- (laughter)
- (man) OK, alright, hold up.
Someone has to say something
nice about my friend Herb tonight,
so I'm gonna give it a shot.
I have followed Herb Lee
my whole writing career.
I followed him through three publishing
houses, and when he started his own.
It's embarrassing to need your editor
so badly, so I'm gratified to announce
that he has now followed me
to Central Connecticut. Thank you.
I didn't follow you,
I had three heart attacks.
This was a pre-emptive strike
against decrepitude.
- (laughter)
- Well, whatever brought you here
to the beautiful
Marigold Retirement Community,
I just want to say I'm glad you're here,
right down the road from my place,
and as long as Pippa
keeps making that butterflied lamb,
I'll do anything.
I'll even caddy for you.
That's fine,
as long as I don't have to play golf.
Wait, one more thing.
I just want to say something else.
I have known Pippa Lee for 25 years...
...and I think
that I will never really know her.
She is a mystery. An enigma.
Giving, caring, beautiful, intelligent,
the very icon of an artist's wife.
- What are you talking about?
- No, you are.
And who precisely is this artist
that Pippa is married to?
- (laughter)
- Exactly!
Yes, that's my point!
That's what it's come down to.
The one true artist's wife
left in the modern world,
and she ended up with a publisher.
To Herb and Pippa
and their weird new condo.
Yeah, I just, er, got three new poems.
Wonderful. If you'd ever like to show
them to somebody who's non-judgemental,
- I'd be happy to take a look at them.
- Really?
I would like that.
That would mean so much to me.
I wish Sam wouldn't keep saying
Daddy moved to be near him.
He's a satirist. Anyway, nothing's
going to put a dent in Herb's ego.
It's you I'm worried about.
It's time for dessert.
But, Herb, what is the real reason
you moved here?
Scaling down, making life more simple.
I've liquidated everything
so that when I go,
Pippa and the kids can get everything
and not give it to the government.
(Sam) I thought you loved paying taxes.
I have to admit, I actually like
this house. It's so easy.
I'm glad you feel that way, sweetie.
Though I can't help wondering
how many people have died here.
Your problem is you're too adaptable.
You're the adaptable enigma.
(Pippa) To be perfectly honest,
I've had enough of being an enigma.
I wanna be known.
Like many people,
I have lived more than one life,
so we're going to have to start
at the beginning.
- (man) Breathe. Breathe.
- (woman) Shut up!
I see the head. Come on, one good push!
(yells) Oh, fuck you!
- (baby cries)
- (man) Good girl.
My birth was marked
by several unusual occurrences.
First of all,
I was covered in fine blonde fur.
(baby cries)
- Why is she furry?
- That's nothing to worry about.
When a baby's this late,
it has time to grow vestigial hair,
from the time that we were monkeys.
I had a monkey! I had a monkey!
You can expect to have
a beautiful baby girl.
The hair is just vestigial,
as I tried to tell your wife.
I'm sorry if it offends you, Father, but
we believe that millions of years ago,
- humans were covered with fur.
- I know that.
So, is it a baby or a pet?
Suky knew my condition
had nothing to do with evolution.
It was all her fault,
because my mother had a secret,
her own little stash of sin.
(whistles)
- How's my pal?
- I'm OK.
Are you having a hard time
living here in Wrinkleberry?
It's strange having so much time on my
hands. This place is easy to maintain,
but there's gonna be charity work
I can find.
- You wanna move back to the city?
- We just sold our apartment.
- Well, we can get another one.
- Are you serious?
No.
I'm just having a hard time
thinking of this as the end of the line.
I think it's sort of romantic...
starting all over, just the two of us.
So little stuff.
Must you always look at the bright side?
Can I get you anything?
- Some carrot juice?
- No, I'm fine.
What was that cheese
we had for lunch yesterday?
It was vacherin. I was so excited
to find that at the market.
I love that cheese.
Once I lost my furry coat,
my mother was so relieved
that she became sort of obsessed
with my appearance.
She even took a drawing course
at the town hall,
the sole purpose of which
was making pictures of me.
Sweetheart,
you have the most beautiful eyes.
I think God took all of our best
features and put them on your face.
Don't you move. Almost done.
(slams phone down)
Why, you little...
Turkey, turkey, turkey, turkey.
- Ouch!
- (slaps Pippa)
("Teen Baby" by Gary Trexler)
She dressed me up as angels,
cowgirls, movie stars.
I was her prize possession.
# You're real, real cool
# For you I'm a fool
- # Teen baby, be mine
- # Honey, I will
- # Teen baby, be mine
- # Honey, you know I will
# Baby, be mine
# All of the time
# Oh, don't you know
# I love you so
- # Glad you're my date
- # Do-do, do-do-do
# With me, you're great
Teen baby, be mine
(gasps)
(police siren)
- (Herb) Who else has a key?
- The cleaning lady.
But I can't see Miss Fanning
breaking in with a few friends
to have chocolate cake
in the middle of the night.
- And the maintenance people?
- You think it was me?
- You think I'm losing my marbles?
- I wasn't saying that. I wasn't...
- Hey.
- There she is.
Hi, Daddy.
- You look great.
- Oh, thanks.
- Hey, Mom.
- Hi.
- I'm starving. Can I get lamb chops?
- Anything you want.
- Do you want a drink first?
- Yeah.
Oh, Ben says, er,
he can't make it until later,
- so we should just order without him.
- OK.
OK, these are just work prints, but...
- Oh, my God.
- You get the idea.
That's incredible. It's amazing, even.
Were you in a doorway? Where were you
when you took this?
Yeah, I just waited there.
I knew they were coming back.
(Herb) That's incredibly powerful.
Look at this.
Oh!
- These are so... powerful.
- These are wonderful.
Grace, this... Hmm.
- Were you alone when you took these?
- No, we had a guide.
You had a guide?
And I hitched a ride with,
erm, Giles Oppenheim.
- With Giles Oppenheim?
- Hm-hmm.
- (Herb) How did you manage that?
- (Grace) He kind of adopted me.
Did you hear about that photographer
that got shot in Baghdad last week?
