"What happened there is proof  that the Lord doesn't tak e lightly to those who dabble in the black arts." "Nice entrance." "Isn't there a limit on the number of times you can watch your own movie?" "I've gotta be prepared." "We got a q-and-a after the screening." "Oh, the screening." "How Sundance." "Let's not blow this completely out of proportion, shall we?" "What's the matter?" "Nothing." "Could it be?" "What?" "Dawson Leery, the gifted, young, self-motivated auteur Capeside's own Spielbergian wunderkind be nervous?" "Yeah." "Yeah, of course I am." "I mean, it's one thing to be a big fish in the small pond that is Capeside." "But entirely another to swim in the talent pool with hundreds of your egocentric competitors." "Exactly." "Thanks for that gut-wrenching visual." "Now, I may be a little biased here because, well, let's face it I am one of the stars of your movie but it's really good." "And look at it this way, I mean, for better or worse this experience will take you one step closer to realizing your dreams." "Besides, you don't have to spend an entire weekend with a stranger." "lt is kind of cruel and unusual." "Yeah, I signed up for the college tour." "They pair you off with one of the students." "Those are the rules." "Are you nervous?" "Yeah but in a good way." "I mean, I know we're just visiting, but this trip gives me hope that maybe one day I will make it out of here." "Hey, Joey it's never once crossed my mind that you wouldn't make it out of here." "It's easy for you to say, Dawson." "Joey, stick with the original impulse." "Look at this weekend as an adventure." "I mean, this is our first foray into the real world." "This weekend could be a glimpse into the rest of our lives." "Or it could be the weekend when our hopes and dreams crash around us forcing us to withdraw from society and spend the rest of our days as these cynical embittered shadows of our former selves." "It's just a thought." "I feel like Richard Dreyfuss in Close Encounters of the Third Kind." "You know, where he boards the ship and mingles with the aliens?" "News flash, Dawson." "We are the aliens." "So, what you thinking, sis?" "These students enjoy the distinction of attending America's finest college!" "Founded in 1 626, it was named after a British colonist who ended up donating his entire collection of books." "The original faculty, teaching in the wilderness could hardly have imagined that over the next three centuries it would become known throughout the world as a premier centre for teaching and research." "Maybe you should write for the catalogue." "It is the catalogue, Dawson." "She sent away for it when she was about 9." "Class of 2005, baby." "Early admissions." "I am going to ace this interview." "Well, I guess I better go meet my roommate A.J. Moller." "Joey, you are gonna have a blast." "I took the junior tour last year." "As a sophomore?" "Early bird gets into college." "What are you doing, Jack?" "Just hang out." "Do the tourist thing." "Well, it is about that time." "Yeah." "Yeah." "l am so psyched." "Me too." "Me too." "Dare I say "gulp"?" "Okay." "Bye!" "Bye." "Bye." "L, double E, R, Y." "First name?" "Dawson." "Movie, please." "Which category, comedy or drama?" "Documentary." "Well, actually more of" "Date of birth?" "3-1 4-83." "Favourite director?" "Spielberg." "You're kidding." "As a matter of fact, no." "Steven Spielberg, undoubtedly a gifted filmmaker but come on, where's the edge?" "Edge is fleeting." "Heart lasts forever." "Say cheese." "Sign here and here." "This card will get you into the flicks and...." "You didn't fill out a synopsis." "Not enough room." "My film started out as a documentary chronicling the history of this island which was rumoured to haunted, but" "Another Blair Witch Project." "Gotcha." "Good luck." "Next!" "Excuse me- l'm sorry, l" "Just a second." "Yes, what is it?" "I'm looking for A.J. Moller." "is this her room?" "No, this is not her room." "She's supposed to be my roommate for the junior tour." "Do you know where l can find her?" "Nope." "Okay, well the number on my information card says room 381 ." "l'm certain it does." "And this is room 381 ." "You betcha." "And you can't help me find A.J. Moller?" "I didn't say that. I said, " l don't know where you can find her."" "Him I can point you directly to." "I'm A.J. Moller, and that must make you Potter comma Joseph?" "I guess our gender-ambiguous names have fostered a precarious situation." "To say the least." "Before you start crying and calling home I promise to give you one of the beds and if you're really nice, I'll even leave the light on for you." "I'm not staying here." "This is not what I signed up for, okay?" "I'm supposed to be with someone who'll show me what college is like..." "...tell me what to expect, someone" "With ovaries." "Yeah." "Listen, Jo." "Joseph?" "It's Josephine." "Joey." "Joey." "Listen, this is what college is like." "Guys and girls living together mostly in harmony." "At Columbia they even have coed