"I can't believe we don't get to do that again for another six weeks... [sighs, laughs]" "I don't want you to leave." "I love you, Hannah." "Promise me you're coming back." "[Knocking]" " [Sighing]" " Coitus "Eddie-ruptus."" "Ooh... whoa!" "Goodbye sex, huh?" " It's always the best kind." " How would you know?" "You never say goodbye." "You're always around." "Here's what I'm thinking:" "We call it "Best Friend Windows."" "I like it." " Yeah?" " Yeah." " Why "Best Friend Windows"?" " We're two best friends, starting a company that installs windows." "Don't have windows..." "You're staring at the walls." " Boop!" " Boop." "Wow, I smell slogan." "What's got her so creased?" "She doesn't think I'm coming home." "Oh, come on!" "How much backpacking through Europe can one guy do?" " He'll be back in a few months." " That's what my Uncle Nate said." "My Aunt Margaret is still waiting by the window in her shawl." "I never knew you could see the college from up here." "Oh, boy, that woulda come in handy that summer we had the sniper rifle, huh?" "Where did he go..." "Uncle Nate?" "He went to find himself." " All hail the conquering hero!" " [All hooting]" "You know about the search for the Grail being the Grail itself." "Why you poppin' daffy, freak show?" " The journey is the destination." " Thanks, Physical Phil." "Oh, oh..." "I almost forgot, hold on." "Take care of her for me." "You're only gonna be gone for six weeks, bro." " I know, but you never know." " Come on, let's go." " Traffic to the airport's grim." " Give me a sec, Dad." " [Boy] Hey, Commander." " [Truck engine starts]" " Cataldo." " [Eddie] Oh, great." "Have fun, Garrett." "No need to hurry home." "And, uh, if you get lonely, Hannah Jane, oh, you know where to find The Big Cat." "[Man] You gotta be kiddin' me." "Now, now." "Forget that savage." " I'll see you, Owen Rowan." " Take care, man." "You, too, buddy." "[Trilling]" " I'll see you, lkey." " [Eddie] Hurry home, chief." "We'll make window installation history." "You got it, Eddie." "Be safe." " I'll be back at the end of the summer." " Whatever you say..." "Uncle Nate." "[# Boston:" "Don't Look Back]" "Let's go, lkey." "Come on!" "I'll be back in six weeks." " What's the matter with those boys?" " I don't know." " Dorks." " [Mouthing words]" "[Song continues]" "[Tapping]" "[Phone ringing]" " Hello." " [man] Lt's your editor, kiddo." "Making any progress?" "Ever hear about blood and stone and the difficulty in" " extracting the former from the latter?" " Dufresne College called." "They want to know if you'd be interested in teaching a one-day intensive on "The Art of the Novel."" "Uh, not so much." "Dufresne College?" "That's in my hometown." "I haven't been back there in ten years." "There's some people there..." "They might not be so happy to see me." "Maybe that's why you're blocked." "Go back there, make peace with it all." "Got to get past your fears, kiddo." "G. Gordon Liddy was afraid of rats, so he cooked one up and ate it." " Fear gone." " If you're suggesting that I cook and eat my old friends," "I can assure you, in their opinion, I already have." "It's this weekend." "I know it's short notice, but John Irving dropped out." "That's just as well." "My friends wouldn't have been nice to him, either." "I'll call you tomorrow, OK?" "[Man on answering machine] Hey, Doctor, it's me." "L'm at the club, it's midnight." "Come on by because we're having a big old party and we're calling it life!" "Excuse me, ladies." "[# Collective Soul:" "The World L Know]" "Remember, Nicholson Garrett, Turtle on a Snare Drum?" "He's my client." "I'm his agent." "Client, agent." "Of course, you loved it!" "Come on, everybody loved it." "[Camera snapping]" "Nicholson, would you sign my book?" "Oh, gosh, it really changed my life..." "Kinda like Flashdance did." "Where you going, Doc?" "This night is in diapers, man!" " [Knocking] - [Man] Hello?" "I'm so sorry." "I..." "I used to live in this very apartment and I had great success here." "I was just..." " [knocking]" " Hello?" "[Speaking Spanish]" " I wrote..." " Shh..." " I'm sorry, but this is my book." "Here." " I saw this film." "You wrote this