"My reminiscence." "I always thought that for such a lovely river, the name was mystifying, Cape Fear." "When the only thing to fear on those enchanted summer nights was that the magic would end and real life would come crashing in." "GUARD:" "Okay, Cady, the moment you've been waiting for." "Any people coming for you, Cady?" "What about your books?" "Already read them." "(THUNDER RUMBLING)" "(THANKING IN SPANISH)" "(GREETING IN SPANISH)" "Hi." "How are you?" "(SPEAKING SPANISH)" "(LAUGHING)" "This ropa limpia?" "No, no, that means "clean." These are dirty." "LEIGH:" "The idea is to resolve the tension." "I need to find a motif that's about movement." "Not the most mind-blowing concept for a travel agency, but what the hey?" "Like an arrow, maybe?" "Yeah, like an arrow." "Maybe." "But, see, then the other aspect is stability, a company that you can trust." "So if you can balance those ideas in a way that's pleasing to the eye, then you got a logo." "DANIELLE:" "Okay, movement, stability, and an arrow." "(LAUGHS)" "Okay, I'll think of something for that one." "(TAPPING LAP)" "Benjamin!" "Yes." "They switched babies on me at the hospital, didn't they, huh?" "So, how'd you do in there?" "Well, I got the judge to postpone the alimony hearing for another 21 days." "Great." "Well, I've got till Monday to find out which S and L and which municipality my son-in-law stashed all that money." "Right." "Right." "But, anyway, I thank you and my daughter thanks you." "Oh, you're welcome, Tom." "Here's Daddy!" "Good-bye, Junior!" "(BIDDING FAREWELL IN SPANISH)" "(BIDDING FAREWELL IN JAPANESE)" "(CAT SCREECHING)" "Yes, that's very creative, Junior." "He liked me." "All this time, he actually liked me." "(TIRES SCREECHING)" "WOMAN:" "You can't go in." "Your father's making a television appearance for his campaign." "(MAX LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY)" "BEN:" "Dad!" "Dad, I've got to talk to you." "BIG BEN:" "Oh, what the hell are you doing here?" "(LAUGHING CONTINUES)" "I'm about to go on the air." "(COUGHS)" "What is this smoke?" "Excuse me." "Excuse me." "(CONTINUES LAUGHING)" "Come on, let's move our seats." "(MOVIE CONTINUES)" "BEN:" "Okay, then I quit as your son." "So, do you believe that annoying loser guy?" "Dad, you should have just punched him out." "What?" "Just punched him out?" "Yeah." "What do you mean?" "You boxed." "You could've shoved him around, shut him up." "Yeah." "Yeah." "I could take you." "Careful." "That's who I could take." "You could've even kicked him in the face." "Kicked him in the face?" "You know how to fight dirty." "You do that for a living." "(LAUGHING) Oh, real cute, Leigh." "(GRUNTS)" "Let's sit outside." "How much do I owe you?" "It's taken care of." "Taken care of?" "Who?" "There." "Girls, girls, come on, let's sit inside." "Yeah, let's sit inside." "(GRUNTING)" "(GRUNTS)" "Whoa, Mr. Perfect Form." "No, no, I don't." "You've got to..." "What?" "Look." "What?" "You got to snap your wrist on the backhand." "Usually I like a little music at this point, Sam." "MAN:" "Sam, I want to play in this lifetime." "All right, all right, all right." "You got to snap your wrist." "Tag." "You know, we should stop doing this for a while." "Doing..." "Doing what?" "We're not doing anything." "Yeah, I know that." "Yet." "Okay." "No, fine, fine." "Maybe you're right." "Why?" "Does your wife mind?" "Well, my wife doesn't even know you exist, which, most certainly, is for the best, you know." "Why's that?" "God, you know, Lori, you know why you have to ask that question?" "'Cause you've never been married." "Why?" "Is marriage synonymous with deception?" "(LAUGHING) No, no, no." "It's just that, you know, when two people..." "When two people get married and they live together for a long time, you know..." "I like hanging out with you, you know, so sue me." "(BOTH LAUGHING)" "You're funny, and you're cute, and, I don't know..." "We talk about the courts and which judge is senile and which one wears a gun under his robe and..." "Oh, God." "You know, Lori, another time, another place, and who knows, you know?" "Tomorrow?" "Yeah, it's a light docket." "No, no, no, no, I won two out of three." "Let's make it the best out of five." "All right, well, that's good, actually, because today I let you win." "(LAUGHS) Sure you did." "See you." "Sure you did." "Hey." "Free as a bird, apparently." "You go everywhere you want with whomever." "That much freedom could maybe get a fellow into trouble." "What do you think?" "I'd like my keys." "Could it be you don't remember me?" "Oh, yeah, sure, I remember you." "You were at the movie house the other night." "Oh, I'm disappointed." "I'm hurt." "I would like my keys." "Max Cady." "You look the same." "Maybe 15 pounds heavier." "But they say the average man gains a pound a year till he's about... (CHUCKLING) Come on." "Gains a pound a year till he's about 60." "Me?" "I dropped a pound every year of my sentence." "Atlanta, '77." "You got it." "July." "Fourteen years since I held a set of keys." "Well, you look good, healthy." "Thank you. 'Cause it's a struggle to stay healthy in the joint." "But you wouldn't know about that, would you?" "If you were me, they would stick you with the white trash." "They don't strike a lick of work all day." "In fact, this little old cigar is my only vice 'cause I needed a vice in the joint to remind me I was human." "So, what brings you to New Essex?" "Oh, the climate." "Boy, the South." "I'm thinking of settling right down here in New Essex, Counselor." "Have you been following me?" "It's a small town." "Everywhere you turn," "I guess, we're gonna run into each other." "(STARTS ENGINE)" "Well, take care, Mr. Cady." "You, too." "You're gonna learn about loss." "What?" "Dad, could you..." "Hmm?" "Oh, I'm sorry, Dani." "What're you working on?" "It's English." "We're supposed to read Look Homeward, Angel, which is a kind of reminiscence, and we have to attempt something in the same style." "What's it about, your reminiscence?" "The houseboat." "Oh, the houseboat." "LEIGH:" "It's not even July 3rd yet." "Yeah." "Yeah." "I was thinking we ought to take two weeks off and go up to Wilmington like the old times, dock the houseboat." "I wanted to in early June." "Remember you said you didn't have time this summer." "I probably don't." "Yeah, well, now I don't, either." "Besides, Dani's got summer school till Labor Day." "Is it really that critical that she can't miss two damn weeks?" "(SIGHS) Well, you know, the alternative was to expel her." "Besides, maybe this Drama teacher from the college will get her excited about something, you know?" "Yeah, about him, probably." "I mean, why'd they have to make such a stink, like she was on heroin, or something?" "I mean, marijuana, what's marijuana?" "You and I smoked a little dope in our time." "Yeah." "You know, in some cultures, it's considered almost a sacrament." "Of course, I realize in ours, it's forbidden." "Right up there with incest and necrophilia and bestiality." "Honey." "Honey." "Honey." "Worship of idols, cannibalism." "Do that again." "What?" "Do that again." "(LAUGHS)" "(FIRECRACKERS EXPLODING)" "Sam." "Sam, somebody's out there!" "What?" "No, leave the light off." "Leave it off." "I saw him when the fireworks went off." "(MURMURING)" "What?" "I think I talked to him this afternoon." "You know him?" "I want you the hell off my property!" "He's gone." "He said, "I'm gonna make you think about loss."" "Or, "I'm gonna make you learn about loss." Something like that." "That's very poetic." "So, who is he?" "Where did he come from?" "Well, he's from..." "Come on, Leigh, get the dog off." "Ben, get down." "(LAUGHS)" "He doesn't mind me at all." "Leigh, he's your dog." "Come on." "No, he shouldn't be up on the table." "You're gonna have dog hairs in the tea and everything." "Get down." "So where's he from?" "Oh, he's from the hills, Pentecostal crackers, you know." "What was he in prison for?" "I think it was battery." "You think it was battery?" "Yeah." "I mean, well, who did he batter?" "Did he batter a man?" "Did he batter a woman?" "What?" "I don't know." "It was 14 years ago." "You know, it's kind of..." "I really don't remember." "What does he want with you?" "He's just trying to bug us, just messing around." "You know, he's an ex-con, so he's just..." "You know, he's probably upset at the lawyer." "Yeah, your clientele." "Yeah." "Bye, Dad." "Bye, Dani." "You look tired." "Thanks." "I needed that." "Leigh." "Leigh, I don't want to alarm her, but I'd rather Dani didn't wander out alone on her soul-searching walks in the woods at least till I've started a few things, maybe even talked to the boss." "What if she takes Benjamin with her?" "What?" "Big Ben, our guard dog?" "What's he