Original subtitles

[NBC fanfare]

- Morning, everyone.

- Good morning, Arthur Tobin.

I'm just cooking for my beloved family.

- Look, I know it's gonna take some time

to get used to the cameras, but you just have to do your best

to forget that they're here.

- Wait, does that apply to everybody?

Because I've been working on my Jim from "The Office" looks,

like...

- Ha ha. That's a good one.

- Or like...

- No, no, no! Don't zoom in.

And don't cook breakfast in a tuxedo.

Here we are capturing truth.

[smoke alarm beeping]

Is that a turkey?

- Oh, boy, don't film this.

I have an amazing plan for whenever something happens

that I don't want in the movie.

I just tell my phone to play the Beatles,

'cause that ain't in the budget.

- ♪ I like to kiss and hug - ♪ Hug, hug, hug

♪ You make me feel so snug... ♪

- You know what?

I can't stay mad when my favorite Beatles song

is playing.

- ♪ If you wanna hug me

- ♪ Better say you love me

both: ♪ With a little kiss or two

- Yow!

[upbeat music]

- ♪ The Fall and Rise

♪ Of Reggie Dinkins

- All right, a new day, another fresh start with my dudes!

No, I'm sorry.

Point is, I'm excited. - Me too, Arthur Tobin!

We pull this off, people gonna see me

in a whole new light,

like they did after Pharrell's movie.

Did you know he grew up LEGO?

- And I know we all have slightly different visions

for the film. - No, no, we trust you.

You know, this could work for all of us.

I just don't want us to come off

like J.Lo in her documentary. - Right.

No Ben Affleck. Good note.

- If you need any help with the old doc-a-rooney,

I got a bunch of Reggie's old stuff in the basement.

I've actually spent a lot of time

organizing the Reggie Dinkins library.

It's got everything, from his baby teeth to his wisdom teeth.

Well, I mean... [laughs]

It's not just all teeth, obviously.

You know, there's football stuff in there, too,

you know, like the gold tooth that got knocked out.

Dammit.

- Right. Super. Well, whatever the documentary

ends up becoming, we will discover it together,

because the cameras will be filming everything--

both the highs and the lows.

- Oh, you want bad stuff?

Reggie Dinkins'll give you plenty of that.

- Wait, what'd I do?

- You don't even know?! That makes it so much worse.

- Those actually did end up being quite useful.

- Why are we outside?

I'm not moisturized for this.

- Reggie, we both want this to work.

But Brina getting on you like that is not the look.

You have got to lock things down in there.

- Hey, I am very careful about what I say on camera!

I'm just saying, it's still impressive

he lost all that weight eating Subway.

Only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun

is an even worse guy with two guns.

Cleopatra--Black.

Jesus--Black.

George Washington--Black.

- Just deal with it, okay?

Go apologize to Brina for whatever you did.

We don't need that kind of drama right now.

- [sighs]

I can't figure out why Brina's mad at me.

There isn't any birthdays or anniversaries on the calendar.

All the toilet seats are down.

I didn't put any empty cartons back in the fridge.

And I haven't liked any full-chested women's posts

on Instagram.

I even asked her Auntie Sheila,

because Brina tells her everything.

- Even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you.

But let's talk about why you're taking my niece

to that filthy church.

You know God don't like no--

- She was busy.

[telephone ringing]

- Ashley?

Are you gonna get that?

- Oh, sorry, um, my therapist told me

I need to spend less time on the phone.

- Okay. Thank you, Ashley.

- Honestly, not a problem.

- Okay, um, thank you for this, Monica.

I wanted to start with you today

in part because Reggie is--

how do I say this-- still just doing the most.

- Did he wear his tuxedo? - He did.

But you? I mean, well, let me just say,

I respect a contemplative queen.

- Uh-huh.

- So...

you were a Quincy Magoo Scholar at Rutgers.

First in your class at the Wisconsin School of Business.

But I don't want to talk to Monica Reese-Dinkins just yet.

I would like to start off today by talking

to little Mony Reese.

[condescending tone] Hi, sweetie.

Are you excited about all the stuff

you're going to accomplish?

- I'm not doing baby talks.

But, yeah, sure. I always had big dreams.

If you think by staying quiet,

I'm going to start talking just to break the silence...

- To be fair, that trick really works on Rusty.

- [crying] Why aren't you saying anything?

I hate this. Are you mad at me?

Okay, here's something.

When I'm alone I like to write rock raps.

Fine, I'll do one.

