Original subtitles

Make yourself at home.

At home.

Happy anniversary.

Marissa?

It's your anniversary.

Three years ago today, you started getting the paper, and I just thought

celebrate.

Oh.

Well... I've got to go, but thank you very much for the thought.

Good day.

I've got a pickup truck that's going to be stuck on some railroad tracks in 45

minutes. After that, it's all downhill.

Oh, wait.

The

pickup

truck was demolished by the train.

Driver and passengers were killed instantly.

According to Wicks, the gates were already down when the driver swerved

them and stalled on the tracks.

Dream pick -up yard.

Taxi!

Taxi!

Hey! Hey! Hey, that's my cab! You're in my cab! You're in my cab!

It's a small city, pal!

Hey!

I get tomorrow's news.

Today.

I love to save people's lives.

That's what I do, you see.

It just disappeared.

Are you sure it was there this morning? I'm telling you, I saw it with my own

eyes. Two killed when train hits pickup truck. It was there and then it was

gone. Well, stories don't just disappear, Gary. You must have done

affect it. No, I didn't do anything. I went down to the railroad track and then

the story's gone. It vanishes.

Maybe it was a mistake.

Typo.

Tomorrow's typo and tomorrow's paper.

Something like that.

The important thing is nobody got hurt, right?

I gotta go. What now?

Piranha attack.

I had to ask.

McGinty. It's broken.

What's broken? The paper. The paper is broken. I went to the pet store. The

story changed. There's no piranha attack.

So you stopped it? No, I didn't stop anything. That's the point. The store

closed. The paper is broken. That's ridiculous, Gary.

Well, I'm going to find out. How are you going to find out? I'm going to test

the paper.

What? I'm going to test the paper.

Goodbye.

Willie Dretler, 34 years old.

Willie Dretler.

Here we go.

So what happened?

How'd your test go?

Could have gone better.

The story didn't disappear?

No,

no, it's still there. I need some painkillers down here!

Listen, why don't I call you back later?

Hello?

I was... Walking down the street this morning, and I saw you step into

that manhole.

Must have hurt, I suppose, huh?

You saw me?

Well, yeah, and I... Look, I'm very sorry, but... I don't believe this.

Do I have a sign on the back of my shirt that says, kick me, I'm down?

Well, I mean, look, I saw you, but I didn't... You couldn't warn me?

Couldn't open your mouth and say, hey, there's a hole in the sidewalk?

What's the matter with you?

I brought you some muffins. Get out! Get out!

And take these with you!

That guy's not a muffin person.

No more tests.

No more tests.

A 35 -year -old father of two fell from the roof of a building at 68 East Wacker

Place.

Hold the elevators.

Somebody help me. I got you.

It's you.

Can we talk about this later?

I told you to hold your elevator.

Oh, my God.

Oh, my God. I don't believe it.

Oh, hey, you dropped your...

Yeah,

this must be you.

Hey, you got... Tomorrow's paper.

New York Daily News.

Tomorrow's New York Daily News.

Tomorrow's Sun -Times. Wow.

How long you been getting this?

Six years.

Yourself? Three years exactly today. Unbelievable.

Incredible. Two of them.

Maybe more.

I never thought about that.

I mean, I thought about it, but I never really thought it was sort of

impossible. I didn't get your name.

Cooper. Sam.

Sam Cooper.

Gary. Hobbs.

So that was you this morning, then, at the railroad tracks in the pet store?

Guilty. Am I?

Huh? Oh, hello.

So you're from New York?

Yeah, Sean. Quick.

What are you doing in Chicago?

Traveling. Visiting some relatives.

And I had some time to kill, and the wire service picks up some of your more

colorful stories. You travel?

Yeah. Gotta get off the island every now and then, all right? I go nuts.

Yeah, it was a little bit of time. Well, I got things to do.

Yeah. Hey, wait a second. Hey, I just wanted to thank you one more time. I owe

you my life. I got a wife, kids, you know. Hey, let me show you the picture.

Well, actually... No, wait a minute.

