...Salt Water, some people claim the Atomic Throw is impossible. Those people are wimps! If you believe in yourself, like the Salt Water Redneck believes in himself, you too can learn the moves, the skills, the Atomic Throw. [Zak mimics throwing] Some of these moves are outlawed in international countries.
We watched that throw ten times already.
I love Salt Water Redneck, and he is my hero, and he is totally... he is totally a badass. And he's the greatest person ever. That's it.
And you will be the next badass.
Eleanor [Comes in and turns off TV]
Zak, you and Rosemary have both lost your privileges for the week.
Eleanor Oh.
I got the solution for that. Move Rosemary in her with him and I. I can keep an eye on both of them.
Eleanor Oh! That'd be great. I'll set that right up.
Eleanor Zak, this is not a joke. That's twice. Two times that you've tried to run. And no I have to label you a flight risk. That sucks. [Holds up pictorial request paper to Zak] Is that what you gave Rosemary to convince her to pretend be choking?
Eleanor It's really creative.
Not just creative. It's genius. You know why? That's an advertisement for what he wants to do for the rest of his life!
Eleanor Carl.
I don't know her. I am young, and I am not old. Carl is old. And we are different. And I don't know why I am here.
Eleanor I wish I had a better option for you, Zak. But I don't. You don't have a family that can provide adequate supervision for you. I know. So that the state has to put you somewhere, and this just happens to be that place.
Eleanor Just try to be good. Okay? Tell me you'll try.
[He and Zak are lying in wait in cornstalks observing the gas station convenience store]
You got any money?
No. No, I have no money and I got no pockets.
I'm gonna give you pockets. [Throws cargo shorts to Zak] There's your pockets. I'm going in there to get essentials.
CC Convenience cashier
[Tyler gathers food items, immediately realising he is very short on cash and is told by cashier how the items add up]
Pardon me if I seem alarmed, but I don't normally negotiate with fellas if they got shotguns all over their backs.
Oh, shit. [Puts down hiking pack] I understand.
CC Convenience cashier
Ooh, thank you.
Yeah, your welcome. Hey, you got any of the, uh- you got any of them two-dollar airplane whiskeys back there?
CC Convenience cashier
No, but uh, I got this. [Produces a moonshine jug]
CC Convenience cashier
It's on me, son. It looks like you might need it more than I do. I'm just gonna get a little swig to calm my nerves.
CC Convenience cashier
I did, sir.
[Takes a sip]
Ooh. Yeah, you did.
CC Convenience cashier
[Eleanor enters store]
Ma'am.
Eleanor Gentlemen.
CC Convenience cashier
Ma'am, you'll have to forgive me for staring at you, but you're one of the prettiest women I've seen in ages.
Where did you blow in here from?
Eleanor Richmond. Hmm-mm.
Richmond? That's nice. So you, uh, you graduated JMU, or GW?
Eleanor GW.
Yeah. Yeah, you got that look about you.
Eleanor Oh, yeah? What look is that?
You know, just uh, "excited to be alive" kind of look. What you doing up here?
Eleanor Your nosy aren't you?
Yeah, nosy. That's the word for you it. Nosy. Or interested.
Eleanor Interested?
Yeah. Interested. Are you interested?
Eleanor No, I'm working.
Working. What, you working crab boats?
Eleanor No.
Eleanor I know why you think that's funny.
Oh, your trouble I see. Okay, you don't like jokes.
Eleanor [Holds up Zak's picture]
I'm looking for a missing person. Have either of you gentlemen- I'm assuming I can use the word; "gentlemen".
CC Convenience cashier
No. I aint- I ain't seen him.
Eleanor [To Tyler]
Have you seen him?
Eleanor He ran away from the nursing home I work at. Why? Have you seen him?
So you got some kind of reward?
Eleanor No.
What are you? Are you a bounty hunter?
Eleanor Would I be a bounty hunter if I just said there's no bounty?
No. What are you, his sister? Minder or something?
Eleanor Not that it's any of your business, but I care about him and he's alone, and I want to find him.
Eleanor Maybe? Maybe what?
