"I'll make this the boys' room." " The master bedroom?" " Boys need space." " How old are they?" " Steven's ten, Danny's seven." " Lucky kids." " Lucky dad." " Is everything..." "It's my first house." " Doyle, you're getting the loan." " I'm not sure I filled it out correctly." " You're approved." "We'll have it done for you tomorrow." "Come by, say, 12.30." "And we can sign off on this." " What about you?" " He bought all these instruments." "Did you know he built this hall?" "And a gallery a shelter, a hospital in Mexico and a lot of other great things." "I met Simon Dunne when I was in college, tutoring kids in a local school, kids who didn't have a lot of resources." "And someone I was working with said her grandfather helped children in need." "Her name was Mina Dunne." "In fact, she's sitting right over here." "So my friend and I went to her grandfather and said," ""We have some kids who need a playground." "We need $1,000."" "He said, "You can't have $1,000 to build one playground,"" ""you can have 10,000 to build ten."" "So we did." "How long have you played the violin?" " Six years." " And you?" "I feel like champagne." "I understand the idea of celebration." "I see the bubbles in champagne as something good and beautiful, not part of my soul evaporating, but rising with... with joy." "What I'm trying to say is, I don't want champagne," "I am champagne." "It's great to be alive." "Thanks for letting me share." " Mike." " Hi, I'm Mike, and I'm an alcoholic." "I've been sober for fifteen days." "Mina, wait..." "My grandfather liked you for some reason of his own." "That's the only reason we let you speak today." " Mina, we're friends." " We were friends, a long time ago." "Mina, I owe you so much." " What happened to you?" " What do you mean?" " See you in court." " Mina, wait a second." "It's OK, let her go." "George, Melissa, how are you?" "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference, to keep coming back, it works if you work it, so work it, you're worth it!" " Morning, Julia." " Hi, Gav." "Morning, guys." "...use of the premises by lessee, then lessor and lessee shall..." "I don't deserve this." "I did nothing wrong, and now she hates me." " Just a second." " I just wanted to tell you the news." "I did absolutely nothing wrong." "What is it with all this champagne stuff?" " That was just..." " A metaphor." "Yeah, but I'm not drinking, and that's what's important, right?" "Be careful with your metaphors, Doyle." "Just one drink, right?" "She's mad at you 'cause she can't be mad at him." "He was your client, she's not." "Simon Dunne was your client." "She's still incredibly angry about this." " Those are her feelings, not yours." " I know." "You got the documents all signed." "Get in and get out, Gavin." " We didn't do anything wrong!" " Of course we didn't." " File the papers and get out." "OK?" " Right." "You want term insurance, but you're not sure about the cost." "What's important is being realistic about what you need." "This policy will never cost you more than $15 a month." "That's right." "Ellen, call the courthouse and tell them I'll be late." "Just call Kaufman's office and say I'm gonna be late, OK?" "Your Honour, I'm representing myself today, because I want you to hear the sincerity of my words." "Boys need their fathers." "Boys... need... their... fathers." " You all right?" " Yeah, are you?" " You got an insurance card?" " Yeah, sure." " The court's looking for you." " I had an accident." " Are you OK?" " I'm fine." " I'm fine." "It's nothing." " Nothing?" " It may be nothing to you..." " No, don't do that!" " I'll do what I have to." " Not you." " I must do this right, you understand?" " Yes, I think so." "Clean, in all my actions." " Hold on!" " What shall I do?" "Call the court, say I'm on my way." "Tell them I'm on the steps." "Thanks." " It'll only take five minutes." " I had to be there five minutes ago." "Your card should be in the glove compartment, not in your briefcase." "Come on!" "Thank you." "Very nice of you." "Tell you what, I'll write you a blank cheque, you get your car fixed..." " No." " I trust you." " I don't want your cheque." " Don't worry." "I want to do this right." "I gotta be some place, too, but it's important to do this right." " It should be important to you, too." " Sorry, I gotta go." " You're sorry what?" " I gotta go." "I'm late." " Can I get a lift?" " I'm sorry." " Don't leave me here." " Better luck next time." "Hey, you're leaving the scene of an accident!" "Your Honour, sorry I'm late." "I was in a traffic accident." " Are you all right?" " Yes." "Anyone hurt?" " No, Your Honour." " Then will Mr Kaufman begin." "Since its inception, the Simon Dunne Foundation was managed by Mr Dunne and a board of trustees, which included his granddaughter, my client, Mina Dunne." "Upon his death, that board was disbanded." "We want to know why." "It was on instructions from my client." "Why would he do that?" "They were his friends!" "They were his friends, who loved kids, but were unqualified to manage a $100-million foundation." " So he signed it over to his lawyers." " Address the court." "Simon Dunne