A Cool, Dry Place (1998) - full transcript

(fanfare playing)

(music ends)

MAN: I'd love to get back
to Chicago if that's possible.

Or actually, any big city
would be great.

You know, which is why
I decided to call you.

I really want to get back to it.

I, um, am not exactly thrilled,
Fred, with my position presently.

Looking at your file,
we have plenty of good news.

There is always a shortage of
good trial lawyers. Always. Um...

You were recruited
right out of law school

by Richter, Sanford and Nichols.



I was. They're one of
the top firms, as you know.

Mm-hmm. You left 18 months ago.

Looks like they gave
you quite a load.

They sure did.

FRED: They were certainly
grooming you for something.

Was it too much for you?

No. No, not at all.

You know, I like that kind of excitement,
and, uh, I miss it. Yeah.

Then why on Earth would you leave
such a prestigious law firm, Mr. Durrell?

I mean, why abandon
such a promising career?

Well, "abandon" is a...

(whispering)
Calvin, what are you doing?

You gotta stay here, Cal.
Can you sit here for me?

Just stay here for a second.



(sighs)

I'm coming, Mooney.

(cat meowing) I'm coming.

(meowing)

I'm coming.

Coming, Mooney.

CALVIN: You're squishy.

(cat meowing)

(sighing)

RUSS:
Buenos días, Poncho Pinella.

Are you getting up?

Hey, come here a second,
will you, please? Come here.

What happened to you? Where'd
you go? Why are you all wet?

You're soaked. Look at you.
With mud and everything.

Calvin, look at you
and Mr. Flatso.

You got Mr. Flatso soaked. So?

"So"? I could wring you out.

But I was just getting Mooney.

Mooney? Boy, she's
a long way from home.

Where's old Mooney now?
She's okay.

Where's okay, Cal?

Drying with the clothes.

Not okay. Not okay, Calvin.

Calvin, you're gonna
kill the damn cat.

RUSS: Calvin!

Calvin, where is she?
Where'd you put Mooney?

Where'd you put
the neighbor's cat, Calvin?

(cat meowing)

In the bag,
Calvin? You don't put Mooney in the bag.

(cat yowling) Okay.

You're fun this morning, aren't you,
Cal? Is that what it's gonna be like?

RUSS: Mooney,
I'm sorry. (meowing)

Okay, ready to go under? Uh-huh.

Here we go.

That's good, Cal.

Uh-huh.

Can you make the motorboat?
(imitating engine) (imitating engine)

I don't want to wear
my long pants.

Just step into these, will you,
please? I don't wanna.

Come on. We're gonna be
late this morning.

I don't want to wear
my long pants.

Cal, listen, you gotta wear 'em,
okay? It's gonna be too cold not to.

I don't wanna wear...
Please don't do it to me.

Hey, buddy, let's go. I'm late.

Come on, Cal.

Okay. Come on. Let's go.

And one last time.
From way out, one-handed.
No, not close.

That's all right. Let's go.

I wasn't trying.
You know that, right?
I could have made that.

Here we go.

All right, move with me,
will you, buddy?

We're running late. Come on.

What, you don't want
the jacket? Take it off.
Take it off.

Hey, Charlotte,
how you doing?
Hey, guys...

I'm sorry we're late,
but you got my numbers.
If there's anything...

I have to tell you, honey,
I tried to get a hold of you,
but she's got the bug...

Megan, upstairs. I don't want
him to catch it, so I'm not
gonna be able to take him today.

Oh, Charlotte,
this comes at a very bad time.

I have a meeting I'm supposed
to be at, like, now.

I have to go meet
with these people.
You'd be doing me a big favor.

CHARLOTTE:
You're gonna have no favor

if he comes down
with what she's got.

Meg was picking her nose.

Oh, gross. Really?
I've never seen you do that.

I do it a couple of times.

Take your seat belt off, Cal.
Come on. Let's go.

Let me get my things.

Okay.

Come on, Cal. Let's go.
Can you move?

We gotta move this morning.
Let's go. Come on.

Let's go.

Come here a second.
Listen to me. Come here.

Now, we're gonna be good
in there today, right?

Okay. No messing around?

Okay.

Okay. And I want you to be
Mr. Invisible. Can you be
invisible for me today?

Mr. Invisible.
Okay, Mr. Invisible.

Come on, buddy.
I'm sorry, but we're late.
Can you...

Come on. Okay. Good.

Now, remember,
you're invisible, right?
Hi, Russ.

Morning, Blanche.
How are you?
Hi, Cal.

Okay, come on.

MAN: Find out what
your take is on the case...

Okay. You're invisible.
You're invisible.
Go, go, go. Good.

Could you excuse me
just one second? Russ?

Russ? Excuse me. Just a second.

Russ?

Hey, how are you, Bob?
Good morning to you, man.
What's the deal?

Good to see ya.
What do you mean?

You know what I mean.
Is Calvin here again today?

Just for part of it. Yeah.
Oh, man.

All right, listen.
I got Councilman Thomas
in here.

What do you mean you got
Councilman Thomas in there?

I'm the one... I got
an appointment with him, Bob.

I'm the one
that brought him in here.
Come on.

Come on.

Look, I want you to take
the Joyce Ives case.

Are you serious?
You took that woman's
deposition. She's insane.

You just passed the bar
in this state. There's time
to work your way up, buddy.

Okay, buddy. I was this close
to being a junior partner
back in Chicago.

I happen to specialize
in cases like Thomas's.

This isn't Chicago, right?

This isn't, uh,
Mr. Fancy-Pants law firm.

I mean, for Christ's sakes,
you came to me
looking for a position,

and this is what it is.

Take the goddamn
Joyce Ives case.

Yeah, look at that. Wow.

Yeah, wow. Come on.
Let's go inside, Cal.

Spaghetti Bolognese
is the special today.

RUSS:
No. Actually, uh,
I didn't come here for food.

I wanted to ask you
how long have you known
Larry Ives, Carol?

Do you mean biblically?

No.

Listen, I'm gonna
go get Frankie, okay?

No, actually, Carol...
No, don't get Frankie.

Don't get Frankie.
I came to talk
to you, Carol.

I wanted to talk to you, Carol.

Jesus.

What's that?

It's a postcard.

Well, duh.

It's for you.
Here. Investigate it.

I can't read it.
That's the thing.

I mean, she writes it to you

like I'm not gonna have to
sit down and read through it.

Who's it from? MAN: There he is.

From your mom.
How you doing there,
little fella?

How are ya?
Good to see you, Frankie.

Is this true what I hear
that you took over
the case from Harper?

Mm-hmm. It sure is.
CAL:
What's it say?

I thought I'd done all
my talking with lawyers
and all that. No?

There's some sort
of mix-up here.

I'm here actually to...
CALVIN:
What's it say?

Calvin, sit tight.
What's it say?

I'm here to speak with Carol,
not to speak with you.

FRANKIE: Can you believe...
Calvin, keep the card
out of my face, please.

Can you sit still?
Stop putting the card
in my face, please.

Stop putting the card
in my face, please.

I'm trying to talk to somebody.

Stop putting the card
in my face.

Now you made him mad.
Maybe he wants something to eat.

No, he's fine.
He had something
to eat, Frankie.

