55, 42, 24, hut.
[players grunting]
[whistle blows]
Good luck, guys.
Yeah, guys.
Let's go.
Let's get in here.
55, 42, 24.
Ready?
WHITE TEAM: Break!
PETROVICZ: Hey, Ray.
What?
There's no such play.
Why the hell there isn't.
I fade back, you cut across the center and double out.
No, that's 54, 45, 12, man.
Want to run this team so much, try catching a few balls.
You try throwing 'em, man.
[whistle blows]
Let's just go.
COACH: Watch your pass your side, Bob.
Watch your pass. Be ready now.
Come on.
55, [SLOW MOTION VOICE] 42, 24.
[music playing]
[whistle blows]
That looked good.
TEAM MEMBER: Hurry up, guys.
Ray.
Nice play, nice play, nice play.
Good job.
Knock it off, Ray.
Quit it, man.
[WHISPERS] Ray.
Get an ambulance, quick.
Now!
[music playing]
[MUSIC - HOLLY ROBINSON, "21 JUMP STREET THEME"]
We never thought we'd find a place where we belong.
Don't have to stand alone, we'll never let you fall.
Don't need permission to decide what you believe.
Ooh.
I said jump down on Jump Street.
Your friends will be there when your back is to the wall.
You'll find you need us when there's no one else to call.
When it was hopeless a decisions what you need.
You better be ready to, be ready to jump.
21 Jump Street.
What are all these pills, Captain?
Vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin E, B complex, antihistamines,
decongestants, aspirins.
I refuse to be sick.
Kind of sounds like you already are.
Not for long.
No cold can keep this man down.
Why don't you just go home and take
a nice, long rest, Captain?
Because I am saving my sick days to add on to my vacation
next month.
Wait a minute.
You're saving your sick days for when you're healthy,
not for when you're sick?
Exactly.
Can we get back to the case?
Yeah.
Whatever you say.
Let's see.
This quarterback's autopsy shows kidney damage, liver damage,
and a heart attack.
Sounds like steroid abuse.
Only one problem--
not a trace of steroids in this autopsy.
Hmm, well, steroids stay in the system a long time,
don't they?
Usually.
Well, maybe we're looking for a new kind of steroids.
Some kind of speed maybe.
Yeah, well, that's what you're going to find out
when you report for practice.
Wa-ho.
Hold your horses there, Captain.
Why would they take on a new team member at mid-season, huh?
Because you were a state all-star last year.
Tony Antonovich, star running back Lamar
Hunt High School, Canton, Ohio.
Captain, let me tell you something.
I'm not that hot with the football.
Yeah, well, I'm sure you can fake it.
[football play calling]
[whistle blows]
Ouch.
Hey, you know you got a cavity, Selvecki?
[whistle blows]
COACH: OK, let's hit those nice, hot showers.
What's the matter, Antonovich?
Don't it get wet in Ohio?
You ever thought about draining this swamp, Coach?
Every year.
River runs right under the field.
Does a good job of overflowing this time of year.
It won't kill you.
Yeah, well, maybe you should issue
some wetsuits or something.
Shower's that way, Mr. All-star.
I know.
I'm just taking a little breather.
I don't like people to see me when I suffer.
I guess if you get creamed as much as you do,
guy can lose his edge.
Edge?
Yeah, you might say that.
Maybe after I get to know you better
I can help you get it back.
Get what back?
The edge.
[applause]
[camera shutter clicks]
To present the award to Tommy it's
an honor to introduce Ralph Winter,
the head of our county's Toxic Task Force.
Mr. Winter?
[applause]
Americans generate 1.5 million tons
of hazardous waste every day.
Well, that's a frightening statistic.
What Tommy Boylan has done is taken that figure
and turned it to something that we can see.
What did Boylan do?
RALPH WINTER: Of all the toxins--
He got everybody to bring their hazardous trash
to him instead of tossing it in the garbage
and breaking the law.
What do you mean, breaking the law?
Well, it's against the law to put
hazardous waste in the garbage.
RALPH WINTER: --being dumped.
Oh, I guess that makes me a major criminal.
We all are.
But that's the kid's point.