(Grace) Uh-huh.
(exhales) You heard about the bomb?
- (Grace) Ben, shut up.
- What bomb?
- She was with Oppenheim.
- Ben!
And they heard the whistle. (whistles)
And he wanted to go left,
but she saw an alley towards the right,
and she pulled him towards it,
and that's when the bomb hit.
They turn around,
and if they'd gone left,
they would have been
smashed to smithereens.
- She thinks she's immortal now.
- That's a complete distortion.
- Why can't you ever not say something?
- (Ben) I do not know.
Sweetheart, everybody knows you're
a killer but you gotta be careful.
- You have to use your common sense.
- I do. Dad, look...
There's no way
that I'm not gonna go back.
If you had seen what I saw,
you would feel the same.
You would want to give these people
some dignity.
- (Herb) Just be careful.
- Anyway, I'm going to Baghdad Saturday.
- What's new with you?
- Oh, I found a book. A real cash cow.
(laughs)
Since when do you say "cash cow"?
I never said it
because I never found one before.
- What's it about?
- Oh, it's about war and romance,
- and, er, bad weather.
- Is it good?
A certain kind of good. Highbrow
for lowbrows or lowbrow for highbrows.
Summer reading for people
with multimillion-dollar beach homes.
- Used to be us.
- We still wouldn't have read this book.
(chuckles) So, how are you, Ben?
How is your paper coming?
- (Ben) Fine.
- (Grace) What's it about?
- (Ben) The right to die.
- (Grace) The right to die?
- (Ben) Or the right to kill.
- (voices fade)
("That's All I Want" by Bobby Day)
# A sweet little kiss with a wee embrace
A pretty little smile
(Pippa) Suky's energy was unflagging,
day and night.
In spite of
an apparently weak thyroid,
for which she took pills
at seven each morning,
12 noon, and four each afternoon,
I was the only one who knew
that she was secretly pretending
to be in a commercial half the time,
or a movie, and she was the star.
- I thought she was absolutely perfect.
- Mom, can I have some more milk? Mom?
Then there were days when Suky
shorted out,
- like a run-down robot.
- (father) Eat up, kids.
I always felt my real mother
had disappeared in those moments.
It scared me and made me angry.
I thought it must be my fault
that she was sad,
and it was up to me
to make her happy again.
I thought maybe
you forgot to say goodnight. (sniffs)
Her moods ruled my life.
(sighs) My baby. (sniffs)
- (doorbell rings)
- (Pippa) Oh, hello, Dot.
- Would you like some coffee?
- Oh, no, I-I've already had some.
- This is my son, Ben.
- Oh, the lawyer?
(Ben) Not yet. Nice to meet you.
- And Herb. You met Herb.
- Oh, hi, Herb.
(Pippa) Oh, my Lord.
(Dot) That's Mr Swaggart.
He needed to go.
Erm, h-have a seat.
(Dot) You know, there are
other young wives here.
You see them jogging around.
- Is everything OK?
- Well, yes, we're... We're fine.
But my son, erm, Chris...
- In Utah?
- Yes.
He might be coming... east.
Oh, that should be nice,
if they would move near you.
The thing is, he's had some kind
of crisis with his wife, and...
He's left her, and he's...
He's living in his car.
I just don't know what to do.
He was always sort of half baked.
You know what I mean?
You know, it's painful, I know...
...but sometimes you just have to maybe
accept they are who they are.
I mean, I-I feel that with my daughter.
(Dot) You're right.
I knew that I should come to you.
You... I just had a feeling.
- (Ben) He's living in his car?
- Yes, she said he was half baked.
- I wonder what that means.
- It's code. It means halfwit.
- (phone rings)
- Hello?
Hello, Marianne.
What? What?
No, tell him 45
is the absolute top offer.
If he goes somewhere else,
he goes somewhere else.
Stop worrying. Everything's fine.
You're doing a fantastic job.
Have a nice morning, Marianne.
God, that woman's gonna drive me crazy.
Your blood pressure went
from 120 over 90 to 148 over 100.
Since when did you become a nurse?
A little appreciation...
Would you like to go to the doctor's
every 15 minutes?
We gotta change our number.
- I need an office.
- What is the point of having an office?
The point is I spent 40 years
building up this company
and they're crapping it up.
They're children there. Babies.
If I had an office,
I can be there from ten to one,
talk to Marianne, read my manuscripts,
and when I come home, boom, I'm retired.
Then we can be really together.
(Ben) You had three heart attacks.
Is that not enough for you?
- Yeah.
- (chair scrapes)
- I gotta go.
- (Pippa) Bye, sweetheart.
- Love you.
- See you.
- (Ben) Back home.
- (Pippa) OK, sweetheart.
(hammering)
What's happening here?
OK. If I'm losing my marbles,
so be it, but I need proof.
(Pippa) How long
before he loses his mind completely?
- The half-baked son is moving in!
- Wonderful.
(piano music)
# After the ball is over
# After the break of morn
- # After the dancers' leaving
- (man) Pippa!
Glad you could come by.
A little eye candy.
Thank you for having me.
That's for you and Dot.
I... wish you would keep an eye on Dot.
She's having a hard time.
I know she talks to you.
- Well, sure. Erm, where is she?
- He won't come out!
Can you believe it?
A 35-year-old man hiding in his room
when his parents
are throwing a party for him?
I told her this was a bad idea.
He's right down the hall.
- OK.
- Spare bedroom.
Get her to drink a Pepsi Cola
or something.
- OK.
- (man) I'm not going out there!
(Dot) You can go out there for five
minutes. You've got to eat something.
(man) Why are you crying? Stop crying.
- (man) Yeah? Who is it?
- It's Pippa Lee. I'm looking for Dot.
(Dot) Oh, dear.
Erm, hi, Dot.
Johnny asked me to find you.
(Dot) Well, look at me.
- I can't go out there.
- (applause)
I'm Pippa Lee.
Chris.
Oh, why are you putting that on? I...
I ironed you that shirt I got you.
(Chris) Excuse me,
but there's something I need to do.
(Dot) Where are you going?
