It's been a long night.
Had a few difficult clients.
Worked a lot of hours.
- Don't open the bag, all right? - Why? What's in it?
It's none of your business what's in it.
All right.
Fucking hell.
- It's shiny. - It is fuckin' shiny.
Congratulations. Well done.
- You got off light. Not a mark on ya. - Yeah, I'm stayin' out of it. I got hungry.
Oh, well, thanks for the backup there, John.
Fuckin' shit.
- No one home. - Yeah.
Costliest one-night stand I ever had. You know that?
I'd have been better off havin' a wank into me hand in the toilet.
- Sure that'd been a lot of fun. - Go on. Take me home.
Fuckin' depressed, man. Have to finish me packin'.
All right, smart arse. You're on the clock now.
You're a prick. You know that? Well and truly here, you're a prick.
Some prick. Go on.
What do you think? Are you gonna tell your ma or what?
Tell Ma? She'd fuckin' flip. I know that much.
Hi. How are ya?
- Fine. - And where can I take ya?
Fuck.
Mum?
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Mum.
All right. Okay.
Okay.
Fuck.
Okay.
Mum, can you hear me?
I'll do blood pressure. Open your eyes for me.
Okay, Jean, we're gonna put you on your side.
- Do you know how long she's been out? - I have no idea. She was in the house.
I don't know how long she was out. I found her in her bed.
Jean, I need you to wake up for me.
- I need you to respond. - Mum? Mum?
Come on, Mum.
Jean, it's okay. You're in the hospital. Wake up for me, Jean.
Jean, look at me.
That's okay. Keep her on her side.
Keep her on her side.
- It's just a bit of oxygen. - Just try and relax for me! Okay? Please?
It's okay.
Please let go of her arm.
Is she done? Can you get her back on her back?
- Come on, Ma. You're all right. - Jean, we need to put a needle in your arm.
- Does she have any allergies you're aware of? - I don't know.
From the tests we've run today, and these are just preliminary calculations,
but one of them in particular is fairly accurate. It's a liver function test.
Now I guarantee in the very near future she's going to need a liver transplant.
That's for sure. It's happening, John. It's coming, okay?
But I have to be very honest with you... the way she is right now,
I would have very little confidence she would even get that far.
She's systematically killing herself slowly every day.
Okay? Concentrate on getting your mother back on her feet.
We can talk about treatment again, all right?
Hiya.
Here. Sit up. There you go.
There now, Mum. It's okay.
It's okay.
Where are they?
What the fuck was that? I'm gonna fucking come!
Oh, fuck off!
I don't have to fuckin' bear this! I'll break your fuckin' neck for ya!
What are you doing?
What are you doing, John?
Where are they? I know you fuckin' took 'em.
Give them to me.
Give them to me!
Why can't you just leave me alone and mind your own fucking business?
Why can't everyone just leave me alone and mind your own fucking business?
So, how we gonna get new plates?
I don't know.
I'm gonna buy the new plates, Ma.
I'm gonna go out and work my arse off for the rest of the week, driving a taxi.
And what are you gonna do?
You're gonna drink and drink and drink,
and you're gonna pass out on that bed.
But I'm gonna go out and work to buy those new plates,
so we can have something to eat off.
So we're not eating off the table.
You're a good boy, John.
Ma?
- Ma? - Yeah?
Uh, I'm just gonna go and see Kit today.
You up for it?
Not today, John.
- You know what today is though, yeah? - I know what today is.
- I just thought we could, you know... - I said not today, John.
Well, he'd really like to see you.
Okay.
Hip, hip! Hooray!
For he's a jolly good fellow For he's a jolly good fellow
And so say all of us
And so say all of us, and so say all of us
For he's a jolly good fellow For he's a jolly good fellow
And so say all of us
- Hip, hip! Hooray! - All right, blow it away. Blow it away.
Last one, last one.
Yeah!
All right. Now, give me back my baseball cap.
Okay, boys, who's having cake?
It's a card from Mum.
Thanks, John.
Thank Mum.
