Homage (1995) - full transcript

You can't have him.

I don't him.

He didn't love me anyway.

He only wanted
someone to play with.

But all I wanted was
the love to stay.

Well, you get stuck
with the wrong fella,

there's only thing
that you can do,

pull the ground
right up over you.

You've
made the right choice.

Here now are Raymond Mesa
and weather with Jim Gamble.

Good evening.



Welcome to News Channel 9.

I'm Raymond Mesa.

She was New Mexico's
brightest star.

Now her light has dimmed.

The pride of Las
Cruces, Lucy Samuel,

who costarred as Little Mama
Mary on the hit television

series "Banyon's Brood" was
gunned down today at the home

of her widowed mother.

The television star was 24.

Good evening, everybody.

Welcome to
"Entertainment Tonight."

Tonight's top story is the
death of television star Lucille

Samuel.

Entertainment Tonight
interviewed Lucy back in 1991



when she was
nominated for an Emmy.

The absolute best
is the confirmation,

finally, that I have talent.

Not to have to doubt
myself anymore.

At least for the
next several hours.

After a brief
stint in the short

lived series "The Poorhouse,"
Lucy grabbed the lead role

in the low budget
cult film "Race Girl,"

and then was cast in
the top rated television

series "Banyon's Brood."

Two years ago she got her
Emmy nomination for the TV

movie "Death of My Sister."

We are
gathered here today

to remember and honor our Lucy.

Lucy is brought
larger to us than ever

she thought she should be.

As the poet once said,
"Underneath the growing grass,

underneath the living
flowers, deeper

than the sound of showers."

I buried her out

on the mesa beside her father.

It seemed like half the
folks in town gathered

like so many worshipers,
as if she, the people

on her show, the other
Hollywood people who

arrived for the
funeral, as if they were

some religion unto themselves.

Katherine.

That
saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost.

When she was a
little girl, my daughter

used to ask me,
momma, to tell me

how you felt when I was born.

And I would say, Lucy, I
believed with all my heart

that no child had been more
welcome or would be more loved.

And when she was born, my... my
brother sent her this telegram.

It says, welcome to
the world Lucille Ann,

homage will follow
in due course.

Let me pose
this conundrum, Gibby.

You kill someone.

You end someone's life.

Do you continue writing
the movie script

you were writing to star that
person who through your action

is no longer here?

I'm trying to study, Landrum.

You don't really
suppose, deputy, that when

you sit there hunched
over that law book

that I actually believe
you're reading it?

Goon Lips.

Don't call me Goon Lips.

Well, then don't
call me Landrum, Goon Lips.

Book, read, study, Landrum.

You mentioned
study, Goon Lips.

Has word reached you yet about
this no nonsense sociological

study, that claims
that 8 out of 10

of you Americans
of Mexican descent

have given up any appreciable
aspirations of upward mobility

by the time you turn 20?

That you gained an average
of 25 pounds in malt

and hops before you turn 21?

That your high school
sweetheart lured you

by way of your utterly
brainless, uncircumcised prick

with her sacred
virginity into marriage?

That you had a kid
inside 11 months?

That you committed an
affair inside two years

with a brown skinned girl
very much like your spouse

before you imprisoned her in
that disgusting little fella

of a trailer with a kid where
she got as fat and as stupid

as you, Fica Puto?

Shh.

Then carry on a normal
conversation with me.

No.

In my own opinion,
Mrs. Samuel was

starting to lose it a couple of
months before Lucy was killed.

We got a call there was
gunfire coming from her place.

She'd
set up a bottle,

you know, and unloaded on it.

The bottle survived intact,
but the place was a mess.

The entire property,
fields of pecan orchards.

About then she put an ad
in the paper and a guy

showed up on a bicycle, Archie.

Come on, Mrs. Samuel.

The ad says a small
farm, private quarters,

decent hours, hard worker.

It doesn't in any
way exclude someone

who has a PhD in mathematics.

No, but it
probably should have.

You have my references.

Three summers while other
grad students were out

trying to solve the
mysteries of the universe,

I was wrestling with whether
it was better to plant

yellow granos or conquistador.

Now tell me, have you
tried conquistador?

I never heard of it.

You will, next year.

I can get it for you.

Look, a young man of
your education would...

I understand your concerns.

See, I am simply not prepared
to embark upon my adult career

at this time.

Look at this place.

We have
needs to which

we can't always give names.

I think I took him on because
I sensed he was as lonely as I.

Why would she hire him?

If you want
protection or somebody

to take care of your
place, you really

going to hire a mathematician?

Look, I'll go get
myself a pair of overalls,

the kind with the bid and that
thing you stick your hammer in,

and you know the colorful
bandana in the back pocket.

Huh?

We'll give it a try.

Well, the boy
confesses before his attorney

even arrives.

I mean, when you pass the
loafered guys down from Dallas

imported by the kid's parents.

And... uh... when I hear
that the kid dumps

the tassle loafered
guy, I'm thinking

to myself, this a smart boy.

I mean, don't
prejudice you down home

jury with somebody that
they're going to resent.

Make yourself the underdog.

Get somebody that the
DA doesn't consider

any competition, somebody
like the public defender

of the county.

That's how got to meet him.

Joseph Smith.

I wanted someone named
Stubbs Kikendal or R Panther

Maryweather, something...

something that
inspires confidence.

Dr. Landrum, there there's
no need to convince me

you're crazy as our only
recourse here is not

guilty by reason of insanity.

Why did you kill Lucille Samuel?

It's all right there
on the confession.

Nice suit.

Tell me, is that
the real polyester

or just an expensive imitation?

It's a real polyester.

Dr. Landrum, you're going to
have to cooperate with me here

if you want me to help you.

Well not to become
mired in the convolutions

of the lingo, Mr.
Smith, but what

exactly do you mean by help me?

I mean, I'm going to endeavor
to convince the jury to spare

you the death penalty, Doctor.

Well, with those road map
eyes and that Rudolph nose,

I can only assume that
you came here directly

from a cocktail lounge.

