Long Island Compromise

Nearly four decades later, Phyllis dies in hospice care, surrounded by her children, Carl and Marjorie, along with Ruth. Ruth takes care of calling everyone to inform them of Phyllis’s death. She fails to reach Beamer, who won’t answer his phone.

Beamer lives in Los Angeles and is unable to answer his mother’s calls because he is in a hotel engaged in a bondage, domination, and sadomasochism (BDSM) session with two sex workers. Beamer’s thinking is affected after he ingests several recreational drugs. He wants to black out during the session but is too exhausted to achieve this without concentrating. Beamer is distracted by the fact that his agent hasn’t returned his call in nearly a week, which suggests that his screenwriting career is in danger.

Beamer enjoys weekly BDSM sessions because they help him feel “normal” the rest of the week. He likes to hire sex workers whose personalities oppose that of his wife, Noelle. Lady, the sex worker in his current session, is someone he frequently hires. She had brought the other sex worker to the session, but Beamer has forgotten her name. Beamer tries to enjoy the session but can’t help letting his mind wander around the details of the room. His thoughts escalate to his worries about work and his relationship with Noelle, which has grown cold.

Beamer and Noelle have two children named Liesl and Wolfie. Since the previous night, Noelle has been cold toward Beamer, but he continues to act like things are normal. Beamer and Noelle have been going to couples therapy, which makes Beamer uncomfortable. Despite the venue that therapy opens up for them to communicate, Beamer feels that he cannot really ask Noelle what is wrong.

As for work, Beamer has been waiting for his agent to return notes on a screenplay he has written, the fourth in a series of action films that led to his Hollywood breakout. The first three movies, which he had written with his childhood best friend, Charlie Messinger, are called The Santiago Trilogy, which revolve around a series of kidnappings. Beamer and Charlie wrote the first Santiago film while they were still in college and enjoyed early career success. Over time, Beamer began to fear that Charlie had talent that he did not and that his career would fizzle out without Charlie. Following the release of the second Santiago film, Charlie pitched Beamer an idea to write about the Fletchers. Beamer discouraged him, indicating that he was bored enough by his family’s business deals. At the time, the Fletchers had just licensed their factory operations to a big-box store called Haulers instead of handing it over to Ike. Two years after the lukewarm reception of the third Santiago film, Charlie and Beamer’s agent encouraged them to split up. Charlie reluctantly agreed and soon became one of Hollywood’s hottest screenwriters, developing Family Business, a prestige television show about a New York family fighting to inherit control of the family factory. Beamer could not help but notice the series family’s resemblance to the Fletchers. He became bothered by the possibility that he could have developed it himself, though he has mostly tried to write projects that hinge on the idea of kidnappings. The fourth Santiago screenplay is intended as a reboot of the franchise, following the popular trend of legacy reboots in Hollywood. Beamer is proud of what he has written, but that feeling has waned with the lack of response from his peers.

Beamer decides that his inability to focus on the BDSM session stems from his fear that his marriage to Noelle may soon end. While following orders from the two sex workers, Beamer has a vision of Drexel Abraham entering the hotel room and kidnapping him. This causes Beamer to ejaculate and black out.

Beamer wakes up to messages from his mother asking him to return her calls. Beamer pays the sex workers and leaves for his office while they are still asleep. He pretends to take a phone call to avoid talking to his assistant, Sophie, until he can shower in his private office bathroom. Sophie tries to remind him that his mother is trying to reach him.

Beamer has a meeting that afternoon with Stan Himmerman, the studio president who wants to develop the new Santiago film. Before the meeting, Sophie forwards a message from Noelle telling Beamer to see their couples therapist alone since Noelle is too busy to attend. Stan arrives with a consultant named Anya Poroshenko, who is in charge of ensuring that the studio’s projects remain relevant to the hot-button topics of the day. Noelle also brings in a cake that a producer had sent to thank Beamer for connecting him to Charlie.

Anya challenges the political correctness of Beamer’s screenplay, suggesting that the current draft undermines its Mexican, Black, and female characters. She offers ideas for a radical rewrite. Beamer reluctantly expresses his openness to her ideas. Anya misinterprets his response as being hostile. Beamer reassures her that he will consider her ideas. Sophie keeps paging into the meeting to tell Beamer that his mother is calling. Stan and Anya leave. Beamer finally answers Ruth and learns that his grandmother has died. Desperate to have some cake, Beamer tears through the packaging and eats it with his hands.

Beamer takes a mix of drugs and alcohol before his couples therapy session and the flight back to Middle Rock. When he returns home, he has a tense exchange with Noelle about taking so long to get back from therapy. Beamer withholds the fact that he had stopped by his dominatrix’s house to cancel his next appointment. To keep Liesl and Wolfie awake for the trip to the airport, Beamer and Noelle read them their favorite children’s book, Are You Sure You’ve Thought This Through?, which had been recommended to them by Nathan and his wife, Alyssa. Noelle quietly expresses that the book is ridiculous, which delights Beamer.