Yeah, yeah. Well, maybe he's alone. Maybe he ain't alone. You know, you don't know. What if he's living the American dream and, you know, he just, uh, ran into a bunch of hitchhikers? You know, like the Mark Twain story or something?
Eleanor Hmm-mm. [She begins to walk away]
Eleanor Thank you.
You like Louie L'Amour? You got a good phone number?
Eleanor Yeah, I got a phone number.
Yeah? You gonna give it to me? So I find him, what you want me to do? Just holler for you?
Eleanor Yeah, just do that.
Eleanor Yeah, I got a name.
Eleanor Eleanor.
Eleanor. [She gives him the finger and walks out the door] All right partner.
CC Convenience cashier
Come back.
...
[Laughing and pointing at Zak]
You're a goddamn criminal. You're a goddamn criminal ain't you? Fugitive. Little man on the lam. Met your girlfriend back there, Eleanor. Cute on from the old folks home. She likes you quite a bit. Got a picture of you and everything, showing everybody. That's not a bad thing. As far as I'm concerned, it's a good thing. See, we're going 70 miles upriver. We need a tie that binds. And this right here, you being a wanted man, this is it, just the kind of tie we needed. Hell, yeah. Two bandits on the run. [Shakes Zak's hand upwards] Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah, partner! Come on! Hell, yeah! Listen, we got new rules now, all right? We can't keep doing this way. New rule is, you can't slow me down. you understand? Put these on. [Hands Zak boots] So, what I says go. I say jump, you say; "how high"?
There it is. Rule number one, don't slow me down. Rule number two, I'm in charge, and you're going to carry your own weight.
Uh, maybe we should... maybe we should have our own secret handshake.
What kind of secret handshake? For what?
Buds-dudes-friends-handshake? All right, come here. Let's go, hurry up. [Zak starts slapping Tyler's hands] All right, three of those, four of those. Four of those. Now what? [They bump fists and mimic explosions] Like that.
Only when special shit happens though, alright?
Special things, you don't curse.
Okay, come on. [Starts to walk away but Zak stands still]
Exactly. Come on. [Zak starts walking] Hey, what's rule number one? What's rule number one?
No, not party. No, it's not party. Don't slow me down. That's rule number one. Let's go, come on. Come on, pick it up. There you go. You got boots on now.
Rule number one is not "party". What is rule number one?
"Don't slow me down". Rule number one?
All right. We'll figure it out.
Eleanor [Drives to the beach and runs to Zak]
Zak. Zak. Zak. Oh my god. Zak, are you okay? Oh my god.
[Urinating off shore]
Hello! Hey!
Eleanor Come on, sit up.
You found us. Them pheromones. Like a bear.
Eleanor What is this? What's on your face?
Eleanor I thought you said you hadn't seen him! He's right there.
Eleanor Come on buddy. Let's go. Come on. Thank you.
No, we're good. You're good right there. Sit right there. He's all right.
Eleanor Okay, I don't know what's going on, but, uh...
Put that on, Zak. Here brother. I've got it.
Eleanor Thank you.
He could do it. He could put his own shirt on. He's 22 years old.
Eleanor Thank you. I've got it. We're good now.
Eleanor Here you go bud. You ready? You good to go? you okay?
Eleanor What? What...
Eleanor What happened to his ankle? What's wrong with his ankle?
Eleanor What are you doing?
[Mocking]
What are you doing?
Eleanor Who are you even?
[Mocking]
Who are you even?
Eleanor You have a young boy with Down syndrome in the middle of nowhere.
I'm the one who's been taking care of him because you can't do it unless you put him in a cage.
Eleanor Okay, um. Look, he needs to be properly take care of, and that's my job. I'm sorry to break up your primitive little gang, or whatever's going on, but this is not Lord of the Flies. Okay, you can't. There's rules, regulations. Medication. Paperwork.
. Yeah. All right. Well, while you've been doing paperwork, we've been something called living, ain't that right, brother?
Eleanor Okay. Cool. [Tyler chuckles] But we're gonna go, so, thank you.
No, we're not. He's fine where he is.
Eleanor May I please speak to you in private?
