Mike...
Let's enjoy this vibe.
EILEEN MERRELL: I'm outta money.
What would you do if you were me?
A Lori Madison cameo is only gonna raise you so much money.
EILEEN: What you got in mind, Larry?
LARRY: The return of Candy Renee.
GENE GOLDMAN: Adult entertainment is no longer a growth industry in Midtown.
If you're supporting any of these undesirable elements,
we will be there for you.
TOMMY LONGO: In our business,
when you're wrong, you don't get to retire.
The fact is, me and you know things about each other.
So as long as we keep those to ourselves, we're good.
LORI MADISON: I don't have a family.
I don't have a man.
This is all I am.
-(INDISTINCT CREW CHATTER) -(MAN LAUGHS)
(CHATTER CONTINUES)
MAN: You got it?
Hey, kids.
So this is where the porn comes in. How you feeling?
BRYAN: Damn. (CHUCKLES) Um...
I didn't imagine it like this.
No? How'd you imagine it?
Some silly-ass porn, you know?
People fuckin' on clean sheets 'cause they wanna.
Happy shit like that.
That's not what this is.
Why don't we do the scene, but leave out the sex?
I mean, the real sex. We just pretend.
This is porn. I'm a pornographer.
I got some of my own money tangled up in this,
but, to tell you the truth, I got a lot of backers
that are gonna want to see some actual fucking on screen.
You okay?
CREW MEMBER: Can I get a roll of G-tape here? It's not sticking.
Talk to me, Jamie.
Okay. Well, when I signed up for this,
I thought I would be okay with doing a fuck film.
-EILEEN "CANDY" MERRELL: Uh-huh. -But, like Bryan said,
I thought it would be fun sex.
I didn't think that the script would get so dark.
-It's a tragedy. -Yeah, it is.
There's not a lot of tragedy in porn.
You guys like each other?
What?
Do you like each other as actors, as people?
You get along?
-Bryan's great. -Yeah, yeah, it's all good.
So, what happens in front of the camera is acting,
and it might even be great acting if you guys get there.
Or fuck it, we could bag this whole thing and go home.
That's cool too.
I'm sorry. I'm...
I'm done with, I don't know, trying to convince people
to do shit they don't wanna do on camera.
Some people are fine with anything. Some people ain't.
I'm...
Some people think they're fine,
and they're bullshitting themselves.
So, why don't you take a minute and consider?
And I will be fine with whatever you decide.
(JAMIE SIGHS)
(BRYAN SIGHS)
♪ ("DREAMING" BY BLONDIE PLAYING) ♪
♪ I don't want to live On charity ♪
♪ Pleasure's real Or is it fantasy? ♪
♪ Reel to reel Is living verité ♪
♪ People stop and stare at me ♪
♪ We just walk on by ♪
♪ We just keep on dreaming ♪
♪ Dream, dream Even for a little while ♪
♪ Dream, dream Filling up an idle hour ♪
♪ Fade away ♪
♪ Radiate ♪
♪ I sit by And watch the river flow ♪
♪ I sit by And watch the traffic go ♪
♪ Imagine something Of your very own ♪
♪ Something you can Have and hold ♪
♪ I build a road in gold ♪
♪ Just to have some dreaming ♪
♪ Dreaming is free ♪
-♪ Dreaming ♪ -♪ Dreaming ♪
♪ Dreaming is free ♪
Hey.
Hey, how you feeling?
Tired.
-Hey, how was work? -I'm learning.
Figuring out the mood swings of the director
and the head of the department.
Yeah, some of them creative types
got more personalities than Sibil.
(LAUGHS)
Hey, come here.
I, um...
I wanna talk to you about something.
It's not your favorite subject, but we should speak
on my arrangements, in case I start to lose my goddamn mind.
All right.
About five years ago, this cute young man
came knocking at my door selling insurance.
I don't mind telling you I bought a policy
'cause I liked the way he filled out his slacks.
(BOTH LAUGHING)
Didn't cost me but nine dollars a month,
and the upshot is, I own a term thing worth 15,000 dollars,
payable when I pass.
I wanna put you on as the beneficiary.
I want you to use that money to give me a proper burial,
not in some ghetto cemetery with hypos and forties on my grave.
Some place that gets the sunshine.
Okay.
And whatever's left over, you can keep.
It might help you out some.
I'll see if I can get you on the lease here, too,
so you don't have to move out.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
I have an idea.
(SNIFFLES)
What?
-Let's get married. -Oh, God, don't play with me.
I'm not.
Marry me, Rich. I love you. You love me, don't you?
Yes.
Yeah.
Then that's settled, then. (CHUCKLES)
I mean, we'd better get the ball rolling. (LAUGHS)
Oh, no question. I wanna be awake for our parties.
Where's it gonna be, girl?
Right out back, in the courtyard.
Wait, with all them weeds and shit?
(LAUGHS) I'll clean it up and make it great, I promise.
Okay.
-That was different. -(LAUGHS)
BRYAN: He popped out of the car,
and was like, "Yo, I'm Tommy!"
-What? -I don't know, man.
-I don't know! You know? -(LAUGHS)
-You're so fucking sexy. -(LAUGHS)
You don't... Steven. You don't wanna go back inside?
The late set.
The late set?
-(BRYAN MOANING) -(LAUGHS)
We could go somewhere.
-Evie. -Yeah?
Evie, Evie, come on.
Get me ready. Mm?
