Original subtitles

Wipe the grease off the sports page, dear boy.

You have a new client. Page eight.

Name's Freddy Grimshaw. Hometown hero returns to win his final race.

Put the smart money steady. He won't reach the finish line.

Gabe, please.

Gabe, you're going to have to start getting your stuff

ready in the morning. I can't do everything.

What have you been doing all morning anyway?

Okay, mom and dad, are they in heaven?

Is that what you're asking?

Sure, of course they are.

Hey, Fritz, why'd you wait so long to come back home? Too good for us?

Nah, I just wanted to come back a winner.

You only ever lost enough to keep the bookies betting on you.

Now you haven't lost a race in a year. People are starting to say you're unbeatable.

I do my best. You think your brother could have

beaten you if he hadn't bought the farm?

You watch your mouth. My brother was the greatest rider that ever lived.

Everything I am, I am because of him. Give her a rubdown, Hank.

Keep those reporters out of here.

Not in the mood for any more questions.

I'm not a reporter, Mr. Grimshaw. I'm here about your deal.

What deal? I make a lot of deals.

Not like this one.

You can't run away from this, Mr. Grimshaw.

You got the wrong guy. The only running I plan to

do is day after tomorrow when I win the derby.

I'm not here to collect. I'm here to offer you a chance at redemption.

Redemption? If you work with me, we've got a shot

at saving your soul. If we do, you walk away.

How much do you know about me, Mr...

Pim.

Morgan Pim. Only what I've read online.

I know you've never run the Derby before.

You've never even been back here since you made your deal.

Is that because of what happened to your brother?

Mick won the Derby eight times.

He won all the big races.

But he always came back here for the Derby because it was home.

He made a ton of dough, bought his wife furs, cars, a whole stable of horses.

Me, I was, uh... Well, I was loose ends back then.

So he hired me on as a groom.

I was more than that, though.

He let me do stuff the trainer's supposed to do.

He trusted me. My little brother's one of the greats.

And the ninth time he ran the derby, he went down and always blew.

His favorite horse.

And you stepped in to take his place.

Yeah.

One of the great miracles of the racing world. Freddie Grimshaw. Too tall,

too heavy, hardly any experience.

Gets in the saddle, carries on the family name.

But it was no miracle you got so good all of a sudden. So what?

I did it for my brother.

For his legacy. And this is...

There's no way that I'm gonna burn for that. I don't need redemption.

Well-intentioned or not, there were still people who were harmed by your deal.

I didn't hurt anybody. What about the jockeys you've beaten?

They didn't stand a chance against you.

Hey, that's horse racing, pal.

You win, you cash. You lose, cry me a river.

If I gotta go out, I'm gonna go out as the best jock that ever was.

There's no way I'm gonna throw a race just to make it

up to a bunch of guys who don't know any different.

I don't want you to throw the race. I want you to forget about it and work with me.

As far as I'm concerned, winning is heaven, losing is hell.

And I plan on being in that winner's circle come Derby Day.

Me again? What are you doing? You know I've always had the hots for you.

Do you think I was just chasing after you for a newspaper story?

Using Jerry Slate's body is sick.

No, it's not her actual body. The worms have gotten to that one,

but it still has great boobs.

But I'm not a newspaper reporter this week.

I'm a bookie.

It's a great way to meet losers who'll do anything for that one big win. Plus,

I get a chance to set the odds on Freddy's last lap.

I don't care what role you want to play. Just use some other body.

Oh, I know what's bothering you. It's that God thing, isn't it?

Jerry Slate went to hell just for hearing about someone else's deal.

How can one person suffer eternally for the sins of another?

There is a reason why people like her end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

They have their own sins to answer for.

Jerry was just trying to do the right thing by trying

to expose someone she thought was a murderer. Me. Me.

Jerry was selfish. She put her obsession for you over her own son.

I want somebody to tell me the truth about you.

Mr. Pimp! Mr. Pimp!

If your obsessions are going to get you into trouble,

I'm afraid that you're gonna get hurt.

So sue me. What mother doesn't have trouble balancing work and family?

You are not Jerry Slate, and nothing you've

shown me justifies condemning her to hell.