Listen, if I could
talk to Carol for just
a couple minutes...

(laughing)

What a fruitcake.
Your client, not Carol.
Oh, my.

She's a fruitcake?
On this particular day,

Larry, he's a-sitting
in his usual spot...
I really should...

by the window. It's all right.

Then along come Carol.
She come walking over as usual.

See, they got this attraction
for each other. Can't keep
their hands off each other.

Carol's the one
I want to talk to.

It's disgusting.
So I'm watching this,
and I'm looking up.

Who do you suppose
I see sittin' over there
in the gas station?

The nutcase wife
of Larry's, your client.

And she's moving
and suddenly...
she just took off.

And she's heading
right straight for the side
of my goddamn restaurant!

I look up, and the whole wall
come right down on the front end
of her Dodge.

She come walking
in the door here all calm...
Mm-hmm.

Hands him the keys and says...

You can drive it home...

when you come
to get your things.

And then she's gone.
That's it. Gone.

And Larry's standing there
like an idiot.

Like a rube.

And now she's suing me?
That's beautiful.

Russ, you're a nice guy,

but I feel so sorry for you.

You're a long way
from the big city here, boy.

I got a lot of customers here.

Yeah, you're very busy.
Congratulations on
the pickup in business.

At least that's
happened for you.

What you doing?

What's this animal?
That one there?

That's a Calvin monkey.
That's a very rare monkey.

That's a Calvin monkey.

You want to read it?

Hmm?

Okay.

"Dear..."
What's that word there?

Calvin? Mm-hmm.

That's good. "Dear Calvin,

I've been missing you
so badly it hurts.

Could I come see you,
and love you, and hold you?

Mom."

What's she look like?

Hey, you ready to go?

What do you say
we get out of here?
Okay.

Okay. That's good.

Oh, my gosh.
This is to Calvin Durrell

from Grandpa Durrell.

It's very exciting,
isn't it? You excited?
Mm-hmm. Yep.

Here, you help me
get this stuff here.

This is your stuff.
We'll pull all this out.

Oh, look,
there's a note here too.

There you go. That's yours.

Wow, look at that thing.
What the heck is that?

See what the note says here.

"Dear Calvin, enclosed
please find one Portuguese
man-of-war

captured after great struggle
off Key Biscayne."

That's this here. See?

Portuguese man-of-war.

"Many adventures to be
had here in Florida.

Tell your old man
to pack your gear
and ship you down

so you can keep
your grandpa
and Joanie company.

Love, Grandpa."

See that? "Love, Grandpa."

I don't want to move.

You like it here, huh?

Mm-hmm.

A box jellyfish is
kind of like a man-of-war,

but only it stings worse.

It stings you, huh? Mm-hmm.

It's pretty cool Grandpa
sent you the man-of-war.
Yep.

He always sends
you nice stuff.
Yep.

I tell you what, Cal,
I think we're wasting
our time here.

I think this thing's
already dead.
Keep punching.

Yeah, I'm punching.
I'm punching it.
Look at me. See?

See how I do it?
What do you feed it,
do you suppose?

(telephone ringing)
Um, it's dead, Calvin.

I don't think you gotta
feed it anything.

I think it's dead.

Hello.
WOMAN (on telephone):
Russell?

Kate. How are you?

I know it's kind of late.
I was nervous about calling.

Yeah, well, uh,
Calvin's already asleep.

I thought maybe
I could catch him.

No, I had to put him
to bed early.

He caught, uh, some sort of
bug from his friend Meg.

He's got friends?

Of course
he's got friends, Kate.

I... I only meant I didn't know.

I mean, they grow a lot
in a year and a half.

Really? Did you, uh,
read that somewhere?

(groaning)
Don't start on me, okay?
I just wanted to talk to him.

RUSS:
Uh-huh, you call
every couple months,

and I guess you
feel fine after that.

I'm his mother.

Wait, wait, wait.
You're his what?

You're his what?

I'm the one who's with
him every day, Kate.

I feed him. I tie his shoes.

I make him lunch.
I put him to bed.

KATE (on telephone):
Okay. All right.

I didn't call to have you
lecture me again. Okay.

Okay.

RUSS:
Okay, here with
a little sauce.

We go here with a little sauce.

That's good.

Right, let's get
this nice and mixed.

Nothing like
a little spaghetti, right?

Looking good.

Now we go with a little
bit of the seasoning.

Yeah, you always
like the seasoning.

There you go.

Who were you talking to?

On the phone?

Your mom.

Where is she?

I don't know, Cal.

Come on.
Eat your spaghetti now
while it's still hot.

That's what I want
to name my man-of-war.

What's that? Mom.

You mean you wanna name your...
Name it after Kate?

You want to call
your man-of-war Kate?

No. Mom.

All right, come on, Peter.
Look alive.

Look alive, Peter. Be with him.

(whistle blowing)

Hey, Peter. Peter,
what are you doing, man?

PETER: I went
for the block out.
RUSS: Never give your man
a shot like that.

When the guy goes up,
what do you do?
Just keep my feet.

Keep your feet.
Keep your feet.
Stay with him.

Good try. Stay with him.

You're late again, Noah.
What's the deal?

I, uh... I had somewhat
of a girl problem.

You know that's five times
in the last two weeks?

Hey, Peter, you're gonna start
Friday night for Noah here.

Whoa! Whoa!
What are you talking about?

You can't put him in for me.

Why not? At least I know
he'll be here at tip-off.

Why not? 'Cause you're
not even the fucking coach!
That's why not!

I'm the coach
until Miller gets back,

and if you use that word
one more time
in front of my son,

I'll give him your uniform too.

Yeah? Mm-hmm.

Jerk. Shit. Asshole.

All right, guys. Let's go.
Let's play some basketball here.
Ball in.

Look alive. Let's go.

Hold it. Calvin, what the hell
are you doing? I told you to
stay off the damn court.

It's okay, Coach.
We saw him.
He's not okay.

Put me down!
Don't scream at me like that.

Put me down!

Put me down!

Put me down!

Calvin, you stay here now,
do you hear me?

Don't come back
on that court again. All right?

Stay here.

Stay there.

How you been, Cal? You okay?

Calvin, you can't draw
on the windshield.
Who said you could...

Asshole. You guys
really piss me off.

You just...
You come in here.
You take over.

Are you nuts? You just scared
the crap outta my kid,

then you tear into me as if
I assaulted you with dog food?

Oh, shit!

RUSS: Yeah, you scared
the hell out of him.

I'm sorry, sweetie.
It's just dog food.
I didn't mean to scare you.

Argus, get off!

God, you're not, uh,
Joyce Ives, are you?

You had no right to take
Noah out of the game on Friday.

Are you his lawyer?
No, I'm his sister.

Well, I don't know what
Noah told you, sister,

but he's late
half the time to practice,
and I called him on it.

So, then he told me
to go "F" myself
in front of my kid here.

Then he had a temper tantrum
and threw his shoes
across the gymnasium.

But I see overreacting to
situations is something that
might just run in the family.

So, what, he has to apologize?

Well until he does,
he's off the team.

Yeah.

Well, he's been going
through a lot lately.

He's got
this new girlfriend,
and I'm not sure,

but I think
it's his first real
sexual adventure.

