"To Dean of Admissions, Princeton University." "The most influential person in my life  is Mother Teresa, whose example helped me overcome the arrogance... which threatened after my 1,600 SAT score and National Merit Scholarship." "My influential person taught me the most important word I've learned." "Aloha, which I..." "To the Dean of Admissions, Princeton University... from Cristina Moreno." "Most influential person:" "My mother." "No contest." "I think I have been pointing toward this essay... ever since the day, 12 years ago in Mexico, when my father left." "Such was my mother's need to protect me... that she would not let me see her cry." "The trick was... get over it as quickly and privately as possible." "Such was my need to protect her... that I never let on that I could hear her." "My mother kept us in Mexico as long as possible... to root me in all things Latin." "Finally, she sensed our last opportunity for change." "We would leave for America." ""One tear."" ""Just one."" ""So make it a good one," she said." "She would be my Mexico." "Because this admissions essay is open record... let me just say that our transportation into the United States was... economy class." "In order to raise me properly... my mother needed as much of the security of her own culture as possible." "So we rolled through Texas... just 34/% Hispanic... to Los Angeles... 48/% Hispanic." "...look at the Detroit Pistons." "And your mother's saying, "Get up!" But, no, what of it?" "You can't see them." "Why?" "'Cause you're being killed... you're being strangled by the psychotic Raider fans." "What do you have in Oakland?" "You got a bunch of psychotic..." "A few minutes adrift in an alien environment... then we turned a corner, and we were right back home." "My mother's favourite cousin, Monica, gave us shelter." "For the next six years... neither of us ventured outside our new community." "Mum worked two jobs, paying a total of $450 a week... each of us doing everything we could to make things work." "We were safe and happy." "If only I could have stayed six." "But I was blossoming." "And during my very first dance... in the time it took a boy's hand... to go from my back to my bottom... it was evident that she would have to leave her night job... to keep a watchful eye on me." "Within days, she was on her way to a job interview." "She needed $450 from one job." "And that meant, after all her time in America... finally entering a foreign land." "Hello?" "Yeah, hi." "We're here for the interview with Mrs. Clasky?" "Oh, great." "You made it." "Come on in." "The front door's open and we're out back." "Okay?" "And call me Deborah." "Holding out had helped though." "She was no longer intimidated." "Working for Anglos now posed no problems." "It would just be a job." "White America beckoned." "She stepped across the cultural divide." "Gee whiz in heaven, are you okay?" "No." "Don't worry, I'm not mad." "I've been looking for decoration to put up on the glass so people wouldn't walk into it." "Instead of taking what was in stock, which was awful, I special ordered... but I'll design something myself, which I should've done..." "What does that matter when your nose is bleeding?" " Shut up, Deborah." " Now you got it, Mum." " There's no ice pack, Bern!" " So get anything frozen." "Pressure!" "Just pressure!" "Take this." "Is it strange that I just gave you money?" "I just felt really badly." "It's okay." "Chum, knock it off!" "I'm sorry about the way the place looks." "I'm hosting a fundraiser for the school tonight." "It's just a mess." "Come sit right here." "Here you go." "Yeah, just..." "That's great." "Just toss it." "She's my cousin." "She's been here for a while and she understands some, but doesn't really... speak English, but, anyway..." "She lives in the apartment I manage and..." " So who am I interviewing?" " Her." "You're gorgeous." "She didn't mean it as a compliment." "It's more of an accusation." " Mother!" " Go ahead." "I'm sorry." "This is my daughter, Bernie..." " and my mother, Evelyn Wright." " Evelyn." " Do you want to come in out of the sun?" " No, we're fine." "You need some sunscreen?" "I got a 70 here." "She loves the sun." "Look, we're wearing the same sweater." "That's good booga-booga." "You want some lemonade, maybe?" "Lemonade, please?" "Would you like to take some?" "Both of you?" "Okay, let's just talk." "I have two children." "My husband is a top chef." "Like that makes me something." " Anyway, he works nights, so..." " Do you work?" "Yes." "No." "Not right now." "Why?" "How do you know to ask that?" "It's okay." "I can talk about it." "I just..." "I ran a commercial design company until four months ago... when it was downsized to zip." " Now I'm a full-time mum." "Gulp!" " Double gulp." "I have two children." "My son Georgie is nine, Bernie you know... and I like the house to be like me, you know..." "I'm very loose and meticulous at the same time." "It's all about first names and closeness here." "Let her know, absolutely." "But I do care about the place." "I'm so sorry, I'm not leaving you time to translate." "What's your name?" "Llamo." "It's one of my five Spanish words." "Flor Moreno." "Floor?" "Flor." " Floor?" " No, Flor." "Floor." "Flor." " It means "flower," right?" " Flower, yes." " Floor!" "What I walk on, right?" " Flor." " Flor." " Flor!" "Is there some school of the ear I'm flunking out off right now?" "What'd she say?" "She says if you curl your tongue, then let it be loose, you'll get it... and that it's really hard for Americans... and that it's great you try so hard." "Because most people wouldn't bother." "She gets me." "Flor." "Dense, but stubborn, right?" "Now, see what you just did for me?" "That is just what the kids need." "Patience and encouragement." "All right, money." " Goodbye." "Look forward to seeing you." " Love you." "The job is six days a week." "Seven, eight, 12 hours, it depends." "All the housekeeping, driving the kids." "How much a week do you want?" " Whatever you say." " No!" "No." "This is a very important question... because if you ask for too little, it means you don't value yourself." "You ask for too much, it means you're taking advantage." "So?" "$1,000." "She's kidding!" "$650!" "Welcome to the family." "Come on." "I want to show you around." "Come on!" "I had never known that my mother had been chronically worried about money... until the first glimpse of her as financially unburdened." "Can we have a table for two, please?" " We're celebrating." " Okay, right this way." "Is this good?" " Gracias." " You're welcome." "Here you go." "Enjoy." " Gracias." " You're welcome." "Whoa, expensive." "Excuse me." "Those men would like to buy you a drink." "Thank you." " No, gracias." " Okay." "Sorry." "This is so embarrassing." "My mother said to tell them, "Who do you think you are?" ""Can't you see I'm with my daughter, for God's sake?"" "Good." "She said, "Who do you think you are?"" "She's with her daughter, for God's sake." "Her young daughter." "Passing on the left!" "Left!" "Morning, Flor." "See you up there." "Hey!" "Will you try this?" "Isn't that good?" "Okay, think seriously about getting up." "You don't have to get up yet, but are you thinking seriously about it?" " Yes." " Okay." "My God." "This is amazing!" "A simple "it's good" will do." "I'm glad you like it." "But you could do without this." "No!" "Flor, never do fetch to Chum!" "Never!" "I'm not mad." "I'm thinking of you." "This is me being nice." "Okay." "It's just... no taking the ball from the dog." "Just don't." "No fetch." "No." "Never do fetch with this dog." "Okay?" "Never." "Here, can you make us some coffee, maybe?" "Yeah?" "Okay." "Right." "Thank you." " Now?" " Yes, actual up." "Hey, Dad!" "Are you as mad at me as Mum 'cause of what happened?" "No, Georgie, I'm not." "Are you mad at me?" " No." " Good." "Let's hope." "When it comes to the kids, John, we got to stay on the same page!" "United." "Doing consistent parenting." "Do you know how many books on parenting I've read?" "Deb, since high school we've been able to read each other." "Take advantage of it." "Word for word, what did you say to Georgie exactly?" ""No, I'm not mad."" "Good guy... bad guy." "Come on." "What the hell are you doing?" "Everything's okay." " John." " Yes." "Do you really think that cupping my breast..." " is going to solve the issue here?" " It's worked before." "Now it's infuriating me." " Wrong breast." " Oh, my God!" "No, I know what you mean." "Oh, my God." "Don't do the calm thing." "Just don't go there." "Don't do that thing." "This is very important to you." "Us." "I just like to level with Georgie." "That's why I answered him this way." "This is not an argument, honey." "Yes, it is!" "We're having a fight, John." "A big fight, at last." "So could you stop being so stark raving calm?" "Great God in heaven, save me." "Hi." "I didn't know Deb found somebody." "You work here?" "You're gonna help out with the house and kids?" "You work here and you don't speak any English at all?" "All she has to do is dial 911 and press two for Spanish." "This is..." "Flor, this is Georgie and this is John." "John, this is Flor." "Flor." "Great." "I'll take Georgie to school." "No, I'm doing it." "I'm gonna show Flor the ropes." "Flor, will you come with me, please?" "Come." "Thank you." " She's mad." " You're fine." "Deb?" " What?" " You love me." " Not the best place to stand, fella." " No, it's me." "I'm bugged." "I'm sorry." "Not a problem." "You're the new helper, Alex, right?" "Okay, welcome." "First day." "John, I have something very important to tell you." " Damn." " What?" "Victor recognised a food critic over the phone." " From?" " The Times." "I'll bet they sent her across the country just for us." " If you're nervous, take a walk." " I don't need a walk." "I'll walk with you." "I know a breathing thing." "What do you think I'm worried about?" "How I'm gonna cook?" "That's not the thing." "That's not the problem." "I worked at a restaurant in New York that had four stars." "It was like a line formed to become an asshole." "People's accents changed." "The heart went out of the place." "You understand?" " No." " I agree with everything you just said." "I admire you for your feelings." "I hope to adopt them as my own." "Here we are, ladies." "I don't know what to root for." "The thought of one star gets me nauseous... but with four, there's no place to go but, "My God, they took away one of my stars!"" " The Times liked the first course." " You know what you want?" "Three and a quarter stars." "Yes, that would be perfect." "It'd mean you're good, but not good enough to feel disappointed... you just missed out on excellence." "You still get enough respect." "Good people wanna work with you." "Business is good, not crazy." "You're right below the radar, where you get to mind your own business." "That's a good, solid life." "Big wipe." "I'm in the vitamin section and this little hip-hop girl, what's her name?" "Nice surprise, thank you." "You want some?" "This little hip-hop girl, what's her name?" "Grammys." "She's famous." "You kids know her." "Oh, darn." "God bless the language barrier." "It keeps you from being bored with me." "Anyway, she said:" " "Aren't you Evelyn Wright?"" " Oh, my God!" "First of all, that she remembered me from the old covers." " Yeah." " And then she..." " Oh, please." "Her name." " Stop it." " It makes the story so much better." " It's still a good story." "She said:" ""Whenever I think everything's"..." "Pardon my French, pardon her French." ""A mother-hm-hm..." ""I put on one of your records."" "Oh, my God." "That is so sweet." "Well, you think your life is embarrassing, and then... somebody finds encouragement in it." " You understand?" " I think I do." "Mum, it's not even noon." " This is going to work." " I don't know anything." "Free your mind." ""The president whose policies..." ""many consider responsible for the Great Depression."" "I don't know." " Name a vacuum cleaner." " What?" " Okay, I got it." " Hoover." " I said I had it." "You don't trust me?" " Okay." "I no longer know nothing." "And Hoover was followed in office by..." "I'm just drawing blanks." "I'm embarrassed." "It's my own fault." "I spent all my time on math, which I'm lucky if I don't flunk, anyway." "Stop it." "The man you're looking for is not a ruse." " What does "ruse" mean?" " Phony." "Roosevelt!" "If I'd ever heard of that word before, that would lock it in." " Surprise!" "New clothes." " What?" " What did I do right?" " It was a warehouse sale." "I went nuts." "I got so much stuff." "Great!" "She needed a boost." "That came together." "I wouldn't wear it together, it's a little much." "Eight?" "What?" " Eight." " What?" " Bernie, come on." "Listen." " What's going on?" "You're gonna do it, and you're gonna look beautiful." "Honey, I just..." "You are going to lose that weight, and..." "You know..." "I'm glad you didn't get here earlier, because... then I wouldn't be able to tell you that... your gift to me... is a ruse." " Honey, I..." " Please, just excuse me." " Hey, Bernie..." " I just..." "I just need to be alone right now, okay?" "I'm sorry." "It's okay." "We have to be able to endure this, John, if we're gonna help her." "I'll just gonna hang out here and wait for you, okay?" "Her paediatrician intervened on his own daughter's weight, and she is an 8." "Dad, don't." "Didn't you ever just need a minute?" "Yes." "This is the same page that I'm talking about, John." "We gotta be on the same page." "That's the most important thing." "I don't know why it has to be so hard." "I need a minute." "She's right between the two sizes." "I thought about it." "What am I supposed to do?" "Encourage her denial... or motivate her to get herself in shape?" "Flor?" "Me go." " Okay." " I'll take you to the bus stop." "Sorry, I didn't even help you with the door." "No, what I meant was..." "My mother did not understand her male boss." "He seemed as upset as she was over what had been done to Bernice..." "Shit!" "... and yet had done nothing." "I am running out of excuses for the lady of the house!" "But, man, Bernice's final is tomorrow." "She didn't need this one." "And just the look on her face when she got the gifts!" "Like for one second she thought... all her problems with her mother had been solved!" "He appeared to be a good man... but to someone with first-hand knowledge of Latin macho... he seemed to have the emotions of a Mexican woman." "She had no idea of how to react, except to flee." "What're you doing?" "We're still moving." "I'll take you all the way to the bus stop." "You got to let me take you all the way." "I'll take you." "All the way." "How weird was this ride?" "Sorry." "I'm sorry." "Yes, you are released." "Yes." "Bye-bye." "A simple request from my mother startled me." "Her rules were bending." "She was losing her battle to remain uninvolved with the Claskys." ""Try it on."" "Try..." "Just. "Just try it on."" "Just try on." "Just." "Just." "There is one particular cultural difference... which I wish to explore academically at Princeton." "American women, I believe... actually feel the same as Hispanic women about weight." "A desire for the comfort of fullness." "And when that desire is suppressed for style... and deprivation allowed to rule... dieting, exercising American women..." "Left!" "... become afraid of everything associated with being curvaceous... such as wantonness, lustfulness..." "Left!" "... sex, food... motherhood." "All that is best in life." "Wow!" "Taste, she has." "Just try it on." "When did you learn to speak English?" "Just try it on." "It's too tight." "It doesn't fit." "Bernice, just try it on." "It's too small." "I'm too big." " Just try it on!" " Okay." "I'll show you." "Thanks." "Lovely way to start the day." "The world's most trim Mexican learns her first sentence... and uses it to watch me grunt my way... into a..." " It fits!" " Okay." "No." "Thanks." "Whatever happened to Frère Jacques or Itsy-Bitsy Spider?" " Make room." " I know." "But every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs." "That way, his nightmares have a purpose." "But I don't have to sing it for anyone." "Right, you're clear on that." "How many did you sell of this song, Grandma?" "He likes to know that stuff." "She was huge." "Here goes." "76,000, which is great for a jazz album." "Jesus." "Fuck you." "Dad!" "For Christ's sake, why are you screaming?" "Why, crazy father, why aren't you screaming?" "I'm working on it." "The stunned thing has to get dealt with." ""John Clasky..."" " No." " Yes." ""John Clasky, who, at 25..." ""made his mark on the New York restaurant scene..." ""has re-emerged as a young and confident veteran..." ""taking chances with his combinations..."" " Dad." " Your sister's talking." ""...beginning with a succession of appetisers..." ""is constantly yet casually daring."" "Dad, this is so great." "Oh, my God." "I think, here it is." ""Eating at this perfect, smaller, passionate restaurant..." ""inspires one's own abandonment of caution." ""To wit..." ""John Clasky is the best chef in the United States."" " Look how great you read it." " Perfect, Dad." "John, four stars." "Oh, my God." "You even look different to me." "I wonder what Mum will do?" "I read it!" "All right." "What is this?" "I don't know." "I'm just