All language subtitles for Mr.Jealousy.1997.1080p.WEBRip.x264-RARBG

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When Lester grimm was 15,

he went on his first date
with a classmate named Paulina.

They saw the rules of the game
by Jean renoir...

And ate at a nice Italian
restaurant in the village.

Lester paid
with his own allowance.

And when it came time
for the good night kiss...

He didn't have the nerve
to do anything.

2 more dates of
a similar nature followed.

And then,
at a classmate's party,

Lester found her kissing
a 24-year-old club promoter.

This incident, being Lester's
first real romantic experience,

had a deep impact on him.

Subsequent girlfriends were
subjected to informal inquiries

concerning their fidelity,

or even more disturbing,
their past before him,

without him.

Realize people are
laughing at e because...

In college, senior year,

Lester's girlfriend
of 9 months, Ariana,

enjoyed comparing Lester
to her previous lover.

Not so much obsessed
as curious...

That was his distinction...

Lester followed Ariana's
ex-boyfriend around

for several nights.

Lester hid in bushes,
ducked behind Poles

as if he were a private
detective shadowing a suspect.

The investigation
uncovered nothing,

and his girlfriend left him
because he was never around.

Lester blamed Paulina.

But girls mature quicker
than boys, he'd been told.

Hi, Scott.

And then there was Ramona.

Wait, hold on a second.
That's the other line.

Hello?

When Ramona had time
to assess her life,

she saw herself as one of those
girls you read about in fairy tales

who saves wounded birds or takes in
homeless people around the holidays.

Of course, she wouldn't do
anything of sort.

But she did have trouble
saying no,

and as a result,
wounded friends called her,

and she took on
more than she could handle.

Um... hello?

Scott.

Ok. Ok.

All right. Bye.

Hello?

Who

jennie!

This is the story
of Lester and Ramona,

and here's how it all began.

Simple enough.

Vince and lucretia,
recently engaged

and feeling generous with love,

decided to introduce
2 of their friends.

I think she looks more like him

than he looks like her.

A-

I'm shy. Are you shy?

They went on dates.

Lester, who had more than
a passing interest in film,

took her to revivals.

And Ramona took him
to art exhibits.

She was a tour guide
at the Brooklyn museum

and getting her ph.D. In abstract
expressionism at Columbia university.

On their second or third date,

neither one could
remember exactly,

they ended up at a restaurant both
swore the other had recommended.

Are you sure?
'Cause I thought you had been here.

Lester had a strong feeling
about Ramona,

and he made a real effort not
to fall back into old patterns.

He even went out with her
and an ex-boyfriend, curt,

whom she'd remained
friends with.

It was easier than he'd expected not to
imagine the 2 of them in bed together.

They became a team,
Lester and Ramona.

Ramona taught him a whistle
that they'd use at parties.

♪♪

♪♪

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let's go back to Brooklyn
for their first date.

What do you want to be
when you grow up, Lester?

I... teach now.

Well, starting
tomorrow, I teach.

What do you teach?

A lot of things.

I'm a sub, actually.

Gross.

Yeah, everyone hates a sub,

especially at new
utrecht high school.

I went out with a
guy at new utrecht.

Mark osins. Weird.

I went to midwood.

I tried to write.
I did write, but, I didn't want to

get caught up with, you
know, all the politics.

Already on your
third career. Wow.

What would you do if I bit
your face right now, suddenly?

Ha...
I don't know.

I... i guess i'd
be in pain.

So where's your
accent, Brooklyn girl?

It disappeared.

No accent?
That's a shame.

I hate it when people don't
live up to their stereotype.

Lester soaked in Ramona's
environment:

Objects, styles he imagined
ex-boyfriends brought in

and then dropped off
on their way through her life.

If he disappeared today,
he wondered,

what evidence of his personality
might he leave behind?

But right then and there,
he didn't want to go anywhere.

I heard this was good.

I read somewhere.
Somebody said this was good.

It's ok. The book.
You know, I mean,

but all this New York
times he's the voice

of our generation crap
is ridiculous.

He's young?

Yeah.
He's our age.

My age. My age.

He's... 30.
I think.

You're what?

18.

My god.

No, I'm 30.

31. Sorry.

And he's our age? Wow.

I can't believe I thought
you were 18.

I'm so gullible.
I'm also terrible at telling age.

I mean, you know,
he's not the voice of my generation.

He's from somewhere
else in America,

like I wanna say Michigan,

middle class, went to Cornell.

And now he writes this book
about young manhattanites.

Cornell.

But, you know,
I'm biased because

I went out with him for a year.

More power to him.

Beer?

Thanks.

Anyway, it was my first
year outta college,

and he was still struggling
writing his first stories...

Funny how people like to flirt
by mentioning their past lovers,

Lester thought.

It actually wasn't
that funny at all,

but these were clever
getting-to-know-you stories,

stories that weren't really about
anything but acted as time fillers

so that maybe they could
fall in love.

Isn't that funny?
I think that's funny.

That's great.

Ramona.

That's a...

Real rock 'n' roll name.

Ramona.

Yeah.

I think...
We all need therapy.

That's my new thing.

Vince is on this therapy kick.

He recommends it to everyone even
though he's not been in it himself.

He could use it.

If I had the time or the
money, I'd do it.

He told my father
to get therapy.

Yeah. He took it
like it was an insult.

It's a compliment. It means I see
your craziness, and it can be helped.

My dad doesn't want any
help with his craziness,

and he'd rather you didn't see
it, either.

Vince, I'm starving.
What are you getting?

Cheeseburger deluxe, kid.

I thought you said
you were on a diet.

I on a diet. I...

What kinda diet?

The... the... i got that on the fridge,
the meals I'm allowed to eat.

Do not complain to me about
your body anymore, ok?

All right, look, not...

I don't want to hear it!

This is the wrong... this
is not the best place.

The couples were
joined by their friend, lint.

I'm still confused. Couldn't read
the subtitle over that jerk's head!

Was he her father or...

He was the father!

I can't believe you wouldn't
stop looking at her.

She's the lead in the film.
She's in practically every scene.

I had to pee
for the last half hour.

Sweetheart, you're imagining...

I mean, if you want to
be with an actress...

Is that so? Ha ha.

Yeah. And I think
it's so much more erotic

if they film somebody in
just a bra or just underwear.

I think that the suggestion of sex
is much hotter than the real thing.

Really? I find I prefer
to see bare breasts.

I think it's much more erotic

to show people as
naked as possible.

Really, is that so?
As naked as possible.

As naked as possible and preferably
in some compromising position.

My god!

Mona?

What a surprise!

Hi!

Hi!

Wha... ha!

God!

Do you live down here?

No, she does.
She does.

Lois, Lois, Mona.
Lois. Um...

Lester.

God!

Man, Stephen...

Hi.
Hi.

I was just thinking
about you the other day.

I can't remember
in what context.

Wha-ha ha!

So, anyway,

um...

Yeah. Ha ha ha ha!

Well, I dunno.

You look...
Beautiful.

Thanks.

We were just coming
from the movies.

That's where we're headed.

I think we're late.
Um, is it any good?

Which one are you gonna see?

I think we just missed the French one, so we
can catch the American independent. Good?

Great.
Not one of his better ones.

Great. No, sounds great! Did you see,...

Well... guess we
gotta boogie!

So, it's good to see you, Mona.

It's good to see you, too!

Nice meeting you, um...

Lester.

So weird!

I didn't tell him
he looked good.

Should I have?

Lester gritted his teeth.

Ramona had a life before him.

Let's go. Come on.

I think he knows
that he looks good.

Hey, Lester?

Hey, Lester...

Hey, Ramona.

Tonight... let's just have
the suggestion of sex.

No nudity.

Dashiell is special.

Stephen was Stephen, you know?

He's the only older
guy I ever dated.

He was very smart.
No messages.

And he taught Latin
American literature. Puppy.