appointed Walter Arnell and Steven Delano as sole trustees." "He was old and was taken advantage of." "You took advantage of him, Gavin." "You're charging a crime, Miss Dunne." "This is not a criminal court." " Does your client understand?" " She does, Your Honour." "Your Honour, I'm not here to debate Simon Dunne's intention," "I'm here to present papers which are signed by Mr Dunne." "They've been notarised and direct the foundation to be administered in precisely the way which Mr Dunne, not his granddaughter, intended, please the court?" " What have you got?" " Trust Agreement." "Tax Exemption." "Power of Appointment." "Mr Banek?" "Mr Banek?" " I made a mistake." " What mistake?" "This morning, after the accident, we exchanged insurance information, and I used the file folder to, you know..." " No, I don't know." " To write my name on, and address." "I gave it to him, not thinking clearly." "It must have been the accident." "Did you get his name?" " Of course I got his name." " Let's call him." "If memory serves, Your Honour he's not in." " How do you know?" "He made some reference to having to hurry off to some appointment." " Call him and leave a message." " Yes, Your Honour, I will." "Your Honour, may I make a suggestion?" "Yes." "I'm in no hurry, I know how bad a person feels after a car crash." " Yeah." "Thanks, Terry." " No, don't mention it." "So, Gavin, when the man whose name you don't know gets out of the meeting you say he's in, would you call him at the number you think you have, so we can have the document which you say will prove" "that your firm do control the money Simon Dunne left to the children?" "It doesn't matter, he'll bring in a copy." "A paper with an original signature on it still has great magical power." "Without that paper, Miss Dunne can sue that law firm for fraud, and possibly send you, and the other members of your law firm, to jail." "Mr Banek, find your man and bring me back that file by the end of the day." "Thank you, Your Honour." "Hold on, sir, put your hands out to the sides." " Hold on a second." "OK." " Thank you, sir." " Hi, guys." " You're late." "Mom went in already." " What's in the bag?" " What bag?" "Oh, it's a present for the judge." " I want a present!" " You shouldn't lie to him, Dad." "OK, OK." "I'd never give a judge such a cool present." "Happy birthday." "Yesterday." "Listen, everything's gonna be better." " I bought a house." " In Oregon?" " No, in Queens." " Mommy says we're moving to Oregon." "I bought the house so you don't have to move." " Are you gonna live there with us?" " Let's see what the judge says, OK?" "The court denies the motion for joint custody, and awards sole custody of the children to the mother." "Miss Gipson is moving away." "Weekly visitations will be impossible." "So noted." "Hold it!" "Your Honour, I know I'm late but someone hit my car." "This is new evidence, I have a new plan for joint custody, right here." " The hearing's been conducted." " I had an accident." " Can we go?" " Not yet!" " The court ruled." " I wasn't here!" " Valerie, I bought you a house." " It's too late." "No, it's not too late, it's just 20 minutes, 20 minutes can't be too late." "Valerie, please don't let 20 minutes stand in the way!" " Please..." " Don't talk." " No!" " Please approach the bench." " Can we leave now?" " No." " Yes." " No!" "Valerie, can we talk..." "Valerie..." "Mr Gipson, come here for a moment, please." "Emotions run high." "If this weren't a divorce court, the way you yelled..." " I'm sorry." " Keep your children in front of you." "I wanted to tell my wife I got a house for the children." " When?" " I have it all here." "I found a house for them." "They don't have to move." "This is what I wanted to say." "Boys need their fathers." "The streets of this world are lonely for boys without their fathers." "I have made mistakes, I have grown, and I recognise those mistakes." "What kind of a house?" "It's not big or in great shape, but I can fix it." "I can make it work." "There's a space for..." "If she'll have me back." "There's a place for me, too." "I'm not asking for that now." "I'm just asking her not to take the boys away!" "When they're settled, you can arrange visitations." "Oregon's not far away." "It is to me!" "I want my family!" "I want my boys!" "I had an accident." "This guy hit me on the FDR." "He cut me off!" "I wanted to be here!" "If this was my marriage, I'd have been on time." "Everyone was here on time except you." "Next case." "Thank you." " Docket 7.18." " Thanks." "Counsellor, step up, please." "How's everybody today?" "Nice to see you again." "I'm not making any money sitting in court every single day." " Hello?" " If you and I had gotten caught before we stopped, and my wife found out, and I left the law, and died in a horrible accident at sea," "I would be better off than I am right now." "What happened?" "He wouldn't take a cheque." "He said he wanted to be clean in all his actions." " The judge wouldn't take a cheque?" " The guy." " What guy?" " What day is today?" "Friday." "Actually, it's Good Friday." " What's so good about it?" " Gavin, what's going on?" "I know what's