That it can't be done.
When they believe in you like that.
We didn't want to disappoint him.
No. We got busy.
JIM: Not that we thought that we could do it.
CINDY: At least Timothy would know that we tried.
JIM: Yeah. We stayed up all that first night.
CINDY: We stayed up several nights after that.
JIM: Cindy started making sketches.
CINDY: Jim started carving.
It turns out we weren't the only ones making something.
JIM: Yeah. We both came up with the idea to use leaves.
CINDY: Leaves.
See? Now just wind it. The other way. Yeah. You got it.
Just a little more.
JONI: Yeah, see? Just put it right through.
- Like this? - That's good.
CINDY: So we've got our leaf slurry pretty much ready.
JIM: Okay. Right on in.
- Perfect. - That should do it.
Let's see. Help it... Help it push it down.
Okay.
Oh, yeah!
Okay.
BOTH: Ta-da!
Oh, my gosh! This is the pencil. You really did it.
CINDY: - We did. - You made it.
So we're to believe that you made a pencil out of leaves?
- Mmm-hmm. - Well, it was a prototype.
You do realize if any part of your story doesn't check out,
we are done here.
And we will be checking it out. Thoroughly.
- And you should. - Well, good.
Anyway, that Monday was take your kid to work day.
He started with me.
It was kind of a celebratory day at work and...
(CLAPPING)
Timothy wanted to be in on it.
Something's missing.
Oh, nonsense. It's you. So...
Very you.
Gentlemen.
CINDY: And as soon as he met my boss,
he didn't know to be intimidated by her,
and the next thing you know...
Little man, what do you think of that?
Not much.
Well, that's honest.
Timothy's very honest, ma'am.
That was done by a renowned artist at great expense.
I would have done it for free.
Are you suggesting you could do it better?
I can try.
Well, let's find out.
May I just remind you, ma'am, as his parent,
that he is only ten years old, and...
Don't you have somewhere to be?
Of course I do, but...
- Shoo. - Okay.
(SLAMS)
(SIGHS DEEPLY)
(INHALING DEEPLY)
Oh!
Oh, sweetie.
Oh, it's beautiful. It's amazing.
It's amazing.
Oh, no, no, no. (WHISPERING) Erase that.
Why?
CINDY: It turns out, Timothy was Picasso with a pencil.
EVETTE: So he had all the qualities you imagined?
JIM: Oh, yes.
CINDY: Yeah, well, including honest to a fault.
(GASPS)
He couldn't help but draw her exactly as he saw her.
JIM: Yeah.
It included an unfortunate thatch of chin hair.
Mmm.
(BELL RINGING)
So, what else aren't you telling me?
(WHISPERING) Tell her.
Hmm?
I'm waiting.
Sometimes you wear plaids and stripes that clash.
Hmm.
Your one joke that you always tell, it's not funny.
No one can appreciate the art in here
because everything that is special and beautiful,
no one can see because the curtains are so thick
that the light can't get in.
Not to mention, if someone has a child
who just is born or appears,
say congratulations with a smile.
Say something nice.
I wanted to love you,
and I have tried so hard to like you.
But if someone asked me to be a pallbearer at your funeral,
I would tell them not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin.
And furthermore...
- Cindy lost her job. - I lost my job.
I didn't regret most of what I said.
But you lost your job.
Make sure all the pencils are good.
JIM: So things were going to get harder.
But at least I still had my job.
CINDY: Yes, he did.
They go in this box. They go on a little pencil vacation.
CINDY: And what did you say about
having Timothy with you that day?
JIM: - Oh, right. - That's a lot of trees.
I couldn't help but feel...
Mind if I have one?
...anything was possible.
MARTY: You want another one? You want a yellow one?
We got this... You see, we got a whole...
- Right back. - Good luck, Dad.
CINDY: So Jim gave it his best shot.
Sir? How you doing?
- Huh? - Do you have a minute?
No.
Oh, hell. Why not? Turns out we may all get the axe.
What?
Then I think we got nothing to lose.
What if we made a new kind of pencil?