Where are you?
He was the sweetest little boy.
I mean, you just can't imagine.
When you adopt, you just
don't know what you're gonna get.
(engine starts)
(TV) Look out!
Thank God she didn't fall in.
(Pippa) Amazingly, it took me 16 years
to figure out what was
behind Suky's personality.
- She's taking Dexedrine.
- Who is?
Mom.
- What's Dexedrine?
- Speed.
It's why she never sleeps,
why she acts so weird.
Mom doesn't act weird.
- Mom, why do you take this stuff?
- Hmm?
- These pills. What do you take 'em for?
- It's my medicine.
Can you put it back, please?
Chester told me it was speed.
Chester doesn't know
what he's talking about.
- What happens if you don't take them?
- I'd get fat, like Grandma Sally.
Is that what you want? You all want me
to walk around like some sick walrus?
- No.
- Why don't you just let me do my work?
Better yet, why don't you help me?
Why doesn't anybody around here
help me?
(man) The cross is made of
a vertical and a horizontal beam.
The vertical beam
points to the sky, to the spirit.
The horizontal beam is the line
of the earth, of life on earth.
That's what's neat about Jesus.
He wasn't just the son of God.
I'd like to know
what you're really like.
- What do you mean?
- Without that stuff.
(sighs) Stop being so overdramatic.
You're blowing this out of proportion.
So stop. I don't care if you get fat.
It's my medicine.
OK, fine.
(sighs) Let's just hope I don't blow up.
(father)
Father, thank you for this food,
for the gift of being together
as a family.
For these beautiful children around me.
(Pippa) Suky's cold turkey
lasted exactly one week.
("Little Turtle Dove" by Bobby Day)
- (continues praying)
- Who is the President?
Does anyone know
who the President is?
Boys, it's lawn-mowing day tomorrow.
(Pippa) Imagine a dinner like this
that went on for an entire year.
(father) I know you want to get out
in the woods, but we won't do that...
She was taking
more and more of the stuff.
I never knew who she was gonna be
from one minute to the next.
(father) And I also would like someone
to take care of the gutters.
# Can't you hear me calling, calling?
# Calling for your love?
(father) Excuse me. Pippa!
(pants)
(music blasts)
- (turns music down)
- What's going on here, miss?
Come dance with me, Mom.
Mommy, dance with me, OK?
- Put your feet on, OK?
- What is going on?
Put your feet on. Come on, remember?
(whimpers)
Mommy, I got a little secret now, OK?
I totally did it. (laughs)
- What? What are you talking about?
- (laughs)
- Huh?
- I'm high, too.
Now we can both be high together, OK?
You and me, Mom.
Oh, you took my medicine.
How much did you take?
I don't know. It's OK, though, Mommy.
I love you. I love you.
Mom, I love you so much. (sobs)
(sobs)
We just can't tell your dad about this,
OK?
- You're OK with this?
- Yeah.
Yeah.
- I am so... sick of you!
- You!
I knew you were bad
from the day you were born!
- You!
- No!
(screams)
(sobs)
(Pippa)
She was never going to back down.
She was never going to change, even if
it meant dragging me down with her.
(dog barks in the distance)
Oh, Herb. (tuts)
(video player clicks)
Herb. Herb. Herb!
- Herb, wake up! It's me.
- What?
- It's me on the video.
- Hold on, kid.
- What are we talking about?
- The chocolate cake and the yogurt.
I just saw it on the video.
It's horrible.
It was you?
I was sitting on the floor,
eating like an animal. (pants)
Herb... I think I'm going insane.
- Maybe I'm going insane.
- Come here.
- (pants)
- Take it easy.
Look at it this way.
Your being a sleepwalker
is a hell of a lot better
than me being senile, isn't it?
- Hmm?
- (sniffs) Of course it is.
Sleepwalkers are a dime a dozen. You'll
never get off a murder rap that way.
(chuckles)
(gasps) Oh, my God.
(man) Pippa Lee, right?
Oh, hello.
- You got a job already.
- I'm working my way to the top.
- It's a beautiful day.
- Trying not to notice.
Oh, and a pack of Marlboro Lights.
- Costly habit.
- I don't really...
I don't smoke, I just, erm...
- You don't work here at night, do you?
- I haven't yet.
Why do you ask?
Oh, I just always thought,
what a horrible job it would be
just waiting for someone
to buy his cigarettes or something.
- Matches?
- Please.
I'm sorry about ducking out on you.
I'm not a big party person.
Oh, no, no, no,
I shouldn't have interrupted.
Erm, actually, I don't need a bag.
That's OK.
And give your mother my best.
(woman)
These strawberries are so sweet.
- These strawberries. So sweet.
- Mm. Maple Bank Farm.
- How's the book coming?
- I'm 100 pages in. Who knows?
- You know.
- How do you know I know?
Cos you always do that. You pretend
it's not gonna work when you know it is.
I have an idea. Why don't you
finish all my conversations for me,
since you know what I'm thinking?
It'll save us all a lot of time.
Well, there's a good idea.
Do bats really get in your hair?
Can you please
just come up with one thing
that isn't a weird little clich?
(gasps)
I think I left the lights on in the car.
(Pippa) Aunt Trish was
the kindest person I have ever known.
We can talk about it later.
Go get some rest.
Who are you?
I'm Kat. This is my room.
I'm sorry.
No problemo.
(typewriter keys tap)
- (door opens)
- (Trish) Hey. Did you sleep OK?
- Who's Kat?
- Er, she's my roommate.
Listen, your parents
are gonna be here in a few hours.
What?
You have to deal with them
sooner or later.
As far as I'm concerned,
you can stay with me,
so long as you end up
with a high school diploma.
I know there's a problem at your house.
- You do?
- Hm-hmm.
No one else is gonna say it, so I will.
You did good getting away.
Hmm? (chuckles)
- Ta-dah.
- OK, bye.
Bye. Bye.
- See you tonight, Pippa.
- (Pippa) Bye.
- Wow, Aunt Trish.
- (door closes)
We're a couple of black sheep,
you and me.
