Get out of here! Leave it!
Leave it! Go! Leave!
What does it say?
It says they pay themselves a million and a half dollars...
each, out of the trust.
Out of the income of the trust. Jesus Christ!
Which is why they got rid of Mina Dunne and the rest of the board.
- It's probably not even illegal. - It's probably just disgusting.
I did this.
- I did this. - No, you didn't.
- I did this. - No, you did not.
What do I do?
You give me the file, and I'll take it back.
- Take it back? - What?
You didn't know who these people were?
You married into it.
Since breakfast, I've left the scene of an accident...
I just bankrupted a guy I don't even know...
lied to my bosses...
pulled a false alarm at work...
discovered I'm a party to defrauding a charity.
And now I'm sitting here...
seriously contemplating forging a power of appointment.
Hey, mister! Mister, hold out your hand.
- What? - Hold out your hand.
How many hands you got?
Two.
Thanks.
- Oh, God. - It's the file.
Shit!
- Wait. No, look, it's-- - It's not the power of appointment.
- It's a notice to appear in court. - Where's the kid?
Look at this.
It's a phone number.
- Who's that you're with? - Is that your business?
- Is she your secretary? - No, she's a lawyer.
- Not your wife? - No.
Guy leaves the scene of an accident.
- Guy cheats on his wife. - Can I have my file back, please?
It'll take me half an hour to get to my bank.
If my credit's not on by the time I get there, I destroy the file.
- That's the deal. - Okay.
Understood. Okay.
- That was pretty fast, huh? - It was great.
Listen, I need you to turn it back on as fast as you turned it off.
Amazing, wasn't it? Two hours!
- Two hours! - Yes, it was great.
It was terrific. I need you to turn it back on right now.
Thirty minutes, okay? Can you do that?
That's a little harder.
Please, man. Don't tell me that.
Please, do something. Do something for me here.
You gotta do something, man.
I'll do my best.
- Hey, babe, how's it going? - I need to see you.
Well, it's not a-- a great time right now.
- I need to see you right now. - Is something wrong?
I just need to see you. Meet me at Refugio's in ten minutes.
- I'll be right there. - Don't be late.
- Okay, fine. - Okay, honey, thanks.
All right.
I gotta-- I gotta go.
Okay? I'll see you in a bit.
You're gonna tell me my credit's off and I can't get the loan approved.
- Right. - Check it.
Well, right here.
Well, that was strange. You're right. Your credit’s back on.
So?
Oh, this is so weird.
There you go. That's what I thought. I knew I saw that.
I knew it.
- I can't help you. - What do you mean?
- You just saw. - There's still a problem.
No, no, no. It's all taken care of.
It's all been solved. Look in the computer.
It says you’re bankrupt.
This is a mistake.
If it is a mistake...
then clearing it up shouldn't take more than three months.
Ron, I’ve been having a bit of a tussle today with someone.
It doesn't matter who. But what does matter...
is that he got into my records.
I don't know how, and that doesn't matter either.
- It's true, but-- - You've seen what he did.
He's got some kind of a computer voodoo.
I don't know, but he's got it, doesn't he?
Someone sure caused you some trouble.
I need this loan, Ron.
I need it for my life.
Now, nothing has changed between yesterday and today.
I'm still the same guy. I wasn’t bankrupt yesterday...
and I'm not bankrupt today!
I'm sorry, Mr. Gipson.
The computer says you are.
Now it doesn't!
Are you okay?
What's wrong?
Did you know that my father had a mistress for 20 years?
Don't lie.
I didn't know it was 20 years.
My mother knew about it.
Why didn't she leave him?
Because she loved him so much.
She decided it’d be hypocritical to leave a man for cheating at home...
when the expensive life she enjoyed so much...
was paid for by a man whose job was based on finding ways to cheat.
Is that your opinion of the law?
What do you think the law is, Gav...
at this level of the game, at my father's level of the game...
at your level of the game?
It is a big, vicious rumble, Gavin.
The people who founded this law firm...
and the people who sustain it...
understand the way the world works.
If you wanna continue to live the way we've been living--
You have to steal.
I could've married an honest man.
I could've lived with a professor of...
Middle English, for example...
if he was a moral man and had tenure at Princeton.
But I didn't.
I married a Wall Street lawyer.
Which means I married someone who lives in a world...
where when a man comes to the edge of things, he has to commit...
to staying there and living there.
Can you live there, Gavin?
Can you live there with me?
You're not gonna do anything stupid like leaving me.
You've had fantasies, I'm sure. So have I.
But we're married.
I knew about Michelle.
I knew when it was happening, and I knew when it was finished.
And I know you love me.