(INAUDIBLE)
(WHISTLE BLOWING)
COACH CAL: Come on, Erasers! Come on! Come on!
Push up the field! Push up the field!
Don't pass it! How do you score if you pass it!
Kick it! Kick the ball!
- Mom! I'm so thirsty. - What are you doing?
No, no, no. Get back on D. Back on D!
Come on!
I saw your car. Didn't know the kid was a player.
What position? Striker?
Uh...
Well, he's taking a break right now.
Oh, well, I got time.
It might be a while.
You know, I'm impressed, Dad.
You never really came to my games.
No. I came. You were always on the bench.
Come on, Luke. Find your man. Find your man!
You got to want it!
Oh, here we go.
Come on, I want to see some fight!
To keep you hydrated, sir.
Thank you.
He's a water boy.
No. Dad,
actually, I'm working on all aspects of his game right now.
And you know what...
COACH CAL: Come on, Erasers. Keep your head in the game.
MAN: Let's go, Bobby! Let's go!
COACH CAL: Good pass. Good pass.
(INDISTINCT CHEERING)
- All right. COACH CAL: - Yeah. Yeah.
Good eye! Good eye!
COACH CAL: Talk to each other!
Erasers, talk to each other!
That's your house, Philip!
Don't let nothing in there! That's your house!
JIM: All this time, it felt like
there was something Timothy wasn't telling us.
CINDY: And he was spending far too much time with that girl.
EVETTE: Was it a problem for you?
CINDY: Well, they were up to something,
and we didn't know what.
(GIGGLES)
Can you teach me to do that thing?
You know, that you do with your arms
and you put your head up in the sun.
Well, first, find the light, all right?
Okay.
TIMOTHY: Just absorb it. Just soak it in. Think "tree."
(BOTH GIGGLE)
- Do you feel it? - Yeah, I feel it.
Nice.
Maybe you should show your birthmark,
because people might like it.
I don't know.
CINDY: We didn't know what he was doing with the girl.
It was fine if he wanted to have a secret
as long as he shared it with us.
JIM: So Cindy did what she thought was best.
Hey!
We need to talk.
Okay, let's talk.
Well, can you wait?
Fine.
I don't think that you're the best influence on my son,
and I want you to tell me what you know about him.
I know a lot.
I thought so.
So you know that he's got...
You know that he's different.
Yeah. It's what I like about him.
Well, it's a hard world to be different in.
And I don't want him to be hurt.
By you or anyone. I won't let it happen.
That's good.
What is this?
He's going to be misunderstood.
Lots of people hate anything different.
I wish it wasn't this way, but
I wish a lot of things. I wish...
CINDY: It took my breath away, this world they created.
I was wrong
about this, this girl.
You did this?
Yeah. Timothy and I did it together.
CINDY: I had made a mistake.
JIM: We made lots of mistakes.
Yeah, we made mistakes trying to fix our mistakes.
Isn't that how you know you're a parent?
(LAUGHING)
EVETTE: You seem to forget what the object is here.
You need to persuade us.
Tell me, what would you do differently?
We'd make better mistakes?
- Better? - Different. New.
New mistakes.
That's... That's what we'd do.
Yeah.
COACH CAL: Put your heart into it, Erasers!
Smarten up out there.
Bobby.
The most amazing thing happened.
I woke up this morning and I started to draw again.
Oh, God! It must be so nice to have time to waste.
It was like coming home.
My three are so busy with their second languages,
their public service work...
Oh, and their upcoming music recital.
Your presence is expected.
Let's go, Erasers! Come on!
Brenda's freaking me out.
What's wrong?
JIM: If you're on the bench now,
you'll be on the bench of life later on.
Jim, that is your father talking.
Coach. Coach!
Put Green in!
Come on.
CINDY: Good, Coach. Thank you.
What are you doing? No, no, no. Jim...
Put...
What's going on?
Oh, great. Now he's going to do that again.
What?
JIM: He's going to uncross his arms, crack his knuckles,
then he will turn and go.
Yep.
It's fine that he did that to me,
but now he's doing it to Timothy.