Because he has convinced city council that we should have
hazardous waste pick up along with pickup
of our regular garbage.
[applause]
He's a chip off the old block.
Chip off the old block?
Excuse me? - Protests.
For me, it was Vietnam.
For him, it's the environment.
RALPH WINTER: What he has done--
He's almost as good as I was.
Tommy Boylan, Senior.
RALPH WINTER: --service to us all.
Nice to meet you.
How you doing?
And for this service to his community we, at the county
Toxic Task Force, award Tommy Boylan
this special commendation.
[applause]
Thank you.
We live in a time of choices.
We can choose to take care of our poisons
or we can choose to die.
It's that simple.
It's a pain to recycle, to sort trash, but it won't kill you.
And if we go on living like somebody was going
to come in and clean up after us,
we'll kill our home, the Earth.
[applause]
AUDIENCE MEMBER: All right. That's the way to do your job.
Good work.
Well, I have to admit this dump beats
a sit in at the White House.
Dad, I thought you couldn't make it.
What, you think I'm going to miss seeing my young radical
getting his first award?
Not a chance.
I changed my schedule.
I see you met All-State Antonovich.
Yeah, I was just telling your dad here how
I feel about what you're doing.
How do you feel?
I think it's excellent, man.
That's what everybody says until it
puts them out a little.
You recycle?
No, not yet.
But I plan to.
When was the last time you took a bus to the drive-in?
Hey, woah, woah.
Lighten up.
The guy's paying you a compliment.
Someone says he likes what you're doing,
you don't attack him. You recruit him.
[laughs]
I'm trying to teach the kid everything
I know about the activist biz.
My dad was a major '60s radical.
Now he's a middle-aged yuppie.
I think I resent that description.
Hey, aren't you the one who keeps telling
me to always tell the truth?
I'll see you later. - Yeah.
Nice meeting you. - It's nice to meet you, sir.
Hey, I'm proud of you, buddy.
You're almost as good at this activist business as I was.
Almost?
Yeah, almost.
[music playing]
Hey, Mrs. Jordan, what are these guys doing?
What does it look like they're doing?
It looks like going to mix my toxins
with the regular garbage.
Tommy, you know I'd never allow that.
They're just putting your toxins out to be
picked up by the garbage men.
But I'm already taking care of that.
A landfill upstate's gonna come and get it next week.
Well, the people who haul our garbage will take it today.
They have to take it to a landfill that has
a permit for hazardous waste.
Tommy, they're a responsible garbage hauler.
I'm sure they'll take it to the right place.
Well, I don't trust them.
You don't have a choice.
And contrary to what you might think,
you're not in charge of the school.
You mean what you said about what I'm doing?
Yeah.
Good.
Where's your car?
Uh, it's over there.
[music playing]
Go.
Follow the truck.
MAC: Why?
Because I want to see where he dumps the stuff.
I bet you anything it's not a legal toxic dump site.
OK.
[car ignition fires]
[music playing]
What's he doing?
This isn't even a landfill for nontoxics.
I don't know, man.
[music playing]
Pull over and park.
Why?
Trust me.
[music playing]
[pick-up truck bed engages]
[music playing]
[MUSIC - "AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL"]
Oh, no.
[music playing]
MAC: What's in it?
Well, that's why I rushed over.
Hope nobody ingested that stuff.
MAC: Is it toxic?
I'll say.
Mostly it's vinyl chloride, acetone, traces
of ferrous oxide and benzene.
Which means in English?
It means it's a nasty little cocktail.
Looks like the kind of stuff used to manufacture
some kind of high tech plastic.
So there's no way you should put this in the garbage?
No.
This is the stuff you pay a nice man $1,000 a barrel
to put in a plastic lined landfill.
Uh, excuse me guys.
Why are we talking about garbage?
Mac, I sent you into that school to check out steroid abuse
on the football team.
Well, that's what I've been doing, Captain.
But I don't think these kids are using steroids at this school.
So how do we explain the symptoms
and the dead quarterback?
Well, now what if this stuff was dumped
into a stream that flowed underground,
like underneath a school football field?
