Father of the Bride Page #2

GEORGE:

I'm sorry. What did you say?

LITTLE:

ANNIE:

Dad, I met a man in Rome. And he's wonderful and brilliant, and we're

getting married.

ANNIE:

Mom, what's he doing?

NINA:

George? George? George? What is it?

GEORGE:

Well...this is...this is ridiculous! You're too young to get married!

ANNIE:

Too young? Dad, I'm twenty-two. If I'm not mistaken, that's a year

older than Mom was when you guys got married.

GEORGE:

That is absolutely not true!

NINA:

Oh, no...you're absolutely wrong.

GEORGE:

You were this age when I married you?

NINA:

No. I was younger. I was this age when she was born.

GEORGE:

That...that doesn't matter. Times have changed. Your mother was

mature...and twenty-two isn't what it used to be...Matt, would you turn

on the air conditioner? It's hot in here. I thought...I thought you

didn't believe in marriage. I thought it meant a woman lost her

identity. I thought you wanted to get a job before you settled down so

you could earn money and be your own person.

ANNIE:

All right, hold on. I didn't think I believed in marriage until I met

Brian. Brian's not like any other guy I've ever known. I want to be

married to him. And I'm not going to lose my identity with him because

he's not some overpowering, macho guy. He's like you, Dad! Except

he's brilliant. He happens to love that I'm going to be an architect.

He wants me to design a house for us to live in. He said he'd move

anywhere I got a job. Give me a little credit, George. I'm not going

to marry some ape who wants me to wear go-go boots and an apron. I'm

telling you, you'll love him. He's a genius. And sweet. And I love

him more than anything in the world.

NINA:

What does Brian do?

GEORGE:

Who's Brian?

NINA:

Oh!

GEORGE:

I forgot his name!

ANNIE:

He's an independent communications consultant.

GEORGE:

Independent?

ANNIE:

Yes.

GEORGE:

That's code for unemployed! This is perfect! You meet an unemployed,

amazingly brilliant non-ape that I'm going to have to support! I

suppose I'm going to have to hire him and fire some hard working guy

with three kids because my son-in-law, the "independent communications

consultant," can't get a job anywhere else! No wonder he'll move

anywhere you get a job! You're not getting married and that's it and

that's final! And I don't like you calling me George! I mean, when

did this start?

ANNIE:

Daddy, what is wrong with you?

GEORGE:

What? Are you telling me you're happy about this?

NINA:

George, please. Would you stop acting like a lunatic father and go out

and talk to her before she runs out that door, marries this kid and we

never see her again!

GEORGE:

All right. Kid? How do you know he's a kid? He could be forty-five

years old.

SCENE 6

ANNIE:

An independent communications consultant does mean he's an unemployable

non-ape. Brian happens to be a computer genius. Companies send him

all over the world hooking up these complex systems. Major banks and

corporations send him to Tokyo and Brazil and Geneva. He's a genius.

GEORGE:

You mentioned that. How old is this genius?

ANNIE:

Twenty-six, not forty-five. You guys still think I can't hear you when

you're one room away.

GEORGE:

If you love him so much, I know I'll love him, too. Brian?

ANNIE:

MacKenzie.

GEORGE:

Brian MacKenzie.

ANNIE:

Yeah.

GEORGE:

Can't wait to meet him.

ANNIE:

Good, 'cause he'll be here in an hour to meet you.

GEORGE:

I suppose you're not in the mood for a little one-on-one?

ANNIE:

Daddy, I'm wearing heals.

GEORGE:

Come to the right place.

*Annie and George play basketball.

GEORGE:

You're not really getting married, are you?

ANNIE:

Dad, stop it!

SCENE 7

NINA:

So can you see him? What does he look like?

GEORGE:

He just drove up?

NINA:

And?

GEORGE:

He drove too fast.

NINA:

Oh wait. So George, do you want to meet him?

