Original subtitles

Thank you.

What? Huh?

Michael, what are you doing?

Oh, we see.

We see. Come on, what's the matter?

Michael, stop it. What?

Why? You know why.

Why?

It's a weekday.

Fine.

Fine.

Fine.

All right.

I mean, is that all I'm going to get is fine?

What else do you want?

Well, I don't know, maybe a complete sentence, a little smile, some eye

Daddy, do you have any money I can borrow?

You give me a little kiss.

Forget it.

Gimme news, gimme news, gimme news.

Uh, they just decided Craig Spence is gonna run the division.

Wow.

Yeah, I know him.

He's 27.

He's been here a minute.

Come on, Michael, we both know he's good.

You trained him.

I fought for you, Mike.

I really did, but it just doesn't cost out.

What are you talking about, cost out? I've been here 17 years.

It's not just the money, Michael. You know that.

What are you talking about?

Buffalo? You know these guys, they're like a dog with a bone.

Mr. Fitzgerald told me himself.

At last year's Christmas party, he even made a joke about it. Water under the

bridge. Well, what's he going to say? You ruined my fiscal year. I'm ruining

your life.

These guys hate you, Michael. The bridge went down. People died. We're the

insurers. We have to pay. It's not a judgment call. Act of God. Act of God.

of God. Bad steel is not an act of God. It's an act of negligence.

What if it had been your wife or your kid in one of those cars? Don't tell me

about wives and kids. I am always thinking about my wife and kid. That's

when I got on that stand, I said, act of God. And if you had been thinking about

your wife and kid, you would have done the same thing.

And right now, you would be sitting in that corner office instead of that cocky

kid.

Oh, that's it.

Now I work for Craig.

Well, you're on his team, yeah?

His team? I'm on his damn team?

What is this, gym class?

Who started this team crap anyway?

Say it. I work for him. I report to him. Michael, come on.

Well, the good news is we're still working.

Look, I know you know this.

But the ice is really thin for all us dinosaurs, Michael.

Hey, after work, let's get a drink.

Let's get drunk.

Let's get really plastered.

I am the cots of an insurance man. You know

that? I know that. Oh, you don't know that. You don't know what I mean. I

I...

I live my life like it's an insurance company.

Well, what are you talking about, life? You mean like whole life, term life? No,

no, life, my life. I mean, my life. I mean, it's like I imagine all these.

It's like I'm an actuary. I imagine all these different scenarios. I try to run

them through my brain so that no matter what happens to me in life, I won't be

shocked.

That's good.

That's a good idea.

Yeah, no, I don't know, because no matter what scenario I imagine, no

how.

Good, I think. I'm thinking.

It's like I never know. It's like it runs backwards. It's like, I mean,

vice president, I figure.

Senior vice president, maybe, you know.

But me working for this kid, I never figured it.

Look, are you going to be okay to go home?

Oh, I got to be okay.

I got to be okay for the team.

Thanks for the company, old buddy.

I'll see you in the morning. Bye, Mike.

See you in the morning.

Touch her, man. Touch her, man.

You don't like girls? I don't think he likes girls.

What are you looking at me for, my boy? What do you like, boys?

Look, man, she was fat and ugly, all right? She was $50, man.

Thank you.

See those eyes opening? How you doing?

How do you feel?

It's okay.

Don't feel you have to say anything.

You've got a lot to absorb, I understand.

First and foremost, let me introduce myself.

My name is Dr. Theodore Morris.

Where am I?

You're in a hospital, receiving the finest medical care that money can buy,

courtesy of your Uncle Sam, I might add.

Which reminds me, before I forget, let me be the first to tell you, You had a

beautiful funeral, Mr. Wiseman.

I did?

Absolutely. Day before yesterday.

I certainly hope when it's my time to go that my loved ones send me off in a

spectacular fashion.

Help me. I don't understand.

Is this a hallucination?

How can I be in the hospital if I already had my funeral?

Am I alive?

Am I dead?

What am I?

Well...

Right now, what you are is a middle -aged brain hooked up to some extremely

sophisticated computer that let me hear what you think you're saying.

The United States government, our government, has, since the conclusion of

War II, spent billions of dollars researching all sorts of biochemical and

bioengineering techniques in the hopes of one day actually being able to build

man. An American man.

A man who could do those things mere, mortal American men are loathe to do.

Travel in dangerous places, take risks, wage war. Excuse me, I'm thirsty. Could

you maybe give me a glass of wine? You, sir, have an opportunity to be the

beneficiary of all that money and all that research.

You see, we're at the point in our work where we need... But we got everything

pretty well figured out except... The mine thing.

