Original subtitles

So I've got her Spread-eagled

On top of a table In the law school library After hours

And I am terrified

Because, well, You know...

Because you're Afraid that--

Yes. Mm-hmm.

I swear to god, I'm reciting tort reform In my head

So I won't come.

So finally I get Her panties off

And she's sitting There buck naked

On top of All these back issues Of "The law review."

And suddenly I just know

That it isn't Going to happen.

You couldn't have--

Right, yeah.

And she turns to me And she says,

"It's okay, eli, You know.

It happens to everybody Sometimes."

And she is so fucking Understanding

That it really fucking Pisses me off.

And then She starts to say

All of these Really shitty things.

Like what?

"Don't get So upset, eli.

It isn't manly."

I mean, what the fuck Does that even mean? What the fuck is manly?

( crashing )

Can you just Give me a second, Please?

I'm sorry.

That's okay.

You're about an hour And a half early.

I can wait.

Is everything okay?

Shouldn't you be In school?

We got out early.

You came here By yourself?

Where's your mom And dad?

- I ran away from school. - oh.

I can't Go back to school.

Um, okay.

You know what? You can stay here.

But I'm going to have To call your dad.

Good.

( theme music playing )

Are you mad at me?

Not at all.

But I am concerned About you.

Do you want to tell me Why you ran away From school?

Bad day.

What happened?

Can't I just Sit here?

I just thought-- You came here so early,

You must have something That you want to talk about.

I told you--

My mom's still away And my dad's at work.

But you've got keys To both their apartments,

And you came here.

Do you have Any more ham?

You want me to make you Another sandwich?

Is that okay?

Sure. I can do that.

But I hope by now You understand

That if there's Something bothering you,

You can talk To me about it.

Somebody put dog shit In my locker.

That's terrible.

When was this?

I came down from The roof at recess

To get my gloves Out of my locker.

When I opened it

There was dog shit Everywhere,

All over my backpack And all my stuff.

I went back to the roof To tell my teacher.

- what did she say? - she got a janitor To clean it up.

But recess was over, So everybody knew What happened.

Do you have any idea Who was responsible?

Eric.

But nobody saw him,

So nothing's gonna Happen to him.

Yeah, well, I remember What he did to your shoes,

So I guess this would be His next logical step.

All through math Everybody laughed About it.

The teacher got upset 'cause no one was Paying attention.

That was My fault too.

Listen, somebody did Something awful to you.

That is not Your fault, okay?

I asked my teacher If I could go to The bathroom.

But I went To the lobby instead.

While the guard was Talking to someone else, I snuck out.

Well, you weren't Kidding.

You had A hell of a day.

But I'm glad you Came here so that we Can talk about it.

My dad's Gonna be so mad.

And he's already Really mad.

- what's he mad about? - everything.

I've been staying With him for two weeks Since mom went away.

And he yells At me all the time, No matter what I do.

So what do you do When he yells at you?

Let him yell.

Do you ever discuss The things you fight about?

He doesn't talk to me Unless he's yelling.

I think he broke up With nina.

Did he tell you that?

No, but she doesn't Come over anymore.

That's my fault too.

That can't be your fault.

Nina told my dad to make Better rules for me.

And then they had This big fight.

Now she doesn't Come over.

And when I see her at school She doesn't smile at me.

- do you miss her? - not really.

But I think My dad does.

He did a really bad thing The day after the fight.

What did he do?

I shouldn't tell you.

Okay. It's up to you.

He bought A six-pack of beer

And drank all of it

And he fell asleep On the couch.

- and what happened? - he didn't get up in time For work.

He yelled at me For that too.

"Why didn't you Wake me up?"

But I didn't know I was supposed to do that.

There was no way You could've known

What you were Supposed to do.

My mom was supposed To be back by now.

But she had to stay On her vacation An extra week.

Have you told her about The fights you've been Having with your dad?

No, she'll just Get sad.

Well, if I were In your shoes,

I'd be really upset About all that.

( door opens )

You know, oliver, I keep thinking you've sunk As low as you can go,

But it turns out There's no bottom.

Luke, why don't we Just sit down?

We can talk about what Happened to oliver today.

I get out of my meeting-- I have seven messages From your school.

What the hell were you Thinking to just disappear Like that?

Eric dumped dog shit All in my locker.

He did what?

Apparently During recess today

Some kid vandalized Oliver's locker.

Nobody saw Who did it.

