Elizabethtown Page #6

I said billion!

A billion dollars!

That's a lot of million!

So, you failed.

- No, you don't get it.

- All right, you really failed.

You failed, you failed, you failed.

You failed, you failed, you...

You think I care about that?

I do understand.

You're an artist, man.

Your job is to break through barriers.

Not accept blame and bow and say:

"Thank you, I'm a loser,

I'll go away now."

"Phil's mean to me..." So what?

I don't cry.

You want to be really great?

Then have the courage to fail big

and stick around.

Make them wonder

why you're still smiling.

That's true greatness to me.

But...

don't listen to me, I'm a Claire.

- Well, thank you, Claire.

- You're welcome.

Now would you quit

trying to break up with me?

You're always trying

to break up with me...

and we're not even together.

I know.

Wait.

We're not?

Of course not.

We're the substitute people, remember?

I'll see you at Mitch's memorial,

if I can make it.

All right, when I give you the signal

pull the pulley slowly across.

All right, slow and soulful.

Will do. Slow and soulful.

- She came!

- That is her.

That is her. That's Hollie.

Hollie!

- Hollie.

- It's really good to see you.

- You look more beautiful than ever.

- Thank you.

Mitch wrote letters.

Never once sent an e-mail.

He was always there for me.

Where are you, Mitch?

And I loved him.

And y'all know that.

I loved him!

Even though he moved to California...

God love him,

he always came back to his roots.

And I will miss his laugh.

I don't have anything funny to say.

And I don't have a funny story to tell.

I will tell you, it wasn't easy for Mitch

to leave the military...

and start over again in California.

And I apologize, per se,

for my role in that deal, per se.

And to all of you

who put this evening together...

it has gone beautifully, and thank you.

- Lena, it hasn't hit him yet.

- It will. It will.

Ladies and gentlemen...

Hollie Baylor.

I want you to stay awake for this,

all right?

I'm a little nervous.

But here we are.

It's been a while.

There was this shorthand

of a long marriage.

We were complete opposites,

and it worked.

The plan was to send...

my son to represent the family.

I was terrified

that you would look at me and see...

that woman from California

who took him away.

Even though we only lived in California

as a family...

for 18 months, 27 years ago...

I always... felt it.

All because I was standing

in an elevator in Tokyo...

and this handsome captain walked in...

on his way home to Elizabethtown.

And he was engaged. And so was I.

And somehow I hijacked him

and took him to Disneyland!

But something happened between us...

that was not part of the plan.

We were in love.

Let me tell you a little bit about life

without Mitch.

I wanted to get to know

about Mitch's car...

and it actually ate me.

I went to the bank

and the teller looked at me strangely...

and I got home

and I looked at myself in the mirror...

and my face was still green

from a facial mask...

that I had forgotten to take off.

And I called our insurance man

of 30 years...

whose son Mitch had actually helped

to get into West Point...

to tell him that Mitch was gone.

He didn't call me back for two days.

The car, the bank, the insurance man,

the world.

I mean, nobody truly cared.

Not like us.

I always wanted to learn to tap dance...

so I took tap dance lessons.

And I wanted to learn... Yeah, I did.

And I wanted to learn

to cook organically...

and so I attempted that.

And I fixed the toilet.

Yeah. All by myself.

And I wanted to learn to laugh.

Why couldn't I be funnier

when Mitch was alive?

But you know, I figured it out.

It takes time to be funny...

and it takes time to extract joy from life.

So I enrolled in comedy school.

Yeah, I did. I know, I know.

I was the oldest one in the class.

Thank you.

And we were told to tell a story.

Something true,

something that really happened to us.

So I got up there

and I talked about my husband...

and the love he left behind.

A few days after Mitch died...

I was walking through the yard

and I saw our neighbor...

who was a very good friend

of Mitch's, Bob...

and he saw me coming

through the gate...

and he said,

"I am so sorry for your loss."

And I knew that he needed

to feel that loss, too...

and to share it,

and I wanted to help him.

And he put his arms around me,

he cradled me...

and his embrace tightened.

Finally, here was somebody

who truly cared.

And then...

I felt something else.

Something huge.

Let's just say it, let's just say it!

A boner.

I know.

A boner, that's what I get.

That's what I get

for trying to do everything myself.

Boner Bob, my neighbor.

Oh, dear.

He rooted for all of you.

I love you.

This is for you, your favorite song...

on a Saturday night.

Well, you really brought

everybody together...

I'll give you that.

I have this thing for you.

It's a very unique map.

It's for your road trip home.

Right, a map.

You promised. Remember?

No. No, I do, I remember.

This is for you, Mitch.

Free Bird, huh?

- Well, I better get back to...

- Ben.

He finally made it.

Does Ben even exist?

Just call me when you get home...

and not until.

I want you to get into the deep...

beautiful melancholy

of everything that's happened.

It's a great map.

- Jessie!

- Just keep going!

Oh, my God!

I am a licensed flight attendant!

Use this exit, please!

As a specialist

in the field of last looks...

this one was pretty iconically Claire.

Friends and neighbors,

we are gathered here...

to say our final goodbyes

to our dear friend...

Mitch.

Come on, General.

The route of Claire's map...

with accompanying music

and detailed instructions...

would take 42 hours...

and 11 minutes.

"Turn on ignition."

"Begin your journey

and do not skip ahead."

She had laid out the entire road trip...

and timed it to music

she herself had put on CDs.

The songs, of course,

were classic mix tape songs.

About her, of course.

And the rich flurry

of our almost romance.

60B.

This is The Hombres.

And she had even provided music

for what would happen next.

Down to the minute.

You have five minutes to wallow

in the delicious misery.

Enjoy it, embrace it, discard it...

and proceed.

Here is a river

leading to the Mississippi.

"This is America," she wrote.

And if everybody gets a vote

where their Mitch gets buried...

here are a few

where my Mitch gets buried.

Or scattered.

"Pause for 30 minutes

for the greatest chili in the world."

And elsewhere in Memphis.

This would be a good time

to stop in at Earnestine & Hazel's...

and say hello to Russ.

How you doing?

He's hung onto the place

for 38 long years.

He'll tell you a few stories.

Look. Look at this. That's the blues!

And just around the corner,

the Lorraine Motel.

The hotel balcony where

Martin Luther King drew his last breath.

His death was only the beginning

of his victory.

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