so happy for you and all your hard work." "Oh, my goodness." "All right." "Don't worry." "I'll wait for you." "Nice move." "We are so smooth." "Right on." "Ladies and gentlemen, the mother of two children!" "Look at that." "You look good." "You're too beautiful." "It's ridiculous." " I like you." " Okay, I love you." "Go." "You don't even need me, do you?" "Just go." "Now she's on." "It's all you!" "No." "Don't get sad." "You had fun, I swear." "Deb, cheer up!" "What am I going to do about me?" "No, not yet!" "Great sex." "It's John Clasky." ""I read your good review."" "I read your good review." "They read me your good review." " Nice." " Not so far." "I'm sorry." "How are you doing?" "I do fine." "Be happy." "Be happy." "Yeah." "Absolutely." "Congratulations." "Good job." " I need to talk to you." " Oh, man." "Okay." " You deserved it." " You were terrific." "Congratulations." "You guys worked hard." "Way to go." " Pietro, what's wrong?" " I got a fantastic offer for my own place." "Everyone wants to back me since the paper came out." "I can't lose you and keep the hours I'm keeping." "I can't do my life unless I hold onto you." "I think I just gave you an incredible bargaining position." "So you gave away 20% of the restaurant... without even talking to me about it?" "I had to, right then, or I would have lost him." "Then I wouldn't have enough time with the family." " I don't exist." " Sure you do." "I was all worried, just trying to figure out the timing to talk to you... about renting a place for the summer." "I think you have your timing." " Mum, the realtor's here." "You coming?" " Go on." "All right, I'll be back later." " Hi." " Hi there." " I'm Mike." " Deborah." "Hi." "There's a great rental that just came on the market, so we're starting at the top." " Okay." " Good." "I'm never gonna be one of those girls whose hair... flows perfectly in a convertible." "Move your seat forward." "I just..." "A little more." "Good." "You must be trouble." "Look at this." "Isn't it gorgeous?" "It's beautiful." "It's fabulous." "Perfect." "What word is the same in Spanish?" "Thank you." "So, this will be your room, okay?" "Don't worry." "I'm gonna put lots of nice stuff in here, too." "Did you ask her if she could live in?" "Come on." "There are no buses from her to here." "There's no question." "Double come on." "The barrio, Carbon Beach." "What to do?" "Come on, it's going to be so great." "I'm gonna get someone to explain everything to you." "Come on." "You must learn English." "Why won't she learn English?" "Be careful." "I'm gonna have to learn "you must learn English" in Spanish." "Excuse me." " Excuse me, do you speak English?" " Yes, I do." "Would you please help me?" "Will you translate for me with her?" "Sure." "Sure." "Forever." "He's gonna..." "Give me a minute." "Okay." "Hi." "I've rented a house for the summer... and she needs to sleep at the house because of the bus schedule." "No, sorry." "What?" "Why?" "She can't, because her daughter." "You have a daughter?" "A whole daughter you've never mentioned?" "This is a little crazy that I don't know this." "No, don't translate asides." "She said she can't live here." " Because her daughter..." " I got that." "Her daughter can also live here for the summer." "Go, tell her that." "Deborah, if she didn't tell us about her child... she has to have a deep sense of privacy." "We can figure out how she can still live at home." "Hell, I don't mind driving her at night." "Let's spare the world you on the roads, okay?" "What am I gonna do?" "I'm sorry, my friend, but this is what I need." "It's just for the summer." "I don't want to lose you, but..." "She said she live here with you." "Hey, Cristina!" "Malibu." "Malibu." "The first time one sees natural beauty which is privately owned... oceans as people's backyards confounds the senses." "Oh, my gosh." "I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich." "The beaches are so clean." "It's beautiful." "Three months?" "We're gonna be staying here for three months." "We're gonna be staying at this beach for three months!" "This is amazing!" "You want to go swimming?" "Look at this child." "Oh, God, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy." "How you doing?" "I'm John." " Hello." " Great." "Come on out and meet everybody." "I'm Deborah and this is my daughter, Bernice." "Here's Georgie... and my mother, Evelyn Wright." "So glad to meet you." "No comparisons, please." "I'm not even gonna respond to that." "Come here." "My mum says it's best if we go, get out of your way, and put our things away." "Yes, go get settled." "Thank you so much." "I'm thrilled to be here." "Okay, here's the idea." "I need to make a serving platter for serving fish out of sea glass like this." "Just bits of broken glass that the ocean sand... blasts over the years." "So here's the deal." "You guys go hunting for it." "I'll give you 50 cents for any piece you find." "A dollar for any piece that's bigger than that sucker right there." "All right, $5 for any piece that isn't brown, clear, or green." " Do we really have to do this?" " What?" " Come on." " Let's go." "Let's do this." "Have fun." " Come on, Chum." " Go get them, kid." " Me, too?" " Yes, of course." "Thank you." "Oh, my God, Georgie." "Cristina!" "Up here." "Over here." "What's wrong?" "She's wild-eyed over this." "Flor." "I'm sorry." "Very sorry." "Listen, she'll be back shortly." "No, you don't have to work." "Give me that." "Here." "Thanks." "Deb made a mistake." "I understand how you feel." "Do you understand what I'm saying right now, at all?" " No." " Good." "Is simpático the word?" "Uno momento." "That's Italian." "I really am sorry that this is happening." "I wanted you to know that." "I really." "So sorry." "Truly." "I didn't mean like..." "I meant just a normal sorry." "So, I'm going to go to work." "Thank you so much." " Thank you so much for taking me there." " Stop thanking me." "I really enjoyed having the company." "The flea market was just..." "I don't know what to say." "It was just... so many things." "And you." "You knew so much about all of them." "The way you made those people lower the prices, though." "I just think that you're..." " Never mind." " No, go ahead." "I can take it." "I just think that you're... the most amazing white woman that I've ever met." "That is so nice to hear." "Absurd, but deeply appreciated, Cristina." "Oh, my gosh." "Thank you so much." "That was so fun." " This was the best day ever." " What?" "Did something bad happen?" "Cristina, tell your mother those wash right out." "It's no big deal." "Not right now." "What?" "You can't just take someone else's kid and then make them over." "Don't go there." "Or I'll go there, and you know where "there" is." "Can you believe what a big deal Flor is making this into?" "Please, shoot me if I ever become that hard to deal with." " What's this?" " For you." "From?" "Look, you are not yourself." "This was written in anger." "Will you hold on?" "Sleep on it." "You still want me to have it, that's fine." "Take the letter." "I don't think that you will, once calm and rational thought returns." " Take the letter, Deborah." " Just sleep on it." "She didn't even want us to know she had a daughter... and on the first day you take her kid away without even asking?" " I think that's a little..." " What?" "Insensitive?" "Elitist?" "Narcissistic?" "Irresponsible?" "Perverse?" "Dizzy?" "What?" "Stupid." "When is anyone in this damn house... in this damn life gonna consider my feelings?" "I tried to make a lovely kid feel welcome." "There is no reason to rake this over." "I let it go and gave Flor the room to let it go, which I'm sure she has." "It's over, so just get on board, pal." "I slept." "Well, I'm broke." "No, please." "Don't worry about it." "You really don't have to pay me." " Please, don't worry about it." " I'm just kidding." " When you count it up, give me a holler." " I did count." "Many times." "I didn't sleep." "I counted." "All right, what do I owe you?" "Give it to me." "$640." " Really?" " Yes." " I'm really sorry." " No." "All right." "I don't know." "How about we figure this out tomorrow, okay?" "You even told me, you said that $5..." "I know, I promised." "It's all coming back to me now." "Let me just go deal with this." "Cristina?" "Oh, baby." "My mother wishes for me to represent exactly what she says..." " nothing else." " What?" " May I talk to you?" " You mean your mother?" "Yeah." "Sure." "You can talk to me." "I don't have to sleep first?" "What's wrong?" "Come on, sit down." "I'm sorry." "Did you give this money to my daughter?" "I made a deal with the kids." "All the kids." "Oh, no!" "Please." "You don't tell or ask the mother when you give a child a fortune... for looking on the beach for stones?" " What is the word for this?" " Sea glass." "No, not a name for the stones." "A name for the action, what you did." "Oh, boy, engreído is gonna be rough." "Smug." "I had no idea it was going to amount to that much money." "I thought, sort of tops, $50." "But $50 is a lot of money." "I know." "Oh, shit!" "I'm sorry." "Come on." "I get what you're upset about." "Excuse me." "It might not look it, but I am good at getting things." "I know what it's like when you feel your kid's being messed with." "It won't happen again." "It won't." " All right." " Okay." "It's late." "You guys get some sleep." "Sleep?" "No." "If this was small enough to be helped by some little apology..." "I would be a fool to bring it up." "But I need to say, no matter what the result..." "I need to be impolite." "You leave someone else's child alone." "It is simple, no?" "It is too easy for children to feel contradictions... and it encourages questioning their parents." "And that makes them feel less safe." "Look." "Your wife takes her for little tours." "And she changes her hair." "And you give her money." "Here, take back the money." "I didn't really mean to be angry to you." "Only emotional, for me." "What about hypocritical?" "Yes, you heard me!" "It's not like you didn't do the same thing." "Yes, you did." "So why don't you go lecture yourself?" "You won't need a translator for that one." "What am I lately, a recycling bin?" "Anybody dump in your garbage and hope I make something useful out of it?" "Yes, you did the same thing." "You think I don't know about you altering those outfits for Bernie?" "She tells me her stuff." "So am I missing something?" "Is there really a difference between that and what you're complaining about?" "Excuse me." "There's no difference." "I interfered." "You're kidding me?" "It's just pretty wild to say something to somebody... and have the other person just concede the point." "I'm dazed here." "I feel really embarrassed." "And you were very right." "Hypocrisy, yes." "Okay, that doesn't happen very often." "She said we'll leave whenever it is good for you." "No!" "Come on, man." "But how can I keep working for you after we talked like this?" "You can't quit the job." "Even if you wanted to." "And you know why." "No." "Yes, you do." "You know." "Why?" "Because if you do..." "Cristina will blame herself for costing you the job." "And that guilt..." "I don't know if you know about guilt." "Guilt, we know." "We're Catholics." "We know." "You can't do that to her." "Welcome back." "Good night." "Good night." "You can't be translating for me all the time." "I need to learn English now." "I really wasn't supposed to translate that." "Listen to your mother." "She knows it all." "Learning English would cost $599 down... and 12 monthly payments of $86... which represents 22/% interest." "Assimilation gets expensive." "But not a penny was wasted." "Food." "Food." " I am just learning English." " I am just learning English." " Please repeat." " Please repeat." " Neck." " Neck." " Nose." " Nose." "Go!" "It is summer winter..." "...winter spring." "...spring." "Sun." " Sunny." " Sunny." " No." " Several." " Several." " Several." " Again." " Several." "Good." "Several." " Too many." " Too many." "Right." "Too many." "How about a movie tonight?" "Have you any particular one in mind?" "I really enjoyed the Star Wars trilogy... by Mr. George Lucas." "Congratulations, John." "Chef, it just keeps building." "Sorry." "Should we stop answering the phone?" "We're booked for four months solid." "No." "I want to keep some walk-in business." "I want this to stay neighbourhood." " The trick is stay the same." " Impossible, John." "There'd be riots." "You should hear the desperation in their voices." "This is the best time of your life." "Yes, that includes our 5:30 seating as well." "I know." "Could you hold for one minute?" "We'll serve the full menu at the bar." "Where will I put people waiting for a table?" "It won't work, John." " Do this for me." " There's no way." "Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face!" "Yeah, you're right." "That was an unusual way for me to make myself understood." "Phone!" " It's Mike." " Great." "Yeah, I'm just walking out the door." "Okey-dokey." "Okay, thanks." "Great." "Thank you." "Thank you for the ride home... but it was not necessary." "All right, yes." "Four stars and I've never been more unhappy." "Up." "Yes." "He's got this." "Incredible obstacle." "I don't know what to wear to the party." "I'm wearing jeans." "Do you want to wear jeans?" "What are you wearing to the party?" "Who's always there for you at 2:30 in the morning?" "You'd better do something about Chum." "You're gonna throw your arm out." "Don't you sleep anymore?" "The more you do it, the more you learn." "Flor, you're doing fantastic." " No." " Yes." "Now I am like a 2-year-old." "I finish." "No, keep going." "No, not until you finish it." "Your wife go out." " Did she say where?" " No." "Sorry." "Listen, she's..." "I forgot she was going out." "Don't be a smart-ass." "I'm sorry." "You and I... we communicate in apologies anyway... so I'm sorry." "I should be whipped." "I should be stoned." "It's been a while." "I meant to say don't be smart... not a smart-ass." "Don't be kind." "Don't be sensitive." "Don't be wonderful." "I'm way too close." "I'm sorry again." "I meant to say, "Hi, Flor."" "Good night, Flor." "That show you're watching is gonna be a hit." "Hey, pal, you want to..." "Go, Chum." "No!" "Go to him." "Go!" "Man, you do love me." "I was wondering." "What about the point I'm making?" "It's good, right?" "Cristina has already read, on her own... every book on Bernice's summer reading list." "And she's two grades behind her." "Can you imagine if she went to Bernice's school?" "I think I could probably get her a scholarship." "God knows they owe me." "Talk to Flor." "Yeah." "She's so open to new things." "Where're you going?" "I'm going out." "It's this whole..." "Anyway, I'm probably actually gonna be..." "The cell will be bad, so I'll just check in with you later." "I just can't find my keys." "Good morning, Ms. Folsom." " Deborah." " Arlene, what a surprise." "This is Cristina, the girl I am always raving to you about." "This is Arlene Folsom, she's the School Director." " Hi." " Hello, a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Folsom." " Would you like a little tour?" " Really?" "Great." "She's gorgeous, isn't she?" "Hispanic." "We ran into the head of the school and Cristina knocked her out." "I had nothing to do with it." "Incidentally, the scholarship... is worth $20,000 and early registration is tomorrow." "It's too far from my home." "You could move in to town with us." "Never, thank you." "Fine, then don't." "By the way, the phrase is "no, thank you."" "Mum was caught in a vise of manipulation." "Please, dear God... this is the most important prayer of my life." "It's about my education." "The health of my brain." "Please, dear God, enter my mother's heart." "Make her understand what this school means." " Hi, Flor." " Hi." "Want some port?" "No, thank you, Evelyn." " How you doing?" " Hi." "I was just leaving." "What?" "Okay." " Poor guy." " What?" "Nobody noticed." "Flor?" "Thanks for never judging me." "I love you." "I love everybody." "That's what's killing me." "May I talk with you?" "Me?" "I just spoke to Deborah." "She'll be back soon if you need to go over something." "I need to really talk." "Is okay?" " No." " No!" "Sure." "Sure." "I'm sorry." " Outside?" " Okay." "You have me a little nervous here." "Are we ever gonna stop?" "Just asking." "You know about Cristina and your private school?" "Oh, that." " They did it." " I don't know what to do." "Don't ask me." "I'm worried about my own kid going there." "They keep sending her home anxiety-ridden, mostly over geometry." "I mean, you get Bernice." "In a decent world... her school should let her know how great she is, right?" "You don't have to worry about Bernice." "Nothing is going to change that heart." "Yeah, thanks." "It's just... great to hear someone else say that out loud." "Hard to explain." "I'm sorry." "I take you here and..." " I make too much of this, right?" " No!" "You have a right to worry about this." "This is the job." "These are the decisions." "Worrying about your children is sanity." "And being that sane, the way you are, can drive you nuts." "Someone like you, I'm sorry." "If you think you're at some crossroads, you are." "You are." "Hey, I wish I could help you more." "I never know a man who can put himself