But all the kids knew That it had happened.

I hate that fucking place And I'm not going back.

- nobody told me that. - why didn't you ask me Before you started yelling?

Because you still shouldn't Just run off from school.

It's dangerous And you know better.

Oliver, I think That what your dad Is trying to say

Is that he understands That you've had a bad day.

And he's just concerned That you left school

And you didn't tell anybody Where you were going.

I don't want to talk About this anymore.

Paul: I understand.

Okay, why don't you Just go outside

And I'll talk To your dad, okay?

( door closes )

Where were you Last week?

I'm sorry I couldn't be here.

First bess vanishes On this apparently Permanent vacation,

And then you go awol.

It's like rats deserting A sinking ship.

It was An emergency, luke.

Yeah, well, It's an emergency Over here too.

Every day he comes up With a new way

To drive me Up the fucking wall.

So you've had a tough Couple of weeks?

Bess calls every day.

And we lie and tell her Everything's fine.

And she says she needs A little more time.

That must be Pretty stressful On you and oliver.

First he suddenly decides He won't do his homework.

He says he's taking A stand on principle--

The principle That school is stupid.

Have you talked to him About it

Or were you hoping I would say something?

I took away His tv privileges and His computer privileges,

But he still won't do His homework.

He just sits there And stares at the wall.

He certainly knows How to push your buttons, Doesn't he?

Next he decides To stop bathing.

What the hell Am I supposed to do,

Climb into The shower with him And soap him down?

I think oliver feels Powerless,

So he's refusing To follow the rules

Because that's The only way

That he can get Some control.

Yesterday, after he Left for school

I went into his room And looked under his bed,

Past the mountain Of dirty clothes.

There was all this food Hidden in there--

Half-empty packages

Of oreos and doritos And cheetos.

I mean, there was--

Did you tell oliver What you'd found?

Yeah, and he got Furious,

Ran into his room And slammed the door.

I should've gone in And talked to him, But I was so exhausted.

I understand That you'd be alarmed By all this.

But you know what? I've worked with A lot of kids

In situations Similar to oliver's

And overeating is A pretty common response.

You know, this--

This thing that happened At school today,

It isn't The first time.

Oliver gets Bullied a lot.

Have you done anything About it?

Now that the school Knows there's a problem,

They're obligated To help you find A solution.

Well, now,

How are they Going to stop kids From picking on oliver?

I mean, you see Why it happens, right?

I mean, he's fat, He's shy,

He doesn't have any friends And he smells bad.

If I were his age, I'd probably bully Him too.

The way he's been Behaving lately,

I can see how that Would make you angry.

Sometimes I just want To shake him and say,

"If you keep acting Like this, no one's ever Gonna be your friend.

Is that What you want?"

That's unforgiveable, Isn't it?

I think you want To try and spare oliver

From the pain that he's Going through right now.

But you love him So much

And that makes you Frustrated and angry.

Yeah, but what Good is loving him If I can't help him?

But isn't loving him Helping him?

I don't know anything About anything this week.

So what else has been Going on, luke?

Looks like I'm single again.

Nina and I had a huge Fight about oliver.

And the reason I asked her out In the first place

Is because She liked him.

I thought she'd be Good with him.

But it turned out She just isn't on my side.

And whose side Do you think she's on?

Last week oliver dropped A carton of ice cream On the carpet.

Of course I got pissed off.

Then nina came over

And for some stupid reason I expected her to back me.

So you wanted her To help you

Discipline oliver.

But instead she started Screaming at me.

She said I wasn't spending Enough time with oliver,

I wasn't setting clear Boundaries for him.

And how did you Respond to that?

I told her if I wanted Somebody yelling at me All the time,

I would've stayed Married to bess.

( chuckles ) That went over Real well.

You know, at first Nina was a lot of fun.

I could come home At the end of the day

And just relax With her.

Then all of a sudden

She started scrutinizing My every move,

Marshalling evidence Against me.

I don't know, paul.

Why do I keep choosing These crazy women?

I'm not so sure, luke, That it's the women Who are crazy.

I think It's the position

That you're Putting them in.

So you're saying It's all my fault?

From what I've seen, You enjoy having fun With oliver.

But when it comes To making the rules,

Creating a structure For him,

For a long time You let bess do that job.

And then you hoped That nina would take Her place.

So when he misbehaves,

You blame them.

You refuse to take Responsibility for Oliver yourself.

So can you see how that Might upset everybody?