good about it." "My file's walking down the street." "Gavin..." "Hey!" "Hey!" "Excuse me." "You don't know me, you don't have to believe me, but that was not like me today, I'm just so grateful to God!" "Here in front of the Lorïs House." "Come on, hop in, get out of the rain." "I'm, I'm..." "My name's Gavin Banek." " Doyle Gipson." " Doyle, that's not what I'm like." "This morning." "That really isn't." "I mean it." "I'm a lawyer." "I should never have left the scene of an accident." "My file, did you find it?" "I had an orange file." "It was in my briefcase." "I thought maybe it fell out and you picked it up." "Do you have it?" "Did you get it?" "You said, "Better luck next time." I said, "Give me a lift,"" "you said, "Better luck next time," and just..." ""Better luck next time?" I said that?" "Listen, sir, please." "I have no excuse for my behaviour, I am sorry." "I don't know how to make it up to you except..." "I will buy you a new car." "Money." "You think I want money?" "What I want is my morning back." "I need you to give my time back to me." "Can you give me back my time?" "Can you give my time back to me?" " Can you?" " Whoa, wait a minute, hold on!" "So she won't take the boys to Oregon!" "So they'll move into the house so I can be a father!" "Just 20 minutes!" "Can you give me that?" "I wish I could, man." "I wish I could." "I wish I could." "Doyle, wait a minute, do you have the file?" "Have you got the file?" "Wait a minute, Doyle, wait, do you have the file?" "I'm sorry." " I threw your file away." " What do you mean?" "I threw it away!" "Hey, how'd it go?" "Well, Kaufman did some tap-dancing, but once I filed the papers, what could he do?" "He squeaked like a mouse." "I love it when they squeak." "We've the Power of Appointment." "Goïs on our side." "I'm going over to Southeast Harbour tomorrow to look at a boat." " Hinkley 51." " 51-footer?" "It's a tough life." "You're not quite ready for a 51-footer yet." "But as soon as I take delivery on her," "I want you and Cynthia to have China Bird." "Steven, I don't know what to say." "I'm saying thank you to my partner and my son-in-law." "And my friend." "Thank you." "Thank you so much." "Thank you." "Thank you." "I have a couple more interviews I gotta bang out down the hall, so I'm gonna go back down there and do some work." "Great." " OK, all right." "Well, so long." " Bye." " How you doing, Kate?" " Hi, Gavin." " Well?" " Hi." " So how'd it go?" " In and out." "What kind of people do we have here?" " This is Sarah Windsor." " Hello." " Tyler Cohen." " How you doing?" " Who's first?" " Miss Windsor." "Come on down!" "Have a seat, please." "And who are you?" " Sarah Windsor." " Not the name tag." "Why do you want to be a lawyer?" "Why do you want to work here?" "Well, I went to St Paul's, I did my undergraduate work at Yale, and now I'm finishing at Yale Law." "I clerked last summer for the California State Supreme Court." "I chose law because my father was District Attorney of San Francisco." " Really?" " I've always been interested in the law." "I was an economics major." "This firm is strong in municipal finance law and public policy, which is the area I'm hoping to explore." "Although, I gotta tell you, I do have an eye on public service." "I know this firm supports pro bono work, and I'd love to help on a death penalty defence for the poor." " Why didn't I give him my card?" " I'm sorry?" "Sorry, it's not your fault, it's my fault." "Excuse me, this really weird fax just came in." " I think you should look at it." " OK." "Thank you." "Do you know what it means?" "Michelle, I gotta talk to you." "Michelle!" " What the hell!" " He's got the file." "Help... me." " Hi." " Hi." "Can I have a bourbon, straight up?" " Sure." "Can I have a twist, please?" "I'm not a partner here." "That actually doesn't bother me." "Partners bring in business, I just do my job." "If I don't like it here, I can leave." " What's not to like?" " Watching you become one of them." "You were cutting corners convincing him to sign a Power of Appointment." "It wasn't like that." " Are you sure?" " Of course, I'm sure." "What?" "He was in bad shape when I went to see him, maybe he didn't..." "Maybe?" " Maybe he didn't understand exactly." " Didn't understand exactly?" "He didn't know what he was signing." "Walter and Steven said that Simon put too much faith in his friends and... the Board was in his pocket, and it was better if we controlled and managed his money." " Delano said that?" " Yes." " Isn't that reasonable?" " What?" "Without this file you're in more trouble than your father-in-law." "You're the attorney of record." "You could actually go to jail for this." "You need that file." "What am I gonna do?" "Well... there's this guy." "He... he helps out with things that need... helping out." "Like what?" "Like things, like getting people to do things you want them to do, when they don't necessarily want to do them." "Where is he?" "Michelle, I need help." "You think it served him to sign when he couldn't read them?" "I wouldn't have done it otherwise." "Yes!" " Yes, I did." " Do you want what's right?" " Course I do." " And