in my place like you do." "How did you become that man?" "I don't know." "Would you get out of the damn wind?" "Sit down!" "I didn't mean to..." "I want to be helpful." "It must be hard being a widow, doing it on your own." "Why do you think I am a widow?" "I guess I thought... that would be the only way a guy would leave you." "So, okay... are you gonna send her?" "I don't know." "I think if I do, one of two things happens." "Either she will be odd?" "Odd, yes." "Or she will make herself the same as them." "I felt the same way about my kid going there." "So between odd and the same, you gotta be rooting for odd, don't you?" "Yes, you gotta." "Thank you." "Good night." "I go to sleep." "You speaking English, it's..." " What?" " Nothing." "It's nice meeting you." "Here they are." "Hey, you guys just made it." "I was getting worried." "I picked up your books yesterday." "I put them in one of Bernie's old, ancient backpacks." "Thank you." "This is gonna be a great school." "I can tell by the weight." "I got her just a little first-day-at-a-new-school present." "Just a little something from me and Bernie." "It's okay, right?" "Come on, it's a big day." "What did we get her?" "Wait." " Here it comes." " Hold on." "It's from all of us." "Your mum, too." "It's not from me." "Let's get going." "Don't be late." "Come on." "Thank you so much for this opportunity." "And everything." "Have a great year, girls." "This is so great." "Left." "No left." "You're fast." "Better pace yourself." "You know, I ran college track." "Watch out." "Look, they're delivering my table." "See you." "I love you for trying!" "When people exist under one roof, a tiny society forms... the stuff of novellas... masters and servants unconsciously dancing in lock step... so that when things go wrong... traumas converge." "At Mrs. Clasky's urging, I had invited two of my friends to her house... though I was expected at home." "Monica had finally managed to get her mother here from Mexico... and my mother was making a party." "Flor?" "Deb." "Sorry to call you so late." "But the girls are still studying and I gotta go out." "I know I promised to get her back... so if you want me to cut off the schoolwork... that's fine, whatever you want." "Let me think." "Okay, you think about it." "Hey, listen, Flor, if you're tired... or you want to play, just... let her sleep here tonight." "I'll get her back to you in the morning." "You think about it." "Call me back." "Bye." "Wait." "I need to talk to you privately, honey." ""Honey"?" "No, Mother." "I can't right now." "I'm really late." "I've been looking all over for you." "Will you keep an eye on the kids?" "You've my secret cell number." "Just give me a moment to talk here." " What is it, are you buzzed?" " No." "I gave up drinking weeks ago." "Yes." "Nobody noticed." "Which shows I probably conducted myself pretty well as a drunk." "But duty called, and I'm sober... so, may I say just one thing?" " Yes, Mother, one thing." "Go ahead." " Thank you." "Deborah, you are going to lose your husband... if you don't stop what you are doing." "And you will never find someone as good." "There'll only be men who you know are cheap and shallow... and have no real warmth in their souls." "You may have gotten by on those surfaces once but now... you have been spoiled by a good man." "If you do not act quickly... you will soon cement an awful fate for yourself... a life with no hope of repair... which has already begun to turn desperate and dumb." "That's it." "Drive carefully." "Out of coffee." "It's over for me." "You've done it again, Mother." "Made me hate myself." "One of the things that I can count on." "Honey, lately your low self-esteem is just good common sense." "Better wait a minute." " What the hell is wrong?" " Nothing." "Can I urge you, in all hopelessness, not to go in there?" " Where are you?" " Over here." "Baby, what?" "Just stay there, John." "What?" "I suddenly get what I gotta do, but I just gotta get up the guts." "Is it absolutely necessary to make it this scary?" "Can you just say it?" "It's not so easy." "Yeah." "Come on, it's me." "We can talk." " Do I ever hope so." " All right." "Don't cry." "Or cry." "I'm sorry." "Come on." "What is it?" "I've been seeing another man for the last 11 weeks." "It was nothing and I ended it tonight." "At first it was just keeping an eye on the real estate market, and then it was... me being insecure and searching for some ridiculous validation." "Hold on." "I'm missing what you're saying." "You can't keep talking... and expect me to follow it when you start the way you did." "Just what did you hear?" "There was a crack in the planet." "That was noisy." "There's an actual noise in my head." "No kidding." "I met him..." "If you talk that fast, I'm not gonna hear you." "There's a lot going through my mind right now." "Have you said, yet, whether you slept with him?" "No, so far I've just been talking about a flirtation." "It's really..." "Have you said whether you had sex with another person?" "Because I really am missing your words, so help me out here." "I've been trying to explain that for the first ten weeks..." "You still haven't said yet, right?" " Is this your way..." " Yes." "This is my way!" "This is my way of asking you whether or not you..." "Once I ask it..." "Just give me a second." "I'm trying to figure out if there's a way to avoid knowing." "No." "Damn it." "There's not." "Okay, you're on." " Real short answer." "Have you had..." " Yes." "Really?" "I made up my mind that I was gonna answer every question you had." "I'll answer everything, and anything, and more." "What other questions could there be?" "Are you really that much nicer than me?" "You don't set the bar real high." "John, just wait, please." "I think that if you listen to exactly what happened... and then you could do whatever you need to." "Just please let me tell you everything." "It's just Flor." "Flor, what are you doing here?" "I want my daughter." "I want to talk to Mrs. Clasky." "I want to quit." "I don't think you can do any of that right now." "I gotta." "The reason I took this chance in telling is that I want us to be good." "I want us to be close." "I want to feel like you're not nuts to be in love with me." "So what I think we should do is that I think we should just talk." "Talk until we pass out." "Talk until we are so sick of each other that there's nothing left to do... but take that first step out of hell." "So let's not leave this room until you've heard... and said everything, okay?" "Please say okay." "I'm sorry." "What?" "John?" "You didn't hear me?" "I gotta get out of here and you keep talking." "Stay put." "I don't think you want to wake her up... when you're feeling this upset and the others are right there, too." "What're you doing?" "Where're you going?" "I am leaving." "I have finally..." "Me, too." "I'll drive you." " No." " It's okay." "I don't mind." "If you truly don't know why I say no..." " let me at last say the reason." " Don't worry about it." "Have you no idea that I..." "I've really gotta get out of here." "Right now." "Go." "Goodbye, Chum." " Goodbye." " Wait." "I'm taking you." "No." "Why?" "Because, if I don't, I'll worry about you all night long." "I can't handle that now." "Come on." "Get in the car." "John!" " I quit this job." " I quit this job!" "I think I meant that for someone else." "I'm sorry." " Sorry." "Very sorry." " There is the bus stop." " Bye." " Wait, don't go!" "Would you be willing to hang out with me for a while?" " You want to hang out with me?" " Yes." " Then I have to ask you..." " What?" "What does "hang out" mean?" "It means... visit." "Okay." "I've never seen your place." "Very perfect." "I'm gonna cook for you." "Please." "I am glad to visit with you." "If I just left the job... and never spoke with you... it would have been... sin." "You understand?" "Yeah." "My hand is the only sane part of my body." "Every other part wants to jump off a cliff." "That's it for now." "I already broke my record for smooth." " I don't understand." " It's me." "I'm not making any sense." "But I can get you fed." " You want a drink?" " No." "Wait." "I don't think you should, either." "Then, excuse me, because... if I had the equipment, I think I'd inject the vodka." "I just think it is important we are each clear-headed." "It's very good." "You didn't ask why." "Keep things real, right?" "I wouldn't have put it so well." "Let's get this going here." "Beautiful." "So, tell me again why I can't call him on his cell again?" "Besides that he turned it off?" " Yeah." " Forty messages start to look needy." " Mother, you're enjoying this." " No." "Not in the way you think." "You are enjoying it?" "Jesus, Mother." "I am enjoying actually being of use to my daughter." "I'm enjoying the fact that I really know how to advise you... and the miracle that you are so deeply disoriented... that you are gobbling up everything I say." "What?" "There's something I want to say to you about you and me." " You don't have to." " No, I want to." " Okay?" " Thank you." "You were an alcoholic and wildly promiscuous woman... during my formative years, so I'm in this fix because of you." "It is your fault." "I just needed that moment for us to build on." "You have a solid point, dear." "But right now, the lessons of my life are coming in handy for you." "That's it." "That's it for you." "I keep thinking I should tell you what happened to me tonight." "But I don't want to spoil this." "I will remember every taste forever." "I'm very glad you liked it." "It's something, watching you." "If it's anything at your end, imagine over here." "Scratch that." "The last thing you want to hear is somebody going off on your looks." "Don't be crazy." "Tell me every detail." "Okay, I will." "They should name a gender after you." "Looking at you doesn't do it." "Staring is the only way that makes any sense." "And trying not to blink, so you don't miss anything." "And all of that, and you're you." "I mean..." "Look, forgive me." "It's just you are drop-dead, crazy gorgeous." "So much so that I'm actually considering looking at you again... before we finish up here." "Soon, please." " I can't." "We can't." " I know." "We can't do anything that brings us any kind of satisfaction or release." "But I'm still having a great time." "My mother has often referred to that evening at the restaurant... as the conversation of her life." "Ever since that night at the beach... if I knew you were in a room, I just wouldn't go in there." "When I hear you coming, I leave." "That's why we haven't seen each other a lot lately." "Why is everything so damn confusing?" "Is your mind racing, too?" "I'd say my mind has evaporated." "Feels pretty good." "Like happy?" "Like happy." "You think that will last?" " I was just kidding around." " I understand what you mean." "I don't understand what I mean." "That it's getting late." "The responsibilities... have entered your brain." "Don't hide that from me." " Please." " Yeah." "Thank you." "You're right." "I won't." "You're great." "You're great, too." "No." "There are some mistakes you cannot risk when you have children." "Please." " Are you ready to go?" " No!" "I'm not." "Stay put for a sec." "Stay there." "Once our feet touch that floor, I'm gonna get too many brain cells back." "Don't be in such a hurry." "That floor, it's going to eat us alive." " I love you." " What?" "'Cause I've been..." "Oh, God, it's him." "He's gotta tell me everything." " No." " Oh, yes." "No, wait." "Do you know that right now... you are your own worst enemy?" "That you can't trust one thought in your brain?" "Then trust me... and only allow yourself to say one thing to him." "One thing." ""I am so glad you're back."" " What?" " Yes." "But I have to know whether he touched her." "And where he touched her, and how he touched her... and how he felt afterwards, whether they held hands... when they left." "Just those words, if you want to have a prayer of coming out of this." " So now I..." " Go to him." " Jesus, do I need a little makeup?" " You need a hose." "But you don't have the time." "It's fine that you look like that." "It's genuine." "You can use genuine." " Thank you, Mum." " Oh, honey." "It's not the worst thing in the world to find out that you love your husband." "It's late, Deborah." "I just wanted to say..." "I can't sleep upstairs with you." "I just can't for now." "I'm just so glad you're back." " I am." " Yeah, okay." "Mum?" "I'm done tonight, Deb." "I don't think we can jam anything else in." "It's me, Dad." "What's wrong, honey?" "I just wanted to check that you were back and okay." "I'm okay." "Because?" "Mum was crying for six hours straight, and Grandma was in with her... all that time, mostly saying, "He'll be back."" "I just hate that you had that kind of night." "It's good for me to worry about something that really matters... instead of the stupid stuff that's usually on my mind." "Like?" "Surviving?" "What?" "How did you come up with this?" "You are fantastic, Bernie." "I love you." " I love you." " I know." "I mean, not about me being fantastic." "But just..." " Sleep well." " Wait." "What?" "Sweetheart." "Me, too." "Sing it for Grandma." "Hey, Mum." "Is it okay if we don't leave right away, please?" "No." "Just let me explain, please." "No." "We must say goodbye." "Bernice is going to let me use her computer." "This is for school." " For school." "Just listen to me." " I don't work here anymore." "No, that's not fair." "You can't do this to me." " Do I have to get out?" " No, Georgie." "Stay." "I think you are a wonderful boy." "Be good, like you are." "Thanks." "Thanks a lot." " I can't believe you didn't get out." " Flor said." "I don't want to get you wet." " Get me wet." " Thanks." " You are a trip." "You are." " Thank you." "You are a beauty." "Come on." "Last chance to have some of you rub off on me." "Listen, I'm sorry that you're sad, but this could have been so much worse." "Why don't you run upstairs and say goodbye to Deborah?" "I'm coming." " Thank you." " You're welcome." "I live my life for myself." "You live your life for your daughter." "None of it works." "Thank you, Evelyn." " We're leaving for good." " It's okay." " We're not coming back!" " It's okay." "We're still gonna see each other at school." "Come on." "I'm gonna keep my eye on you." "Come on." "No, no." "I got some great things for you." "Want a computer?" "I was waiting out here." "Can't give you guys a lift, huh?" "God bless the guy who gets you." " Let her keep them." "Party favours." " No." "Goodbye, Mr. Clasky." "I'm very sorry we won't be seeing each other as frequently." "Yes." "Can I sleep at the Claskys' when I stay late at school?" "Shortly after we left... my mother told me of another decision she had reached." "I would no longer go to the private school." "No!" "You can't do that to me!" "You ruined everything." "This ruins my life!" "You've ruined everything!" "I will never forgive you." "No, it'll never be all right." "You're wrong." "This is exactly what I was worried about." "I will never be able to forgive you!" "I have a scholarship!" "And nobody gives this up!" "The 1.3 miles from the Clasky house to our bus stop... was the longest walk I'll ever know." "I had publicly scorned my mother." "And yet she had not reacted." "What did spark our climactic moment... was my use of a common American phrase." "Not right now." "I need some space." "Not a space between us." "In the midst of confrontation, she found clarity." "She expressed regret that she had to ask me... to deal with the basic question of my life at such a young age." "And then she asked it." ""Is what you want for yourself..." ""to become someone very different..." ""than me?"" "I have been overwhelmed... by your encouragement to apply to your university... and your list of scholarships available to me." "Though, as I hope this essay shows... your acceptance, while it would thrill me... will not define me." "My identity rests firmly... and happily on one fact:" "I am my mother's daughter." "Thank you." "Cristina Moreno." "Hi." "I'm Jim Brooks, and I'm sitting here with Richard Marks..." "Hi." "I'm Jim Brooks, and I'm sitting here with Richard Marks... and Tia Nolan, who edited the film... and we actually just sat down and began running it." "What's the date?" "It's about a month after the picture came out." "Yeah." "Just about." "...is Mother Teresa, whose example helped me overcome the arrogance..." "I just wanted to ease into it." "But this first section that we're looking at... maybe there'll be room for ease later." "This first section was actually a re-shoot... because one of the great problems we faced... was the beginning of the picture and setting the tone for the picture." "Most influential person:" "My mother." "No contest." "I think I have been pointing toward this essay... ever since the day, 12 years ago in Mexico, when my father left." "We could talk for months, I think, about the opening of this film... and so much is contained in it." "There was one of the commitments the picture always had... which was to make sure that the whole picture was from her perspective." "This shot... which we thought gave us tone... was a pick-up shot, sort of a goofy idea just between takes... and it ended up being what we built around." "Originally we