Boy, now I could Really use a drink.

Have you been Drinking lately?

What did oliver Tell you?

Why would you Ask me that?

Because the night I broke up with nina

I went out And got a six-pack,

Drank the whole thing Right in front of the kid.

I thought, "Let him tell nina,

Or bess, or you."

Why not?

So you wanted oliver To tell us?

I don't care.

I never really had A drinking problem.

That was Bess being paranoid. But the other night

I'd just broken up With my girlfriend,

My kid was acting up, My ex-wife skipped town,

You'd skipped town.

Shit, who wouldn't need A drink after all that, right?

Are you saying You needed a drink?

You know, the week before Bess went on vacation,

Oliver was on his Best behavior.

The second She left town,

He's turned into This monster.

Is he trying to get Some kind of reaction Out of me?

I think That's part of it.

But I also think that he Was behaving so well

Because he was trying To get some kind of Reaction from you.

That doesn't make Any sense.

Well, look at it from Oliver's point of view.

His family Is breaking apart,

So he puts a lot Of pressure on himself,

Trying to behave Perfectly,

Hoping that that would Solve the problem.

So you're saying He was faking it.

In a way, yeah.

I mean, he even tried To stop eating

So that you wouldn't be Concerned about his weight.

He told you that?

But it didn't work.

He did everything right, But it didn't solve any Of the problems.

So now maybe He's behaving badly

To try and make you feel As badly as he feels.

I tell you, I liked him A hell of a lot better

When he was pretending To be happy.

Well, oliver couldn't Keep up that behavior Forever.

He had me fooled.

Bess and I talked to him About the adoption,

And that seemed To make him feel better.

I honestly believed He was doing well.

Which is what I think He wanted you to believe.

I've talked to him About the adoption too.

And the way He sees it,

Bess and you were Fighting too much

And you gave His brother away.

And things Are so difficult For him right now

That I think Sometimes he wishes

You'd give Him away too.

Does he even Love me?

Why would you Say that?

I didn't love my dad.

Not even when you were Oliver's age?

Okay.

Sure.

I did love him back then, But it was unrequited love.

You'll have to explain That to me, luke.

My father was The dean of students

And basketball coach At my middle school.

He was in charge Of every breath My brother and I took.

When we did well,

That's just What he expected of us.

And when we screwed up,

Well, let's just say

He was a man Of limited sympathy.

That's quite a lot To live up to.

You'd think that.

The year I was In the seventh grade, He started taking

Long drives on the weekends By himself.

My brother and I Got on our bikes

And we rode Around the neighborhood Looking for his car.

And we found it In the driveway Of this little house.

My brother made me Ring the buzzer.

The door opened, And there was my father's Secretary--

This nice lady Who'd give us candy.

Then my dad came out Of her bathroom

And started Screaming at us.

- what did you guys do? - what could we do?

We got on our bikes And we rode home.

And then I was lying awake That night in the bed

And I realized my father's Secretary's living room

Looked exactly like Our living room.

Every piece of furniture Was exactly the same as ours.

He must've bought It all for her.

My brother told my mother And shit hit the fan.

She packed us up And we left town.

We only ever heard From him

When we sent his check Every month.

He was good About the money,

I'll give him that.

But we didn't want To see him.

I mean, he sure didn't want To see us.

He never met bess Or oliver.

And when he died It was like a formality.

But lately...

It's like He's laughing at me.

I did everything right.

I proposed to bess When I got her pregnant.

I worked like a dog To make a good home.

I never raised a hand To oliver.

And now I feel Like I'm standing right Where my father stood.

Just because you're Getting a divorce,

That doesn't mean You're turning into Your father.

And it doesn't mean That you're going to Lose your son.

But that's exactly what It feels like I'm doing.

It's inevitable That sometimes

You'll remind yourself Of your father.

You see how you wound Your own children

So badly Without even trying.

Suddenly you almost Understand

How he could hurt you The way he did.

But you don't have to Become like him.

You're not doomed to live Your father's life.

You have a choice.

I think our session Is almost over.

Would you like to say Anything to oliver Before you go?

Yeah, if we still Have time.

Okay.

Oliver, do you want To come in for a minute?

I'm sorry you had A bad day at school.

It's okay.

What do you say We go get some pizza?

Maybe check out a movie If there's something Good playing?

On a school night?

You've been through enough Already today.

You deserve a break.

See you both Next week.

( theme music playing )