Listen, I'm sorry
about the dog food.

That's all right.
Maybe we can salvage it
for Argus.

No, no. Maybe I can make it up
to you, to your little boy.
What's his name?

Uh, his name is Calvin.

Hey, Calvin.
I'm sorry I scared you.

CALVIN: That's okay.

You like horses? Uh-huh.

You do?
Would you like
to ride a horse?

You really have a horse?

Yes, yes. I really have a horse.

You know what though?
We should probably
ask your dad first, huh?

Would that be all right?
If we went and...

You know what?
Can we just start over?

Hi, I'm Beth.

Beth, I'm Russ.
Nice to meet you.

Yeah. (chuckling) (chuckling)

You okay, buddy?

(both laughing)

Hi, Dad! Hi.

BETH: Can you get him up here?

(laughing) There you go.

So, is this your place?

No, I wish.

This is just where I stable.

Maybe someday.

Watch your feet, Calvin.

I live in a trailer.

That was my big prize
when I got divorced.

RUSS: How long were you married?

BETH: A little over three years,

but it was pretty much over
before the rice hit the ground.

(horse whinnying)

How about you? Is it official?

No. Uh...

Technically,
I don't really know
what's going on.

I mean, she doesn't
live with us or anything.

But you're separated?

Yeah.

I guess.

By several states.

Hey, Dad, are you gonna
ride the horse next time?
Maybe.

Maybe I'll get on that horse.

I actually know some things
about you, you know.

More than you think.

Calvin, you're, uh...
You're gonna slip.

It's gonna slip
right out of there.
Keep that up higher there.

How? From your brother?
From Noah?
BETH: Him and others.

It's a small town.

Calvin, you're slipping
with your hamburger. Be careful.
You're gonna drop it.

What kind of things?
Are they good?

You want me to
cut that for you, cowboy?

Okay. How about
the plate, Calvin?

It's not just for looks.
The plate there.

You're supposed to eat
over the plate. Come here.

Look at you. Oh, my God.
That's great. That's great.
That's great.

I think we're gonna have
to take you in

and hose you off
in the bathroom.

I can go.

The bathroom's there.

He's, uh...

just a little
embarrassed,
you know.

I heard she just left
you and Calvin.

Yeah. Basically.

I, um, had
to cut back
from work,

because, uh, you know,
I had to spend more time
with him.

At least put him to bed
and stuff like that.

So... they fired me.

And then I ended up having
all the time in the world
to spend with him.

So what brought you
down here?
I needed a job.

A guy that I went to,
uh, college with...

is the guy that
I actually work for, with,
or whatever the hell it is.

But, uh, we were
roommates in school.

Do you want to go out?

Go out? You mean,
like, on a date?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, I'd like that.

Okay. Okay.

We should, uh...
We should think of
something to do though,

because there's not a lot.

RUSS: Aw, damn it.

What?

RUSS:
I don't have
a babysitter for Cal.

She's, uh,
in Kansas City right now.

Well, you could
come over to my house.

We could have dinner,
watch cartoons.

Right, or you could come
to our house, 'cause I gotta
put him to bed sometime.

Do you smell something? Hmm?

(whispering) Kind of like pee?

Yeah, come to think of it, I do.

Calvin, come here.
Let me see you a second.
Come here. Come here, buddy.

(whispering)
Did you wet your pants?

No.

Well, what's this
then all over you?

A urinal cake?

Oh, my God.

RUSS:
Why do you have
a urinal cake on you?

It was in there,
and we don't have one.

You know what, sweetie,
I don't have one in
my bathroom either.

Do you want this one?
No. She doesn't.

No, thank you.

("Claudette" playing)

♪ I got a brand-new baby
And I feel so good ♪

♪ She loves me even better
Than I thought she could ♪

♪ I'm on my way to her house ♪

♪ I'm plumb out of breath ♪

♪ When I see her tonight
I'm gonna squeeze
her to death ♪

♪ Claudette ♪

♪ Pretty little pet Claudette ♪

♪ Never make me fret Claudette ♪

♪ She's the greatest girl, yeah
That I've ever met ♪

♪ Gives the best lovin'
That I'll ever get ♪

♪ Claudette ♪

♪ Pretty little pet Claudette ♪

♪ Whoa, Claudette ♪

♪ I'm a lucky man
My baby treats me right ♪

♪ She's gonna let me hug
And kiss and hold her tight ♪

♪ When the date is over
And we're at her front door ♪

♪ I'm gonna kiss her
good night and holler,
"More, more, more" ♪

(song volume decreasing)
It's too loud.
I gotta turn it down.

RUSS: Did I wake you up?

I should really try
to be more responsible
about that sort of thing.

(song volume increasing) Whoo!

♪ Gives the best lovin'
That I'll ever get ♪

(laughing)

♪ Claudette ♪

♪ Pretty little pet Claudette ♪

♪ Whoa, Claudette ♪

♪ Whoa, Claudette ♪

♪ Pretty little pet Claudette ♪

Joyce, listen, uh,

for this thing
to go on any further
than it already has

won't do anybody involved
any good at all, especially me.

Correct me
if I'm wrong here, Russell,
but you're my lawyer.

You're supposed to please me.

Joyce, you cannot
sue these people.

You have no case
against these people,

and you're lucky, frankly,
that they're not pressing
charges against you.

(laughs wryly)
It was their waitress.

WOMAN (over PA):
Bill, we need a ball
returned on lane seven.

Lane seven, ball return.

FRED (on telephone):
I've got you out
to a number of firms,

and let me tell you,
a good percentage are
showing some interest.

Yeah, that's great.
Great, great, great.

So do they want
to interview me or what?

I've gotta get you
a face-to-face
with these people.

It's looking very good though.

Right. Okay.

If you can just hang in there.

Yeah, I'm hanging in here.

Just, uh, please let me know
when, uh, ever you hear
anything at all.

Yeah. Okay.
Okay. Thanks a lot. Bye.

Damn it.

No. Stick with it.

I'm, uh, supposed
to say that I'm sorry
for, you know, what I said.

How about once more
with feeling, Noah?

(sighing) I'm sorry for...

you know, everything I said
in front of your kid
and the team and...

You know, I'm... I'm sorry.

So, is that enough,
or do you want him
on his hands and knees?

Hands and knees.

(laughing)

Come on.

All right, clean slate.

All right. Now suit up,
and we'll see you
out there, okay?

Thanks, Coach.

He's lucky to have you.
Thank you.

(cheering)

Hi there. Hi.

How are you? Good.

Yeah? Pretty good game,
isn't it?
Yep.

Your daddy's doing a good job.

(whistle blowing)

It's not supposed
to be a foul, ref.

Call it down there then.

Let the kids play
the game a little bit.

Get in position, Noah.
Get in position.

All right! All right.

CALVIN: Hi-yah!

Chi-ka-ka-ka koo-aah.

RUSS: Okay, your turn, Admiral.

I don't want
to play anymore.
Don't be that girl.

Don't be the girl
that wants to play
a third time in a row,

talks me into it,
and now doesn't want
to play anymore.

You're tied.
You're finally tied.
This is your shot. Let's go.

I got a good feeling
for you this time.
Do you?

(whispering) I-1.
I don't know why.

(whispering) I-1. You won.

(whispering) No. I-1. I-1.

Hit. (laughing)

Hit. Okay?
See how much fun
we can have?

This is a really great date.

RUSS: Let's go. I got you. Good.

(whispering) What are you doing?

It's just a couple of plates.

(dishes clinking)

I'll get the plates later.
I can clean up.

It's okay.

(blues song playing)

I should put him upstairs.

Okay.

(exhales deeply)

Good night, buddy.

♪ It's hot in here ♪

♪ I believe I need some air ♪

♪ It's hot in here ♪

♪ I believe I need some air ♪

Is he asleep?

(whispering) What?

Is he asleep? Yes, he's asleep.

♪ Running my fingers
All down through her hair ♪

♪ Lord, have mercy ♪

♪ Lord, have mercy on me ♪

♪ Lord, have mercy ♪

♪ Lord, have mercy on me ♪

(toys clattering)

(laughing)

♪ Take it home ♪

Oh, my. She may see us.

CARTOON CHARACTER 1:
We had better go
into camo-... camo-...

(telephone ringing)
CARTOON CHARACTER 1:
Uh, stealth mode.

Does your dad let you
answer the phone?

(telephone ringing continues)

Russ.

(singing along with radio)
♪ Baby, here I am ♪

♪ I'm a man on the scene ♪

♪ I can give you what you want ♪

♪ But you got
To come home with me ♪

Hello. Durrell residence.

KATE (on telephone):
Um, hi, who's this?

Beth.

Yeah. Uh, are you
the babysitter?

Uh-huh. May I ask who's calling?

♪ I'm a man on the scene ♪

♪ I can give you what you want ♪

♪ But you got
To come home with me ♪

Yeah, all right.

♪ Pretty little thing
Let me light your candle ♪

♪ 'Cause, mama, I'm sure hard
To handle now, mess around ♪

Uh!

(cartoon playing on television)

Calvin, will you tell
your dad I had to go?

BETH: Okay,
I'll see you later.
Bye.

(chuckling)

(humming)

How?

MAN (on television):
All right, you guys.
What's goin' on?

MAN 2 (on television):
You gotta help us.

MAN 3 (on television):
Yeah. Help.
We're in big trouble.

WOMAN (on television):
Calm down, you two.

Where is she?

(vehicle driving away)

MAN (on television):
Although this is
a fascinating story,

I feel I must draw
your attention
to a more...

Why'd she leave, Calvin?
What did you say to her?

I didn't say anything.

Then why did she leave
the house, Calvin?

I don't know.

Did you say something that
could have hurt her feelings?

We were just playing.

Are you not
telling me something?

RUSS:
Calvin, come here right now!

Come here.
Did you do this?
Is this your mess?

Yes. Is it?

So-... Why's it sitting there?

Sorry.

Don't be sorry.
Clean the damn thing up.

Clean up the orange juice,
Calvin. Clean it up.

Take the napkins
and clean up the orange juice.

You take everything
for granted, don't you?

What about that fish thing, huh?

Did you ever thank
your grandpa for that?
Hm-mmm.

You know what?
I'm gonna throw
the damn thing out.

It's starting to stink up
the whole house.
No! Let go!

Why should I keep it, huh?
You don't appreciate it.
Let go!

Don't scream at me. Let go!

Look at me.

Don't you dare hit me again.
Don't you hit me again.

You're fired.

Hey, Cal.

You can keep it.

I overreacted, buddy.

I'm sorry, Cal.

Cal, if you want to talk,
I'm downstairs, all right?

I'm sorry. (knocking on door)

Hey, Cal, now's your chance.
You hear that? She's back.

Hi.

What the hell
are you doing here?

I, um...
I didn't think
you'd be here.

The babysitter said that
you were working today.

So then you just show up
at my house?

Well, I guess this girl
didn't tell you.
Kate.

What are you talking about?

I called you.
When? Did I ever say you could
show up here at my house?

Just before I did.

(footsteps approaching)

Hi, Cal. (chuckles)

How's my little man, huh?

I, um...
I brought him something.

I wasn't sure
what you'd like,
so I...

took some time...

(sighs)

What did you expect?

Hmm?

Look, do me a favor
and get out of here,
will you, please?

He's not just gonna come
running back into your arms.

Yeah, I'm sure after what
you've said about me too,
Russ, huh?

You haven't seen your son
in 18 months.

What the hell do I possibly
have to say to him?

I want to see him.

Well,

obviously, he, uh,
doesn't want to see you.

Well, I'm not going anywhere.

What are you drawing,
buddy?
Turtle.

It's good. Thanks.

Your mom's still here,
and she's got
that gift for you.

She wants to give it to you.

How do you feel about that?

You feel okay?

Hey, hey, hey.

You don't have
to do anything.
Are you sure?

Sure.

Come on in.

Hi, peanut. Hi.

I brought you something.

Is that for me?
Yep, it's for you.

Can I help you open it?

It's kind of hard
to get at this bow, huh?

You like the paper?
(Calvin laughs)

Yeah?

KATE:
It's a little toy
that you hook up to the hose,

and then
this little beaver sort of...
or gopher, or something...

sort of pops out
and splashes you with water
when you're not looking.

(laughs)

Do you like it?

Mm-hmm. Yeah?

Do you want to go outside
and play with it right now,
or no?

Can we?

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

(both exclaiming and laughing)

(upbeat song playing)

Whoo!

Ready? Want to creep up on him?

♪ 'Cause it's time to choose ♪

♪ Drown in tears
Or swim in life ♪

♪ It will come to you ♪

♪ As clear as day ♪

CALVIN:
Keep doing it.
Keep doing it.

♪ Simple precious life ♪

♪ So beautiful So fleeting ♪

♪ Simple precious life ♪

♪ Hold it in your hands ♪

♪ Feel its fragile
Heart beating ♪

♪ Precious life ♪

(laughing)

KATE:
"And they were all,
each one, happy beyond words.

The end."

That's kind of nice, huh?

(laughs)

Hey, um...

thank you so much
for letting me spend
the day with you.

You're welcome.

You should get some sleep,
huh? It's late.

Can I have Mr. Flatso?

What?

Can I have Mr. Flatso?

Pillow? Mm-hmm.

Mr. Flatso.

Let's get you
tucked in nice and cozy.

Come here.

Thank you
for the clothes,
by the way.

I didn't think
I'd get that dirty.

It was kind of fun though.

So, can I come see him tomorrow?

Yeah, but what's your
plan with everything?

Well, I don't know.
I'm staying in town.

I'd like to see him
as much as possible

if that's all right with you.
Right.

You know,
see how it goes and...
Yeah.

But, um, did you think
that, you know...
And I don't know, Kate.

But you just kind of
would sail back in town,

and then everything
would be okay?

I know that
I messed up, Russ.
I know that.

No, I do.

I wouldn't expect you
to understand what I was
going through then though.

I don't understand, Kate.

I don't.

But I don't know
if you understand
what Calvin went through.

You know, when you left,
he used to worry all the time

about, you know,
"When's Mom coming back home?"

Then he would, you know, worry,

"Does Mom love me?
Does Mom love me anymore?"

Well, thank you for telling me.

(car door opening)

(car door closing)

(engine starting)

(car departing)

(line ringing)

(on answering machine)
Hi. You've reached Beth.