From and on my way back too.

Gilbert.

Smithy, I don't
want out of here.

You see, there are
lunatics out there

that think that
television stars are

people of enormous
consequence in our society.

At least in here, I am
with someone I can trust.

Listen, Sonny Boy,
if you're some head

case that wants
the death penalty,

you've saddled the wrong pony.

I dreamed about this
case my whole life.

Hey.

Hi.

Where you been?

Groceries.

For three hours?

Well, I... sat around with
my husband for a while.

Well, I took our soil
sample into the university

this morning.

And I had a hunch we
were nitrogen poor.

And I was right.

I had no idea.

Oh, well, don't worry.

It's nothing reversible.

I'll balance your soil.

Well, no one's ever offered
to do that for me before.

Oh, I see, you're joking.

That's nice.

So are you going
to eat that little

bovine when she grows up?

Ha, not likely.

My husband always said, we must
try not to devour what we love.

May I ask, how did
he die, your husband?

Ice cream.

He jogged through all
seasons, old illnesses.

He played full court basketball
a week before he died.

But he couldn't stop
eating ice cream.

Arteries got so full of dairy
fat, they finally revolted.

Well, we all make choices,
don't we, Mrs. Samuel?

Yeah, we sure do.

"Riverrun, past Eve and Adam's."

That's why we built here.

That line popped into my
head and it wouldn't go away.

The opening line of James
Joyce's "Ulysses," I believe.

Oh, no, "Finnegan's Wake."

I really don't
think so, Mrs. Samuel.

Believe me, it's
"Finnegan's Wake."

Who did you say last
night knows everything.

I have mixed feelings.

On one hand, I want to be right.

But on the other hand, I don't
want you to ever be wrong.

Well, you probably read both
books all the way through.

Well actually, I have lied
about this book all my life.

Oh?

Yeah I made it about
3/4 through "Ulysses."

Maybe the first 100 and last
10 pages of "Finnegan's Wake."

How about you?

Cliff Notes.

We are confessing
things to each other

we should not confess.

I know.

Am I mistaken or is
that Lucille Samuel?

Yep.

Duh.

Katherine Samuel,
Lucille Samuel.

Come on, eat.

Oh, hey, Mrs. S.
Chorizo and eggs, I mean,

you read a guy's mind.

This is the perfect
farm hand breakfast.

Would it be out of
place for me to tell you

that I think your daughter's
television series, while vastly

entertaining, also maintains
an important overview

of late 20th century?

Oh, come on,
you're not serious.

"Banyon's Brood," a detective
and a hooker living out

of wedlock with four
disgustingly adorable street

urchins who weekly solve
various catastrophes in an hour.

Come on, Mrs. S, you
have to look at these TV

shows as microcosmic.

I mean not as literal
representations of reality.

It's Dickens gone rotten.

If it didn't force
itself upon us,

we'd probably vote reality
right out of existence.

It's the most
simplistic piece of crap

I've ever seen in my life.

Rebuttal?

No, I don't think so.

My brain is tired.

It isn't used to being
challenged anymore.

May not really like it anymore.

No offense.

Hi.

No one's home, but
please leave a message.

Catherine?

Hi.

Pick up.

Catherine?

Mother, are you hiding from me?

Am I being screened?

We go on hiatus next week.

I want to come home
and sleep in my room

with a widdle bitty puppy
doggie on the end of my bed.

No dogs left, Luce.

Got a cow and cast all.

Your bed might get
a little crowded.

But I can come home, right?

Can I?
I can, right?

Of course
you can come home, Lucy.

I should tell you
that I have a boarder.

A what?

My
caretaker got sick.

Had to quit.

I hired someone else.

Someone who lives here.

I didn't know if you
liked chocolates or flowers.

I went back and forth,
chocolates, flowers, flowers,

chocolates, chocolate, flowers.

Finally, trapped in
boyish indecision,

I opted for an orange.

Please, take it.

I... I brought it for you.

You must be Archie.

Yes.

Thank you very much.

It's very sweet of you.

Oh, no, no,
anything but sweet.

Please, it's intended
to seem slightly

eccentric, unthreateningly
clever, but not sweet.

Anything but sweet.

I saw you out there
on that tractor.

You really drive that baby.

Oh, thank you.

I've often said, if
there were a sporting

event involving large farm
vehicles, I'd be all pro.

What are you planting?

Mostly
cruciferous vegetables,

cabbage, broccoli,
cauliflower, the ever

popular Brussels sprouts.

On a more serious
note, however,

I thought that I would...

well, I thought I would invite
you to dinner one evening.

Oh, please, Miss Samuel,
give an eligible guy a break.

It's no big deal.

Yeah, but, you
see, the thing is,

Archie, I really
want to spend my time

here as unsocially as I can.

Sure.

Sure.

Yes, I'm sure that the
unrelenting presence

of human beings in
public life can make

a little privacy quite welcome.

Thanks for understanding.

Sure.

Perhaps a Campari and
soda one afternoon.

Archie.

Good guy, Archie.

Well, somewhat more
than that I think.

It's 1:00 in the afternoon,
why are you drinking?

Lunchtime in LA, Katherine.

So what are your plans today?

Can we... what/ I want...

I want to do something
I remember loving to do

when I loved doing things.

Would it be fair to ask you
not to go around just like?

You created the
concept, Katherine.

You used to go
braless everywhere.

One of the numerous
errors in judgment I since

tried to rectify, Lucille.

I own exactly
one bra, Katherine.

It's in LA.

I could strap my boobs
with an ACE bandage.

Oh, momma, I swore
I wasn't going to...

let's... let's have one of
those fabulous cathartic

conversations that
parents and children

always have right before the
final commercial message.

When you're sober,
Lucille, maybe we

can take a whack at it.

Look, you cannot
file a not guilty by reason

of insanity plea unless four,
count them, four psychologists

or psychiatrists evaluate you.

You can't just stop after one.

I am simply
inquiring what

they anticipate finding with
all this simplistic roaming

around my psyche.