what's right is your job?" "Your wife... your life?" "Yes." "Where is he?" " Hi." " Don't go anywhere." " Where you going?" " I'm going out." "I'm in a bar." "You want company?" "No." "That champagne feeling gave you a hangover." "Are you drinking?" "No." " What happened in court?" " I'm in a bar." "What does that tell you?" "It tells me that you're really angry." "That anger has gotten you into the one place you shouldn't be." "Come on, leave that bar." "Come on, leave the bar." "I'm sorry." "Can I have a Coke, please?" "Come on in." "OK, look, you tell Roberta that I said one cookie before lunch is OK." "Get better." " Mr Banek." " Mr Finch?" " How are you?" " How are you doing?" " You look nervous." " Yeah, a little bit, I guess." "Don't be." "Have a seat." "Who's your God?" " Now, or Hall of Fame?" " Whenever." "I'd say it's the guy who did the Volkswagen ad, with the cop and the guy in a bug." "Classic." "Doyle Gipson." "Shouldn't have said he was in insurance." "Makes it easy." "I tell my clients, "Never tell anyone anything about yourself."" "Yeah, here's his state insurance licence." "That gives me his social security number, which gives me... everything." " I do know it." " It's the one with the kids." "He's sitting around, you know, like, I don't know, an Indian kid, a cute little black kid, "I'm Tiger Woods."" "You had a fender bender and the other guy's gone postal." "I don't want to kill anybody, you know what I mean?" "I've just... never done this kind of thing before." " What kind of thing is that?" " I just want my file back." "You'll get your file back." "How, exactly?" "It's like the dog collar that gives an electric shock when the dog barks." "You don't kill the dog." "You just want the dog to settle down." "Now we're torturing an animal?" "We're all set." "May I?" "Is there any other way?" "Well, sure, call him up and just be nice to him." "All right." "Do it." " You're in advertising?" " Yeah, you, too?" "No, but..." "I hope you don't mind, I was intrigued by your conversation." "I just thought you were in advertising." "So I'm gonna give you my dream version of a Tiger Woods commercial." " Go ahead." " By all means, yeah." "There's a black guy on a golf course, and these people want him to caddy for them, but he's not a caddy." "Just a guy trying to play golf." "And these guys give him a $5 bill and tell him to go to the clubhouse and get them cigarettes and beer." "So off he goes." "Home." "To his wife and their little son, who he teaches to play golf." "We see all the other little boys play hopscotch, while little Tiger plays golf." "You see the other kids eating ice cream while Tiger hits balls in the rain, while his father shows him how." "And we fade up to Tiger winning four Grand Slams in a row." "And becoming the greatest golfer to ever pick up a nine iron." " And we end on his father..." " Goodbye." "...in the crowd on the sidelines, and Tiger giving him the trophies." "All because of a father's determination that no fat white man, like your fathers probably," "would ever send his son to the clubhouse for cigarettes and beer." "Sorry, what did you say about our fathers?" "You better go." "Mr Doyle Gipson, you is now bankrupt!" "And you owe me $5,000." " Hello?" " It's me." " You really bought a house?" " Yeah." " Wanna play golf?" " Really, you actually own it?" " It's not a mansion and it needs work." " Let me tee off!" " But it'd be your house." " Oh, God!" " Gonna hit the ball!" " Oh, God!" " What?" "I can't hear." " Where's my ball?" "...better to be near their father, to have you nearby..." " He's talking about our fathers." " I'll call you back." "Talking to your daddy?" " You hit me!" " I'll hit you again." "You like it?" "Jesus!" "Fuck!" " Mister, please!" "I got kids!" " Yeah?" "So do I!" "Doyle Gipson, this is Gavin Banek." "I have something I want to tell you." "First of all, I wanted to shake hands, I gave you a chance." "You did this." "Fine." "I have just turned off your credit." "You are now a spirit without a body, all right?" "Now I can go on and on, pulling your life down around your ears." "You can turn it off, go back to the way things were." "Just return my file, today!" "I mean, thank you." "Give me my file back, get the credit turned back on." "OK?" "Today." "Thank you." " Has he phoned yet?" " Not yet." " Look at this." " What is it?" "It's the life of Doyle Gipson." "His whole life." "We have his bank, his wife, kids." "Two boys, Danny and Steve." "Their birth dates, the school they go to, credit card balances, health records... his cholesterol is high but his blood pressure is normal." "I'm 29 years old." "The foundation has $107 million in it." "My bosses are the trustees." "So why didn't they come to court with me?" "Mina Dunne hates me." "Why am I the last guy to know the reason why?" "What's in those files that I haven't seen?" "Willard." "Can you get me a messenger?" "What for?" "I found something in the street." "I want to give it back." "Is there a reward or something?" " Yeah." " What is it?" " Doing the right thing." " That's it?" " That's it." "That's the reward." " How about that?" "Yeah, how about