"Hey, Pete." "You're not leaving already, are you?" "Uh, no, it's..." "my wife is waiting up for me." "Come on." "One more drink, huh?" "I have a little going-away present for you." "I, uh..." "I got you a raise." "I know it must be tough for you trying to start a family in this economy." "Now, it's not much, $2,000 a year." "I tried to make it more, but only VPs make that kind of money." "And the company policy is pretty firm on it, so..." "Thank you for that." "It's my pleasure." "Do you have any idea who's replacing you?" "No." "Uh, yeah, it's a woman." "I don't know her." "She's coming from Slater's, ACS banner out west." "And all I heard about her, she's a real ballbuster." "So good luck with that, my friend." "The last seven years in this department have been, um... have been some of the most meaningful in my life." "No, I'm being serious for a moment." "A lot has happened, a lot of great memories." "My second child was born while I've been working here." "Some of you were there at his baptism." "You're all like family to me, and, uh..." "I hate to say it, but I'm gonna miss you all very much." "So..." "Cheers, cheers, huh?" " To Jim." " All right." "Thank you to all of you." "Cheers, cheers." "Cheers." "# Iceman, iceman, candy man, and sandman #" "# All the things I wanted for #" "# Someone else took them #" "# Lonely in a new shirt, lonely watching baseball #" "# If I had to do it all again, I wouldn't #" "# Throw it all away #" "# Throw it all away #" "# I want a holiday #" "# I want #" "Sorry." "I couldn't get away." "Did you eat?" "I had some nachos." "What is this?" " That's to fix the car." " $1,500." "What was wrong with it?" "I don't know." "Something with the brakes." "Hey, could you put Henry to sleep?" "He's driving me crazy." "Kids, it's me, Racer Steve!" "And I'm Princess Katie." "Welcome to our..." "Come on, buddy." "Time for bed." "No." "Come on." "We don't go to bed." "Dad, get it." " This message is for Pete Cozy." "I'm calling from Banking Services Credit." "It would have been more, but he would had to have made me vice president." "So why didn't he make you vice president?" "I don't know." "I guess it's a big deal." "We could use the money." "I don't want to be vice president." "I don't want any more responsibility at that place than I already have." "I mean, vice presidents stay late at the office." "They work weekends." "I don't want to do that." "I want to do my job, come home, and spend as much time with my family as I can." "Did you ever hear back from that other job?" "No." "Not yet." "What's up?" "It's her new car, our new boss." "Looks brand-new." " Did you see her?" " Nope." "We got a meeting at 10:00 in the conference room." " Morning." " I feel like shit." "Being human sucks." "I hope someone brought doughnuts." "I'm starving." "Just look at this." "Look at him." "There he is." "Have you seen him?" " Her." " He's a she." "No way." "You didn't know?" "No, no shit." "I hope she's hot." "Hi, everybody." "I'd like to introduce myself and tell you all a little bit about what we'll be doing for the next few months." "My name is Susan Felders." "I've been in pricing and marketing for 11 years." "Before moving to ACS," "I was president of pricing at Safeway, SoCal region." "ACS then hired me to run their Slater's Markets banner, 200 stores on the West Coast." "And here I am at Wolski's." "I'm passing out my résumé." "My cell phone number's at the top." "Wolski's is the lowest performance banner on the ACS chain." "We are losing sales." "Our stores look like time vaults from 1985." "Our corporate image has nothing to do with pricing or value." "What we have, mostly, is locations." "You know, we're the store that managed to stay in business when Walmart opened down by the highway." "We're the store for the little old lady who takes ten minutes counting out exact change, the store for the husband who forgot to buy milk at the Super Saver." "Now, I took this job to change that." "We are gonna change that, starting here, right now, in this room." " Hey..." " Hi, Matt, right?" "I know you all have a lot of questions, and I will have answers for you." "But I don't want to waste anyone's time in a conference." "I will be meeting with each one of you in the next few days," "So thank you." "This is exciting." "She's hot." "Hi, Brian." "Hey, it's Pete Cozy." "Yeah, no..." "Okay, um..." "Do you know of anyone else that might be hiring?" "Can I help you?" "Hi, Pete, right?" "I was just checking out your playlists." " I approve." " Thank you." "I was just curious 'cause all the jobs on your résumé were in the music industry." "It's not every day someone transfers to the supermarket business." "How'd you end up here?" "I don't know." "Is there anything fun to do around here?" "See any good shows?" "I don't really get out much." " I have a kid." " Aww." "Boy or girl?" "A boy." "His name's Henry." "He's three." "That's so cute." "I'd like to talk to you outside of the office for a few minutes, a more casual atmosphere." "But if you have to go home, I totally understand." " I don't mind that she's coming over." "I just wish you would have given me some time to prepare." " She's just coming over for a drink." "She's not expecting anything." "The place is a mess." " Seemed like the easiest thing to do." "Hey, come on in." "I was so lost." "I didn't realize you had it so rough." " Oh, no, it's not a bad neighborhood." "Oh, okay." "I needed to get out of L.A." "I was in a lousy relationship." "It wasn't working out at Slater's." "ACS made me an offer I couldn't refuse." "They said if I took over here," "I could do anything I wanted." "We are going to transform this company." "Wow." "You know, I don't even know what Pete does, actually." " 'Cause it sounds so boring when I talk about it." " Really?" " Yeah." "I love talking shop." "Our department takes data that represents customers' behavior, like what customers are buying." "It then translates that data into strategies that can be used in stores to increase sales." " Oh, you mean like putting soda cans at the ends of the aisle." " Yeah, that kind of thing, but so much more." "Look, you guys drink organic milk, right?" "Yeah." " Right, one child, suburban," "I know how much you make." "You're an easy demographic." "I bet I could guess 75% of what's in your fridge." "I mean, the stuff you buy doesn't happen by accident." "What do you do, Sara?" " I'm not actually working right now." "You know, raising Henry is a full-time job." "She's going back to work soon." "Yeah, maybe." "Oh, what is that?" " We're having a Halloween party at the office." "Spouses are invited." "On Halloween?" "Yeah, when else?" "Oh, you know what?" "That's Henry's party." "They're having a little Halloween party at his school, so..." " It's earlier, so we could go to both." "Can I come?" "To Henry's party?" " Yeah, unless it's not cool." "No." "I guess it would be okay." "Good night." "No." "I better go too." "Here's what I wanted to talk to you about." "A lot of bosses coming into a department like this would lay off a lot of people." "I don't have time to go out and rehire." "We're just going to have to work with what we have." "But I do have to fire someone, just to trim costs." "Mm." "It's not you, obviously." "But I thought you might know who it should be." "Who is the worst performer in the office?" "Who's bringing morale down?" " Can I think about it?" " No, I don't want you to think about it." "I'm sure as soon as I said it, a name came into your head." " Matt Davis?" " Really?" "Why him?" "He's always missing deadlines." "I mean, he's kind of half-assed." "What about Tony Gomes?" "Tony?" "No." "I mean, I think we should keep him." "He's all right." "He's a good worker." "All right." "Thanks." "I'm glad I asked you that." "Good morning." " Good morning." "Wolski's." "Yes, mm-hmm, please hold." "What's going on?" "She