-Right here? -Yeah.
(JAMIE LAUGHS)
BRYAN: (MOANS) Come on.
Mike.
(COUGHS)
Oh, Jesus.
(COUGHS)
(DOOR OPENS)
(VINCENT SIGHS)
(SIGHS)
The mayor's not ready to send
that message to the gay community.
Why the hell not? Is this or is this not a health crisis?
It's very much a health crisis, but closing the bathhouse
and the bars won't do anything to address that crisis.
All that will do is send transmission of the virus
into places where we can't do interventions and education.
INSPECTOR BERNADETTI: And the mayor's okay running
for reelection on a platform of doing nothing about AIDS?
The point is not to do something
just to be seen doing it, Inspector.
FEMALE CABINET MEMBER: Course not.
The point is to do the right thing.
FEMALE CABINET MEMBER: We could start--
Wouldn't closing them at least send a signal that this is,
in fact, a health crisis?
Don't we know that already?
-DEPUTY MAYOR: Yeah. -FEMALE CABINET MEMBER: Mm-hm.
GENE GOLDMAN: What about in my part of the world?
I mean, you can say that we have the education
and intervention programs going down
in the Village bars and baths,
but no-one is doing anything like that.
And the peeps and the parlors around Midtown,
they're acting like it's business as usual.
-Well, it's because it is. -Excuse me?
HEALTH COMMISSIONER: Look, Gene, I know that Life magazine
told us that anyone can get AIDS, but we're already
starting to see secondary and tertiary cases,
and it's pretty clear to my researchers
that it is not being
effectively transmitted through heterosexual sex.
I mean, it's just not true.
We'd be seeing a lot more cases in that cohort if it were.
There-- There are no heterosexual outbreaks
-anywhere in the city. -MALE CABINET MEMBER: Good to know.
No cases at all? I mean, I-- I hear a lot of stories
about prostitutes.
HEALTH COMMISSIONER: Well... Yeah, okay, we have
plenty of guys who are self-reporting they got it
from hookers, but you know what?
When my department looks into those cases,
-guess what they find out. -MALE CABINET MEMBER: Is it true?
DEPUTY MAYOR: The fact is, the mayor's willing to take
any action that the public health professionals
advise him to take, and what they're saying,
right now, those professionals,
is that closing the baths won't help.
What if these whores you sent me don't work out?
If you don't like, tell me. I have others to replace them.
-What's their cut? -They can keep their tips.
-That's it? -Mm.
-They might not like that. -Fuck what they don't like!
They ain't gonna run out on me, are they?
Like, hop on a freighter back to Russia?
VASILY: This is why they don't run.
Let's go take another look.
(VASILY SPEAKS RUSSIAN)
♪ (JAZZ PIANO PLAYING) ♪
(RUSSIAN WOMEN CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
This group for first shift. I have another five for tonight.
You send your driver, eh?
Sure. My man, Black Frankie, can run them out and pick them up.
Vasily. Ain't you got any blondes in the mix?
Some of my customers got preferences.
Dye their hair! I give no fuck.
You hear that, Bernice? You can supervise that.
Yeah. Sure. I'll get right on it.
So, partners?
(RUSSIAN WOMAN CHATTERING AND LAUGHING)
(VASILY CHUCKLES)
Well, Bill, I have lived long enough to hear the Deputy Mayor
of New York City say aloud, in mixed company, that the point
of a political decision is to do the right thing.
(LAUGHS)
Like everyone in the room came into town on a turnip cart.
Yeah. The... What the hell is the right thing, here?
Who can say?
Whatever it is, Ed Koch isn't looking for it.
If he closes the bathhouses,
he'll lose half the gay community.
Which'll damn near be ready to out him
for being an unmarried downtown bachelor.
And if he doesn't, the rest of New York looks on him
like he was too scared to act in the midst
-of a goddamn plague. -Well, what would you do?
I mean, if you were in the closet
the way everybody thinks Ed Koch is in the closet?
-Me? -Mm-hm.
I would do the right thing, of course.
(LAUGHS)
Thank you.
(CAR DOOR SLAMS)
-CANDY: Hi! -(HANK CHUCKLES)
You made it. I knew you would.
Well, it was touch-and-go, actually.
Well, you're here now.
-CANDY: Mm. -Want a drink?
-Yes. -Mm-hmm.
But I'll get it. Looks like you've got
enough going on without having to tend bar.
(SIGHS)
-How'd filming go? -(SIGHS) Hard.
Are you happy?
You know, the thing about making movies
is you begin...
imagining 100 percent of what you wanna say.
Then you write the script, and you hire your actors,
and you gather your crew, and you try to hold onto
as much of that as you can, like, 90, 80 percent.
Or, today, someone had an idea, and the scene became
more than I ever could've thought!
You know, so I think the process is really...
saying goodbye to what you first imagined,
and saying hello to what you discover.
-Sounds like you're settling. -Oh, never.
CANDY: Mm. (CHUCKLES)
Talking your ear off.
Oh, Black Frankie,
what's the name of that heart drug again?
Lomitra. But if you're looking for the stock market symbol,
it's, uh, A-L-A-B.
Abner Labs. That's the company that makes it.
♪ (JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
You short it, too?
I'm not a gambler, but if I was, I wouldn't bet to lose.
Here it is.
Went down 50 cents yesterday. See?
You oughta get on this gravy train!
I keep my money.