Hey, Jim...
Look. Look.
Here, Grandpa Jim.
BRENDA: You know what I feel really good about?
Bart and I are just grateful that our kids' school
has a gifted and talented program.
Did you know Timothy is gifted?
How so?
Well...
He always finds the bright side.
He never gives up and he has a good heart.
That will get you into college. (LAUGHS)
- He's a great artist. - Look where that got you.
Get open!
Brenda, I have to say, lam...
What? I'm listening.
He's musical.
- Really? - Yeah.
What instruments does he play?
(LAUGHING UNCOMFORTABLY)
"He's musical?" What possessed you to even say that?
She just kept bragging about how her kids could do this,
her kids could do that.
JIM: So Cindy's sister has this yearly family concert
that we never seem to miss.
CINDY: If I'd known what she was going to pull that day,
we never would have shown up.
(PLAYING DEMURE CLASSICAL MUSIC)
(MUSIC STOPS)
BRENDA: Thank you. Thank you.
Brilliant.
Thank you. This year we are going to dispense
with our traditional encore.
ALL: Oh!
Because we have a very special treat.
Sit back and enjoy the musical stylings of Timothy Green!
You know what? We're running late to something.
Go ahead and do the encore because...
No, Mom, it's okay. It's fine, Mom.
Um, Timothy?
- Hey, pal. - Hey.
It's okay.
(HITTING KEYS)
(CHIMING)
(WHISPERING) Just get him, baby. Just go.
Just get him. Get him.
Just go get him.
(WHISPERING) Hey, pal?
(CLEARS THROAT)
(STRIKING RHYTHMICALLY)
(VOCALIZING)
All my friends know the low rider
The low rider is a little higher
(IMITATING TRUMPET)
(SCATTING)
(AUNT MEL LAUGHING)
(FUNKY MUSIC PLAYING)
MAN: Yeah!
JIM: Yeah!
Can we go back and do it again?
- No. (LAUGHING)
I don't think we'll be invited back.
But it doesn't matter because you were great.
You rock, buddy.
It felt great to rock.
It felt great to have a kid who rocked.
- Good night. - Good night.
JIM: It was all you.
And us, but mostly you.
CINDY: Hey.
- We were proud of you. - Mmm-hmm.
Turn the lights off in five, okay?
Good night!
(SHUSHING)
We rocked!
(LAUGHING) We did.
We rocked!
You know what this means?
I think I do!
This Sunday at the championship game
our son is going to score the winning goal.
(SIGHS DEEPLY)
(CROWD CHEERING)
COACH CAL: Whoo! Let's go!
Ha! Yeah! Let's go!
All right, way to go, Coach!
No! No!
No, no, no. No, you don't! Not this time!
- You are staying for this one! - I can't stay.
- You're staying. - I got lots, I got a lot...
You will not be sorry!
I promise you.
- Okay. - All right. Come on! Come on!
Yes!
Hey, Jim, how's he going to score the winning goal
if he's never in the game?
Good point.
Hey, Coach. Coach, I just want to give you the heads-up.
Timothy Green is your difference-maker today.
That is your game-changer right there.
COACH CAL: You're kidding, right?
Do I look like I'm kidding?
If I put your son in the game,
he wouldn't live to see his next birthday.
If you don't mind, we got a game to win.
Erasers, this is our time. This is our time.
Warm him up, Coach!
Come on, Timothy! Let's see you run some drills.
How about he runs some drills, Coach?
You better stretch, baby!
What did he say?
- He's going to play. - Is he going to do it?
(CROWD CHEERING)
Get open! Get open! That's yours right there!
There you go, son. There you go, son.
All right, Erasers! Bring the championship home!
Spread out!
(CHEERING)
- Yes! - Oh!
- No! Jim! - No!
Is he okay?
I hope he's okay.
Oh, no!
Time! Time!
TIMOTHY: It's going to be okay.
FRANKLIN: Who's that? TRIXIE: I have no idea.
- Is that the Henderson kid? - Maybe.
He's not that good.
JIM: He's okay!
