A great enhancement of the imagination, leading to compulsive writing of words...
...drawing, and the creation of elaborate fantasies.
Oh, God.
TLE isn't inherently dangerous.
Many great artists had it.
Lewis Carroll, Dostoyevsky, van Gogh.
Sam's not that good.
I definitely think I should see him.
Okay. I'll bring him with me next session.
No. I think best to see him by myself.
And don't let on that you know anything about this.
If he felt his fantasy was jeopardized in some way...
He never threatened you or anything, has he?
No.
Sam would never do anything like that.
That wasn't a comedy.
Come on, comedy, tragedy. Depends on your point of view.
You're sick.
Do you smell that? It's incredible.
Wait. Come here, look.
You're sick.
Come on.
That was the first one in a long time. It's the drag.
It's going away. Come on, please.
Drag.
A professional might have another name for it.
And what's that supposed to mean?
- I want you to see my therapist. - What? Your therapist?
Yeah. You're sick.
All the signs are there.
I feel better than I have in my entire life, you're telling me that I'm sick. That's crazy!
I'm not sick.
You told her about me?
No, I told her about us. About our problems.
- What problems? - Don't be an idiot!
- Sam Deed. - Come in.
Sit on the couch.
Let me introduce myself.
My friends call me Maggie Ann.
She went down on the "Titanic".
This, of course, was a few years back.
I'm not getting a reading.
- This is about Sam, isn't it? - Yeah.
- I'm really worried about him, José. - Me, too.
So, I'm not the only one who noticed his little problem?
Little problem?
I think it's more than a little problem.
I demanded he get help.
From who? I mean, we have to keep this a secret. You know that.
Is that the best way to handle this? Don't you think we should confront him?
Let him know we're here for him? I mean my therapist says that...
Your therapist?
- You told your therapist? - Yeah.
- She could be one of them. - Them?
A back-traveler. You know how hard they are to pick out of a crowd.
Sam violated protocol.
If other back-travelers found out, I dread what would happen.
We don't want to put him in any more danger.
I've traveled the astral plain.
Sam, we're talking, has gone back 400 years.
I can't even imagine what that must do to his energy fields.
- You told José. - I didn't. He guessed. He's psychic.
I thought this was between me and you.
That's what I thought, too, until you forced me to see your therapist!
She just wants to help you.
I don't think I'm the one that needs help, but...
You told somebody else about our game, and you need serious help!
- Was that what you think it is? - You need help.
- You think this is game? - You need lots and lots of help!
I'm not the one that needs help. You are the one that needs help.
What the fuck did you just say?
I know you're used to always being the fixer, okay?
You're not the fixer this time. You've got it all wrong. I am.
How dare you! After all I have done to salvage this relationship.
Just get the fuck out!
Get out!
Okay. Fine.
- Go. - Wait.
- What did you just say? - I said, "Get out"!
That's what I thought you said. You really mean it?
Yes, I fucking mean it, baby!
That's perfect.
- What? - Emotional energy. That's what we need!
Remember Cheeseman?
Hypothetically, anger would work just as well as love!
We could be breaking the causal chain right now.
If we can generate enough emotional energy!
Like that?
Okay. That was good.
- How's that? - That's okay.
All right, but you're hurting me, but it's good.
Wait!
Is that good enough emotional energy for you? Did that break your chain?
I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened, baby.
I don't know what came over me.
It's okay. Everything's fine.
How come you never told me you loved me?
Just tell me.
I love you.
Sometimes love isn't enough.
- We need... - What?
Reality. We need sanity.
The reality is that I found your face, and...
Help me.
That's what I came here for. To help you.
Why do I need your help?
Because...
...you're gonna die.
Tell me something I don't know.
We're all gonna die.
What, people don't die in the future?
- Is death passée? - No.
It's good to know some things don't change.
They can.
What?
Change.
Things can change.
I thought we'd go out of town on Friday. We'd let the whole thing slip by.
But I think it's only fair that you know now that we can change it.
- Change what? - Friday.
What's Friday?
I told you.
You're gonna die.
On Friday?
Yes.
This Friday?
This is better than the Jew for Jesus.
- Sam's not at all religious, is he? - No.
Religion goes out of favor...
