Big Wednesday (1978) Movie Script
1
...that would blow
through the canyons.
It was a hot wind called a Santa Ana
and it carried the smell...
...of warm places.
It blew the strongest before dawn
across the Point.
We would sleep in our cars...
...and the smell of the wind
would wake us.
And each morning, we knew this
would be a special day.
I'm never gonna drink again.
If you hadn't passed out,
it woulve been okay.
Where's your board?
- In my car.
- Where's your car?
- I don't know.
- Wait. Stop. Wait a minute.
- Look at that.
- Good swell.
- Wait a minute.
- If you want to go down these steps...
...you have to do it on your own.
I remember the three friends best.
Matt, Jack, Leroy. It was their time.
They were the big names then.
The kings.
Our own royalty.
It was really their place...
...and their story.
I'm Leroy, the Masochist. I live here.
My friend is close to death,
and we need to get him in the water.
- Could we possibly use your fine...?
- Hey, man.
- I don't lend my stick to anyone.
- I understand what you mean about...
...not lending your board out.
This is Matt Johnson. He lives here...
...along with me and Mr. Barlow.
May I please borrow it?
I'll bring it back to you personally,
my word of honor.
- I can't lend my stick to a ho-dad.
- He's no ho-dad.
Thats Matt Johnson!
Can I please use your board?
My dad just bought this.
We want to use your board!
Thats all!
You can use my board.
Thank you.
Back over here.
Johnson!
I've got a vehicle.
You're gonna have to
get up there on your own.
Thats not Matt Johnson.
See you later, Matt.
- Oh, its cold!
- You're doing fine.
Just keep paddling, Matt.
I'm gonna drown.
Do what you have to.
I've gotta get some waves.
If you leave me, I'm gonna drown.
I'm gonna drown...
...and all you're gonna find
is this shitty old board.
- Man!
- They'll all drown.
He's gonna get sucked over!
Look at the guy!
Look at the guy!
I don't believe it!
- Nobody's that good!
- That is Matt Johnson!
Matt Johnson on my board!
Its gonna be a real hooter tonight.
- I scored a keg for your party.
- I don't know about any party.
Come on, summer's almost over.
Lets get radical.
- Come on. You're just getting old.
- He was born old.
My wave!
All right, lets do it!
Would you like to go to a party
with me tonight at Barlow's?
I don't even know you.
I'm Leroy, the Masochist,
and I'll do anything.
What a radical guy.
Enforcer! Go get her!
Get her number, Enforcer!
She's your type!
Those Valley barbarians are
using women in the front ranks.
Taking advantage of our chivalry.
Hey, you dumb Okie!
Hey, Johnson!
- Matt, get over here.
- We'll buddy up.
Dive over.
After we surfed,
we'd go down to the old pier...
...to the Bear's shop.
Bear made our boards and told stories.
He knew where
waves came from and why.
Like the surfers that came before us,
we saw everything in the Bear.
- Was Matt always hot?
- You think he's pretty great, huh?
Well, he is good. So is Jack
and Leroy, in his own way.
He could use a little more experience.
They'd get it
if they kept on surfing.
What? Those guys are so stoked,
they'll surf forever.
Nobody surfs forever...
...except for old Shopping Cart.
He's the only one thats left.
- How you doing?
- Got any chopped mussel?
Same as yesterday.
I caught me a couple of fish.
Caught me a tuna...
...and a halibut.
Look at that.
That halibut looks short.
- They're supposed to be about 22.
- For sure?
You'd better get it back in your sack.
Have you seen the law
around here lately?
Not yet.
Get him some chopped mussel.
I don't think he'll see that now.
What kind of board is this?
I've never seen
a shape like this before.
- A big-wave board.
- Thank you.
A gun.
I rode this board in the Islands.
Once I rode it alone in Point Surf
at Makaha at 20 feet.
- You rode 20 feet alone?
- You're always alone, anyway.
Thats the test of a surfer.
You shouldn't have to depend
on anybody.
- Will you ever ride this board again?
- I don't know.
It would take a big day.
But then you hear talk of a big day
every now and then, huh?
It'll happen again.
- It happened in '50.
- He rode. I was here.
Itll be a swell so big and strong
it will wipe everything clean.
Thats when this board will be ridden.
Thats when Matt, Jack and Leroy...
...they could distinguish themselves.
Thats the day they can draw the line.
I hear you're having a party tonight.
- I told you, no dirty feet in here.
- Yes, ma'am.
- The special today?
- Medium and rare.
- I'll have spaghetti.
- Smart mouth.
Make mine raw, with spaghetti.
- You can walk mine down to the grill.
- And a wiseass.
- Spaghetti. Two, please.
- Yes, ma'am.
I hear you're having
another party tonight.
- All the punks are talking about it.
- I don't know about any party.
Does your mother know? I bet not.
- Destructo!
- Will you delinquents shut up?
Someday you'll have to straighten out
and earn a decent living.
Pay attention and grow up sometime.
Turn into a respectable person.
He's a well-respected surfer.
Thats not a sport, its a disease.
Well...
I see you boys have noticed.
This is Sally.
She's from Chicago,
and she's a nice girl.
I don't want you
to give her no trouble.
You're from Chicago?
Been out here a long time?
- About three weeks.
- You like it here?
I like it a lot.
This is raw.
Mine too.
I really like the way
a square-tail breaks in the turn...
...you get right up on the nose.
- Thats just your Okie attitude.
- A pintail...
- Ever go down to the beach?
On the weekends. Sundays, mostly.
Soft rocks feel good, huh?
- I think I'll throw my food on you.
- I wouldn't do that.
Hey, wait just a damn minute!
Get out! Now! Get out! Come on!
Outside!
Come on! Out!
Take it out! And you, watch it!
You're having a party tonight, right?
Yeah.
- Matt! You bring cerveza?
- She's in the trunk.
- Hi, Matt! Peggy!
- The Enforcer. Shake a tail feather.
We're here! The party can start!
- Who are all these people?
- I have no idea. I've never seen them.
We thought this was the bathroom.
- It's right down the hall.
- Bye-bye. See you in a few minutes.
Don't forget your shoe.
I had no idea...
Matt is responsible for all this.
He invited people I don't even know.
- The music's too loud.
- Matt Johnson invited...
- The music is still too loud!
- We'll turn it down.
- I can't believe it.
- Keep Crusher off my coffee table.
I don't know.
I can't believe you'd wear
those shoes to this.
You've got a great figure.
Is that a padded bra?
- No, this is all me.
- You're kidding!
- You should try a padded bra.
- I have one on.
I'm sorry.
- Sally, hi! Come over here.
- How are you?
Two of us in one sleeping bag!
He has the nerve.
He's always with somebody else.
- What are they doing?
- We're gonna roast the Masochist.
- How do you like haole?
- Medium, so he stays real ono.
His ancestors were cannibals.
They ate Captain Cook.
I missed your elbow.
Let me know when
you're floured, Leroy.
I'll be right back.
I'm going to sleep.
- They're gonna cook you, huh?
- I don't give a damn.
- That feels great.
- How far can you go?
You know how far I can go.
If they dragged me away,
would you come get me?
Yes.
- Would you come and...?
- No matter what?
- You know I'd come and get you.
- No matter what?
Yeah.
Its really different here.
How do you mean?
Well...
...back home, being young...
...was just something you do
until you grow up.
And, well, here...
...here its everything!
- You think I can fit in there?
- Keep down in a crouch. Go for it!
Hello?
You got a bunch of surfers in there?
- Gosh sakes alive!