Darling, do me a favor. Kiss that part of the paper
right there, for good luck.
Sure.
-You look nice with blonde hair. -Mm. Thanks millions.
I bet you'd look really good in a fur coat. And on one, too.
(BOTH CHUCKLE)
Buy your wife a fur coat.
I have. But she isn't very appreciative.
Truth is, my wife doesn't understand me.
Maybe... she understand you very good.
Come on, let's go in the back.
Nyet.
(SIGHS)
It's not about what I think, it's not about some
-petty bourgeois morality... -Hank.
...of which you think I'm guilty.
It's not that. Um... I've been offered, uh...
an inside position. Executive vice president,
Lehman Brothers, supervising acquisitions and mergers.
You know, I'm-- I'm thinking I'm gonna bite.
Um... I mean, the kind of deals that I can work up
with the leverage of a big house like that behind me...
Um...
There's a whole...
social framework that goes with a boardroom.
-There's a certain decorum. -A decorum?
It's bullshit to me. But...
But you need a better class of woman on your arm.
No. No! I need you. I want you.
And frankly, I was willing to stare down the kind of gossip
that goes with an avant-garde creator of filmed erotica,
because fuck them if they can't deal. I can.
Mm-hmm. But if I'm fucking on film...
Is that so hard to understand? (CHUCKLES)
So, it's okay for me to ask other people to fuck on film,
but if I do it myself...
I thought you were done with that.
Hank, they paid me. They paid me good money.
And I spent most of that money on my movie.
And now, I need to give them the work.
Please don't do this.
It's just fucking.
I keep saying it. It's just the work.
-It isn't to me. It's... -Hank.
Please. We can pay them back the advance.
-Please, Eileen. -Don't do this!
-It's just money! -I told you!
Please, just let me pay them back!
Let me pay for your goddamn movie!
(DOOR SLAMS)
(PLATES CRASHING)
You don't have to do this, Vincent.
(SIGHS) This place is too big.
Everything I see in here reminds me of us.
Hell, Abby, you liked this apartment
much better than I did.
(SIGHS)
Where will you go?
There's a spot over on 47th between the 8th and 9th.
Mm.
It's a bunch of actors and theater types living there.
-I think you'd like it. -(CHUCKLES)
It's like, uh...
What's the word? Uh...
Boremian.
(CHUCKLES)
Bohemian.
Yeah, that.
Come on. Here.
-Feel familiar? -Mm.
It's nice.
There's one other thing.
Oh. (CHUCKLES) Mm-hm.
I'm gonna sit down with Tommy Longo.
I'm gonna work out a deal with him so that...
I take over the Hi-Hat.
So, no more payments to him or anyone else in the mob.
So, you and I are still gonna be in business together.
You're still not getting it.
As soon as I get the paperwork straightened out,
I'm gonna sell you the Hi-Hat and sign it over to you.
-Vincent. -It's yours, Abby.
You're all over that place. I don't want it.
What if I don't want it either?
It's fine. You can do whatever you want with it.
And what are you gonna do?
I was gonna take some time to figure things out.
You know, all that...
All those years I was just pushing and pushing,
they just went by so fast.
I was the king of everything, and it all amounted to nothing.
(SIGHS)
We had to break up. You know that, right?
We're so different.
Surprised it lasted as long as it did.
Mm.
But Abby...
We had something.
Yes.
We had something, Vince.
(SIGHS)
HANK: I just can't believe that the goddamn money,
as little as it is, could matter more than us.
Or is it pride?
What's wrong with pride?
It's the most useless thing there is, pride.
You live without pride long enough,
you find a way to use what little you can get.
Jesus Christ, is it really coming to this?
Am I not to believe, Eileen, that this isn't you sabotaging
any possible chance that you could be loved?
Or that you'll have to love someone back?
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(CLEARS THROAT)
Uh... (CHUCKLES)
So, I've been thinking.
No. No, no, no, no, no.
-Don't do that. No. no, no. -No, no, no. come here.
Come here. No, seriously. Hear me out.
I just think that we're a great fit.
You know? Right?
Don't you think?
Really, to tell you the truth, I...
I like everything about you.
Like, when I get off from work,
I-- I don't wanna come home to an empty apartment.
I wanna see you.
I'm thinking that maybe we could pool our resources
and move into one place. How's that sound?
-Sweet. -Yeah.
But no.
Why not?
I lived with someone for a long time,
and I don't want that now.
I'm sorry, but I don't know if I ever will want it again.
I want you for your friendship and companionship,
and for the physical part,
but I don't need a full-time man.
I'm good where I'm at.
The physical part, though...
it's pretty good, though, right?
Gracias, Mami, but, um...
I'm not gonna give up.
You know I'm gonna keep asking, right?
-I know. -Right?
(LAUGHS)
(DOOR SLAMS)
-Hey. -Kennedy. Which terminal, ma'am?
Uh... Yeah, whichever one's continental. Thank you.
MAN ON TV: ...next weekend.
I understand you brought a clip with you?
-Set this up for us. -WOMAN ON TV: Okay.
Okay, so, I married too fast--
PRESENTER: You'll open the box,
and have that diamond moment. You really will--
ANNOUNCER: ...perfect pancake is lightweight,
fits easily in one pan,
and flips picture-perfect pancakes every time--
REPORTER: ...Governor Cuomo
will allow city health inspectors
to catalog any such location as a public nuisance.