They're
going to find out

you're out of your
frigging mind, Arch,

or else your ass is grass.

Questions.

I mean, did you hear that
one they asked me, Goon Lips?

You find a bag of money
on ground stenciled

on in big letters, "This
belongs to a well known child

molester," what do you do?

Well, when you're inside,
I'd strap it to a hand grenade

and shove it live
in the regulator.

Gilbert.

You hear the way my
only friend talks to me?

And it's Doctor to you Gibby.

If going to call me
Mister, call me Doctor.

Mm, mm, mm, now doesn't
that look tasty?

Ah, red stuff.

You going to help
us out here, Archie?

All those leading
questions about mom and pop.

There just should be a
law that two dumpy people

like my parents who never
desired anybody but each other

should be banned from
reproducing the species.

That's all.

I think this red stuff is
camouflaged greens stuff

from the other night.

Hey, guess you
called me today.

"People" freaking magazine.

They're going to come
down here and cover us.

Hey?

Great.

You and me, Smitty, the
last two human beings

on the face of the
Earth who haven't been

profiled in "People" magazine.

Now if there's nothing else, I'd
like to eat without the smell

of sour grapes on your breath.

New shrink tomorrow, Arch.

Mix them up good.

Smitty, why don't you just
tell me what kind of diagnosis

you want these nitwits
to come in with.

I want you to be more
complicated than their combined

abilities to define you.

No problem.

I want you to
stop looking at me

like you were looking
at me in there.

How I was looking
at you, Mr. Smith?

When you become a lawyer,
if you become a lawyer,

and you've been in practice
for 10 years or more

and your ideals
are still intact,

then you can look
at me like that.

But right now,
piss ant, stop it.

My problems
are not, repeat,

not linked to drugs, mother.

I've been clean for four months.

How can you
be clean and drink?

Hey, one drug at a time, OK?

Doesn't that make sense?
- Nope.

Sounds like horseshit.

Well, that's
tough, because I know

what's going on inside of me.

My therapist thinks my
problems may be linked

at least tangentially to diet.

What are you eating?

Not now, when I was a kid.

Oh, when you were a kid and
lived with your dad and me.

The implication being that
your problems had nothing

to do with years of drug
abuse and our my fault

as I was the dietitian
of your youth.

Excuse me, Lucy, try
a spoonful of this.

No, thank you, Archie.

He's not passing judgment.

He's only trying to
make a clinical analysis

of my depression.

Pardon me, Lucy, if I may.

You're beautiful.

You're... you're famous.

You have a dream career.

I don't understand what you
have to be depressed about.

Uh... excuse me,
Archie, but who invited

you into this conversation?

Hey, come on, now.

He lives here.

He has a PhD in mathematics
and he makes soup.

Mrs. Samuel, try.

It's zucchini with asparagus
and a cream sherry based.

It's really wonderful.

Come on, try.

Jesus, Katherine, how can
you just dismiss my concerns?

If I was one of your students,
you would take me seriously.

You were one of
my students, Lucy.

And I took you damn seriously
until you dropped out

of school to go away
so you could come

back once a year like this.

God, it's good to be home.

When Lucy
gave up on college,

I gave up on teaching because
I could no longer tolerate

the sound of other
human beings, with their

caterwauling, self-pitying,
self-righteous, self-absorbed

screechings.

I craved lack of
communication, silence.

And then Walter died.

And it has been a real
damn silent since.

Come on.

Come on.

OK, everybody, here we go.

Dr. Landrum's famous oat
bran and raisin cookies.

Mrs. S, try one.

Come on, Lucy.

Good?

Good.

Now, Mrs. S, if I may, I just
don't think it's fair of you

to ignore your
daughter's problems

just because she happens to
be a famous television star

and ought to being happy.

I have an idea.

Let's change the subject.

Raise of hands.

I know, how about a game.

Come on.
Come on, Lucy.

Here's what we'll do.

We'll play all time
great first moments.

OK?

Come on, Mrs. S.
Name the first moment

that comes to mind when
you were truly jumped up,

tap dance and yell yahoo happy.

Come on.

Come on.

Come on, Lucy.

Fine, I got dishes to do.

Reading "Wuthering
Heights" for the first time.

Really?

Archie?

Oh, seeing "Close Encounters"
first time, of course.

Lucy.

Come on.

Um... taking second
all the first time.

Good.

Mrs. S?

Fun game, Archie.

Tell me something, Lucy.

Why do you continue
doing this to each other?

We must like it.

I thought you'd
be happy that I'm

trying to clean myself up.

I want to be, Lucy.

But for years I've
been guilty of more

than I could have
possibly done to you.

Why did you come home, Lucy?

What is it you want from me?

Obviously, what you
don't have to give.

Then for God's
sake stop asking for it.

I don't mom anymore.

I'm don't wife.

I don't teach.

Well, what exactly do you do?

Fuck if I know.

Fester.

If I go, Katherine,
if I leave,

I am never, ever,
ever coming back here.

My husband died.

I lost my daughter when I
drove her away years ago.

I don't know, Lucy.

I don't know.

I'm going for a ride.

I first met
her when she was protesting

the bomb about
100 years ago when

I was right out of law
school and still in pursuit

of my rightful immortality.

Thank you.

Kay and Walter Samuel sat down
on the road to the missile

range one day and then hired me
to utilize the law of the land

to make it look like what
they did wasn't what it was,

which is to say a crime.

And I managed to do
that because I was still

young enough to believe
in justice and, B,

Kay Samuel was so...

and the night I set them
free, in the front seat

of my little sports car, I
took her tongue into my throat.

And given the choice
right, I would

have kept it there forever.

Her
eyes are like fire

stones that glow in the dark.

I see them in the sky above
and know it must be true.

Exterior
mountains, night, the moon.

Rafe and Megan nude at
waterside sharing a quince.

Rafe spits on Megan's
denuded breast.

Maladroit.

I'm maladroit?

You look like one of the
inhabitants of Galaxy 16.

I want to tell you
something, Mr. Landrum.

You're right, right.

I do have a wife.