He used to take me out
salsa dancing which I loved.

I know you like to read, so,
and you were looking at mine,

and it's good. If you can get
by all the trendy aspects of it,

it's really good.

Thanks.

Ha ha.

- "Exhilarating.
- A comic tour-de-force.

"Powerful and original.

"A grand work.

That a voice so mature could
come from a voice so young."

What would you do...

If I came over to you right
now and kicked you in the head?

Um, i'd...

Probably grab my head in agony?

Ask you to leave?
I don't...

I don't know.

Those your plays?

What's that?

There's a vet next door.

Yikes.

Do you ever get jealous!

I'm fine.

Don't worry.

I'm fine.

Do you

no.

No, not really.

I mean, I've been
susceptible to...

Most of the other deadly
sins, but not jealousy.

Yeah.

Mr. Arbuse,
the gym teacher,

had an inflamed Gill
and was hospitalized,

so Lester took over his class.

Foul!

Good try.
You tried.

Later that day,
Lester opened an acceptance letter

to the reputable university of
Iowa graduate writing program

that he'd been carrying
around with him for days.

He'd applied earlier in the year
and had almost forgotten about it.

He chose to hide it.

He didn't want to
go back to school.

A very good example

of his fascination with
not just the human body

but the terror
and the loneliness

of the human condition.

The figure is...
Almost faceless.

All you can see are
the eyes and the mouth.

She's right. All I can see
are the eyes and the mouth.

The eyes and the mouth,

except for I, personally,
think that that's an ear.

But, you know,
I've been told that it's not an ear,

so I guess everybody
else is right.

Doesn't it look like an ear?

It looks like an ear. And...

Vince, have you read
this guy dashiell frank?

No, lucretia did.

Well, she heard it on tape.

Tom Cruise reads it.

She liked it.
It's all about people our age.

Ramona went out
with him for a year.

That pompous, lucky puss?

Exactly. So we can cut

the I heard the book's good,
he writes about people our age bit.

Yeah. What an ass!

Gimmicky, predictable book.

Have you read it?

No! But I know
what it is. You know...

Gimmicky.

Can't be good.
I won't have it.

You think people still
spit in the cream pitcher?

Yeah.

P

No way!

You and your sheltered lives.

Of course people spit in the cream pitcher.
Why wouldn't they?

I'll bet my writing's more the
voice of our generation than his.

You still writing?

Well, not recently,

but I'm reading a lot.

I write letters.

I... i read...
A lot.

What are you doing?

My head itches, ok?

Why do you constantly parrot me?

You know, if...

Listen, I...

I have to tell you
guys something.

Just... don't judge me, ok?

The other day...

And Lester relayed
the events of that day.

Lester happened to be
walking in the village

one Wednesday afternoon after his
first dentist appointment in 3 years,

and who should he see
but dashiell frank,

that aggravating
generation-defining writer.

Dashiell was recognizable from the
picture on the back of his book,

numerous magazine profiles,
talk shows, etcetera.

Lester watched.

And Lester followed.

Because he was going
that way anyway, he thought.

I mean, that was where the subway
was anyway, he said to himself.

What kismet.

I know.

Too bad he disappeared so soon.

I'd love to follow

one of lucretia's
ex-boyfriends around. Brian.

Yeah.

It's fun just to follow
people sometimes.

Anyone.

Let me finish the story.

A week later, Lester found
himself back in the neighborhood

getting 2 teeth filled.

Avoiding the dentist for 3
years will come to haunt you.

Half of his face
numb with novocain,

Lester watched again
as the group filed in...

And one hour later emptied out.

It must be nice to have
a routine like this

every Wednesday, Lester thought.

A routine was something he
hadn't had since he quit his job.

Lester just planned to get a
glimpse of an empty waiting room,

but to his surprise...

Hello.

Can I, um...

Help you?

Um...

A patient had just left
the group.

Many of the members were new,

and Lester seemed very sincere.

Excuse me?

I joined dashiell...
Ramona's ex-boyfriend's

group therapy.

My god.

Nice.

Only for a session or two.

Listen, when I said
we all needed therapy,

this is not what I had in mind.

I didn't plan it.
It was accidental.

He just appeared in front of me.
I didn't ask for it.

Well, I don't believe in
god or any of those things,

but in this case I'm
going to pretend that I do

so I can argue that the ex-boyfriend
was placed in front of you

to test you,
and you failed hugely!

Hey, I just wanted to see
what the guy looked like,

and then I see
where he's going...

And you joined his group therapy?
My god, to do what?

It's for her...
To find out about what she was like,

how I can do better.

I'm... i'm... I'm not gonna speak.

You're not gonna speak.

No.

What did you tell
Dr. Poke?

Dr. Poke liked Lester
immediately,

and when he asked his name...

What's your name?

My name is...

Vince.

Dr. Poke.

Howard poke.

Dr. Poke.

Nice.

You said you'd go
if you had the time.

I... i couldn't give
my personal information,

because then the writer'll
find out about Ramona.

So I said I was you.

But don't worry.
I'm not gonna talk.

It was just so Dr. Poke
would let me in.

I'm a slight bit flabbergasted.

So when you go to
therapy next week,

the group calls you...

Vince.

And if they ask you
about your parents?

I'm not gonna speak.

If they ask you.

Marlon and Amy.

And when does it meet?

Mondays and wednesdays,
3:00-4:00.

Speak.

No, no, no. Don't worry.
I'm not gonna speak.

No, do, speak, please. If you're
gonna do it, get some use out of it.

Find a few things out for me.

No, no, no, really,
I don't plan on opening my mouth.

Please! Otherwise,
I forbid you to use my name.

Just say a few things for me,

then at least maybe we can all
learn from this experience.

Can I have your pickle?

Ramona was thrilled Lester
had joined therapy.

She told him
she was proud of him

and then admitted
up until a year previous,

she'd been going
to an analyst twice a week.

And when she asked for
the address of the office

in case she wanted to meet him
after her work,

he defensively inverted
2 of the numbers.

The real address of Dr. Poke's
office was 264 west 4th street.

Ramona's days were as
jam packed as ever.

She even began to wonder if her
brain could handle all the activity.

She saw a matinee with arliss who'd recently
discovered his girlfriend was married.

Originally I was thinking
she wouldn't let me over

because you know, she was messy.

Now I'm thinking it's
'cause she's married.

And then she worked out
for an hour and a half.

Then over to the museum
by 3:00

for the first of 5 tours.

At a break between tours, she wondered
how therapy would go for Lester.

This room in here has one
of my favorite paintings.

Have you ever seen r. Crumb and that
cartoon kind of grotesque images

that are like... um...

Ha ha ha ha!

Ok, actually,

it's actually down here.

Recently, Maria had been going through
a particularly obsessive period

and had been
dominating sessions.

If I rub it against
her soft palate...

Procedure of the group
was as such:

Whoever's problems seemed
the most immediate would start.

People were then encouraged to
interrupt and offer advice or censure,

whichever seemed appropriate.

I could... I could spot him...

As soon as Lester
set foot in the room,

he regretted everything.

It was a crazy idea.
What did he expect to learn?

Twice he thought of
getting up and running out.

But he didn't move.

He'd made a commitment
to Dr. Poke... And to Vince.

Any thoughts, Vince?

Vince?

Um...

In a few months,

i'm... I'm marrying
my girlfriend...

Lucretia.

She initiated the idea,

but I... I'm starting
to warm up to it.

I'd... I'd tell my friend Lester

about lucretia and me,
all the details.

For instance,
a fight lucretia and I had...

I was an hour late for a date,

so she...

Pushed our stove
down the stairs.

This... this took
an hour and 45 minutes.

It was a very... Heavy
stove.

Sometimes I get the feeling that
Lester doesn't want me to get married.

I mean, I tell him that I'm
not so sure about it myself,

but I think he feels I'm not
quite ready for that kind of...

Sounds to me like this Lester
might be sort of suffocating.