He's okay! It's okay.
TIMOTHY: I can get you some water.
- Way to go- - Okay.
- Watch this. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
This is what we've been waiting for.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- He's coming in. - We're going with ten.
- Okay, Coach. - What?
No, no. Ref, come here.
They've only got ten kids on the field.
What about zero? Why isn't zero playing?
- I thought he was a mascot. - No.
No, he's on the team.
There's got to be a rule.
Get the book. Hundred fifty-four rule or whatever.
Jim, is there a rule?
Coach, you need 11 players on the field.
He doesn't play.
Is he on your team?
Yeah, he's on the team, but...
Then he plays. Let's go, Coach.
Okay, Green, come on. Come on.
(SQUEALS EXCITEDLY)
Our son's going to score the winning goal.
I want you to plant your feet right here, son. Okay?
And whatever you do, don't move from this spot.
You're safe here, okay?
- Got it, Coach. - All right. There you go.
Coach, let's go.
All right, buddy. This is what it's about!
This is where you find out who you are.
No more bench of life.
Oh, hit me with a stick.
They're not putting that boy in!
Actually, they are. It's good. Trust me.
(LAUGHS) - Laugh if you want.
My kid is going to score the winning goal.
Two minutes left in the game.
Who's your daddy?
Has he been drinking?
No, no. He just knows what's coming.
Come on, Timothy!
Do that thing you're going to do!
This is it. Come on!
COACH CAL: Come on, Erasers, let's go!
You can do it! You can do it!
Let's go! Let me see some fight, Erasers!
Put some heart into it!
That's what I'm talking about, Green.
That's what I'm talking about. Keep that up.
Timothy. Timothy.
You got to move your feet. Come on.
No. Stay right there, son.
- Stay right there. - Don't listen to Coach Cal!
Don't listen to your father!
Timothy, Timothy. Look at me. Don't listen to Coach Cal.
Move your feet. Move around!
Green, Green. Stay right there. You're doing great!
Feel it out, Timothy!
JIM: Come on, move around!
Chase the ball! Come on!
Way to go. Way to go. Way to go, Tim.
God, he's doing that thing again.
No, no. Put your arms down. Arms down.
Get your head in the game, baby!
Get your head in the game.
JIM: Get in the game!
Like we worked it, come on!
(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)
COACH CAL: There you go, Erasers, there you go!
Yes! Yes!
There it is! There it is!
Get back in! Get back in!
- Oh, my boy! This is it! - This is your moment!
No, no, no! Don't do that!
Do something with it! Do something!
- Yes! Yes! - Come on!
Yes!
JIM: That's what we're talking about.
All right, Green! Come on! That's your house!
(LAUGHING)
Just like we practiced!
Look at his little legs!
I don't believe it.
Oh, believe it, sister.
For years I've been listening to how perfect your kids are!
Well, look at that! That kid is mine!
I am the mom of that!
Get that kid! Put him on the ground!
Take his knees out! Put him on the ground!
See? See?
See what happens when you're there for your kid!
Huh? See what happens when you believe in him! Huh?
I could have been like that, because I had skills, but no.
Come on, Timothy! Go! Go!
Go, Timothy! Go!
No!
(CHEERING)
That's the wrong goal!
REFEREE: Game Bone Crushers!
Oh!
But he...
Just like you practiced it, huh?
(CINDY AND JIM ARGUING)
When we're dreaming up the kid that we never thought we would get,
I should have said, "The winning goal for his team!"
- That's not what I'm saying! - What are you saying?
Shut up!
It was a failure of my imagination!
CINDY: Your mistake was simple!
Oh, my mistake? So, you think it was my fault?
You needed him to score for you to make you...
Tell me you didn't love
the idea of rubbing it in Brenda's face.
Oh, please!
You think you're better than your sister, and you're not.
You are worse than your father!
What?
(ARGUING INDISTINCTLY)
No.
No, no, no.
Stop it!
I am not the only bad parent in this house!
Look, it's not a competition
to see who can be the worst parent!
No, I am saying we're both terrible at this!
