The Good Son (1993)
Elijah Wood: Mark
Photos
Quotes
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[Henry finds Mark in the treehouse when he opens up about seeing his family counselor, whom Henry has turned against Mark]
Henry : You sure missed an interesting session. I like therapy.
Mark : What did you tell her?
Henry : Sorry, that's strictly confidential. But you'd better stop telling lies about me, because no one's going to believe you.
Mark : Sooner or later they're going to find out about you.
Henry : Who's they? My dad? My mom?
Mark : I told your mom.
Henry : Why would she believe you? She's my mom, not yours.
Mark : You know, you're wrong about that. She is my mother.
Henry : Your mom? You crazy? Your mom's maggot food.
Mark : My mom said she'd always be with me. She chose your mom as a way of coming back, but I guess it would be hard for you to understand that. But it's true. She's my mother now.
[Mark starts to head down out of the treehouse]
Henry : Hey, Mark.
[Mark pauses on the rope]
Henry : Don't fuck with me.
[Mark continues to slide down the rope of the treehouse as Henry watches him]
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[Alice finds Mark sitting at the park]
Alice : Susan told me you were here. I guess you forgot our appointment.
Mark : I just didn't feel like talking.
Alice : Talking helps. It helped the last time, didn't it?
Mark : You're a doctor. You know things.
Alice : Well, some things.
Mark : What do you think? What makes people evil?
Alice : Evil is a word people use when they've given up trying to understand someone. There's a reason for everything if we could just find it.
Mark : What if there isn't a reason? What if something just is?
Alice : Why, Mark? Do you think you're evil? 'Cause you let your mother die? You know that's not true.
Mark : What if there was this boy and he did these terrible things because he liked doing them? Wouldn't you say he was evil?
Alice : I don't believe in evil.
Mark : You should.
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[Mark talks to his mom in the hospital bed]
Janice : Mark? Hi, sweetie.
Mark : Hi, Mom.
Janice : Why didn't you wake me?
Mark : I thought you should sleep.
Janice : I'd rather see you. Has Dad told you everything?
Mark : Yeah.
Janice : I know you'll be OK.
Mark : Mom...
Janice : I'll always be with you, Mark. I love you.
Mark : I love you, Mom.
[she falls back to sleep]
Mark : You're not going to die, Mom. I promise. You're not gonna die 'cause I won't let you.
[the scene cuts to Mark at his mother's funeral]
-
[Mark heads towards Uncle Wallace's work study to tell him that Henry caused the freeway accident]
Henry : [Henry comes up behind Mark outside of his father's work study] Go ahead, tell him. Or better yet, why don't we tell him together?
[Henry quotes himself sounding like an innocent child]
Henry : It was Mark, Dad. He talked me into it. We were just playing a game. I had no idea he was gonna do something like that. Please, Dad, go easy on him. It's not his fault he's all screwed up 'cause he misses his mom. What are we waiting for? Let's go.
[Henry opens the door with them two outside the room]
Henry : Dad, Mark has something to tell ya!
Wallace Evans : [Mark runs off to go upstairs] What is it? What's wrong with Mark?
Henry : I don't know. He's been acting pretty weird. I'd better go see if he's OK
[the camera cuts to Henry entering the upstairs bedroom where Mark is]
Henry : I told my dad I'd see if you're okay. Well, are you OK, Mark?
Mark : Leave me alone.
Henry : Leave you alone? This is my room.
Connie Evans : [Connie runs into Henry's room] Guess what? Mom says we can go skating tomorrow.
Henry : Connie, what did I tell you about coming into my room?
Connie Evans : But you guys weren't working or anything.
Henry : You didn't answer my question, so I'm gonna have to do it for you.
Connie Evans : [Henry pulls on Connie's ears making her cry] Ow!
Henry : You're not allowed to come into my room. Not now, not ever! Never!
Mark : [Mark grabs and slams Henry into the wall by his shoulders] You're wrong about that! This is my room too. And I say she can stay.
Connie Evans : [both boys start to grab and pull on each other's hair as Connie runs out, still up against the wall] Mom, Mom, they're fighting!
Henry : [continuing to pull each other's hair] You like my sister, don't you? Such a sweet little girl. Too bad if something were to happen to her, if she got hurt. You'd be sad, wouldn't you, Mark? But, hey, accidents will happen. Just ask my mom about Richard.
Susan : [Susan arrives upstairs when the boys let go of each other] Boys, boys! Henry! What's going on?
Henry : I'm sorry, Mom. We were playing this really dumb game. We weren't fighting. We were just playing. Weren't we, Mark?
Mark : [pauses before answering] Yeah, playing.
Susan : Well, all right, but just not so rough, OK? You two looked like you were trying to kill each other.