were going to do something like 12 to 15 minutes of her in Mexico... just to commit to her perspective... and also, it was always my worst nightmare... that we'd have to have subtitles." "So there's nothing wrong with your set, there are no subtitles." "I thought that's the only way to start to begin being honest about this." "Finally, she sensed our last opportunity for change." "You guys must remember every cut and..." "Yeah." "But it's amazing how much we were able to say about her... with so little of what was originally there." "We were able to identify with her pretty early on." "Also, I think with that opening shot..." "looking over the applications... was also meant to help clarify... exactly who was the narrator of the film." "Hans Zimmer's theme, which happened in his head... before we even started shooting... and I don't think he ever varied from it, this was always gonna be his theme." "...United States was... economy class." "I think the thing that we'd all like to do here... and I'd like us all to do is, you know... without mentioning genitalia, be as honest about the making of the picture... as possible." "So we rolled through Texas..." "I think you've silenced us." "I took away your first comment." "Yes, I think we're done now." "...look at the Detroit Pistons." "I always loved the people, the LA people talking." "The shock of... the nonsense that we talk about." "You got a bunch of psychotic..." "One of the biggest challenges at the beginning of this... was making this whole Spanish section, the introduction to LA... to compress it... to compress the events so that we got the sense of journey... from their life in Mexico... to this upcoming life in Los Angeles." "...Monica, gave us shelter." "For the next six years... neither of us ventured outside our new community." "Mum worked two jobs, paying a total of $450 a week... each of us doing everything we could to make things work." "There are just so many avenues open to make quick money... if you're a single parent and you don't speak the language." "And Paz Vega, there's no exaggerating how many people we looked at... how many countries we contacted, we looked in, to find her." "And this girl here, Shelbie Bruce..." "I'm gonna call your attention to her a few times... it's a miracle, this kid." "She was 11 years old when she did the picture... she'd never done, really, any professional acting before." "And you'll just start to see it." "I'll point it out from time to time." "She needed $450 from one job." "And that meant, after all her time in America..." "So this is what, about 4 minutes of film, guys?" "So this is what, about 4 minutes of film, guys?" "This was envisioned maybe as 15 minutes of film." "This at one time was 8 minutes." "This was months and months of..." "This was..." "I guess more time was spent on editing this 4 minutes down to this 4 minutes... than anything we did." "This and, really, the next scene, is what we spent most..." "And that was folly, the time spent on the next scene... you know, I think." "Holding out had helped though." "She was no longer intimidated." "Working for Anglos now posed no problems." "It would just be a job." "This was based on a painting..." "D.J. Hall, a California artist." "We reproduced one of her paintings." "She kept on doing upscale women of a certain kind... that we replicated for that." "And that moment when she hit the door... was always where we breathed easy in the preview." "And there were 13 previews we did... which is a part of the story we may get to." "But always that huge laugh was the best feeling in the world." "What does that matter when your nose is bleeding?" " Shut up, Deborah." " Now you got it, Mum." " There's no ice pack, Bern!" " So get anything frozen." "Cloris came in very late in the filming... when Anne Bancroft, who was wonderful... was taken ill and she had to have an operation." "She's fine now." "But Cloris replaced her and that changed the tone of the picture as well." "Now, Téa..." "I always think we got into a crazy thing... 'cause people started to write about difficulty between Téa and myself... when we were still filming... and when we were finding the character that you're seeing her do here... you know, sort of, almost impossible to nail." "And what happened is there was a very hard process... where not only Téa's talent came to the fore... but her gut-check... her ability to gut-check came to the fore." "There's never been a character like the one she plays here... as far as I'm concerned." "She had a thread and needle that we couldn't see." "She's truly amazing, I have to say she's probably... my favourite character in the movie... because she's got so many... complexities." "She may be... dark and not nice to her children... but she's vulnerable, too, and you can see that in this scene." "I always felt, not a mean bone in her body, but there's something... that I won't be able to get to in this DVD." "There's something that I even should not comment on." "But there's something in doing an American career woman... from this perspective... at a time where most career women carry around this load of guilt... which she plays every second, her load of guilt... and don't quite wanna look at it." "There's still the myth that you can be the perfect career mum... and the perfect mum at the same time." "And this is a woman who lives nakedly with the price you have to pay... when you try and do both those things." "And that turns out, I think, to be very sociopolitical and..." ""watch it," which is a word for:" ""Watch it, buddy."" "Maybe that's why I like her so much." "Okay, let's just talk." "The woman playing Monica, Cecilia Suárez... is one of the great actresses in Mexico." "Yes." "No." "Not right now." "Why?" "How do you know to ask that?" "It's okay." "I can talk about it." "I just..." "I ran a commercial design company until four months ago... when it was downsized to zip." " Now I'm a full-time mum." "Gulp!" " Double gulp." "Sarah Steele, the girl who just did "double gulp."" "Maybe 2,000 kids looked at." "Despaired of finding her." "It's all about first names and closeness here." "Here's what I said before about folly." "This scene..." "I think there might be a piece we show you later, I'm not sure... that wasn't in it, it was a longer scene than you're seeing." "As it is, it's an extraordinarily long scene... and I always thought of the picture as resting on some pylons of scenes." "This being one of them." "Now here's a tip." "I don't know how many tips will happen during this DVD... but here's a tip." "And I sort of know this rule, but I sort of violate it a little here." "Flor." "It's crucial when you show what to an outsider." "It's one of the big decisions you make." "You gotta make sure you're ready for it." "You gotta make sure you've reached your own attitudes before you do it." "I showed a version of this scene... very early in the game, to an outsider... who didn't like the scene at all." "And then we spent, on the basis of that, being so jolted by that... we spent weeks editing the scene... which, after all these previews I'm convinced... would have worked in any form we had it." "That becomes considerable because we were up against a release date." "Not that there's not anything I'd change in the film that much... but it was just where time got away from us... for a reason that wasn't profitable." "And I lay it to that reason:" "When you show what to who." " Pretty honest, huh?" " Yeah." "That's pretty honest." "This is also still the introduction of all these characters... and it's important... when you're looking at footage and cutting a movie, to be... precise with how you introduce people and not stay too long with them... or show too little." "You wanna give just enough so that the audience can get into the story." "I think we were worried about that, too." ""Were we giving too much, too little?"" "Yeah, and they got her with her first comments." "And they got her." "They got Deborah." "They got her, I think, in some strange way that we were always hoping for." "They embraced her." "And we did spend time trying to figure out... how to tone her down, and played with that tone." "And there was a lot of stuff." "At one point, one of the things I hated cutting out... but there was "mean" in it... and the character we ended up with had no "mean" in it... but a defensive kind of mean... where she pretended to speak Spanish at one moment... just after they had said something horrible about her in Spanish." "It was mean, but she was also very vulnerable." "And it's just the fact that we're saying those words simultaneously... which is one of the hard things Téa had to play." "Welcome to the family." "I mean, people throw those words like "brave" and, you know..." ""letting the character speak."" "Every cliché you say is agony to get to, and Téa got there." "It was just a remarkably brave performance." "I had never known that my mother had been chronically worried about money... until the first glimpse of her as financially unburdened." "Okay, now, just let me, just..." "Look at Shelbie, the kid, and look how free she is." "Look how she wants to be in a movie, look how natural she is." "It's not allowed." "It's not allowed to be doing one of the first scenes in your life... and being this lifelike." "Is this good?" " Gracias." " You're welcome." "Here you go." "Enjoy." " Gracias." " You're welcome." "I guess we'd all have bet at one point... this scene wouldn't have been in the final picture... but without it, you didn't see her with her child enough." "I mean, we felt there was critical mass on that." "Also, it's one of the few times in the movie... at least early on, where we see her kind of young and happy." "And it's important because she gets that way later on." " Yeah." " It's nice to see the contrast." "Yeah, the heroine, which was tricky here... the heroine was a stern, dedicated heroine... who knew life was tough and was willing to make any sacrifice naturally... just for the survival of her kid." "And that's cultural." "I mean, that's not special, not particularly heroic... it had to be culturally heroic... 'cause that's the kind of mothers that, you know, that are in the culture." "Also, this was really the first scene in the movie... where she's actively translating for her mother." "And every time we tried to either reduce the scene or take it out..." " we missed it terribly." " Yeah." "My mother said to tell them..." "That was one of the things that happened in all the research we did." "You know, I don't speak Spanish." "People I was interviewing and trying to talk to... spoke Spanish and sometimes brought their kids who translated for them... and then we got into what that dynamic was." "And you just see where the focus was." "What we're not gonna talk about is how we got that leather thing they're sitting on... and the colour..." "You're not gonna hear that in this." "And the colour..." "You're not gonna hear that in this." "Left!" "It was always the idea... impossible to do a picture about Los Angeles... maybe possible to do a picture on a few blocks that you focused on... this being the prime one." "Okay, here's my version of:" ""We really needed a leather couch."" "That French toast you just saw." "Created by Thomas Keller, arguably the best chef in the world." "Been called that in print a lot." "And he had to make great French toast." "And what he did is, he put cornflakes on top of it... and what he put in it was chocolate and..." "I think chocolate and cream cheese and almonds... and lots of butter." " Yes." " Okay." "This is a scene that we did a lot of playing with." "I'm glad you like it." "But you could do without this." "We had a broader version of this where she tried too hard... to make her daughter feel good about what she had cooked... and went wildly over the top in trying to be a supportive mother... that was sort of comic." "And we had one that was much shorter... where you just saw the dagger go in the kid's heart." "And she was, of course, unmindful of it." "Okay." "It's just... no taking the ball from the dog." "Just don't." "No fetch." "No." "Never do fetch with this dog." "Okay?" "Never." "But here was the key thing:" "Getting permission to start to present these people and move them along." "And the story's gonna catch up with you." "So everything in the picture at this point is to make the people the story." "It was by design that Adam would make a very late entrance in the movie... even later than this, at one point." "Hey, Dad!" "Are you as mad at me as Mum 'cause of what happened?" "No, Georgie, I'm not." "Are you mad at me?" " No." " Good." "Let's hope." "When it comes to the kids, John, we got to stay on the same page!" "This was a re-shoot." "There was a big commitment... to do a real married argument." "There's 10 minutes, some of which I might show you on added scenes... where we go into the details of the argument, some stuff I love." "But the idea, the story purpose was to do an argument, to catch the dynamic:" ""What's wrong with this couple?"" ""No, I'm not mad."" "Good guy... bad guy." "Which tended to resonate with everybody." "That "good guy, bad guy." That is, the dynamic in a marriage... is not that unfamiliar." "Nor is this." "You're right." "This is a very identifiable argument... which makes it easy to understand these two early on." "And like those married arguments, go find right or wrong." "Right." "...infuriating me." " Wrong breast." " Oh, my God!" "And that's the other thing about Téa's character Deborah... is that it's not just a straight bad-guy character." "She's got things that you can identify with." "The husband who's not understanding the discipline... the way she wants it, that kind of thing." "And it's a weird thing." "Sometimes the only way we prove that we love each other... is if we can really drive each other crazy." "Great God in heaven, save me." "And that line began an odd romance." "I didn't know Deb found somebody." "Because..." "Well, I'll get into that later." "But to pray for help..." "And the help he's gonna get from this girl by the end of the movie... is some reminder of his own worth." "This is..." "And this gets into a very verboten area, as we discover." "John, this is Flor." "Flor." "Great." "I'll take Georgie to school." "Now remember, what Paz is playing at every moment... is somebody who doesn't understand English... but you can see from..." "The reason I didn't use subtitles is that you can put yourself in her shoes... 'cause you're gonna hear the Spanish and you don't quite get it." "So you sort of feel what it is not to quite get what's happening around you." "And how much you do get." "You're fine." "Deb?" " What?" " You love me." "I have to say Adam is amazing in this character... because he's so naturally this person... and yet we haven't seen him as this guy ever before." "The world knows him as someone different, sillier... and yet he's comfortable... as this nice, good chef, nice father." "Yeah, and it was always my sense of him more than anything else... that the other persona for all those funny movies that he did... is so deep." "But this..." "Never a false moment for him." " Damn." " What?" "The "what" guy is Phil Rosenthal... who's the creator and executive producer of Everybody Loves Raymond." "Very funny guy." "Angela Goethals... who I'd worked with before in television, and who..." "Given the number of her lines, nobody ever scored bigger in a movie." "That's not the thing." "That's not the problem." "I worked at a restaurant in New York that had four stars." "It was like a line formed to become an asshole." "People's accents changed." "The heart went out of the place." "Here's a good thing about the research... because there was a lot of research on restaurants:" "It busted all the clichés for me." "Noisy, crude places of temperament, which might exist... but not Thomas Keller's kitchen." "And not his outlook towards the profession." "That's what we tried to get in the picture." "Here we are, ladies." "I don't know what to root for." "The thought of one star gets me nauseous... but with four, there's no place to go but, "My God, they took away one of my stars!"" " The Times liked the first course." " You know what you want?" "Three and a quarter stars." "Yes, that would be perfect." "This is also another scene we went back and forth on a number of times." "And yet it's so important to show that he doesn't want to be... the top of his game." "He just wants to be at a comfortable place in everything." "I always thought that's sort of what made somebody a hero, when to say stop." "When to say, "This is okay right here, I don't need any more. "" "And, of course, he couldn't stop it." " That's a great pour." " My favourite glass of wine." "I'm in the vitamin section and this little hip-hop girl, what's her name?" "That's great about Cloris." "In other words, you're about to..." "She'll call your attention in to..." "She's going to pour a glass of wine and walk over to a table." "She'll call your attention, make you discuss how much of a pour..." "That's what led to that and really set up the scene." "God bless the language barrier." "It keeps you from being bored with me." "Anyway, she said:" " "Aren't you Evelyn Wright?"" " Oh, my God!" "First of all, that she remembered me