Original subtitles

- You guys know who I picked up at the airport?

- Who? - Tim Waters.

- Who?

- The Bill Clinton impersonator.

Not just any Bill Clinton impersonator,

the Bill Clinton impersonator.

He's the one who does the fancy dinners and the TV shows.

Sometimes with Clinton. Yeah.

That's a big deal, you know?

- Uh-huh. - Yeah.

So I pick him up from the airport.

I'm looking at him my rearview and he looks familiar,

you know, but it's dark and it's,

it's been a while since he was relevant or whatever.

So I'm having a hard time putting my finger on it.

And he sees me looking at him and he goe

he goes full Bill Clinton.

He goes, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

- Where was he going? - Um, Hilton on O'Farrell.

- Oh yeah? - Yeah.

Uh, he said he was in town over the weekend

and that he had a comedy show at a club in town

and he flew in from Vegas, so.

- Sounds like he's doing pretty well.

- Yeah, well, let's put it this way.

It's good thing for him Clinton won in '96.

- Hey, did you get his autograph?

- Nah. Who the hell cares?

Now if it were Christina Aguilera.

Oh.

You remember that song that she did that, that first one?

- "Genie in a Bottle." - Yes, that is the one.

♪ Genie in a bottle, baby ♪

Uh. You remember that video?

Oh, back in the day when that video came on

and I was by myself,

I just had these elaborate fa...

What time you got?

- 10:15. - Ah.

- Well, in that case I better get going.

- Come on, Marv, you just now got here.

- Double shift tomorrow.

Driving grand, brother.

- Driving gra, what are you short on cas.

- Can't pay rent with smiles and dick jokes.

- Maybe if you work on your delivery.

He's a theater actor.

He thinks I don't know but he's got a show tonight.

Artsy-fartsy.

- Hmm.

- What about you? - Mm?

- Done for the night?

Oh. Burning the a midnight oil.

Good for you.

Get your hustle on.

Mm, well...

I hope you have a good night, Dave.

Maybe I will see you around.

Okay.

- More coffee? - Yes, thank you.

- How have you been? - Okay, I guess.

You?

- I'm good.

- Okay, well it wasn't that good

since it was an inservice day today,

which just means that there's no school,

which means that I was home all day.

And I mean all day, which means

I'm running on three hours of sleep.

- Mm.

- Can I show you something?

- Sure.

What's that?

- This is a collection of random things

written on halls, stalls and walls of public bathrooms.

Okay, I know that sounds craz

but just give it a chance.

I wanna read you something. It's pretty short.

- Okay.

- "She dances carefree and loose

as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her.

She looked so happy, I couldn't look away, scared as I was.

And though the moment seemed to last forever,

"she was gone the moment after."

What do you think?

- It's good. - Yeah?

- I like it.

- Me too. It's definitely my favorite on.

This one always leaves me wondering, you know, who wrote it?

What they were thinking? What inspired them?

Who inspired them?

- Doesn't say who wrote it?

- No. Most of these don't have authors.

Graffiti and all.

- I gotta go. - Yeah.

- What can I get for you?

Mm!

- What's his deal?

- Someone beat his high score.

- Really?

- Yeah. He's been here since last night.

Hasn't taken a break in hours.

- Oh. Should we maybe tell him to take a break?

- You wanna die? Be my guest.

But I heard some stories and...

Hey Lenny.

Look, I, I could just make it free play.

- Just give me the quarters. Hmm?

- Hello?

- Hi. I'd like to call a cab.

- Where are you?

- I'm at the Flamingo Motel in Alameda.

Do you know where that is?

- Yeah. - Great.

- When can you get here? - Uh, 10 minutes.

Is that okay?

- I'll be waiting.

Where to?

Just drive.

Can I have your name?

- Cara.

Do you have an address?

A specific place?

I haven't decided yet.

Look, I can drive you around all night.

That's not a problem, but the meter is gonna be running.

So if money is gonna be an issue.

- It's not. I've got money.

I just need you to drive.

- Okay.

Desperate people respond to fea.

They've been condition that way all their lives.

Things were different before I came alon.

Chaos, wretched place marred by decades of neglect,

A dying city, desperately hanging on

like the last leaf clinging to a dying tree.

Then I came along and took control.

I need you to do something for me.

There's a girl.

Find her and bring her to me.

- Everything's changed here.

I can barely recognize this place.

- You from around here?

- I grew up here.

- What brings you back?

- Unfinished business.

Do you drink?

- Not while I'm driving.

- Obviously.

Do you like beer?

- Yeah, I like beer.

- What about Mortal Kombat?

- You're really good.

- Anybody can beat it if they have a basic understanding

of the game and a decent combination

of critical thinking and mechanical prowess.

This is nothing compared to Quake or Road Wars.

Those games require skill

and you're competing against another player,

which makes it way harder.

