[CELL PHONE VIBRATING]
[HEAVY BREATHING]
- Hello? - [MAN] Mr. Lincoln?
- Yeah. - [MAN] Are you still single?
- Yes. - [MAN] Still no immediate ties with family of any kind?
I'm still an orphan, yeah.
[MAN] No recent achievements
or advancements, career or otherwise?
Yeah, nobody knows I'm alive.
[MAN] All right. We've matched you with a partner.
She can meet you at a bus station, an hour west of Chicago
at 1:00 P.M., a week from tomorrow. Is this acceptable?
- Sure. - [MAN] Details are being forwarded
along with instructions.
- Okay. - [MAN] Daniel?
You know you're going to have to disconnect this number.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[DAN] All right, where are we going again?
Mitchell, South Dakota.
No, the place.
Oh…
It's a secret. I'll tell you when we get there.
- Tell me when we get there'? - Yeah.
[DAN] I don't really like surprises.
[WOMAN] Too bad.
The Corn Palace.
I was saving it for a special occasion.
Your first night seems appropriate enough.
Okay, let's go.
Wait a second.
[WOMAN] Shit.
Put this on.
All right, let's not do this.
- [AIR HISSING] - What are you doing?
[GRUNT] It's a contingency plan.
Now you go tell the guys on the bench you need help changing the tire.
You can't do it because of your wrist, right?
Then you bring them back here and I'll run out and do it.
I don't wanna do that.
Fine, then you'll have to do it… by yourself.
And you really want two drunk guys going down some street with me?
- I think you'll be fine. - I wasn't worried about me.
Why don't we just do it here? Nobody's gonna see us here.
Come on, it's The Corn Palace.
[HEAVY BREATHING]
[CHIT CHAT]
Well, look at this…
You in trouble, friend?
I really, really hope not.
[MAN] Come on, damn it.
[MAN #2] You're doing this the wrong way, man.
[GRUNTING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- All right. - Thank you, guys.
- No problem, man. All right. - Thank you.
- Did you do it? - Yeah.
You all right?
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- [CROWD MURMURING] - [DAN] [HEAVY BREATHING]
[FIDDLE MUSIC PLAYING]
- [RADIO VOLUME DECREASES] - Hey, you.
The colonial Pine Hills welcome you.
Or at least, I think they do, they didn't say.
We need to sleep.
- It's morning? - Yeah.
[YAWNING] I definitely need to sleep.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
You can take the tent on account of it's your first night and all.
It's easy to set up.
Thanks.
Where are you gonna sleep?
In the backseat.
It's a good thing about working so late.
You can sleep just about anywhere.
But sleep, okay?
We haven't even gone over the basics. The whole:
Don't get there before midnight,
never park while you're laying the tile,
ideally no one should ever see us… at all… ever.
Think about where you wanna go tomorrow.
I don't know if they told you this, but I really…
I don't like sleeping.
We really don't have a route or anything?
We just have to call every few days
to get budget approval, tell them where we've been
so we don't cross paths with anybody.
I chose The Corn Palace. So, tag, you're it.
Think about it.
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
[LABORED BREATHING]
Bad dreams?
I don't know.
I just have a… It's, like, a heart thing.
- Broken? - Uh…
A little faulty.
Anyway, it just goes, like, crazy without warning sometimes
and it doesn't really respond too good to stress.
Not supposed to over-exert myself.
You should try to exert yourself.
I might die.
You'll die if you don't, I'll tell you that.
All right. Eat.
I'll break down the tent.
Have you ever seen it before?
Not this year.
Did I see it this year or…?
Ah, not this year.
You know I've never even been outside of Illinois?
So where are we going today?
I… don't know. Why don't you decide?
You have to wanna do this, otherwise I might as well take you home.
Are the Rockies nearby?
I've always wanted to see them.
Someone already got Aspen.
How's Estes park? Gateway to the Rockies.
Yeah, that sounds good.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
- Okay, let's put it here. - Here?
- How do you feel? - I feel good, I feel really, really good.
BOTH: [LAUGHING]
All right, good? Wanna take it? Or you're good?
Yeah.
All right, let's go. Let's go.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
I guess all right, I've been living in Illinois
for as long as I can remember.
I worked for different non-profits,
like, soup kitchens, literacy centers,
so I guess I'm like a professional, you know, volunteer coordinator.
That sounds rewarding… Why did you stop?
Uh, I don't know, I mean, things sorta fell apart a while back
and I realize I didn't have anybody in my life.
Okay, let's do this.
But, uh…
Back it up, though, let's… Tell me about your parents.
- Never knew 'em. - Oh… um…
it's not like that, I just…
I was in foster care for as far back as I can remember
so I never knew 'em and I don't need to.
But did you have a family, like, long-term care?
Well, first I was uh…
How do you explain this…? A novelty baby.
You know what that is?
It's like a new home for every birthday.
You see, because, like some couples,
they only seem to want a baby of a certain age.
And then when the kid grows out of that age,
they realize that they're staring down the barrel of,
you know, the rest of a life.
Well, two lives. You know, theirs and his,
which I guess can be, you know, one thing in theory
but it's another thing when that reality really likes…
You know, clothes and food and always will.