fired Tony." "No way." "She wants to see you too." "Dude..." "I'm sorry." "I hated this place anyway." "Yeah, come in." "Shut the door." " I thought you weren't gonna fire Tony." "I never said that." "I just wanted your opinion." "He's got four kids." "I don't feel good about it." "Firing people sucks." "It's sweet that you're worried about his kids, but he was slacking." "He wasn't happy here." "Sit." "We've got a lot of work to do here." "We don't have time to fuck around, feeling bad for Tony Gomes." "He'll land on his feet." "Sit." "When I was working at Slater's, I hired a company called Intellichoice to look over our stores and to suggest strategies." "These guys are cutting-edge." "Yeah, they're consultants." " Yeah, they're very good at what they do." "When the preliminary results came in," "I was blown away." "And my boss at Slater's, an asshole named D'asarlo, decided to can the whole thing." "Why?" "Because he's an asshole." "He didn't give me a reason." "He said it was his decision, and that was it." "And that's what pissed me off." "So I did something that I probably shouldn't have done, which is, I went to his boss at ACS, Jack Bennington, to try to get him to change D'asarlo's mind." "Bennington didn't like the idea, but he offered me this job." " Where you can do whatever you want." "Yeah." "Slater's is a banner under ACS, so as far as I'm concerned," "ACS owns the strategies that Intellichoice came up with." "I'm counting on you to understand what's behind these strategies." "But you can handle that, right?" "You went to Dartmouth." " Yeah." "How did you know I went to Dartmouth?" " It's on your résumé..." "Dartmouth, economics," "Sony Music, Matador Records." "I need someone I can count on, Pete, okay, someone who's not gonna bullshit me." "You be honest with me, and I'll be honest with you." " Okay?" " Sure." " Miss Felders, Ernie on line one." "It's the guy I left in L.A." "He's turning into a stalker." "I'll talk to you later." "Don't forget those files." "Those books are for you too." "Hey, what's up?" "Would you stop?" "I'm not going to talk to you if you're gonna cry." " That guy has been calling nonstop." "Good." "You got all those files." "Here's some more for you." "I can't keep up with her." "She's stressing me out." "Halloween party." "Fun, fun, fun." "What are you gonna be?" "Oh, I'm not dressing up." " Oh, yes, you are..." "costume mandatory." "Read the memo, fun, fun, fun." "Ernie!" "I'm gonna be Condoleezza Rice." "Do you think people still remember who she is?" " I'm not the one who peed in the bed!" "Fuck you!" "Under no circumstances do his calls come into my office." "He's a fucking asshole." "Is Matt Davis here yet?" "No, he's late." " He better get his fucking ass in here soon." "Oh, Henry, Daddy's..." "Sara!" " Why do you have to read all this stuff for work?" "You never had to read anything for work before." " This is exactly the kind of thing" "I've spent my whole life avoiding." " Why don't you find another job?" " What do you think I've been trying to do?" "I'm sorry." " Hello, this is Gary calling from MasterCard regarding the past-due balance on your account." "I thought you paid them." "With what?" " Look, just send them $30 so they stop calling." "Okay, I will." "I will take Henry, and I will go and read to him." " No." " I love you." "Say, "I love you, Daddy. "" " No." ""I miss your smells..." ""your breath, sweat, feet, armpits, the back of your leg when it was hot out. "" "What the hell is that?" "Oh, Susan's boyfriend in L.A." "He faxed this last night." "It's totally screwed up." " This guy's crazy." " Read that thing about the toy." "Yeah." " "When you put yourself inside me," ""it wasn't just a toy." "It was your love in my ass. "" "Where'd you find that?" " I found it on the fax machine when I came in." "I made a copy of it." "It's, like, 12 pages long." " No one's ever written me a letter that long." " Shut up, you guys." "Here she comes." "Good morning." "Morning." "Who gets this coffee?" "It's really good." " Doug." "He's really weird about coffee." "Doug, ah." "So does everybody know what they're gonna be for Halloween?" " Well, I was thinking something from Toy Story maybe." "Okay, you're not weird." "Did I miss something?" " I think he just choked on his doughnut." " Speaking of, can we just nix these things?" "They're totally gross." "Let's have something a little healthier." "Mm-hmm." " There seems to be too much snacking going on here anyway." "Did she just call me fat?" "Do I look fat to you?" "Fuck." "You wanted to see me." "Yeah, shut the door." "I'm giving you a raise." "I figure with Henry and the house and everything, you could use it." "$40,000." "Does that sound fair?" " That's what I make right now." " Yeah, so after that, you'll make $80,000, okay?" "I... thank you." "I thought only vice presidents make that kind of money." " Yeah." "You're a vice president now." "Congratulations." "Isn't that a big deal?" " Mm-mm, not for somebody who went to Dartmouth." "You should be making more than that if you ask me." "How old are you?" " 36." " Yeah, what are you waiting for?" "You're married." "You have a kid." "What are you going to do when Henry wants to go to Dartmouth?" "How are you gonna pay for that?" " That's not really your problem." "Of course not." "The truth is..." "I need you on my team." "We've got a ton of work to do here, and I need to be able to count on you." "Did you look at those files I gave you yesterday?" "Yeah, some of them." "What about Todd Kenner from Intellichoice?" "Have you talked to him yet?" " I didn't know I was supposed to." "Get his number from Donna." "He's coming in next week to help get us started." "He's an interesting guy." "You'll like him." "I want to get three or four of his strategies into our stores in two weeks." "Two weeks?" "No, no, no, it takes us two months to turn around the scanning data..." " Kroger has three departments doing what we do here, and they have better data." "Safeway outspends us five to one on RD, and they're upgrading their entire checkout system next month." "But we're not Safeway." "Exactly." "And we cannot compete with them unless we pull our thumbs out of our asses!" "Come on!" "How did you guys get to be so fucking lazy?" "It's like moving wet sandbags around here!" "Oh, Christ..." "I'm sorry." "I..." "I raised my voice." "I'm sorry." "I'm PMS'ing." "It's just frustrating." "It's just frustrating." "I know this isn't what you were planning on doing for the rest of your life, but you're a smart guy." "You could do a lot worse and make a lot less doing it." "So if you want out, tell me now." "I'm in." "Good." "I want you to pick out three or four easy strategies that will give us results quickly because I want some momentum from those that we can use to roll out some of the tougher stuff." "Okay." " Oh, I'm still invited to Henry's party, right?" "Yeah." "Good." "Thanks, Pete." "Give this to Donna on the way out." "What are you doing here?" " I'm waiting for you to get out of there." "How was your meeting?" "It was good." "That's exactly the kind of joke my wife would get mad at me for making." "Yeah, but she'd laugh." "Maybe." "Oh, I know how it is." "I was married." "Been there." "Sucked." "You know what the trouble with marriage is?" "It turns women into wives." "See, women laugh at your jokes and dress nice and suck your cock." "Wives don't put out and talk to you like you're retarded." " When was the last time you got laid?" "No comment." " I've had sex 136 times in the last six months." "I'm a numbers guy." "I can't help counting." "16 different women." "16." " For an average of 81/2 times each." "Well, the mean is lower." "It was mostly with one woman." "The absolute deviation is around 3.6." "But you should have seen those stats when I was married." "Are you married, Donna?" "No." "No?" "That's not funny." "You could