Original subtitles

He wants you to warn him.

Jimmy? He does it on purpose.

What? Just let me snap his neck a little. I won't hurt him much.

He doesn't give me discipline at all.

He almost hit me.

Get back.

Get back.

He wants that Thompson kid on his balder cycle. Get back.

All the way to the front, please.

Yes, sir. How do you feel?

Stay right there, sir, if you're feeling warm.

That's Walter Brock.

Who's Walter Brock?

Maybe only the best trial attorney in this country.

Hey, Dad.

How are you, son?

The eggs aren't all still.

Chernobyl.

How could you not tell me?

Beat it, Doug. He's not hurt, and the Thompson family has no money. There's no

one to sue. Well, even if there was, he'd hardly need me.

Ha -ha!

Walt the Brock!

Well,

it's just fine, and guess why he came?

Are you dying?

Well, close. It's my 75th birthday.

And I'm sure if I'd stayed at home, I would have gotten your card.

Happy birthday.

Thank you.

As I woke up this morning,

I thought, my God, 75.

A man should be with his family. So I got in my car and drove straight here,

only to be run off the road by that punk on that motorcycle.

It would be an honor for me to sue him on your behalf.

I'm sorry, you're, uh... Douglas Rambo.

I'm a great admirer.

The Thompsons have no liquid assets, but it would be a supreme privilege if you

let me take their house.

Uh, no, no, no, thank you. It's, uh...

No suing. It's my birthday. And we're going to have a celebration.

Dad has even agreed to spend the night, Jimmy.

Oh, terrific.

So I thought we'd have a little family party. Can I come?

Well... Of course you can come. It's a party. How often does a man have a 75th

birthday? Max, can you come, too? Oh, well, actually... No, you'll be there.

Love to.

May I bring Henry Bone? I'm sure he would like to meet him. Maybe... Yeah,

him, too. Seven o 'clock sharp. Big party.

Take him to my house.

Thank you.

I suppose he just... He went out to order the cake.

How many times can we tell you about that motorcycle, Scott? You know, we

cite you for taking off the muffler. I'm Juvie. It doesn't matter. Juvie's going

to be prosecuted, too. This is the Juvie spell right here. It comes with a

coloring book. Get in. Oh, come on.

We called his parents? His mother said to keep him. The night in jail might be

just what he needed. I was in my lane. The old geezer just panicked. Yeah,

you can use the old geezer defense in court. You can't keep me here.

Hey, I'm juvie!

Hey!

So, what are you up to?

I come to visit, so that makes me up to something.

Yes, with you, yes. You don't just wake up and decide to drive to Rome. Are you

dying?

Jimmy.

Hello, sweetheart.

I'm 18. You can talk in front of me. If you hate each other, it's not going to

cripple my childhood.

Oh, she's got an edge.

You'd know that if you'd come by more than once every five years.

I only come when I'm invited.

Honey, let's set the table for dinner.

They're not going to make it to dinner.

Why are we here so early?

They said 7 o 'clock.

Walter Brock.

Can you believe it, Henry?

No. Aren't you excited to meet him? No.

He's written two horn books. I don't care much for plaintiff attorneys.

They make their living exploiting other people's tragedies.

Then they prance around with puffed -up chests under the delusion that

everything they do is philanthropic. I haven't met one yet who doesn't make me

want to puke.

Except for me.

Except for you.

Well, I guess there's no point in making first impression.

Conclusions have already been drawn.

Well, I was just speaking in generalities.

Fair, open -minded generalization it was.

Walter Brock.

Henry Bone, it's a pleasure.

I brought you a gift. Very expensive.

Oh, well, thank you very much.

I'll open it after cake.

Hi, Grandpa.

Hi, Grandpa.

Ah, there they are, looking sharp.

Oh, dressed up.

Look at these Brock boys. Don't they look sharp, huh? They couldn't be any

sharper if their heads were pointed.