from the old covers." " Yeah." " And then she..." " Oh, please." "Her name." " Stop it." " It makes the story so much better." " It's still a good story." "We all, I think the one thing the whole company had in common... is how much everybody ended up being touched by Sarah Steele... who plays Bernice." "Just the actress... she was just this enormously winning kid." "And, I think, just perfectly cast for that reason." "It's just in her, just good kid is in her, deep." "Well, you think your life is embarrassing, and then... somebody finds encouragement in it." " You understand?" " I think I do." "Mum, it's not even noon." "The mother-daughter relationships that thread throughout are great, too." "Because you notice it, then you don't notice it, and then it comes back to you." "At a certain level it's his story... and it's Paz's story, but the mother-daughter keeps happening." "You know what's so interesting, too?" "The one thing everybody in the picture has in common and nobody says to anybody... maybe Paz and Adam a little bit, is:" ""Oh, my God, we're all struggling for survival. "" "Everybody, this kid is struggling for survival, Cloris was in that last scene." "They don't say, "Since we're all doing it, maybe we're not that much at risk. "" "They couldn't quite share the notes." "Stop it." "The man you're looking for is not a ruse." " What does "ruse" mean?" " Phoney." "Roosevelt!" "If I'd ever heard of that word before, that would lock it in." "Kids are great that way." "Every moment of their lives is so extreme that there's a conscious struggle of survival." "Everything that goes wrong is so devastating." "Kids and directors." "I went nuts." "I got so much stuff." "Great!" "She needed a boost." "This was one of the most cut scenes, I think, most revised scenes." "It kept changing, you know... as we proceeded with the cut." "How we wanted to focus on which characters... and which relationships we wanted to focus on." "And this was one of these multi-character scenes... that allows you to shift the focus as needed." "And I think we tried it that way." "If we held the camera on Paz... and had almost everything off-camera, which we did a version of at one point..." " it's a different movie." " It is, very much so." "I think that was true no matter who we put the camera on in this scene." "It's truer than you can almost deal with." "One of the worst lessons we all learn... is that when you find yourself obsessing and obsessing... it's never improper." "It's just that big a deal." "So even as you obsess, you don't admit what a big deal it is, don't you think?" "Yeah, I know, I think that's true." "...then I wouldn't be able to tell you that... your gift to me... is a ruse." " Honey, I..." " Please, just excuse me." " Hey, Bernie..." " I just..." "I just need to be alone right now, okay?" "I'm sorry." "It's okay." "Now it's amazing here, in a country of fat camps... where there's an obesity story on the front page of the paper every other day... how completely every audience always thought... it was horrible to get her clothes of the smaller size... when she was between the sizes." "I agree with them, by the way, but it's so amazing... how much we say, "You don't need to eat that, you shouldn't eat that. "" "We gotta be on the same page." "That's the most important thing." "I don't know why it has to be so hard." "I need a minute." "The fact that Deborah doesn't know she's done anything wrong... is also an amazing thing." ""She's right between the two sizes, I thought about it." ""What are we supposed to do, help her denial?" She always has a case." "I always love that she goes for some woman's bond." "With the person who doesn't speak English... but understands just enough to deplore her totally." "Sorry, I didn't even help you with the door." "No, what I meant was..." "Paz's facial expressions just explain everything, too." "I mean, if she didn't have that ability to... show so much on that beautiful face... we wouldn't have the story." "And she has that, you know." "To me, she's a notably beautiful woman, Paz Vega." "International beauty, whatever the heck that means." "I never worked with anybody with beauty of that type." "But yet, she's such a good actress it never got in the way of the performance." "You're not looking at her now saying, "She's beautiful," or, "Look at those eyes."" "You're just seeing an actress and you're seeing story." "He appeared to be a good man." " Aren't you?" " Yes." "It's also that you diffuse that beauty issue in that interview scene... where the first thing out of Téa's mouth when she meets her... is that, "You're gorgeous."" "It sort of embraced the fact that she was gorgeous... and we could accept it and go beyond it." " And that it was irrelevant to her." " Yeah, exactly." "What're you doing?" "We're still moving." "I'll take you all the way to the bus stop." "Here's where I'm never happy with myself, but it was because, you know... very often, art is interrupted by a reluctance to hurt a young woman physically." "If that car was moving 10 miles an hour faster and she had to leap out... that would've been exactly the right moment." "Because the idea of risking physical danger to leap out of the car..." "Man, I can't do it, I can't." "I remember when you were shooting this scene... and the look on Paz's face when you were explaining that through the translator... that she had to hop out of a moving car." "Yes, having not learnt "no stunt double" yet." "It was actually when the two of you turned away from each other... that look on her face of, "Oh, God."" "That'll keep the speedometer down." "Now again, just watch Shelbie." "First acting job." "Natural, nothing overplayed, totally in the scene." "Her rules were bending." "She was losing her battle to remain uninvolved..." "How relaxed her body is." ""Try it on."" "Try..." "And she was the pivot." "She's the danger of assimilation, Shelbie, that's what..." "She's a little metaphor." ""Just try it on."" "Just try on." "Just." "The concept of the daughter teaching the mother at this age... is also amazing, and, I'm sure, very common in this culture." "One of the big things is, and I guess it's the story of a lot of immigrants... the guilt the daughters carry with them... knowing their mothers sacrificed to set them up like this." "You know, what they had to go through to give them a shot." "And also, being truthful in that scene when the mother is almost slightly annoyed... that her daughter knows more than she does." "We've made her a stern mother... but the culture has corporal punishment, still, as just part of it." "...dieting, exercising American women..." "Left!" "This hill is that hard, she is in that shape." "She could beat those guys." "Left!" "She did the most amazing amount of working out in this movie, though... running and everything, take after take." "I love that it happens a couple of times, just the used Kleenexes in bed... for the people going through this story." "Wow!" "Taste, she has." "Just try it on." "What we are in the business of doing at this point, I think... is holding back and not declaring what the story is." "There were several stories afoot, but the big one... is we have done a boy-meets-girl." "It was a noisy boy-meets-girl." "God in heaven save me, and there's the girl." "But holding back and holding back... because the people they played were not aware of that story at all." "They had no thoughts of each other at this point, even though that was the story." "So it's how much that moment is delayed and beside the point... because it wasn't the point." "The point was her survival with her daughter, her survival in this country." "...and uses it to watch me grunt my way... into a..." " It fits!" " Okay." "We'd walked some lines with this when we talked to each other... because we'd go down one direction and somebody could say, "Mary Poppins"... and we'd quickly reverse." "We were so afraid of that kind of nanny, which she wasn't." "We didn't want to overplay." "This was a job for her, it was a job." "She was on guard against too much involvement with the family." "She had her own family." "But it was a natural instinct to do some of these things." "Even this hug was meant to be somewhat awkward... and they don't know what to do with it." "To keep the barrier, to keep the truth of that little invisible barrier up." "So, Jim, how did you come up with the idea... of having the grandmother and the grandson singing old tunes?" "Well, it's this tune, too, Lush Life." "I mean, I still get a little perverse rush." "The saddest, oddest, most poetic bar song there is... about when Paris is no longer the answer because life is so bad." "And she's teaching it to an 8-year-old." " Make room." " I know." "But every time he has a nightmare, I teach him one of my old songs." "That way, his nightmares have a purpose." "But I don't have to sing it for anyone." "Right, you're clear on that." "I guess it's the point of the movie... that alcoholism has many vices... but one of the side effects is it makes you a damn good grandparent." "76,000, which is great for a jazz album." "I got something to look forward to." "Trust me, it's true." "This is it." "Your future is there." "This is the thing that makes him a hero, he's about to read his review." "The only review that could really do it for him is impossible... and that's a headline that says, "Everything stays exactly the same."" "Fuck you." "I'm so glad we kept that in." "Dad!" "For Christ's sake, why are you screaming?" "Why, crazy father, why aren't you screaming?" "I'm working on it." "The stunned thing has to get dealt with." ""John Clasky..."" " No." " Yes." "This is in part based on, I mentioned the chef Thomas Keller... who left the New York glitzy scene when it wasn't doing it for him anymore... and found a small, perfect restaurant." "The only problem was, it was so small you couldn't make a real living at it... and opened it up in the Napa Valley, the French Laundry." "Then one day the New York Times visited it... and called it the best restaurant in the United States." "And then everything changed for him." "But he was fine." "He used it in a great way to do what he always wanted to do with cooking." "This guy's life is blown apart." ""Eating at this perfect, smaller, passionate restaurant..." ""inspires one's own abandonment of caution." ""To wit..." ""John Clasky is the best chef in the United States."" " Look how great you read it." " Perfect, Dad." "John, four stars." "Oh, my God." "You even look different to me." "That was an audience laugh that I never understood, quite." "Cloris always got a laugh with, "You even look different to me."" "I don't mean to interrupt your laugh, but exactly what do you find amusing there?" "Because it does touch something, clearly." "I think what we got out of a lot of rehearsal... between Adam and Téa... is a comfort that let them be loose physically with each other... which really helped this scene." "I think if they had met each other the week before... or hadn't spent time together rehearsing... they couldn't have had this ease with each other." "Don't worry." "I'll wait for you." "Because sometimes good manners can get in the way of acting." "You don't know each other that well." "You're not sure if you should take the lead, if it throws the other person." "That's what's great about rehearsal." "Ladies and gentlemen, the mother of two children!" "How did you come up with the... taking the pants off with her feet?" " Téa came up with that." " Did she?" "All sorts of physical stuff, she was pitching all the time." "There's a lot of each of them in this." "Go." "To me, this starts as perfect marital sex... because the guy is adoring her." "And just unconditional approval." "Just go." "Now she's on." "It's all you!" "If he was a bachelor and this was the crazy girl for a one-nighter, it's okay." "This is his wife." "And even somebody as totally approving as he is..." "The mood swings are up." "Deb, cheer up!" "What am I going to do about me?" "No, not yet!" "Great sex." "I remember early in conversation... we had worried about taking him from a sex scene with his wife... to seeing Paz, as he will here, which we've..." "I hope successfully, played in a way that it's innocent and respectful... but it does start the story rolling even more." "And it was so much the crux." "Just what you say when you say, you know..." "We did obsess over this." "We didn't give the wrong impression." "We didn't wanna say it was an excuse to get hot over the maid." "People laid that on us all the time." "These are two innocents... who feel a kinship that is not romantic at all at this point." "Also, in many of the scenes... you walk on a certain, almost an edge of a razorblade... because if you linger on Paz's looks, too long... it becomes a romantic scene." "Be happy." "Be happy." "Yeah." "Absolutely." "It's a tricky question, you know." "And I guess it is a touchy subject... if you're married and you're committed to one individual." "But does that close you off to any kind of real human contact... with somebody of the opposite sex forever?" "Are you allowed to have things in common?" "Are you allowed to get close at all, even if you don't go too far?" "I think Richie and I have to say, "No comment."" "And not about each other." "I mean, this is not a racy cutting room." "But I think that's part of the sensitivity that's at play here." "Falling in love with one person and marrying one person... doesn't necessarily cut you off from respecting... connections with other people." "Or being attracted to other people... in some way." "Yeah." "The friendship carries danger." "But here, you couldn't have... more scrupulously honourable people." "I had to, right then, or I would have lost him." "But we were aware that we were walking that line... and that's why we had 13 previews... to make sure of our communication with the audience." "I don't exist." "There was a moment in the writing of this... where I couldn't imagine this picture happening... unless there was one night of lovemaking... between Flor and John." "And then doing the picture primarily sequentially..." "And then doing the picture primarily sequentially... it became absolutely unthinkable that that would happen." "It's the biggest shift I ever had... between thinking of something in the script and doing the movie." " Hi." " Hi there." "This was always, "How do you show an affair most briefly and most..."" " Okay." " Good." "I think it's great that it's exactly that." "It's just this dynamic that happens... in the briefest of moment between these two people." "I'm never gonna be one of those girls whose hair..." "Right." "Woman at the end of her rope, needing something from a man." "And, like, the most base thing." "A man who makes her feel beautiful." " Instead of a mess." " By putting a window up, you know." "You must be trouble." "If you cut to him..." "We had a cut to him after that, then it became smarmy." "Yeah." "Because of that one cut." "It was lascivious, the cut." "Isn't it gorgeous?" "It's beautiful." "It's fabulous." "Perfect." "What word is the same in Spanish?" "Thank you." "So, this will be your room, okay?" "Don't worry." "I'm gonna put lots of nice stuff in here, too." "Ida Random, the production designer... and Leslie Pope, who did all the interior design... they had to represent... somebody who was brilliant at casually decorating... that didn't just do "rich person's house," that didn't have a decorator." "Deborah knew how to do this." "She'd fix up the room a little, do little touches." "She was eclectic." "She picked up things." "This was true in her main house." "It was true in this house." "This I always wanted to do, the Malibu you don't see, where it's..." "There's this blood spill right outside your perfect door... because Pacific Coast Hwy." "Is one of the most dangerous streets." "Excuse me." " Excuse me, do you speak English?" " Yes, I do." "Would you please help me?" "Will you translate for me with her?" "Okay." "I heard a rumour about this wonderful character actor we're seeing now." "I'm not going to find out whether it's true." "This is alleged." "I heard just six weeks ago... that he doesn't speak Spanish." "That he had conned me." "And it's so great if it's true now, because it means he learned enough... to convince me, because I would've never hired somebody who didn't speak Spanish." "So it's, either way, hats off." "You have a daughter?" "A whole daughter you've never mentioned?" "This is a little crazy that I don't know this." "The great thing about this scene... is not only are we learning that Deborah didn't know she had a daughter... we, again, are showing that men look at Flor... and start to drool." "They go gaga." "They just think that she's something... and yet, that conversation of glossing over it... because Deborah's okay with it... but there's this kind of ticking time bomb in the household." "In the backstory that we didn't put in the picture... her husband had gone back to crime without telling her... and his crime was producing knockoffs of luxury items." "She found out when he was arrested and taken away for 25 years." "And there was one of his associates... who flew them into the country in a small private plane." "And there was always a line I hated losing:" ""She would no longer be drawn to men with rough edges..." ""goodness would be her catnip."" "It was a narrator's line I hated to lose, because it so much... set her up for what the connection was with John." "And here we just worked so hard and I don't think I ever got it great." "But the idea of it was so enormous... that you're just thrown into a casual decision." "I need you to sleep in." "You're gonna sleep in or not?" "I need somebody to do that." "And you're gonna create the rest of your life with your decision." "That's the truth and that's the ruling class-underclass kind of... gritty truth... that, I think, neither class can fully come to terms with... because it's just such a big deal." "How do you live when every decision controls your life?" "The first time one sees natural beauty which is privately owned... oceans as people's backyards confounds the senses." "Oh, my gosh." "I didn't know God had a toy store for the rich." "The beaches are so clean." "It's beautiful." "I just wanna call attention to the voice of the narrator, Aimee Garcia... 