Of course, you do, your
high school sweetheart,

Gabriela Margarita, Rotundo.

Yeah, and she was my
high school sweetheart.

Is there an echo in here?
Hello.

Hello.
- She's 26 now.

She weighs 108 pounds, same she
weighed when we got married.

There's something
for Ripley's.

We got two kids.

On your way to
a baker's dozen.

No, no more.
We finished.

Ooh, the old Catholic church
will have something to say

about that, now won't it, Lips?

We've been
married eight years.

And I haven't had another
woman since we got married.

And I don't intend to.

Something funny?

You're dreaming, Goon Lips.

You call me Goon
Lips one more time,

and I'm going to find a way to
do some serious damage to you.

Take your hands off me.

What?

Take your hands off me who?

Take your hands
off me, Goon Lips.

Regards to Broadway.

Off Broadway, Off Broadway.

where Momma
and Dada were there.

Mother was so thrilled.

So proud of you, Darling.

And Mother?

Zee mommy?

Smiling.

Schmiling?

Nee, only schmiling?

Only schmiling.

I was very proud of you, Lucy.

Gee, where have
I had that before?

Hey, hey, those scripts
you've been reading,

have you... have you...

have you found a good one yet?

Oh, the scripts,
the same old crap.

The esteemed star of our show
is making a movie in Budapest

with an Academy Award
winning director that opens

a career for him in features.

That's the end of the show.

Bye, bye, stardom

Oh, no.

She was so proud
of me that night.

How come she made me feel just
ever so extremely adequate?

Interesting play, Lucy
and nice performance.

Well, let's ask her.

Mrs. S, if you were
so proud of her...

That's not what I said,
Lucy, or the way in which I

said whatever it is I did say.

I just want you
to become another

uneducated American icon.

You never thought I'd make it.

No, Lucy, I was the
one who from infancy

practically pushed you on stage.

You were jealous of me.

Yes.

Jesus, in some
ways, and even now.

I'm going for a wee
stroll under the stars.

Not long
before he died,

Walter told me it wasn't fair
of me to disapprove of Lucy

because she had grown up to
become someone I envied when I

told him righteously that
she would have to become

much, much more
in order to become

someone I would aspire to be.

Hey, I passed
by this afternoon,

and you seem
mesmerized by a script

that I couldn't help
noticing was called

"The Journey to Galaxy 16."

How was it?

Was it the one you've
been looking for?

Oh, Jesus, one of
your quasi intellectual,

intergalactic,
sadomasochistic tales

where I'd have to spend
a great deal of time

as a naked hostage.

Quasi what?

Not exactly the
image I'm supposed

to maintain for my show.

Oh, I see.

So the fact that your first
movie you took your clothes

off, that is not conflict
with the image you

have to maintain for your show?

Oh, I see, we're
cinema history buff

along with our other interests.

That was a long
time ago, Archie.

Hey, a vast amount of
history is a long time ago.

But that doesn't erase
one moment of it.

OK, OK, maybe you didn't
understand the symbology

behind "The Journey
to Galaxy 16."

Maybe the infinity
concept confused you.

That... that...
that's a good point.

Good.

I can simplify that aspect of a.

Good, fine.

Thank you, simplify infinity.

What else?

You wrote that script?

It just occurred
to me how badly you

needed a career changing film.

And what with the
proclivity of love stories

abounding in the film industry
and the ongoing fascination

with outer space,
I just thought...

Archie, Archie, what
I'm looking for is...

I want to make people laugh.

I want to find a
romantic, literate comedy.

Comedy?

Lucy, I've seen
that show you're on.

Let me remind you, you have
all the humor of tree bark.

Hey, you know, that
really stinks, mister.

I've been really nice to you.

Yes.

Yes, you have.

I'm sorry.

I... I just...

oh, sweetheart.

Lucy.

The fact is
when Archie answered that ad,

he had no idea you
understand that it

had been placed by the
mother of Lucille Samuel.

Of course, he had heard
of her, the girl that

grew up around here
and quit the college

to run off and get famous.

And, of course, he had
heard of the early movie

that Lucy was in where
she appeared in the nude.

And in the way that
young men sometimes do,

Archie started to
dream of her, of this

famous, local naked person.

I mean, we all dreamed of her.

But Archie sort of got
carried away in his dreams.

Morning, Lucille.

What did you do
with my wine, Mother?

All gone.

I shipped two cases of
very grape here, Katherine,

and I had an open bottle.

Where is it?

Hall closet.

Ah, Lucy, I was
wondering now that you've

had 14, 15 hours
of sleep, maybe we

could talk about my screenplay.

I'm observing a day
of silence, OK, Archie.

I didn't know you
were a writer, Archie.

Oh, I dabble.

Well, actually you'd love it.

As a binding metaphor, I'm
using Plato's principle

of plentitude, which is...

Lucy?

Lucy, Lucy, what am I supposed
to do for human intercourse

if you talk to me?
- Intercourse with my mother.

Just let me ask you
one more question.

Just answer me and then
I'll go shovel manure.

Is gorgeous everything?

I mean... I mean is that the
crux of our non-relationship?

Because if it is, what are us
non-gorgeous cerebral types

supposed to do for mates?

You're not an
unattractive man, Archie.

Oh, thanks, I feel great now.

But just because
you're intriguing

and because we happen to be
in the same geographic area

does not obligate me to make
myself available to you,

now does it, Archie, seriously?

Just a passing
observation, Lucy.

But I bet a lot of your fans
will be more than a little

disgusted to know that
your pluck your pubic hairs

and that you have those little
red follicular infections high

up there on your inner thigh.

You know, Archie, a remark
like that, a lot of women

would consider that crass.

But frankly, it
just moistness me.

Hey, I just don't
think it would

kill you to wear
some shorts that

adequately cover your crotch.

It just lubes me up.

Archie, you
find an addressed and stamped

envelope open on the ground.

What do you do?

If I found a letter
open on the ground, Dr. Sachs,

I'd read it, correct
the spelling,

punctuation, maybe
clarify the content

if it seemed to warrant
that kind of attention,

reseal it, and send it on.