GEORGE:

Do I want to meet him?

SCENE 8

NINA:

Oh, hello. Hi!

BRIAN:

Hi. I'm Brian MacKenzie.

NINA:

Good. I'm Nina Banks.

BRIAN:

Yes, I recognize you from your picture.

NINA:

Yes, come on in.

BRIAN:

The one Annie had with her in Rome.

NINA:

Yes. Oh, good. Come in.

BRIAN:

Okay. (TO GEORGE): Hello, Mr. Banks.

GEORGE:

(VO)

It was the first time I ever hated the sound of my own name.

GEORGE:

Hi.

BRIAN:

I've heard so much about you. It's great to finally meet you, sir!

GEORGE:

(VO)

"Sir." Two words now crossed my mind: "brown" and "nose."

BRIAN:

Annie talks about you so much, I feel like I already know you.

ANNIE:

Brian?

BRIAN:

Oh, Annie.

ANNIE:

So, this is him!

NINA:

Oh, he's just, just a...

BRIAN:

A little nervous. This is one of those situations you read about. You

know, meeting the in-laws. You two seem great. I'm sure I have

nothing to be nervous about. But, uh...still...

GEORGE:

Let's...Let's, uh...go to the uh...uh...

BRIAN:

Great!

NINA:

I think he's adorable.

GEORGE:

I don't like him.

NINA:

Oh, George!

GEORGE:

He's wearing Nikes!

ANNIE:

Mom, where's Matty?

NINA:

Oh, he fell asleep watching TV.

ANNIE:

Oh well, you'll meet him tomorrow.

NINA:

So...uh...How did you two...uh...meet?

ANNIE:

Oh, we were the only two people at this revival house in Rome for a

midnight show of "Bringing Up Baby." We kept hearing each other laugh.

BRIAN:

And at all the same places.

ANNIE:

Yeah. And when it was over, I picked him up.

BRIAN:

Oh, no, no, no. I went over to your to ask directions and one thing

led to another and...

ANNIE:

And that was it. For the next three months we never left each other's

sight. We went to all these museums, all these great concerts, the

opera. We traveled to the country. Remember that place we stayed in

Tuscany?

BRIAN:

The one with the uh...? Suffice it to stay it wasn't a four star

hotel. You have a very brave daughter!

GEORGE:

Uh, Brian...What is it exactly that you do? Annie was saying something

about computers?

BRIAN:

Oh yeah, um...I'm an independent communications consultant.

GEORGE:

Yeah, yeah...that part I heard.

BRIAN:

It sounds fake, right? Like I don't have a real job?

NINA:

No...no...We wouldn't say that.

BRIAN:

That's what my Dad said when he first heard what I was doing. But,

uh...what it is, in this case, Pacific International Bank sent me to

Rome to hook up an X-dot connection to their European subsidiary. Uh,

all European computers communicate on the Dot 25 network. And uh,

since Pacific International is an L.A.-based firm, they wanted to

interface with standard European protocol. So, I set 'em up.

NINA:

Mm!

GEORGE:

And uh, why are you "independent"? What was that?

ANNIE:

Because no one can afford to keep him on staff.

BRIAN:

Well, uh...that's true, basically. You know, driving down here, I

tried to put myself in your place. Your daughter comes home after

spending four months in Rome, and uh, I'm sure you couldn't wait to see

her...and she shocks you with the news that she's getting married. And

to somebody you've never met before. I'm sure that was

pretty..."heavy"...to use a word from your generation. I just want to

say that I'm an upstanding citizen, and I've never been engaged

before...I've never really been in love before. And, uh...I think

Annie is the greatest person I've ever met. And I can't wait to marry

her and one day...have children...and grandchildren. And I'm going to

do my best to be supportive of her dreams...and she's a very gifted

architect...and um...I'm just thrilled that I met her! I love your

daughter. The feelings I have for her are never going to change. And

I'm here to stay.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes