Gas Bar Blues
Genre: Drama
Director: Ron Howard
Writer: Mo Buck
Based on the 2003 French-Canadien film Gaz Bar Blues
Cast: Tom Hanks, Jesse Plemons, Harry Melling, Finn Wolfhard, Kerry Condon, Nick Offerman, Matt Walsh, John Magaro, Eric Roberts, Tony Hale, Keith Carradine
Plot: 1989
Police cars are pulling up at the gas station. Policemen get out of the cars and draw their guns, asking the suspect to get out with his hands up. Inside the gas station, the owner Frank (Tom Hanks) is telling Bob (Eric Roberts), a long-time client to calm down, as he’s holding Frank’s son Alan (Finn Wolfhard) at gunpoint. Outside, more officers pull up and tell clients to clear the way. Back inside, Frank changes places with his son and Bob now holds Frank at gunpoint. Bob tells the officers that they’re coming out now and they better not do anything or else he’ll shoot him. Frank has Bob’s arm around his neck and has trouble walking. They exit the gas station and the camera zooms on Frank’s face and freezes. Frank now speaks off-camera. “It hurts to have a gun on the temple, but once I get a bullet to the head, all the trembling will be over. My name is Frank, but everyone calls me the Boss. I’m a slave to my business. Since my wife died, I’ve been trying to keep my family together around my gas bar. My kids aren’t happy here, perhaps I should’ve realized it sooner. Our lives have been a mess for a while. This could be the end of me, but a new beginning for them. Perhaps they’d be happier.” Then, a gunshot is heard and it cuts to the opening credits.
Frank and his son John (Jesse Plemons) are in the basement doing the monthly accounting for the gas bar and they’re short of about one hundred and fifty dollars for the previous month. John curses and says it’s probably his brother who messed up. Alan is in his room, trying to sleep. He looks at the clock and notices it’s around one in the morning. Frank tells John not to worry about it, he’s going to pay it out of his pocket, but John reminds him that they can’t do this every month. Frank pats his son on the shoulder and says he did it for the last year, that’s just how it is. Alan closes his eyes, as if he was asleep.
In the middle of the night, Norm (Harry Melling), wakes up his brother Alan to play him a recording of his band from tonight’s show. Alan wishes to go back to sleep, but Norm insists they listen to it and plays his tape, a rendition of “The Slam” by Andy Just. Alan begs him to turn it off so he can go back to sleep. Norm should sleep too; he’s working tomorrow morning.
Norm is in the gas bar behind the counter, playing harmonica. An everyday customer, Mr. Norm Smith (Nick Offerman), tells him to stop playing, Norm’s sister is waiting at the pump. Norm heads out to find his sister Nathalie (Kerry Condon). Mr. Smith heads out with him and teases Nathalie about her “kid-sized car” and she says it’s still better than Norm’s rusty pile of crap and Smith laughs. Norm asks her what she’s up to so early in the morning, but she’s evasive. He asks her why she never comes to visit them, and she says every time she comes over he isn’t there. She asks Mr. Smith if he can her oil change and he says he’s never touching a European car again, unless it’s worth it. She tells him she has his pay, taking out bottle of gin out of her car. She stops her car and Mr. Smith asks her to go get him pints of oil in the backstore. Back there, she sees Joe (Matt Walsh), another regular client, peeing in the sink.
Later that day, as Alan is working at the gas station with his father Frank, Norm tells his father that he’s leaving for a show tonight. He tells him not to come back too late, he’s working again tomorrow. Frank looks at Alan outside, helping a customer and he notices Norm has trouble starting his car, so he sends Mr. Smith to help him, but he wants to finish his beer first. Alan leaves and goes to the bathroom at the back of the building where he lights a cigarette. When he’s done and comes back, there are two cars at the gas station. He goes to Norm who tells him he should choose another time to hide to smoke and Alan says he isn’t smoking. He notices his father struggling to check the oil in a car because his hands are shaking. Frank thanks him for his help and goes back inside.