Well, with this runoff and the weather the way it is,
it would bubble right up on to the field.
So could someone die?
I mean, have a heart attack from playing on a field like this?
BENSON: Well, if there was some kind of predisposition
like, irregular heartbeat, yeah, could give him a heart attack.
Now, wait a minute.
Now how does this stuff get into a person's body?
Well, it soaks into your blood right through the skin.
With prolonged exposure, you're going to see liver damage.
Liver damage?
Kidney damage or broken bones, severe rashes.
A whole mess of central nervous system screw ups.
Same symptoms as steroids.
Wait a minute, did-- did you say rashes?
Yeah.
So, Mac, maybe it was these chemicals that killed
the kid and not steroids.
[music playing]
McCann?
Hey, look if you have an exposure,
there's not a hell of a lot you can do about it now.
[music playing]
Ah!
[music playing]
[mccann sneezes]
You all right?
I've been better.
Look, I'm calling the EPA in on this.
I want you to give them everything you've got.
Then, I want you to take a long weekend.
Then what?
Then, we start you on a new case?
No, sir.
I'm staying on this case.
It's time to move on, Mac.
And there are no steroids.
But there's another kind of poison, Captain.
Toxic waste is out of our jurisdiction.
It's also out of our area of expertise.
Now why don't we leave it to the guys who handle
this stuff every day, huh?
Meaning no disrespect, Captain,
but this stuff killed one kid.
It's making a lot of other sick and it might be making me sick.
I'm staying on this case.
I'm not backing down.
Mac, you don't know anything about this stuff.
No, but Tommy Boylan does and who do
you think he's going to trust, Captain?
Me or some middle aged federal bureaucrat in a suit?
Keep me informed.
Thank you.
[police siren in distance]
It might not be safe to practice here.
This stuff could be what's making everybody so sick.
Seems to me you're always screaming
that the sky is falling.
But I've yet to see it fall, Boylan.
Look.
Everybody's got a rash.
Everybody's got the flu.
You gonna suit up or you gonna keep making excuses?
Well, I'm not playing.
You're playing all right.
Well, I'm not playing.
All we got to do is find another place to practice.
MAC: Coach?
This is Dr. Benson.
He's a friend of my dad's here.
He's a chemist.
After what Tommy thought, I called the doctor
here to see if he could come and test the field if that's OK.
When this turns up negative, I want you
in uniform with a piece of tape over your mouth.
[machine beeps]
OK, everybody off of this field.
Everybody!
You a lot of stomach flu in this team?
Broken bones? Rashes?
OK, every single one of you get to your doctor
as soon as possible and get tested for benzene poisoning.
Hit the showers, now!
I'm going to go talk to the principal.
Yeah, I'll be there in a minute.
Let's get off the field, here.
Friend of your dad's.
How convenient.
Who is that guy really?
He works for the police department, Tommy.
And so do I. I'm a police officer.
A cop?
Yeah.
I was sent in to find out what killed Ray.
Originally we thought it might be steroid abuse.
Wait a minute.
So you were tagging along with me because you thought
I was involved with drugs.
Well, I did see you passing along
that film canister to Dan.
And yes, I did think it had drugs in it.
It had film in it.
Pictures of my talks to dump at school.
I figured that out.
But you also figured I'm not a criminal.
Hey look, Tommy, man.
I was wrong about you, OK?
I apologize.
Guess you know what killed Ray now.
I have a good idea thanks to you, yeah.
You gonna arrest them for dumping?
Eventually, yeah.
But first I want them to lead me to the manufacturer
that's dumping this stuff because he's guilty too.
Let's get out of here.
[sighs]
MAC: Come on, Captain.
This has been two hours we've been at this.
We're going to find out who you're dealing with before you
go out there, McCann.
Just give it a minute.
Captain, I've got a headache, I got a rash,
and my insides are killing me because of this stuff
they're dumping.
Doesn't matter much who they are, I'm going to nail them.
CAPTAIN: You can't nail them if you don't know who they are.
[groans]
Fine.
What is that stuff?
It's chicken soup from the deli down the street.
It's the best thing for a cold.
Bullseye.
What?