bathrooms." "If you're not up for that, you should be visiting women's colleges instead." "No." "Maybe you're right." "There's no reason two people of the opposite sex can't spend a night in the same room." "That's my girl." "Now, if you don't mind, biggum college boy have important paper to write." "Little high-school girl take long walk around campus." "You're kicking me out?" "You're kicking yourself out so I can have two more hours of unadulterated silence." "That's not" "Careful!" "Careful." "Say "fair," and you'll really be showing your age." "And, Potter comma Joseph, shut the door on your way out." "Otherwise I can hear those idiot econ majors playing Nerf basketball down the hall." "Hey, what you got?" "Just, you know, a guide book to Boston." "Tell me you're not going off in search of Thoreau's butt print at Walden Pond." "No, I hadn't planned on that." "Hey, you know what?" "There's a really great art museum here." "You should check it out." "Okay, maybe I will." "Okay, well, I gotta go." "Bye!" "See you." "Hi. I'm Andie McPhee." "Spell the last name, please." "M-C-P-H-E-E." "Says here your appointment isn't until March." "Either there's something wrong with my calendar, or you've got a long wait." "Well, Mrs. Boyd" "Call me Fran." "Okay." "My dad, Joseph McPhee, is an alumnus." "Class of 1 97 2." "He always said, " lf you want something badly, make sure you're first in line."" "A daddy's girl, huh?" "Me too." "God rest his soul." "So you think you can maybe squeeze me in?" "Not a chance." "But I just want five minutes with the dean, that's all." "The thing is, everyone else here has an appointment today." "Do you think something might open up?" "Would you cancel your university interview at the last minute?" "You see my point?" "Been there, seen that." "Where do you want to go eat?" "Ladies and gentlemen, if anyone has any questions or comments the filmmaker would be glad to answer them for you." "Mr. Leery?" "Dawson Leery, can you step up here, please?" "Hi" " Oops." "Sorry." "I'm Dawson Leery." "Does anyone have any questions, or...?" "Yeah." "Yes." "Question." "Where's the Joey chick?" "She here?" "She is hot." "Jealous?" "Dawson!" "You all right?" "Yes, I'm fine." "These screenings can get brutal when the lights come up." "I can handle that." "So what if my movie's not hip enough to arouse the interest of these pseudo-intellectual, art-house snobs?" "On the bright side, at least no one threw things." "Thank God for small favours." "You are upset." "Wouldn't you be?" "l'm sorry about what happened there I really am, but in light of The Blair Witch Project..." "..." "I don't know what you were thinking." "What?" "Riding the coattails of some successful cultural phenomenon is not gonna cut it." "Before you eviscerate my work any further at least tell me your name." "Nikki." "Nikki Green." "Nice to meet you, Nikki." "Take this Joey character, for example." "What does she mean to you?" "Are you friends or lovers?" "Nothing was clear." "You didn't understand that that was the most interesting part of your story." "Well, aren't you perceptive." "Don't patronize me." "I'm trying to give you an honest assessment." "It's not every day that I'm subjected to..." "...an unsolicited note session from a" "Volunteer?" "Paper pusher?" "My position and altruism invalidate my opinion?" "Well, next time I'll pick which wounds to lick more carefully." "Well?" "You in or out?" "Dawson!" "Hey." "Hey." "How'd the screening go?" "Come on, it couldn't have been that bad, could it?" "It was an unmitigated disaster." "What do those hipper-than-thou film brats know anyway?" "Maybe they're right." "Come on." "You don't mean that." "No, I've been thinking that, you know maybe the problem with such a big dream is, you never stop to question whether or not you actually have the talent to back it up." "What if I don't have what it takes to be a great filmmaker?" "Dawson I've been there from the beginning." "To most people, movies are a way of passing time but I was there that day that they became something more to you the day that you decided to make a movie of your own." "The day that you said for the first time out loud that you were going to be a filmmaker." "I've had the privilege of watching you take a dream and make it a reality." "And you know what?" "I'm really proud of you." "You." "How'd you get in here?" "The janitor." "Don't worry, I didn't touch anything, but I brought you dessert." "And I thought I'd seen it all." "I thought I'd be here on the off-chance that Dean Hargrove got back early, and then I could, you know." "You've got chutzpah, I'll say that much for you." "So is he back yet?" "He's a notoriously late luncher." "What's the matter?" "Nothing." "Do you know how many kids I have?" "Seven." "You know how many went to this university?" "Zero. it didn't bother them much." "You don't think I'm gonna get in?" "Oh, I gave up a long time ago trying to figure out who they're gonna accept." "So you had seven kids?" "Two are doctors, one's