get fired for that." "I didn't do it." "Halloween party tomorrow." " I'm gonna be Rudolph Valentino." "He was a movie star during the silent era." "I know who he is, Doug." "Mm-hmm." " Can you get out of my desk, please?" "Where's your costume?" " Oh, parents don't really dress up." "I'm gonna change later." " You need to get in the spirit of things." "This is supposed to be fun." "You like that, huh?" "It's part of my costume." "You ever hear these guys?" "Sure, it's Luna." "I love these guys." "I do too." " I actually tried to sign them back when I worked at Sony." "No way." "I followed them around one summer when I was in college." " Really?" "Yeah, Dean's awesome." "Yeah, he is..." "Even though he doesn't remember me." "# Oh, I wish I were a little bar of soap #" "# Oh, I wish I were a little bar of soap #" "# I would slippy and I'd slidey #" "# Over everybody's body #" "Hi, Henry!" " Hi." "You must be Henry's mother." " No, I'm not, but this is Henry's dad." "Hey, you." "I love your costume." "I'm not wearing a costume." "Oh, okay." " I think it's time for everyone to play Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin, yes." "Yeah!" " Oh, hey." " Hi." " You know what, parents can join too." "Yay!" " And welcome." " Thank you." " Why don't you take your coat off and stay awhile?" " I feel a little weird that no one else is wearing a costume, but okay." " I am." " All right." " All right." " Let's do it." "Okay, here we go." "Happy Halloween!" "# We dress ourselves in stripes and dots #" " Sorry I'm late." "Hey." "Look." "# We dress ourselves without interference #" "# We dress ourselves in greens and blues #" " None of these people are your friends, though, right?" " No." " No." "Well, I'm your friend now." " Do you see that sign over there?" "Where?" " I know, you can't see it." "It's right there." "Oh, yeah." "Yeah." "Who's it for?" "Is it for the kids?" " They can't read." " I know." "So it's..." "it's for the parents, but it's... it's so high that you can't see it." "It's a good sign." "You should put it where you can see it." "Yeah." "That's part of my job." "I put signs where you can see them." "You'd be surprised at how hard it is to do." "I wish the people in the office were as fun as those kids." "They're not so bad." " Oh, come on, you hate them." "I mean, none of you guys are friends outside of the office, are you?" "Not with me." " That's one of the reasons why it's so hard to get any momentum on anything." "Everything just stops at 5:45." "Don't you ever look forward to going to work?" "I'd like to welcome everyone to the first annual" "Wolski's pricing and marketing Halloween party, yeah!" "Yeah." "Oh, come on." "I had better reception at my dad's old age home." "I want to welcome everyone to the first annual" "Wolski's pricing and marketing Halloween party!" "All right, that's better." "I want you all to drink and dance and mingle and have fun tonight." "This is the last fun you're gonna have until Christmas, and no one leaves until they karaoke." "I'm serious." "So I'm gonna sing a song by one of my favorite bands," "Luna, and also one of Pete's favorite bands." "# Do I #" "# Oh, do I #" "# Remain #" "# In your mind?" "#" "# Only #" "# To poison the love #" "# That we find #" "# Desires have misplaced, our wishes are washes #" "# The air is filled with vibrations #" "# I'm crying for you, you're crying for me #" "# From station to station to station #" "# Holding each other tighter #" "# The sky goes by, dear #" "# Cries in the streets #" "# I am the meat in your heart #" "# Open your sandwich to me #" "# Open it up #" "Thank you." "Nice song, Matt." "Oh, Pete." "Huh?" " Hey, I heard about what you said to Susan, about how you wanted me fired, and..." " I didn't..." " No, no." "I want to say this." "Fuck you, you two-faced prick." "I thought you were a cool guy." "But no, you're just another asshole." "Don't talk to me." "Dick." " Hey." " Hey." "You all right?" "Peachy, yeah." "What's eating you?" " Happy Halloween." " Hi." "I got us some shots!" "Whoo-ooh!" "Oh, yeah, shots." "# I heard it on the radio, and it's about time #" "# To play something like... #" "Bet you wouldn't mind getting in the middle of those two, huh?" "Yeah, right." " Wish me luck, buddy." "I'm going in." "Go and get 'em." "# When I felt that I needed to pump #" "# It's on the radio, on the radio, on the radio #" "# And it sounded a little something like this #" "Oh, my God." "She's high-energy." " Yeah, she is." " Oh, we're gonna go to the city this weekend, okay?" " Who?" " Susan and I." "We're gonna take Henry to the Met." " Oh, good, yeah, I have work to do this weekend." "Perfect." "# And crown thy good with #" "Brotherhood." "Yeah." "# From sea to shining sea #" "# Oh, beautiful... #" "Good night, ladies." " Bye." " It was so nice to meet you." " Nice to meet you." " Get home safe, okay?" " Hey, do you know where Susan is?" "No." " I really wanted to say good-bye." "Come on, it's okay." "I'll be fine." "What is she, like, a witch?" " Todd Kenner from Intellichoice is coming tomorrow." "We don't get a lot of time with him, so I want everyone on top of their game." "Okay?" "Uh, Pete, do you have the latest planograms?" " I do." "They're right here." " Oh, don't forget to check the vendor contracts." "If you need help with a vendor, let me know." "I know how to talk to them." "Okay." " Dave, are the new computers up yet?" " They're all up." "I'm still fixing the network." "Oh, wow, Dave." "I didn't know you had it in you." "Big applause." "Come on." "Doug, I want to see a rough layout for the store manager presentation." "You can use some of the old stuff for now, but I want to see a new look." "The old stuff looked like homework." "I want it to look like a magazine, emphasis on profit." "Understand?" " Whatever you say, Susie Q." "What did you call me?" "What?" "Nothing." "Yes, you did." "What did you call me?" "Susie Q." "I didn't mean anything." "No." "I..." "I think it's nice." "I think everyone should have nicknames." "It's a great idea." "From now on, yours is Assface." "So let's get those layouts done, Assface." "All right." ""All right, Susie Q."" "Right, Assface?" "Right, Susie Q." "Thanks, Assface." "Oh, one more thing." "I negotiated a 30% discount at the gym across the street." "Our HMO offers an additional 60%." "That leaves you with only $10 a month to pay." "See Donna for the paperwork." "I expect to see some of you there." "Thanks." "This was a great meeting." "Thanks, guys." "Right, right." " Weren't you a little hard on Doug?" "Who?" " Assface." " No." "What's he thinking, calling me Susie Q?" "He didn't give your old boss any cute nicknames, did he?" "But you guys, you..." "Drop it." " Did you go to the Volvo dealership?" " Yeah, I went for a test-drive." "We need a new car." "Ours keeps breaking down." "And besides, I feel like such a loser when I drop Henry off in my crappy car." " I thought you hate all the moms at school with their 4x4s." " I do, but Volvos are different." "Well, it's a hefty sum." " Yeah, but look at..." "for the lease." " Well, that's what I'm looking at." "I thought we'd pay off our mortgage." "It was just an idea." "It's so nice not to have to worry about money so much." " We have to pay off our credit cards." "Uh-uh." "I refinanced them." "Because of your new income level, we qualify for a no-fee account, so I got us a new card, and I transferred all the old ones onto that one, and we get 0% for three months." " I'm gonna set my alarm for 4:30." "I have so much work to do, it's not even funny." "So I guess you don't want to get all tired out." " Mm-mm, I got to read all this stuff." "I stopped taking the pill." "What do you think?" " I think I don't have much say in the matter." "Don't blame me later." "Mm." "Mommy!" "Oh, what's wrong, buddy?" "This is hot." "Do you have a fever?" "I'm sorry, buddy." "I'm