In response to the state's decision,
Mayor Koch appears to be reconsidering
his earlier position,
which allowed the bathhouses to remain open,
telling the New York Times, quote,
-"We want to save lives." -I'll be goddamned.
REPORTER: State officials have said they will support
local enforcement efforts
which will involve regular inspections of bathhouses...
(PHONE KEYPAD BEEPING)
♪ (ROCK MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
VINCENT MARTINO: That's it for Paul.
I should call him, poor bastard.
What I don't get is, who the fuck is still going
to those bathhouses anyway?
I mean, unless you wrap yourself in cellophane first.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Well, never mind that. They got your man.
TOMMY LONGO: He ain't my man. Castellano... He's the past.
And Tommy Longo's got his eye on the future.
I put my money on the right guys.
You stick with me, Vincent, I'm gonna make you so much money.
Your girlfriend will be wearing chinchilla panties.
I'm single, Tommy.
Oh, yeah. That's right. I heard.
It's just as well. Abby... I mean, she's beautiful.
But there's a lot of good-looking broads out there.
I hope you learned your lesson.
You handled her all wrong.
Did I ask for your advice?
No, but I'm gonna give it to you anyway.
Uh-huh.
You treat a whore like a princess,
and a princess like a whore.
Yeah. Abby was too smart.
You shoulda knocked her down a notch or two.
That's how you keep a woman.
-You ever been married, Tommy? -Do I look like a moron?
(CAR HONKING)
Come on. Let's get out of here.
She's got cans out to here, and it's her birthday tomorrow.
You doing something special for her?
Yeah. I'm gonna give her a pearl necklace.
-(LAUGHS) -Joseph Dwyer and Trent Crandall.
Thanks for being together and making this easy on us.
What is this?
You're under arrest for violation of the Securities Act of 1934,
-specifically insider trading. -What the fuck?
Mr. Crandall, we've been surveilling
the market activities of your cousin,
an employee of Abner Labs.
He'd been shorting large amounts of Abner stock,
as have you and your friend here.
-MALE EMPLOYEE 1: The kid too? -MALE EMPLOYEE 2: 1934? -MALE EMPLOYEE 1: Oh.
-MALE EMPLOYEE 2: Oh, fuck. -You're probably unaware that your cousin's also been
selling it off this week. It seems like Lomitra is going to be approved.
Bullshit. What about the side effects--
Joey, shut the fuck up.
I should've never trusted you,
listened to you and your rat-fucking cousin.
TRADER: Joey?
So, what are you saying? You wanna close down
the places that aren't even spreading the disease?
That is exactly what I'm saying.
Gene, we barely have the resources
to get padlocks on the doors of all the gay bathhouses
and back rooms.
In every problem, there is opportunity.
And right now, because this is being called
a public health emergency,
we have the opportunity to throw padlocks
on the massage parlors in Midtown
where we have pending litigation.
No unending process of appeals, because we are addressing
the spread of a deadly communicable disease.
And like that,
the plans to redevelop the middle of Manhattan
take a great and irreversible leap forward.
DALY: Plus, we deliver political cover to the mayor
in the middle of an election year.
How so?
He's about to take a raft of shit from the gay community
that supported him.
They'll be infuriated when the bathhouses close.
But less so if he's also simultaneously closing
the straight massage parlors in Times Square.
He does that, and no-one can say it's homophobic.
No, it's a... public health concern only.
-What say you, Pete? -I'll say what I always say.
This mayor's gonna do the right thing.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
You got it.
-WOMAN 1: Oh, hey! -WOMAN 2: Hey!
WOMAN 2: How you doing?
Oh, hell! The money we could've made on you
if you'd been shooting scenes the past ten years! Mm!
-CANDY: Too kind, Larry. -Not at all. Look at you, babe!
Gentlemen, this is one hell of a dance card.
I mean, I've got two straight fuck-and-sucks, one lesbian,
an anal... I mean, you fucking said no anal.
LARRY LEVINE: I was trying to close the deal! (CHUCKLES)
One anal, and then DP, and then...
I mean, before you stick a fork in me,
a goddamn six-on-one gangbang where every swinging dick
uses me for target practice? Are you fucking kidding me?
Come on, honey, that's pretty standard nowadays.
For some twenty-something, maybe, with lint in her head.
You got me for two days.
This is four days of fucking.
For the fee we're paying on the return of Candy Renée?
Really? (CHUCKLES) Seriously.
I'm gonna cheat a condom on the anal.
Cool. As long as we don't see it.
You are a good sport.
That's my job, Darrell.
-♪ (JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ -(DOOR OPENING)
(INDISTINCT POLICE RADIO CHATTER)
What do you guys want?
HEALTH OFFICIAL: Under the decree of the City of New York,
we're closing this establishment immediately
as a public health nuisance.
Gather your personal items, cash, and any valuables
and vacate the premises.
Once padlocked, you won't be permitted to re-enter.
-(RADIO CHATTER CONTINUES) -You're shitting me.
(MOANS)
PORN ACTOR: Oh! Oh, you're amazing!
-Oh, fuck me! -I've dreamed about you for years!
-(MOANS) -Can you handle all of this, Miss Renée?
-(MOANS) Oh, yeah! -DIRECTOR: Yes!
I'm gonna get the inserts separately, but Candy,
we're gonna get it in the wide if you take it in both.
Just shut up and shoot.
(LAUGHS) She's got a sense of humor. I love this.
I don't suppose I have any recourse.