[Susan walks out of the room as Henry just stares back at Mark]
-
[Mark tries to tell Susan the truth about Henry]
Mark : There's something I have to tell you.
Susan : What?
Mark : I'm not sure. I wasn't real close. At the pond--I don't think what happened at the pond was an accident.
Susan : What do you mean?
Mark : The ice was too thin. Henry was spinning her around. They were going way too fast... and then he just let go. He threw her toward the thin ice.
Susan : Mark.
Mark : Henry said he hated her.
Susan : What are you trying to tell me?
Mark : I've told you. I'm telling you. Connie didn't just slip. You don't know what he is. Henry tried to kill Connie and he can do it again...
Susan : [Susan slaps Mark across the face with tears in her eyes] Oh! Stop it! Stop it, that's a lie.
[Susan grabs and hugs onto Mark]
Susan : Henry is my son. He's my little boy and I love him. Don't ever come to me with these lies again.
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[Henry's parents leave as the kids begin a game of hide-and-seek]
Connie Evans : Mark! Mark! Guess what we're gonna play. Hide-and-seek. And I'm hiding first.
Mark : No, Connie, wait! I've got a better idea!
[Mark goes running after Connie upstairs]
Henry : [Henry from upstairs] I bet I find her first.
[as the parents drive away Henry turns off the breakers to the entire house]
Mark : [Mark looks all over the house for Connie in the dark] Connie, where are you? Connie? Connie!
Mark : [Mark screams when he finds Henry, who startles Mark by shining a flashlight into his face] Hey, no fair!
Henry : No fair? What do you think this is, a game?
[Henry clicks the flashlight off]
-
[Mark and Henry run up to Henry's ladder and high treehouse]
Henry : Afraid of heights?
Mark : No.
Henry : Good. See you at the top. You coming?
Mark : Sure.
[they begin to climb the ladder to the very top]
Henry : Come on, it's easy.
Mark : Help me up.
[Mark struggles and the branch for his footing breaks, Mark dangles high up barely able to hold onto Henry's hand]
Henry : [Henry asks Mark very directly] If I let you go, do you think that you can fly?
Mark : [Mark murmurs out very scared] Help.
[Henry finally helps Mark all the way into the treehouse as the two kids laugh]
-
[Henry takes Mark to the Well in the cemetery]
Mark : [Mark looks down into the Well as Henry pulls out a wooden box from his pocket] Hey, cool. What you got in the box?
Henry : [Henry pulls out a lighter and cigarette, lighting it to hand over to Mark] Go on.
Mark : They give you cancer.
Henry : Who cares? You're gonna die anyways.
[Mark takes a smoke and uncontrollably coughs]
Henry : [the two kids stand up and walk around the rim of the Well]
Henry : Did you see your mom after she was dead?
Mark : I wanted to, but they wouldn't let me.
Henry : You should've made them let you. It's very important. See, people don't like to talk about death. So that's why you have to investigate. It's scientific.
Mark : It doesn't feel like that.
Henry : What did your mom look like the last time you saw her?
Mark : Kinda pale.
Henry : Kinda pale. I took a real good look when my kid brother Richard drowned in the bathtub.
Mark : Your brother drowned?
Henry : He was completely blue. You should've looked at her eyes and lips. And touched her skin to see what it felt like--Hot, cold.
Mark : Shut up about my mom.
Henry : Hey, don't get mad. I'm just trying to be scientific.
Mark : Just shut up or I'll hit you.
Henry : Try it...
[Henry throws his cigarette down into the silent Well]
Henry : ... and I'll throw you down there.
Mark : Oh, yeah?
[they stare at each other before Henry apologizes]
-
[Mark finds Henry looking at the mirror in his bedroom with tears down his eyes]
Henry : Mark, did you cry at your mom's funeral?
Mark : Why?
Henry : I don't know. I figured you're expected to cry at your mom's funeral, but I don't know.
Mark : You wouldn't.
Henry : Wouldn't what?
Mark : Hurt her.
Henry : Do you really think I'd hurt my own... Oh, wait.
Mark : What?
Henry : I just remembered. She's not my mom anymore, she's yours. Isn't that what you said? She's your mother now.
Mark : Yeah.
Henry : Your mom, my mom... What the hell? We'll both miss her.
Mark : I'll kill you first.
Henry : Poor Mark. So violent, so disturbed. If you don't watch out, they're gonna lock you up.
Mark : [Mark dashes for a pair of scissors and holds them to Henry's neck] I could kill you now.
Henry : Go ahead. Jam it in. Gotta push pretty hard though. The blood'll go right across the room. Come on. Come on.
Wallace Evans : Henry, have you seen...