Hey, look at that, huh?

Look at that. Believe me, they're gonna hear all about you.

Hey, Sam!

Sam! Sam!

Sam! Hey, Larry.

No, it's Gary.

Larry, Gary.

Listen, don't you think that we ought to talk about this?

Talk about what?

About this, this and that. About how you deal with this and about where it comes

from. You know where it comes from?

Well, no, do you?

No idea.

To tell you the truth, I never gave it much thought.

Well, I've given it a considerable amount of thought.

What the hey, I got some time. You want to talk?

All right. Can we talk over lunch?

Yeah, anything.

As a matter of fact, I happen to know the perfect place.

This is great, bud.

Marissa, this is where you want to eat?

Marissa, there's someone I want you to meet.

Marissa Clark, Sam Cooper.

Nice to meet you. Same here.

Listen, kid, no offense, but if I wanted a burger and a beer, I would have gone

to the bus station.

Excuse me?

Yeah, Sam gets it, too.

Gets what?

The paper.

Your paper?

No, no, honey, I'm from the city.

And what city's that?

The city.

Sam gets the New York paper. He's been getting it for six years now.

So yours doesn't come with a cat, does it?

No, no, it used to come with a pigeon, now that you mention it.

You too?

Yeah, my neighbor's got this little dog, a terrier.

Nasty thing. Got out early one morning. One bite. That's all it took.

Not a paper, just comes by itself.

Lovely.

Say, honey, you got any... It's Marissa, honey.

Marissa, you got a wine list, or is it just pretty much whatever's on tap?

Why don't I get the menu? No, please, allow me.

He's from the city.

Here.

Is it just me, or I'm not getting a lot of love from her? Oh, no, no, no.

Marissa, she's great. She's the only one I can really rely on around here.

And she's blind.

Yeah.

Well, I bet she's a big help.

I'm blind, not deaf.

Sorry.

But, I mean, it's not like you could ask her to drive downtown and stop an oil

truck from going through a red light, huh? No, no, I do that.

You're kidding. You go solo?

Yeah.

Don't you? No, I delegate.

We're very busy back there. We got fires, shootings, muggings, five

It's a lot to handle.

You delegate?

Yeah, otherwise I'd be running around all day.

Listen,

I was thinking of something a little more upscale. You mind?

I just got one stop. I got a minute.

What, I got something hanging off the end of my nose?

You just used the paper to make money off the track.

Yeah. What's the problem with the ATM machines? They only give out a few

bucks at a time.

You just used the paper, though, to make money off the track.

Yeah, what, are you telling me you never do this?

No.

I mean, I did it once because a guy was about to be killed by some bookies, and

then another time I bought Marissa a present. Don't tell him. I see an eye to

him.

Well, actually, yes. That's perfect.

You back me up again. Here, hold this. I got no more pockets.

You seen this against the rules?

Rules? What, you got rules?

I didn't get any rules. I just got the paper. I don't mean specific rules, but

general unspoken rules.

Unspoken rules?

Unspoken rules.

Oh, you mean like no using the paper to play the pawns?

No playing the stock market.

No playing the lottery.

So you don't even buy the occasional lottery ticket?

No.

There was a homeless family once, and I... Okay, okay, I get it.

So what do you do for a living?

I run the bar.

That's it?

Does that place even turn a profit?

Well, I also have money left over from when I worked at the brokerage firm.

You are completely pissing it away.

Well, I happen to think that there's a reason for the paper, and it's not to

rich. Yeah, well, what is the reason?

It's for...

Helping people.

Yeah. Sure, I do that too.

I got my crew running around the entire tri -state area 24 -7. And they don't

come cheap.

I need the paper just to make the payroll.

You pay them?

This economy, good help. You gotta pay through the nose.

Joey Cleans.

This guy.

This guy made 50 ,000 bucks off me last year alone.

Tax -free.

Yeah, Joey.

How you doing? How'd that thing go in the Bronx?

Yeah, good. Here's what I want you to do.

Go down to 42nd Street, Pussycat Theater.