...in 2033, when science discovers the gene that regulates fear.
I was just telling you how he explains it.
Oh, honey.
What about his story about finding your photo in that curio shop?
You know, coming back for your face?
God, that was so romantic. We loved that fantasy.
He's got a new fantasy now.
It starts the same. Growing up an Anachronist.
Dad's arrest. Mom's death.
How he had to take care of his sister.
Then the day on the beach.
His sister noticing some floating treasure.
Her drowning.
But now there's a big difference.
Now Sam is there, on the beach.
He's with his sister.
He was supposed to be watching her. Supposed to be keeping an eye on her.
But he fucked up.
So, he didn't find my photo in a curio shop and escape to the past.
It's much more prosaic than that.
He was arrested.
Arrested? For what?
Murder? Oh, God! Murder?
Wait. But he didn't murder his sister. Right?
No. It was an accident.
It wasn't me.
But the Gene Dupes had it in for him, because of his dad, the freedom fighter.
They had followed me there.
So, they framed him.
They were waiting for me.
Accusing him of murdering his own sister.
She was standing on the beach.
But he can't afford a lawyer. So he has to defend himself.
I watched her drown.
He has to find a way to prove that his sister's death was an accident.
So, now he says he actually found my photo...
...on an historical database, while researching legal precedence.
Legal precedence for what?
Accident cases.
Accident cases?
That would mean that you...
On Friday.
I know it's hard.
I know it's hard to understand, but you have to try.
Nobody could understand this. It's too much.
So, that's it. You've heard it all now.
Tonight's Mark's opening, and tomorrow's Friday.
Did he ever say whether he was found innocent or guilty...
...in this trial by the Gene Dupes?
No.
He didn't stick around to find out.
He just put himself in a time machine, set the dial back to 1999, and voilà.
What did he tell you? Did he say that he has TLE?
He said he was from Dubuque. He was born in 1961, I think it was.
- His sister fell from a tree. - That's back-story.
Of course he'd tell you that.
- That's not what he's telling me now. - Because you are part of the ritual.
Ritual?
I believe that Sam is living out a delusional fantasy.
A fantasy which allows him to explain the inexplicable...
...senseless tragedy.
The death of his sister.
A death for which he may feel some responsibility.
And if I'm right...
...exacerbated by the Temporal Lobe Epilepsy...
...this seems as real to him...
...as you and I sitting here.
But since he can't actually go into the past and save his sister...
...he's brilliantly created a ritual whereby he can at least atone for her death.
The ritual of saving your life.
He said he didn't stick around for the trial, right?
That's because in Sam's mind, the verdict isn't in yet.
And it won't be until he imagines that he has saved you.
I don't know.
I don't know about this theory.
What's the alternative? Cheeseman's?
He hasn't even told you how this is going to happen, has he?
Your accident?
No. He doesn't want to tell me all the details...
...because he's afraid it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
That's convenient, isn't it?
Look.
The last thing I want to do is frighten you, but...
...he has threatened you.
What? When?
He has told you...
...when and how you are going to die.
But it's an accident! He doesn't do it!
Please hear me.
I understand that you care for Sam.
But the most caring thing that you could do for him...
...would be to walk away.
Today.
And I believe that you could do that.
If you could see that what Sam seeks...
...what he asks of you...
...is for him...
...not you.
Just give it another day.
I mean, come on, at least find out what the guy's gonna say to you, right?
What's the harm in that?
It could be destructive.
I don't know what he's gonna do.
Look at him. He never drinks like this.
This is so weird. Mark is gonna die.
Thanks.
Tab.
How are you?
Great work. Yeah.
You're Anthony Michael Hall, man. I can't believe you came to my opening.
Just call me Michael.
Come on, team hug, baby. We can do that.
- It's very improvisational. It's great. - Thank you so much, dude.
In this day and age, you know, it's like everything's so fucking calculated.
I think it's great. It really is.
I was working on "Weird Science". I was having a problem.
John Hughes pulls me aside, right? He's like:
"Drop it. Let it go and improvise."
Make those mistakes. You know what I mean?
- This is my friend, Sam Deed. - Sam, Anthony Michael Hall.
How are you? Nice to meet you.
- So, you're an artist, too? - No.
- He's just joking. - This is Anthony Michael Hall.