'cause not only is she a kid who comes from the background... of the narrator... but her spirit just..." "We were changing the narration all the time, as we changed the picture." "So she would be in the cutting rooms endlessly, and unflagging." "You want to go swimming?" "I think she camped out in a corner." "She'd work out on the stairs." "Go up and down." "You ever see her do that?" "When we were just... sodden." "Oh, God, you could make a fortune at surrogate pregnancy." "How you doing?" "I'm John." " Hello." " Great." "Come on out and meet everybody." "This is also a tricky scene because... there are so many different characters you can have the camera on at different points... to read what's happening, and it was..." "This was a tough one, yeah." "No comparisons, please." "I'm not even gonna respond to that." "Come here." "My mum says it's best if we go, get out of your way, and put our things away." "Yes, go get settled." "I think Shay Cunliffe, the costumer, just did such a great, understated job." "I could always count on her... for having put so much time into everything that it was accurate." "The idea was to make them specific and not call particular attention to it." "I need to make a serving platter for serving fish out of sea glass like this." "It was weird." "Having looked for sea glass a lot of my life... and just find a piece every once in a while... and always envying collections, that suddenly you tell a prop man... there's a scene with sea glass and you get a bucket... that you could've spent four lifetimes and not..." "All right, $5 for any piece that isn't brown, clear, or green." "Her seeing her mother do the work... the minute we saw it, it always had such an extraordinary impact... her seeing that." "That brief, and it just..." "When we first cut it in like that, it was just a stunner." "The first moment of this child actually feeling... maybe some embarrassment at what her mother does... in comparison to the other family." "Oh, my God, Georgie." "The lesson that you never learn enough... is how thoroughly every member of an audience... understands every moment of a film... and just what was going on here in this section." "They were laughing so early in it... in terms of the kid just... obsessing over getting the stones for the money." "Here's something that always impresses me." "That's a fake rock." " Weighs a pound." " Doesn't impress me so much." "Okay, it's not Matrix, but it's still an interesting..." "Still something, isn't it?" "I mean, we just put a rock there that wasn't a real rock." "See, this is that fixed-up room, the few little Deborah touches." "What's wrong?" "Cloris is making sangria, I love that." "Flor." "I'm sorry." "Very sorry." "It's sort of interesting because... basically, at this point, it's just so human." "He's whitey." "He's part of that family." "He's part of those people that... just grab her daughter and take it." "It's his way of dealing with this." "She just wants this guy to get lost." "She doesn't want anybody to intrude on her privacy like this." "Thanks." "Now, up until this point in the movie, she has watched from a distance... and noticed where they're all struggling." "This is the first time she becomes vulnerable and somebody else notices." "It's that kind of turning point." "Simpático does mean something different to a Mexican... than it means to us." "It doesn't mean "on the same wavelength," and she's just plain not." "I really am sorry that this is happening." "She doesn't want to hear any..." "She doesn't understand what he's saying, anyway." "I didn't mean like..." "And miscommunicates." "I think it's the only thing she fully understands in the whole scene." "That he goofed up by touching his heart." "Thank you so much." "In the script it was that she changes her hairdo... and then Téa came up with this idea for the different colours... and it just was so great." "It hit right away." "Again, it's so amazing how so totally every member of an audience... sees this as a violation, instead of a fun thing." "You'd think there'd be some people who wouldn't." "But we always got a reaction of that first shot of Cristina... as soon as they saw the hair." "I think it's because they understand Flor." "I think that has to be it." "I just think that you're... the most amazing white woman that I've ever met." "I've always seen this as the first real romantic scene in the movie... where this girl just idolises this woman." "Absurd, but deeply appreciated, Cristina." "Oh, my gosh." "Thank you so much." "That was so fun." "Well, that's America:" "Beautiful, generous." "Did something bad happen?" "Cristina, tell your mother those wash right out." "It's no big deal." "Not right now." "What?" "You can't just take someone else's kid and then make them over." "Don't go there." "Or I'll go there, and you know where "there" is." "My favourite response in the movie." "Because what the charge is, your promiscuous, alcoholic past." "And the only proper answer is..." "Just keeps on shifting." "Mother, daughter." "Different mother to daughter." " What's this?" " For you." "From?" "Look, you are not yourself." "This was written in anger." "Will you hold on?" "Sleep on it." "You still want me to have it, that's fine." "It's so great that she can't deal with herself." "This is what she does to her own bad voices all the time." "Nobody can do this alive." "No actress alive can do this but Téa Leoni." "This was an amazing day of dailies to watch." "Insensitive?" "It takes extraordinary strength, and I'm given to more than a few takes." "Stupid." "I think there was a take where there were two cameras, one on Adam and one on her." "You had Adam keep reading one of the lines, and she was stuck in that pose... and finally she said, "Enough!"" "That's why they look at me funny at the end of the day." "Get on board, pal." "I slept." "There are scenes that you pray work well." "This scene always worked beyond my imagination." "No, please." "Don't worry about it." "You really don't have to pay me." " Please, don't worry about it." " I'm just kidding." " When you count it up, give me a holler." " I did count." "Many times." "I didn't sleep." "I counted." "All right, what do I owe you?" "Give it to me." "$640." "The hardest figure to come up with..." "I think it was written as 1,200-and-something... which was preposterous, and 300, just trying to figure out that number." "How about we figure this out tomorrow, okay?" "You even told me, you said that $5..." "I know, I promised." "It's all coming back to me now." "Let me just go deal with this." "I guess there was no scene I worried more about... than the one coming up." "And there was never a time where I didn't think... it was basically the picture." "That everything leads to this scene and stems from this scene." "I think it's the longest scene I ever did, the one coming up." "Cristina?" "Okay." "Greatest sandwich ever." "Thomas Keller sandwich." "Nobody ever miss." "This is the greatest sandwich in film history." "I take no credit for it." "Mr. Keller was on the set." "The ooze is perfect." "It has to be cooked just right for that ooze." "You have that with a beer and a sports section... and that pour is important, too... and you are living right at that moment." "I have to say that at this point in every screening..." "I wanted that beer and sandwich so badly." "We're about an hour in?" "We would be screening at nights, hadn't had dinner." "How long is this scene, Rich?" "This is about seven minutes from beginning to end." "Yeah." "Sure." "You can talk to me." "I don't have to sleep first?" "What's wrong?" "Come on, sit down." "I'm sorry." "Did you give this money to my daughter?" "I made a deal with the kids." "All the kids." "Oh, no!" "Please." "You don't tell or ask the mother when you give a child a fortune... for looking on the beach for stones?" " What is the word for this?" " Sea glass." "No, not a name for the stones." "A name for the action, what you did." "I always thought that it was so dangerous whenever they were in one spot... because of the Spanish happening at the same time." "I had no idea." "Watching now, I'd say I should have moved him even sooner." "But they do keep moving." "But $50 is a lot of money." "As much as you're watching the dynamic between John and Flor... you can't take your eyes off Shelbie, 'cause she's doing such a great job... of being both of them." "Yeah, that was her audition scene." "And she's 11 years old, a wonderful, sheltered child... in life, so it's just sheer talent." "I know what it's like when you feel your kid's being messed with." "It won't happen again." "And still not a thought, there's no thought of romance here." "It's just, some anger is going to get them to the next plateau." "She's been living with her anger, he hasn't been living with his anger at all." "You guys get some sleep." "Sleep?" "No." "We didn't cut much content out of this scene, did we?" "Very little." "This really is complete script, this scene." "...I need to say, no matter what the result..." "I need to be impolite." "The fear was always that because we were having the Spanish... and then the girl translating into English... that the scene was going to play so incredibly long... but it doesn't, it has an incredible dynamic to it." "Your wife takes her for little tours." "And she changes her hair." "And you give her money." "Here, take back the money." "There's such a weird thing that I like in this scene... because he is carrying around a piece of information... that you also have, but it occurs to nobody... that information is going to come into play soon." "It's just a small thing, but it's..." "I didn't really mean to be angry to you." "Only emotional, for me." "What about hypocritical?" "Yes, you heard me!" "It's not like you didn't do the same thing." "Yes, you did." "So why don't you go lecture yourself?" "You won't need a translator for that one." "What am I lately, a recycling bin?" "Anybody dump in your garbage and hope I make something useful out of it?" "Yes, you did the same thing." "You think I don't know about you altering those outfits for Bernie?" "She tells me her stuff." "So am I missing something?" "This is so key, all our prejudice says there is a difference." "She is the wonderful second-world housekeeper... and he's the rich American." "There's no difference." "I interfered." "A woman who owns her behaviour." "You're kidding me?" "Again, no comment." "...concede the point." "I'm dazed here." "Also one bond which the audience completely relates to." "And this is the first time we allow any romance to be played, with the music." "And you were very right." "And this becomes, in all innocence, an intimate conversation." "And you could talk a long time about how afraid people were... to mention, in advance, this part of the relationship." "And people should talk a long time about it." "But how can I keep working for you after we talked like this?" "'Cause now they're on different ground." "Even if you wanted to." "And you know why." "And for the first time it occurs to her, "Is he coming on to me?"" "You know." "Why?" "My favourite reading of the movie." "If you do, Cristina will blame herself for costing you the job." "And that guilt..." "And she was wrong, it's right back to her kid." "I don't know if you know about guilt." "It's a very specific, weird intimacy they're having right now." "He's right into her head about her issues as a parent." "And yet it's all being translated through the third party, which is amazing." "I think that was a point where we were getting... such great response to Shelbie... that we put more of Cristina into that moment... and realised that it killed the intimacy, and we took it right out." "Yeah." "You can't be translating for me all the time." "I need to learn English now." "I really wasn't supposed to translate that." "Listen to your mother." "She knows it all." "Learning English would cost..." "This is the actual tapes they send out." "12 monthly payments of $86." "This was a tough montage." "22% interest." "Assimilation gets expensive." "The fascinating thing about these tapes... is it's not only just repeating back words... it's repeating back sentences, and sometimes it's jokes... party jokes and things, and so I think we played with a lot of different things... that she could be saying." "This dog, Mikey, we used two different dogs... but coming up, you're going to see..." "Mikey do a human expression of perplexity... that dogs don't do, the breed doesn't do." "This specific dog does." "And I'm going to try and show it to you, there!" "See the wrinkled brow?" "That's Mikey's ad-lib joke." "This is the moment I was referring to." "We did that the last minute, doing her in front of the television set." "Told Cloris to go in there, and that became the heart of it." "Have you any particular one in mind?" "I really enjoyed the Star Wars trilogy... by Mr. George Lucas." "I always worry about montage." "I think you have to be French to do them right." "Sorry." "Should we stop answering the phone?" "We're booked for four months solid." "No." "I want to keep some walk-in business." "I want this to stay neighbourhood." " The trick is stay the same." " Impossible, John." "There'd be riots." "You should hear the desperation in their voices." "Coming up he says something so weird." "Nobody ever comments that he says something so weird." "Sort of neat, you know, "What does he mean?"" "We'll serve the full menu at the bar." "That's not it." " Do this for me." " There's no way." "This is it." "Do this for me or I'll set my hair on fire and start punching myself in the face!" "Yeah, you're right." "That was an unusual way for me to make myself understood." "You sort of hope?" "We've all had that feeling, right?" " No?" "With family?" " Yeah." "We went back and got this little piece... just to give us a transition into his drunk scene." "Because without it, it was just too crazy a leap... and I was very grateful I was able to get this little piece." "The concept of a chef, he doesn't just get drunk... he gets drunk with Brie and pears." "We had a whole bunch of dialogue that I had to lose." "He said that if you drank in a cooler at 52 degrees... you didn't get as drunk." "Okay, thanks." "Great." "Thank you." "Thank you for the ride home... but it was not necessary." "All right, yes." "Four stars and I've never been more unhappy." "You know, when you think of it, guys... it could be a simpler scene, but because we were so... concerned with character and what could happen, what we went through on this..." "Yeah." "I think it went through each cutting room a couple of times, right?" "Yeah." "I don't know what to wear to the party." "I'm wearing jeans." "My favourite line in the movie." "No offence." "Well, you know, I played around with a few others there." "It felt good when I nailed it." "What are you wearing to the party?" "Who's always there for you at 2:30 in the morning?" "It was just, he is a kind of great guy where, if life isn't simple and true... he's in over his head, and I think that's what's so touching about him." "Don't you sleep anymore?" "You always called him Dagwood Bumstead, which I think fit." "Yeah, who was a great unrecognised American hero." "Exactly." " No." " Yes." "Now I am like a 2-year-old." "I finish." "No, keep going." "No, not until you finish it." "How close his face got, where he stood, everything drove us crazy on this." " Did she say where?" " No." "There's such a fine line between... showing romance and making people uncomfortable... because he is a married man, and this is their home." " Easy, easy!" " Okay." "I know, but that's what we used to say to each other in the cutting room." "And you couldn't just do a nice romantic comedy scene after somebody said that." "It was absolutely valid." "I don't know, we worried a lot in this scene... that he was getting predatory." "And I don't think that was ever true." "I don't think where he's come from in the film getting to here... that we could ever perceive of him as being predatory." "I meant to say..." " And he's so unaware himself, until..." " That's the innocence of it." "We had this shot out for a second." "That was preposterous to have this out." "Don't be sensitive." "Don't be