Original subtitles

Good time, anytime you need a payment. Good time, anytime you need a break.

Good time, anytime you're up and under.

Not getting hassled, not getting hustled.

Keeping your head above water.

Making a way when you can.

Temporary layoffs. Good time, easy credit ripoffs. Good time, scratch

it and...

All work and no play makes Michael Evans stay away.

What? Oh, sure, you can get out of the house. Just tell your mother what I tell

my sister Thelma. Say you're going to the library.

Or tell her mother she can visit you at the emergency ward.

Listen, Gloria, I'll talk to you later, okay? Right, bye.

Uh, Michael, I need some help, okay? Not right now, Thelma. I got a lot of heavy

things on my mind.

Yeah? Well, you got a lot of heavy things on your stomach, too.

Hey.

Girl, what's wrong with you? You got a problem?

He thinks the world owes him a living.

Thelma, you shouldn't talk about J .J. behind his back.

Michael, I'm talking about you.

Michael, look at this mess.

Just look at it. This is all dried up sausage from the lasagna I cooked last

night. Now I have to chip it off the plate.

Thelma, when we ate it last night, we had to chip it off the plate.

get to them. Right now, I'm getting ready to go up to Cindy's house.

Michael, you were up there last night.

Yeah, I know.

You don't have to worry about that now, because you're going to stay right here

tonight. I ain't going to stay here. I'm going to go up to Cindy's house.

Hey, hey, Thelma, give me that. What's in there?

None of your business. This is my business. This big red F on top of this

makes it my business, buddy.

This is my algebra test.

Michael, I can't believe this. This is the first time you brought home an F.

What's happening to you?

Thelma, it's not the end of the world. It's only an F. Come on.

It is to be home from the hustle and bustle of the advertising world and to

peace and tranquility of the evidence.

You've been staying out late every night, going out with a different girl,

goofing off.

And what I got to say is.

starts with a C.

Well, it was a spelling test.

Well, JJ, you always got bad grades. This is my first.

Mm, yeah.

Hey, Thelma.

Hi, y 'all.

Don't you think it'd take a little easy on the boy?

Is JJ talking to the door?

Well, that's not unusual, honey, but if that door answers back, watch out.

nosy now.

You kids don't have to tell me nothing.

Even though I am your mother's best friend and practically your aunt.

Well, look, I mean, I ain't gonna stick my nose in nobody's business. You keep

your own little secrets.

to talk to you. Are you listening? Yeah, we're on. All right. Now, listen, what

are you doing getting an F in your marks?

Hey, hey, hey, listen to this. It says, Dear Michael Evans, congratulations.

On the basis of your outstanding essay, Law in the Ghetto, you've been selected

as one of the five high school students who will read their essays to the

Illinois Law Association at its annual Lawyers of Tomorrow banquet on the 26th

of this month.

But don't you forget, when I come back from the dentist, we have a little talk

to finish, okay?

Sure, Wilona. All right.

Oh, don't forget the skating lesson. Oh, that's what I came in here for.

I'm running into a little time problem.

Penny has to beat her skating lesson. Would one of you people take her down

me? Oh, Wilona, I'd love to, but you caught me right when I have a dance

rehearsal. Sure.

J .J., would you take... Oh, it's just one of those days, Wilona. I just

happened to bring home a little work from the office.

Well,

everybody's acting around here.

How much do I bring around the collar?

Well, honey, you got to understand that people have their own lives to live.

Although everybody in this room knows how much this lesson means to you.

And if you don't go, it'll break your heart.

Say no more. I'll make the sacrifice. Come on, Penny. Oh, Grams, thank you so

much. See that? Now, you see that? Anybody that responsible cannot be

That's right. The boy does a nice thing like take a little girl ice skating,

gets out of doing his homework.

You hold them tight.

You break one to the left, and then you break one to the right. You add some

green onions, chitlins, and a lump of parquet. And that is what I call doing

omelet, JJ.

the rust street as a manhole cover.

Hey, J .J., are Michael and Penny back yet? Not yet.

You know, J .J., I'm really getting worried about Michael because Mom always

kept a tight rein on him, you know? And you're just letting him run wild.

Oh, come on, Thelma. Michael's just a grown boy.

And what do you know about being a boy?

What do you know about being a girl?

Listen, J .J., I want Michael to grow up to be really special.

And I don't want him to drop out of school and...

around the street, and that's exactly what's going to happen to him if you do

not talk to him like I said.

Oh, Thelma, Mike was just a grown, all -American, typical red -blooded boy, you

know, doing his thing.

