Original subtitles

All right.

The kid is mean. The kid is mean. He's shooting. Here he goes. He's up at

Mikey, it's 4 a .m. Any time we get some studying done?

Bob, relax.

You act like this is finals week. It is.

Yes!

Can he go for record 119?

Mikey, I think I need to study more than you need that record.

Bone, relax. We've got almost five hours. There's plenty of time to

this history final.

Science final.

Whatever.

Bone, come on. Don't be so tense.

Mikey, I've been doing some thinking.

A very dangerous thing for you to be doing, Bone, especially during finals

I've been asking myself certain questions.

Hey, if they're not multiple choice, you ain't got a shot.

Mikey, no. Hey, Bone, would you look at yourself?

It's like you're three feet tall with your legs growing out of your armpits.

All right, all right, we'll study.

I hate to see a dwarf with a bad attitude.

Come on, you're a bone.

Remember the school's policy.

First semester freshmen cannot flunk out.

Even if the grades are as lousy as ours.

Okay, well, now that you're in your serious mode, can I talk to you about

something? Yes. Sure, let me get comfortable here.

Okay.

This talk's been bouncing around my head like a rubber ball.

We can't go through college the way we've been doing for much longer. I

ain't in high school anymore.

Things are changing.

I can grow facial hair.

I've been thinking about making some big, big changes in my life.

Don't you ever feel that just getting by is getting old?

Guess not.

eat it. Look, do you know? I mean, I gotta look through it before Mom and Dad

do. They just got it.

What, did you give it to them?

How could you do that to me?

What's going on in here?

It's Mikey. It's so crazy. It's about the mail.

I just brought it in to your parents. There was something for you.

You're in big trouble, Julie.

Well, thank you, Julie.

You know, that's just so sweet of you to go out of your way like that.

Why is he so nice to you?

What have you got that I haven't got?

Hey, come on in, Mom, Dad.

Looking through the mail, I see.

Expecting your new issue of Boy's Life?

No. Well, how about this letter from the Alf Landon Jr. calling?

Office of the Registrar.

Hey, what do you know, my old pal, the Registrar.

Mid -semester grades, Mike? Hey, now, Mom, no need to assume that. You know,

Reggie here can be writing about almost anything.

Like boner call.

Come over to my house when you get your bad news.

We can open them together.

All right, thanks.

If those are Mike's grades, how come you guys didn't open them?

Carol, the letter was not addressed to us. Your brother has his right to

privacy. Well, you could have just held the envelope up to the light. Yeah, the

paper was too thick.

All right, you ready?

I'm ready.

Read them and weep.

Wait, wait. You open mine and I'll open yours.

Why? It's always better to get bad news from a friend.

How'd I do? You lucky son of a gun, you

wasted. All Ds.

All right!

Steve gets by.

So, how'd I do?

The truth?

Bunch of Fs, huh?

Hey, now look, now don't get all upset and freak out like you always do, Bo,

it'll just blow up like it always does.

I knew this was gonna happen.

Call it extrasensory perception.

Bo, where are you going? I gotta tell my parents what happened.

Bo, what are you thinking here, man?

That's like walking into an ambush.

Hey, come on, let's go see a movie or something. You need some time to snap

of this.

If you need to cry, go ahead. I'll look away.

Mike, I'm feeling fine. In fact...

I'm feeling better by the minute.

What do you mean you're feeling better?

Oh, you got a bunch of Fs.

Not that that's anything to be ashamed of.

I'm starting to see things in a different light now.

Oh, what's going on here?

Sometimes a man's got to do what a man's got to do.

I still want to offer the thought, Maggie, that we don't know for a fact

Mike's grades were bad.

Oh, honey, you look so cute when you're being foolish and naive.

I know.

I mean about being naive.

When's Mike going to wake up and smell the future?

Well, it's my dream that someday something's going to hit him.

Maybe he'll hear voices and say, It's time, Mike. It's time.

Looking cute again?

It's adorable.

Still, Jason, we can't ignore this. We have to let him know that we're

disappointed.

I agree, but I don't think that we're going to do any good yelling at him.

I agree.

Hi, Mike.

How you doing?

You hungry?

Mom, Dad, I know what you're both thinking here, so I won't keep you in

suspense. Now, Mom, you were right. That envelope that I got in the mail today

was my grades.