Well, we'll have to discuss it later.

Your bimbo's here.

What's up?

You said I could use your computer?

Oh, yeah. Right.

Sue?

Where's the browser?

On the street.

So you're going to be taking some classes?

I actually have to take my GED first. I dropped out before I graduated.

Maybe you could help me with the math and science parts.

I was always better at poetry.

Yeah, I remember.

I have to get to work.

What?

It sold my soul to be unbeatable, and I can't even mount my own horse.

The deal's ending. You're losing your skill as a jockey.

I've been reading more about your brother,

about how his wife died a couple years after he did.

She was a lush...

The article also talks about his little girl, Ruby. So?

So the word is she ended up on the street. Did you know that?

I haven't seen the kid since she was a teenager.

We never did much talking. It's got nothing to do with me.

That horse.

Always blue.

Mick? Mick, it's me.

You did this! No. Don't give me that crap. That was Mick.

You were just talking about him. Your brother's

dead, Mr. Grimshaw. So that was a ghost?

There's no such thing as ghosts. When somebody dies,

their soul goes to heaven or to hell. There's

no hanging around. No, you saw him too.

The devil can create any illusion he wants,

including bodies that look just like the dead.

He's listening to us.

Watching us trying to distract you from seeking redemption.

I know you'd like to win, Mr. Grimshaw.

Don't give up on the race before it starts.

The devil's the only one with the horse. How am I supposed to cross the wire?

We need to focus on the only lead that we have.

Ruby.

Yeah.

Maybe I know Ruby.

I have no idea where she's at, though.

Maybe, you know, maybe I can ask around.

Huh?

You help me, I help you.

Well, you find Ruby and we'll talk.

This is a waste of time. I should be in the sweatbox getting ready for the derby.

We'll find her.

I'm going back to the track.

Your soul is more important than some race.

You don't even know if it's her.

You don't know anything.

Freddie.

Sorry about the mess. Redoing this place has become a long-term project.

I like it.

Never had my own place. I always had roommates before I moved in with Gabe.

Who's with him now? Rachel, my sister. She took him out for some pizza.

It's my first break in weeks. Well, you must

get out sometimes. You mean like dating?

I'm thinking of becoming a nun.

Well, I hear the food's good.

I've never worked that anyway.

Never?

My folks got divorced. My other sister, Sarah,

her marriage is like the hundred years of war. And then there's Jerry and Danny.

What about them?

Well, all Danny ever wanted was a son. And then it turned out Jerry wasn't fertile.

I mean, they finally had Gabe, but it cost them.

They were miserable for years before Gabe was born.

Well, love doesn't always make things worse. Doesn't matter.

Taking care of an autistic child is the best birth control device in the universe.

Ten minutes with Gabe and you guys will run like hell.

Oh, he's not that weird, is he?

Yeah.

I mean, not that there isn't more to him than that.

And sometimes I feel like there's so much in there that he can't express.

Like the other day, he did another one of his

angel drawings. Well, that's kind of sweet.

Yeah, but where did he get this angel thing from?

Jerry was an atheist, and I go to church Christmas and Easter maybe.

He's always asking questions about heaven and angels and things like that.

I don't know what to say.

Do you know anything about angels?

No.

Am I?

Hey.

Sorry I didn't know you had company.

Hello again.

Um, could we, uh... I have to ask you something.

Ask.

Do you know anybody named Ruby? Ruby?

No, why should I?

She's a... She's a junkie.

Oh.

She's a member of the club.

You know, it's too bad I skipped the last reunion.

I might have bumped into her at the heroin table.

Yeah, thanks anyway.

No, I'm not religious.

In fact, if I got any spirituality at all, it's from N.A.

I'm a junkie.

Recovering.

Supposedly.

Well, no shooting up in front of Gabe. He already watches too much TV.

I'm sure he'd overdo it on the heroin. Okay.

What do you want?

What do you want?

Mr. Grimshaw, what's going on?

God damn it, Hank. Where the hell were you?

You're supposed to make sure nobody touches

that horse. I've been here all night, boss.

Nobody's been in here.

Given up on your client already?

I can't make him seek salvation.

Phos, you're trying to save the world instead.

How many years have you been running this race?

