Before and After Page #6

Synopsis: When teenage son Jacob is being accused of murdering his girlfriend, the well-respected and close-knit Ryan family is in turmoil. Jacob flees, father Ben destroys possible evidence, the village community turns hostile and mother Carolyn is forced to temporarily close her doctor's practice. Then Jacob gets arrested and soon finds himself and his family entangled in a web of truth, trust and lies, all on his way to court.
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Director(s): Barbet Schroeder
Production: Disney
 
IMDB:
6.1
Rotten Tomatoes:
32%
PG-13
Year:
1996
108 min
863 Views


- What happened?

We'll see you day after tomorrow at 10:00.

Yes, that's fine.

Benny? Ben?

Screw them!

Forget the whole bunch of them!

I didn't testify and I won't testify!

So you can print

any damn thing you want to!

- Here, get this one.

- You didn't testify?

There's gotta be some protection,

some immunity, some kind of privilege

so they can't try to make you snitch

on your own flesh and blood.

Why don't you write that?

There's such a thing

as the Fifth Amendment, you know!

- Come on, Ben. Excuse me.

- Yeah. Ask my lawyer!

Stay back.

- What are you hiding?

Weren't you listening to me?

I told you if you had anything to ask me.

I didn't have any questions!

Find me some privilege.

Forget you, "Find me some privilege. "

What, make something up?

There's no such thing

as parent-child immunity.

- There ought to be.

- You know what you're askin' for?

You're askin' to go to jail

for contempt, for starters.

You're askin' for me to go to jail, too.

And I'm not doing any such thing for you!

You're acting as if we got something

to hide about Jacob.

They twisted every word I said.

Tried to trick me into some kind

of conflicting evidence.

Well, I won't play that game with them!

I told 'em so.

I gave them a statement of principle.

Oh, yeah. And what was that principle?

I think I missed that part.

I don't bargain for my son.

And I won't help them to convict him.

Jesus, Ben.

I won't testify, Panos.

Not today, not ever.

If I have to go to jail, so be it.

And if there was any more I could do,

you better believe I'd do that, too.

Tell me.

Gimme a minute, Ben. Please.

Mom, can I talk to you?

Mom, they're lying.

They're completely changing

the truth of what happened.

How can you let them do that?

Well, people don't go to court

necessarily to tell the truth

about everything that happened.

They, um, they go to defend

themselves the best way they can.

But you heard Jacob

and you know what happened.

Are you just gonna do what Daddy says?

Jude, didn't you ever learn something

about a friend of yours, some secret?

But you knew if you told her,

it would just hurt her feelings,

so you didn't tell.

I mean, that's not...

that's not lying exactly.

You just didn't volunteer something.

Just because that's what people do?

Just because they might get away with it?

Does that mean you have to lie?

Sometimes... You're too young

to understand some things.

That's all. I'm just beginning

to learn some of them myself.

- Someday, darling...

- Don't tell me "someday"!

- ... understand what Daddy...

- I can't stand it when you say "someday"!

Mom, this is happening to me right now!

You let Daddy convince you.

It's disgusting.

Nobody even cares what I think.

I'm just a stupid little kid.

Nobody even thinks

that I could go and tell.

What do you mean, tell?

- You figure it out!

- Judith.

- Carolyn, you asleep?

- Mm-mm.

Abraham and Isaac, remember that story?

God says to Abraham, "Prove your faith.

"Take Isaac, your beloved son,

and sacrifice him.

"Why? Because I'm God.

Because I say so. "

And Abraham is willing.

He's very sad, but he'll do it.

He'll cut his own son's throat

if that's what God requires.

Very obedient, Abraham.

Very righteous.

But when they tell that story,

they always miss the point.

Who'd want him for a father?

- Good morning, Carolyn.

- Hi.

- First time you've donated blood?

- Yes, sir.

Mrs. Taverner.

Oh, please...

This has been, for me,

for all of us, it's the hardest...

I've just, I've spent

a thousand hours not sleeping...

thinking about Martha.

And... I just want you

to know how sorry I am.

I am so sorry.

I know it won't change anything, but...

- Oh, God, if you could...

- What? If I could what?

If you could somehow...

Look at us as human,

as a family, I mean,

just as a family

that's also so helpless.

What do you have to be helpless about?

You tell me that.

She was alive in the morning

when I said goodbye to her.

You're a doctor.

You think about this, where she is now.

And nothing you say

is gonna get any pity out of me.

Oh, I'm not asking for your pity.

I'm just...

You're trying to get him off.

With your big shot lawyer

and all your money.

He's free to walk the streets right now.

And you're trying to get him off.

People like you think they own the world.

- Stay inside. Call the police.

- No, Ben!

Dad, don't!

Hey!

Come here, you bastard!

- I did it.

- Let's get out of here!

Ben!

- Jake! Hey, leave him alone!

- Come on, let's go! Come on!

Killer!

Mom!

God.

- Goddamn it!

- Are you all right?

Here! This is your fault!

Both of yours!

- You've turned us all into freaks!

- Shut up, all right?

I wish you'd never come back.

Why didn't you just stay away?

I hate you! I hate you!

It's okay, Jake.

Jacob!

Jake! Get down!

Let's gently get him up.

That's it, sweetheart. Let me look.

Let me see.

That's it, that's it, that's it.

Oh, God.

No, I can't treat this here.

I'm gonna have to take him to the office.

- I'll come, too.

- No, you stay here with Judith.

- Carolyn, I'm...

- Please, Ben.

This won't hurt, I promise.

There you go.

I'm just gonna wrap this up

so we don't have to worry about infection.

Okay?

You may start to feel drowsy now

from that shot.

So, if you do, you just

put your head down, okay, love?

- Mom.

- Hm-mm?

Jude is right.

You'd all be better off

if I just disappeared.

Maybe I still should.

Don't even say that.

I don't mean just you, I mean...

I mean the whole town.

I mean, that's what they want, isn't it?

No.

No, Jake, those men...

those men tonight were cowards.

If you saw them tomorrow in their shops,

they'd smile and nod

while they gave you change.

I'm the coward. I'm the coward.

I feel like I'm being

torn apart, you know?

And if I hold this in, it's like...

a poison, you know? If I tell the truth,

Dad'll go to jail, too.

He'll hate me.

Either way, it's the end of us.

Your dad'll never, never hate you.

Your dad loves you so much, Jacob.

And, right or wrong,

he always gives his whole heart.

Can be pretty overwhelming sometimes

because he just always seems so sure.

But you don't have to be that way.

You know?

It is possible to disagree with someone...

...and still love them.

At a certain point, we just...

We have to make our own decisions.

Yeah, but he risked so much for me.

He didn't even stop to count the price,

he just did it.

How can I let him down?

How can I do that to him?

Yeah.

How can you?

Mrs. Ryan.

Doctor Ryan.

There she is!

Doctor Ryan,

did you also refuse to testify?

- How'd it go, trooper?

- I did it. I told them.

See? What'd I tell you?

No sweat.

No, I mean, I told them

what really happened.

What?

Ben and Jacob haven't been

telling you the truth, Panos.

- I can't believe you haven't known that.

- Whoa, whoa.

I don't know what

you're gonna do about this.

You come with me.

Might we have a statement, please?

Dr. Ryan?

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Ted Tally

Ted Tally (born April 9, 1952) is an American playwright and screenwriter. A graduate of Yale, he has received awards including the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, the Writers Guild of America Award, the Chicago Film Critics Award, and the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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