Off the Black (2006) - full transcript

Strike two!

Let's go,
baby!

We're with you,
Dave. Come on.

Come on, Dave!

Stay in the zone, Dave! Stay in the zone!

You got what it takes. You struck
out 10 batters already this game.

You need one more!
don't fuck up. Don't fuck up.

Don't fuck up.
Don't fuck up.

That's it.

Put it down the middle,
Dave! Full count! Come on!

Ball four.



You're blind, ump!

What, are you drunk?

Our boys are out of the
play-offs because of you.

You know I don't pick favorites. Oh,
yeah? Yeah?

Screw you!

Fuck 'em all.

Hell of a game tonight.

The pitcher from cedar Springs
walked in the winning run.

It was a tough call.

I'm gonna have to wear a hat
and shades when I go in town.

The parents... oh, boy.
They wanted blood.

I didn't know
what the heck... he...

Fuck.

Shit.



Crap.

Hell of a game tonight.

The pitcher for cedar Springs
walked in the winning run.

Tough call. I'm gonna have to wear
a hat and shades when I go in town.

The 371 Mark in right field.

David Wright with
his 16th home run of the year!

And the brewer lead is cut to 7-5.

Get your goddamn monkey-ass
away from my car!

Oh,
shit. Fuck. Hold it right there.

Hold it.
Don't make a move.

There's no telling what I'm
liable to do. The gun's loaded.

Don't shoot! Are you holding the gun? No,
I don't think so.

I'mholding the gun.
Right?

All right, get up.

Okay, you're gonna walk
over to my front door. Okay.

You're gonna open it and
you're gonna go inside.

I'm gonna have my gun sticking
in your kidneys the whole time.

Just don't shoot.

Sit in the chair!

Sit still while I call the cops.

Oh, boy, they're gonna love
this... -30 in the morning.

All right, take off the mask.

I said, take off
the goddamn mask!

Oh, Jesus Christ.

You? What the hell
are you doin'?

What's your father
gonna say? Huh?

What are you thinkin' about?

I'm sorry.
It wasn't even my idea. Why do I care?

Grow up, boy! Take some
responsibility for your actions.

Well, after you
cost US the game...

Oh, I cost you the game,
did I? I cost you the game?

You were pitching, and your
teammates let in two runs on errors.

So you think I cost you the game?

Sloppy play.
That's what cost you the game.

So don't put it on my ass.

Okay.

Oh, man.

- What?
- Nothing.

Shit.

I don't know
what I'm gonna do with you.

All right, listen,
I'm not gonna call the cops...

If you deal with that yard and
you take care of the broken window.

And I already know it was Paul
Michaels and Todd hunter that was with ya.

If it was up to me, I'd rat those little
s.O.B.'S out the first chance I got.

But it doesn't matter to me...

Whether you deal with the yard
yourself or have your friends help ya,

so long as it gets done.

Okay?
Yeah.

Thank you. I know you're
doing me a huge favor...

Don't start kissing my ass. I
already know I'm doing you a favor.

Listen.

I'm gonna go and get me and kellydawn
a beer. You want a soda or somethin'?

Wait, kel...
Your dog has a last name?

No.

It's not hyphenated,
damn it. It's one word.

Kellydawn!
Oh.

Kellydawn drinks beer.

Yeah, she drinks
a little bit of beer.

She doesn't get plastered
or nothin'.

No dog of mine's gonna
teetotal. Know what I'm sayin'?

This little bitch here,
she's a little queen.

She eats a steak
every night of the week.

Leftovers, things like that?

No, I don't feed her leftovers. I make
it just for her. I can't eat meat anymore.

Wow. Sure I can't get you nothin'?

- Yeah, I'm sure.
- Uh, raisins?

Uh, no, i'm... I'm good.

That's it.

Dave! Dave, what happened? What happened?

You okay,
man? Did he try to mess with you?

Dude, two more minutes, I woulda
gone in there. I was gonna break his legs.

He's just a crazy old man.
Let's just forget about it.

Yeah.

David!

David James tibbel,
time to get up.

Just five more... hey, loser,
up. You have to drive me to school.

Remember?

Get up.

Dad.