Look, if you don't like the gift, I can exchange it. No, no, no, I'm sure it'll

be just fine.

Hey. Sorry we're late. What did we miss?

Nothing. Everything is still civil.

Hey, well, we caught the kid. He's in lockup.

I don't want to press charges.

Well, let's have dinner, shall we? Let's all go into dinner.

Good. I take that, Judge. Come on.

Every night, Walter Brock comes to dinner after you, Judge. Oh, no, no.

This is going to be tough. We don't need you to antagonize. Me?

Yes, you, little Miss Edge.

Edge, we don't need at this dinner. You and I have to be the peacemakers.

What's with Daddy, anyway?

I don't know. I don't know. He never told me. How could you not know? You're

wife. Well, I'm a lousy wife on this one.

You know how hard it is for him to spit it out when he wants to talk about

something when he's reluctant.

You know what I mean?

So you and I have to be the mediators. We'll smile.

We'll be charming.

Hi,

everybody. Jill, I thought to kick things off, I'd say grace to commemorate

excellent reunion.

Oh, that's very nice, darling.

My father's been known to bar that family dinner.

Well, I'll just keep one eye open and one nostril closed. How's that?

Nice bunny. Let's just pray.

That's a good idea.

That was not edgy.

Dear God in heaven, we thank you for this rich, rich blessing.

There's nothing more beautiful than the coming together of father and son.

Of course, there's nothing more fragile than this kind of relationship.

Take Maxine, for example.

Sitting there so pretty, she's estranged from her father.

Kimberly and Jimmy, she almost moved out when he found her in bed with Billy O

'Connell during Jingle Bells. When she French -kissed Lisa Fenn, not to mention

Kenny. Hey!

I'm laying down some groundwork. When I feel tension in a room, I shatter it,

and I feel tension here.

You see that?

He shot me with a piece.

This is volatile subject matter.

Aha! It's stuck.

A stuck pea is an omen. All right, all right. That's enough of this nonsense.

Yes, let's just cut to it, shall we?

I mean, you're all wondering why I came, assuming that the motivation couldn't

possibly be fatherly love.

But you're right. There is something else.

Ah, he is dying. Mr. Wong. I will ask you to leave.

Zoop. Jimmy, with the exception of Jill, I'm not sure anybody here knows that

you did two and a half years of law school.

I knew.

I didn't. Dropped out with one semester left.

Now, that part's still a mystery to me.

Anyway, the reason I'm here, Jimmy, is that I'm 75.

I'm not dying.

I am getting older.

I'm going to give up my practice.

and patch things up with my family.

And under the concept of killing two birds with one stone, I'd like to give

my law practice.

Excuse me?

Well, you'd have to put in that one semester and get the law degree, of

but after that, your name would be at the top of the letterhead.

22 partners.

67 associates.

And they'd all report to you.

The whole firm?

It's his?

Everything.

From father.

Son.

Jimmy, we can't stay out here forever. We have a house full of people. Then

them home.

I thought my relationship with my father looked bad.

I don't want to talk about it, Jill. Well, clearly, Jimmy, 17 years, you

talk about it. What could possibly have happened? He showed you. You saw what he

did.

His intent seemed to be to give his son something.

His intent was to tell me my life has been a waste, Jill.

Didn't exactly hear it like that.

The point was made without it sounding like that.

That's why juries love him. That's why he wins, Jill.

The sniper without seeming the assassin vintage, Walter Brock.

Does he often run to his room?

He doesn't like confrontation.

May I say something?

I wish you would.

I've heard what a profound man you are.

Yeah, yeah.

Even if he accepted your offer, a person just can't step out of law school and

run a farm.

The partners and the associates do all the work.

Senior partners rarely carry much of a load, or at least not the smart ones.

Yes, but the senior partners earned the position.

What would the other lawyers think of him?

Being handed the reins without any experience.

Maybe that's what you want, Grandpa.

To surround Daddy with all these people who think he's not good enough.

