Original subtitles

(BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYING)

(MUSIC CONTINUES)

(DISTANT SIREN WAILING)

VITO: $24 for a cab ride to the Bronx. I can't believe it.

ELAINE: You can come to my parents' for Passover once a year

without complaining, Vito.

(CHILDREN CHATTERING)

VITO: Wait a minute, honey, let me help you.

- Will Adam be here? - ELAINE: I don't know, sweetheart.

But even if he is, be nice. It's a Seder, okay?

VITO: Don't worry, don't worry.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATION)

- ELAINE: Hi, Mom. - Hello, darling.

- Adam. Hi, darling. - ROSE: Hello. How are you doing?

ROSE: A little late like always.

Papa, hello, darling.

Traffic. There are so many Jews headed for Seder, Mama.

- Good day, sir. - Hiya, Nat.

I thought people were cutting down on meat.

How come the material gets more expensive every year?

Please, don't crease it.

I know the face now. The face...

- The face looks familiar. - Hey, Pop.

Adam, how are you?

Hey, who'd you get this year? I got Bernard Karlinski.

Let me see here.

"The Bar Mitzvah of Owen Zuckerbrot." (CHUCKLES)

Nat, Owen Zuckerbrot?

Yeah, he brings the yarmulkes home from shul.

- You know, the extras. - Right.

You want it to say Vito McMullen, you have to convert.

- Why not? - Not yet.

(RECITING IN HEBREW)

- VITO: ...thank me for the leg of lamb... - Did you see

- how Adam remembers his Hebrew? - NAT: I don't like lamb.

- With a mind like that... - Ma.

What? What'd I say?

But it's a shanda to me that a boy with such a head

drops out of school six months before a master's degree.

- Drops out? Drops out of school? - Six months before.

- Three months before. - ADAM: Can we drop it?

We're not allowed to ask?

You're back since January.

- I haven't seen you. - Vito, please.

- I came here for a Seder. - Mm. Adam looks marvelous.

- We're glad you're here. - He's become a man.

Look how beautifully he eats.

Ma, please, he's gonna be 23 years old.

Stop bragging about how he gets all the food in his mouth.

- You try to kvell over your grandson... - Brag about it to me.

- I won't complain. - And after 24 years,

- it's still Rose. - 23. You forgot the year

your goy son-in-law wasn't allowed up here, huh?

- Time to let the angel in. - VITO: Yeah.

Nat, how come the angel gets a bigger glass, huh?

- (ROSE CHUCKLING) - NAT: Your material is getting stale.

Better leave the chain on, Grandma, this is the Bronx.

Instead of Elijah, some mugger wearing Reeboks is gonna charge through the door.

Adam's right.

When are you two gonna move out of here? You're too old to survive here.

How old are you, Grandpa?

Nobody kept records in our day, no one knows.

They'll never tell. Some crazy superstition.

Not so crazy.

You don't tempt God by bragging about your age.

- (DOORBELL RINGS) - Sit.

Forty-two years here. The neighborhood is not so bad.

Then why can't I drive my Cadillac to your Seder, Nat?

Nat... there are fantastic places in Flushing.

If it's a matter of money, I can chip in with a few bucks.

They want to be the last.

We'll chisel it on your stone after the mugging.

- (TELEPHONE RINGING) - "Nat and Rose Ruden,

"the last Jews on Davidson Avenue."

Ruden residence.

Hi, Jessie.

Uh-huh? Uh-huh?

Well, what time do you think you'll be out?

Okay, no problem.

Yeah, don't worry about it.

All right. Take care, Jessie.

Your grandfather?

What was that about, Adam?

Jessie wanted to wish us a happy Passover.

Vito, your father knows our number?

Yeah, how come?

The unexpected.

Jessie doesn't change, huh?

No, he sure doesn't.

Take care, Nat.

Vito, see if you can get a cab. I'll be right out.

VITO: All right.

- So when are you moving, Grandma? - We don't take from our children.

You're like a couple of turkeys in these streets.

This neighborhood's become a jungle.

I'm not coming to the next Seder unless you're living somewhere else.

Did you hear what your grandson said, Ma?

(VITO SNEEZES)

Well, what'd he want?

Jessie wanted to wish us a happy Passover.

Come on, Adam. Stop the crap, huh?

Your old man needs bail money. I'm gonna go down there.

- Ah, and he calls you. - Yeah.

So you've been talking to my father while you been ducking me

since you got back, huh?

- (STUTTERS) - Huh?

All right. Is it serious?

It's a bar fight. But it's an off-duty cop he whacked.

He whacked a cop?

Is the guy hurt?

Well... Grandpa says he kicked the bull's ass

the length of the bar and halfway down 10th Avenue.

When is he gonna let up?

Oh, Christ!

Well, what the hell, it's nice to know I have strong genes.

Hope I'm getting pinched for bar fights when I'm in my 60s.

Just remember, Adam, along with those strong genes,

my father passes on a lot of other crap to go with it.

So you stay away from him, all right?

- Jessie's not looking to hurt me. - No, he's not. But it'll happen anyway.

He'll spend the night in the can. Fine with me.

Lend me $800.

Forget it. Last time I stood bail for Jessie was three years ago.

I haven't heard from him since. I don't stand bail for Jessie anymore.

You're not standing bail. I'm borrowing the money.

I've got $200, I'd like $800 more.

- Oh. So it's for you. - Right.

Adam, the last year that my mother was alive,

I was seven years old, okay?

Jessie took me along Christmas Eve to buy a tree, all right?

Near midnight, we're passing an Esso station up near Riverdale,

and right on top of the garage is a perfect, all lit-up Christmas tree.

So Jessie hits the brakes, and he says, "Wow, what a score. It's even got lights."

Wait a minute. I'm standing lookout,

I was seven years old, while he climbs up the fucking drainpipe

and pulls down the Christmas tree, lights and all.

What's so funny? I got a dozen stories like that.

Like helping him rob

uh, Lionel trains out of Macy's when I was 12 years old. He's working there.

I had to cut school because he decided to take a box full of engines out.

He thought he could get a lot of money for it.

- What happened? - It doesn't matter what happened.

Just know who you're dealing with, all right?

All right, all right.

- That's eight. - Thanks.

That was nice what you did in there for them.

They might get out of this cesspool because of you.

- I had them over a barrel. - Yeah?

If somebody loves you, you got a hell of a weapon in the relationship.

Hey!

Listen. It's supposed to work both ways, kiddo.

I mean, if you love somebody back, then they got an equal weapon, no?

- You're right, Pa. - All right.

- I guess we got a standoff. - I guess we do.

They may move. I think you did it.

- Oh, I better get a cab. - Good.

- How about dinner next week? - Oh!

- Sure, what time should we be there? - (VITO WHISTLES)

- You did want Christine, no? - Of course, Adam.

You know Christine's always welcome, darling. You want to catch a ride with us?

- No, thanks. - Okay, good night, Adam.

- VITO: All right. - Bye, sweetheart.

VITO: Why doesn't he want to ride with us?

MALE CLERK: Docket number 178649325.

The charge is second-degree assault, Your Honor.

At 6:00 p.m. yesterday, in a bar and grill at 502, Tenth Avenue,

Mr. McMullen assaulted an off-duty policeman.

Well, I'd love to hear about this in your own words, Mr. McMullen.

Your Honor, I'm a victim of police brutality.

Just tell us what occurred, Mr. McMullen.

Well...

It all happened so fast, Your Honor.

I'll try to remember.

We had an argument.

To be fair about it, I was as much at fault as he was.

Well, one thing led to another, and...

somehow it comes out that my mother was a Native American.

A full-blooded Cherokee, Your Honor.

And this policeman yells,

"It's too bad Custer made such a half-assed job of it."

Well, I lost control.

What did you do?

I did what little I could for a man my age.

The little that Mr. McMullen was able to do

seems to have been pretty effective, Your Honor.

The officer has taken 18 stitches in his face, his nose is broken,

and his jaw is wired up.

