Original subtitles

♪ Tell me why

♪ I love you like I do

♪ Tell me who

♪ Can stop my heart as much as you

♪ Let's take each other's hand

♪ As we jump into

♪ The final frontier ♪

So this is it?

This is it.

Really?

Honey, Mabel has to learn to go to sleep on her own

without us there rocking her, holding her and stuff.

But, already? Does she have to do it already?

Well, we can wait until she's a teenager,

but, it's gonna be much tougher on our backs.

Okay. All right.

All right, so what happens now?

So now we wait and see if she falls asleep,

and if she does, then that's great, end of story.

And if she doesn't?

And if she doesn't, then we wait till the end of the first interval.

Okay. How long is the first interval?

Five Minutes.

Okay. And then what?

And then one of us can go in and comfort her verbally.

Okay.

But, we can... we can pick her up, though, right?

Verbally.

No, we... yeah, no. We comfort her verbally,

But, we can pat her a little bit...

Honey. Oh, okay, just verbally.

What, just one of us? One of us.

What if the other one is like hanging way back...

Okay... Okay, just one of us. One is good.

Which one?

Whichever we want.

That's not really an answer.

You know what? You. There you go.

You may go in.

Okay. Okay, good.

And I'll go in after the second interval.

Wait a second. Wait a second.

If she's still crying after we go in, we gotta do a second interval?

Yep.

How long is that? Ten minutes.

Ah. Is there a third interval?

Fifteen minutes.

How many intervals do they give you?

As many as we need,

until she falls asleep or until morning comes,

in which case, we get her dressed and start the day.

Yeah. Who's gonna get us dressed?

Honey, I think this is good for her. I really do.

Can't see how.

In the long run.

I don't see the long run.

She needs to learn how to comfort herself.

Yeah, I know. Of course she does.

Why? Why does she?

Otherwise, what's she gonna do when she's three,

and some brat steals her tricycle,

or she's 15 and some guy

says he likes her, but, as a friend?

I don't know.

Or, when she's a 42-year-old executive,

and she has some great idea

and somebody else steals all the credit, what's she gonna do then?

Cry.

Yes, but, when she's done crying?

Jump on daddy's tummy.

Okay, you just, like, don't want to grasp this, do you?

No, I do. I do.

Did Fran and Mark do this?

No, they ran in there every 5 seconds.

Now Ryan's, like, 14.

He's eating the furniture.

I just...

I mean, to me, I think we should be sending her the exact opposite message,

which is that if something goes wrong,

she can come to us.

I mean, to me, that... that's the purpose that parents serve.

Really?

Yeah.

Well, that and, you know, later,

we'll embarrass her in front of her friends.

I explained to you exactly what was going to happen.

I told you the whole theory. You said okay.

No, I didn't say okay. I said...

Okay.

I see.

I mean, if it were up to me, I would go in right now and just pick her up.

Well, it's up to you.

What do you mean?

It is. I'm not gonna do this if you don't feel right about it.

Please don't make it up to me.

It's one night of bad

for, you know, I think, a lifetime of good.

And you really believe that in your guts?

With all my guts.

Okay. Okay.

Okay.

How much time in the first interval?

Uh, 30 seconds.

Hey, that wasn't so bad.

See? Okay.

Clearly it goes a lot faster if you talk. Yeah.

Which... besides which, you know, you and I, we haven't talked for ages.

That's true. Just the two of us.

Yeah, so this'll be good for everybody. Yeah.

We'll have a nice little talk. Yeah.

How much time? Time's up.

Nice talking to you. You, too.

How long do I have?

One minute. Okay.

And you have to leave before she falls asleep.

Okay, now you're just making it up, aren't you?

No, no, no. Go in.

I have... otherwise we have to start all over.

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

Hi, hi, hi. Okay.

Hi, hi.

Hi, sweet girl. We love you.

We love you very much.

Listen, the only reason we're outside

is that a sadistic man from Columbia University said we have to be.

Yes, he's nuts. He's nuts.

But, we're right here. We are right here...

Just over there.

We're here over there, okay?

There. Okay. Okay. That's it, see? Nothing to it. Okay.

