"Jonathan, what do we gotta wear these suits for?" "R.R. Benson." "What's an R.R. Benson?" "R.R. Benson is the richest man in this city." "He loves money." "He loves no one and no one loves him." "So, what's the assignment?" "Try to keep him alive." "What, is he sick?" "No, not physically." "A man like that has got a lot of enemies." "What do you mean, somebody's gonna try to--?" "Yeah." "They're gonna have to get past us to do it." "What do you mean?" "I mean, we're gonna be his bodyguards." "Oh, boy." "Mr. Benson, your two new bodyguards are here." " You check their IDs?" " Yes, sir." "Send them in." "Well, Smith and Wesson." "Welcome aboard." "No, no, no, it's Smith and Gordon." "Yeah, whatever, whatever." "These are for you." "Bulletproof." "Oh, thanks, I guess." "Mr. Benson, I take it you feel someone's gonna make an attempt on your life." "What, who, me?" "No." "No." "Let me put it this way." "Construction is part of my business." "It is uncanny how lucky I am at taking bids away from my competitors." "But just because I'm in cement, so to speak, doesn't mean to say I wanna end up wearing it, if you get my drift." "Now, it's like insurance." "You take it out, but don't expect to use it." "But no, no, you don't have any concern." "Mr. Benson, this one's got a hole in it." "Well, you wouldn't wanna wear it if it hadn't been tested, would you?" "No, I guess not." "That's using the old IQ, son." "Now, the two of you just stick close to me like hair on a bear and everything will be just fine." "Jonathan, you think these vests are really gonna work?" "What do I care?" "I don't need it." "All right, the first on the agenda is the leak at the R.R. Benson Chemical Company." " Who's got that?" " Me, sir." "Who are you?" "Jim White, director of Public Safety, Benson Chemicals." "All right, White, what's the bottom line?" "Well, R.R., the plant is leaking approximately 3,000 gallons of toxic waste onto Sunrise Beach per day." " What should we do?" " Deny it." " Deny it?" " That's right, son, lie." "God gave you lips, use them." "Mr. Benson, excuse me, but I know Sunrise Beach." "Because of the pollution your company pumps, people can't even swim there anymore, before you know it" "Good idea." "Good thinking, Smith." " Grey." " Yes, sir." "You're in charge of publicity." "Go back Sunrise Beach history past 50 years." "Find out how many people drowned." "If people can't swim there, they can't drown." "Now, come up with some kind of concept, you know, mother and child, R.R. Benson Industries keeping children out of troubled water." "You know what I mean." "Good thinking, Smith." "Very good thinking." "Now, what's next?" "Dave Green, Community Relations." "There is a delegation of tenants here to see you, sir." "They have a long list of complaints, from high rents to no heat in the buildings, rats, bad plumbing, leaky roofs." "Yeah, where are they?" "In my office, sir." "Well, you keep them there." "I don't like to see the faces of people I've cheated." "It's bad for my digestion." "All right, boys." "Let's go." "Well, Mr. Benson, those tenements you own," "I've seen them too." "Well, you do get around, don't you, son?" "They're a disgrace." "People shouldn't have to live like that." " They should be condemned." " Condemned?" "You got a crackerjack mind there, Smith." "They will be condemned and I'll write off a big tax loss." "Have one of my other companies snap them up dirt-cheap, make a few improvements, raise the rents and we start all over again." "You see, there's money to be made off of poor people." "All you gotta know is how to do it." "Gordon, go to that underground parking area there." "That's where I'm gonna meet the councilman." "You're having a meeting in an underground parking lot?" "Never make a bribe in public." "That's tacky." "Well, councilman, here you are." "Now, there's a property down on 3rd." "Got some kind of garden on it." "The Common Ground Garden?" "That's right." "Now, I want that rezoned." "I got plans for that property." "Well, Common Ground Garden is awfully popular with the people." "Yeah, well, we make it unpopular." "Let's say that it is a hangout for drug pushers." "Make the streets safe for the citizens." "You bulldoze that damn thing." "Now, if you can't handle this, I'll bribe somebody else who can." "How I ever let you get your hooks into me, I'll never know." "Well, the hook is in and you're on it." "Now, I can either destroy you or pay you off." "It's up to you." "Maybe I should let you destroy me." "It might be worth it not to have to feel like scum." "Oh, yeah, that's great." "I