- You okay? - Yes, I'm okay, John.
Do you wanna go out for a walk?
- Drive. - A drive?
- Yeah, a drive, man. - No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
- Oh, you flippin' bastard. - No, no, no.
Can't do that, man. No way.
You son of a bitch.
Turn, turn, turn, turn, turn, turn. Keep goin', keep goin', keep goin'...
Tell Mum I'm sorry. Okay?
Okay.
Tell her I said hi.
Yeah.
Can I come home?
Not yet.
I don't like it there.
We don't like it at home without you.
Drive?
All right, now you're game. Now, you're game.
Yeah! I love it when a man shoots himself in the foot.
Careful.
- You're getting good at this, yo. - You're gettin' all right yourself.
Get the fuck off!
- Would you fuckin' let go of me? - That's a new paint job there.
I'm on automatic.
- Prick. - Fuck off.
Sorry. It's actually saying here that you're 10 days late.
- All right. What's it come to? - It's a 40-cent fine a day.
What's that?
Ten days, man.
Forty cent a day. That's four Euro, man. Come on.
- Why you gettin' smart for? - No, no, I'm not. I'm just, uh...
I'm just trying to do my job, man.
- We just came in here to rent a fuckin' DVD. - Shane, come on.
- Everything okay here, lads? - No, everything's not okay, mini.
- He won't pay his fine. - How much?
- 40 cents. - Yeah, per day.
It said four Euro.
- Just pay the fuckin' fine. - It's the principle, man.
If you're not gonna pay the four Euro, you can go take a hike, fuckhead.
So, um, are you gonna pay the fine?
Stupid fuckin' question.
I'm just gonna download something illegally, fuckheads.
I'm taking these. Mighty Munch!
John, come on.
Say hello to your ma for me.
Free shit tastes better.
"Take a hike, fuckhead."
Thanks, Ma. Just leave it down here on the table. That'd be grand.
Ma, you're in the way. Ma! Move, move, move.
- What are you doing? - Gaming. Killing this fuck.
- Shane, language. - Sorry.
Tackle from the side, will ya, not the back.
Not the... John, not the back. I was on a fucking break.
- Shane. - All right, all right.
Go away, will ya, woman. Go on.
How's your mum, John?
She's good. Thanks, Bridie.
Haven't seen her in the center for a few days now. I miss her in the kitchen.
Mmm. She has a cold or a flu or something.
She just wanna stay in bed.
- It's going around, all right. - Yeah.
- Okay, I'll leave you to it, lads. - Move over!
Thought things would have been a bit different, you know.
Just felt a bit trapped is all, the last few months.
Feels like I'm rotten.
All this shit with the kid and all.
Which is fucked up, 'cause I pay, like, half my labor to her
and I don't even get to see the kid.
I'd be better off sponsoring a television child in Ethiopia.
Least I'd see him every day. I'd see him more than I do now.
I just need to get away for a while is all.
Clear the head. Reassess.
I'm sure I'll see some part of the world anyway.
Sample me a bit of foreign pussy.
- Probably get full-blown AIDS. - I could get the AIDS, yeah.
Could get fucking anything.
You shoulda came, man.
You still can. Internet's all loaded up there on the laptop. All it is, is a click.
- New start. - Can't.
Just too much going on.
Want a cup of tea?
Ma!
Thanks, man. See you later.
Hey, John. Everything okay?
- Did my ma come in here this morning? - No. She hasn't been in for a week or so.
- Fuck! Fuck! - J... John.
Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's all fine. It's all fine.
- I'll see you. - John.
J... Come here. Just sit down, okay?
Are you hungry?
Come on. There's some stuff left over from lunch.
Just sit down for a minute.
It's been a long night.
Had a few difficult clients.
Worked a lot of hours.
I can't do this anymore.
What's this? A party?
- You making fun of me, John? - No, I'm not making fun of you.
I was just thinking the other day, why is it that Mum has all the fun
and I can't have any? Thought I'd join you.
Okay. I'm open to share the fun.
