Manhattan

"Chapter one. "

"He adored New York City. He idolised it all out of proportion. "

Uh, no. Make that "He romanticised it all out of proportion. "

"To him, no matter what the season was,

this was still a town that existed in black and white

and pulsated to the great tunes of George Gershwin. "

Uh... no. Let me start this over.

"Chapter one. "

"He was too romantic about Manhattan, as he was about everything else. "

"He thrived on the hustle, bustle of the crowds and the traffic. "

"To him, New York meant beautiful women

and street-smart guys who seemed to know all the angles. "

Ah, corny. Too corny for a man of my taste.

Let me... try and make it more profound.

"Chapter one. He adored New York City. "

"To him, it was a metaphor for the decay of contemporary culture. "

"The same lack of integrity to cause so many people to take the easy way out...

... was rapidly turning the town of his dreams..."

No, it's gonna be too preachy. I mean, face it, I wanna sell some books here.

"Chapter one. He adored New York City,

although to him it was a metaphor for the decay of contemporary culture. "

"How hard it was to exist in a society desensitised by drugs, loud music,

television, crime, garbage..."

Too angry. I don't wanna be angry.

"Chapter one. "

"He was as tough and romantic as the city he loved. "

"Behind his black-rimmed glasses was the coiled sexual power of a jungle cat. "

I love this.

"New York was his town and it always would be. "

I think the essence of art is to provide a kind of working-through situation,

so that you can get in touch with feelings you didn't know you had.

Talent is luck. The important thing in life is courage.

- They've had this argument for 20 years. - Listen to this example.

If the four of us are walking home over the bridge and a person was drowning,

would we have the nerve...

Would one of us have the nerve to dive into the icy water and save them?

It's a key question.

l, of course, can't swim, so I never have to face it.

Oh... God.

Which of us?

- You want a little more? - No.

Mm. Oh, man. That is so great.

You don't smoke.

I know I don't smoke. I don't inhale because it gives you cancer, but

I look so incredibly handsome with a cigarette that I can't not hold one.

You like the way I look?

Provocative.

- I'm getting through to you? - Yup. You have to excuse me a sec.

Jesus, she's gorgeous.

But she's 17.

I'm 42 and she's 17.

I'm... I'm older than her father. Can you believe that?

I'm dating a girl wherein I can beat up her father.

That's the first time that ever occurred in my life.

- He's drunk. - You're drunk. You should never drink.

Did I tell you... that my ex-wife...

- Who, Tina? - My second ex-wife

is writing a book about our marriage and the break-up.

- That's really tacky. - It's really depressing, you know.

She's gonna give all those details out, all my little idiosyncrasies,

and my quirks and mannerisms, and...

Not that I have anything to hide because, you know...

But there are a few disgusting little moments that I regret.

It's just gossip. Gossip is the new pornography.

- You should never let me drink. - I know.

You should never let yourself drink.

We oughta go cos I've got an exam tomorrow.

Oh, do you? The kid's gotta get up...

She's got homework. I'm dating a girl who does homework.

What is it? What's the matter with you?

You... you... Where are you now? Your mind is like a million miles away.

I have something I wanna say.

l, uh, I just didn't know quite how to... get into it.

Um, l, uh...

About seven or eight weeks ago I went to this dinner party

and I met a woman there.

And...

- And I've got kind of involved with her. - You're kidding?

It started out very casually. I mean, we had lunch a couple of times.

And now it's, you know, it's getting out of hand and I don't know what to do about it.

I mean, I'm... It's scary.

Well, who is she? What are the details?

Well, she's a journalist.

She's very...

- Is she married, too? - No, no.

She's very beautiful.

She's very kind of nervous, high-strung, illusive.

Great. It sounds wonderful.

Oh, she is wonderful. I mean, she's on my mind all the time.

What are you telling me? That your marriage is... I mean, how serious is it?

I don't know, but it's pretty serious.

- But you haven't said anything to Emily? - No! God, no.

It's amazing. I'm stunned because, of all the people I know,

I always thought for sure that you and Emily had one of the best marriages.

We do! I mean, I love her.

- But you're seeing... - I know it.

But in all the years that we've been married

I've had, what... one or two very minor things with other women.

I mean, very... I hate the whole idea. I hate myself when I'm doing this sort of thing.

But this is just, you know... This is not like that.

It's terrible. Listen, you shouldn't ask me for advice.

When it comes to relationships, I'm the winner of the August Strindberg Award.

Well, I don't think 17 is too young. Beside that, she's a bright girl.

You'll get no argument from me. I think she's terrific.

He could do a lot worse. He has done a lot worse.

I just think he's wasting his life.