gonna go get you some Tylenol." "I'll be right back." " Hi." " Hi." "Oh, are those anthuriums?" "Uh..." "Yeah." "Todd, hi." "Pete Cozy." "Pete, face to name." "Can I get you a coffee?" " No, I'm set, thanks." " Great." "This place is great." "You guy are doing a great job keeping a low profile." " Yeah." "Thanks." " I'd like to check out the computers before we start." " Okay, I set you up in my office." "Please." " Great." "Here's a hard copy of my itinerary." "It's gonna be tight, but I've got a 3:30 flight tomorrow that I've got to catch." "I'm speaking at UCLA, and then I'm off to Japan." "And if I don't fit in some family time, my wife will kill me, you know what I mean?" "Yeah." "I was up all night with a sick kid." "Oh, I know what it's like." "Last year, I took my kids down the Amazon." "One of 'em came back with a tapeworm." "I didn't sleep for a week." "This is perfect." "I think you're gonna be very excited with what we've put together." "Slater's was trying to compete against the superstores using EDLP modeling." "And of course, you can't compete with that." "It's the same with Wolski's." "You can't beat them on price every time or go chasing their specials pricing." "Wolski's needs something new to compete." "What we're proposing is predictive analysis at a level unheard of in this industry." " This is what we were pushing at Slater's, but they just wouldn't listen." " Well, to be fair, this industry seems particularly slow to adapt to new trends, but there are big opportunities here." "Susan wanted big ideas." " All right, just so I can find some way to translate all of this:" "What we're seeing is, we're better off choosing select products for big discounts rather than the hybrid incentives we're using right now." "Correct." "And the key is which products we select." "We're not just selling the product." "We are selling our image." "Each featured product will announce to the customer who we are, what makes us special, not just the product but the kind of products." "We're not offering special prices." "We are offering... specialness." " What about our other competitors?" "Did you get a chance to review their strategies?" "Well, as far as we can tell, none of the other shops are doing anything like this." "It's very exciting." "But there's a big qualifier." "It's all comes down to implementation." "If you could put all these strategies into your stores tomorrow, we'd be two years ahead of everybody, but realistically, I know how long it takes to work these things through the chain." "Once the strategies start to go into your stores, your competitors are gonna notice." " So after two years, there's almost no advantage." "There's a declining function." "But when these strategies go into your stores, your market share will grow 8% to 10% within three months." " 8% to 10%?" " Wow." " After time, these numbers decline steeply." "Stealing ideas is what passes for RD in this business." " So has ACS spoken to the vendors about all this?" "Pete, shh." "I'm sorry." "I thought ACS was behind you on this." "It's complicated." " You're so happy to go to work these days." " I know." "I just..." "I feel better about it now, like what I'm doing might actually have some value." "Pricing groceries?" " I joined the gym near the office, thought I'd start going during lunch." "Got you a membership too." "I'm getting fat, huh?" " No." "It was only 10 bucks." " When am I gonna have a chance to go to the gym?" "You just got to make time." "Susan goes at 5:00 in the morning." "Susan doesn't have kids." "You're kidding me!" "That Cartwright!" "Jesus Christ!" "Pete Cozy!" "Jesus Christ!" "Someone from ACS got wind that we were using" "Slater's strategies from Intellichoice." "I don't know how, but now they want to sideline us." "They want us to try out our strategies at one of their stores and see how they fly." " Isn't that normal, to see how things work out?" "Fuck that!" "No, I'm not gonna sit around and let Stop  Shop decide if our experiment works for them." "What's the fucking point of that?" "Take what we have, go home, and pack a bag." "We'll figure something out on the plane." "Donna?" "Bennington will get this." "Bennington, the CEO?" "Yeah, who else?" " Where is that suit, the one I wore to Jim's wedding?" " I don't think it's gonna fit you." " Can you just help me find it?" " How come your old boss never took you to L. A?" " I don't know." "I wasn't a VP then, I guess." "I mean, 8% to 10%, how can they say no to that?" "The problem is, these supermarket guys are all Luddites." "They all grew up in the supermarket business." "I know who's blocking us too." "It's Cartwright." "Who's he?" " CFO, best friends with D'asarlo, my boss at Slater's." "They used to give each other hand jobs at the country club while I was trying to turn around their company." "Assholes." "Morning." " Is that the only suit you brought?" "Yes." "Oh, my God." "Donna?" "Uh, call Brioni in Beverly Hills and see what time they open." "And try Bernini too." "10:00?" "What about Brooks Brothers?" "I don't know." "Fuck!" "Where'd you get that suit, anyway?" "Did you think we were going to a wedding?" "It's the only one I have." "I don't know about you." "Just..." " Stand behind a planter or something." " He'll see you now, Miss Felders." " You understood that we were gonna try this out gradually." " You gave me the authority to do this." " I know, but it's complicated." "Maybe I can get the board to put it in a couple of more stores." "No!" "You've seen these numbers." "It's all or none." " Well, now, that's not going to happen, Susan." "Be realistic." "Why did you hire me!" "Why did you give me this fucking job!" "Why did you hire me!" "8% to 10% increase in sales!" "Calm down, Susan." " No." "I'm not calming down, Jack." "This has to go in all our stores, or I quit." " This is a major operation." "L..." "And it doesn't help that you're stealing Slater's ideas." "They threw 'em away." " I can't do it without the board's approval." " Okay, fine, then let's go to the board." "Just let them hear our case." " Well, at the monthly meeting, I'll..." " When's that?" " Next month." "No way." " I can't just summon the board, chop-chop." "Yes, you can." "When Ralphs made that takeover bid last October, the board met that afternoon." "Come on, Jack." "Work with me on this." "I..." "There's no reason to wait." "These strategies are time-sensitive." "We're losing money." "8% to 10% increase in sales in three months." "Yeah, if it works." " Well, we have to do something." "What are you gonna do?" "Are you gonna go in front of the shareholders in October with Slater's plan of EDLP?" "That's just..." " And 2% growth rate targets that he'll miss again?" "Come on, Jack, you knew what I was doing." "And I know you want to try this, so what's stopping you?" "All right, I will try to get a board meeting together for tomorrow." "I will help you with this, but you, you have to sell them on this." "Yes." "Yes?" "Thank you." "We have to get you another suit." "You cannot go to the board in that." "And a haircut." "So what do you think?" "It's fucking great." "Here, try these on." "It's $5,000." " Yeah, lucky you got a raise, huh?" " We can have the alterations done this afternoon." "$6,000?" " Almost $7,000, and $300 for a haircut." "How's it look?" " I don't know." "I think it looks a little gay." "Maybe that's a good thing." "I don't want any girls looking at you in L.A." " Well, you don't have to worry about that." "I've been so busy," "I haven't even had time to go for a swim in the pool." "Good luck tomorrow." "I love you." " This is the difference between retiring on a golf course in the Bahamas with your own pool and boat or, you know, getting bought out of a reverse mortgage because you can't afford to pay the doctor" "to get your prostate removed." "I'll do most of the talking." "You sell the numbers." "I make