♪ What would you do
if I sang out of tune? ♪
♪ Would you stand up
and walk out on me? ♪
♪ Lend me your ears,
and I'll sing you a song ♪
♪ I will try not to
sing out of key, yeah ♪
♪ Oh, baby, I get by ♪
- ♪ by with a little help
from my friends ♪
-♪ All I need is my buddies ♪
-♪ High with a little
help from my friends ♪
-♪ I'm sayin' I'm gonna get higher ♪ - ♪
try with a little help from my friends ♪
- ♪ Whoa-oa-oa-oa, yeah ♪
- ♪ ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
-♪ Amazing grace ♪
-Once upon a time, our
country was founded upon...
Faith.
-♪ ...the sound ♪
♪ That saved... ♪
-Faith in all its forms.
-♪ ...a wretch like me ♪
-But during the late 1960s,
People began looking heavenward
For new answers
to old questions.
-And we have liftoff, apollo 13.
-♪ Was blind but now I see ♪
-The bravest among us
journeyed into the unknown,
While the rest of us
stood by with our support,
Our goodwill, and of course...
-Damn!
- Our taxes.
[Briefcase thuds]
-Already?
-For my father, april
was the cruelest month.
-I bust my hump
all year for this?
-It wasn't that dad didn't
have faith in uncle sam.
He believed in taxes.
-Here you are, honey.
-Mm.
-It was just the part about
paying them he resented.
So, from the moment the
old 1040s arrived in the mail,
Life around the arnold house
Shifted into a kind of
state of emergency.
-Here, daddy.
Have a seat.
[ Man speaking
indistinctly on tv]
-We all knew the drill.
And each of us
had an assignment.
-[Groans]
-Apollo 13 astronauts
report smooth sailing
On day one of their
mission to the moon.
-Kevin, turn down the damn tv!
-My assignment was to
turn down the damn tv.
Wayne's assignment was to be...
Well... Invisible.
After that, it was
all kind of up to mom.
-I'll put these in the file
with the other forms.
-See, even though dad
filled out the forms
And signed the checks,
It was mom who
kept the receipts,
Organized the paperwork...
- [Groans]
- stockpiled the bicarb,
And generally...
- Anyone for dinner?
- Kept dad from eating us alive.
-I bust my hump
all year for this?
-Still, for all his grumbling,
On some level, dad knew
taxes were inevitable,
Something you could
depend on, like, say...
-I want you to write
your obituaries.
- Death.
-I think you'll find
this very interesting.
-Miss stebbins was
teaching us creative writing.
And we were learning
that creative writing
Wasn't a book report or how
I spent my summer vacation.
Creative writing was...
-The end of your life.
What will they say about
you in the newspaper?
Yes. Harold.
-Which newspaper?
-Any newspaper you like.
What did you do?
What did you accomplish?
-What's the point of this?
[Slams chalk]
- good question, kevin.
-[Chuckles]
-We became engaged in
captain ahab's obsessive quest.
We cried when jane and
rochester finally got married.
Why?
Yes, harold?
-'Cause they were dead?
[Light laughter]
-Because you cared
about the characters.
Now, how do we
write a character?
We start with the one we've
got to know about first...
Ourselves.
Who are you, who were you,
And where are you headed?
-Faced with such profound
and disturbing questions,
One thought sprang
immediately to our minds.
-Yes, susan.
-How long does this have to be?
-Oh... About a page.
[All sigh]
-One page?
One page?!
-Paul, it's not that bad.
-How do you cram a full
and productive lifetime
Into one page?
Kevin, don't you
realize how deep this is?
-Paul, aren't you taking
this a little too seriously?
-Heck, this wasn't
brain surgery.
We were just writing
our obituaries here.
-So many decisions to make.
For instance, do I go
into practice with my dad,
Or do I marry marsha brady?
Or both!
Kev?
I don't want to die.
-My best friend had, what you
might call, a malleable mind.
Me? I wasn't worried.
What was the big deal?
It was just a page...
One lousy, little page.
33 Lines.
290 Words if you wrote big.
-What's that?
-Oh! Nothing.
-Which was true.
I'd been staring at that
page for an hour-and-a-half
Without coming up
with a single word.
Some kind of
writer's block, I guess.
-An obituary? Oh, let me see.
Maybe I can help.
- Wayne...
-Let's see...
"Kevin arnold.
"Born a butthead.
"Lived a butthead's life.
"d*ed...
A butthead!"
Did you get any of that down?
-Wayne, stop teasing kevin.
Your father's trying
to watch the news.
-Mom was serious.
Every year, the night
before he paid his taxes,
My father had a ritual
of watching the news.
We figured it made
him feel better to know
That others were suffering,
And at least it helped
keep his mind off of...
-Astronaut john swigert today
Joked he'd forgotten to file
his federal income tax returns.
Manned-spacecraft
center officials
Assured him they'd
get an extension.
-[Groaning]
Mm.