(both chuckle)
(Pippa) I'm not running away.
I'm just done, that's all.
(father)
But what does that mean, you're done?
It means I don't wanna live with you.
(tuts) Oh, so this is all my fault.
- What's all your fault?
- What you did to me!
- I didn't do anything to you.
- (scoffs)
I'm done. Don't you get it?
You're not even gonna come home
for Christmas any more?
No, I didn't say that. I... (sighs)
Of course I will, Mom.
- (sobs)
- I just...
I think it's better
if I don't live there any more.
(sobs) What... What did I do to you?
What did I do to you to make you
so secretive and unhappy?
Nothing.
- What did I do to you? (sobs)
- Please, Mom.
Please.
Don't be sad.
No, no, you don't be sad, honey, honey.
My baby. It's OK. I love you so much.
It's OK. It'll be OK, OK? (sobs)
(Pippa) I can't.
- I can't.
- (Suky) Pippa?
- (Pippa) I'm done.
- (Suky) Pippa!
I promise. I promise!
(Pippa) I would never go home
for Christmas or anything else.
I was free.
- Thank God.
- Chocolate?
I thought you'd left me.
I can't take it any more.
He's such a prick.
Aw.
Sam can have a mean sense of humour.
Look, maybe if you laughed along?
I have been laughing for four years
and now I'm crying.
- I think Sandra's having an affair.
- What makes you think so?
Well, she's talking about splitting
with Sam, and...
She's terrified of being on her own,
and it just adds up.
Maybe she wants you
to think she's having an affair,
so you'll tell me, and I'll tell Sam,
and he starts treating her better.
You really think
Sandra's that conniving?
It's what women are like,
a lot of them.
- Conniving?
- It's not conniving, it's human nature.
It's survival of the fittest.
Need I refresh your memory?
- Never mind.
- I don't like this book.
- (slams book down)
- I'm going to sleep.
(sighs)
I still think she's having an affair.
Oh, by the way,
I think I found you an office.
- This is perfect.
- Oh, I'm so happy.
It only took two days
to get the furniture.
I just thought it would be great to
have a place away from Marigold Village.
What's this for?
In case I get paper cuts?
- Drop a phone on my foot?
- Old people bleed just like young ones.
Well, why don't we get an EKG for
the corner, an oxygen tent over there?
- OK, I'll leave you to it.
- Thank you for this.
What a sweet woman you are.
(tyres screech / crash)
- (man) He jumped right out at me.
- (woman) I'm sorry.
(man) I don't know what he was thinking.
- Is he yours?
- No, no.
(dog whines)
(Chris) Shit!
- Hi. I'm so sorry I'm late.
- Oh, hi!
- That's a beautiful purse.
- Oh, thank you.
Oh, God. You look so beautiful.
- What are you doing different?
- It's the indolence. (chuckles)
I wish I could be peaceful and good
like you.
Good?
- What is it?
- I just...
It's over between Sam and me.
(sniffs) And it's just all so
completely, completely messed up,
and I don't know what to do. I...
I'm never gonna have a normal life.
You can be married to anybody,
if that's what you're worried about.
- Anybody?
- Marriage is an act of will.
I mean, I adore Herb,
but our marriage functions
because we will it to.
If you leave love to hold everything
together, you can forget it.
Love comes and goes with the breeze,
minute by minute.
But you make it sound
all so unromantic.
Pick any man over 50 in this room.
Either one of us
could be married to him.
OK. What about that one?
He just needs his routines, that's all.
I bet if you anticipate his needs
before he knows he has them,
he'll be docile as a lamb.
(laughs) And that one?
He needs a lot of praise,
but if you stick your finger
up his ass while he's coming,
he won't give you any trouble at all.
I'm kidding. I was kidding.
(Pippa) I wonder if maybe I'm having
a very quiet nervous breakdown.
- Did you get the boots?
- Yes. I mean, they're on hold.
- But I got 'em. I did it.
- Good. Good for you. You deserve them.
Mrs Lee?
- I want some cigarettes.
- What kind?
- The white ones.
- Marlboro Lights?
- Pippa.
- (gasps)
(sobs) Oh, my God.
(sobs)
(pants)
It's OK.
Would you like me to drive you home?
(car door opens)
Maybe you shouldn't tell anyone
about this.
- I'll try not to.
- You'll try not to?
It might slip out one day.
(laughs) What?
I think I just figured out
what's so odd about you.
You can't lie, can you?
OK. Well, thank you.
(sobs)
What's up?
Pippa, for Christ's sakes,
I'm not dead yet.
(Pippa) I'm sorry.
(Pippa)
Aunt Trish's apartment was a haven
after the hysteria
of my mother's household.
I fit in easily with the two of them,
but was secretly fascinated by Kat,
maybe because she seemed
a little bit dangerous.
- Bye.
- (Kat) Bye, baby.
(door closes)
So, chicklet... Boom, boom!
- What's your favourite subject?
- I don't really have one.
- Well, what do you like?
- Nothing in particular.
- You must be good at something.
- No.
- Well, I think you're special.
- Special how?
Special like I can't believe
you landed in my lap.
- (knock at door)
- Almost makes me believe in destiny.
- Hey.
- Hey. This is my friend, Shelly.
- Wow.
- Shelly, this is Pippa.
- You were right. She's perfect.
- Hm-hmm.
Let's get this show on the road.
Whoo-hoo!
(Pippa) So, what do I do?
When I was in the film business,
we never asked questions.
We just showed up
and let shit happen.
Look at the camera like it's someone you
know and don't like. That's the secret.
Yeah, like that. That's Kitty.
- Who's Kitty?
- The girl in the novel she's writing.
- That's what the pictures are for.
- Kitty is every woman's wild side.
She's fearless.
Don't you wish you were fearless?
- I guess so.
- Yeah, if you were,
you wouldn't cry every time you hung up
the phone after talking to your mommy.
- You'd forget the past.
- Is that what you do?
I'm the girl from Pluto.
I'm a scary thing.
- Can we get doughnuts?
- (Kat) Later!
OK, this is the scene where
Mrs Washington comes home
- and finds you in her playpen.