Okay, I'm gonna go.

Okay, don't fall asleep until I get out of the room,

because I'll be in big trouble with mommy.

That was great.

Yeah? 'Cause I had nothing prepared.

It was...

It was very, very sweet.

Did it work, though?

I bet it did.

Although, you never know.

- Oh, man. - It's all right.

All right, set the clock.

- Honey, I'm... - All right.

- What is it, 10 minutes now? - Yep.

What do we do for 10 minutes,

watch TV or, something?

Hey! There's that Knicks-Celtic game on.

Where's the remote, by the way?

I have not been able to find the remote since we cleaned.

That remote just disappeared off the face of the... what?

Gonna watch a basketball game?

On mute, I'm saying.

Okay.

What?

No, no, no. It's fine.

If my child is gonna go through this,

I'm going through it right along with her.

Seriously?

I'm not leaving this doorway.

To me, it's the least I can do if my daughter

is going to go through the most difficult night

of her young, until-now-innocent life,

but, you go ahead.

Why don't I sit down?

- If you think you should. - Yeah.

- How much time now? - 8 Minutes, 15 seconds.

Great.

I won 500 pounds of rigatoni today.

I beg your pardon?

At D'agostino's.

They were doing this sort of promotional thing.

They gave their 500th customer of the day, me,

500 pounds of rigatoni.

It's coming next week.

500 pounds of rigatoni's coming next week?

Yeah.

- Here? - Yeah.

Did you tell them you live in an apartment?

Uh-huh.

That's... how much rigatoni is that?

I don't know. It seemed ungracious to ask.

What are we gonna do with 500 pounds of rigatoni?

We'll have a dinner.

For who, the 3 tenors?

How much time now?

Mm, six minutes.

I'm shrinking, you know.

I don't know what you're saying to me.

You remember last Wednesday I had that physical?

- Yes. - Okay.

I'm half an inch shorter than I was last year.

I was 5'11 ". I'm now 5'10 1/2".

I'm... I'm shrinking.

Really? Heh.

- Why would you laugh at that? - I'm sorry.

I'm shrinking! Half an inch in one year.

I understand.

In 20 years, I'll be like this tall.

Sweetie.

You know, I'll be able to sleep in your pocket.

I'm sure there was just some mistake.

No, no mistake. He measured me 4 times.

He couldn't believe it himself.

He called everybody in.

He said, "Hey, everybody look at the shrinking guy."

Is there something wrong with you?

No. That's what I thought. No.

Perfect health. I'm in perfect health.

Cholesterol... I have the cholesterol of a fasting monk.

Blood pressure was... was, uh, something good over something good.

I'm telling you, I'm perfect.

I'm just... I'm shrinking is all.

So, okay.

How much time now?

Three and a half minutes.

Okay, you know what? We gotta go in there.

- No, honey. - This is stupid.

This is really... this is so bad.

Paul, no, don't. No, no, no, sweetie, you're doing so well.

Do you think I would be putting us all through this

if I didn't think it were incredibly important?

What kind of monster would I be?

Thank you.

Hmm.

That's... no.

That's just... that's the worst...

Worst sound I've ever heard in my life.

I know. Please don't make me feel much worse than I already do.

I'm sorry.

Mmmph.

Wonder if my parents ever did this to me.

Don't say it that way...

"Did this" to you.

I'm sorry.

By the way, your parents, I don't think they ever did this to you.

What does that mean?

Come on. Your parents probably went in your room if someone else's kid was crying.

I see. I see.

So your parents, they were like the really...

The big disciplinarians, your parents.

Yeah. They knew how to be tough.

Hey, so did mine.

What did they do, send you to bed without your mallomars?

Now, you know what? That's uncalled for.

Just would rather we not spoil our child.

Oh, I see. So I'm...

I'm the one who's going to spoil her.

They say we repeat our parents' mistakes. Yeah.

So you were ready to run in there one minute ago.

Yes, but, I didn't, did I?

- I stayed. Do you see me sitting here? - Yes.

Would you call this spoiling? Am I spoiling her now?

No.

Good. You know what? I'm going in.