It's New York. No one gives a shit. Right?
- Am I an artist? - "Sixteen Candles".
- The one with Judd Nelson. - "The Breakfast Club"?
I never heard of 'em.
Where you from, Sam?
Where am I from?
- Where am I from? - Tough question.
I'm from the...
...future.
I'm a time-traveler from the future, Mr. Hall.
- About what year? - Everything's fine.
2470.
- That's quite a ways. - That really is the future.
You're a time-traveler from the year 2470. That's improv.
I have a question.
What do people look like in the future?
The same.
Except for Gene Dupes.
They're gene-warped, so they have smaller fingers...
...and purple irises, no genitalia.
Gene Dupes. Very nice. More improv. He's good.
He's good.
My turn.
Do people have sex in the future?
Biologicals do.
Thank the Lord.
But only two times in a lifetime, and that's to procreate.
Sex for fun is old-fashioned. But I'm an Anachronist, so I guess...
...I could be considered old-fashioned. Right, Ruby?
So, why'd you come back to the past?
The future isn't what it used to be.
Describe for us, if you would...
...the device by which you traveled here.
Your time machine. How does that work?
Do you know how an internal-combustion engine works?
In fact, I do.
Touchée.
A time machine is much more complicated.
- Time-travel is not possible. - See? This is what you don't do.
You never want to block your partner's need to improv.
One merely has to point out the numerous...
...logical absurdities, temporal paradoxes, circular causation, closed time loops.
You name it.
You mean like the Grandfather Paradox?
Where you go back in time and kill your own grandfather...
...thereby you totally negate your own existence? That's fucking trippy.
You get the point. The idea of effect preceding cause...
...of tampering with history, creates so many logical absurdities...
...that even if the technology were available, time-travel would still be impossible.
You are forgetting Blinovitch's Fifth Law of Causal Determination, which resolves...
...all of those paradoxes.
- Blinovitch? Never heard of him. Russian? - Yugoserbian.
- Yugoslavian... - No. Blinovitch was from Yugoserbia.
There is no Yugoserbia.
I see. There will be, after the Petroleum Wars of 2111...
...AD.
Is it just me...
...or isn't this guy just a little too adamantly opposed to time-travel?
I'm getting my doctorate in physics and theoretical calculus.
Forgive me if I don't suffer fools gladly.
Forgive me if I have the guts to admit where I'm from, unlike you.
- What are you implying? - Do I know you from the Clone Riots in '66?
That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.
This guy is a time-traveler like me.
- I most certainly am not! - It's so obvious.
Please! What are you, afraid you're going to violate protocol?
- I am not a time-traveler! - Come out! You can be free!
Fuck you! I am not a time-traveler!
It's just an improv!
Another fine fucking fiasco!
Your friend's an idiot. I didn't start it.
- That "idiot" has a Ph.D. From Columbia! - Exactly! Tab.
The one with the expensive back-story. Right? What's his last name?
Sokolofsky!
He's still an idiot, because he didn't even realize that he was right.
- What? - Yes.
Closed time loop.
In 470 years, I'm gonna find your photo.
I'm gonna come back here.
We're going to meet again on that bench and fall in love.
If we don't do something about tomorrow, you'll die again.
In another 470 years, the whole thing's going to repeat itself...
...and you're going to die again and again.
Great! So, not only do I die tomorrow...
...I die over and over.
When we first met on the bench...
...you could feel it.
Like we'd met before. Like it happened before, maybe once...
...maybe a million times before.
Yes, but it's called déjà vu!
No. It's called the loop. It's the causal chain repeating itself.
We gotta break that chain. We gotta break it!
All you gotta do is say you love me.
Just say it.
You don't have to say you love me.
That's okay, because according to Cheeseman, all you gotta do is feel it.
Shit. What.
Okay.
Sammy, it's okay.
We're going to get you a good doctor.
Baby, it's all right. It's gonna be okay. We're going to get you a TLE specialist.
Those cheap bastards.
I paid a lot of money for that back-story...
...and they give me cheap inserts from plastic frames.
What a rip-off!
That's a rip-off. You live and learn. Right?
Say it, right now!
Say that you put those strange people in your wallet!
Say it!
My back-story. My contact gave them to me!