Make sure the place is cleared out by the 6 o 'clock show.

Tell the manager he's got an electrical problem.

Yeah, good.

Thanks, pal.

See, you get yourself a good crew, you sit down and have a nice lunch.

What's up? You want dessert?

I don't believe this.

How do you live this way? Live what way?

You gotta have a plan for the future.

Listen, this paper, it's the best thing that ever happened to me.

But I'm no dummy.

I know that it could stop coming at any time, just like it started, without

warning. I go to my door, open it up, and the paper ain't laying there

That's a day that I look forward to.

You gotta be kidding me.

What are you gonna do then?

I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna live my life.

Yeah, I'm gonna live my life, too.

Except it's gonna be on a fully furnished Caribbean island that I happen

Because I've been stacking up cash since the first day the golden goose decided

to lay down on my happy doorstep.

Let me give you a piece of advice, friend.

Maybe you're looking at this thing completely the wrong way.

Perhaps your glass is not half empty, my friend.

You are missing all kinds of opportunities here.

Yeah, that's not all I'm missing.

What?

Patient was run over by a truck minutes after being discharged.

Well, I gotta say, that's pretty ironic.

If I can make this, I still got time. Hang on, I'll go with you.

Chicago Memorial, there's a bus stop across the street. It'll take us right

there. A bus?

Public transportation?

Oh, no, no, I think not, my friend.

See? Now, don't that beat the bus.

Excuse me, is that your car?

Beauty, huh?

Doctors only.

Well, we're doctors.

Excuse me?

Dr. Cooper, Sloan Kettering. In the city, this is Dr. Hobson. We're late for

Peterson transplant.

So either you go in there and tell Mr. Peterson why he ain't getting his

or let us pass.

Please, by all means.

Sorry.

You gotta be prepared, kid.

You really been doing this three years?

Hey! Hey!

What exactly are you looking for here? We're looking for a guy about to get hit

by a truck.

Hey! Hey!

A guy like that?

That doesn't look good.

You win some, you lose some.

You saved a guy's life.

Cheer up.

All he's got's a broken arm and a leg.

Bones heal.

You did your job.

Forget about it. On to the next.

I don't have anything until tonight. A fire at a rehearsal dinner at Gildorf

Estate.

How did you know that?

I got the same story right here.

Look.

Turns out the kid that gets hurt is the son of some big muckety -muck in

Manhattan.

I tell you, New Yorkers love a big fire.

Hey, tell you what.

Why don't I handle this one?

What?

You mean you by yourself?

Yeah, sure. Why not? You've had a big day.

You go home.

Take a load off.

Have an egg cream.

I don't like egg cream.

Have a beer.

Well, since both of us reckon on night... So that's it? You're not going

anything? You're just going to take the evening off?

He knows what he's doing, Marcy.

Okay, sure, but he's not like you, that's all. I mean, I've never known

What, to take a break?

Do something for myself?

Maybe that's what my problem is.

Who said you have a problem?

This guy's been getting the paper for six years, and you know what?

He enjoys himself. He's got cool people working for him. He travels. He uses the

paper to make money. The guy owns his own island in the Caribbean.

Do you want to own your own island in the Caribbean?

That's not the point. The point is I've been getting the paper for three years

and I've been following the rules. I never use the paper for profit. I handle

most of the stories all by myself. I never take a day off. And you know what?

I say to myself, well, that must be what the paper wants. So, but inside my

head, the paper talks to me.

I take this way too seriously.

No, you don't. You know what?

I've always wondered where the paper comes from, and then I figured it must

to me for a reason. It must know something about me.

It knows who you are.

It knows you're special.

Listen, if the paper comes to a guy like that, then it's all random. There's

nothing special about Sam Cooper. He's some goofball off the street who just

happened to win the lottery.

Are you sure?

Well, this morning he bought a Ferrari to drive across town.

I mean, this guy's a flake. Getting tomorrow's newspaper for him, it's like

big game show.

Well, if he's such a flake, then why would you let him go and put out the

by himself?