book?" "Yeah." "No, here, look." "Here, this is my license." "See?" "I..." "I know it says "Nicholas" on the license." "My publishers changed it to Nicholson." "Thought it sounded more, um..." " [speaks Spanish]" " Exactly." "Come in." "[Man speaks Spanish]" "I wrote the book here." "Right here." "Three years ago, over one long winter." " Oh, man." " So, um, you write another book?" " Not so much." " Ah, you got the, um the writer block?" " Yeah, something like that." " You could write it here." " [Man speaks Spanish]" " Shh!" " Really?" " [Woman] My grandmother had a saying." "[Speaks Spanish]" " Uh..." " "It is the fool who fails to return to the place of his last happiness."" "Hey, Bennett, it's me." "I'm gonna do it." "I'll do it, the one-day intensive at Dufresne College." "[# Three Dog Night:" "Shambala]" "I suddenly feel imbued with, uh... huh, possibility." "[Mouthing words]" "[Horns blaring]" "[# Gin Blossoms:" "Lost Horizons]" "What kind of mulch do you want?" "Cedar or hardwood dark?" " Doesn't really matter." " Glorioso house got a lot of inclines." "Cedar stays in place better on inclines." "I suppose." " What's wrong with you?" " I think I'm sick of mulch." "Maybe you should go into another line of work." "I saw an ad." ""Fortune 500 companies are looking for you, if you're smart, handsome, charming and highly-skilled at drinking beer, bullying college kids and having sex with girls you don't really like."" "You're an idiot, lkey." "[Squeaking]" "That house is haunted." "You ever seen To Kill a Mockingbird?" "You know that Boo Radley guy?" "In that house is Boo Radley, Senior and Boo Radley, Junior." " I know." "I grew up there." " What do you mean?" "I mean, Boo Radley, Senior is my father and Boo Radley, Junior is my brother." "Oh." "Uh, sorry." " You live on this street?" " No." "My friend, Doodie, does, though." "He moved here a while ago, but it was hard for him to make friends, on account of..." "Well, let's just put it this way:" "They had to burn down the school to get him out of third grade, if you catch my drift." "Doodie, this guy grew up there, with Freddy K and Leatherface." " You're the writer dude." " That's right." "My mom read your book." "She said it was mostly crap." "Told you." "He's Lennie to my George." "It wasn't George, you dope." "It was Squiggy." " See you kids later." " See ya." "[Doorbell rings]" "Ronny didn't tell you I was comin' home." " No." " Oh." "The long-term effects of marijuana and video games have affected him in the short term, hm?" " What are you doing here?" " Um, teaching a thing tomorrow." " At the Doof." "Yeah." " Oh..." "I was thinking I could crash here for the weekend?" " Oh." "Hm..." " What?" "Your room?" "It changed." "We got a routine, your brother and me." "We get up, he makes the coffee, I fry the eggs, we go to work, we come home, he makes the coffee and I fry the pork chops." "We sit in here, a few beers, watch a game, maybe a movie." "It ain't much, but it works." "Nicky!" "Hi!" "[laughs]" "Happy to see him for a guy who forgot he was coming home." "[Owen] Ooh, there he is." "Nicky!" " Owen Rowan!" " Hey, there!" "We're late, but it takes a village to get this group to the village." " Thanks for meeting me here." " Sure, sure." "Uh, Nicky, this is my wife, Alison." " Ali, the great Nicky Garrett." " Nice to meet you." " Nice to meet you." "Uh, hey, kids, say hello to your Uncle Nicky." " This is Caitlin." " Hey!" " And, uh, this little boy is Connor." " Kids." "Wow." "Connor, stay." "I'll get 'em." "It's OK." "You guys grab a coffee, OK?" "I'll see you at home." " Good to meet you." " Nice to meet you." " Bye." " [Connor] Mommy, come here." " [Sighs]" " Wow, Owen Rowan, she's hot." "Crazy, right?" " It's good to see you, buddy." " You, too, man." "Hey, uh, I gotta say, thanks for going easy on me in the book." " Oh." " At first, I was insulted, 'cause, you know, the Kevin Levin guy was barely in it." "But then I read how you made Eddie and Hannah look and I was, like, "phew."" "Phew point-five." "I know." "Look, I just want to say sorry in case I hurt you in any way." "The only way you could hurt me is by taking the cheese out of