that." "Congratulations." "Yes." "OK." "Mr Gipson, it's Ron Cabot at Queens Borough Federal." "There's something I need to talk to you about." "If you can call me today, or stop by the bank, I'd appreciate it." "Doyle Gipson, this is Gavin Banek calling." "I have something that I want to tell you." "I lied to you this morning." "On my way to court, I stopped at a diner to look over the files." "When I left, I thought I put them back, but when I got to the court, the Power of Appointment was missing." "I've till the end of today to produce it." " Call the diner?" " Yes, I did." "The trash has been picked up, but we're tracking it to get it back." " I just wanted you to know." " Why did you lie to us?" "I'm really sorry." "You're sorry?" "Who gives a shit about you?" "Get outta here, you son of a bitch!" "If you have to search every garbage bag in this city, you find that file!" "Wait, we might get it back, but if not, we need a strong position." " I must see the other files." " No, why?" " Why not?" "He's my client!" " Are you lecturing me?" " Why was I in court by myself?" " Don't talk to me like that!" "Steven, quiet, please!" "There's a way out of this." " A way out?" " Calm down, and stay with me here." " We had a signed document, right?" " Yes." "The Power of Appointment is eight pages." "The Living Will, which also has his signature, is ten." "We can reformat the Power of Appointment, and, using the signature page from the Living Will, attach it to the new printout of the Power of Appointment." "And code the header to match the document." " Will it pass?" " Yeah." "I didn't ask you, all right?" "Gavin, will it pass?" " We forge the document?" " You screwed up, you lost the file." "You can't get out of this alone." "We're putting ourselves on the line for you." "Making a file is fraud." "A new file is fraud." "You understand that?" "We'll put our careers on the line for you." "That's what it means to be a partner." "We're not inventing, just remaking something that already exists." "Gavin, you take this into the court, and..." "Buddy, we can go on with our lives like this never happened." " Let me think about it." " What about, your school ethics class?" "What choice have you got?" "Do you want to go to jail?" "No, I don't want to go to jail." "Get out of here!" "Leave it!" " What does it say?" " They pay themselves $1.5 million." "Each." "Out of the income of the trust." "Jesus Christ!" "So they got rid of Mina Dunne and the Board." " It's probably not even illegal." " No, it's probably just disgusting." " I did this." "I did this." " No, you didn't." " I did this." "I did." " No, you did not." " What do I do?" " Give me the file." " I'll take it back." " Take it back?" "What, you didn't know who these people were?" "You married into it." "Since breakfast, I left the scene of an accident," "I just bankrupted a guy I don't know, lied to my bosses, pulled a false alarm at work," "discovered I'm a party to defrauding a charity, and now I'm sitting here, seriously contemplating forging a Power of Appointment." "Hold out your hand." " What?" " What have you got?" "How many hands have you got?" "Two." "Thanks." " Oh, God." " It's the file." "Oh no." "Shit." " No, look..." " lt's not the Power of Appointment." " It's a notice to appear in court." " Where's the kid?" "Look at this." "It's a phone number." "Who's with you?" "Is she your secretary?" " No, a lawyer." " Not your wife?" "No." "Guy leaves scene of accident, guy cheats on wife." " Can I have my file?" " Takes 30 minutes to reach my bank." "Now if my credit is not on by then, I destroy the file." "That's the deal." "OK, understood." "OK." " Hello?" " Hey." " That was fast, huh?" " Yeah, listen." "I need you to turn it back on." "Fast." "That's amazing!" "Two hours!" "Yeah, great." "I need you to turn it back on right now!" "30 minutes, OK?" " That's a little harder." " Please, man, don't tell me that." "Please, do something for me here." "You gotta do something, man!" "I'll do my best." " Babe!" " I need to see you." "Right now." " Is something wrong?" " No." "Meet at Refugio's, 10 minutes." " All right." " Don't be late." " OK, honey, thanks." " All right." "I... gotta..." "I gotta go." "See you in a bit." "Ron." "You wanna say my credit's off and you can't approve my loan." " Right." " Check it." "Well, right here..." "Well, that was strange, your credit's back on." "So?" "This is so weird." "No, that's what I thought, I knew I saw that." "I knew it." "I can't help you." "What do you mean, you can't help me?" " There's still a problem." " No, no, no." "It's all taken care of." " Look in the computer." " It says you're bankrupt." "This... is a mistake." "If it is a mistake, then clearing it up won't take more than 3 months." "Ron, I've been having a bit of a tussle today with someone, it doesn't matter who, what does matter is that he got into my records." "I don't know how, that doesn't matter." "You've seen what he did." "He's got some kind of computer voodoo." "I don't know, but he's got it, doesn't he?" "Someone sure caused you some trouble." "I need this loan, Ron." "I need it for my life." "Nothing has changed