Uh, you have a button missing.

Oh.

Yeah.
I didn't notice. Yeah.

I'll fix it for you. No,
that's all right. I'll fix it.

Okay.

Thanks.
I'll put it on your bed.

- You gonna be ready to go in, like, five minutes?
- Sure.

Thank you.

Oh, you're welcome.
Hey, ash?

You know you got weeds around your neck,
right?

Think it looks nice?

Yep.

Yeah, I think so too.

Oh, shit.

Oh, shit.

I'm sorry. You can probably see this
pile of change sitting on my dresser.

You don't have 75 cents? No.

I don't think... look, is it all right if
I give you the money tomorrow?

D-Do you need 75 cents?
I have it right here.

Uh, you're a pitcher,
aren't you?

Uh, yeah, actually.

That's right.
Um...

Okay. Fine.
Here, just...

Just... just take it.
Don't even worry about it.

No, I'll pay you back. I don't
take money. Scout's honor.

Here you go.
Sorry about that.

Hey, no worries.
Thanks.

Uh, sure.

Hey.

How's it goin'?

W-Where you coming from?

Day job.

Something you have to look
forward to when you graduate.

It's a responsibility.
It's part of being an adult.

A lot of kids can't handle responsibility.

You know what I mean?

Hey,
get the t.P. Too.

And just so you know,

it's not that I'm embarrassed.

It's an eyesore...

For me.

The neighbors can suck it.

So get it down.

Well, how do you suppose I
do that? It's not my problem.

Figure what you did
to get it up there,

and then do it in reverse.

Hey, David.

There's a tall ladder
round in back.

You can use it if you want to.

Thanks.
Yeah.

A solid major leaguer.

Son of a bitch.

Two strikes,
the count. 2-2 pitch.

The pitch is lifted in the air
towards center and then crossing...

Shit. Piss. Corruption.

Yeah, here you go.

Take that.

David.

Go home.

I'm, uh, not finished yet. Well,
you're not gonna finish today.

So go on home
and come back tomorrow.

Well, why?

Why?

Because you've worked enough today.

So go home and suck
on your mama's titties.

All right.

My mom doesn't live with US.

That's too bad.

Hey!

Tomorrow, same place, same time.

Okay.

Strike...

Three!

You're out!

Beautiful, isn't it,

at night?

And I get to work here.

They just cut the grass.

And I swear, that smell
is as sweet as it was...

50 years ago...

When my father took me
to my first game.

I'm a lucky man.

I'm a very lucky man.

Hey, dad.

You sure been making
a lot of photos lately.

Yeah.

Better be careful.

Stay down there too long,
you become a mole.

Mole. Don't have eyes.
Can't see a thing.

Hmm.

You can always take
care of me.

Yeah.

Do you ever think about mom?

No, n-n-not really.

Yeah.
Yeah, I do.

Why did you let her go?

What?

Why did she leave?

Your mother loved you...
Love... loves you.

I-I don't see her here
right now.

Look, it's, um...

It's not that simple.

Your mother,

um, wasn't the woman...

That... all of US
thought she was.

What?
She wasn't happy.

A lot of people
aren't happy, dad.

No, she wasn't happy
for a very long time.

Wh... what the hell
does that mean?

Look,
you want to discuss your mother? Yes.

Okay, well, we'll talk about it
sometime. We're talking about it now.

Well, now's not a good time.

Look, I'm beat.

Uh-huh. I'm just... I'm beat.

Ray, you should go home.

You got some big decisions to make.

It's not a question of
do we perform surgery?

It's where do we start?

You understand me?

I'm not gettin' cut.

Hey.
You ump...

Umpire?
Yeah, I'm an umpire.

I-I-I thought I recognized you.

My, uh... my son
used to play ball...

Till he graduated six years ago.

What was the name?
Travis. Varlie?

Oh, varlie.

Do you remember him? Yeah,
sure, I remember. Number seven.

That's right.
Yeah. Played third base.

He had a real strong arm.

I remember him pulling off some surprising
as hell plays for a high schooler.

What's he doing?

Uh, well, uh, Travis, uh,
lives in arbortown now.

He got married last may,
and his firstborn's on the way.