-Oh, abandon couch.
-Bicarb, jack?
[Door closes] -too late.
The beast was stirring.
-Did you get those receipts
together yet, norma?
-Don't worry, honey.
Everything is under control.
-That was mom. Always
the picture of calm.
-Saturday we'll
fill out the forms.
We'll get it over with.
-Norma?
-Right.
I'll get your bicarb.
-What's wrong with her?
-Hard to tell.
I guess mom had
problems of her own.
Meanwhile, I had a deadline.
- [Sighs]
- and I do mean deadline.
-Dad, have you ever
thought about your life?
-Huh?
-Uh, well, it's for school.
I mean, if you had
to write about it,
What would you say?
-Okay. Time for a meaningful
father/son exchange here,
A thoughtful summing up.
-I get up at 5:00
in the morning.
I fight traffic.
I bust my hump all day.
I fight traffic again.
And I come home.
Then I pay my taxes.
The end.
[Groans]
-In a way, it kind of made you
feel like you knew the guy.
My only consolation
was that I was pretty sure
Nobody else was gonna
do this assignment, either.
-The world mourns the loss
of a great poet, susan kelley,
Whose work made her
lots and lots of money.
-The minute he got
out of high school,
He joined the service
to fight for his country.
-After he won the grand prix,
There was a series
of empty relationships.
-When he spoke...
People listened!
-She brutally m*rder*d
her little sister
And was cleared of all charges.
-Chapter 7, age 36.
The harvest ripens.
Poised on the very cusp
of young adulthood,
I venture forth from the safe
and secure hallways of academia
And into the cut-throat
world of ophthalmology.
Before the age of 40, I invent
the strapless sport spectacle.
-Ah, thank you very much, paul.
But we have to have
time for everyone.
-Yes!
-Now, who's next?
Kevin?
How about you?
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He was born of humble parentage
And grew up
living a simple life.
He served several years
in the virginia legislature
And then went on to become
president of the united states.
-There. Short but sweet.
Honest, to the point.
-That's very nice, kevin.
That was also george
washington's life.
[Light laughter]
-Rats!
-Now, I suggest you get a life
of your own and write about it.
-Well, miss stebbins...
It's just that...
I'm not sure I'm ready to
write about my life yet.
-I understand.
In that case, you may
have over the weekend.
Turn it in on monday.
Right?
-Right.
-All right, harold, your turn.
-Kevin arnold... He
lived a good life...
Until he got this
writing assignment.
-[Sighs]
-It didn't seem fair.
When you're 13 years old,
The last thing you want to
have to worry about is your life.
That's what you
have parents for.
Sure.
Let her worry.
Only let's not overdo it here.
-Mom?
-Apollo 11 prepared for loi...
-Everything all right?
-I'm sorry, kevin.
What were you saying?
-Something was wrong.
Mom could usually
talk on the phone,
Cook dinner, yell at wayne,
And help you with your homework
all without missing a b*at.
-Mom?
-How could I be so stupid?
The whole point of
taking them to make copies
Was so that we wouldn't
lose the receipts.
-You lost the tax receipts?
-They're just... Gone.
-This was unbelievable!
My mother?
The most organized
woman in the world?
-Oh, don't worry, honey.
They're bound to turn up.
-[Sighs]
You really think so?
-I wanted to believe her. I did.
But something about the
way she was staring at that tv
Gave me the distinct
impression that...
Well, to put it mildly...
-We interrupt this broadcast
for a cbs news special report.
-Uh, houston, this is apollo 13.
We've had a problem here.
-Okay, houston...
-This is a cbs news
special report.
Trouble has developed
aboard apollo 13.
Trouble serious enough
To jeopardize the
continuation of the mission.
-So much for
emergencies in space.
It was just a grocery
bag full of receipts.
-We had a few of our
own right here at home.
-No?
[Sighs] oh, dear.
Well, thank you, anyway.
-Tax day at ground zero.
Situation... Grim.
Mom had turned the
house upside down
Looking for those
tax receipts...
[Door opens,
closes] with no luck.
-Norma?
[Clippers clacking]
Time to get started.
-Gee, what was he gonna
do, hack those w-2s to death?
-Got to sharpen these
clippers out in the garage.
-Oh. That's a good idea.
-Sure. Good idea.
Distract him with tools.
-Then after dinner, we'll go
to work on those taxes, hmm?
- The astronauts do not appear
To be in any immediate danger.
- Honey?
- Hmm?
-I was just thinking...
Why waste a perfectly good
saturday night on paperwork?
Why don't we...
Go out to a movie?
It's been ages since we
all went out together.
-Come on, dad. I
think it'll be fun.
-At a point where,
even in an emergency,
It is more efficient to swing
around the moon and return...
-Maybe tomorrow.
We're doing taxes tonight.
[Door opens, closes]
-It made you wonder... Do
moms ever actually sweat?
-Are you okay, mom?
-Oh.
I think I'll take a shower.
-Well, that answered that.