an investment banker, whatever that is." "The three girls are married, and one didn't go to college." "Plays horn in a jazz band downtown." "Which do you think is happiest?" "Okay." "So, what you're telling me is avoid medical school and Wall Street, don't get married, and skip college." "What I'm saying is whether or not you attend this distinguished university will have little or nothing to do with the person you turn out to be or whether you find fulfilment in your life." "Freshman English, huh?" "You picked a good one to visit." "Don't tell me you're in this class." "Kind of." "Want to sit?" "No. I can't." "So I...." "I guess this professor's really late." "No, he's not coming." "They do that a lot." "Then some poor undergraduate teaching assistant comes in and tries to rally the troops for what's known as "discussion session."" "Hi, guys." "Professor Taylor's at a semiotics conference in Seattle so you're stuck with me again." "We have a lot of visiting high schoolers here today so let's take a break from our ongoing "great books" discussion and ask some of them what books they consider great." "How about you?" "In the cheap seats." "Brown-haired girl." "What's my favourite book?" "You read, don't you?" "Little Women." "Louisa May Alcott." "Interesting." "You know, I haven't read that since I was 1 0 or so." "It's sort of a less successful version of Jane Eyre." "Something about a girl with a boy's name?" "The girl's name is Jo." "She has three sisters, a mother, a father who's usually not around." "When he is, he's not the greatest at providing the material things in life." "That's right." "They're poor, but they have each other and there's a boy next door." "Yeah, it's all coming back to me." "So Little Women." "Perennial American classic, yes, but great book?" "Worthy of inclusion in the literary canon?" "What do we think, people?" "No way." "This book is completely antifeminist in spirit." "I concur." "The heroine supposedly burns with this artistic genius but she gives up all of her dreams, gets married..." "...and starts popping out babies." "Alcott's a minor writer." "Most of what she wrote, she wrote purely for money." "And what's the lesson here?" "We can't say a book is great simply because we identify with the hero or heroine." "Joey, wait." "Why, so you can sic one of your little overeducated minions on me?" "Try again." "Admittedly, we were a little harsh." "I concur." "You said you wanted the college experience." "Don't be so glib." "What you did in there was insensitive." "You hardly know me, A.J." "Maybe I am just some naive little high- school girl, but I was looking forward to a taste of the fun part of a college experience, not just that bitter part." "You spend so much time with that iBook that you forgot that part existed?" "I'm sorry." "How about we start over?" "Give me a chance to show you what college is really all about." "What do you say?" "You got any idea who shot this?" "Quiet." "lt's on another level, is what I think." "Hey, man, keep it down." "Let's get this gifted young filmmaker up here, shall we?" "Dawson." "Hey." "I need a sugar fix after all stressful experiences." "Finally." "Stressful?" "Come on, that was a love fest." "Don't sound so overjoyed." "Don't be falsely modest." "If it had been the other way around, I would have enjoyed your success." "So you're not only a better filmmaker than I am, you're a better person." "Look, can we start over again?" "Yeah." "Let's." "So, what did you think of my film?" "Really." "Constructive criticism only, please." "I thought your film was technically accomplished." ""Technically accomplished."" "That sounds like a nice dismount off the balance beam." "It's better than "derivative"  or " unclear" or " not understanding your own material."" "Okay, maybe I was a little insensitive in my comments." "l'm sorry." "Duly noted." "Now, you never mentioned before that you were entered in this film festival." "Why not?" "I don't lead with my chin, Dawson." "You can get hurt that way." "Yeah, you can." "Well, you seemed to have really knocked them dead." "Congratulations." "l think I'm gonna write about her." "For your application essay?" ""Who's the one person who influenced you the most and why?"" "You should." "Might help you organize your thoughts about her." "I remember one day, it was about six months after the accident I found her by the creek." "She was just sitting in the water, her blouse was soaking wet, and her hair was plastered in strands across her face." "It's like she didn't know where to go or what to do." "I don't think I'll forget that image as long as I live." "Do you mind if I lay a dose of truth on you?" "Sure." "After I spilled my deepest, darkest secrets, why not?" "One, always wear sensible shoes." "If your feet are killing you, you can't think straight." "Okay, and two?" "Let yourself off the hook for things over which you have no control." "Just because your mother couldn't get past your brother's death doesn't mean you