I must have hit him harder than I knew with fright, fear,

whatever it was, Your Honor.

Your Honor, here is the BCI on Mr. Jessie McMullen.

It begins in 1947 with a three-year term for assault just after he was naturalized.

- It goes on, and on, and... - Your Honor!

Before the prosecutor sentences my client, perhaps he would agree to a trial?

We're only here to set bail.

I'd like to point out that the defendant's grandson is present in court.

My client has roots in this community.

Bail is set at $5,000.

A $500 cash bail bond is acceptable.

- Next. - CLERK: Docket number 178649326.

Did you bring the $500?

LAWYER: Your Honor, may we approach the bench?

You don't travel light, I see.

Vito gave me $800. Good thing he had the cash.

Your father's always got a few grand swag money in his pocket.

He robs the tax collector, your father.

It's never been easy for me having a thief in the family.

You've grown, Adam. It's been a long time.

- Money. Money. - Money.

Look at this. It's become a shithouse.

- Never been in a jail before. - Oh, you haven't missed an awful lot.

It's got some good points, too, when you're young.

Like what?

It can help build character, like a hitch in the army.

A wallet, a watch. A handkerchief, pure silk.

Not to mention $270,000.

I'm just kidding. $270.

- Hey, Jessie! - Hi, John!

Jesus, but this place keeps going downhill.

Yeah, just like the rest of the city.

JESSIE: Well, you're looking good, Adam.

These fancy schools must be agreeing with you.

ADAM: MIT is not fancy.

And they don't, Jessie. They really don't agree with me at all.

Last night in the bar, did that cop land the first punch?

Adam, I've never been in a bar fight yet

where the other guy landed the first punch.

It's a sure recipe for losing.

(ADAM LAUGHS)

JESSIE: So when did you get back in town?

ADAM: I left school in January.

I was this far away from getting my masters in molecular biology.

And your old man's paying for all this?

No way. I'm on a full scholarship.

I was a Westinghouse Scholar.

It's a big deal. They only have six each year.

I hated it. It felt worse than that cell.

Oh, they've got your whole life mapped out for you.

You don't know the half of it.

I would have had my own lab, terrific salary, the works.

They were already talking to me about a retirement plan.

Jesus.

I've been living with a girl up on... on 23rd Street.

An older girl.

Nothing wrong with an older woman.

For a young man.

My mother's okay.

Vito tries, but he makes me feel guilty.

JESSIE: Yeah, your father can be pretty good at that.

Hey, Jess!

Hi, Phil.

Say hello to Adam, my grandson.

- Vito's boy. - Hi, Phil.

Yeah, I remember you.

What've you been doing with yourself lately?

Finding myself.

Yeah, well, I hope you've been getting laid in the process.

What do you got?

Ferragamos.

$300 a pair, all along Madison Avenue.

Fell off a truck this morning.

$50 a pair.

- 13 C? - Right.

- You got it. - What are you?

Oh! Um, uh...

- 9 1/2 C. - No problem.

- There you go. - Thanks.

By the way, say hello to your father for me.

Me and him used to cut a lot of corners when we were kids.

- Take it easy. - All right.

Hey, not on the bar. Bad luck. And get trees for them, huh?

You're a class act, Jessie.

I still remember those stretch limos out to Shea when I was 12.

Oh!

Yeah, the driver was working off a gambling debt.

It's a wonderful way to travel, huh?

Cheers.

Oh, those piers used to hum.

Half the West Side worked on the docks.

The pickings were great.

That's where I landed. Right over there.

September '46.

- With my grandmother? - Yeah.

Those happy years for the two of you, Grandpa?

Happy? Married to a Sicilian?

Happiness is against their nature.

She spent every waking hour cooking fucking pasta.

She had me pissing olive oil.

Now, you be careful. You got some of that blood.

Try to encourage the Scottish genes, Adam.

Wonder what Vito would've turned out like if you'd married somebody Scottish.

Well, he'd have had a proper first name, for a start, instead of Vito.

And he'd have been at least five inches taller.

(ADAM CHUCKLES)

That was a terrific night, Jessie. (CLEARS THROAT)

Some bacon and eggs, a couple drinks.

You know, when I called, it wasn't just to get together after all this time.

- No? - No, I wanted...

I really wanted to ask you about something.

Your... your opinion.

What?

There's an ex-professor of mine, he's a brilliant Chinese-American guy.

And he's got a scam.

Says it's a good deal, as easy as could be.

Nobody ever tells you a deal's hard, kid.

Well, he needs an answer.

I've stalled him for a couple of weeks, but now he says he needs an answer.

Says it means a lot of money.

What's a Chinaman's idea of a lot of money?

- A million dollars. - More coffee, fellas?

ADAM: Leave it to me. I'll get Vito here.

JESSIE: See you later. I'm going upstairs for a shower and a shave.

- So I'll meet you here at 3:00? - Right.

But leave your old man to me. I know which buttons to press, okay?

All right.

DOHENY: Hello, stranger.

When they become a success, they forget their roots.

Vito!

Glad to see you back on the West Side.

I remember Vito here before he could talk.

Your grandfather was running numbers out of this bar.

He'd bring Vito down in his baby carriage and park him right here.

Then tuck his policy slips in your old man's blanket.

It's how I learned to count.

- How are you, Jessie? - I pinched your father more than once.

- You're Doheny the cop? - That's me!

You were too little to run in.

He means Vito was too little to shake down.

Doheny here would pinch me. Then, when I made bail,

he'd come right upstairs and sell me back my own slips.

- You retired? - I took early retirement.

The commissioner insisted on it.

Thank the good Lord I had a little money put by.

You still hide it in coffee cans?

- What do you drink? - Dewar's, rocks, Danny.

Nice guy.

Adam, you gotta learn to judge people better.

You two seem pretty cozy all of a sudden.

Hey, I'm his granddad, for Christ's sakes.

Whatever craziness you're cooking up these days, Jessie,

Adam can do without.

I'm a man trying his best to enjoy his golden years.

Yeah, just keep my son away from your criminal schemes.

- Criminal schemes. - Mm-hmm.

It's probably eating you up that you're getting old.

You know, let no man say that Jessie Mac went out lying down.

"Criminal schemes." That's a little rich coming from an ex-con.

You told him about that, huh?

Pop, Pop, 20 years in the same house.

Some things can't stay secret.

Just don't fuck up his life too.

- JESSIE: Too? - Yeah.

Any deal you ever made with me, you never saw a speck of trouble.

It's only when you took off on your own, like an asshole,

with that retarded Polack,

that you wound up doing your 27 months in the shitter.

And he's still blaming me.

If you'd stuck with me,

you would have been a part of that Westport Bank caper.

So sweet. $200,000 chopped up four ways.

Ask your grandpa where the money is now.

Just where it ought to be. It didn't have handles on it.

- Oh. - Always remember, Adam,

it only costs 100% more to go first class.

Ask him about the downside to his glamorous life,

the years you're sitting in the cage,

and then spending the rest of your life trying to hide it.

Horseshit! Anybody who's embarrassed about doing time is a goddamned snob.

You do your time nice, don't rat anybody out,

never take it in the ass.

What is there to be embarrassed about, huh?

Vito! Somewhere, your values got screwy.

When the hell did you get it in your head that it was so terrible to be a thief?

How do you get through to someone who thinks like a gypsy?

- Right. Standup thieves, gypsies. - Yeah, right.

Not a hypocritical bone in their bodies.

- Hey, Margie! - (LAUGHS)

You made bail.

Yeah, thanks to my grandson Adam here.

- Ah! - And my wonderful son Vito.

Ah, how do you do? It's nice to know you. Adam? Hi.

Vito? Margie.

So how are the accommodations at the tombs these days, huh?

- Three star, four star? - I'll survive.

Well, there was never any question about that.

But the other prisoners survive? And what about the poor guards?

Listen, I don't go on for another 15 minutes. Can I buy you guys a drink?