gonna do, lick him to death?" "Just tell her." "LEIGH:" "Tell her what?" "I hardly know anything about the man." "I don't mean his biography." "Just there's some creep around." "And if you see him again, call the cops and then call me." "What about a weapon, you know?" "In case things get exciting around here." "Look, Leigh, would you really feel more secure with a loaded gun in the house?" "We'd probably end up using it on each other." "Or Dani would." "He's not gonna do anything." "He just got out of prison." "He doesn't want to go right back." "All right?" "Call Lee Heller." "Lee is a colorful character, but he's still the best criminal lawyer in the state." "Good." "Bonnie, get me Lee Heller." "Sam, you defended this guy, right?" "Right." "So, what makes you think he wants to harm you?" "Yesterday I was getting in my car." "The guy comes up, we have a little conversation." "He says to me, "You're gonna learn about loss."" "That'd hardly qualify under the terrorist threat statutes." "Oh, come on, Tom, for Christ's sake, the guy's an ex-con." "You know as well as I do what that means." "I mean, last night, there he was, he was behind our house." "Ah." "Attempted B and E." "No, not exactly." "I mean, he was sitting on a wall that bounds our property." "(LAUGHS) That's not even trespassing, Sam." "I mean, come on." "What can I say?" "I mean, get a restraining order." "I did." "I filed one this morning." "The hearing's in 10 days." "Good." "Good." "I mean, you know, anything I can do." "Tom, 14 years ago in this case I had a report on the victim." "It was a rape case." "That's right." "Rape and aggravated sexual battery." "Anyway, I had a report on this victim and it came back that she was promiscuous." "And..." "I buried it." "Whew." "Anybody else know about this?" "No, no, no, I buried it." "I mean, I didn't show it to the client," "I didn't show it to the prosecution." "But if you had seen what this guy had done to this girl..." ""In every criminal prosecution, the accused shall have" ""the Assistance of Counsel for his defense."" "I know the Sixth Amendment." "I believe in the Sixth Amendment." "I mean, that's why I left the Public Defender's Office." "There was no way to serve the law in that capacity." "Some folks just don't have the right to the best defense, huh, Sam?" "No!" "Of course they deserve the best defense!" "But, I mean, if you had seen what he did to this girl..." "You buried the report." "I mean, if it was your own daughter, Tom." "Yeah, I mean..." "Buried the report." "Jesus, Sam." "Oh, God." "(SIGHS)" "But I don't see how he could know that." "I mean, he was illiterate." "I mean, I had to read everything to him, the probable cause affidavit, the arrest reports, everything." "There's no way he could know that." "Hey, Dani, it's so quiet out here, and the light's so perfect, why don't you get your book and come out here and read?" "Why?" "I told you why." "Well, is it because he's like a flasher or just a peeper?" "What do you know about that?" "A flasher?" "Oh, you don't think I've been flashed before?" "Oh, well, I certainly didn't mean to insult you." "I'm sure you've been flashed before." "Look, if you want to come out, come on out." "If you don't, go on." "Do whatever you want." "Oh, but don't go outside." "CADY:" "Afternoon, Counselor." "What do you want, Mr. Cady?" "(GIRLS LAUGHING)" "They're great at that age, ain't they?" "All those discoveries ahead of them." "You're lucky, Counselor." "My own daughter, she don't even know me." "After I went inside, her mama told her I was dead, which, in a way, I was." "Look, Mr. Cady, I realize that you suffered." "(LAUGHS)" "I mean, I understand your problem, but, I mean, why me?" "I was your lawyer." "I defended you." "I mean, why not badger the D.A. Or the judge?" "(LAUGHING) "Badger."" "Yeah." "Why not them?" "Yeah." "Why not them?" ""Badger."" "Best I remember, they was just doing right by their jobs." "Oh, I didn't do my job?" "Is that right?" "Look, I pleaded you out to a lesser occluded offense." "You could've gotten rape instead of battery." "Oh, I'd have been up for parole either way in seven years according to the Georgia penal code." "Rape is a capital offense." "I mean, you could've gotten life, you could've done death." "You could be sitting on death row right now." "I learned to read during my stretch." "First, Spot Goes to the Farm, then Runaway Bunny, then law books, mostly." "Did you know that after I discharged you," "I acted as my own attorney?" "Applied several times for an appeal." "No, I didn't know that." "Mmm-hmm." "So, here we are, two lawyers, for all practical purposes, talking shop." "All right." "How much do you want, Mr. Cady?" "How much do I want what?" "How much money do you want?" "Money?" "Counselor, do I look destitute to you?" "Well, I'm open to discussion, within reasonable limits." "You ever been a woman?" "A what?" "A woman." "Some fat, hairy, ugly hillbilly's wet dream?" "Look, I realize that you suffered in prison." "Suffered." "There's no question about that." ""Suffered."" "You don't know what suffering is, Counselor." "Like it says in Galatians 3," ""Have ye suffered so many things in vain?"" "Yeah." "I learned from the get-go in the joint to get in touch with the soft nurturing side of myself, the feminine side." "Well, I'm open to some sort of discussion on compensation." "What shall be my compensation, sir, for being held down and sodomized by four white guys or four black guys?" "Shall my compensation be the same?" "What is the formula for compensation, sir?" "How about $10,000 in cash?" "Do I..." "Well, let's just break that down." "No." "Now, wait, wait, wait a minute." "Let's just break it down." "You see, that figure just came to the top of my head." "Well, let's just say, for argument's sake, let's say $20,000, let's say $30,000." "Say..." "I'll tell you what." "Let's say $50,000." "$50,000 into 14 years." "Fourteen years times 365 days is about..." "I say about 5,000 days." "Now, you divide that by $50,000, and that's like $10 a day." "(LAUGHING) That's not even minimum wage." "To say nothing about the family that I lost, the respect that I lost." "I don't think you really, really understand what we're talking about here." "Fourteen years." "(WATCH BEEPING)" "Whoops." "Uh-oh." "Gotta git." "(STARTS ENGINE) I'm late for another appointment." "Sam, my man, I got some good news." "I got the bank, I got the account number." "Great." "I'll call your son-in-law's lawyer, tell him we're going to court." "Mr. Bowden, your wife's on line one." "Ask her to hold." "I got to make a quick call." "I wouldn't make that call, Sam." "The way I'd..." "Mr. Bowden, she says it's urgent." "Yeah?" "...these kind of horrible, high-pitched howls." "They sounded like he was screaming, and then Dani came running in, and I..." "I called the vet." "Then it was so weird because" "it was like he was winding down, just winding down like an old clock." "And then, all of a sudden, he just stopped." "He had this kind of..." "His eyes just wide open, and this kind of surprised look." "And then..." "And then he died." "He just died, before the vet even got here." "What did the vet say?" "That he was poisoned." "Poisoned?" "What kind of a poison?" "I don't know what kind of poison." "Oh, Jesus!" "Leigh, I told you not to let him out." "I didn't let him out!" "Well, then how..." "I didn't let him out!" "Stop!" "(DOOR SLAMS CLOSED)" "I've got an English Setter myself, so I don't cotton to dog killers." "Trouble is, poisoning a dog is just a fine." "But if he's unemployed, he got to have money or we'll bust him for vagrancy." "We'll give him a full-body strip search." "Jerk a knot in his tail." "All right." "They got so many ways on the books to lean on an undesirable." "He'll feel about as welcome around here as a case of yellow fever." "OFFICER 1:" "Hands against the wall." "Spread them." "Spread them." "That him?" "OFFICER 2:" "Face the wall." "One-way mirror, Mr. Bowden." "He doesn't know you're here." "Yeah." "Yeah, that's him." "Get the shirt off." "Come on, hurry up." "Let's go." "Just pass it over to him." "Hand it to me." "All right." "Knock off the shoes." "Hand them to the other officer." "Pass them to him." "Come on, come on." "All right." "Let's put the arms out." "Put your arms out straight." "Roll your palms." "OFFICER 2:" "Do what he says." "OFFICER 1:" "Turn around, slow." "(SCOFFS)" "I don't know whether to look at him or read him." "OFFICER 1:" "Stand still." "OFFICER 2:" "One more step for you." "You know the routine." "Against the wall." "We searched his apartment." "His car registration and everything's in order." "There's no guns or any other weapons." "But we found these." "ELGART:" "Cady's savings