Sucker Page #4

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Please, listen to me.

I come back in one weeks.

If you have another album like this

one, I will pay you big money for it.

Top dollar.

He will believe me, 'cause I just

spent 50 bucks on a sh*t record.

Okay. What now?

No f***ing way.

- Let's go over what you're going to say.

- Can we?

Your boyfriend's dumped you.

You're upset, on the verge of tears.

He gave you these records, but

now you want to get rid of them.

Wipe the slate clean.

- But when you get to...

- I couldn't only sell it for 50 bucks. I get it.

What if he recognizes his own record?

He won't. He'll get distracted by your...

- My what?

- Outfit.

- Don't forget to upsell.

- Lawrence, I got this.

This guy's gonna pay up

big for his own record.

(broken English) Top dollar.

(bell dings)

- Did you want to sell those?

- Yeah, sure.

I'll give you 20 bucks for the lot.

Wait! Thank God I found you.

Sorry. These are my father's records.

- That's my sister.

- Your sister?

(whispers) She's adopted.

Aaah!

(broken English) Oh. Oh, Rory MacLachlan.

So cool in Japan.

No, he's not. I looked it up.

(slurping)

LAWRENCE (narrating): The mark of a

good con is not how much money you make.

It's how clean you get away.

Well, you broke it, you bought it.

The old china. (slurping)

Just as long as you

gonna get what you need

- It would have worked.

- Don't worry about it.

- I've seen worse.

- You've seen worse?

No, not really. (laughing)

Oh, my God.

PROFESSOR:
Don't despair, Lawrence,

my boy. You've made a great beginning.

Oh, my first con.

(continues, faint)

Ooh-ooh-ooh

Ooh-ooh-ooh

LAWRENCE (narrating): The

Professor loved to play poker.

Even more, he loved

to cheat at poker.

After all, poker is a game

designed to be played by liars.

The ultimate form of the lie is the bluff.

Bluffing turns a game of chance

into a game of skill.

LAWRENCE (narrating): But that's not the

only reason the Professor loved poker.

As far as I could tell, it was across

a poker table that he met... her.

WOMAN:
In my

foolish lover's game

She was a small-time

cheat, a peeker.

She used shiners, tiny mirrors,

to get a glimpse of the

cards as they were dealt.

It's easy to spot if you

know what to look for.

The Professor did

know what to look for,

but he also liked what he saw.

The Professor was mucking back then,

introducing foreign

cards into a game.

He was good,

but so was she.

Or maybe he tipped his hand.

They became partners.

More than partners.

And together, they became readers.

Readers use a marked deck.

On the back of the cards are

tiny dots or hidden patterns.

Readers switch the

honest deck for their own.

This is called cooling the deck.

LAWRENCE (narrating): Together, they

could take on bigger rooms, higher stakes.

But cooling the deck

is a dangerous game.

If someone suspects another

player of being a reader,

all he needs to do

is demand a new deck.

Take my breath away

- Take my breath away

- But they were good.

They were very good.

There's no encouragement

like success,

and they wanted more.

- Enter Riley.

- Take my...

(all laughing)

Riley was a great

cheat, a card mechanic.

He was always looking for an angle,

and he cheated at every opportunity.

By the time Sarah was

born, it was over.

Maybe he should have seen it coming.

But you cannot cheat an honest man.

(snoring)

SARAH (whispering): Hey, Lawrence.

- Where did you get that?

- Out of your bag.

Do as I do.

- (coughing)

- (chuckles)

(exhales)

It's one of the oldest in the

book. Don't worry about it.

I'm not my father. Keep your money.

- Did you bring me in here to scam me?

- What else?

(chuckles)

- Do you have any friends?

- And what would I do with friends?

- Normal people sometimes have some.

- Have you ever had a girlfriend?

- Sure.

- Bullshit.

(sighs)

I've never had a girlfriend.

(chuckles) I will drink to that.

To no girlfriends.

- To no boyfriends.

- To no f***ing friends at all.

My father has no friends.

- What about me?

- (chuckles)

Has the old f***er still not told you?

(chuckles)

(pouring liquid)

(retches, groans)

Oh, God.

(retches)

Okay, okay.

(retches) Ah!

(traditional)

LAWRENCE (narrating): When something

looks too good to be true, it usually is.

Lying to people was really fun,

but being lied to, not so much.

- Forty.

- Correct.

- I don't know, about 30.

- Ah, Lawrence!

- Thirty-two.

- Yeah, that's good.

- Nineteen.

- You're not concentrating.

What am I doing here?

You are studying the art.

That's not what I mean.

Why are we here? Where are we going?

We're going to Melbourne.

Melbourne? I don't want

to go back to Melbourne.

What possible reason

could you have to go there?

A card game.

A big one.

Every year for the past 50

years, a game's been played...

in the same kitchen in Melbourne.

The Cook's Game.

Once played by the head

chefs of fancy hotels,

the Cook's Game is now

worth the kind of money

that attracts serious gamblers

and dangerous men.

I don't intend to lose the

Cook's Game a second time.

It takes $10,000

and the right connections to get a seat

at the green felt.

You aren't answering my question.

It's called the Little

Red Riding Hood game.

I'm the brass.

If I win my deal,

the lambs know I'm a mechanic.

So the old Professor

needs a secret partner.

I send a basket of

goodies to grandma's house.

I need a wolf in disguise.

So all this time, you just

wanted someone for a card game.

Did you think I was teaching you

out of the goodness of my heart?

- And afterwards?

- You'll get your share.

What you do with it is up to you.

Look, you asked me why I

brought you here. I told you.

But ask yourself,

why are you still here?

Because you love it.

Lying, cheating.

The gift of the grift is inside you.

Always has been.

Now I told you you could

leave whenever you wanted.

And so you can.

(chuckles) But you won't.

Watch me.

Lawrence, don't let him get to you.

(line ringing)

LAWRENCE (on answering machine): Hi.

You've called Leo, Mai-Ling and Lawrence.

- No one's home. Please leave a message.

- (beeps)

Hi, Mum. Hi, Dad. It's

Lawrence. Remember me?

- (fireworks exploding)

- It's noisy here.

I just want to tell you...

(sighs) I just wanted to say...

LAWRENCE (narrating): But

the Professor was right.

(Chinese)

I did love it.

Every businessman knows you

need money to make money.

To get two seats in the

Cook's Game, we needed money.

Lots of it.

In a hurry.

Lawrence. Can you come here a sec?

(sighs)

- How old are you?

- Nineteen.

Eighteen.

I can tell when you're lying.

(scoffs) Seventeen and a half.

- You haven't touched a girl before, have you?

- Sure.

What's my tell? A twitch? My voice? What?

Do you really want to know?

- Do you like me, Lawrence?

- No.

And there's your tell.

I didn't see anything.

Let's see.

You come from a leafy Melbourne suburb

with nice cars and a public library.

You're a mama's boy.

Your father had such high hopes for you.

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