Original subtitles

Roberta's mad at me, sweetheart.

Can you feel it?

I'm not mad. I just wonder, with only four days left,

this is the most optimal use of your time...

Especially since we're missing vital one-one-one interface

with the swing voters at the faneuil hall event...

Roberta, Roberta, plenty of time for all that.

We'll just be here 20 minutes.

Then we'll need to get you straight down to the harbor

for the e.P.A. Announcement,

which will have crews from every local station. Plus cable news.

Probably make tomorrow's "globe" above the fold.

So 20 minutes, right?

Yes. 20 minutes.

You know, that's another thing. Who the hell is Alan shore?

Hello, Samantha.

Alan.

Samantha Fleming, this is Tara Wilson.

Hello. Pleasure.

Do you get any sleep at all?

Yes, about three hours a night.

Jack: 20 minutes.

Wha... Jack, don't you think

I should be part of the meeting?

No, Samantha and I will take this one alone.

Oh.

Man on TV: The accusations were shocking.

Money laundering, tax evasion,

obstruction of justice...

The verdict... guilty on all counts.

And now, believe it or not,

Jack Fleming wants to be our next mayor.

Ask yourself, would you rather have a candidate

with convictions,

or a candidate who's been convicted?

Man #2 on TV: Paid for by the committee.

To re-elect mayor Thomas snyder.

In your defense, I suppose black and white

makes us all look a bit like moe Howard.

Well, it gets me ticked off every time I see the damn thing.

And there's not a word of truth in it.

But apparently, that doesn't matter.

You know what? I've got three Harvard law professors

and a former U.S. attorney on my campaign steering committee,

all saying that there is no way that I can get that ad

yanked off the air, so...

I doubt if you've got a silver bullet here, al...

No offense...

Alan.

None taken.

The ad is completely false. Jack was never convicted

of those charges.

It was a third-generation family real estate trust.

He was a passive beneficiary...

A victim of a trustee whose greed

got the trust prosecuted, not Jack personally.

I know you can help us.

You should feel flattered, Alan.

My wife seems to hold you in very high esteem.

And I her.

As you know, in college, not a day went by

that I didn't long to sleep with you.

I hope I'm not being inappropriate.

As a matter of fact, you are.

Then my apologies.

When you spoke about truth a moment ago,

I guess I mistook that as a preference

for full disclosure.

Uh, boys, we don't have time for this.

Alan, I know it's going to be tough

to get an injunction on this thing...

You've read the first amendment then.

Three days ago, we had a double-digit lead.

Then they put this thing on the air,

and our overnight polls dropped six points in 72 hours.

If we don't move fast, we're going to lose,

all because of this late hit.

These lies.

Please help us.

Let me see if I understand this.

In college, you longed to have sex with her.

Yes.

You ached to feel her naked body pressed up against yours.

Yes, well said.

And yet, nothing between the two of you ever happened.

We suffered from bad timing.

You're wondering if that's our destiny...

Yours and mine... 20 years of unrequited foreplay.

Is that what you want?

Is that what you want?

Well, it just seems that our timing might also...

Mr. Shore...

I saw you in the conference room with Jack Fleming.

What were you two doing?

Tai chi, actually.

I hope it is clear to you

that it would be an unacceptable conflict of interest

for you to represent Jack Fleming in any matter.

This firm is extremely close to mayor snyder.

Then this firm should take a shower, don't you think?

He is a callous, smug, and brutish man

who hates the poor and abuses the powerless.

You're not following me.

We earn a great deal of money working for the city,

due primarily to mayor snyder's goodwill.

One would think that was obvious.

One would.

Well...

Now I have to take the case.

Now, I'm gonna ask you a series of...

Denny crane.

Why did you just say that?

Well, isn't that how you guys usually begin

a mental status examination, by determining if the subject

knows his own name?

Well, yes.

Denny crane.

Got it.

And who am I, Mr. Crane?