What does Purotek Carding, Bob's Trucking Company,
and East End Waste Management have in common?
The letter "T?"
They've all got Vincent Bauer as their principal investor.
MAC: And who is Vincent Bauer?
Did you ever see "The Godfather?"
Yeah.
Well, the Bauer's are meaner.
[truck accelerating]
MAC: Are you sure you can ID the driver?
Saw him clear as day.
That's him.
Are you sure?
Yeah, go.
[music playing]
Well, it looks like we got our man.
All we need now is a warrant.
No.
What are you doing?
This isn't the place.
What do you mean this isn't the place?
It's audio tape, it's high tech plastic.
It's not the place, all right?
We'll keep following the truck, see where else it goes.
Yeah we will keep following the truck
but we have to investigate this place too
because it fits the profile.
This is not the guy.
How do you know?
Because the guy who runs this place
would never dump toxic waste.
No way.
You talk like you know the guy.
He's my dad.
TOMMY BOYLAN, JR: You know where your toxic waste
is getting dumped?
Toxic landfill.
Try a vacant field a half mile from school.
Oh, come on.
We saw it happen Mr. Boylan.
How is this your business?
I'm a police officer.
Well, this gets better and better.
Did you know about this dumping?
What?
I'm living with an environmental pit bull
and I'm going to fool around with hazardous waste?
[laughs]
Get serious.
What are you doing?
I'm going to prove it to the watchdog of America's garbage.
Wait a minute.
There it is. $700 per barrel daily.
Well, that's a pretty good deal Mr. Boylan.
Well, that was four years ago.
Can we copy this file to show to Ralph
Winter at Toxic Task Force?
Of course.
Great.
Well, make yourself at home.
Mr. Boylan, our computers tell us that Purotek Carding
is owned by Vincent Bauer.
I'm thinking that maybe when they came by and told you
that they were going to haul your waste away,
you had no other choice but to say yes.
I hired someone else.
They burned his trucks.
They ruined his business because I was being honest.
Well, if they'd ruined your business,
they'd be out of money.
And people, like the Bauer's, they don't lose money.
Trying to bring the mob down now?
Look, what they're doing here is extortion.
It's racketeering.
The least you could do is bring a case against these guys
who are driving the trucks.
You're awfully brave with my blood.
These are high school kids here, Mr. Boylan.
They're coming down with liver and heart damage
because of the stuff they're dumping.
I might be sick myself.
I'm sorry about that.
But I don't want to die.
Great.
What about Tommy?
What is Tommy going to say when he finds out
his dad is in bed with these wonderful people called
the Bauers?
He's a kid.
He sees everything black and white.
He'd never understand.
Hey, I'm a cop and we don't understand either.
You're being extorted here.
The next thing you know they'll be after your company.
Well, better my company than my arms or my legs or my son.
He's all I've got.
Think about it, Mr. Boylan.
You could do some good here.
Here you go, Dad.
Just about it.
See you later.
[music playing]
[groans]
I thought you said you could do this, Doc.
BENSON: I can.
I'm a skilled phlebotomist.
Phlebotom-- ah!
Well, it doesn't feel like this when I go to the doctor.
That's because they're good when they do it.
I haven't done this for five years.
Great.
[groans]
[whistles]
Would you hurry up, Doc?
Hang on.
Still got another whole vial to fill.
So we can test for the other trace chemicals.
Yeah, well, at this rate you're going to kill
me before the chemicals do.
Hey.
You brought this on yourself.
I told you this was unnecessary.
You told the whole football team to get tested.
Why shouldn't I?
Because you were only exposed for one hour.
I doubt if that's going to cause you any harm.
Well, why do I feel like such hell then?
I mean, I have half the symptoms you described.
We'll find out.
[groans]
Should get the results in a couple of days.
[exhales forcefully]
Mr. Anthony Rankin?
[police radio chatter]
What do you want?
Is this the man you saw dumping
chemicals the other day?
TOMMY BOYLAN, JR: Yeah.
You're under arrest, Mr. Rankin, for illegal dumping
of hazardous waste. - What is this?
A kiddie squad?
This stuff is from my father's plant.
You lied to him.