- Who's Mrs Washington?
(angry) Mrs Washington is the woman
who owns the mansion where you're at,
and one day, you come home and you
decide to play with her kids' toys.
OK. So, listen.
You have to be really upset,
so I need you
to think of something sad.
- I'm just not really feeling anything.
- No?
(Kat) OK. Let's go.
Come on, let's go. Come on, Shell.
Is she gonna hurt you?
No, don't let her take the baby!
That's right, that's your baby.
Good. Yeah. That is perfect.
Yeah, now the spanking, alright?
- What?
- It's just... It's pretend.
- Is this good?
- (Kat) Go.
- Ow!
- (Kat) Christ!
- Sorry!
- No, I said pretend!
Sorry.
You alright?
You wanna do it again?
- Yeah.
- OK.
Let's do another one.
- (Shelly) Whoops.
- How do you feel, Kitty? (laughs)
Yeah, that's right. OK.
Pippa, leash.
Pippa, leash, that's right.
Go on, little puppy dog. That's great.
(Pippa) I let those two weeks of my life
happen because, in a way,
I felt I had no choice.
That's not quite true, though.
It wasn't coercion. I liked
the attention, and... Oh, I don't know.
Anyway, Aunt Trish came home sick.
(camera clicks)
That was the end of my stay
with Aunt Trish.
You slept late.
I'm sorry.
It took me ages to fall asleep.
OK, I'm off.
See you at lunch. Oh, is there anything
else you want from the market
- other than the apricot spread?
- No.
What?
Since we moved to the old folks' home,
you look younger and younger.
That's cos I'm not setting my hair.
OK.
(gasps)
Chris? I'm sorry. It's Pippa Lee.
I'm so sorry to disturb you.
I forgot I'd left my car
at the convenience store.
I'll just wait out here. OK.
(Pippa) Your mother told me
you're going through a hard time.
You could say that.
Fired from my job at the men's shelter,
I come home to find my wife
sitting on top of my best friend.
Wow. That's bad.
Yeah, well, there's probably
a good reason for it all.
- What?
- I'm an asshole.
You are?
I don't know why,
I just always have been.
That tattoo you have
must have hurt terribly.
I tried to join a Jesuit seminary once
when I was 17.
- You were gonna be a priest?
- Yeah.
But they rejected my application.
- Do you still have a vocation?
- Just the tattoo.
What made you lose your faith?
I stopped believing God was a mystery
you could nail down with one book,
but by that time, my parents
had written me off as a fuck-up,
I was married to a Jesus freak,
and I was just as pissed off at
the world as when I was a Christian,
which brings us more or less
up to date, give or take a decade.
What are you thinking?
- I was thinking that you seem like...
- What?
Just that you seem so bright. It's a
pity you never settled on any real work.
It would make your life
so much easier.
- OK. Well, thank you.
- I didn't mean to offend you.
I suggest you go back to that little
life you've puffed up for yourself.
I'm sure you're very happy
underneath all that anxiety.
You're right, you know.
You are an asshole.
- Told you.
- (thunder)
(Pippa) In the years after I left Trish,
all I can remember
is fixes I got myself into.
# I will love you for a while
# Just how long I cannot say
Long before
(Pippa) It was a freefall.
# While there's fire in your eyes
Truth is, I took every pill
I could get my hands on.
It's no wonder
I can't remember any of it.
One day,
I found out my mother had died.
I tried to remain as numb as possible.
That was my boyfriend, Jed.
Oh, no, it was Craig.
Craig was my boyfriend.
I can't believe you sold a painting
to Gigi Lee.
Who is she, anyway?
She is an heiress, collector,
party girl. She knows everybody.
She knows Andy.
- (Gigi) Hi, everybody.
- (Pippa) Hi.
(Gigi)
This is Sam Shapiro, the novelist.
(Herb) That material
belongs with the childhood.
(man 2) I know, but I'm moving back
and forth in time. It's liquid.
Let the sequences accumulate.
They're too staccato.
I'm looking for that staccato feeling.
(Herb) Hello.
Hi, are you with our party?
Yeah, with Craig.
You bought a painting from him.
Oh, yeah. This is Max, I'm Herb.
- (Herb) And you are?
- Pippa Sarkissian.
- What kind of a name is that?
- English and Armenian.
- Ah. Well, welcome.
- (Gigi whoops)
You don't have a bathing suit?
Go naked! Nobody's here! Come on!
Come on!
(chatter)
(Gigi) I'm so happy to see you. I want
to organise a show in Paris for you.
Have you been in Paris before?
(Pippa) That's fantastic.
What's going on?
Pippa. Pippa Sarkissian.
Come here. Come.
Sit. Talk to us.
So, Pippa, what does a free spirit
like you have for breakfast usually?
- Does she look like she eats breakfast?
- Do you?
- No.
- That's your first mistake of the day.
So, first thing in the morning,
you go to the studio?
I don't have a studio.
You gotta be an artist
dressed like that.
- (Herb) Well, what do you do?
- I work in a clothing store.
You have no ambition?
No one has ever walked through that
door before without having an ambition.
The butler is writing a short story.
- He told me so himself yesterday.
- I'm gonna get a drink.
- You want a drink, Pippa?
- Uh-uh.
- Get me another one of these.
- I will. I'll be back.
This is the most amazing house
I've ever seen.
It's not a house, it's a mausoleum.
There isn't one comfortable
piece of furniture except this couch.
- It's like living in an aquarium.
- Then why do you live here?
My wife. I could never afford a place
like this, although I'm not poor.
So, Pippa, when are you going to start
doing something about your life?
What do you mean?
Doesn't it get dispiriting
being so aimless?
I mean, the times,
they are a-changing notwithstanding.
What?
You have such a sweetness about you.
No, I'm not sweet.
Well, you can be experienced
and have a sweetness about you.
It's an innate thing with you, it seems.
I haven't seen that quality in a person
in a long time.
(Gigi) We're all going swimming!
Oh, God.
(Pippa) I didn't realise it yet,
but I had set my sights on Herb,
and once that happened, watch out.