account." "$30,000?" "Yeah, well, see, his mother died while he was serving and the farm got sold off." "He got the proceeds." "Well, he's got money." "Where does that leave us?" "ELGART:" "Well, at the very least, we nail him for the dog." "Now, what happened?" "You let the dog out." "Cady abducted him." "No." "We didn't let the dog out." "Cady came into your house?" "That's illegal entry with intent." "Yeah." "But he didn't come in the house." "Look, I'm not a cop." "I don't know exactly how he did it." "I just know that he did it somehow." "That's not good enough, Mr. Bowden." "Now, you're a lawyer." "You damn well know that." "OFFICER 1:" "Get off the pants." "Sooner or later, he's gonna screw up." "I mean, the sheriff assured me that they always do." "He's an ex-con." "And then he's going to get the message in no uncertain terms." "I'd still like to kill him." "(BAND PLAYING)" "(CROWD CHEERING)" "Now, Dani, how come you didn't join up with them?" "You can tap." "Yeah, you can do that." "You can tap dance." "I wanted to once, but I don't know..." "Son of a bitch." "What?" "He's staring at you." "What are you talking about?" "What the hell are you doing?" "Hot as a firecracker on the 4th of July." "You're damn lucky to have her, boy." "You son of a bitch." "Where did he go?" "Son of a..." "Watch my arm." "Watch my arm." "It might be broke." "What's with you, buddy?" "You have no right to be pushing me around like that." "I was just watching the parade." "I wasn't pranking on nobody." "You son of a bitch!" "What are you getting so upset about?" "You're lucky I don't sue you." "All right." "All right." "MAN:" "Settle down." "SAM:" "I am." "I am." "I am settled down." "Sam, what are you doing?" "Oh, it's nothing." "Who was that?" "It's no one." "Who was that?" "No one." "Come on." "The fellow with the tie, his wife took him away." "MAN:" "I think he really hurt his arm." "Mom!" "LORI:" "That's an awfully strong drink you've got there, mister." "CADY:" "You said it, boy." "(LAUGHS)" "You just put a little goldfish in it, and you'll be fine." "You seem to be having a good time." "I've been practicing." "Practicing for what?" "How to fall on the floor?" "A life of debauchery." ""Debauch," what?" "Debauchery." "It's a three-syllable word." "Yeah." "(LAUGHING)" "Making fun of me?" "That's okay." "No problem." "No, I'm not." "I'm not." "I made you blush." "Blush?" "Yes." "You're now the color of your shirt, scarlet." "(CHUCKLES)" "I had no business getting stuck on a guy who was married." "You certainly did not." "I don't know what I was thinking." "God only knows." "Now aren't I the bozo on this bus?" "Oh, God." "Lest you think that I slept with this particular married guy..." "That's your business." "Not mine." "I don't want to make it sound like" "I've been through a busload of them." "That's the way it sounded to me." "He was the first." "Oh, yeah." "He was, I swear." "Oh, yeah." "Oh, boy." "Tell it to the judge." "(BOTH LAUGHING)" "Actually the rat stood me up today." "Did he?" "Yes!" "What a shame." "I know." "So, now it's my turn." "Where are you from?" "Where am I from?" "Yes." "You're gonna love this." "Yes." "I'm from the Georgia State Correctional Facility." "(LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY)" "Now you think I'm joking?" "That's the truth." "I just got released from prison." "Oh, my God." "This is the way my day has been turning out." "Actually, it reminds me of a joke." "Do you want to hear it?" "Tell me." "Liven up the night." "All right." "An unmarried woman..." "Wait a minute, that's not it." "An unmarried woman..." "Come on, get the joke straight, darling." "Shut up." "Shut up." "Let me do it." "An unmarried woman, she meets a guy and he tells her he just got out of prison." ""What did you do?" She asks." ""I hacked my wife into 52 pieces with a chain saw."" "(LAUGHS LOUDLY)" "She says, "So, you're single?"" "That's even funnier." "Thank you." "Could I ask you something?" "What?" "What did you do?" "I knew you were going to ask that." "I hacked my wife into 52 pieces." "I was afraid you were gonna say that." "Well, I'm a very small person, so maybe..." "Maybe I can hack you into 40 pieces." "(BOTH LAUGHING)" "What did you do, really?" ""No, really, but what did you do?"" "No, I just..." "There was this protest march on this nuclear power plant, and so when they came to arrest us, this macho sheriff got a tad rough with the lady behind me, so, I popped the little bastard," "so they gave me a little time for it." "I'm drinking a Sea Breeze." "I hope you can afford them." "But you gotta stay sober." "If you ain't sober, then you're taking your chances." "Because I'm just one hell of an animal." "Yeah?" "Do tell." "Get you on this side, doll." "Let's do this." "Who is Loretta anyway?" "That's the love of my life." "She's no longer with us." "I thought I was the love of your life." "Chopped her up into 52 pieces." "(LAUGHING)" "He hurt you like this, that married guy?" "No." "He hurt you like this?" "I told you, we never did anything." "He hurt you like this?" "Oh, scandal." "He's a rough one." "How's this feel?" "Oh, my God." "Am I under arrest?" "Not quite, darling." "(CONTINUES LAUGHING)" "Officer, I swear, it's all a mistake." "That married guy hurt you like this?" "Because what he did to me hurt a lot worse than this!" "(SCREAMS)" "No!" "I've got you now, bitch!" "(LORI SCREAMING)" "(PIANO KEY THUDDING)" "Dani, when did this key stop working?" "What?" "Oh, I don't know." "No wonder." "A wire's missing." "A piano wire is missing." "Was somebody fooling around with the piano?" "What?" "(TELEPHONE RINGING)" "Yeah?" "ELGART ON PHONE:" "Mr. Bowden." "I think we might could have a little break here." "SAM:" "Good." "Good." "I can be there in a half hour." "All right, fine." "Thank you." "LEIGH:" "Who was that?" "Cady raped another girl." "Rape?" "I thought you said it was battery." "Well, yeah, the case was wobbly." "I got it reduced." "Oh, I remember those days, old slippery Sam." "I'm sorry, Leigh." "I just didn't want to alarm you or Dani." "Why?" "How old was that girl?" "Sixteen." "Sixteen, what?" "Well, my birthday is coming up." "Neighbors heard screams and called us." "When the perp drove off, somebody made his plate." "Max Cady." "Good." "Great." "We got one bitty problem." "The girl is scared." "She's claiming she fell down some stairs." "Sam." "(SOBBING) Don't..." "Don't look at me." "Oh, my God." "You two know each other?" "(LORI SOBBING)" "Yeah, we work together." "I'll be outside." "I'm so stupid." "Oh, Lori, don't." "You stood me up at the club the other day." "And then you didn't call." "And by last night, I was feeling pretty reckless." "I thought about what you said, you know, that your wife, she didn't know I existed." "And I felt like I was going to show you." "(SOBBING)" "I guess I showed you, all right, didn't I?" "I guess I really showed you." "Lori, listen to me, okay?" "Now, look, this guy Cady, he's done this kind of thing before." "Now, he's going to do this over and over again unless you testify and we take him to court..." "No." "No." "No." "And press charges and testify." "Lori." "Sam." "Sam, I know, I know how it works." "I see it every day." "Only this time, I'm on the other side." "I don't want to explain why I was in a bar and how much I had to drink and what I was wearing." "Not by the people I work with." "Not by the guys that I see cross-examine other people on the stand, just crucify them and just laugh about it later." "They'll even ask about you." "Lori, listen to me." "I don't care about that." "Well, I care about that." "I'm sure you do, too." "I'm..." "I'm terribly sorry, Lori." "I'm just terribly sorry." "ELGART:" "Look." "If all this is something personal between you and the girl and Cady..." "Personal?" "I mean..." "All right, come on, Lieutenant." "All right." "What are you implying?" "Only that there are some things that are better handled quietly." "Not by the police." "(LAUGHS)" "This Cady guy is planning to rape my wife, but it's not your problem anymore?" "I can't bust someone for planning to rape your wife." "You're a lawyer, Mr. Bowden." "You know that damn well." "Thanks all the same." "The way I'd handle it..." "What, file a restraining order?" "I already did." "Just think of this fellow Cady as a tiger." "The trick is to get him out of the brush." "Now how do we do that?" "You stake out a couple of your goats and hide in a tree." "What are you suggesting, Lieutenant?" "That I use my family as bait?" "And then what?" "What?" "I'm gonna hope that this psychopath attacks my wife and child?" "And then what?" "Blow his head off?" "I'm a law officer." "It would be unethical of me to advise a citizen to take the law into his own hands." "So, I suppose you