I mean, it's good to have a hobby, but if you

want to cure somebody of AIDS, just ask me.

I did it for Maya.

I want a cure for everyone. A cure that you don't control.

Oh, so you think grinding up a few herbs back in the

dark ages qualifies you to work a medical miracle?

I have the kind of time no one else has. Why shouldn't I use it for good?

You should know by now that doing good in one place causes bad in the other,

as the late Miss Slate discovered.

Even if she neglected her son, she didn't deserve to go to hell for it.

That wasn't her only sin. For instance,

there was that abortion back when she was 18 years old.

Left her sterile, poor thing. A terrible botched

job. And I should know, I gave it to her.

It was all set up from the beginning,

just so her husband would make a deal to have a son.

She was holding the reins, baby.

Everyone's responsible for the fate of their own soul.

I can't take it anymore.

I gotta tell somebody.

McSport wasn't an accident.

The truth is, um...

All I ever heard about was Mick this, Mick that.

He's a rising star, and I'm on his payroll.

Nothing more to him than another stable hand.

How do you think that made me feel?

I was his older brother.

Every time that crowd cheered for him, it just pissed me off more.

He had everything.

Money, fame, a beautiful wife, all because he was born with the talent for riding.

Why should one man get a gift and another not?

And why should it be okay for him to get his gift from God,

but not for me to get mine from the devil?

So on the day of Mick's ninth shot at the Derby, I couldn't take it anymore.

I was bandaging Always Blue's fronts for the race,

but I was so angry that day that I wrapped the bandages too tight.

The bandages put too much pressure on the tendon, and he bowed.

That's why Always Blue went down during that race.

And that is why Mick got trampled.

Two days later, I made my deal, and I took over his career.

You figured after what I'd done, I was going to hell anyway.

It's good you're owning up to it, Freddy.

But it's got nothing to do with your redemption.

What?

No matter how you feel about Mick's death, it happened before you made your deal.

Whoever you owe amends to,

whoever got the balancing bad luck got hurt after the deal was made.

You still think it's Ruby?

I hardly know her. What could I have done to her

that could compare with killing my own brother?

There's nothing you can do about Mick.

You can't make amends to the dead.

I'm not so sure about that.

I saw Mick again last night.

It was like he was trying to steal the soul out of clear skies, man.

I think Mick wants payback.

I think he wants to stop me from winning the derby before I go to hell. Freddie,

what you saw is a devil's sick joke.

Mick is dead and buried.

Why, there is nothing I can do to deserve redemption.

Why do we let the living decide that?

Ruby called this morning.

She wants to meet.

After Daddy died, everything kind of went downhill, you know?

Mom sold the horses to that Manetti stable for, like, nothing.

Said she didn't ever want to see another horse.

And what money she did get for them, she spent fast,

trying to make herself feel better, you know, drinking, popping pills.

They say that's what killed her, but I think it was a broken heart.

Anyway, I was 18. I got a little money for more life insurance, but I blew it.

You know, like mother, like daughter, I guess.

I didn't know.

I should have known. I should have done something.

You did do something.

The one thing that always made me happy is following my Uncle Freddy's career.

I read about some big race you won. I think of Dad.

I like that you always dedicate your wins to him.

It makes me feel like there's at least one person out there doing the right thing.

That's why I want to talk to you, you know? Say thank you.

I know.

It's okay.

I'd only blow it.

Tell you what, you win the derby, I'll bet on you, and then we'll celebrate.

The only person that gives her any faith in

humanity is the guy who killed her father.

At least we know where my bad luck went. No.

This is a dead end. Makes death make Ruby's life worse.

But if anything, your deal, your success, has made her life better.

Are you saying I don't owe her an amends?

I'm saying we're gonna have to look elsewhere to save her soul.

Yeah, Hank, what's up?

Oh, my God.

I gotta go.

So how do I feel? I feel like a snake. I feel like

I'm trying to shed my skin, and it won't come off.

My sponsor has me doing step four, the fearless and searching moral inventory,

and there's a reason that nobody does it. Because it sucks.

Supposedly, the point is to let go of all the bad things that have happened to me,

but writing about them makes it feel like it happened yesterday.