Please leave a message
after the beep.

(answering machine beeping)

Hey, Beth, it's, uh,
Russ calling you,

and I just want to say
that I had a really, uh,
great time, uh, last night,

and, uh, I know that you...

had a run-in
or, you know, whatever
on the phone with Kate,

and I just wanted you
to know that that is just
a complete surprise...

and just very weird
and, uh, you know,

nothing at all you need
to concern yourself about.

So, anyway, um,

I would love to see you again,

RUSS (on answering machine):
so I will give you a call, um,

tomorrow or later or, uh,

whenever, okay?

I'll talk to you soon hopefully.

Good night.

(dial tone)

(tape rewinding)
(answering machine beeping)

Hey, Beth, it's, uh,
Russ calling you,

and I just want to say
that I had a really, uh,
great time, uh, last night.

MAN (on radio):
Good job in the first half.
He's six of nine.

They get the open shots,
they gotta knock 'em down.

(dog barking)

(rock music playing)

Beth?

RUSS: Hello?

Hey.

What are you doing here?

I just stopped by
to see if, uh...

to see if Beth, Beth was around.

(breathlessly) What for?

Nothing about you, Noah.
Just to talk to her.

Are you all right back there?
Yeah.

Yeah. She's, um...
She's at work.

She's a vet's assistant
down in Ozawkie, so...

Uh, this is Bonnie. Hi.

NOAH: It's her birthday today.

Happy birthday to you.

She, uh...

(moans)

She hit 17 today.

That's great. Seventeen.
It's a big year.

Good stuff to come.

I'm older than my mother
was when she had me.

That's great. I have a...
Myself, I have a preschooler.

(laughs)

Right, okay.
Nice to meet you, Bonnie.

And, uh, happy birthday to you.

Have a good day.

Hey, uh, you're not
gonna tell Beth?

Tell her what?

So, uh, what
do you think of Bonnie?

The girl in there?
Yeah, real nice.
She seems real nice.

Like a nice, uh...
You know, real likable.

Like a real likable girl.
Easy to like.

She's a nice girl. Yeah.

All right, Noah.
All right, man.
Take it easy.

Yeah. We'll see you later.

VETERINARIAN: Good boy.

(dogs barking)

All right. Hold him here.

That's a boy. Hold still.
Good boy. Good boy.

That's it.

You know, you didn't have
to leave in such a hurry.

Yeah, well, your wife
sort of forced the issue.

Yeah. She can be
real thoughtful that way.

Do you still have
feelings for her?

(laughs) What?

You're still wearing
your wedding ring.

No, the only real connection
I have with her anymore
is Calvin,

and even that
is, uh, you know,
pretty shaky.

She must want something,
though, by coming back.

Yeah, you know,
I doubt she even
knows why she left.

We never talked about it.
She went to go help
with her sister's wedding,

and then the fiancé ditched.

So she ended up staying
to be with her sister.

Was that true?

I guess so, but,
you know, the week
she was supposed to be gone

turned into three weeks,
then six weeks,

then she just stopped calling
for months at a time.

Why didn't you just go get her?

No. No.

Ow, ow, ow, ow! Ouch.

Did I hurt you? Did I hurt you?

My leg, it's cramping. Ow, ow!

Oh, your leg's... Okay.

(gasps)

Is it okay? (panting) Yeah.

You all right?

(laughing)

I was gonna call you tomorrow.

But I can see this is going
nowhere fast.

Absolutely nowhere.

I mean, maybe... Maybe...

(laughing)
It's a sensitive matter.

I'll see you later. Okay.

(singing indistinctly)

CALVIN: Whoo! Whoo! Whoo-hoo!

Whoo! Whoo! Whoo-hoo! Whoo!

Whoo! Whoo-hoo!

See, you can't do that.

Oh, yeah?
Well, you can't do this.

Now you see it.

GIRL: Now you don't.

(murmuring)

RUSS:
So how was your day, buddy?

Okay.

Did anything interesting happen?

Hmm, no.

(soft rock song playing)

♪ Billy don't like The weekend ♪

♪ Sally never comes outside ♪

Hi, buddy. CALVIN: Hi.

Want to play? Yep.

No? You want to do it?
All by yourself?

Hi. Hi.

Ahh, that was a good one.

I brought your shirt
back and your clothes.

Thanks again.

Another shot? Mm-hmm.

You want me to hold you up
this time? Here you go.

CALVIN:
I'm a little, tiny mouse.

(laughs)
There you go.
Go get it.

CALVIN: Okay.

Come on, Dad. Play.

♪ This young heart of mine ♪

♪ Will never fall in love, no ♪

♪ So why don't you stay
A little while? ♪

Can we try one? Yep.

You lifting me up?

Yay! Good shot, Cal.

There you go.

Get it. Get it.

Oh! Come on.
Gimme. Gimme. Gimme.

Come on. Gimme.

Come on. Gimme.

"Portu..."

That's sick. That reeks.

Yeah. So?

So we might have to
give your man-of-war a,

a, uh, a burial, Calvin.

You know, like, maybe
flush it down the toilet,
give it a burial.

No!

Do you like the smell?

I can fix it. You can fix it?

It's got legs. It does.

It's got... Yeah.
A lot of things.

But, Calvin, see here
how it's pretty

when you draw it,
and then you look
at it in the jar,
and it's not?

You better not
throw it out
while I'm gone.

The whole bottle
of aftershave, Cal?
Is that necessary?

See? It doesn't
stink bad anymore.

See? Smell.

Mmm. Smells like a rose.

RUSS:
That's great.
Do you really think

that's gonna do it, Cal?

Yep. That's doing it. Yep.

You should probably put
the cap back on though, huh?

So it stays nice and warm. Yeah.

He's cold. Tight too.

There you go. He's all set, huh?

What did you name him?

Mom.

Just like your name.

Me and Dad take showers.

You do? Wow.
You're a big guy, huh?

(laughs)

KATE:
Is this okay, though,
that you're taking a bath?

CALVIN: Yep. This is good.

This is kind of like swimming.

Hi. Hi.

I just thought
I'd get him started for you.

Right.

Hey, buddy. Hi.

How you doing? Good.

Can you see
anything interesting?

God. Do you remember
when we had him?

He was so tiny, you know.

A little peanut.

I remember that night, you...
(laughs)

You fell asleep
in the recovery room, and...

you rolled off the bed,
and you cracked
your chin wide open.

Get your teeth brushed.

Yeah, that's a face. (laughs)

You feel clean? Mm-hmm.

Do you? Good.

What do you want
to read tonight, huh?

Moog-Moog, Space Barber.

Moog-Moog, Space Barber, it is.

RUSS: Come on, Space Barber.

"Well, I bet you can't do this."

What does she do?

Takes the hand,
in the pocket,
pulls out a nickel.

Right? Takes the nickel.

And she puts it up in...

And goes like that.

No.

(both laughing)

(sighs)

(Kate chuckling)

(chuckles)

Are...

Are you seeing anybody?

Yeah, I, uh...

just started to see somebody.

How about you?

Um...

Sort of between relationships.

Good night.

Bye. Bye.

You drive this thing
to work, Larry?

She's driving my Camaro.

Uh-huh. How'd she work that out?

