Listen Up Philip Page #10

Synopsis: Anger rages in Philip as he awaits the publication of his second novel. He feels pushed out of his adopted home city by the constant crowds and noise, a deteriorating relationship with his photographer girlfriend Ashley, and his own indifference to promoting the novel. When Philip's idol Ike Zimmerman offers his isolated summer home as a refuge, he finally gets the peace and quiet to focus on his favorite subject: himself.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director(s): Alex Ross Perry
Production: Tribeca Film
  2 wins & 11 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.3
Metacritic:
76
Rotten Tomatoes:
84%
NOT RATED
Year:
2014
108 min
Website
1,014 Views


which read...'

"I find myself alone again and again,

"and I've abandoned hope that this is

something that can or will change.

"I would extend my apologies

for neglecting to phone,

"were I not certain

that they would be rejected.

"I offer the honest yet

invented-sounding explanation

"that hearing your voice

or anything about your current life

"would compound my already

overwhelming sense of isolation and regret

"in a way I would consider crippling.

"My return date is set

for December the 15th.

"I look forward to seeing what type

of person I feel like by then."

'The letter was signed simply, "P".

'She threw it away

without ever opening the envelope.

'Just under four weeks had passed

'since Philip had last attempted

to contact Ashley,

'and his letters

had started being returned.

'The period following his collection

of midterm assignments

'and leading up to Thanksgiving,

'found Philip at long last adjusting

to his temporary life at the college.

'No longer fighting against his situation

and finally at peace with it,

'he had noticed himself making friends

where there before had been none,

'and experiencing feelings and emotions

'he had studiously blocked out

from August through late October.

'The result of which was his transformation

into a tolerable person

'for whom the faculty began to care,

'to say nothing of the added benefit

of winning Yvette's affections,

'a goal of his since he first convinced himself

of the extent to which she disliked him.'

I don't know

what you want me to tell you.

You know what I want you to tell me.

Oh, the situation is

becoming really irritating.

I have a life somewhere. Or had one.

I'm not sure which.

It's probably not even there anymore.

Then forget it. And come back home

with me for the holiday break.

I've nothing to do when I get back.

Also, I've nowhere to live.

I don't work here permanently.

Only you do.

I'm sure you can get

one more semester of work.

Hang on while I put

my head in this sweater.

Keep going.

It is possible.

A lot that would need to change

for that to happen.

Are we still going to Ike's for Thanksgiving?

What are we bringing?

- Really?

- Yeah.

You know what? Why don't you stay

at your own apartment tonight?

My apartment is sad

and has improper heating,

which you know

because we're standing in it right now.

Oh!

So, you don't want to be

trapped by academia.

There are some people over there

who I wish I could still call my colleagues.

They didn't want this life

for themselves.

I told this to our boy here.

You know, you have to be very careful.

Don't believe too strongly

the structures they put in front of you.

This is good advice.

For you more so than him, though.

Excuse me.

You seem ill-equipped

to deal with someone like that.

We began by hating one another.

I think we're coming back

down the other side now.

That's a very potent image.

You should write it down and use it.

I came up with it on the silent,

excruciating drive over here.

- I'm glad you approve.

- Oh, I do, indeed.

I should go check on her.

Excuse me.

I think you're being rude to Ike.

I'm glad his feelings are so important.

I think I need to leave.

You said you wanted to meet him.

Besides we just got here.

Why don't you leave me alone?

My uncle, who you saw in passing,

raised me

because both of my parents

were killed in a car accident.

Why are you telling me this?

Because I want you to

contextualise my sadness.

Put whatever you're going through

into perspective.

My mom was pregnant at the time.

Seven months.

I was on the news.

I'm telling you this

to hurt you right now,

because you're trying

to make me feel bad,

horrible even,

which I don't appreciate.

But I never will...

Because nothing ever feels bad

once you learn

what that emotion is capable of.

Now let's not make a big deal about it.

I usually don't.

But you really forced my hand on this.

Do you know that expression?

"Forced my hand"?

It's one of my favourites.

- She seems difficult.

- She is. Very.

Well, you're putting her

in an ugly situation.

What with you trying

to have two girlfriends.

That's a tawdry way to phrase it.

You... You have one living in a house

that you share with her in the city

and another one up here

that you're living with.

Yeah, I can see the appeal.

I practically invented it.

But I did it better than you.

Nobody hated me then.

I could enjoy it. Until later, of course,

when it all came crashing down.

But by then, I had

my escape all planned.

You see, you haven't put enough thought

into something as delicate as this.

Ever since I was a teenager,

I wanted to fall in love with a French girl.

I'm proud of you, boy.

You'll find yourself

referring to this experience often

when you opt to pull your head

out of your own ass and get back to work.

Can you offer any suggestions

about what I should do until then?

Well, I could.

But this really belongs to you.

You'll find a solution.

I gave you the '25, by the way.

Oh, thank you.

The way I see it,

you have two possible scenarios.

Either you abscond to France

with a girl you just met three months ago,

thus becoming a clich,

leaving the city in disgrace

and your former life in shambles,

or you'll return to your kind,

successful, tolerant,

and probably very attractive

girlfriend in the city.

Immerse yourself in work,

and become miserable for eternity.

Two fine options,

as far as you're concerned.

You're lucky to have them already,

at your age.

You're a good friend, Ike.

It's an honour to say that I know you.

Don't make yourself any more miserable

than you need to be.

Leave that to the women you love.

That's what they're

pretty much there for.

In my experience.

I believe that I'll need to return home

to the city at some point.

It's highly likely that I'll realise

I made a huge error,

at which point I might try

to return to this place

to see if you'd ever

still care about me.

I'm fairly certain that what I just said

is exactly what's gonna happen.

I can't believe you still think

that's your decision to make.

Just trying stuff out to see

what the right thing to do is.

Thank you.

'Philip left the college

much as he arrived,

'alone and devoid of meaningful

connections with anybody else.

'His time spent there would come to be

regarded as adequate by the administration,

'who subsequently invited him back,

'an offer which he would

repeatedly decline,

'until he heard several years later

'that Yvette had gotten a tenure job

at another school further north.

'He eventually returned to teach

several more semesters

'at increasingly-irregular intervals

as the publication of his work allowed.'

My key is broken.

'He returned home to the city

and was refused decency by Ashley,

'who had made the decision

that Philip would not be allowed

'to re-enter either her home

or her life,

'having come to the realisation

that she would no longer invest in somebody

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Alex Ross Perry

Alex Ross Perry (born July 14, 1984) is an American film director, screenwriter and actor. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "Listen Up Philip" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 20 Jan. 2025. <https://www.scripts.com/script/listen_up_philip_12633>.

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