If you
can believe that.

They grow up fast now,
don't they? Yeah, they sure do.

They never told me that.

Yeah, well, congratulations on
being a grandpa. Oh, uh, thank you.

How's it goin'?

Fine.
Good.

Don't you have
a game to ump today?

Ah, it doesn't start
for a couple hours.

How much money do you have?

I... i...

How do you plan to pay
for my broken car window?

Well, how much
were you thinking...

A few hundred. I mean,
I haven't had it priced out yet, but...

You got a few hundred? No.

But your father would loan it to
you if you told him why you needed it.

Is that right?

Huh?

I got a proposition.

Why don't you
come inside with me.

You want one?
Nah, just kiddin'.

You're too young
to have one. Right?

Uh, right.

Whew. Are you happy?

Uh, what? I...
Are you happy, kid?

I don't know.
Yeah, I guess.

Well, which one is it?
"Yeah" or "I guess"?

I-I don't know.

Um, I'm assuming that you want
me to say "yes," so I'll just say "yes."

Good.

That's good.
You should be happy, David,

Inside and out.

You think I'm happy?

I... don't know.
I don't know you that well.

Can you try and answer?

As-as happy
as anybody else, I suppose.

You're just avoiding the question.

Say what you mean,
you little pussy. Yes or no?

No. No. I... no. You're... I don't
think that you're happy at all.

Good.
Uh, you're right, David.

No, I am not happy.

But I wear it well.

I'm miserable, in fact.

I'm 57.

That makes me three times you.

There's not much in life
that makes it exciting for me.

There's not much out there.

And, on top of it all,
I got my high school reunion.

You know what that means.

Do you have any idea
why people go to reunions?

To see
all their old friends?

No, to tally up
who they're beatin'.

They can't help it. They just gotta
find out who's worse off than they are.

That sucks, doesn't it?

Yeah.

But you wanna know
what's gonna happen this time?

I'm gonna go for the first time.

I'm gonna go to my reunion.

And if anybody says anything to me,
they're gonna have to say it to myface.

Okay. And
you know what else?

I'm gonna win.

And you're gonna help me.

I... I am?

Toad Ramsey.

He was an alcoholic.

Irish cat.

Died when he was 41.

Ah.

He was a pitcher too.

One day he was
laying them bricks, you know?

Split one, cut that tendon
right there in his hand.

He had to find a new way
to grip ahold of the ball.

And you know
what he come up with?

The knuckleball.

Can you believe that?
You know?

That's, uh... yeah.
That's...

I-I don't really see where
you're going with that, but...

The knuckleball moves all over.
You don't know where it's gonna go.

Sometimes in life you gotta
roll with the punches and just,

you know, make things up.

I can't go to my reunion alone,
so you're gonna have to go with me.

What? And you know what else?

We're gonna be blood.

W-Wait! I don't see what
the problem is. You don't?

You just asked me to go
to your high school reunion.

No, no, no! I asked you to pretend to
be my son at my high school reunion.

That's pretty screwed up. No,
it isn't.

- I don't even look like you.
- Says you.

Whatever!
You look like me.

I feel for you. It's just weird...
please don't get any closer.

Weird? What does that mean?
What about my broken car window?

Oh, no, you don't! What about that,
you little turd?

Do you hear me?
Do you hear what I said?

Maybe.

You okay?

Fine.

You know, dad didn't go
to work yesterday.

Or the day before.

What are you talking about?

Yeah, that's it. Ray!

Yeah?
Um...

Whoa.
Jesus Christ.

What the hell happened to you?

You look like a worm
set up shop in your colon.

Well, I'm fine, so...
Are you sure?

Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Really?

Yeah. I wanted to talk to you about
what you... you asked me about before.

Yeah?
Um...

Uh-huh? And, I don't know,
I guess I've just been...

I thought about it a little bit...
do you need one of these?

Yeah.
And, um...

I'll do it. I'll... I'll
go to your reunion.

Are you serious?
Really? Yeah. Yeah.

As long as we're on the same
page about what I'm doing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay. Shoot.

I go to your reunion, I do the dog-and-pony
show... that's it. I'm done. Gone.