You are Dr. Thomas h. Lee, neurologist.

Good. Can you tell me what day of the week this is?

Monday, and a particularly crisp and beautiful one, too,

I might add.

Good. And who is the current president

of the United States?

That would be Ernest borgnine.

[ Chuckles ] I'll bet you get lunatics in here every day.

That say that stuff for real, right?

The current president of the United States

is George Walker bush,

son to George Herbert Walker bush,

whose father was the late United States senator

Prescott bush, who as an undergraduate at Yale,

once wrestled my father in the nude,

but that's a story for another day.

Let's stick to the issues at hand.

Denny crane.

Flight risk? Your honor, my client can barely walk.

He weighs 300 pounds

and suffers from acute rheumatoid arthritis.

Plus, I think I got a touch of the gout, judge.

I ain't going nowhere.

He was moving at a pretty good clip

when he left that jewelry store.

It was a one-time adrenaline rush.

Your O.R. motion is denied, miss Colson.

Bail set at $50,000.

We'll take 15, folks.

You got a minute?

Sure.

I need a good lawyer.

You available?

Flattered. What's up?

Well, Marcie and I split up.

Yeah, I was so sorry to hear that.

I can recommend somebody, Richard,

but I don't do matrimonial work.

No, no, I already found somebody for that part.

There's something else.

Five years ago, when my son was born,

we saved his umbilical cord blood.

You mean in the delivery room?

Right. We got it stored in one of those cryo labs,

just in case Zachary ever needs to use it to treat a cancer

he develops, god forbid.

Welcome to parenting in the new millennium.

Anyway, the account...

It was opened in Marcie's name.

Which, at the time, I didn't think twice about.

But now the lab is saying that makes her

the responsible party, not the two of us jointly.

She's refusing to release the cord blood.

She won't let it be used.

Your son is sick?

I'm sick.

Multiple myeloma.

It was diagnosed six months ago.

Oh, Richard, I...

Chemo hasn't worked so far,

and they're saying that I need a bone marrow transplant.

But they can't find a suitable donor.

And your son's cord blood would work instead?

They think so.

It's just sitting there in a freezer.

Just sitting. Without it, they gave me six months.

Maybe.

You think I got a lawsuit?

Let's meet with her first, hope we don't have to file.

Good. Okay.

Thanks.

And then what happened, Mr. Shrum?

Well, when I couldn't get the pop tart out of the toaster,

I unplugged it.

And then I jammed a fork down the slot,

and I guess I must've jiggered it around pretty good,

because th... can you give us a moment, please?

Mark, what did I tell you

about volunteering extraneous information?

Not to. Right.

This is a deposition.

You answer the questions truthfully,

but never volunteer anything, so don't add stuff

like "jiggering forks around pretty good."

Just answer every question

with as few words as possible.

Got it. Sorry.

All right, Mr. Shrum,

when you repeatedly manipulated the fork around

in the toaster slot

and then received an electrical shock

and second-degree burns,

whose fault would you say that was?

Mine?

Uh, I can't answer any shorter. That was one word.

Denny...

We really do need to talk.

The partners are concerned.

About what?

Well, your billables...

Do you realize that so far this year

you have only billed 1400 hours,

which is 200 hours less than you had billed

up to this point in calendar '03,

which was, as you know, a year that saw a marked decline.

Breakfast? I already ate.

In short,

Denny, you are coming in light by about $700,000 a year,

which means that, since calendar '99 alone,

you have cost us $3.5 million.

You ever forget things?

Things like what?

I don't know... people's names, where you put the car keys,

whether or not you showered, what a case you're arguing

is all about...

Not really.

Well, you should get it looked at, just the same.

You could have what is called mild cognitive impairment.

It's a precursor to Alzheimer's.

Denny, you are theoretically our foremost rainmaker,

but you haven't brought in a new seven-figure client

in two years. You haven't filed a class action

in five years. Care to guess how much

lisby, derucie & floren billed as lead counsel.

