551
Please, Audrey.
Give me one more chance.

552
l'm throwing myself
on the mercy of the court.

553
l lost you, but please
don't make me lose Max too.

554
Give me a chance to be
the father l started out to be.

555
- You're really coming ?
- This is ironclad.

556
This is the mother of all promises.
What time ?

557
Okay, 6:00.

558
- Ten to six.
- All right.

559
All right. But if l tell
Max that you're coming,

560
and you don't show up and l have
to see that look on his face--

561
that heartbreaking look--

562
we're going to Boston.

563
lf l don't show up,
l'll pack you myself.

564
l will lovingly wrap your
nicknacks with bubble paper.

565
l hope so.

566
Do you know what your son was doing
at 8:15 last night ?

567
He was making a birthday wish
that for just one day...

568
his father couldn't tell a lie.

569
Oh, my God !
That's it !

570
"l do not like them, Sam l Am.

571
"l do not like green eggs and ham.

572
"Would you like them here or there ?

573
- l would not like them--"
- Excuse me.

574
Hi. l'm Max's bad father--
Er, l'm his father.

575
- Dad !
- Could l borrow him
for just one second ?

576
- Monster Max !
- You came to play catch ?

577
l'd like to, but l can't.
l gotta talk to you.

578
Your mommy told me about that wish
you made last night. lt came true, Max.

579
- Really ? You mean you
have to tell the truth ?
- Yes.

580
- No matter what ?
- No matter what !

581
- ls wrestling real ?
- ln the Olympics, yes.
On channel 23, no.

582
- Will sitting too close
to the TV set make me go blind ?
- Not in a million years.

583
lf l keep making this face,
will it get stuck that way ?

584
Uh-uh. ln fact some people
make a good living that way.

585
Now listen, Max.
You've gotta do something for me.

586
l need you to take back that wish.

587
- So you can lie ?
- Yes.

588
But not to you.
You see, Max,

589
sometimes grownups need to lie.

590
lt's hard to explain,
but if--

591
Look, here's a good example.
When your mommy was pregnant with you,

592
she gained 40 pounds;
there was nothing she wouldn't eat.

593
And Daddy was scared.
But when she'd ask me, "How do l look ?"

594
l'd say, "Honey, you look great.
You're glowing."

595
lf l had told Mommy she looked like
a cow, it would have hurt her feelings.

596
- Understand ?
- My teacher tells me
real beauty's on the inside.

597
That's just something
ugly people say.

598
Max, no one can survive
in the adult world if they
have to stick to the truth.

599
l could lose my case, l could lose
my promotion, l could even lose my job.

600
Now, l need your help, Max.