No, Paul. Don't.

You'll undo all the good that we've already done.

Where is the good? Show me the good.

She's crying, I'm going out of my mind,

And we're gonna kill each other, so where is there good?

Piece of cake. Okay. All right.

One minute.

Hey. Hey, sweetie, it's me.

Hi. Here I am.

Don't cry, baby, please.

Yeah, I'm right here.

I know. I know this is hard, but, we love you.

All you have to do is get to tomorrow, just tomorrow,

and tomorrow we're gonna hold you and kiss you enough

to make up for a thousand nights like this one.

Yeah. There.

Hi, sweetie.

Yeah. That's right.

So just drift off.

That's it. Drift off slowly,

Not quite falling asleep

until mommy's out of the room.

Okay, sleep tight.

That was beautiful.

I think that did the trick.

I think you nailed it.

You think so? God, it would be so gratifying.

You hungry?

You see? You see?

I see. I see.

What time is it?

It's time to set the clock.

Dear god.

Was it 15 minutes now?

Uh-huh.

All right. Come here.

It's like she's screaming bloody murder.

Come on, come on, come on, come on.

♪ K-K-K-Katie, beautiful Katie

♪ You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore

♪ When the m-moon shines over the mountain

♪ I'll be waiting at the k-k-kitchen door ♪

That's sweet. What is that?

My grandfather used to sing that.

I always thought he had a stutter.

Then one day, I was listening to the radio,

Heard Rudy Vallee sing it the exact s-s-s-same way.

I'm sorry I said you would spoil her.

Accepted.

Look at that.

What?

We have a cabinet here?

Uh-huh.

Did I know that?

I just always believed you did.

I never even heard of this.

What do we... yeesh! Look at this.

Licorice from, like, the civil war.

Hey, here's the remote.

Oh... good for you.

Why would you hide it in there? For what reason?

Architectural Digestl never saw.

Sylvester Stallone has a house, apparently.

Hey, look at this, honey.

A picture of your other boyfriend, Tom Brokaw.

I'll take that.

- Listen to her. - I know.

- She's just wailing. - I know.

And panting... And scratching?

- Oh, god. - What are you doing?

- Where's Murray? - What?

Where's Murray? He's not in the living room.

He wasn't in the kitchen before...

You gotta be kidding me.

Oh, no. That can't be... No, no, no. It can't be.

- It is! - Oh, Murray.

- Murray. - Murray.

Oh, how could you do this tonight of all nights?

He may not really understand what we're doing tonight.

You have to get him out of there.

Murray, Murray...

No, no. He's making that sound he makes right before he barks.

You can't just walk in there.

She might hear you. You have to crawl.

I'm not gonna crawl.

I'm just gonna grab the dog...

Mabel can't hear you or, see you even for a second.

- I don't wanna... - Get in there.

I actually said to myself, "One child. How hard could that be?"

Okay, come here, Murray. Come here. We gotta talk.

Come here.

Shh. Don't say a word to anybody.

Go, that way. Let's go.

- Great job. - Yeah.

Dig me, I'm a mop now.

How much time?

Nine Minutes.

Okay... You know what, though?

You know what I'm gonna do?

If you don't mind, just very quickly,

I'm gonna grab a basketball score real quick.

- Okay? - Okay.

- But, from here. - Okay.

You gotta teach me how to do that. That's unbelievable.

Stallone... He puts columns in his bathroom.

For what? Why would he do that?

Okay... Okay...

Here we go, here we go. Look at this.

"Nyack, New York. Charming 3-bedroom,

"3/4 of an acre, river views..."

Wow. Someday, huh?

Yeah.

- Let's go look at it this weekend. - What?

We'll drive up Saturday, take a look at this house.

-Why? -Because... We should...

You know what happened to me yesterday?

What?

I'm walking from our room to the baby's room...

Honey, our room isthe baby's room.

Yes.

How much time?

Seven and a half minutes.

You really wanna move?

I just really want it to be seven and a half minutes from now. That's what I want.

Where would you go?

Just... To the suburbs.

But, where?

Connecticut.

Nuh-uh. Too close to my parents.