- No, we'll take a rain check. - Oh! Man talk, huh?

- Okay, see you later. - Okay.

- Um, listen, we're still on for tonight? - Yeah, sure.

- It was very nice meeting you. - Yeah.

Jessie. Jessie, are you involving Adam in something? Huh?

Just the safest, sweetest deal of my life.

All right, stop right there.

And he's not involving me, it's my idea.

- Your idea? - My idea. That's right.

Adam, what are you talking about, huh?

I'm talking about a lot of money, Pop. And it's not even dangerous.

No, if it's against the law, it's dangerous.

No, this is a walk.

- Yeah? - And it just needs a third guy.

Needs a third guy, huh? What, are you crazy?

I spent my lifetime thieving with my father,

and now I'm going to thieve with my son?

The two of you are crazy?

There must be a full moon out that I don't know about, all right?

You tell me, what is it with these fucking criminal genes?

Oh, Jesus, Vito. Don't get started with that criminal gene crap.

Carnegie, Rockefeller.

Those are the guys with criminal genes the size of fucking grapefruits.

You never really bought that honesty shit.

You've just been running scared for 25 years.

I'm scared for him.

I'm not a baby. Let me be scared for me.

Hey, if they catch you, Adam, they lock you up.

Now, listen to me. I learned a long time ago

it's not safe to be a thief.

- Safe? You wanna get safe? - Yeah, I want to get safe.

Well, go sit in one of your walk-in refrigerators

for the rest of your life, for Christ's sake.

Who the hell put it in your head that being safe is what life is all about?

- I'm too young to play it safe. - And me too!

This is fucking cuckoo.

- Can I get another one? - Give him two.

All right, Adam. Let me get this straight.

You'd jeopardize your whole life for money?

- For money? - Yeah.

Pop, if it was money I wanted, I'd think about the wholesale meat business.

Well, that was unfair. You know I hate the fucking meat business.

I broke my ass to give you what he never gave me.

- I never asked you for anything. - And you never had to.

You had everything a kid ever wanted. You didn't even need a scholarship.

I could have paid for your college education twice.

- Pop. - Without blinking.

Pop, this whole thing has nothing to do with money.

You've never understood me. You still don't.

You're not doing this.

I'm doing it. Whether you come or not. Whether he comes or not.

You want to know something? There's nothing you can do about it.

- Nothing I can do? - Right.

There's nothing I can do?

(DOOR SWINGS OPEN)

Vito, that won't get you anywhere.

Here.

Leave a 20 on the bar. I don't want Doheny telling people I raised a cheapskate.

- MAN 1: Come on. - MAN 2: Hey!

MAN 1: We got a deadline. Let's go, man!

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

JESSIE: Vito! Jesus, it's still dark out.

You know, it's the early worm gets caught.

VITO: If it's about bail money, Jessie, I'm about tapped out.

TOMMY: I got work to do.

I got bigger fish to fry than a few bucks bail money.

- Oh, yeah? - But first of all...

Who the hell smacks a 23-year-old in public, huh?

Punish him if you really lose your temper, Vito.

But not a slap.

Look, Adam and I are meeting at the weekend

with a third guy for this score.

- You got till then to decide. - No, there's nothing to decide.

Let me tell you something, Jessie. If anything happens to Adam...

Which is why you should come along.

Blood, Vito, blood.

And it's the kind of work you do to retire.

He's going anyway, you heard him.

He'll find two other guys.

Yeah, but you could talk him out of it.

- I doubt it. - Try.

I'm not gonna try something I don't believe in.

- Why not? - It's as sweet for me as it is for Adam.

It's your choice.

I have another guy lined up.

He's not as good as you, but he's good enough.

Who?

- Who? Wait a minute. Who? - You've got till the weekend.

Who?

Who?

Johnny Hunt.

Johnny Hunt.

Well, you remember. His kid brother got shot robbing a bank.

- Johnny Hunt! - He was never as bad as people said.

He was a weasel 30 years ago when I knew him. He's still a weasel.

People give people a bum rap sometimes.

- Johnny Hunt is a hell of a crib man. - He stinks, Jessie.

I think you're wrong.

But I wanted to give you the shot at it.

Jessie!

Jessie! The guy stinks!

So what's the story with Torres?

I checked the carton he packed for Jimmy's Tavern.

VITO: I knew it.

TOMMY: It was marked for 20 pounds of short ribs and 30 pounds of chop.

There were three full eyes in it.

- About an $80 difference. - VITO: Son of a bitch!

- You give the kid every break you can. - TOMMY: So what do you wanna do?

VITO: What am I gonna do? Send him in.

Tommy, if he sticks a boning knife in his belt, you buzz me.

All right.

VITO: That fucking kid. Listen, uh...

Figure out what we owe Torres as of yesterday afternoon.

- Stealing? - Yeah.

240 gross.

What good is gross gonna do me?

You know, you were a lot nicer boss when we used to get laid once in a while.

The usual 12 fictitious dependents.

Come on, how much?

$178.30. I don't think you get enough sex these days.

It wasn't meant to last, Marie. There's an old saying...

- You don't crap where you eat. - Right.

Listen to 20 years in the world of commerce

from the female point of view.

Every guy who ever told you that was banging his bookkeeper.

- How much was it? - $178.30.

Yeah, come on.

- Tommy said you wanted to see me. - Yeah, here's your pay through yesterday.

Today's money goes toward the meat you been robbing.

Be out of here in five minutes or I'll break your fucking legs.

Robbing? Me, man?

You want to open up the boxes for Jimmy's Tavern?

Huh? Go ahead. Go ahead, open them up.

Man. Man, how am I gonna live on the shit wages you paying?

Where'd you come to borrow money when your baby had pneumonia, Julio?

Where? We treated you like family here, right?

Yeah, well, you just better hope your family all stay healthy.

- What did you say? - I said you take the...

(GRUNTING)

You busted my nose, man!

Oh! You...

- You working for a maniac, lady. - Come on, let's go.

He busted my beak over a piece of meat!

Is this what's called a midlife crisis?

Good-bye and God bless you, Danny Doheny.

Come on.

It'll make you feel better, Mrs. Doheny.

Oh.

(SOFT INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

Excuse me.

If you're here to start smacking me around again...

No, I'm sorry about that. I... I apologize.

Accepted. Let's forget it.

I didn't expect to see you here.

The guy was serving us drinks four days ago.

Yeah.

Hey.

You can't wheel my casket dolly around the place.

This is a wake. There ought to be a little decorum.

Listen, there's a barrel of beer on its way,

we need to set it on something.

Not in my place. The Board of Health can close me.

Neary, since you've gone AA, you're like a wet rag.

It's illegal to even bring beer in here.

Neary, the mortician.

His sister Margaret, an ex-nun.

Used to own a very classy,

expensive, nursery school down on Gramercy Park.

- You interviewed for that. - An interview for a nursery school?

- It was very fancy. - What in the world did they ask me?

You know, what you watched on TV, did you know your ABCs...

- Of course I knew my ABCs. - Adam.

You read an entire New York Times editorial on the UN.

Adam, you missed exactly five words.

Spare me the rest. They offered me a scholarship?

A scholarship?

They would have paid $1,000 a semester just to get their hands on you.

They wanted me for what all the other schools did.

Solve geometry problems in the fourth grade for important visitors.

I used to feel like a performing seal at the blackboard.

- Adam, you were so gifted. - Let's just drop it, Pop.

A gift shouldn't be thrown into the garbage.

- This is not the time or the place. - This is the perfect time and place.

See, I was raised to be a thief. You weren't.

You don't have to go along.

No, you... You don't have to go along.

- That's the real point. - I want to go along.

Oh, your mom and I had such enormous hopes for you, kiddo.

- Nobody's hopes work out, Pop. - Right.

I'm half your age, I already know that.

Well, a toast seems appropriate. Mm?

- To Danny Doheny. - To hell with him. To McMullens.

Now, then, lucky lads,

let's catch up on a little family business. Mm?