Can you pass the salt?

And? The pepper.

And? Please.

Should Ben and I wait upstairs until you're done yelling at Mike? No.

Come on in, Ben. We get to watch.

There's not going to be any yelling. Is there going to be any food? Yes. I'll

stay.

Come on, Mike. Mike, adult to adult, you can tell us what your grades were. And

don't worry, like your father said, there will be no yelling. We promise.

I... I?

You got an I?

Then work them it out!

For your information, I got all Ds. All Ds! All Ds! And you're half... Uh -huh.

Mike, I don't know what to say.

Well, usually you start with, I'm so disappointed in you. Carol...

Then you say, Mike, aren't you capable of a lot more than... Oh, come on. Did

you act like I failed or something?

I got by.

Oh, Mike, getting by isn't anything to be proud of.

Isn't getting by getting old? Dad, you said you weren't going to get upset.

I lied.

Mike, we're concerned about your future.

Mike, come on. Sooner or later, you've got to pick your future before it picks

you. Well, look, I'm still thinking about becoming an actor, you know?

I mean, I doubt that Robert De Niro's parents would have hassled him if he

brought home those grades.

Well, I bet if De Niro were playing a student, he'd be getting all As.

Not if he were playing me.

I mean, come on, you guys. Look, I appreciate you thinking about me and

everything, but look, I am a college student who is passing all his courses,

got a decent car, and his own apartment.

I would say that getting by has done me A -OK.

Oh, and plus, I have the love and support of my family.

Don't push it, Mike.

Mikey, Mikey, big news.

Oh, hey, everybody. I was just going to tell Mikey, but since it's your kitchen,

I guess you could hear it, too.

You all right, Bone?

Never better. Now, everybody wait right here.

Don't do anything gross, Bonner. We're eating.

From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.

What do you think?

I think his main engine just went down.

Would you get the neat head?

As of 2 p .m. this afternoon, 1 p .m. Central, it is official.

I am a Marine.

I see you are speechless from the heaviness of my news.

You did what?

I enlisted the Marines.

Whose?

Well, I didn't ask.

Do I look like I'm out of my mind?

Not one word, Ben.

Now, listen, I gotta go home and tell my parents about this. You guys was on my

way home, and I couldn't resist coming in and sharing my joy.

Enough said.

No, Bar, that is not nearly enough said.

Oh, I forgot.

As you were.

Right? Sure, Mike. I didn't want to talk to you. Now, what you said about

joining the Marines isn't like what you said about what you and Angela

Scafangerio did.

Oh, no, no, no, no. The Marine thing is true.

Oh, no.

What? Well, maybe there's still hope. You didn't sign anything, did you? Oh,

name. Oh, no.

And I took a test.

That you probably had to pass. All right, you're out of this deal.

I passed.

a time like this to pass a test?

Yep. And in two weeks, I'll leave for basic and beautiful sunny San Diego.

Bone, why didn't you just think before you just ran off and did some crazy

like this?

Well, Mikey, I have been thinking about this for a long time.

And when I got my grades today, I realized what I had to do.

But why didn't you just tell me you were having these crazy thoughts?

Well, I was going to, but I figured you didn't want to hear about it.

See, it all started when I was... I don't want to hear about it.

Well, do you have any idea what you're doing? I mean, this is the Marines.

These are guys who...

who wake up when it's dark and run for six miles.

I mean, and they also carry guns. Now, you really want to join an organization

that's going to trust you with a loaded gun?

Mikey, I ain't going to be anywhere near guns. I signed up for artillery.

This is stupid even for you.

You know, I expected you to be a little nicer to me about this. You're supposed

to be my best friend. Bone, I am your best friend. That's why I'm telling you,

if you join the Marines, you're throwing your life away.

Mikey, I didn't just join the Army or the Navy or the National Guard.

I joined the Marines.

I should have known you were nuts the first day you showed up without your

pants. Huh?

In the first grade, when you showed up in your overcoat and your underwear.

I didn't forget my pants. My mom dressed me that day. I told you that a hundred

times.

Come on, there's got to be a way to get you out of this somehow.

Hey, I got it. My dad's a psychiatrist.

He's always saying how you're nuts.

We'll just get him to write it down.

Mikey, I don't want to get out of this.

Come on, Bone, you can't let a bad report card spook you like this.

