Morning. A man wakes up and rolls over in bed only to view an empty space next to him that clearly has been slept in before. He lets out a long sigh followed by a short whimper as he pulls himself together and builds up the strength to get out of bed. He puts on his slippers and robe and shuffles through a large well decorated home until he reaches the kitchen. He opens the refrigerator and grabs the half gallon of milk taking a drink. His face goes sour and he spits the lumpy milk back into the carton and places it back in the refrigerator. He then begins a coffee pot. While it brews we see him shuffle back through the house when his eye catches something on the wall. He grabs a frame off the wall smashing it to the ground and then falls to his knees sobbing and apologizing to the picture which we can now see is his wedding photo. He then finishes getting ready, wearing a brown tweed suit he grabs his coffee mug and gets into his small economy friendly car and begins his commute to work.
Louis is a working class man whose wife just left him for another man. He thought his wife was his best friend and now he is beginning to realize that his friends have always been an illusion. He gets fired from his job because frankly, he isn’t a good worker anymore and he is too old to be in the job he is in. Down on his luck, he meets a couple of high school stoners at a park and is promptly arrested for possession of marijuana.
Night. Louis gets in his car and drives to a back alley where he parks. As he walks he sees heroin addicts and homeless people having sex in the streets. He presses forward until he finds a little dive bar hidden behind the alley. As he approaches a man speaks up asking for a drink. Louis fearfully ignores the man and runs inside. After explaining to the bartender that he has never drank anything except what his cheating whore wife used to give him. The bartender mixes him a few specialty drinks. On the way out of the bar Louis hears some profound words from the same homeless man who reached out for a drink earlier. Louis begins to talk with the man and as he returns night after night a rapport is built until a week later Louis invites Al, the homeless man, to move in with him.
Louis and Al begin a strange relationship in which Al is coaching Louis on how to stand up for himself and stop being a pushover. As the first few weeks go by and Louis realizes that he needs a job to pay the bills he finds himself at a fast food restaurant where he happens to work with one of the high school stoners. He begins to hang out with him and the other stoner outside of work at his home with Al. One night when getting completely stoned the boys have an idea to turn the home into a party mansion and charge admission to pay the bills. The property damage and degrading of the home his ex-wife decorated breaks Louis down until one day he snaps and cancels the parties in a bit of crying hysteria. Al and the boys help him restore the house to the best of their abilities but Louis is so bi-polar on the topic they aren’t sure if the parties will continue. They discuss dreams and goals and their lives. We find out that Al has a deep background filled with happy memories and when he was laid off he turned to drugs and lost everything. He speaks of a childhood home in a beautiful suburban neighborhood that was later condemned because of drug use. The high schoolers fade in and out of Louis’ life as they go to school, juvenile detention centers, house arrest, and ultimately just fry their brains on drugs and alcohol. Al continues to do hard drugs and Louis really feels love for his friends and wants them to clean up and become better. Help him pay the bills, and make a safe home for all of them. But it fails. They won’t shape up. They won’t listen. And worst of all one night when Louis gets home from a late shift he finds that they home is filled with people and they are all just doing drugs. He is in a panic to clear the house out and is ready to ultimately put Al back on the streets when the doorbell rings. Fearful of cops everyone is hiding. He answers the door only to find his ex-wife standing there with a black eye and swollen face. After an explanation from her they agree to get back together but she kicks out Al. But as time passes Louis misses Al and regrets choosing his ex over Al. He asks around but no one has seen Al for over a week.
Evening. Louis lies to his boss about being sick and leaves work an hour early. He drives into a rough neighborhood and we see a lot of drug use through the windows. He pulls up to a home that his boarded up and he gets out. Using a piece of metal he finds on the porch he breaks off the cross boards and gains entry to the house. Calling out for Al he hears nothing. As he enters an upstairs bedroom doorway he smells something terrible. He looks to his side only to see Al, dead on the floor with needles in his arms. He cries over the passing and calls the coroner’s office to come get the body. He returns home and after being bitched out by his wife he tells her off and stands up for himself. He leaves this time and packs all of his belongings into his car. His wife is angry and then a crying mess, apologizing and begging but it’s too late Louis is gone.
Louis knew that Al wanted to be cremated and returned to his family. So after receiving the ashes he takes the urn on a trip to Northern California. Louis explains his story holding back tears as he does so to Al’s mother and two sisters, nieces and nephews. A year later he has a job he tolerates and buys the home he found his best friend deceased in and moves it to a neighborhood that is nice but similar to the old location. The final image is Louis making eye contact with a cute female neighbor as they stand on their porches. THE END.
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