| |
Two men
share a prison cell in Buffalo, NY. Ray, a 45 year old inmate, suffers
from Crohn's Disease. He was convicted of murder for killing his parents
10 years ago. Rick, a 35 year old police officer, awaits his trial
for killing a pedophile two weeks ago. |
| |
| |
RAY |
| Hold out both of your hands, palms up. |
| |
RICK |
| Why? |
| |
RAY |
| Because I want you to show you something. |
| |
Rick does it for a moment
then drops his hands. |
| |
RICK |
| This is stupid. |
|
| |
RAY |
| Just try it. What have you got to
lose? |
| |
Rick puts his hands out in front of him, palms up. |
| |
RAY |
|
Ok then. You have two choices. You can hold on to all of the negative
things that have stopped you from being happy, fulfilling your mother's
prophecy. You can let your feelings of inadequacy destroy you and
your marriage. That's all in your left hand. |
| |
Ray puts out his left
hand and places the origami pencil in it. |
| |
RAY |
| Or, you can let go of these negative
things, and allow yourself to be happy - by being true to who you
really are. A good husband, a good writer, whatever. That's in your
right hand. |
| |
Ray puts out his right hand. |
| |
RAY |
| It's your choice. Just let go of
what you no longer desire. Just turn your hand over and let it go. |
| |
Ray turns his left hand over,
effortlessly letting the pencil fall.
|
| |
RAY |
| Like this. |
|
| |
Rick looks at both of his hands. |
| |
RICK |
| But what if my mother's right? |
| |
RAY |
| She's only right if you allow it. |
| |
Rick drops both hands. |
| |
RICK |
| This is all mumbo jumbo. |
| |
RAY |
| It's not. What's your favorite food? |
| |
RICK |
| Can we drop this? |
| |
RAY |
| No, what's your favorite food? |
| |
RICK |
| Chicken Parmesan - the way my wife
used to make it with spaghetti and hot Italian bread. |
| |
RAY |
| Ok, if you had two plates in front
of you: one with your wife's chicken Parmesan - nice and fresh, and
the other with a pile of dirt on it with dog shit, worms, and flies,
which would you choose? |
| |
RICK |
| The chicken Parmesan-- |
| |
RAY |
| OK, this is that simple. |
| |
RICK |
| It doesn't seem like- |
| |
RAY |
| But it is. It's your choice, you
decide. |
| |
Ray points at his brain. |
| |
RAY |
| It's all here. Chicken parm or shit
- loving yourself or betraying yourself. |
| |
RICK |
| It's not that easy-- |
| |
RAY |
| But it can be. |
| |
Rick holds up both his hands again and stares
at them. He turns over the left hand, and half-heartedly shakes
off the negativity. |
| |
RICK |
| There are you happy? I did it. |
| |
RAY |
| That's good, how do you feel? |
| |
RICK |
| Lousy. |
| |
RAY |
| It's a process Rick. |
| |
RICK |
| Why can't I stop thinking bad things about myself? |
| |
RAY |
| A good place to start is by acknowledging the
feelings. |
| |
RICK |
| Well I just did that and I don't
feel any better. |
| |
RAY |
| Are you sure? |
| |
RICK |
| Well maybe a little bit. |