must've misunderstood me." "Oh, I guess I must've." "Well, pardon me all over the place." "And he's been harassing my family, but he's clever." "I mean, cleverly, so that the law can't touch him." "Also I believe that he's able to slip into the house and out undetected." "Although, is he out?" "I can't tell." "He's either out or he's in." "I'm not sure." "Well, I can't see through walls, Mr. Bowden." "I'm not asking you to see through walls." "That's fine." "I mean, why can't anybody do anything for me?" "What good are cops and laws..." "Sam, Sam, Sam, calm down." "Let me explain something to you." "See, the system is set up to handle generalized problems like burglary and robbery." "But if some lone creep out there targets you for some obscure reason, the system is slow and skeptical." "It's pathetic even." "What's your connection with this fellow?" "(SIGHS)" "I was his lawyer, his public defender." "But you shafted him somehow, right?" "(LAUGHS)" "Well, at least that's the way he perceives it." "Sam, Sam." "I don't care what you did." "What did he do?" "He raped a 16-year-old girl." "Do you have a daughter around sixteen?" "She's fifteen." "All right." "Here's the deal." "I'll do a background check on him, follow him for about a week and write you up a risk assessment." "All right, good." "Great, great." "Now, the cops..." "I can find him." "His name's Max Cady." "You already told me." "Just take it easy." "Stay calm." "Now, Dani, you can just relax because your daddy has a private investigator on the payroll." "Isn't that right?" "What's your feeling about him?" "What, Sam Spade?" "Mickey Spillane?" "Peter Gunn?" "Dirty Harry?" "Perry Mason?" "No, no, no, no." "Perry Mason..." "Perry Mason was a lawyer." "No, the minute I walked in this guy's office," "I felt totally relaxed." "I mean, this guy is totally in charge." "Kersek deals with these types for a living." "He looked like he was going to enjoy... (TELEPHONE RINGS) (ALL GASP)" "Yes?" "Yeah, it's me." "After you left, I had this interesting conversation with a C.O. Over at Statesboro prison." "Mmm-hmm." "Seems our man Cady had a job in the kitchen." "Right." "There was this other inmate working in there with him, he was an obstinate S. O.B. Right." "He hated Cady's cigar smoke and he was always bitching and moaning about it." "Well, one day, they found him with his neck broke and his tongue bit off." "Oh, Jesus." "Yeah." "(BREATHING HEAVILY)" "KERSEK:" "They never could place Cady near the scene of the accident, if you want to call it that, at least not out loud." "But the parole board, they kept him in for another seven years." "Uh-oh." "The subject is on the move." "Get a good night's sleep." "DANIELLE:" "Who was that?" "Our private eye." "I thought we were relaxed now." "WOMAN ON PHONE:" "New Essex County Hospital." "Yes, room 5036, please." "One minute, please." "All right." "LORI ON PHONE:" "Hello?" "Hi, Lori, it's me, Sam." "Lori, I just feel God-awful you got dragged into this thing." "It's not your fault." "If I had any idea that Cady would hurt you to get at me, I would have warned you." "Yeah, I know." "I know." "I'm glad you called." "Yeah." "Yeah, well." "I'm so sorry about this." "I feel the same way." "So, are you really determined about moving back to Connecticut?" "Well, I've thought about it a lot." "I just think it's probably the best thing." "I thought that maybe I could go back to school." "I'm really going to miss you, though." "Right." "Excuse me, Lori." "You know, that sounds real good." "Yeah." "That's gonna work out fine." "I'll get right back to you." "Okay." "Bye." "All right, bye." "Well, I just don't know what I hate more, that insipid tone or your stupid, sophomoric infidelities." "Who was that?" "Huh?" "The girl that got beat up?" "Yes, it was the girl that got beat up." "Lori Davis." "I already told you." "She works at the county courthouse." "She's a clerk." "And what?" "You're fucking her?" "Interesting choice, Sam." "Calling from our bedroom phone." "You know, Leigh, why is it that whenever I have a private phone conversation, you assume that I'm fucking someone, huh?" "Why is that?" "That's why that psychopath chose her, right?" "Yes, yes, that's why he chose her." "But I'm not fucking her in any way." "Well, you sleazy son of a bitch!" "You son of a bitch!" "You son of a bitch!" "Goddamn you!" "You son of a bitch!" "Stop it!" "Leigh!" "Dani is right downstairs." "Oh." "Oh, honey, there's nothing the matter." "Yeah, I can see, Dad." "LEIGH:" "I thought you promised to leave all that shit behind in Atlanta." "SAM:" "What shit?" "(MUSIC PLAYING ON TV) (ARGUMENT CONTINUES)" "LEIGH:" "Christ, what a waste!" "The humiliation we went through confessing all our dirty little secrets in those horrible sessions with Dr. Hackett." "Yeah." "We talked that one damn incident to death, didn't we?" "Yeah." "Why did you bother?" "Because you asked me to go." "I mean, why did you bother?" "Why did you bother?" "Why did you bother with you and me?" "With the marriage?" "Uprooting me and Dani?" "Moving?" "Because that's what we decided to do!" "You said that you wanted to get out!" "You don't get it, do you, Sam?" "All right, Leigh." "What is it I don't get?" "You just don't get it." "SAM:" "What..." "What don't I get?" "LEIGH:" "Why put us through all of that!" "Why?" "Nadine?" "(SNIFFLING)" "It's Dani." "Nothing." "I'm just losing my mind here." "You don't have the balls to walk out, if that's what you wanted." "Oh, what I wanted?" "Like I was going to split, with you acting the way you acted." "Acting?" "Yeah." "You did some acting." "I don't remember doing any acting." "Oh, you don't remember doing any acting?" "Well, hey, let me refresh your memory." "Do you remember not taking any work for three months?" "Do you remember that?" "You remember not fixing any meals?" "I'm not on fucking trial here!" "Do you remember crying every goddamn morning, afternoon, every evening?" "Do you remember that?" "I scared you, huh?" "What did you think, Sam?" "What did you think?" "You thought maybe I was going to kill myself?" "Over you?" "Who else?" "You pompous ass." "Oh, God damn it, Leigh, who knew what you were gonna do?" "You wouldn't leave the bedroom!" "Yeah." "I wish you could say the same." "Now, look, isn't this what Dr. Hackett talked about?" "Digging up the past." "I mean, the relevant issue here is whether I've been messing around in New Essex." "And I have not been." "As far as this girl goes, Lori, she's just a kid." "Well, that shouldn't stop you." "She's a baby." "I mean, you know when you gravitate to people in the same world as you..." "You gravitate to women." "Oh, come on, Leigh, for Christ sake," "I'm a lawyer, she's a clerk." "She looks up to me." "She's just infatuated." "I can't help that." "(SIGHS)" "Look, Leigh, I'm scared." "I think this whole thing has..." "I keep feeling that there is some animal out there stalking us." "I think he wants to hurt us in the worst way and that's got me frightened to death." "You really are scared, aren't you?" "Yeah." "Somebody finally got to you." "Look, Leigh, I think..." "I think that this guy beat and raped her because he knew that she wouldn't testify, that she wouldn't press charges, because she knows the system." "I mean, she works in it." "She knows that she'd be on trial." "And then, because she wouldn't testify, you would assume that there was something going on between us and it would cause a rift." "That we'd be much more vulnerable to him." "I'm glad we talked about this, because now we can work together." "We can beat that son of a bitch, the two of us together, working as a team." "(GROANS)" "Jesus Christ." "Oh, yeah, this is great." "This is something else." "Oh." "Oh." "Oh, shit!" "Here you go." "I'm sorry, I haven't ordered yet." "That fellow over there sent this over, paid for and all." "Who?" "Which one?" "That guy who is just leaving." "(SIGHS)" "Excuse me." "Hey." "Cady, come here." "Wait up a second." "I've been in a real bad mood lately." "Shame, ain't it?" "You know what you can do to brighten my mood?" "No." "Get the hell out of here." "I don't mean just this whole town," "I mean the whole goddamn state." "I don't want to see you, I don't want to hear you and I don't want to smell you." "Now, leave." "I like..." "Are you my friend?" "No, I'm not your friend." "Oh. 