the case." "You back it up." " These strategies were paid for by Slater's." "They were the property of Slater's." " I thought we were all working for ACS." "Slater's is a banner under ACS just like Wolski's." "They don't compete against each other." "They aren't even in the same part of the country." "I mean, what's good for Slater's is good for Wolski's is good for ACS." " These strategies weren't any good for Slater's." " They may not have been great for Slater's, but Wolski's is losing money, and we have to do something about that." " I don't understand how you could afford Intellichoice with the consulting budget that you have." " To tell you the truth, I had to make some cuts." " Yes, yes, cuts..." "Tony Gomes." "12 years at Wolski's, and you..." "you just threw him away." "He was slacking." " Yeah, well, that's funny, 'cause I can't find a single thing in the reports saying that he was slacking." "He had seniority." " He was making three times what his peers were making." "Was he worth three times one of them?" "No." "Intellichoice has given us some solid strategies that we can start putting in our stores in January." "January?" "At the managers' convention?" "Exactly." " In five weeks?" " Yeah." " How are you gonna translate these statistical models into strategies the managers will understand in five weeks?" "Well, uh, the statistics..." " Excuse me, uh, Susan, if I may." "First of all, the HP9726, the scanning system we put in all our stores last year, can handle this behind the scenes." " You have to retrain the checkout people?" " No, no, well, uh, the managers will need a little bit of training, but that's mostly just to understand why we're doing this." "They already know how to do these things." "The rest is just shelving strategies and scanning feedback, really." "On steroids." " When are we gonna see the results from this?" " Intellichoice indicates an 8% to 10% increase in sales in three months." "Three months!" "I mean, the only time we see results like that is when a Walmart opens near one of our stores, and then the results are bad." " I just don't see how you can do it." "No, personally, I mean, that department you're running, it doesn't have the people;" "it doesn't have the expertise to put that kind of plan into action." " The only thing wrong with that department was the leadership that it was getting." " Jim Grady was an excellent manager, and he was a personal friend of mine." " I've been in this business my entire life, and I've never seen a department come together like this." "They were just waiting for something to get excited about!" "Okay, Susan, Pete, we've heard what you have to say, and we'll let you know." " Mr. Cozy, Mr. Bennington would like to see you alone." " Pete Cozy, I wanted to meet you personally before you went back to New York." "Now, I know you're focused on this project right now, but when it's done, I'd like to sit down and have a chat, maybe dinner." "Susan says that you went to Dartmouth." "I have a daughter at Columbia." "Oh." " Education is the most important thing in life." "You can have all the experience in the world, but without the foundation of an education, it just doesn't amount to much." " "Genius without education is like silver in the mine. "" "Indeed." "You're a family man, aren't you?" "Yes." " Happiest years of my life, raising my kids." "Great." "I've always believed that if you surround yourself with the best people, they force you to play at the top of your game." "But Susan is a piece of work." "She was driving everyone crazy at Slater's." "If I approve these strategies of yours," "I'm gonna make some important people angry." "Can your people back in Long Island really get this done in five weeks?" " Susan can get anything done, sir." "I'm asking you." "Um..." "I believe we can get it done." " You're a good man, Pete, honest." "I like that." "I'll stay in touch." "Send Miss Felders in." "Classic." " Susan, the board was... mostly willing to go along." "Now, you only have five weeks to get this set up, so I guess you better keep going." " No, I think he was talking about giving me a job." "Higher than vice president?" "I don't know." "President?" "Oh, Susan's here." "I got to go." "I love you." "Love you too." "Hi." "I'm going out with some friends." "Do you want to come?" "What did Bennington say to you?" " Well, he said that when we're done with this project, he wants to talk to me." " Yeah, when these strategies come out, the headhunters are gonna be all over you." "He wants to get you under contract before that happens." "Janis, Jake, this is Pete." "Hi, I'm Janis." " He's the only cool guy in the office, so be nice." "Hey, honey." " Hey." " You should see this place they call Long Island." "It's totally nowheresville." "It's like the Valley, but the people are pale and yucky." "The only place to eat is Friday's." "The people are so unhealthy." "So what do you do?" "I'm an artist." "She runs a website." "Just to pay the bills." "Did you always work in supermarkets?" "Oh, no, no way." "I was working for this guy in New York, running his record label." "That fell apart, so I needed another job." "I know how it is." " But I'm not planning on doing that forever." "Oh, yeah?" "What are you gonna be doing, Pete?" " Well, I'd like to try and get back into the music business." " Haven't you noticed that the music industry is dead?" "Maybe at an indie label." "It's dead." "Okay, it's dead." " I mean, how are you gonna support Henry running an indie label?" "Pete's got the cutest kid." "Show 'em a picture." " Ah, you don't want to see a picture." " Yeah." " Come on, yeah." " Aww." " Look at him." "Is that your wife?" "Ah, yep." "She's pretty." "Oh, shit." "I heard you were in town." " What are you doing here, Ernie?" "I come here all the time." "What are you doing here?" "So can I buy you a drink, you know, for old time's sake?" "Uh, no." "How old is she?" "She's young, okay?" "It doesn't mean anything." "Is she your girlfriend?" "Mm-mm." "Well, yeah, yeah." "We're seeing each other." "Listen, can I..." "can we just... can we talk outside for a minute?" " No." " Yes." " No way." " Come on." "Come on, what the..." "what the fuck is your problem?" " Hey, Ernie, leave her alone." "Yeah, get over it already." "Okay, you know what?" "You guys know one side of this story, okay?" "She lies." "You lie." "You say one thing to my face." "You tell me you love me." "And then you tell everyone else that I'm an asshole." "You are an asshole." " Hey, you know what?" "Just come outside with me." "Come on." " Ah, Jesus." " Why don't you leave her alone?" "Who the fuck are you?" "He's my new boyfriend." " Really?" " Yeah." " She give you crabs?" "'Cause she gave me crabs." "I did not give you crabs." "You gave me crabs!" "Jesus Christ!" "Fuck you!" "You know what?" "I know..." "I know you still love me." "I do." "Oh, and your boyfriend looks like a fag." "Ugh, so sorry about that." "Jesus Christ." "Number 12, you said?" " Can you give me, like, five..." " What..." "Ernie, oh, my God." "Get off her!" "Oh, my nose!" "You fucking dick!" "# You are the treacle in my pie #" "# You are the splinter in my eye #" "# You make the ice melt, the butter run #" "# You make the ink stain, you are the one #" "# Sleep together, the Milky Way #" "# Sleep forever and a day #" "# Lovely jewels in joy designed #" "# La, la, la, la #" " Don't sleep with her, or I'll tell Sara." "# I am the local #" "# I am express #" "Whoo!" "# I am a tourist in a summer dress #" "Ow!" "# I am the night nurse, I am the most #" "# I am the visitor, you are the host #" "# Sleep together, the Milky Way #" "# Sleep forever and a day #" "# Lovely jewels in joy designed #" "# La, la, la, la #" "It's last call." "No way." "It's getting late." " Well, we can raid the minibar after this." " Oh, come on." "I don't know." " Oh, don't bag on me