But, I mean, I spent time in every cliche imaginable.
Are you an optimist, Dan?
An optimist…
Can you be a cautious optimist?
How about a hopeful optimist?
- Okay. - Good.
I wouldn't want to drive to Colorado with anyone
who wasn't a hopeful optimist.
Especially in the case of a Dickensian childhood.
You know, when I was, uh…
You know, 13 I moved in with this couple,
with a girl who was about, you know, a year older than me.
So it turns out that this couple,
they had two kids who died, you know, when they were young.
So, somehow, this couple, right, these parents,
they found a way to get two kids that were the same age
as their kids were when they died.
But they also found a way… and don't ask me how…
to ensure that they got kids with specific birthdays.
The same exact birthdays that their kids had but,
you know, a year later to account for the time it took to find us.
- This is bullshit, right? - It's not bullshit at all.
Now, the birthdays thing, it's important because it meant that me and this girl
really felt this strange, sort of connection.
Does this story end with you kissing your sister?
She wasn't really my sister.
It was like, okay… picture it this way…
Right, we were students.
Okay, roommates, at some really inappropriate boarding school.
Now, this couple, they were well-off so we could afford separate bathrooms…
Oh, and that makes it okay.
You asked me, I'm telling you.
I'm sorry, go on. You have the benefit of the doubt.
Okay, it's not… it's not as weird as it sounds,
I mean, we hit it off…
As soon as we met, right?
She was in high school, I was in the eighth grade.
We were both new, so we didn't really have anybody but we had each other
and, you know, we started to date.
That was it. And I mean, we tried really hard
to hide it from this couple
that we never even really thought as our parents anyway.
And I guess we didn't try hard enough.
And when they found out, it, you know, it wrecked them.
What happened?
Well, she turned 18 and then, you know,
you no longer apply for foster care, then,
so the parents, they decide whether or not they wanna adopt you
and I think that, you know, at this point, yeah,
I think they considered it, but now it was impossible.
So she moved out and I was not really in love with school.
But I was sort of in love with her so I dropped out
and moved into the city and it was good for a while,
you know, but I just got this, you know, this weird heart…
What I'm trying to say to you is that sometimes,
when you don't love another person, love…
it can just be a really, really hard thing to fake.
Believe me, I've tried.
So, who are you?
I'm Jane.
Right, and I'm Dan, that's done.
So, who are you? Let's hear it.
No, honey, I'm just Jane.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
This is just what I want when I have a house.
Bullshit leading up to my…
- [GIGGLES] - …Door.
That's it, just horse shit. Straight shit.
I think it's mule… mule…
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[GROANS]
Wanna try it?
- Getting down is gonna the bad part. - [GRUNT]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Here you go. Want some weeds?
[LAUGHING]
He's gonna fucking flip…
he's stomping his feet, he's not happy.
No, he doesn't care.
[CLEARS THROAT]
You wanna be like everyone else and carve your name into one of these wooden things?
No one's gonna ever see this.
Someone some day is gonna come by here and say, "J?"
Here you go. These are for you.
- [LAUGHING] - Horse weeds.
Oh, thank you!
- No? - I love horse weeds.
- You love horse weeds? - [LAUGHING] You dork.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
You really couldn't live like this? I think this would be great.
- Really? - You do nothing.
Exactly. You do nothing.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[DAN] You have very…
many misconceptions of me, I think.
Maybe you have misconceptions about me.
I think I got you pretty much…
- Spot on. - Oh, yeah?
- Oh, I think so. - Don't you just look like the cat that ate the canary.
[DAN LAUGHS]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[GRASS RUSTLING]
Hope you like these. It's all I eat on the road.
Got some fruits, some grains, a little bit of protein,
it's perfect.
So… What does it make you feel?
Feel anything?
What, the sandwich? It's fine.
No, I mean…
Seeing the same thing the people in the covered wagons saw.
If you hold your hand up and you cover the road,
you see pretty much the same thing they did.
Does it make you feel something?
[CHUCKLES] I guess not, no.
I look at that and all I can think of is
thank god we can go faster than them.
So…?
Why are you doing this?
What do you mean?
Why did you answer the ad?
I mean, I don't know, I guess I just…
I like the idea of being, you know,
part of something bigger than myself.
You know what I mean? Not being just me anymore,
I guess is what I'm trying to say.
This is what I wanna do, you know, to be part of something.
And this is a bigger something?
I mean, maybe, you know, it feels like it.
Tell me, uh…
Tell me about your interview.
Didn't have one.
What about you?
Nope, just a phone call.
Yeah, I saw a, uh…
A flyer in a coffee shop.
- Phone pole. - Yeah.
Mm, I mean, I hung it on my fridge for probably, like,
I don't know, like, maybe two weeks.
And then I got curious, you know, so I called.
And mostly I thought I was just gonna get,
you know, some answers as to what was going on.
And I guess, you know, part of you always hopes that maybe
there's something you could actually do.
[MAN] Hello and thank you for calling.
[DAN] And I literally kept expecting the guy to tell me
that I was "now entering the twilight zone."