Am I right or wrong
about that, Gibby?

Got up early this
morning, got a lot of chores

to do today.

Going to clean off them screen,
going them make nice and clean.

There's Mrs. Samuel... hi,
ma'am... looking mighty pretty,

planting some flowers because
she's got a lot of power.

Oh, God, Lucy, I'm sorry.

I'm just cleaning the screens.

I didn't know you were in there.

Well, would you
mind turning away?

What?

You have the screen.

Would you mind getting the
hell out of my bathroom now.

Yes.
No.

Yes.
I'm sorry.

OK.

He was looking
in the window.

He's over there.

Well, people can move from
one place to another, mother.

There's this technique
called running.

I've asked you not to go
around dressed like that.

Don't, Katherine.

I am doing the best I can
with the equipment available.

Watch the onions.

The screens have to
be cleaned periodically.

Is that true or
false, Mrs. Samuel?

- True.
- So...

However?

The window in question
happens to be within the purview

of my employment at
the moment my eyes

happened to glimpse
the celebrity

Lucille Samuel taking a dump.

She tattles and I'm
branded pervert for life.

She should have been up hours
ago, taking her dump at 8:15

like everybody else.

I think it would
be a good idea

if you left Lucy to herself.

I think I should
make her a very

special dinner this evening.

Archie, I'm
trying to be subtle.

I think it would be a good idea
if you let Lucy alone period.

Don't say that.

I have said it.

Why don't you and I
have dinner tonight?

No.

I'll never eating again.

Don't laugh at me.

Why would you tell your mother
that I was peeping on you?

Really?

Do you think I'm
some kind of a jerk?

I think that's altogether
too polite, Archie.

What I really think is
that scoptophilic scuzball.

What?

Oh, I found something
you didn't know, didn't' I?

It's the beginning of
a highlight for me.

Please, I know what
scoptophilic means.

It means a voyeur, a
pervert, a peeping Archie.

I believe the
literal definition...

Don't you believe that a
person has a right to privacy?

Even a television star?

Lucy, I would not
call you a star.

I would call you a regular.

Lucille Ball was a star.

She was a major star.

And I bet even she took
the occasional dump.

Let me ask you
something, Archie.

Are you crazy?

Because if you
are, I really think

we should find a way to
communicate that to my mother

and try to get you some help.

Lucy, darling, I
don't want to fight.

Don't touch me.

He's crazy.

He's lonely.

And that makes him
unique in the world,

does it, mother, and
impervious to lunacy?

You should read his screenplay.

He is a sensitive, passionate,
complicated young man.

If you so badly want a
child that you can love

or a boy toy you can
screw, come to Los Angeles.

I'll set you up some audition.

You'll rent someone better
suited for the role.

You think I want to
have sex with Archie?

Yep.

I remember seeing
Katherine with Lucy and Walt

always in physical contact,
hand in hand, or parental palm

to child's skull, lips to cheek.

And yet I wanted
to break them up

and have her, Kay, for myself.

As my old daddy once
said, hard cock don't

know nothing about respect.

Right, Rick?

Mr. Respect.

Archie?

Archie?

Oh, God, Archie.

Do you... um... do you...

do you want to talk?

No.

Who am I going to
be ordinary with?

Who am I going to
have babies with?

Archie, your mind
gives you great power.

And with that power will come
other things, including women.

I don't want other women.

I can buy women.

I want Lucy.

But she's not available.

She has to be.

But she's not.

And you have to let her alone.

You're just jealous.

Of what?

Of my relationship with...

No.

But I do miss my friend.

And I'm here for you.

Oh, no, Archie.

No.

Archie, Archie, don't.

Please, Archie, don't.

Ah, Jesus.

An almost kiss.

His breath was like a baby's.

Almost scentless.

What does it say
about me that I was

tempted to open my mouth to this
child man, surrogate husband,

child.

Please don't
turn me down at closing time.

I'd rather take you home
and make you mine, all mine.

And I don't want
stand in line alone.

If you're going to turn
me down, don't turn me on.

Lucy Samuel,
how are you doing?

Good to see you.

Hi.

How are you?

Everybody, why don't
we let the hometown

girl have a little air.

What do you say?

Well, well,
well, lawyer Smith.

I don't like the way
you said that, darling.

You know something I don't?

I might, lawyer Smith.
I might.

But I think what I
want right now is I

want you to fill me up, Smitty.

I can do that, darling.

Bet you thought I
meant something else.

Be right back.

Hurry, Smitty.

Hurry.

Can we get your autograph?

Be right back, OK?

OK.

Uh... Miss Samuel...

Yeah, hi.

I don't know if you
remember me, Gilbert Tellez.

Gibby?

Oh, Gibby, hombre.

How are you, Lucy?

Couldn't be better, Gibby.

Well dance with me.

Right here?

Here.

What are you doing
with yourself, Gibby.

Cece and I got married.

Cecelia Martinez,
you remember her?

Cece Martinez,
Jesus, you guys have

been together for 100 years.

We have a new baby.

A baby?

Wow.

Wow.

You were always were
such bright, nice kid

for a stud horse, Gibby.

I like Lucy a lot.

I understood her, you know?

But when I asked
her out, she said

her folks wouldn't like it.

We never told her who she
could or couldn't go out with.

Race was never an issue.

And like a lot of kids, she
dumped things on Walter and me

that she didn't have
the courage or cruelty

to tell other people.

Excuse me, Gilbert,
we're together here.

Mr. Smith with you, Lucy?

Never saw him
before in my life.

Break his arms, Gibby.

You take care
of yourself, Lucy.

What you've achieved means a lot
to a lot of folks around here.

Thank you, Gibby.

Bring your baby out.

Call me, OK?

I'll call you.

So you want to
go outside, have a little walk,

Lucy?

Get some air.

Dance, Smitty.

Be romantic.

Oh, well, having romantic
fantasies about you for about

a decade and a half
now, especially

every Tuesday between 8:00
and 9:00 in the evening.