'Cause I thought maybe you were my friend because I like to plan my comings and goings with friends." "But if you're not my friend, and you're planning my comings and goings," "I'd call that presumptuous." "In fact, I'd call it downright rude, because I ain't your porch-baby, buddy." "Gee golly gosh." "I sure am sorry I offended you, you white trash piece of shit." "Ooh-ooh." "I got the all-over fidgets on that one." "You've really shaken me up." "I'm shivering all over." "Ooh." "It's not necessary to lay a foul tongue on me, my friend." "I could get upset." "Things could get out of hand." "And then, in self-defense, I could do something to you that you would not like, right here." "Anytime you feel squirrelly, you just jump." "You threatening me?" "You catch on fast." "'Cause I'm well within my rights to be here and you know it." "If I stay here, what you going to do?" "I don't give a rat's ass about your rights." "You just watch your step, and you know what I'm talking about." "What are you gonna do?" "Arrest me?" "You a cop?" "Or were you a cop?" "Or were you not good enough to remain on the force?" "'Cause, you know that's the feeling I'm getting here." "Hope you enjoyed your breakfast." "Ma'am, this belong to you?" "LEIGH:" "Can I help you?" "I just found it." "I thought you might need it back." "Not to frighten you, but if a dogcatcher comes across a dog without a license, he's liable to think he's a stray and do God knows what to it." "You know, our dog is..." "He passed away." "Oh, what a shame." "Yeah." "Man's best friend and all." "Woman's, too." "Even without closing my eyes, I can picture him, big, friendly, shaggy, asleep at your feet, keeping you company while you're trying to finish up those pesky little sketches." "Oh, you're Max Cady, aren't you?" "You know, you better get the hell out of here before I call the police." "I'm not doing nothing." "Just giving you back your dog collar." "I'm not on your property." "Oh, what'd you come out here for, you want to look around?" "Go ahead, Mr. Cady, take a good look." "Nice house." "Yeah." "It is a nice house." "You satisfied now you've seen it?" "Or is there more?" "Huh?" "Is that it?" "There is going to be more, isn't there, Mr. Cady?" "Huh?" "You won't stop until you're happy." "How can I be happy, Leigh, when you're not happy?" "You don't know anything about me." "I know what I see, ma'am." "Yeah?" "Mmm-hmm." "I wanted to know what you looked like." "I've been waiting to see your face, but you know now that I see you," "you are just repulsive." "I understand." "Yeah." "I'm not your type." "No." "All that prison time made me coarse." "Guess I'm covered in too many tattoos, huh?" "But, you see, there's not a whole hell of a lot to do in prison but desecrate your flesh." "Of course it didn't have to be that way for either of us if your husband hadn't betrayed us both." "Who knows?" "We might have been different people." "We might have been happy, Leigh." "Mom, someone's on the phone!" "Dani!" "Don't come out here!" "(TIRES SCREECHING)" "Sam." "Hey, Sam." "Yo, Sam." "Sam, I thought I'd catch you here." "Well, that little smart aleck made me." "He what?" "Well, it wasn't my fault." "He was looking to be covered." "You're right." "There is a lot of cutsie-cutsie in that little prick, isn't there?" "Yeah, I told you." "You know where he was today?" "At the public library reading Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche, he's this German philosopher." "He said that God is dead." "God is dead." "Right." "Look, we can keep going this way, but it's going to get awful expensive, Sam." "Well, look, I'm not so concerned about days." "Just stay on him a few more nights, will you?" "Look, do you really want to resolve this situation?" "Yes, I'd love to resolve it." "Then I got a suggestion." "There's men that can be hired, by me, to do a little job on Cady, a little hospital job." "What are we talking about here?" "Two pieces of pipe and a bicycle chain." "Sam." "He won't be so scary after that." "I'm a lawyer, right?" "We agree that I'm a lawyer?" "Yeah." "You know, maybe 2,000 years ago, we'd have taken this guy out and stoned him to death." "(STARTS ENGINE)" "I can't operate outside the law." "The law is my business." "SAM:" "Hi, I'm home!" "Where is everybody?" "In here." "Evening, ladies." "Oh, chicken." "How is everything?" "Is everything okay?" "DANIELLE:" "Yeah." "Good." "Good." "(WHISPERING) He was here today." "(TELEPHONE RINGING)" "DANIELLE:" "Hello?" "MAN ON PHONE:" "Hello, Danielle?" "Is this Miss Danielle Bowden?" "Yeah." "This is your new teacher calling." "From English or Drama?" "Drama." "So how you doing?" "Fine." "Well, I'm just going down the list, greeting my summer students." "You sound kind of down." "No." "There's just been stuff going on around here, that's all." "I see." "Anything I can do?" "I doubt it." "I mean, shit happens, you know, like the T-shirt says." "Yeah." "Well, you know, Danielle, all that negativity, you can use that." "What do you mean?" "Well, I'm the kind of teacher that takes a very personal interest in his kids." "And don't mind me if I tell you everything you're going through, it's okay, go with it." "The awkwardness you feel, say, when you're walking down the street and some leering fool is making fun of your sexuality, the turmoil you feel, extra bad when that particular time of the month comes around," "the anger you feel that your mom and dad won't let you just grow up and be yourself, be a woman." "Go with it." "Don't suppress or deny it." "Use it in your life and your work." "Okay." "I mean..." "That's..." "I'll have to think about all that." "So, class is tomorrow in Room 110, right?" "No, it's been changed to the theater." "I mean, what better place for drama, right?" "Yeah." "And remember, Danielle, you can use all those fears to draw upon and learn." "You know this little tune?" "WOMAN ON TAPE: (SINGING) If you want a" "Do-right-all-day woman" "Woman" "You've got to be a do-right-all-night man" "Man (DANIELLE GIGGLES)" "Now, you can trust in me, because I'm a do-right man, okay?" "Okay, 'night now." "Okay." "Good night." "You know, honey, I think maybe I should walk you in." "No, it's okay, Mom." "There's a lot of people here." "I'll be right here at 4:00 to pick you up." "Okay." "Bye." "Bye." "I didn't think summer session was gonna be so crowded." "It's not." "They're just having a big meeting about next fall's chorus program." "I have to go downstairs for Drama." "Bye." "Okay, bye." "(BELL RINGING)" "Hello." "Nadine?" "I'm here for the Drama class." "Hi." "Oops." "Am I busted?" "No." "I hope not." "You can't smoke grass in school." "Privilege of the profession." "Eases inhibitions." "You down here for Drama?" "Yeah." "Are you the Drama teacher?" "And you're, let me guess." "Cecile James?" "No, I'm Danielle Bowden." "Danielle." "Oh, we spoke last night." "Yeah." "Oh, I'm sorry." "How rude." "It's okay." "Um..." "(SINGING) I think we're alone now... (CHUCKLES)" "Okay." "(EXHALES)" "Thanks." "Here." "I'm going to give this to you." "Ow. (LAUGHS)" "Little trick I learned." "Take it." "You know when we spoke on the phone last night?" "Mmm-hmm." "You really made sense to me and I thought a lot." "Those are human truths, darling." "That's what it's all about." "And that's what we deal with here." "See the book you have, Thomas Wolfe?" "It's all about self-discovery, the inner voyage." "I like the end where Eugene's journey..." "It was really mystical, you know, and it was almost like a pilgrimage." "Almost like a cop-out, if you ask me." "Although those were the facts of Wolfe's life." "The novel is what you would call a roman à clef." "You know what that is?" "(SIGHS)" "Sure." "Well, nonetheless, you can't escape your demons just by leaving home." "Although writers do find new freedom when they relocate abroad." "Take Henry Miller." "Have you read his trilogy?" "Plexus, Nexus and Sexus?" "No." "No." "You haven't read that?" "You're missing something." "Well, you know what?" "I did read Tropic of Cancer." "Just parts of it, though, because I had to sneak it off my parents' shelf, you know?" "But his descriptions are pretty vivid, I would say." "In one of the novels, I don't recall which, he describes an erection as a piece of lead with wings on it." "I didn't read that part." "Of course not." "You're not allowed." "Your parents don't want you to achieve adulthood." "That's natural." "They know the pitfalls of adulthood, all that freedom." "They know it only too well." "Temptation to stray, deflecting their guilt and anger onto you for a crime that's not even a crime, for smoking grass." "Wait a second." "Where are you from?" "Where am I from?" "Yeah." "Where do you think I'm from?" "I don't know, but..." "If I told you, you going to get mad at me?" "No." "I'm from the black forest." "That's funny." "You're not the Drama teacher, are you?" "Maybe I'm the big bad wolf." "Umm..." "So you're that guy that's been hanging around the house?" "You're the one that killed my mom's dog?" "Your mom's dog was killed?" "Yeah." "I didn't even know anything about that." "That's a shame." "That's a damn shame." "Yes, it was." "What