♪ I'm a lyrical, spiritual miracle ♪

♪ On the spherical Earth since birth ♪

♪ Where did you go?

Please stop me.

- And do I look like Rusty Boyd to you?

- [chuckles] Um, you know what?

Why don't we just get some air for a minute?

Interviews are like jazz.

You have to improvise. Feel it out.

Like...

[scatting]

- Okay,

you can stop looking at me like that now.

'Cause I got you this.

Here. I'm sorry.

- Does this mean you figured out what you did wrong?

- I was mean to you in a dream.

I got you a purse, didn't I?

- You always get me a purse. Or shoes.

Or you hire Flo Rida to come and sing while I work out.

But you never actually apologize

to me like you mean it.

- She's got a point.

My dad spent his formative years

being told he could do no wrong.

At Rutgers, they had to rename an entire building,

because he kept misreading the sign.

So he still has trouble realizing when he messes up,

but he wants everyone to be happy.

So, if you're mad at him, he just buys you stuff.

[chuckles] It's dope.

I mean, when my parents got divorced, I got a crossbow.

I was five!

- It's not a real apology

if you don't know what you apologizing for.

- Here's also a necklace.

- [sighs]

- C, you gotta be a bro.

Help me out here.

Find out what I did so I can get out the doghouse.

- Mm, I don't really want to snitch.

- I'll make it worth your while.

- Snitches get stitches, yo...

specifically...

these Abloh Off-Whites.

Check out that stitching, huh? [chuckles, smooches]

- Look, Arthur, if you think taking me

back to the old neighborhood

is gonna release a flood of emotions, it's not.

This place has changed.

This was all empty lots when I was growing up.

This cell phone store?

They used to sell landlines.

I mean, I barely even recognize--

[gasps]

The playground.

It looks exactly the same.

How?

- It's landmarked,

uh, because Nas lost his virginity on the seesaw.

- Oh.

- Do you remember making this mural?

- Oh, my God.

My handprints!

Ohh.

- [scatting]

- How did you even find this place?

I haven't thought about it in ages.

- So I talked to your cousin. - The nurse or the bitch?

- I couldn't get in contact with the bitch,

but your cousin Roxy told me all about double Dutch.

- Yes!

I used to come to this place every day after school.

I was always the jumper, and I was good.

Ha!

Watch this.

Hey!

Hoo! Ha! [chuckling]

- And did little Mony Reese ever imagine

where her life would take her?

Your marrying an NFL superstar,

seeing the bright lights of Buffalo, Cincinnati...

Jacksonville.

- Things changed so fast.

[sighs]

That first year in college,

Reggie got famous like that. [snaps]

- Right. Yes, yes, the, uh--

the famous "Food Poisoning Game."

- Remember the name Reggie Dinkins, folks.

The freshman is leading Rutgers to a stunning upset

over number two Penn State,

all while battling severe food poisoning.

- [retching] - Gross, Jimmy!

- You said it, Brian.

- Right.

The "Food Poisoning Game."

- What's that?

Why the air quotes?

- Hey, didn't you say earlier

you wanted to talk to little Mony?

How widdle were you thinking?

Ga-ga, goo-goo.

Eh?

[cheering on TV] - Hey, man.

Turns out Bikini Crab on "Masked Singer"

was Arnold Schwarzenegger.

- Huh. How did you know it was me?

- TV off.

[TV clicks off] Brina, please,

I cannot handle you icing me out like this.

Or dressing like that.

It leaves so much to the imagination,

and you know I don't got a good imagination!

- Well, you don't deserve to see what's under here.

- Look, I know what I did wrong,

and if you're really upset

about me starting the dishwasher

while you were still eating your breakfast,

I guess I'm sorry. - Finally.

- But God forbid you hand-wash your own cereal bowl.

You should be happy I do dishes at all.

I'm rich, I'm old, I don't have to do anything,

so it's really dumb of you to get mad about it.

- Oh, my God! You are the worst at apologies.

- [sighs] You want me to call Flo Rida?

- What's the point?

No matter how good I apologize, it's never good enough.

After the whole gambling thing, I begged for forgiveness.

And what did it get me?

"Time's" Man of the Year...

but like when they gave it to Hitler.

- Yeah...

Yeah, you apologized real good back then.

- Reggie, you let a lot of people down.

What do you want to say to them?

- I guess I'm sorry if anybody's dumb enough

to be offended,

but I didn't do anything wrong.

You should be happy you getting to watch me play football.

But I apologize or whatever.

Here you go, baby.