Yeah, nothing like a good robbery to bring a family close.

Oh, he's such a fucking wisenheimer, your father.

Does he do the same to you?

Probably a little less than I do to him.

Let's make a decision.

- Let's. - Talk.

Uh, are you familiar at all with DNA research?

Yeah, I read a couple of magazine articles.

Gene-splicing.

You know, they're breeding chickens that'll weigh more than you or me.

Try to keep current, Vito, huh?

ADAM: Nobody knows what's gonna happen yet,

but the possibilities look limitless.

The small companies who are in it first are hoping to be

the IBMs and the Bell Telephones 20 years from now.

VITO: Mmm-hmm.

ADAM: There's a new, red-hot, very secret development.

It's an agricultural plasmid. Yeasts that are fixing nitrogen.

That means that you could raise wheat, corn,

damn near anything to grow with no fertilizer.

The stakes are enormous.

- Farmers spend billions... - Fuck the farmers.

Tell him what our end is.

Jimmy Chiu, an ex-professor of mine,

he works at a biology lab out in Nassau County.

Mm-hmm?

He helped found the company.

And they screwed him out of his piece of the action.

They fired this poor Chink.

Yeah, I hear him.

He's got some venture capital ready to set up a new company.

They need the new plasmids.

He gets us in easy.

High stakes. Low risk. Non-violent.

No worries about our partners robbing us or ratting us out.

Look, if we get the plasmids and the logbook,

Jimmy Chiu pays us an even million.

Hey, you gotta sell a lot of veal cutlets to match that, Vito.

So this whole score is like one big fancy burglary.

Yeah.

Does anyone else know anything about this?

No one, just the three of us.

What do you think, Pop?

What do I think?

When you were talking about yeast-fixing nitrogen,

the look on your face...

Pop, you're in or you're out, but no lectures.

I'm in. I'm in. I'm in.

You're happy now?

- I'm in. - Yeah.

To the gypsies of the world.

Not a hypocritical bone in their bodies.

Come on. Let's pay our respects to the grieving widow

before she falls flat-on-her-face drunk.

How you doing, Jess? Adam, Phil.

- Hey, Phil. - Vito, it's been a long time.

- Well, Phil. Busy. - It's my crowd.

Listen, these are Yves Saint Laurent.

They're $800 a pop in the better stores.

Fell off a truck. I'll let them go for $200 apiece.

Let's see here. You're a 38, son, on the left.

Ladies and gentlemen,

we're supposed to be closing in a little bit,

but I think it would be a crime to have a 10:00 last call

for Danny Doheny's wake,

so closing time is extended.

Give me that back.

(ALL APPLAUDING)

Evan, Michael.

The song for Danny.

(SINGING) O Danny Boy

The pipes, the pipes are calling

From glen to glen And down the mountainside

The summer's gone And all the roses falling

It's you, it's you must go And I must bide

But come ye back

When the summer's in the meadow

For when the valley's hushed

And white with snow

Yes, I'll be here

In sunshine or in shadow...

This your basic old-fashioned Irish wake?

...Oh, Danny boy...

Yeah. When it's run right.

...Oh, Danny boy

I love you

So...

JESSIE: You know, between the keycard and these cockamamie rent-a-cops,

getting in will be a cinch.

Come on, Vito, let's get out of here.

VITO: No, first, we'll go back to the motel.

I wanna take a dry run as soon as it gets dark.

You know, being back in action, it agrees with you, Vito.

It's put a little bounce in your step.

Oh, you're giving me some sound advice on how to conduct my life?

- That's what fathers are for. - Right.

VITO: The bounce will stay in my step

as long as my share don't wind up in your pocket.

JESSIE: When did I ever cheat you out of a nickel? When?

VITO: You want to start with the big 10 bucks

I never got out of that Lionel trains...

JESSIE: Are you still whining about those fucking trains?

- I'll buy you a set for Christmas. - Oh, I'll hold my breath.

JESSIE: You can carry a grudge for 30 years.

That's your Sicilian genes.

I'm pretty sure that the bar is over there.

Oh, it's in the restaurant. Of course.

JESSIE: Let's have a drink.

After I shower.

- Honest work makes honest sweat. - You're a bad influence.

Now, I know this is gonna sound gross.

But you've got to accept the cab fare.

I hear they're very expensive in the suburbs.

Mm?

So, I figured...

150 ought to cover it.

That sounds right for the meter, but we have to tip the driver too.

Oh, Jesus! We can't have some hard working refugee from Bangladesh going tipless.

Oh. Oh, well...

Will $200 cover it?

We don't live near each other.

Oh, separate cabs. Of course. That was understood from the get-go.

Vito. Margo and Denise.

- How you doing? - Hi.

It was Iowa's champion baton twirler of 19...

1983.

I've always thought that...

baton twirling ought to be an Olympic event.

- What do you think, Vito? - No.

I think the Chinese would dominate in no time.

Not against your All-American girl, they wouldn't.

I could be wrong.

So, the game is on?

I just have to get rid of a previous appointment.

Why don't you order us another round?

Yeah, sure.

Why don't you do that, Pop?

Jessie.

What are you doing sitting here talking to a couple of hookers?

That's a vulgar way to refer to a woman. I never brought you up to talk like that.

Are you going to tell me that those are not hookers?

- Well, who are we to judge? - All right.

I don't want to put a crimp in your style, all right?

But it's been 10 years since I had to go home and tell a lie, so I'm gonna pass.

All right?

Vito.

Vito.

Can't you ever just have a good time?

Yeah.

Doesn't this beat cutting up cows on 14th Street?

Well, you know, we'll see.

(SINGING) What a day this has been

What a grand mood I'm in

Why it's almost like being

In love

(INDISTINCT SHOUTING)

JESSIE: Touch football. Look at them.

Like a pack of kids playing soldiers.

- ADAM: Did you ever play any sports? - Oh, yeah.

I ran the 100-yard dash with two cops behind me.

(ADAM LAUGHS)

Well, Vito thought he was an athlete, though.

I remember when I had to stop your father from signing up for high school football.

Before that, it was the Cub Scouts.

Football, fucking Cub Scouts. He had a lot of tendencies in that direction.

CHRISTINE: Sounds like your son wanted to be middle-class.

JESSIE: Aye, he still does.

- You'll see that when you meet his wife. - Stop it.

CHRISTINE: It's where all the action is.

I just hope the co-op market holds up for another three years.

You know, Christine, there must be hundreds of people out there

buying up insider's rights and then selling them on the open market. I mean...

You must be pretty good at it. How do you compete there?

Huh?

Well...

- You gotta have a gimmick. - Yeah?

You do?

(ADAM CHUCKLES)

CHRISTINE: I have this friend named Gertrude.

And she works at Sloan Kettering Hospital in admissions.

And every time there's a new patient

with one of the cancers that nothing can be done for,

if they live in Manhattan, I check it out.

Now, while these people live in buildings that have gone co-op

and they haven't bought...

You can buy occupied apartments at insider prices in those buildings.

But the problem is, the tenant's likely to stay there for 20 years, right?

Yeah. Right.

Well...

Gertrude and I snap up an apartment that'll be vacant in six months.

At which point we double our investment.

We are sitting on seven prime Manhattan apartments

and every tenant terminal.

If I were you and Gertrude, I would sincerely hope

that God does not have a sense of humor.

Well...

The apartment would just revert back to the original building owner.

What's the difference who turns the profit?

The difference is,

you're mucking around in other people's misery.

When you rob someone, legally,

without risk, without sticking your neck out,

that's immoral.

Where did you find this fucking parasite?

Parasite?

Yeah, it's, um...

It's like a leech.

Did you hear that, Adam? Your grandfather feels

that breaking the law would make Christine here more moral.

It would. Like most people, Elaine,

you confuse what's moral with what's legal.

No, Jesse. Like most people, I recognize that in a reasonably just society...

Oh, a reasonably just society? Well, you tell me when you find one.