We are! We don't know anything!
You're right! We know nothing!
We were monsters out there today.
Stop! Stop fighting!
Oh, God.
I need to tell you something.
Buddy, we want to tell you something.
- No! - You deserve better.
We will be better parents. We will do better.
- I promise. TIMOTHY: - Please...
EVETTE: Stop.
Your time is up.
- No, it can't be. - No.
Actually, you ran over.
- By three minutes. - You have to let us finish.
You have to hear the whole thing. You have to.
Excuse me. With all due respect, we're not leaving.
Okay.
Tots, Timbo? There you go.
Get them next year.
- Want some? - No, thank you.
FRANKLIN: Boys, come on. We're going home.
We're going home! What did I say?
No, that's somebody's job. Let's go.
TIMOTHY: Mom and Dad?
This is Joni, the coolest girl you ever hope to meet.
Wow. Hi.
CINDY: Nice to see you again.
Hi.
Well, okay, bye.
There it is.
Love and be loved.
(TALKING INDISTINCTLY)
JIM: Where are they going? CINDY: I don't know.
Let them go. Let them go.
Yeah.
TIMOTHY: I know we've had a great time together.
JONI: Me, too.
I didn't tell my parents because
they could n't have done anything about it.
There's something you need to know about me.
What is it?
There's nothing I can do about it.
Everything's going to be okay.
(SNIFFLING)
(DOOR OPENING)
Good night.
Oh, good night.
JONI: Timothy!
(WHISPERING INAUDIBLY)
Oh, I am so confused.
Guys?
Oh, hey!
We were spying.
Yeah, we couldn't help ourselves.
- Oh, she's lovely. - Yeah.
We really like her.
Yeah.
I more than like her.
Well, of course.
I don't mean to pry, buddy,
but it looks like you just broke up with her.
No. I let her go.
Why would you do that?
Especially if you more than like her.
Yeah.
You don't get it.
CINDY: He was right.
We didn't get it.
But we were about to.
We just want to work!
Yeah, we want to work.
My grandfather worked for you.
My father did. My brothers.
24 years! He's given you 24 years!
JIM: The meeting was about
whether the factory was going to close.
- And the whole town showed up. - Everybody.
(STAMMERING) Good evening. I know you're all upset,
but if you could just give me a few minutes.
You've heard the rumors
that our factory here in Stanleyville
is going to close.
That's what we thought. As it turned out...
But... But something unexpected happened.
A little miracle. And here it is.
This is a new kind of pencil
made almost entirely out of leaves.
JIM: A new kind of pencil.
(BOTH STAMMERING)
BOTH: The pencil that Timothy had asked us to make.
It will not only save trees, but will save our factory.
(ALL CHEERING)
Don't thank me.
I did not have the vision
to come up with this revolutionary idea.
But allow me to introduce you to who did.
My son, Franklin Crudstaff.
I can't begin to describe the feeling of pride I have.
Quite frankly, Franklin,
I didn't think you had it in you.
TIMOTHY: He didn't.
He didn't have it in him.
The new pencil was thought up by my parents,
Jim and Cindy Green.
Oh, look here.
It's the boy who kicked the winning goal
for the other team.
(CROWD LAUGHING)
Hey, hey, stop, Franklin.
Well, he's obviously confused again.
He shoots. He scores. We lose.
Hey! Enough. Do not pick on my son.
The truth is,
the only reason that Cindy and I came up
with the idea for the leaf pencil
is because he believed that we could. He's the reason.
And if you call him a liar,
if you ever so much as even look at him funny,
you will have to deal with me.
JIM SR.: And me.
How touching.
Tell me, how did you come up with this idea
to make a pencil out of leaves.
Franklin?
Well, it seems kind of obvious, really.
Uh, leaves are everywhere. And, uh...
- ...pencil. - How about you?
Ever since Timothy came to us, leaves have been a big,
a big part of our lives.
Why?
Well?
Because I have leaves on my legs.
Leaves on your legs.
Yes. Our son, Timothy, has leaves on his legs.