my Doodles." " But Eddie, let me tell ya..." " Yeah, I know." "I know." "Big Cat?" "Ray Cataldo." "How you doing?" "Well, I mean, I'm not famous like you, but, uh, I am rich. [laughs]" "Big Cat's the man now, Nicky." "The concrete castle king." "Putting up coffee shops and juice bars and pizza barns all over The Ridge." "I ain't gonna ask why you felt the need to drop turds all over your hometown." "That's your business, right?" "But I do wanna know, what's with the "Nicholson" thing?" "[Laughs] Well, I guess some people thought it sounded... [speaks Spanish]" "Huh." "Well..." "These your kids?" "Yup." "Thursdays and every other weekend." "Their mom's a cobra, but she did give me two sons and no daughters, which means I only have to worry about two penises instead of a thousand." "Wow." "Uh..." "Have fun, Garrett." "What?" "Ten years after high school, the guy still makes me nervous." " [Nick] Hey, kid." " Hey." " What are you doing here?" " I'm here with my mom." " You two know each other?" " Yeah." "Oh, boy." " What's wrong?" " Stay tuned." "Hello, Hannah." "I..." "I didn't know you were back." "I was gonna call, but this was all kinda..." "last minute." "[Boy] Whatever you have going on with each other, why don't I delicately extract myself and order us some Dagwoods?" "I'll go with you." " [Sighs]" " He's pretty amazing, your son." "Don't call him "precocious," he hates that." "He prefers "wise beyond his years."" "So, you're a mom, huh?" "Wow, I just..." "I didn't know that." "There's a lot you miss when you vanish into the ether." "[Laughs] Yeah." " You've been gone how long now?" " Ten years." "Right." "I think it was two weeks before my eighteenth birthday that you left." "Yes, I'm quite sure because I remember getting those roses and thinking they were for my birthday, but they weren't." "They were a goodbye present, as in," ""Bye, I am no longer in your present."" " I can explain." " It's not necessary." " Hannah." " Nick, truly, don't sweat it." "I should go." " Um, are you staying long?" " Leave Sunday." "How old is Sam?" "He turns ten in two months." " Ten..." " Ten." " [Owen] See ya, Sam." " See ya." "See ya around." "Um, goodbye, Nick, and... good luck." "And don't worry." "He's not yours." "[# David Byrne:" "Glass, Concrete  Stone]" "[Girl] I'll be right there." "You've got a great crowd, Nicholson." "You're quite a draw." "We're all looking forward to whatever you have prepared." " [Phone ringing]" " Give me a second." " Yeah." " Thanks." "Yeah?" "Doctor, Taylor told me where you are." "What's wrong with you?" "You can't go home again, everybody knows that." "Norman Rockwell is dead, spread the word." "I can't talk now, Stratt." "Why not?" "This conversation's in diapers." " I gotta go, OK?" "I gotta go." " [Bell ringing]" "[Crowd chattering]" "[Microphone squealing]" "Is this on?" "Hello, Dufresne." " Uh..." " [paper crumbling]" "These, um..." "These aren't really..." "gonna work." "Um..." "OK." "Are there any questions?" "[Indistinct chatter]" "[Distorted echoes]" "[Groaning]" "[Rock music plays softly]" "What are you doing here?" "I don't know." "I just, um, went for a walk." "You want something?" "Anything with vodka?" " Nick is back." " I know." "After ten years of not a single call to anyone but his brother or father." "I saw him... at Murph's." "How was that?" "I felt like I was 18 all over again." "How'd you feel when you were 18?" "Scared." "The others left." " How come?" " I don't know." "Uh, I guess they still cling to the antiquated notion that it's difficult to learn from a teacher who has fled the room in panic?" "I never read your book." "Fair enough." "What's your name?" " Aubrey." " Nick." "I know." "I would have introduced myself at the start of the class, but, um, my throat tightened to the size of a pinhole and I was covered in sweat." "Oh. [laughs]" "I thought somebody had slipped me a peanut." "A peanut?" "All the Garrett men suffer from nut allergies, dating back to my great, great, great grandfather, James Joseph Garrett, who was tragically felled in the Civil War... by a cashew." "So the peanut-allergy-related death of Sebastian Grace was more than just