Collateral Movie Quotes
Vincent
Look in the mirror. Paper towels, clean cab. Limo company some day. How much you got saved?
Max
That ain't any of your business.
Vincent
Someday? Someday my dream will come? One night you will wake up and discover it never happened. It's all turned around on you. It never will. Suddenly you are old. Didn't happen, and it never will, because you were never going to do it anyway. You'll push it into memory and then zone out in your barco lounger, being hypnotized by daytime TV for the rest of your life. Don't you talk to me about murder. All it ever took was a down payment on a Lincoln town car. That girl,you can't even call that girl. What the fuck are you still doing driving a cab?
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Vincent
A guy gets on the MTA here L.A. and dies. Think anybody'll notice?
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Vincent
Max, six billion people on the planet, you're getting bent out of shape cause of one fat guy.
Max
Well, who was he?
Vincent
What do you care? Have you ever heard of Rwanda?
Max
Yes, I know Rwanda.
Vincent
Well, tens of thousands killed before sundown. Nobody's killed people that fast since Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Did you bat an eye, Max?
Max
What?
Vincent
Did you join Amnesty International, Oxfam, Save the Whales, Greenpeace, or something? No. I off one fat Angelino and you throw a hissy fit.
Max
Man, I don't know any Rwandans.
Vincent
You don't know the guy in the trunk, either.
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Vincent
Get with it. Millions of galaxies of hundreds of millions of stars, in a speck on one in a blink. That's us, lost in space. The cop, you, me... Who notices?
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Vincent
Take comfort in knowing you never had a choice.
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Max
Hey.
[stuttering]
Max
He, he, he fell on the cab. He fell, he fell from up there on the motherfucking cab. Shit. I think he's dead.
Vincent
Good guess.
Max
You killed him?
Vincent
No, I shot him. Bullets and the fall killed him.
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Vincent
They project onto you their flaws, what they don't like about themselves. I had a father like that.
Max
Mothers are worse.
Vincent
Wouldn't know. My mother died before I remember her.
Max
What about your father?
Vincent
Hated everything I did. Got drunk, beat me up. In and out of foster homes, that kinda thing.
Max
And then?
Vincent
I killed him. I was twelve.
[pauses, then laughs]
Vincent
I'm kidding. He died of liver disease.
Max
Well, I'm sorry.
Vincent
No, you're not.
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Vincent
Okay, look, here's the deal. Man, you were gonna drive me around tonight, never be the wiser, but El Gordo got in front of a window, did his high dive, we're into Plan B. Still breathing? Now we gotta make the best of it, improvise, adapt to the environment, Darwin, shit happens, I Ching, whatever man, we gotta roll with it.
Max
I Ching? What are you talking about, man? You threw a man out of a window.
Vincent
I didn't throw him. He *fell*
Max
Well what did he do to you?
Vincent
What?
Max
What did he do to *you*?
Vincent
Nothing. I only met him tonight.
Max
You just met him once and you killed him like that?
Vincent
What? I should only kill people after I get to know them?
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Max
First time in L.A.?
Vincent
No. Tell you the truth, whenever I'm here I can't wait to leave. It's too sprawled out, disconnected. You know? That's me. You like it?
Max
It's my home.
Vincent
17 million people. This was a country, it'd be the fifth biggest economy in the world and nobody knows each other. I read about this guy, gets on the MTA here, dies.
Max
Oh.
Vincent
Six hours he's riding the subway before anybody notices his corpse doing laps around L.A., people on and off sitting next to him. Nobody notices.
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Vincent
Yo, homie... that my briefcase?
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Vincent
Most people - same job, same gig, doing the same thing 10 years from now. Us, we don't know what we are doing 10 minutes from now.
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Vincent
There's no good reason, there's no bad reason to live or to die.
Max
Then what are you?
Vincent
I'm indifferent.
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[after Vincent and Max load a corpse into the cab's trunk]
Vincent
Lets go.
Max
Hey, why don't you just take the cab?
Vincent
Take the cab?
Max
Yeah, you take it. I'll - I'll chill. I'll - I'll just chill. They don't even know who's driving these things half the time anyway. They never check or anything. Okay... so... just - just take it. You, me...
Vincent
You promise not to tell anybody right?