I don't know.

How are the brakes
on this thing?

Wasn't anything with
the brakes, Mr. Durrell.

She just damn drove
through the wall.

Mm-hmm. And do you know
why she did that?

I know you know why too.

From my understanding,
it's because you were seeing
one of the waitresses there.

A Miss, uh, Carol Holman,
I believe is her name.

It wasn't like I set out
on screwing around.

Me and Joyce was happy.
We still are.

Sort of.

Kind of.

Oh, man.

I used to think she was
all there was for me.

Now, I feel
that way about Carol!

It's not about there
being one perfect match
for somebody.

I just happened to run
across two in my lifetime,

two at the same time.

Come on, Shaw.
You let him walk right in.
Come on, guys. Block out.

(crowd cheering)

Cut to the ball, Noah.
Cut to the ball.

Move! Move!

(buzzer sounding)

(crowd groaning)

Come on, guys.
Let's take it in.
Take it in.

Good game. Good game.
Good game, man.

It's like his fifth year
in high school.

Well, that sucked.

Yeah, it was
a close one, huh?
Mm-hmm.

Why you looking at me like that?

Like what?

Like the way you're looking
at me, right now, like, why?

(sighs)
Noah, it's...
It's just a game.

Noah.

BOB:
This was not the game
to come to, huh?

Hey, how are you?

How you doing?
Sorry about that.
Good to see you.

That's all right.
Connie, how are you?

Hey. Oh, well as expected
when you're expecting, right?
Uh-huh. Right.

CONNIE: Where's Calvin?

Calvin is with his,
with Kate, actually.

God, I hope you two
can work things out.

Hi. I'm Connie Harper.

Hi. Beth.

Oh, I'm sorry.
Yes, Beth Ward, this is, uh,
as you met, Connie Harper.

And this is,
uh, Bob Harper,
her better half.

BETH: Hi. How are you?

Beth is, uh, one
of the players' sisters
on the team.

BOB: Oh, great. Uh-huh. Yeah.

And, uh, also a, uh,
a friend of mine.

(telephone ringing)

Hello?
MAN (on telephone):
Mr. Russell Durrell, please.

Yeah, speaking.

This is Deputy
Sheriff Pritchard.

DEPUTY SHERIFF PRITCHARD:
By law, I should lock him up.

But everyone involved's okay?

They're fine,
but the boy's
severely intoxicated.

He's also underage.

Except she was driving.
She claims she was
trying to avoid a deer.

Now, she appears
to be sober to me.

The boy wouldn't let me
call his family.

He says he's, uh...
You're his basketball coach.

I am.

(sighs)
Listen, why don't you get
him the hell out of here?

Okay, Noah, you all right?

Come on, partner.
Watch your head here.
Come on.

You're okay.
Come on, Noah.
Almost inside.

You're all right.
You're all right.

Okay? Here we go.

We're at the door. Okay.

(Noah sniffling)

Here we go. There you are.

Hi.

(muffled)

You just got out of gym class?

No, it, it got hot, so...

Um, don't worry, though.
I'll take off if you want.

You don't have to do that.
You can sleep in my bed,

and I'll just sleep downstairs.

You sure?

Mm-hmm.

Thanks.

I have to pee.

Let me get out of your way.
Sure. It's all yours.

(toilet flushing)

(showering turning on)

(shower turning off)

You want a towel? Yeah.

Thanks.

You know, you've done
a great job with Cal.

I missed you.

God, I missed you so much, Kate.

What's wrong?

(crying)
I, um... I have to
tell you something.

I, um... I met... I met
someone when I was away.

(exhales deeply) And, um...

I fell in love with him, Russ.

Why are you
telling me this
right now?

Because I told myself
that I was in love with you.
You know I did.

Hey, hey, hey.

We were in love.

No, Russ.

You were. You were.

And I loved that.
I loved that so much. I did.

(sighing)

But I don't think that I ever
really loved you, you know?

Okay, Mom. Okay.

(exerting)

(glass shattering) (dog barking)

(knocking on door)

Hi. Hi.

Is Noah here?
Yeah. He's, uh,
right here on the couch.

I am so sorry.

My mom didn't even know
he was missing
until this morning.

Yeah, well, the cops called me,
and I just, you know,
went and picked him up.

(scoffs)
He is so good at pulling
other people into his shit.

Yeah. He's gonna be hard
to get up. He's like...
KATE: Hey, Russ.

Dead on the couch.
Just a second, Kate, please.
Can I have a second?

Yeah, well, your son,
he needs you now.

Well, you're his mom, right?
Can't you deal with it?

Yeah, I tried,
but his arm's stuck
in the toilet.

I'll just be a second.

RUSS:
How'd his arm get stuck
in the toilet?

I have no idea.
He was looking for something.
How am I supposed to know?

You're supposed
to be watching him.
I was watching him, Russ.

KATE: What do you want me to do?

(sobbing)

KATE:
Russ, please be careful. Please.

One, two... Russ, watch his arm.

Three! There you go.
There you go.

Okay, shush, shush,
shush, shush, shush.
You're okay. You're okay.

You were just in the toilet.
You're okay. You're okay.
You're okay.

Shh, shh, shh. Calvin, shush.

What's going on
with you and toilets?
You threw my man-of-war out!

Is that what you were doing?
Were you looking
for your man-of-war?

Yes!

Calvin, we had a talk
about the man-of-war.
Do you remember that?

I told you it was
starting to smell.
You threw it out!

Listen to me. Get up,
all right? Just wake up.

(Calvin crying)
RUSS:
Stop screaming!

I told you it was starting
to smell up the whole house.

It wasn't smelly!
I fixed it!
No, you didn't fix it!

Why did you throw
that thing away?

You weren't living
with the smell for two weeks,
Kate.

You have no idea
what you're talking about.

Well, maybe you could have
had a burial or something.
It was a jellyfish!

Beth, could you wait
a second, please?
I wanna talk to you.

Beth! Oh, you're Beth.
You're the babysitter, Beth.

No, she's not
the babysitter, Kate.
She's my girlfriend.

That's stretching it, isn't it?

Beth, hold on.
Wait a second, please.

I don't wanna be
in the middle of this.

Look, it's over between us.
We're getting a divorce.

Did you sleep with her?

Things just got complicated
with this is all, you know?

Look, I knew that you had
shit going on in your life,
all right? We all do.

But you led me to believe
you had made up your mind.

I have made up my mind.

That's good. That's real good.

So have I.

(dog barking)

Thanks.

(engine starting)

See you later, man.
See you later.

RUSS: Hey.

I'm all right.

I'm sorry I made you sad.

You didn't make me sad, Cal.

No, I'm just having
a bad day, that's all.

You know, being a dad
can be hard sometimes.

I just don't know
if I'm doing a good job of it.

You're doing good.

Yeah? I'm glad
one of us thinks so.

I think so.

I'm sorry I threw out
your man-of-war, buddy.

Yeah, me too.

(telephone ringing)

Hello?
Hey, Russ.
It's Tom Johnson.

Hey, Tom. How are you, man?

Where are you?
I heard you left Chicago.

Yeah. I'm down in Dallas now.

Newbauer, Whitman, and Johnson.