That night, John arrives at the gas bar on his motorbike and throws a newspaper on the counter. The headline reads that the Berlin Wall is going down. Joe arrives shortly after, joining Mr. Smith who’s already there. Pit (John Magaro), the neighborhood dimwit arrives shortly after too and orders a couple of beers. John reads the Time magazine and Pit says he’s only reading that to look intelligent, but he’s just dumbed like the rest of them. He looks at Pit, baffled, and says that unlike him, he’ll get out of the neighborhood one day. A customer, Bob, arrives and John goes over to his car. He starts to belittle John, laughing at his job and asks to get his car filled. He keeps belittling John, who stares at him dead in the eye. Once he’s done, he asks to put it on his tab, but John refuses, saying his pile of bills is getting quite big, but Bob gets insistent. He gets out of his car and tries to bully John, but John fights back. Frank arrives just on time, and he tells John to put it on his tab. Bob smiles and taps John on the back of the head. The Boss brings John inside and says he doesn’t want him to fight with these guys. John says they’re making of fool out of his father, but Frank says he doesn’t care what people think about him. John says people come here, put gas on their tab and never come back and they never pay. Frank says he's been doing this for more than twenty years, he knows how to handle a couple of bums.
The following day, Norm is working when another customer, Vince (Keith Carradine) arrives and tries to buy to packs of cigarettes. He says he’s going out of town to get two new strippers for his bar, and he doesn’t want to be out of cigarettes on the road. He asks Norm if he’s the musician of the family and Norm answers affirmatively. Vince says he knows musicians need a little kick before they get on the stage, just like his strippers and he shows him a little bag of cocaine. He says if he ever needs some, he can call him. Mr. Smith comes in early, as usual, and as Vince sees him, he leaves. Mr. Smith grabs Norm’s arm and twists it and tells Norm that he ever sees him doing dirty business with Vince he’s going to break his arm. He’s his godfather and they both have the name; he doesn’t want him to become a junkie and doing dirty business. Norm laughs it off and Mr. Smith says he’s serious.
That night, the police are at the gas bar, tending to John’s broken nose. He asks the officers what they’re doing out there, there’s been three hold-ups in the last month, they need to do something about it. The Boss arrives and meets with Mr. Smith and Joe who tell him what happened. They say someone came in for the cash and held a gun to their face, while John was mopping the floor. He swung the mop at him, and he dropped his gun and John jumped on him and tried to remove his mask, but he ran away. The Boss gets inside and talks to John, asking him what he was thinking about. He could’ve been killed; the gun was loaded. He’s got insurance for that kind of thing. John says he never declares it and pays for it himself. He’s tired of seeing his father getting taken advantage of by other people. He’s devoted his life to this and it’s eating him away. Frank knows there’s a rage inside John and he doesn’t like it. It looks like John isn’t happy here. John says he’s happy here, but he’s tired of seeing his father getting run over by everybody.
The following morning, John is arguing with Norm at the gas bar. Norm was supposed to be working when there was a hold up, but John had to cover for him again for a show, and he says it’s never going to happen again. Norm begs him to let it live his dream, but John says he’s tired and he wants to live a little too. Norm says he’s tired of the gas bar too, but he’s never going to tell his dad, it’d kill him, and John says one day he’s going to leave this place and never come back. Norm says he’ll believe it when he sees it and leaves. John sees the newspaper he brough the other day about the fall of the Berlin Wall and he closes the gas bar and leaves.
Alan is awakened by John talking to his dad in the other room. Frank says he can’t believe he’s leaving them like that, just to witness history. John says such a big moment will never happen again in his lifetime. Frank asks him what they’re going to do at the gas bar without him and he suggests asking his sister Nathalie to cover for a while, but Frank refuses, saying it’s too dangerous with all the hold-ups. John says they could hire Pit, but Frank refuses, saying he can’t count to ten, he doesn’t trust him and besides, Frank wants to run the place with his sons, not with strangers. John asks him if he ever wondered if they asked for this life, but Frank doesn’t answer. He wants to ask Alan to help, but John is adamant that Alan must stay in school. Frank says no matter what he says, he’s not going to change his mind, so he wishes him a good trip and John leaves. After he leaves, Frank is seen trembling as he goes in Alan’s room and sits next to him crying. Alan asks him if everything is alright and Frank says it’s time for him to have more responsibilities at the gas bar and he wants him to open it tomorrow, so he should go back to sleep, as Frank wipes his tears away.
