While the bartender is the actual hero of this scene in The Greatest Showman, the negotiation taking place is at least an entertaining and informative second. Hugh Jackman plays an extremely fictionalized P.T. Barnum who is trying to woo playwright and upper-crust society doll Phillip Carlyle, played by Zac Efron, into joining him as a partner.
The scene takes place in a bar with a fair amount of professionally not recommended amounts of whiskey shots being taken. If you have not already seen the movie or want to remember the scene, here’s the video:
The scene opens with a nice little gambit from Hugh to Zac about how life could be so much better if he just would sign on with him. Hugh does a clean opening explaining why he wants Zac’s agreement. It is direct, honest, and a bit seductive.
Hugh is using the critical strategy of showing how this agreement would be a wise decision that would improve Zac’s life and his relationship with Hugh. The focus is on interests, specifically the kind of life Hugh thinks Zac really wants:
Right here, right now
I put the offer out
I don’t want to chase you down
I know you see it
You run with me
And I can cut you free
Out of the drudgery and walls you keep in
So trade that typical for something colorful
And if it’s crazy, live a little crazy
You can play it sensible, a king of conventional
Or you can risk it all and see
Don’t you wanna get away from the same old part you gotta play
‘Cause I got what you need, so come with me and take the ride
It’ll take you to the other side
‘Cause you can do like you do
Or you can do like me
Stay in the cage, or you’ll finally take the key
Oh, damn! Suddenly you’re free to fly
It’ll take you to the other side
Hugh sees Zac as trapped by society and culture, someone who could and should walk away from that life and truly experience the wild freedom of being in the circus. Zac, however, sees things a little bit differently. He claims to like his life exactly as it is.
Okay, my friend, you want to cut me in
Well I hate to tell you, but it just won’t happen
So thanks, but no
I think I’m good to go
‘Cause I quite enjoy the life you say I’m trapped in
Now I admire you, and that whole show you do
You’re onto something, really it’s something
But I live among the swells, and we don’t pick up peanut shells
I’ll have to leave that up to you
If I was managing this particular bit of the negotiation, I would have recommended Zac avoid the dig about “picking up peanut shells.” This is positional and negates the attempted goodwill by Hugh. However, he has a bit more to say about how good his life is. Importantly here, he never gives a direct “no.” Zac knew going into the bar that Hugh was going to be making an offer, so if interest is not there, at least curiosity is. This is a fair indication as well that Zac and Hugh have established a baseline trust in each other as well as each other’s honesty.
Hugh’s wise enough to recognize Zac is nibbling at the bait. The reference to “you’re onto something” is an acknowledgement of value and the potential value of a partnership. Zac has admitted admiring Hugh and his passion. It may come across as a bit coy but this is still initial positioning so he is avoiding appearing eager.
Zac’s not quite done with his own opening, though:
Don’t you know that I’m okay with this uptown part I get to play
‘Cause I got what I need and I don’t want to take the ride
I don’t need to see the other side
So go and do like you do
I’m good to do like me
Ain’t in a cage, so I don’t need to take the key
Oh, damn! Can’t you see I’m doing fine
I don’t need to see the other side
It would be easy at this point for Hugh to pull a “hurt friend” and react negatively to the “peanut shells” reference, but he doesn’t. Focusing on a negative reference can sour the final deal, if not kill it altogether. Hugh takes the high road, as he has caught onto two important themes in Zac’s opening: Zac’s intrigued by the circus and that Zac has admitted he is “okay with this uptown part I get to play.” Zac has admitted he is playing a role not actually being himself.
Hugh’s next step is to offer something that feeds to one of those two themes:
Now is this really how you like to spend your days?
Whiskey and misery, and parties and plays
Wouldn’t most of us like to spend our lives with whiskey, parties, and plays? But what if those three things make us miserable? Hugh is suggesting that is exactly what is happening to Zac. Following the breadcrumb Zac dropped that he was playing a part, he has challenged what playing that part has cost him. Hugh is not attacking Zac’s position but rather questioning its value and cost.
Zac comes back with what an agreement would cost him. Loss of status, loss of relationships, perhaps shunned, a sideshow curiosity.
If I were mixed up with you, I’d be the talk of the town
Disgraced and disowned, another one of the clowns
Zac isn’t saying no, in fact, he is doing quite the opposite. This is a plea for recognition not only of his current condition but what impact a deal would have. Zac wants to know the value of what Hugh is offering. Is it going to be greater than the price he personally will pay?
Hugh could start talking money here. That would be premature and prevent a deal. Zac’s laid out the personal cost and what Hugh needs to do is provide a personal value better than that cost. He ends with putting the entire choice into Zac’s hands. In an extremely strict class society, choice is one thing that Zac has had little opportunity to make.
But you would finally live a little, finally laugh a little
Just let me give you the freedom to dream
And it’ll wake you up and cure your aching
Take your walls and start ’em breaking
Now that’s a deal that seems worth taking
But I guess I’ll leave that up to you
It is quite worth checking out this exact moment in the video:
Zac is poised to leave, but will he? The quirk of a smile holds the answer. And we are into an absolutely fabulous fast-paced numbers battle that is not the dreaded race to the middle. Zac demands a number from Hugh and we are off:
Well it’s intriguing, but to go would cost me greatly
So what percentage of the show would I be taking?
Bartender racing along with him to lay out shots, Hugh makes his initial offer. In this next series of moves to an eventual agreement neither party is focusing on matching move for move as much as the other side does. Instead, they move towards the number the parties need to make a deal happen. Hugh starts it off:
Fair enough, you’d want a piece of all the action
I’d give you seven, we could shake and make it happen
Zac ain’t having it.
I wasn’t born this morning, eighteen would be just fine
Hugh does not counter here. Instead he does a “mock offended” to how apparently high Zac has started his bid. He claims that Zac wants fifty percent, “nickels on the dime” – but there is also perhaps a hint here that a “dime” isn’t a bad number to end up.
Why not just go ahead and ask for nickels on the dime
Fifteen
I’d do eight
Twelve
Maybe nine
Both:
Ten
Boom! It’s done, Zac goes to shake but instead they do a shot. And then another. There are several shots here and a huge celebration of what they are about to accomplish together. Great negotiation, pairing of interests, open discussion, no holdbacks; it is the epitome of good faith. This scene is what ensures the ending of the movie coming out the way it did. I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t seen it, but keep in mind that any falsehoods, omissions, negative reactions during this negotiation could impede the willingness of the parties in the future to actions that are not purely self-interested.
So sing along and remember that negotiation is about exploring people and their interests to create an agreement that brings them into alignment for the betterment of the individuals.
Don’t you wanna get away to a whole new part you’re gonna play
‘Cause I got what you need, so come with me and take the ride
To the other side
So if you do like I do
So if you do like me
Forget the cage, ’cause we know how to make the key
Oh, damn! Suddenly we’re free to fly
We’re going to the other side
So if you do like I do
(To the other side)
So if you do like me
(We’re going to the other side)
‘Cause if we do we’re going to the other side
We’re going to the other side