[JANE] Why? What did he ask you? Something… something strange?
[MAN] What was your earliest disappointment?
No, I mean, not really, you know, anything out of the ordinary.
There were mostly, like, personal questions.
You know, like, the kind of thing,
it's a little hard to, you know, lie about.
[MAN] What single factor has most significantly contributed
to your aspirations?
[DAN] At the time I thought there was some sort of, you know,
like a complex matrix to sort of
assess my suitability but, I don't know.
[MAN] Are you familiar with the Tromsø tiles?
Yeah, I mean, it's hard not to be. I do live in a city.
[DAN] But, I mean, they're popping up everywhere.
You know, they're not just in major us cities anymore.
There's one in Vancouver. Right?
And I heard a guy say there's one in Panama.
Cuba, they got one. You know?
So we all seen them, we wonder that they meant.
I don't know, that's why I'm out here.
[MAN] I'm not at liberty to discuss any specifics vis-a-vis,
larger goals… I can divulge that I represent an organization
for whom the tiles are an important project.
We're currently aiding in the recruitment of new members for the ground team.
Look, I can tell you think I know something about the tiles.
But, uh…
If there's some explanatory brochure,
my copy hasn't arrived yet.
I don't know any more than you do.
You sure about that?
Yeah.
All right.
But I mean, there has to be some type of a meaning to the message.
You know, in the first part… okay, break down the first part for a second,
right, the first part is a riddle.
And I remember from looking at the tile in Chicago,
it said, "What's the difference between a life's…
…timecard and a child-estimated fear?"
That's it so there has to be some sort of an answer.
Oh, here's an answer. I worked it out.
Uh… the two phrases, "A child-estimated fear"
and "Life's timecard" have all the same letters
except the first one contains five more.
"E," and "A", a "T," an "H" and a "D."
So the answer is
"D-E-A-T… and H."
[MUSIC PLAYING]
So, the top layer…
is black and white linoleum.
And below that is a combination of plain linoleum
and this crack-filling stuff they use for pavement.
Yeah, the adhesive is really just there for first few days, though.
Once it's there the tile is not going anywhere, I promise.
What's important is to make sure you position the thing
so that the tires hit it.
'Cause that's what drives into the pavement.
And it just melts into the street.
Like a fossil. It's weird, I know,
it's some sort of combination of the weight of the tires
and the crack-filling stuff.
So what should we put on the border?
They give us some freedom there.
Some people like to use quotes,
lyrics,
political fringe ideas.
I like to use poetry,
unless you have a better idea.
"Full fathom five
thy father lies… Of his bones are coral made.
Those are pearls that were his eyes."
It's "the tempest."
I know what it is.
And it's an awfully a good idea.
Come on, you gotta help me cut out this stuff
if we're gonna finish it in time.
[GROANS]
- It's really tough stuff, - you jabbed my knee.
- I'm sorry. - Oh, my god.
- It's really hard. Look. - Okay.
[LAUGHS]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Does it make you feel small?
More than small.
I was joking.
So was I.
Really?
You know what the weirdest thing is? Like, if you really…
you sit and you think about being dead forever.
You know? You can… you have an idea in your head of what that is,
but sometimes when you stop and you close your eyes
and you really think about that… like, think about,
like, just forever.
And how long that goes on for.
I mean, if… if you had…
if everything lasted forever,
you wouldn't appreciate it.
[CHUCKLES] Maybe.
Or you think you would.
No, I think you're right.
Of course I'm right. [GIGGLES]
This is a good one.
[CHUCKLE] Don't distract me with the rocks.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.
All right, ready?
- Two, two… oh, shit, man, I'm bad. - [LAUGHING]
Don't you feel just a little bit safer around water?
A little more comfortable?
No?
- Where do you feel comfortable? - I like the desert.
- [DAN] You like the desert, yeah? - Yeah.
My butt's cold.
My ass is freezing.
[DAN] [GRUNTING]
[HEAVY BREATHING]
♪ 50 nifty United States ♪
♪ From 13 original colonies… ♪
[MUFFLED] ♪ Shout 'em scout 'em. ♪ ♪ Tell all about 'em ♪
[HEAVY BREATHING]
[PANICKED BREATHING]
You feeling patriotic?
I'm doing a star for every state
I've laid a tile in.
Don't look so impressed.
You can get most of New England in one night.
And…
I want all the stars.
[COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING]
So have you seen the tile in Chicago?
Yeah, there's a bar. Well, actually, it's like a cocktail lounge.
They say it was… you know Al Capone?
They say it was his favorite place.
And there's one right outside of there.
I mean, I worked at a shelter nearby
and I walked past there every day.
And I didn't see it at first…
And one day it was just… it was there.
You know, I was walking down the street.
And I stepped into the street, and my foot touches something,
you know, and it doesn't really feel like street.
And…
I got stuck there for,
like, 15 minutes.
Just reading it,
touching it, feeling it,
over and over.
♪ 'Cause you once ♪ ♪ belonged to me ♪
♪ When I lost you, ♪ ♪ I didn't lose ♪
♪ Your memory ♪
Why do you think they mean so much to people?
Who says they mean something to people?