Right. Now, you positive you wanna
do this? Yeah, I wanna help you.

All right. All right. So...

And once that's over, the slate's clean,
right? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Fresh as a Daisy.

Fresh as a gravestone.
All that stuff.

Okay. It's set. Okay,
just a... I got this.

Okay. Here.
Here, David.

There you go.

"No hippie hair"?

No.

What we're gonna do is take our
tape and feed it through a tape timer...

And attach it to the back of our vehicle.

One ball,
one strike. First year with the patriots.

24-year-old out of palm beach...

Want one? Uh,
thought I was too young. Remember?

Whatever, whatever.

But I'm offering.
Right there it is.

Shit. Sorry.
Don't worry about it.

Tastes good,
doesn't it? Uh, yeah.

Yeah. You know, I was a lot younger
than you when I was drinkin' beer.

I've had beer before. Sorry, old-timer.

I didn't mean
to ruffle your feathers.

That's all right.

If you drink that beer like a man,
I'll let you have another one.

But you're gonna have to go out back and get it
from the fridge, where I keep my fishing beer.

Your fishing beers?
You fish? Yeah.

Fishing.

Didn't your old man
ever take you fishing?

I don't think
I've everbeen fishing.

Oh, Jesus. Then you don't know
anything about women, do ya?

Uh...

Uh, no. No, I don't.

You'll have to come with me sometime then.

Yeah,
right. Why don't we just start with beer.

Consider it done.
Good.

I'll be right back.

Man, you okay? No. I just tried to take a piss.

It hurt like a bitch.

Should probably get
that checked out. I have.

Nothing you can do about it.
It's just age.

Remember that the next time you try to
write your name in the snow with your pee.

Got you your beer.
Oh, great.

Whew.

Ah.

You gonna come to the
state play-offs? I'm umpin'.

- I might do that.
- What do you mean, you might?

You should. I mean, you're gonna
play one of these teams next year.

- That's if I play next year.
- "If" you're still playin'?

I don't know what I'm gonna do
next year or the year after that.

All right. You got a career
you wanna pursue?

Well, I like the idea of being
an archaeologist. You know?

I mean, digging up pottery and, uh...

And, uh, like,
arrowheads and things like that.

Actually,
I have a pretty good collection already.

My mom gave me her collection, she got from
her grandfather when she was a little kid.

That's really nice.

I mean, if you think about it,
how realistic is that?

How realistic is
me becoming an archaeologist?

I sort of feel clueless.

Well, you're not alone.
Stick with baseball.

How long is that gonna
last? That's a good question.

It doesn't really make me happy.

That's too bad.

You okay?

I'm fine. Well, I'm doing
fine too, Dave. Thank you for asking.

What?
Exactly.

You're not the only one who has bad days,
you know. What am I supposed to ask you?

Are you having a bad day? No. Just ask
me what's going on in my life sometimes.

All right, what's going on in your
life sometimes? Do you even care?

Yes! Why would I ask
if I didn't care?

I have to sing a song by myself
for chorus. I'm sorta nervous.

Really? Are you serious? Yeah.

Like, really you have to sing?

In front of the whole school?

Well, sing it.

I'm not a trained monkey,
you know.

You have to sing in front of the whole school.
You're not gonna sing in front of your brother?

They talked to US about peer pressure,
like, literally, last week.

Oh. Really? I think
you're afraid. No. No.

I think you're a
scaredy cat. No.

Then sing it. Do it! No. No!

As your older brother,
do it now!

What, you want me
to just sing it right here?

Please.

Want to, uh, call it a day? We
haven't gotten any bites all day.

You're a real whiner.
You know that?

No, I just...

Do you know who Henry schmidt
was? This fella was a pitcher.

He was from Texas.

In his rookie year
he played for the Dodgers.

He won 20 games.

You know what he did
for his second year?

You tell me.

He sent in his second-season
contract unsigned...

With a note
attached to it saying,

"I do not like
to live in the east,

and I won't report."

He never played another game in the majors.

Why?
Why?

Because Henry schmidt...

Knew he had to walk away.

Because some voice...

Deep inside of him...

Was telling him...

It was time.