- Its Hog.
Is there a party
going on here, shorty?
What's your name?
You want to get our hats and coats?
This guy have a coat rack?
Oh, jeez, you got bad breath!
I think there's some
crashers downstairs.
Yeah, sure.
Listen, peewee, I could probably
drop-kick you from here to...
Get out of here.
Come on, party-man.
- Hog, how you doing?
- Boy, oh, boy, what an outfit!
What are you,
a barbequed pig or something?
- You guys have invitations?
- We do. I'm it.
- Where?
- You're looking at it.
Really!
- Who are you?
- I'm just going by rules.
Is that right? Whose...?
Crashers!
Crashers!
Crashers?!
Come on, hit me!
Barbarians.
Crashers!
Chubby! Crashers! You wanna fight?
We'll get them later.
My head!
- Crusher, no!
- Oh, yeah!
Where's that water-fucking
buddy of yours, Hog?
The Enforcer.
Big Al, I've been waiting
for this a long time.
Open the window, Linda.
Come on, hit me! I love it!
Come on!
- Why don't you get back to Burbank!
- You chicken!
Mama!
All right!
You'll pay for that window!
Hey, you guys, split!
Mexico! Surfboards!
Women!
Guns!
Will you quit waving that around?
We will take over Tijuana. We will
have cerveza, we will have fiesta.
- Are we gonna be all right?
- We'll shoot our way out of trouble.
Cool it.
This beach break is pretty good.
Look at this beach break, Matt.
- How big is it?
- About three foot.
Mexico's gonna be all right.
Masochisto!
More beer!
Seeing as how we're here in Tijuana...
...I wanna say something.
Why don't you say it?
I'm pregnant.
- What?
- Pregnant?
I scared the crap out of you,
didn't I?
- That means you're kidding, huh?
- No, I'm not.
- Peggy, Peggy.
- I'm gonna have a baby.
- I am really stoked.
- Johnson's going white on her.
- What will you do?
- Be a mama.
- You mean you're gonna keep it?
- Of course.
Let me offer my congratulations.
He'll be the best surfer
to surf the Point.
Congratulations, Masochist.
Lets have a drink to the gremmie.
- To the grem.
- A toast.
Everybody up.
Chicago, get your can up.
Aunt Sally.
- Congratulations, P.G.
- Thank you.
This is a bird of love.
He always says,"S, s!"
- Mister, want your shoes shined?
- Skulls!
- You sit the camera on top.
- Shoeshine!
Hit it.
Hey, amigo! Over here!
Reefers.
Reefers?
Marijuana!
A zebra!
Burrito! Thats what they make
burritos out of! Kill!
Will you guys leave him alone?
Showtime! No cover charge.
You don't pay to see nothing.
Miss Acapulco is still with us.
Come in! Its the best show in town.
- Matt!
- Thats Leroy!
This man's gonna sell me his sister.
He's got pictures and everything.
- When the hell are you coming back?
- I don't know!
- I hope he has fun.
- Lets go.
- Do they take it off?
- All the way.
Teresa, show them you're
the virgin here. The only virgin.
Sixteen years old. Look at her, boys!
Come on, baby, shake it.
Show them what you got. Yeah!
Hey, Marie, showtime!
Come on! Lets hear it for Teresa!
You're Matt Johnson, huh?
I've seen you rip ass at the Point.
You really turn on, man.
Thanks.
Thats the Point grinder, huh?
I hear she really
pulls a lot of trains.
No.
Thats Peggy Gordon.
Hey, man, I'm just looking
for a good time.
Hey, everybody!
The new Mrs. Masochist. I got married.
You think this is funny, dumb-ass?
- See whats happened?
- My friends are in a mess.
I'm gonna have to go.
What happened?
What happened?
How was Mexico?
- Give me some of that wine!
- You're back, man!
Fucking hell!
Move inland. Live under a roof.
Taxes, marriage, divorce...
...the whole damn thing!
Oh, I'm in for it now.
They've condemned the pier, Jack.
You'll be living under
the lifeguard state.
They're already taking over the Point!
I won't be able to make
your boards anymore.
I gotta start going
and living like an inlander.
The summers passed with each year.
I don 't seem to remember them anymore.
I remember the fall
and the coming of winter.
The water got cold.
It was a time of the west swell.
A swell of change.
A swell you usually rode alone.
Down behind the wall! Get up.
There's a county ordinance. You can 't
sleep here overnight. Get up...
Matt, is that you? I didn't
even recognize you! Get up here.
Does Peggy know where you are?
Would you look at yourself?
You look like crap!
Come here for a minute, all right?
Stuff it, lifeguard!
Leroy!
- Induction?
- Yeah.
What date?
The 15th.
The 15th? I'm getting a transfer.
I'm gonna screw them around.
We'll all go on the 15th.
I got a perfect plan.
- Good idea.
- Have you told Sally?
No. I'll speak to her later.
Uncle Jack, hi!
Hi, sweetness.
Are you gonna ride my surfboard?
- Have you seen Matt?
- I've seen him.
- He got his draft notice.
- We all did.
- I'm worried. Did you talk to him?
- He doesn't talk to me.
I don't know whats wrong.
Hey, man, thats Matt Johnson!
- He used to be the best surfer here.
- Ah, you're putting me on.
Whats going on?
Get off the beach, Matt.
Get off the beach. Go on.
Fine!
Getting marries more trouble
than its worth.
All the rigmarole with this tuxedo
and wedding rehearsals...
...the cake!
- Lf it makes her mother happy.
- Of course.
- Can I take a break?
- Get in there!
You've been taking breaks all day.
Every time the waves come up,
he wants to take off.
Thats what I get
for hiring surfer labor.
Excuse me.
Hey, cool it, you little cretin!
Go outside and run down the shoppers.
How you doing, buddy?
Goddamn, you look terrible.
Has somebody been beating on you?
I got drunk and caused a wreck.
Jack punched me.
- Thats no way for a friend to act.
- I was wrong.
So what?
Thats when you need a friend. When
you're right, you don't need nothing.
Come on, I wanna talk to you
about a new board.
- I wanna make a Matt Johnson board...
- I don't want that, Bear.
What do you mean?
I'll bring my board back and
pay for them from now on.
I don't want to be a star.
My picture in magazines, having kids
look up to me. I'm a drunk.
A screwup.
I just surf because its good
to ride with friends.
I don't even have that anymore.
How about those rails?
You ought to know what I mean, Bear.
Its not going right,
and you can't understand it.
Growing up's hard, ain't it, kid?
Come on, Bear.
Those kids do look up to you,
whether you like it or not.
You better pick out a new board now,
don't you think?
Yeah, Bear.
Listen, I wanna go over
the whole thing.
- When the music stops, I want...
- Relax!
- You've brought it up about 25 times.
- You're so nervous!
Yes, I'm nervous.
Its about time you showed up.
- Mrs. Barlow, you look lovely today.
- Thank you, Bear.
- Hi, Bear.
- Hi, Sally.
Jack, come on over here.
Have a drink with us.
Excuse me for a second.
I'll be right back.
- Big day, huh?
- Yeah, it sure is.
- Here you go, have a drink.
- No, I don't drink.
For Gos sake, its my wedding day!
Have a drink.
No...
...I don't think so, Bear.
Your friends are the most important
thing you've got.
Have a drink.
Come on, Barlow, have a drink.
All right.
- What are we drinking to?
- Only to your friends.
To your friends,
come hell or high water!
- He's on the wagon.
- Novocaine lives!
My friends, you've come together
in this church...
...so the Lord
may strengthen your love...
...and Christ blesses this love.
He has consecrated you in baptism...
...and now he strengthens you
by a special sacrament...
...so you may assume your duties...
...with mutual and lasting fidelity.
Since its your intention
to enter into marriage...
...we would ask you
to present the ring, please.
- The ring!
- I don't have it.
- Where is it?
- Waxer.
Get it!
Waxer!
Boss wedding, you guys!
We would ask you to place the ring
on the finger of your bride-to-be.
I now pronounce you man and wife.
You may kiss the bride.
- Wear it in good health.
- I will.
Okay.
Fill these out. Take them inside.
Get to the end of the line.
Here's where our hard work
and training pays off.
Good luck, old boy. Give them hell!
Gentlemen, file out...
...have your A-forms prepared
and all of your forms ready.
Keep the line straight, please.
File on out.
Good morning, men!
This is your induction physical.
Now if you pass today...
...you will be a member
of the United States Army.
I hope you brought your toothbrushes.
Gross.
Now, on your applications...
...I want you to include
any and all physical defects...
...you may have.
I want you to include histories
of operations...
...diseases or mental illness.
Now from here,
you will follow the yellow line.
- Drop them.
- And gentlemen...
...it does not lead to the land of Oz.
Eyes front. Chest out. Look tall.
- You. I said drop them, sweetheart.
- Well, you don't have to be so abrupt.
Bend over.
There must be something
I can do for the Army.
I understand every combat group
has three men in support.
- Have you got any mobility like this?
- A little, sir.
Whats this deformation on the bone?
Its been there since birth.
Its part of the problem.
How long have you worn this?
- It says here you're a homosexual.
- I won't agree to anything.
Are you a homosexual?
I guess I am. I wrote it down. Yes!
You're gonna love it in the Army.
There's lots of men...
...and they get real close in foxholes
and tanks and in combat!
Get him out!
Process him in the Marines.
If you send me to Vietnam,
I'll just die!
- Can I have a cigarette?
- Go ahead.
Come get it?
Don't take my lighter.
The general gave it to me.
Can I have a cigarette?
Come on.
Don't take my lighter.
Its the Jews, they're the ones!
The niggers never liked me!
The Jews and the niggers!
I will not serve in this army!
Heil Hitler!
All right!
Stand down here, please. Step down.
Lets see you walk. Just take a step.
Can you walk on it?
Take a step. Can you walk on it?
I can't make it! I can't!
Orderly!
Get him out of here.
Follow the yellow line.
I'd like one more cigarette.
Go ahead.
I see here they call you "Masochist."
I like pain.
Be specific, what kind of pain?
Any kind of pain.
Lets see. I like fights.
I've dove through windows,
eaten light bulbs.
I like sharks, any kind of blood.
If you gave me a gun, I'd shoot you...
...just to see what it looked like.
- Would you?
Did you have problems as a kid?
Did your mama beat you?
- Anybody like that?
- Nope.
- Did you have girlfriends?
- No.
Are you sure?
- You picking on me?
- Are you afraid to serve?
- Why are you picking on me?
- Do you have friends?
- Why are you picking on me?
- Shut up and sit down! Sit down!
Get me an orderly!
Apprehend him, you fools!
Don't let them take me! I'm not crazy!
Please don't let them take me!
Who knows? Maybe he is cuckoo.
He sure went from the frying pan
to the fire.
He's in for it now.
- Anyone know what happened to Barlow?
- Jack went in.
He enlisted. Gung-ho.
They got Waxer too.
- What do you mean, Jack went in?
- They didn 't believe Waxer, either.
- They're putting him in the Marines.
- Jack went in?
New fires broke out in areas beyond
the perimeter set up yesterday.
Firemen wearing Marine Corps vests...
- Those guys look like the Marines.
- No. They're National Guardsmen.
Speaking of Marines, I hear they
got Waxer in Bear's old unit.
First Marine division.
- Bus burned by a Molotov cocktail
after it had been turned over...
...by angry rioters.
Police reinforcements began pouring...
You don't have to go to Vietnam.
We've got a war here.
- Putting handcuffs on the man.
Street sweeps began after dark.
A strict curfew is being maintained
throughout the area.
Firemen are having a difficult time.
They are a target.
There are reports...
- What time is it?
- Its about 5.
I haven't got much time left.
I gotta go throw my paper route.
Hey, come on, P.G. Lets go.
- Lets go get Melissa. Come on!
- I'll get my shoes.
Come on, lets go.
- Hey, Breathman.
- Jack.
- Hang in there.
- Okay. Thanks for coming.
So long, Terry.
Come back to us, Jack.
Love you, buddy.
- Say hi to Waxer if you see him.
- I'll do that.
Stay casual, Barlow.
- Take care.
- Bye-bye. Okay.
Take it easy, Jack.
- Don't get your ass shot off.
- I'll try not to.
Be good.
Peggy.
Take care of that guy, okay?
Take care of Melissa.
I believe I have your chapeau.
You know I'm not sentimental,
but you're going so far away...
...I really feel funny.
- Be good to yourself.
- All right. See you later.
Bye, old buddy.
Its been a hell of a party.
You take care of these people.
- Shooting can 't be pinned down.
Some say its diversionary.
- They say they hear shots...
- Sally?
...in the distance. The shooting
inhibits the fighting.
Sally?
The north swell was cold
and lonely and dangerous.
It was a powerful swell that marched
down the coast in the winter.
We used to ditch school, go down
to the Point and watch it break.
There were light breezes
and low-tide afternoons.
I remember the rocks
and the clear, cold water.
But now it all seemed to be behind us.
The change wasn 't in the beach
or the rocks or the waves.
It was in the people.
Some got married, some moved inland...
...some searched for a new spot...
...some died.
Waxer was one of my best friends.
I'm sorry.
Did you know Jim?
We were friends from the beach.
Hi, honey.
Some more bills.
Of all Waxer's friends,
I was the only one that showed up.
It shoulve meant something.
Guess what I saw
on my lunch hour today?
A beach house.
We could move in right away.
- I don't want to stretch it.
- We can afford it.
We're making twice as much
as last year.
- You folks ready to order?
- A couple cheeseburgers and two Cokes.
- We're off that trip, man.
- What do you mean?
We don't serve animal hostilities.
Dead flesh.
Just get us two Cokes, huh?
Well, its bad karma, brother.
I'm not your brother.
Turn down that crappy music!
Peace, brother.
- Look at that.
- You don't like incense, huh?
Here's your Cokes, brother.
"Dear Matt:
You are invited to a premiere
of my new surfing movie...
...Liquid Dreams."
Liquid Dreams?
"We feature a sequence on old-timers,
and there's good footage of you.
I remember you as a hot-dogger...
...and will be looking forward
to seeing you.
Sincerely yours, Jeff Freeman."
Thats just like old times.
Isn't that something?
They remember me.
Of course they remembered you.
What do you think I should wear?
You actually want to go to that thing?
Ah, come on.
Melissa would be so proud.
Yeah, she probably would.
Gerry Lopez thunders down
another Pipeline bone-crusher.
Pipeline is one of the world's
most dangerous locations.
Lopez has nearly been killed
there several times...
...but continues
in pushing his limits.
That guy is hot!
After the north shore season, Gerry
and I flew to California to the Point.
The Point has always been
a training ground.
Its where hot-dogging
was innovated...
...by Matt Johnson, Jack Barlow
and Leroy Smith.
They were pioneers,
the first to develop the modern style.
We bring you now
the great Matt Johnson.