He obviously wants you to do the same
thing he does, and that's not for you.

Well...

I think his frankness
is... is appreciated.

Sure, he may not be as far
along in life as he'd like,

but he's very, um...
Smart,

and I think that good
things will happen for him.

I hope.

Those friendships
that are based on

when you were different; Younger
people can often be debilitating.

From what you say, well, i...

He enjoys hearing you complain,
and you enjoy doing it...

But then nothing comes of it.

Well, what are you trying...

I hate seeing men getting
into those situations

where all they do is promote
one another's insecurities.

Are you gonna marry
lucretia and start a life,

or are you gonna stay with your
friends calling each other kid?

Isn't that what
you said you called them? My take on th...

Kids?

Yeah. We call
each other kids.

Trust your instincts.
You love lucretia, right?

Yes. I...

Love her.

I love lucretia.

Well, that settles it.

And lestdoesn't
want you to be happy.

No, no, no,
no. He does.

You just said he didn't.

Will you let me air
a little uncertainty?

He's my best friend.
He gives me good advice.

Best.

And it's... Selfless,
and he cares about me.

How dare you suggest
anything else?

I am just responding
to what you say to me.

Well, read between the lines.

Jeez!

Can I say
what I was gonna say now?

That night, after group,
Lester was preoccupied.

Having dashiell in front of him,

confirming that the ex was
indeed an existing human being,

turned Lester's thoughts
to darker things.

Lester could only bring
himself to glance at the book,

to read a little at a time.

The first story, the sensualist,

was about a young writer
from the midwest

who, upon moving to Manhattan,
dated a woman from Brooklyn.

Sounded familiar.
Lester read a little further,

and then his eyes began to drift away
from the page and into his own mind.

There were things
distinctly Ramona-like

about the character Charlotte.

Brooklyn-born,
the indiscriminate touching,

the passion for learning.

But other details...
Charlotte's interest in theater...

Ramona didn't follow theater
as far as Lester knew.

Charlotte was not talkative.
Ramona said what came to her mind.

Yeah?

Hey, it's me.

So anyways, he was
going on and on...

It's Cory hall.
Remember I told you this story?

So this killed.
I go up to him, literally, and I say,

one solitary swallow

does not make a summer.

That pretty much shut him up.

What?

Vince often knocks on
the door of profundity

and runs away.

Lester's in therapy.

Wow!

That's great!

Hey! Wow!

How about that?
Good for you.

Are you feeling any
different, Lester?

It's still...
It's pretty early on.

Really good, man.
It's terrific.

Good for you, Lester.
My man.

Don't get any ideas, Vince.
We can't afford it.

No, no, no, no.
Not me.

No, it's good for you.

Lester.

A-number one.

Lester necessarily had
to censor his report to Vince.

That's it?

All they... all they say
is I should be careful

getting married,
make sure I'm certain?

Yeah, well, you don't want to
make your parents' mistakes.

Just... be more
confident.

It sounds to me
like you're not really

representing me all that well.

Believe me...

Like you're making me
sound too sane.

Hey, I'm making you
as sick as possible.

It's tough, though.
These things take time.

You can't expect a
change overnight.

Yeah, well, it'd be nice.

How about the writer?

Does he have attitude?

He's a prick.
What do you think?

Yeah, boy, fame.

Well, I guess it's nice
to know he's like us,

puts his pants on
one leg at a time...

How many women
have you slept with?

I... i don't know exactly.

Come on.
Of course you know.

We used to make lists together.

We just haven't talked
about this in a while.

Yeah, because we're adults now.

We're all supposed
to just assume

we've slept with the same number
of people... the adult number.

So you're up to, what, 6?

I hate this game.
Not here.

This is not a game.
We're having a conversation.

I-.i need a buck.

Just give her the wallet.

Just give me the whole
wallet, tight ass.

♪♪

♪♪

Thanks.

Please don't let's do this.

5 or 6. I don't know.
I've been choosy.

I'm only at... 14,

and that's if you count
Myrna leahy.

I think Ramona's up to...

Close to... 20... 5.

I try to keep count, you know,
whenever she mentions someone new.

There are 26 men out there
who fucked my girlfriend.

Hey, it's not like that.

Ok. Fine.
There are 26 men

who have made tender
love to my girlfriend.

I mean, being in therapy
really opens up these feelings.

I'm trying to
figure something out.

When Ramona thinks of
Stephen or dashiell

or... whomever...

And it's only natural
that she'd think of them...

The times they had,
positions they did it in...

She has the affair
all over again.

Yeah...

I think you're touching
on a darker area

that we're not supposed
to think about...

Like our death.

When you bring up Thanksgiving,

make sure you mention my
grandmother was drunk again.

So I think this whole area

was originally zoned for
these sorts of clubs.

Of course, there were
7 of them at the time.

You ok?

Irene and I had Chinese
the other night,

and she'd heard me recently
on national public radio,

and the interviewer
kept asking me

how many of my stories
were autobiographical.

The guy... The guy on the
radio, Matt something,

asked about one of the sex scenes
in the story the sensualist...

A particularly erotic scene.

The protagonist does it with his
girlfriend in a particularly...

Well, I don't want to get too
specific, not here, but...

It's fairly experimental,

and it really did upset Irene.

And she asked me if it was
true, and I said it wasn't.

It was based on my life,

but I said it wasn't.

Because I felt badly, I agreed to take
out from this Chinese place she likes.

Bad food.
But... Good fortunes.

And what... Bothers you

about that?

It's part of your past,
something you wrote about?

All of it.

I feel like I'm not
a good writer,

that I wrote a book
of short stories,

but I only had
one story to tell.

I... i don't know.

I get into fist fights
when I'm depressed.

And I begin to feel
that I'm not a good person.

My relationship now
with Irene...

We finally hit that point where I've
stopped viewing everything we do

as material for my next book.

Thank god.

And she's... The first girl
I've gone out with

that I haven't been
unfaithful to,

and I just want it
to stay that way.

I don't want to be unfaithful.

But it's hard...

Stop feeling sorry for yourself!

It was rare
that Lester ever spoke

without thinking a hundred times
about what he was going to say,

but this day was an exception.

What?

Take some responsibility
for yourself.

Don't blame it on your nature.

How can you say, at your age,

that you've never been
faithful to anyone?

What kind of boyfriend are you?

What kind of person are you?

I'm not condoning it.
That's why I'm here.

But you lament
the inevitable demise

of your fidelity with Irene

when you can control it.

You can remain faithful
if you choose to.

It just takes a little effort.

You don't know what it's
like where I am now.

Vince, I don't know
where you are, but...

Don't patronize me.
Fist fights.

You're not Hemingway
or Norman mailer.

You say you've never
been faithful?

Well, that goes back
to before your success,

back when you were just some
jackoff who wanted to be a writer.

So don't talk down to me.

Look back into
your past, dashiell,

your past girlfriends,

and find out what
happened to you.

Who were the ones that mattered?

All right, Vince, dashiell,

um... let's get back
to that radio interview.

Dashiell?

It was a pledge drive.

Um... the host asked me

what was next.

Ok. Senor munoz
has hepatitis,

so I'm going to be helping
you review for your midterm.

It will include all
irregular verbs up to sabre.

Yes.

¿Me da El pase, por favor?

Tengo que ir al baño.

Ok. Your name is...

Me llamo nat.

Your name is nat.

Ok, nat. I'm going to ask you
to repeat that in English.

Can I have the pass?
I need to go to the bathroom.

Ok.

Fine. Anyone else?

All right.
If you have any questions,

I'm going to ask you
to ask them in English

because Mr. Grimm
doesn't speak Spanish.

Not a lick.

Hello?

Hi. It's me.

Lester.

I know who it is.

I just had maybe the worst
subbing experience of my life.

You know, I speak
not a word of Spanish.

Lester, I can't talk
'cause I got to give

a preview tour of the miro show.