now, Pete." "You're such a good guy..." "Mm-hmm." "Such a nice guy." "Right." " Why don't I ever meet nice guys like you?" "What are you talking about?" "You met me." "Yeah, I met you." " Why don't you come upstairs and impregnate me?" "You're not serious." "Yeah, I am." "Well, you're drunk." "So what if I am?" "# A plateful of promise, a spoonful of... #" " You know, I don't even find you that attractive." "That's the weird thing." " I know." "But you're such a good guy." "You've got good genes." "You're a good father." "Your sperm works." "I'm tired of this stupid job being my life." "I want to have a baby." "Come on." "You don't have to have anything to do with it." "I won't tell Sara." "I just want your seed." "# La, la, la, la #" "# La, la, la-la, la-la #" "No one will ever know." "I'll move back to L.A." "I just want to be a mother." " You've given this a lot of thought." "# Brush me, divide me in two #" "# Drink me and drown me #" " I'm not unattractive, am I?" "It's not like you never thought about it." "Don't do that." "You're not crazy." "You're cool." "You like good music." "You're smart." " Don't say I went to Dartmouth, please." "You went to Dartmouth." "Come on." "I want a baby." "You know I always get what I want." "# La, la, la-la, la-la #" "# La, la, la, la #" "# La, la, la-la, la-la #" "# La, la, la, la-la #" "# La, la, la, la-la, la-la #" "Oh, we're home." "You can't come in." "Yep." "Open the door." "Thank you." "Oh, I envy you." "Look at that." "And she's pretty too." "Man, you're a bad boy." "Wow, thanks!" "Mmm." "You smell like perfume." " I know." "Susan hugged me at the airport." "She was covered in it." "I missed you." " I missed you too." " I can't believe how great your job is going." "I mean, moving to L. A?" "God, that would be so sweet." "Oh." "# Oh, her eyes appear #" "# And it always is #" "# And it always is again #" "# Oh #" "# Oh #" "# Oh #" " Hey." " Hey, nice haircut." "Hey, you too." "Hi, everybody." "You will all be pleased to hear, I've gotten authorization to double your Christmas bonuses." " Whoo!" " That's what I'm talking about." " You're gonna have to work hard for this money, though." "The January manager's convention is in five weeks." "Whoa, whoa." "Five weeks?" " What?" " I know it's not a lot of time." " Yeah, no, it's literally impossible." "Don't say that." "Jack Bennington has taken a personal interest in our strategies." "He wants to meet the team." "Pete's going to show him around the office next week." "We have to stay focused." " So we want to start communicating with the managers now, so they know what to expect for the convention." "Doug, we're gonna need stats on each of the product lines that Intellichoice cooked up for promotions." "Lila, you're gonna draft a newsletter for each one of these managers, just as a way of preparing them." "Yeah, and remember, there's nothing that store managers hate more than getting weird instructions from management." "It has to make sense to them." "So what we're looking for is simplicity, clarity, results." "Okay?" " Okay." " I'll leave you guys to your work." "No way." "Ridiculous." " What's it feel like being perky?" "Like, what does that feel like?" " Pete, can I see you in my office?" "Yeah." " Todd Kenner is on line three." "My God." "Yeah." "Hey, Todd, what's up?" "There's just some software thing going on." "Well, last I heard, HP was taking care of it." "Hold on a second, Todd." "Do you need anything else?" "No." "Okay, thanks, Pete." "Hey, Todd." " Hey, Susan, how are you doing?" "Uh, I'm fine." "What's up?" " We just hadn't talked in a while, and..." " I know, I know, but it's really not a good time." "Can I call you?" "Yeah, okay." "I'll talk to you later." "Bye." " Hey, so that guy who called last night," "Bobby McCain?" "He said he's setting up a label." "He's got financing and a couple of bands, and he wants me to run it." "Really?" "Uh-huh." "So I'm thinking I'm gonna meet him for lunch on Saturday in the city, but I don't want Susan to know about it." "So if you talk to her, please don't mention anything." "Pete." "Hey." " How you doing, buddy?" " Good, man." "It's good to see you." "It's good to see you." "Hey, what happened to you?" "What?" "You got a haircut." " I just..." "I got a corporate job." " Not EMI, I hope, fucking broke assholes." "Yeah." "Uh, no, ACS." "You've never heard of them." " See, that's why I wanted to talk to you." "I was out partying with Brian Specht." "Mm-hmm." "You remember Specht?" "Yeah, of course." "Fucking asshole." "And we got to talking, and I told him my whole plan, 'cause, see, I need somebody to run the business side of the operation." "Mm-hmm." " 'Cause you know I'm no good with business." "Come on." "I am no good with business." "And so he said you were looking for something." "Are you?" " Yeah, absolutely, sure." " Cool." " Yeah." " Because you know why?" "'Cause it's all fucking happening." "So how did it go?" "The money was lame." "I'm not 20 anymore." " When you were 20, they didn't pay you anything." "I got to be honest with you." "I don't think he has his shit together." "Dinosaur song." "Dinosaur song." "Dinosaur song!" "You better put it on." "Dinosaur song!" "# We are the dinosaurs marching, marching #" "# We are the dinosaurs #" "# What do you think of that?" "#" "# We are the dinosaurs marching, marching #" "# We are the dinosaurs #" "# We make the Earth flat #" "# We make the Earth flat #" "# We stop and eat our food when we're in the mood #" "# We stop and eat our food on the ground #" "# We stop and take a rest over in our nest #" "# We stop and take a rest, and then you'll hear us say #" "Hey, sweetie, I'm sorry." "I fell asleep on my desk." "I stayed up waiting for you." " Come on." "I told you not to do that." "I was worried." " Well, why didn't you call me then?" "I don't know." "I didn't want to bother you." "I know you're doing what you have to do." "I love you." "I love you too." "Yeah, I'll call later." "Ah." "I went to your office, but you were sleeping." "Were you here all night?" "Yeah." "Why?" "Do I look bad?" "No." "You look great." "Thank you." " So tell me what's gonna happen when all this is over." " Bennington's gonna move me back to L.A." "He's gonna put me in charge of national strategies." "He told you that?" "No." "But he knows I want the job." "Mm-hmm." "What choice does he have?" "I might take you with me." "Good morning." "Good morning, Doug." " Get ready for Bennington in a couple hours." " Mm, that's a great pot of coffee." " Jack Bennington." " Matt Davis." "I've been here four years." "I work in advisory projects." " Ah, nice to know, nice to know." "Keep up the good work." " Sure." "I will." "Thank you." " Douglas Cain, Jack Bennington." " Doug Cain, Doug Cain." "How are you?" "I'm very well, thanks." " If you need stats, I'm your guy." "That's what I've been doing for you." " Pete." " I've been proud to do it." "And I'm all about making a difference in this company." " Mr. Bennington wants to take me, you, and Sara out to dinner tonight." "I made a reservation for 7:00." "Okay." "I'll call Sara." " No, no, I can't." " Try it." "Please, please try it." "It's so good." " I'm on a diet." "I can't." " You will be so sad if you don't taste this." "Oh..." "Right?" "It's amazing." " Yes, it is." "So how are we coming with the organics, Pete?" "Oh, pretty well." "It's just a shelving issue at this point, so it's not like the managers won't know how to do it." "What's that about?" " Organics have a special section in our store, but Pete is telling us we should put our organics next to our regular products." " Well, what difference does that make?" "Organics cost more, so generally, the feeling has been to keep them in their own department." "You keep the price image down, also offering some quality." " Our research shows that organics have come a long way." "It's a trend change." "It's