You really do have a wicked edge, Kimberly.

It's not attractive. I see a lot of Lydia in you.

You know, I always thought that she was a dreadful being.

But thankfully, experience taught me that there's nothing so deceiving in

as a quick judgment.

Eventually, I came to see what I'm sure was only a glimpse of her real

dimension.

She's an intricate person, a beautiful woman, who covers up a lot of

vulnerability with hard armor.

Maybe you have a little bit of that in you.

Truth is, we don't really know each other, you and I.

And I suspect that's my loss.

One thing for sure, I won't judge you based on what little I know, ma 'am. I

expect the same courtesy.

That I'm 18 and I don't know you.

That I have no basis to judge you on.

Maybe I could judge you on that.

I agree.

I absolutely agree.

For a grandfather not to know his granddaughter is a tragedy.

But it was your dad that kept us apart.

Ah, Jimmy, everything is delicious.

You come into my home, and you... you humiliate me in front of

my children.

And you're charming about it.

Zach, do you find your grandpa charming? Nice guy?

Jimmy, all right.

Matthew, Zach, let's go up to your room for a minute, okay?

I want to stay.

Me too. Oh, no, that's a great idea. You go on up. We'll call you when it's time

for cake. Grandpa and Daddy need to talk. Doug and I are leaving.

What? Shut up. Come on, I'll buy you a beer at O 'Callie's.

We can share separate booths. Let's go.

I'm not one to eat and run.

Well, yeah, it's a shocker. Come on, let's go.

Honey, listen.

What? I'd like to hear this. Yeah, well, so would I. Come on, I need the time.

I'm going, but I'm going to have to get... Go ahead.

I made you an offer.

All you are to do is decline.

Right.

Right? You glare at me with fire in your eyes and you say right?

You stomping around on one foot like a bull ready to charge and say right and

flee the room? I want you to get out of my house. No. I ask you to get out. I

said no.

I may not have been perfect, but by God, I don't deserve this.

Did I beat you?

Did I abuse you? Was I ever, ever not there for you?

At least you owe me an explanation. I owe you nothing. You got that?

Will you ever get it?

I owe you nothing.

Sometimes...

When parents try to love too much, it can, well, it can cause pain.

And that's what's going on down there?

Too much love?

I think maybe.

You know, my own father, all he wanted to do was protect me.

And that was very nice.

But it didn't give me any confidence.

I grew up thinking that I couldn't do anything.

I even had to see a psychiatrist. I got so screwed up over it.

This is the psychiatrist you slept with and then arrested?

That would be the one, yes. But my point is, my father wanted everything

for me.

But he didn't really believe that I could be anything.

So I rebelled.

He wanted me married to a rich college professor wearing evening gowns and

to the symphony.

Instead, I became a cop.

To get out of going to a concert?

To defy my father.

The real truth is, every decision I ever made as an adult, unconsciously, I was

going against my father.

Do you know what she's talking about?

Shh. I stopped listening. I'm trying to hear what's going on down there. What is

going on is that you're trying to remake me, just like you've always tried to

remake me.

That's upright false.

I've always had great pride in you. Your pride goes to potential, Dad.

Always potential.

And in the end, I didn't live up to your potential, and that's what this was all

about. According to who?

You.

Oh, I don't think so. Did I tell you that?

No.

Did I make any kind of a pronouncement the day you walked out of law school? I

said, if that's what you want to do, son, then do it.

Do what you think is best. No, you said that's not my son.

Do what you want to do, but that's not my son.

No, I never said that. You said that!

How could I forget that?

That's not my son.

But even if I... I was trying to persuade you to think things over.

Well, I thought it over, and I want you to leave this house.

Well, I want to know why, damn it! It can't be because of some unintended

remark.

I ask you to leave this house.

You're asking me to get out of your life.

If I go, Jimmy, you'll only have yourself to run away from.

Perhaps you're good at that.

Yes,

perhaps you're best at that.