Well, I mean, they mean something to me.
They must mean something to you if you're here.
And they must mean something to somebody else,
or else it would have never made the news.
The tiles are interesting because
ambiguity is interesting.
Nobody knows how it got there
so we fill it with an exciting, shadowy mystery.
I had a friend whose grandfather…
he used to put on magic shows at Christmas,
for her and all her cousins.
And she told me she hated it
until one year
he, uh…
Let her be the magician's assistant.
And after he made her swear up and down
not to tell the little ones the secrets.
She said it was the most
fulfilling, happy experience she'd ever had.
Yeah, I get that, but I think that it is something…
I don't know, it's not just the mystery.
I think it has something to do with the message.
I mean, obviously there's something comforting in it.
I mean, death is the one fear we all have in common, right?
And the tiles are about death.
The dead die backwards, Tromsø Polarsirkel,
whatever that is. They can come back.
Do you even know what Tromsø is?
No.
It's a town in Norway.
The land of the midnight sun.
That's what polarsirkel means.
It's just Norwegian for "Arctic Circle."
Tromsø is the seventh largest city in Norway.
It's not as big as Trondheim, but bigger than Tønsberg.
It has the largest number of wooden houses in all of northern Norway.
It has a busy electronic music scene
and I haven't checked but can virtually guarantee
that nobody in that town is experimenting successfully
or otherwise in resurrection.
Look, I think it's good that you believe in what we're doing.
I mean, I think what we're doing is great.
It brings some whimsy back into the picture.
I just don't think you should put…
Any more meaning into it than it has.
Did you notice anything else about the tiles in Chicago?
Uh…
I think there was some poetry.
Maybe some T. S. Eliot, yeah, it was T. S. Eliot.
"Phlebas the of Phoenician,
a fortnight dead, forgot the cry of the gulls
and deep seas swell and the profit and the loss.
A current under sea picked his bones in whispers.
As he rose and fell,
he passed the stages of his age and youth
entering the whirlpool."
♪ You're drifting ♪ ♪ too far from the shore… ♪
[COUNTRY SONG CONTINUES]
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
- I'm not doing anything. - I'll let you press.
Shit, shit, shit.
[JANE] Shit.
- [MAN] Hey! - Hey, how's it going?
- What's going on here? - Uh, nothing, she's just having-…
she just needs a moment to herself.
She has… a friend of hers got hit by a car, he was riding his bike
up this road and she's kinda just trying to,
you know, get past it. A little cathartic moment, you know?
We're all right, really, but we don't want any other car stopping
'cause it could be a little dangerous for her,
so, really, we appreciate you checking in on us.
- [MAN] All right. Be careful. - How are you doing?
I'm sorry, we didn't mean to startle you.
- [WOMAN] Yeah, be careful out here. - All right.
- [WOMAN] They drive real fast. - They do?
I bet they do. Okay.
Thank you. Have a good night.
[THUNDERING]
- [LAUGHING] - What was that?
It was a contingency plan.
How does a day off sound?
Really?
Of course.
Always take one day off a week for your mental health.
Okay.
Maybe I'll even, uh…
Let you take me out to dinner.
I'd like that.
But I have no money.
Or… credit cards.
Or electronic devices,
or identification,
or anything outside of a storage unit in Humboldt Park.
It's okay. We'll, uh, charge it to them.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[DAN] Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch…
How long are you gonna run for?
[JANE] [SIGHS]
What are you doing?
You're very much like Jane.
You're a dog. Number one.
You shed, number two.
- [LAUGHS] - And you're a little bit skittish.
Get that there.
Get your eyeball
and your mouth.
If you could've lived in any other time, what would it be?
Any other time?
- Yeah. - I would live in…
I would live in, I don't know, probably in…
I would like to ride in a wagon and stuff, be like a miner…
- Really? - Back in the day, what do they call those guys?
- Prospector? - Prospector.
- See? - Wow.
That actually is pretty good.
Nice.
I haven't said one lie to you.
Yeah?
Well, once I said a half lie.
That was it.
You've… come on, you've said some lies to me.
Haven't you?
I've not lied to you.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
What are you thinking about?
I don't know.
You… I don't know how to word this
without it coming out wrong.
I think you're the most beautiful girl that ever really paid attention to me.
And I know that you're only paying attention to me because of our situation, but…
And that's why I would like to know just…
You know, a little bit more.
[DAN] I don't know what I'm saying.
I don't know what to say to you.
[JANE] You're a whole lotta talk.
[KNOCK ON DOOR]
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
Listen, I'm, uh… I'm sorry. I should've…
- [LAUGHS] - …Knocked louder.
[LAUGHS]
- Sorry. - Sure. Whatever.
Go get us a table. I have to call ground control.
Okay.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
Who answers there?
What will you talk about?
I'm just gonna tell them what towns we hit. That's it.
- That's all? - That's all.
Okay.
Alright. Is there anything else I can do for you?
- Get out of here! - [LAUGHS] Are you sure?
- Yes! - Alright, table for two?
- Yes! - Okay.
[JANE GIGGLES]
[DAN] Alright.
[JANE ON PHONE] Karen Latuilippe.