exactly the kind of thing that ACS is the last to figure out." "So it's a big deal for us." " Essentially, we make more on the organics." " Most chains have their own line of organics." "I mean, try getting Cartwright on board with that." "Indeed." "Now, are you thinking of having any more kids?" " I don't think so." " Yeah." "Oh." " Come on." " Well, excuse... uh, hello." " We've been trying." " Ah." " But Pete was an only child, and so he doesn't understand why Henry would want a brother or a sister." "Ah." "Well, I came from a big family, and I had a big family." "So I guess you're right." "Oh, I have to take this." " This is just a thought, Sara, but how would you feel about moving to Los Angeles with your family?" "It's a nice place to raise kids." " Oh, I mean, we are not attached to Long Island." " Well, I've been trying to find a place for Pete in our national office." "We know you're a talented young man, good education." "You're a good guy, an honest guy." "I'd hate to see you wasting your time in... well, in a regional office." "We'll find you something." "Did I miss something?" " No, no, no." " Really?" " No." " No." " The motherfuckers at national are screwing us up the ass." "They're turning the vendors against us." "I saw the memos." "They don't want us to make the deadline." " We're just gonna have to stop relying on them and do this ourselves." "Tomorrow's Christmas Eve." "We're gonna get screwed if we don't take care of this." "Matt had an idea." "What?" "Matt had an idea." " Yeah, okay, so we only have a week and a half left." "Even though most of us are gonna work through Christmas, we still got to deal with HP and Intellichoice closing and so is communications." "And the store managers are doing their whole Christmas overtime thing, so..." " The bottom line is, we're not gonna make it." " What are you talking about?" " It's true." "There just aren't enough hours in the day." "There isn't enough time to get it all done." "But if we were to cut just two, three of the strategies, we'll be able to finish everything else free and clear." "Otherwise, we're screwed." "Does Susan know about this?" " Well, we thought that maybe you could talk to her." "You know, you seem to have a special relationship with her." " What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" " I don't know, Pete." "What does it mean?" " Okay, it just means someone has to talk to her..." "This is bullshit!" "Well, we can't just cut our strategies now!" "I can't believe you guys." "We've been busting our balls here for three months, and you just want to give up?" "All we're saying is, we can't get a few of these strategies ready." "No way!" "I'm not gonna just sit here and watch you tell Susan that this can't be done." "I mean, do you know the kind of pressure that she's under?" "Do you know that she stuck her neck out for us?" "No." "No, what we're doing here is kicking ass." "And I don't care if we have to stay here all fucking week for the next week and a half to get this done, or maybe even two weeks." "We don't know how long it's gonna take, but we are gonna do this." "All we are saying is, we can't get two of these strategies ready." " Well, why the fuck not?" "Huh?" "I mean, you and Pete understand this stuff." "I know that because you got me to understand it." "So can we just stop all the talk about cutting strategies and apply ourselves?" "She's right." "We can get this done." "Hey." "Susan wants to see everyone out in the office for a Christmas toast." " I'd like to share this letter from Mr. Bennington with all of you." ""In my years, I've never seen a team" ""work so hard and do such excellent work." ""These presentations mark a new beginning" ""for Wolski's, ACS, and a new direction in this industry. "" "Blah, blah, blah." ""You are all the best of the best. "" "I just want to say," "I've never seen a group of people come together like this." "Now, I want you to take Christmas off." "Go home." "See your families." "You're gonna need a lot of rest before next week." "Louisville will be hard work, but we can do it." "Merry Christmas." "Cheers." "Cheers." "Merry Christmas." "Happy holidays." "You guys blow me away." "Ah, no, we can't eat it." "It's too big." "Turning into transformer..." "Hey." "Why don't you grab that?" "I'm gonna put on a sweater." "I'm freezing." "Arr, arr!" "I'll be right back..." "oh, he's gonna eat the crayon." " Hi." " Hi." "I'm not staying." "What's going on?" " I wanted to drop off a present for Henry." "Oh, well, come in." "Wait, you don't have plans for Christmas?" "I was working, but then..." "I got really depressed." "I meant to give this to Pete at work." " Come in, come on." "Have a drink." "Can we open it?" "Yes." "Yay." "A Barbie thing." "It's Barbie." "Yeah." "Isn't she pretty?" "I don't like it." " What do you mean, you don't like it?" "She's a woman." "I don't like women." "You don't?" "Why not?" "Because." "Because why?" "Do you like me?" "Yeah." "Thank you." "You're welcome." " Sit down next to me." " Oh." " You guys are so great together." "You're so down to earth, honest." "What's the point of my life?" "You're doing a good job." "Fuck work." "Who really gives a shit if Wolski's gets a few more customers?" "I thought it was important." " You know what I'm talking about." "You know what I like about Pete?" "He really knows me." "He listens." "He notices things." "It's like, I don't even have to say anything, and he knows what I'm thinking." " We really appreciate everything you've done for him." "It's..." " Mm-hmm." "Really changed our lives." " Yeah, well, that's not what I'm talking about." " Pete, why don't you go put Henry to bed?" "And I will get some sheets for the couch." " Yeah." " Thank you." "Come here." " But I don't have to do bed." " Okay." "She's going to sleep." "Come in here." "Let me just say good night." "Don't worry." "You'll see her in the morning." "Bah!" "What the fuck?" "Don't do that." "Oh, God." "Oh, Jesus Christ." "You guys obviously can't handle this stuff." "We have to get ACS to help you." " The vendors are calling ACS to pressure us." " That's why we need their help." "Yeah, but..." " The vendors think they can muscle us because they aren't taking us seriously." "We have to use ACS to talk to them." " Yeah, I..." " No, just do it." "Then you'll understand, all right?" "How's your stuff coming along, Pete?" " Good." "We'll be all right." " I mean, what do you have to show me?" "Uh, I don't... have anything to show you." "I was just, you know, hoping you might cut me a little slack." "Why would I do that?" "This is a progress meeting." "I need to see progress." " Okay, uh, we're making progress." " I don't need a meeting to know that you're doing something." "I need a meeting to see what it is that you're doing." "What is your problem?" " Just bring it in my office in an hour, okay?" "In an hour." "Go." " There's no reason for you to be here." " Hi, I'm sorry I didn't bring this to the meeting." "I was, um..." "I was out of line." "You lied to me." "What?" "You lied to me." "You never went to Dartmouth." " What?" " Did you?" "Yes, I went to Dartmouth." " Mr. Bennington was planning on offering you a job in L.A." "As is standard procedure, they hired a private detective team to check you out." "Dartmouth has no record of you." " Well, they didn't check properly." "I did go." " I thought that might be the case, so I called them myself." "They have no record of you." "I didn't graduate." "I went for two years, and then I left." "My father lost his job." "I couldn't afford it anymore, so..." " You said you graduated on your résumé." "Yeah, I needed the job." "It was not a big lie." "It's a huge lie." " Nobody cared until you came along." " But I did care." "I do care." "It's important to me." "What are you gonna do?" "I don't know what I can do." "They want me to press charges." "What?" "Look, I