Is that you, Daddy, is that you?
Matt was famous for his style.
He made walking the board look as easy
as walking down the street.
- Don't fall!
- And now, back to the present.
Gerry Lopez tries his luck
at the Point.
Lopez is known at the Pipeline...
...but is versatile enough to blaze
across the waves at the Point.
Uncle Jack!
How are you, sweetness?
Boy, have you grown up!
Give me a kiss.
Welcome home!
Good swell. How big are the sets?
Four, five. Better at low tide.
God darn it.
How long's it been? Three years?
Hear about Leroy?
- Whats that guy doing?
- He's been riding 25-foot pipeline.
- He's still an animal.
- Figures he'd be the one to do it.
- You'd have been proud.
- Been surfing a lot?
No, just when its necessary.
Lets go ride some waves.
Jack Barlow, reincarnated!
Glad you're still kicking.
- Back from the dead, man, huh?
- Yeah.
- What happened to your eye?
- I went drinking with Bear.
As usual, I got clobbered.
- How is Bear?
- All screwed up. Lost everything.
His wife left him.
He drank up his money.
He's a goner, man.
I thought about Bear a lot
while I was over there.
So, what have you been up to?
I'm the candyman, Jack.
I sell contraband to the children.
Pharmaceuticals.
Which way do you want to go?
Up? Down? Sideways?
Lysergic acid, man.
I'm making a fortune. Kids eat it up.
Drug degenerate.
Get some waves.
Seen Sally yet?
No. I came right here.
- I'm looking for Sally Jacobson.
- Sally's my wife. What do you want?
I know you. Jack.
Look, maybe now is not the right time.
You should have called.
I'd really like to see her,
if you don't mind.
I'll tell her you were by, okay?
Hey, Waxer! Where are you?
Leroy's come from the Islands
to see you.
Okay, its up to you. Where is he?
This is the place. I know it.
I've been here.
I know this is the spot.
- Hey, I like that.
- Thanks. I learned it in the Islands.
Here, have some wine.
Waxer always liked wine.
There wasn't one of us he couldn't...
...drink under the table.
He could drink!
Because he didn't have any brains.
He was the most radical guy I knew.
Remember when we were
with those chicks from Laguna...
...and we stopped off for doughnuts?
You remember what he did?
We got the doughnuts and then Waxer...
...he's up on the hood,
he's stark naked...
...with his arms out,
posing like a hood ornament!
- I was driving.
- You got in and drove around.
The chicks were yelling and screaming!
Whoa! You forgot one thing.
He had a glazed doughnut
around his little bitty thing.
Waxer was hanging one.
- That was in your '40...
- It was the Belch Fire One.
A Dodge.
I never thought Waxer'd end up
in a boneyard.
I wonder if he was scared
when he died.
How about you, Jack?
Were you scared over there?
Yes, I was.
Lets get on with what we came to do.
We're gathered here to say a few words
about our friend Jim King.
We called him Waxer.
I'd just like to say that...
...he was a good surfer...
...and a really great guy.
He had a nice cutback.
He rode the nose real well.
He was kind of screwed up,
how he treated women...
...but he always got one.
It doesn't matter. He was just
a good guy all the way around.
He'd always give people waves.
Just give them a wave.
He'd stick up for friends in a fight.
He wasn't worth a damn,
but he was always right in there.
I don't ever remember a day
Waxer wouldn't ride with his friends.
Old Waxer was our friend.
He was a little part of us.
And we're gonna miss him.
Leroy, get up!
- Amen.
- Amen.
Amen.
Lets go.
Thank you.
All right.
- I can't stay with you anymore.
- Where are you going?
I don't know.
Its time I moved inland.
Get a job, pay taxes...
...the whole damn thing.
If any of you guys need a place
to crash, you know where to find me.
Are you going back up north?
- Yeah.
- Its cold.
I hear there's waves up there
no man's ever seen.
Who knows where the wind comes from?
Is it the breath of God?
Who knows what really
makes the clouds?
Where do the great swells come from?
And for what?
Only that now it was time...
...and we had waited so long.
- I don't believe it!
- Mrs. Barlow.
I thought you could help me
find out where Jack is.
I really don't know where he is.
He's moved around a lot.
He's in the tower five days a week.
Call Ranger headquarters.
I tried. They weren't any help.
- Are you still with Peggy?
- Yeah.
We got married.
She's a great gal.
How's Melissa?
Growing up real fast.
I remember when you were growing up.
It seems like such a short time
to be kids.
Was it important,
your wanting to see Jack?
There's a big swell.
Its the best one I can remember.
Bear said I ought to try
and find everybody.
- How's Leroy?
- I haven't seen him in three years.
He's up north someplace.
I'd like to straighten something out.
Whats that, Matt?
I did things here I'm ashamed of.
- I tore up your lawn with my '40 Ford.
- Many times.
I took my pants off in front of you.
I even passed out in your closet.
But I never,
I don't know who could have...
...but I never, ever pissed
in your steam iron.
Oh, dear heavens!
Matt, you showed up!
- You're drunk.
- Yeah, well, so what?
Oh, Matt, its a great swell.
Its gonna be like nothing
anybody has ever seen.
How long have you been here?
Are Jack and Leroy gonna be here
tomorrow?
- Did you call them?
- I called.
Look right over there.
Look over there behind those pilings.
I brought her to you.
She's yours now.
All these years, there were
few things that mattered.
But what mattered most...
...was knowing how you three
felt about me.
That you respected me...
...and that you felt
I had given you something.
Lets go home, Bear.
Peggy's got warm food and Melissa'd
like to see you. Lets go home.
No, no.
They're not gonna be here tomorrow.
I never got ahold of them.
They're all gone.
Its just me and you, nobody else.
Its all gone. There's nothing left.
- Come on. Lets go home.
- No, Matt, don't.
Lets go home and get warm,
come back tomorrow.
Leave me alone. Go on!
Leave me alone.
Take it and get out!
Where are you going so early?
A good swell.
I just thought I'd go surfing.
Be careful.
These kids are gonna go out
no matter how big it is.
I've never seen it pump in
like this before.
All right, we'll see you later.
You people there. Move on back,
out of the road. Clear the road.
Now move back.
We request you stay
off the beach road.
Keep the road cleared
for emergency vehicles.
All swimmers and surfers
get out of the water...
...and off the beach
for your own safety.
- Hey, thats Lopez!
- Whoa! Lets go over.
All surfers out of the water!
We have extremely
hazardous conditions!
Get out of the water!
You are in a riptide!
- All surfers out of the water!
- There's Lopez! Come on!
You're in a riptide!
Get 'em, Gerry!
Good swell.
Its a boss swell.
Bear called it.
Its outrageous!
Jesus, its outrageous!
- Thats the lemon next to the pie.
- What?
Thats the lemon next to the pie.
Thats nothing. Its gonna get bigger.
It came up this morning,
just started pumping.
Its gotta be 10 feet.
Must be more now.
Must be more like 15.
These dudes are crazy!
Matt!
Aren't you Matt Johnson?
This belongs to you.
That was the hottest ride
I've ever seen.
I just wanted to tell you that.
Keep it.
If it ever gets big again,
you can ride it.
- Do you surf, man? Are you a surfer?
- Oh, no.
Not me. I'm just a garbage man.
See you around.
Lopez.
He's as good as they always said.
So were we.
We drew the line, huh?
You sure you can drive home like that?
Yeah, Peggy will take care of it.
You guys keep in touch, huh?
You too, old man.
- Barlow, catch you later.