Chrystie Delancey.
Where you going?
You can't leave.
You have to help us through this! We gotta break the chain!
I am breaking the chain!
Okay, fine!
I'll do this on my own!
Motherfucker!
You'll realize how much I love you when you wake up on Saturday morning...
...alive!
You'll see. Fine.
Fucker!
- Honey. - Mother.
What is it?
I come from such a different world, and I'm not going to be here long.
Where's Dad?
Where do you think?
He's at the office, as usual.
What is it?
I had a happy childhood, right?
We tried.
So...
...why am I so fucked up?
Why are my relationships so fucked up?
Because you care, my love.
- I care too much. - You can't care too much.
I fall in love too easily.
There are a lot worse things that could be wrong with you. Believe me.
I bet you Sam would agree with me.
Sam was scared of Marvin.
Little Marvin? The foot licker?
Sam is like...
Give me another shot of Merlot.
How can I even describe him?
Hello? Sunil Vipassana?
He's like two people in one.
Sometimes he's like an incredible genius.
Then he's also really clueless sometimes, like a child.
- Are you Sunil Vipassana? - Yes.
And he can be really fierce.
What do you want? Who are you?
But he's also really soft.
But he can be really romantic...
...and chivalrous.
I'm really sorry, but I have to do this.
I'm gonna break the causal chain!
Please...
Papa?
But the thing is, he's really caring.
More than me.
More than what I can...
...give back to him.
You take a couple of days off. Okay?
I just don't know if I know what love is.
It's not fair.
Fair?
Who ever told you that relationships were fair?
Relationships are not fair.
They're battles.
They're battles for supremacy.
What?
Honey, you have any idea how many years I had to live with your father's drinking?
- Do you realize what a battle that was? - I know, Mom.
And that's why you helped him quit, because it wasn't fair.
October 15, 1988.
That was it. That was the day he stopped. I remember that day like it's yesterday.
It was a Tuesday, and he hasn't had a drop since.
- Because you made it happen. - That's it.
And now every day's a struggle.
What?
Sweetheart...
...since Daddy's stopped drinking...
...we have...
...lost our spark.
I know that it's wrong of me to say it, but...
...I miss your father the way he was.
But he's...
...an alcoholic.
And I was a classic codependent. I know that.
Until I forced myself to stop caring about him.
Until I forced him to deal with his own problems.
Guess what?
He did.
And he got better.
I guess you could say now, that our relationship is more fair.
There's just one slight casualty.
The passion is gone.
My love, my beautiful daughter.
You give so much. You care so deeply.
But you're so busy trying to fix the problem that...
...you forget to enjoy the moments of happiness that you have.
And your father and I, we had our moments.
We loved our happiness.
When we had it, we relished it.
And that's what you must do.
You must go to him and you must tell him.
You tell him how you feel.
And you enjoy...
...each other for what you can give to each other now.
Believe me, it won't last forever.
What happened?
I drank too much.
I had too much Merlot, and I bumped into a pole.
It's silly, but I did.
I have to tell you something.
I believe you.
Say it again.
I believe you.
Do you believe me?
Videos.
Snacks.
To generate the requisite emotional energy.
Look what else I got. Two clocks.
To be safe. All right?
Here, you set them, and I'll put on the tunes.
Baby, you thought of everything.
I know. You know, it's been a big ordeal for you, this whole thing.
But I really think it's best. You know?
Maybe it would have been better if you didn't know, but...
...now everything's out in the open. I do, I think it's for the best.
I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. I've taken every precaution.
I won't let you go.
I won't let you go anywhere near the water. I won't let you. I won't let anything happen.
What I'm thinking is that if we have complete faith in each other...
...and we love each other deeply enough, that I'm certain that...
I'm staying right here. I'm staying home all day.
Right here. With you.
I thought you'd gotten José to cover for you.
I did.
It's José. Apparently, Victor won't let him in his apartment.
He says he won't let anybody in except for me.
- Is he all right? - He says there's a rat or something.
Go help him.
No way. It's too risky.
Baby, I'm fine.
And I'm gonna be fine.
And you can be there and back in an hour.
We have time, right?
Go.
Let's just stay here, okay? I mean, everything is just going perfect.
Believe me.
All right.