In the tobacco class action?

$127 million.

It's raining cash out there, Denny.

We're not getting wet.

You could do crossword puzzles.

Excuse me?

It's a great brain stimulator.

So is learning new skills. You know what else helps?

Speaking from time to time in a foreign language.

[ Speaking French ]

What are you...

Doing?

Researching a case citation.

Have you ever...

Used a computer before?

An entirely new experience.

Bottom line, your honor,

if Mr. Fleming feels aggrieved by the way he's portrayed

in my client's campaign commercials,

then let him counter it with commercials of his own.

As justice Brandeis said,

"the best antidote to false speech is more speech."

It's not surprising Brandeis would say that.

He was a well-known drunk and pedophile.

No, he wasn't.

That's right. He wasn't.

I made it up.

Does anyone have a problem with me making

provably false accusations about honorable people,

just so my side can win?

Because that's certainly their strategy.

He's amazing. Yes, we're quite fond of him.

Mr. Shore is asking that you impose

prior restraint on speech and not just any speech,

but the robust dialogue of a political contest.

We don't do that in this country.

If they took a song from the Beatles catalogue

and used it in a campaign commercial without permission,

would you order the commercial off the air?

Of course you would. It's an absurd analogy, your honor.

What if they ran a campaign commercial with footage

of this lovely young woman right here showering...

Footage secretly taken with a lipstick camera

mounted in her health club locker room?

This is ridiculous.

The point is, in all of those cases,

we absolutely would see injunctive relief granted

because those are rights worth protecting.

And so is the right of Jack Fleming

to have the truth told about his life.

But how do we determine the truth, your honor?

Would Mr. Shore have us

establish a government department of veracity?

Mr. Fleming already has a remedy available.

It's called the slander suit.

I'm curious. When one wins a slander suit,

does the court award votes? Because that's the issue here.

They're trying to cost him the election now

even if they have to pay him a few dollars years from now.

Well,

this has been fascinating, gentlemen,

kinda like debate night at mensa.

Mr. Gelman, that TV spot you're defending

is emphatically vile.

But, Mr. Shore, he's right.

Political speech is not subject to prior judicial review.

And thank the lord, or that's all I'd ever do.

We're adjourned.

Woman: Mr. Fleming! Man: Mr. Fleming!

Mr. Fleming! Mr. Fleming!

[ Reporters shouting ]

Man: Where's the money?

Mr. Fleming! Mr. Fleming!

Man: Mr. Fleming! Please!

Hey, Mr. Fleming!

Well, that was discouraging.

It was.

I'm sorry.

You tried.

What now?

I'm gonna recommend we do a gang-bang sit down

with the four local anchormen.

And obviously, you by Jack's side,

doing the whole "stand by your man" thing.

Very important when accusations go to character like this...

We answer every question, dominate the airwaves.

The message... our guy is a superior piece of manpower.

Feedback? Sounds good.

Jack: That copacetic on your end? Mm, sure.

Copacetic on my end, too.

Your end?

Got it. Be right back with your coffee.

Thank you.

Well, we're very grateful

that you agreed to meet with us.

Did I have a choice? You were pretty insistent on the phone.

Sorry, it's just a situation of some urgency,

and I know you've said you didn't want to retain counsel...

But I would respectfully suggest...

We've spent enough on lawyers.

We had a five-star divorce, didn't we, Richard?

Look, I have to pick up Zach from a play date, so...

Well, what I came to say is simple, Marcie.

I'm sick, and I need your help.

I can't let you use Zach's cord blood.

I told you that when you called.

What if he gets sick and needs it himself?

We saved it for a reason.

Marcie, I can certainly understand your feelings,

but perhaps... do you have children, miss Colson?

No.

You want to protect Zach, and I understand that.

But how about protecting him from losing his father?

He's not gonna lose you. You're strong.

You'll beat this.

No, not without a compatible donor.