Henry : Dad, Dad! Help me!
Wallace Evans : [Uncle Wallace pulls Mark off of Henry and looks at him face-to-face] Mark! What the hell do you think you were doing? Answer me, goddamn it!
Henry : Don't be mad at Mark, he's just not himself.
Wallace Evans : This is serious, Mark. You could have hurt him.
Mark : He's the one who wants to hurt people!
Henry : Mark, I'm sorry you don't want to be friends.
[Uncle Wallace takes Mark downstairs by the arm]
-
[Mark talks to Henry about how he used him for the overpass accident]
Mark : Do you know what you did?
Henry : Hey, come on. We did it together.
Mark : You could have killed people.
Henry : With your help.
Mark : Hey, I didn't know you were going to do that.
Henry : I feel sorry for you, Mark. You just don't know how to have fun.
Mark : What?
Henry : It's because you're scared all the time. I know. I used to be scared too. But that was before I found out.
Mark : Found out what?
Henry : That once you realize that you can do anything, you're free. You could fly. Nobody can touch you. Nobody. Mark... don't be afraid to fly.
Mark : You're sick.
Henry : Hey, I promised you something amazing, something you'll never forget. Where's the gratitude?
[Mark stares at the empty look in Henry's face]
-
[Henry and Mark take a walk along a bridge over the water when they notice a rabid-looking dog running full speed at them from behind]
Henry : Nice knowin' ya!
[Mark screams uncontrollably and falls down but continues to get up and run]
Henry : Come on!
[Henry and Mark both make it to the gate and lock the dog over the bridge. Henry gets in the dog's face and barks back]
Mark : Henry, come on! Let's go.
Henry : [the two walk on] I love that dog.
-
[Henry introduces Mark to his invention in the shed, a bolt-shooting gun]
Mark : Awesome! What does it do?
[the scene cuts to Henry and Mark trying out the gun in the woods]
Henry : It took me three months to make it. Beautiful, huh?
Mark : Yeah.
Henry : You pull the cable back to here then you load over there. Grab a bolt. Go ahead - Lock and load.
[Mark loads up a rusty old bolt]
Henry : Now we... line up kitty cat.
Mark : Don't hit her! Just give her a scare.
Henry : Sure.
[Henry focuses by taking a deep breath before shooting the bolt, missing the cat only by inches as the bolt gets stuck in the tree]
Mark : What a great shot!
Henry : Yeah, but the sight's not right yet.
[as Henry stares into the distance as the cat escapes]
-
[Mark tosses and turns in bed quietly crying]
Mark : [a figure in white passes by the bedroom door] Mom?
Mark : [Mark gets up to follow the white figure down the stairs] Mom?
Susan : [Susan then turns around in her white nightgown] Mark?
[Mark sits at the bottom of the stairs in tears]
Susan : Honey... What's the matter?
Mark : It is you. You came back. I knew you'd come back.
Susan : Oh, sweetheart. I'm right here.
[Susan sits with Mark]
Susan : OK? I'm right here.
[Mark cries in Susan's arms as she rocks him back and forth whispering to him]
Susan : Oh, it's OK. Shh, it's OK. Oh, baby, it's all right. I'm right here. I'm right here.
[Mark continues to cry]
Susan : I know you miss her. I know you do. It's OK. It's gonna be OK. It's OK. It's OK.
[the camera moves to the second-floor balcony, where Henry is staring down at them]
-
[last lines]
Mark : [narrating] Henry is gone and the rest of us are safe. But sometimes, late at night, I find myself thinking--Not about Henry, but about Susan--And wondering, if she had it to do over, would she make the same choice? I guess I'll always wonder. But I know I'll never ask.
[the scene ends with Mark standing out in the desert alone]
-
[Henry and Mark take the bolt-shooting gun out again]
Henry : Status?
Mark : System armed and ready. Um... try to hit that sign.
Henry : Negative.
Mark : Try to hit that light.
Henry : Negative.
[Henry see's the rabid-looking dog from before running along the bridge over the water]
Henry : Targeting.
Mark : What are you doing? What are you doing!
[Henry pauses, pulling the trigger, hearing the dog cry in the distance]
Mark : Oh my God!
Henry : [the two kids stare off into the distance quietly] I was only trying to scare him.
[the camera cuts to the boys carrying the dead dog to the cemetery, where they throw the dog down into the silent Well]
Henry : [Henry begins humming Taps as the two kids stare down into the Well, Mark walks off] Hey, Mark, where's your sense of humor?
[Henry continues humming]
-
[Mark heads to the family counselor Alice, where he talks about his feelings]
Alice : You know, this is a nice change. Most of my patients... All they want to do is talk.
