Daily Dialogue — March 18, 2014

Nice Guy Eddie: Let me say this out loud, ’cause I wanna get it straight in my head. You’re saying that Mr. Blonde was gonna kill you, then when we got back, he was going kill us, take the satchel of diamonds, and scram. I’m right about that, right? That’s correct? That’s your story?
Mr. Orange: I swear on my mother’s eternal soul that’s what happened.
Nice Guy Eddie: The man you just killed was just released from prison. He got caught at a company warehouse full of hot items. He could’ve fuckin’ walked. All he had to do was say my dad’s name, but he didn’t; he kept his fucking mouth shut. And did his fuckin’ time, and he did it like a man. He did four years for us. So, Mr. Orange, you’re tellin’ me this very good friend of mine, who did four years for my father, who in four years never made a deal, no matter what they dangled in front of him, you’re telling me that now, that now this man is free, and we’re making good on our commitment to him, he’s just gonna decide, out of the fucking blue, to rip us off? Why don’t you tell me what really happened?
Joe: [walks in] What the hell for? It’d just be more bullshit. This man set us up.
Nice Guy Eddie: Dad, I’m sorry, but I don’t know what the hell’s happening.
Joe: It’s all right, Eddie. I do.
Mr. White: What the fuck are you talking about?
Joe: That lump of shit’s working with the L.A.P.D.
Mr. Orange: Joe, I don’t have the slightest fucking idea what you’re talking about.
Mr. White: Joe, I don’t know what you think you know, but you’re wrong.
Joe: Like hell I am.
Mr. White: Joe, trust me on this. You’ve made a mistake. He’s a good kid. I understand. You’re hot, you’re super fucking pissed. We’re all real emotional. But you’re barking up the wrong tree. I know this man. He wouldn’t do that.
Joe: You don’t know jack shit! I do! The cocksucker tipped off the cops and had Mr. Brown and Mr. Blue killed.
Mr. Pink: Mr. Blue is dead?
Joe: Dead as Dillinger.
Mr. White: How do you know all this?
Joe: He was the only one I wasn’t a hundred percent on. I should have my fuckihng head examined, going ahead when I wasn’t a hundred percent.
Mr. White: That’s your proof?
Joe: With instinct, you don’t need proof. I ain’t gonna be fooled.
Nice Guy Eddie: Have you lost your fuckin’ mind?
Mr. White: Joe, you’re making a terrible mistake. I’m not gonna let you make it.
Mr. Pink: Come on, guys! Nobody wants this! We’re supposed to be fucking professionals!
Nice Guy Eddie: Larry, look. It’s been quite a long time. A lot of jobs. There’s no need for this, man. Lets just put our guns down, and lets settle this with a fuckin’ conversation.
Mr. White: Joe, if you kill that man, you die next. I repeat: If you kill that man, you die next.
Nice Guy Eddie: Larry, we have been friends, and you respect my dad, and I respect you, but I will put fucking bullets right through your heart. You put that fuckin’ gun down, now.
Mr. White: Goddamn you, Joe. Don’t make me do this.
Nice Guy Eddie: [angrily] LARRY, STOP POINTING THAT FUCKIN’ GUN AT MY DAD!

— Reservoir Dogs (1992), written by Quentin Tarantino

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Standoff. Today’s suggestion by Alejandro .

Trivia: During filming, a paramedic was kept on the set to make sure that Mr. Orange’s (Tim Roth) amount of blood loss was kept consistent and realistic to that of a real gunshot victim.

Michael Madsen had difficulty filming the torture scenes. He was particularly reluctant when he was required to hit actor Kirk Baltz. When the cop, pleading for his life, says that he has a child at home (a line not in the script), Madsen, himself a new father at the time, was so disturbed by the idea of leaving a child fatherless that he couldn’t finish the scene.

You never actually see the heist.

Quentin Tarantino wrote the first draft in three and a half weeks.

The title for the film came to Quentin Tarantino via a patron at the now-famous Video Archives. While working there, Tarantino would often recommend little-known titles to customers, and when he suggested Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987), the patron mockingly replied, “I don’t want to see no reservoir dogs!” The title is never spoken in the film, however.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Alejandro: “One writer-director famous for his standoffs: Quentin Tarantino. So many to choose from. Probably all his movies feature some sort of standoff. Right? You’ve got Pulp Fiction standoff at a coffee shop. Inglorious Basterds at a pub. Django Unchained has a couple of standoffs. Kill Bill a lot. And a couple more in movies he only wrote (True Romance, Natural Born Killers). But we should probably focus on his first film: Reservoir Dogs.

A standoff can be a high dramatic point in your story, so you have to be very careful where to use it. Imagine how would it be if this happened earlier in the screenplay. And a standoff puts the characters on the edge. Their lives are at stake, so they may reveal their true nature and impulses. Sometimes with dire consequences.” 

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