Oh. Oh, like, a private party? Yeah, all right.
Eleanor One second, Zak.
I got water. You want water?
Eleanor Right now.
[To Zak]
"Primitive gang". Hell yeah. [To Eleanor] I like when you put your hair up like that. It's nice. Water?
Eleanor Look, I could have you arrested for kidnapping, okay?
Oh, you're going to have me arrested? How- how do you figure? You can't have me arrested. He's a runaway. Can't kidnap a runaway. Come on, genius. You said GW, didn't you?
Eleanor I'm sure I could find some reason to arrest you.
Hey, let me ask you, what do you want for him?
Eleanor I'm not going to sell him to you.
No, I mean what do you want for his life? His future?
Eleanor Why are you- you don't know anything about him.
You know about the wrestling?
Eleanor Yes, of course I know about the wrestling.
All right, so I know something about him, don't I? So, uh, you're a little late to the party. This is what's going on. I made a promise to him, to get him to that wrestling school in Ayden.
Eleanor Oh.
You understand? I gave him my word, and I ain't gonna back down on my word. [Zak sees Eleanor's van keys and takes it] Now, you seem like a nice person. You care for him and all. You came all the way out here. Maybe it's because you like me. I don't know. Yeah? And, uh, Imma offer you a favor. You can get on the raft with us and you can ride down there if you want.
Eleanor No. No, we're not going to hop on your little raft and cruise around the river.
It's hot. You're confused. I'm not asking you.
Hey, Eleanor! [Throws van keys into water]
Eleanor Oh! Ooh! Oh! Oh.
I want to see Salt Water Redneck. And I don't want to go home.
Eleanor Ahem. So how far is it, um... on the raft?
[Makes a measurement gesture with index finger and thumb]
About that far on the map.
Eleanor Are your fingers to scale?
Eleanor [Makes a far wider measurement gesture with index finger and thumb]
So how much time is that much?
That's different than what I put up.
Eleanor All right.
What I did is about a day. Maybe two days.
Eleanor Days? Like..
Eleanor Okay. [Checks phone] Are you kidding? What in the Christ... Hey, Zak, why don't you sit down, bud. You're kind of close to the edge. I don't want you to fall in. Hey, are you hungry? Have you eaten anything?
Eleanor Well, maybe you just have a bite of something for your blood sugar.
He don't want nothing to eat.
Eleanor You know how you get, buddy. I have an apple.
Eleanor I have some M&M's. What?
Eleanor Don't do what?
Hey, I got an idea. Why don't we keep your training going? Just because we're on a raft doesn't mean we can't stop training, does it? All right, so we're going to do some breathing exercises. She's worried about your blood sugar. We're gonna breathe. Take a deep breath in. Out. Cool. Now, come over here and put your head underwater. I'm gonna time you.
Eleanor What? No, no, no, don't do that. Zak.
No. He can do that. He can do that. He can... there you go. [To Eleanor] You better stop calling him a ****.
Eleanor I have never called anyone a... that word.
Okay. Hold on, listen. When people are saying he's a ****, really what they're saying is he can't do some shit they can do. See, you might not be saying the word "****", all right, I'll give you that, but you damn sure is making him feel ****. That ain't gonna help his life. [Zak resurfaces] Hey, there we go.
Eleanor Not long enough, Zak. Do it again.
Okay. [Puts head underwater]
Eleanor You have got some real nerve talking to me like that. Do you even know what I do? I've spent the last two years of my life volunteering to hold people's hands as they pass away. I talk to them, I feed them, I wipe their asses, I change their clothes, I put them to bed. And I'm the last person they see. Don't act like you know jack shit about me.
[Throws up both hands]
All right.
Eleanor Yeah, maybe he should not be in a retirement home, but I didn't choose that for him. But, that's what's happened and now I am doing the best I can.
[Zak resurfaces with a fish in hand with Tyler grabbing it]
Oh! Oh! Hey! Oh, shit! Oh! God! Zak! [Starts pounding fish's head on the platform] Okay! Yeah! Lunch!
Eleanor Zak, did you just catch that with your hands?! How'd you do that?! You're a wild man! Oh my god!