Can't lick the mine thing. I mean, we're all ready to go except for that. I

mean, ready to try anyway.

Build a man with the speed of Michael Jordan.

The strength of Superman and the grace of Fred Astaire.

A guy who's going to look good, be young, be omnipotent.

Wow, huh?

You just can't lick the mind thing.

You just can't build a mind.

You really have to harvest one.

You know what I mean?

And that's a problem.

We were just about to give up hope, and then you had your unfortunate run in

with the F train.

And, well, it just seemed like kismet to us.

You know, that thirst thing is in your imagination, by the way.

You don't have a skull, let alone a mouth.

I know what you're thinking.

What's the catch?

And, of course, there is a catch. A pretty big catch. Not huge, but

In return for saving your life.

And let me remind you that for all intents and purposes, you are already

and buried, Mr. Wiseman, in return for the gift of sight, mobility, and tactile

sensation. For being able to walk, talk, breathe, taste, and touch, all your

government asks in return is that you stay dead.

By that we mean you may have no contact of any kind with anyone who you knew in

your first life.

Ever.

That's all.

We know you didn't choose to die, Mr. Wiseman.

We know there were no goodbyes. And we're sure your desire to let friends

loved ones know you're here, know you're well.

Like I said, I saw your family.

I know how precious they must be to you.

But your government can't let anyone know about the existence of this

technology. You reaching out to anyone from your path absolutely guarantees

immediate and final death, and the death of whomever you confided in.

I need you to tell me you understand and agree to that.

What if I say no? What if I won't do it?

Hey, this is America.

That's your right.

Of course, we'll have to take our $3 billion worth of logic sensors, voice

emulators, computer -driven neuron transfer generators, and assorted other

doodads and go home.

Let nature take its course.

I figure it'll take about 16 seconds for you to turn into a memory.

Ah, forget memory.

It'll take about 16 seconds for you to turn into waste.

But please, do think about it.

I'll check back.

I don't know how hard this must be for you.

It's just, well, it has been a month and they... You need the office.

I understand.

I'm sorry, Lisa.

Don't apologize, Roger.

You should have been in last week or the week before or just had you pack it all

up and send it to the house.

I'm just...

You'll laugh.

Promise?

Deep, deep down, I just can't make myself believe that he's gone.

No body in the grave, nothing to say goodbye to at the funeral home. It's

he went to work one morning and then just didn't come home.

So why clean up his office? Why empty out his things? He's coming back.

He's just lost or late or...

You're not laughing.

I need to talk to you about the insurance.

Suicide? Lisa, shh. How could they assume Michael committed suicide?

There were witnesses.

People that were there said that they were Jostle, too. Nobody said that he

jumped. But an insurance company never takes anything at face value.

Why would he jump? He had everything to live for. He loved his family. He loved

his work. He was up for that big promotion. The thing is, he didn't get

He didn't get it.

He'd just gotten the news that afternoon.

He'd been out drinking.

We had been drinking, and his blood alcohol level

was... The point is that if they want to fight about it,

they've got some pretty good ammo.

This is not the time, but at some point you might want to call your lawyer and

see if he doesn't want to start talking settlement.

My lawyer.

He said, I am telling you, I am pleading with you.

Talk to your lawyer.

50 cents on the dollar.

That's the kind of thinking that's going to move this thing along.

And here's what's happening.

Legislators remain deadlocked along party lines.

Minority leaders threatening a syllabus.

New study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests not all

cholesterol is actually good. Not all bad cholesterol is actually bad.

News watch never stops.

This is 1010 Winds.

Give us 22 minutes and we'll give you the world.

31 past the hour. That means it's time for traffic and weather on the watch.

We can look forward to a clear and breezy Tuesday with highs in the low

It's going to cool off considerably this evening with temperatures bottoming out

at 43 through the city, as low as 35 in the northern suburb. No rain in the

forecast for the next week. That means the Easter bunny should have an easy

of it this Sunday with temperatures expected to remain seasonal.

Why do birds suddenly appear every time

you are near?

Just like me, they long to be close to you.

Why do stars fall down from the sky every time

you walk by?

Just like me, they long to be close to you.

On the day that you were born, the angels got together and decided to

dream come true.

So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair and gold and starlight in your eyes of

blue.

his intuition, but I think our boy's about to check his package.

Holy crap.

Damn right.

Made in America, baby.

Made in America.

What

size

are these?

30 waist, 32 inch.

Yeah. Somebody waiting to be discharged?

Right over here. Hey, Doc, you want to see something?

Take a look at this.

I've never done one of these before.

Never been able to.

Mr. Wiseman.

Uh -oh.

Oh.

Mr. Wiseman.

What kind of surgery did you say you had?