To master the arcade version of Mortal Kombat,

honestly, takes above average memory

and pattern recognition.

You ever see

a perfect run before?

Did you know that Mortal Kombat II

was the first ever fighting game to feature air combos?

Well, after Midway went bankrupt,

the development team was acquired by Warner Brothers,

but then later rebranded as NetherRealm Studios.

Originally, it was meant to be

a Jean-Claude Van Damme fighting game

featuring Jean-Claude's character in "Universal Soldier."

But then that fell through so I guess

the creators went with a fantasy horror theme instead.

Imagine if we got the Van Damme version.

You sure I can't get you a drink?

- I'm good.

- Just one drink.

- I don't drink and drive.

- You know what StarCraft 2 pros do when they retire?

They stream Road Wars for fun.

They do. It's true.

- I believe it.

- You ever see an Uber driver and just have

the urge to kick his teeth in?

- No. - No?

- Never? - Never.

- Not even from like a second?

- I'm not a violent person.

- "I am not a violent person."

Neither was the Dalai Lama.

What's that supposed to mea.

- Boom.

So how long have you been a cab driver?

- A few years.

- Okay. What did you do before?

- A lot of things.

- Like?

- I was a cellar man.

- What's a cellar man?

- Beer maker.

- Really? - I mean, nothing creative,

mostly rolling barrels, cleaning hard lines,

checking CO2 levels, nothing special.

- No, you're basically a beer expert.

- No, I wouldn't go so far as to call myself an expert.

- How's this one?

It's fine.

- Fine?

- It's a safe choice.

- All right, cellar man, what would you recommend?

What's the best thing they have here?

- Bitter Irony.

- Is that your final answer?

- Mm-hmm. Okay.

- Hey. - Hey.

- Can I get a pin of your Bitter Irony, please.

- Coming right up.

- Here you go. - Thanks.

- What's your verdict?

- It's really good.

It's not that bitter.

- Tell him I'm in.

And he's got nothing to worry about.

You'll see me once tonight

and once more when the job is done.

And then I'm gone.

- Level 256, kill screen. - Do you know what that is?

- No.

- It's when you get to the 256 level in Pac-Man

and the game glitches and the whole right-hand side

of the screen becomes a jumble

of letters, numbers, and shapes.

The original Pac-Man's level counter was just a single byte.

So it was only capable of storing 256 distinct values,

zero to 255, so reaching level 256

causes a buffer overflow, meaning that the data

in all other areas of the stack have to be rewritten.

- Have you ever- - Yeah, three times.

At an arcade in Tokyo, a bar in Huntington Beach

and the bar we were just at.

- So you've played through 256 levels of Pac-Man?

- Yeah. - In one sitting?

- Standing.

- How long did that take?

- About six hours.

You ever see that photo of the homeless guy

holding that sign that reads,

"Ninjas killed my family. Need money for karate lessons."

- Yeah.

- Well, what's funny is that somewhere out there

at some point in time, they're really has been a person

whose family's been killed by ninjas

and needs money for karate lessons

so they can avenge their family years later.

- I'm sure that's been the case

at least a few times in history.

- Or maybe in lieu of lessons,

they're picked up by a rival ninja clan

and spend years and years training under the tutelage

of an old karate master until they're ready

to reign down their blood-soaked vengeance.

Hey, Judy, you're on.

♪ I've got the blues, I feel so lonely ♪

♪ I'll give the world if I could only ♪

♪ Make you understand ♪

♪ It truly would be grand ♪

♪ I'm gonna telephone my baby ♪

♪ Ask him won't you please come home ♪

♪ 'Cause when you're gone ♪

♪ I'm worried all day long ♪

- Midnight Judy.

♪ Baby won't you ♪

She sings here two nights a week.

♪ Baby won't you please come home ♪

Rumor has it, she has this rare skin disease

where she can't be exposed to sunlight.

Like even the smallest amount would kill her.

♪ Evermore to call your name ♪

However, a more popular rumor

is that she made up the rare skin diseas

to hide fact that she's actually a vampire.

She uses stage makeup to age herself as the years go by

in the hope to not draw attention.

And every few decades or so,

she moves somewhere new and starts all over again,

performing under a different moniker.

♪ Don't you understand ♪

Apparently there have been photos of her throughout history.

Most notably, one of her in the late 1800's,

performing at a opera house in Palisades.

Most notably because it is clearly her face.

♪ Please come home ♪

- That's an interesting theory.

- Why do you think she's called Midnight Judy?

She arrives at midnight and she always performs

her set between 12:00 and 1:00 AM.

And nobody has ever seen her in the daylight.

♪ Please come home ♪

That's pretty crazy.

♪ Baby won't you please come home ♪

How does she get blood?

- How do you think?