between yesterday and today." "I'm the same guy, I wasn't bankrupt yesterday, and I'm not bankrupt today!" "I'm sorry, Mr Gipson, the computer says you are." "Now it doesn't!" "Are you OK?" "What's wrong?" "Did you know that my father had a mistress for 20 years?" " No." " Don't lie." "I didn't know it was 20 years." "My mother knew about it." " Why didn't she leave him?" " Because she loved him so much." "She decided it'd be hypocritical to leave a man for cheating, when the life she enjoyed was paid for by a man whose job was to cheat." "Is that your opinion on the law?" "What do you think the law is, Gav, at this level of the game, at my father's level, at your level?" "It is a big, vicious rumble, Gavin." "The people who founded this law firm, and the people who sustain it, understand the way the world works." "If you want to live the way we live you have to steal." "I could have married an honest man." "I could have lived with a professor of Middle English, for example." "If he was a moral man and had tenure at Princeton." "But I didn't." "I married a Wall Street lawyer." "I married into a world where, when a man comes to the edge, he must commit to staying and living there." "Can you live there, Gavin?" "Can you live there with me?" "You won't do anything stupid like leaving me." "You've had fantasies, I'm sure." "So have I. But we're married." "I knew about Michelle." "I knew when it was happening." "And I knew when it was finished." "And I know you love me." "You do love me." "And I love you, too." "I'm your wife and I want to stand beside you." "Just let me help you, Gavin." "Let me help you with this." "What do you want me to do?" "Take the signature from the will, and attach it to the new copy of the Power of Appointment." "Bring it to the courthouse, then meet me for dinner tonight." "We're going out with Karen and Carl." "Karen and Carl." "I forgot about Karen and Carl." "And I remembered." "We're a team, Gav." "We're partners." " Hello?" " A deal's a deal." " The credit's back?" " I used it just now." "That was fast!" "One second." " Now I owe you something." " Thank God you didn't lose that." " So how will we do this?" " Come to my office?" " No." " Why not?" " Got your car?" " I can get it." " How about the courthouse?" " Right." " See, I'm thinking about you." " Listen, Doyle..." "Please, you're not getting all soft on me, are you?" "I just want you to know I'm sorry." "And I'm just glad this thing is over." "Don't get too close." " Hello?" " Hey, my hero." "My champion." "It's over." "He's giving me back the file." "Really?" " What do you mean?" " There's one thing I couldn't do." "What couldn't you do?" " Hey..." " This bankruptcy has a life of its own." " What couldn't you do?" " I couldn't undo the bankruptcy." "Sorry." "Shit." "Are you drunk?" "No." "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm sure." " Hey." " Hey." "It's nice." "Show me the house." "This is the wood of the cross, on which was hung the saviour of the world." "Come, let us worship." "This is the wood of the cross, on which was hung the saviour of the world." "Come, let us worship." "This is the wood of the cross, on which was hung the saviour of the world." "Do you know why I took the job in Oregon?" "To get as far away from me as possible." "I looked at a lot of cities, and Portland has thousands of nice... dull, bearded guys, and I thought, you know, "Guys, like this, just..."" ""...guys..."" ""..." "I could find one."" "A better version of you, Doyle." "A version of you but a better version of you, what I always wanted you to be, and what you were for a little when I met you." "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen." "I don't want confession, I just..." "All the seats were full, so I came in here to listen to the song." " There are seats, I'll show you." " No, I don't want that, thank you." "Are you Catholic?" "It's beautiful." "No, it's not." "But it could have been." "I don't know what's gonna happen, but I don't blame you for wanting to leave." "Oregon the boys it'll be good for them." "I know how hard it must be for you to say that." "I'm sorry I was late today." "We should have waited." "I came for some meaning, for you to give the world meaning to me." "Why does the world need meaning?" "Why does the...?" "What?" "Because the worlïs a sewer!" "The worlïs a shit-hole, a garbage dump!" "Because my father-in-law got me to screw a good man, a decent man, out of his money, and my wife cheers me on." "Because I had a fender bender with this guy and a fight," "I tried to settle it but he won't let it go." " Why wouldn't he let it go?" " I don't know why!" "I don't know why." "Sometimes God likes to put two guys in a paper bag and let them rip." "Thank you." "Thank you for letting us go." "He's a threat to his children?" "He's told friends that if his ex-wife got custody, he'd kidnap his sons." " She got custody?" " We were in court this morning." " Doyle Gipson." "Really?" " Really?" "What does that mean?" "He comes to every school play." "A guy comes to a school play, you trust him?" "Doyle Gipson is a man of no honour." "At all." "A low man." "But