Put him down, put him down, put him down.

Mr.

Wiseman, do you understand you're supposed to be a secret?

Lighten up, man.

Have you forgotten you're dead?

I know, but... No buts. Dead.

So let's not restage the Special Olympics every time we're out in public,

And I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't strike up... conversation with every

Dick, and Harry who pushes your wheelchair or opens a door for you.

You're not selling insurance anymore.

I'm going over there to sign him out.

He utters a word to anyone.

Shoot him.

Hey, can I ask you a question?

Of course you can ask me a question.

Can I fly?

What?

Can I fly, you know, like Superman?

Mr. Weidman, over the past six months, we've performed a complicated series of

operations.

I'm tempted to call them transplants, but in truth, there was no you to

transplant them to.

Let's call them operations.

In fact, let's agree that you have been the recipient of some of the most

sophisticated surgical thinking and practice in the history of medicine.

In addition, you have been inoculated with and intravenously fed over 700

experimental and I believe extraordinarily promising hormones,

vaccines that also were developed uniquely for you in this project.

Now, I mention all that because I'm embarrassed to admit that in the midst

all those surgeries, All those implant procedures, all the beta trials, tests,

failures, and successes, it just never occurred to any of us to shove a rocket

up your ass.

No, I'm sorry.

You can't fly.

Hey, Doc, help me out here.

Where's the Barker lounger and the big screen TV?

You know, it's going to take a lot of work to maintain your new body.

You won't have a lot of time for lounging and television.

Your days are going to be filled with workouts, medical testing, psychiatric

evaluations, and a great deal of intensive training in self -defense,

and intelligence.

Everything you need will be provided for you.

Everything you ingest, liquid, solids, will be chosen for you and catalogued so

that we have a thorough record of your nutritional history and a way to monitor

its effects on your person. Yeah, well, I could go for a devil dog right about

now. You wouldn't happen to have anything like that around here, would

would ask whenever you're at home, you use this laboratory, which has been

specially equipped to collect both your liquid and solid waste for further

studies.

You know what?

I'm not really hungry anymore.

Everything you may need in the way of clothing, toiletries, and linens, it's

been taken care of.

You'll be awakened at 0600 every morning.

Lights in all living areas will cease functioning at 2300 each evening.

What if there's a special program on, something I really want to see?

I mean, if all my homework's done.

Your physical therapist will be here in 15 minutes for your first session.

I'll let myself out.

Hi.

I'm Lisa Wiseman.

Mrs. Michael Wiseman. I have an appointment to see Mr. Spence.

Have a seat and I'll let him know you're here.

Oh. All right.

Yes.

Monsieur.

Vous voulez dîner maintenant?

Non, merci.

Je suis très nouveau pour manger.

C 'est votre première fois à Paris.

Excuse me.

I'm still waiting to see Mr. Spence.

He knows.

Mrs. Wiseman?

Yes. Lisa Wiseman?

Yes. Gerald Meisenbeck.

I'm your attorney. We spoke on the phone.

Oh. Oh, Mr. Meisenbeck, I didn't expect that you were going to be here. Well, I

wasn't going to come, but the thought of you meeting with these barracudas all

by yourself... I'm always up for a good fight, but massacres just make me a

little queasy.

How long have you been sitting here? Since three o 'clock.

Brother, you see what happens when it's the boys against the girls?

Spence! What are you doing?

No, no, you can't do that. I can do anything. Come on. We're going in.

Spence! We don't want to make him angry. Why not? He's a lot of fun when he's

angry. Come on, come on.

Hey, Spence! You just kept my client waiting for three hours. That's going to

cost you a lot of money.

Who is that, Meisenhack?

Wow, wow, wow, wow. Look at this office. You must really be fooling him, huh?

Hey, Clarence Darrow. I didn't realize you were going to be part of this

meeting. Craig, I would like you to meet a lovely young lady that you've already

managed to treat quite shabbily.

This is Lisa Wiseman.

Mrs. Wiseman, this is a real honor.

I was a great admirer of your husband.

He was a great teacher.

I really owe him everything.

Thank you.

Please, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting.

We had a crisis in the Midwest and he needed some answers right away. Excuse

one second.

Yeah, hey, could you come down here for a minute?

Yeah.

Well,

I know that you're exhausted from making the center of our country safe for

insurance, but we have a little problem, and I was hoping that you could find

the energy to help us with it.

Sure. Anything.

As you know, Mrs. Wiseman's husband, Michael, a respected employee of this

company, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly almost seven months ago.

His only real retirement benefits, given his early demise, take the form of life

insurance that he purchased from this company at a preferred rate.