You that washed up hippies kid?
Don't you talk about my father.
Huh?
You think your old man didn't know what
I was doing with his stuff? - I'm sure he did know.
He told me.
Come on leave it alone, guys.
Oh kids.
Don't you just love the trust?
My dad wouldn't lie. Not to me.
My right.
Tommy, Tommy.
And I bet you still believe in Santa Claus.
Tommy!
Leave it alone, Tommy.
Leave it alone.
This really sucks.
My dad has one rule with me, just one--
always tell the truth.
I figure it applied to him too.
How do you know he lied, man?
Maybe he didn't know what.
Oh he knew.
My dad's not stupid.
He lied to me.
Maybe it's more complicated than that, Tommy.
You gonna ask my dad.
It's not that simple.
What do you mean?
You're a cop, he broke the law.
Yeah, he broke the law.
But maybe he didn't have a choice.
Ah, what's the choice?
Between good and bad?
Let me tell you something, man.
You've got to grow up, Tommy.
You know that?
You hardly ever get that choice.
Half the time you get a choice between not so
good and not so bad.
The other half is between bad and really awful.
Either you put poison in this earth or you don't.
- Tommy, listen-- - No!
No excuses, man.
Not even from my dad.
[police radio chatter]
Dang it.
Tommy.
They just arrested Anthony Rankin trying
to dump your hazardous waste.
He says you knew.
It's not that cut and dry.
There are-- for other considerations.
Like what?
Money?
You're dumping poison in the well
and you're worried about money?
My hands are tied.
Whatever happened to telling each other the truth?
You lied to me.
I didn't want to.
Oh, good answer, dad.
[door slams]
Hey, hey, where'd you spend the night?
Dan's couch.
Listen man, I got some bad news about Rankin.
I don't believe it.
There's a problem.
Hey.
Hello, boys.
What are you doing here?
Aren't you supposed to be in reading class or something?
Aren't you supposed to be in jail?
Kid, you got friends.
I got bigger friends.
What do you mean, friends?
You broke the law.
Move it, kid.
I got work to do.
Hey, Tommy, Tommy.
Come on.
I don't believe this.
Believe it, Tommy.
[music playing]
Sorry, Rankin, contracts expired.
That's what you think.
[music playing]
TOMMY BOYLAN, SR: No!
MAC: Hey, how is he, man?
I don't know.
They're still working on him.
He's-- they said internal bleeding.
Does that kill you?
Sometimes, yeah.
Last words I said to him were angry words.
I don't want him to go away like that.
Before I tell him how I really feel about him.
I don't want him to go away.
[machine beeping]
Why did this happen?
Remember what your dad said about his hands being tied?
Well, sometimes when you hire trucks in this town,
you gotta deal with people who don't give you choices
about the way things work.
You mean like the mob?
Yeah, you might call them that.
So that was my dad's choice.
Getting beat up for getting his chemicals dumped.
Or having you hurt.
Or killed.
You know what I think happened?
Your dad finally stood up to them because of what you said.
Because of me?
Yeah, because of you.
When am I gonna learn to keep my mouth shut?
TOMMY BOYLAN, SR: Good question.
Pop?
Some people do anything for attention.
I'm sorry you guys.
Mr. Boylan, I have to ask you a couple of questions,
if that's OK.
Did you see the man who attacked you?
Could you identify him?
I didn't get beat up.
Sir--
I fell.
Mr. Boylan, Tommy already knows.
I fell.
TOMMY BOYLAN, JR: Dad, don't.
TOMMY BOYLAN, SR: I fell.
You didn't fall!
[music playing]
I fell.
[music playing]
[boylan sr. groans]
[blowing nose]
Uh, you want me to come back, Captain?
No, no, no.
Come right in.
I pulled up Rankin on the computer.
Yeah?
CAPTAIN: He's a three time loser.
Now, I figure if we can get Boylan to bring charges
against him for assault and extortion,
we can put Rankin in a corner.
Maybe get him to roll over on his boss Bauer.
That sounds like a good plan, Captain.
Except for one little thing.
Boylan says he fell.
Is that possible?
No way.