So he stayed in a hotel?

Well, I don't really know where he stayed, honey.

Probably a hotel or a motel.

Okay, you're late for practice. Drink your juice.

Do you think this family has too much drama?

I don't know.

Why do you ask?

Well, last year Kim got kidnapped.

Matthew got shot.

This year you got thrown in jail over busing. You barely dodged a murder rap

when you offed your patient.

And last week, my hands started to bleed.

Maybe a sign from Jesus Christ, Lord Almighty.

Well, you know, these things sometimes happen.

And any time a relative comes over, doors start getting slammed.

Is this the normal family?

Well, I like to think we're more close -knit than most families.

Hey, off you go to practice.

Try not to hit too many swans along the way.

I don't appreciate that.

Sorry.

Hi, Dad.

Hi. Bye.

You know, we do have more drama than we need in this family. Not that I'm not

mostly to blame, but I don't understand why you and your father... Well, let's

just leave it at that, Jill, all right? You don't understand.

But why did you quit law school?

Is it because you didn't want to be a lawyer?

Or does it have something to do with... I'm sorry. I'm going to be late.

Why are you going in today?

Sheriffs have to work on Saturdays sometimes.

It's an important job, you know, being a sheriff. It's not a complete waste of

time or life. No, of course it isn't.

Have a good day.

When do I get out?

According to your mother, the best thing for you might be to spend the whole

weekend here. Let some sense sink in. You can't do this.

Scotty, this is America. We're the police. We can do anything we want.

Newt is in.

Civil liberties are out.

You don't think this is a little harsh?

He almost killed the guy with his motorcycle.

He's lucky not to be prosecuted.

Kenny, is there something wrong?

No.

Good.

Tell me.

What do you want?

Every adult decision you've made probably goes against your father,

maybe deciding to be with me.

What? Are you dating me to batter him?

This is crazy.

No chance of me hauling you off to the symphony, is there?

Kenny, I love you.

It wouldn't be fun to bring me home to dad.

I had a feeling.

High school, junior year.

I set the state high jump record.

After the meet, everybody went home. You took me down to the track.

You said I could jump higher.

I tried three times.

The last time I did jump higher.

That's our story, Dad.

I get to be your son as long as I jump high enough.

I wanted you to strive to be the best.

What parent doesn't?

My love for you has never been conditional on your achievement.

Not much.

If that's true...

Then how do you explain my loving you right now?

As pathetic as you seem.

Oh, did that hurt, Jimmy?

Well, it was meant to.

The way you've insisted on hurting me.

How do you think a father feels when his only son abandons him? Well, then why

don't you sue me, Dad? I'm sure you've got a great case of emotional pain and

suffering.

Ladies and gentlemen.

How could a son repay a father so poorly? How could he treat him with such

cruelty?

I'll tell you how.

The son enters law school.

He's near the top of his class. He enters the National Moot Court

and starts to win.

Case after case, the son wins, and he is good.

And they start saying he could be, could be another Walter Brock.

And that makes the father proud, so, so very proud that his son could be him.

James Brock was becoming everything his father wanted him to be, and that was

the dream, wasn't it?

To be the harvest of his father's...

The son decided, no.

He couldn't commit that kind of spiritual suicide, so he walked away

life, with his life.

A very, very moving story, ladies and gentlemen.

The council has left out one key part of the story.

You see, the son loved the law.

He was excited about the opportunities presented by the legal profession.

He dreamed of being a lawyer.

He dreamed it.

The son should walk away from his father.

That's why.

But why, ladies and gentlemen, did he walk away?

From the law.

His dream.

He didn't walk away with his life.

I submit he fled his life.

My life is here. This is the life I chose. Then you should stand here secure

the fully self -defined human being you are.

But is that what we see here, ladies and gentlemen?

A man who was secure in his life's choices, did he come here today to sit

solace, to reflect on how well all his dreams came true? Shut up.

I submit, this son is a liar. Shut up! You didn't think you could live up to

That's why you left.