This isn't some simple transfusion we're talking about.

They need an exact match, and they can't find one.

They've tried, Marcie. Don't you get it?

Well, they should keep trying.

But I'm running out of time!

Please don't yell at me.

I'm sorry.

I was thinking on the way over here,

uh, about the day Zach was born,

and holding him and feeling as if I was part of some...

Great continuum.

Feeling as if...

It's stupid, but...

Feeling as if I had thrown my DNA forward

into the future, you know?

Like some biological javelin.

He's my flesh and blood, Marcie.

I would never do anything to put him at risk.

I've read all the literature.

I mean, the chances of Zach ever needing to use this

are about 1 in 2,700.

But I need it now...

To live.

I am his flesh and blood, too.

Please, don't ask me about this again.

Either of you.

It's okay.

I understand you provided representation

to Jack Fleming after all,

contrary to my explicit instructions.

I did.

But please understand,

ordinarily, I place great value

on all things explicit.

Is it your feeling that Denny crane

will protect you from me?

It is.

To the extent that he recalls who I am.

Well, perhaps it will jog his memory

when I devote a large portion

of next month's senior partners' meeting

to a discussion of your situation here.

Miss Wilson.

Was that man threatening you again?

Yes. It seems to be his job description.

CNN said the election was too close to call.

Fleming is up two points,

but it's within the margin of error.

I think that's what I'll call my autobiography.

"Within the margin of error."

Will I be in it?

It depends on who ghosts it.

I'll certainly lobby on your behalf.

Well...

I'll expect a chapter...

Minimum.

Well, I would imagine

you could earn a chapter quite easily...

I was wondering if you could help me

with this product liability issue...

Never mind.

No, please, I'm all yours.

Hardly.

Ever used a computer?

Denny.

Um...

Yes. Yes, I have.

Remarkable machine.

Let me ask you a question.

A manufacturer of toasters should anticipate

that their written safety instructions will be ignored

to the extent that they're counterintuitive

and should plan for that contingency, right?

In an ideal world.

[ Sighs ]

What are you doing here?

I was afraid you'd hang up if I tried calling you.

Can we talk?

I have nothing else to say.

I think I know your secret.

It was only one time.

Richard and I just had a huge fight.

I went to spend the weekend at my sister's,

and there was a guy there,

this houseguest of hers.

We were all drinking wine,

and suddenly he and I were alone.

And it just happened.

I agonized about whether or not to have the baby.

And in retrospect, I can't imagine not, you know?

But I promised myself

that Richard would never, ever find out.

You can't tell him.

You should tell him.

He deserves to know, especially now.

No, now would be the worst time.

Being Zach's father... it's what he lives for.

If you don't tell him, I will.

I'm his attorney. I have an obligation.

Just tell him I won't release the cord blood.

Tell him to keep trying to find a match.

He needs to keep trying.

If Zachary's blood could save him,

of course, I would let him have it.

And it tears me apart that I can't tell him that,

but I can't.

How did you figure it out?

Occupational hazard.

I watch people's eyes.

When Richard was telling you

how he felt the day Zach was born...

Promise me you won't tell him.

I have an obligation.

[ Knock on door ]

[ Knock knock knock ]

Samantha.

You're wet.

It's raining.

He's screwing her.

That media consultant Roberta...

She left a detailed message on his cell phone.

Didn't know I was borrowing it.

Come in and get dry.

Buy me a drink?

Maybe if he had done it with somebody extraordinary.

Roberta... she's...

She's just so...

Sufficient.

Hmm.

I'm sorry.

It's fine. This is my regular place.

I bring crying women here all the time.

Oh, really? Ha ha.

Well...

I guess I'm that cliché...

The credulous political wife,

cheated on, humiliated,

didn't see it coming.

I have to do that interview with him tomorrow.

Stand by my man.

He doesn't know that I know.

What do I do?

What do you want?

I want out.

Guess I am out.