Just calm down.

Chill out.

In jail.

Michael's friend Howard drove up in the car and said, hop in. So we hopped. And

then the street was one way, but Harold went the other way. And the cop said,

pull over, sonny.

So we pulled.

And then they said, the car is hot enough to fry an egg. And then he said,

have the right to remain silent.

So we remained silent.

and you're going to feel like a real turkey tail when you find out. When I

Hey, Howard, hey, man, why don't you be cool?

Let me handle this, okay?

Penny, come here, please.

Sergeant, you see this innocent young child here?

Her mother's going to be very worried about her.

Couldn't you just let us go?

No. Well, you have no right holding us here without charging us. What about due

process? You know us minors have our rights, too.

Michael's the lawyer of tomorrow.

Well, welcome to the slammer of today.

Now, I can't hold you, son, and I will hold you until your story's confirmed.

Listen, I got ahold of that father, and the story checks out.

It was the old man's car, and Howard borrowed it. The turkey tail.

Without permission.

Well, who's the turkey tail now, Howard?

Gobble, gobble.

Um, Howard.

What? Man, how come you didn't tell me you borrowed the car without permission?

You didn't ask.

Didn't ask? Man, you know you're really a lot of help. Thanks a lot. Help!

Save me! I'm innocent!

Um, Sergeant, I believe that facts do speak for themselves.

Now, Penny and myself here had no way of knowing that Howard borrowed that car

without permission. Therefore, we are innocent in the eyes of the law.

Son, I was about to tell you, you are innocent.

So you can stop trying to prove that you're ready to pass the bar and start

picking your friends with a little more care.

Say, officer, my name is Lenay, and I got picked up in front of Denay's.

me with no crime because I didn't take one thin dime.

I'm innocent.

I got nothing to hide.

Want to buy a TV?

How about a TV guy?

You get out of here.

To be honest, shadow of a doubt, you are innocent. J .J., wait a minute. No,

Michael, I handle this. J .J. Everything's under control.

What do you want?

Uh, listen here, your sergeantship.

Uh, you can see that we are both men of the world.

I, in particular.

And this is not the face of a brother of a criminal.

Matter of fact, there's not a dishonest bone in this body.

You call that a body?

Look here, your sergeantship. This face and this body unite in the appeal that

Michael Evans is innocent.

He is innocent.

I rest my case.

Well, Michael, I got y 'all.

I use my power of persuasiveness.

J .J., we are anything.

We didn't do anything.

You didn't? No, we just took a little joyride.

Sure.

You just went for a little ride in a stolen car.

You know, just last week, we had some kids about your age did the same thing.

Only when the red lights and the siren went on, they panicked, led us into a

high -speed chase.

It ended when they hit a utility pole.

So now a boy and a girl are dead.

All because they went for a little ride.

A joy ride.

Honey, are you all right, baby? Are you all right? Oh, hi, Mama.

What's the problem? It's all right, lady.

These two can go home. Take them, please. Oh, thank God. Come on. I can

I won't talk to you later. Come on. Mommy, can a social worker be put in

A social worker?

Well, no, honey. They do a lot of good service for the community.

LaVon? Uh -huh? My mama says you can't go to jail for what you're doing.

Do you realize you could have gotten killed both of you just like that,

Sorry, Wilona.

Sorry's not going to get it, Mr. Miguel. I, being your big older brother, have

officially grounded you for seven big days. That's right, seven big days.

And what about my winning essay?

The lawyers are tomorrow dinner. That's a week from tonight.

I know that, Michael.

And you won't be.

under the privilege of America, the same quality of legal protection that the

wealthy already enjoy, we will never be a nation of equal justice for all. Oh,

Michael, that is beautiful.

No wonder you won. I'm so proud of you.

Thanks, Tom.

Yeah, but who's going to hear besides you?

J .J.'s never going to let me go to that dinner tonight.

Well, you know, Michael, you did bring this on yourself, you know.

Yeah, I know, but you know, J .J.'s been rough on me, and he's also been very

suspicious lately.

Like last night, I'm coming out of my bedroom with my pajamas on, toothbrush

hand, and towel over my arm. He comes up to me and says, sneaking out, eh?

Come on now, you're kidding.

No, JJ's so busy watching me, he doesn't even go out anymore.

You know, you're right.

He turned down dates all this week, huh? Yeah, just so he could stay home and

watch out over me. You know, this is not home anymore. It's become a prison.

I'm surprised there are no bars on the window.

Don't give JJ any ideas, please.

And J .J. should let you go to that dinner tonight.