can just see your wife and your kids and your grandchildren coming down to see you behind bars." "Now, take the money and get out of here." "You don't have to do this, councilman." "You could use your power to do an awful lot of good, choice is yours." "That's right." "Now, you listen to my man here." "He's right, you've got your choice." "Of course, you won't do anybody any good behind bars." "Good thinking, Smith." "These old guys, you gotta give them strokes." "He'll come around." "I think I'll start bribing younger politicians." "Buy them young, buy them cheap, that's what I always say." "You know, Mr. Benson, so far today, you've managed to guarantee the continued pollution of a public beach, you've sidestepped the health and safety laws in your tenement buildings, and now bribed a councilman." "Things that affect thousands of people whose faces you never see." "So, what's your point?" "My point is, doesn't this mean anything to you?" "Doesn't this mean anything at all to you?" "It just means I've been working hard all day." "Time for a break." "Let's get going." "There's a cocktail party in my honour." "Let's go have a little fun." "Get moving." "Hi, baby." "Hi, Honey." "Honey, this is Smith and Gordon here." " Boys, this is Honey." " Hi." "I was lonesome without you, baby." "Yes, I know, I know." "She loves me, what can I tell you?" "I love him." "I'm gonna go over and talk to those two gents over there." "They're my partners, at least, until I buy them out." "So you guys just stay here and keep an eye out for anybody suspicious." "Well, at least now we know what R.R. stands for." "Really Rotten." "Come on, Jon, why don't we blow this assignment?" "Why are we trying to keep this guy alive?" " Come on, Mark." " I mean it, Jonathan." "You spent all day long trying to get through to this guy, you haven't made a dent." "I mean, certain people cannot be turned around, especially with a subtle approach." "You may be right about that." "Tonight, I think we'll try the direct approach." "What do you mean?" "Oh, just tell him who we are and why we're here, and it's up to him." "I'll tell you, I have a feeling this just may be his last chance." "All right, boys, that's all for tonight." "I'll see you in the morning." " Look, I'd like to talk to you" " Smith, I don't care what you'd like." "You're working for me and I'm going to bed." "That's where you're wrong, Mr. Benson." "We're not working for you." "What?" "What is this?" "Wait a minute." "Some kind of setup?" "Who do you work for?" "God." " God?" " Yes, God." "Our boss is God." "I'm an angel." "Well, you had me scared there for a second." "I'll see you in the morning." "What?" " How did--?" " I told you, I'm an angel." "No place to run, Mr. Benson." "All right, what do you want, money?" "I got money." "Oh, come on, I'm an angel." "You can't buy me off or rent me." " All you can do is listen." " All right." "Okay, I'm listening." "You just stay where you are." "We all have to choose, Mr. Benson, what kind of life we lead." "And ultimately, we're responsible for the choices we make." "You've made some very bad choices in your life." "But there's still time." "It's up to you the way you use it." "Your responsibility." "You're a kook." "A couple of religious kooks." "I don't know how you did this." "Power of suggestion, mirrors or lights or projector or whatever." "You slipped me something." "That's it, isn't it?" "Yeah, right, that's what we did." "Come on, Jonathan, let's get out of here." "This guy's a lost cause." "Do yourself a favour, Mr. Benson." "Read this." "You just might learn something." "Kooks." "That's what you are, religious kooks." "I want you out of this house in the morning." "And if you're not out, I'll have you arrested." "Kooks." "What the hell is going on here?" " What was that?" " A shot upstairs." "Stop that man." "Somebody stop him." "Where the hell have you two been?" "Somebody just tried to kill me." "Thank God he missed." "He didn't miss, Mr. Benson." "What the hell are you talking about?" "I'm fine." "Take a look." "You see, Mr. Benson, you're dead." "All right, this is some kind of crazy dream, huh?" "Okay, all right." "I'll go along with that." "Does it feel like a dream?" "Have you had a dream that felt like this?" "I'm open to new experiences." "Yeah, your new experience is you were shot in the chest at point-blank range." "That's your body lying there." "You understand?" "Yeah." "Now, what's your point?" "The point is, you're deader than a doornail." " I am?" " You are." "All right, all right, then I'm dead." "Okay, then