Being Flynn

Synopsis: Nick Flynn, in his 20s, hasn't found his place in the world yet, but hopes to be a writer. Around the time he takes a job at a homeless shelter in Boston, his father, Jonathan, who considers himself a great writer and who hasn't see Nick in years, abruptly makes fleeting contact. A few months later, the down-and-out Jonathan shows up at Nick's shelter and becomes a resident. This disorients Nick; he doesn't handle it well, compounded by Jonathan's belligerent behavior. Nick's memories of his mother, his budding relationship with a co-worker, and his own demons make things worse. Can anything improve? Is he his father's son?
Genre: Drama
Director(s): Paul Weitz
Production: Focus Features
  1 win.
 
IMDB:
6.4
Metacritic:
53
Rotten Tomatoes:
53%
R
Year:
2012
102 min
$526,322
Website
416 Views


JONATHAN:
America has produced

only three classic writers,

Mark Twain, J.D. Salinger,

and me.

I'm Jonathan Flynn.

Everything I write

is a masterpiece.

And soon, very soon,

I shall be known.

At this point of the story,

let's call it the present,

I am an upstanding citizen

of these United States.

I have a job,

a roof over my head.

I have sustenance.

Perhaps I'll let you

read my masterpiece someday.

The Button Man, also known as The

Confessions of Christopher Cobb.

It's classic.

NICK:
This isn't his story.

Well, it is,

but he is not telling it,

I am.

I'm Nick Flynn, his son, and I am

sort of trying to be a writer.

I mean, not at

this very moment.

At this moment

I'm trying to...

Wake up.

(CLEARS THROAT)

Hey, wake up.

All my life, my father has

been manifest as an absence.

A non-presence.

A name without a body.

What if he

doesn't show up?

He's gonna show up.

How do you know?

Because if he doesn't

show up this time,

I'm going

to kill him.

How will you find

him to kill him?

I have ways.

Can we get ice cream

if he doesn't show up?

Here is the bus.

Here he is.

JODY:
No, that

is not him.

He must be

in the back.

(SNIFFLES)

What kind of ice cream

do you want to get?

Chocolate.

NICK:
Some part of me knew

he would show up someday.

If I stayed in one place long

enough, he would find me,

like you are taught to

do when you are lost.

But what do you do if

both of you are lost

and you both end up in

the same place, waiting?

Hey, sweetie.

Hey.

I'm exhausted.

How was your flight?

Non-stop turbulence.

Nick, what is the ashtray

doing by the bed?

Sorry.

Lipstick?

You are a f***ing a**hole.

Look, you are the one who said

you didn't see a future for us.

I wonder why?

This is yours!

This is yours.

And this is yours!

All right.

And this is yours.

All right.

My book.

And Yates.

Oh, more Yates.

All right.

Wow! You are

so well-read.

All right.

All right!

I'll pay

for the mirror.

As soon as

I get a job.

Sorry.

For what, your complete

inadequacy as a human being?

Yes.

(SCOFFS)

Well, you warned me.

JONATHAN:
Don't

worry, you're back.

Hello.

Back in the hands of

a master storyteller.

(WOMAN SPEAKING IN SPANISH)

Yeah, yeah,

go f*** yourself.

I like kids and

small animals.

What I don't like

is queers and blacks

who try and f*** you up the

ass all day and all night.

But more on that later.

What I am, always have

been, is an artist.

(ROCK MUSIC BLARING)

Shut the f*** up.

Shut up. Shut up.

(MUSIC CONTINUES)

(MUSIC STOPS)

(MUSIC BLARING)

Shut the f*** up!

Shut up!

Shut up!

NICK:
A friend of a friend

knew a couple of guys

who were renting

an entire building,

a former strip joint

called "Good Times."

Unfortunately, the good

times were not had by all,

like that Harvard student

who was found

stabbed to death in the

doorway three years before.

(SIREN WAILING)

(DOORBELL BUZZES)

IVAN:
I don't know

what to tell you.

That's something you

got to figure out, man.

So, what appeals to you

about living here?

Low rent. IVAN:
Yeah,

hold on one second.

Do you have a job?

Uh, no. I have some

money saved up.

I was working as

an electrician,

but now I'm looking

for a new line of work.

IVAN:
An electrician?

Can you wire this place up

to look like a spaceship?

(WHISPERS) Ivan.

Yes.

And what field of employment

are you interested in?

Something different,

something more meaningful.

"More meaningful,"

what does that mean?

I don't know.

Are those, like,

the names of strippers?

Yeah. The landlord's Mafia, so he just

left all this sh*t the way it was

when the FBI

shut him down.

RICHARD:
Any family?

Stop interrogating

the guy.

I'm sorry, Ivan, but

my last roommate had

his entire family from Cambodia

sleeping in the living room.

No, my mom's dead, and my dad, I

haven't heard from in 18 years, so...

Perfect.

Done.

So, are you guys like...

No.

No. Okay.

So, Denise, didn't you say they

were hiring people at your work?

They usually are.

Good. 'Cause I think Nick

here is looking for a job.

Give him a break, man.

Where do you work?

Harbor Street Inn.

You heard of it?

No.

It's a homeless shelter.

That sounds intense. So

are you like a do-gooder?

No, I'm a do-badder,

but I work at Harbor Street.

What makes

you a do-badder?

I bet you would

like to know.

I would.

JONATHAN:
Upon occasion,

rare occasion, but still,

I'll pick up a female fare and we

will strike up a conversation.

WOMAN:
Oh, Jonathan.

Oh, Jonathan.

(MOANING)

Jonathan.

Yeah.

Let's be a little

realistic here.

All right.

(PANTING)

Still, we are having fun,

aren't we, Buttercup?

Absolutely.

Who is this?

That is my wife and kid.

Will you listen to this sh*t.

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

You are married?

Divorced,

a long time ago.

Well, I had better

get you home.

I left the meter running.

That'll be $240.

(LAUGHING)

Quiet!

Quiet!

I can't even

think anymore!

Excuse me.

(MUSIC CONTINUES)

Open up!

A**hole.

(CRASHING)

(INDISTINCT SCREAMING)

(CRASHING)

NICK:
Hey.

Hey.

I was hoping

you'd be here.

Why is that?

Well, so I know somebody.

We don't exactly know

each other, do we?

I guess not.

I'm not interested

in a relationship.

What?

I'm not interested

in a relationship.

Okay, I can cope.

Okay.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Phone call.

Who is it?

Your father.

Who?

Your father, who you supposedly

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Paul Weitz

Paul John Weitz (born November 19, 1965) is an American film producer, screenwriter, playwright, actor, and film director. He is the older brother of filmmaker Chris Weitz. He is best known for his work with his brother, Chris Weitz, on the comedy films American Pie and About a Boy, for which the brothers, who co-directed, were nominated for an Oscar. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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