Yeah, but Thelma, I don't think I can talk him into it.

Hey, maybe I can, okay?

Please. Oh, hi, J .J.

Greetings, Thelma and Babyface Evans.

J .J., I want to talk to you... Later, Thelma.

Michael, front and center.

You been talking to any of those chicks on the phone today?

Unfortunately, no.

JJ, what are you doing?

Checking his pulse to make sure he's not lying.

Oh, come on now. This is going too far.

Present homework.

What's the assignment?

A thousand words on the French Revolution. French Revolution what?

French Revolution third.

What do my eyes inspire here?

Look at these midget words.

Oh, oh, oh.

I want to see some big new gungus words.

Like transgressionism, interproversionism.

Of all the unmitigated hypocriticals. Those words will do also.

J .J., I want Michael to go to that dinner tonight, but... You the one who

you want me to keep a tight rein on the boy.

Yeah, a tight rein, but not a chokehold.

dinner is to Michael.

Even the Watergate people got time off for good behavior.

But J .J. Evans wasn't the judge.

Around here, J .J. Evans is the hanging judge.

Cool it out.

Um, J .J., look. Right? Now, look.

You're keeping yourself a prisoner as well. Because if you think about it, if

you let Michael go to the dinner, you can go out tonight. You can go out with,

uh, Belinda.

Otherwise, I'll ground you for another week.

All right, JJ. Man, I know I've been running wild lately. And maybe I do

to be punished.

But tonight is special, JJ. I mean, you can ground me for a week, a month, a

year. I don't care. But please let me go tonight.

Let me read them my essay.

Let me make you proud of me.

Michael. Yeah?

Get that thing off the table. It's blocking everything up on there.

For some reason, I get the strange feeling he doesn't understand.

J .J., what do you expect? He made one little mistake, and I can't believe how

cruel you've been to him.

Not you too, Thelma.

A man does what he thinks is right, and the whole world comes down on him. I

mean, as head of the house, if I make a decision, I got to stick with it.

Well, where do you think you're going, young man?

To the lawyers of tomorrow dinner.

Oh, come on, Thelma. It takes a big man to admit that he's a failure.

At least give me that much.

J .J., you did what you had to do, right?

And Michael did what he had to do.

Only Michael did his harder.

And it's a good thing he did. Right.

Now he's grounded for the rest of the century.

J .J., are you ever going to let up?

Michael, soon as you shape up.

J .J., I can understand you coming down on me.

But why are you punishing yourself? You know, you've had a chance to go out all

this week and you've turned it down. Just so you can stay home and keep an

on me.

Michael, sit down.

You know, that's not the reason I turned down all those dates.

Then why?

Well, you see, Michael, you've been going out with a lot of girls, and so

I. And I want to set a good example for you, at least this week.

Good example?

What are you talking about?

Well, you see, Michael, all these years I've been setting a bad example for you.

Fooling around, goofing off in school, getting bad grades.

But now that I'm like a father -like image to you, well, I got a lot of

up to do.

See, I wouldn't want you to make the same mistakes I did.

J .J., everybody makes mistakes.

But look at you now, man.

I'd be proud to turn into another you.

You would? Yeah, are you kidding?

J .J., you taught yourself to paint when there was nobody to teach you. You got

yourself a job, and you're supporting us.

Man, I've always been proud of you.

You have?

Sure, J .J.

Well, you know, what can I say?

I can say that's my big brother. All right.

Well, thank goodness that's over with. Oh, boy.

Now, Michael, if you hurry up, you can make that lawyers of tomorrow dinner.

Thanks, Thelma, but no thanks. I'm not going.

What? After all this hassle, you're not going?

What kind of lawyer of tomorrow would I be if I made J .J. break his own laws?

Uh, wait a minute, Michael.

Uh, laws are made to be changed.

Hold on, JJ. I don't want any special favors. I'm staying.

No, Michael, there's no special favor.

You're going.

JJ, I'm staying.

Michael, you're going.

I'm staying.

Michael, you're going. I'm staying. Michael, you're going. I'm staying.

going. I'm staying. You're going. I'm staying. You're going.

All right, Michael.

This is it. I've had enough of your mess here.

Now, if you don't go, you're going to be in for the most cruel and inhumane

punishment you've ever been in for in your life.

And what you going to do?

Michael, if you don't go, I'll make you stay here and eat Thelma's dinner.

Looking out of the window Watching the asphalt road

Thinking how it all looks when we die Good times, good

times Keeping your head above water Making a wave when you

can

videotape in front of a studio audience.

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