kind of dog was it?" "I don't know." "He was just..." "He was fluffy, and..." "Fluffy?" "Mmm-hmm." "So you didn't do that?" "Of course I didn't do that." "Okay." "I wouldn't do that." "So why..." "What are you doing here, then?" "Well, I came to meet you, to be honest with you." "Why?" "I mean..." "Because" "I wanted to meet you, see what you're like." "I see you're a nice person." "That's all." "You're not going to hurt me, are you?" "I'm not going to hurt you at all." "There's no hurting here, Danielle." "Between us, there's no anger, nothing." "Just a search for truth." "I mean, did you judge me, did you get angry at me when you caught me smoking the grass?" "Hmm?" "No." "But your parents, they judged you." "They got plenty angry at you, didn't they?" "Yeah." "Mmm-hmm." "They punished you for their sins." "What did they do?" "They..." "My dad..." "They just yelled a whole lot and my mom cried and my dad said I couldn't drive the Cherokee." "I would say they punished you for their sins, and you resent that, and you should resent it." "But Professor do-right has a little advice for you." "You shouldn't damn them." "Don't judge them." "Just forgive them, for they know not what they do." "Oh..." "Um..." "Why do you hate my father?" "I don't hate him at all." "Oh, no." "I pray for him." "I'm here to help him." "I mean, we all make mistakes, Danielle." "You and I have." "But at least we try to admit it." "Don't we?" "Yeah." "But your daddy, he don't." "Every man carries a circle of hell around his head like a halo." "Your daddy, too." "Every man, every man has to go through hell to reach his paradise." "You know what paradise is?" "No." "Salvation." "'Cause your daddy's not happy." "Your mommy's not happy." "And you know what?" "You're not happy." "Are you?" "No, I'm not." "You thought about me last night, didn't you?" "(LAUGHS)" "Um..." "Yes, I did." "I know." "You know, I think I might have found a companion, a companion for that long walk to the light." "Do you mind if I put my arm around you?" "Um..." "It's okay." "No, I don't mind." "Okay." "(GIGGLES)" "(BREATHING HEAVILY)" "Kersek, where the hell have you been, for Christ sake?" "He came at my daughter at school." "You asked me to watch him nights." "I'm watching him nights." "What happened?" "My wife, Leigh, she found some marijuana in one of Dani's schoolbooks." "We don't know if Cady gave it to her or exactly what happened, but she's scared and she won't talk about it." "But now this has gone far enough." "It's got to stop!" "You phone the cops?" "No, I didn't phone the cops." "I mean, what did you call them?" "You call them "Slow, skeptical, pathetic, even."" "Dani." "No, Leigh, that's all right." "Just hold on a minute." "Kersek, look, I want to hire those three guys, you remember, the hospital job." "Consider it done, the sooner the better." "Three men's going to cost you a grand." "Now I know that's not chicken feed, but you don't wanna go with less than three." "It's better to overdo it." "Okay." "You'll have the money in the morning." "All right." "Then we'll be on for tomorrow night." "And Sam, you'll feel good about this." "All right." "Do you notice these young people?" "They don't look very happy." "They're committed to their professions and to their ambitions, but they're not committed to each other." "Cady, shut up and listen." "If you don't leave..." "If you don't leave my family alone and if you don't get out of here, you're going to be hurting like you never dreamed." "Could you repeat that?" "I said, if you don't get out of here, you're going to be hurting like you never dreamed." "A threat?" "Yeah." "You bet your ass that's a threat." "Well, I have thought of relocating somewhere where I'd be more appreciated, California, perhaps." "I could teach earthquake preparedness." "But then it hits me, I love New Essex, Counselor." "I mean, where else could I just casually confer with an old colleague?" "We're not colleagues." "Do you understand that?" "We're not colleagues." "Still think you're better than me." "No, I don't think I'm better than you." "That's not the goddamned point." "Good. 'Cause if you're not better than me, then I can have what you have." "What do I have?" "A wife, a daughter." "I'm going to teach you the meaning of commitment." "Fourteen years ago, I was forced to make a commitment to an eight-by-nine cell and now you're going to be forced to make a commitment." "You could say I'm here to save you." "Fine." "Check out the Bible, Counselor, the book between Esther and Psalms." "Dani?" "Dani?" "You all right?" "What?" "Is everything all right?" "Yeah." "This isn't going to work, you know." "What isn't going to work?" "Locking us in, hiding us from the world." "Oh, don't be so dramatic, Dani." "Making me stay out of school." "You're going back to school tomorrow." "And put some clothes on." "You're not a little kid anymore." "Yeah?" "Then why am I going back to school tomorrow?" "What are you going to do?" "That's none of your concern, Dani." "Dad, he didn't force himself on me, you know." "I know you'd like to think that he did." "But I think he was..." "I think he was just trying to make a connection with me." "You know?" "Now, Dani," "I want you to listen to me." "All right?" "No." "Do you understand?" "No." "There will never be any connection between you and Max Cady." "You understand that?" "Did he touch you?" "(CHUCKLES)" "What are you laughing about?" "Why are you smiling?" "I'm asking you a question." "Did he touch you?" "Dani, wipe that smile off your face!" "I'm asking you, did he touch you?" "No, no, no, wait, Dani." "I'm sorry." "No, I'm sorry." "Wait, honey." "I'm sorry." "Get out of here!" "Get out of here!" "(DOOR CLOSES)" "THUG:" "Max?" "(GRUNTING)" "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "Come on." "(GRUNTING)" "(CLATTERING)" "Counselor?" "Is that you?" "Counselor?" "(SINGSONG VOICE) Come out, come out, wherever you are." "I ain't no white trash piece of shit." "I'm better than you all." "I can out-learn you." "I can out-read you." "I can outthink you, and I can out-philosophize you." "And I'm going to outlast you." "You think a couple of whacks to my good-old-boy gut's gonna get me down?" "It's going to take a hell of a lot more than that, Counselor, to prove you're better than me!" ""I am like God, and God like me." ""I am as large as God." ""He is as small as I." ""He cannot above me nor I beneath him be."" "Silesius, 17th century." "Counselor?" "Could you be there?" "(WHISTLES)" "(WHISTLES AGAIN)" "Counselor?" "I wonder if you're here." "Fuck it." "If you're here, what the fuck's the difference?" "Fuck it!" "WOMAN:" "I've got Mr. Kersek on one." "SAM:" "Good." "I'll take it." "Tom." "Sam, you look tired." "You get that writ?" "No, no, we got to get into that." "Let me just grab this." "Kersek." "Look, I'm damn sorry about last night." "That son of a bitch could survive a preemptive nuclear strike." "All right." "Hang on a second." "Hang on a second." "Tom, I'm not doing it." "I pulled a fast one and it's come back and it's bit me on the ass in a major way." "What you did was dumb." "What I'm asking here is no big deal, Sam." "This is my daughter!" "No, Tom, it's perjury and it's bullshit and I'm not doing it!" "Now, excuse me." "All right?" "All right." "I'll be in my office." "Tom, who was that top criminal lawyer?" "Lee Heller." "Kersek." "We need to talk." "KERSEK:" "Trouble is if word gets out how Cady bushwhacked those poor bastards, it's gonna be a bitch to line up three new guys." "I don't want three new guys." "No more guys, you hear me?" "Mr. Heller, it's Sam Bowden from Broadbent and Denmeyer." "Tom speaks very highly of you." "In fact, he says you're the best, and the best is what I need right now." "HELLER: (ON PHONE) We froze our butts together in Korea." "How can I help you, Sam?" "Well, it's a simple petition for a restraining order, but there's been some complications." "Now, I know this is short notice, but look, I need this injunction." "You see, there's an ex-convict by the name of Max Cady, he's been harassing my family." "I'm sorry, Mr. Bowden." "I can't continue this conversation." "Well, is there a more convenient time?" "No, no." "The damn thing is I have a conflict." "Now, what would that be?" "Well, you see," "Mr. Cady retained my services as of yesterday." "He what?" "In fact, I see on my phone sheet" "Mr. Cady called this morning, so I'm sure he'll fill me in..." "But wait a minute, Lee." "Now, look, this man is a psychotic." "It appears I'll be seeing you at that hearing after all." "CADY ON TAPE:" "Could you repeat that?" "SAM ON TAPE:" "I said if you don't leave..." "If you don't leave my family alone and if you don't get out of here, you're gonna be hurting like