She's making me nostalgic
for his first wife,
and trust me, that's saying something.
You're interesting, Pippa.
I've been observing you.
- You have?
- You're like an ingnue femme fatale.
- OK, and what are you like?
- Writers are vampires.
I'm waiting for the right girl to come
along and make me a human being.
You realise that if I leaned in
right now and kissed you,
I'd be the third guy tonight.
Am I right?
Yeah, you would.
(laughter)
("Another Green World" by Brian Eno)
(laughs)
- Your turn.
- Alright.
Come on!
- There you go. Thanks.
- See you next week.
Next?
Fish tonight?
Oh! Well, he, erm, comes all the way
from Maine every Thursday.
- You feel guilty about the fish man?
- A little.
- I'm sorry about the other day.
- Oh, that's alright.
- How are you doing?
- Oh, fine.
I-I actually went to see someone
about the sleepwalking,
and he basically thinks I'm off my nut,
basically. (laughs)
Erm, see, it's a psychiatrist.
That's because he thinks I'm gonna need
medication, and a locksmith.
He suggested that we bolt
the bedroom door from the inside
and Herb hide the key, and erm...
Oh, I'm supposed to take up a hobby.
I'm thinking bowling. (sighs)
- Would you like to go for a drive?
- (giggles) Sure.
After you get your fish.
I'll make pasta.
Where do you want to go?
I don't know. (chuckles) Erm...
- I could show you where I grew up.
- OK.
How do I get there?
It's straight for a couple of miles.
Then we'll make a turn. I'll tell you.
It's close.
(Pippa) There it is.
- (Pippa) Seems so small.
- Is your family still here?
No.
That's my daughter, Grace. She hates me.
I wonder...
- What?
- If I got it all wrong with her.
I just didn't want to suffocate her
the way my...
I think it happens like that in families
sometimes, though.
You just keep swinging back and forth
from generation to generation,
getting it wrong, the opposite way.
It was so simple with Ben.
But you know, she, erm,
is a photographic journalist.
Travels all over the world, wherever
it's exploding, takes photographs.
- Wow.
- Yeah, I know.
We must have done something right.
Sounds like your daughter's like you.
- Why?
- You said you were always in a drama.
Well, I was reckless with my life,
that's true.
I never saw her again.
- Who?
- My mother.
After I ran away, she died.
She had a heart attack.
(Suky) Oh, I can't wait to see.
(Pippa) If I could have anything,
I would ask for one more afternoon
with my mother.
Look at her eyes.
(Pippa) I would be kind.
Beautiful.
I've been going to Dot's pottery class.
- Oh, good.
- Why do you think it's good?
The doctor said
he thought you could use a hobby.
- Tell me what you like about me.
- Right now?
Yeah.
- You put up with me, for one thing.
- That's it?
Of course not.
Herb, what happened to us? We used to
laugh so much. What happened?
- Can't laugh all the time.
- Well, we have to laugh.
- Or what?
- Or she died for nothing.
- Not that again, OK?
- Why am I not allowed to mention her?
I will not let this marriage turn into
a guilt fest. We have been through this.
She was crazy. You get involved
with somebody like that,
it's like putting your hand
in a blender. Your fingers get bloody.
I just can't take it, I can't take it.
I keep seeing her.
I keep seeing her. I keep...
(sighs) I keep seeing the past.
The past just keeps caving in.
I can't take it any more.
I can't take it. (sobs) I'm sorry.
Maybe you should be taking
antidepressants.
(slams table)
What?
You alright? You want to talk?
My mother used to do this.
She'd suddenly disappear,
and I'd find her on the bed in front of
the TV with toast on her belly.
- That's how she died.
- Yes, I know.
- I have to take your blood pressure.
- No, you don't.
(Pippa) I slept for a week
after the party at Herb's beach house.
Maybe I was trying to avoid
my next boyfriend.
When I woke up, I felt an overwhelming
need to hear Herb's voice.
I missed him so much. It was strange.
(hammer bangs)
- (ringing tone)
- (Herb) Hello?
- Er, Mr Lee? Hi, it's Pippa Sarkissian.
- Pippa!
Hey. I-I was wondering,
do you want to go out to breakfast?
- It's three o'clock in the afternoon.
- I meant tomorrow.
(Pippa) He treated me like a pal
at first. He was avuncular.
He teased me about being a waster.
I called him an old fart.
We would get together every couple of
days and take a walk or eat something.
He gave me reading lists.
He wanted to educate me.
- (Pippa) Hey. Sorry I'm late.
- (Herb) You're always late.
Well, maybe you're always early.
(chuckles)
(Herb) I bought something for you.
Now, you only have to wear this once.
I'll be alone at the beach house
this weekend,
- and I want you to come for lunch.
- (Pippa gasps)
- You weren't supposed to buy this.
- I needed to.
(Pippa) I loved being with Herb.
He made me feel protected.
(Herb) I thought I was a writer.
I thought it was my calling,
but it just wasn't. I, er...
I-I couldn't flow.
I have a very critical nature,
and it kept me from being able to flow.
Then I... was slightly lost for a while.
I had no idea what I was gonna do,
and I had a friend in the publishing
business, and he offered me a job.
- And here I am.
- Hmm.
Tell me what you like about me.
Well, you're not a show-off about it,
but I think you're very intelligent,
and... you're beautiful,
but you're cool about it,
and there's a sadness about you,
and I like that, in moderation.
- I like your jacket.
- And that's it?
(laughs) No.
No, I...
I like your face and your voice...
...and, erm...
- This is gonna sound strange.
- Say it.
It's like, erm...
Like I can feel what you're feeling.
You know, if you feel nervous
or happy or sad, I can feel it.
I-In my body, in my fingers.
- What a remarkable thing.
- Oh.
I'd like you not to feel as if you have
to censor yourself around me.
Tell me something about yourself. Tell
me the most important thing about you.
I'm a fuck-up.
(Pippa) I felt like I was being
rescued from a burning wreck.
If I'm good for anything in the world,
it's for letting you know
how wonderful you are.
You're my true wife, you know?