that's OK, because no one else has honour." "That's what makes life so hard." "We're taught this fairy tale." "The good and well, and the bad and poorly." "Do you believe that?" " I'd like to." " He's coming here." "Be ready for him." "Is he in?" "Hello?" "Is he there?" "Well, I just need to leave a message for him." "I'm calling from his children's school." "Yeah." "There's been an accident." " How are my sons?" " Who?" "Danny and Steven Gipson." "I got a call that said they were hurt." " I've heard nothing." " I wanna see my sons!" " Mr Gipson." " Mrs Miller." "How are the boys?" "I think you should leave." "Before we call the police." "Mr Gipson, don't make me call the police." " So they're fine?" " Yes, they're fine." " And all of this is just a mistake?" " Yes." "I'm sorry." "Danny!" "Stevie!" "Call the police." "Daniel Gipson!" "Stevie Gipson!" "Can you hear me?" " Can you hear me?" " Call the mother." " Danny, come back here." " My daddy!" " Stevie!" "Danny!" " Daddy!" " Stevie!" " Daddy!" " Get off me!" " Don't hurt my dad!" " Daddy!" " Come back here!" " Danny!" "Steven!" " Get down." " Daddy!" " Come back here!" "They said you were hurt!" "You're not hurt or sick?" " No!" "Daddy!" " I'm gonna pick you up, nice and slow." "Got it?" "OK, let's go." "Up!" " Daddy!" " Nice and easy." "That's it." "Come on." "OK, let's go." "You see that?" "I tried to make peace with you." "You know what I can do to you?" "Try to kill me?" "You know who I am?" "See what I can do?" "Try to kill me?" "Motherfucker." "What's up now?" "Shit." "Empty your pockets, sir." "Keys." "Change." "Wallet." "Pager." "File." "Hi, I'm looking for Ron Cabot." " Count your money, sir." " What?" "Count your money." "Mr Cabot, I'm Doyle Gipson's attorney." " I don't want to talk about him." " I just need your help..." "$77." " I'm asking you to help Doyle." " He needs it." "He's had the worst day of his life." "He had a credit problem caused by..." "Someone who hacked his records, I know." "How can we straighten this out?" "What can I do?" "Nothing." "OK, Mr Cabot," "Ron, let's try this another way." "Say there's a different man you don't know, and he has credit problems, then another man, you don't know him, he wants to help the first guy, what does he have to do to help him get a loan?" "What do I do, just co-sign?" "What's the deal?" "Please tell me what I have to do to make this work." "This is to do with this guy who's been at me all day." " Is this somebody you're fighting?" " Yes." "You fought with someone who hit your car, spent the day battling him, then he went to the school to hurt you." " You believe me?" " Yes." " Thank God." "This guy, Gavin Banek..." " Doyle, stop." "I don't care!" "This little drama is the kind of thing that always happens to you, and it never happens to me unless I'm with you." "You went crazy like you always do!" "Drunk or sober, it doesn't matter!" "That's you!" "A person can be loving and crazy all at once, that's life, but this isn't just my life now, or yours." "It's the life of two children, and I have to protect those two children." "Is that a misunderstanding?" "Is it, Doyle?" "Is that this guy's fault?" " At least let me say goodbye." " No!" "I'm taking them away and you'll never see them again." "Do not try to come after us." "Do you hear me?" "It is over!" "On Wall Street, the Dow's down at the close by four-and-a-third points." "Hurry to your authorised dealer, save up to $ 100." "It's 5. 10, traffic and weather in 60 seconds." "Do you have what it takes to pass the peace-of-mind checklist?" " Where's Ellen?" " She went home." " Why are you still here?" " You told me to wait." "Well, come on in." "Have a seat." "Why do you want to be a lawyer?" "I believe in the law." "I believe in order and justice." "I believe that people are by nature good." "I believe that historical forces push us into conflict." "Without the law as a buffer, we would have a world of vendetta, violence, chaos." " The law... the law keeps us civilised." " I'm sorry." " I'm sorry." " I don't think it's funny." "That's why I'm going to give you this job." "I'm giving you the job, because I want to hear what you say about the law after you've worked here for five years, or three years, a month, a week, a day, an hour." "I'm hired?" "Don't I... have to see a committee, or something?" " You made bail." " Who?" "A friend." ""To the Honourable Judge Frances Abarbanel. "" ""I've been unable to recover the document signed by Simon Dunne."" ""But even if I had been able to,"" ""I want the court to know that it was a fraud."" ""I induced him to sign it when he was mentally diminished,"" ""and he was incapable of making an informed decision."" "They set you up!" " They made thousands of dollars!" " And I made partner!" " And a bonus worth 200 pianos." " You don't mention them." "You're taking everything on your shoulder in this letter." "Why?" "You could send them to jail!" "They gotta write their own letters." "Let me go." "Hey." "You shoulïve left me inside." "You're too important to me." " Come on, let's go to a meeting." " No, I went to one yesterday." " That was yesterday." " One day at a