04-26-170.
- What? - Well? What did they say?
[SCOFFS] Well, nothing.
Just, "Thank you for all your hard work.
We really appreciate it. Couldn't do it without you."
- That's it. - I promise. That's all.
You think I was up there long enough for some sort of, uh…
Secret transmission? Something in code?
Hey.
Why do you need to believe in this so badly?
It's just… you know it's just giving
people something to wonder about.
It's uh… It's a joke.
A caper.
That's it, something to just, you know,
break up the monotony of life.
- That's it. - That's it?
Yeah.
That's it? It's a joke to you?
Who in their right mind,
would go through all this trouble,
to do all of this stuff, if it was just a joke?
There's not. There's just…
I don't know. I mean, there's, like…
I just always assumed it was some eccentric billionaire.
You know, probably a little bit insane.
You know, "Wizard of Oz."
Look. I don't know any more about this than you do.
I've… I've just been doing it for longer.
That's it.
Bored. Sort of like, Howard Hughes,
up in his, I don't know, Xanadu temple.
[LAUGHS]
I'll give you one more chance.
Why do you have to believe in this so much?
Because…
Because, I don't… I don't believe
in anything else.
Because, you know, they're telling me something
that I want to believe is true.
You know, if there could be anything else,
then maybe everybody ends up alright
and so will I.
I mean, I've never felt all right.
You know? I always felt like, um,
I don't know, like a jigsaw piece from the wrong puzzle.
That make sense to you?
You feel like a puzzle piece?
Well, I feel,
I don't know. Maybe we're all just pieces, you know?
Pieces from different puzzles. Random ones.
And there's no point in figuring it out at all.
All I know is that…
They give me a chance at…
Making me not feel that way anymore.
Do you feel like a lot of puzzle pieces,
- [CHUCKLES] - Or just one puzzle piece?
You know what I mean.
Yeah, I wish I didn't.
I mean…
Maybe we're all just…
And we don't know what the picture's of.
Maybe. I think you're onto something there.
- Yeah? - Yeah, I do.
This is as far as I go. You're gonna have to come the rest of the way.
[CHUCKLES]
Fine.
Don't…
Ever tell me you're in love with me.
[WHISPERS] Ever.
What if it were true?
[SIGHS DEEPLY] That would be too bad.
Hi.
We're giving people something to believe in?
Maybe. But, I think at the end of the day
it's gonna be up to them whether or not
they wanna believe it.
What if… [SIGHS]
What if we gave them something to believe in without needing to…
What if we let them in on the secret without…
Keeping it from them. Just…
But what's the secret?
Do you wanna go to the Grand Canyon?
- Really? - Yeah.
Yeah, always. I've never been there.
- Okay. - Is it close?
- Yeah! - Yeah? Give me five more minutes.
Let's go!
[GROANING] Alright! I'm up! I'm up! I'm up!
- [JANE LAUGHS] - [DAN GROANS]
- Come on. - All right.
- I'm terrified of heights. - I love them. I really do.
- You like heights? - Yeah.
I don't know.
I… I like, like, sort of that tingly sensation.
- Really? - Yeah.
- You don't? - No, I really don't.
- Why? - I don't know.
I always feel like something's gonna happen
and I'm gonna just heave myself over the edge…
- I'll push you. - Don't! Please! Don't do it!
[LAUGHS]
Don't do it.
- You jumped so bad! - I will leave you here.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
- I didn't mean to scare you. - You're forgiven.
- Yeah? - Mm-hm.
- You gonna kiss me? - You want me to kiss you?
- You look like you were going to. - [LAUGHS]
I thought about it. No, I'm not.
No?
I'm going to exfoliate on your stubble.
[LAUGHS]
- That works. - Yeah?
- It's like a shoe mat. - [LAUGHS]
- You're saying my face is dirty? - It looks like a shoe.
[LAUGHS]
- I'm kidding. - Like a nice shoe, or like a hiking boot?
Like a…
Like a big motorcycle boot.
My face looks like a motorcycle boot?
Yeah, sometimes.
- What? - In a certain light, it all depends.
- What? - No, I'm kidding.
You look like a strappy sandal.
[BOTH LAUGH]
- Come on. - Yeah.
All right.
Well, if I look like a motorcycle boot,
- if my face looks like a motorcycle boot… - No, it doesn't.
- [GASPS] - You have a beautiful face.
- [THUNDER RUMBLES] - Shut up.
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
I keep missing these. You're distracting me.
- Yeah? - I feel like this is coming towards us.
I'm distracting you from this?
You're distracting me from all of this.
Yes?
[THUNDER RUMBLING]
Ah.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[WIND BLOWING]
What's wrong?
Nothing.
- Why are you crying? - I'm not crying.
- You're upset. - I'm not.
It's just windy.
[MUSIC PLAYING ON CAR STEREO]
[RAINDROPS PELTING WINDOW]
I think we should go to Phoenix today.
I've been wanting to go there.
Not wanting to, but I think we should go.
All right.
Why didn't you say something earlier?
I mean, we could've really been there days ago.
I've been aiming us there since we got to Colorado.
Really?
Thanks for mentioning it.