Maybe you have a voice deep
inside of you that's telling you it's time?

Not like that, no.

So why don't we do what I
said when we first got here.

Just shut up and wait.

And if that doesn't work,
what did I say to do? Wait some more.

Yeah.

Yo!

Dave? Hello. Hey!
What's up, man?

What's goin' on,
buddy? How's it goin', guys?

What's up, bro? Wanna check
out a movie with US tonight?

Uh, I think I gotta get
some stuff done tonight, so...

Okay.
All right.

Well, I'm just curious, man. What
happened the other day? You bailed on US.

You know, I'm sorry.
I had some errands to do.

No,
'cause we drove by the ump's house.

Funniest thing. We
saw your truck out front.

I was out there to apologize.

You sure that's all?

What else would I being doing,
Todd? We have no idea.

But toddy here was thinkin' that might not
be the first time you've been over there.

- Is that so?
- Are you hangin' out with the ump?

Do you wanna hang out with that wack job? I'm
taking care of shit so you two don't have to.

You guys should be
thanking me. Thank you.

Are you sure you're not
lettin' him suck your dick?

Where'd you learn how to shoot?

Military. Did you get drafted?

No, I volunteered.

They sent me over to Germany
for a year and a half.

It was boring as hell,

so I asked them to move me.

Did you go back
to the u.S.?

'Nam. I did two tours
in 'nam before I got back.

You asked to go to Vietnam?

What did you do there? I flew.

- I flew c-123s.
- Well, did you drop bombs?

Yeah, we dropped bombs.

No, you idiot.

Not everybody that flew
dropped bombs and blew shit up.

Well, then, did you...
Fly people back and forth? No, no.

I did herbicide spray missions.

What is that?

You know when people are out in
their yard spraying weeds and insects?

Yeah.

That's what I did,

only on a much grander scale.

Your buddy from the mall...
Said you have a crush on me.

He's... he's an asshole.

Does that mean
you don't? No. No.

It just...

It just means he's an asshole.

So how do you know ray?

Um...

Um, we...

I-I play baseball.
So...

I mean, I also
vandalized his house.

Yeah, Ray's been umping forever.

You know,
I played softball in high school. Really?

Fast pitch.
Yeah, I was pretty good too.

I'm Debra, by the way. Dave.

It was nice of the
two of you to come to the game.

You practically begged me to come. Oh,
I begged you?

That's the way it goes now, huh?

Hey, what are these?
Those?

They're moonflowers.
They only blossom at night.

Debra's got an obsession
about 'em.

They're more like
diamonds to her.

Note taken. You want
a pad to write it down?

No, I'm okay.
All right.

Hey, listen.
Why don't you go in there...

And help her with
the dishes or something?

Okay. And you're gonna sit
here and look at the moonflowers?

Yeah.
Okay.

There's nothing sissyish
about looking at flora.

You know what I'm saying?

What? Nothing.

All right.

Whoa!

What?
Um...

- Is that...
- A syringe? Yeah.

- No, I mean, is it... - what,
you never saw a junkie before?

Let me ask you another question.
Have you ever known a diabetic before?

Oh, I know. I know.

Sorry. Don't worry about it.

I try not to take my Insulin in front of
other people. It kind of freaks them out.

But Malcolm doesn't mind,
do you? No, you don't.

You're used to seeing mommy shoot up,
aren't you? Oh, I know.

You're my perfect little man.
Don't ever grow up.

- I noticed you have lots of books.
- Yeah.

What,
you thought I was illiterate?

No, i... oh, come on.

No. I... you have lots of books.
It's just there's a lot of 'em.

I'm just giving you
a hard time. Yeah.

Yeah, you are.
Um, jerk.

It's a nice night.

Makes you want the sun
to never come up.

Mr. Tibbel?

How you doing today?
Fine.

Good. Good.
That's good to hear.

I'm ray.

I'm a friend of David's.

Thank you.
Dave!

One minute!

He'll, uh... he'll be right down.

You like baseball.

I hear you're a photographer.

That's right. Yeah. Oh.

I have my own lab. How's that work?

People bring me their photos, and
then they come back and give me the slip,

and I give them
their photos back.