I'll call you later.

Fine. You want to
have dinner?

Well, I don't know.
I just... wanna take this night, you know?

No, I mean I really do.
I'm like that.

This isn't an excuse.
Honest.

Ok. Well, how about
tomorrow night?

Sure. I'm busy.

I gotta go to dinner with
these people from work

and a friend of mine, farley.

Don't know him.

Farley is... well, I don't know.

He's trying to kick heroin,

and I said I'd sit with him.

Ex?

No.
Not farley.

Ok. Well, look,
why don't you just

give me a call when you're free?

Hey, Lester.

I really do have plans,

and I really do just
want a night by myself.

I mean, we don't know
each other that well yet.

We haven't had one
of those things

that we're having right now,

so you might think I'm
just making this up.

Yeah... i believe you.

Do you?

Bye.
Yeah. Bye-bye.

No messages.

♪ It's rainin' so hard

♪ like it's gonna rain
all night ♪

♪ I'd love to be
holding you tight... ♪

Every time
he picked up dashiell's book,

he found himself
unable to penetrate it,

reading the same sentence
over and over again.

Moreover, Lester had forgotten
what he did with his time

before he met Ramona.

♪ Drip drop,
drip drop ♪ it's rainin' so hard

♪ drip drop,
drip drop ♪ it's really coming down

♪ the rain all around

hi, it's Ramona.
Leave a message.

Thanks.

♪ I'd love to be
holding you tight ♪

♪ I guess I'll
just go crazy ♪

♪ tonight

♪ it's rainin' so hard

♪ brings back memories

♪ drip, drop

♪ of the time...

♪ Counting every drop

♪ about to blow my top

♪ I wish this rain
would hurry up ♪

♪ and stop

Lester?

Hey.

I'm sorry, i...

I called...

Sorry, i'm out of breath.

I called.

I was in the shower.

That must have been...

That must have been it.
I'm sorry.

It's ok.
You all right?

Yeah, I was...
I was... i was just worried.

Just showering.

I... i... i also called

about a half-hour ago.

Yeah?

Where were you then?

A half... I don't know.

Because the phone...

There was... there was no answer.

I went out for milk.
I got milk.

For coffee.

That must have been it.

Fine.

It was milk.

Ooh...

Are you all right?

Yes. Ha ha.

I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Ok.

All right.
Good.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

Who was that?

The next day,
Lester told Vince he was leaving group.

Lester, we haven't finished my analysis.
What about me?

I'm sorry.
I didn't realize

you were getting
so much out of it.

Well, I felt like we were
both making some headway.

I don't want the responsibility.

I just wanted to learn
more about Ramona,

and now I'm dealing with
you and lucretia

and other people in the group.

I just... i feel it tugging
at a side of me

that may not be so healthy.

Jesus, Lester,
I'm not prepared to stop.

I mean, I am
terrified of ending it.

I'll let you in
on a little secret.

I know I appear as if
I have it all together

the law firm, the fiancee,
$75 hair cut...

But I am fucked up.
I'm really fucked up.

I am teetering on the precipice,

and you're gonna just
push me right over!

Just one more session.
One more week. 2 more!

Just 2 more weeks!

That's 4 more.

4 more.

I dunno.

Man!

What am I gonna do now?

I dunno.
Get your own therapy?

Fuck you, my own therapy!

You started this.
You can't just terminate it.

Ok.

2 more, but that's it.

Great.

Lester liked fighting
with dashiell.

That felt good.

Lester felt the writer
was obviously pompous,

self-centered, and immature.

And there was no mention of
Ramona... not the real Ramona, anyway.

Just characters from
the stories in dashiell's book.

Lester wondered...
Was Ramona the woman dashiell described?

The other night, feeling guilty,

I told Irene that the character
in my book, Charlotte,

the one who takes part
in the erotic sex scene,

was based on an actual
girlfriend of mine.

You told the truth?

Charlotte was a girl I dated
in New York after college.

The real Charlotte...
God, my memory is terrible...

The real Charlotte
was a bit of a tart.

A what?

What a Philip roth character
might call a chippy.

She had a number of lovers
for a woman her age,

at least in my experience.

In college she dated a lot
of those younger teachers

that everybody had crushes on.

The guys wanted to be.
The girls wanted to fuck.

One history teacher in particular...
Used to bother me a lot then.

Now I one of those guys.

I just wanted to say...

Please shut up.

It's still a little embarrassing
for me to write like that.

I spend a lot of time
with the words.

It's hard to avoid
cliches with sex.

I mean, I'd made love to her,

so I knew her habits,
her sounds.

I think about her a lot.

Writing about her
was a way to have her again.

How's therapy been?

You know,
what are you working through?

Your parents'...
Divorce?

Or... your career?

Me?

Yeah. You know...

Which?

All of... of those things.

You know.

I don't know.

How when my parents divorced,

I began to realize that
they had real lives?

How somehow I'd idealized them

up until then.

But...
But that that's ok and natural.

But he says that if I choose to
go back to writing while I teach

that I'll probably do very well

even though i'm
stalled a little now,

that I'll get back on track

and probably be very successful.

And you. You and me.

Do they like me?

Yeah. Very much.

But we've talked about
how difficult it is

for a young relationship,

when you really
care about each other

but don't know enough
about yourselves yet.

Those kinds of things.

I don't know.
I've just started.

Hey.
I've been meaning to ask you.

Do you like that book?

Don quixote?

No, no.
The one that I gave you.

Post euphoria.
Dashiell's book.

The first story in particular.

The first one...
It's good.

I'm not... I'm not
done with it yet.

I'm reading it out of order.

I'm interested
to know what you think.

Yeah?

Lester continued on past
the next 2 sessions,

and routine settled in.

It seemed to him that
on the road to getting better,

the group all began
to look a little worse...

Maria, who was convinced
she and her family would die

after an exterminator sprayed her
apartment with a carcinogen....

without my consent.
I don't know where that is in the lease!

Trey, who was going through
his fourth divorce at 36...

gained so much weight,

I still can't get
my wedding ring... Off.

And josselyn who came after

she'd been having an affair
with her other therapist

and then,
feeling he had cured her,

left after a month, and so on.

The reason I was afraid to fly

was that I was afraid
of erections,

because they both
went up mysteriously.

Each problem was worked on
diligently by the group.

They all developed a mutual
respect for one another.

Lester got used to sitting
in the same seat,

and as the group,

instigated by dashiell,
tore poor Vince's life to bits,

Lester defended his friend.

You're just jealous.
I have good friends.

What's so unhealthy about that?

And I think coke
does vary per can.

But more importantly,
Lester attacked dashiell.

You are so wrong,
so full of yourself!

Have you ever thought
about this, dashiell?

How'd the met interview go?

Good. I think.
Good.

Imagine working at
the metropolitan museum.

I know.

I don't know, though.

You know?

It's more au courant
and all that,

but I love Brooklyn.

I would feel guilty,
like I'm cheating on my museum.

No, but I would.

Vince said the most insightful
thing the other day about us.

I wish I could remember
what it was.

It happened right after we'd
had this fight about lint.

Go back to 34.
What was on that?

Soft-core.

Maybe we should
turn in soon, Vince.

Hello, what's this?

This movie sucks.

By the third time
I saw it I was, like,

"I can't believe how much
I don't like this movie."

I haven't seen it.
Hold on.

It's terrible.

But then the next day
he apologized

and he took me out to dinner,

and we were just together.

He's gotten
so introspective lately.

I mean, I think he's
really trying to change.

Which I think is good.

I mean, you can only find
incompetence endearing for so long.

Yeah.

Group should be under way.

To think I'm probably being
talked about right now.

My nose should be itching.

So you're saying that I'm
choosing between Lester and...

I'm saying Lester
might have an ulterior motive.

Lucretia just wants to get married.
Who knows about Lester?

God, I'd hate to be talked about
in front of all those people.