Okay.
Anything in particular?
I'll, uh... I'll start with some wine, please.
Okay. Wine it is.
You know, I don't even like the way a drink tastes, John.
I only like how it makes me feel.
Huh.
I love the way it tastes.
But I hate the way it makes me feel.
Well, we can't have a party and not have music.
Okay. We'll have music, so...
Sometimes I feel I've got to
Run away, I've got to
Get away from the pain you drive into the heart of me
The love we share
Seems to go nowhere
And I've lost my light
For I toss and turn I can't sleep at night
- Once I ran to you - I ran
Now I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
- Tainted love - Whoa
Tainted love
Now I know I've got to
Run away, I've got to
Get away
You don't really want anymore from me
To make things right
You need someone to hold you tight
And you think love is to pray
But I'm sorry I don't pray that way
- Once I ran to you - I ran
Now I'll run from you
This tainted love you've given
I give you all a boy could give you
Take my tears and that's not nearly all
- Tainted love - Whoa
Tainted love
Don't touch me please
I cannot stand the way you tease
I love you though you hurt me so
Now I'm gonna pack my things and go
- Tainted love - Whoa
Touch me, baby, tainted love
- Tainted love - Whoa
Tainted love
You think I'm a fuckup, don't you?
No.
- I think you're sick. - You think I'm what?
You're sick, Ma.
You don't know anything about me, John.
Well, I'd like to know more about you.
Nothin' good to know about me, John.
Okay, then, what do you want to know?
- Why do you hate Kit so much? - I don't hate Kit.
I just...
find it hard to love him.
Sometimes a mother just doesn't bond with her child.
It's unexplainable.
Happens more than you'd like to think, John. It's life.
When I met your da, it all changed.
I got pregnant with Mark.
Another... great achievement of a son.
You have no idea how much your life changes when you bring another life into the world.
The responsibility. The joy, the pain.
And life is never the same.
And when you have a partner who's never around...
it slowly gets to you.
Your dad was never here.
Only when it suited him.
I mean, he spent every night in that taxi, doing God knows what, instead of my bed.
Then I had me second child.
You.
Pretty boy.
At least you can thank your dad for that one.
Strong jaw.
Mmm. Things changed.
You brought light into my life for the first time.
You gave me a purpose... something to live for, something to die for.
And for some reason, John, when you came along, everything was good for a while.
Everything was...
everything I hoped it would be.
We had a happy family.
Just... good.
Your da was here...
for once, less in the taxi and more at home with us.
Dancing.
Oh, we danced.
We loved to go dancing, me and your da.
We'd dance all night long, just the two of us together.
No one else would matter. It was just us. Us against the world.
We thought, "This was it."
We didn't think it would become...
us against us.
Then I had me third child, Kit.
Well, I call it a child, but it wasn't really.
I remember when he came out.
When he came out, I remember...
I could see the look on your da's face, John.
I remember the doctor looking over at the nurse, shaking his head, and I knew it.
I knew it. He was gone.
Your da left the hospital that day and he never came back.
Never saw him again. Never.
I waited long enough that people began to feel sorry for me...
till I felt sorry for meself.
I could not look that child in the eye from then on, ever.
When they brought him off to me, I refused to hold him.
No, I didn't want him.
He was nothin' to me.
Only somethin' that came out of me and ripped my life apart.
I felt sick that he lived off me for nine months.
The thought of it still makes me shiver to this very day.
I didn't want him.
And there I was, John... 27, alone...
with two children...
and a thing.
The weird part is, you know, now people began to pity me.
Me ma and da, friends, my sister.
No one would return my calls. No one wanted to help.
And I got a new friend.
A silent friend.
A friend that would never talk back to me or hurt me.
A friend that was always there for me...
and made things better...
even if it was just for a little while.
I would go missing for days and no one would come looking for me.
Only you, John.
You always came looking for me.
Even when you were a baby.
You still do.
The thing you don't realize, John, is...
I have no one to dance with me anymore.
I'm alone...
and will be for the rest of my life.