Max
Yeah... yeah... yeah... promise.
Vincent
Get in the fucking car.
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Vincent
Max, I do this for a living!
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Max
It's a waste of money. Won't mean a thing to her.
Vincent
[Staring him down]
She carried you in her womb for nine months. People buy flowers. Buy flowers.
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Felix
Do you believe in Santa Claus?
Max
No.
Felix
Nor do I. Nor do I, but my children do. They are still small. But do you know who they like even better than Santa Claus? His helper, Pedro el Negro. Black Peter. There's an old Mexican tale that tells of how Santa Claus got so very busy looking out for the good children that he had to hire some help to look out for the bad children. So he hired Pedro. And Santa Claus gave him a list with all the names of all the bad children. And Pedro would come every night to check them out. And the people, the little kids that were misbehaving, that were not saying their prayers, Pedro would leave a little toy donkey on their window. A little burro. And he would come back, and if the children were still misbehaving, Pedro would take them away, and nobody would ever see them again. Now, if I am being Santa Claus, and you are Pedro, how do you think jolly Santa Claus would feel if one day Pedro came into his office and said, 'I lost the list.' How fucking furious do you think he will get?
Max
I think... I think you should tell the guy standing behind me to put his gun away.
Felix
What?
Max
I said, I think you should tell him to put the gun down before I rip it out of his hand and beat his bitch-ass to death with it.
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Fanning
[cops are in alley outside Ramon's apartment]
Ramon went through that window... splat. Glass here, then tires rolled over it.
Richard Weidner
Maybe he jumped.
Fanning
Sure... he's depressed so he jumps four stories out of a window onto his head. "Wow, that feels better." Picks himself up. "Now I think I'll go on with the rest of my day."
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Max
You're full of shit.
Vincent
I'm full of shit? You're a monument of it. You even bullshitted yourself, all I am is taking out the garbage, killing bad people.
Max
Yeah, well that's what you said.
Vincent
You believed me?
Max
Then what'd they do?
Vincent
How do I know, you know? They all got that 'witness for the prosecution' look to me. Probably some major federal indictment of somebody who majorly does not want to get indicted.
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Annie
Well, how many cabbies do you know get you into an argument to save you money?
Max
If there were two of us I'd have to kill the other one. I don't like competition.
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[Max is on the radio dispatch with his boss, Lenny]
Max
Yeah, Lenny, what's up? It's me.
Lenny
Just got off the phone with the cops. Desk sergeant called to check if you brought the cab in?
Max
Yeah, so?
Lenny
So, aside from I hate talking to cops, they tell me you crashed the goddamn cab?
Max
No, no, I got crashed into. I didn't...
Lenny
Do I care what, where, why? You're paying.
[Vincent is trying to think of what Max should say next]
Max
It was an accident. I'm not liable.
Lenny
Bullshit. I'm making you liable. It's coming out of your goddamn pocket.
Max
I can't do that, that's my boss.
Vincent
So?
Max
I need my job.
Vincent
No, you don't.
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Vincent
Someday my dream will come. One night you'll wake up and you'll discover it never happened. It's all turned around on you and it never will. Suddenly you are old, didn't happened and it never will, 'cause you were never going to do it anyway.
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[after Max crashes the cab]
Vincent
Well, that was brilliant...
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[warning Max when two policemen have them pulled over]
Vincent
If you open that trunk, they go inside.
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Vincent
You're alive. I saved you. Do I get any thanks? No. All you can do is clam up. You wanna talk? Tell me to fuck off?
Max
Fuck off.
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Max
Why didn't you just kill me and get another cab driver?
Vincent
Cause you're good. We're in this together. Fates intertwined. Cosmic Coincidence.
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Daniel
I mean, everybody and their momma knew you don't just come up and talk to Miles Davis. I mean, he may have looked like he was chilling, but he was absorbed. This one hip couple, one of them tried to shake his hand one day. And the guy says, "Hi, my name is..." Miles said, "Get the fuck outta my face, you jive motherfucker, and take your silly bitch with you."
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Vincent
You attract attention, you're going to get people killed who didn't need to be.
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[over the dispatch system]
Lenny
Still there? I'm talking to you. Max. Max!