- Leroy.
Take care.
...that would blow
through the canyons.
It was a hot wind called a Santa Ana
and it carried the smell...
...of warm places.
It blew the strongest before dawn
across the Point.
We would sleep in our cars...
...and the smell of the wind
would wake us.
And each morning, we knew this
would be a special day.
I'm never gonna drink again.
If you hadn't passed out,
it woulve been okay.
Where's your board?
- In my car.
- Where's your car?
- I don't know.
- Wait. Stop. Wait a minute.
- Look at that.
- Good swell.
- Wait a minute.
- If you want to go down these steps...
...you have to do it on your own.
I remember the three friends best.
Matt, Jack, Leroy. It was their time.
They were the big names then.
The kings.
Our own royalty.
It was really their place...
...and their story.
I'm Leroy, the Masochist. I live here.
My friend is close to death,
and we need to get him in the water.
- Could we possibly use your fine...?
- Hey, man.
- I don't lend my stick to anyone.
- I understand what you mean about...
...not lending your board out.
This is Matt Johnson. He lives here...
...along with me and Mr. Barlow.
May I please borrow it?
I'll bring it back to you personally,
my word of honor.
- I can't lend my stick to a ho-dad.
- He's no ho-dad.
Thats Matt Johnson!
Can I please use your board?
My dad just bought this.
We want to use your board!
Thats all!
You can use my board.
Thank you.
Back over here.
Johnson!
I've got a vehicle.
You're gonna have to
get up there on your own.
Thats not Matt Johnson.
See you later, Matt.
- Oh, its cold!
- You're doing fine.
Just keep paddling, Matt.
I'm gonna drown.
Do what you have to.
I've gotta get some waves.
If you leave me, I'm gonna drown.
I'm gonna drown...
...and all you're gonna find
is this shitty old board.
- Man!
- They'll all drown.
He's gonna get sucked over!
Look at the guy!
Look at the guy!
I don't believe it!
- Nobody's that good!
- That is Matt Johnson!
Matt Johnson on my board!
Its gonna be a real hooter tonight.
- I scored a keg for your party.
- I don't know about any party.
Come on, summer's almost over.
Lets get radical.
- Come on. You're just getting old.
- He was born old.
My wave!
All right, lets do it!
Would you like to go to a party
with me tonight at Barlow's?
I don't even know you.
I'm Leroy, the Masochist,
and I'll do anything.
What a radical guy.
Enforcer! Go get her!
Get her number, Enforcer!
She's your type!
Those Valley barbarians are
using women in the front ranks.
Taking advantage of our chivalry.
Hey, you dumb Okie!
Hey, Johnson!
- Matt, get over here.
- We'll buddy up.
Dive over.
After we surfed,
we'd go down to the old pier...
...to the Bear's shop.
Bear made our boards and told stories.
He knew where
waves came from and why.
Like the surfers that came before us,
we saw everything in the Bear.
- Was Matt always hot?
- You think he's pretty great, huh?
Well, he is good. So is Jack
and Leroy, in his own way.
He could use a little more experience.
They'd get it
if they kept on surfing.
What? Those guys are so stoked,
they'll surf forever.
Nobody surfs forever...
...except for old Shopping Cart.
He's the only one thats left.
- How you doing?
- Got any chopped mussel?
Same as yesterday.
I caught me a couple of fish.
Caught me a tuna...
...and a halibut.
Look at that.
That halibut looks short.
- They're supposed to be about 22.
- For sure?
You'd better get it back in your sack.
Have you seen the law
around here lately?
Not yet.
Get him some chopped mussel.
I don't think he'll see that now.
What kind of board is this?
I've never seen
a shape like this before.
- A big-wave board.
- Thank you.
A gun.
I rode this board in the Islands.
Once I rode it alone in Point Surf
at Makaha at 20 feet.
- You rode 20 feet alone?
- You're always alone, anyway.
Thats the test of a surfer.
You shouldn't have to depend
on anybody.
- Will you ever ride this board again?
- I don't know.
It would take a big day.
But then you hear talk of a big day
every now and then, huh?
It'll happen again.
- It happened in '50.
- He rode. I was here.
Itll be a swell so big and strong
it will wipe everything clean.
Thats when this board will be ridden.
Thats when Matt, Jack and Leroy...
...they could distinguish themselves.
Thats the day they can draw the line.
I hear you're having a party tonight.
- I told you, no dirty feet in here.
- Yes, ma'am.
- The special today?
- Medium and rare.
- I'll have spaghetti.
- Smart mouth.
Make mine raw, with spaghetti.
- You can walk mine down to the grill.
- And a wiseass.
- Spaghetti. Two, please.
- Yes, ma'am.
I hear you're having
another party tonight.
- All the punks are talking about it.
- I don't know about any party.
Does your mother know? I bet not.
- Destructo!
- Will you delinquents shut up?
Someday you'll have to straighten out
and earn a decent living.
Pay attention and grow up sometime.
Turn into a respectable person.
He's a well-respected surfer.
Thats not a sport, its a disease.
Well...
I see you boys have noticed.
This is Sally.
She's from Chicago,
and she's a nice girl.
I don't want you
to give her no trouble.
You're from Chicago?
Been out here a long time?
- About three weeks.
- You like it here?
I like it a lot.
This is raw.
Mine too.
I really like the way
a square-tail breaks in the turn...
...you get right up on the nose.
- Thats just your Okie attitude.
- A pintail...
- Ever go down to the beach?
On the weekends. Sundays, mostly.
Soft rocks feel good, huh?
- I think I'll throw my food on you.
- I wouldn't do that.
Hey, wait just a damn minute!
Get out! Now! Get out! Come on!
Outside!
Come on! Out!
Take it out! And you, watch it!
You're having a party tonight, right?
Yeah.
- Matt! You bring cerveza?
- She's in the trunk.
- Hi, Matt! Peggy!
- The Enforcer. Shake a tail feather.
We're here! The party can start!
- Who are all these people?
- I have no idea. I've never seen them.
We thought this was the bathroom.
- It's right down the hall.
- Bye-bye. See you in a few minutes.
Don't forget your shoe.
I had no idea...
Matt is responsible for all this.
He invited people I don't even know.
- The music's too loud.
- Matt Johnson invited...
- The music is still too loud!
- We'll turn it down.
- I can't believe it.
- Keep Crusher off my coffee table.
I don't know.
I can't believe you'd wear
those shoes to this.
You've got a great figure.
Is that a padded bra?
- No, this is all me.
- You're kidding!
- You should try a padded bra.
- I have one on.
I'm sorry.
- Sally, hi! Come over here.
- How are you?
Two of us in one sleeping bag!
He has the nerve.
He's always with somebody else.
- What are they doing?
- We're gonna roast the Masochist.
- How do you like haole?
- Medium, so he stays real ono.
His ancestors were cannibals.
They ate Captain Cook.
I missed your elbow.
Let me know when
you're floured, Leroy.
I'll be right back.
I'm going to sleep.
- They're gonna cook you, huh?
- I don't give a damn.
- That feels great.
- How far can you go?
You know how far I can go.
If they dragged me away,
would you come get me?
Yes.
- Would you come and...?
- No matter what?
- You know I'd come and get you.
- No matter what?
Yeah.
Its really different here.
How do you mean?
Well...
...back home, being young...
...was just something you do
until you grow up.
And, well, here...
...here its everything!
- You think I can fit in there?
- Keep down in a crouch. Go for it!
Hello?
You got a bunch of surfers in there?
- Gosh sakes alive!
- Its Hog.