Can you imagine?
Our sex life?

For that, I am glad that
Vince is not in group.

And besides, you know,
I'd kinda be a bit scared

that he might change,
you know, in a bad way,

and, I don't know...
Wanna leave me or something.

How are things with Irene?

She's fine.
It's just that...

Recently I've started
to lose interest.

I've started thinking
about ex-girlfriends,

particularly before the book.

Like who?

I can't remember their names.

I don't dwelvince.

Lauren...

Abigail, Carol...

Ramona, Victoria...

Another Lauren.

It's funny, it's like...

Every time something
happens at a temple group,

it's not gonna be good.

Hey, Vince.

Wanna get a drink?

He did say that he would
meet me after group.

You know,
I love meeting for coffee.

Aw!

I do!

Did you think back
at milwood or sheepshead

that we would be
meeting for coffee?

We drank coffee then, too.

You make it sound
like we were savages.

I know, but this is so adult and
glitzy, I love it.

I do!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Thank you.

So...

That's dashiell frank.

You writing another book?

Yeah, I'm writing.

I was given a huge advance

for the next one, a novel.

I've never seen so much money.

And I've never written a novel.

I keep thinking this one
has to be that much better

because I'm getting
so much more for it.

Well, you're right.
Probably does.

Just write would be my advice.

We're just having conversation.

I don't need your advice.

Fine.

I'm just gonna finish my drink.

Listen, Vince,
I wanted to say to you...

What?

That I...

Appreciate what you
do for me in there.

I find most of the group is
afraid to speak their minds.

I wish Dr. Poke would
encourage more of that.

Since you've joined...
I feel much better.

I like our little battles.

I hope you do, too.

Yes.

I do.

Ha ha.

I don't smoke.

I've got the patch.

I didn't start till college.

It's a disgusting habit.

Ha.

I know that's not a
particularly original insight,

but it is disgusting.
Look.

I've got this little
yellow stain on this...

This... whatever you
call this above the lip.

Little yellow Mark.

2 more jamieson.
Neat.

What I love about these babies

is you get the cigar
without the commitment.

Beckett smoked these.

You know what I saw the other
night which I'd never seen before?

What?

The man who shot
Liberty valance.

John Ford. Good?

It is. Very.
I wish I were a cowboy.

What?
You know what I just thought?

Irene's father is so bald,

well, and baldness runs
on the mother's side,

so our children are
doomed to baldness.

Hope you have girls.

Bald girls.

It could happen!

What's lucretia's father like

I dunno.

Is he

you'd like him
to be, wouldn't you?

No, no, no.
See, that is your other friends

who like company
in their misery.

I would be perfectly happy
to hear that your children

would have full heads of hair.

Come on. Is he?
Bald?

Well, sort of.
I mean, he has hair on the sides.

That's bald.

If you mean bald
in that it's just

sort of skin
on the head... Yes.

Bald?

Lester's right.

Don't marry lucretia.

Then my dad died while
I was in college.

I was 21.
It's funny, 10 years later

I still don't feel like the
kinda guy to have a dead father.

How about you?

You know, I wish I could use
words like chick and doll

and sound legit.

I always envy guys
who can deliver

that kinda speak to women

without sounding
stupid or contrived.

I can write it.
I just can't say it.

Subway?

Naw. I'll catch a taxi.

Good night.

Good night.

I'm so sorry.
I completely forgot.

Well, I waited.

I'm so sorry.

Lester.

Don't make plans
if you can't keep 'em.

I know.
It's entirely my fault.

I'm sorry.

Hello?

Lester. Vince.
What went on today?

I... i can't talk right now.

No, just give me
a little nugget.

I'll talk to you later.

Which one of my sick
friends is that?

That was Vince.

One of your sick friends.

Where the hell were you?

Um...

Well, it was a fairly
intense session.

My mind wandered,
so I went for a walk,

daydreamed...

Sa the man who shot Liberty
valance at cinema village.

A good liar had once told Lester
that detail was important

in the best fibs.

But Lester wasn't a good liar.
He was a truly bad liar.

And Lester claimed to see a
movie he had always meant to see

but had never seen before.

How was it?
I hear that was great.

Yes. It is. Yeah.
You heard right.

Did you like it?

For a guy who saw
a lot of movies,

he'd also managed
to pick a blind spot,

one of the few black and white John Ford
films he knew little to nothing about.

It's actually John Wayne
that shoots Liberty valance?

I mean, he's presented
as Jimmy Stewart,

but then it's really John Wayne?

Yeah. It's like that.

Is it in color
or black and white?

What?

The film.
Is it in color or black and white?

Black and white or color?

Color.

It must have been pretty.

Good print?

Whoa!

Sorry.

Yes. Good print.

♪♪

♪♪

Lester didn't like
lying like that,

but being in dashiell's presence
excited him,

hearing dashiell's problems,
commenting on dashiell's life.

He felt closer than ever
to Ramona.

Making love to Ramona
that night,

Lester felt their bodies
converge.

He imagined their skin
overlapped.

He felt he knew her.

Although on occasion she could
be read as clumsy or careless,

Ramona did pride herself on being
rational and unsuperstitious.

But lately she developed
odd obsessions.

If she didn't make it
across the street

before the walk sign
started blinking don't walk,

she wouldn't get an "a"
on her last essay.

If she saw more than 8 pigeons
on her way to the subway,

she wouldn't get
a raise at work.

If she finished her lecture in under
42 minutes, it'd be a good day.

If it went over it meant
the subway might be crowded

or she'd have a fight
with Lester.

All this frustrated Ramona, who generally
considered herself level-headed.

Look at the time! Come on.
Hurry, let's go!

It's nice to see you.

You, too.

This is Irene.

Hello.

I have a jacket like that.

Yeah, I know.
I liked yours, so I bought one.

Vince, I'm sorry
lucretia couldn't make it.

Yeah, so was she.

Well, next time.

We're having
the good stuff tonight.

Irene, Vince here has been
a big help to me lately.

Y-

Y-you have been, Vince.

He talks about...

Y-y-

y-you all the time.

Been looking forward
to this drink all day.

Been blocked today.

All week, actually.

It's funny.
I'm starting to think post euphoria

was all I knew.

♪ A child arrived
just the other day ♪

♪ it came to the world
in the usual way... ♪

Hey, Irene, why don't
you tell that story

about how your family
had bad clams

and your brother Philip threw
up all over the restaurant?

H-How can I tell him?

Y-Y-You just told him.

That's the story.

Philip had some bad clams and...

Th-threw up.

So... vince.

Did dashiell turn...
Y-You on

to... s-scotch...

Too?

He makes me drink it.
I... i hate it.

I... i prefer vodka and...

C-C-Cranberry.

I c-c-could never go to...

Th-therapy.

I don't like to
talk about myself.

Irene's writing an essay...

About her stutter.

Her...
dis-fluency.

My dis-fluency.

Among other things,

it's about how
different people react.

You're good, Vince.

You just wait.

Other people finish
my sentences.

It's a nice essay.

You know, you...
It's funny.

You got me thinking about

all those people
I knew in college

in those first years out.

I haven't thought about
some of them in some time.

I know. I'm losing my memory, too.
I'm convinced of it.

Irene is great.

That girl...
Charlotte?

The one in the book?

We went out,
had such a strange time.

The feelings you feel
are so strong, but...

I don't know how real they are.

I mean, who knows
if those feelings

are real when you're that age...

Just out on your own?

Probably not.

You know... I am so glad
you called me on that line.

I've never dated a girl
I didn't cheat on.

What a sad existence.

Don't worry about it.

Irene is great.

Yeah, but... Ramona.

Ramona...

Hey, Vince.

I'm sure Lester's all right.

Good friends are important.

Thanks for coming.

Lester could actually feel the
world spinning out of control.

Intellectually,

I have to pee.

Well, go, then.

I don't actually have to.

I just feel that I should.