wonderful." "We made one change." "He used to say, "Don't be beautiful."" "And we took that out and left the "wonderful" in." "I meant to say, "Hi, Flor."" "Good night, Flor." "That show you're watching is gonna be a hit." "I love that line, too." "I love his look up the stairs..." "I love that we know everything he's thinking at that moment." "I know that somebody who's just that regular guy on the outside... that we're seeing stirrings that he isn't aware of." "And, of course, there's the old expression." "Man, you do love me." "I was wondering." "What about the point I'm making?" "It's good, right?" "Cristina has already read, on her own... every book on Bernice's summer reading list." "And she's two grades behind her." "Can you imagine if she went to Bernice's school?" "I think I could probably get her a scholarship." "God knows they owe me." "Talk to Flor." "Yeah." "She's so open to new things." "Starting this scene on those shoes just changes the entire dynamic." "Because it has nothing to do with what she is saying... and you're understanding what she is saying... but it all leads to this, which is so great." "Anyway, I'm probably actually gonna be..." "The cell will be bad, so I'll just check in with you later." "It's so amazing, whatever perspective you want to use... if you want to do her affair... if you want to do her affair... but this way of just indicating her affair... probably ends up being more truthful... about what these things are, than if you had gone into it." "Right." " Deborah." " Arlene, what a surprise." "That's a real educator, that woman there." "...the girl I am always raving to you about." "This is Arlene Folsom, she's the School Director." " Hi." " Hello, a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Folsom." " Would you like a little tour?" " Really?" "Great." "She's gorgeous, isn't she?" "Hispanic." "We ran into the head of the school and Cristina knocked her out." "I had nothing to do with it." "This scene, there was just something wrong with." "I know, I think it's been in every version." "I know, I liked the kid behind the glass, I didn't mind what they were saying." "Fine, then don't." "It had to be in, because it was plot." "The phrase is "no, thank you."" "Mum was caught in a vise of manipulation." "Please, dear God... this is the most important prayer of my life." "It's about my education." "The health of my brain." "Please, dear God, enter my mother's heart." "Make her understand what this school means." "This is such a slight exaggeration... the number of black SUVs in the area we are talking about." "It really is slight." "We used to have a piece we couldn't justify... her going to the public school her daughter attended just to show the difference... but it was heavy-handed by my..." " Hi, Flor." " Hi." "Want some port?" "No, thank you, Evelyn." " How you doing?" " Hi." "Casual drinking." "What?" "Okay." "This is just, give him a kiss, and then they play this, the two of them, and it's just dear." "That's great work." "That little stumble, you can't do better." "Flor?" "Thanks for never judging me." "I love you." "I love everybody." "That's what's killing me." "May I talk with you?" "Me?" "I just spoke to Deborah." "She'll be back soon if you need to go over something." "I need to really talk." "Is okay?" " No." " No!" "Sure." "Sure." "I'm sorry." " Outside?" " Okay." "You know, you can't..." "They're each so committed to nothing happening." " Yeah." " And something is happening." "You have me a little nervous here." "This was a very tough scene." "Are we ever gonna stop?" "Just asking." "Too romantic here we're dead, and not have any... you were just boring." "You know about Cristina and your private school?" "Oh, that." "But ultimately, the discovery in this scene was that... the romance... came out of the concern that each had about their children." "And that, that was the driving force in the beginning of the scene." "...her school should let her know how great she is, right?" "There was a moment we had to cut out later on... because it was length, and we were so aware of that." "But where there was a moment when she leaned back... and they're both leaning back in the chairs at the same time... there was something wrong about it." "And it was so subtle, and we were all so crazy about it." "Man." "Throw it in the old subtlety bin." "...great to hear someone else say that out loud." "Hard to explain." "And there is a thing, I think, where you can't..." "To really love someone else, you've got to touch... you've got to get their love for their children." "Or else you're not getting them." "This is the job." "These are the decisions." "Worrying about your children is sanity." "And being that sane, the way you are, can drive you nuts." "Someone like you, I'm sorry." "If you think you're at some crossroads, you are." "This is also one of those instances... where music can make or break something... where we, I think, had something in the temp... that was a little heavier-handed." "And we were always worried that we were pushing romance too much." "And now there's this sweet, but haunting little melody underneath... that tells you something else is happening, but it's not throwing it at you." "Yeah." "How did you become that man?" "I don't know." "There was an answer I had in the script... where she says, "How did you become that man?"" "He says, "Two Jews meet in the desert, you wait 5,000 years..." ""bingo, another guy sees trouble coming a mile away..." ""doesn't know what to do about it."" "And everybody just stared at that joke, except me." "I didn't mean to..." "I want to be helpful." "It must be hard being a widow, doing it on your own." "Why do you think I am a widow?" "I guess I thought... that would be the only way..." "This is the only time in the movie she's an absolute girl." " That's true." " Free of everything." "So, okay... are you gonna send her?" "I don't know." "I think if I do, one of two things happens." "Either she will be odd?" "Odd, yes." "Or she will make herself the same as them." "I felt the same way about my kid going there." "So between odd and the same, you gotta be rooting for odd, don't you?" "Yes, you gotta." "I guess it's too late to ask but, is that the way most people feel?" "I didn't think to check that out, I just assumed that I was right in step." "They are probably two schools of thought on that one." "There are, huh?" "You speaking English, it's..." " What?" " Nothing." "It's nice meeting you." "Again, lines that I think we cut out for a while... which I think are so important... because she's the same person but a different person... but it's the first time he's truly met her... but it's the first time he's truly met her... because she can now really communicate." "And I think those lines are amazing." "It's always about lines that you fall in love with." "The notion in movies is you have to kill your darling." "Nobody ever talks about how every once in a while you have to save one of them." "I picked up your books yesterday." "I put them in one of Bernie's old, ancient backpacks." "Thank you." "This is gonna be a great school." "I can tell by the weight." "I got her just a little first-day-at-a-new-school..." "Somebody..." "I forget who it was." "Somebody came up to me." "This controversial character that Téa plays and says that, you know... it was so great 'cause he said..." "He referenced that he had been..." "That his wife was a little like Téa." "And then he said how he had spotted the jeweller where I got that." "He was right." "Which he bought for his..." "It's from all of us." "Your mum, too." "It's not from me." "Let's get going." "Don't be late." "Come on." "Thank you so much for this opportunity." "And everything." "Have a great year, girls." "This is so great." "She's totally out of her game." "This is, you could say, "Entered a foreign land."" "Spiritually, in every way." "Not knowing what to do." "No control over her kid." "No control over her life." "Left." "No left." "When we filmed this..." "Paz had always talked about having been an athlete." "She was a competitive swimmer." "And she is this quick, and Téa is a distance girl... and that part was absolutely true." "They had to do a lot of running for this." "It's a pretty steep hill, too." "You know, I ran college track." "Watch out." "What was the longest version of this, Richie, that we looked at?" "I think this..." "We had a version that was probably about five or six minutes long... of this race." "This is like 40 seconds or something?" "No, it's a little longer than that." "It's maybe two minutes." "Really?" "Minute and a half." "See you." "I love you for trying!" "When people exist under one roof, a tiny society forms... the stuff of novellas... masters and servants unconsciously dancing in lock step... so that when things go wrong... traumas converge." "At Mrs. Clasky's urging, I had invited two of my friends to her house... though I was expected at home." "Monica had finally managed to get her mother here from Mexico... and my mother was making a party." "Flor?" "Deb." "Sorry to call you so late." "But the girls are still studying and I gotta go out." "I know I promised to get her back... so if you want me to cut off the schoolwork... that's fine, whatever you want." "Let me think." "You know, in a way Shelbie is playing as dicey a character... as Téa is." "'Cause she's just up for grabs." "She's certainly not a child you deplore... and yet, she's a kid and she's falling for it." "Just a flash of guilt." "And back to Charlie's Angels." "The party's always so interesting because it's been a long time... since we've seen Flor in her element... 'cause we've been at the beach so long." "So you almost forget that she has that other culture, that other life." "Wait." "I need to talk to you privately, honey." "One thing I wasn't able to quite get... and part of it was because you got this wonderful ride of Cloris... but, it was always the intent... that at a certain point things shift... and the parent who raised you... is now dependent on you and is terrified about your goodwill." "So that she spent her time avoiding her daughter... and trying not to get her attention in any way." "So at the end of the picture... in the script stage, this was going to be enormous... how much she demanded a confrontation, to do this for her." "...you are going to lose your husband... if you don't stop what you are doing." "And you will never find someone as good." "There'll only be men who you know are cheap and shallow... and have no real warmth in their souls." "You may have gotten by on those surfaces once but now... you have been spoiled by a good man." "If you do not act quickly... you will soon cement an awful fate for yourself... a life with no hope of repair... which has already begun to turn desperate and dumb." "That's it." "Drive carefully." "Out of coffee." "It's over for me." "You've done it again, Mother." "Made me hate myself." "One of the things that I can count on." "Her problem is so great 'cause she's neither heavy nor heroine." "So there's no clear "What's she gonna do?"" "In the middle of everything Deborah has to deal... with this sober, self-confident, stronger mum." "It's such a great moment to have Cloris' character... finally just talk back to her daughter... who hasn't shown a lot of respect throughout the movie to her." "And she's absolutely right in what she's saying." "Only people with problems now." "And I always felt... you know, emotionally, at this point..." "Flor was aware that she was crazy about the guy." "Better wait a minute." "He's still slugging out day-to-day life." " What the hell is wrong?" " Nothing." "Can I urge you, in all hopelessness, not to go in there?" "And it was always..." "We backed away from it a few times." "It seemed crazy, but I always couldn't resist... that what she's about to tell him we get into... as if Lucy dented the car and she has to tell Desi." "I suddenly get what I gotta do, but I just gotta get up the guts." "Is it absolutely necessary to make it..." "Sometimes, riding this edge got us into trouble." "We had so many discussions about it." "But we all couldn't resist this, finally." "Just this moment coming up." "Which made things a little tougher for us, I think." "Changing her tone in this always seemed to destroy the rest of the scene." "You wanted to feel her reaction... was in keeping with the personality of hers... that we presented all through the film." "This whole part." "And the other guy backed into a ravine." "And Adam's playing always got us back on track." "Just the way he did it here." "Just got us back on track." "My memory of editing this scene... was, it never changed that much... but the fine points drove us crazy." "There were many attempts to change performance... and yet ultimately I think this is very close to Richie's first cut on it, I think... what we finally settled with." "It was just a look-see kind of process... to see if anything would change, and this was definitely the best." "What was remarkable at the beginning... when he first walks in and she's in that little cubbyhole... whenever we played it in a less funny way... it just changed the tone of the entire scene." "And then we had a problem with one preview... 'cause we got laughs a little too deep into the scene... on one specific moment, the way he did a hand." "And that was driving us crazy, just to maintain control... and bring them into the drama of the scene at a certain point." "Also, it was strange trying to interpret... which were laughs at the characters... and which were those uncomfortable laughs where people just feel... so in tune with what's happening that they're uncomfortable with it." "Yeah." "I think that people definitely get that little giggle... when they're uncomfortable." "Plus, the dialogue is still witty." "So you're still saying things that people get... and have little laugh moments to." "Just give me a second." "I always felt what happens so often in these situations in life... where I thought he was the hero, what happens in these situations... is the questions don't stop for months." "Where'd he touch you?" "What did you do?" "That night, you said that..." "It just never stops." "And it's the nature of his heroism... that somehow in a very simple way... that doesn't occur to him to go in that direction." " Real short answer." "Have you had..." " Yes." "Really?" "I always thought that was such an innocent reading." "...that I was gonna answer every question you had." "I remember when we watched it in dailies... and I was so amazed that I started to tear up at that "really"... because it was just that hurt person." "Are you really that much nicer than me?" "You don't set the bar real high." "John, just wait, please." "Such a great question for her to ask... when you get just a bit of sun breaking into the attic." "You know?" "It's just Flor." "Flor, what are you doing here?" "I remember that was always an issue of when... how he reacted to hearing that it was Flor." "Yes." "And we always read into it, you know." "I don't even know how to describe the moment now... but I think he played it perfectly." "I think he went private with it, even from himself." " Yes." " I think that's sort of what he did." "...I want us to be good." "I want us to be close." "I want to feel like you're not nuts to be in love with me." "And that's the sort of wild thing about Deborah... 