Is there a party
going on here, shorty?
What's your name?
You want to get our hats and coats?
This guy have a coat rack?
Oh, jeez, you got bad breath!
I think there's some
crashers downstairs.
Yeah, sure.
Listen, peewee, I could probably
drop-kick you from here to...
Get out of here.
Come on, party-man.
- Hog, how you doing?
- Boy, oh, boy, what an outfit!
What are you,
a barbequed pig or something?
- You guys have invitations?
- We do. I'm it.
- Where?
- You're looking at it.
Really!
- Who are you?
- I'm just going by rules.
Is that right? Whose...?
Crashers!
Crashers!
Crashers?!
Come on, hit me!
Barbarians.
Crashers!
Chubby! Crashers! You wanna fight?
We'll get them later.
My head!
- Crusher, no!
- Oh, yeah!
Where's that water-fucking
buddy of yours, Hog?
The Enforcer.
Big Al, I've been waiting
for this a long time.
Open the window, Linda.
Come on, hit me! I love it!
Come on!
- Why don't you get back to Burbank!
- You chicken!
Mama!
All right!
You'll pay for that window!
Hey, you guys, split!
Mexico! Surfboards!
Women!
Guns!
Will you quit waving that around?
We will take over Tijuana. We will
have cerveza, we will have fiesta.
- Are we gonna be all right?
- We'll shoot our way out of trouble.
Cool it.
This beach break is pretty good.
Look at this beach break, Matt.
- How big is it?
- About three foot.
Mexico's gonna be all right.
Masochisto!
More beer!
Seeing as how we're here in Tijuana...
...I wanna say something.
Why don't you say it?
I'm pregnant.
- What?
- Pregnant?
I scared the crap out of you,
didn't I?
- That means you're kidding, huh?
- No, I'm not.
- Peggy, Peggy.
- I'm gonna have a baby.
- I am really stoked.
- Johnson's going white on her.
- What will you do?
- Be a mama.
- You mean you're gonna keep it?
- Of course.
Let me offer my congratulations.
He'll be the best surfer
to surf the Point.
Congratulations, Masochist.
Lets have a drink to the gremmie.
- To the grem.
- A toast.
Everybody up.
Chicago, get your can up.
Aunt Sally.
- Congratulations, P.G.
- Thank you.
This is a bird of love.
He always says,"S, s!"
- Mister, want your shoes shined?
- Skulls!
- You sit the camera on top.
- Shoeshine!
Hit it.
Hey, amigo! Over here!
Reefers.
Reefers?
Marijuana!
A zebra!
Burrito! Thats what they make
burritos out of! Kill!
Will you guys leave him alone?
Showtime! No cover charge.
You don't pay to see nothing.
Miss Acapulco is still with us.
Come in! Its the best show in town.
- Matt!
- Thats Leroy!
This man's gonna sell me his sister.
He's got pictures and everything.
- When the hell are you coming back?
- I don't know!
- I hope he has fun.
- Lets go.
- Do they take it off?
- All the way.
Teresa, show them you're
the virgin here. The only virgin.
Sixteen years old. Look at her, boys!
Come on, baby, shake it.
Show them what you got. Yeah!
Hey, Marie, showtime!
Come on! Lets hear it for Teresa!
You're Matt Johnson, huh?
I've seen you rip ass at the Point.
You really turn on, man.
Thanks.
Thats the Point grinder, huh?
I hear she really
pulls a lot of trains.
No.
Thats Peggy Gordon.
Hey, man, I'm just looking
for a good time.
Hey, everybody!
The new Mrs. Masochist. I got married.
You think this is funny, dumb-ass?
- See whats happened?
- My friends are in a mess.
I'm gonna have to go.
What happened?
What happened?
How was Mexico?
- Give me some of that wine!
- You're back, man!
Fucking hell!
Move inland. Live under a roof.
Taxes, marriage, divorce...
...the whole damn thing!
Oh, I'm in for it now.
They've condemned the pier, Jack.
You'll be living under
the lifeguard state.
They're already taking over the Point!
I won't be able to make
your boards anymore.
I gotta start going
and living like an inlander.
The summers passed with each year.
I don 't seem to remember them anymore.
I remember the fall
and the coming of winter.
The water got cold.
It was a time of the west swell.
A swell of change.
A swell you usually rode alone.
Down behind the wall! Get up.
There's a county ordinance. You can 't
sleep here overnight. Get up...
Matt, is that you? I didn't
even recognize you! Get up here.
Does Peggy know where you are?
Would you look at yourself?
You look like crap!
Come here for a minute, all right?
Stuff it, lifeguard!
Leroy!
- Induction?
- Yeah.
What date?
The 15th.
The 15th? I'm getting a transfer.
I'm gonna screw them around.
We'll all go on the 15th.
I got a perfect plan.
- Good idea.
- Have you told Sally?
No. I'll speak to her later.
Uncle Jack, hi!
Hi, sweetness.
Are you gonna ride my surfboard?
- Have you seen Matt?
- I've seen him.
- He got his draft notice.
- We all did.
- I'm worried. Did you talk to him?
- He doesn't talk to me.
I don't know whats wrong.
Hey, man, thats Matt Johnson!
- He used to be the best surfer here.
- Ah, you're putting me on.
Whats going on?
Get off the beach, Matt.
Get off the beach. Go on.
Fine!
Getting marries more trouble
than its worth.
All the rigmarole with this tuxedo
and wedding rehearsals...
...the cake!
- Lf it makes her mother happy.
- Of course.
- Can I take a break?
- Get in there!
You've been taking breaks all day.
Every time the waves come up,
he wants to take off.
Thats what I get
for hiring surfer labor.
Excuse me.
Hey, cool it, you little cretin!
Go outside and run down the shoppers.
How you doing, buddy?
Goddamn, you look terrible.
Has somebody been beating on you?
I got drunk and caused a wreck.
Jack punched me.
- Thats no way for a friend to act.
- I was wrong.
So what?
Thats when you need a friend. When
you're right, you don't need nothing.
Come on, I wanna talk to you
about a new board.
- I wanna make a Matt Johnson board...
- I don't want that, Bear.
What do you mean?
I'll bring my board back and
pay for them from now on.
I don't want to be a star.
My picture in magazines, having kids
look up to me. I'm a drunk.
A screwup.
I just surf because its good
to ride with friends.
I don't even have that anymore.
How about those rails?
You ought to know what I mean, Bear.
Its not going right,
and you can't understand it.
Growing up's hard, ain't it, kid?
Come on, Bear.
Those kids do look up to you,
whether you like it or not.
You better pick out a new board now,
don't you think?
Yeah, Bear.
Listen, I wanna go over
the whole thing.
- When the music stops, I want...
- Relax!
- You've brought it up about 25 times.
- You're so nervous!
Yes, I'm nervous.
Its about time you showed up.
- Mrs. Barlow, you look lovely today.
- Thank you, Bear.
- Hi, Bear.
- Hi, Sally.
Jack, come on over here.
Have a drink with us.
Excuse me for a second.
I'll be right back.
- Big day, huh?
- Yeah, it sure is.
- Here you go, have a drink.
- No, I don't drink.
For Gos sake, its my wedding day!
Have a drink.
No...
...I don't think so, Bear.
Your friends are the most important
thing you've got.
Have a drink.
Come on, Barlow, have a drink.
All right.
- What are we drinking to?
- Only to your friends.
To your friends,
come hell or high water!
- He's on the wagon.
- Novocaine lives!
My friends, you've come together
in this church...
...so the Lord
may strengthen your love...