He got hit repeatedly.
And the men at the factory, what did they say?
Nobody saw anything.
They're all scared.
Yeah.
Everybody's scared except for Tommy Boylan.
And he's the only one that should be.
Can he get to his father?
He's probably the only one who can.
But I hate to do it, Captain.
I mean if Boylan then brings charges, that kid's
prospects aren't so good.
Have we got a choice?
I don't know.
[bell rings]
Uh, Mrs. Jordan, have you seen Tommy Boylan?
No, never showed up today.
Try the hospital.
I already did.
He's not there.
You know what?
Come to think of it I haven't seen
any of his crazy, little environmentalist friends
either.
[music playing]
ANTHONY RANKIN: All right, you little creep, get up.
You want to go and dump your garbage?
You're going to have to run me over.
Is that so?
No problem.
TOMMY BOYLAN, JR: You got a lot of witnesses here.
ANTHONY RANKIN: So what?
Manny, get in the cab.
Come on!
You beat up my dad but you're too
tough to run me over yourself?
[music playing]
[truck starts up]
He won't do it, just close your eyes.
MAC: Let's go, cut the engine.
Cut it!
Let's go.
Everybody, up, up, up, up, up, up.
You're under arrest.
Get up. - What are you doing?
You're under arrest-- trespassing
and malicious mischief. Let's go.
Don't worry, kid. Your daddy will bail you out.
What are you doing?
Whose side you on?
I'm on the side of the not so bad, Tommy.
And you got some work to do, all right?
Now, let's go.
He's a killer.
I can't believe you were that stupid.
How about you?
"I fell."
Who'd you expect to believe that?
Look, you two have an opportunity
to do some good here, OK?
Now, Rankin, he works for Vincent Bauer who's
responsible for all the illegal dumping
in this part of the state, not to mention
a lot of other nasty things.
Now, Rankin's been in prison three times.
That makes him very vulnerable, if you
two decide to bring charges.
Oh, yeah, that'd be really stupid.
Stop trying to protect yourself.
I'm trying to protect you.
You think they're going to come after me?
I'm not afraid.
Oh, yeah?
What happens if they get your mother?
How brave you going to be then, huh?
Well, there is an alternative.
Oh, yeah.
A wonderful life for the witness protection program.
What's wrong with that?
Well, what's wrong with that is that it
means a life of anonymity.
It means saying goodbye to your mother,
saying goodbye to your friends, and saying
goodbye to being an activist.
It also means your father kisses his career goodbye.
It also means always worrying whether they're
going to catch up to you, always having
to check in your view mirror.
But in exchange for that, you might just put away the most
corrupt man in the state.
Might.
Yeah, might.
Why can't we just nail these guys and stay in the open?
Doesn't it sometimes work just to take your chances?
You've got a choice between bad and awful here, Tom.
This is my choice?
You've got the most to lose.
Can't ever run for office with a contract out on you.
You always told me you can't make your mark in this world
by being silent and doing nothing.
If we bring charges, we may stop this guy or we may not, right?
Right.
Our lives will sure be different.
At least we'll have this one good thing between us.
At least we can say we did something.
[music playing]
Then, let's do it.
Yeah, let's.
[music playing]
Well, they picked up Bauer and several of his friends
this morning. - Good.
I hope they throw the book at him.
Yeah, DA says he's got a pretty good
case thanks to the Boylan's.
Whew, Captain, no offense, man,
but could you keep your distance, man?
You really stink.
Oh, yeah, yeah, it's the garlic and onions.
Yeah, that would be what it is, uh-huh.
Why on Earth are you wearing that thing?
Oh, this is a old country cold remedy.
See, if you're wearing garlic and onion around your neck
so that you're inhaling their fumes for 24 hours,
clears your sinuses right up.
Yeah, not to mention the room.
Actually that might work.
Clinically speaking of course.
Benson, do you have my results or what?
BENSON: Yes.
Everything came up negative.
You don't have an abnormal level for any toxins.
Thank goodness.
I don't understand it though.
Are you sure that thing is accurate?
Why do I feel so-- so bad?
[groans]
I don't know but I have a good guess.
[music playing]