♪ I've got the blues, I feel so lonely ♪

♪ I'll give the world if I could only ♪

♪ Make you understand ♪

♪ It surely would be grand ♪

♪ I'm gonna telephone my baby ♪

♪ Ask him won't you please come home ♪

♪ 'Cause when you're gone ♪

♪ I'm worried all day long ♪

♪ Baby won't you please come home ♪

♪ Baby won't you please come home ♪

♪ Baby, ask him won't you please come home ♪

- Hey. You okay?

♪ When you're gone ♪

Here, let's go somewhere else. ♪ I'm worried all day long ♪

♪ Baby won't you please come home ♪

♪ Baby won't you please come home ♪

♪ I have tried in vain ♪

♪ Evermore to call your name ♪

♪ When you left you broke my heart ♪

- Hey, Lenny. It's Fred.

I'm at the club.

You gotta come see this. Call me back.

- Desperate people respond to fear.

They've been conditioned that way all their lives.

And people like you and I.

Things were different before I came alon.

Chaos, wretched place marred by decades of neglect.

A dying city desperately hanging on

like the last leaf clinging to a dying tree.

Then I came along and took control.

I'm afraid my time may be up.

I need you to do something for me.

There's a girl.

Find her and bring her to me.

You'll find everything you need in the envelope.

They say vengeance rides a swift horse.

That's why I need you to be faster.

- Hey, Lenny. It's Fred.

I'm at the club.

- Yeah.

- You gotta come see this.

- What do you like about this place?

Like what makes you stay?

I don't know.

- You married?

- Uh, no.

- You got a lady friend or something?

- No. - Someone you wish

you could be with?

- Okay.

So who's the girl? And how did she hurt you?

- How do you know I didn't hurt her?

- You? Come on.

I doubt it.

- I'm pretty tough, you know?

Okay.

Sometimes the greatest tragedy,

the saddest thing that you see

is the shell of a person staring back at you in the mirror.

"My God, what have I become?"

You happy?

- I do all right.

- You ever think about just leaving it all behind?

Just leaving it all behind and running off into the sunset?

- You mean sunrise?

- Same difference.

- Yeah.

- And what's stopping you?

- Is this the place?

- Yeah.

- It looks closed. What's in there?

- It's not important.

- Do you want me to come down with you?

- No.

Just wait here.

I'll only be a minute.

- Hello.

Oh my God. Don't tell me you're still driving.

Why am I even surprised?

I'm the one that kept feeding you coffee

I'm bored outta my mind.

So when are you gonna come visit me?

I could use the company.

- Let's go!

- So what's in that duffel?

Huh?

They save vengeance rides a swift horse.

That's why I need you to be faster.

- Dave.

- What's going on, buddy? - Oh, hey.

Dude, you're never gonna believe this.

I'm here with these super hot models.

There's like three of them.

You know like big actual models.

And they're wasted, like having a real wild time.

Like if I play my cards right, maybe later on,

I can get 'em to my invite to the after party

at the hotel room, if you get my drift.

- Hi. - Hi.

- Oh, you...

- Yeah. Yeah, we're together.

- I'm Cara. - Pleased to meet you.

I'm Frank.

- Nice to meet you too, Frank.

- Do you drive a taxi also? - Oh, yeah.

Actually I've, uh, it's been almost 20 years now, actually.

It's a grind, but I love it.

You get to meet all sorts of interesting people

- and I'm a people person. - Mm.

- You know, like, uh, I'm very likable.

- Right. - I'm a smart guy.

Like I, I could do stuff.

Other things like, you know,

make maybe a little more money or whatever, you know,

but, um, yeah, I wouldn't trade this for, for the world.

I'm gonna die in my taxi.

Right behind the,

right behind the wheel.

You know the Bukoswki quote?

"Find what you love and let it kill you."

- Oh yeah. - You know, that's me.

- That's good. - Yeah, yeah.

- Hey, where are you? - Ooh, did you hear that?

They need me.

- It's nice meeting you. - You too.

- Go easy on him.

You know, I know he likes to look all,

you know, tough and stuff.

Like some sort of brooding badass,

but, um, he's a softy.

He's like the nicest, most gentle man

you're ever gonna meet.

Swear to God.

Oh.

Hey!

- Hey, is there a bathroom here?

I'm actually not suppose...

It's, it's in the back. Just go for it.

Okay.

- Hey.

- Hi.

I didn't know if you were still up or...

- Yeah.

- Was she with you? - Yeah.

- You gonna tell me who she is? (Chuckle.

- Someone I picked up.

- Oh.

What?

- More coffee? - Thank you.

- Let me know if you need anything else, Dave.

- Well, she's really pretty.

What's her story?

- Morgan?

- You got like history or something?

- No, not really.

- You like her?

- It's not like that.

- Then what's it like?

- Well, I come here regularly and she works most nights.