My footsteps were too big. That's why you ran.

That makes you a coward.

I didn't say it then, but I'll say it now if I can. I ran because I was afraid

could be you, would be you, and I couldn't bear the thought.

The idea was hateful.

I'm just practicing. We're supposed to say stuff.

You're not supposed to say my sister's a dyke.

It's just practice.

I'm supposed to distract the hitter. I don't mean nothing.

Come on, Zach. Step in there. Let's go. Let's go.

No batter. No batter.

Mother's a murderer.

No batter.

You're right.

My mother's not a murderer.

Come on, Zach.

Stop taking this stuff so personal.

Come on. Let's go. Let's go, Zach. No batter. No batter. He can't hit.

Jesus hurt his little hand.

Mother would be in jail if we had a decent sheriff.

Strike three, you're out of there.

You should have swung at that one.

Right.

Hey.

He had a passion.

Mm -hmm. Let's go. It was temporary insanity, too. Automatic pilot.

Think about it in jail, Zach.

Call Wamba.

I called your father.

Hey.

What you in for?

Motorcycle.

Oh, yeah.

You?

Baseball bat.

Baseball bat?

Ah. He just hit him?

Right in the head.

Where is he? I put him in a cell.

In jail?

That's where he belongs.

If that kid didn't have a mask on, he'd probably have a fractured skull.

Kids.

Honey.

I did not fall in love with you just to get back at my father.

Maybe not.

But maybe you're attracted to a certain kind of man because of your father.

A type opposite him or something.

Well, so what?

We all grow up to form our likes and our tastes.

Who knows how we get them?

In the end, you are my type.

Does it matter why?

It's a trick question.

Only a college professor type would know the answer.

I just got mad.

I'm just gonna go give him a dike.

I'm a murderer.

Just go mad.

And that's how you show your anger?

With violence?

I'm sorry.

You know, when kids say stuff like that, the cruel stuff,

that's their weakness.

That's them being stupid.

Now, if you remember that, you probably won't get as mad.

Maybe you were mad at Mom and me a little when you swung that bat.

No. Well, you could have been, you know. We've been making things kind of hard

at home, and I'm sorry about that.

we make so many mistakes, you know?

Heck, I'm only 51. I got time to make so many more.

I guess the thing for all of us to do is to try to not make the same one twice.

Especially the ones we can control.

Now, hitting somebody with a bat, I bet if you tried...

You could control that, couldn't you?

Huh?

Yes. Yeah.

Did you and Grandpa make a mistake?

Maybe.

When you can't control.

I also took the third strike.

Down the middle.

Well, you'll hit it tomorrow.

You won't hit that catcher, will you?

No.

The next one down the middle means you're going to hit a home run.

Keith, okay?

Yeah. Thank you, Daddy.

All right.

Talk to the kids' parents, and they're not going to press charges against Zach,

all right? But, Jimmy, look, maybe your kids should give up sports.

Thanks. No, I'm serious. I mean, if they can't stick to hitting the inanimate

objects... Don't tell me how to parent.

Fine. You got that down, right? Hey!

I'm a good father!

How dare you walk into my office...

I'm a good father.

I know you are, Jimmy. And I'm a good sheriff.

It's not easy being a sheriff.

You think you're better than me because you're a lawyer? Is that what you think?

No. I'm proud to be a sheriff. I'm proud of it.

And Zach is a good baseball player. He's a good ball player.

That catcher should never have called his sister a dyke. That was wrong.

What?

Did I miss something?

Jimmy, you're falling apart. Thank you.

You know, Kenny thinks I fell in love with him because he represents the

opposite of my father's ideal.

I'm scared maybe he's right.

What the hell are you talking about?

How could it happen that our fathers stay inside us like this?

Is it that they won't let us go or that we won't let them go? What about the

Thompson kid? I don't want him in here another night.

Okay, I'll call his mother.