What about it? Do you agree with your paternal grandfather

that legality means nothing, which, of course, means

that you can go blithely through life doing just as you please.

My paternal grandfather?

Yeah, he's the defendant in this case.

You still haven't answered, Adam. He's your guest.

Well, I came here to eat.

Come on, hey. More meat.

- You want to make a fight out of this? - I don't get it, Vito.

You should've given me more support.

No, you don't come on like a parent with Adam's idol sitting at the table.

Why are you such a dishrag with Adam?

We try to show him what Christine really is,

and Jessie does it in two minutes.

- Fine. - You see how he looks up to Jessie?

You better than anyone should know how destructive that can be.

Take a stand, Vito.

What do you think Adam's gonna do with himself?

Look, it'll break my heart if that kid

doesn't go back to college and get his Masters.

- So tell him. - Tell him what? He's 23 years old, Elaine!

It used to be, "He's 15 years old, Elaine!"

MAN OVER PA: Attention, shoppers,

socket wrench sets are on sale in aisle 26.

These are 55-piece sets, complete with ratchet and carrying case.

Pop, you sure all this stuff isn't overkill? I have a key card.

Wait. Do you know what you're gonna find when you go in there?

Whatever we find inside, just leave it to your old man to get us through. Okay?

- Hey, Vito. - Yeah?

Tell him the Peewee Grogan story.

Oh, please, we can do without the Peewee Grogan story, all right?

(CHUCKLING) Your father was 17 or 18.

Peewee was a couple years older.

He was a tough little thief from 9th Avenue.

Couple of inches shorter and the kid would have wound up in the circus.

Used to say that in a street fight he could hit you

with an overhand left to the balls.

Well, the three of us went after a load of French perfume

that was sitting in a warehouse out in Bush...

VITO AND JESSIE: Bush terminal.

- JESSIE: Right. - VITO: Yeah.

(CHUCKLES) We stripped Peewee naked.

We smeared them from head to foot with Vaseline.

Now, this kid squeezed through 25 feet of air conditioning duct.

And when he opened the door for us, he was dripping blood.

Hundreds of little gashes where he'd ripped himself to shreds

on the heads of the nails going through.

- Vito? That dwarf had heart. - Yeah? Yeah, that he did.

- We worked for six hours... - No, no. Five and a half.

- Six. - Five and a half.

On an inside steel door...

with $25,000 of French perfume on the other side.

We took turns with a sledgehammer.

We battered it. We hammered it. We tried everything.

We even tried to cry our way through.

- Hey, Vito, am I exaggerating? - Just finish the story, Pop.

Finally, Peewee knelt down and prayed.

He swore this was gonna be his last burglary

if only God would let us open that fucking door.

You see, what the job called for was a three-foot pry bar.

Your old man hadn't brought one.

Mm?

So, we left empty-handed.

Peewee left a pint of blood behind.

And Vito swore he'd never go on another job...

under equipped.

I think your grandpa's moral's to be prepared, like in the Boy Scouts.

But what he's forgetting to tell you is that it was him

that should have remembered to bring the three-foot pry bar.

Bullshit. The tools were your end.

The tools were my end? I beg to differ.

ADAM: Whatever, whatever happened to Peewee Grogan?

Peewee?

- He wound up doing 15 to 30... - 15 to 30.

...as an habitual.

And that's tough time for a guy... four-foot-two.

You're really an asshole sometimes, you know?

You really are a fucking asshole.

MAN ON RADIO: ...And now to change the mood a little bit.

Hey, what would you do for sex if I were gone for a couple of years?

- You plan on joining the Navy? - No, it's a hypothetical question.

Suppose, God forbid, I got put in prison for two, three years...

what will you do for sex?

Mm?

- I hadn't really thought about it, Vito. - Yeah, well.

But now that you mention it, there is this one big, good-looking kid

works the vegetable counter in Grand Union.

- He's crazy about me. - Oh, yeah?

You've been overreaching on your tax evasion schemes?

I'll bet the vegetable kid at Grand Union doesn't really love you.

I'm not gonna start moralizing over you robbing Uncle Sam

for undeclared cash, Vito.

Oh, I was just talking.

But don't go so far they really lock you up.

We're not as tough as we used to be.

I waited 27 months to marry you, Vito.

I rode on a bus six hours every Saturday and never missed a visit.

We were a couple of kids then.

But I couldn't take it if you went away now.

Besides, how would you be able to face Adam?

JESSIE: (SINGING) I want some red roses

For a blue lady

Send them to the sweetest girl in town...

All right, all right, all right.

Everything's the same. One security guard.

I told you this was gonna be a snap.

- Yeah? He's armed? - Yeah.

Yeah, his holster was on the back of the chair there,

and he's sitting there watching TV with his shoes off.

The guy had a gun?

Yeah. What'd you expect?

I didn't really think about it.

Oh, well...

- welcome to the real world. - Relax.

He's got one, we'll have three.

Two. He doesn't, he doesn't carry a gun in there.

- I don't want anybody carrying a gun. - Wait, what do you think?

They going to mail us the, what you call them, the plasmids?

You don't want to do this thing, say so.

Vito, you're doing what you always do.

You're treating him like a kid.

Adams should go in there packing.

He's never done it, Jessie. He does not carry.

- We vote! - We don't vote. He doesn't carry.

If Adam carries, I walk.

Close the lid.

(WHISPERING) Wait. Didn't you bring any gloves?

(WHISPERING) No.

Put that on. Come on, come on, come on.

Say when.

(DIGITAL BEEP)

- Fine. - Okay.

Come on.

You guys sit tight. I'll check out the guard.

Pull this. I can't see.

Gimme that.

Ow!

Ow!

This is why I hated putting on your snowsuit.

Okay, okay.

(INDISTINCT SPORTS COMMENTARY PLAYING ON TV)

(IN NORMAL TONE) I was on much tougher scores than this at your age.

And all I saw out of them was a ham sandwich.

You're starting at the top.

That's America. Every generation does a little bit better.

(SPORTS COMMENTARY CONTINUES INDISTINCTLY)

- What if he's out making rounds? - He's snoozing somewhere.

The work ethic in America is dead and buried.

- Let's do it. - Yeah.

(COMMENTARY CONTINUES PLAYING)

Freeze!

Where the hell is he?

He could be off taking a leak or making rounds.

Then we sit tight and wait for him.

(SIGHS)

Did you close the hall doors?

- I think so. - No.

You can't think so. You're sure you did, or you're sure you didn't.

- Or you don't know. - I don't know.

If the guard sees an open door, it's all over.

I'll take this corridor. You take that one.

Adam, you stay here in case he's on his way back with a six pack or something.

Wait. What does he do if the guard walks in?

So, let him take a piece.

No.

- You got a say in this too. - No, he doesn't.

- Move and I'll kill you. - Come here.

Put your hands together.

JESSIE: I'm marking your outline on the floor with a piece of chalk.

Now when we get back, any part of you outside that line

gets shot away. You follow?

(GUARD GRUNTS)

(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEEP)

(MACHINE HUMMING AND RATTLING)

- I hope he knows where he's going. - It's his show.

(MACHINE WHIRRING)

Did we bust into the wrong place for Chrissakes?

- He knows what he's doing. - Yeah?

(DOOR OPENS)

(DIGITAL CLICKS)

ADAM: This is it.

We're taking too long.

This is odd.

What?

I'd like to get the hell out of here.

Pop?

That's the whole show?

Unless you want to tell us the Peewee Grogan story again.

(ALL LAUGHING)

VITO: I told you it's a snap.

(BEEP)

Go!

ADAM: What about the guard?

JESSIE: The longer he thinks we're here, the better.

(SPORTS COMMENTARY CONTINUES PLAYING ON TV)

No, Jessie! Wait, wait.

- (BEEP) - Go.

ADAM: Hey.

- Hey! Hey! - What?

Do either of you have the log book?

- No. - Shit!

We got the tubes!

They're paying us for the plasmids and the logbook.