Beamer and Noelle met on the set of the second Santiago film, in which Noelle played the romantic interest. Unlike Beamer, Noelle’s family, the Albrechts, are not wealthy. Ruth dislikes Noelle because she has German heritage. Her sentiment was compounded by Noelle and Beamer’s decision to give both of their children German names. Watching Noelle on the flight back to Middle Rock, Beamer promises himself that he will do better for his family.

Beamer has his family put their things in his parents’ house, insisting to let them stay when he is asked to move to Phyllis’s house to make room for Jenny. Before the funeral, Beamer takes some codeine from Ruth’s medicine cabinet. On his way to pick up pizza for the family, he bumps into an old friend and has sex with her in her garage. When he gets back, he puts on six expired nicotine patches to replace the codeine.

At the funeral, Rabbi Weintraub honors Phyllis’s memory by listing her contributions to the community, including her work with Nathan to restore the town lighthouse. Beamer remembers that Phyllis had been so iron-willed that she intimidated the rabbi. Rabbi Weintraub calls on Carl’s eccentric sister, Marjorie, to say a few words on their behalf. Marjorie begins by recalling her mother’s most endearing habits. This descends into an invective against Phyllis, resenting the way her mother seemed to prefer Carl over her. The rabbi cuts her off when she is distracted by the sight of Carl weeping.

On the drive back to the Fletcher estate, Beamer notices how much of the neighborhood has changed. Many of the newest houses feature elaborate new forms of architecture that further distance Beamer from his memories. The Fletchers receive the guests for the shiva. Beamer takes a pair of speed pills that he finds in Phyllis’s medicine cabinet.

Lying down on Phyllis’s bed, Beamer remembers the day of Nathan’s bar mitzvah. Phyllis had taken them to the temple, where it gradually dawned on them that Carl and Ruth would be absent from the ceremony. Instead, Arthur, Ike and his family, and Marjorie took on the roles that Carl and Ruth would have fulfilled during the bar mitzvah service. Throughout the day, Beamer knew that he wasn’t supposed to ask where his parents were, but he remained bothered about it throughout the children’s sleepover at Phyllis’s house that night. Over hot chocolate, Phyllis explained that a dybbuk was “a spirit that wanders and inhabits someone because it hasn’t been given the right to ascend to heaven yet” (100). She used the dybbuk as a metaphor for Carl’s depressive episodes.

Noelle texts Beamer and is looking for him. Beamer tries to escape but bumps into her in the kitchen. Noelle asks him to put the children to bed. Beamer offers to stay instead and help with cleaning. He gets caught in a conversation with Carl, who is listening to old stories about his father Zelig’s migration to the United States. One of the factory owners present, a Holocaust survivor, suggests that Jews are going extinct because the newer generation of Jewish men are marrying non-Jewish women. Beamer leaves to rejoin his family.

Noelle and the children are already asleep, so Beamer decides to work. He spends the whole night rewriting his Santiago screenplay. Once the effect of the drugs he took wears off, he goes to the kitchen to find food. He stops when he sees his father staring into a covered mirror. He waits for Carl to leave and then proceeds to the kitchen.

The following evening, the Fletchers have dinner at Phyllis’s house, joined by Arthur and Ike’s family. Jenny asks Ike’s son, Max, about his college studies and his plans to study law after graduating. Alyssa talks about her twin boys’ upcoming bar mitzvah. She impresses the idea that she wants to renovate their house to accommodate more guests, but Nathan insists that the renovation is unnecessary. Noelle asks Liesl to play the flute for the family. They are moved by her performance before discussing whether Romantic composer Gustav Mahler was antisemitic or not. Arthur leaves early and is seen out by Ruth. Ruth asks Noelle about her necklace and is scandalized to learn that it has a Sanskrit character, which she thinks is Arab. Jenny points out that Sanskrit is semitic because it’s Indo-European. After Noelle leaves to put the kids to bed, Ruth continues complaining about her necklace. Beamer can’t stand it, so he leaves to answer a fake phone call.

Beamer continues his Santiago rewrite, working in changes to meet Anya’s expectations. He is too excited to sleep, so he drives around town, reminiscing about his first visit to a brothel in Middle Rock. He and Charlie had joked about its existence, but when saw one of the sex workers through its window, Beamer was compelled to return alone. Passing by the high school, he remembers when the family went to watch Jenny perform in her school’s musical adaptation of the 1911 Frances Hodgson Burnett novel The Secret Garden. Carl was moved to tears by the production. He later became obsessed with The Secret Garden, looking for a copy of the soundtrack and asking to see the musical on Broadway starring Mandy Patinkin. Ruth and Phyllis had obliged his request to prevent him from having another breakdown. The night after the family saw the show, Carl had a screaming episode, which Ruth and Phyllis tried to pacify. Beamer tried to tell Jenny what had happened, but Jenny was too tired to register it.

Returning home, Beamer remembers a house party. Two of his friends had told a story about convincing two Catholic girls to have anal sex with them to preserve their virginity. They euphemistically referred to their agreement as “The Queens Compromise” before revising it to “The Long Island Compromise” to honor the Jewish heritage of Beamer’s friends.