It's really that simple.

Dave!

Funny thing, though, people...
I'll tell you.

You'd think they'd get their photos and that
they'd take it to the car, bring it home.

But no, they look at them right
in front of me, show them to me.

I mean, have you ever seen
someone eat a tub of yogurt...

In front of the cashier
who just sold it to them?

No.

That's... that's what I'm
saying.

Ah, here he is now.

Dave, uh, what's going on?

I'm going to a dance. What
the hell you got in your hair?

- The gel... under the sink.
- Oh.

Is this okay?
Yeah. You look great.

Good. I didn't
know what you meant.

Is that my suit?

Uh, yeah,
yeah. Is that okay? Sure.

Hey, we'll... we'll talk later.

Um, okay. Okay,
let's take your car, son.

Wait. First, are you gonna
call me "son" all day?

Why? You want me to
call you something else?

Well, Dave.
Dave would work, I think.

No. I like "son."
All right.

Oh. Can I drive your car?

Um... um, yeah.

Uh, here you go.

Bye, Mr. Tibbel.
All right.

Listen, I gotta make a quick
stop before we hit the reunion.

All right. Where?

No, ray.
This isn't right. Okay?

I don't think... no,
no. Dave. Dave. Dave. Dave.

Listen to me.
Listen to me.

I don't think there's any possibility that
you can judge whether this is right or wrong.

Well, I am. This is wrong. I
will go to hell for doing this.

You will not go to hell.
There is no hell. That's a myth.

And what you're going to do is you're going
to get some practice for this reunion.

Pat, do you understand what
Alzheimer's disease is?

Yes, ma'am.
All right.

I just want you
to be prepared...

Because it can be really hard
on the patient's loved ones.

And I want you to know even if your
grandfather doesn't recognize you,

it has nothing to do
with how much he loves you.

Hey, pop.

Who's pop?
You are.

I'm not pop.

Who are you?

Why are you all dressed up?

I'm your son.

My son?
Mmm.

And I brought your grandson
to see ya.

He's right over there.

Well, well.

Look who's come to visit.

Come here, you!

Hey.

You remind me of myself
when I was your age.

- Yeah?
- You wanna be a ballplayer?

Uh, I-I don't know.

You look like a ballplayer.

Did you play any baseball
when you were a kid?

I... yeah.
I-i... I played second base.

And I used to be able
to field a grounder,

and then turn a double play...

Without even wearing my glove.

Hey.

You remind me of myself
when I was your age.

Yeah?
Yeah.

You... you like baseball?
I sure do.

I love baseball.

I used to take my son to all
the games when he was little.

Those were some of my... best memories.

- Do you like that channel?
- Um...

I really can't say that
I've watched it that much.

Do they always sell knives
on this channel? Oh, no.

They sell lots of things...
You know, sweaters,

and baseball cards and...
And fake diamonds and...

But, uh, knives are my favorite.

Yeah. do you like TV?

- Not really.
- Well, why do you watch it?

Because it's there.

What I really like is...
Talking to people.

It's unbelievable.
It's just unbelievable.

Well, you remember
what the nurse said.

Just because he doesn't remember
you doesn't mean he doesn't love you.

Yeah, but he remembered you!

Don't take it too personally.

But he's never even
seen you before.

I make a good first
impression. Bullshit.

You want me to bullshit to these people, or do
you have anything specific you want me to say?

I don't keep up with any of these
people. Say whatever you want.

Anything? No.

Your name is pat. You
like me and our life is good.

Don't worry about it.
I'm all right.

I won't embarrass you tonight.

No, no. Thanks.

You guys have
a terrific time. Hello.

Can we help you?

Um, is your... is your wife
part of the class of '66?

No, I am.

I'm sorry, but...

Who are you?
Oh.

Ray cook.

Raymond Leroy cook.
Ray?

Yeah.

We all thought
you'd passed away.

I'm not dead, am I, son?
No. No, dad.

Good. Yeah. Yeah!

Welcome.
What a handsome son you have.

So glad you came. Thank you.

Thank you.

Ow!

Ray cook.

Hey, Jonas.

Terrific.
I can't believe it.

Yeah. Me either.
Wow!