Jesus, Smitty, please.

OK Lucy, come on, let's go.

Give me your keys.

You OK?

Lucy?

Lucille?

I know what this is
going to sound like,

but I understand why
men murder women.

On the night I lost my
race for the state senate,

I came out to see Katharine.

Of all people in the god damn
world, I needed her to tell me

I wasn't some worthless
piece of crap.

How could she be in there
pounding the bedsprings

with big man Walt Samuel when
my friggin' plan to become

friggin' president of the
United States for her just gone

into the toilet?

And she didn't have a clue when
to be available to a person.

When you spray this place, Rick?

Don't use that, all right?

This is
so awful tonight.

It's just so sad
that we haven't...

that we're not... that
we haven't improved.

I mean, what's going
to happen to everyone?

It's a pretty
big question, Lucy.

Don't you hate the people
who ask big questions?

Pull over.

Why?

I'm feeling spontaneous.

Lucy... what are you doing?

Where are you going?

Come on, Gibby.

Tackle me.

Football.

Lucy, cut it out.

Come on, tackle me.

Come on, take me down, Gibby.

Lucy, cut it out.

Am I such a terrible person?

No.

Well, then why do
people treat like I am?

Like I'm dirty?

We can untangle here, Lucy.

You know, I used to
wonder what my life

might have been like if we'd...

if we let our
relationship happen.

You could have
play pro football.

And your faith would have
made me a great actress.

I couldn't play
pro ball, Lucy.

See, I couldn't even stop
you at the goal line.

It's refreshing, a man who has
so much respect for his wife.

Not just for her, Lucy.

For you too.

Come on.

Come on, let's go home.

Come on, Lucy.

I'm staying here.

Come on.

I'm going to have to drag you.

No.

OK?

Come on, get back in the car.

She's drunk.

Hello, Archibus.

Lucy.

Why did I think
I could come back

here and feel like it used to?

Did you ever notice,
Archie Pasta, how

nowhere feels like it used to?

Pretend I'm your little girl,
Archie Cap, and hold me.

Nobody else has
hold here anymore.

Isn't there any daddy
in men any more.

I have daddy in me.

Oh, Archie Cat, I can't
steal you from mommy.

Just be my daddy
and give me rubbies.

What are you doing?

Nothing.

Samuel summer home.

Some are home, some are not.

Oh, hi.

Yeah, I got your letter.

I don't... I don't know.

I'm... I'm... I'm just
not sure I'm prepared

to take on a position
this coming academic year.

Yeah, sure, I'll think about it.

I promise.

Thank you.

Bye.

Job offer?

Nine morons at Princeton
sitting around inventing truth.

Well, somebody's
got to do that work.

Well, that's wonderful,
Archie, that they want you.

I get job offers all
the time, Mrs. Samuel.

I may be a completely
inept human being.

But I'm an incredible
mathematician.

Maybe you should consider
taking that job, Archie.

What are you saying?

Are you trying to get rid of me?

Nothing happened between
us last night, Lucy.

Just think you ought to know.

It's 2:00 in the afternoon.

Guess who I saw at
Calver's last night.

I don't know, Lucy.

Who?

Lawyer Smith.

It's... uh... driven
me crazy for years.

Did Daddy ever tell
you what I told him?

About what?

I was 13.

I was sitting on
the front porch.

In my freshman year
at the university,

I screwed up my umpteenth
serious relationship

and Daddy was extolling
the virtues of marriage,

so I told him.

What?

About you and lawyer
Smith kissing.

Oh, my God.

That must have hurt you
so badly, and your dad.

Listen, just to keep
the record straight,

that relationship never
went past that kiss.

In fact, that night in
the front seat of that car

was the only time in
20 years of marriage

that I have ever touched
or been touched by anyone.

I've been very selfish.

Selfish, selfish.

You have given so
much to so many kids.

Remember when
I used to wake up at

night when I was a little girl?

Hold me from behind
like you did then.

Oh I remember a period when
you were about three years old

and you'd wake up in the
night and come to Daddy's side

of the bed with what
he called your Martin

Luther King's speech.

Daddy, I have a dream.

And he'd lift you between us.

And we would cuddle you there.

I miss you, Momma.

Thank God, I have missed you.

I have missed you.

After holding
Lucy for several hours,

I walked to the cemetery where
Walter is buried, where Lucy

would soon be
buried, and wanting

to relieve Walter of some
burden I can't imagine

the dead actually have to bear.

I tried to communicate
to him that Lucy

and I are going to help
each other become all right.

Most importantly for
Lucy, it was a beginning.

Monday, June
10th, corking Mike Donald,

Jesus, good sport,
terrible politics.

My mom.

Oh.

Have you see my journal?

No.

Where'd you leave it?

If I knew, I'd go to
that place and get it.

Good thinking.

Hey, let's got to
Juarez for lunch.

Just the two of us.

Remember that cafe?

Red snapper smothered
in pico de gallo.

Is it still there?

God, I haven't
done there in years.

I know.

I'll get dressed.

Hi, Archie.

Yeah, still here.

Still a member of this
little ad hoc family.

And by golly, I'll
anxiously await your return.

Well, Am I permitted to take
off with my daughter alone?

Absolutely.

No one likes a
good reconciliation

better than I do.

I'm changing my life

Kind of formidable job for
one day, wouldn't you say?

Found it outside, out yonder.

Did you read it?

Let's change the subject.

I've just completed a second
draft of our screenplay.

And I think you'll be
pretty pleased with some

of the adjustments I've made...

Archie, what exactly
are you getting at?

Let me say only this, Lucy.

In the midst of this poignant
reconciliation between you

and your mother, how would
you like me to tell what kind

of feelings you have for her?

She's knows.

No, Lucy.

She doesn't.

She only knows what she knows.

What she doesn't knows
is the poetic passion

of your disdain for her.

March 15th of last
year, quote, "There I

was in the park whacked
out of my head on smack.

I scream at the old lady
and her pissing dog.

I won't take care
of you, mother,

when you're old and
shriveled, helpless.