[Frying the fish]
We got three options for lunch today. We can boil water from the sound, make a little chowder, huh?
Hey! You got to give him what he wants then. Here, go ahead. Load up.
Eleanor Oh, just right on there.
There you go. Right on there. You want a big piece or small piece?
Eleanor That's good. That's great.
If you fold it, you can make a little taco.
Eleanor Okay, that's nice.
Yeah. That's a good bite. That's good, huh?
Eleanor Five stars.
You hear that? [Does handshake motions with Zak] Bang. Boom.
Eleanor What is that?
That is our special handshake. Yeah. That. Is our special thing.
Eleanor I want to have a special handshake.
It's only for special shit.
Eleanor Like what kind of special shit?
No, you tell her. You brought it up.
Oh, uh. We did... hit by a boat. Almost.
Eleanor You... you got hit by a boat?
Eleanor What happened?
We almost got run over by a shrimp boat.
Eleanor What?
And we did... the shotgun.
Shotgun. Buckshot. He fired a shotgun. And we got shot at, remember?
D Duncan
[Tyler is woken up in a shed to fire flames and runs out to see the floating platform ablaze] [Appears with Ratboy holding a hun at Tyler]
Hold up Tyler.
Hey, hey! Oh, wait, wait, wait, wait!
D Duncan
Get on your knees! Get on your knees! Over there! Right here!
D Duncan
That's $12,000 worth of gear you burnt up. That's my season. What's to stop other people from messing with us now that you have?
I won't ever mention it, no harm done.
D Duncan
Even so, I gotta make it right. Not just for me, but for all of us. For our livelihood.
You ain't gonna shoot me, Duncan. I'm gonna get you your money! I promise you! I promise you!
R Ratboy
Shut the hell up! Shut up!
D Duncan
Right hand or left hand, Tyler?
I'm gonna make it right, I'm gonna get you your money.
D Duncan
No, Tyler. Right hand or left hand? I'm giving you a choice. You better hurry up.
R Ratboy
Screw this! Right hand!
Wait, wait, wait, wait! Whoa! Zak! Stay there! [Zak appears from shed brandishing the shotgun]
R Ratboy
You could pull the trigger. Can you aim that thing?
Get back in your boat, and your gonna leave. We ain't never gonna see each other again. Or he's gonna shoot ya.
D Duncan
You're not the only one that's hard up around here. We need that money.
Eleanor Tyler, what was that?
Eleanor [Watching Zak do boxing moves on Tyler's hands at the end of a diner while on the phone]
Hi, Glen. Yeah. Yes, I have him. I... he is sitting right next to me. No, he's... he's fine. Uh, he was alone. Yeah. Hmm-mm. There's no need to send anybody. I've got it. What? No, Glen, that's not... I'm... No. Cherry Hill is a place where they send drug addicts and prostitutes, not Zak. Yes, I did know I labeled him a flight risk, but I just think he might be better suited in an... I... I understand what you're... okay. [Hangs up]
Eleanor Okay, yeah, no, I get it. Okay, schedule his processing for tomorrow afternoon then. [Susan, a heavy set middle aged waitress comes over]
S Susan
Oh, you mighty thirsty. Here you go. Can I get you anything else, hon?
Eleanor No, I'm... actually, do you know who the Salt Water Redneck is?
S Susan
Oh, everybody around here knows Salt Water. He used to be a celebrity.
Eleanor Do you know where he lives?
Eleanor [Reading paper]
Maybe, it's...
Eleanor Maybe it's not the right place.
This is the right place, 5-3-0. Yeah, this is it. [Camera reveals a semi-rundown trailer with Tyler going up to the door]
[Appears at door]
Jesus Christ. Who are you?!
You're Salt Water Redneck?
I'm sorry, is this the wrestling school?
My name's Tyler. I ain't selling nothing to you. You see that boy back there?
Yeah, so, we done, uh... we done some hard trailing to get to you. It's a big deal seeing you here. You mind waving to him? He's got a lot riding on him. You mind just waving to him?
You don't teach no wrestling school here no more?
I closed that ten years ago.
