There was a road that ran near the edge of my town,
Out where the suburbs were still farms.
I used to go there nights, that autumn of 1972.
I was 16.
I had a girl. I had a car. I had a job.
I was full of night and life.
[ engine turns off ] I just wasn't ready to go home.
[ train whistle blows in distance ]
That year, I traveled streets I'd never known before.
I pushed against the limits of my suburban life.
I had no idea exactly what lay ahead.
All I knew was... I was running out of time.
[ engine turns over ]
[ Tires screech ]
And I was gonna bust if something didn't happen... Soon.
[ Joe Cocker's "With a Little Help From My Friends" plays ]
♪ Baby ♪
♪ by with a little help from my friends ♪
♪ said I'm gonna make it with my friends ♪
♪ try with a little help from my friends ♪
♪ oh, I'm gonna keep on trying ♪
♪ high with a little help from my friends ♪
♪ I'm gonna keep on trying now, baby ♪
♪ ooh, ooh, ooh ♪
Peace with honor and not surrender.
Halt the bombing
And then terminate our involvement in this tragic war.
In 1972, the country was at war
With its armies... With its ideals...
With itself.
The dreams of the '60s were battling a new decade.
Things were happening everywhere.
Almost everywhere.
Open your books to chapter 6, section 13.
"The rise of post-agricultural Europe."
11th grade.
The no-man's-land of public education.
Now... Who can tell me another name for this era?
How about... The industrial revolution?
Oh! Oh!
The industrial revolution?
Excellent.
It was grim.
In the war between the board of education
And the class of '74...
Things had pretty much reached a standoff...
- Mr. Arnold! - ...For most of us.
How about you?
Me?
Not that I'd been neglecting my studies.
I'd been studying a lot.
Do you have anything to contribute?
Uh... Yeah.
Sure. How much did you have in mind?
[ laughter ]
I'd been studying to be a wise guy.
I'll be expecting a 10-page report from you on Monday.
Not very successfully.
Right.
[ Bell rings ]
Okay, so my act needed work.
Like most of my generation,
I was dealing with bigger concepts than schoolwork,
Concepts like... Interconference war.
What's this about?
Are you kidding?
It's the homecoming game against the owls this weekend.
It's only the biggest event of the whole year.
Oh.
Paul Pfeiffer...
Class president, civic booster.
Up a little bit on the left.
Naturally, I was proud of him.
Come on, Paul. Loosen up.
I mean, it's just a game. What's the big deal?
"What's the big deal?"
I'll tell you what the big deal is.
It's those stupid owls. They stole our knight.
Which was true.
It happened in broad daylight.
A daring 3:00 raid.
Hey! Hey, let... let go!
It was the biggest scandal to hit school
Since Charlie Mandelseck got caught
Sniffing magic markers in the art-supply closet.
So, they stole our knight. So what?
Can't we just get another one?
Very funny.
Hey, what's this all about?
- Homecoming game. - Oh.
I'm assuming you'll be there?
I don't know. I might have to spend the weekend with my Dad.
- That was Jeff billings, new guy in school. -Looks good.
Believe it or not, he was the first kid I ever knew
Whose parents were divorced.
Maybe you could bring your Dad to the game.
No, you know, then my mom would get all upset and I'll have to
Spend the rest of the week eating cold meat loaf.
Well, that sounds pretty dumb.
Oh, great, yeah. That's easy for you to say.
I mean, your parents are still having sex together.
They are not!
Yeah, you had to like this kid.
He was kind of like me... a wise guy.
Kevin!
And then there was Winnie.
I missed you today.
I thought about you in chemistry.
Yeah, I thought about you in biology.
Winnie Cooper...
The hair, the smile, the whole ball of wax.
We did everything together.
So, can I give you a lift?
Well, almost everything.
Oh.
Yeah... About the car.
[ gong sounds, Chinese music plays ]
Look, I told you. I didn't have a choice.
Mr. Chong made me put it on if I wanted the delivery job.
Uh... Pick me up at the side entrance, okay?
Thanks!
It was my first taste
Of what they call the working man's blues.
Not that I was complaining, you understand.
[ sighs ]
Hi, honey.
I had my father to do that.
How was work? Everything okay?
Lousy.
Well, that's nice.
Hey, suckers!
- What's for dinner? - Well...
Never mind. I'll just make something myself.
My brother, Wayne.
He'd gone to work in the mail room at Dad's company, Norcom.
$89.50 a week, take-home.
Don't forget to unwrap that before you eat it.
Vanish, scrote. [ Laughs ]
Not only that, he'd moved into new digs
In the basement.
His own personal, customized rat's nest.
[ rock music plays ]
He was happy as a clam in mud.