Look, Danny, if you wanted to travel with someone
who would give you access to her every thought,
you should've gotten in someone else's car in Illinois.
Who's Karen Latuilippe?
I don't know. I don't like her name.
I heard you say that name the other night on the phone.
- I told you not to listen to that call. - Well, you know what?
You should've given me just a little bit more time
to get down the hallway before you decided…
given you more time?
How was I supposed to know you were, like, snooping by my door?
- I told you to go down. - I wasn't snooping by your door.
I left your room, I was standing right there.
Who is it? Is it you?
So I have an alias.
You have an alias. Which one is it, or is it both of them?
What… what does it matter?
It matters to me.
You know, I'm just get… I'm a little bit sick of this,
because every time you ask me something,
I'm pretty forward with it.
I mean, you know mostly everything about me.
You know the blueprints and stuff.
[TURNS VOLUME UP]
♪ Roll on ♪
♪ Roll on, little dogies, ♪ ♪ roll on, roll on ♪
♪ Roll on ♪
♪ Roll on, little dogies, ♪ ♪ roll on. ♪
So this is where we're laying it?
- Outside? - Yep.
- Okay, let's go. - All right, let's go.
You know, I normally support you 100%,
but I thought that we were supposed to kind of, you know,
stay out of areas where people might see us.
If you want to lay a tile across town, be my guest.
This one's going here.
All right.
[SIGHS]
I hate myself tonight. I'll be better tomorrow.
- Get a fresh start. - All right.
- Just let me do this, okay? - Okay.
Shit.
Shit!
- You all right? - [MAN] Hey!
What the hell?
What's she doing over there?
Um, just… her friend died about like a year ago
or three years… he got hit by a bike and he was, you know…
and so she's just paying her respects.
- Who's this? - [WOMAN] What's going on?
Nothing, we were doing something
and we're leaving, we're done.
- Are we leaving? - No, we're not leaving.
- You stayed. - Yeah.
You know, I thought you might've stayed,
but I didn't think you'd stay here.
- What's going on? - Can you stop asking what's going on, please?
Why did you come back?
I still needed to get Arizona.
Oh, oh, this is my replacement, huh?
You know what? Screw you.
No, don't intellectualize it.
Don't make a narrative of it.
What narr… I'm not making a narrative. What are you talking about?
- You've got to stop. - Fine, I'll stop. Fuck you.
I'm not your fucking school girl.
You know what? Have fun with him.
Watch his nose. It crinkles when he's lying.
- That's his tell. - That's a tic.
- [BREATHING HEAVILY] - That's really sad.
Yeah, have fun together. Come on, Dan, let's go.
- What's happening to him? - I don't know. Come on.
- What the hell? - Come on.
- [GIRL] What the…? - [MAN] Just get in the car.
- I'm all right. - I got this.
- Hey, I'm right here. - I'm sorry.
It's okay.
No, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.
Just breathe. Just try to breathe.
- [HYPERVENTILATING] - Okay, look.
Okay, hey.
I'm sorry.
Hey, hey, we'll go home, we'll go home, okay?
[RAPID BREATHING CONTINUES]
All right, what was that? Huh? Who was he?
You know, everything you need to know
it's a footnote, not a story worth telling.
All right, but why won't you just tell me any story?
Anything? One thing.
[SIGHS]
Do you remember the one about my friend, the…
my friend with the magician grandfather?
Yes.
I'll tell you a story about her, if you want.
Okay.
She's not around anymore so she won't mind.
Well, what was she like?
She liked fire.
Not like an arsonist does but, you know, like,
the way it jumped, the warmth, the glow.
Where did she live?
In a very nice neighborhood.
She lived in the sorta of house where a family could go
an entire weekend without seeing each other, you know?
Sort of like a house, not a home.
What? There wasn't any love in the house?
No, the parents loved the children, it's just…
The kind of love that you have to give
when you haven't been given any love, you know?
I think so.
And when that's the kind of love a girl gets,
the kind of love she has to give is bound to have a few kinks in it.
So what was her love like?
It was big, that was the problem.
And sometimes that's wonderful, but…
It also meant that there were lengthy periods
when…
Being high was normal
and…
Sober was hell.
It was a rough few years and at the end of it,
she was pregnant.
And… [SNIFFS]
When she decided not to keep the baby…
All that matters is she knew.
She really knew that she couldn't be this child's mother.
And that made it all the more challenging
when her parents told her it wasn't her decision at all.
From the moment she told them, it was very clear
that she would be raising this child, that the least she could do
if she got pregnant was act like she meant to be.
So she had the child and it was a boy, incidentally.
- A boy. - Yes.
But when she had decided not to keep her son,
her love for him dried up.
And for all those months he grew in her
she couldn't find her love for him and it scared her so damn much.
But he was born…
And he was absolutely everything to her.
He brought enough love to the table to make her
wanna forget she'd ever questioned her ability to love him.
I'm so tired, it's been a really long night.
[SIGHS]
It was like a first breath of air
after being sure you'd drown.
And that was so perfect.
Its timing was so symmetrical because what happened next…
I mean, had to confirm her belief in some higher power,
even if that higher power was at the very least
deeply ambivalent about her and everyone she knew.