I'm tired now, John. I'm gonna get some sleep.
We need to get you help.
You know what I told you.
I think we've found someone that can help you.
But you're gonna have to trust me.
We need to go inside, Ma. We're late as it is.
I'm not goin' in.
Please.
I'm not doin' it. Can't.
- Just give it a go. - No.
- Please, Ma. - No, John.
- It's none of their business. - Well, it's my fucking business, all right?
It's my business, and I'm fuckin' sick of it!
I'm sick of cleaning up your vomit!
I'm sick of dragging you in off the doorstep like a fuckin' animal every night!
It's embarrassing me! It's embarrassing me!
I'm sick of watching you walking around that corner to work every morning
and not knowin' whether you're gonna come home
or whether I'm gonna find you in two weeks face down in a fuckin' ditch somewhere!
And I can't live like that anymore, Ma! I'm sick of it! I'm fuckin' sick of it!
Sick of it! Sick of it! I will not fuckin' do it anymore!
You're breakin' my heart every fuckin' day, and I can't take it!
I can't take it, Ma!
The woman that I live with in that house is not my mum.
She's not my mum. She's a stranger. And I won't live there with her anymore!
I want you to watch this.
Okay?
Now, that woman is not my mother.
Give them to me!
My mother laughs and smiles. She's full of life.
That is not my mother.
That is a fuckin' animal and an impostor.
And one that I will not live with anymore.
But I want my mother back. I need her.
You're breakin' my heart every single day.
I need this to stop, Ma. We need it to stop.
So if you get to bed tonight without takin' a drink...
you're saving your life.
And I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna be here for you.
Be here for a week,
and I'm on 24-hour call.
If you need me, just ring up here, and we can talk.
Because I've been there.
What we're gonna do is just a wee exercise
just so we can fold in with each other a bit more.
I'll introduce myself... first-name terms only.
I'll introduce myself, and you say, "welcome."
And we'll go round the room, and everybody just say your name,
and we'll welcome you, okay?
So my name's Jim.
- Welcome, Jim. - Thank you.
John, your mother's dyin'.
But I know you know that.
She's got a disease that's killin' her...
and wants her on her own, drinkin'...
drinkin' herself to death.
This is a terrible disease that she's got.
And the irony of this disease is it tells her she doesn't have a disease.
Her body's telling her she's dyin'. It's telling the world that she's dying.
And her brain is tellin' her to keep on drinkin',
that they don't understand.
Sure, what do they know?
It's mad. It's baffling and cunning.
But there's hope.
There's hope, man.
Especially in your mother.
Do you know how I know?
'Cause she walked in through that door.
Now, I know you probably cajoled her and threatened her...
and blackmailed her to get her here.
But if she didn't want to walk through that door, she wouldn't have.
You couldn't have made her, so there has to be some willin'.
And that's the cornerstone of her recovery... her willingness.
We've got hope, man.
So we've got a chance.
But here's the borin' bit.
This place is government-run.
We're on a bread-and-water diet. They got us on a drip feed.
I can only keep her here for, like, seven to eight days at the very most.
And I promise you I will do that.
And I'll give her all the facilities that we have got.
But she's got to find somewhere else after those seven days.
I can't afford it.
I'm trying really hard. I'm trying to get the hours at work, but I can't.
They're just not there.
I'm just spinnin' my wheels. That's it.
It's like every day is the same day.
I'll help you. I'm gonna make phone calls for you.
I'll rattle cages. I'll see what it'll do.
But most of the work has to come from you, brother. I'm sorry.
You've gotta find it from somewhere.
What about any health insurance?
No.
Nobody you can ask a favor of?
Not anymore.
Mmm.
Listen, I had a phone call from a mate.
He's got a private clinic in the outskirts of town.
And he's got a room free. Twenty-eight days as well.
- That's if you still want it. - All right, great. It's free?
No. Nothing's free with this bloke.
It's eight grand, and that's the mate's rate as well.
I know, man, but he needs to know by the end of the day.
