Summary

It's 1973, and Tommy is a 13-year-old boy living in New York's Greenwich Village with his mother, who is still coming to terms with the death of her husband. Tommy's best friend is Pappass, a mentally challenged man in his thirties who is the same emotional age as Tommy; Pappass delivers meat for a local butcher, and Tommy helps him out. Tommy has discovered women, and has a crush on Melissa, a cute girl in his class, but Pappass isn't much interested in the opposite sex, and can offer little advice on the subject. Tommy's lone confidante on this issue is Lady Bernadette, a woman locked up in the nearby Women's House of Detention who offers advice shouted from her window. When Pappass begins to realize that Tommy is falling for Melissa, he's convinced he's losing his best friend, and in a moment of anger he steals a bicycle. Tommy tries to protect Pappas by claiming he was the thief, leading to a series of serious repercussions. Years later, Tommy is a grown man who leaves his home in Paris, France, to pay a visit to the old neighborhood and come to terms with the life he left behind.

Quotes

Pappass
I'm not retarded anymore.
Tom
Oh really?
Pappass
Really. I went from retard to challenged. Who knows what I'll be next?

Pappass
I was supposed to be normal, but I didn't get enough oxygen when I was born.

Pappass' dad
Ah yeah, people are getting cheap with the tips or you boys went to the movies. Do you know why your mother died, son? She killed herself because she had a retarded son. Isn't that right?
Tommy
She was hit by a car.
Pappass' dad
She walked in front of a car because she had a retarded son.
Tommy
She was drunk.
Pappass' dad
She was drunk because her son was retarded.
Tommy
She was drunk because she was married to you, you loser.
Pappass' dad
Up yours.
Tommy
Up yours too.
Pappass' dad
Up yours too, sir.
Tommy
Up yours too, sir, and good night.
Pappass' dad
Uhuhuh, not until you can pass a driver's test. When you can drive, then you can drink.

Robin about playing Pappass

A lot of people haven't seen too many characters like that, with a high-functioning handicap." To play Pappass, Robin immersed himself in research, and says there was plenty of material at his disposal. In addition, he worked with Duchovny and makeup artist Cheri Minns to achieve Pappass' look. "I had fake teeth and my ears pushed forward to transform the face," he says. "There's a certain disorder where people look very elf-like, and we went with that one."

To play a 65-year-old man, Robin had to sit through 2 hours of make-up. He also had to wear a body suit that fills out his waist and chest to get that fat body. Robin has said that playing older roles is no problem for him.