What does that mean, let go?

Am I supposed to forgive my father for coming into my bedroom every night?

Am I supposed to forgive this guy that I know? Guy I'm in love with?

For never letting me get close.

Even though he says he wants me to.

What about me? I mean, I know I've done some bad things when I was blacked out,

but what about the stuff that I don't even remember?

What if I've done something that I can't forgive myself for?

It was always Blue, your brother's horse.

Every horse I've ever ridden was my brother's horse. What do you mean?

I sold my soul to be unbeatable,

and the devil delivered by making my brother's favorite horse unbeatable.

The devil made it look different for different races, so people wouldn't know.

The only horse I've ever ridden was this one.

The horse my brother died on.

Ten years.

Thousands of races.

I wrote him to death.

Don't you worry about your little horsey.

He'll be nice and toasty from here to eternity.

Are you saying Always Blue's going to hell? He never hurt anybody.

Smacked his lips while he ate his oats. Really bugged me. You!

This is just another distraction. Animals don't have souls.

Always Blue has a soul. I saw Mick trying to steal it. That was not Mick.

This is just another lie to try and stop you from making amends.

Stop with the false hope already. You think Cain got off easy for killing Abel?

This has wrath of God written all over it.

I got no reason to hope. I only have a little time left.

I gotta forget about the dead.

Pay attention to the living.

You've been in here all day,

and it says in my parental guardian handbook that a child, that's you,

needs at least two hours of exercise a day.

And exercising your fingers does not count. 50,000 what?

Penguins at the South Pole?

Freckles on that red-haired kid in your class? Hi, Tiger. Mommy's here.

Why are you counting?

What?

You still mad at me about that dying thing?

Is it TV?

Well, get over it, kid.

It's not all about you.

Number of commercials per hour?

Let's face it, Gabe, you're a freak. You drove Mommy away with all this weirdness.

Gabe.

I was glad to die just to get away from you.

Gabe, calm down. Gabe, please. Please, Gabe. Please.

I had to be here when they came for Clear Skies.

I'm sorry.

Yeah.

So I wanted to say goodbye.

You leaving town again?

Yeah.

It's gonna be a real long trip.

We won't see each other again.

I'm gonna give you this.

Same one your dad used.

Both brought home a lot of winners with that stick,

so maybe it'll be lucky for you two.

Thanks. I haven't been here since I was a kid.

Since that day.

I need to talk to you about that.

About that day. Uh...

It wasn't an accident, Rumi.

It was me.

I wrapped the bandages too tight and the horse bowed a tendon.

But you didn't do it on purpose.

I was jealous, Ruby.

I was angry at everything he was and I wasn't. And on that day, in my heart,

I hoped something bad would happen.

Look, I'm not looking for your forgiveness. I don't deserve it.

I just, I wanted you to know... Ruby, wait!

Hey, hey, hey, hey. Ruby. You told me you just wanted to say goodbye.

I couldn't die without telling her the truth.

She admired you. Believing in you was the only thing that made her happy.

What is that?

What are those screams? It's the sound of the souls in hell.

What?

Your puppet show wasn't fooling anybody.

Oh, now, now, don't be a know-it-all.

Just because souls don't come back after they die doesn't

mean I can't bring them back for a little visit.

No, I don't believe Mick's in hell.

Hey, he had his own sins to answer for.

Poor boy was actually about to make amends and

turn over a new leaf when you killed him.

This is a lie, Freddy. Just another lie.

Your brother's soul's been down in that brimstone barbecue for a decade,

Freddy boy. I thought you'd appreciate a chance

to get together and talk over old times.

Look, even if that was Mick, and he had gone to hell,

it still wouldn't have been your fault.

Mick was responsible for the fate of his own soul.

The murder was before your deal, Freddy. If you feel guilty about it,

save your soul first, and then confess to the police.

All right, let's say Freddy does save his soul, and I give the odds at, ooh,

50,000 to one. His reward will be to rot in jail for the rest of his life.

Nice. No wonder you Catholics are a dying breed.

I have a better offer with better odds. I'll give you a chance to save Mick's soul.

How could I do that?

A match race. Say, 5 a.m. tomorrow morning, to keep it private.

