"♪ You give your love... ♪" "♪ ... so sweetly ♪" "♪" " Tonight" " Tonight ♪" "♪ The light of love... ♪" "♪ ... is in your eyes ♪" "This is one of my favorite songs ever." "Why didn't Renee tell me she was gonna sing it?" "Maybe it's for a special occasion." "What special occasion?" "I have a friend who's in love with a woman." "Been together six months but he wants to be with her always." "Does she love him?" "Why doesn't he ask her?" "He's planning to." "He's taking her out, arranged for a friend to sing her favorite song planned to order an expensive wine, be holding her hand and while she was preoccupied slip a sapphire ring on her finger." "Will it work?" "It certainly sounds romantic but..." "Ally McBeal?" "Yes?" "Will you move in with me?" "VONDA SINGS:" "♪ I've been down this road ♪" "Sex Lies and Second Thoughts" "♪ Walking the line That's painted by pride ♪" "♪ And I have made mistakes in my life ♪" "♪ That I just can 't hide ♪" "♪ Oh, I believe I am ready ♪" "♪ For what love has to bring ♪" "♪ I got myself together ♪" "♪ Yeah, now I'm ready to sing ♪" "♪ I've been searching my soul tonight ♪" "♪ I know there's so much more to life ♪" "♪ Now I know I can shine a light ♪" "♪ To find my way back home ♪" "♪ Oh, baby, yeah ♪" "♪ Oh, yeah ♪" "♪ What kind of fool Do you think I am?" "♪" "You seem stunned." "Well, that's because I am." "This is unbelievable." "Wow." " What's your answer?" " Sorry?" "You haven't answered my question." "Will you move in with me?" "♪" " What kind of fool" " Think I am ♪" "♪ Do you think I am, baby?" "♪" "Bryan?" "Honey?" "Sweetie?" "I have to think about it." "It's not that I don't want to move in." "I'm ready to." "I want to, but..." "It means you'd have to stop sleeping with me." "Maybe." "I can't tell you what to do." "For these kinds of decisions only one person knows the answer." "We both know who that is." "A therapist." "First up." "Ringer, et al." "Versus Keebler." "John, all set?" "I am." "How did you get an annulment proceeding before a jury?" "I convinced the judge it's a question of fact and the litigants deserved a trial in front of their peers." "[JOHN'S NOSE WHISTLES]" "Are you nervous?" "I am not nervous." "That whistle was deliberate." "I'm throwing it during trial." "You plan to do that?" "I'm against Dick Raddits and I have a tenuous cause of action." "You'll make it seem it's coming out of someone else's nose?" "Never mind." "I gotta see this." "Move on, Richard." "I have an announcement to make." "And it might come as a bit of a shock." "Bryan has asked me to move in with him." " Really." " Wow." " Great." " He's so boring." "He is not boring." "Are you going to?" "I haven't decided." "But if I seem distracted over the next day or so, just..." "I know I will be." "[NOSE WHISTLES]" "[WHISTLES]" "Seven hundred thousand dollars?" "Yes." "I think we should consider it." " By law, he's entitled..." " Only if we were married." " You were married for six years." " It was a sham!" "Which we'll argue." "But if we don't win..." " You have to win." " What I'm saying..." " Let me finish." " I started first." " No, you didn't." " I certainly did!" " You didn't!" " I did!" "I said "By law." You cut me off with "Only if we were married."" "I said, "You were married." You cut me off with "It was a sham."" "I tried to wedge in a word about winning, you shot out "I have to!"" "I tried to respond, you bellowed "Let me finish!"" "And that brings us current." "You don't have to get snippy." "Seven hundred thousand dollars is..." " I won't..." " Can I...?" "Maybe the man walked out on you to complete one sentence." "I apologize." "I walked out on him, if you remember." "You and I are old friends." "Getting an annulment will be difficult." " You made it to a..." " And!" "You made it to a jury." "I'm sorry." "Please finish." "In order to win, you'll have to endure some unpleasant things said about you." "I'll argue unpleasant things." "The opposing attorney is a mean man." "He and I..." "As somebody who cares about you, and I do I am suggesting you think about settling." "That man stole my dignity." "I need to walk out of that courtroom..." "I've resigned myself to being called "fat" "ugly" even "lonely."" "I won't resign myself to being a fool." " Help you?" " I'm looking for Tracy." "She's not here anymore." "Moved to Foxborough." "Foxborough?" "She didn't say she was moving." "You wouldn't be Ally McBeal?" "Yes, I would, actually." "How did you know that?" "She took all her files except one." "Ally McBeal." "Catchy theme song, by the way." "I'm Larry Paul." " She took every file but left mine?" " Yeah, with a note." ""If it's an emergency, tough."" "This is an emergency." "Give me her number." "She didn't leave it." "Promise." "What's the problem?" "Well, there's..." "Well, there's a guy that I've been seeing." "And he asked me to move in with him." "Bastard." "My advice is, don't do it." " Why?" " He doesn't want to marry you." " How do you know?" " Did he ask?" "Why do you think I'd want to?" "You're not the mistress type." "If you have no intention to marry..." " I never said that." " Are you a mistress?" " No, I am not." " Why live with a guy who's afraid...?" " Afraid?" " He didn't ask!" "I'm here for my indecision, not his." " How's the sex?" " Excuse me?" "With your friend?" "The sex?" "I don't care to talk about it." "That good, eh?" " Look..." " Ally?" "None of my business, but..." "All relationships eventually come down to sex." "Why?" "Men and women are different." "Don't believe that communication crap." "No matter how in love, men and women eventually run out of things to say." "When that happens all you're left with is sex." "If it stinks, you're done." "That's why you're here." "The sex is lousy." "Well, it could be better." " A lot better." " Okay a lot better." " You need to tell him." " How do you tell him he's terrible?" " Oh, he's terrible now." " No, no, no!" "No." "It's just, he's..." "He's not great." "All right." "Listen to me, this is important." "He'll be devastated." "Leave him with something positive by the end of the discussion." "How?" "I'd start by saying he's terrible, then upgrade him to not great." "I don't think that'll work." "Do you love this man?" "Yes." "Then you owe it to him to let him know how inadequate he is." "If you do get married, you'll always be telling him anyway." "Am I wrong?" "[WHISTLES "CUCKOO"]" "Try to help..." "ALLY:" "However much I know otherwise  part of me has always felt life has no meaning  until you share it with somebody." "Maybe that's what I'm afraid of." "My life suddenly taking on meaning." "Or suddenly becoming void of it." "ELAINE:" "Ally?" "Hi." "What are you doing?" "Just daydreaming." "Picturing my life with Bryan." "Looked really exciting." "We're not supposed to chase excitement." "The goal is contentment." "Oh, yeah." "Forgot about that." "It's not like me to give you advice..." "Which works, because it's not like me to ask you for it." "Here's the thing." "There's very few decent guys out there." "And with sexually transmitted diseases the odds of landing one becomes even tougher." "I don't follow." "They're wearing condoms." "It's harder to trap them by getting pregnant." "Thank you, Elaine." "I don't know how I'd ever navigate my life without you." "At first it seemed perfect." "Not perfect, I guess." "The physical part of our relationship was never good." "We didn't make love on our wedding night." "Did you ever make love?" "Sure, but it was extremely infrequent." "He said he just didn't have much of a libido." "And you accepted that?" "Yes." "The rest of our relationship was great." "We could laugh and talk all night." "We had the same interests." "We were perfect companions." "I guess I convinced myself that's what marriage is most about." "Companionship." "But at some point things changed?" "In June, I was going to a health spa in Vermont for the weekend with some girlfriends." "There was a problem." "The plane couldn't take off." "It ended up being canceled and I drove home." "I came into the house and called out to Wayne." "There was no response." "I heard laughter from the back." "I went out." "They were in the pool with their clothes on." "Who?" "Wayne and her." "They were in the pool?" "Kissing." "And she had this T-shirt on  and he had these scissors and was cutting the T-shirt off her." "They