What, the entire state of Connecticut?

All right, Westchester.

Honey, we can't afford Westchester.

No, we could. Like, a small, charming house.

"Charming" means broken.

"Rustic" means broken.

"Charming" is small.

You really wanna be a suburban person?

All my life, I wanted to.

But, they're so dull and sedate.

No, no. That's not true.

Plus there's no culture.

You gotta drive miles and miles for any culture.

You can drive right into the city.

You think you do, but, you never do.

- We would be different. - No, we wouldn't.

Our brains would addle to walnuts,

our pulses would deaden,

our lungs would get... and our daughter would grow up sheltered

and knowing absolutely nothing about the world.

Believe me, our daughter will know about the world.

Do you want her to only know people

with the same values who are the same color?

No, of course not.

Do you want her to get her education at the Paramus mall?

They got a bookstore.

A million books can't teach her as much as one day in the city.

Sweetie, can I tell you something?

I grew up in the city.

Here's what you do from the time you're eight.

You run. You just run.

The minute you're in it, you run and you run,

all the time because anywhere you look,

there's somebody who wants to hurt you.

There's a manic-depressive cab driver,

there's a dog with a grudge.

There's a guy who just wants to push people onto the subway tracks

so he can be on the news.

Well, I think it's worth it.

No, not to me.

Here's what you want. A nice, old house somewhere...

Just for you and me

and our soon to be very well-adjusted little daughter.

Uh-huh.

You know, it'd be nice to have a house,

cook her rigatoni every day for the rest of her life.

A nice house where she can call over to me and say,

"Dad, would you like to go out and play?"

Man, this is really...

This is worrisome.

It's half an inch. It's not the worst thing.

- No... us. - What?

It's like we're completely incompatible as parents.

- Sweetie... - Check the clock.

Six Minutes.

Hey, we're very close. Don't go soft on me now.

We disagree on everything.

No, not everything.

Yes. How to discipline her,

Where to live, how to deal with our feelings about it.

So what's left?

I betcha we both hate that rug.

What? Okay. So, you know what? Maybe we are.

We're totally incompatible as parents.

Heh. Well, I'm glad we had this talk.

I don't feel so good.

Really?

I feel like I might be sick.

Oh, boy.

Why'd you let me eat that?

Can I just say something?

I think it may not be the licorice.

Well, then what?

I don't think you're actually such a big fan

of listening to your daughter cry all night.

Come on, come on.

What is your gut telling you to do right now?

It's telling me it's up to me

to teach her some self-reliance.

What is your gut telling you?

It's telling me it's up to me to help her be independent.

Your gut. What about your gut?

What is your gut telling you to do right now?

It's telling me to go in there and pick her up and hold her...

Right now, before we hurt her any more than we already have.

Thank you. Wait, wait, wait!

What?

Listen to that.

Oh, my god.

She's sleeping. She fell asleep.

It's over.

We did it. Huh?

Yeah.

Okay. That was not bad. That was great.

Yeah. That was really great.

And you were right... it worked.

What?

We broke her heart.

Why?

Now she knows we won't always be there for her.

Yeah, but, that's... that's good.

Right?

I wanna go in.

No, no, no. You could wake her up.

But, I wanna go in.

I... I don't think we should do that.

Turn back the clock.

Oh, amazing.

This is unbelievable.

She's her daughter.

What?

They're mother and daughter. They've never met in 35 years.

I know, but, do you realize this is all one shot?

What?

This whole scene is one shot.

Camera hasn't moved in, like, 20 minutes.

- So? - So that's fantastic.

What's the big deal?

One shot for 20 minutes? Do you know what that involves?

Oh, god, look. She's crying.

Sweetie, a 20-minute shot means that there's no margin for error.

One little mistake, and they gotta start all over.

Why would they make a mistake?

Well, not on purpose, but, what if one of them

forgets a line or drops a fork?

See the guy in the background?

If he knocks over a cup of coffee, they gotta throw the whole scene out.

What are you talking about?

It's just very risky.

For these actors, that's a lot of work.

It's their job.

Sweetie, see, what happens...

You're ruining this whole thing for me.