Did you? So I promised him he would do this one thing. You know, this wrestling thing. And he told me about this school here in Ayden. And we... we had a big journey to get here. And, uh... now I gotta break his heart, you know? And I don't really know what to say to him. But that ain't your shit, you know? I don't mean to bring shit to your doorstep or nothing like that. What's your name?
So... he used to be a fan?
Oh, man, shit, you're his hero. He believes in you. That's a hard thing to do, believe in something, you know? Hey Zak!
This is Clint! Hey, come up here. You mind if he comes up and says hi?
Hey pal, Salt Water don't live here no more. But, uh, Clint's a regular guy, just like me or you. He wanted to shake your hand.
[Starts herding Zak away]
All right, thanks, partner. Come on, bub. Nice to meet you, Clint.
I bet, we could find him by... by the raft. Maybe he is hiding in the swamp.
He's not real, bud. Salt Water don't exist.
I saw the videotape, and he is real.
I just saw, like, a thousand movies of him.
Eleanor Zak, I don't think we're gonna find him. I think it's time for us to go back now.
I don't wanna go back. Tyler told me this, and he lied to me, and he promised me. And I don't wanna go back. I wanna stay here.
Eleanor We can't, Zak. We have lives to go back to.
Eleanor, I am strong enough. And I could catch a fish for you. And I'm gonna be a hero. And I could take care of you. We could be a family. [Clint comes swerving around billowing up dust in a muscle car] Holy shit. Salt Water Redneck. It's you. Hey. [They shake hands]
I saw so many videos about you.
Yeah? You want to learn some wrestling?
Oh, hell, yeah. And I feel great. Um, can I, uh... uh, join you for the ride?
And.. and... and can I bring my family?
I told you. I told you. I told you. He's real. Come on. Join us. Have some fun. [Tyler and Eleanor get in Clint's vehicle]
[Clint is mentoring Zak in an impromptu wrestling ring set up in his front lawn]
First thing you do is, you're gonna kind of just, like, you're gonna feel out, you know, just how big the ring is. you just go, you know, kind of check out, you know, what your space is, where you're gonna be moving around. All right, one of the fundamentals now is when you go to hit a guy with an elbow. You got to hit a guy with an elbow, but you also gotta do a foot stomp. [Zak mimics] Yeah, but kind of pop your head too. Just gives it more energy. Yea. Okay, that's good. Um, was there anything special in the video that you want me to teach you?
Uh, will you please show me the Atomic Throw? [Sam chuckles derisively]
Ah. Yeah, the Atomic Throw. Honestly, Zak, we just made that up. You know, it was smoke and mirrors. It was just a camera on my face. And then it looked like I was holding the guy up over my head, and then we'd cut to a guy getting thrown out of the ring. It's not possible to do. But I can show you a lot of other cool stuff. What do you think, Sam?
Might try to do a collar and elbow lockup. There you go, lockup. All right, now, what you do, you come in and boom, right there, boom. You know, boom, boom. But when you come in to do it, you got really, really, really slam... yeah. Yeah. Growl all you want, see? Then we kind of... now we move around a little bit, like this. You don't know what I'm going to do...
Eleanor What are you going to do?
Eleanor I mean, what are you going to do after all this is over?
Well, I'm going to settle my debts with Duncan. Imma go up to Jupiter, Florida. Town called Jupiter up there is a small fishing town. It's on the Indian River and it opens up to this big estuary. It's the biggest estuary in America. I'm gonna get a boat and I'm gonna just live a good life. Run charters and take people sport fishing.
Eleanor Hmm.
You ever been to Florida?
Eleanor Hmm-mm.
Eleanor to Florida?
[To Zak]
You know, certain things, it take years to learn. Like how to fall without hurting yourself. But then that stuff just comes with time. As you don't do the same move-
[Walking past]
It takes time.
Yeah, it takes time, but as long as you don't do the same move in the same bout, you're good to go. You look real.
Oh, yeah, and I'm totally ready to do this.
You want to fight for real?
Oh. Oh, yeah, seriously. Yeah. I love it.
I don't think he's ready.