what happens now?" "Judgement." "Judgement?" "Well, I'm not ready for judgement." "What do you mean, you're not ready?" "I have to have time to prepare, don't I?" "I mean, I have to have a lawyer, don't I?" "Gotta be a lot of good lawyers that have croaked since they began handing out parchments." "Darrow." "What's Clarence Darrow doing?" "No, no, I tell you what." "I'll plead no contest." "You know, maybe that isn't such a bad idea." "Why, shoot, son, that's a great idea." "Maybe he'll just give me a fine and little public service." "And, oh, hell, you know what I mean." "No, no, I wasn't talking about the lawyer." "I was talking about time to prepare." "And maybe it's time you saw the faces of some of the people you've cheated and hurt just over the last week." "Well, actually, that's not what I had in mind." "Oh, I'm sure it wasn't, but that's the way it's gonna be." "It's time to go, Mr. Benson." "Go?" "Jonathan?" "Hey, boss, why don't you let me tag along, huh?" "You know, I won't get in the way, I promise, I..." "My God, it smells awful bad around here." "Hi." "That answers it." "That smell is from your chemical plant, Mr. Benson." "It is?" "Yeah, take a good look." "This beach used to be filled with families, children playing." "There used to be fishing boats out there." "Now all there is is sludge." "There's more than one fish in the sea." "What's the big deal?" "Where are you gonna buy another ocean, Mr. Benson?" "Once you turn this one into a sewer, where do you get another one?" "Go on, take a closer look." "Not a pretty sight, is it?" "You know, you sit up there in your corporate offices." "Instead of coming up with a solution, you come up with a PR campaign." "Well, here's the real bottom line, Mr. Benson." "A piece of your planet that you poisoned." "This is only the beginning." "We've just begun." "Look at the way these people live." "You can't blame this on me." "Oh, really?" "Yeah, they're deadbeats." "They wanna live this way." "Nobody wants to live like this." "Take a look at the baby's arms." "See the bandages?" "They're from rat bites." "They can't use the toilet in their apartment, the plumbing doesn't work." "They can't drink the water, because there's rust in the pipes." "When they come to you, they beg you to do some repairs, you send out your goons to threaten them." "Or you hire your lawyers to stall them with red tape and hearings." "I..." "I run a business, not a welfare office." "These people aren't my problem." "Do you know how kids turn out who are raised in places like this?" "I was a cop, pal." "When these kids grow up, get their strength and they mug you, boy, then you go screaming to the cops, then it is your problem." "And they're supposed to solve that problem 20 years after you plant the seeds." "Nobody put a gun to their head." "They don't have to rent here." "They don't have any choice." "Back to choices, Mr. Benson." "They were yours to make and you made them." "It's time to go." "Go where?" "To see some more of your accomplishments." "What place is this?" "It used to be just a vacant lot full of trash and garbage till that woman came along." "Now it's the Common Ground Garden." "The one you bribed a councilman to get rid of." "You come here every day after school and I'll show you how to take care of these." "And then when they grow up, you can keep them." "For keeps?" "Well, sure." "You're the one who's gonna grow them." "You're the one who's doing the work." "That's neat." "Yeah." "What do you wanna grow?" "Carrots." "Carrots?" "Okay, we can grow carrots." "How about some tomatoes?" " Okay." " Okay." " And some lettuce?" " Okay." "Just anything, huh?" "Just anything." "Take a good look, Mr. Benson." "There's someone using her talent to be part of the solution." "They don't just grow vegetables and flowers here." "They grow friendships and self-respect." "What's in it for her?" "The joy of giving." "I don't understand." "You wouldn't, Mr. Benson." "You've never tried." "Miss Kate Larson?" "Yes, that's right." "Sam Perkins." "I'm from the City Zoning Commission." "I'm sorry, but the council has decided to rescind your permit." "We're going to rezone this block." "Why would you rescind our permit?" "Well, we've heard about drug dealers on this premises." "Do these people look like drug dealers, Mr. Perkins?" "I can only tell you what the council has heard." "From whom?" "From some people who work for R.R. Benson?" "It is R.R. Benson, isn't it?" "If I could only talk to him" "Save your breath." "Slime doesn't have ears." "Oh, slime?" "Not very nice." "I know he's sore