I won't be there for
you because I hate you.

I hate, hate, hate, hate you."

Unquote.

Utterly ridiculous,
Mrs. S. I found it.

He wants to tell
you what he's read.

Archie, did you
read Lucy's journal?

God, gee, I mean, you find
the personal and private journal

of the celebrated
American personage,

whom you happen to worship.

Are you going to read it or not?

I might want to.

I'd like to think
I could resist.

Yeah, well, you would.

You know you would.

Don't you want to know what
she had to say about you?

No.

Fine.

I got to go do some stuff.

You have a nice lunch in Juarez.

Archie, I'm going
to ask you to leave.

Leave?

You're going to ask me to leave?

You're asking me to leave?

I think it would
be best for all three of us.

Oh, I see.

Now, you're deciding what's
best for all three of us.

You weren't even a human
being till I showed up here.

My daughter needs me.

And I can't give her what
she needs if you're here too.

But I need you too.

Accept that job.

Use your wonderful mind.

I don't want that job.

I can have that job
any time if any truth...

I want to stay here with
you and drive the tractor

and grow veggies.

Don't make this more
difficult for her, Archie.

Momma, I have a stretch
mark under my left breast.

It's underneath, but
it's still there.

Oh, no.

It's like a zipper on a
piece of soft-sided luggage.

And here, look here, I have
these little broken blood

vessels on the bridge my nose.

Oh, gosh, that's awful.

You can cover that with makeup.

Oh, momma, I want to lie down
with someone I don't pretend

is someone else.

You will find someone.

You are so beautiful.

And you're so talented.

Hey, I have an idea.

Why don't we not talk
about me any more today.

Wouldn't that be good, huh?

Do you ever want to fall
in love again, momma?

Oh, that doesn't
seem fair to your dad.

But Daddy's gone.

I know.

What did you used to tell your
classes every year, from "Lear"

I think it was.

You remembered that?

Mm.

Ah, ripeness is all.

Let yourself be open
to the possibilities.

How was lunch,
rapprochement in full flower.

Yep.

No booze.

No pills.

No other stuff.

What else?

Inquiring minds
are keen to know.

Actually, I've decided to
quit the show and stay here.

Clean myself up.

Go back to school.

Hey.

It's a miracle in our time.

You can have him.

I don't want him.

I'm leaving tomorrow, Lucy.

Where will you go, Archie?

Well, I'm just
conjecturing, of course,

but maybe I'll go play
a couple of seasons

with the Dallas Cowboys.

Maybe I'll take up that
acting thing, Replace

you on "Banyon's Brood."

Maybe go into extermination.

Bugs and cockroaches.

Something like that.

I don't want him.

He didn't love me.

Because you see,
Lucy, someone has

got to lead the way to a
formal, nationwide effort

to purge our society
of the unhealthy.

Oh, I've decided to lead
the revolution by ridding us

of one member of
one group that we

can most definitely do without.

Celebrities who ain't
what they pretend to be.

Anyway.

We only want.

Don't threaten me, Archie.

Who is this little warped...

I believe I'm quoting
accurately from your journal

entry dated this morning.

You had no right
to read that, Archie.

You're a public figure, Lucy.

You belong to your fans.

And one of them, this
one, is going to kill you.

I'm going to end
your life, Lucy,

unless you make love with me.

I'd rather die.

Then that will serves
as your last wish.

Someone to play with.

But all I want is...

The wind started suddenly

to howl through the
house as it will

without warning
that time of year.

I walked toward the
door to close the screen

and saw there in the
distance in the gathering

darkness my child on the
ground, Archie above her,

something in his hand
held to her face.

It's an image from every
parent's nightmare.

I explode out the door.

But I seem to be
moving in slow motion.

The memory flashes in my head.

Two boys outside my
classroom the second year

I taught, one
screaming at the other.

You don't got the balls.

Instinctively, I want to
correct the boy's grammar,

but say instead, Arlen
give me that God.

And Arlen gives me the gun and
cements my reputation for years

to come.

Archie, give the gun.

No.

For one day, it's the lead
story IN all the newspapers

and networks,
bigger than the war

in Bosnia, famine in Somalia,
peace in the Middle East.

That's 24 hours.

America loves two
things above all else,

the joys that accrue
to its celebrities

and equally the catastrophes
that befall them.

It took us three
days to find him

in the desert, naked,
dehydrated, his body

covered with welts and bites.

And even the doctor
said self inflicted.

He should have been
dead from the exposure,

but we found him
under some scrub oaks

singing some nonsense tune.

I'm not going to sign any
autographs at a funeral.

No, this is a funeral.

Have some respect.

I'm not going to sign any
autographs at a funeral.

Kay?

What you got there?
- Bought her.

It's new artillery.

Why don't we...

Well, I killed
my cow and my calf.

I don't want any living
things on this property

that depend on me.

I held the momma's
head until she died.

It took a while.

It's so strange
after so many years

to remember your smell, Joey.

Well, I shouldn't call a man of
your age Joey, should I, Joe?

Joseph.

Joey's fine, Kate.

OK.

That's a big chance
for you, isn't it?

Defending a celebrity murderer.

Well, everybody's entitled
to the best defense.

He wants to see you.

Now, for the sake of my
case, I don't want him to,

but if you want to see
him, I can arrange it.

In the movie of the week
scheduled for sweeps week

about my daughter's death,
there should be a scene in which

the mother goes to the
jail under the pretense

of talking to the murderer,
of getting straight with them.

She pulls a gun
from her underwear

and shoots the little pricks
pecker off and is exonerated

by a jury of peers
on the grounds

that she was temporarily
out of her fricking mind.

- Hello, Gilbert.
- Mrs. Samuel.

I need to check
your purse to make

sure you're not
carrying anything that

might be construed as a weapon.

On my mom, Gilbert.

Better check my underwear.

Hello, Archie.

Hello.

Can't you come closer?

Can't she come closer, Gibby.

Just stay clear of
the bars, Mrs. Samuel.

It's all right, Kay.