You can fight it in court after the fact, but by then...
Yeah, all my clientele will be gone?
It's not too sporting, is it?
I'm guessing they're only targeting the gay businesses?
Actually, no.
We're also padlocking some of the parlors up in Midtown.
Koch can't afford to give the impression
-that he was anti-homosexuals. -(SCOFFS)
-Everyone takes a hit. -Well, shit.
We all know Koch is on the side of gay men.
And underneath them. And on his knees.
But you know all about being closeted, Gene.
Fair enough. Though I am out of the house, now,
if that matters.
Not to me.
Why are you here?
-To say I'm sorry. -Well, fuck you.
-I'm not a hypocrite. -Uh-huh.
You know, I've had my fun here, and over at your bar,
and everywhere else downtown.
Yeah.
And here you are, fucking all of us over.
For what?
A new New York.
Yeah? Who lives in that one?
I'm sorry, Paul.
(SIRENS BLARING)
(CAR HONKING)
MAN: Look out, asshole!
WOMAN: (SHOUTS) I'm coming!
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(EXHALES) What lens you putting on?
Forty.
For money shots? Isn't that a little wide?
What do I know? I'm just a girl who's about to have
her picture taken with cum all over her face.
VINCENT: The lawyers say you're completely dead.
As a fucking post.
♪ (SOUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
Apparently, the city has wide latitude
during a public health emergency.
(VINCENT CHUCKLES)
Gave 'em a week, nothing works.
The padlock stays on.
I gotta find something else to do with my nights.
Well, you could try going home to my sister for a change.
Fuck you.
Speaking of which, coming to dinner?
-Parents will be there. -Yeah, I'll stop by.
You okay?
Yeah, just...
Shit, Vin, now I'm gonna be like all those guys
I used to feel sorry for.
Work all day, home at night. "What's for dinner, honey?
What you wanna watch on TV?"
What did you think was gonna happen?
I thought it was gonna last.
(CHUCKLES)
Hey, Leon.
Vince.
-I'm gonna roll out, Leon. -Okay, I got this, babe. Cool.
Where'd everybody go? (EXHALES) All the regulars?
You know, when I was a kid in the country,
when someone I knew had passed away, I asked my mother
where they'd gone to.
What'd she say?
They walked into the arms of time.
Well, if I can't have a beer, then what can I have?
You can have anything on the menu.
Well, in that case, uh...
why don't you stand on that, sweetheart?
(CHUCKLES)
-(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE) -Oh! All right!
JAMIE: Thank you!
HARVEY WASSERMAN: Hey! How was LA?
-Bunch of dicks. -(CHUCKLES)
When'd you get home?
Uh... About a week ago.
Shoot took longer than expected.
And your film, did you shoot anything else?
Shoot with what?
Harvey, I already spent most of the money.
You advanced it to me, and I shot my way through it.
So, uh, if you write me a check for 2,500,
the rest pays you back, and I'm back to broke.
How-- How much do you still owe?
I owe 16 scenes and pickup pieces all over the place.
-Christ. -Yeah.
Eileen, I-- If I-- If I could, but I can't.
Right? I mean, I got the goombas
expecting me to deliver their pornography.
I gotta pay for it.
I know, Harv.
I'm done.
What do you mean?
I mean I'm not gonna finish this whole thing.
It's a goddamn mess.
You don't like the stuff you've got so far?
Fuck, I've just been inside it so long,
I don't know what it is anymore. I mean, fuck it, fuck it!
Whatever's up next for you, Harvey,
will you let me shoot it? It doesn't matter what it is.
You plug me in, and I will get it in the can.
I need to pay the fucking rent.
OFFICIANT: Repeat after me. With this ring,
I give you my promise that you shall never walk alone.
With this ring, I give you my promise
that you shall not walk alone.
OFFICIANT: May my heart be your shelter
and my arms be your home.
May my heart be your shelter and my arms be your home.
OFFICIANT: I give you my heart. I have no greater gift to give.
REG: I give you my heart. I have no greater gift to give.
And I will be your rock all the days of my life.
OFFICIANT: Now, you may exchange rings.
-She's so beautiful. -Yeah.
Remember when she used to play on our team?
(CHUCKLES)
OFFICIANT: I now pronounce you man and wife.
(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING)
BLACK FRANKIE: So, where do all the Russian ladies go?
BOBBY: I imagine they go wherever you can still
fuck for money in the land of the free.
(CAR HONKING)
BLACK FRANKIE: What you about to do, boss?
♪ (LATIN MUSIC PLAYS IN PASSING CAR) ♪
BOBBY: Don't know, exactly. I could use a break,
but it ain't like I'm flush.
I lost my shirt on that stock thing.
BLACK FRANKIE: Joey gonna be all right?
If he goes upstate, it's country club time.
The kid's gotta learn.
As for me, I guess I'm gonna try and get my union job back.
BLACK FRANKIE: We all gotta work.
(SCOFFS) Yeah.
Nice ride.
I rolled into the city in a van,
figured I should leave in one too.
-Where you headed? -First stop, Baltimore.
I got a cousin name of Nathan,
lives in the Lexington Terrace apartments on the west side.
He needs my help.
Black Frankie.
Make it Frank. Ain't but one of us now.
Frank.
Be easy, Big Man.
♪ ("AIN'T NOBODY" BY CHAKA KHAN PLAYING) ♪
♪ Feel my heartbeat Gave me freedom... ♪
MAN: Hey, Reg, tell them about that kid from Iowa.