Oh, lookit, he can't be out here practicing all the time. He did great today. We can set that up. I mean, there's a card in Jacob's backyard tomorrow. I mean, you're fighting on that card.
Okay. Y'all two can fight.
Hey! That's outstanding! A real match! [Pats Zak's shoulders] You want to fight Samson?
Oh, man! Yeah, take on Sam.
Yo, um, please, don't mess with the Peanut Butter Falcon.
Peanut Butter Falcon in the house.
Eleanor I see a problem here. Seems a bit soon.
Yeah! I'm going to be there! He's going to take care of him. It'll be like dancing.
Oh, come on, man. He's in, he's in. He's grumpy. He's in. Just let him lead, huh? All right, yeah.
[Tyler and Eleanor are sitting in Clint's vehicle]
I understand why you took me out of here, but there ain't no reason to be scared. We're talking about two different matches. You're talking about a hardcore match which was what you just sat through, and then Zak's gonna be doing, which ain't gonna be the same match.
Eleanor No.
He's going to do a couple moves, he's going to lay down, it's going to be simple, and that's going to be that. Zak's gonna win and we go home.
Eleanor Tyler, they don't care about him.
Eleanor I know. We care about him. They don't.
Referee: Well, that was going to be the case but then, at the very last moment, an old friend stopped by.
S Spectators
Who?! Who was it?!
Referee: The Salt Water Redneck. The Salt Water Redneck stopped by and brought with him tonight a protégé.
Eleanor Okay?
Yeah. [Leans in and passionately kisses Eleanor] You want popcorn?
Eleanor Tyler, oh my god. Tyler, what the... [Realises that Tyler tricked her in handcuffing her to the steering wheel]
Eleanor Are you kidding me?!
Eleanor Oh, my god!
Nobody's gonna die today. I'll be right back.
Referee: May I present to you... the Peanut Butter Falcon! [Tyler bangs on door] Let's go! Let's go! [Zak comes out dressed as a falcon]
Hey! Whoo! [All spectators silently stare unimpressed]
He's wearing a freaking cardboard box.
Falcon time! Here we go, here we go. Fly around baby! Fly around baby! Whoo! [Zak starts slapping hands of front row spectators] The Falcon! Falcon! [Spectators start cheering] Whoo!
S Spectators
[Chanting]
Peanut Butter Falcon!
Referee: Who's ready for some wrestling?!
Come on Zak! [Zak faces Sam who puts hands on top of Zak who immediately falls over into a corner]
What do you think about that, huh?! I've been doing this for 38 years, and guess what?! This isn't Make-A-Wish Foundation!
Kick out, Zak! Kick out that leg! Legs! Kick out! There you go, there you go. Get up, get up! Recover!
Oh, son! You messed up! [Zak wraps arms around Sam's waist] You want to play some more?! [Sam pounds Zak's back sending falling down]
The Peanut Butter Falcon?! Are you ser- How bout Tweety Bird? That's more like it! Tweety Bird!
Get up. Get up bud. Fight!
You want to play some more? You know, I've never had enough of you. [Knocks down Zak with a running finisher]
Samson! We had an agreement!
Don't come to me and expect favors! [Picks up Zak and throws him down]
What else you want? You stupid little punk. You're going down. ****, get up, man. Get your stinking ass out of the ring, man. [Zak rolls around in pain]
Eleanor [Sees Duncan and Ratboy arriving]
Oh, my god.
Hey, hey, hey. Look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Hey, hey, look at me. Let me know, do you want to do this anymore? [Does double thumbs up with Zak doing a thumbs up] Then get up now!
Referee: Listen up, Sam. You're a piece of shit.
Come on, Zak! Come on, Zak! Come on! [Samson gives referee the finger in the style of a Jack-in-the-box]
You are not invited to my birthday!
Go, Zak! Go, Zak! Run! Run! [Zak wraps arms around Sam's waist] Yeah! Go underneath! Up! Up! [Zak picks up Samson entirely starts walking to the ring edge with Duncan and Ratboy arriving with Eleanor in pursuit, Ratboy stares in awe when Zak throws Sam out of the ring, Duncan strikes Tyler's head with a tire iron]