That's easy for you to say. You got these.

All right, what about your future?

Mikey, until I joined the Marines, I didn't have a future.

In eight weeks, I could be driving a $30 million tank.

Bone, I couldn't even teach you a stick shift.

I'm telling you, if you join the Marines, you're just going to upset your

life. I mean, what did your parents say?

They cried.

See?

They said they'd never been prouder of me.

No, my dad was a Marine.

He says that's what's made him what he is today.

Time to hit the rack, Private Stabone.

Bedtime, my little Marine.

Yeah. Can I stay a couple more minutes? Me and Mikey are talking. Sure, a couple

of minutes would be fine. And how are you tonight, Mikey?

Oh, I'm just fine. How are you guys? Damn fine, Mikey.

We are just so tickled pink about Richard's decision.

Mrs. Stabone actually wept in her linguine.

It'll be hard not having him around, but what a wonderful thing he's doing for

himself and for our grateful nation.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

We'll wait for you inside, Richard. Good night, Mikey.

Good night. Good night, Siva. Hey.

Boy. Yeah, they're finally calming down.

Yeah, they're nuttier than you are.

Hey, Mike, that's a very rude thing to say.

Rude? Compared to what you're doing to me?

What am I doing to you?

Bone, look, how do you think that I'm supposed to get through the rest of

by myself, huh?

I mean, you are splitting up a great team here. I mean, me with the Ds and

with the Fs.

Mike, I'm sorry, but I... And you think you can just say you're sorry and make

everything all right?

Hey, at least I'm picking my future before I let it pick me.

I'm sick and tired of just getting by, Mikey.

I know what I want to do.

You know, I never thought I'd hear the day when you agree with my father. But

fine, fine, fine.

Shave your head and hang out with guys who crawl around on their bellies.

You know, I make one decision my whole life. My best friend dumps on me. For

first time in my life, I know what I want to do. And I know where I'm going.

So to heck with you. I'm going home.

If only you live here.

Don't you run your mind games on me, Michael Seaver.

Look, but why didn't you just talk to me about this? I tried to. Well, obviously

not hard enough.

You know, Mike, just because I'm going away doesn't mean we have to stop being

friends.

Yeah, well, what does it mean?

Richard, time to say goodbye to Mikey.

That's exactly what it means.

Phew, I thought for a minute it was a clumsy burglar.

And Boner actually joined the Marines. Can you believe that, Dad?

Wow. And the dweeb leaves for a basic training in two weeks.

What are you so angry about? Haven't you heard of what I said, Dad?

He just joined the Marines.

Well, shouldn't it be the Marines who are upset?

Come on, Mike. I mean, I understand you're being sad about your best friend

going away, but where's all this anger from?

Because, Dad, he's making a big mistake.

We should have heard him tonight. He was pathetic.

He was babbling some nonsense about making a decision about what he wants to

with his life. About picking his future before it picks him.

Get to the pathetic part, Mike.

I heard all the yelling.

What did you do this time, Mike?

Boner really enlisted.

Really? Yeah, I mean, I tried to talk to him, but he just wouldn't listen to me.

I mean, do you have any idea what it's like?

To talk to somebody about their future and have not a word of what you're

sink in? No, no, not me. How about you, Meg?

Nah.

Mike, have you considered the possibility that Boner's decision is a

for him?

Oh, come on, Dad.

Boner's a quitter. He's a college dropout, and you defend him? Mike, why

so angry? What, he's with the two of you, huh?

I mean, isn't it obvious? Boner is leaving me, and he's happy about it. And

he's going off raving about how great it is to have found his stupid future.

Finding your future is not a bad thing.

Oh, so would you want me to go and join the Marines, too? No, but it wouldn't

hurt you to think about your future.

You act like Boner's got the jump on me or something.

Do you think he does?

Boner?

That'll be the day.

As you were.

Boner. Marine.

When did these kids become adults, Maggie?

I don't know.

To me, Boner will always be that little kid in the first grade crying because he

forgot his hand.

Soon he'll be defending our country.

God bless America.

So, where's the station sending you this morning?

Oh, I don't know. The assignment desk said it was a surprise.

You don't sound happy.

Well, usually a surprise means something strange.

Surprise!

Boner! Look at you!

Yeah. Green's my color, ain't it?

It's my dad's uniform.