(CROWD MURMURING)
And we didn't tell you guys because we were afraid.
And kind of ashamed.
I even tried to cut his leaves off.
Surely you don't expect us to believe that...
I've seen the leaves.
They're spectacular.
And it's okay to be different. A little weird, even.
Thank you.
It doesn't matter if you believe us or not.
I'd like to see the leaves.
(CROWD MURMURS IN AGREEMENT)
it is up to you. You don't have to.
It's okay. It's time.
TIMOTHY: Oops.
Now that's amazing.
I used to have more.
BERNICE: If this boy can have a leaf on his ankle,
then we can make a pencil out of leaves.
Let's all go to work!
(ALL CHEERING)
TIMOTHY: Wow! You guys were incredible.
Timothy, what happened to your leaves?
Oh, you know.
No. We don't know.
He wouldn't tell us.
No. He was quiet.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
CINDY: We were in the middle of something.
JIM: We didn't know what.
But Timothy knew. He stayed calm.
He knew, and he was okay with it.
It was beautiful.
It was really beautiful.
Timothy.
What aren't you telling us?
We should get inside.
- Get inside. - Come on.
I didn't tell you before
because there's nothing you could have done.
About my leaves...
What about them?
(THUNDER CRASHES)
CINDY: Please, please tell us.
When my leaves go...
You go, too, don't you?
When?
Now.
No, no.
No, sweetie. You can't.
TIMOTHY: It's nothing you did. It's how it's supposed to be.
There's only so much time.
Other kids grow up and move away.
I lose my leaves and move on.
CINDY: Oh, sweetie, you can't.
There is so much that we have left to do.
We're just starting to get good at this.
You're ready.
- You were always ready. - Oh, baby.
(SOBBING)
TIMOTHY: Never give up.
(THUNDER RUMBLES)
(RAIN PATTERING)
Timothy?
- Timothy? - Jim.
Oh!
- Jim. - Yeah?
(CINDY SOBBING SOFTLY)
Oh, Jim.
Here, here, here, here.
(SOBBING)
What was in the box?
This.
Thank you. I think that's all we'll need.
That's it?
That...
Thank you.
TIMOTHY: Dear Mom and Dad.
About my leaves, I gave them all away.
It's what you do with gifts.
I gave one to Aunt Brenda
so now she can rock.
(BLOWING)
I wanted Uncle Bub to have one.
And Miss Crudstaff.
Coach Cal got one. He said it was my best kick ever.
(REGGIE SINGING HYMN)
TIMOTHY: I gave one to Reggie, because he really liked them.
I left one for Grandpa Jim where I know he'll find it.
And Joni, she got two.
And for you guys, here's what I know.
If you came to me and said,
"There are two people in the world
who want you more than anything."
Jim!
"They'll do their best. They'll make some mistakes."
"And you'll only get them for a short time."
"But they will love you more than you can ever imagine. "
"Well, when that's true, I'd say,
so much is possible. "
Hi.
JIM: Hi.
I'm Cindy.
I'm Jim.
And you can call us...
Whatever you want.
GIRL: I'm Lily.
You want to come inside?
(HOPEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
This gift will last forever
This gift will never let you down
Some things are made from better stuff
This gift is waiting to be found
Your heart's in wide receiving
Been too long buried in the sand
Some things require leaving
This gift will fall right in your hand
Just try to understand
If you long enough
And you don't give up
If you're strong enough
And you don't give up
And you'll be no harbor
To the sorrow
Just let it go
Don't hang your head in sorrow
Don't give up just before you win
Don't wait around for tomorrow
Open up your arms and let it in
This gift will last forever
This gift will never let you down
Some things are made from better stuff
This gift is ready to be found
Just you believe it now
This gift will last forever
This gift will never let you down
Some things are made from better stuff
This gift is ready to be found
Your heart's in wide receiving
Been too long buried in the sand
Some things require leaving
These things just fall right in your hand
Just try to understand
If you long enough
And you don't give up
If you're strong enough
And you don't give up
If you long enough
And you don't give up
If you're strong enough
And you don't give up