I have to go.

You gonna go help him out?

No.

I gotta go save his life.

I don't believe that.

What's it say?

According to witnesses, Cooper was last seen swinging from a chandelier when the

chandelier fell to the floor, crushing him to death. Swinging from a

He was just going to go and put out a simple fire.

Nothing's ever simple with this guy.

He's got to make a big production out of everything.

He owns a Ferrari.

He's got to have an island in the Caribbean. He probably thinks he's Errol

swinging from the chandelier.

Keep it up front, pal.

So to the happy couple, I wish you luck, I wish you happiness, and Cindy, I wish

you patience.

As you know, Gordon and I were roommates for two long years, so I feel like I

know Gordon well enough to give you a couple tips about living with her.

Tip number one, Gordon loved to cook.

Never let Gordon cook.

Don't let Gordon fix anything.

In fact, you should probably hide his tools.

And the breath issue.

To your health, your lives together, your continued happiness,

I love you both and wish you only the best.

They don't make these things like they used to. I'm thinking about doing.

Would you just be quiet for one minute?

Go on. You better save yourself.

Would you be quiet? I almost got it here.

I guess you'd like some kind of explanation.

I can't believe you did that.

Cindy, honey.

I was only trying to help.

Help?

You ruined the whole night.

I know. I know that's what it looks like. I'm really, really, really sorry.

just wanted to talk to you.

We have nothing to talk about. Just stay away from me.

Cindy, please.

You ruin everything.

It's what you do.

Just stay out of my life, Dad.

That could have gone better.

Phyllis ended the marriage.

It was already over for a long time. The two of us were never, you know, what's

the word?

Compatible? Right.

Phyllis wanted me to go into sales like a father.

I wanted to have fun, so we compromised. I never made a lot of money.

I never had a lot of fun.

That sounds familiar.

We weren't even talking at the end.

Cindy was 13.

I didn't want to make it any worse for her.

I wasn't going to fight for custody.

Did you get to see her?

Yeah, at first.

Phyllis didn't make it easy.

And then she moved them out here, put a thousand miles between us.

That doesn't make it any easier.

I tried visiting at first.

Cindy didn't want to see me.

I'd call, she wouldn't pick up.

I guess after a while, I just quit trying.

And that's when my life really hit bottom.

Let me guess.

That's when you started getting the paper.

Right.

I was like you at first.

Running around like a schmuck all by myself trying to save everybody. I was

losing sleep. I was looking terrible.

My doctor asked me, what are you doing to yourself?

I looked in the mirror.

I said, this is not working.

So I got my shtick together.

Found a few good guys.

Now I'm like a manager.

You're shtick?

Yeah, shtick. You know, game, act.

Believe me, you're going to run around on the streets of New York City saving

total strangers. You've got to have an act.

Your act is very believable.

I believe in myself sometimes.

So my daughter didn't know me anymore. After I started getting the paper, I

tried sending her money.

Big judge.

She always came right back.

It's like she doesn't want to...

Have anything to do with it.

Doesn't want nothing from me anymore.

So then you decided to crash her wedding?

Well, I wanted to get an invitation.

When I didn't, I sent a gift. Of course, it came right back.

And then I saw today's paper.

And there it was, like a sign.

A sign?

Yeah, right there on page two.

A fire at my daughter's rehearsal dinner.

And suddenly I realized why I was getting the paper.

For me to come here, put out the fire, be a big hero to my daughter.

This is what the paper wanted.

For me to reconcile with my daughter.

Didn't work out that way.

Now about all I got left is my act.

You know, I... I don't know, but...

I don't pretend to understand this. There's nothing to understand.

There's no higher purpose at work here.

There's no reason you get the paper. There's no reason I get the paper.

It's totally random. It's a paper.

Where are you going?

Somewhere else.

That's it.

Yeah, I can live with one paper.

I can accept one paper. I've learned to live with one paper. But this one, a

second paper, I can't accept that.

Well, what are you going to do?

What am I going to do? I'll tell you what I'm going to do.

