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Promised Land (2012)Can I get either of you gentlemen anything else? You want another drink? Uh, no, I'm fine thanks. We'll take another bottle of the Chateau Margaux. You'll be fine. Listen, I'm sorry Michael isn't here yet. His plane got delayed getting into Teterboro. That's fine. He likes to meet all the executive candidates, it's kind of a tradition or a neuroses. It's nice of him though. It is actually, until he does his one joke. I thought you said he wasn't handsome. That's an oldie but a goodie, I guess. So what time you heading out tomorrow? Well actually, Sue's up there now, I was gonna get he last bus tonight and get an early start tomorrow morning. You know hen we called the office out West you were the only name they gave us. It's nice of them. Listen, Steve, we're a Yeah. If someone is recommending you, it's not nice it's numbers. I appreciate that. Now let me ask you something. You guys have closed more towns than the team behind you by almost triple digits. But the price point that we pay out on your leases is half of everyone else's. How do you do that? Well I'm from Eldridge, Iowa. Meaning? It might as well have been Rifle, Colorado, Dish, Texas or Lafayette, Louisiana. Any of these towns we've sold. I know them, they know me. Well, unfortunately the rest of our road teams don't find it as quite so easy. I grew up in a large farming community. Football Fridays, tractor pulls, cow tipping, all of it. I mean, I'm one of two guys in my graduating class who went to college and studied something other than agriculture. It's the biggest fight my grandfather and I ever had. Just a pride, I guess. No. It's delusional self mythology. It's bullshit. We had a Caterpillar plant down in Davenport a few miles away. They closed that down in my junior year. I didn't think anything of it. By the time my senior prom moved around, I got to see, first hand, just how little legs we had to stand on. I mean, the whole farming town fantasy just shattered. The truth was, without the plant, without the industry, we had nothing. And my whole town was I'm not selling them Natural Gas. I'm selling the only way they have to get back. Best of luck, Steve. Is this the guy? Well you said he wasn't handsome! Sorry I'm late. Had to stop at home on my way down. My daughter, it's her birthday today. She's turning 13 already. I can't believe Good morning, Boss. Oh, stop it. I'm not supposed to call you Boss', now? They'll let me know. That's the best you could do? No. But I wasn't looking for the best, was I? Ah, you know what I mean. Stick! You do it on purpose. You're right, I do. Was it worth it? Suck it! Rob's Guns, Groceries, Guitars and Gas. God, I wish I thought of that. So where'd they put you up? The Sheraton? Uh, Four Seasons. What? Mm-hmm. Jesus! Yeah. And I was right, this is the entry point for the whole state. Yeah, I like that. It's like dominoes. Yeah, it is. Hey, what season is this? They're still wearing flannel up here? Place like this, they always do flannel. Yeah. Or camo. I am not wearing camo. Do you wear gloves? I never use them. It's a yes. Ok, you bout ready? Yup. Hey. Boots! Huh? No. I'm not going over this with you again. These are my grandfather's boots, and they're made in America. Yeah, like in 1947. Yeah, a pair of air balloon. Oh my God, now you weren't kidding about the guitars. I guess you're not here to buy a guitar. You're the natural gas people. I'm sorry? Apologizing right off the bat, I like it! It's endearing and vulnerable, and yet, honest and direct. Your ID card, it's kind of a dead give away. It's about time you all showed up. Yeah? Well, hell yeah. We can't sell the scenery, can we? That's good. Wanna come work for us? And leave all this? Cash only. Really? No. Shut up. Go ahead if you have to. No, I'm just glad to think it's great that you're making friends. Now shut up. I can't believe this is right outside the city, it looks like Kentucky. No, two hours outside any city looks like Kentucky, you should know that. Something weird about those horses? No, not really. Wait, are they small? They seem very small. They seems smaller than you. Right? My eyesight's going. Maybe they're ponies? Those are not ponies. Remember new region, so we can go as high as 5000 and 18%. Don't ponies have big heads? I mean, like proportionally? Hello there! Are you the owner of this place? No, sir. No? Well how come you're doing all the work? I don't know. Well, who do I talk to about that? My Dad. Your Dad, okay. I'm gonna find your Dad, I'm gonna straighten all this out! Oh, hi! I thought the census was over? Uh, no, I'mI'm with the Natural Gas company. You got a second? Hell, why didn't you say so. Come on in. You went shopping? Sorry? I said, you went shopping, here you got a tag. There you go. Oh, well. So much for trying to look like a local. Nice boots. Thank you. Thank you Sir. That is some wild color, right? Is that Thor? Ironman. Is it? Oh, yeah! God, it's nice. Can I have that, my kid would really love that! I'm kidding. Reading this morning bout all the gas drillin' in Pennsylvania. Stanton Gas', is that you guys? Oh no, I'm representing Global Crosspower Solutions'. But, there's a bunch of us. Well, you're probably the best. Hey, you wanna come work for us? Even before the drilling, the initial phase of development will boost your town's tax revenue. That means that money will be injected into the town immediately. 'Cause what it means to me One of the only reason I live where I live is because of the school my son goes to. I want everything for him. And everything, to me, starts with an education. So our leases start at $2000. Wait, that's it? That's right. Well, that's not necessarily life changing money, is it? Oh, it's per acre. You have 20. So, I think there are a lot of people around here that would say $40,000, well, that's pretty good money. Especially for doing nothing. But the real reason I'm here at this early stage is because our research shows that your particular plot of land has a potentially high yield. Now what that means is that not only the size of the deposit, but actually the quality of the shale is in the top tier. Yeah. Carson's chances of going to college are too low. And without a college education, and this job market, that means manual labor. Those jobs are gone. Technology is our sons' future. There's no reason your town shouldn't have a state of the art high school. Getting education that allows him to compete on the highest level. And that's why we offer an 8 percent share in any and all profits that we see from your