You do love me, and I love you too.
I'm your wife, and I wanna stand beside you.
Just let me help you, Gavin.
Let me help you with this.
What do you want me to do?
Take the signature page from the living will and attach it...
to the newly formatted copy of the power of appointment.
Bring it to the courthouse, and then meet me for dinner tonight.
We're going out with Karen and Carl.
I forgot about Karen and Carl.
And I remembered.
We're a team, Gav.
We're partners.
- Deal's a deal. - The credit's back on?
- I used my MasterCard just now. - Sir, we don't allow cell phones.
That was fast. Okay, one second.
They turned my credit back on. Now I owe you something.
Thank God you did not throw that away this morning.
- So how you wanna do this? - One second.
- You wanna come to my office? - No.
- Why not? - You got your car?
- It's at the office, yeah. - How about the courthouse?
You do have to turn this thing in, don't you?
- Right. - See, I'm thinking about you.
Okay, listen, Doyle--
Look, please. You aren't gonna get all soft on me, are you?
I just want you to know that I'm sorry, and I just--
I'm just glad this thing is over.
Don't get too close.
Hey, my hero.
My champion. It's all over.
He called me. He's giving me back the file.
Really?
- What do you mean? - Because there's--
- There's one thing I couldn't do. - What couldn't you do?
This damn bankruptcy has a life of its own.
What couldn't you do?
I couldn't undo the bankruptcy.
Sorry.
Shit.
Are you drunk?
Are you sure?
Yes, I'm sure.
It's nice.
Show me the house.
On which was hung the Savior of the world
Come
Let us worship
This is the wood of the cross
On which was hung the Savior of the world
Come
Let us worship
Do you know why I took the job in Oregon?
To...
get as far away from me as possible.
I looked at a lot of cities, and...
Portland...
has thousands of nice, dull, bearded guys.
And I thought, you know, guys like this just--
Guys.
I could find one.
A better version of you, Doyle.
A version of you, but a better version of you.
What I always...
wanted you to be, and what you were for a little...
when I met you.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.
I don't-- It's all right. I don't want confession.
I just-- All the seats were full out there...
so I came in here Just to listen to the song.
There's some seats up front. I'll show you.
I don't want that. Thank you.
Are you a Catholic?
It’s beautiful.
No, it's not.
But it could’ve been.
I don't know what's gonna happen, but...
I don’t blame you for wanting to leave.
Oregon.
The boys...
it’ll be good for them.
I know how hard it must be for you to say that.
I'm sorry I was late today.
We should've waited.
I came here for some meaning. I'm trying--
I want you to give the world meaning to me.
Why does the world need meaning?
Why does the--
Because the world's a sewer.
Because the world's a shithole and a garbage dump.
Because my father-in-law got me to screw a good man...
a decent man, out of his money.
And my wife cheers me on.
Because I got into a fender bender with this guy on the FDR.
I had a flight with him. I tried to do everything to settle it.
- But this guy just won't let it go. - Why?
- Why wouldn't he let it go? - I don't know why!
I don't know why.
Sometimes, God likes to put two guys in a paper bag and just let 'em rip.
Thank you.
Thank you for letting us go.
Are you saying he's a threat to his children?
He's told friends that if his ex-wife got custody...
he would kidnap his sons and take them out of this country.
- And she got custody? - We were in court this morning.
I don't know for a fact that he's coming here, but--
- Doyle Gipson? Really? - Really. What does that mean?
He comes to every play they're in, all the teacher conferences.
So a guy comes to a school play, you trust him?
Doyle Gipson is a man of no honor at all!
A low man.
But that's okay, because no body else has any honor either.
That's what makes life so hard for people--
is that we're taught this fairy tale.
The good and well, and the bad and poorly.
- Do you believe that? - I'd like to.
He's coming here. Be ready for him.
Is he in?
Hello. Is he there?
Well, I just need to leave a message for him.
I'm calling from his children's school.
Yeah. I'm afraid there’s been an accident.
- How are my sons? - Who are your sons?
Danny and Steven Gipson. I received a call that said they were hurt.
- Danny and Steven Gipson? - I haven't heard anything.
I wanna see my sons!
- Mr. Gipson-- - Miss Miller, how are the boys?
I think you should leave before we call the police.
Mr. Gipson, don't make me call the police.
- So, they're fine? - Yes, your boys are fine.
- And all of this is just a mistake? - Yes.
I'm sorry.
Call the police.
Daniel Gipson! Stevie Gipson! Can you hear me?
- Can you hear me? - Call their mother.
- Gipson boys, where are you? - Daddy!
- Come back here. - Daddy!
Get off me! Get off-- Danny! Stevie!