I'm going to send it back. That's what I'm going to do.

Send it back where?

Yeah, I'm going to send it back wherever it came from. Where did it come from?

I left it there.

Sam?

Sam!

I dropped it on your doorstep this morning.

Well, I'm surprised you could find his doorstep.

I don't want it. You take it. It's yours.

Not anymore.

I give it to you.

Yeah, you're going to need that.

Names and numbers of my crew in the city.

Oh, no, no, no. No, no, no.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby.

It's all yours now.

You got New York.

I give it to you.

So is this like a promotion?

Hello,

uh, Mr. Clam?

Joe Clam?

Yes, yes, this is a friend of Sam Cooper.

Sam wanted me to have you do him a favor.

Mr. Cooper wanted to know if you could possibly go down to Times Square and

there's a gravel truck that's going to turn over.

That's right.

Well, yeah, sure, I'm going to pay you. I mean, I'm not going to pay you, he's

going to pay you.

I don't know, about 50 bucks.

Well, how much does he usually pay you?

Really?

Okay, well, I'll tell you what. I'll give you 200 bucks. That way...

Hello?

Mr. Clam?

This isn't working.

This isn't working at all. How's he doing?

He's still breathing.

He's still breathing.

I'll tell you what.

When he wakes up, start pouring coffee down his throat.

Where are you going?

I'm going to talk to someone.

Kathy,

so glad you could make it.

Jack, so glad you could make it.

Hello, Cindy.

Hi.

Gary Hoffman. Hi, Gary. Hi, so glad you could make it. Actually, we met

yesterday at the rehearsal dinner.

I wanted to talk to you about your dad.

Look, today is my wedding day. I'm not going to waste any of it talking about

him. Is everything all right? No, everything's fine. It's just that you

don't know what your dad does. A lot of people depend on him.

Well, I find that hard to believe.

Well, it's true.

He's having a very difficult time doing his job right now.

He very much wants to be part of your life. And if you could just talk to him,

if you could see his side. What side?

When he and mom split up, Sam didn't want anything to do with me, okay?

his side.

No calls, no visits.

Do you know how that makes a 13 -year -old girl feel?

Maybe he was trying to do what he thought was right at the time. If you

just call him. Forget it.

Look, I don't know what you think, but you have to know that your daddy cares

about you very much.

See, he wanted to be invited to the wedding. Well, we had to cut the list.

No room for strangers.

What, are you going to stay mad at him the rest of your life?

Mary Pat, hi. Hi.

Hi, Tom.

Any luck?

No, you might say I struck out. How's Sam?

About the same.

Well, keep working on it.

Are you coming back?

No, I gotta head down to Washington Street. I'll be late for a suicide.

I'm so sorry, Mr. Cooper.

Blind people.

We're so clumsy.

Now it's all coming back to me.

What a night.

Enjoy yourself, did you?

What's this doing here?

What? My paper. I gave it to the other guy.

And he gave it back.

No.

No, I can't do it anymore.

I should never have done it in the first place.

That paper comes to you for a reason.

Whatever or whoever sends it knows more than you do.

It knows that beneath that shallow, obnoxious, self -centered New York

is a good and decent heart.

If you weren't right for the job, you wouldn't have it.

Does this usually work on the other guy?

What? The motivational speeches.

It really ain't doing a trick for me.

Where are you going?

Say goodbye to your friend for me, and good luck.

Paper's on the bar.

You can't just turn your back on it, Sam.

Watch.

Oh.

Sorry, it's a figure of speech.

Hey, wait!

You!

What are you doing?

What does it look like, genius?

Well, stop it. Get away from me.

One more word and I'm going to jump. I'm serious. Back off.

All right, I'll back off.

Look at me. I'll back off.

What now?

Come on, just listen to me. You don't want to do this, will you? You get back.

You don't want to do this.

Leave me alone. You get away from me. You go away from me.

The hell?

Hey, pal.

Who's gonna lose it, huh?

Hey, come on now.

Move your car.

What is going on over here? Sam.