a..." "a convenient plot contrivance?" " Thought you didn't read it?" " No, no, I didn't." "Uh..." "The guy upstairs, he has the audio book as read by Johnny Depp." "He played it all night long." "Crazy annoying." " Nice try." " [Laughing]" "That's what we call a "swing and a miss."" "In line with the theme of the afternoon?" "Which begs the question:" "Why did you run out of here?" "I'm not sure why." "I looked out at all those faces, expecting answers, and I realized that I can't impart wisdom." "I can't... inspire." "Then what are you doing here?" " [Knocking]" " Eddie?" "Hello, Eddie?" " There he is!" "Ha-ha!" " Physical Phil!" "Hey, man!" "God, it's good to see you!" " Hey, how you been, man?" " Good, good." " Look at you." " Yeah." "Yeah, it's been a long time." "Yeah, yeah, I..." "Look, first things first." "About the book..." "Oh, no, no worries." "I don't have room in my heart for anger." "But I gotta warn you, though, Eddie..." "Yeah, I heard." "I really gotta talk to him." "Is he around?" "Nope." "Come on in." "Wow!" "So, what have you been up to, man?" " You haven't heard?" " Heard what?" "No." " Haven't left this house in five years." " Five years?" "Why not?" "You remember when the Twin Towers were hit, how everyone went into lockdown, glued themselves to their TVs?" "Just us and Peter Jennings, taking the nation through, rock steady like he was?" "And then by like September 15th, most everyone got up, went back to their normal routines..." "Not me." "Homeboy stayed on the couch!" " Why?" " Hey, way I see it," "I got everything I need right here." "I order out for grub." "I got the phone for chit-chat." "Entertainment and info from the tube." "And then came the iPod and TiVo!" " Oh!" " Ha!" "I mean, as if to further assure I maintain my position on the couch." "Best part is that's guaranteed reliability, for friends and loved ones." " Yeah." " It's dangerous out there, man." "There's a car outside with New York plates." "Let's slash the tires!" " Ikey!" " Nicky!" "Look at him!" "God!" "[Trilling]" " Hey!" " I got a bone to pick." " What?" " Read your book three times." "Still can't figure out which character is supposed to be me." "That's 'cause there wasn't a character based on you." " Now I'm really pissed!" " Know what?" "It's official." "If I had a time machine, I wouldn't kill Hitler," "I wouldn't stop Lee Harvey Oswald," "I would go back three years to the moment I started writing this book and I'd stop myself." "I'd go back to the day Halle Berry learned that boys didn't have cooties." " Or that." " Hey, it's time." " What?" " Three o'clock." " What do you think?" " Jammin', soldier!" " Don't tell me you guys still do this." " This is yours." " You held on to this?" " I knew you couldn't stay away forever." "Although you did a hell of a job of trying!" " Ten years, what were you doing?" " Forget about that, lkey." "What's important is we finally got the band back together." "We did not get the band back together." "[# Thin Lizzy:" "Boys Are Back Ln Town]" "Wow!" "[Mouthing words]" "[Laughing]" "No." "No, I'm not." "[Music continues]" "[All] Whoo-hoo!" "Dorks." "[TV] Bruins deflect, out to the point." "Picks it up and fires it, wide right..." " So how's work?" " Well, the same." "It's a delivery truck." "Hey, Ronny, do you know Hannah's son?" "All right, I met him yesterday." "I can't help but do the math." "The kid's ten, I left ten years ago." " The way it adds up..." " Uh-uh, no sale, no." "Some... some guy from Boston's the dad." "Uh, older guy, a grad student from BC, I think." "She hooked up with him a couple of weeks after you left for Europe." "But he's... he's gone now." "Hey!" "How come you never told me?" "I don't know!" "I didn't want to hurt your feelings, I guess." "It's not really the news that you drop over the phone." "[Turns up volume] ... grabs control and dumps it out." "Five hundred, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506..." "Hey." " Dude!" "Oh, God!" " [Laughing]" " You scared me." " Sorry, I was in the neighborhood." " [Sighs]" " Parents still live here?" "They moved to the Cape five years ago." "It's just me and Sam now." "You know it's