He writes that crap for television.

Yale, have you ever thought any more about having kids?

Oh, my God. Kids.

Listen, I've gotta get this book finished. It's never gonna get done.

I've gotta get the money to get this magazine started, huh?

Kids...

We always talk about moving to Connecticut. You could do it there.

- Connecticut. - Yeah.

I can't go to Connecticut. It's not practical.

All my stuff's here.

My work's here. It's just the wrong time.

What about Isaac? We can't abandon him, you know?

He can't function anywhere other than New York, you know that.

Very Freudian.

- Are you writing a book on our marriage? - Leave me alone.

- Are you writing about our break-up? - We've said all that needs to be said.

I know you are because I have a friend at Random House.

- I'm free to do as I please. - Yeah, but this affects me.

So you're gonna tell everybody everything? Our life, our sexual life?

Do you spy on me?

No. I was at a party and a guy said he read an advance chapter

of a book my wife was writing, and it was hot stuff. He said that!

- I spilled wine on my pants. - I don't care to discuss it.

- You won't discuss it. How's Willie? - Fine.

Well, give me some details. Does he play baseball? Wear dresses? What?

He doesn't wear dresses. You'll find out the details when it's your turn to see him.

Don't write this book. It's a humiliating experience.

It's an honest account of our break-up.

Jesus, everybody that knows us is gonna know everything.

Look at you. You're so threatened.

I'm not threatened because I was not the immoral, psychotic, promiscuous one.

I hope I didn't leave out anything.

Are you telling me that... that... that I'm... that you had three affairs before me?

That's really hard to believe. It's mind-boggling.

When I was your age, I was still being tucked in by my grandparents.

Well, they were really immature boys. They were nothing like you.

No? What does that mean?

Well, I told you before. I think I'm in love with you.

Hey, don't get carried away, OK?

This is... This is a terrific thing - Move over-you know.

And we're having a great time, but you're a kid and I never want you to forget that.

You're gonna meet a lot of terrific men in your life

and, you know, I want you to enjoy me.

My wry sense of humour and astonishing sexual technique,

but never forget that you've... you've got your whole life ahead of you.

Don't you have any feelings for me?

How can you ask that? I've got nothing but feelings for you,

but you don't wanna get hung up with one person at your age.

It's... charming, you know.

Erotic. No question about that.

As long as the cops don't burst in, I think we're gonna break a couple of records.

But you can't, uh, you can't... It's not a good thing.

You should think of me sort of as a detour on the highway of life.

- So get dressed because you gotta go. - Don't you want me to stay over?

I don't want you to get in the habit

because first you stay one night, then two nights, and then you're living here.

- That doesn't sound too bad. - It's not a great idea.

You won't like it, believe me. I'm tough to get along with.

Tomorrow we'll go to the cinema and I'll show you the Veronica Lake movie. OK?

OK. Veronica Lake's the pin-up with the red hair?

No, that's Rita Hayworth. Do we have to go over this all the time?

- Rita who? - Rita Hayworth. Are you joking with me?

Course I'm joking! You think I'm unaware of any event pre-Paul McCartney.

- I find these photographs interesting. - Yes, so do I.

- Do you ever use the camera I got you? - Oh, yeah, I use it all the time.

I was taking pictures in our drama class. It's fun, really neat.

You know you sound like the mouse in Tom And Jerry.

Are you kidding me?

- You should talk! You've a whiny voice! - You sound like the mouse.

Well, thanks.

I know, I'm a whiner.

- What are you doing here? - Hi.

- How long have you been here? - We were talking about you.

That's hilarious. Wh... What... Were you walking around behind us or what?

- How are you? Hi. - Good. That's funny. We were talking...

We're gonna go to the Shakespeare In The Park thing.

Oh, yeah, right. I wanna do that.

Oh, this is my friend. Mary Wilke, Isaac Davis and Tracy.

- How do you do? - Hi. Nice to meet you.

You, too.

- Hello. - Hi.

We were downstairs. We saw the photography exhibition.

- Absolutely incredible. - It's really good.

Really?

- The photographs downstairs? - Yes.

- Great. Absolutely great. Did you? - No, I really felt it was very derivative.

To me it looked like it was straight out of Diane Arbus, but it had none of the wit.

Well, we didn't like it as much as the Plexiglas sculpture.

You liked the Plexiglas?

- You didn't like the Plexiglas either? - Ah, that's interesting. Nah, no...

It was a lot better than that... that steel cube. Did you see it?

- Oh, yeah. That was the worst. - Now that was brilliant to me.

- The cube was brilliant? - Yes.

To me it was very textural. You know what I mean?