Don't Come Knocking Page #3

Synopsis: Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) has seen better days. Once a big Western movie star, he now drowns his disgust for his selfish and failed life with alcohol, drugs and young women. If he were to die now, nobody would shed a tear over him, that's the sad truth. Until one day Howard learns that he might have a child somewhere out there. The very idea seems like a ray of hope that his life wasn't all in vain. So he sets out to find that young man or woman. He discovers an entire life that he has missed ...
Genre: Drama, Music
Director(s): Wim Wenders
Production: Sony Pictures Classics
  1 win & 7 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.7
Metacritic:
55
Rotten Tomatoes:
43%
R
Year:
2005
122 min
$345,961
Website
208 Views


Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know what to

do with myself anymore.

Aren't you gonna

eat your eggs?

Yeah, I'm not feeling so hot.

Well, hand them over then.

No sense in wasting them.

They look good.

Mm-hmm.

Thank you.

Fork.

You don't happen to

have any pictures of

your little family, do you?

My family?

The child you never told

me about. My grandson.

I mean, I had to find

it out from his poor

mother back then.

What child?

Now, don't tell me

you gave it up for adoption

or something stupid like that.

I don't know about any child.

You don't know?

No.

How'd you get to be

such a mess, Howard?

A woman called me years ago--

Back,

just after you'd finished

that big motion

picture of yours

up there in Montana,

the Western.

--said she was pregnant

with your baby.

What woman was this?

I don't know. A woman.

You're the one who got

her pregnant.

I ne-- I never got

anybody pregnant!

Well, she said that you did.

She had a pretty

strong notion about it.

What did she want?

She wanted to

know if I'd seen you.

Of course, I hadn't.

I never saw you

again after that.

You were just

a total stranger.

She called from

somewhere up in Montana.

I remember that.

Montana?

I got-- I gotta lie down, Mom.

Oh, uh-- Don't you want

your orange juice, then?

No. Thanks.

SUTTER:

Mrs. Spence,

I'm looking for your son.

LULU:

My son? I haven't seen

him in over 30 years.

Ever since he became

a big movie star.

You'd think he'd at least

drop his mother a card

now and then, wouldn't you?

SUTTER:

Yes, you would. So you haven't

heard from him in 30 years?

LULU:
Mm-mm. No.

Not a phone call?

Not an e

LULU:

What's an e

Oh, you must be

from the movie-company

outfit, is that it?

SUTTER:

Sort of.

Well, uh, Mrs. Spence,

here's my card.

And if you do happen

to hear from your son,

could you give me a call?

My numbers are all there.

LULU:
Oh, I'd be glad to.

LULU:
Yeah.

SUTTER:
I appreciate that.

Bye-bye.

Goodbye, now.

LULU:

Howard, the coast is clear.

I remember your father

barrelling down those long

dusty roads in this thing...

heading back from

the cattle auctions.

You could see him

from miles away.

Just a plume of dust

like a giant rooster.

It was quite exciting,

actually.

It's a beauty, Mom.

Does it still run?

Oh, I use it every week

for shopping. But I can

walk just as easy.

You sure?

Mm-hmm.

Well, let me know now

and then where you're staying.

Keep in touch.

I will, Mom.

Oh.

Oh, I packed some things

of your father's for you.

Thanks, Mom.

Don't be a stranger.

No, I'll give you a call.

Runs like a top.

You look good.

Bye, Howie.

Bye, Mom.

Have you seen this man?

Yeah, yesterday.

Thank you.

LULU:
Coming.

Good evening, Mrs. Spence.

It's you.

Yes, it's me.

Sorry to be such a nuisance.

Would you like

to come in and have

some cookies and milk?

Cookies?

Mm-hmm.

What kind?

Peanut butter, with little

chips of butterscotch.

I'll try one.

Oh, just come on in then,

and help yourself.

I've just baked them.

Well, that's very kind

of you, Mrs. Spence.

Are you staying in Elko,

Mr., uh

Sutter, Mr. Sutter.

Uh,

no, I'm just passing through.

That's about all

you can do here,

isn't it?

Just pass on through.

Here.

You lied to me, didn't you,

Mrs. Spence?

I beg your pardon?

You deliberately lied to me

about your son. He was

here all along, wasn't he?

I don't know what in the world

you're talking about.

I've never told anything

but the truth

in my whole life.

Lying is for cowards,

Mr. Sutter. Hmm?