have to beat yourself up for making peace with it." "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be sticking my nose in." "No, no, I was just thinking something." "Maybe when your mom starts to lose her mind, you do too, you know as a way of trying to understand what she's going through." "This is so weird. incredible, even, that I am sitting here in Cambridge with" "A 60-year-old career secretary." "Well, one thing I learned a long time ago:" "Life can surprise you in a thousand different ways." "As much as I appreciate your willingness to spend time with me I've got to ask, where are we going?" "You'll see." "What is this place?" "Rare book and manuscript library." "Well, are we supposed to be in here?" "What's the matter?" "You afraid the library police are gonna snatch us up?" "l wanted to show you something." "What?" "Have a seat." "This." "Little Women?" "Not quite." "The book was originally published in two separate volumes." "This is just the first." "It's Louisa May Alcott's very own copy." "Go ahead, open it." "Carefully." "Let's see what this favourite book of yours has to offer." "This is the part where Jo and Meg go to Mrs. Gardiner's party." ""Jo saw a red-headed youth approaching her corner and fearing he meant to engage her, she slipped into a curtained recess." "She found herself face to face with the Laurence boy."" ""'Don't mind me." "Stay if you like."'" ""'Shan't I disturb you?"'" ""'Not a bit. I only came here because I don't know many people and felt rather strange at first, you know."'" ""'So did I." "Don't go away, please, unless you'd rather."'" ""The boy sat down again and looked at his boots." "'How's your cat, Miss March?"'" ""'Nicely, thank you, Mr. Laurence but I ain't Miss March. I'm only Jo."'" "My mom used to read this to me." "That's why she named me Josephine." "It was her favourite book." "Was?" "She passed away." "I'm sorry to hear that." "I guess that's why I read it, and reread it because when I do, it's.... lt's like she's with me." "So it's like a friend, the book." "Yeah." "Exactly." "Well, you can never have too many friends, Potter comma Joseph." "So, Miss A.J. Moller what is your favourite book?" "Some ponderous tome by Herodotus?" "Are you ready for this?" "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." "Well, that sounds rather infantile." "Entirely but like all the best things in life simple, sweet, magical." "What can I get you?" "l guess anything." "My guess is he can't handle much more than a beer." "Make that two, please." "Oh, you don't have to do that." "I'm.... lt's okay. I wanted to." "Okay, thanks." "You're adorable." "You're shy, right?" "Let's just start all over, okay?" "You're not adorable, and I am not attracted to you." "Would you like to go somewhere else?" "This really probably isn't your scene, and we could just talk, okay?" "Maybe, I don't know, get to know each other a little better, and then we" "Our second place finalist  Windscape, David Steiner." "And now, in first place the award goes to  Tommy and Mo!" "Carl Michael Diggins!" "Very nice, very nice." "Nikki!" "What now?" "Time to rub salt in the wound?" "You were robbed." "Excuse me?" "I saw every film at the festival." "Yours was the best, hands down." "Let's dispense with the mock compassion." "Nothing mock about it, Nikki." "It's a simple fact." "If it's okay with you, I'd like to be alone right now." "How can you be so upset about this?" "Like your failure didn't affect you?" "lt did, but there's a huge difference." "And what's that?" "I learned that I have to dig deeper and reveal more of myself to make a film that's worth anything." "You learned that film festivals don't always reward the meritorious." "I wanted to win, Dawson." "Nikki your film wasn't just technically brilliant, okay?" "It was inspired." "It inspired me. lt made me remember why I got into film." "Not to win festivals, not for glory but to reach people and you did." "You made them laugh, you moved them." "No matter what happens to me, I'm not gonna give up until I reach that goal." "You really liked my movie?" "Yeah." "I really liked your movie." "Are we the first ones here?" "Yeah, looks like it." "So did you get your interview?" "Yeah, I did." "Not the one I expected, but maybe the one I needed." "Pray tell." "Oh, long story short, I had this chance encounter that yielded a little clarity." "And you?" "Did you get what you came here for?" "Yeah, I did, also in a most unexpected way." "That's what screws us up the most." "What?" "You get this picture in your head of the way things should be and you close yourself off to the wonder and serendipity of the actual experience." "Who was this chance encounter with, Deepak Chopra?" "Yeah, something like that." "Are these taken?" "Yeah." "Kind of saving them for some friends." "No problem." "Say no more." "Actually, you know what?" "It's cool." "I don't even know if they're coming." "You sure?" "Yeah, yeah, positive." "Do me a favour." "Wake me up when we get to