Guess I've been out.

I do want him to win the election.

I do. He'd be a great mayor.

He really does care about people.

As long as they're strangers to him.

You really don't like him.

Is that why you made that joke

in your conference room, when...

When I said not a day in college went by

that I didn't long to sleep with you?

Yeah.

It wasn't a joke.

I had a place all picked out back then...

A motel out on route 9,

the aloha inn.

I thought you might appreciate the tropical ambience.

I'm imagining a lot of rattan and plastic orchids.

There's a neon sign out front

that blinks "aloha" in orange,

then "inn" in pink,

then the hula girl's skirt in green,

over and over and over.

It sounds lush.

And all night long, the rooms are flooded

with the glow of that neon.

And I always wondered how you would look

naked in all that

pink, green, and orange.

Hi. Hi.

You okay?

I'm gonna see if the candidate

can squeeze me in for a moment.

Moment of your time?

Are you joking? We're about to start.

It's a pressing matter. Perhaps we could duck in there.

You've got 30 seconds.

Then I'd better jump right in.

Do you have a favorite movie about politics?

Mine is "the candidate."

Okay, we're done here.

I still have 20 seconds left.

I especially like that scene after redford wins the election

when he asks his top advisor,

"Marvin, what do we do now?"

Goodbye, Mr. Shore.

You're a married man, Jack,

having a furtive sexual relationship

with your media consultant...

Which begs the question,

"Marvin, what do we do now?"

Of course, your name isn't Marvin,

and redford had already won.

You, on the other hand, could still lose

if anything unpleasant

were to come up.

And does she know?

Use her name.

Does Samantha know?

Samantha knows.

This is a memorandum of agreement.

By all means, read it when you have a free moment.

But I'll need your signature right now, I'm afraid.

So, here are the headlines... Samantha will do

your little dog and pony show out there,

and all other events with you

from now through the inauguration...

Should you be lucky enough to have one.

She, of course, smiling at all times,

exactly like pat Nixon.

And in return, after the divorce,

she gets a meaningful role in every high-level appointment

and major policy initiative during your first term.

She put you here. She's earned it.

I would never, ever give her that.

Do you understand?

Perfectly.

So, then, we'll handle this transaction

in the only currency that's really available to us.

Samantha gets the house in nantucket,

75% of all funds in the various bank accounts

as of close of business yesterday,

the mutual funds in their entirety,

and 60% of all other assets

as determined by the forensic accountants

that we will hire, and you will pay for.

Oh.

Be sure to date it

on the bottom there.

You can't lie to a client.

I know. I told her.

It's just... the news will crush him, Paul.

And to what end? What good will have been done?

He will have been dealt with truthfully by his attorney.

That's the good.

I know all the law school arguments.

Let's talk real world here.

Okay. Real world?

If I learned that an attorney in this firm

knowingly told a lie to a client...

A lie central to the matter

the client had retained us to handle...

I would personally report it

to the ethics committee of the state bar...

Regardless of whatever respect

or affection I might feel for the attorney in question.

[ Knock on door ]

Oh, I'm sorry. I was just leaving.

Hey.

Hi.

And thanks for seeing me on such short notice.

I-I know I could have just faxed this over,

but I wanted to massage some of the language with you.

Clearly, you're gonna be a better judge on whether

the arguments here are too inflammatory,

which is the obvious pitfall of filing appellate papers

against your ex-wife. Richard, listen.

I'll just shut up and let you read it. I'm sorry.

Look, there's something I need to tell you.

And I don't know how to begin.

You said my client was here... Mark shrum?

He was here. Mr. Crane came out to get him.

Denny got him?

I don't understand how Marcie could do this.

She feels deeply ashamed.

But the priority now has to be

finding you a suitable donor.

But how could Marcie

destroy the cord blood?

It wasn't intentional.

She was having it transferred last week

from one lab to another.

I guess she wanted to hide it from you.