If you win, Mick's soul goes to heaven. If you

lose, I get your soul, too. What do you say?

Double or nothing? I say what you're really trying to do is carve

three hours off the time Freddy has left to find redemption.

Which means you think his odds are a lot better than 50,001.

Freddy doesn't care about the odds, because this is your only chance to save Mixol.

It's a deal.

Good.

Then it's settled.

Oh, except for that little confusion down at the glue factory.

Giddy up.

Thanks, guys.

This is a sucker's deal, Freddy. What do you want me to do? Find Ruby. Do what?

Lie? Take back the truth? You didn't confess to help her.

You wanted to ease your own conscience.

For all I know, that was the bad luck from your deal.

The harm I did Ruby was killing Mick.

Stop telling her about it.

Now I have a chance to take back what I did.

If I don't take it, I deserve to go to hell.

Hi, what's up? Dinner? You invited me?

Oh, Jesus, I forgot. Come in.

Oh, I haven't even started anything.

Anything wrong?

About two hours worth.

Gabe, please.

I'm really sorry. Maybe we should do this another time.

No, it's okay.

Having a bad day, huh?

I've had a few of those.

Maybe we could play together. You wanna show me how this works?

Gabe, don't be rude.

It's okay.

I have to go.

Sure, I understand. No, no, it's not that. It's just,

I just remembered something. I'll call you.

Where's Ruby?

I don't know.

She came back. She was all bugged out. She was real upset,

and she wouldn't say why, okay? A couple hours ago,

she snuck out when I was in the bathroom.

Do you know where she went? This is bad, man. This is really bad.

I mean, I've seen her down before, okay? But this time, I think she wants to die.

You gotta find her. Okay?

You gotta find her.

Ruby.

Do I know you?

We met a few years back, in a place just like this.

Yeah, well, you're looking to get well. All I got is for me.

A friend of mine is looking for you.

His name is Morgan Pym.

He already found me. I don't want to be found anymore.

So you can tell Zeke not to shoot his mouth off.

At least not for a couple more hours.

Then what happens?

Then there won't be anybody you find.

Now go away.

Look, I used to shoot up right here.

Off and on for four years.

Life can get different.

The only way my life gets different is when it gets worse. And I'm sick of it.

Too many ghosts.

Yeah.

Ghosts.

You know, sometimes I think that ghosts are really angels.

Or maybe they're things that we haven't dealt with yet. I don't know.

But I do know that this doesn't make them go away.

Maybe dying doesn't even make them go away. There's a place for people like us.

Maybe we can go together sometime.

It's a race to the finish line, boys.

Last one into hell is a rotten egg.

Give me a leg up, will you? Don't do it, Freddie.

Even if everything the devil said about me is true,

it isn't the devil's choice who goes to heaven.

It's God's.

Yeah?

You know, for a fact there's a God up there who'll take care of this?

I gotta give it a shot.

You never know. Long shots have been known to light up the board now and then.

One more time, go for me!

What's he doing working his horse like that with nobody around?

If he takes a spill... It's his last time around the track.

Before he leaves town?

Oh, no.

He's trying to kill himself? Is that what he wants?

To make up for it by dying the way my dad died?

Wow, those are two ponies on the go.

Haven't seen the likes of it since I made a deal with Seabiscuit.

Oh, don't be such a sore loser.

You have to at least appreciate the irony.

Freddy feeling guilty for the death of his

brother when he had nothing to do with it.

You did it.

You saved your soul.

What about Mick? What happened to Mick? It wasn't about Mick. It was about Ruby.

She saw how you were willing to die to make up for what you did.

Or didn't do.

Freddy, you may have wanted something bad to happen to Mick that day,

but you weren't the one who overtightened those bandages.

How do you know that?

I have it on the highest authority.

Ruby, what made you come down here?

I'm not sure.

Maybe I was lying to myself.

I didn't want it to be true what you said.

But even if it is, I don't want you to die.

You're the only family I've got.

I loved your father.

And I'm so ashamed. I'm ashamed that I wasn't there for you.

Please let me change that.

I gotta admit, kid, you got a thing for numbers.

Who knows?

Maybe someday you'll join the family business.