Capeside?" "You're going to Capeside?" "Yep." "Me too." "Hey, porter, is that decaf or caf?" "Nikki, hey." "What are you doing here?" "l'm doing the divorced-kid shuffle." "Mom's a techie, she's been transferred to Chicago so I'm going to cohabitate with my dad." "I know the drill." "My parents just got divorced." "Sucks, doesn't it?" "I mean, I guess, you know, it's for the best and everything." "It was a really long, drawn-out battle." "If it's for the best, then why do I still feel so lousy?" "Yeah." "Yeah." "So where does your father live?" "A place called Capeside." "You're kidding." "No he's the high-school principal there." "Wait a minute, your father is Principal Green?" "Do not tell me that you go to school there." "This is too weird." "What are the chances?" "Wow." "Mr. Jordan is the film teacher, and his film lab is actually really full." "I had to beg to get in, but I think I have some pull with him." "I'm already in." "What?" "We've been e-mailing each other." "He's been giving me this sort of private tutorial." "Okay. I wasn't aware that he did that sort of thing." "You can handle a little friendly competition, can't you?" "Bingham, Breely and Buckingham?" "lt's a prep school." "Sounds more like a law firm." "Sometimes it feels like one but in the main, I'm just happy to be out of claustrophobic Capeside." "So, what brings you back?" "Heartbreak." "I need a little parental TLC, some chicken soup and the comfort of my childhood bed." "Long relationship?" "Two years." "It feels like a divorce, I swear." "Not to mention that I see him every day at school." "It's like we're broken up but still living together." "What's the matter, I get under the gaydar?" "That's what everyone says." "I'm the straightest gay guy they know." "What about you?" "What about me?" "Can people tell right away?" "How can you tell?" "I mean, is it that obvious?" "Actually, yeah." "I mean, not in a raging queen way, but more in a...." "More in a what way?" "A babe-in-the-woods, newbie way." "Newbie?" "Any sweet, inexperienced, young gay man destined for a broken heart." "You make it sound so inviting." "Well, let's face it, most guys are clueless." "How do you mean?" "You'll see." "Hey, what's your name anyway?" "Jack." "Jack McPhee." "Ethan. lt's nice to meet you." "I hope I didn't keep you up all night." "You talked for eight hours about U lysses." "I know. lt's hard to get that teaching assistant stuff out of your head." "Especially when you're passionate about something because then your inner geek just runs wild." "What are you passionate about?" "What are you a geek for?" "I don't know." "I wish I did, but...." "But?" "For the past couple of years, my life has kind of revolved around this boy." "How pathetic is that?" "But you guys aren't together?" "No." "Do you know what a manifold is?" "It's a math thing, it's hard to explain." "Imagine yourself shrunk to the size of a pinpoint, sitting on a doughnut." "Look around and it looks like you're sitting on a flat disk but go down one dimension and sit on a curve and suddenly the stretch nearby looks like a straight line." "You lost me somewhere around the doughnut." "In other words, the way something appears from afar might be quite different from the way it appears to your nearsighted eye." "So in order for me to figure things out I should give myself some distance." "Take your face out of the iBook." "Would it be all right if I were to, you know phone you sometime?" "It wouldn't suck." "Okay." "Do you have a pen?" "Oh, yeah." "Do you have a piece of paper?" "No." "Bye." "Bye." "Joey." "Hey, this is Nikki." "Nikki, Joey." "Hi." "Nice to meet you." "She's going to our school." "Who's that?" "My roommate." "is it me, or does the prospect of going to college suddenly loom a lot larger?" "I know what you mean." "is it the light at the end of the tunnel, or is it an oncoming semi?" "Or is it both?" "Well, it's definitely going to take some getting used to." "Do you ever have one of those moments where you realize that the world has snuck up and completely blind-sided you?" "I've been thinking about a career in fast food." ""Welcome to Taco Bell." "Can I take your order?" lt rolls off the tongue." "Dawson, everything in life is not just about winning." "You have to find joy in the process." "You have to love what it is that you do." "Good point." "Which begs the question what life lessons did you stumble upon this weekend?" "Well...." "College has always been about getting the hell out of Capeside, right?" "Right." "Now I'm thinking that it could be more than that." "I mean, it's scary, sure, but it's this world filled with these deeply passionate people." "People who get excited about books and ideas and theories and.... lt kind of excited me." "My suspicions have been confirmed." "What do you mean?" "You are a really big geek." "So is it just me, or does this room seem a lot smaller all of a sudden?" "Really?" "I was just kind of thinking it seemed safe." "I'll see you, Dawson." "See you, Joey."