A Broken Life

Please, turn it off.

Melinda, come on, please.

- God damn.

- ( siren wailing )

Forget about it,

it happens.

- Not to me, it doesn't.

- lt's probably just the booze, Max.

You've been hitting it

pretty hard lately.

Forget about it, huh?

- What?

- l said forget about it.

Yeah, l guess.

( zips )

Oh, here.

- So, l'll see you next week?

- Yeah, l guess.

( men speaking Russian )

She takes too long.

M-- Melinda--

- l was--

- Yeah? What?

F*** it.

Forget it, never mind.

Never mind, forget it.

F*** it.

Go on, Max, it's--

l'll-- l'll see you next week, okay?

Okay. Okay, sorry.

You got a light?

Were you in the Gulf?

Gulf, Afghanistan,

Vietnam.

My father served in Afghanistan.

He died in '88,

killed by a sniper

outside Mazar-i Sharif.

Sorry to hear that, son.

There's a war still going on.

( grunts )

What the fu--

Max:

All my life, l've been a donkey...

standing an equal distance

between two--

two bundles of hay.

Now the hay is disappearing.

And so are my choices.

Oh, man. l haven't slept in three,

maybe four days. l don't know.

But, finally now

my mind is clear.

Oh, yes.

Today is lndependence Day--

my lndependence Day.

Yeah.

Finally, l will choose--

somewhere, maybe here,

right here,

today-- tonight.

You know, there's just

nothing left to keep me here.

Nothing. l am so full.

And l'm so empty.

Today-- bang!

Ain't no more foolishness.

Then of course, a tombstone,

an epitaph, all that bullshit.

But l will not go quietly.

l will not go gently

into that dark night.

Not me, not like that.

l want to leave a mark

of my presence.

l want people to remember me.

l want her to tell her children

''Max Walker-- he existed.''

l existed. l existed.

Just a handful of mistakes

away from glory.

l hope you understand.

But if you don't, well then...

too bad for you.

Too bad for you.

( beeps )

Okay.

( knocks )

Cheers.

Story of my life.

Anyway...

l've made a decision.

l'm finally in control

of something.

No more ''what ifs'' or ''if only's,''

you know?

The measure of a great man,

l think,

is in his ability to take control.

To tell the truth

and face the truth.

To put the record straight.

To be heard--

my ex-wife, my boss,

my foolish...

empty existence.

One final day to face my fears.

A defining moment.

( laughs )

Oh.

My last cigarette.

l sure hope l enjoy it.

Who would imagine it being

the tug of a last cigarette, no?

My name is Max Walker

and l have arrived

at the final turning point

of my life.

Here l am to brighten your day.

- Hey, l have to make a phone call.

- ( dialing )

Never learned how to speed dial.

Bud!

Yeah, l-- l need you today.

Max:

Hey better late than never.

- l thought you were never gonna come.

- What are you doing?

Why are you filming me?

- Take the camera. Here.

- No.

Come here.

Take the camera.

- You gonna tell me what's going on?

- Take the camera, please, okay?

Bud:
Fine. All right.

What do you want me to do?

You want to be a big director, right?

Want to be a big shot?

This is your big chance, okay?

No. No no no.

l want you to film me.

- All right.

- Here we go.

Shoot me from low down, man,

come on.

Yeah, that's it, that's it.

Let me see.

What do you want me to do?

What is this, a day in the life?

Not quite, it's the--

the last day of a life.

The last-- it's the end of a life.

And this is the last--

you'll be film--

What the f*** are you talking about?

lt's the end of a life.

The last day in a life.

The end of my life.

And l want you to film it.

What the f*** you talking about?

Today, l'm the actor,

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