you never dreamed." "A threat?" "Yeah, you bet your ass that's a threat." "HELLER:" "You need only glance at my client to know that Mr. Bowden made good on his heinous and cowardly threat." "Just as God arose to judgment to save all the meek of the earth," "I hope and pray you will do the same, sir." "Your Honor, (CLEARS THROAT)" "Mr. Cady wouldn't have surreptitiously taped our meeting unless he knew that he'd..." "This court does not condone feuds, vendettas or vigilantism." "Let me quote our great Negro educator, Mr. Booker T. Washington." ""I will let no man drag me down so low" ""as to make me hate him."" "Yes." "I will grant the restraining order not to validate the malice between you, but in the interest of Christian harmony." "You may not come within 500 yards of Mr. Maximilian Cady until such time as the court may lift the injunction." "King Solomon could not have adjudicated more wisely, Your Honor." "I am so offended by the philistine tactics of Mr. Bowden," "I petitioned the A. B.A. For his disbarment on the grounds of moral turpitude." "Now, if you will excuse us, my client..." "Come on, son..." "Is due back at the hospital for the results of his numerous X-rays." "Kersek, I want a gun." "I need a gun." "I want a gun." "You want a gun?" "Yeah, I need a gun." "Know anything about guns?" "No." "No, I don't believe in them." "I never had them around the house or anything." "All right, I'll get you a gun." "What kind of gun you want?" "Now, calm down." "Well, just something simple, something I can handle." "Let me see what fits you." "A.45..." "Let me see your hands." "Okay." "A.38 snub-nosed special." "Yeah." "All right." "Good." "That'll do." "I can even teach you how to use it." "All right." "Great." "The first lesson is this." "Don't think of it as shooting a man or trying to kill him." "Right." "Think of it as an extension of your fist." "You're just reaching out and knocking the man down." "All right." "Later on we can go out to the woods and shoot some trees, okay?" "That'd be great." "That'd be great." "Good." "What is it?" "What?" "Well, Sam..." "Yeah?" "I give you a gun." "You pull it on Cady, and it's gonna dawn on you that shooting a man is different than blowing holes in some tree." "Next thing, you know, you don't have my gun, Cady does." "No, no, no." "You're gonna teach me." "I know how to handle a gun." "He won't take it away from me." "Best-case scenario, you kill Cady dog-dead." "Fifteen years to life." "Do you realize that, Counselor?" "Oh, Jesus!" "It's all fucked up, Kersek!" "I mean, the law considers me more of a loose cannon than Max Cady!" "Some big-shit attorney has whipped the A. B.A.'s ethics committee into a frenzy." "There's an emergency session in Raleigh over the assault." "How did they link that to you?" "I went to warn Cady." "I thought it was the decent thing to do." "Maybe I'd scare him." "And he was wired." "Goddamn fools." "This hearing, it's real important?" "(LAUGHS)" "Only if I want to continue to practice law." "Yeah." "Cady isn't expected there, is he?" "Oh, no, no, no." "Mr. Cady, he's beyond reproach." "But you're required to be there." "Yeah." "When is this hearing?" "It's Thursday morning, 9:00." "The torture begins and lasts for two days." "You have to fly up the night before?" "Right." "Cady's an opportunist." "If he thinks you're gonna be out of town for two days, that's going to be as tempting to him as shit is to a fly." "If Cady breaks into your home, he can be killed." "Justifiably." "But he won't show unless he's real sure you're not gonna be there." "(SWITCHING STATIONS)" "(CHOIR SINGING)" "Have a good trip." "All right." "Bye-bye." "Call us tonight, okay?" "All right." "I didn't miss the 9:20 to Raleigh?" "I'm afraid you did, sir." "But there's a 10:20." "Oh, it's not that." "I just have some very, very important papers for Samuel Bowden." "Was he on the 9:20?" "We can't give out that information, sir." "Well, it's just..." "I guess I could send it to him overnight, but he might be back, for all I know, tomorrow morning, and I..." "See, I..." "My wife and I have been in an accident, and he's our lawyer." "And if I don't get in touch with him, we could lose this case." "We've already lost our little daughter, Dani." "Is..." "Is there any way I can find out if he was on that flight and when he's coming back?" "It'd really, really help us." "(KEYS CLATTERING)" "He'll be back the day after tomorrow, sir." "Bless your heart." "(SOFTLY) Go on." "Go on in." "Get down, Sam." "(BANGING ON DOOR) Leigh." "Leigh, give me a cigarette." "You better slow down, Sam." "You're outpacing me two-to-one since you started smoking." "Just keep track of how many I owe you." "So, how'd it go at the airport?" "Well, we did our thing, but we don't know if he saw us, we don't even know if he was there." "Set the trap and we'll see." "What if we don't want to see?" "Dani!" "DANIELLE:" "What?" "Maybe he poisoned the dog." "Dani..." "Sam, watch out for the windows." "Yeah, you're not allowed to stand up, Dad, remember?" "Didn't Cady go after her?" "LEIGH:" "You don't know Dani." "If she finds a palmetto bug in her bedroom, she takes it outside." "You know, she could never kill anything." "Even a six-foot palmetto bug?" "(LAUGHS)" "Oh, God." "What is that?" "It's a monofilament line." "I got it from Sam's fishing gear." "See, what I do is I stretch it across the windows and the doors and tie it to Dani's teddy bear here." "If the bear moves a quarter of an inch," "I'll know if the holy ghost is sneaking in." "What are you reading?" "Why?" "Did Kersek quit?" "No." "It's just that Cady said..." "You want some answers." "Me, too." "I'd like to know just how strong we are or how weak." "But I guess the only way we're going to find that out is just by going through this." "It's just that Cady said to read the book between Esther and Psalms." "Which is which one?" "The Book of Job." "Job was a good man." "He believed in God and God tested his faith." "He took away everything he had, even his children." "(GASPS)" "DANIELLE:" "It's hideous, this plan." "I mean, barbaric." "They're crazy." "My dad's turned into some kind of..." "I don't know what." "Barbaric." "(SPEAKING SPANISH)" "Listen to your father." "Do what they say." "What else you can do?" "Leave." "We could go to the houseboat, you know, and get lost in any inlet." "Dani, come on." "Don't stay outside." "You wanna know what really disturbs me?" "It's killing this guy." "I mean, taking a man's life." "I don't know if I can live with that." "You may have to." "Sam, just remember the plan." "I know the plan." "Damn, it's premeditated." "It's..." "It makes me an accomplice, an accessory, an abettor." "It's also excessive force." "Sam, the only thing excessive we could do to Cady would be to gut him and eat his liver." "That might be excessive." "Jesus Christ, Kersek, I'm serious." "No, you're scared." "But that's okay." "I want you to savor that fear." "You know, the South evolved in fear." "Fear of the Indian, fear of the slave, fear of the damn Union." "The South has a fine tradition of savoring fear." "(INAUDIBLE)" "SAM:" "What's the matter?" "Don't look over!" "Don't look." "(WHISPERING) She's making me nervous." "What would she normally do if Sam wasn't around to run her home?" "She'd stay..." "SAM:" "She'd stay over." "Well, then, she stays over." "(TICKING)" "(RATTLING)" "(SNIFFLING)" "Leigh?" "What?" "Leigh." "I know how the dog died." "Sam, are you dreaming?" "No." "No." "I just had the weirdest feeling he was already in the house." "(LIGHT THUD)" "Can't sleep, huh, Miss Graciela?" "Yeah." "It's hot." "(SIGHS)" "You know, I think it's the humidity that makes us all so thirsty." "(BURPS) Excuse me." "My pop was a cop." "Twenty years." "This was his favorite drink when he was on a stakeout." "(CHOKING)" "(GUN FIRES) (GASPS)" "I learned that in prison." "You like?" "White trash piece of shit." "(CHUCKLING)" "Stay here, Leigh." "Kersek?" "Dani, Dani, go back to your room." "Go back to your room." "Lock the door." "Kersek?" "(DOOR CLOSES)" "(WHISPERS) Don't go down there, Sam." "No, it's all right." "Kersek?" "Sam?" "(GASPS)" "(SCREAMING)" "SAM:" "Dani, don't look." "(SOBBING) Oh, my God, Graciela!" "Dani, don't look." "Don't look, Dani." "Oh, my God." "DANIELLE:" "Oh, my God!" "Oh, my God!" "(DANIELLE CONTINUES SOBBING)" "It's the piano wire." "LEIGH:" "Sam!" "(EXCLAIMS)" "I'm going to get this son of a bitch!" "Sam!