Hey, Lester,

can I tell you something?

Hey, Ramona.

Yes.

I'm not sure you're
gonna like it.

Well...

I guess I still wanna hear it.

I just...
Had to come by...

And Ramona related the events of that
already-controversial earlier night.

I'm lying already, man.

I been outside for half an hour.

I'm goin' nuts!

Stephen had stopped by
uninvited.

He'd been upset.

His and Ramona's breakup

had not been what
he thought it would be.

To stop thinking about
you ever since then.

They talked, small talk,
for a while,

and then he made a pass at her.

And first she responded.
It felt comfortable.

It was a kiss she knew well.

But then she thought again.
She was seeing Lester.

No.

You sure?

Yeah.

And... i'm...

Then she kissed him again.

I decided...

It was over.

I mean, I decided
for both of us.

I like yon.

Now?

I mean, you have to understand,

I didn't plan to see him.

He just, stopped by.

I mean,
we had a relationship before.

It had nothing to do with you.

I understand.

No, you don't.

You should.

No...

You sorta should.

I mean, I don't know
if I would condone it.

I mean,
I don't want it to mean anything.

It doesn't mean anything.

I'm not angry.

But I could understand
if you were angry,

from a perfectly normal,
paranoid, semi-sick,

irrationally jealous
point of view.

And I hid it from you as well,
which could make it worse.

Of course I would have preferred
to have heard about it earlier,

or for it never to have
ever to have happened,

but it's not such a big deal.

But you have to understand.

I didn't know what was
gonna happen between us.

For all I know,
we could have been a sure thing.

It was nothing.
And we didn't do it.

Stephen and I didn't
do it... Then.

I mean, we had done it
before, but not that night.

Well, I'm glad you didn't do it.

And we didn't have any condoms.

Well, you... you could
have got them when you...

When you went out for the milk.

But, the thing is is I
didn't go out for milk.

I had milk.
I had unplugged the phone, but...

You have to understand,
this is from another time.

I was clearing up
business from before you.

Screen.

Lester...

No, listen, I understand.

Before me, we weren't us yet.

Lester, this is Vince.

I'm just wondering if there's...

Anything you want
to tell me... Tch.

Just checking in.

Ok!

Just call me.

Hello to Ramona.
Lucretia says hi.

Hey, maybe it's something you
can talk about in therapy.

Yeah.

Ramona felt good
about confessing.

The only thing
she didn't mention

was that a few days after
he'd stopped by,

Stephen showed up again
at the museum.

Ramona, falling further prey
to superstition,

the rules her own,

found herself trying to make it from
gallery room 7 to gallery room 9

in under 25 seconds.

If she made it, she'd get her ph.D.
Before she was 33.

If she didn't,
she wouldn't finish until close to 40.

The catch was she couldn't run,
and she couldn't step on the black lines.

Whoa!

Yikes!

Whoa. Ha!

Jesus, Stephen!

Yeah!

I forgot you work here!

And they raced through the pleasantries
while Ramona caught her breath,

and then Stephen asked...

What do you think of the goatee?

N-...

N-yeah. I feel
stupid with it.

Lois suggested I do it,

and I'm convinced now that she was
just trying to make me unattractive

to the rest of the world
so I wouldn't go anywhere.

But Stephen didn't give up.

The next day he met Ramona
again at work

and offered to walk her home.

Hey. Hey! Then he made his move.

But Ramona was committed to
seeing things through with Lester.

We broke up.

I'm happy about that.

Meanwhile, Vince and lucretia were
having the time of their lives...

Dancing, fancy restaurants,
and presents twice a week.

And no lint.

Lucretia was deeply in love,

and Vince felt he was
becoming an adult.

Lucretia did the cutest
thing the other day.

God, I wish I could
remember what it was.

I mentioned how you have trouble
finishing things, and they said...

What are you talking about?

I don't have that problem.

Well, I guess that's my problem.

You're telling
your problems, too?

Maybe I sneak one in
every now and then.

I dunno. I've combined both
our lives at this point,

but I doubt it affects
the diagnosis.

Well, be careful.

You know, you mutate
information like that,

we'll both turn into idiots.

Hey, I could use a little
help, too, you know.

I've been thinking.

One of us has to
break this to Milly.

We gotta stop with the
same orders every time.

If I eat another cheeseburger...

How about another hit,
sweetheart?

Yes, thank you, Milly.

Coffee's good today.

What about you, darling?

No, I'm fine, thanks.

What is this?

I just feel it's time to stop,

change our orders,
even our diner.

At least our booth.

What the hell
are you talking about?

It just isn't making
me feel good anymore,

the same thing, drinking coffee.

I always feel bad, worried.

If I'm not shaking,

it's like I'm about to have
a heart attack all the time.

You don't like that feeling?

I'm getting this from you.

This is your advice to me.

I mean, recently, lucretia...

We talk about
the issues at hand.

We don't avoid things,
but we attack them head on.

That's great.

And sex...

Baby.

Well, sex is the best
it's ever been.

I just feel all this should
bleed over into my eating life.

I just find it very
helpful, ki... Lester.

I mean, it's great.

I thought I was stuck with this
Vince, but I'm not.

And I'm liking the new Vince.

That's a new thing
for the new Vince.

Well, don't marry lucretia if
you don't wanna have bald kids.

Ha ha ha.

What?

What happened in therapy today?

You know,
I was saying in therapy, that,

I didn't really have sex
that much in college.

Me neither.

Really?

You didn't just play around?

You know, just curious,

just learnin' about sex?

No.

Just playing around...

Attractive students,

attractive...
Teachers?

Nope.

In college, it was just...

Donald...

Sandro...

Max and Arlo...

And... jeff.

And then after college,

art, dashiell,

Mikey...

Rick...

You know.

Whoa. Whoa,
wait a second.

Who's Mikey, some 12

no, just some guy.

I've mentioned him
to you, I'm sure.

No. We went through
our lovers.

You never had a Mikey.

Well, I forgot.

O-Or I left it out accidentally.

Maybe we didn't do it.
I don't remember.

Maybe we just did,
like, you know...

Other stuff, everything but.

Mikey.

Hi, it's Ramona...

It didn't mean anything.

Good, a hang up.

Well, are there any more?

Don't worry.
I didn't sleep with a million people.

Well, that's a huge relief.

We fooled around pretty quick.

We slept together
on the first date.

You were awful trusting.

For all you knew,
I could have been some maniac.

We used a condom.

Th-that's not what I mean.

You could have waited.

You could have let me wait.

What?

Why were you so quick
to make love to me?

I liked you.

So you hop in the sack
with everyone you like?

No.

What?

Are you using my behavior
with you against me?

I'm just saying that I think
you moved a little fast with me.

I don't believe you.

I'm just saying.

Are you jealous of yourself?

I'm just saying.

I'm sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I didn't mean it.

Lester must have been setting
some kind of personal record,

taking weeks to read
a 45-page short story.

Tonight, however, he came to
the end of not only the story

but the relationship
dashiell depicted.

In the last paragraph,

dashiell quoted from gustave
flaubert's the sentimental education.

"In every parting,
there comes a moment

when the beloved
is already gone from us."

Don't...

Be gentle.

And...

You were saying, Leo?

Yeah, um, so, initially,

she lied and said
the guy wasn't there,

but it turns out that she'd
invited her ex-boyfriend over

behind my back.

And... therein is...
Is the lie...

That it... it sets a tone

for the entire relationship.

You're always, now,

you're always playing catch up.

A week earlier,
Lester had asked Vince for a favor.

Because i... i have
to leave the analysis,

and now you can come in and
just change over to my problems.

I mean, to Vince's problems.

To your problems.

Become myself.

Right! Right.
See, that way, I can get out,

and you can still benefit.

So you come in,
help me out a little bit,

and then slowly change
over to your real life.

I mean, you'll have to use different
names and make up some stuff,

but it'll work.