wells. And so with this top tier level of shit, what kind of money are you talking about? Oh well, I can't say yet but It's ballpark for me, man. I mean, other people in similar situations? Millions. I meanyou mean, for, you know, are you guys, or? You could be a millionaire. See what it stands and what this agreement looks like. That's it right there. Nice talk today. Kind of anti-climactic, I thought it would be harder. It's too easy. What? I got it. Really? From V.P. of Land Management. Wow. It's great. I'm proud of ya. Oh shit. Danny, I don't know what to say. I know Heather. It's only two way tickets. Did anybody get on base? No. Well then that makes it almost a perfect game. That is amazing! It's not a whole game, mom. Okay, well, you shouldyou juststill you should be celebrating, you shouldn't be seating here talking to me. Hey, Ms. T.! Hi Colin. So where you guys headed? I don't know. Sarah Dayton's having a party, I think. You look nice. Okay. I love you so much. Okay mom. Okay. Go. Hey! Mr. Richards? Hi, I'm Steve Butler. Steve, it's a pleasure. Nice to meet you. And call me Gerry for God's sake. Oh, great. Anything to drink? Steve? Uh, yeah, a cup of coffee. For you, Jerry? Oh I'm fine, thanks Lynn. Well, listen, I appreciate you sitting down with me, I know you're busy but I Oh yeah, yeah. I just thought it'd be a good idea for you and I to get together before the town hall tomorrow so that we can get to know each other. Of course, no no, look, as the senior member of the supervisors board, thank you for sitting down with me. I appreciate it. Pretty exciting all this natural gas stuff. It is very exciting. Whole lot of money down there! That is also true. How much do you think? How much money you think we got down there? Well, uh, your Global's research team hasn't finished their analysis yet, but I think it could be as much as 15 to 20 million dollars. Is that right? I mean it could be, yeah. Thank you. Well Listen, I've, uh I've been doing a little research about all this, gone online a little bit, and well, I've read all these rumblings on Natural Gas possibly contaminates water sources? You know, killing crops and what not. Yeah. You know, I've read all that stuff too. There're stories of people lighting their water on fire. People getting sick. Steve. That sounds nasty. WellWell, there are lost of scare tactics at play here. Oh. ButLook, I, uh I have a responsibility to protect these people. To ensure their safety. Yes. And to be honest Well I'm just not so sure I'm too comfortable telling my constituents to allow you folks to come into our town. No matter how much money you have. Okay. Well, Mr. Richards, because Now I know that you folks have quite the operation in the works, here. With plans to set up throughout the state, huh? Yeah. Well, I'd hate to be the guy that jeopardize all that for you. To lead this one little podunk town to reject your company. To reject natural Gas. Wow! I can't even imagine what that would do to you guys. Especially fore that this got out, you know, in the papers, on the news, hmm? It's 30,000. What's that? I can offer you 30,000 dollars. Can I get you anything else? You know what, Lynn, I think we're done here. Just the check please. The Marcellus shale, estimated at 2 trillion dollars, with billions in potential tax revenue to individual states. Google. First one that came up, first sentence. Now you wanna re-think that joke number you mentioned earlier, hm? Mr. Richards, I'm-I'm just being straight with you, it's simple math. Best case scenario there's 30 million dollars under your town. .1% of that is 30,000 dollars, that's what I'm authorized to offer you. I'm also telling you it's a one time offer. Don't get up. Don't do that. I've been at this table before and it doesn't end well. Look, I don't fault you for trying. But, I'm telling you Don't do this. Because we will walk away. We always do. And after every single town within 3 states has signed up for this, and the blows of this economy are almost unbearable, we're gonna come back. And we're gonna offer you nothing. We will offer this town nothing. Every contract we've signed, every piece of the pie we've offered, it all goes away. And we buy this place for nothing. Now please Let some other guy be last. I got it. Thank you. So I'll see you tomorrow? I'll see you tomorrow. Jeez, you want me to leave the whole bottle? They allow you to do that? Hey Jesse, three more please. Jesus Christ, the two of you. Well, I don't know what your problem is. It's my birthday. II have no excuse. Lemme guess. Forty married, marketing, with two kids. Thirty eight Stripper/Waitress but was born to be a singer. Fuck you, I'm a teacher! No no, I was talking about me. You wanna see a dance? It's a 100 bucks. They wouldn't give you 30. No, you haven't seen my moves. Ok, alright, now you're creeping me out. I'm Steve. Alice. Wow, you're goin' pretty big for a school night, Alice. It's my birthday. Oh right, right. Well actually, tomorrow. So they just give you a day off, you know, for your birthday, or do you have to lie, tell the kids you've got a stomach bug? Okay, first off, I resent the implication that I can't hold my liquor And secondly, we watch videos sometimes for the first two periods. Just sometimes, right? Smart. So? What's your story? What brings you to our booming metropolis? Oh, I'm actually from a small town myself so it just kind of feels like home. Oh yeah, where's that? Eldridge, Iowa. Aah, you're a buckeye! That's Ohio. The same thing. Okay, no offense taken. Alice. Let's go! Hey, what are we doing? We're drinking or not? Nice to meet you, Alice. Oh, so you're not gonna even buy a birthday girl a birthday drink? No, I think that would communicate the wrong thing. You're an asshole! No no, I'mof course I'll buy your drinks. No, forget it, you blew it, you missed your chance. Wait! No, that's it? Alice, come on. So how long you be in town? Uh, yeah a bit. A bit? Oh my God, you're a horrible liar. I'm not lying! You wanna give a girl a real birthday present? Sure. Yeah. Jesse, we're playing Absolut Madness. Absolut Madness? What's Absolut Madness? It's pretty much what it sounds like. You and Jesse drink 4 shots in 4 minutes, and if you can get closer to the bulls eye on that dartboard, then we drink for free and you get your Polaroid on the wall. Uh, that's not at all what it sounds like. alright, I'm in! Uh, no, I tell you what, okay, hang on, what if we double? Alright, I do 8 shots in everybody at this bar gets the drink for free. Alright. Alright, alright, alright, alright. Hey, my name's Steve, uh Steve! I hope that we gonna get everybody here drunk tonight for free. Alright, Absolute Madness, here we go. Oh my God! I got it, I got it! Oh! Oh thank God, you're still kind of handsome. You're late. What? Your phone hasn't stop buzzing for the last half hour. Shit. Oh, shit, okay. I had a really great time. Did you? Uh, yeah, yeah, I mean Nothing happened, Steve. Well, actually you did kiss me before you threw up the first time. Oh, it's gross. Sorry. I was gonna let you sleep in your car, but you couldn't remember which one was yours. Uh. No, I didn't drive. Well then it's a good thing I didn't let you sleep in your car. Uh. Wow, cancan I take your number, or? Well, youyou're gonna be around for a bit, right? Uh It's not that big of a town. You'll see me again. Okay. Still The front door is, uh? At the front of the house. When you get to it, you're gonna see a knob. Okay. You turn that knob Yeah, yeah. Too early for that, I'm just Thank you. You're welcome. Huh. happy birthday! What do you mean you were burned? Why were you using an iron? So he asked you to do it? No, I highly doubt it's burned off, Danny. What did the nurse say? Throwing hand or catching hand? So you're gonna play this weekend? Just five minutes. What you mean pitching? Danny! When did the coach say that, that's fantastic?! No no no, that was just Steve, I'm at work. Okay. Folks, if you can find your seats please, we'll get started. Thank you. I can't believe you went out. We didn't get home from dinner till 9:30. She was very cool actually, I think you would have liked her. I don't think you should be making statements like that just yet. Some of you may even have family or friends who have had natural gas come to their town. Name? Alice. Alice? Was she elderly? .. that we will be bringing natural gas to McKinley. How do they get the gas? Ah! Frank, how are ya? Listen What is that? Lemonade. Is it good? It's fantastic. It's fresh squeezed. There's a kid selling it out there. She's cleaning up! You want some? No. There are these rock deposits underground. Deep, undermiles underground. And they create these drills that go down 2 or 3 miles, and the breaking of that shale is what actually releases the gas. It's called Fracking. Excuse me? The process. It's called Fracking. That's right. That's right. Frank, now if you'd let me finish please, we have a basket to I would encourage all of you when you go home to Google that word and see what you find. Unfortunately, it's not nearly as simple as what Supervisor Richards has just laid out. Frank. Frank, I'm sure we all appreciate the point you're trying to make, but there's no decision to be made here. We need this. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but uh, this thing here. It may not be the saving grace you all want it to be. Now, Gerry started this thing on by saying Natural Gas coming here is life saving. And it is! It's a clean and efficient resource. But the way we go about getting it is some dirty business. Franck, with all due respect, I think you're out of your league. And the potential for error is just too high. Thank you Frank. And There are people all over the country, who's water has been contaminated. Okay. Frank, I have absolutely had enough of this. We don't have to have this conversation here. If you wanna come down to Goddamn it. I'm late here, sorry. I'm sorry, uh, I don't mean to interrupt you, Mr? Yates. My name is Frank Yates. Uh, Mr. Yates, are you with a, uh, an environmental group? No. No? Uh, what line of work you in, Sir? I'm a teacher at the high school. A teacher. I teach science. What about you, Mrrrrrrrr? Okay. Yeah. Well, I deserve that. Uh, well, Steve Butler is my name. I'm a consultant, here, with Global. I only caught the tail end of what you were saying, but you seem like someone who's done his homework. Could I ask you though, where did you get your information? Mr. Butler, you and I both know the information I've been talking about, is vast and detailed. You're probably right, I'm certainly I'm not the guy with all the answers. Oh, well then you'd be the perfect guy for them to send here, to deny everything. Well look, I'm not gonna deny that this issue has been made pretty complicated by a few companies who've had their fair share of incidents. But we've been fracking in this country for over 50 years. This is not a new issue, this is not a new technology. But Global is being sued, isn't that true, Steve? Yeah, that's true, that's true. Just like any other company our size in any other industry. And the way we handle those law suits is we stand up to em. Because we're not in the business of handing out free money. to people who make false claims against us. And the thingthe take away here, is how many times we've lost. And that's none. We've never ever lost any ot those case. Well, you can't lose a game that's still being played. Look Steve, I'm sure that even you can admit that Fracking is far from a perfect process. Perfect? Of course not, uhm But given the government regulations that we have to adhere to and all the hoops we jump through, it's pretty close to perfect. The only reason why natural gas is so big right now is because it finally is the clean alternative to these dangerous industries like coal and oil. If it's such an incredible alternative why do they need a man standing off to the side of the room to make sure we all go for it? Seems to me it should be able to sell itself. But you're not the man with the answers. So who is? Because I still have questions. Well, I'd like to answer all of those questions. But I'd just like everybody to keep something in mind here. There's no such thing as a neutral position here. If you're against this, you're for coal and oil. Period. mn, unl w tlk but uttng numtn, and so far that's a conversation none of us wanna have. Steve, I just came here to point out that this issue is a bit more complicated than it seems. Well, yeah, I mean you've certainly done that. Well great. Now I think we should take a vote. A vote? In a couple of weeks, when we've all had time to think this whole thing through, I think we should put it to a vote. With all due respect, the people in this town really need this. Theythey need this. And Quite frankly, I don't think that anybody here is gonna be swayed by one man. Sorry. You're right. These people and I came here to say we strongly believe this is not in the best interest of this town. Hey, Gerry. Gerry, I'm sorry, these kids have regionals coming up. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Stan, sure thing, go ahead. Uhm Well Look Frank, this isn't everybody. I mean, not even half of the town is here today. Exactly, And I think all those people would hate to be left out of such an important decision. Uh, Frank Gerry, Gerry, let's face it. We both know that money can lead very often to bad decisions. Are you seeing the same numbers I have, and with the recent figures on deposits in this area at 150 million dollars, let's all take some time to think it through. Those are the latest numbers out of the university. Well Let's have a vote! Say, three weeks time. We're adjourned! Asshole. Holy shit! Okay, calm down. Don't tell me to calm down! Natural gas isn't perfect What were you thinking? And that politician, why is he so pissed off? Becaubecause I told him that the real number was 30 million dollars. I mean Well, once again, you came in below the price point. Was it worth it? I'm sorry. You know what Steven? Listen to me. I don't give a shit about your numbers or your promotion. My kid is in fucking Houston with his stupid fucking dad. This is a job, and then I go home. I'm sorry, Sue. Do not say I'm sorry, Sue' one more time. Alright, the plan's the same. Nothing's changed. But starting now wewewe close everyone! I don't care if they can fit We go door to door and we lease it all. They still need the money. The politician was buckling, Steven stepped in to try to put the fire out. This Yates guy, he's just a wild card. Yeah, thehe's the high school science teacher here. You know Uh-Huh. Well, research pulled him up. He's a hell of a lot more than that, Steve! Frank Yates. MA, engineering, MIT. PhD from Cornell in Physics. Jesus Christ, the guy did R n' D for Boeing for 32 years, He's retired, Steve! He's teaching for fun! Okay, we're pulling it. We're pulling you now! No! Absolutely not! They take us for somebody else in, it looks like we're running scared! Where is everybody? Where did you go? I'm here. Uh, look, II can have this whole place committed, andand before this guy gets one more supporter. Period. Okay, just give me the chance. I don't have to tell you how important all this is. This is all or nothing. We understand each other? Yeah, I understand. Coffee, handsome? Ah. Uh yeah, two. To go. Please. Cream and sugar? Uh yeah, please. No, put that away, it's on me. Thank you. Don't you worry about Frank Yates, darlin'. We all know it's not true. Hey, did research say anything about an environmental presence? No, none of the usual suspects. Nothing locally. Uh, Mr. Yates? Yes? Hi. My name is Dustin Noble. I'm from a small environmental group called Superior Athena. What can I do for you? I heard about the vote, and I'd like to do anything I can to help. Oh well. Look, I I don't think anybody here considers himself to be part of some great environmental revolution, you know. II have a pretty good feeling we can win this. Well, with all due respect, sir, you've picked a much bigger fight than you think, so you have to win. And I have the one thing you don't Evidence. Yeah. That's it. Ah, your little store, is there a storm coming I didn't know about? We have to stay a little longer than we thought. Not necessarily a bad thing. What happened to your window? Ah, I got into a bit of a heated discussion last night at the bar. I'm assuming it's not a coincidence. A heated discussion about what? You're kidding. Don't look worried. I'm not gonna gunshot em. Oh come on! You sing? What? You look like you'd be a singer. What are you talking about? Hot girls I was in high school with, who sang in the choir, they always had hair like yours. Well, I was in a church choir, but Told you. It's in the hair. Just think about it. Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, Cher, they all had good hair. It's a very interesting theory, Rod, but I don't want to sing in public. What? I mean, what's the point of having good hair if you don't sing in public? Women like Karaoke. We don't call it that. You know, it's just open mic. You tell the band what you want to sing, they play it, you sing. Not gonna happen. Excuse me! Hey. Hey! Excuse me, hey man! Hey! Hey! Hey buddy! Come on. Okay. Look. This whole door to door thing just isn't gonna cut it. I mean, if you wanna sell to these people, you gotta get em all together or not get em at all. I mean, you're a pro. I shouldn't have to tell you this. Look Show your face tonight, make yourself seem friendly. Embarrass yourself a bit. Hey, did you see a guy in there? I'm gonna let you figure out how stupid that sounded. I think there's an environmental presence. Really? Well, I don't know. I meanthat guy, right there! II don't know. Maybe. That's okay, don't panic, we'll figure it out. I gotta get an outfit. You think this guy is handsome? What? No, you just look nice. Oh, shut up. Ooh, buddy's place. Scene of the crime. Is this where you tried to pick up that lady? Alice. She's very nice. Hey, am I sitting with you? No, I'm sitting with Rob. Who's Rob? The handsome guy. Wait! What song are you gonna sing? Sue! Hey. Hey. I signed you up. You're ready? Nice! I'm not entirely sure you should be drinking. Hey! Alice. Let's try this again. Steve. Steve, it's very nice to meet you. Very nice to meet you, Alice. So. Looks like you're gonna stay around for a bit, after all. That, uhm town hall meeting didn't look like it went the way you wanted it to. Yeah, we were only supposed to be here for 2 or 3 days. Sorry I lied. That's ok. We don't actually play a game called Absolut Madness. Jesse's shots were water. What's Absolut Madness? I wandered so aimless, My life full of sins, I wouldn't let my dear savior in, In case of emergency only. See you around, Steve. Oh my God. No sorrow in sight. Praise the Lord, I saw the light. I saw the light, I saw the light, No more darkness, No more night, Now I'm so happy, No sorrow in sight, Praise the Lord, I saw the light. Praise the Lord, I saw the light. No. Jesus, I thought that would've gone better. Really? I thought it was great. Hey everybody. Uhm. Check check. No. It's not a good joke. Uh-uhm. It's a much better idea when I'm staying well on the back, uh Sing something, man! Oh God, definitely. Definitely you don't want that. Uh, I just wanted to introduce myself, I'm new in town, I just came in, my name's Dustin Noble, I work for a small environmental company called Athena. And IYeahNo, I I know. I know. The reason why I wanted to talk to you is that I'm actually from a small farming community myself in Nebraska, uh, my family's 5th generation in dairy, and uh, Well, the farm is gone, everything we had isis gone. What happened was, in 2008, my dad found 12 dead cows down by a creek about a half a mile from our house, and