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "I'm gonna slit that son of a bitch!" "Tell him to stop!" "God, he might be out here!" "He might be out here!" "SAM:" "Now, listen, I've got Kersek's gun with me and you're gonna find the piano wire that Cady used in the house." "Yeah, I know how this looks." "I know it." "You're not supposed to flee a murder scene." "Listen, Lieutenant, now, you may know this and you may not, but in the law, there's a thing called force majeure." "It means an unforeseeable act of God and it cancels all promises and obligations." "So, legally speaking, all bets are off." "You find Max Cady and we'll come back." "What did he say?" "He said we're fugitives." "DANIELLE:" "What's that mean?" "SAM:" "That means we're doing something right." "(DOORS CLOSE) (ENGINE STARTS)" "Where's that old mongrel dog of yours, Mrs. Bowden?" "(THUNDER RUMBLING)" "Tomorrow, I'll catch some fish." "Oh, you know, you don't have to." "I've got enough food here to last us a week." "But it'd be nice." "Good." "(RAIN PATTERING)" "(CLATTERING)" "It's only rain." "A sheet of rain." "(LEIGH EXCLAIMS)" "What was that?" "It's just a squall." "I'll go check the anchor." "Wait, Dad." "Don't go out." "No, Dani." "Now, look, everything is okay." "All right?" "Yeah." "We're on the river now, baby." "It's just a squall kicking up." "Graciela has a brother." "I mean, she had... (SOBBING)" "Oh, sweetie." "We'll get in touch with him right away." "Sam?" "We're making some tea." "Sam?" "Dad?" "SAM:" "I can't hear you." "It's windy out." "(THUDDING ON ROOF)" "(GRUNTING)" "(CHOKING)" "What's that?" "(GASPS)" "Are we moving?" "Sam?" "(GASPS)" "Evening, ladies." "You know my husband has a gun?" "Not this gun?" "Is it this gun?" "Where is he?" "Resting up." "He had a long, difficult day." "Danielle, I told you, you can't escape your demons just by leaving home." "I didn't." "My parents brought me here." "Of course." "Where's Sexus?" "Back at the house." "Shame." "I had hoped we could read aloud from it together." "Well," "I memorized some for you." "Did you?" "Yeah." "Did you?" "Yeah." "Well, I'm impressed." "Which part?" "The part..." "You know what part, you know." "(CLICKING TONGUE)" "I don't think you did your homework." "I did." "What parts were they?" "The good parts?" "Yeah." "They were..." "Were you a good girl?" "I was." "I knew you'd follow me here and..." "You know me pretty well, don't you, darling?" "Yeah." "I do." "You're gonna get to know me a lot better, too." "(YELLS)" "Are you offering me something hot?" "Let's get something straight here." "I spent 14 years in an eight-by-nine cell surrounded by people who were less than human." "My mission in that time was to become more than human." "You see?" "Granddaddy used to handle snakes in church." "Granny drank strychnine." "I guess you could say I had a leg-up, genetically speaking." "(SCREAMS)" "I'm gonna forgive you, Danielle, honey." "'Cause I know that wasn't the real you, the true you." "But I would like you to wait in the hold." "Danielle, Danielle, get in the hold." "Danielle!" "Stop!" "No!" "(SOBBING) No!" "Ready to be born again, Mrs. Bowden?" "A few minutes alone with me, darling, and you will be speaking in tongues." "(EXCLAIMING)" "Excuse me, Mrs. B." "Please don't take umbrage, but in the plan that I have formulated, there's much more to it than just you and I just making love." "I mean, that's just so commonplace and dreary." "Here and now, we have an opportunity." ""What is that opportunity?" You ask." "Why, here and now, we have an opportunity to depict and dramatize..." "No!" "...both the heights and the depths of a mama's true love of her daughter, if you all get my meaning." "Come on out, babe." "Come on, darling." "Let's go." "Get out." "Get up here." "Cady, listen to me." "This is between you and me." "Leave them out of it." "This is my night, Counselor." "Don't you step on my lines." "No!" "Stop!" "Stop!" "Yes, Leigh?" "Listen to me, Max." "Listen to me." "You know, Max, since all this started," "I've thought about you all the time." "I've tried to imagine what it must have been like for you all those years, locked up in jail." "I've tried to imagine you and even your crimes and how you must have felt in those moments that you did them." "See, I know about loss, Max." "I know about losing time, even losing years." "And I know it doesn't compare to jail, but I can understand and I could share this with you." "Because of that, whatever it is that you've got planned," "I want you to do it just with me, not with her, because we have this connection." "What do you think, Counselor?" "No!" "That was real eloquent, Leigh." "Brave, too." "I wanna thank you for conveying to me your very powerful emotions because" "I'm gonna enjoy this all the more." "(SCREAMING)" "Oh, my God!" "Oh, God!" "(DANIELLE SOBBING)" "(THUNDER RUMBLING)" "The people call Samuel J. Bowden!" "Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help you, God?" "Cady, somebody's got to man the boat." "We're heading into unprotected water." "Do you swear?" "I'll do it, Dad." "You sit, Danielle!" "Don't you make light of your civic duty, darling." "You're the jury." "SAM:" "All right, all right, okay," "I swear to tell the truth." "What do you wanna know?" "Was a prior sexual history ever prepared in connection with my defense?" "Was a prior sexual history ever prepared in connection with my defense?" "It's... (SCREAMS)" "I'm sorry, Your Honor." "I agree." "That was argumentative." "An investigator did prepare a prior sexual history on the alleged victim." "True?" "I can ask leading questions, Your Honor." "He is a hostile witness." "Would you care to tell the court what the gist was of this report?" "Cady, it was 14 years ago." "I can't remember that." "(SCREAMS)" "How can he answer when you're hitting him like that?" "Because he's perjuring himself, Your Honor." "He knows damn well exactly what it said." "Don't you?" "It said that she was promiscuous." "It said that she had three different lovers in one month." "At least three!" "At least three!" "And did you show this report to the D. A?" "No, no!" "I only discovered it by chance when I started representing myself six years into my sentence!" "But there it was in the court file." "But back in '77, you buried it, Counselor." "Would you care to tell the jury why?" "Would you care to tell the court why?" "Because I know he brutally raped her and he beat her." "Talk to me!" "I'm standing here!" "Just because she was promiscuous didn't give you the right to rape her!" "You bragged to me that you beat two prior aggravated rapes." "You were a menace!" "You were my lawyer!" "You were my lawyer!" "That report could have saved me 14 years." "You're probably right." "You self-righteous fuck!" "I'm Virgil, Counselor, and I'm guiding you through the gates of Hell." "We are now in the 9th circle, the circle of traitors." "Traitors to country, traitors to fellow man, traitors to God!" "You, sir, are charged with betraying the principles of all three!" "Can you please quote for me the American Bar Association's" "Rules of Professional Conduct, Canon seven?" ""A lawyer should represent his client..."" ""Should zealously represent his client" ""within the bounds of the law."" "And I find you guilty, Counselor, guilty of betraying your fellow man, guilty of betraying your country, guilty of abrogating your oath, guilty of judging me and selling me out!" "And with the power vested in me by the kingdom of God," "I sentence you to the 9th circle of Hell!" "Now you will learn about loss, loss of freedom, loss of humanity." "Now you and I will truly be the same, Counselor." "Danielle, get down on your knees." "Both of you take off your clothes!" "Down on your knees now!" "No, no, no." "Down on your knees!" "Take off your clothes!" "Get down on your knees!" "(SCREAMING) No!" "Don't!" "Now, take off your clothes!" "Off with your clothes!" "You, Leigh, take off your clothes." "Now!" "DANIELLE:" "No!" "CADY:" "Come on!" "Git!" "Git!" "No!" "Git!" "Tonight, you're gonna learn to be an animal, to live like an animal and to die like one." "Give me your hand!" "(EXCLAIMING)" "No!" "Go!" "Go!" "(BOTH SCREAMING)" "(BOTH GRUNTING)" "(SCREAMING)" "Did you forget about that restraining order, Counselor?" "You're well within 500 yards!" "(LAUGHING)" "Well, here we are, Counselor, just two lawyers working it out!" "(YELLING)" "(LAUGHING)" "I'm going to kill you!" "You already sacrificed me, Counselor." "(SPEAKING GIBBERISH)" "(SINGING) On Jordan's stormy banks I stand" "Oh who will come with me?" "I am bound for the promised land" "(GASPS)" "(WHIMPERING)" "(SOBBING)" "DANIELLE:" "We never spoke about what happened, at least not to each other." "Fear, I suppose, that to remember his name or what he did would mean letting him into our dreams." "And me, I hardly dream about him anymore." "Still, things won't ever be the way they were before he came." "But that's all right because if you hang onto the past, you die a little every day." "And for myself," "I know I'd rather live." "The end."