were laughing, having a grand time until they saw me." "What happened then?" "I found out the truth." "That he had been sleeping with her for more than two years." "That he planned to marry her after he got out of this "bad marriage."" "That his libido was healthy after all." "That he had stayed with me to qualify for a big divorce settlement." "That I was an idiot." "That's why you're here?" "To annul the marriage." "I'm here asking the court to recognize the truth." "There was no marriage." "There was a union under extremely false pretense." "There was a fraud." "But there was certainly no marriage." "How long does it take to decide?" "Either you want to or not." " Well..." " Is it a case of cold feet?" "Moving in is a step towards marriage." " It's a big deal." " I didn't say it wasn't." "Your tone is dismissive." "Tone is used to discern meaning when words aren't expressed." "Mine are." "It's you who's being ambiguous." "Sit." "I think everything about us is great." "I really do." "We laugh..." "Ally..." "But what I find to be a little lacking it may not be a big deal..." "Big enough to give pause to us living together." "What leaves a little to be desired between you and me is the sushi." " Sushi?" " I ate..." "Sex!" "The sex isn't that good." "Did you hear me?" "You're not satisfied sexually?" "No, I'm... satisfied." "I am so..." "It's..." "It's okay." "May I ask are you capable of having good sex?" "What is that supposed to mean?" "I mean, is it me or is it you?" "It's us, Bryan." "It's a rhythm thing." "It's a compatibility thing." "It's a heat thing." "We don't seem to generate a lot of heat." "So you're indicting the relationship because of sex?" "I never said that." "You said you and Wayne were perfect companions." " But without sex..." " I didn't say..." "Let me finish my question." "You made a statement and I'm disagreeing." "Your Honor..." "[JOHN THROWS WHISTLE]" "[WHISTLES]" "Wayne wasn't involved with this woman at the time you two married, was he?" "Not to my knowledge, which could hardly be considered exhaustive." " He met her two years later." " So I'm told." "We have a marriage, then another woman and the marriage ends." " I wonder if that's a first." " Objection!" "DICK:" "You said the companionship was great until you left." "I think you said "perfect"?" "I was in the dark." " You got what you wanted." " Not physical affection." "You said you didn't need it." "I needed honesty." " He wasn't being honest." " No." " That's why we're here." " Yes." "So when spouses aren't honest that should be grounds for annulment?" " You okay?" " Yeah." "Maureen, it's litigation." "It's adversarial by design." "I know." "John..." "Nothing." "No, tell me." "Well, growing up I never had a boyfriend." " How could I think a good-looking man...?" " Maureen." "Am I deluding myself to think anyone would be attracted to me?" "Of course not." "Excuse me a second." "What a beast." "How's the trial going?" "What was that for?" " I need a big favor." " Anything." "As long as it isn't money." "Maureen doesn't feel a man could be attracted to her." "Oh, gee." "I know it's a lot, but could you feign being drawn to her?" "Just enough to bolster some confidence?" "You want me to..." "With her?" "She's a hamster." "I'd sooner pop a chubby for a tree frog." "I don't ask for much!" "Tree frog?" "I have one." "John and I collected them." " Remember, John?" " Yeah, I sure do." "What are you doing?" "I may be out of line here, but has anyone ever told you you're beautiful?" "No." "Shocker." "Yeah." "Oh, yeah." "Gotta go." "Was he making fun of me?" "No!" "I think he was flirting." "Right." "Maureen..." "You see that woman?" "MAUREEN:" "Yeah." "JOHN:" "I dated her." "You did?" "MAUREEN:" "She's beautiful." "JOHN:" "She found me beautiful and sexy." "You know why?" "I can't even bluff." "Sexiness is mental." "I would become Barry White when I went to her." "In my head I believed I had sex appeal." "Therefore, I did." "Now, whatever happens in this case, you've got to believe in yourself." "Because if you don't, nobody else will." "He had a good point." "Why indict everything because of sex?" "Isn't it ridiculous to measure