You stay. I'll go back.

There's a whole stack of logbooks in that desk.

Easy, easy. You just tell me which one.

I'm the gifted Westinghouse scholar. I'll get it.

- No, no, no, wait a minute. Adam! - Hey!

- Let's get these in the car. - I'll wait here.

Hey, we gotta be ready to roll when he gets out. Now, come on.

(BREATH TREMBLING)

(SLOW SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)

(BEEP)

(EXHILARATING INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)

You okay?

(SECURITY GUARD GRUNTS)

Okay. We'll be out in about half an hour.

(POLICE SIRENS APPROACHING)

Oh, God.

God.

Hey!

You can't do anything out there.

Just be ready to gun this fucking thing if the kid makes it.

If?

- (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) - (SIRENS APPROACHING)

POLICE OFFICER: Freeze!

OFFICER: Who's with you?

There's two of them. They're still in the building.

Move out, Vito.

No lights.

Glide.

- Stop. - (TIRES SCREECH)

Let's go, Vito. Drive.

ELAINE: Vito?

VITO: Yeah.

ELAINE: What time is it?

Uh...

About... about three.

- How'd you do? - I lost about 60 bucks.

I tried getting Adam earlier.

Oh, yeah? What for?

I was thinking. The other day at dinner, I came down on him a little too hard.

I want to tell him that.

I'll try getting him again tomorrow.

He, uh...

He didn't tell you? He went up to Cambridge...

for a few days. He wanted to see some college friends.

ELAINE: Oh! That's a glimmer of hope.

Yeah. Yeah. Well...

ELAINE: I know you don't want to hear this,

but Adam leaving school isn't the end of the world.

He's still growing up.

And you know what? He'll outgrow Jessie, too.

He'll see through him.

He's your son, Vito.

You'll see.

Am I wrong?

(CLICKS TONGUE) Well...

No, uh...

I'm sure you're right.

You're depressed. You lost more than 60 bucks.

Yeah.

Look, I got a boy just about your age.

What are you, 20? 21?

My name is Adam McQuade. I'm homeless. I'm waiting for my lawyer to get here.

Your buddies left you there.

My name is Adam McQuade.

When you've been up in Attica 10 years, surrounded by psychotics,

you're going to wish you'd taken a little fatherly advice.

(SNEEZES)

- Shit. - Hey, you're nervous. I'll drive.

Well, it's going to be expensive.

We are not rich people.

Your attorney should have recommended a lawyer more suited to your pocketbook.

- No one's crying poverty here. - All I'm saying is this is family money.

Money I managed to squirrel away after 50 years hard work.

Excuse me. You saw Adam.

Can we drop the subject of money and hear how he is for one minute?

No, we can't. I bill for time.

Mine, the lawyers on my staff, a couple of paralegals.

My office time is $150 an hour.

My court time, and no one but me will ever be in the courtroom,

is $1,500 per day.

Fifteen hundred?

That's where my talent runs rampant and I charge accordingly.

Would you sit down, please?

Depending on whether we strike a deal or go to trial,

you're looking at a low of $20,000

and it could run nicely to $75,000.

Exclusive of appeals.

Now, if we're into a trial that looks hopeless,

we'll be waiting for a guilty verdict

and orchestrating everything toward an appeal.

A real possibility, I might add.

A guilty verdict is a real possibility?

That's why there's no bail.

Running at the scene?

He also refuses to divulge the name of his partners.

The judge won't be lenient.

I must say, for a middle-class boy, your son's values seem a bit misdirected.

My grandson's not middle-class and never has been.

All right.

The DA is anxious as hell to strike a deal. That's a positive.

Plus, the company isn't screaming for blood, which is unusual.

Why aren't they screaming for blood?

They don't want to put Adam on the cross.

The bottom line is that if Adam will deliver his partners and the plasmids,

they're talking minimum jail time. Maybe six months.

Mind you, that's for openers.

They'll go for zero jail time at the drop of a hat.

- I see. - They want to make a rat out of him.

Hey, mister, he's your grandson.

I was talking to him.

I can hear it.

Please. What if Adam holds out, gives no one up,

won't say where the plasmids are.

They'll crucify him.

You can't stand in front of a judge and a district attorney

in the United States of America and say, "Fuck you."

They won't tolerate it.

What does crucify mean?

By the time they finish stacking up burglary one charges,

assaulting the guards, et cetera...

you're looking at two 14-year sentences.

Consecutive. Which the judge is free to do.

I would appeal the consecutiveness on the grounds

that both charges stem from the same crime.

But I wouldn't hold my breath until it's overturned.

If your son...

and your grandson, Mr. McMullen,

behaves perfectly,

tutors his fellow cons with remedial reading problems,

he could be out in 15 years.

A bit shy of his 40th birthday.

We need a few minutes. Come on.

Fifteen years. Did you hear what she said?

We take the logbook and the plasmids, Jessie, and we turn ourselves in.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

We take this step by step.

Fuck that. I've been through that step by step.

-It means looking out -Step by step!

for Jessie McMullen first.

That's my kid in there! Man!

Adam can manage 48 hours in a suburban jail.

Adam will not spend one more fucking hour in any fucking jail!

Didn't you hear her? You don't fucking listen to nothing.

You are not listening to me!

- (SHUSHES) - Listen to me!

- You don't fucking listen to what I say. - (GRUNTS)

(MUMBLES)

Hey.

- What? - Hey.

(SWALLOWS)

Adam's my grandson.

Yeah.

- Would I hurt him? - I don't know. Would you, Jessie?

- I'll tell you what. - What?

- Hold still. - I cut myself shaving.

- You go visit him. - Okay.

I'll settle up with this fucking shyster.

No, no, no, I'll settle with the fucking shyster.

I'll settle with that fucker. Don't you worry.

Excuse me. Excuse me.

Excuse me.

Hey, did you see a white Caddy here? A white Fleetwood?

MAN: Yeah, some old guy just drove it out.

- Where do you get a taxi around here? - Not around here.

I need a fucking taxi. Get me a fucking taxi.

Taxi!

- How are you doing? - I'm okay.

- Are you sure? - Yeah.

If things don't improve, Adam,

your father will want us to turn ourselves in with the stuff.

That's bullshit.

It means you walk.

Yeah, the lawyer gave me that, that...

15 years in prison spiel, too. She's just pumping her fee up.

I won't do more than a year, tops.

I can do that.

You did it. Dad did it.

He just doesn't have the confidence in me to do it.

Don't kid yourself it's gonna be easy.

Somebody once told me it builds character.

Like a hitch in the army.

You still have the plasmids?

Yeah. On ice.

- And the logbook? - Yeah.

Well, then Jimmy Chiu will still pay us the million bucks.

We spend $100,000 on my defense

and we still get to keep $300,000 apiece.

You're a McMullen.

- (INDISTINCT CHATTER ON RADIO) - (TELEPHONE RINGING)

Adam McMullen.

- You his lawyer? - I'm his father.

One visitor a day. He's already had one.

Who?

Jessie McMullen.

Jessie!

Jessie!

Jessie, if you're in there, open the fucking door!

(DOORBELL BUZZING)

Oh!

Is he here? Huh? Is that son of a bitch here? Don't lie to me.

You're gonna foot the bill for that useless chain.

Is he here?

You're an emotional bunch, you McMullens.

I didn't mean to do that.

You could've just asked to come in.

What the hell is wrong with your family?

What's wrong with my family is my lunatic father.

(MARGIE CHUCKLES)

Here.

(SCOFFS)

You don't seem surprised to see me.

- Well, I try to take life as it comes. - Yeah?

(CHUCKLES)

What are you supposed to tell me?

He tell you I might show up?

- Huh? - Yeah.

He tell you what for?

- He tell you what for? - He said you had a falling out.

"A falling out?" That fuck calls this "a falling out?"

I take it he understated the case.

What are you supposed to tell me?

- That he's out of town, which he is. - Yeah. Yeah.

That what you're looking for isn't here.