didn't know it was that big of a deal." " It's a huge fucking deal, okay?" "You let me down!" "I thought you were perfect!" "You didn't even look so bad once you put on a suit." "Now you're just another asshole who cheats on his wife and lies about how smart he is." " You told me all you wanted was a baby." "Well, it didn't work." "I'm not pregnant." "Well, Sara is." "That's great." "That's fucking great." "I guess that's my fault too." "Get away from me." "Hey, Donna, send them in." "I'll do what I can to stop them from pressing charges, but your work here is no longer tenable." "You should just take your jacket and leave." "You can't take our work, obviously." "I have to remind you, you signed a confidentiality contract." "That's it?" " Don't make this any harder than it already is." "What are we going to do?" " I'll just..." "I'll get another job." " Yeah, but what about the car?" "What about the mortgage?" " Don't we have money saved up?" " We have some money in our checking account, yes, but we still owe, like, $28,000 on the Visa." "Bobby, hey, it's Pete." "I know it's been a while." "I was just wondering if you found anyone to run your label." "Oh, yeah." "You know Jim Sall?" "Yeah, I know him." "The guy's doing a great job." "I know, Dad." "We just need a little to get us through the next couple months." "He is not that bad." "Hey, Doug, just wondering how the project was going." "How did it go in Louisville?" "What do you care, man?" " Well, I had a lot invested in that, wanted to know how it was turning out." "Let me tell you something." "You didn't get fired because of that thing on your résumé." "The job that Bennington was gonna give you was the job that Susan wanted." "He was gonna put you in national marketing at ACS." "Susan found out about it." "No way." "How do you know that?" "I just know it, okay?" "You have to move on." "Strength, brother." "There's a job in the city." "They're hiring at Arista Records." "How much does it pay?" " $30,000, but it's in the music business." "There's no future in the music business." "They're hiring." "$30,000?" "You could get a job." "I'm pregnant." "Who's gonna hire me?" "I'd hire you." "One more bite of pasta." " No, no, no, no, no, no, no." " Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes yes!" "No, no, no, no, no." " Is Daddy gonna eat all your pasta?" "Oh, boy, lucky Daddy." "Don't answer it." "It's a creditor." "Eat all my pasta." " Yeah, I'm gonna eat all your pasta." " Susan Felders gave me your number." "Did you eat all of my food?" " I work for a company called Advantage One." "We're an executive recruiting agency, and I'd really like to talk to you about your plans for the future." "I'm in L. A." "I want to get out of..." "Hi, sorry, yeah." "Uh, this is Pete Cozy." "Yeah." " I want to get out of the seat." "One sec." "What did he say?" " He said that with my experience, he thinks he could find me a job." "Well, what kind of job?" "Marketing, supermarkets, same kind of thing I've been doing, maybe even with my own department." "He said there were a couple of jobs on the West Coast he would love to send me out for, even with what happened." " Did he give you any idea how much these jobs would pay?" " $100,000 plus benefits and year-end bonus." "Jesus." "That is great news." " I told him I'd think about it." "What?" "Why?" " Because I don't want to do this my whole life." "The only thing I've ever wanted to do with my life is work in music." "I may not have made that much money, but I was happier." "What are you talking about?" "What difference does it make if you market music or groceries?" "It makes a difference to me." " $30,000 a year for an entry-level position?" "No, no way." "I'm too old for that." "I think I'm gonna start my own label." " I've learned a lot over these past years." "How are you gonna pay for it?" "I'll draw up a business plan." "I'll get loans, an investor." "Who's gonna give you a loan?" "We're not even gonna make next month's mortgage payment." "So an investor." " My dad is not gonna give you any more money." " I'm not talking about your father." "Look, if we sold this house, we would still make money, even after we paid the mortgage." "What are we gonna live on?" " What do other people do, huh?" "They get by." "We can live in a small apartment in the city for a while." "I know you're not any happier here than I am." " God, it's not like any of those labels you worked on ever took off or made any money." " Well, I didn't know then what I know now." "Did you sleep with Susan?" "What?" "No." " It all changed when you came back from L.A." "I know you slept with her." " Why are you waiting till now to bring this up?" "Oh, God, I feel sick." " Could it be that you were okay with it as long as I was making good money?" "You are so selfish." "How can you say that?" "Oh, my God." " Sara." " We have a child, and I am pregnant." "Why would you do this to me?" " Stop it." "You know I love you." "What am I doing?" "I cannot believe that I am pregnant." "Let's talk about this." "Listen to me..." " You stay away from me." " No." "Sara, come on." "No!" "Mommy!" "Sara..." "Henry." " It's all right." "It's okay, buddy." "No, it's okay." "Hey, come on, it's all right." " I don't want to look at you." " Come on, open up the door." "I'm done." "Sara, please." "Please." "Sara!" "Come on, let's talk about this." "# Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh #" "# Ooh, ooh, ooh #" "# Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh #" "# Sun comes up #" "# Sun goes down #" "# Tired old world #" "# Spins round and round #" "# Nothing chills the summer #" "# And my love comes in... #" "Henry." "Henry?" "Henry?" "Hey, hey, hey." "What are you doing?" "You can't run away like that, come on." "Pete." "Susan." "What are you doing here?" "Hi." "Uh, I'm shopping." "I live around here." "Is that yours?" "Yeah, his name is Syd." "Henry found me." "So you moved back here." " Um, yeah, I'm head of marketing at ACS, brought Lila and Donna here with me." "Yeah, it's cool." "Susie, plain or butter?" "Um, both of 'em." "Do you remember Pete, Ernie?" "We're married." " Oh, hey." " Congratulations." " Ah, I have to take this." "This is an important call." "Okay." "Cute baby." "Looks like you." "Yeah, you think so?" "I'd better get going." "Come on." "I'll see you around." "Yeah, later." "Who was that weird guy?" "Oh, I'm gonna eat you." "I think so." "I want to go on a big plane." " You want to go on a big plane?" "Yeah." "Hello." " Henry?" "Hi, you guys." "How was the supermarket?" "Good?" "We saw Daddy's friend." "Really, who?" "Oh, just someone from work." "Hey, I was thinking we could take a walk down to the beach." " Uh, maybe you can take them down, and I'll just meet you." "I still have some work to do." "Oh, it's Sunday." " I know." "What do you want me to say?" " All right." "I love you." "I love you too." "Mm." "Bye, cutie." " Say, "See you later, Daddy. "" " Bye, cutie." " See you later." "Bye." "Hey, Henry, let's go." "# Iceman, iceman, candy man, and sandman #" "# All the things I wanted for #" "# Someone else took them #" "# Lonely in a new shirt, lonely watching baseball #" "# If I had to do it all again, I wouldn't #" "# Throw it all away #" "# Throw it all away #" "# I want a holiday #" "# I want a holiday #" "# Marigold and tangerine, I have dreamed an empty dream #" "# I am slow and you are too #" "# Someone tell me what to do #" "# Lonely on a Wednesday, lonely on a Friday #" "# If I had to do it all again, I wouldn't #" "# Throw it all away #" "# Throw it all away #" "# I want a holiday #" "# I want a holiday #" "# I'm tired of having no future #" "# And I'm tired of pushing my luck #" "# And I'm tired of waiting for the endgame #" "# Watching the stars turn black #" "# Throw it all away #" "# Throw it all away #" "# I want a holiday #" "# I want a holiday #"