time, right?" "Yeah, and do the next right thing." "Let's go." "There's a meeting at six." ""God, grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change."" "ARNELL, DELANO  STRAUSS lt's an admirable gesture, but unnecessary." "It's unnecessary, because you've filed the Power of Appointment." "A courier delivered it to the judge before five o'clock, and a bailiff signed for it." "Your note of apology was contrite but absolutely professional." "Everything's taken care of." " You filed a forgery." " I filed what I had to." "What happened?" "You disappeared." "Time was up." "Come on, you scared us." "I didn't know what to do." "You finally hit rock bottom." "Today you almost killed a guy!" "Tomorrow you might!" "Keep doing the next wrong thing, convince the sober to drink and not keep alive with hope!" "You saw today that everything decent is held together by a covenant." "An agreement not to go batshit!" "You broke the contract!" " I didn't have a drink." " Wow!" "You didn't have a drink." "What an inspiration!" "That's the point, isn't it?" "God!" "You know, booze isn't really your drug of choice, anyway." "You're addicted to chaos." "For some it's coke, for some bourbon, but you're hooked on disaster." "Fuck." "Here's what you should do." "You get up Monday morning." "Get yourself on a plane to Texas." "Take that letter with you." "When you get to Texas, you get on the defence team of somebody on death row." "And then put all your energy into saving a man from execution." "Then, come back here in a few months." "If you still want to confess, go ahead." "Come on." "How do you think Simon Dunne got his money?" "Do you think those factories in Malaysia have day-care centres?" "Want to check the pollution levels of his chemical plants?" "Or look at the tax benefits he got from this foundation?" "This is all a tightrope." "You gotta learn to balance." "How can you live like that?" "I can live with myself, because, at the end of the day," "I think I do more good than harm." "What other standard have I got to judge by?" "I have to thank you." "For the house?" "I understand what you were trying to do, but my wife's moving, she's taking the boys." "The house is a bit too much for me right now." " I'm sorry." " No, no, no." "I was a horribly unstable father." "Valerie says I'll never see them again." "But you know what?" "I will." "I will." "I'll see them in a year or two..." "maybe three." "I'll go to Portland, I'll call her, and I'll find a way to be their father again." "How about you?" "Well, I have the file but I don't need it any more." "It's been taken care of, you know, never happened." "But it did happen." "Right?" "Right." "So now what?" "I'm going to dinner with my wife, her parents," "and, this weekend, I'm going to go look at a boat." "And then on Monday, I'll come back here and go to work." "And then, magically, this whole incredible day just somehow becomes a memory." "It's like you go to the beach, go down to the water, it's cold, you're not sure about going in." "There's a pretty girl next to you." "She doesn't want to go in, either." "She sees you." "And you know, if you just asked her her name," "you would leave with her." "Forget your life, whoever you came with." "Leave the beach with her." "And after that day, you remember her." "Not every day, or every week." "She comes back to you." "It's the memory of another life you could have had." "Today is that girl." "I'm sorry about what I did." "Me, too." "Thank you." "You brought the file back." "And when you're done, there's a lovely place on the hill where you can get a..." " Cappuccino." " Yes, they're lovely cappuccinos." "And it's clean and it's cool." "They have these prints on the wall, they're really quite lovely." " They're by that artist..." " Chagall." "Right, Chagalls." "There are three, he painted while he was there." " Am I missing something?" " What is this?" "My dear, this is Simon Dunne's Power of Appointment." "I got it back." " No, you didn't." " Yes, I did." " This is it." " Please, Gavin." "This is behind us, isn't it?" "Haven't we put this behind us?" "I was thinking about what you said." "About doing more good than harm." "That's what you said, isn't it?" " Don't fuck with me." " I'm not fucking with you, sir." "Can you imagine if the judge got hold of this file?" "That's not going to happen." "That's not going to happen, Gavin." "I think I might order the snapper." "I'm going to keep this file safe." "But I'm not going to Texas." "I'm coming to work on Monday, and I'm going to do that pro bono work you recommended, but do it from our office." "First thing we'll do is help a man buy a house." " Gavin, can we not do this?" " And I'll call Mina Dunne." "To tell her you're giving back the $3 million you stole from her grandfather's foundation." "You were right." "I can do this." "I found the edge." "Can you live there, with me?" "Can you?" "I haven't had a fucking thing to eat all day." "I'm starving." "So what are we going to eat?" " Mrs Gipson." " Yes?" "My name is Gavin Banek." "What do you want?" "Five minutes, ma'am." "I owe your husband 20." "Hell..." "I'm only asking for five with you."