Hey, congratulations, partner.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

So, Russ, listen,
this morning,
I came into my office,

and I found that my secretary
had dropped your resume
on my desk.

What do you think?
You really feel like you're
ready to get out there again?

Oh, absolutely, man.
I'd love to get back out there.

Excellent. 'Cause I wanna
fly you down here
as soon as possible
to meet my partners.

How's that sound?

It sounds great.
It sounds great.

I got a few things on my plate
I'd have to rearrange,

but that shouldn't
be a problem at all.

You wouldn't believe
this backwards case
I'm working on,

but I'm there, Tom.
I'm absolutely there, man.
And thank you.

Okay. See you soon.
Okay, I'll see you soon.

Bye, Russ. Thanks for calling.

(singing indistinctly)

So what do you say, buddy?
You want some crayons?

RUSS: Calvin?

Cal, where you at, buddy?

(whispering)
Calvin, what are you doing?

I'm looking for money.

No, there's no money there.
Come on. Come on.

BOB: Shit.

Um...

This isn't what you think, okay?

(laughing) Yes, it is.

BOB: Well, it is, okay, but...

(sighs) it isn't.

RUSS:
How long has this
been going on?

How long, Bob?

Maybe a year.

So then you mean to tell me
that you were screwing her...

when you had me
go down to Gooland's

and plead with him
like I had some sort
of legitimate case?

We went to high school together.
I've known her for years.

Are you saying to me you think
that makes it all right?

Is that right? I just...
Tell me if I'm not
hearing something.

I never said it made
everything okay. I just...

I'll tell you what, Bob.

You can screw her
all the hell you want,
but fuck you...

and fuck your job too.

Tom, so I cleared the decks,

and I'll be flying
to Dallas on Monday.

TOM:
This is great, Russ.
Can't wait, buddy.

No, great.
I look forward to it too.

I'll have everything set up.

All right then. All right.

I'll talk to you later.

Bye. Bye.

MAN (on radio): Plenty of
sunshine through today
with seasonal temperatures.

We should reach our normal high
of about 82 degrees
by this afternoon.

Clear skies tonight
with a low near 70.

Increasing cloudiness tomorrow,

sticky and humid
with a high of 96.

With the winds out of the east
at 14 miles per hour,
it's currently 75.

So it should just be
for a couple of days.
I'll check in and everything.

Okay, great.
Come here a second,
buddy. Will you?

I'm gonna miss you.
You know that, right?

I'm only gonna be gone
for a couple of days.
I'll call and talk to you.

Just a couple.

Yeah, just a couple days.

Can I have a hug before I go?

Thank you, Cal.

I love you very much.

Okay, I'll miss you.
Now, listen to Charlotte,
okay?

He'll listen to me.
He always listens. He's good.

He's good. Okay, thanks again.

Listen, Russ,
don't worry and good luck.
Don't worry about him.

Good luck with the job.

I'll see you later, Cal.
Say bye-bye.

Bye. Bye.

Welcome to Dallas, Mr. Durrell.

Thank you
for having me in Dallas.
You're welcome.

I should have
said howdy to you.
That's all right.

Bad joke. I see we have...

This is Russ Durrell.
How are you?

Very nice to meet you.
Welcome to Dallas.

Hey, thanks for having me.
You come highly recommended.

Tom here calls you voracious.

Mr. Newbauer, uh,
60 billable hours a week,

52 weeks a year
seems very reasonable.

Sixty-five would probably be
very profitable
for you gentlemen.

Seventy is my average.

How do you like your steak?

Well-done, please.

Pleasure to meet you.
My pleasure.

Welcome aboard.
Thank you very much.

Tom, good work.

I'll be seeing you.
Thanks for lunch, guys.

Have a good day.

You know, it seems small,

but I'm sure you know
you'll probably do nothing
but sleep in here.

And for a couple
of hours at that.

Yeah.

So, uh, it's just this,
uh, one bedroom here then?

Mm-hmm. Yes.
You have to see this patio.

You didn't like it?

Oh, no, it's, uh, you know...
I have a kid is all.

Oh, I didn't know
you were married. How old?

Uh, he's five years old,
and I'm getting a divorce.

Does he live with you?

Oh. Okay.

Dad, everything
is really, really great.

You know, um, I got
that job here in Dallas.

You're kidding. I did.

Is that good news or what?
Congratulations.

No, it's good. It is. It's good.

So I figured, what the hell?
How can I pass an opportunity
like this up?

You absolutely cannot. Right.

So I was just thinking,
you know...

Russ?

Dad? Yeah?

So this is what
we talked about, right?
What?

You know, you taking
Calvin for a while.

That's what we talked about.

Stop worrying.
Calvin is gonna
love it down here.

There's lots of kids there
for him to play with too, right?

I am so proud of you, son.

'Cause he'll be leaving...
He'll be leaving
his best friend behind.

We can find some friends.
We're not a mile
from the rec center.

There are lots of kids.

Oh, good.

All right. Okay.

You're gonna call us
with the particulars, okay?

I'll talk
to you soon, okay?
All right, we'll see you.

Bye.

Might be a good idea.

Don't you think?

It might be a good idea

to go see your grandfather
for a little while.

CHARLOTTE:
I'm on the back porch,
on the sun porch.

Hey, how you been?

I'm good. How about you?
I'm good. Thanks.

How did it all go?
It went well. Thanks.

Did it? Did you get it?

I got the job.
I start almost immediately.

You are something. You got it.

Yeah. How's Calvin?
How's he been?

Oh, my gosh!
They were so good together,
Russ. I can't even tell you.

They played.
They had a blast.
They slept great.

Not too much trouble?
Not too much trouble.

Where's Calvin?
Is he taking a nap
or something? Is he outside?

No. Kate came and picked him up
a couple of hours ago now

and took him right home.
He was exhausted.

Really? Yeah.

Cal!

Kate! Are you home?

Excuse me.
Yes, there's no answer
at Room 11. Durrell.

She checked out this afternoon.

Did she say
where she was going
by chance?

Do you know if she had
a little boy with her?

I have no idea, sir.
All I know is she
checked out this afternoon.

RUSS: Hello? KATE: Russell?

This was really smart,
Kate. You know?
This was really, really smart.

Russ, I'm sorry
I did this so abruptly, okay,

but I didn't wanna
fight about things.

This isn't a tug-of-war.
It's not about us.
Right. Okay.

Listen, uh, is he all right?
Can I talk to him, please?

Yeah, he's fine. He's fine.
Can I talk to him, please?

Russ, I think this is gonna
work out with you in Dallas
or wherever you're gonna be.

Let me talk to him now, Kate!
Put him on the phone!

All right, hold on a minute.
Baby, Daddy wants
to talk to you.

Hello?

Cal? Hey, buddy,
are you all right?

Yeah, we went
to Chuck E. Cheese,

and she and me
did the laser tag.

Is that a game?
Did you play some games?
That's good.

It's a cool game.

And you play
in the dark and stuff,
and you shoot people.

Mm-hmm. With real lasers.

That's good, but I'm sure
you're starting to get
a little bit tired,

so why don't you tell Mom
to bring you back now, okay?

Hi, Russ, it's me.
Um, look, I'll call you as soon
as I get to Cincinnati...

at my sister's house,
and you can come see him, okay?