-Those poor astronauts.
Their families must
be worried sick.
-Well, somebody's
family, anyway.
Still, maybe I was blowing
this all out of proportion.
I mean, what's the
worst that could happen?
-He's gonna k*ll her.
[Grinder buzzing]
-k*ll her?
That sounded a little extreme.
After all, dad was a
reasonable kind of... Guy.
-Damn piece of tin.
-Dad?
I was just wondering...
What happens if you
don't pay your taxes?
-What are you talking about?
-Well... Say you forgot.
Or you couldn't,
for some reason.
What would happen then?
-There. A reasonable question.
-You'd go to jail.
-And a reasonable answer.
-Oh.
-Unless, of course, you
got a legitimate excuse.
-Okay. That might apply here.
-What if, say, uh, like...
You...
Lose your... Your
receipts and stuff?
-What?!
-Well, I mean, if somehow
by a freak accident.
-Oh, my gosh. He knew.
-Now I get it.
You know, kev, you
worry too much.
-I do?
-Your mom would never
lose those receipts.
She guards them with her life.
-Uh-huh.
That's exactly
what I was afraid of.
-[Chuckles]
-It was becoming pretty clear
Mine wasn't the only
obituary that needed writing.
[Door opens]
- a loud bang,
followed by a power loss
[Door closes] in two of
their three fuel cells.
They also reported
seeing fuel...
-Norma?
Time to get to work.
We put it off long enough.
-What, honey?
-You got all the forms together?
You got the state
and federal, my w-2s,
The receipts?
-Of course.
-I'll get cleaned
up, and we'll start.
-Uh, jack?
-Well, the moment
of truth had come.
Mom was gonna
have to come clean.
She was gonna have to...
-I have an errand
to run in town.
I'll be back in a bit.
- Run for her life.
It was kind of like
watching custer
Turn tail at little big horn.
[Door closes]
-I gotta go.
-Can I have a ride?
-And I alone was
left to tell the tale.
-Well, maybe I'll get
started without her.
Where'd she leave
those damn receipts?
-Well, that was that.
In a matter of hours, my
family was going to explode.
And there was nothing
I could do about it.
Except, of course...
Head for the hills myself.
I wasn't sure where I was going.
All I knew was... I
couldn't go home.
[Bell tolling]
I guess mom was
feeling that way, too.
It was strange.
I'd never seen her
in church before,
Except for weddings...
And funerals.
But there she was,
Lighting a candle for
those stupid tax receipts.
I wanted to help her,
To make everything right,
But I knew I couldn't.
All I could do was
hope that, somehow,
She'd find an answer here.
-Mom?
Mom?
-Yes, honey?
-Do you think your
prayers will be answered?
-One way or another.
-We drove for quite awhile.
I guess neither of us
were in a hurry to get home.
[Engine shuts off]
-The emergency has ruled out
Any chance of a lunar landing...
-Faced with the inevitable,
mom seemed so calm and brave.
-Norma?
Norma, where the hell
are those receipts?
-Mission control has given no
official word on what will be done,
But has declared that the
lem's descent rocket engine
Will be used in
aborting the mission
And getting the astronauts
safely back to earth.
-And now, the world
holds its breath
As the brave
astronauts of apollo 13
Prepare to swing around
the dark side of the moon
In their disabled spacecraft.
[Crickets chirping]
-I stood in the yard
for a long time,
Looking at the moon and thinking
About mom and dad
and the receipts,
About those astronauts,
About how things
in a life can get lost
Without any certainty
of finding them again.
I said a little
prayer for all of us.
I was prepared for the worst...
Tears, rage,
A family in shambles.
[Norma laughs] or...
[Jack and norma laugh]
-That's when you went to omaha.
Do you remember the plane fare?
-150 Bucks.
-I couldn't believe it.
I'd never seen them
quite so close...
- What's so funny?
- Like they didn't have
a care in the world.
But watching them
together, loving each other,
Re-creating the past
year from memory,
I felt a bond,
A promise that things
would work out.
-So, where'd you go today?
-Well, first I went
by the post office
To see if anyone had
turned in the receipts.
-Ah.
-Then I stopped by a church.
Said a prayer for
the astronauts.
-Uh-huh.
-And suddenly, a lot
of things made sense.
-So, how many days were
you in that hotel in omaha?
- Three days.
- Three days. What, at about $30?
-30 Bucks a day.
-As I looked at that blank page,
I knew that whatever
I wrote would be a lie
Or, at best, a wild guess.
It didn't matter.
Whatever life lay ahead of me...
A life of hope, of
possibility, of uncertainty...
I felt sure I knew what
it would take to survive.
I guess what I'm saying is...
For the first time, I understood
That some things are
bigger than death and taxes...
Like family...
Like faith.
I could only hope miss
stebbins would understand, too.
[Crickets chirping]
-Mom?
-Hmm?
-Do you think the
astronauts will get home?
-I don't know, kevin.