[ TV turns on ]
[ Sighs ]
Well, I guess it's only three for dinner.
No, actually, I got to go.
Go where?
Out.
Out? -You know, out. I got things to do.
What kind of things?
Things, Dad.
Well, then... Drive carefully.
Right, Dad.
Don't get into trouble.
Right, Dad.
And be home by 11:00.
There it was.
The boundless trust of parents who loved me.
Thanks.
It was touching. Really.
[ crickets chirping ]
Mountain view drive. Also known as "the point."
Hey!
The final battlefield in the war between the sexes.
Not that I had those kind of problems.
I had Winnie.
Wait.
I love this song.
[ The association's "cherish" plays ]
Wait. Can we roll down the window a little?
Wait.
"Wait." it was kind of her motto.
I have to get something from my purse.
You had to hand it to Winnie.
When it came to safe sex, she was ahead of her time.
She came armed with every device known to modern woman,
Including...
Gum?
Of course, in retrospect, I really admire her restraint.
In retrospect.
Look, Winnie, are we really gonna keep doing this?
Doing what?
Well... You know... starting, stopping.
Mostly stopping.
Don't you think it's time we went a little further?
What exactly do you mean... "further"?
Well, you know...
I...We...
Kevin...
And that was the great thing about the girl.
Did you know your car smells like pork lo mein?
Her sense of smell.
Yeah. I knew that.
[ Chuckles ]
And there you had it.
I was living in a world where "go" meant "stop,"
Where "yes" meant "no,"
While out there, in the real world...
[ steam whistle blows ]
Things were happening... things that mattered.
Hey, Wayne!
Things that made men out of boys.
[ laughs ] what's up?
Hey, man!
How you doing?
David... Look at you.
Wart. [ Chuckles ] good to see you.
Thanks. It's good to be back.
Look at all those medals. Were you wounded?
Ah, it was nothing, really.
Yeah, mom. He's fine.
Yeah!
It was awesome.
Wayne's pal, Dave Wirtschafter,
Had left for Vietnam a goofy kid
And come home from his tour a hero.
So... Was it bad?
[ Chuckling ] well, you know...
Hey, man! You haven't changed a bit!
Yeah. Well, uh...
I got my driver's license. On the first try.
That's great!
Yeah.
Well, we're all very proud of you, son.
Very proud.
Yeah. And, hey, I got a new room in the basement.
It's really cool. You want to see it?
- Yeah, sure! - All right!
But this much was clear.
While the rest of us
Were playing with tinker toys and riding bikes,
This guy had been there, earning his stripes...
Taking risks.
That's pathetic. Look at that.
What happened?
They gave him back.
Well, that's good, right?
- No. They kept his armor, man. - Oh.
Oh, fine. Be that way.
I'm just saying, someone ought to do something about it.
Yeah, you know, I mean, he's right.
We could write a letter or something like that.
- We should file a complaint. - Yeah, knight-napping.
Or we can steal their owl.
Hmm.
Ah, no. Forget it, man.
I mean, we don't even know where they keep it.
Hey, I know where they keep it.
I got a friend who goes to central.
Bingo.
And so, that night,
Thanks to fate and Ricky Halsenbach...
Guys? Is that you?
I saw my chance to go to war.
Put this in the back.
Holy cow!
Sure, maybe it was crazy.
Forget it. I'll do it myself.
But in some way, it was absolutely necessary.
What's going on out there? [ owl hoots ]
- What's going on out there?! Put that cage down! - Let's get out of here, man!
You hear me?!
Come on! Let's go!
Kev! Let's get out of here! Put that cage down!
It was heady. It was wild.
- It was... - Stop!
Stop!
It was... A total fiasco.
[ bell dings ] Al, more fries!
The next day,
While the rest of the world was chowing down on French fries,
I was eating crow.
I don't believe it. How could I blow it like that?
I mean, we were there. We had it. And then...
I mean, I blew it. Right?
Fact... the great owl heist had been a bust.
Hey, aren't you gonna say anything?
You got some ketchup on your shirt.
Hey!
Hear you blew it last night, huh, big guy?
- Uh-oh. - What?
Oh, it's all over town.
Some bozos tried to raid central high.
What makes you think it was me?
Oh... Intuition.
Plus the guard said he saw a car
With some stupid dragon painted on the side.
[ Chuckles ] nice going, 007. Thanks.
[ Cash register dings ]
Perfect.
I was on my way to becoming the town laughingstock...
As opposed to, say, the local hero.
So, what was it like? Was it scary?
Well, you know, it wasn't really much.
Are you kidding?! This guy was everywhere!
Tell 'em, wart.
Well, I spent a little time in Pleiku and Quang Tri
And down in the delta.
Hey, but I did my R&R in Hong Kong.