Mark : Well, I just don't have anything else to say.
Alice : Your dad thinks you do.
Mark : He wants me to talk about my mom.
Alice : Sometimes it helps.
Mark : I can handle it.
Alice : You can?
Mark : I have to.
Alice : Why?
Mark : Because when you make a promise... when something's your fault...
Alice : What did you do?
Mark : I let someone die.
-
[Jack drives Mark to his sister's house]
Jack : Hey, you--Co-Pilot, if you're ever tired of bombing the universe, you're missing a lot of great stuff out here.
Jack : [Jack pulls over and turns off the engine] Mark, I know you're hurting, but please don't shut me out like this.
Mark : She's coming back.
Jack : No, Mark.
Mark : Maybe not as herself, but she's gonna come back.
Jack : Mark, I miss her too. But she's gone.
Mark : No.
Jack : Mark. Mark!
[Mark runs out into the desert]
-
[Mark talks to Connie while building a puzzle together]
Mark : Okay, all right, you got a piece. Now... it's got blue on it.
Connie Evans : So it has to be the sky.
Mark : Right, and it's got a straight edge.
Connie Evans : So it has to go here.
[points for the puzzle piece to fit in]
Mark : Hey, you got it. All right!
Connie Evans : Mark.
Mark : Yeah?
Connie Evans : Do you like living in our house?
Mark : Sure.
Connie Evans : We're gonna look after you real good, so you won't be sad.
[the two smile at each other when Henry walks into the room]
Henry : Mark, 0900 hours. Let's move out!
Henry : [Connie stands up when Henry pushes her out of the way] Not you.
Connie Evans : Why not? He's my friend, too.
Mark : [Henry drags Mark by the arm as the two run outside] I'll play with you later!
Connie Evans : I don't care about your stupid secrets! I got my own secrets! And I'm not gonna tell you a single one!
[the two boys continue to run off]
-
[Mark wakes up late at night to find the kitchen fridge door open]
Henry : [Henry appears behind Mark] Looking for a midnight snack? Go ahead. Eat, drink. Don't let me stop you.
Mark : What did you do?
Henry : Do? Me? Oh, I get it. You think I put something in my family's food. You think I--Mark, come on. Do you really think I'd do a thing like that?
Henry : [Henry wakes up his parents] Mom, Dad, it's Mark! Better come quick!
[Mark dumps food into the garbage disposal]
Susan : No, Mark, stop. Honey, stop, stop.
Mark : No, please, you don't understand.
Susan : I know it's a hard time...
Mark : [shouts] He's trying to poison you!
Susan : Oh, Mark.
Mark : No!
[Uncle Wallace and Henry stand outside of the kitchen watching Mark look crazy]
-
[Henry takes Mark into his shed]
Mark : So what do you wanna show me?
Henry : I want you to meet somebody, somebody very special.
Mark : Who is he?
Henry : [Henry turns around the chair] Mr. Highway.
Mark : Wow. What are you going to do with him?
Henry : That depends.
Mark : On what?
Henry : On you - Whether or not you'll help me.
Mark : Help you?
Henry : I promise you something amazing, something you'll never forget. Are you in?
[Mark helps Henry with the fake life-size dummy Mr. Highway, carrying Mr. Highway across hills and roads, surrounded with the snow-covered woods]
Mark : Where are we going?
Henry : We're here.
[the two arrive to a freeway overpass]
Henry : Here - Help me rest him up here.
Mark : Okay.
[the kids set Mr. Highway on the edge of the overpass, overlooking a long line of cars driving on the freeway]
Henry : [Henry talks to Mr. Highway] Come on, Mr. Highway. Take a look.
[pause]
Henry : Poor Mr. Highway. He's thinking about the end. He's had enough of this terrible life.
Mark : What?
Henry : Say goodbye!
[Henry pushes Mr. Highway off the ramp]
Mark : [screaming] No!
[Henry stares down at the massive car pileup that results before the two kids run off]
-
[Mark reads Connie a bedtime story to fall asleep]
Mark : [Mark reading the last lines of the bedtime story] Good night, little girls! Thank the Lord you are well! And now go to sleep! Said Miss Clavel. She turned out the lights - And closed the door - And that's all there is - And nothing more.
Henry : [Mark turns out the light and tucks Connie into bed, when he begins to walk out of the bedroom and see's Henry standing outside Connie's door] That was a darling story, Mark.
Mark : [Henry tries to walk pass Mark] What are you doing?
Henry : I wanna tuck in my kid sister.
Henry : [Henry forces his way pass Mark as the two stare down at Connie asleep] Such a sweet little thing. Do you really think I'd hurt her?
Mark : Yes.
Henry : What are you going to do? Watch her all night?
