Daily Dialogue — December 23, 2011
LLOYD: Why don’t you just give yourself up?
GUS: What’d you say?
LLOYD: Well, you’re not going to kill an entire family. It’s over. I mean, you’re not the type. You’re a thief, not a killer. That’s obvious.
GUS: I hate guys like you, you know? With your Jeep Grand Cherokees and your Nicaraguan maids and your Ping Zing golf clubs… every goddamn thing in the world handed to you. What fuckin’ purpose do you people serve?
LLOYD: You’re a criminal. What purpose could you serve?
GUS: Fuck you, Lloyd. I work for a living, okay? I have a skill. I’m in the game, pal. What do you do except take up fuckin’ space?
LLOYD: If you’re so skilled, what are you doing stuck here?
GUS: I can break into any house, take whatever I want: in and out, ten minutes. No prints, no evidence, nothing. If what’s-his-name hadn’t installed that fuckin’ roadrunner booby trap… I’d be in Jamaica by now.
LLOYD: Mmm, I’m impressed.
GUS: No, you people don’t get impressed, do ya? Life just bores the shit out of you people. I’m sorry. We don’t all have rich mummies and daddies we can live off of… or open restaurants when we get bored playing tennis.
LLOYD: You told him about the restaurant?
GUS: Yeah. I heard you couldn’t cut it working for a living, Mr. Brooks Brothers, so–
LLOYD: –Shut up! You and my wife have a lot in common. You both think you have some right to life working out the way you want… and if it doesn’t, you get to act any way you want. The problem is someone has to be responsible. I’d love to run around taking classes and playing with my inner-selfness. I’d love the freedom to be a pissed-off criminal without any responsibility… except I don’t have the time! But you don’t see me with a gun. You don’t see me sleeping with someone else. You think my life turned out the way I wanted because I live in this house? You think every time I look in the mirror I shout, “Gee, I’m glad I’m me…” and not some 19-year-old billionaire rock star with the body of an athlete, and a 24-hour erection”? No, I don’t! So just excuse the shit out of me!
— Lloyd (Kevin Spacey), Gus (Dennis Leary), The Ref (1994), screenplay by Richard LaGravenese and
Marie Weiss, story by Marie Weiss
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is Christmas conflict. Today’s suggestion by pliny the elder.
Trivia: The original ending had Denis Leary being caught by the cops to show the son that a life of crime leads nowhere. However, after screening the movie to a test audience and receiving negative comments about the ending, director Ted Demme changed it. He now admits he regrets changing it.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Classic examples of two opposing world views clashing, both characters believe in what they believe, and they believe it profoundly.