then, in April about 70% of those cows were either sick or dead. And by Christmas he had defaulted on his payments and the bank took his house. Hum The land just died, it just it just turned brown and died, and it made it very easy to see the only things left standing, which were these giant green wells that said Global' on them. Now these guys at Global, they're real clever. They have these fine prints in the leases they make you sign, that says you can't talk about it in a court of law, but hell, I'm pretty sure they don't say anything about telling a couple of friends in a bar. We had a farm in our family for 150 years, it only took nine months to lose it. So, I heard you were taking a vote, And I had to come down here personally and tell you my story. This isn't some environmentalist conspiracy. This is our lives. Now it's happened. And hell, it's happened to one of us it can happen to all of us. So I guess I'm just here to say my name is Dustin Noble, and I'm here for you, so take one of these pamphlets on the way out, okay. Thanks a lot. Thank you very much, I appreciate. Oh Yanks, no. No, wow wow wow. You have no idea how hard that song is. That is way higher than you think. No! Really? Okay, uh I get up in the evening, ooh, and I ain't got nothing to say, I come home in the morning, I go to bed feeling the same way, I got a big day tomorrow. I ain't nothin' but tired, man I'm just tired and bored with myself, Hey there baby, com'on, I need it, I could use just a little help, We can't start a fire, This is Bruce, can't start a fire without a spark, can't start a fire without a spark, That's him. That's the guy. This gun's for hire, I tell you what, if you want me to do this, I need the help, so let's do it for real. Everybody up, let's go! Let's go, everybody up, here we go! I can handle it. Wanna change my hair, my clothes, my face, Man I ain't getting nowhere, everybody up. Man I'm just living in a dump like this, Hey. None of what that guy just said is true. I'm not a bad guy. Can't start a fire, You can't start a fire without a spark, This gun's for hire, Even if we're dancing in the dark. Global go home. What a crock of shit. God, can we go inside, at least? It's fucking freezing out here. I mean, how we know the guy's even staying here? Where else would he stay, Steven? I mean, none of that shit can be true, right? No, of course not. We would've heard about it. They're not gonna send us in blind. I should have just confronted him at the bar. In front of the whole town? On open mic night? Okay. Hello. Hey! Play nice. I got it, I got it. Hey man! What's going on? Hey, how is it going? Good. Good. What are you doing here? What's that? What are you doing here? I mean, Athena? I've never even heard of that company. What kind of name is that? Uh, it's Greek, originally. Athena is the goddess of Dude, I fucking know who Athena is! Okay. Cause you justyou just said you didn't. I'm sorry, who are you? Are you joking? I'm Steve. Hi Steve. Yeah. I'm the guy you were just talking shit about at open mic night! Oh wow! You're from Global. Yeah. Yeah. Because you know who you're dealing with here, I mean is this like a joke to you? I mean is this some game for you and your stoner buddies, that Yeah. Oh I know exactly who I'm dealing with. Steve Butler. See, I know everything about your company. I know what you do and how to beat it. You know how to beat wait, no okay, bybyby by telling bullshit sob stories and singing fucking Springsteen? Listen, you seem really nice kid, you gotta be kidding me. that doesn't understand that he is in way oversale on this one. We've already signed more than enough leases to start development on this town, you're too late! I wouldn't underestimate these people. I don't. I know you think what you're doing is right, and I really admire that commitment. But your presence here only confuses people. But, we appreciate what you're doing, and would like to make a donation to your organization. Your cooperation is valuable to us. You gotta be kidding me. God. Okay. Get it. Get it! You pull on the brake, you pull on the brake. It's stupid, it doesn't even make sense. Brake. Yeah, I got it. Okay, check out the horses. They do seem small. Next to the goats. Right? Yeah, they should be bigger next to the goats. Right? You're right! I mean, that You know, unlessunless the goats are big. Come on. Those goats are normal! Holy shit! What? Holy shit! What is going on here? Global, go home. Global goOh, son of a bitch. He made signs? Pull ono, there he is. I'll be around, so let me know if you need anything. Thank you. What are you doing, man? Hey, Steve! Hey! Hello! What the fuck are you doing? Well, I'm telling these people the truth. Hang on, we had an agreement, pal. Did we? Yeah, we sure as shit did. Listen Steve, I came here for a reason. Oh my God, what? I gotta do what I came here to do. Okay. You took our money. Yeah. Oh but I did put that donation to good use, so thank you. Hey sue! Okay, if it's all a joke, great. Do you have any idea what you're dealing with there? We are a 9 billion dollar company. Okay, do you know what we're capable of? Do you? 'Cause all I see here is you and me, Steve. And one of us is a lot more confident than the other one. One of us is going to get punched in the fucking face. Steve look, I know this must be really frustrating for you, and I'm sorry. You're doing all the things you've done in the past, it's just not working this time. It's not workI have 60% of this land bought and paid for. It's over. Steve, you can have 80% of this land bought. That's only 40% of the vote. We're not fighting for the land, Steve, we're fighting for the people. You're fucking atthe these people need help. Okay? I'm here to give it to them. Steven! What are you doing? Steve, you're wrong. Right? These people have changed. It's not just about the money any more. Get in the car, Steven. Listen, none of this is your fault, okay? It's just It's just time! Just time for what? For what, man, what are you selling? Look at you! I'll see you around, Steve. Yeah, let's just run everything on on rainbows andand happy thoughts. Fucking dip shit. God damn. I mean, like, what is his truck running at, right? Bio fuel. Okay? Is it really? Yes! Like french frie grease. Asshole. Well, hello! My name's Dustin! Hi Dustin. So well behaved. How many guys live on a farm? Wow! Alright, me too! And guess what? This is my farm. It's not real farm. What? There's a ton of them there. We should just start there. Fine, wherever. Goddammit! Pretend that this is the dirt underneath my farm. Alright? And this is all the water that we had. All the water we had to drink, all the water the cows had to drink, all the water the puppies and kittens had to drink, all the water for the fish in the rivers. Hey there sir, good afternoon. Huh. Can I have a moment of your time? I know why you're here. And we don't need it. We they do start drilling, they go right in the ground. Like this. Right? Seems pretty simple. Well, they don't have really cool drills like some of your dads do in their garage. They have huge big ones like this. Hey, there he is. Hey! Hey I've been waiting all day for you folks! Uh Sorry I don't think, uh Yeah, Paul Geary. 