I… I mentioned she liked fire.
And that's appropriate because…
Everything that happened next was fire.
She walked out of the room…
And when she walked back, she was alone.
He was there, but…
Still.
And she didn't scream because that's what people do…
And…
She was made of fire now.
And so she walked into the desert…
And the footsteps she left behind were on fire, too.
At least that was how she saw it.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[JANE SIGHS]
Aren't you tired of believing in something
you can't even describe?
But I can describe this.
What is it? The…
you gonna tell me the picture's complete? Puzzle's complete?
As far as I'm concerned, you're alone in the desert with a virtual stranger.
Then what should I be doing?
- I'm sorry, I just… - what should I be doing?
[SIGHING]
You know, you could come up with something better, something…
More amazing.
Maybe.
All right, what are we doing? Where are we going?
I don't know. You tell me. You pick.
I don't care, you decide, I picked the last time. Didn't I pick the last time?
I did.
- Fine. - You decide.
How about The Four Corners?
That sounds lovely.
- Yeah? - Yeah, let's do that.
What's The Four Corners?
I don't know. What are The Four Corners?
- What are The Four… - [GIGGLING] It's where… it's where the four states meet
- at right angles. - What four states?
Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and new Mexico.
♪ West of her ♪ ♪ there's a place I know ♪
♪ Never have been ♪ ♪ but I'd like to go ♪
[JANE] Tell me something true.
♪ Somewhere out there ♪ ♪ I believe in me ♪
♪ And west of her ♪ ♪ is where I'd like to see ♪
I think… that I might be falling in love with you.
♪ West of her ♪ ♪ there's another place ♪
[JANE] You can't say you think you're falling in love with someone.
Love is an absolute.
You can love someone a little or a lot
but if you only think you're falling in love with them
then you're not in love with them.
♪ Roll on ♪
♪ roll on ♪
I love you.
I'm not in love with you.
It's nothing personal, I'm sorry.
Come on, Danny, tell me something true, just…
You know, I don't believe that you believe you don't believe in anything.
I mean, you… you believe in more than you know you do.
You believe in something, you just don't know.
You just don't know it.
♪ Roll on, ♪ ♪ I just ♪
♪ Roll on, roll on ♪
If you need to go lay that tile, I can't go with you.
What do you mean, you can't come with me?
I'm done. I can't keep doing this.
If you wanna spread something together, something else,
I will, we'll come up with something.
I'll spread it all over the world, but I'm… done.
I can't… I can't…
Spread a riddle and an empty promise.
I think that I might be falling in love with you.
You've been saying this from the beginning.
But it's not empty. Nothing about this is empty.
Then…
Tell me specifically what it means.
Right, see?
♪ Roll on ♪
- And, um, here… - [PAPER WRINKLING]
You take your orders from them now.
It's Maine.
[SIGHS] What an anti-climax, right?
♪ Roll on ♪
♪ Roll on, ♪ ♪ roll on ♪
[JANE] Yeah, you know.
♪ Roll on, I just ♪
♪ Roll on, ♪ ♪ roll on ♪
Stay honest, Mr. Lincoln.
[HEAVY BREATHING]
[POUNDING FOOTSTEPS]
Stop it. [EXHALES SHARPLY]
[LABORED BREATHING]
[SIGHS DEEPLY]
[LOWING]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
This is what you wanted me to do, huh?
This is what you… Left me to do by myself?
Some horse shit fucking no-name town.
All right.
Ah, fuck me.
[GROANING]
[TV MOVIE] [MAN] No, Evans.
I can't figure out why you keep stepping on my toes all the time.
Of course that's your business.
I'm a good loser.
[JOHN WAYNE] I like a good loser.
'Course I like any kind of a loser better than a winner…
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[CROWD MURMURING]
[LAUGHTER]
Thank you very much.
[CROWD CHATTER]
[MARCHING BAND DRUMLINE PLAYING]
[DRUMMING CONTINUES]
[HEAVY BREATHING]
Hello?
What's in that bag?
[GROANING]
What do you wanna know?
What's in the bag?
- Secrets. - Tell me the secret.
I'm really good at keeping secrets.
All right. You look like a guy I can trust so I'm gonna level with you.
The secret is, I think,
that everybody ends up all right.
And so will you.
Oh… oh… Okay.
That's kind of a stupid secret.
Hey, excuse me…
This is gonna sound really bad, weird, I'm sorry.
I normally don't do this to people
'cause I hate it when they do it to me, but…
- [GIGGLING] Okay. - … I have to make just a small phone call.
- Like, two seconds. - Yeah, you need to use my phone.
That's right. I don't have my phone.
- Yeah, no, it's no problem. Here… - It's just important.
- [MAN] Hello? - What's happening in Tromsø?
And when is it gonna happen?
[MAN] First… Let me ask you something.
How does our message make you feel?
I don't think that matters anymore.
Just tell me specifically what is going to happen in Norway.
[MAN] That's very complicated.
There are… there…
well, it shouldn't be.
It shouldn't be complicated at all, just tell me one thing.