- Which it isn't. - Yeah.

And it's not at his place.

He said you'd be smart enough to know that without asking.

- What the hell are you looking for, Vito? - Don't worry about it.

What do you mean, what am I looking for?

Do you think it would be like your father to tell me?

All right. Jessie, and me,

and Adam did a fancy burglary.

We got some goods worth a ton of money, Adam got dropped coming out, right?

My son, Jessie's grandson,

is now sitting up in Nassau County, looking at 15 years behind...

behind bars. Fifteen, fifteen years in a cage.

If the goods are returned...

and, uh... me and Jessie...

turn ourselves in, Adam walks.

But while my back was turned,

Jessie made off with the goods.

- I don't believe you. - Well...

You know, I've been around thieves. That's how I came up on your father.

I dated a lot of guys, married one of the better counterfeiters

on the East Coast. I know the score, okay? I'm a knockaround girl.

You and Jessie wanna rob? Go right ahead.

But how the hell could you take Adam along?

I went along to, to...

to look out for him.

Oh, bullshit.

You enjoyed every minute of it. All you guys do.

Why not turn yourself in?

Without the goods, it's useless.

(VITO EXHALES)

(SOFTLY) Here.

Jesus, thank you.

Why don't you just tell Jessie that I, you know, I smacked you around, okay?

I'll tell him to go cut his fucking wrists.

Get that kid out of jail, Vito. I can take care of myself.

I'm trying.

(TELEPHONE RINGING)

- I'll get it. - Hello?

Just a moment.

It's for you. It's a woman.

Hello?

You start playing straight with me

or your son's gonna rot in jail.

- What? - Water.

You gave me eight vials of tap water.

What are you saying, huh?

I said you gave me eight vials of tap water.

What's wrong? Who was that?

It's, uh...

It's about Adam.

- God. - No, no, he's not hurt. He's uh...

He's been arrested.

A burglary...

upstate. It's...

- A burglary? - Well, it's pretty serious.

How did Adam get...

What is Adam doing involved in a burglary?

- Uh... - How did he...

Jessie was involved in it.

Jessie?

I'm gonna kill him.

I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch, Vito.

I was part of it, too.

I went along to look out for Adam.

He would have gone anyway.

So I went along to look out for him. See?

- What are you telling me? - It was the three of us.

The three of us.

Me and Jessie and Adam. And... Adam got caught.

- Well, where's Jessie now? - I don't know.

(SIGHS) Well...

You turn him in.

Yeah.

- What? - And yourself, too.

And, uh...

you explain to the judge how a boy like Adam couldn't resist...

following his father and his grandfather into this madness.

You get my son out of jail, Vito.

Or I'll turn you and your stinking father over to the police.

(SINGING) There was a wild colonial boy

Jack Duggan was his name

He was born and raised in Ireland

In a place called...

Where you going, huh? Where you going, huh?

- Come on. I want the plasmids. - What are you talking about?

You switched them. I want the fucking plasmids.

What you got in there? Water, man!

- You gave me fucking water. - None of your business!

What you got in there?

- Give me! Open the fucking box! - (JESSIE LAUGHS)

Open the fucking box!

Give it to me! Don't make me do something!

Don't you understand? I don't have the fucking plasmids.

Welcome home, Vito.

Here.

You switched them, Jessie. I know you did.

You didn't get as far from Hell's Kitchen as you thought, did you?

All right. Where are they?

- I'm telling you the truth, you fool. - You never told me the truth.

- Well, I am now. - You spout your whole life about family

- and loyalty, it's all crap. - Stop whining about your childhood.

You fed me crap all your life!

You sound like every asshole on the television talk show.

You're 43 years old, for Chrissakes! Here!

He was fine till you guys, you got ahold of him.

- Fine? - Right. I would've been fine to fine too.

Fine. That poor kid doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground.

And it's no wonder, the kind of fucking father you've been.

- The kind of father I've been? - Yes!

The kind of father I've been?

What is this? Some kind of fucking joke?

You're all ass-backwards with that kid.

Tiptoeing around, hoping he's gonna pat you on the fucking head.

That's right. The kid that I steered into being a Westinghouse Scholar.

You spend your life talking Westinghouse Scholar.

- Now, what's the matter with that? - It's all bullshit.

And Adam knows it better than any of us.

Now, why do you think he set this whole thing up?

Because he can smell the real Vito. That's why.

- Smell what? - This, Vito.

This Veto. That's the real Vito.

That's the one he wants respect from.

Do you understand?

No one at home.

You're a fucking lost cause.

And look at the mess you've made.

I'm gonna give you up.

Hear what I said?

- I'm gonna give you up. - JESSIE: Up yours.

JESSIE: Fucking guinea midget.

Water.

(HUMS)

What the hell?

I am Adam McMullen's granddad.

Huh?

So, the company's put you back on the payroll.

At first I couldn't figure why they weren't screaming louder.

- I'm going to call security. - Look.

I've got the logbook and the tubes of water.

You want we go public? Hmm?

And it was water we took out of your lab.

Tell me. What was it?

An insurance scam?

Huh?

No?

Well, you got one big piece of luck in all this.

What's that?

That I can be bought.

Why don't you tell me the story, Wong?

- The name's Jimmy. - Jimmy.

It's not about insurance.

- No? - We've been promising

this new discovery for almost a year.

We dug a hole for ourselves.

Goddamn thing always looked a week away.

Never worked.

It's a tough game, science, isn't it?

We've just gone public with an $80 million offering.

Financial community has valued this company based on this new discovery.

And your burglary buys us six more months development time.

So long as the logbook and the plasmids are never ever recovered. Mm?

That's what you had in mind in the first place, wasn't it?

JESSIE: (SINGING) Oh, Marie, oh, Marie

You'll be late for your date with Izzy

And from this confusion

Police. Freeze.

Keep your hands over your head.

- Cut that crap out. - Hi, Charlie.

It's been a long time. What's the beef here?

- Hey, where are you going? - It's all legal.

What's he got there?

(DOOR OPENS)

Vito ratted you out, Jessie.

I didn't think he'd do it.

Does the state have anything to add to the pre-sentence report?

- No, Your Honor. - Counselor?

No, sir.

Would the young Mr. McMullen like to say something on his own behalf?

No, Your Honor, I would like to say something on my grandfather's behalf.

Go ahead.

My grandfather has always tried to take care of me.

I know that he didn't cooperate with the police here.

But that's because I didn't want him to.

He's always respected my wishes.

He's always respected who I am.

And whatever is written in those reports, can't show it...

My grandpa loves me.

He always has.

And I love him.

This whole thing, Your Honor, it wasn't his idea.

It was mine.

Duly noted. Counselor?

I've known Jessie McMullen for 35 years.

And how many of the arrests in McMullen's career have you represented him?

More than a few, Your Honor.

Jessie McMullen is a man in his 60s.

Any sentence other than a token

would really be a life sentence, Your Honor.

To give him five or ten years in prison

is not a five or a ten-year sentence.

It's a sentence of life imprisonment.

Vito McMullen.

Were it not for the fact that you finally showed some decency

by turning in your father as well as yourself,

I would have put you away for five years.

You're a sorry excuse for a parent.

Three years of supervised probation.

Adam McMullen.

The company's intervention on your behalf would count for very little with me.

It does seem, however, to count with the prosecution,

and I am going to go along reluctantly with the plea bargain arrangement.

Being guilty of a Class A misdemeanor,

you are sentenced to five years of supervised probation.

Reading these background reports helped convince me

there were mitigating circumstances.

Jessie McMullen.

I have by far devoted most of my thinking

to how the court should treat Jessie McMullen.

If there is a culprit in this case, you certainly fit the bill.

You've never seen fit to produce the stolen plasmids or the logbook.

Among other things, you've held up the development

of an important new scientific discovery from six months to a year.

But as your lawyer points out, you aren't a young man.

It's not an easy matter to decide

upon an appropriate sentence for someone of your years.

