the first meeting between crude, blind, retired
Army Lt. Col. Frank Slade's (Oscar-winning Al Pacino) and his young
caretaker Charlie Simms (Chris O'Donnell): "Can't believe
they're my blood. I.Q. of sloths and the manners of banshees. He's
a mechanic, she's a homemaker. He knows as much about cars as a
beauty queen, and she bakes cookies, tastes like wing nuts. As
for the tots, they're twits. How's your skin, son? I like my aides
to be presentable.
Slade's "pearls" of wise musings (to Charlie)
and tribute to female breasts and the feminine form while seated
next to him on an airplane: ("Ooh, but I still smell her...
Women! What could you say? Who made 'em? God must have been a f--kin'
genius. The hair - they say the hair is everything, you know. Have
you ever buried your nose in a mountain of curls, just wanted to
go to sleep forever? Or lips - and when they touched yours were like
that first swallow of wine after you just crossed the desert. Tits.
Hoo-hah! Big ones, little ones, nipples starin' right out at ya,
like secret searchlights. Mmm. Legs. I don't care if they're Greek
columns or secondhand Steinways. What's between 'em - passport to
heaven. I need a drink. Yes, Mr. Simms, there's only two syllables
in this whole wide world worth hearin': Pussy. Hah! Are you listenin'
to me, son? I'm givin' ya pearls here")
Slade's graceful, sensuous tango dance scene with
the beautiful Donna (Gabrielle Anwar)
the scene of Slade's test drive of a fancy 110,000ドル
Ferrari while Charlie shouted directions, after convincing the reluctant
showroom salesman Freddie Bisco (Leonard Gaines) that he would be
accompanying him - and referring to both of them as "gray ghosts":
("He will not be unaccompanied. I'll be with him. I'm his father...
If this car performs the way I expect it to, you'll get a certified
check of 101,000ドル and change when in you come tomorrow...Freddie,
you're no spring chicken, are ya?")
the dramatic scene of Charlie's pleading with Frank
not to commit suicide by shooting himself (he shouted: "I'm
in the dark!"), with two reasons: "I'll give you two. You
can dance the tango and drive a Ferrari better than anyone I've ever
seen...Give me the gun, Colonel...If you're tangled up, just tango
on"
Slade's concluding "out of order" speech
to the student body of Baird College and to Mr. Trask (James Rebhorn)
during Charlie's disciplinary hearing for being a "snitch":
("Out of order, I'll show you out of order! You don't know what
out of order is, Mr.Trask! I'd show you, but I'm too old, I'm too
tired, I'm too f--kin' blind. If I were the man I was five years
ago, I'd take a flame-thrower to this place. Out of order,
who the hell do you think you're talkin' to? I've been around, you
know? There was a time I could see. And I have seen. Boys like these,
younger than these, their arms torn out, their legs ripped off. But
there isn't nothin' like the sight of an amputated spirit. There
is no prosthetic for that. You think you're merely sending this splendid
foot soldier back home to Oregon with his tail between his legs,
but I say you are executin' his soul! And why?
Because he's not a Baird man. Baird men. You hurt this boy, you're
gonna be Baird bums, the lot of ya. And Harry, Jimmy, Trent, wherever
you are out there, F--k You Too!...I'm not finished! As
I came in here, I heard those words - 'Cradle of Leadership.' Well,
when the bow breaks, the cradle will fall. And it has fallen here.
It has fallen. Makers of men. Creators of leaders. Be careful what
kind of leaders you're producin' here. I don't know if Charlie's
silence here today is right or wrong. I'm not a judge or jury. But
I can tell you this. He won't sell anybody out to buy his future!
And that, my friends, is called integrity! That's called courage!
Now that's the stuff leaders should be made of. Now I have come to
the crossroads in my life. I always knew what the right path was.
Without exception, I knew. But I never took it. You know why? It
was too damn hard. Now here's Charlie. He's come to the crossroads.
He has chosen a path. It's the right path. It's a path made of principle
that leads to character. Let him continue on his journey. You hold
this boy's future in your hands, Committee. It's a valuable future.
Believe me. Don't destroy it! Protect it. Embrace it. It's gonna
make ya proud one day, I promise you.")