still 547 steps from my house to your house?" "Thought it might be different?" "I take into account the increase in stride-length, but my stride, kinda like everything else in my life, appears to have stagnated." "Poor little super-successful writer boy." "Well, I just..." "Hey..." "I just meant this place..." "You had it in your head, I'm sure, that it remained frozen in amber, the way you left it." "And that was probably wicked reassuring." "That you could go and do and see, and things would just stay the same here." "But things change, Nick, even in The Ridge." "Why, the other night, we had a rally where we burned our REO Speedwagon records." " Really?" " Yeah." "Good scene for your book." "Look, about that..." "Hannah." "No, I loved it." "Truly." "But tell me, when you came up with the character of the pathetic hometown girl left behind, did you have to name her Anna?" " Anna is not you..." " Page 44, third paragraph," "I committed it to memory." ""Anna possessed the faded blue sadness of a Roy Orbison song." "The kind of gal who was quite sure one day" "Richard Gere would come by in his dress-whites, pick her up and carry her out of this factory-girl existence."" "Sounds like you nailed me to a click." "It's a book." "I just wrote it." "I didn't think anybody would actually publish it." "When they did, I tried to change the names." "They wouldn't have it." "And for that, I am truly sorry, Hannah." "But, by the way, who doesn't love An Officer and a Gentleman, huh?" "Where's Sam?" "Doing his homework, which takes him all of 11 minutes." "After seeing you at the sub shop, his new fascination is my past." "Yeah, I kinda wanted to talk..." " Hi." " Hey." " Surprised, Garrett?" " Shocked into a stupefying silence I may never recover from is probably a better way to describe it." "It's kind of a limited menu here in The Ridge." "Oh, that's right, baby..." "and I'm the Pizza Supreme." "Wow." "Ray, now, anybody else in your shoes would say," ""I'm the filet mignon" or "I'm the Chateaubriand for two"" "or "the lobster thermidor gratinéed in its shell." But no, Ray, to you the culinary zenith is the Pizza Supreme." " Shut up." "Man, you talk too much." " I gotta go with Big Cat on that one." " Really?" " Yeah." "I'm gonna wash up for supper." "Later, Garrett." "Big Cat." ""Lobster thermidor gratinéed in its shell?"" "I am not apologizing." "You're the one kissing Big Cat Cataldo." "Well, it's like I said, Nick, things change." "Yeah." "[# REO Speedwagon:" "Take Lt On The Run]" " Take care." " You too." "They're in there." "Just follow the splashing." "Thanks." "[Owen mumbling, laughing]" "Where's my..." "Where's my boat?" "Where's my boat, did you sink it?" "I got the ducky with me." "Ducky's coming!" "Quack, quack!" "The fish man will get you." "I want Connor, I'm gonna eat Connor!" " [Laughing] Hey, buddy." " Hey, fellas." " Remember Nicky?" " Mm-hmm." "Connor sank my last destroyer." " Ah, this is why you do it, Nicky." " Yup." " Daddy's gonna go out, OK?" " OK." "[# Devin Powers:" "You're All L Want]" " Hey, I'll be there in a sec." " Yeah." "Hey, I don't think you and lan have been formally introduced." "Nick, nice to meet you." "Lan's as close to the next big thing as there is here." "Straight stoops." "Not really." "But Turtle truly made me see, um, what could be done." "Can I ask you, um, did you intend a deeper allegorical nihilism when you set the last chapter at Ground Zero?" "Well, a lot of people read it that way." "I just thought it was the manifestation of his larger issue, which was how do you reconcile the past with the present when you don't really feel comfortable in either one?" "[Indistinct chatter]" " Will you excuse me?" " Yeah." " Hey!" "Big Nicky G!" " [Trilling]" " Long time, Eddie." " [Whispers] Right." "Check it!" "Janet the Planet." "At what point does she just give up and go," ""Bacon burger one, Janet the Planet zero"?" "You know?" "[Laughing]" "Hey, lkey, what do you even know about Janet?" "She may be the coolest person, but you'll never find out because you're too busy judging her from the outside instead of finding out what's on the inside." "All right." "Well, maybe I