Big old farm boy. His name was Clem, no bullshit...
Got something lined up after wrap?
-Mm-mm. -There's a Redford movie
coming into the city, studio picture.
Debra Winger's in it, too. I'm gonna try and get on it.
If it works out, I can put in a good word for you.
Although, to be honest, Melissa,
you really aren't supposed to be working those union jobs.
So, now that we're victorious, Lieutenant,
where do you wanna go next?
-Me? -Yes, you.
Seven years is a lot of loyalty,
and I can call that in for you, Chris. You deserve it.
I don't give a shit. I'm getting ready to finish out, anyway.
Retire?
I've seen enough shit for two lifetimes, Gene.
Well, then you can retire as a captain.
You're pretty close to the top of the list, right?
We can speed things up. I can do that much.
The Bronx? That's where you're taking me for dinner?
TOMMY: Everything we did for you?
VINCENT: I'm appreciative.
Mm. You're not acting that way.
You know it's not like, um, working at a law firm.
General fucking Electric.
It's not like you can cash out your stock options
and walk away.
What the fuck you want me to do, Tommy?
All the parlors are closed. 366: dead and buried.
Paul just lost the bathhouse.
His bar's got all the Health Department red tape
on the backroom. There's no more envelopes.
I'm done.
"Done. Done." How many times you say that? "Done."
It's over, Tommy.
I mean, what are you gonna do? Shoot me in the ass?
I'm done being paranoid about you.
What about the Hi-Hat?
Hmm? We still hold the paper from those Brill Building guys.
All right, I'll take over the note. I'll buy you guys out.
Nah.
That's not enough.
You're gonna have to put an exit tax on top of that.
How much?
Well, let me calculate.
All these years, nearly 15 years
you been running a cash business.
The bars, the parlors alone.
None of those johns paid with a credit card
on account of the paper trail.
All that cash, all those years.
You spent some on your suits, you put some up your nose.
But you're no nigger ballplayer, Vince.
Right?
You put away plenty, am I right?
So, how much you put away?
Four hundred large? Half a mil?
Yeah. You did all right.
Okay, the Hi-Hat's yours, but 200,000 cash to me.
That's how you get out. That's how you walk away.
-And Paul Hendrickson? -Yeah, what about him?
He walks too.
Yeah, why not?
I mean, none of his customers
are gonna be spending much anymore anyway.
They're dropping like flies.
All right, we got a deal.
You know it's better this way.
-We part friends. -Yeah.
See you, Vince.
(ALSTON SIGHS)
Victorious? We fixed nothing, Gene.
All we did was push it.
GENE: What did you expect?
That girl with the bar, the one who ran you down
at that meeting, she was right. She saw it.
We never fix anyone. We never save anyone.
All we do is push the shit to another corner of the room
so people have space enough to build fresh shit and make money.
That's the only thing that ever happens.
Someone spends a dollar and makes ten or a hundred
or a thousand, but the people?
All those shitted-up souls I policed all those years
and all that mess, they just hang on.
Every day the same until we need the ground they're standing on,
then we move them along.
Will the city be better or worse, Lieutenant Alston?
I'm asking you that question.
I don't fucking know.
♪ (REGGAE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
What's your plan, Loretta?
I'm about to take the liquor inventory.
We gotta place the order tomorrow.
After that.
Your plan.
I'mma take the A-train up to the Heights?
Loretta, I'm asking. Where do you see yourself in ten years?
I'd have my own place,
maybe a little bigger than the place I'm in now.
And... still single.
I like Juan. Maybe I love him, I don't know.
He's steady.
He's a little boring, but boring's good for me.
And where are you working?
What do you do with your life?
If the city don't change too much
and we're still in business, I'd like to be right here.
I'm moving on, Loretta.
In January, I'll be going back to school.
If you want, I'm gonna sign
the lease of this place over to you.
(LAUGHING) Get the fuck out!
Can you handle it?
Sure! Why would you do that?
All these years behind this stick, I think I'm...
changing the world. Organizing and protesting.
Donating this, contributing to that, and...
I don't know.
Goddamn it. Abby, don't-- Don't-- Don't--
Don't you for a second doubt what you've done here.
This bar in this neighborhood...
This place is an absolute good.
Hmm.
Maybe.
Who knows? However it adds up,
let's throw one more thing to the pile.
Something that's been right in front of me
this whole time.
(HEAVY BREATHING)
What?
Hey, what the hell's the matter?
-I said I forgive you. -JAMIE: Forgive me for what?
MAN: It's no big deal. Forget it.
JAMIE: No, Colin, I'm not here to be forgiven.
That's not right.
Do you hear me? That's not right.
(JAMIE YELPS)
(JAMIE SOBBING)
♪ ("THINKING OF YOU" BY SISTER SLEDGE PLAYING) ♪
♪ Everybody Let me tell you 'bout my love ♪
♪ Brought to you By an angel from above... ♪
PAUL: Are you ready for another one?
(CHUCKLES) I'd better not.
Why? You gotta open early today?
I'm gonna sit down with the dean of NYU,
to look at my credits.
So, you're really doing it?
♪ There's no reason to live Without you... ♪
What are you gonna study, Ab?
-Taxidermy. -(LAUGHS)
I don't fucking know.
Something I haven't learned before, I hope.
PAUL: Hmm.