Unfortunately, your company is taking the position that they will not pay

a thorough examination into the cause of death is conducted, citing... Well,

I think you know what they're citing.

And it's ridiculous.

Well, it's unfortunate.

And although this may be painful to hear, it is also necessary.

Did you know your husband to be a man who normally had a couple of drinks

work?

No.

Did you know your husband to be a man who normally drank at all?

No. See, that unfortunately complicates things from a liability standpoint.

A case can be made that perhaps Mr. Wiseman drank on this particular evening

steal himself, so... He did not do that.

He would not.

Do that.

Oh, look who's here.

Hi, Roger.

Hi.

Oh, you two know each other?

That's nice.

Uh, Roger, do you remember how you described Michael to me on the night...

know, the last night you saw him?

Didn't you say to me that Michael themed despondent?

Uh, well, um... Disappointed.

He was disappointed. Being passed over, it's disappointing.

You used the word despondent.

Disappointed. That's how I would characterize... No, the word you used

was despondent. I remember because after you did, I asked you if you would

testify to that fact, and you said that you would.

Now, you're not... You haven't changed your mind, have you, Roger?

Okay.

You see my problem here?

I have to investigate.

I mean, look, if this were up to me... Yeah, hey, Craig, what's my client

supposed to live on while you and your people investigate?

Well, we are prepared to extend to Mrs. Wiseman, out of appreciation for her

husband's many years of service here, a loan.

In the amount of $50 ,000 secured by Mrs. Wiseman's real property. It's this

kind of callous crap that's going to cost you treble damages when I get you

front of a jury.

What?

What? I'm doing my due diligence.

My diligence is due and I'm doing it.

Doobie doobie doo.

Come on, dammit.

Come on.

That was great.

It was?

Now wait a second. A minute ago you were so... So convincing.

That was just an act? Yeah, yeah. You always want the other guy to think that

he's winning.

And he's not. What, are you kidding? He told us everything, which is exactly

what I was hoping he would do. I mean, he's got no cape.

You know, it's not illegal to drink when you get on a subway unless you're

planning to drive the damn thing.

And it's not, you know, illogical to be despondent after you've been passed over

for a job.

You see, the fun part of this whole deal is the worse they treat you, the more

it's going to cost them.

Oh, that's great.

I guess.

Oh, no.

It's almost 7 o 'clock.

What? You got a curfew or something? No, I have a daughter.

And tonight is supposed to be taco night. It's just a thing we make them

a box all comes together.

Wow, wow. Taco night, huh?

Yeah.

That's great. Now, taco night, that sounds great.

What's the reason for your trip here?

I'm here to see my little, new daughter.

Oh, you have a little girl in France?

Oh, that's good.

Have a good day.

Bye -bye.

I know you're watching me.

You think I think I'm here by myself and I can just do what I want, leave when I

want?

I know you're here.

I know you're watching me.

And I don't like it.

I'm lonely.

I miss...

Everybody.

I miss my wife and my daughter.

I even miss me.

I miss seeing myself when I look in the mirror.

2 ,300 hours right on the nose.

You guys are something.

Thank you.

We're sorry you're having such a hard time with all this.

You're watching me, aren't you?

All the time.

No.

Oh, great.

So I can just walk out.

It's been a difficult first week for all of us.

I guess I'm not making myself clear.

What I'm trying to tell you is that I no longer wish to participate.

I want my life.

Or rather, my death back, please.

It doesn't work that way.

This wasn't a trial offer, Mr. Wiseman.

Tell me about my funeral.

What would you like to know?

You know how in the movies it's always raining?

Your funeral, the bluest sky.

This lovely, faint breeze.

Your wife didn't wear black.

She wore orange.

Oh, I love that dress.

There's a drug I can give you that we believe will effectively erase memory.

Memory, not learning.

You stay just as bright as you are.

You don't understand.

My memory.

It's all I've got.

learning too hey you mind if i make a pit stop

before i head home hey my waste collection room is your waste collection

room

Hello?

Is anyone there?

We have an exhibition set up for tomorrow.

A little something I'm putting together for the very few senators and

congressmen we have to take into our confidence to get our funding.

Perhaps you'll find the change of routine refreshing.

Hello?

No, I don't recall having dialed that number.

I don't know, at least for Wiseman.

I'm sorry your sleep was disturbed, but I can assure you it will never happen

again.

Good night, Mrs. Wiseman.

Good night, Mr. Wiseman.

And why you wanna go and do that, love, huh? And why you wanna go and do that

and do that, huh? And why you wanna go and do that, love, huh?

And why you wanna go and do that and do that, huh?

And why you wanna go and do that, love, huh?

And why you wanna go and do that and do that and do that?