should find out what's on the inside." " My guess is cake." "Lots of cake." " [Laughing]" "I'm gonna get some shots." "I gotta hang a rat." "[Sighs] That wasn't too bad." "Maybe he ain't still so creased." "Yeah." "I gotta drop something on ya, Nicky." "I hate doing this to you, but I gotta tell someone." "What's wrong, man?" "You meet Alison yet?" "What?" "Owen Rowan's wife?" "Yeah, what about her?" "[Whistles] I had sex with her." " What?" " Yeah." "Ducky Lowe had a party." "Owen got boomered and passed out." "She got mad." "I gave her a ride home and..." " Ikey!" " It was a one-shot thing." "It'll never happen again." "That's the gong." "I might've had the most intense moment of my life with someone I can never be with." "Why am I hearing this?" "'Cause you're leaving town tomorrow." "We won't see you for another ten years." "Shut it down, man!" "He's got a life, a family." " Score for you, buddy." " All right." "Eichorn loves nuts more than most squirrels do." " Want some?" " [Owen] Nah, nah, nah." "Don't you remember, lkey?" ""All of the Garrett men suffer from nut allergies."" "[Laughing] Oh, yeah." "How'd I forget?" " [Glass shattering]" " What'd you call me, college boy?" "Eddie, stop it!" " Where you going?" " Hey, Eddie." "Eddie." "Come back to the table." "Calm down." "Is that right?" "Is that who you are now?" "Defender of the Doofs?" "I know I got a lot to set right, but this is crazy..." "What're talking about, Nicholson?" "What I do know is in your big triumphant return, you have forgotten which side of October Road you belong on." "I'm gonna remind you how we roll here in The Ridge." "It ain't much, but it's tight." " Let him go!" "[grunts]" " Stop it, Eddie!" "Come on!" "No, Nicky." "No, I won't." " [Grunts] - [Crashing]" " Nice shot." " Thanks." "Look, it was just one of those friendly misunderstandings that got out of hand." "Yeah, just take him home, OK?" "I mean, I've got no need to bring Eddie Latekka in." "He was my QB my sophomore year." "He threw me the ball a lot." "All right." "I appreciate it." "Look, I really am sorry, Eddie." "I never thought anybody would get torn up in the process, especially you." "I left here that summer with every intention of coming back to The Ridge." "But on the last night of the trip," "I'm literally packing my bags and I remembered something Ma told me before she died." "She said, "You gotta promise me, Nicky, never to settle for anything less than the unexpected adventure."" "Yeah." "And I couldn't kick the feeling that if I came back here," "I'd be giving up on that." "It's like once I stayed away staying away became the way." "Any of this make sense?" "[Grunting]" "I really missed you, man." "Good night, buddy." "But I could never..." "never ever be your friend again." "[# The Vines:" "Homesick]" "[Coach] Ready!" "[Nick] Hey." "What are you doing, kid?" " You got a paper route?" " Yeah." "Mom says it's good for me." "Crack of dawn, fresh air, current events... character-building stuff." "What are you doing up this early?" "Same thing." "Trying to build some character." "Hey, let me ask you a question." "What do you think about your mom's boyfriend?" " Big Cat?" " Yeah." "He's OK, I guess." "Although sometimes, I think he's trying to murder me." "What do you mean?" "He makes my lunches, which is nice, I suppose." "But he forgets..." " Yup, he did it again." " What did he do?" "He made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich." "Only, I got this peanut allergy." "One bite of this puppy and I'm a goner." "You OK?" "Yeah." "Sure, I'm, uh... fine." "You want this?" " Uh, no." "No." " You sure?" "I'm not gonna eat it." "I don't like jelly." "OK." "Well, see you around." "I'll see you around, Sam." "[# Crowded House:" "Weather With You]" "[Stratton on voicemail] Stratt." "Leave your peep at the beep." " [beep]" " Hey, frenzy boy, it's me." "You're gonna hate this, but I'm gonna hang in The Ridge for a while." "I know it sounds crazy." "It's just..." "I was wrong all along." "'Cause there are a lot of unexpected adventures here." "And I'm just not ready to walk away." "Not a second time." "The way I see it, this thing's in diapers."