Despite being formidable (and the ultimate winner of the final shoot-out) Vincent makes no pretense of being military or quasi-military, unlike everybody else there except Larry (the other relatively trustworthy member of this team). Vincent feels a bit out of his depth: he doesn't know military terms, he hasn't done an operation like this before, he doesn't know how to plan an ambush, and so on. He's looking for some kind of friendly human contact, because he's good with that.
He starts with the seven fat years and the seven lean years, on the basis of some shared culture. Except for Deirdre, everyone there is an older White man from an era where some nodding acquaintance with Christianity was standard. He uses that to frame what everybody is doing there in an amoral way: they're not doing this criminal job because they're bad people, it's just that good times come and then bad times come, the LORD giveth and the LORD taketh away.
As andrewmcdonaldgloucester says, Sam gives a noncommittal reply, sociable but adding nothing, except that he is sort of acknowledging that he has spent time reading the Bible too. And he's not rejecting Vincent. On that slender basis, Vincent is sufficiently emboldened to continue trying to make himself a new friend.
By admitting his ignorance and being actively ingratiating, Vincent is potentially putting himself in a weaker position than Sam. But neither then nor later does Sam ever treat Vincent as a suppliant who's weaker than him. And by the end of the adventure, Sam is probably very glad he never condescended to Vincent. Vincent is not weak, he's just a face man doing what he does.
Spence on the other hand is funny. Sean Bean rules in this movie, even in great company. You can see how he's dealing with his nerves in a counterproductive way. His questions are all wrong, and it's amusing to imagine them being answered truthfully and in detail. For example when he asks what he can infer from Deirdre's charming Irish lilt, the straight answer might go like this: "Oh me boss is an Irish terrorists who thinks you're all mercenaries irrelevant to the cause, and he'd rather kill ye all than pay ya, and he'll probably give me orders to that effect later, which I'll carry out." Not much to smile about there. Or imagine him asking people about who they've killed before around the table. Gregor: "All sorts, too many to remember, but mostly women and kids, on missions even other KGM men didn't want." Vincent: "Only a couple of witnesses and loudmouths, like you." And so on.
Sam's polite, humorous, de-escalating reply that he hurt someone's feelings once is also a warning to Spence. He's not threatening to kill Spence, but he is threatening to hurt Spence's feelings if Spence continues being a problem, and he knows just how to do it, because he's already decided that Spence is a fake, and he's confident that if need be he'll be able to bluff Spence into admitting it. Spence, really brilliantly played by Sean Bean, has no idea of this. It's not that he incorrectly believes Sam is somehow bluffing, he doesn't get that he is being warned at all. So later after Spence has made himself enough of a pest, Sam goes ahead and hurts his feelings.
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nutsberryfarm
12 years ago
vincent is doing what he does. indeed.
Silver Lining Accounting Service: "We satisfy or we eat it."
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