- Oh, I think you like her.

And I think she likes you too.

I'm a pretty good judge of character.

- By what metric?

- By every metric.

The way you guys just looked at each oth

when she refilled your coffee.

- Oh. What way was that?

- All dreamily and shit.

She's single. Right?

- Kind of. She's got an ex-husband.

- Okay. And?

- It's complicated. - What's complicated?

- There is a kid.

So even if I was interested, which I'm not-

- Which you are.

Look, if you really want something, you gotta go for it.

- Is that what you do?

Just go for it?

I need to use the restroom.

- Hi. - What can I get for you?

- Dave tells me you and him have known each other

for a while now.

- That's right.

- Well sit down. I wanna talk to you.

So, are you guys close?

- I guess you could say that.

- Do you ever do anything outside of her.

- Not really, no. - Why not?

- We don't make time to, I guess.

- Dave tells me you have a kid.

- Wow. That is way too personal.

- Who are you, exactly? - Cara.

It's really nice to meet you, Morgan.

Okay, so Dave, he picked you up from...

- My motel room.

- And he's taking you... - On a drive.

- On a drive where? - Oh, just a drive.

- Right. So why are you here?

- I got hungry.

You know, I was thinking Dave,

we should do something fun.

- Like what?

- I don't know. Something different.

You're from around here. Any suggestions.

- Hmm. No.

- No? Nothing comes to mind?

- You know at this hour your options are pretty limited.

- Right.

Okay, well in that case, then maybe we should

just go back to my hotel room and hang out there.

What do you think?

- You know what? I think I just the thin.

It's, um, it's starting pretty soon.

So if you wanna make it,

you better leave right now.

- Good to know.

- What is this place?

- I don't know.

Something about it feels kind of familia.

- What happened back there?

- Back where?

- You know what I'm talking about.

- Nothing happened.

- Didn't look like nothing.

- I like you.

- I like you too.

- Well, what do we do?

- I don't know.

- Well, what happens when the night ends.

- We could exchange numbers.

- Are you somebody that believes in happily ever after?

It's a nice sentiment, isn't it?

Happily ever after.

Imagine if we'd met under different circumstances.

Do you think...

Do you think maybe we could have worked out?

- I think so.

- Then I wish I'd met you in a different life.

Well, that's it.

One last game.

One final bit of unfinished business.

And after that?

Who knows?

You can set the duffle bag down anywhere.

Nice socks.

- Thanks.

- You wanna take your jacket off?

- What? - You have a tattoo

on your ankle.

What does it say?

- It says, "We all die someday."

You afraid to die?

- I try not to think about it.

- Mm.

I think there are worse things in life than death.

I think people only fear death

because it's seemingly permanent.

Nobody really knows what goes on in the afterlife.

But they're still scared of letting go.

I need to use the bathroom.

Don't go anywhere.

Hey.

What are you thinking about?

- Nothing.

- Okay. Well, come here.

I think I'm falling for you.

- Earlier tonight, when I picked you up,

I asked you where you wanted to go.

You told me you didn't know.

I think you knew exactly where you wanted to go.

I saw what's in the duffel.

Why do you have that?

- I don't want you getting involved.

- I am already involved.

- Well that's your choice, isn't it?

You didn't have to come down to the bar with me.

You could have left at any moment.

Yet here you are.

So what now?

Where do we go from here?

Do you trust me?

- I do. - Okay, let's go.

Let's run away together.

- Where would we go? - I don't know.

Anywhere we want, just say the word

and I'll book the next two tickets outta here,

but we gotta leave right now.

- You're serious. - I can't stay here, Dave!

I gotta leave!

- Come with me. - I can't do that.

- Why not?

- I, uh, we only just met each other!

- So? - So, this is crazy.

What if it doesn't work out?

- What if it does? What if it does work out?

What if we can have happily ever after?

- I don't know. - What is there to know?

- Uh...

- There comes a time in your life where you're standing

at a fork in the road and you're face to face

with the hardest decision that you'll ever have to make.

And I've made my decision

and you can either come with me

and we could try figure this thing out,

or we say goodbye to each other right now forever.

- I've often wondered

how the sun would feel like on my skin.

Would it burn?

Or would it feel like moonlight?

It's been so long.

I'm sure you can relate, Mr. Taxi Driver.

Night after night,

driving the familiar streets,

things start to blend.

Not so clear anymore.

And it started to wear you down.

And you ask yourself a question.

Am I dreaming

or am I awake?

- And if I'm dreaming,

what happens when I wake?

- You made it personal.

That was your downfall.

That's how I knew you were going to fail.

In the end, she was always one step ahea.

Now here we are

at the end of the line.

- Where do we go from there?

- Me, nowhere.

- And me?

Where do I go?

- Well, that's for you to decide.

Godspeed, Lenny.

Godspeed.