See? Same name in everything.

Amazing. Yeah.

Well, today's a day I leave for basic.

My dad's out in the car waiting to take me to the airport, and I just want to

stop by before I left and say, hey.

Hey.

Oh, that's very thoughtful of you, Boner. Yeah, well, you and Mr. Steve

been like second parents to me.

Oh, Boner, that's so sweet.

And Benny, well...

You've been like a second little brother to me.

Except I never had a first little brother.

Thanks, I guess.

And Carol, well, why cry over what may have been?

What? I know we would have been great together, but... I'm sure you'll find

somebody else.

Someday.

Thank you.

I sure hope so.

So, anyway.

Yeah, well, have you already been up to say goodbye to Mike?

Uh, no. Me and Mike ain't talking. We had a fight.

Oh, Boner, if people stop talking to people they care about just because of a

fight... This house would be a lot quieter.

That's true.

Yeah, well, uh, I don't want to see Mike. I don't even want to talk to him.

Is he home?

Yeah, he should be.

Mike's probably asleep.

Well, how do you know?

He's got a class in 15 minutes.

All right.

Boner. Mikey.

So you're on your way to class?

What day is it today?

Wednesday.

Oh, you're right. I do have a class.

Yeah. Well, I didn't want to bother you. I just want to say goodbye. I'm leaving

today. Yeah. Yeah, I know. I was going to come by your house.

Yeah?

Yeah.

I mean, hey, I couldn't let my buddy leave without at least saying hey.

Hey. Hey.

Hey, you know, I didn't think you'd get that suit to the laughter boot camp.

Oh, this is my dad. He got it in Tam.

Don't you mean Nam?

Oh, no, no, no.

Tam, like in Tampa.

That's where he was stationed.

That's his favorite joke.

That's a good one. Yeah.

Now I want to show the other Marines that Private Richard Stabone is ready.

You know the motto.

Be prepared.

You know, it's nice to see you and not be arguing, Mikey.

Yeah. Yeah, you know, I've been thinking, Bone, and, um, well, you know,

you're really this serious about this whole dumb thing... It is not a dumb

thing. Hey, look, let's not go through that again, all right?

You're my friend, and I want to say goodbye.

Fine. Goodbye.

Look, Bone, I'm sorry.

Me too, Mikey.

Well, I guess I'll see you later.

Yeah. I'll see you later.

To my dad.

Gotta go.

Hey, well, uh... I'll walk you down the stairs.

So what you been doing the last couple weeks?

Well, I've been getting ready, you know, working out, riding those six miles

every day. Yeah?

Thing is, I get so tired, I usually need a ride back.

Why don't you just run three miles one way and then... Well, good.

Burning's good.

She's so great about this whole thing.

Yeah? You're not nervous? Nah, for the first time in my whole life, I feel like

tomorrow's gonna be different, better, the best.

I'm not gonna be just Boner anymore.

I'm gonna be Private Richards to Bone.

Yeah, well, you know, Boner, I think you are doing the right thing.

Thanks, Mikey. Me too.

Hey, you gonna write me? Oh, sure.

Where do you live?

Right here.

No, I meant your address.

15 Robin Hood Lane. You know that.

Hey, 13 years, I never had to write you.

Yeah. You just come by.

Well,

basic's over in two months, and then I get a three -day furlough. Oh, right. I

can't wait. Yeah, we can hang out and goof around. I'll be happy to waste time

with you then. Oh, yeah. It's a good old day. Yeah, you betcha. Yeah, you can't

kill a friendship like God with a stick.

Not even with a big stick. No. No.

I guess I'll see you later.

Yeah.

See you later.

I'll walk you back to your steps.

Oh, all right. Great. Yeah.

So... See you later.

Hey, I'll walk you halfway down the driveway.

Let's go, you little jawhead!

I better go.

I hit a Marine's frown on tardiness.

Good luck, Bone.

You too, Mikey.

Hey, Bone, you know how the Marines say that they're looking for a few good men?

Yeah?

But now they got one left good man to look for.

15 Robin Hood Lane. Got it. Yeah, I know you do, bonus. Knock them dead.

I'm not boot camp. We only practice.

You know what I mean.

Yeah.

Sooner or later, you have to pick your future before it picks you.

Hey, I'm picking my future before it picks me.

It's time, Mike.

It's time.