One thing I don't understand, Jimmy, is how could you deny him?

I understand how you don't see eye to eye with your father, how you don't want

to talk about him.

But he's Walter Brock, and even your own wife.

Could have used his legal expertise last month.

And you never even mentioned his existence. How could it get that deep?

your job, deputy. Just do your job.

Somebody's got to do your job.

Take the day off. What did you say?

You're incapacitated. Max and I will be temporary. Get out of here.

I'll take her to the mayor. You want that? You want this public, Jimmy?

This town needs a sheriff. Right now, it ain't you.

Take the day off. Fix your head. As acting sheriff, that's my first order.

It really wasn't my intent to disrupt your life.

I just figured that between your manslaughter trial and Zack's stigma, I

quietly slip in unnoticed. Ha, ha.

Well, that's just an old lawyer's trick, you know, to, uh... When things aren't

going well, to make small jokes and smile and... So that the jury doesn't

wind of, uh... Your despair?

Oh, Kimberly, I'd like to apologize to you for not...

Getting to know you better.

Though all of you... I mean, my differences with your father aside...

you come to Rome?

Time to go, Scott.

I'm sorry.

You okay?

Yeah. I told you about riding that thing.

You go get in the car.

I try to discipline him. I do. It's just his dad left three years ago.

Since then, well, you know.

Thanks for keeping them.

Hope it does them good. Me too.

Bye. Bye.

Am I the only one with a decent father?

I mean, my father is a good guy.

I bet he is.

He'd approve of you.

Thanks. And mine?

Well, he probably wouldn't approve of you.

But I do.

Look, I didn't mean what I said before.

Yeah, you did.

You weren't quitting the law, you were quitting me.

And I still don't understand why.

You let me idolize you.

You never led me to believe you were just another lawyer, a hired gun to win

cases. You always presented yourself to me as a man of greatness.

But you're just another man.

Oh.

I get to be the father as long as I jump higher.

I saw you for what you were, and I suddenly became nothing.

You became nothing.

Don't you see?

I wanted to be you.

That was my dream. It was my whole sense of... to be you.

And you pushed me to be you.

Then when you turned out to be... How could I help but run?

Well, maybe I didn't turn out to be the image of your

hero.

But I'm still your father, and I gave you everything.

Everything.

Everything but love.

What? The day I quit law school.

When you said, it's not my son.

You couldn't have loved me then, Dad. No father would say... That

was the final truth.

I wasn't going to hang around the face anymore.

I saw you in the cell with Zach today.

I heard you telling him about all of those mistakes that you made.

I thought, how brave for a father to admit to his child that he was fallible.

I so wish I'd done that.

Did I ever hold you the way that you held Zach today?

Not that I remember, no.

I think it was...

Firm handshake, pat on the knee.

Yeah.

Well, I was wrong to come here and offer you a better life.

Wrong because of my arrogance. Wrong because of my selfish need to feel

that I was giving you something. And most of all, I was wrong because

you have the better life.

and your children. It isn't even close.

And I hear you're a... You're a great sheriff.

See, where you were wrong and where you've always been wrong is thinking

don't love you.

I clearly didn't succeed in showing it, but maybe the damage is the same anyway.

People have been asking me why I came back here to give you my law firm.

I really came back here to tell you I love you.

And giving you the law firm was the only way I could think of to

do it.

Let me now try one other way.

I love you, son.

I love you, too, Dan.

What do I do now?

I don't know.

The movies, they always...

They made up? That's what Daddy said.

Oh, and he also said that they made plans for Grandpa to come back on the

July. Wow. Yeah.

Good. So if Dad stops acting crackers, maybe Zach will stop going after kids

like that.

Zachary Brock.

Where is Daddy anyway?

Well, he said he'd have to go back to the office and get some stuff.

So you and Daddy both get along with your fathers now. This is very good.

It's good.

It's excellent.

Maybe your hands won't bleed anymore.

Douchebag. Zachary Brock.