That's her only hope. John, honestly, I've tried everywhere.
Look...
- it's not much. - I can't.
- I want you to take it. - I can't.
Just take... take the fucking thing, will ya?
Just take it.
I always put a wee bit aside for people who need it.
You're a good man, John. You've been of loving service to your mother.
I really appreciate that.
I know what you're going through. And I wanna help.
Okay?
It's John here.
I was wondering if you had any work going tonight.
Yeah, well, I know, but I'm...
Yeah.
We need the money.
Look, I just need something to tide me over for the week.
I'll pay you back as soon as I can.
I haven't let you down in the past. And I wouldn't be ringing you if I wasn't stuck.
Eight grand.
Yeah.
If I have to, yeah.
Well?
- Yeah. - Good man.
- Do you want a hand? - Yeah, please.
It's on the back here. Stack 'em in threes.
Shit.
Nice bag.
They'll never suspect a man walking around the airport with a woman's bag.
- One minute. - Aw, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
Let's throw some holy water on you. Okay.
Okay.
- I love you, son. - I know that.
Jesus. Bridie, no.
I must take a picture of you before you go. John, will you stand in for a photo?
There's no shame in a mother's love, Shane. Now smile.
Sick.
All right. Come on. We better get on the road. We'll be late otherwise.
Where's Da?
He wouldn't go out. He can't do that. You know him.
Okay. Look, I better go. I'll be late.
Time I said good-bye.
All right. Let's go.
- Have you got your passport? - Yeah.
You don't, because I have it.
Fuck.
- Thanks. - Love you.
Love you too. Bye.
Drive the fucking car, man.
The woman is fucking crazy.
Leave her alone. She'll miss her baby.
Will you stop? I'm under enough stress without you gettin' on me.
I'll do you a good deal on the meter, all right?
- Prick, you know what I... - Do you, now?
Just go fast, 'cause Bridie will chase the fucking car, I tell you that.
- Why are we leaving so early? - I've a little surprise for you, man. Relax.
Hey. How's it going?
- Hi, Jackie. - Dad!
- What's up, huh? - I've been waiting for you.
How are you, man?
- I don't know. - Uh-huh.
Blowin' bubbles.
- Everything going all right? - Yeah, we're good.
Grand. Grand.
- Yeah! - Good save, man.
Yeah!
Get it. Ready?
Yeah. Good man.
- Yeah! - Yeah!
- Go! - Get it for me.
All right, love.
See you soon, all right?
All right.
Give us a ring on the phone when you have the time, will you?
- Will do, man. Yeah. - I'll keep you up-to-date.
I'll call you on the house phone or the mobile, will I?
- Mobile would probably be best. - Better on the mobile. Grand.
- All right. Come on. Here we go. - All right.
Right.
- Okay, you ready? - Yeah, I'll grab it.
Thanks, man.
- You have it? - I'm grand.
Ah. You were a daft fucking thing anyway.
All right. I walk you in?
No, I'm grand. I'll take it from here. Yeah.
- Okay, well, I better be going, so... - Yeah, me too.
Be careful anyway. Don't get into too much trouble without me.
Don't think we'd be able to get into any trouble without you at all.
I better, uh...
Here, come on. I'll walk you in. I'll walk you in. Come on.
All right. Good man. Mind yourself.
Yeah.
- Good luck, man. - Yeah.
- Okay.
Hey, go easy on the AIDS, man, all right?
Yeah, I'll try me best.
Hey, you should've come, man.
I know.
If only I would've had a fucking passport.
That's shockin'.
Well, you have a place to go, man.
It's just a click.
Yeah, go on. "Take a hike, fuckhead."
Take a hike, fuckhead.
Good man. See you later, all right?
How are you now?
I know what day it is.
It's Sunday.
It's fucking Monday, Ma.
Can't promise you anything.
I know.
Yeah?
Yeah, thanks.
Yeah.
Yeah, okay, I'll do it.
It's been a long night.
Had a few difficult clients.
Worked a lot of hours.
I can't do this anymore.
I can't.