I mean, really, there are just
a few problems out there anyway.

You're bound to have
most of them.

We must share a lot of them.

Come on, whaddaya say?

Be me.

And then she lied.

I mean, it was
early in our relationship.

She says we weren't us then,

but I dunno,

to me it suggests
a lack of commitment

oop front...

And that is the starting point.

That is the springboard
into the relationship.

I care less now,

and when she comes
rrround wondering...

And so, as agreed upon,

Vince became Lester named Leo

while Lester remained Vince.

But why Vince spoke with
an English accent,

Lester couldn't even
begin to imagine.

And I feel also,
now if I say to her,

"do you smell that?"
And, "yeah, I smell it."

Does she? I don't know.
Because you lied before.

Maybe you don't smell this now.

Maybe...

Leo?

Yeah.

Do you think she still
cares about the boyfriend?

Do I...

Think she cares?

Do I? I...

I don't know. What...

What do you think?

How do I know?
I... i... Don't know her.

Well, I guess in my deepest,
darkest thoughts, she does,

maybe... f... yeah.

You mentioned you'd been
jealous in the past, Leo.

Why don't you talk about that?

Um...

t-this has been a pattern.

When I was 15,
I caught my first girlfriend

making out with a club promoter.

And later on in college,

I dated this girl,
and I became quite obsessed

with the notion
of her ex-boyfriend,

then the reality
of her ex-boyfriend.

I trailed him around like a
detective trailing a subject.

I can't believe you
went out with this guy.

You know what kind of
reflection that is on me?

And she ended up...
Doomping me because...

I wasn't around much.

Of course, I was always
with her ex-boyfriend.

It's a self-fulfilling
prophecy, I guess.

I mean, I regret nothing.

It just seems I always get to
this point in relationships

where my jealousy keeps them

from moving on
past a certain point.

I'm getting older.

I'd like to...

Seems perfectly normal to me.

Your girlfriend now...

Lisa.

Lisa popadimitrio.

Lisa was probably insecure
about your feelings

at such a premature time
in your relationship.

It... it protects her,

keeps her from getting
too involved.

She hasn't seen
this guy since the night

you ran over to her
house, has she?

I don't... Know...

What do you think?

No. I...
I doubt it.

I...

Yeah. Yeah, me, too.

Well, so don't worry, then.
You're a jealous guy.

We all get that way.
You're just expressing it more deeply.

Yes.

Yes?

Yes.

That's great.

And how are things
with Lester, Vince?

Good.

Is he still pushing you
away from the marriage?

No, no, no.
He's... he's better about that.

Have you felt more aware of his...
Ulterior motives?

So all this time,
they've been telling me

not to hang out with you.

No, they've been telling
me not to hang out with me.

You hid that from me.

That's a valuable part of my
therapy, and you hid it from me.

Now I don't know what to do.

I'm probably half a diagnosis.
I'm half a man!

But you and lucretia are
getting along so well.

It's probably an illusion.
We're living a lie.

Don't be so dramatic.

You can't mess
with these things.

It's like a chromosomal makeup.

And you were hurtful
and mean in therapy.

I was... and... and...

Why in god's name were you
speaking with a British accent?

I don't know. He feels British to me.
Leo feels British.

Leo feels... Leo's
supposed to be me!

Look, it's a choice I
made, and I stick by it.

If you're unhappy with it,
I'll try something else next session.

You can't very well
change it now, can you?

No, I suppose that
would be confusing.

All right, that's it.
It's over. Therapy is over.

We're terminating our analysis.

Where are you going?

The new Vince doesn't feel
like being with you suddenly.

The next session, Ramona thought
she'd surprise Lester after therapy.

In her haste, she actually
recalled the address incorrectly,

and reinverted the digits
4 and 6

and went to 264 west 4th street,

which, in fact,
was the right address.

Confused and suspicious,

that evening,
Ramona and lucretia took in a show

of the black and white the
man who shot Liberty valance.

And then they waited
for their boyfriends.

But until they had further proof
of what exactly was going on,

they swore each other
to secrecy.

Lester?

Yeah?

The man who shot Liberty
valance is in black and white.

Yeah?

You said it was
in glorious color.

Yeah.

Remember that?

Yeah.

So... what's your point?

Are you having an affair?

What?

What are you talking about?

Yes or no.

No, of course not.

Well, I don't know.
You're preoccupied.

The movie is in color.

We don't see as much
of one another.

We haven't made love in over a
week, I think.

I'm absolutely not
having an affair.

Are you?

No.

And I, um, finally got the nerve

to get the cabaret
act up and going.

I think it will
be well received.

Vince,

anything you'd like
to, um, talk about?

No. I'm good today.

Lucretia and I had a big talk.

I feel fine.

Feel free to pipe in
at any time.

Leo?

No, I'm fine.
Thanks.

Dashiell?

4 days ago, I had
to make some calls.

Business. My agent,
my editor,

a producer who wants to
option the sensualis.

Suddenly, i...

Found myself looking up a
name in the phone book...

Ramona ray, my ex.

She was listed.

I let the phone ring once...

Twice, my finger on
the hang-up button,

praying, of course,
she doesn't have that caller ID.

And then I hear this voice.
"Hello."

I listened, I just sat there.

"Hello," she repeated.

"Hello."

I finally hung up.

It was childish, I know, but...

A lot of what we talked about

raced through my head.

Things I've been
trying to write,

friendships I've
formed recently.

Vince, Leo.

I think that we have all
been getting better together,

figuring out our relationships.

And I don't generally
believe in luck or faith.

But one day after therapy,

when I came out of the building,

and there was Ramona.

She was with a friend,
who I guess I'd met a few years ago

when we were together.

I was in shock because I'd been
thinking so much of her lately,

and she suddenly
materialized in front of me.

She came towards me and I asked
her to take a walk with me.

We talked. We talked for a
while, we had coffee.

It was a little awkward, yes,

but it was so good to see her.

She's got this great job
at the Brooklyn museum.

So she was in great spirits.

She had a whole other
art degree when I knew her.

Now she has, like, 4.

And her accent,
her adorable Brooklyn accent

that she'd been trying to lose has
turned into something so elegant,

so un-Brooklyn.

We talked about
her wanting to get out.

She wants to move to Manhattan.

About the film she wants
to make about Brooklyn.

It was great to focus
only on her.

It was all about me
years before.

I don't know.

I... i loved flirting
with her again.

Our relationship
had turned so sour,

and... to wonder again, to...

Imagine her naked.

To re-fall in love
was such an experience,

better than if we'd never met.

For the first time,

I understood why
people would remarry.

And did she seem to feel
the same way for you?

I don't know.

I don't know.
She liked talking to me and...

Afterwards when we made love,

I knew she wanted
to make love to me.

That much I do know.

What a great New York story.

It's like a goddamn fantasy.

I'm gonna do something.

Where's he going?

Dashiell.

You mentioned another
girl with Ramona.

Yes.

That's great. Fine.

Just checking.

Who are you waiting for?

You lied to me.

You slept with him.

Yes.

Ok, I'm just glad
your stories are straight.

Vince.
Isn't that what you wanted?

Vince!

Yeah, yeah.

Vince, what are you doing?

I'm in therapy.

What? Why are
you British?

Ramona. Vince,
I need to talk to you.

And why is he calling
Lester, Vince?

Because that's the name Lester
goes by in our group therapy.

Hey, Lester,
you lied to me about almost everything

that exists between us.

Yeah. You made this happen.

Ramona. Vince,
you know Ramona?

I think we all have our
different ways of ruining things.

Lester. yes?

I can't believe you, Vince.

Ramona, you know... Lester.

I just wish you could be as
jealous of me as I am of you.

We love differently, Lester.

And you both know each other.

She's my girlfriend, dash.

I can't believe this.

I'm sorry, Dr. Poke.

And that's my fiancee, Vince.

God.
So you're Vince?

I'm... Leo.

No, you're Vince now.