And, pat, I swear,
you're the spitting image of your father.

Oh, really? Shit,
yeah. I can see it in the eyes.

They're the windows to the soul,
you know. That's right.

What are doing with the soul
stick? I took me on a third leg here.

It was necessary. When you get older,
you know? Oh, yeah?

I know. Things fall apart,
don't they? They sure do, quickly.

Your dad was crazy
back in high school.

- Can you believe that?
- Oh, I believe it.

Ray? Ray cook?

Ray!
Marianne.

Ray! Oh!

Who's this?
It's marianne Reynolds.

Ray's girlfriend
from senior year. How have you been?

Hey, listen. I have somebody
I want you to meet.

This is, uh, pat, my son.

Your son?
Yeah, my son.

Hi. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.

He looks just like you.
Yeah.

Ah. Oh, isn't this nice?

Yeah.
Oh, ray.

I gotta be honest.

Your father is the last person I
thought I'd see at one of these things.

It's like he wanted to fall off
the face of the earth.

Well, you know.
Everybody wondered what happened to him.

For the first 25 years
people would always ask,

"you seen ray cook?"

Then after that,
the occasional rumor would pop up...

"Ray's a c.I.A. Operative."

"Ray's a hermit
up in Alaska."

And, "Ray's living in a commune down
in South America." Oh, yeah.

He practically became a
myth. You could say that.

With all the sightings, you know,
and the weird theories,

ray was sort of
like a goddamn sasquatch.

What's that?
Sasquatch is like bigfoot.

Bigfoot. Yeah, yeah.

Ray's sort of like bigfoot.

Oh, ray cook.

You know all the girls were
crazy for him back in school.

We were! I don't think I've ever
seen someone bark for my dad before.

Everybody thought...

He would be
this big baseball star.

And look at him.

He's still moving like
he's in his twenties.

Jesus, you know,
you think time changes everything.

And then you realize that it
doesn't much really change anything.

What? You got me, baby.

Oh.

You know what? My dad's
a hard guy to get to know.

It's hard for him to express anything.

You wouldn't know it by looking at him,
but he's got...

A heart filled with... love and pain.

And I think, slowly, through the years,

it's just been...

Bleeding.

You broke my heart 40 years ago.

You know, I can't remember
that far back.

I can't even remember
how I got here.

Oh, ray, I bet you broke
a lot of hearts.

Oh, yeah.
Yeah, I broke hearts.

I broke my own too.

Oh.

Good for you.

Oh.

So what'd he do after high school?

Air force.
Air force guy, huh?

Yeah. Was.
So, what's he doing now?

Well, after he returned
to a civilian life,

he went to wall street.

Yeah.
Huge millionaire.

God, we're rolling in it.
You know?

Just tons of money.

But the weird thing was
that he gave it all away.

I mean, not all of it 'cause he
saved just enough to travel the world.

But he gave most of it away
to charity. Are you serious?

Just one. Just one. I'm tired.

Just one. That's all.

That's a cute kid. Don't let him fool you.

He can act like a demon.

- So, uh, who are you here with?
- Oh, ray cook.

Huh. So he, uh... he finally
came out of the woodwork?

Yeah.
Wow.

Son of a gun. I'd sure
like to talk to him.

Hey.
How's he doing?

He's doing good. Yeah.

I'm glad to hear that. So,
what relation are you to him?

I'm his son. Well, there you are.

That's good of your mom to
let you fly out here for this thing.

Sorry. Huh?

Oh, I got a buddy, a lawyer. He represented
your mom when your folks were splitting up.

Geez, you were just a little
pup when all that happened.

Yeah. That's a tough
situation to be in.

Ray must have made one hell of a plea...

To get your mother to let
you come out for his reunion.

Huh?

Yeah. He sure did,
didn't he?

How do you feel?

I feel...

Good.

Yeah?
Yeah.

I...

I don't know.

It's been a long time
since I felt...

What?

I don't know.
What?

I don't know.

Anything.

Mmm.

Oh, ray.

Yeah.

Everybody loved you.
You were the perfect son.

- Did you have a good time?
- I had a great time.

We sure fooled them, huh?

