! I believe!
I believe! I believe!
(LAUGHING) I believe in apple pie!
(SPECTATORS CHEERING)
GILL: I believe! I believe! I believe!
I believe!
I believe!
I believe!
I do believe!
WOMAN: Sweet, baby, you got what it takes!
ALL: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
GILL: I do! I say, I do believe!
WOMAN: (MOANING) I believe! I believe! I believe!
INMATE: Shit!
(PEOPLE CHEERING)
Jesse, you better listen!
And I repeat, we girls over here, we loud!
ALL: (CHANTING) Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
(GROANING)
(PANTING)
Punk, gonna break every bone in your body.
Got you now, punk. I'm gonna kill you slow.
(CHOKING) Okay, okay.
I'm gonna torture you. Gonna punish you.
(BONES CRACKING)
Too Sweet! Too Sweet! Too Sweet!
Too fast, too quick, he's Too Sweet.
(CHEERING CONTINUES)
(FUNK MUSIC PLAYING)