Vincent
He's not paying you a damn thing.
Lenny
Who the hell is this?
Vincent
Albert Ricardo, Assistant U.S. Attorney, a passenger in this cab, and I'm reporting you to the D.M.V.
Lenny
Let's not, oh, let's not get excited.
Vincent
Not get excited? How am I supposed to not get excited? Listen, you try to extort a working man. You know goddamn well your collision policy and general liability umbrella will cover the damages. And what are you trying to pull, you sarcastic prick?
Lenny
Look, I was just trying to...
Vincent
Tell it to him.
[to Max]
Vincent
Tell him he's an asshole. Go ahead.
Vincent
Tell him he pulls this shit again, you're gonna stick this yellow cab up his fat ass.
Max
[to Lenny]
And, and next time you pull any shit, I'm gonna... I'm gonna have to stick this yellow cab up... up your fat ass.
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Vincent
Limos, huh?
Max
Don't start.
Vincent
Hey, I'm not the one lying to my mother.
Max
She hears what she wants to hear. I don't disillusion her.
Vincent
Yeah, right. Maybe she hears what you tell her.
Max
Whatever I tell her is never good enough anyway. It's always been that way. So whats at El Rodeo?
Vincent
Just drive.
Vincent
They project onto you their flaws. What they don't like about themselves, their lives, whatever. They rank on you instead.
Max
How do you know?"
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Traffic Cop #2
Hey, is this blood up here on your windshield?
Max
Yeah, uh, yeah. I hit a deer.
Traffic Cop #1
You hit a deer?
Max
Yeah, over on, uh, it was on Slauson.
Traffic Cop #1
A South Central deer?
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Daniel
Just when I thought you were a cool guy.
Vincent
I am a cool guy, with a job I contracted to do.
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Vincent
[Max and Vincent have pulled up outside El Rodeo, an LA nightclub]
Give me your wallet. Come on.
Max
Give you my wallet. For what?
Vincent
I'll hold it for you in case the people inside search you.
Max
Who's searching?
Vincent
The people inside. Go in, ask for Felix. He's expecting you.
Max
Felix?
Vincent
Yeah.
Max
What does he look like?
Vincent
I don't know. I've never met him.
Max
Who is he?
Vincent
He's connected to the guys who hired me.
Max
I don't get it.
Vincent
You destroyed my workups. Number Four is due. What'd you think? The night's over? Called on account of rain? You go in there. Say you're me. Score the backups. They'll be on flash drive or CD.
Max
Me? How come you don't go?
Vincent
I don't meet people. Risk management. Anonymity. I protect mine. You're not gonna' screw that up. I got a contract with they're bosses. These guys don't get to meet me. They don't know what I look like.
Vincent
They will kill you. Now, you've got ten minutes. At 10:01 I drive to the hospital and execute your mother on my way out of town. And don't pretend indifference.
Max
I can't do this. I can't.
Vincent
What are you talking about? Sure you can, man. Come on. Hey! Hey!
Max
Look, man. If I do this, I'm just gonna end up getting other people killed.
Vincent
Out of options, Max. Just take comfort in knowing you never had a choice.
Max
How long have you been doing this?
Vincent
Why?
Max
Just in case they ask.
Vincent
Private sector, six years.
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Max
The fat man, the penthouse guy, the jazz man. That leaves two.
Felix
Can you finish?
Max
In six years, when have I not?
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Max
What's with you, man?
Vincent
As in?
Max
As in, if somebody had a gun to your head and said, "You gotta tell me what's going on with this person over here or I'm gonna kill you. What is driving him? What is he thinking?" You know, you couldn't do it, could you? Because they would have to kill your ass because you don't know what anyone else is thinking. I think you're low, my brother. Way low.
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[preparing to impersonate Vincent and meet with his bosses]
Max
How long have you been doing this? In case anyone asks?
Vincent
Private sector? Six years.
Max
Uh... you get health benefits? Pension...?
Vincent
No, and no paid vacation. Quit stalling, and get in there.
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Annie
...Go Ahead. Say it.
Max
Say what?
Annie
No, say it. You we're right, your way was faster.
Max
Ah, I got lucky with the lights.
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Vincent
Lady Macbeth. Leave the seats. The light's green. We're sitting here.