442 Henley! Yeah, come on in, man, come on up, hey I got some coffee brewing. Yup, there you are, I got you. Okay. In order to use a drill this big, it needs a little help. So, they're shooting all this water and all this sand into the ground with the drill! And with all that, they also shoot chemicals. No, doesn't look scary? Okay, great. So what I'm gonna do, I'll just leave that with you and and just read that over, just look Oh hey, I'll sign it right now. No no, well you should read it over, and I'm gonna come back. I'm gonna be in town for a couple of days. They don't just use one chemical. They use all of em, all at the same time, and some chemicals, they don't even tell us about. So, when they go to do that drilling, let me show you what happens. It's dirty! Oh gross, what is that? Hey, let me ask you something? What d'you think? What d'you mean? Well I mean, the well, what I mean. So when they finally start drilling, there's no way to tell where all those chemicals are gonna go. So they start mixing with the dirt and the sand and the water, You think it's gonna be a gusher? Is that what you call it, a gusher? Well, we're gonna have to do some test, andand you know, there's a whole process No, come on, we're gonna go through. now! I'm not tellin' bout tests. Between me and you? We're gonna be partners? Come on, you could tell me, I ain't gonna tell nobody. What's your gut feeling? Uh Uhm you really seem like a lucky guy. Yeah. Whoo! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! Alright! Yeah. We preciate you guys comin' by, right? Thank you. You want me to show you how bad it is to have all that dirty water come back up to the land in a pretty farm like mine? Let's take a look. Hey, let me show you. Oh no, that'sI don't think Don't worry, I got it. Uhm Trust me. Alright, ready? Wow! Wait wait wait. Why do you think it's cool? Come on guys, we had all these beautiful animals like cows, and horses, and chickens, we even have turtles. What's this guy's name? Trigger! This is Trigger? Hey Trigger. Now, do you think Trigger can survive in my farm? No. You don't think so? No. Right, let's try it. NO!! God, Dad! We struck it big, right here! Huh? This little two acre lot! Alright, there you go, take one. Stick em anywhere you can, get in trouble. No. Don't get in trouble. Alright, so I willI will see you around. Great. Alright. Bye. See ya. Damn, that's your birthday everyday, Oh, stop it. isn't it? What's he got? 1.8 acres. How much? Smart. Let's just go. Oh come on, the guy's gonna get a free 5000 bucks. Shit. Don't say anything! Hello. Two dollars. Yeah. Lynn. .. So I wake up, 6 a.m. on the ground, I was on the ground, I didn't know I fell. Just like this. All the way down, bang! I kidd you not! I kidd you not! Wooh! Ma'am, thank you, I'm gonna bounce at it. Steve! There he is! Good morning. Wow wow, you alright, Adam? Me animals lost him. It's not that funny, my God! But you make me feel good, I'm not gonna lie. Yeah great, so I'm the bad guy. I mean, never mind the fact that we use it. Here, I got it. You know we spend a billion dollars a day to freight for that stuff, overseas? When we got this huge resource right here in our backyard, I mean that's insane. Now I got to deal with some hippie running around. I mean I don't even know what that guy's saying. Mr. Butler, you ain't gonna hold it. Listen You seem like a nice enough man, so I'm gonna be straight with you, so as to not waste your time. That little boy right there? He lost his father, my brother, you ain't gonna lecture me on the whole foreign oil dependency routine. But let me ask you a question, Steve. If I do this what I'm gonna tell that boy? What am I telling him about this farm that my daddy gave me and his daddy gave him? What am I telling him about what his daddy went to the desert to fight for? See, Steve, you and I both know that the only reason you're here, is cause we're poor. How many wells you got up near Manhattan? Or Pittsburgh? How bout Philadelphia? Huh? It's okay. I get it. Gd. ht' wht u yu'r hr fr, rght? You bout ready, Blake? Listen, Steve you ain't never get what you came here to take from me. To be honest with you, I don't even like the fact that you're here trying. Two minutes, Blake! You can see yourself out. Turn around. Well We definitely have the space. Food and games to the left, put the animals and bathrooms to the right. I bet we could even do a tractor pull back there behind the ferris wheel right next to the you know, the whirly thing. That's it, I mean what am I what am I missing? I don't know. Oh come on, Sue! I have never even been to a town fair. I'm not P.R., this is for the back up team. We are the back up team! Trust me, you wanna win? This is how you do it. Look, if we can't sign everyone to a lease, at least we let them know what it feels like to have some money. Now what am I missing? Bouncy castles. Congratulations. You just got a job in P.R. Well hello there. Are you the owner of this place? Oh good. We're starting in a field left out. Come on in. Quite a house. Yeah. For such a single lady. I didn't say that. Yeah, you didn't have to. I was expecting that it would have way more cats. No, that wasn't really a big deal for me to move back here. I was living in the city when my Dad died, they asked me if I wanted to sell, and You know, it had been in my family for generations, and I didn't wanna be the one that'd give it up. It's beautiful. Yeah. You know, according to our records, you do have 82 acres up. I can give you a couple of tips to boost your crop there. Right, that's not for me, that's for my students. Oh really? Yeah, I bring em out here, and I lock em to the process. You're teaching farming kids how to farm? I'm not teaching em how to farm. Oh, I'm sorry. No, you're teaching farming kids how to garden. No, I'm teaching them how to take care of something. Alright. Gimme me the pitch. You came all the way out here. No, it's getting late. Are you serious? No, it's a whole thing, I mean, you know, I have a PowerPoint presentation, there's an interpretative dance section, takes atakes a while. Gimme a little bit of it. Just the dance. II can come back. Hi. Someone told me well, I heard youyou from Iowa, and your daddy, your daddy he was a farmer. Grandfather. What'd you say? Doesn't matter. So you got somethin' to say? Right then say it! Really? Yeah! You guys just fucking baffle me. How you just don't get it. Yeah? Why don't you tell me? 