favorite quotes

Grady Tripp: "Okay, James, I wish you hadn't shot my girlfriend's dog. Even though Poe and I weren't exactly what you'd call simpatico, that's no reason he should've taken two in the chest"

The trunk capacity line has already been mentioned, (I loved the cowhide Tuba case) in the book, there was also a dead snake in the trunk.

Crabtree: Naturally you have other copies . . .
Tripp: I have an alternate version of the first chapter.


Tripp: something the man said led me to believe that was his car.
Crabree: Like what?
Tripp: "That's my car, *beep*








Essence: The "that which" without which the "that which" is not that which it is.

Here's a bit cut from the script at the last moment - from the first scene in the classroom where the girl is critiquing James' story while Grady/Douglas is going into his voiceover....



A GIRL with jet-black hair turns to a PALE YOUNG MAN
sitting at a desk in the back of the classroom. He is JAMES
LEER, 19. Like GRADY a moment before, he is staring out the
window.

CARRIE MCWHIRTY
Let me get this straight. The girl with the
big lips is depressed because, each night, when
her father goes off to work at the bakery, her
mother sneaks some mysterious lover into the
house. Not only does this girl have to listen
to her mother working this guy in the next
room, she has to wash the sheets each morning
before Daddy gets home. After a few weeks of
this, she starts to go a little nutty/ so Daddy
takes her to confession--only, once she gets in
the box, she gets a whiff of the priest and
realizes he's the mother's secret lover. Is
that it?

James Leer says nothing, huddling lower in the PATTY
OVERCOAT he wears.

CARRIE MCWHIRTY
I mean, Jesus. What is it with you Catholics?

It's kind of a shame that the funniest lines were all given to Maguire and Douglas, because you're right--Robert Downey Jr. does deliver everything with the perfect attitude. I actually laughed more at his jokes than at Michael Douglas's!

One of my favorite lines:
James: Do you have a mirror? It's the easiest way to tell if someone's still breathing.
Tripp: The dog is DEAD, James. I know a dead dog when I see one.

And I love a moment later, when James coughs the codine onto Tripp's coat and Grady says, "How about we try that again?" The entire "fit as a *beep* fiddle" thing cracks me up!

I have to say that, although this movie is endlessly quotable, I think half of the humor comes out of the silent moments, the double-takes, the reaction shots. I would almost like to start a "favorite reaction shots" thread. Here would be a couple of mine:

1) When Grady has to take the luggage out of the trunk, but it's resting under the dead dog's head. His hesitation is priceless.

2) When James is eating breakfast at Emily's parents' house, and he points out to Grady, with his eyes, that their dog is smelling something funny in the trunk.

3) Any scene with Grady in that bathrobe.

Credit should go not only to Michael Douglas, but to Curtis Hanson and especially Dede Allen (the great editor who also worked on Bonnie and Clyde and Dog Day Afternoon, among many other films). Comedy isn't guaranteed from a screenplay alone.

James Leer: Can I ask you something about her...?
Grady Trip: She's a transvestite.


Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is the war room!

Grady: "The dog is dead James, I know a dead dog when I see one."

Grady: "He said somethings that lead me to believe the car is his."
Crabtree: "Like what?"
Grady: "That's my car mother*beep*."

Vernon: "He probably calls everybody 'Vernon'!"

Leer: "Phew. That is a big trunk. It holds a tuba, a dead dog and a garment bag almost perfectly."
Grady: "Just like they used to say in the ads."

I just love the way James Leer suddenly comes out with, "That is a big trunk". lol

There are many great lines, which I as a writer could really empathise with. Great stuff...

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