Daily Dialogue — March 3, 2016

Frank: You get up two and a half million dollars, any asshole in the world knows what to do. You get a house with a 25 year roof, an indestructible Jap economy shitbox. You put the rest into the system of 3–5 percent to pay your taxes and that’s your base, get me. That’s your fortress of fucking solitude. That puts you, for the rest of your life, at a level of fuck you. Somebody wants you to do something, fuck you. Boss pisses you off, fuck you. Own your house, have a couple of bucks in the bank, don’t drink. That’s all I have to say to anybody at any social level. Did your grandfather take risks?
Jim: Yes
Frank: I guarantee he did it from a position of fuck you. A wise man’s life is based around fuck you. The United States of America is based on fuck you. You’re a king, you have an army, the greatest navy in the history of the world, fuck you, blow me. We fuck it up ourselves, which we have done, our beautiful fuck you position lost forever.

— The Gambler (2014), screenplay by William Monahan, James Toback

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Gambling, suggested by David Proenza. Today’s suggestion by Michael Waters.

Trivia: Remake of The Gambler (1974).

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Michael: “John Goodman’s character (Frank the loan shark) has a meet with Jim Bennett (Marky Mark Wahlberg) set up by Big Ernie (played by Domenick Lombardozzi). Jim needs a bigger loan to pay off another loan shark. Essentially this monologue is Frank’s character introduction but it’s also a warning about a threshold the P is going to cross.”