a relationship by the last five minutes before you fall asleep?" "Men go into relationships for sex." "They get married to keep having it without wasting time on dinner and flowers." "And if it only lasts five minutes, why are you falling asleep?" "You should be awake wondering what's wrong." "You're such a man." "You typify everything twisted about this society." "It's like we're married, you blaming me." "No wonder you want a husband." "You're a wife." "You're not clever." "And you're not funny." "This society over-prioritizes sex." "It's in the movies, in the magazines, it's on TV." "It has people locating their self-worth in their appearance." "We have a case where a woman wants her marriage annulled due to lack of passion." "Meaning it doesn't exist." "All because of a void in sex." "And when you perpetuate it, it's neither amusing or responsible." "And I didn't blame you for society." "I just cited you as a sad example of it." "Well, that was a lot." "I didn't intend to be clever." "I have a problem with your lament on prioritizing sex as you're wearing a $2000 outfit designed to punctuate your contour looking like women in magazines except I can't turn the page." "As for worth in appearance, I'm sure there's a mirror in your Prada purse." "And as much as you hate being the object of desire what you truly loathe is the idea you might not be." "And the question burning deep down under the lip gloss is:" ""Has that day already arrived?"" "You are the biggest ass I have ever met." "Perhaps this is where you kiss it goodbye." "What did I say?" " Will you go back to see him?" "ALLY:" "Why should I?" "I won't even pay his bill if he sends one." "I was talking about Bryan." "Oh." "Oh, yeah." "What?" "You've been seeing Bryan for six months." "He asked you to move in and all you can talk about is this new therapist." "Do you think Bryan is a little dull?" " Honestly?" " Of course." "So dull, I've lost interest in the question." "Really?" "But he could be right for you." "I belong with somebody dull?" "Opposites attract, and you're so alive and Bryan, he's so..." "Dead." "Why do you ask me this?" "What do you think?" "I think that he is lovely." "He's smart." "He's kind." "He's sweet." "He's not the most boring person but of those I've met..." " Keep going." "I want to live a long life, and with him it'll feel like that." "Keep going." "Maybe sex lasts more than 60 seconds, but who would know?" " Keep going." " That therapist was really cute." "Stop there." "And I'll say this:" "All your life you've been attracted to people who make you crazy or burn you." "Moth to a flame." "What's your point?" "Maybe Bryan is not the guy but stay away from the therapist." "WAYNE:" "A marriage is about love." "Sex is one manifestation of it, and not the most important one." "I'm no marriage counselor, but if a couple doesn't want relations..." " It's the bean in the jar theory." "DICK:" "I'm sorry?" "If a couple puts one bean in a jar after sex during the first year of marriage then afterward take a bean out every time they have sex the jar will never become empty." "Weren't you in financial difficulty when you met my client?" " Objection." " Strike it." "So, what happened?" "You met this woman and you fell in "companionship" again?" "Objection." " What is your new love's name?" " Diane." " Does she have a job?" " She models." "Is she the first girlfriend you had that was a model?" " I'm not sure what you mean." " The two girlfriends before my client." "They were also models." "What is the relevance?" "The relevance is, he dates beautiful women." " He took my client for money." " Not true!" "Sex isn't a priority?" "Men declare that all the time!" "Then maybe the divorce rate wouldn't be so high." "Spoken by the man caught with the model." "You know something?" "I did love Maureen." "I did prioritize friendship." "I was planning a marriage." "A lifetime." "Not a trip to Tahoe." "Been to Tahoe with her?" "Take your bean jar?" " Mr. Cage." " Objection!" "It makes sense to build a union on reason, not passion." "She pushed me away." "You know it, Maureen." "Address your lies to me." "She didn't want my affection." "You pushed me