because he knows there's a payoff and he's not in on it." "Time to go." "All right by me." "I don't like crummy neighbourhoods." "Now this is more like it.There's..." "What's-her-name." " I thought her name was Honey." " Yeah, Honey." "Sweetheart, I can't keep track of them all, you know." "She looks happy." "Probably hasn't heard about my untimely demise yet." "Oh, yes, she has." "That's why she looks so happy." "Don't give me that, smart alecky angel." "That girl loves me." "She worships the ground I walk on." "Here you go." "Thank you, Honey." "Oh, Johnny, I'm so glad he's finally dead." "It's been hell just seeing you whenever he was too busy to see me this past year." "This past year?" "She's been seeing him the whole time." "That cheap tramp." "How long you think it'll take before we get the money?" "Not long, darling." "My lawyer's filing the palimony suit against his estate tomorrow." "We'll take them for every cent they've got." "I am shocked that after all I did for that bimbo..." "Time to go, Mr. Benson." "Where are we going now?" "To meet your maker." "No." "No, no, now, listen." "Give me another chance." " To do what?" " At life." "To do it different." "To do it the way I should have all along." "I'm sorry, it's a little late for that now." "No, it isn't." "It can't be." "Sure it can." "You're dead, remember?" "It's not for me." "For the sake of the people that I've hurt." "The people that I've cheated." "Please." "Please." "Even if I believed you, I don't have the power to do that." "It's time to go." "Please, please, one more chance." "I'll do it right this time." "I swear it." "Mr. Benson, your two new bodyguards are here." "What?" "Your new bodyguards, Smith and Gordon." "I've already checked their IDs." "He did it." "He did it." "Shall I send them in, sir?" "Yes, send them in." "Jonathan, I can't thank you enough." "I can't." "Mark, thank you." "Just save it." "If it was up to me, you'd be on a spit." "Look, this wasn't our idea." "It was the boss'." "He's decided to let you live the last week of your life over." "Another week, that's fine." "That's fine." "I'll take it, it's a deal." "Tell him it's a deal." "I want you to understand exactly what's happening." "Oh, I understand completely." "It's another chance." " Do good this week and all is forgiven." " Wrong." " Wrong?" " Yeah, wrong." "All he's giving you is the chance to live the last week of your life over again." "Seven days from now at exactly ten minutes after 1 in the morning, no matter what happens, it's all over." "You mean...?" "But..." "But seven days, that's nothing." "Hey, the boss made the whole world in seven days." "Yes, but I've been sinning for 40 years." "Now, I can't undo 40 years of sin in just seven days." "That's right, you can't." "And you can't buy your way into heaven either, Mr. Benson." "Seven days from now, you'll stand in judgement, just like before." "You have a conference in five minutes, Mr. Benson." "Thank you." "All right." "Given back your life to find out it's only gonna be seven days long..." "Hey, flies only live for two." "That's a lot of comfort, Mark." "Shall we go?" "Dotty, cancel any appointments I have for next week." "All right, White, what's the bottom line?" "Well, R.R., the plant is leaking approximately 3,000 gallons of toxic waste onto Sunrise Beach per day." "What should we do?" "Mr. Benson?" "Sir?" "What do we do?" " Deny it." " Deny it?" "Lie." "That's why God gave you lips." "Right, R.R.?" " Wrong." " Wrong?" "Don't deny it." "We don't?" "No, we don't deny it." "We admit it." "Admit it?" "That's brilliant." "We don't deny it." "They just find us out." "We admit it, then say we're gonna institute a study, a two-year study." "Then we'll have to review the findings." "We can stall them on this thing for years." "You're the best, R.R." "I've got a better idea." "This is gonna be good." "The man's a genius." "I tell you, a genius." "What is it, R.R.?" "We fix it." "Fix what, R.R.?" "The leak." "We fix the leak." "We do?" "Right." "You heard White." "We've been dumping 3,000 gallons of toxic sludge on Sunrise Beach every day." "Now, we don't wanna do that." " We don't?" " No, we don't." "Kills the fish and the birds and people can't swim there." "It poisons the planet, now, son." "You don't wanna do that, do you?" "Well, it's just an eensy-weensy little piece of the planet, R.R." "Well, if you lose an ocean, where are you gonna buy another one?" "If you turn it into a sewer, where are you gonna get another one?" "No." "No, we're gonna fix it." "We're gonna fix it, clean up that whole