- Rose gold hardware, nice.

But that's not much of an apology.

Oh, where you going?

Where is he going?

- And that's one of the better ones.

You told Ann Curry that it wasn't you who gambled.

It was The One-Armed Man.

- It worked in "The Fugitive."

- It didn't. He went to jail.

- Fine.

What do you want from me?

I said I'm sorry.

And we all know that an apology wouldn't have changed anything,

no matter how I said it.

I devoted my whole life to entertaining you people.

Are you not entertained?!

- "Gladiator." Nice.

- The only thing this country loves more than a hero

is tearing one down. - Mm-hmm.

Tiger Woods, y'all.

- Can't believe we talking about gambling in 2026!

When everybody has a casino in their pocket now.

- Oh, he's talking about your phone, sheep.

And guess what.

There's probably a racial component to this mess--

- There's always a racial component.

Subtext, Rusty! - [whispers] Subtext.

- I'm done apologizing to everyone.

- Yeah, you sheep!

I'ma kill you! - Whoa. Whoa!

- And they ain't never gonna find the body!

- Whoa! - [barking]

- Chill out, man! - Rusty's coming!

- Where did you go? Come back!

- Whew. Whew.

[bird screeches]

- Right. The "Food Poisoning Game."

The "Food Poisoning Game."

- [exhales sharply]

Wiggle, wiggle, said the little fingies.

But why?

- Okay, here's what's up.

I feel like my using air quotes earlier

has gotten blown way out of proportion.

See, I'm one of those people

that uses air quotes to emphasize important stuff.

Like "Food Poisoning Game."

"I love my son."

"The Supreme Court should have term limits."

See?

"This is fun."

- Oh, man, the Food Poisoning Game?

Oh, Reggie blew up after that.

Jim Carrey played him on "In Living Color."

It was a different time.

- It was a different time, yeah.

- Here we go. So you looking for anything specific?

You know, we got everything, man.

We got, like, magazines and videos.

Oh, we got the single "Weird Al" released

about Reggie, "Food Poison,"

to the tune of Bell Biv DeVoe's "Poison."

♪ That food is poison

♪ Poison

♪ Puh, puh, puh, puh, puh, puh, actual poison ♪

♪ You never trust food that's been out for a while ♪

Not his best.

- All right, Reggie, let's talk about the Food Poisoning Game.

- The Food Poisoning Game.

Finally, yes, we can talk about something

I don't have to apologize for.

- So can you explain

why your archive contains seemingly every copy

of the October 16, 1993 edition

of the Penn State student newspaper?

- That was a big game.

Monica would always buy up stories about me.

- Right, but this paper is from the day of the game...

so the "Food Poisoning Game" hadn't actually happened yet.

- What's up with your fingies?

I had nothing to do with that.

- I think...

I-I know what happened, Reggie.

- Okay, fellas.

Rutgers football freshman prank--

we're going to steal Penn State's mascot.

It's a Tiny Lion.

- "Nittany" Lion, man.

- "Nittany"? What does "Nittany" mean?

[lion roaring]

"Nittany" means big! Oh, God!

[screaming]

- That's you, isn't it, Reggie?

How did you really get sick that night?

- I had to swim across a freezing river

just to get away from that damn lion.

I must have swallowed a gallon of Pennsylvanian trash water.

That game is a part of my heroic origin story,

Arthur Tobin.

Why are you interrogating the myth?

- Instead of being the weekend that launched your career,

it could have ended it.

If you'd been caught, you would've lost your scholarship.

- But I didn't get caught. How did you even--

Zoom in on me dramatically.

Monica.

[door opens] - Young man, no son of mine--

[door closes]

Wait, you don't have a face tattoo.

- I sent that text from his phone.

- How could you?

You know my two biggest fears

are Carmelo getting a face tattoo

or marrying someone who doesn't understand my vibe.

- Sorry I had to use you like that, son.

But I needed to get your mother here to yell at her.

- [sighs]

- All good.

- What the hell, Monica?

Penn State was one of the few things in my career

I could still be proud of.

And you told Arthur Tobin how it went down?!

- To be fair, she didn't actually say anything.

But her air quotes doth protest too much, methinks.

- He's a sneaky little punk-ass.

- Doesn't matter how it happened.

It's out there now.

How would you like if I told everybody

about the time you dressed as Pocahontas on Halloween?

- It was okay back then! I think!

And you wouldn't even have a career in the first place

if it wasn't for me.

I bought up all those newspapers.