Anything. Just one small thing
you know that I don't know.
Okay. Listen, I left…
I left a car next to the Gibson guitar factory in Memphis.
[MAN] What?
And it isn't locked, so you're gonna want send someone soon, okay?
- [MAN] This is highly unusual. Hello? - [PHONE CLICKS OFF]
Thank you very much, I really appreciate it.
What's happening in Tromsø?
You know what, I don't think anything is happening in Tromsø.
Maybe like electronic music.
- Okay. - Nothing too big.
Listen, is there a… is there a hotel somewhere?
- In either direction? - Oh, yeah, yeah. There's one, like, a block that way.
So it's walking distance?
Yeah, I think it's like a motel, it's like, $60 bucks a night or something.
$60 bucks a night? [MAKES SUCKING SOUND]
- Ah… - Oh, man.
All right, how about coffee? Is there… is there a coffee place around?
Yeah, I'm going to get coffee right now actually.
- You wanna come? - You're really going to get coffee?
- Yeah, I'll show you. - Yeah?
- Yeah, come on. - It's not weird or anything?
- No, no. - Am I creeping you out?
- No, not yet [LAUGHING] - I not normally like this. Normally, I'm…
- No, yeah… you look a little disheveled, I'm not gonna lie. - Clean…
Do I look a little mangy yeah?
[CELL PHONE VIBRATING]
Hello?
[MAN] Daniel?
We received a very distressing call from this number.
I think we need to speak about your behavior.
[WOMAN] Hey, who was that?
Uhh… moving company.
They said that they're going out to the storage unit today
and that my stuff should be ready by the end of the week.
You'll get this job and then you'll get a big promotion.
And then you'll get out of my place.
And then you'll get out of my hair.
- Get out of your hair? - Yeah.
You know what? I don't think you could handle your hair with me out of it.
You're right. I'd shave it off in mourning.
[BOTH CHUCKLE]
You okay?
What are you thinking about?
Puzzle pieces.
Why are you thinking about puzzle pieces?
Because, sometimes…
I feel like…
I don't know. I'm just from the wrong puzzle.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
And somebody told me once that…
Maybe it's because maybe we just don't know what the big picture's of.
You know? But I don't know.
I don't know if that's true. It doesn't really seem quite right to me.
You know?
I think that maybe, in the end,
I'm just, you know, more like a tile.
Or like a…
I don't know, like a tiny point in a big mosaic.
- Yeah? - Yeah.
And you're one.
And so's everyone I've ever known.
You know, or loved.
And, you know, it's up to us whether our picture is…
A beautiful one, you know, or an ugly one.
- If that's what you're into. - [CHUCKLES]
You know, there have been times when I've known
my picture was happy in the moment.
And it was, you know, it was beautiful.
Hmmm.
But I think I'm starting to realize
that, you know, I'm the one who gets to decide
where my tiles lie.
Well, that's very philosophical.
- Is it philosophical? I thought so. - Yeah.
That's why they call me Spinoza. You know that, right?
- Nobody calls you that. - They don't?
Sorry. No. Mm-mm.
- Well, you could be the first. - Hmm.
- I better get going. - Good luck, Spinoza.
Thank you.
Like my brothers always say, best advice before a big game:
- Mm-hmm? - "Win."
- [CHUCKLES] Win. - Yes, so get the job, okay?
Just don't exert yourself too much. I want you around for a long time.
- Why? Nefarious purposes? - Uh, yeah.
- I could see it. - Sure.
I see how you work.
You know I am trying to exert myself at least once a day these days.
- Oh, yeah? Oh, good. - Mm-hmm.
Good. So you want to get your exertion out of the way early today?
- Do I? - Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Mmm, I gotta go. Why do you always do this to me?
- Come on. - As soon as I'm ready to walk out the door
- come on. Just five minutes. - This is what happens.
[OVERLAPPING CHATTER]
[MAN] "…and then take hands."
"These arms are tired."
Something to think about, I guess.
Yeah, I guess so. Huh.
"…Curtsy when you have and kissed."
[GUITAR PLAYS]
♪ Woken by a faulty heart ♪
♪ Horses drawn ♪ ♪ behind your cart ♪
♪ Drowning ♪ ♪ in the river blue ♪
♪ The only vest ♪
♪ Is strapped to you ♪
♪ When you have ♪ ♪ your pieces set ♪
♪ Someone will glue you ♪
♪ And sell you ♪ ♪ to an antique store ♪
♪ But she didn't want you ♪
♪ Or need you ♪
♪ As you are ♪
♪ Typing up ♪ ♪ handwritten notes ♪
♪ Carrying them ♪ ♪ like tallied votes ♪
♪ Of those who have ♪ ♪ abandoned you ♪
♪ And bruised the roots ♪
♪ From which you grew ♪
♪ Stealing the memories ♪
♪ Of those you admire ♪
♪ Buying wood ♪ ♪ to build a home ♪
♪ When what ♪ ♪ you build is fire ♪
♪ She has burned ♪
♪ All that's inside you ♪
♪ And she would fight ♪
♪ Right alongside you ♪
[GUITAR AND FIDDLE PLAY]
[MUSIC FADES]