Sam, this is Willie. Willie, Sam.

You gotta help me. No, no, no. This is your turf. I'm just here to observe. You

don't understand me. He's not listening to me. He's gonna jump. I need your

help, please.

All right.

I wonder they call it the second city.

Hey, Willie, remember me? Sam, Sam Cooper. Stay away from me! All right,

Easy there, fella.

I, uh, I see you had a couple of tough breaks there.

That's a joke, get it?

Tough breaks, the arm, the leg.

Jokes? You're telling jokes?

So, uh, Willie, tell me why you want to do this.

Because my life stinks.

Good enough?

I just got fired from the only job I ever held longer than six months. You

who fired me? My father. My girlfriend left last week, moved in with my

My dog's dying.

My medical insurance got canceled. I got an uncontrollable rash.

And my neighbors are starting a class action lawsuit to have me evicted from

rent -controlled apartment.

Wow.

Hey, get away!

What are you doing? I'm joining them. I'm jumping.

You what? I'm gonna jump. Yeah.

I mean, my life's a lot worse than his. I think Willie's got a point here. I'm

on the wrong side of the bridge.

You?

What's wrong with your life?

You don't want to know.

Look at you.

You drive up here in a brand new Ferrari.

How bad can your life be?

Let me ask you something.

Willie, you got any kids? A son, a daughter, maybe?

No.

Well, that's a shame.

Because that is something you really should not have missed.

What's going on? Is there an accident?

Something happening on the bridge.

You become a parent, you find out just how short life really is. And all the

advice that people give you. Do this, don't do that.

Dad?

You think you got all the time in the world with this kid.

If you make a mistake, you can fix it.

Next week, next year, ten years.

But what you don't know, what they don't tell you is.

He said after a certain point, these mistakes, they become irreversible. Now

have to live with that.

These are the things that keep you awake at night.

Because now you know what you should have done.

And it's too late.

Now I know.

I should have worked to make a bad marriage better so I could have stayed

to the daughter that I love.

I should not have listened to the people who told me a custody fight will only

harm the child. I should have fought.

You should have called.

You should have written. You should have made your presence known.

You really should have had kids, Willie. Because after you don't see them

anymore, you don't talk to them anymore, you will never stop loving them.

That is what makes life worth living.

What?

Cindy?

Thank you.

I want you to meet my husband.

You do?

Yeah.

All right.

Gordon,

this is my dad.

Hi, Gordon.

Damn cool.

Now, Joey, it's a one -time thing. Relax, all right?

Yeah, sure.

Thanks, pal.

He only offered him two bills.

Who? Joey Clams. He's here chewing my ear off.

You know how much he wanted? He wanted over a thousand.

That's the going rate, especially outside the 12 -mile radius.

Guy's got four kids to support. Two of them go to private school. Next time,

I'll know better.

Hey, ain't gonna be a next time, pal.

So you're going back to New York? Yeah, my plane leaves in an hour.

Had to book the last minute, so I've got to fly coach with all them people.

Oh, uh... You'll probably want this.

Yeah.

Thanks.

It was a pleasure working with you. You ever get to the city? I'll give you a

call.

And you, madam?

Chicago's the city for me, as far as I'm concerned.

Probably just as well.

This is my cat.

Oh, oh.

A Ferrari?

All paid for.

Try to enjoy yourself sometime, huh?

All right, all right with the honking.

You're going to blow your tip.

No, you're going to be driving a Ferrari.

Now I'll donate something first thing in the morning.

Well, of course, you could take it for a test drive. I mean, make sure it's in

good working order. I mean, if you're going to be donating... No, I think

a very good idea. As a matter of fact, we should probably go out and get some

dinner and celebrate.

Sure.

What's the occasion?

What do you mean, what's the occasion? The occasion is the three -year

anniversary, right?

Oh, it is. Three very good years.

And the new series of Early Edition continues tomorrow at midday. Stay with

for a story for anyone who's found it difficult to reconcile with their

Some things can be painful to talk about, but they should never come

family. A time to remember next this afternoon.