Ok, I'm Vince.

I knew no one who
sounded like that

could possibly be British.

So you're Vince.
You're the one getting married.

You're the one who wishes
his fiancee be more open

about different
sexual positions.

Vince.

Ramona.ramona.

Shut up for a minute!

How could you do this to me?

Ramona, did you know this is...

You suck!

Lu, lu!
Lucretia!

Perhaps we should
all go back inside.

You son of a bitch.

Geez.

She's my girlfriend!

I've... never hit anyone before.

It's only my second.

I'm sorry.

♪ I love you in the morning

♪ our kisses deep and warm

The sad thing, Lester thought,

that in all this he'd just
become what he detested most,

Ramona's ex-boyfriend.

♪ Many loved before us

♪ I know that we are not
new in the city ♪

♪ and in the forests
they smiled like me and you ♪

♪ but now...

Several months later
at the university of Iowa.

Lester! Lester! Yeah?

We just wanted to tell you

that we think that your
play is really terrific.

It was really nicely done.

Jesus, it was so involved.

I mean, the guy,
he follows his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend,

and he joins his group therapy.

I mean, it was wild, you know.

Yeah, then the ex-boyfriend
turns out to be a killer.

Yeah, that was...

I was really blown away by it.

Thank you.

No offense, but it was much
better than your other play,

the one about
the 3 middle-aged women

who are driving cross-country.
They were alcoholics.

Yeah, that was
a little misguided.

Well...

Well, we'll see you.

Yeah.
Great work, man.

Thank you.

♪ You know my love
goes with you ♪

Lester loved school.

He lived alone in his
studio apartment in Iowa,

without a TV I might add,

and wrote.

Lester was invited
to New York for a wedding,

and his mind fell back
on older times.

He didn't know why,

but he began to search
his poor memory

in an attempt
to have it over again.

I do a pretty good muppet walk.

♪ ...we said good-bye

♪ I loved you
in the morning ♪

♪ our kisses
deep and warm ♪

♪ your head on the pillow

♪ like a sleepy,
golden storm ♪

♪ many loved before us

♪ I know that we are not
new in the city ♪

♪ and in the forest
they smiled like me and you ♪

When Ramona had decided
to go back into therapy,

she hesitated calling
Dr. Poke.

He had been, after all,
Lester's psychiatrist.

But as time progressed,
she hadn't met anyone she liked,

and Dr. Poke's reputation
was quite impressive.

They met, and the talks
were valuable.

And when it got
right down to it,

he really knew
nothing about the real Lester.

So, hey.

I crossed the street
all last week

and it didn't matter how
many pigeons were around me

or if the light was blinking when I
got to the other side of the street.

Well, as long as you
cross on the green.

Yeah, of course,

on the green, on the green.

The foundation
of a civilized nation.

Now, in keeping with the
personalized nature of this service,

Vince and lucretia
have written their own vows.

Thanks.

Go ahead.

Lucretia, as we embark
on what will hopefully be

a lifelong journey together,

I find myself asking
myself what is a marriage?

Webster's defines marriage very
succinctly, very clinically,

and told me nothing
I didn't already know.

Friends and family
all echoed similar themes.

And yet still,
I found no enlightenment.

And then it hit me.

True love defies defin...

True love defies definition.

It is a mystery.

Tree, they adequately
named this forest staple,

but says nothing
of its complexities.

Thusly, I take your hand,

and together we step
together into a void,

a darkness that we will
illuminate with our hearts

and create our own definition,

one that Mr. Webster
could never conceive of.

I believe and know
it was fated that we meet.

And if it wasn't at the Milo o'shay St.
Patty's day do...

Day do...

It would have been
in some other bar.

Sorry, mom.

As Roger daltrey says,

"one and one don't make two,

one and one make one."

Thank you.

And with you, Luc,

one isn't the only...
Isn't the loneliest number.

Thank you, Lester.
Sorry I botched that.

Lucretia, thanks for the
jello shots those 8 years ago.

Thank you. And thank you for
that evening 8 years ago.

Thanks for accepting
my proposal 4 years ago.

And thanks for going through
with marrying me today.

I am eternally grateful
and terminally smitten.

Love, Vince.

Vince, I love you

and I want to spend the
rest of my life with you,

and I intend to.

And now you may kiss the bride.

How's L.A.?

It's good.

How's Iowa?

Good.

I read that short story
of yours in the new yorke.

It was great, really touching.

My classmates are
jealous I know you.

They respect you a lot.

Thank you.

I... finally finished your book.

Yeah?
What'd you think?

I liked it.

I thought the last story was
a little long at the end.

I think you were
a help to Vince.

I think the marriage will
benefit from your help.

I still expected to see you
up there getting married.

Yeah, well.

No. Quit.

When you break up with someone

you get that dramatic
feeling like...

That was it.

I'm never gonna see that
person again in my life.

Then you run into him
at a wedding.

And it ruins the drama.

It's like that
in the beginning, too.

It's not just
a kiss and love begins.

I guess we had to figure
out our own stories, too.

I guess we did.

Hey, how does
your story end, Lester?

I've just...

Got used to being without you.

I know.

It took me a while to
stop thinking of myself

as your boyfriend.

And even longer to
stop thinking of myself

as your ex-boyfriend...

To stop thinking of myself
in reference to you.

She thinks it'll never work out;

we're different now.

He thinks,
I messed this up once,

who thinks I'll be better
this time?

And yet, with all this fatalism
floating around in their brains,

they couldn't move
away from each other.

Who was that guy over there
that you were talking to?

Captioning made possible by
bmg video

captioning performed by the national captioning
institute, inc.♪ I was dreaming of the past

♪ and my heart was
beating fast ♪

♪ I began to lose control

♪ I began
to lose control ♪

♪ I didn't mean to hurt you

♪ I'm sorry that
I made you cry ♪

♪ I didn't want to hurt you

♪ I'm just a jealous guy

♪ I was feeling insecure

♪ you might not
love me anymore ♪

♪ I was shivering inside

♪ I was shivering
inside ♪

♪ I didn't mean
to hurt you ♪

♪ I'm sorry that
I made you cry ♪

♪ I didn't want
to hurt you ♪

♪ I'm just a jealous guy

♪ I didn't mean to hurt you

♪ I'm sorry that
I made you cry ♪

♪ I didn't want
to hurt you ♪

♪ I'm just a jealous guy

♪ I was trying
to catch your eye ♪

♪ thought that you
were trying to hide ♪

♪ I was swallowing
my pain ♪

♪ I was swallowing
my pain ♪

♪ I didn't mean
to hurt you ♪

♪ I'm sorry that
I made you cry ♪

♪ I didn't want
to hurt you ♪

♪ I'm just a jealous guy

♪ I'm just
a jealous guy ♪

♪ I'm just a jealous guy

I'm not playing another game.

Let's pack them up.

I'd sooner make
castles with them.

I'm not bringing them
again, either.

I don't ask you to bring them.

It's just like when
we used to play d and d.

You're so excited.
You're probably here hours earlier

getting 'em ready.

Ok, ok. You still have
my 20-sided dice, too.

That's from... we were 12!

I would like it back.

I don't know where it is.

We were 12, we were
15, we were 32.

What difference does it make?

There we go.
Please, translate.

I need... I need...

Time has no meaning.

What we need is subtitles.

Thank you.
That's helpful.

Time has no meaning,
so I guess I'd better...

Vince needs constant
subtitles like the operas

so we know what's
really being said.

That's good at the opera.
I saw traviatawith lucretia.

Yeah.
Really?

You've become so -

I went that one time.

Really? thin.

You've lost weight in your face.

Yeah!

In the jowls.

You've lost weight
in your jowls.

To say I have jowls
implies that I was... heavy.

Well... yes.

There was that period...

Yes.

In your,
mid to late 20s when you...

You porked out.

Yeah.

You should do this
when you go to sleep.

I do that.