I'll be...
- Just hurry home. - You're the one and only, baby.
Take Sixth. There's less traffic.
He says it's a brown rat.
He needs his meds.
Victor!
It's Sam Deed.
- Is the brown one with you? - You believe this guy, Pat?
I think I better go.
Good. I'll see you.
Bye, José.
I guess you and I have been, more or less, used to a life of pink champagne.
He forgot.
Where's the rat?
Want to play?
There is no rat, right?
It gets to be lonely.
You know, this was supposed to be my day off. You know that?
I'm 95 years old.
I got no friends...
...no family. All dead.
I remember my sister, getting on the great "Titanic".
If everything turns out all right...
Hello?
Hi.
This is Ruby Weaver. I'm calling...
...for Mr. Deed.
Is this Mr. Deed?
This is Tom Deed. Yes?
Hi.
I'm calling about your son, Sam.
Sam Deed, he...
Hello? He is your son, correct?
Who is this?
What happened? Is he all right?
He's fine.
I'm calling from "The New York Times"...
...because he...
I have to check some facts for the paper. He did an interview with us...
...and I was wondering if I could just confirm a few facts with you.
All right. I suppose.
He was born in Dubuque...
...December 12, 1961?
He was.
Down she went.
I know.
Come here.
I know, son.
You know what?
I know when it's going to happen.
My death.
No one knows.
I just wanted someone to know...
...that I ain't scared.
It's time for Mr. Greenlop's 4:00.
It's time for your 4:00...
And his sister?
She passed away?
I'm sorry, did she fall out of a tree?
Who the hell are you? Is this a prank?
I'm sorry.
I'm not from "The New York Times".
Sam and I live together.
I'm calling because I'm concerned about him.
Concerned?
Mr. Deed, he's been saying some very strange things.
What kinds of things?
He's saying that he's from the future...
...and somehow today...
Now listen.
Sam's always been a little crazy.
Ever since he fell off that jungle gym as a boy.
We tried a shrink. That didn't work.
A couple of years ago, he picked up and left.
I fear he must be getting worse, if, like you say...
...he's spouting stories about being from the year 2470.
I don't think I mentioned...
...that he was from the year 2470.
Maybe not, but...
...you see, I know that...
...because...
...that's what he tells all his gals.
All his "gals"?
The gals that call every couple of months, like you.
All worried about him, about the things he says...
...about being a time-traveler.
Asking if Sammy's all right in the head.
I've heard it many times.
How many?
I'd say...
...seven to eight times in the last year, every time from a different city.
We started sticking pins on a map to kind of track...
I'm sorry, sir. I have to go.
I thought you were sick.
I got over it.
I'm home!
It was just Victor going on about the "Titanic".
Oh, God!
Find a good one.
- Are these new? - Yeah, from last month.
I'll get the ex-files.
His "first and only."
Right.
Come on.
He certainly wasn't your first.
Nope.
I'm just one of his gals.
You sure you want to do this?
You'll find Mark's photo in there, too.
What happened?
He just wasn't deep enough.
I'll make us some more tea. Men suck.
You could say that they're drawings of...
...a memory of a photograph of you.
That one.
That's when that stupid zoom fucked up. Remember?
I think you look really cute in that photo, though. Don't you?
You found me 'cause of a happy accident?
That's exactly what it was.
So, Sam, allow me to introduce myself.
My friends call me Maggie Ann. Maggie Ann Ford.
But why don't you call me Meg?
Meg Ford?
M-E-G, three, F-O-R-D, four?
- What year? - 2457.
- Why did you come here? - Tax evasion.
You came to the late 1990s to avoid taxes?
- Who was your accountant back there? - Shut up!
I just cannot believe that you violated protocol.
The hell with protocol!
And how dare you tell Ruby! Why would you do that?
What are you doing here? Why are you here now?
Because...
I'm very sorry.
So you love her?
Yes.
I always have.
But you know you can't change anything.
You don't know that!
Do you want to give her false hopes? I mean, is that fair?
Please, don't try to help Ruby.
What if she believes you?
Then everything will be all right.
Everything will be wonderful.
We'll create our own future.
Everything will be okay.
Motherfucker!
Goddamn bitch! I can't believe this!
Okay, that's good. Smile.