No, you don't want me.
I only make people sad.
I don't believe that.
(sighs) Anyway, you have a wife.
If I have to live with that lunatic
for another week, I'll hang myself.
For years, I've hoped she'd have
an affair so I can walk out on her,
- but she won't do it, the bitch.
- (laughs)
(electrical whirring)
Mrs Lee still seems unwilling to work
her way up like the rest of us.
- (mutters) Oh, go stick it up your ass.
- What did you say to me?
(young Pippa) I don't understand.
She agrees to divorce
if we have lunch with her?
(Herb) She wants to make the switch
in an elegant way.
(Pippa)
I can't believe you agreed to this!
(Herb)
I owe her this much. Come on, let's go.
Hello, Mr Lee. Nice to see you.
Hello, miss.
- (Herb) Hello, Alphonsa.
- (Gigi) Welcome.
(Herb) Hi, hi. Hello, hello, hello.
- (Sam) Hi.
- Sam! What a pleasant surprise.
(Gigi)
I told Ursa to bring in the champagne.
- Perfect symmetry.
- What?
- Come on.
- She invited me for lunch.
(Sam) Stop! Cheers.
- Oh. You're such a baby.
- (Herb) Thanks.
(Pippa) Let's face it,
I wanted Gigi's life at that moment.
It wasn't the money, exactly.
It was just that the money
made everything seem alright.
It was the opposite of chaos,
of everything I had known up until then.
I wanted to be sheltered at last.
- Madam.
- Lunch is served.
Oh, my.
(Gigi) Pippa?
Herb.
(Gigi) This lunch is in honour
of telling it like it is.
You know how we all eat chops
and hamburgers,
and we don't think of the faces
of who gets killed?
- Anybody here a vegetarian?
- (Gigi) Here's the truth as I see it.
- A pig for a cow. A fair exchange.
- (Sam) And who's who?
- Sorry.
- OK, let's have lunch. Who wants pig?
- First, a toast.
- (Sam) Aw, jeez!
(Gigi) To transformation.
Put the gun down.
Put it down.
Put it down, Gigi.
Isn't it funny how men
always marry women
who are easier and easier to dominate,
until they end up with an imbecile?
Put the gun down.
Put it down.
- Give me the... No!
- (gunshot)
(sobs)
(Pippa) Her image would haunt me
for the rest of my life.
(sobs)
I knew without thinking
that not only would I marry Herb,
I would give myself to him,
like a penitent.
This was my last chance at goodness.
If I fucked this up,
I would be fallen forever.
Every day I tried to be good,
to erase the past.
I stopped getting high.
But I didn't know
how to be this new person.
Like a dancer learning a new routine, I
relied on repetition to teach my brain.
Hello? Hello?
Hello?
It wasn't till I had the babies though
that I really believed my own act.
That was when Pippa Sarkissian
disappeared forever.
That was how I became Pippa Lee.
I got thrown out of pottery class.
I got thrown out of pottery class!
- (Herb) Who is it?
- It's me.
(Herb) I'll be right there.
- Everything OK?
- I got thrown out of pottery class.
- Why?
- I told the teacher to screw off.
Let me get my keys.
We'll get some coffee.
She's a witch. She's...
Why is this towel here, sweetheart?
Were you eating, and you didn't
want to mess up the couch?
No.
What?
- (Sandra moans)
- (Pippa tuts)
- When did this start?
- Sometime after we moved here.
I was hoping it was an affair,
but... it just isn't.
I-I know this has got to be...
dreadful for you.
I... I want you to have all the money.
You deserve everything.
(sighs) Thanks. Erm, well,
are you going to marry her?
Well, at my age, it would be
pretty ridiculous, wouldn't it?
And... I just wanna live.
The past few years, I can feel you
starting to bury me, Pippa.
I can feel the earth in my mouth, almost
as if you're looking forward to it.
- How can you say that?
- I can feel you starting to pity me,
being afraid of me.
You're already mourning. Don't deny it.
I mean, of course, I-I am afraid
of you getting old and dying.
It's normal to be afraid.
Well, I don't want to be normal
or mourned. I am not a ghost!
I wanna live!
Nobody knows when they're gonna die.
You could die tomorrow, and fuck you
for making me feel like an old man!
- But, Herb, you are an old man.
- (clattering)
- (Pippa) Oh, my... Oh, Sandra!
- (Sandra whimpers)
Killing yourself
with a disposable razor.
I don't think
anyone's ever done that before.
She was in despair, you know.
She loves you.
This first-aid kit came in handy,
didn't it?
(Pippa) I had the strangest feeling
walking down those stairs.
I suddenly felt so light,
as if a great weight
had been lifted off of me.
(radio) Remember this moment,
sports fans. Remember where you were.
Pippa Lee rounding the bend,
guilt baton in hand,
coming up on Sandra Dulles,
and the pass is complete!
Pippa Lee has passed
the guilt baton to Sandra Dulles!
I never thought
I'd live to see this moment!
- Hi, there.
- Hi.
(laughs)
What's going on?
My husband has been having an affair
with a good friend of mine.
So...
...it's official.
Nobody needs me any more.
(knock at door)
- Hi, Ma.
- (Pippa) Dot!
- Wait.
- Dot! No, no, no.
Please, I didn't mean to upset you.
I really didn't.
- That man is 35 years old.
- But we haven't done...
And you are whatever you are.
It's none... It's none of my beeswax.
It is just disappointing
when someone turns out not to be
the person you thought they were.
(Chris urinates)
I lost control.
I... I care about you tremendously.
Why don't I feel anything? I mean, it
can't be that I don't love you any more.
- I-I adored you only this morning.
- Maybe you're in shock.
- (sighs) It's all so tired.
- What is?
This whole situation.
Let's just fast-forward to the divorce.
Where... (screams)
Where are they? (gasps)
(monitor beeps)
Where were you going, Mom?
Ben, I really don't see
that that's important.
- I just wanna get everything straight.
- (door opens)
(gasps)
I... I had chest pains.
(sobs) I feel like
the gods are punishing me.