area." "Now, Green, you have a delegation of tenants in your office with a long list of complaints about their apartments?" "How did you know?" "Because that's where'd I'd be if I lived in one of those things, camping right on your office doorstep with a mile-long list of complaints." "Gordon, up till now, you don't like the way I do business, do you?" "Not even a little bit." "Well, if you owned those buildings, what would you do with them?" "Sell them." "That's absurd." "Nobody'd buy those buildings in the shape they're in." "Sell them to the tenants, let them fix them up." "There's gotta be carpenters, plumbers, electricians living in those buildings, let them fix them up." "Half of them are out of work." "Deadbeats." "Now, that's good thinking." "Good thinking, Gordon." "Find the tenants who have building skills and are out of work." "Put them on a payroll." "Put them on a payroll fixing up their own apartments." "What about the ones who don't have any skills?" "If they wanna learn building skills, put them on as trainees." "Take the rent they've paid up till now." "Put it toward a fair down payment." "When a fella has something that he owns, he's a lot less likely to break it." "We're talking about welfare mothers with tons of kids." "Maybe we could set up a child care centre right there in the building." "Employ some of the mothers to run it and give on-the-job training to those who'd want to do something other than child care." "That's using the old IQ, son." "Now, there are government programmes that can help with this." "Lot of good minds in this company." "Let's start using them to solve problems and stop denying that they exist." " You get on it, Krause." " But" "I said, shake a leg, Krause." "Time's a-wasting." "Do you know if you were a fly, that your life would be one quarter over right now?" "Get moving." "Let's go, boys." "Got a councilman I gotta see." "You know, councilman, I've" " Here." " What's that?" "Your money." "I told my family everything." " Are you kidding?" " No, I'm not kidding." "For the first time in years, I was honest with my wife and kids." "They know everything." "And I'll tell you something, Benson." "They're gonna stand by me no matter what, because they love me." "Now, you can try your damnedest to destroy me, but you can't, because I've got family and that's the real power." "Yeah, you're damn right it is." "Councilman, you're a lucky man." "You've got a second chance now." "Don't blow it." "People don't love you and need you because you have a big house or cars or boats or whatever." "They just need you." "And I'm proud of you." "And I'm proud of your family." "You mean that?" "Bet your life I do." "And don't worry about me changing my mind next week." "Go on, get out of here." "Okay." "Okay." "There goes a really rich man." "Miss Larson?" "Miss Kate Larson?" "That's right." "Do I know you?" "No, no, but I hoped that I might get to know you." "Well, you're off to a good start." "You know my name." "What's yours?" "Benson." "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Benson." "R.R. Benson." "The slime without ears." "Who are these, your goons?" " Look" " Look." "Just let me tell you a thing or two, Mr. Benson." "If you think you're gonna bulldoze this garden, you got another thing coming." "I came down to see what I could do" "I'll fight you tooth and nail on this rezoning issue." "You won't have to, miss." "It's not gonna be rezoned." "What?" "Are you trying to threaten me?" "What do you mean, there won't be any rezoning?" "Just that I think you're doing a great job here." "I came down to offer my support and my help." "But if you don't need any assistance, then perhaps you can help me." "To do what?" "Well, set up more of these Common Ground Gardens for example." "I have a lot of vacant lots around the city." "They could become places like this." "You know, where people don't just grow vegetables, but friendships as well." " What's the catch?" " No catch." "But I am in a hurry." "I'm a little pressed for time, as they say." "How's your schedule this week?" "My schedule?" "Well, I can always change it." "Good, good." "I'd like to meet some of the people here." "I have a feeling this is gonna be quite a week." "Okay, let's go, come on." "Hey, guys." "All right." "Let's go to work." "Boy, she's really something else, isn't she?" "So are you." "Why, thank you, Mark." "That's high praise coming from you." "I just didn't realise this could be so much fun." " What?" " Life." "Feeling, life." "You know, that feels so good when you're doing something that matters, that