Daily Dialogue — February 23, 2012

DAVE: But unfortunately, money management only gets us halfway to our goal. To find the rest of the money, we’re going to have to start making some choices — — some pretty tough choices…

SHOT — BOB

He seizes Reed’s tie, pulling him over.

BOB (loud whisper): Choices???

ANGLE — DAVE

DAVE: (hearing him) Yes, Bob. Choices… Now the Commerce Department..,

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE (sitting erect): Yes, Mr. President?

DAVE: (from a card) You’re spending forty-seven million dollars on an ad campaign to… (reading) ‘Boost consumer confidence in the American auto industry.’

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: And it’s proving quite effective…

DAVE: Does it make the cars any better?

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: No, sir. It’s more of a perceptual issue.

DAVE (beat): Perceptual?

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: Yes, it’s designed to bolster individual confidence in a previous domestic automotive purchase.

DAVE (beat): Why?

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: Well… to shore up product identification and preserve market share.

DAVE: So we’re spending forty-seven million dollars to make people feel better about a car they’ve already bought?

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: Yes, but I wouldn’t…

DAVE (indignant): Well I’m sure that’s really important, but I don’t want to tell some eight-year-old kid he has to sleep in the street because we want people to feel better about their cars. (beat) Do you want to tell him that?

He gestures toward the TV cameras in the room.

SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: Me? Uh, no sir… I sure don’t.

— Dave (Kevin Kline), Secretary of Commerce (Peter White), Dave (1993), written by Gary Ross

You may see the actual scene here.

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is American presidents, suggested by Phil. Today’s suggestion by Teddy Pasternak.

Trivia: Screenwriter Gary Ross appears as Policeman number 2.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Public humiliation — especially for those who deserve it — can make for a delicious movie moment… just like this one in Dave.

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