I got the negatives from the school paper

by giving the photographer my bra--

- I actually tracked that guy down.

Your bra is in the archives now.

- This is the archives' fault! - You and your damn archives!

You know what? You should be thanking me

for pulling your ass out of the fire.

- If you're talking about that luau on our honeymoon,

thank you.

- I am talking about Penn State and every other day since then!

- Okay, let's, uh--let's go deeper on that, guys.

both: Shut up!

- But, yes, let's.

Yesterday I was reminded of a time before all this.

When I was fun and carefree

and didn't get lower-back pain from Double-Dutching.

Oh, but sorry for messing up for the first time ever!

- That was a bad apology.

Why's she gotta be all dismissive and whatnot?

My feelings matter.

- Let's go deeper on that, Reggie.

You know, Brina might have felt the same way.

- Let me get there on my own!

Fine, just tell me.

- Okay, where's the dumb archive

where you keep all of Reggie's stuff?

- You really should knock before you just bust in here.

For so many reasons--

nudity, the way that I eat, "Home Alone" traps.

- [sighs]

- Hey. Okay, come on, be careful.

Hey, there's a system here!

- We need to get rid of some of this stuff.

I don't even know what kind of garbage you got in here.

- "Garbage"? You call this garbage?

The mayor of Philadelphia threw this at Reggie

during an Eagles game.

- "Monica Stuff"?

Great. Let's start with this.

- Come on.

[box thuds on table]

Aw, you wore that to Reggie's first signing meeting.

It was okay back then. - Oh, gosh.

- Oh. No, that you can toss.

Just a stupid, meaningless old jump rope?

That's filthy garbage. I hate it.

[sizzling]

[grunts, wincing]

Hot doorknob!

- Hey, Bri.

Look, playing football,

all I was ever taught to do was run forward.

Unless I had to go lateral or backwards

to evade a defender.

Or a flea-flicker.

One time, the coach made me take a safety

just to eat up the clock--

- Is this somehow supposed to be an apology?

- It's coming! Let me cook!

Listen, as an athlete,

you're taught never to dwell on mistakes.

You make it up on the next play.

But I get it now.

Sometime when you don't look back,

it seem like you don't care.

And I couldn't even apologize right

for the "Nittaniest" mistake I've ever made.

- "Nittaniest"?

- "Nittany" means big. - Oh.

- What I'm saying is that I don't want to mess up

like that with you.

- Well, the dishwasher wasn't really that big a deal.

I mean, why's either of us doing our own dishes?

- But I'm still sorry. For all the terrible apologies.

You deserve better.

And I'm done trying to buy forgiveness with gifts.

I know I got to try harder to listen,

pay attention, and love you right.

And I know money can't buy any of that.

- Mm, thank you, baby.

- And Melo, I haven't been fair to you, either.

- No, no, no, no, no--

- Trying to buy my son's forgiveness

with concert tickets, sneakers, and chains?

But now I know none of that matters to you.

- Nope! Just your love.

- That's right.

So, from now on, you get real apologies.

I'm really sorry I broke your laptop trying to kill a spider.

- Wait, you did what?

That broken laptop could have gotten me a payday.

And why is Brina even trying to make my dad

be like an actual adult dad,

instead of a bro with a Black Card?

[sighs] What? I hear it.

And I know this is good for us but I don't have to like it.

[door closes]

- Arthur... I'm sorry I called you

a sneaky, little, travel-sized punk-ass.

- You actually didn't say all of that,

but, yeah, apology accepted.

- Getting used to all this isn't gonna be easy.

And digging up the past is scary.

But because of you, I just double-Dutched

for the first time in 30 years.

- Hey, that's fantastic. - [chuckling]

[sighs]

- [scatting]

- What'd you say? - Nothing. Where did you say?

Jazz.

- It's been an interesting couple of days.

Reggie actually apologized for, well, the last 30 years.

And I think he meant it.

He didn't just give me a bag-- not that I mind a bag.

- I, however, am still waiting for Monica

to apologize for blowing up my Penn State story.

- Here you go, baby.

- Aw, nice. - [chuckles]

- Sweet like bear meat.

Apology accepted.

[indistinct shouting]

- Hey, hey, hey!

You cannot be here without a kid.

That's not okay.

- Yeah. Sorry, you're right.

It's just that I feel so carefree.

It's amazing. - What? Just go!

- [chuckles] Um...

- You cannot film kids in a park.

Just go.

- Yes. I'm so sorry. - Go!

Get out of here. - We're going.