Man, that was something! Yeah, that was something!
Listen to this, guys.
There was this place... Look at that.
The way my brother was grandstanding,
You'd think he'd been driving a tank
Instead of pushing a mail cart.
So, did you kill anybody?
What?
Uh, no. No, nothing like that.
Yeah? What are you talking about?
Nothing like that. [ Chuckles ]
Okay, everybody. Show's over.
Bye-bye now. Have fun.
Don't forget your homework. Don't stay up too late.
Tell your sister I say hi. [ chuckles ]
Hey, you know, I was thinking,
Maybe I ought to change out of my clothes.
Get into my civvies, right?
Yeah, all right.
And I'll pick you up tonight. We'll go to the game.
There's a game?
Yeah, it'll be fun. We'll goof on it.
- All right, sure. - Let me try this on.
And of course it was only fair.
After all, in life, some guys get the glory...
Hey, Kev. Heard you guys blew it big-time last night.
While some guys end up with nothing
But a kick in the pants.
[ whistle blows ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
Homecoming night. The big game.
Everyone who was anyone was there.
Hey, guys! You're late!
Yeah, well, we had to park kind of far away.
Where?
The baseball field.
Well, at least you're here. And it's gonna be a great game.
Except for halftime,
When they fly that stupid owl around the stadium.
Paul.
Oh. Right. Sorry.
[ Chuckles ]
Yeah, this was some fun. Boola Boola.
Kevin, aren't you gonna sit?
Uh... No, thanks. I'm gonna get us some sodas.
Figured I had all night to be laughed out of town.
Might as well fortify myself with a cold one.
Wart!
Hey. How you doing?
Good. Good.
Boy, sure is crowded, isn't it?
Yeah.
Lot of people.
- Hey, wart. - Hey.
The funny thing is, out of uniform,
He looked like... The old goofy wart.
- Gangway, scrote! - Watch it, butthead!
Hey. Hey, that's "Mr. Butthead" to you, okay?
[ Both chuckle ]
Murderer!
What was that?
Uh... Nothing.
Hey, forget it. It didn't mean anything, okay?
- Yeah. They probably just... - Yeah, sure.
Hey, listen. I'm gonna take a walk, okay?
- Okay, well, I'll go with you. - Nah, that's okay.
Um, I'm gonna check out the old school.
I'll be back. Really. Save my seat.
Yeah, okay, well, I'll see you there.
What the heck.
You had to figure
Where he'd been, the guy could take care of himself.
Besides, no sense letting a few rotten apples
Spoil the whole night.
Hey, Arnold, catch any owls lately?
[ laughs, hoots ]
Two colas and hold the wisecracks.
Of course, looking back, I was being childish,
Thin-skinned, oversensitive...16.
Oh! Excuse me!
All I knew was, I was fed up...
With football, with stupid mascots.
[ owl hooting ]
And that's when I heard it.
[ hooting continues ]
It was almost too good to be true,
As if I'd planned it... Even though I hadn't.
We stood there... eye to eye. It was like he knew me.
Here, boy. You're coming with me.
I had only one thought.
I wasn't gonna blow it this time.
[ whistle blows, cheers ]
Yes, yes, yes!
I made it out to the baseball field
In about two minutes flat.
I did it.
The thing is, I had no plan, no idea of what to do next.
It didn't matter.
- All I knew was... - I did it.
I'd seen my chance. I'd taken the risk.
I'd earned my stripes.
Wart?
Wart, is that you?
Wart!
Hey.
This is perfect!
I got it.
I got their mascot. I got the owl.
And I guess that's when I saw it clearly.
He was sitting on that bench...
On the third-base line...
And his clothes were in a little pile on the ground.
Oh, god.
Wart?
Wart, what you doing, man?
Nothing.
Hey, man. Looks like you lost your clothes.
I know.
[ Scoffs ]
Nothing seems to fit anymore.
Here you go.
Wear mine.
[ Sniffles ]
[ Sobbing ]
It's okay. It's okay.
They say men are children.
But sometimes... Children are men.
Maybe that's where the confusion lies.
All I knew was,
That night, the world seemed suddenly very big...
And I felt very small.
So I did what I could.
[ crowd cheering ]
- We want! - We want!
- We want a touchdown! - We want a touchdown!
- We want, we want! - We want, we want!
- We want a touchdown! - We want a touchdown!
- We want, we want! - We want, we want!
- We want a touchdown! - We want a touchdown!
1972 was a crazy time.
Three!
Kids played football, drove cars, went to school,
Celebrated life...
[ cheers and applause ]
While soldiers... heroes, their brothers...
Struggled to find their way home from war.
And young boys watched...
And grew wiser...
In their dreams.