We'll be right here.

How are you?

Not that good, Archie.

How about yourself?

I wouldn't say I was
too terrific either.

Well, that's good.

How are my oats
and my veggies.

I let them go.

So what have you got
to say for yourself?

What have I got to
say from myself, Archie?

Yes, that's right.

Did you think that I invited
you here to sit unresponsively

as you did all the
time that Lucy and I

were on a collision course.

Or maybe you thought
that I asked you

to drop in to hear an apology.

It crossed my mind, you
might... you might want

to make an apology, Archie.

Did it ever cross
your mind that it's

you who owes me the apology?

When you use your parents,
you lose your past, Archie.

But when you lose your
children, you lose your future.

You took away my future, Archie.

We had just begun to reach to
each other for the first time...

Well, you should have
reached out to each other a

long time ago.

But we didn't

Well, you should have.

What is... what?

Am I on trial here.

Yes.

Because I get the
impression you think you're

some kind of pitiable victim.

I should have been
able to help you,

to teach you, to stop
you, to change you,

to fix you, but I couldn't.

Because you didn't
try hard enough.

No, Archie, I am
not in this alone.

I am not responsible
for my daughter's death.

Yes you are.
Yes, you are.

If I won't be responsible for
myself, then you have to be.

And I won't.

So you are.

You did this.

You did it.

You're the one.

Then you're right.

Then you're absolutely
right, Archie.

And I should stand trial for
your actions, while you what?

Sit on my swing and hurl
epithets at the void

because you are a lonely
genius who couldn't get laid.

Do you really think I would have
chosen you over my own child.

I didn't mean to hurt you.

Don't touch me.

Gilbert.

Katherine, I want
to be your future.

I want to be your family.

Mrs. Samuel, what
you said in there.

I just want you to
know that you were

a very important teacher to me.

And I learned from you.

I'm very sorry
about what happened.

Thank you, Gilbert.

Listen to me,
Archie, you can't go into court

and project that
kind of remorse.

Would I ever do
anything to endanger

your book deal or
your Miller Genuine

Draft commercial, Smitty.

I'm going to get
you off, Archie.

We'll have brewskies.

See you tomorrow.

Ay, ay,
ay, I am a Chicano grande.

I live in a trailer, got
a fat wife and 12 kids

because we don't
have no condoms,

no birth control pills.

You're ignoring me.

And I don't like it.

Ay, ay, ay, my Goon Lips,
he does it by Jesus.

What did I tell
you about calling

me Goon Lips, Mr. Landrum.

I don't know,
Goon Lips. let me think.

You really
figure, Mr. Landrum,

you will say you are
crazy and you'll go free?

I know it.

But, hey, you're
the one that believes in all

that confession, contrition.

Gives you the license to do
whatever the hell you want to.

Oh, poor Dio, I sorry.

I make a mistake.

That's OK, you're forgiven.

I have to take a stand
about what kind of world

I'm going to leave my
child, Mr. Landrum.

As the story goes, Archie
grabbed the deputy's keys

after calling him into his cell,
complaining of excruciating

abdominal pains.

What are you
doing, Mr. Landrum?

Where you get those keys?

You just tossed them to me.

And supposedly, Archie
grabbed the deputy's gun.

Let go of my gun, Mr. Landrum.

I didn't try to take your gun.

Cut it out.

Then Archie
tried to make a run for it.

Are you crazy, Mr. Landrum.

You can't get out of here.

Oh, Jesus.

Don't call on
Jesus, Mr. Landrum.

He's not available to you.

OK.

I want to go back
to my cell now.

Let me go back to my...

Officer needs assistance.

Gilbert, in the name of your
Lord and your Savior Jesus

Christ, you cannot do this.

Oh, but I can.

Gilbert, place the gun down.

You know, I wasn't
crazy by Dr. Landrum.

I felt awful about
what I had to do.

As the days passed, I feel
only regret and not guilt.

And I'll go on.

I know what happened.

At least I think I do.

I asked the DA to
investigate, but he told me

that he saw no
evidence whatsoever

that one of the county's most
trusted law enforcement agents

had perpetrated a
vigilante murder.

"People" friggin' magazine.

I swore I was going to
destroy all the journals.

But I decided to look
in one selection,

Just simply turning to the
book I happened to be holding.

It was written five long years
ago when she was about to open

a play in New York.

I mean of all the pages,
fate, luck made me

turn to this page in this book.

Oh, sure,
I'm doing this for myself.

But I want my
parents to be proud,

because hard as it is to accept
sometimes, everything I do

is repayment to
them for their love,

even though I don't know how
to say that to them anymore,

or at least to my mother.

I love you, momma.

I wish it were
possible how ironic

that will make a difference.

I got to go.

I have to go.

And thank you all.

You've all really been great.

Thanks.

Oh, for heaven's sake.

Oh, no.

Well, let's eat.

Thank you.

You can have him.

I don't want him.

He didn't love me anyway.

He only wanted
someone to play with.

But all I wanted
was a love to stay.

Well, if you get
that, that dumb fella,

there's only one
thing that you can do.

Just dig a hole and
jump right in it

and pull the ground
right, right over you.

You can have him.

I don't him.

He didn't love anyway.

He only wanted
someone to play with.

But all I wanted
was a love to stay.

The boy I loved,
he up and left me.

He ran away, yeah,
with my best friend.

Comes back home
for just an hour.

When the daylight
comes, he's gone again.

You can have him.

I don't want him.

He didn't love me anyway.

He only wanted
someone to play with.

But all I wanted
was a love to stay.

Life without love
is mighty empty,

but you know confession
is good for the soul.

I'd rather have a love that
I can cling to than have

the world and all its gold.

You can have him.

I don't want him.

He didn't love me anyway.

He only wanted
someone to play with.

But all I wanted
was a love to stay.

You can have him.

I don't want him.

He didn't love me anyway.

He only wanted
someone to play with.

But all I wanted
was a love to stay.

You can have him.

I don't want him.

He didn't love me anyway.

He only wanted
someone to play with.