Oh, please stop being such an egomaniac
and drink your tea.
You forgive me, Pippa?
- Forgive her for what?
- Oh... (mumbles) I can't.
Ben, your father and Sandra were...
- They... They're in love.
- (sobs)
- That's why I was leaving.
- What?
I'll jump out the window.
I'm so stupid! I'm stupid!
I'm just so selfish!
I'll jump out the window if you don't
forgive me. I'm so stupid!
I forgive you. Get up.
Get up, please. OK.
- You do not forgive her.
- You're right, I don't.
How could Dad do that to you?
Sweetheart, he... was afraid of dying.
He fell in love.
And I wasn't altogether there either,
as of late, so I don't know.
Do you even care?
How can I compete with that?
- (Grace) Hi. Where is he?
- (Pippa) Oh, sweetheart.
Mrs Lee? You have a phone call.
OK, Ben, will you take her in?
I'll be right back.
Hello?
(Sam) I just want to say,
in all the world,
you are the one person to whom
none of this should be happening.
- Thank you, Sam.
- I also want to say that I love you.
- Me, too.
- I mean, really.
Oh.
- Call you later.
- OK.
- Bye.
- Sam.
Yeah?
I don't want to make butterflied lamb
any more.
- Oh.
- Do you see what I'm saying?
- Why did Ben get to stay?
- I don't know.
He seemed to want it the most.
Really? How do you measure that?
Do you have some sort of love-ometer?
Why don't we go home and rest?
- Has someone been smoking in here?
- I don't know.
Yuck.
- Was it Daddy?
- What?
- If Daddy's been smoking, then...
- No. No.
So, his brain is just dead,
it's just completely dead?
He'll never say anything ever again?
Not one thing?
That's what the doctors
are telling us, sweetheart.
You didn't even ask
for a second opinion.
(engine starts)
- Gracie, I know, sweetie...
- Goodnight.
Why did you bother to lie?
(Grace) Oh, my God, you are smoking.
I'm quitting soon.
But I have never seen you smoke
in my whole life.
I know.
- (Pippa) Aw.
- (Grace sobs)
I'm so sorry this had to happen to you.
I'm not crying because of Daddy.
(sniffs)
I'm crying because
I'm so mean to you, all the time,
and I hate it.
- Aw.
- And I don't want to be.
I really, really, really don't. (sobs)
Sweetheart, it's not your fault.
There's so many things
you don't know about me.
No, not yet.
I want to be your friend,
because...
Because... we still have time.
- I'd be honoured to be your friend.
- No, not honoured.
- Just happy.
- OK, happy.
Mom.
(car approaches)
I saw your light on.
I wanted to see if you needed anything.
My mom told me what happened.
Oh. My son is at the hospital,
and I'm supposed to be resting,
but I can't.
I could drive you around a little bit.
Do they have your cell?
- Don't you have work?
- I'm off till five.
I could write Grace a note.
OK.
(Chris) I'm leaving soon.
(Pippa) And where will you go?
Back out west, I guess.
What do you pray for when you pray?
For my kids to be happy, I guess.
And to be good.
It sounds so childish,
saying it out loud.
- Do you want to pray for your husband?
- It's hopeless.
- His brain is dead.
- Not for his brain.
For his soul.
- I don't know how to do that.
- Me, neither.
Let's try.
(unbuttons shirt)
(pants)
(moans)
(pants)
(sobs)
(Pippa) Sorry.
OK, Herb...
...I'm gonna let you go.
I'm sure you're pissed as it is
that I've left you like this so long,
but we wanted to wait for Grace.
(sniffs)
(sighs)
I love you anyway, you know?
I'll always love you, you bastard.
(woman) Are you ready now?
(Pippa)
OK, it's time to turn the corner.
I'm going to stay with Ben
and his girlfriend in town.
I'm gonna find a place near them,
and I'm gonna wait
to become a grandmother.
- (gasps)
- (brakes screech)
(car approaches)
I'm awake.
(both chatter)
- Hi, Momma.
- I'm going on a trip.
- A trip?
- Yes.
And I was wondering if you could
call these movers right here,
and take whatever you want,
and then tell them to give the rest
to goodwill. That would be great.
What about the memorial service?
Right, just call everybody on here
except for Sandra,
and just call me on my cell
and give me the date.
And you know what?
What the hell. Invite Sandra.
Mom, are you actually leaving?
- I'll be back.
- When?
Your father was in love with a woman
I cooked for two days a week
over the past four years. I am not going
to organise his memorial service.
- Who is that guy?
- He's my friend.
- A friend? What's going on?
- I'm not driving off into the sunset.
- I'm just seeing what happens next.
- I can't believe this is happening.
She's given us half her life.
Don't you think she deserves a vacation?
(Grace chuckles)
(Pippa)
I love you, I love you, I love you.
(Pippa) I don't know
how the rest of my story will go.
I don't know who I'll be in it.
All I know is
I feel like this is just the beginning.
("I Lost It" by Lucinda Williams)
# I think I lost it
# Let me know if you come across it
# Let me know if I let it fall
along a back road somewhere
# Money can't replace it
# No memory can erase it
# And I know I'm never gonna find
another one to compare
# Give me some love to fill me up
# Give me some time, give me some stuff
# Give me a sign
# Give me some kind of reason
# Are you heavy enough to make me stay?
# I feel like I might blow away
# I thought I was in heaven
# But I was only dreamin'
# I think I lost it
# Let me know if you come across it
# Let me know if I let it fall
along a back road somewhere
# Money can't replace it
# No memory can erase it
# And I know I'm never gonna find
another one to compare
# I just wanna live the life I please
# I don't want no enemies
# I don't want nothing
if I have to fake it
# Never take nothing don't belong to me
# Everything's paid for, nothing's free
# If I give my heart
# Will you promise not to break it?
# I think I lost it
# Let me know if you come across it
# Let me know if I let it fall
along a back road somewhere
# Money can't replace it
# No memory can erase it
# And I know I'm never gonna find
another one to compare
# Money can't replace it
# No memory can erase it
# And I know I'm never gonna find
another one to compare
(cheering)