really matters." "I didn't realise there was so much you could do each day." "You didn't realise you could fall in love in a week either, did you?" "That too." " Did you tell her yet?" " Tonight." "You know, I've done a very good job of wasting my life." "Jonathan, isn't there something that...?" "Now, I've learned my lesson." "There's so much that I could do." "Isn't there...?" "I'm sorry." "Yeah." "Well, I'm not sorry." "How about that?" "I hate to see it end, but I wouldn't trade these past seven days for all of..." "For anything." "Well, let's get on home there, and I've got a sunset I wanna watch and I have a dinner date with a lovely lady tonight." "Jonathan, you're sure there's nothing?" "I'm sure." "Hey, this is supposed to be a romantic dinner." "What's all this stuff?" "Business." "Important business." "Well, it can wait, can't it?" "Kate..." "I don't have any heirs." " Richard, what are you talking about?" " Let me finish now." " Are you ill?" "Is something wrong?" " No." "What?" "I'm setting up a foundation to oversee what material wealth I have and I want you to be the head of that foundation." "I know you have a good heart and you're honest and you're bright." "You will see that the money's put to good use." "Richard, will you please tell me what's-?" "No, no, no." "I'm also going to appoint you to the boards of the companies that I own." "That way, you can ride herd on the boys and make sure that they are on the right track." "See, Kate..." "I don't have too much longer to live." "No." " No, something" " Kate, Kate." "I love you, and that will never die." "And it will be with you as long as you wish it." "And all of the good work that we have started together..." "You see to it that that won't die." " It's not fair." " Yeah." "It's not fair." "These past seven days, I've had more than I ever had any reason to hope for." "I've had beauty." "I've had meaningful work." "And I've had love." "Now, that's an awful lot, isn't it, darling girl?" "Richard, I love you." "I want a life with you." "I don't want you to go." "Well, I wish I had known years ago what I know now." "But these past few days that we've had together," "I wouldn't trade anything in the whole world for." "Not even just a particle of it." "So I'm trusting you, Kate, with the best that's in me." "With the only good that I've ever done." "And..." "With..." "With the only love that I've ever known." "So don't you waste any time with regrets." "Life is too short." "Let me hold you, Kate." "Oh, it's so sweet." "Life." "So sweet." "Well..." "I guess it's just about quitting time, huh?" "What do I-?" "Just go upstairs there and wait?" "Yeah." "Mr. Benson." " Yeah." " Good luck." "Thank you." "Thank you both." "I'm really sorry that you two fellas didn't come into my life sooner." "Good night." "Good night." "I got him." "I'll check on Benson." "Mr. Benson, are you all right?" "I'm alive." "Look, Mark caught the guy outside." "Are you sure you're okay?" "Jonathan, why am I alive?" "Did the boss change his mind?" "Do I get more than seven days or...?" "Seven days?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "I'm talking about the deal." "The boss gave me this whole last week over again." "I mean, you know, you were the one who told me." "Mr. Benson, the last thing I said to you before you fired us and went to bed was do yourself a favour and read that book." "At the time, I didn't realise what a favour it would turn out to be." "Well..." "Then this past week, all the projects, Kate, was a dream?" "I still don't know what you're talking about." "Didn't you give me the dream?" "No." "Then the boss gave it to me." "And he also gave me this." "He gave that book to everyone." "Yeah." "But it didn't stop a bullet for everyone." "Don't you see?" "He's given me my life." "He never took it." "Jonathan, this is not a dream now." "How much time do I have?" "How much time has he given me?" "For real, how long do I have?" "The same as you always had." "You could live five minutes or 50 years, just like anyone." "Just like everyone." "Boy, I'll make it count." "It's gonna be every second of every day." "And if you and your friend Mark wanna hang around here, keep your eyes open, because you're gonna have a lot of kicks this coming week." "Miss Larson?" "Miss Kate Larson?" "That's right." "Do I know you?" "No, no, but I hope that I might get to know you." " Well, you're off to a good start." " Well..." "You know my name." "What's yours?" "Benson." "Nice to meet you, Mr. Benson." "Ma'am, you don't know the half of it, but you will." "By heaven you will."