At Noelle’s request, Beamer and his family return to Los Angeles. Beamer commits himself to detoxification. When Liesl expresses her anxiety about her upcoming flute recital, Beamer reassures her that she is good enough to perform well. Nathan calls Beamer to ask if he remembers Phyllis telling them about dybbuks. Beamer doesn’t recall it at all. The following day, Beamer ends his working relationship with Lady and then deletes the phone numbers of his drug dealers. He then ends his relationship with his weekly dominatrix, who gives him a last painful massage.

Over the next two months, Beamer builds up a writing routine that results in the completion of the new Santiago script. He sends a copy to Charlie and his agent. When Beamer asks Charlie if he’s read the script yet, Charlie invites him to talk the following morning. Noelle tells Beamer that their therapist, Dr. Lorna, has asked to stop seeing them. Beamer pretends that he doesn’t know why she would do that. He withholds the fact that before they had flown to Long Island for Phyllis’s funeral, he used the solo session to open up about his secret life and his fear of Noelle. Dr. Lorna had advised him to consider the need to share his secrets in his marriage, but Beamer was preoccupied with ensuring that she wouldn’t repeat any of those secrets to his wife.

Beamer and Noelle go out on a date. While waiting for a dinner table, Noelle suggests visiting her psychic. Beamer is surprised to learn that Noelle had brought his sweatshirt and some of his hair to assist in a previous reading. The psychic indicates that Beamer’s third eye is blocked, which means that he is unable to exercise his creativity. Beamer explains that he has just finished writing a screenplay, but the psychic says that it has been blocked for years. The psychic draws tarot cards, indicating that the outcome for Beamer and Noelle looks bad. This makes Beamer nervous, and he withdraws from the reading. He berates Noelle for believing in the psychic’s scam. Noelle retorts that Beamer takes advantage of her as well for never asking about his secrets. Beamer admits that he is afraid that Noelle will stop loving him if he tells her, which leads Noelle to reveal that the cards the psychic drew suggest divorce in the future. Beamer tries to reassure her that the cards don’t define their marriage.

The next morning, Noelle reminds Beamer to pick her up in the afternoon so that they can make it in time for Liesl’s recital. Beamer meets Charlie at a diner. Charlie is dumbfounded by Beamer’s motivations for writing a new Santiago script. Beamer gets defensive, but Charlie encourages him to think about why he writes if he just keeps telling the same story over and over again. Beamer tries to hit back by accusing Charlie of stealing his family story for Family Business. Charlie denies this, explaining that the show grew out of his father’s observations of the rich families that lived around them. He suggests that Beamer should write the thing he really wants to say to the world. Beamer is disappointed, having hoped to hear that he had done a good job.

Bothered by Charlie’s advice, Beamer finds an old bottle of drugs in his office and takes three pills and several nicotine patches, which make him hyperactive. He tries to figure out the root of Charlie’s problem with the screenplay and decides that it has to do with the psychic’s assessment that his third eye is blocked. He visits the psychic, whose name is Phyllis. She offers to clean his third eye for $10,000. Beamer pays her, and she instructs him to be open at three o’clock later that day. He waits at his office for the hour to come, ignoring concerned texts from Jenny telling him that something is wrong with their quarterly stock payouts.

At three o’clock, Beamer gets the idea to write his perspective of the day Ruth paid the ransom as a screenplay, stretching it out so that he is also taken by the kidnapper. The character in his screenplay grows up into an adult who needs to eat the world to get the nutrients his body needs. The character falls in love with a lawyer, who helps him discover that the kidnapper was none other than his father. The character confronts his parents, who cry for his forgiveness.

Noelle tries to call Beamer, reminding him that Liesl will be disappointed if neither of them are in the audience that night. Beamer prepares to write the script but feels that he needs to write it in longhand. He buys materials and then decides that he needs to pitch his idea to Mandy Patinkin, whom he wants to play his father in the film. He runs to the office where his and Mandy’s agents work. Beamer sees Mandy’s agent, Fran Sacks, and introduces himself and his project idea. Fran tells Beamer that Mandy is unavailable for new projects. While hanging around the office, Beamer learns that Mandy is committed to appear on Family Business.

Beamer runs back to his office, ignoring calls from Jenny and Noelle. He calls Fran Sacks’s assistant to say that he knows that Mandy is open for new roles. He later calls again and pretends to be Charlie so that he can talk to Fran. Beamer pitches the role to Fran, who is uneasy about the way Beamer is behaving. Charlie calls Beamer, concerned about what he is doing. Beamer confronts him about casting Mandy and then shares his new story idea.

Beamer uses more drugs and nicotine patches before heading out for Liesl’s recital. He buys too many donuts at a donut shop. He then decides to eat some before going to an In-N-Out for more food. Beamer’s agent, Jeremy, calls to tell him to stay away from Mandy and Fran. Jeremy is ending his professional engagement with Beamer at Fran’s instruction. Beamer stops at a McDonald’s for more food and then realizes that he has one last attempt at a pitch. He asks Sophie for Mandy’s Malibu address and then goes to his house just as Jenny texts to say that the family has run out of money. Beamer catches Mandy stepping out of his house. Thinking that he has made it to Liesl’s recital, Beamer sings operatically to Mandy and then collapses in his driveway.