- Daddy! No! - Calm down!
They said you were hurt! You haven’t been hurt or sick today?
We're gonna pick you up nice and slowly.
- All right? Got it? - Okay.
- Don't hurt my dad! Please! - Okay, let's go. Up.
Nice and easy.
Come on.
See that? I tried to make peace with you.
You know what I can do to you for trying to kill me?
You know who I am? You know who I am?
You see what I can do to you? You try to kill me?
Motherfucker. What's up now?
Shit.
Empty your pockets, sir.
Keys.
Change.
Wallet. Pager.
File.
Hey, how you doing? I'm looking for a Ron Cabot.
- Count your money, sir. - What?
Count your money.
Mr. Cabot, I am Doyle Gipson's attorney.
I don't wanna talk about him. Since we're closing, I don't have to.
I understand that. Mr. Cabot, I just need you to help me--
Seventy-seven dollars.
I'm asking you to try to help me help Doyle here.
He needs it.
He has had about the worst day of his life.
He had this credit problem that was not his fault. It was caused by--
Someone who hacked away into his records. I know.
How can we get this whole thing straightened out? What can I do?
Nothing.
Okay. Mr. Cabot.
Ron, let's try this another way, okay?
Let's say there's a different man. You don't know this guy.
And he has some credit problems that are his fault.
And then another man-- you don't know him--
he wants to help the first guy, okay?
Now, what does he have to do to help the second guy take out a loan?
Come on. What do I do? Just cosign? What's the thing? What's the deal?
Can you please tell me what I gotta do.
I'm asking you what I have to do to make this thing work.
You know this has nothing to do with you. It's this guy.
- He’s been at me all day. - Some body you're fighting with?
You had a fight with some body who hit your car...
and then you spent the day in some kind of battle with him.
Then he went to the school to hurt you as hard as he could.
You believe me? Thank God. Thank God.
This guy, this lawyer, Gavin Banek--
Doyle, stop! Stop, Doyle! I don't care.
Whatever this little drama you've gotten yourself into...
it's just the kind of thing that always happens to you.
And it never happens to me unless I am in your field of gravity.
You went crazy like you always do, like you always will go crazy.
Drunk or sober, it doesn't matter, 'cause that's you.
A person can be loving...
and a person can be crazy all at once.
That's life. But this is not Just my life now or yours.
It is the life of two children...
and I have to protect those two children.
Is that a misunderstanding? Is it?
Is it, Doyle? I mean, is that this guy's fault?
At least let me say good- bye to them.
I'm takin' those boys away, and you will never see them again.
You will never find us. Do not try to come after us. Do you hear me?
It is over!
- Where's Ellen? - She went home.
Why are you still here?
You told me to wait.
Well, come on in.
Have a seat.
- So why do you wanna be a lawyer? - I believe in the law.
I believe in order and justice.
I believe that people are, by nature, good.
I believe that historical forces push us into conflict...
and without the law as a buffer between people...
we would have a world of vendetta...
a world of violence, a world of chaos.
The law-- The law keeps us civilized.
- I'm sorry. - I don't think it's--
- I'm sorry. - I don't think it's funny.
That's why I am gonna give you this job.
Because I wanna hear what you have to say about the law...
after you've worked here for five years...
or three years, or a month...
a week, a day, an hour.
I'm hired?
Don't I have to see...
a committee or something?
- You made bail. - Who?
A friend.
"To the Honorable Judge Frances Abarbanel.
I have been unable to recover the power of appointment...
signed by Simon Dunne.
But even if I had been able to produce the power of appointment...
I want the court to know that the document was a fraud.
I induced Mr. Dunne to sign a document...
when his mental status was diminished and he was incapable...
of making an informed decision.""
They set you up! They made hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- And they're gonna make more. - And I made partner...
and a bonus that could've paid for 200 pianos.
You don't say anything about them.
You're taking everything on your shoulder in this letter.
Why? You could send 'em to jail.
They gotta write their own letters.
Let me go.
Should've left me inside.
You're too important to me. Come on. Let's go to a meeting.
No, no, no. I went to one yesterday.
- Well, that was yesterday. - Yeah, one day at a time, right?
Yeah, one day at a time, and do the next right thing.
Let's go. There's a meeting at 6:00.
""God, grant me the strength...
to accept the things I cannot change.""
It's an admirable gesture, but it's unnecessary.
It's unnecessary because you've already filed...
the power of appointment with the court.
A bonded courier delivered it to the judge just before 5:00...
and her bailiff signed for it.
Your note of apology was contrite, but it was absolutely professional.
Everything's taken care of.
- You filed a forgery. - Bullshit.