'Cause I'm really curious about what it is that I don't get. Money. Money. And I'm not talking about little pay increases. I'm talking about Fuck you money. You don't wanna apply for college loans for your kid? This money says Fuck you, loans. You worried about car payments? Fuck you, payments. The bank's gonna come and forclose on your family farm? Fuck you, bank. Fuck you money is the ultimate liberator. And underneath your town is fuck you money. So think long and hard about all those brutal days workin'. Andandand the goddamn checks you get from whatever frozen peas company's buying. Think about how much you made on your best day, and then you think real hard about how much you made on your worst. Cuz let's be real honest with each other, they're all looking like that more and more nowadays, right? These people? This town? This life? It is dying or damn near dead. And you all see it coming, and you just don't get the fuck out of the way. Why? Why? Pride? Of what? What have you got? Shit, how much of it is even yours? I bet all four of you are getting subsidy checks from the government. Right? Now, when they stop comin', When all that help stops comin', and you've got nowhere to go, you're gonna remember this conversation, and remember the guy who came in and looked you in the eye, and said Fuck you. You're an asshole. Absolute Madness. Alice? No, but I'm in room 23 if you're desperate. Jesus, Sue I just called to make sure you're behaving yourself, we got a big day tomorrow. Yeah. I got it. You gotta get some sleep, Steven. I got it! I because we have a big day tomorrow. Alice! Thank you. Hello there. Are you the owner of this place? No! No? Well, how come you're doing all the work? Set in stone, now. That's it. No turning back. No. Hey, hold on. I got something for you. Don't jerk us all. With this, no Ma'am. Hey look, this right here, huh? Special occasions. It's only time it comes out. Yeah. Oh yeah. This right here, is good stuff. Thank you. Hey. Dustbin partners. I've been passing out these flyers for two and a half hours, I'm gonna die. I don't know how that Athena guy does it. Got a donkey? Hey, where're you going? Hell, dig out the courses. What courses? The pig races. I don't like that you just said that without a smile on your face. Are you okay? I just wanna finish and get the hell out of here. This is gonna close them. Don't drink that! Hey! Hey! You guys I bet you could use some help. Yeah. Yeah, great, uh Ifif ya all could help with the food tents, that'd be great. Got it. Thanks. You want a beer? Lots of beer. Hey, Steve. Hey Jesse, how ya doing? Can I get a couple of pitchers? Sure Nice work, Steve. That town fair idea, that was that was smart. Well thank you, Dustin. Sure that was pretty hard for you to say. You like your job, Steve? You love what you do? Yeah. On days like this, yeah, I do. Thanks Jesse. Hey, get my friend a beer as well, one of those fancy imported ones. Sure. Yeah, maybe like a granola bar, if you have it. I see you there. You have what it takes, Steve? Hmm? Thank you. You think you have what it takes? Oh, to beat you? Yeah. Absolutely. Well. You just might Hey man, I'll drink to that. Okay. Hey, there she is! You ready to go? Yeah. Alright. Hey Steve, thanks again for the beer, that was really sweet. I'm gonna take it to go. Hope you guys have a great night, thanks Jesse! I'm really looking forward to the fair tomorrow. Should be fun. Yeah. Yeah! Steeeve! Well old man! Hey, what d'you think bout my new ride? I figured I'd treat myself. That's your car? Yeah, it's my car. I went all the way to Barton to get it. Com'on, I'm buying. I got it. We lost. Let's just go, huh? Stop. It'll ruin out the cranking! Stop it, Steven! Goddammit! Oh, isn't that good. Nice day! That was so good. I'm stuffed. It's great. Thank you. You're more than welcome. I'd love the recipe for this. This cake. Would youwould you let me take that home, it would be great, Arlene. You cook, Sue? Hmm. My son. My son's a cooker. He used to pull the chair up to the counter when he was little and help me strip things up, now he is the chef and I'm the sous-chef. Uhm Where I put it, where I put it? Here's the picture. Like II get him down andand sometimes he talks to me about stuff. Look at that. Hey, hell. Oh, hey. Wow! You know, Frank's Dad died when Frank was only 8. And his mom always talked about the clarity of purpose. He would understand exactly what he'd have to do every day. What about you, Steve, where did you say you were from? Iowa? Eldridge. Oh yeah? You still have family up there? No. Wait a minute, did you say Eldridge? They had a plant up there? A Caterpillar plant. Yeah, that's right. I had a friend there from Boeing who lived up there. I remember that. Wasn't pretty. Yeah when they closed that, that, you know was it, really. The town was just hollowed out. What, and no pretty lady to hand out free money to save you? Yeah, what would you have done then, Steven? I'd move so fuckin' fast. I'd just take the money, and leave Just leave. And where would we all go? Excuse me. Miniature horses. Oh my God, we thought we were losing our minds. A lot of us breed them up here. Some people consider them an abomination. Big industry here. What do they get for em? Not enough, Steve. You're a good man, Steve. You have so many of the qualities we need more of these days. I just wish I just wish you weren't doing this. You came here and offered us money Figured that you were helping us. All we had to do to get it was be willing to scorch the earth, under our feet. We have nothing left to sell. And we can't afford to buy anything. Don't get me wrong. I'm not better than my neighbors. Hell, I need the money too. I guess I'm lucky Lucky to be old enough to have a shot at dying, with my dignity. I'm worried for us, Steve. Let me know when you're ready to head back. Excuse me, sir. Steve? There's a package here for you. Holy shit. Sue. We got him, we win. We win, we win! The guy whole sob story is fucking bullshit. Well, research did a whole check. Look. This guy is fucking lying. Okay. What did they say? What is that picture of? A picture of his family's farm. Okay. Where is the farm located? What? Where is the farm? Uh, Nebraska. Great. what's that? A silo. Look again. Holy shit! It's a fucking lighthouse! Holy shit! Yeah! Now geography was never really my strong suit, but I'm pretty sure there are no oceans in Nebraska. He made the whole thing up. He made the whole thing up. And when the town finds out, that he lied to them, that he was manipulating them in order to get their vote, well they're gonna have fucking field day with this guy! We win. Gerry Richards. Yeah Steve. What? Jesus! I've already been to see Richards. Everyone in town's gonna know by morning. I justI wanted you to hear it from me. You deserve someone who tells you the truth. What are you doing here, Steve? I'm not a bad guy. Good night. Alice if I had asked you out I would have said yes. Good night. Thank you. You know, what you did is gonna hurt a lot of people. Hey, what were you thinking, man? How does somebody even do that? Youyou came in here, and based your entire case against us on a lie? Alright, Steve. I already talked to Richards, so just let me go. I mean, did you think we wouldn't find out? What? You just guaranteed we win. You know you're gonna lose? Huh? Yeah, it might not be Athena that does it, but one of these days, you're gonna lose. I just hope I'm there to see it. I guarantee it's not gonna be Athena that does it. I mean, do you even know how bad this is for you? Athena's done. Done. It's over for you. What else was I supposed to do? I mean, it isn't a fair fight, Steve. I'm out there doing what? Handing out flyers and posters? No, this vote meant everything! And I had to do it. No. You didn't. You didn't. You fucked up. You tell me, Steve. What would I do? In a world where nobody cares. Where a company like yours can just go into Lafayette, Louisiana, do something like that? Or McKinley. Or the next place, 'cause let's be honest, it's just gonna happen again, and again, and again. So you tell me, What am I supposed to do? I never told you this farm was in Lafayette, Louisiana. What? What are you talking about? I never told you this happened in Lafayette, Louisiana, how could you know that? Steve, those people needed my help. Okay? They called me! No, no. No, you said yourself we're too clever for that. These deals we have with these people and the fine print, they don't call anybody. Certainly not an environmentalist. Okay, Steve. Dustin How did you know where this farm was? Dustin! How could I know, Steven? I should've just gotten in my car. What? We were never gonna let them vote, Steve. You're with Global. Jesus Christ. You're with Global. Did you really think they were gonna leave something like this in your hands? After you let them bring it to a vote? Steve, companies like Global, they don't rely on anyone. That's how they win. They win by controlling every outcome. And they do that by playing both sides. But no, II was What? What did you do? What is it you think you did? I did everything. Athena is me. This story is me. Getting you that package to give to the politician that's me. You only did what I've let you do. But you did a good job. Now it's over, we won. And this farm Stay with me. Alright? This farm. That doesn't matter. They've already dealt with this. This is done. They said this was a false claim. Did they? You're gonna want to stop asking questions now, Steve. You're at the big kids table. But listen. It has been fun. I think you're really a good choice for this. You do a good job. Good luck in New York. Funny. Smart. before this game gets started to get the vote in. Go pioneers, yeah! Right, let me state how all this thing is gonna work. Uhm If your last name starts with the letter A', Lemonade? Is it good? Really good. Have a really good spot here. I know. Wow. I know. Uh, Mister? You forgot your change. I'm just glad you keep it. The sign says it's only twenty five cents. So it's only twenty five cents. Make sure you give it right back here and support our pioneer! Uh oh, and one more thing. Before we get to the vote, Steve Butler just wanted to say a few words. I'll be very brief. I know there's been a lot of talk about this this picture. So I brought it to show everybody, uhm that's thethe lighthouse on the ocean. I was looking at this picture looking at it just for a while last night for a long while and found myself staring at thisthis barn. Thethe wood's chipping away and thethe paint's flaking off there. Probably from all the salt water in the air. But it But it reminded me of my grandfather's barn. That barn was the the bane of my existence It was immaculate, we used to We painted it every other summer, hum justjust him and me. II asked him why? Why do we have to do this? And uh, he'd just look at me and say, This is our barn, who else is gonna do it? I used to think the guy was crazy And stubborn, and proud. But see, I think he was just trying to teach me what it meant to take care of something. Okay. Well You all know that Dustin lied Trying to get you to vote the way he wanted you to vote. And that's exactly what he did, because you are about to vote exactly as he wants you to vote. Because Dustin isn't an environmentalist. Dustin works for Global. They couldn't afford an environmental presence here. So so they created their own. They're trying to make this decision for you and they were betting that that you'd let them. This is a real farm. And they told these people exactly what what I've told a lot of you, in fact I've I've looked a lot of you right in the eye and told you that there's a bunch of money under your feet, and we can get it out risk free. Guaranteed. Clearly, that's not true. I'm sorry. Look, is this gonna happen here? II honestly don't believe that that it will. But they know the only reason we're all in this room is to ask the question: what if it did? And II don't know what to tell you. I don't know what to say anymore. But wherewhere we are now where we're headed We might be betting more than we think. Everything that we have is on the table now And that's just not ours to lose. But this is still our barn. Go Pioneers. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I understand. Was that them? Yes. You're definitely fired. And? They want me in the city tomorrow. Well that's that's great. You want a lift somewhere? What, are you kidding me? It's open mic night! It's just a job Oh, for God Sakes, just get some new boots. Not a chance. Hey. Hey. That's it? Yeah, that's it. Sorry I can't make the vote. Oh, I think we'll be ok. That's that. That's that. Are you the owner of this place? |
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