You're not gonna
call me when you get
to your sister's house, Kate.

You're gonna
turn around the car,

and you're gonna
bring him home now.

Russell, I'm doing you a favor,
and you know it.

You can't take
that kind of job in Dallas
and take proper care of Calvin.

Is that what this is about?
Is that what this is about?

Yeah, that's right.
That's what this is about.

Because you have
absolutely no right

to make any decisions where
this child's life is concerned.

Do you understand me?

Oh, so what?
You're not taking
the job then?

No, I am taking the job,
but I have made steps.

He's gonna be fine.
I've set things up, Kate.

I've worked out everything,
and he's gonna be fine.
You understand me?

Well, he'll be fine
with me too, okay?

I'll talk to you later. Goodbye.

Hello? (dial tone)

Hi.

Hi.

I know it was a cruel situation
that you were put in
the other day, Beth,

and I just wanted to
tell you that I didn't
mean for it to be that.

She's your wife, Russ.
No, she's, um...

Maybe for half a second,
I don't know,

I thought that, uh...

I'm not really sure
what the hell it was
I was thinking,

but I wanted to tell you
that I'm sorry.

Maybe we should have just
waited a little longer.

Maybe.

I think I was
just stupid, really.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

I'm moving to Dallas.

What's in Dallas? A job.

When did this happen?

Well, I just said yes this week,

but it's something I've been
thinking about for a while.

And, uh, it's a great firm,

and it's the type of work
I've always wanted to do.

You know, I'm back
in the courtroom.

Congratulations.

But I honestly believe
it's for the best now.

Is that why you
let her take Calvin?

Well, she can...
give him a lot of things
that I can't give him.

Bullshit. I think
he should be with you.

She is his mother.

Yes, but she hasn't been
for a long time.

When I first planned on going
down there to Dallas, I thought
about taking him with me,

but once I got there,
I realized there's no way
this would work.

So I called my father up,

and I, uh, told him to take him.

I gave him away.

I felt like...

this kid has robbed me
of my entire life.

I blamed him for my career.

I blamed him
for freakin' everything.

And I know, believe me,
that he's just a little boy,

and that he hasn't
done anything.

Russ, you've gotta look
at what you did.

You brought him down here,
and you made a life for him,

and he's a great kid for it.

You didn't leave him.

He's a happy little boy.

You did that.

He belongs with you.

(tape rewinding)

(answering machine beeping)

BOB (on answering machine):
Hey, Russ. Harper.

Um, listen, I, uh...

I gotta admit, I think I'm,
uh, out of my league here

with the Councilman Thomas
business.

No shit, Bob.

Maybe you wanna come in.
We could work something out.

Uh, talk to you in a bit.

Yeah, I'll be right there.
Hold your breath.

(answering machine beeping)

KATE (on answering machine):
Hi, um...

Shit.

Could you, could you
Fed-Ex that,

whatever he calls that-that
pillow thing of his
to my sister's house?

I completely spaced on it.
Flatso.

Hang on. Calvin wants
to talk to you.

CALVIN:
Hi, Dad.
Can I have Mr. Flatso?

Mom didn't bring him.
He's on my bed.

I miss you, Dad.

KATE:
Okay, we'll-we'll call you,

or you'll... you can call us
whenever you want.

Um, the sooner the better
with that pillow, and...

I'll, um, talk to you later.

Bye.

RUSS: Tom, this is Russ calling.

Listen, there's been
a change of plans.

I won't be coming
to Dallas tomorrow
or any time soon at all.

In fact, I won't
be taking the job.

Sorry about the inconvenience,

but I'll explain it
to you later.

Bye.

Cal!

Hey, buddy.

Hey. I missed you.

Missed you too.

KATE:
For a while, I was
really scared, you know.

He was rolling
around on the floor,
kicking and screaming.

I think it was the hot dog
he had for dinner.

I tried rubbing his belly.

I put a hot compress on it.

But he just kept wailing.

Yeah.

He's probably just scared.

I finally locked myself
in the bathroom

and started crying, you know.

It's pretty funny, though.

Me in there, him down here,
both of us bawling
our eyes out.

You can feel pretty
helpless sometimes.

I don't know, you know.
I just thought it would be
so different, you know?

When I was in the bathroom,
I was...

I was thinking
about the time that...

God, I don't even think
Calvin was six months old,

and we were down at the lake.

And it started to rain.

And you put him in,
in the ice chest, you know,
and you,

you covered, you covered him
with a blanket.

That's the way
I always think of him
when I think of him with you.

You know, being safe...

and protected
in a cool, dry place.

I never feel that way
when he's with me.

I wanna go home.

You ready?

Can I hold him for a while?

Yeah. Give Mom a hug, pal.

It's okay, Kate.

I love you, little man.

KATE: Go.

Come here, buddy.

Come here.

(footsteps departing)

(door closing)

Cal.

Hey.

When's she coming back?

When she's sure we're gone.

It's hard to say
goodbye, you know.
Yeah.

Yeah.

Are we going now? Mm-hmm.

Can you do me a favor? Mm-hmm.

Can you give me a kiss?

Thank you, Cal.

BETH: So I'm gonna
see you this afternoon?
Yep.

Is your dad comin'? Mm-hmm.

You think he'll get
on the horse this time?
No.

No? We should try
and talk him into it.
Don't you think?

Hey, Cal, here.

Let me talk to Beth
for a second,
will you, please?

BETH:
Do you want me to talk to him?

Let me talk to Beth.

Please? Calvin,
what are you doing?
Come here. Come here, Cal.

Hey.

BETH: Cal?

Okay, that's it. My turn.
Thank you.

Cal, can I talk to him?

Hi, Beth. How are you?

He's so funny.
He thinks you're scared.

Well, it's not like
I'll get a better offer

by just hanging
around here all day.

♪ If love is like
A roller coaster ♪

♪ Pretty as a circus poster ♪

♪ Would you pay for a day
At the fair ♪

♪ I'd like to sit
In the very last car ♪

♪ Baby, don't hold
Onto the bar ♪

♪ Just throw up your hands
In the air ♪

♪ Life can be ♪

♪ Such a scream if you let it ♪

♪ And we're just along
For the ride ♪

♪ For the thrill Of the flight ♪

♪ Let your heart Be your guide ♪

♪ We're along for the ride ♪

♪ We can keep
The wheels in motion ♪

♪ Me, I'm not sittin'
By the ocean ♪

♪ Waiting for ships To come in ♪

♪ I want to buy you
An old ragtop ♪

♪ I want to drive
In between the raindrops ♪

♪ Baby, that's where We fit in ♪

♪ Heaven and the road ♪

♪ Only know where we're goin' ♪

♪ And we're just along
For the ride ♪

♪ For the thrill Of the flight ♪

♪ Let your heart Be your guide ♪

♪ We're along for the ride ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ For the ride ♪

♪ Baby, love is a dream ♪

♪ Lookin' for a place
To happen ♪

♪ And we're just along
For the ride ♪

♪ For the thrill Of the flight ♪

♪ Let your heart Be your guide ♪

♪ We're along for the ride ♪

♪ For the ride For the ride ♪

♪ For the thrill Of the flight ♪

♪ Let your heart Be your guide ♪

♪ We're along for the ride ♪