Infinitely Polar Bear Page #5

(her voice breaks)

She was so sorry. And she would

miss you very much.

Amelia nods and leans against her mother.

INT. LIVING ROOM. DAY

Cam enters with two pillowcases stuffed with clothes. Two

sleeping bags sit on the sofa. As Cam picks up a teddy bear

and stuffs it in one of the pillowcases:

CAM:

Sleeping bags, pajamas, stuffed

animals, books, changes of clothes,

what am I forgetting?

MAGGIE (O.S.)

Toothbrushes?

Maggie enters from the kitchen with a tray. On it is a

teapot and tea cups and buttered toast on a plate. She puts

it on the table and pours it out, handing him a cup.

CAM:

I bought toothbrushes they can keep

at my apartment. And I took two

big cardboard boxes and set them up

like little beds. They’re going to

flip.

MAGGIE:

They’re so excited.

26.

CAM:

And during the day they can turn

them over and use them as puppet

theaters.

MAGGIE:

You’re going to have fun.

CAM:

Now that I have my own place,

Maggie, I’d be happy to pick them

up any day and have them stay over.

There’s room for you too...

Beat. Maggie doesn’t reciprocate.

CAM:

Just kidding. Not until you’re

ready.

MAGGIE:

Cam, I got into business school.

Cam reacts, impressed.

CAM:

Maggie Stuart, you are some

punkins. I wish I had some of that

bourgeois midwestern can-do.

MAGGIE:

I got a scholarship. To Columbia.

Cam is thrown.

CAM:

Wait. You can’t take the girls to

New York.

MAGGIE:

No. I can’t even afford a studio

apartment in New York. Jenny said

her mother has a small room she can

rent me.

CAM:

So what about the girls?

MAGGIE:

Here’s my proposal. I can get my

degree in eighteen months if I do

the summer session. So I go to New

York. You move in here and take

care of the girls.

27.

He looks at her for a long beat. Then:

CAM:

...Me?

He takes out a cigarette.

MAGGIE:

Yes. You. You miss them. And

they miss you so much. It’s just

eighteen months. When I get my

MBA, I’ll get a job in Boston and

move back in here.

(gripping his arm)

I know it sounds crazy, Cam, but

you can do it. I know you can.

Cam walks away from her, considering.

CAM:

I suppose it might be good for me

to have a purpose --

MAGGIE:

A routine. The doctor thinks

that’s exactly what you need.

CAM:

Yes. A routine. Getting meals on

the table. Taking them to school

every morning, putting them to bed

every night, making sure they brush

their hair and their teeth... the

laundry.

He looks exhausted.

CAM:

That sounds like a lot.

MAGGIE:

It is a lot. But we’re sinking

deeper and deeper into a hole and I

have to do something.

CAM:

The new school does feel a bit like

a reformatory.

MAGGIE:

It’s grim. You and I went to good

schools, we had piano lessons -

28.

CAM:

I never had any lessons.

MAGGIE:

But you learned how to fence and

ski and sail and speak French...

CAM:

But I never took lessons. My

family taught me those things.

MAGGIE:

The point is we both got a good

education. And I want that for our

children.

CAM:

Well, I want that too. But

eighteen months is a lot of

routine.

MAGGIE:

You can do it.

CAM:

I can?

MAGGIE:

I will come back every weekend and

help you.

Cam looks at her.

CAM:

Every weekend? And stay here with

us?

MAGGIE:

Yes.

CAM:

So it would be like we were a

family again?

She nods. Cam looks off into the distance, a determined look

on his face. He feels the importance of his mission.

CAM:

I am their father, after all.

29.

INT. RESTAURANT. DAY

Maggie sits across from MURRAY and PAULINE STUART, Cam’s

parents. Murray wears a corduroy jacket with a pipe tucked

into the pocket. Pauline wears a red turtleneck with a

large, elaborate jade necklace over it.

PAULINE:

I’m afraid we need to intervene on

our son’s behalf and say: no. He’s

just not up to the task.

MAGGIE:

I know he can do it.

MURRAY:

And what if he can’t? It’s a

recipe for disaster.

Reveal that Cam is also at the table. He takes umbrage at

his father’s remark as he lights his mother’s cigarette.

CAM:

You don’t seem to think I can do

anything.

PAULINE:

We just don’t want you to tax

yourself, darling boy.

MAGGIE:

We met with Dr. Wendell. He said

Cam has made an excellent recovery

from his breakdown and he felt he

could do this.

CAM:

He thinks I need more

responsibility, not less.

Murray looks mystified.

MURRAY:

But you’re a man. Even if you

could do it, why would you want to?

MAGGIE:

He loves to cook. He loves to tell

stories and play games. He’s a

good father. I would never ask him

if I didn’t believe he could do it.

Cam smiles at her gratefully. He puts his hand on hers.

30.

PAULINE:

We believe in him too, but what if

he has a breakdown?

MAGGIE:

He won’t. Because we’re all going

to support him and make sure he

takes his lithium. I’ll check in

every day on the phone and I’ll be

there on the weekends.

PAULINE:

That sounds exhausting.

MURRAY:

Is this because of Feminism?

MAGGIE:

We’re living at the poverty level.

The girls are at a terrible school.

MURRAY:

Our children went to the best

schools and I’ll tell you, it

didn’t add up to much.

PAULINE:

(turning on him)

Our children are delightful!

MURRAY:

Absolutely. But not one of them is

self-supporting.

PAULINE:

Well, Murray, lest you forget:

neither are we.

Annoyed, Murray pulls the pipe out of his pocket and starts

to pack it.

CAM:

I think what Maggie is doing is

quite admirable.

MURRAY:

I agree. Very commendable.

PAULINE:

But how did it get to this? I

thought Gaga was paying the rent on

your little apartment.

31.

MAGGIE:

She is.

PAULINE:

It isn’t enough?

MAGGIE:

No.

PAULINE:

(to Murray)

Don’t we have some crystal or some

silver we could sell?

MURRAY:

That won’t even pay for this meal.

PAULINE:

(forcefully)

No no no. Maggie Stuart, you

cannot leave your family.

MAGGIE:

Pauline, I’m desperate. Utterly

and completely desperate. We have

no money.

Pauline looks like she just ate something terrible.

PAULINE:

I hate talking about “money!”

Pauline always says the word “money” with extreme distaste.

MURRAY:

Then let’s drop it.

PAULINE:

(leaning in)

I wish we could help but we’re

barely getting by on the dollops of

cash Gaga doles out to us...

MURRAY:

Pauline, please!

Murray turns his back on the table and aggressively puffs on

his pipe. This is uncomfortable for him.

MAGGIE:

Cam is a trust fund baby with no

trust fund. My parents have done

all they can. One of us is going

to have to earn a living.

32.

Pauline looks very sad. She pats Maggie’s hand with genuine

emotion.

PAULINE:

Oh, my dear, it all just sounds so

dreary!

EXT. PARKING LOT. DAY

Cam, wearing jade swimming trunks and a bright green shirt,

is organizing Maggie’s suitcases in the back of a small U-

Haul. A nervous, skinny man in his 40s looks on, biting his

fingernails. He is PETER.

PETER:

Why does he keep re-arranging

everything? It was fine before.

We need to go, Maggie. We’re

heading into miserable traffic.

Rate this script:4.0 / 2 votes