♪ I'm thinking of you and The things you do to me... ♪
Has Vince been around?
He does come in from time to time, yeah.
But... not for the envelope, you know?
He told me I was off the hook and left it at that.
I'm sorry it didn't work out for you two.
It worked out fine.
ANDY: This is for my beer and my tab from last night.
We're straight, Andy.
So, will I see you at the City Hall rally next week?
Definitely. We're meeting here first.
-All right. See you then. -PAUL: Okay. Thanks, Andy.
♪ Without love, without love There's no reason to live ♪
Don't insult me.
♪ Without you ♪
♪ Oh, what would I do With the love I give? ♪
♪ All my lovin'... ♪
I'll see you soon.
♪ To you I'll be giving ♪
♪ And I promise... ♪
Bye.
♪ This I'll do As long as I'm living ♪
CANDY: You know what, I think let's just...
leave the camera blocked off and on sticks.
If they don't see the cock go from ass to mouth
without a cut, they feel cheated,
like it's not official.
-HARVEY: Hey, come with me. -What the fuck?
HARVEY: Come with me.
MAN: Yeah, it's even in the script. I said...
MAN: The earlier scene in the script...
Sit down.
Over the last couple days,
I've watched every frame of your film.
-Every single fucking frame. -Why?
And it--
I went to film school, Eileen. Me.
The porn king of Cedarhurst? Yeah.
I got the degree and everything. I know what a camera can do,
and I know what a great story is,
but I can't do anything with a camera.
And I don't have a fucking story to tell.
You, Eileen Merrell, are a filmmaker.
And what you are shooting... matters.
-It-- It fucking-- It matters. -Get the fuck out of here.
I'm serious.
-You need to finish that film. -Fuck you! Wasserman, fuck you!
Yeah, fuck me. Fuck-- No, fuck you if you don't finish.
(LAUGHS)
And also, take the fucking out.
-Oh, what? -Because it's not porn.
It's not even close.
I don't care if you got the actors to fuck,
I don't care if you shot the hell out of them fucking.
If you leave that shit in,
people are not gonna realize what you made here.
Oh, fuck 'em.
They're not gonna see it for what it is.
(LAUGHING) Fuck 'em!
Take the fucking out!
Wow! You too?
Of all the people to go all white with shame
over what we do,
Harvey fucking Wasserman was
-the last one I'd have expected. -I'm not ashamed.
I never will be. I am a pornographer.
I know pornography, and you are telling another story.
And you need to finish it.
No, Harvey, I'm a pornographer.
And that mess you watched... was a mistake.
It doesn't work as porn! It doesn't work as anything!
Now, will you let me get back to work?
I got two lesbian scenes and a blowjob
before I can pack the camera.
-Eileen. -No. Seriously, Wasserman.
Fuck yourself.
HADDIX: I remember when this was the Princess Hotel.
You know, that nearly burned down, as I recall.
What's it supposed to be?
ALSTON: A mix.
-A mix of what? -Some retail,
some residential above.
Nothing we could ever make money on.
Now the parlors are closed, the good nightspots.
And they just closed the peeps over on 50th,
the ones west of Broadway.
The city's getting scrubbed, finally.
HADDIX: Mm. Me too, brother. Me too.
I start at the academy next month.
Thank your man Goldman
for putting in a word for me downtown.
What will you be teaching the, uh, cadets
of the New York Police Department?
Criminal procedure in the morning,
and... Excuse.
Uh, ethics in policing in the afternoon.
(SIGHS)
(CAR DOOR SLAMS)
♪ (HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
JERSEY: Vincent! Need a bet?
Me? You got me confused with someone else, I think.
Yeah, I guess I do.
He was a real asshole sometimes,
but I kinda liked the motherfucker.
What are you, Captain Stubing?
I'm joking. I actually like that shirt.
-Really? -Yeah.
I think you should get another one just like it,
so you got two of them.
Why would I need two?
One to shit on, one to cover it up with.
(CAR HORN BLARES)
♪ ("A HUNDRED YEARS FROM TODAY" BY SARAH VAUGHAN PLAYING) ♪
♪ A hundred years from today ♪
♪ A hundred years ♪
♪ From today ♪
-♪ (MUSIC STOPS) ♪ -(SIGHS)
-Hey, Craig. -Paul!
-Can I bum one of those? -They're menthols.
That's good for me.
Here.
(SIGHS)
-Here. -Thanks.
Mm.
CRAIG: I love this time of year.
When I was a kid, I didn't like the fall.
The end of summer filled me with dread, because Autumn meant
that it was time to go back to school.
I had that thing where letters looked scrambled to me.
Uh...
There's a name for it now,
but back then, they didn't know it.
It was hard for me to learn.
I love the change of the seasons now.
(CAR HONKS)
Take care, brother.
NEWSREADER: With the global population expected to reach
nine billion by 2075,
scientists worry that the increased volume
of greenhouse gasses entering the at--
PRESENTER: While their diet consists primarily of fruits,
such as figs, oranges and guavas--
♪ ("GAME OF THRONES" THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
♪ (TV THEME MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
♪ (SOFT PIANO MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
(INDISTINCT NEWS STORY)
(VINCENT SIGHS DEEPLY)
(VINCENT SIGHS)
♪ (MUZAK PLAYING) ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(ELEVATOR BELL DINGS)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER, LAUGHTER)
-Can I get you a menu? -VINCENT: Nah, just a...
Hennessy. Straight up.
-Finished with that? -Yeah, here.
Let me keep the box scores. But you can have the rest.
Thank you.
The pourers are rigged, eh?
They give you one ounce exactly, am I right?
No more than one ounce, ever.
I mean, if every drink is pre-measured,
how you gonna give a regular an honest pour?
I used to be a bartender.
-BARTENDER: Oh, yeah? -Mm.
Here on the Deuce. Around the corner on 45th.
You ever hear of the Hi-Hat?
CUSTOMER: Thanks a lot, man.
It was the spot for a long time.
Had a club, too, down on 38th.
Most nights, we went past dawn.
-No shit. -VINCENT: Yeah.
After hours, New York City did not quit.
-You still in New York? -VINCENT: Nah. I wish.
Florida. I'm here for my nephew's wedding.
Third time's the fucking charm.
(SIGHS)
Where's the...
(SIGHS)
Holy fuck.
-I used to know this broad. -For real?
VINCENT: Yeah.
I knew her for years.
She was a... regular at my club.
I mean, we were friends, kinda.
BARTENDER: A porn star.
-Says she made 89 adult films. -VINCENT: Mm.
That's a lot of fucking.
And one celebrated cinematic classic.
What?
"A Pawn in Their Game, a dark examination
of a young, working woman's fragile existence
in the maelstrom of a volatile 1980s New York
is now, in retrospect, regarded as an arthouse classic
and has been remastered and rereleased
by the Criterion Collection.
At the time, the movie did not receive wide release
or public notice."
Oh. Let's see that.
She made a real movie, huh?
BARTENDER: You didn't see it?
FEMALE CUSTOMER: She's so pretty!
She's even prettier in person. Oh, my God.
(CHUCKLES) And what the fuck you know about that?
Attagirl.
♪ ("THE SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK" PLAYING) ♪
♪ Down in front of Casey's ♪
♪ Old brown wooden stoop ♪
♪ On a summer's evening ♪
♪ We formed a merry group ♪
♪ Boys and girls together ♪
♪ We would sing and waltz ♪
♪ While the Ginnie played the organ ♪
♪ On the sidewalks ♪
♪ Of New York ♪
♪ East side, West side ♪
♪ All around the town ♪
♪ The kids sang "Ring Round the Rosie" ♪
♪ "London Bridge is falling down" ♪
♪ Boys and girls together ♪
Vincent.
♪ Me and Mamie O'Rourke ♪
♪ Tripped the light fantastic ♪
♪ On the sidewalks... ♪
-Yeah, yeah, exactly. -Here he is.
♪ Of New York... ♪
TOMMY: Like I said, no-one retires.
Except maybe you, Vincent.
WOMAN: Bye, now.
I got my property back two nights ago.
You're supposed to let me off, Haddix.
WOMAN 2: Ow!
WOMAN 3: Look at those meat hooks!
Hi. Sally.
VINCENT: Hey, Ash.
HADDIX: Uh, Chinese or Italian tonight. Your choice, ladies.
How's my girl?
FLANAGAN: Chinese! Italian puts me to sleep.
I don't know, Ash.
HADDIX: Hey Ash, let's go. Come on. Let's go.
WOMAN: Come on, Ash, let's go.
♪ On the sidewalks ♪
♪ Of New York ♪
♪ East side, West side ♪
♪ All around the town ♪
♪ The kids sang "Ring Round the Rosie" ♪
♪ "London Bridge Is falling down" ♪
♪ Boys and girls together ♪
♪ Me and Mamie O'Rourke ♪
♪ Tripped the light Fantastic... ♪
Vincent!
Bobby. I'm here for Joey's wedding.
I know! Good you are.
Maybe you can stay for the sentencing next week.
-I heard. The stock shit again? -Yeah.
I'd be there for him...
(LAUGHS) But I'm dead!
♪ Pretty Nellie Shannon ♪
♪ With a boy as light as cork ♪
♪ First picked up The waltz step ♪
♪ On the sidewalks ♪
♪ Of New York ♪
-VINCENT: Hey, Thunder. -Hey, Vince. (LAUGHS)
Oh, shit!
I heard you made a real movie. No fucking or nothing in it.
Yeah, I took the fucking out. Nobody saw it.
(LAUGHS) Go figure.
♪ Tripped the light fantastic ♪
♪ On the sidewalks ♪
♪ Of New York ♪
♪ Things have changed Since those times ♪
♪ And some are up in "G" ♪
♪ Others, they are wanderers ♪
♪ But all feel just like me ♪
♪ They would part With all they've got ♪
♪ Could they But once more walk ♪
♪ With their best girl And have a twirl ♪
♪ On the sidewalks... ♪
(LAUGHS) Oh!
You look great.
You look like shit.
I know.
The fuck.
Time, you know.
Yeah, 'course.
Yeah.
♪ Boys and girls together ♪
Come on.
♪ Me and Mamie O'Rourke ♪
♪ We tripped The light fantastic ♪
♪ On the sidewalks ♪
♪ On the sidewalks Of New York ♪
♪ (SONG ENDS) ♪
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
ABIGAIL "ABBY" PARKER: Well, whether they agree to it
or not, you file the appeal,
you can get the answer in writing.
You have to be careful with this kind of thing.
The paper trail is what protects the client.
Richard, whether they agreed to it or not, you file...
♪ (UP-TEMPO MUSIC PLAYS) ♪