Max
[a car horn honks behind Max. The car whips around them to get through the intersection]
Asshole!
Vincent
You no longer have the cleanest cab in La-La Land. You gotta live with that. Focus on the job. Drive.
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Max
I brought you flowers.
Ida
What'm I do with flowers?
Max
Cheer up.
Ida
How? By worrying that you spend money on stuff that's just gon' wilt and die?
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Pedrosa
What's up? Why do you want to know about our case?
Fanning
Any unusual activity tonight?
Pedrosa
Like what?
Fanning
That relates to a series of murders in Wilshire Central or West Hollywood?
Pedrosa
All quiet on the western front. Various people are asleep. Various people are awake. They come and go in cars, pickups, taxis. Other than that, we watch the air move.
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Fanning
According to the cab company's dispatch unit, he's been driving that cab for twelve years.
Pedrosa
So what?
Fanning
So you're telling me the guy walks into a phone booth, and shazam, changes into a meat-eater super assassin? What's he do, squeeze them in between fares?
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Max
I picked up a tail.
Felix
Federal?
Max
I don't know. You tell me. That's why I tossed the list, the work-ups, all of that shit. To protect, in part, your Hermes, Facconable ass.
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Felix
Now you're here. Why?
Max
I lost my stuff. The list.
Felix
I want you to listen to me real well. Special groups put together the list of dedos.
Max
Dedos?
Felix
Fingers, informants. Signal interceptions with voice-recognition software, surveillance. A very expensive counter-intelligence worked up that list. An important list, wouldn't you say? And you lost it?
Max
Yeah, I'm sorry. Sorry.
Felix
Sorry? 'Sorry' does not put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
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Max
How do you like being a lawyer?
Annie
What are you, psychic?
Max
Little bit. There's the dark pin-stripe suit, elegant, not too flashy, that rules out advertising, plus a top-drawer briefcase that you live out of. And the purse. A Bottega. Anyway, a man gets in my cab with a sword, I figure he's a sushi chef. You: Clarence Darrow.
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Felix
What do you think?
Max
I think...
[Max sees one of Felix's bodyguard draw his gun out]
Max
I think you should you should tell that guy behind me to put his gun down.
Felix
What?
Max
I said I think you should tell that guy behind me to put his gun down, before I take it and beat his bitch ass with it.
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Vincent
You got ten minutes. 10:01? I drive the cab to the hospital and execute your mother on my way out of town, and don't pretend indifference.
Max
I can't do this.
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Vincent
Of all the cabbies in L.A. I get Max, Sigmund Freud meets Dr. Ruth.
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Traffic Cop #2
Hey, man, what did you do, have a food fight in here?
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Max
Okay. All right. Six years. You get benefits? Or, you know, like insurance? Pension?
Vincent
No, no paid sick leave. Quit stalling. Get out of the cab.
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Sergeant
Put your gun down!
Max
Get back put your hands down! Look,I gotta go!
Sergeant
Put down the gun!
Max
Stop moving! Stop moving. When did this become a negotiation?
[Max makes the sergeant cuff himself to the crashed cab]
Max
Clap your hands together. Hold your hands together. Listen, somebody's gonna get killed if I don't go right now. Now cuff yourself. I'm going to Sixth and Fig. Call the cops.
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Vincent
You Like Jazz?
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Vincent
I am very happy to meet you, Mrs. Durocher.
Ida
Oh, just call me Ida.
Vincent
Ida. I was with Max when he got the call.
Ida
You came all the way over here to see me?
Vincent
It's nothing, ma'am.
Ida
Tell my son. You have to hold a gun to his head to make him do anything.
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Max
I never learned to listen to jazz.
Vincent
It's off-melody. Behind the notes. Not what's expected. Improvising, like tonight.
Max
Like tonight?
Vincent
Most people, ten years from now, same job, same place, same routine. Everything the same. Just keeping it safe over and over and over. Ten years from now... man, you don't know where you'll be ten minutes from now. Do you?
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Fanning
Since when is LAPD working for the Feebs?
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Max
My man, you all right?
[Max talking to a body that had just landed on his cab, after falling from a building]
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Daniel
Jazz ain't the draw that it used to be...
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