'cause as people judge her on everything else... you can't be talking from your heart more... than when she says, "I want to feel you're not nuts to love me. "" "That's all about her sense of worthlessness and her regard for him." "So let's not leave this room until you've heard..." "But never abandoning her total self-involvement." "No." "It's goofy and totally sane at the same time, I think." "I'm sorry." "What?" "John?" "You didn't hear me?" "Now, there was one version where he had an exit line... where she said, "You had to say something."" "And he says, "You are a terrible wife."" "I never would've imagined dropping it... but it was almost to me a cheap shot at the very end." "...when you're feeling this upset..." "Although it did make you want to applaud." "Yeah, it was the hero moment... but it also then threw us into the..." "The black hats and white hats, too." "And, yeah, created..." "Yeah." "I mean, we just..." "It's so weird." "There is enormous difficulty no matter what." "'Cause we didn't want, it's okay for him to drift now... because he's a victim." "We didn't want that." "And yet, these two have an agenda." " Let me at last say the reason." " Don't worry about it." "Have you no idea that I..." "I am always so thrilled with that moment... inordinately, beyond all reason... because it is the moment when she's finally gonna tell him... and we have been aggressively building this little dog joke... almost from the first moment we've seen the mutt." "Goodbye, Chum." "And it's trying to control these tones that was... you know, always the glory and the guilt." "Because, if I don't, I'll worry about you all night long." "I can't handle that now." "I think, early on we looked at this section... with some temp music that was dramatic... and you realise that a lot of these dialogue scenes... could be read as heavy drama... if pushed that direction." "Whereas, we've pulled back." "We didn't play music during the confession scene at all... and allowed the viewer to feel... whatever emotion was being presented versus pushing it." "Nobody would ever guess this was the hardest scene in the movie." "Because this was, you know, when we went over the divide." "Finally they're together, we've avoided it for the whole picture." " Very sorry." " There is the bus stop." " Bye." " Wait, don't go!" "Would you be willing to hang out with me for a while?" " You want to hang out with me?" " Yes." " Then I have to ask you..." " What?" "What does "hang out" mean?" "It means..." "There was a scene that I loved, out of context... where he took her to a supermarket." "She ordered makeup 'cause she realised she was gonna be with him." "So she ran in to put some makeup on." "And he saw her through the door and he smiled..." "And he saw her through the door and he smiled... and then he saw himself reflected in the next car window... and he said, "What are you smiling at?"" "Then he looked at her and she was beautiful... and she smiled, he smiled, and you couldn't do it." "In context, you couldn't do it." "So the nature..." "It was always going to be an evening they spent together." "It was always going to be out of nowhere you get an island of romantic comedy... with all this heavy stuff going down." "It was always going to be that." "Getting her hair down was a big deal." "Her matching." "And how far we went and how much they revealed... was a journey." "And we're going to show you outtakes later on... about some of the choices we had." "And the journey was always one of keeping the innocence of their relationship." " Not always, but ultimately, yeah." " Well, ultimately." "I've never seen your place." "Because we did have a version... where she finally was with the guy she's been thinking of." "And she was acting accordingly." "Please." "But, I think the one thing we all learned on this... learned so that, you know, what you finally learn... is that you're stupid about something that you think is easy:" "How complicated family values is as a concept... how endlessly complicated." "So I think we knew exactly, at a certain point... that everybody in the audience... caring for her, caring for him, but still feeling... the sanctity of marriage." "I think that was finally the conversation... that we had to have with the audience." "But it was right to sort of fool around with that." "Yeah." "My hand is the only sane part of my body." "Every other part wants to jump off a cliff." "That's it for now." "I already broke my record for smooth." " I don't understand." " It's me." "I'm not making any sense." "But I can get you fed." "I think, we, at one point, played that whole thing more romantic." "And to have them just be awkward... makes you love them more and want them to be together more... than when they started to feel for each other." "Wait." "I don't think you should, either." "Then, excuse me, because... if I had the equipment, I think I'd inject the vodka." "The great thing is they've earned the right to be so easy with each other." "And they haven't just..." "Nobody is looking at the elephant in the room." "She's aware of it." "It's very good." "And I think this is the moment when she absolutely fell in love, coming up." "I wouldn't have put it so well." "Let's get this going here." "Nothing or anybody like him." "So many different women said to me... there's nothing sexier than a man cooking for you." "Which surprised me and sort of sent me to the cookbook." "I think it depends on what you're cooking." "Spaghetti O's doesn't really do it." "So, tell me again why I can't call him on his cell again?" "Besides that he turned it off?" " Yeah." " Forty messages start to look needy." "These two women loved working with each other." "You can see it." "They're so great together." "Not in the way you think." "You are enjoying it?" "And they were thrilled to work with physical stuff with each other." "...enjoying actually being of use to my daughter." "I'm enjoying the fact that I really know how to advise you... and the miracle that you are so deeply disoriented... that you are gobbling up everything I say." "They both have the same nervous energy... which makes it so believable that they are related." "What?" "There's something I want to say to you about you and me." " You don't have to." " No, I want to." " Okay?" " Thank you." "You were an alcoholic and wildly promiscuous woman... during my formative years, so I'm in this fix because of you." "It is your fault." "I just needed that moment for us to build on." "This late in the picture, when you've dealt with an audience... what Téa just said resonated with them." "That's why she's the way she is." "It's the latest basic exposition I think I'll ever do." "We just cut the asparagus out of the airline version." "We had to, man." "I don't know whether it was for sexual reasons or..." "This woman ate more asparagus that day than any human in one sitting." " More and better." " Yeah." "I keep thinking I should tell you what happened to me tonight." "But I don't want to spoil this." "I will remember every taste forever." "I'm very glad you liked it." "It's something, watching you." "If it's anything at your end, imagine over here." "It's so interesting 'cause I think we all became so acutely aware... 'cause we had so many previews of this movie." "But the part of making a movie that's a communication with an audience... when she says, "Tell me everything about my beauty"... that was always a laugh, people were always on her side." "There was always discomfort when he did it." "It was always so weird that way, both things existing." "Staring is the only way that makes any sense." "And trying not to blink, so you don't miss anything." "And all of that, and you're you." "Adam kills me here." "Look, forgive me." "It's just you are drop-dead, crazy gorgeous." "Absolutely original and you just believe every second." "Didn't we have some woman in a focus group say:" ""I wish I could find a man like him, exactly like him. "" " Yeah." " She was just all..." "I think he's the guy... when you read those things in magazines... about what qualities do you want in a man." "They don't always mention... the Semitic thing, but everything else is up there." "The line coming up... which happened on the set... became just vital to everything that happened after that." "You just couldn't have lived for a second without it." "What he's about to say right here." "We can't do anything that brings us any kind of satisfaction or release." "But I'm still having a great time." "My mother has often referred to that evening at the restaurant... as the conversation of her life." "Ever since that night at the beach... if I knew you were in a room, I just wouldn't go in there." "When I hear you coming, I leave." "That's why we haven't seen each other a lot lately." "Why is everything so damn confusing?" "Is your mind racing, too?" "I'd say my mind has evaporated." "Feels pretty good." "Like happy?" "Paz is, you know... there's just almost no way to deal with her." "That she's an original beauty, that she's that beautiful... that she's a character actress... that she can do comedy." "She just is such a total talent." "And she was learning English on this film." "And looking, she's just so..." "You've never seen anybody quite like her before." "...have entered your brain." "Don't hide that from me." "I'm always amazed in this scene how... we're allowed to stay in so close for so long... 'cause you're just studying their faces and their reactions... and it just creates an intimacy." "They are so intimate." "What she says to him is so intimate." "She hits him on such a deep level, they skip the natural stops." "There are some mistakes you cannot risk when you have children." "I remember, originally you had blocked them a little differently... and once we saw them sitting like this... they were so comfortable with each other... that suddenly their performances changed." "Everything about them changed." "Once our feet touch that floor, I'm gonna get too many brain cells back." "Don't be in such a hurry." "He's been playing catch-up for so long, he's just trying to put it together." "I love the consciousness of the decision to tell him... and I think his reaction just..." " I love you." " What?" "It just makes him happy that somebody like that..." "And he gets her right away." "He gets that they can't take it an inch further." "Could've held on that longer." " We couldn't have." " We tried?" "There was no more." "We're still getting cutting notes." "This was simply the answer." "She's gonna go to the door and Cloris has to stop her some way." "The women came up with this." "Love that their feet are dirty." "Then trust me... and only allow yourself to say one thing to him." "One thing." ""I am so glad you're back."" " What?" " Yes." "But I have to know whether he touched her." "And where he touched her, and how he touched her..." "She had a long... sort of like wild speech." "'Cause this is about Mum telling her she has to shove her ego back in the bottle... which seems impossible... so there was greater resistance at one point." " So now I..." " Go to him." " Jesus, do I need a little makeup?" " You need a hose." "But you don't have the time." "It's fine that you look like that." "It's genuine." "You can use genuine." "I do believe their whole relationship changed... and you believe it changed... totally." "You know, at that moment, I think they earned the change, those two." "We found that the tone of this could only go one way." "We found that the tone of this could only go one way." "It's late, Deborah." "I just wanted to say..." "I can't sleep upstairs with you." "I just can't for now." "I'm just so glad you're back." "'Cause at one point... there was fun with her just having this one line she could say... but you just had to honour the moment." "I'm done tonight, Deb." "I don't think we can jam anything else in." "It's me, Dad." "What's wrong, honey?" "I just wanted to check that you were back and okay." "I'm okay." "Because?" "I think they had their relationship out there, the two of them." "I think what Adam keeps on doing... is simply doing the wonder of what a good guy is... what a big deal it is to be a thoroughly good guy." "I just hate that you had that kind of night." "Look at this kid here." "It's good for me to worry about something that really matters..." "That's what you should do on DVDs." "Without goofy talking." "You know, "Look at this kid."" "It's really what it boils down to." "You're just trying to say it fancy." "Surviving?" "Look at him." " Look at them together." " Ain't it something?" "That's all you're trying to say." "I love you." "That's a great "I love you."" "I mean, not about me being fantastic." "But just..." " Sleep well." " Wait." "What?" "Sweetheart." "There were several lines she had there that I loved." "It finally was overstatement." "But basically, in a stumbling way, she let us know... that she understood that he had come back... and what it represented, and she thanked him." "It was one of those things that was extraordinary in dailies... and in context it was too much." "Nobody missed that door ever." "You know, it's amazing how they pick..." "That little decal." "Yes, always." "Hey, Mum." "Is it okay if we don't leave right away, please?" "No." "Just let me explain, please." "No." "We must say goodbye." "Bernice is going to let me use her computer." "This is for school." " For school." "Just listen to me." " I don't work here anymore." "No, that's not fair." "You can't do this to me." "And in a very quiet way, this has been the key relationship in the movie." "This is what the movie's about." "There's been a lot else going on." " Do I have to get out?" " No, Georgie." "Stay." "I think you are a wonderful boy." "Be good, like you are." "Thanks." "Thanks a lot." "I can't believe you didn't get out." "Lan served such a good purpose 'cause it was to break every Mary Poppins notion... that could be hidden anyplace because they just never hooked up." "The young boy in the pool." "You are a beauty." "Come on." "Last chance to have some of you rub off on me." "Listen, I'm sorry that you're sad, but this could have been so much worse." "Why don't you run upstairs and say goodbye to Deborah?" "I'm coming." "And with Bernice, there's never a question... that she knows everything actually and poetically." "I guess that's what you mean by being an old soul." "I live my life for myself." "The wet is great on her." "None of it works." "Thank you, Evelyn." "Good for a movie to have a message." " We're leaving for good." " It's okay." " We're not coming back!" " It's okay." "We're still gonna see each other at school." "Come on." "I'm gonna keep my eye on you." "Come on." "No, no." "I got some great things for you." "Want a computer?" "Such a great shot." "Can't give you guys a lift, huh?" "God bless the guy who gets you." "I love all the random stuff." "Kept on going crazy when people realised that she actually was given an old computer." "I always liked party favours." "It looks like an old computer and a quilty pillow." "It's a combination of a stuffed dog." "And it's good here the relationships that never quite existed... that the barriers were always there... except these two people crossed them." "I went crazy about how softly to play "mi amour"..." "I actually was certifiable at one point when I told somebody:" ""I'd like 30/% of the audience to be able to hear what she said. "" ""I'd like 30/% of the audience to be able to hear what she said. "" "And I saw people looking at me:" ""You know, you've gone over the edge."" "So I said, "Okay, 60/%," and that was normal." "Can I sleep at the Claskys' when I stay late at school?" "Shortly after we left... my mother told me of another decision she had reached." "I would no longer go to the private school." "No!" "You can't do that to me!" "You ruined everything." "This ruins my life!" "You've ruined everything!" "I will never forgive you." "No, it'll never be all right." "You're wrong." "This is exactly what I was worried about." "I will never be able to forgive you!" "I have a scholarship!" "And nobody gives this up!" "The 1.3 miles from the Clasky house to our bus stop..." "That behaviour, you know, is unthinkable for a Mexican kid." "Unthinkable." "You know, just culturally to do this would be..." "It's not as unthinkable for an American kid... an American kid who lives in this neighbourhood." "What did spark our climactic moment... was my use of a common American phrase." "Not right now." "I need some space." "Not a space between us." "In the midst of confrontation, she found clarity." "She expressed regret that she had to ask me... to deal with the basic question of my life." "I'm just thinking about how... daring, and yet successful it is... to play the last huge scene in a movie in a completely different language." "I mean, that's how we started, but..." "Well, that was the great thing... that never got in the way... that people sat still, waiting for the translation... got accustomed to it, it never hurt the tension of scenes." "That was the best part of the experience, I think, that, that happened." "I have been overwhelmed." "This narration just came very late in the game." "It always amazed me that people wondered whether she got into Princeton." "And this was designed to take care of that." "I never quite understood why that question... really was important for the audience." "My identity rests firmly..." "'Cause it always seemed that it was the resolution of the relationship... that was most important." "Thank you." "Cristina Moreno." "It was one of the longest casting processes ever... and they were a great group." "How long were you guys casting?" "You know, I couldn't exaggerate it." "I mean, if I said... in some respects..." "Well, first of all, I spoke to Téa two years before... but it was long, and more than long... in terms of number of hours, you know, auditioning... for some of those key parts." "For the part Paz got." "Paz and Bernice." " You know, and Bernice." " That's huge." "The thing that you learn when you start doing movies... and it's extraordinary... how deep into the credits... if anybody does something wrong... it really hurts the movie." "Come on, we're not gonna watch the whole crawl." "Well, there is a joke at the end." "A little one, but maybe not worth waiting four minutes for." "We could try and quickly talk about every single person that comes up." " Say one word about every name." " You could." "More than one." "Look at that, people you lived with, you said that, just as the people..." "I know, and then I got shut up." "I just said "yea" to everybody." "Wonderful sound people." " It's so fun to watch her correct herself." " I love everyone." "But it's the truth." "That's why it's always..." " Biggest of team sports." " Yeah." "Always funny, in a movie like this... you wouldn't think it has visual effects people... so you wanna say, "Yeah, one of the characters was completely animated. "" "Taking a while to get to this joke, huh?" "Oh, malice on that one." " Now you feel bad, right?" " This is called the time joke?" "I'm not even gonna point it out." "Don't worry." "Take my word for it, there's a little something in there."