away!" "Into the arms of Diane." "Talk about every knock being a boost." "Mr. Cage?" "That's enough." "Oh, please!" "I'm sorry I called you the biggest ass I've ever met." "I'm sure there's at least one bigger." "I just can't remember." "Thank you." "If you were interested in me physically I could locate some esteem again." "Do you know I have come here to apologize and you're antagonizing me?" "Is this your method?" "I have no method." "Only madness." "Why did you come back?" "Really." "In speaking with my roommate things came out." "Things?" "Such as?" "The problem with men." "The good ones are married." "If you have affairs, they're cheaters." "If you meet a decent one you're so intoxicated that he's not pig you confuse euphoria for love." "You say yes to dinner, then a weekend with his tiny penis that pops out like a chicken thermometer." "Then he asks you to move in with him and you consider it, because against everything else he's decent." "Do you always talk in run-on sentences?" "I'm afraid if I stop for air, somebody else will get a word in." "And where are things with...?" "Um..." "Bryan." "Bryan." "I told him the sex was really bad." "And I think he's waiting for an answer which I thought I already gave him." "Men don't take hints." "We're used to getting our noses bloodied." "We watch movies where, for the first two acts, the girl says no." "In the third, they marry." "If he's not the guy, you have to be brutal." " And blunt." " Cruel." "When you walk out the door he has to know you're walking out." "If you're chicken, you can expect him to pursue with his thermometer." "So it's just the closing arguments left?" " Tomorrow morning." " Do we have a chance?" "John." "Maureen." "[GRUNTS]" "Could you excuse me one second?" "I don't like this." "[BARRY WHITE PLAYS]" "Maureen, what's up?" "Maureen I'm involved, actually, with this vicious woman." "Help." "Somebody." "Is anybody out there?" "Maureen?" "Nobody but you." "[MUSIC SLOWS]" "And me." "What were you thinking?" "Just that maybe if I started I don't know, allowing myself to be more sexual..." "You have to be true to yourself." "It was hard, listening in that courtroom." "I warned you about that." "I'll have to say harsh things in my closing, as well, if we want to win." "Look, do you want to win this case or just be done with it?" "I need to win now." "If I walk away empty after..." "Do what you need to do to win." "At least give me that." "Knock, knock." "Ally!" "Surprise." "Ah." "I do love you." "You don't have to." "Just keep it in anticipation of the day we do live together." "That day isn't coming." "Are you...?" "Are we breaking up altogether?" "Why?" "It's just I tried to talk myself into it..." "If you say something like "It's not meant to be," I'll vomit." "We're together 6 months." "You suddenly don't like the sex, so you walk away?" "When I look ahead, I see myself getting tired of you." "Tired of us." "I won't move in with a man I feel that way about." "I won't even date him." "You need help." "You think Prince Charming will rescue you from yourself as in some childhood fantasy!" " Please don't yell." " I'm the one getting hurt!" "What have we been doing for six months?" "Why have you been with me?" "Because you're a great guy." "And because..." "I didn't realize it, but I think I was with you out of default." "It's not every day you meet someone to love." "This is what I get for dating someone with the emotional IQ of a teenager." "Get out." "Lose my number." "I plan to lose yours." "Don't wrap a "Let's be friends" ribbon on this." "Get out." "Get lost." "Goodbye." "Everybody in this room knows what happened here." "Look at him." "The charming, broke, good-looking guy and the plain, fat, rich girl." "He got to pay off all of his debts move into the big house drive the Jaguar redesign the master bath while she went to work every day telling her he's not into sex, all the while having an affair with a wet T-shirt model." "That's flat-out fraud." "He testified he married my client because it was the reasonable thing to do." "They were great companions." "Made sense to build a future on a sensible foundation." "Not something volatile