Excellent cookies.

[PEOPLE CHATTERING

INDISTINCTLY]

["DON'T COME KNOCKING"

BY BONO PLAYING]

You want me

to freshen that up?

There you go.

Thank you.

Can I help you, sir?

Um, just a cup

of coffee, please.

WAITRESS:

You want

Coffee

Yeah, sure.

WAITRESS:
All right.

[PEOPLE CHATTERING

INDISTINCTLY]

MAN:

Hi, Terry.

Scotty didn't come in.

I gotta pull a double.

I'm probably not gonna

get out of here till midnight.

Can I get a room

for a couple nights?

Yes, sir. No problem.

Would you fill

this out, please?

MAN:
Absolutely.

HOWARD:
You take cash, I hope.

Here. Here's your room key.

You're in 201,

just down the hall.

DOREEN:

Ancient history now.

This place is

just full of ghosts.

Are you from out of town?

Uh, yeah, sort of.

My mom was from Butte.

She was?

What was her name?

Oh, you wouldn't know her,

she kind of...

She came and went a lot.

Mmm, yeah, well,

she's not alone.

There are only a few of us

die-hards left here.

What movie was this?

It's a Western?

DOREEN:

Yeah.

It was shot right

around here, wasn't it?

Right here, yup.

Must have been

really exciting.

Yeah, well, for

about five minutes...

and then real life came

back and took its place.

SKY:

Yeah. I don't know.

I think, uh...

I think I like the

movies better.

Than what?

Than real life.

Well...

You let me know if

you want some coffee or

something, huh, hon?

Thanks.

Excuse me.

Oh.

Um, ginger ale, please.

Well...

Well, it took you long enough.

EARL:

Thank you.

Thank you, folks.

This next song is

for everybody...

who's ever been shaken,

rattled and rolled.

He's got a pretty good

voice, don't you think?

Yeah.

Dedicated to Bill Haley.

Okay, guys.

How have you been, Howard?

EARL:
One, two, three...

[BAND PLAYING

"SHAKEN, RATTLED AND ROLLED"

BY Where in

the world have you been?

I don't know.

[SINGING "SHAKEN,

RATTLED AND ROLLED"]

DOREEN:

You just kind of fell off

the face of the earth, huh?

Yeah.

You know,

I looked for you for a while.

I tried to find you.

I looked everywhere.

I even tracked

down your mother.

My mother?

Yeah, didn't she tell you?

No. Haven't seen her

for a good, long while.

That's too bad, Howard.

You should never lose

track of your mother.

So, what are you doing

back up here?

Oh, you know, just

kind of passing through.

"Just passing through."

On a whim.

Yeah, I just thought

I'd drop back through.

Well, if you're

looking for your son...

that's him, right there

in front of you.

It's really good to see

you again, Howard.

Well, wait a second.

Can I get you a drink or

Doreen!

EARL:
Thank you.

Thank you, guys. Thanks.

We're gonna

take a short break,

come back. Tip the bartender.

WOMAN:
All right.

MAN:
All right.

[PEOPLE CHATTERING

INDISTINCTLY]

MAN 1:

Honestly, I'm not sure

if I am gonna do it or not.

I mean, it depends if she,

you know...

she lets me come in

without it bothering her,

you know.

MAN 2:

Yeah, I hear you.

MAN 1:

I mean, you think I can crash

at your place or something?

Hey!

What?

What's your story?

What are you talking about?

What are you doing, you

following me or something?

No, I'm not following you.

AMBER:

Who is this joker, baby?

You know this joker?

He's been following me.

I'm not following you.

Don't be ridiculous.

If you've been--

Get your hands off me.

AMBER:

He's a narc. He's a narc.

I bet he's a narc.

HOWARD:
What are you, nuts?

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Sam Shepard

Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017), known professionally as Sam Shepard, was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose body of work spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most given to any writer or director. He wrote 44 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, and memoirs. Shepard received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play Buried Child. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff (1983). Shepard received the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theater Award as a master American dramatist in 2009. New York magazine described him as "the greatest American playwright of his generation."Shepard's plays are chiefly known for their bleak, poetic, often surrealist elements, black humor, and rootless characters living on the outskirts of American society. His style evolved over the years, from the absurdism of his early Off-Off-Broadway work to the realism of Buried Child and Curse of the Starving Class (both 1978). more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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