Yeah, we sure did.
Sure did.

I heard a rumor about you.

Uh-oh.
Let me have it.

Do you already have a son?

I didn't mention that, did I?

No, you didn't.

Is he okay?

Yeah, yeah, sure, sure.
He's fine.

Yeah.

I mean, as far as I know.

You see,

my son and I have a...

We don't get along.

I mean, I try, but...

He, uh...

He doesn't want to have
anything to do with me.

And...

So I make these videotapes
of myself...

And I send them to him.

Those ones?

Yeah, those.
You didn't see those, did you?

Well, I didn't watch them, if that's
what you mean. That's what I mean.

What do you do
on the videotapes?

No, I don't do anything
on the videotapes.

Nothing funny.

I talk to him, basically.

I tell him about myself,
how I feel.

Pretty much before I met you,
that's the only talking I did.

Does he ever reply? No.

No. They all get
returned unopened.

Almost all of 'em.

That's the problem... every now and then...

They don't come back.

So, that keeps me making 'em.

- I had a lot of fun at your reunion.
- You did?

Yeah. Yeah. I said some shit about you. Oh,
yeah?

And everyone could tell
that I was your son.

You see, that's why it's a better
part to play than the real gig.

As a father,
I'm a real shit, you know.

- I doubt that.
- No, it's true.

I'm a weakling.
I'm just, you know...

I never... paid attention.

I was never there.

That's probably why
he doesn't call me.

You know, he doesn't know me.

And my ex-wife, boy, oh, boy,

I'm sure she's filled his
head full of... full of lies.

You know, but...

Well,

Maybe not lies.

But, uh, she's probably
telling him...

Only the bad stories.

He's never gonna know in this life...

How much I really love him.

How about your father?

My father ain't so good.

What'd he do? He didn't buy you
that stereo you wanted for your truck?

I'm serious.

What'd he do?
Nothing.

He hit you?

No.

He's a cripple. Just a cripple.

Ever since my mom left
about two years ago,

he's just been a cripple.

She left all of US.

Me and my sister get birthday
cards and Christmas cards from her.

But... she just took off.

Was she a good mom
before she left?

She was an amazing mother.

Divorce is a real bitch.

You see all these houses
around here? All around?

I don't know a single person in any of 'em.

And no one knows me either.

The older I get,

the more I know
that I don't know anyone.

You know me. Yeah.

Maybe.

But I think right now
you should go home.

I don't have to go home yet.

I don't have a curfew.
You've done everything.

It's all square.

- What?
- You've repaid me.

It's over.

So, is that just it with US?

Are you serious?

Fine.

Hey, David. David.

You're a really good kid.

And any man would be lucky
to have you as a son.

Ray?

Ray, you home?

Ray!

Who died?

This is how
it's always gonna be?

Everyone just goes away?

No.

Not everyone.

He left something
I'm supposed to give you.

Hold on.

Come in.

Are you all right or...

What's wrong?

Spit it out.

Everything's gonna be okay,
right? I...

I-I sure hope so.

It has to, right?

If you want to talk
to me, I'll listen.

Hey, guys.

What's going on? Nothing.

Um, you watch the game?

I must have missed it.

Okay, well,

you kids, uh,
you stay out of trouble.

We will.

What if tomorrow, when we're
driving to school, we just keep driving?

Huh?

What if tomorrow,
when me and Ashley are driving to school,

we just keep driving, we don't come back?

Like mom.

I would miss you both very much.

Good night, dad.

Good night.

Good night.
Good night.

Oh, hell of a game tonight.

The pitcher from cedar Springs
walked in the winning run.

Tough call.

I'm gonna have to wear a hat
and shades when I'm in town.

The parents...

Boy, they wanted blood
after the game.

I didn't know
what the heck to do.

So I hid out in the car until
they left through the other exit.

Not a fun day to be an umpire.

Those kids on the field,
they don't know how good they have it.

And that pitcher, tibbel,
he threw a solid game.

Just a lot of bad breaks.

But he's got a good
future if he sticks with it.

To be honest, for a second there,

I wasn't sure whether
to call that last pitch...

A ball or a strike.

It was just barely
off the black.