It’s a quiet morning at the gas bar and Mr. Smith asks Alan if he wants a cigarette to pass the time. Alan refuses, saying he doesn’t smoke, but Mr. Smith says he doesn’t have to hide in the bathroom to smoke when he’s around. Alan denies again, but Smith keeps offering him a cigarette and Alan eventually grabs one and Smith knocks it off his hand, saying he knew he was smoking. Alan begs him not to tell his father and Smith says his secret is safe with him. Pit arrives and asks if Boss is around, he asked to meet him today. As he says that, Frank enters the gas bar and gives Pit his new uniform. Alan is visibly annoyed, and Frank ends up talking to him alone. Alan says he’s tired of being seen as a child, he’s hiring Pit to look after him and he’s smarter than he is. He just wants to be like all his brothers. Frank says he can’t have Alan working double shifts, he needs his hands when he’s working and can’t have Alan pull double shifts at his age. Alan is understanding and goes to help the next customer; Vince, back with his two strippers and ask for his car to be filled. While he fills the car, the strippers show their cleavages to Alan. Vince gives him a big smile, asking him if he likes his tip today, before leaving.
That night, Norm is closing the gas bar while Frank and Nathalie are watching TV. Norm is counting money in the safe and he notices bills are torn off. On television, they listen to a news report about the Berlin Wall and people from the East Germany are reacting. Frank grabs an envelope, and he says they received mail from John. John’s voice narrates his letter. He says he’s glad to be there, he’s witnessing history. He has a girlfriend over there and lives with her. He’s made a couple of friends and he took some photographs for them to see. He’s fascinated by the culture and the joy from the population over there.
The following day, Norm shows his car to Mr. Smith and he tells his godson that he should stop driving that thing or it’ll get him killed. Joe arrives and says he’s going to the bathroom, but he goes to try and grab money from the safe with a hook. Smith tells Norm to grab him a pint of oil from the backstore and Joe just has time to leave before Norm arrives, but he forgets his hook. Norm sees the hook and tries to run after Joe, but he’s long gone. He tells Smith about it and he says he’ll take care of Joe.
The following morning, Frank opens the store with Alan and sees someone towing Norm’s car, all wrecked up. The man says they found the car in a remote road, but no sign of the driver. The Boss is shaken and starts crying at the thought of Norm being dead somewhere. He asks Alan to call in the urgent cares to know if they’ve seen Norm. All day, Frank is shaking uncontrollably, and he cries near his son’s car.
The following morning, he’s in the car with Nathalie, saying he hates going there. He doesn’t see any improvement and it’s driving him crazy. She says she loves him, and she hates to see him like that. He should go in there; it’d make her happy. He reluctantly agrees and gets out of the car. As she turns the corner, Frank enters the treatment facility for his Parkinson’s, but gets out of the door when Nathalie is out of sight. He walks back to the gas bar, and they received a new letter from John, but Frank doesn’t want to open it, he’s already had enough with Norm.
That night, Frank is visiting Nathalie’s apartment and they open the letter. John’s voice narrates it. He voices his dissatisfaction with his life in Berlin. He broke up with his girlfriend and he’s growing tired of hearing people tearing down the wall. People on the East side look more peaceful, so he moved there. He doesn’t believe opening the wall was a good thing. It should’ve stayed there. He’s drinking a lot over there; the beer is cheap, and he thinks is newfound freedom makes him happy.
Frank went back to the gas bar to take over from Pit. He serves a customer (Tony Hale), who reveals himself to be an inspector for the company that owns the gas bar. He criticizes the regulars sitting in front, saying it’s intimidating for new customers when they see that. He says the pumps are dirty and Frank didn’t check his oil or his tire pressure, both required by the company. He’ll hear from them, and they won’t be happy.
Frank spent all night at the gas bar, trying to balance the accounts. He’s awakened by a knock on the window. It’s Norm, covered in bruises. Frank is mad at him, saying they were worried about him, he could’ve called them. Alan arrives to open the store and is happy to see his brother. Frank leaves them, angry. His hands are shaking, and he puts them in his pockets. Norm follows him and Frank screams at him saying he isn’t working here anymore. If he wants to go play music and abandon his family, then so be it. He then throws Norm out and he starts crying as he locks himself in his office.