There was a shipping glitch...

It went 36 hours without being refrigerated.

She's devastated.

I talked to Denny crane.

He's a trustee of Boston general.

He's having their chief of oncology

call you tomorrow.

Thank you. That's very kind.

They'll find you a match. I know they will.

You're gonna get through this.

Let's hope.

And at other times called it obnoxious,

this refusal of Mayer snyder

to agree to debate his challenger.

Of course, there was one joint campaign appearance...

The two candidates sharing the same stage

at one point several weeks ago

when the snyder camp called a debate...

Feels good, doesn't it?

What feels good?

Having sex with the candidate.

What if he wins?

I bet the orgasms are even better if he wins.

I'm jealous.

And we're ready to make a call

in the race for mayor of Boston. Okay, everybody, this is it!

Based on exit polling,

we are now projecting that mayor Thomas snyder

has lost his...

[ Cheers and applause ]

Let's go.

He'll want you downstairs in the ballroom

basking in the adulation part of the deal.

New deal.

This is where I get off.

Coming?

Man on TV: But one thing we do know tonight,

the Thomas snyder era is coming to an end.

And Boston's new mayor will be Jack Fleming.

Stan forrester is standing by

at the Fleming victory party at the Hyatt

where a very happy crowd is waiting for the mayor-elect

and his wife to make their way down to the ballroom.

Can you hear me, Stan?

Denny,

I'm worried about you...

You're speaking French to the messengers,

you got crossword puzzles

spread out all over the conference table,

you walk into reception,

hijack one of Sally heep's clients,

actually have a meeting

with him in your office.

Did you even know what his case was about?

I took that test the other day...

The one where they ask you a bunch of questions

to see if you've turned into an imbecile,

and they do a scan of your brain.

You know what they found out? That I have a lot

of blue and yellow and red stuff colliding up there.

The damn mri photo looks like a hurricane.

I don't remember what was the good color

and what was the bad color, but the point is this...

They discovered

that I remember some things and I forget others.

And that's the way it's gonna be.

You wanna know what that man's case is all about?

He stuck a fork in a toaster.

It's a little pissant lawsuit.

But I remember what you said the other day.

What was that?

Seriously, Paul, you have to have that test.

You said that we weren't filing

enough class-action suits...

That we were missing out on a gold shower.

I-I believe I said a money shower.

When I heard the fact pattern of the Sally heep case,

I was able to persuade Mr. Shrum

that there was a greater good to be achieved.

And long story short, happily,

the toaster company was open to my argument.

What argument?

That an attorney

like Denny crane

with extensive class action experience

could easily turn Mr. Shrum's case

into a lucrative opportunity.

On the other hand,

if they were to give Denny crane

their ongoing legal business,

augmenting the fine work done by the in-house counsel,

then Denny crane would be unavailable

to represent Mr. Shrum

who, incidentally, is going to receive

$50,000 from the company

as a goodwill gesture.

So don't you worry too much, Paul,

about Denny crane.

Jack: And I also wanna say to my wife Samantha,

who unfortunately could not be here tonight,

she's a little under the weather.

Samantha, I love you, and I wish you could be

right up here beside me right now.

[ Cheers and applause ]

We love her, right?

That's right. Sure we do.

Okay.

Thank you all. God bless you, Boston.

You did the right thing.

Yes, I did.

I lied to him.

Lori,

you realize you have exposed this firm

to a potentially enormous liability award

and imposed on me

certain excruciating ethical obligations?

You'll do the right thing, too.

♪ At last

♪ my love has come along

♪ my lonely days are over

♪ and life is like a song

♪ ooh

♪ at last

♪ the skies above are blue

mmm...

♪ My heart was wrapped in clover ♪

Mmm...

We should have done this much sooner.

Let's do it again.

♪ And here we are

♪ here we are

♪ we are in heaven

♪ in heaven

♪ for you are mine ♪ for you are mine

♪ at last ♪ at last