I've had to think this out carefully.

For armed robbery, 15 years.

Burglary in the first degree, ten years. Sentences to run concurrently.

Grandpa.

Hey.

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

Yeah?

RAY: Jessie.

Ray.

Hey, you baldheaded prick.

Don't you ever get caught on the take

because if you end up in any joint I'm in,

you'll leave feet first.

(DOOR CLOSES)

You come by every month or so, you hear?

When do they ship you out?

Today. Tomorrow.

- I'll come every two weeks. - Every month is fine.

Gonna be tough.

Uh... For me? No.

You pick out a tough guy,

kick his ass right away, give him a real good beating.

Word gets around, and it makes your time easier.

- They don't put you in solitary? - No, nobody wants trouble.

So you do it out of sight, no one asks questions.

The story is, he fell.

I'll see you in a month.

(DOOR SLAMS SHUT)

I hear your kid fucked you over. Tough way to start your time, Pop.

Now, why would he give a shit

whether I start my time tough or easy?

Hey, no big deal, Pop.

I mean, we all got some long bits to do, you know,

and a little chitchat

and time's half over before you know it.

That's the second time you've called me "Pop."

I got around a lot when I was young,

but I doubt if I'm your father. But who knows though?

You carry a picture of your mother? Maybe I'll remember her.

I must have fucked half the whores on the East Coast.

- Fuck! - (GRUNTS)

(GRUNTING)

- What happened? - He fell.

(INSTRUMENTAL CHRISTMAS MUSIC PLAYING)

Mom and Dad ask about you all the time, Adam. You ought to call them.

I guess you visit your grandfather a lot, huh?

Yeah, every three or four weeks.

He's not doing so well.

I wouldn't worry about Jessie, Adam. He's a real survivor.

You know, Adam, it's been six months.

Your father loves you, Adam.

Mom, I told you, I don't want to hear about him.

I mean this. The next time you bring up his name

will be the last time that you ever hear from me.

- I'll call you next week. - Okay, sweetheart.

Adam.

Listen. God forbid one of us should get hit by a truck tomorrow, you know.

Let's not let it happen while we're still mad at each other.

You turned out to be...

a piece of garbage.

Adam. Adam, what is your gripe? What the fuck is your gripe?

- Gripe? - Yeah.

Is that what it is? You turned in your own father.

- I turned my... - Your father for Christ's sake.

I turned myself in too. I turned us both in for you, Adam.

Stop it. Stop doing things for me.

What did I do that was so terrible?

That I tried to give you a better childhood than I ever had.

Don't give me the terrible childhood crap.

Oh!

You had a lot more fun as a kid than I ever did.

Jessie was fun, for Christ's sake.

He showed a lot more confidence in you as a kid than you ever did in me.

He showed more respect for you, as a person,

than you ever did for me.

- Come on. - Get off.

(BELL RINGING IN DISTANCE)

(GASPS)

Jessie. Hi.

Adam.

Still got a grip of steel, huh?

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

You tell me I'm looking good, I'll pop you on the nose.

I screwed him okay.

- Who, Jessie? - I'm not even gonna do a year.

That bald-headed prick.

How are you doing?

I'm keeping out of trouble.

Well...

Sounds as bad as doing time.

Oh!

You're a prince.

I'm sorry about the way things turned out, Jessie.

Hey.

You play the cards you're dealt.

I was damn lucky.

Could have put me away for 10 years.

- Jessie? - Huh?

- Who got my charges reduced? - Charges?

Me.

I managed to squeeze a few lousy bucks out of your Chinaman friend too.

I spent it on him.

Every nickel.

I thought about splitting it with you, Adam.

I really did.

Then I thought, if I'm going to do the time,

well, I have a little vigorish coming to me.

So...

I figured the best thing was...

just not to mention it.

- Even Vito couldn't argue with that. - Vito.

Vito. A lost cause.

From the beginning, a lost cause.

Adam, you're your own man now.

Huh?

- Well, I'm out from under Vito. - Good.

You think you can get out from under me?

No, Mom. I don't want to talk to him.

No. Just tell him that...

that Jessie is dying.

They're moving him from the infirmary into the prison hospital.

Yeah, just tell him. Okay. Bye.

I'm looking, uh...

Hi, I'm looking for Jessie McMullen.

They just wheeled him out of here.

- Which way? - Won't do you no good.

Which way?

Go back the way you came, take the elevator to the sub-basement.

Basement? To the basement?

Hey! Wait!

Is that Jessie McMullen?

Hey! Wait! Wait! Don't shut the door.

(SOBS)

(DOORBELL RINGS)

- Hi, Ma. - Hello.

- So? - So? It's so big I can't find anything.

- Hi, Papa. - Hi, Rose.

- Oh! Thank you, Vito. - My first time in your new house.

I'm sorry about your father, Vito.

Hey, who we got here?

Hiya, Nat.

It's all right, don't get up.

(MEN SPEAKING HEBREW)

After 25 years, the shegetz knows two Jewish words.

Well, yeah. Here, let me help you.

(SPEAKING HEBREW)

Time to let the angel in.

The Angel won't have to squeeze in under the chain.

(BOTH LAUGH)

NAT: I knew that was coming. Your material is getting stale.

- Oh, Gottenyu, look who's here. - Grandma.

I've been outside a half an hour waiting for you to open the door for Elijah.

- Adam. - Ma.

- L'chaim. - L'chaim.

Anyway, they were thrilled that you stopped by to see them.

Yeah, well, no reason to take our problems out on them, huh?

Wait a minute, you gonna wait for your mother to come down?

(SIGHS) She'll be saying goodbye for 20 minutes.

Well.

Plus, we'll just get in the same old argument again.

What's the same old argument?

That everything you did, you did for me.

Pop.

If you hated the meat business so much for 20 years...

then I'm sorry, but stop blaming me.

You did it to yourself.

What's the most fun you've had since you were a kid?

- What's the most fun I've had? - Yeah. Since you were a kid.

Right.

The caper.

- The caper? The caper. - Yeah. Yeah.

Me too.

Oh, boy!

We are some family.

You know, the only time the three of us ever had a drink together

was when we were planning that robbery?

(SIGHS) We are some family.

I brought back his ashes, Pop.

I thought that maybe the two of us ought to bury him together.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You have any idea what we ought to do with them?

Yes, I do.

What are you gonna do with yourself now, Adam?

What do you want to do with your life?

It's the first time you ever asked me that.

- First time? - Yeah.

All right, I'll ask you a second time. What do you want to do with your life now?

ADAM: Well, now that you ask me, I don't know.

VITO: We lived in this building where my mother died.

Right on that corner there, Jessie pushed me into my first fight.

(CHUCKLES)

ADAM: It's his neighborhood, okay.

Okay. Now, lift.

(STRAINING) You've got to be kidding.

Where do you want this keg?

All the way up. This is an open-air service.

Here we go. All right.

I thought I told you guys to get light beer.

If I'd have known this was a roof job, I would have went for wristwatches.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

I know! I know the church approves of cremation,

but the church also approves of playing the guitar at the Mass these days.

Vito, over the side with him.

MAN 1: Folks, hold it down. Jessie's going.

Quiet!

- WOMAN: Goodbye, Jessie. - MAN 2: See you on the other side, Jessie.

(CONGREGATION BIDDING FAREWELL)

MAN 3: Bye!

I'm sorry, Adam.

ADAM: For what?

Just sorry.

Well, me too.

I'm sorry, too.

MAN: (SINGING) Oh, Danny boy

ALL: (SINGING) The pipes The pipes are calling

From glen to glen

And down the mountainside

The summer's gone

And all those roses falling

It's you, it's you

Most go and I must bide

But come ye back

When summer's in the meadow

For when the valley's hushed

And white with snow

Yes, I'll be here...

You know the words to this song?

I think I heard it once before.

...or in shadow

Oh, Danny boy, oh, Danny boy

I love you

So

(UPBEAT BIG BAND MUSIC PLAYING)