like passion or lust." "That would be stupid." "You believe this, ladies and gentlemen?" "How many men do you know who don't prioritize sex?" "Especially ones who look like that." "Men crave sex." "It's who and what we are." "That's why the penis is shaped like a compass dial." "As coarse as that sounds, to deny the truth of it is a lie." "A big one." "As big as the one that he told her." "And if you walk down that aisle with someone you aren't passionate for that's lousy planning." "The best marriages aren't founded on common sense and reason." "Those are the building blocks for compromise." "The compromise he decided to make was to forgo passion and romance and lust in exchange for money." "Maureen Ringer never agreed to that deal." "She was deceived, lied to." "The homely girl got taken and that's why we're here." "Before the trial, she said to me she wanted me to get her dignity back." "Well, she came into this room and she earned it." "But she needs you to give it to her." "And to accomplish that, you need do only one thing." "See the truth." "DICK:" "Here's a flash." "Suppose Mr. Cage is right." "He isn't." "Suppose he is." "My client did marry her in part for her money." "So what?" "People marry for money every day." "Since when is it shameful?" "Some people choose on looks." "Others decide on religion." "Some are attracted to qualities of the heart or soul." "And yes, some make money the criteria." "There's no approved list of right and wrong." "And if there were Wayne Keebler would still pass the test because he did love her." "As she testified to, they were fantastic companions." "There was no sham in the way they laughed all night." "That's something, huh?" "Two people can laugh together, that's something." "ALLY:" "I don 't know why I like to think in here." "Maybe it's the right depository for most of my "thoughts."" "I should knock." "What the...?" "!" "What the hell are you doing here?" "The truth?" "I was worried about you, actually." " You were?" " Yeah." "Breakups can be tough." "I had an image of you in the toilet." "Who knew?" "If you were a decent therapist, you wouldn't be able to make house calls." "I'm not a therapist, I'm a lawyer." "What did you say?" " You thought I was a therapist?" " Uh-huh." "It says, "Attorney at Law" on the door." "You're a lawyer?" "Why did you entertain discussions about me and my boyfriend?" "Well, you seemed like you needed to talk." "I'm a good listener." "Right on the door. "Attorney at Law." Too subtle?" "Should I add, "Went to law school." "Sold out."" "This is not a good time to make fun of me." "How dare you advise on something personal I was going through?" "Because I'm a lawyer." "As lawyers, we embrace settlements as a good thing." "We settle, we celebrate." "You were gonna settle on a relationship and celebrate with marriage." "Not a good thing." "Anyway..." "You okay?" "Yeah." "Good." "Well, maybe we'll meet in court one day." "Till then." "Till then." "MAUREEN:" "They weren't out long." "Well, it's not like it's a murder case." "Though if you'd gotten hold of the scissors..." "Mr. Foreman, what say you?" ""We, the jury, by a majority of nine to three find that the marriage of Maureen Ringer and Wayne Keebler shall not be dissolved by annulment."" "JUDGE:" "Members of the jury, thank you." "We're dismissed." " I'm sorry." " I can't believe this." "Maureen?" "Now that you'll be obligated to pay me alimony, let me say this to you:" "I don't want it." "Not one nickel." "What?" "Then why did we go through all this?" "Because you wouldn't have believed it." "You would have regarded it as a self-serving ploy to get money." "I did love you." "And I wanted to live with you forever." "But you rejected the terms we married on, you pushed me away." "Because I wanted to be touched." "I wanted a little passion." "That wasn't the basis of our relationship." "And there may have been fraud here but I didn't commit it." "Well, come on." "Let's go." "Go where?" "Well, I'll walk you home." "ALLY:" "Maybe I'll share my life with somebody." "Maybe not." "But the truth is  when I think back of my loneliest moments  there was usually somebody sitting there next to me."