Marvin's Room

Synopsis: Estranged since their father's first stroke some 17 years earlier, Lee and Bessie lead separate lives in separate states. Lee's son, Hank, finds himself committed to a mental institution after setting fire to his mother's house. His younger brother, Charlie, seems unfazed by his brother's eccentricities or his mother's seeming disinterest. When Lee comes to the asylum to spring Hank for a week in Florida so that he can be tested as a possible bone marrow donor for Bessie, Hank is incredulous. "I didn't even know you had a sister," he says. "Remember, every Christmas, when I used to say 'Well, looks like Aunt Bessie didn't send us a card again this year?'" "Oh yeah," Hank says. Meanwhile, Marvin, the two women's bedridden father, has "been dying for the past twenty years." "He's doing it real slow so I don't miss anything," Bessie tells Dr. Wally. In Bessie's regular doctor's absence, it has fallen to Dr. Wally to inform Bessie that she has leukemia and will die without a bone marrow tr
Genre: Drama
Director(s): Jerry Zaks
Production: Miramax Films
  Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 12 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.7
Metacritic:
68
Rotten Tomatoes:
80%
PG-13
Year:
1996
98 min
2,093 Views


Uh, Janine? I wonder if you could

tell me, how long I might have to wait.

Because I left Aunt Ruth at home

in charge of Dad and I'm just...

You'll have to see Dr. Wally.

Dr. Surabh is on vacation.

See Doctor who?

I'll be right back.

I suppose I should tell you

needles bother me a little.

All right, Augustina,

could I have your arm, please?

Do you mind

if I call you Augustina?

Well, my name is Bessie.

Bessie! Of course. I'm sorry.

It's been a bit hectic

around here.

Now, where'd I... where did i put

the what chama call it?

The tourniquet?

Yeah, that's it.

Uh...

Oh, I'm sitting on it.

Usually Dr Surabh

handles the patients.

Uh, okay. But I'm

a very good pathologist.

I bring my father Marvin and my aunt

Ruth in quite a bit to see Dr. Surabh.

Yes, I think I've seen your father

in the front. He's a very frail man?

Dad's a bone You could snap him like

a twig. I hope they're all right.

Oh, well, they're fine.

Good.

Yeah, except Dad's dying.

He's been dying for about 20years.

He's don't real slow

so i don't miss a thing, and...

Well, Dr. Surabh, he's really

worked a miracle with Aunt Ruth.

You know, she's had constant pain from

her back since the time she was born.

But, but he had her get this, um,

electronic anesthetizer, you know?

Where you put the wires

right to your brain,

and any time she has a bad pain...

she just turns the dial.

That's wonderful.

Of course any time she uses it,

our automatic garage door goes up.

But that's a small price to pay.

Oh, I agree

Are those all for me?

Dr. Surabh gave me

very specific instructions.

Okay.

That seems like a lot of blood.

If it seems like a lot of blood

that's because it is a lot of blood,

so what you're feeling

is perfectly normal.

Why don't we get this

over with?

This is sealed so it's sterile.

Oh...

I think I'm gonna come back later.

It's just a vitamin deficiency,

right? So, I'm just...

I said it might be

a vitamin deficiency.

Come on!

Good evening. Bruno's

Hold please.

Lee!

What?

Telephone.

Mmm, okay...

It feels so hard.

Don't touch it.

There's no reason to be putting your hands in

your hair unless you're a very nervous person.

There's no reason to be nervous,

ever,

so long as you have a good,

positive mental attitude.

Switch.

Quietly.

Yeah.

Yeah?

Excuse me. Where do you...

Where do you take, uh...

Hey, where's your brother?

He started it!

Hey!

When we heard what happened,

it just broke our hearts!

You can... make it your own

until you get on your feet.

Do you have any relatives?

No. Well, my boys.

No relatives. That can be a blessing.

No, no! Please, Lance, don't! Don't!

No, Lance, don't!

Stop! I'm warning you! Don't! No...

You disgust me.

We didn't make love.

We had sex... like animals.

Like pets!

Hi, honey...

Lance just raped Coral.

I am so surprised,

because Coral just performed

the surgery on him...

that got his sight back.

Coral's the doctor?

Has been for weeks now.

And does that ever make Amber jealous.

Did you give Dad his 2:00?

I was going to.

Ruth.

I asked you to do one little thing!

Oh... Dad!

All right, all right. Open.

Open up. Open up.

Oh, you sucked all the ink

off the Yhatzee dice.

How are we gonna play?

Huh, Dad?

All right, all right, come on.

Are you okay, huh?

Ah, is this his 1:00? Hmm?

Stupid me!

I'm so useless!

No, you're not! All right, now come on.

Let's quit hogging the bed.

Come on!

It's my cure.

You used to blame your pain for

everything, and now you blame your cure.

Come on, open.

That's right, good.

Come on, open.

Bessie, what happened to your arm?

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote

Scott McPherson

Scott McPherson (October 13, 1959 Columbus, Ohio – November 7, 1992 Chicago) was an American playwright. more…

All Scott McPherson scripts | Scott McPherson Scripts

0 fans

Submitted on August 05, 2018

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Marvin's Room" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Web. 31 Mar. 2023. <https://www.scripts.com/script/marvin's_room_13433>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.