...and Christ blesses this love.
He has consecrated you in baptism...
...and now he strengthens you
by a special sacrament...
...so you may assume your duties...
...with mutual and lasting fidelity.
Since its your intention
to enter into marriage...
...we would ask you
to present the ring, please.
- The ring!
- I don't have it.
- Where is it?
- Waxer.
Get it!
Waxer!
Boss wedding, you guys!
We would ask you to place the ring
on the finger of your bride-to-be.
I now pronounce you man and wife.
You may kiss the bride.
- Wear it in good health.
- I will.
Okay.
Fill these out. Take them inside.
Get to the end of the line.
Here's where our hard work
and training pays off.
Good luck, old boy. Give them hell!
Gentlemen, file out...
...have your A-forms prepared
and all of your forms ready.
Keep the line straight, please.
File on out.
Good morning, men!
This is your induction physical.
Now if you pass today...
...you will be a member
of the United States Army.
I hope you brought your toothbrushes.
Gross.
Now, on your applications...
...I want you to include
any and all physical defects...
...you may have.
I want you to include histories
of operations...
...diseases or mental illness.
Now from here,
you will follow the yellow line.
- Drop them.
- And gentlemen...
...it does not lead to the land of Oz.
Eyes front. Chest out. Look tall.
- You. I said drop them, sweetheart.
- Well, you don't have to be so abrupt.
Bend over.
There must be something
I can do for the Army.
I understand every combat group
has three men in support.
- Have you got any mobility like this?
- A little, sir.
Whats this deformation on the bone?
Its been there since birth.
Its part of the problem.
How long have you worn this?
- It says here you're a homosexual.
- I won't agree to anything.
Are you a homosexual?
I guess I am. I wrote it down. Yes!
You're gonna love it in the Army.
There's lots of men...
...and they get real close in foxholes
and tanks and in combat!
Get him out!
Process him in the Marines.
If you send me to Vietnam,
I'll just die!
- Can I have a cigarette?
- Go ahead.
Come get it?
Don't take my lighter.
The general gave it to me.
Can I have a cigarette?
Come on.
Don't take my lighter.
Its the Jews, they're the ones!
The niggers never liked me!
The Jews and the niggers!
I will not serve in this army!
Heil Hitler!
All right!
Stand down here, please. Step down.
Lets see you walk. Just take a step.
Can you walk on it?
Take a step. Can you walk on it?
I can't make it! I can't!
Orderly!
Get him out of here.
Follow the yellow line.
I'd like one more cigarette.
Go ahead.
I see here they call you "Masochist."
I like pain.
Be specific, what kind of pain?
Any kind of pain.
Lets see. I like fights.
I've dove through windows,
eaten light bulbs.
I like sharks, any kind of blood.
If you gave me a gun, I'd shoot you...
...just to see what it looked like.
- Would you?
Did you have problems as a kid?
Did your mama beat you?
- Anybody like that?
- Nope.
- Did you have girlfriends?
- No.
Are you sure?
- You picking on me?
- Are you afraid to serve?
- Why are you picking on me?
- Do you have friends?
- Why are you picking on me?
- Shut up and sit down! Sit down!
Get me an orderly!
Apprehend him, you fools!
Don't let them take me! I'm not crazy!
Please don't let them take me!
Who knows? Maybe he is cuckoo.
He sure went from the frying pan
to the fire.
He's in for it now.
- Anyone know what happened to Barlow?
- Jack went in.
He enlisted. Gung-ho.
They got Waxer too.
- What do you mean, Jack went in?
- They didn 't believe Waxer, either.
- They're putting him in the Marines.
- Jack went in?
New fires broke out in areas beyond
the perimeter set up yesterday.
Firemen wearing Marine Corps vests...
- Those guys look like the Marines.
- No. They're National Guardsmen.
Speaking of Marines, I hear they
got Waxer in Bear's old unit.
First Marine division.
- Bus burned by a Molotov cocktail
after it had been turned over...
...by angry rioters.
Police reinforcements began pouring...
You don't have to go to Vietnam.
We've got a war here.
- Putting handcuffs on the man.
Street sweeps began after dark.
A strict curfew is being maintained
throughout the area.
Firemen are having a difficult time.
They are a target.
There are reports...
- What time is it?
- Its about 5.
I haven't got much time left.
I gotta go throw my paper route.
Hey, come on, P.G. Lets go.
- Lets go get Melissa. Come on!
- I'll get my shoes.
Come on, lets go.
- Hey, Breathman.
- Jack.
- Hang in there.
- Okay. Thanks for coming.
So long, Terry.
Come back to us, Jack.
Love you, buddy.
- Say hi to Waxer if you see him.
- I'll do that.
Stay casual, Barlow.
- Take care.
- Bye-bye. Okay.
Take it easy, Jack.
- Don't get your ass shot off.
- I'll try not to.
Be good.
Peggy.
Take care of that guy, okay?
Take care of Melissa.
I believe I have your chapeau.
You know I'm not sentimental,
but you're going so far away...
...I really feel funny.
- Be good to yourself.
- All right. See you later.
Bye, old buddy.
Its been a hell of a party.
You take care of these people.
- Shooting can 't be pinned down.
Some say its diversionary.
- They say they hear shots...
- Sally?
...in the distance. The shooting
inhibits the fighting.
Sally?
The north swell was cold
and lonely and dangerous.
It was a powerful swell that marched
down the coast in the winter.
We used to ditch school, go down
to the Point and watch it break.
There were light breezes
and low-tide afternoons.
I remember the rocks
and the clear, cold water.
But now it all seemed to be behind us.
The change wasn 't in the beach
or the rocks or the waves.
It was in the people.
Some got married, some moved inland...
...some searched for a new spot...
...some died.
Waxer was one of my best friends.
I'm sorry.
Did you know Jim?
We were friends from the beach.
Hi, honey.
Some more bills.
Of all Waxer's friends,
I was the only one that showed up.
It shoulve meant something.
Guess what I saw
on my lunch hour today?
A beach house.
We could move in right away.
- I don't want to stretch it.
- We can afford it.
We're making twice as much
as last year.
- You folks ready to order?
- A couple cheeseburgers and two Cokes.
- We're off that trip, man.
- What do you mean?
We don't serve animal hostilities.
Dead flesh.
Just get us two Cokes, huh?
Well, its bad karma, brother.
I'm not your brother.
Turn down that crappy music!
Peace, brother.
- Look at that.
- You don't like incense, huh?
Here's your Cokes, brother.
"Dear Matt:
You are invited to a premiere
of my new surfing movie...
...Liquid Dreams."
Liquid Dreams?
"We feature a sequence on old-timers,
and there's good footage of you.
I remember you as a hot-dogger...
...and will be looking forward
to seeing you.
Sincerely yours, Jeff Freeman."
Thats just like old times.
Isn't that something?
They remember me.
Of course they remembered you.
What do you think I should wear?
You actually want to go to that thing?
Ah, come on.
Melissa would be so proud.
Yeah, she probably would.
Gerry Lopez thunders down
another Pipeline bone-crusher.
Pipeline is one of the world's
most dangerous locations.
Lopez has nearly been killed
there several times...
...but continues
in pushing his limits.
That guy is hot!
After the north shore season, Gerry
and I flew to California to the Point.
The Point has always been
a training ground.
Its where hot-dogging
was innovated...
...by Matt Johnson, Jack Barlow
and Leroy Smith.
They were pioneers,
the first to develop the modern style.
We bring you now
the great Matt Johnson.
Is that you, Daddy, is that you?
Matt was famous for his style.
He made walking the board look as easy
as walking down the street.
- Don't fall!
- And now, back to the present.
Gerry Lopez tries his luck
at the Point.
Lopez is known at the Pipeline...
...but is versatile enough to blaze
across the waves at the Point.
Uncle Jack!
How are you, sweetness?
Boy, have you grown up!
Give me a kiss.
Welcome home!
Good swell. How big are the sets?
Four, five. Better at low tide.
God darn it.
How long's it been? Three years?
Hear about Leroy?
- Whats that guy doing?
- He's been riding 25-foot pipeline.
- He's still an animal.
- Figures he'd be the one to do it.
- You'd have been proud.
- Been surfing a lot?
No, just when its necessary.
Lets go ride some waves.
Jack Barlow, reincarnated!
Glad you're still kicking.
- Back from the dead, man, huh?
- Yeah.
- What happened to your eye?
- I went drinking with Bear.
As usual, I got clobbered.
- How is Bear?
- All screwed up. Lost everything.
His wife left him.
He drank up his money.
He's a goner, man.
I thought about Bear a lot
while I was over there.
So, what have you been up to?
I'm the candyman, Jack.
I sell contraband to the children.
Pharmaceuticals.
Which way do you want to go?
Up? Down? Sideways?
Lysergic acid, man.
I'm making a fortune. Kids eat it up.
Drug degenerate.
Get some waves.
Seen Sally yet?
No. I came right here.
- I'm looking for Sally Jacobson.
- Sally's my wife. What do you want?
I know you. Jack.
Look, maybe now is not the right time.
You should have called.
I'd really like to see her,
if you don't mind.
I'll tell her you were by, okay?
Hey, Waxer! Where are you?
Leroy's come from the Islands
to see you.
Okay, its up to you. Where is he?
This is the place. I know it.
I've been here.
I know this is the spot.
- Hey, I like that.
- Thanks. I learned it in the Islands.
Here, have some wine.
Waxer always liked wine.
There wasn't one of us he couldn't...
...drink under the table.
He could drink!
Because he didn't have any brains.
He was the most radical guy I knew.
Remember when we were
with those chicks from Laguna...
...and we stopped off for doughnuts?
You remember what he did?
We got the doughnuts and then Waxer...
...he's up on the hood,
he's stark naked...
...with his arms out,
posing like a hood ornament!
- I was driving.
- You got in and drove around.
The chicks were yelling and screaming!
Whoa! You forgot one thing.
He had a glazed doughnut
around his little bitty thing.
Waxer was hanging one.
- That was in your '40...
- It was the Belch Fire One.
A Dodge.
I never thought Waxer'd end up
in a boneyard.
I wonder if he was scared
when he died.
How about you, Jack?
Were you scared over there?
Yes, I was.
Lets get on with what we came to do.
We're gathered here to say a few words
about our friend Jim King.
We called him Waxer.
I'd just like to say that...
...he was a good surfer...
...and a really great guy.
He had a nice cutback.
He rode the nose real well.
He was kind of screwed up,
how he treated women...
...but he always got one.
It doesn't matter. He was just
a good guy all the way around.
He'd always give people waves.
Just give them a wave.
He'd stick up for friends in a fight.
He wasn't worth a damn,
but he was always right in there.
I don't ever remember a day
Waxer wouldn't ride with his friends.
Old Waxer was our friend.
He was a little part of us.
And we're gonna miss him.
Leroy, get up!
- Amen.
- Amen.
Amen.
Lets go.
Thank you.
All right.
- I can't stay with you anymore.
- Where are you going?
I don't know.
Its time I moved inland.
Get a job, pay taxes...
...the whole damn thing.
If any of you guys need a place
to crash, you know where to find me.
Are you going back up north?
- Yeah.
- Its cold.
I hear there's waves up there
no man's ever seen.
Who knows where the wind comes from?
Is it the breath of God?
Who knows what really
makes the clouds?
Where do the great swells come from?
And for what?
Only that now it was time...
...and we had waited so long.
- I don't believe it!
- Mrs. Barlow.
I thought you could help me
find out where Jack is.
I really don't know where he is.
He's moved around a lot.
He's in the tower five days a week.
Call Ranger headquarters.
I tried. They weren't any help.
- Are you still with Peggy?
- Yeah.
We got married.
She's a great gal.
How's Melissa?
Growing up real fast.
I remember when you were growing up.
It seems like such a short time
to be kids.
Was it important,
your wanting to see Jack?
There's a big swell.
Its the best one I can remember.
Bear said I ought to try
and find everybody.
- How's Leroy?
- I haven't seen him in three years.
He's up north someplace.
I'd like to straighten something out.
Whats that, Matt?
I did things here I'm ashamed of.
- I tore up your lawn with my '40 Ford.
- Many times.
I took my pants off in front of you.
I even passed out in your closet.
But I never,
I don't know who could have...
...but I never, ever pissed
in your steam iron.
Oh, dear heavens!
Matt, you showed up!
- You're drunk.
- Yeah, well, so what?
Oh, Matt, its a great swell.
Its gonna be like nothing
anybody has ever seen.
How long have you been here?
Are Jack and Leroy gonna be here
tomorrow?
- Did you call them?
- I called.
Look right over there.
Look over there behind those pilings.
I brought her to you.
She's yours now.
All these years, there were
few things that mattered.
But what mattered most...
...was knowing how you three
felt about me.
That you respected me...
...and that you felt
I had given you something.
Lets go home, Bear.
Peggy's got warm food and Melissa'd
like to see you. Lets go home.
No, no.
They're not gonna be here tomorrow.
I never got ahold of them.
They're all gone.
Its just me and you, nobody else.
Its all gone. There's nothing left.
- Come on. Lets go home.
- No, Matt, don't.
Lets go home and get warm,
come back tomorrow.
Leave me alone. Go on!
Leave me alone.
Take it and get out!
Where are you going so early?
A good swell.
I just thought I'd go surfing.
Be careful.
These kids are gonna go out
no matter how big it is.
I've never seen it pump in
like this before.
All right, we'll see you later.
You people there. Move on back,
out of the road. Clear the road.
Now move back.
We request you stay
off the beach road.
Keep the road cleared
for emergency vehicles.
All swimmers and surfers
get out of the water...
...and off the beach
for your own safety.
- Hey, thats Lopez!
- Whoa! Lets go over.
All surfers out of the water!
We have extremely
hazardous conditions!
Get out of the water!
You are in a riptide!
- All surfers out of the water!
- There's Lopez! Come on!
You're in a riptide!
Get 'em, Gerry!
Good swell.
Its a boss swell.
Bear called it.
Its outrageous!
Jesus, its outrageous!
- Thats the lemon next to the pie.
- What?
Thats the lemon next to the pie.
Thats nothing. Its gonna get bigger.
It came up this morning,
just started pumping.
Its gotta be 10 feet.
Must be more now.
Must be more like 15.
These dudes are crazy!
Matt!
Aren't you Matt Johnson?
This belongs to you.
That was the hottest ride
I've ever seen.
I just wanted to tell you that.
Keep it.
If it ever gets big again,
you can ride it.
- Do you surf, man? Are you a surfer?
- Oh, no.
Not me. I'm just a garbage man.
See you around.
Lopez.
He's as good as they always said.
So were we.
We drew the line, huh?
You sure you can drive home like that?
Yeah, Peggy will take care of it.
You guys keep in touch, huh?
You too, old man.
- Barlow, catch you later.
- Leroy.
Take care.