I filed what I had to file. What happened to--
You just disappeared. Time was up.
Come on. You scared the hell out of us.
I didn't know what to do.
So you finally hit rock bottom?
Today you almost killed a guy. Tomorrow you might go all the way.
Keep doing the next wrong thing, you could start a religion.
Convince the sober to drink. Don't tell them...
to keep each other alive with hope.
You saw today that everything decent is held together by a covenant.
An agreement not to go bat shit!
- You broke the contract! - I didn't have a drink!
Well, wow! Thank you for sharing!
You didn't have a drink today! What an inspiration!
That's the point, isn't it?
God!
You know, booze isn't really your drug of choice anyway.
You're addicted to chaos.
For some of us, it's coke. For some of us, it’s bourbon.
But you, you got hooked on disaster.
Fuck!
Here's what you shouId do.
You get up Monday morning...
and you get yourself on a plane to Texas.
Take that letter with you.
When you get to Texas...
you get on the defense team of somebody on death row.
And then put all your energy into saving a man from execution.
And then come on back here in a few months.
You still wanna confess, go ahead.
Come on.
How the hell do you think Simon Dunne got his money?
You think those factories in Malaysia...
have day-care centers in them?
Wanna check the pollution levels of his chemical plants in Mexico...
or look at the tax benefits he got from this foundation?
This is all a tightrope.
You gotta learn to balance.
How can you live like that?
I can live with myself because at the end of the day...
I think I do more good than harm.
What other standard have I got to judge by?
I have to thank you.
For the house?
I understand what you were trying to do, but...
my wife's moving, she's taking the boys.
The house is a little bit too much for me right now.
I'm sorry.
I was a horribly unstable father.
And Valerie says I'll never see them again.
But you know what?
I will.
I'll see 'em in a year or two...
may be three.
I'll go to Portland, I'll call her...
and I'll find a way to be their father again.
How about you?
Well...
I have the file...
but I don't need it anymore.
It’s been taken care of.
You know. It never happened.
But it did happen. Right?
Right.
So, now what?
I'm going to dinner with my wife...
her parents.
And this weekend, I'm gonna go look at a boat.
And then on Monday, I'm gonna come back in here and go to work.
And then...
magically this whole...
incredible day just somehow...
becomes a memory.
It's like you go to the beach. You go down to the water.
It's a little cold. You're not sure if you wanna go in.
There's a pretty girl standing next to you.
She doesn't wanna go in either. She sees you.
And you know...
if you just asked her her name...
you would leave with her.
Forget your life, whoever you came with...
and leave the beach with her.
And after that day...
you remember her.
Not every day, every week.
She comes back to you.
It's the memory...
of another life...
you could've had.
Today is that girl.
I'm sorry about what I did.
Me too.
You brought the file back.
When you're done, there's a lovely little place on the hill where--
where you can get a--
- Cappuccino. - Yes, that's right, dear.
They're lovely cappuccinos, and it's clean and it's cool.
They have these prints on the wall. They're really quite lovely.
I don't know who they’re by. They’re by that artist--
- Chagall. - Right. They're Chagalls.
There's three of them. They're early Chagalls.
I think he painted them when he was visiting there.
Am I missing something this evening?
- What is this? - This, my dear--
This is Simon Dunne's...
power of appointment.
- I got it back. - No, you didn't.
- Yes, I did. This is it. - Please.
This is behind us, isn't it? Haven't we put this behind us?
I was thinking about what you said to me.
About the end of the day-- about doing more good than harm.
That is what you said, isn't it?
- Don't you fuck with me. - I am not fucking with you, sir.
Can you imagine how unpleasant it would be...
if the judge got a hold of this file?
That's not gonna happen. That's not gonna happen, Gavin.
I think I might order the snapper.
I'm gonna hold onto this file. I'm gonna keep it in a very safe place.
But I'm not going to Texas.
I'm gonna come back into work on Monday.
I'm gonna start doing that pro bono work that you recommended that I do.
But I'm gonna do it from our office.
The first thing we're gonna do is help a man buy a house.
- Gavin, can we please not do this? - And I think...
I would like to be the one to call Mina Dunne.
I'm gonna tell her that you and Walter...
are gonna give back the three million dollars you stole...
from her grandfather's foundation.
You were right. I can do this.
I found the edge.
Can you live there with me?
Can you?
I haven't had a fucking thing to eat all day, and I'm starving.
So what are we gonna eat?
- Mrs. Gipson? - Yes?
My name is Gavin Banek.
What do you want?
Five minutes, ma'am.
I owe your husband twenty.
Hell...
I'm only asking for five with you.
Subtitles by John}{Black