Later that morning, Joe arrives at the gas bar and asks Alan to fill his car while he goes to the bathroom. Smith saw him pull up and hid in the backstore. Joe has his hook in the safe and Smith surprises him. He accuses him of stealing and throws him in the ice box and he sits on it. He says he’ll think twice when he wants to steal from his friends again.
Later that day, Smith is watching the television and they talk about a young Canadian who was arrested in Berlin trying to rebuild the Wall. They’re expatriating him on his way back. Smith clearly sees the man in question is John and he goes in Frank’s office. Frank opens for him and says that he knows, they called earlier, he’ll go to the airport tomorrow morning. As Smith leaves the office, they show John getting arrested. He was drunk and hurling insults at the officers. Smith says under his breath that he looks like he's gone crazy.
The following morning, Frank is in his car with John. He looks angry and tells his son that he looked deranged on television. He tells that’s now how he raised him. John wants to explain, but Frank doesn’t want to hear it. He says his sons are making his life miserable lately. They’re both silent on their way home. When they get back home, John takes the messages on the voicemail. One is from Alan’s school, asking why he doesn’t go anymore and the other from Frank’s doctor asking him if they should give his place to someone else for treatment since he never shows up. John confronts his father about it. They talk it out and Frank admits his wrongs and so does John. Frank swears he’ll go to his treatments and John will stay off the alcohol and help him with the gas bar.
The following morning, John drops his father off at the clinic and goes to the gas bar to work. Only Mr. Smith is there before he opens and he wants to talk about what happened in Berlin, but he respects John’s wishes not to. Their first customer is George, the inspector of the company. Smith tells John to serve him well, he’s the inspector that gives the Boss trouble. John goes to his car and asks him what how he can help. He says he’s just here to see if they cleaned up the gas bar a little, but it doesn’t look like they did. He gets out of his car to inspect the pump and John grabs him by the tie and throws him on the ground. He says he should be careful, he’s crazy, they said it on TV. He grabs his wallet and looks at his address. He says he won’t give his father trouble or else he knows where to find him. Smith looks on smiling.
When Alan gets back from school, he goes straight to the gas bar and asks Frank’s help for his math homework. Then, Bob gets to the gas bar with a mask on and asks for the money, holding Alan at gunpoint. Frank gives him the money and begs Bob to let his son take his place as the police, who was patrolling the neighborhood pulls up and ask Bob to exit the gas bar with his hands in the air. Bob argues a little, but he agrees to take Frank instead. They exit the gas bar and Bob threatens the policemen and one of them ends up shooting Bob in the head. Frank collapses on the floor and they come to his help. Alan rushes to his father’s side to make sure he’s alright. Mr. Smith came back from home and sees the commotion. They ask Frank if he wants to go to the hospital, but he refuses. He sits at the bar and lights a cigarette. He gives one to Alan too.
That evening, Frank is joined by Nathalie on the balcony. He puts out his cigarette and she ask how’s Alan. He says he’s alright, he’s a tough kid. She sees him thinking and she asks what he’s thinking about. He says he’s thinking about his list of mistakes. She says he’s too harsh on himself and he begins to list every mistakes he made lately. He fired Norm and he left the house, John was so tired of the gas bar that he left for Berlin and came back a crazy man, he even threatened the company inspector, and then today, Alan could have died. He’s just trying to keep his boys around him, but he’s losing them one by one. She says she doesn’t see him like that. She sees him as a caring father who loves his sons a lot. He’s worked all his life, he’s done enough for his family.
Frank then goes to a local bar where a band is playing. He sees his son Norm playing harmonica and singing. He sits in the middle of the crowd and then Norm notices him when the song is over. Frank waves at him and Norm whispers at his band mates. They then start playing “Heart of Gold” by Neil Young, Frank’s favorite song. Once the song is over, Frank smiles and nods at Norm who smiles back.
That night, Frank closes the gas bar, writing on the door that it’s closed forever. As he walks away with the money from the safe, Mr. Smith thanks him for everything. They had fun, but it’s time Frank gets some rest.
