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Grosse Pointe Blank
Grosse Pointe Blank is a 1997 film about a troubled assassin who returns to his hometown for a contract, his ten-year high school reunion, and the girl he left behind.
- Directed by: George Armitage. Written by: Tom Jankiewicz.
- Starring: John Cusack , Minnie Driver , and Dan Aykroyd .
Martin Blank (John Cusack)
- "If I show up at your door, chances are you did something to bring me there."
- "I guess you could say I went west. You know - the way of Horatio Alger, Davy Crockett, the Donner Party..."
- "When I left, I joined the army, and when I took the service exam my psych profile fit a certain... moral flexibility would be the only way to describe it... and I was loaned out to a CIA-sponsored program, and we sort of found each other. That's how it works."
- "I know what I do isn't... moral, per se..."
- "You can never go home again, Oatman... but I guess you can shop there." (Outside the convenience store that has taken the place of his childhood home)
- "I just honestly don't know what I have in common with those people anymore... or with anyone, really. I mean, they'll all have husbands and wives and children and houses and dogs, and, you know, they'll have made themselves a part of something, and they can talk about what they do. And what am I going to say? 'I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How have you been?' I just think it'll be depressing."
- "A thousand innocent people get killed every day, but you detonate a millionaire's pet and you're marked for life."
- "I didn't get into this business to have any relationships! I don't want to join your goddamn union. Loner, lone gunman - get it? That's the whole point!"
- "Everybody's doing it, it's like the natural order. States do it - sometimes there's due process, and sometimes pilots carpet-bomb cities! Riot cops shoot demonstrators - that's indiscriminate! I don't do that!
- "Why does everyone think its personal?"
Debi Newberry (Minnie Driver)
- "Everybody's coming back to take stock of their lives. You know what I say? Leave your livestock alone."
- "If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it's...well... broken."
- "People say forgive and forget. Yeah, I don't know. I say forget about forgive and just accept. And get the hell out of town."
Mr. Grocer (Dan Aykroyd)
- "See, kid, this is what I'm talking about. We could be working together again, for God's sake. You know? Making big money, killing important people!"
- "Hey, hey - bing bing bing bing bang! POPCORN!"
- "Easy there, chief. I don't see hollow-point wound care on the menu."
- "Here's the new stuff, kid: Durazac-15. It makes Prozac feel like a decaf latte. You want a couple? I've got jars."
- "I'm gonna put a bullet in your forehead and then fuck the brain-hole!"
- "That punk is either in love with that guy's daughter or he's got a newfound respect for life!"
- (Singing) "I'll be comin' around the mountain when I come/ I'll be comin' around the mountain when I come/ I'll be blowing your fuckin' head off/ I'll be blowing your fuckin' head off/ I'll be whacking your fuckin' mind out when I come!"
- "Don't listen to him, lady - he's a professional!"
- "Uh-oh - smells like a wedding! You're breaking my heart down here, Blank! I can't aim through the tears!"
Others
- "Sir, it's out of my hands. The gods want you to go back home, and they want you to delete someone while you're there." - Marcella
- "Go see some old friends. Drink some punch, visit with what's-her-name. Don't kill anybody for a few days - see what it feels like." - Dr. Oatman
- "I'll see you at the 'I've-Peaked-and-I'm-Kidding-Myself' party." - Paul Spericki
- "You want to kill the good guy but not be the bad guy. It doesn't work like that. You've got to wait until the bad guy kills the good guy. Then when you kill the bad guy, you're the good guy." - Agent Lardner
- "Well, looking for some validation for my life, but apparently came up SHORT!" - Paul Spericki
- "Now I'm left with the aftermath of that, thinking I've got to be creative in a really interesting way here, or Martin's going to blow my brains out!" - Dr. Oatman
- "No, I'm NOT all right! I'm hurt, I'm pissed... and I gotta find a new job!" - Ultimart clerk
Dialogue
- (Part of a weekly therapy session.)
- Martin Blank: So what do we do now? Do we talk about dreams, or what's next? What's the score here?
- Dr. Oatman: You want to talk about dreams, we can talk about dreams. It's your nickel.
- Martin: I had another one about Debi.
- Dr. Oatman: That girl you're obsessed with?
- Martin: Don't you think "obsessed" is a strong word?
- Dr. Oatman: Ah, recurring dreams of pain and loss for ten years featuring the same person? Yeah, maybe it's... a bit obsessive.
- Martin: I had one where I was that television mechanical rabbit. You know, with the, the... (mimes clashing cymbals)
- Dr. Oatman: The battery bunny.
- Martin: Yeah, I was the bunny.
- Dr. Oatman: That sounds like a very, very depressed dream.
- Martin: Really?
- Dr. Oatman: Yes.
- Martin: Why?
- Dr. Oatman: Martin, it's a terrible dream! It's a depressing dream to dream about that rabbit. It's got no brain, it's got no blood, it's got no anima! It just keeps banging on those meaningless cymbals, and going and going!
- Debi Newberry: So, is there a Mrs. Mysterio?
- Martin Blank: No, but I have a cat.
- Debi: It's not the same thing.
- Martin: Well, you don't know my cat. It's very demanding.
- Debi: It? You don't know if it's a boy or a girl?
- Martin: I respect its privacy.
- Mr. Newberry: So, what have you been doing with your life?
- Martin: Um... professional killer.
- Mr. Newberry: Ah, good for you! It's a growth industry.
- Martin: Whole grain pancakes and an egg-white omelette, please.
- Waitress: What would you like in your omelette?
- Martin: Nothing in the omelette. Nothing at all.
- Waitress: Well, that's not technically an omelette.
- Martin: Well, I don't want to get into a semantic argument about it! I just want the protein, all right?
- (Debi's dad learns there's a contract on his life.)
- Mr. Newberry: Design division wants me dead over a leaky sun-roof? You want to kill me for that?
- Martin: It's not ME! Why does everybody think it's personal?
- Debi: You're a psychopath!
- Martin: No, no, no - a psychopath kills for no reason. I kill for money. It's a job. Uh... that didn't sound right.
- (Martin's secretary has discovered that several enemies are in town)
- Marcella: (on phone) Sir, I'm becoming concerned for your safety.
- Martin: I have to go.
- Marcella: Yeah, well, we all have to go sometime, sir, but we can choose when.
- Martin: Nobody chooses. (hangs up.)
- Martin Blank: Debi's house.
- Paul Spericki: Kinda crept up on you, didn't it?
- Martin: No, you drove us here.
- Paul: [pause] Yep.
- Martin: Why are you so interested in me going to my high school reunion?
- Marcella: I just find it amusing that you came from somewhere.
- Martin: Did you go to yours?
- Marcella: Yes, I did. It was just as if everybody had swelled.
- Marty: This your Beamer?
- Paul: Yeah.
- Marty: In Detroit? That's sacrilege!
- Agent McCullers: You got any ideas how you wanna wax this guy?
- Agent Lardner: Can't you just say "kill"? You always gotta romanticize it.
- Debi: You know what you need?
- Marty: What?
- Debi: Shakabuku.
- Marty: You wanna tell me what that means?
- Debi: It's a swift, spiritual kick to the head that alters your reality forever.
- Marty: Oh, that'd be good. I think.
- Marty: I'm a professional killer.
- David: Do you have to do post-graduate work for that?
- Mr. Newberry: What have you been doing with yourself?
- Marty: Uh, professional killer.
- Mr. Newberry: Good for you.It's a... growth industry.
- Mr. Newberry: Did I have you figured wrong?
- Marty: I don't know - I mean, I hope so.
- Mr. Newberry: I visualised you in a haze as one of those slackster, flannel-wearing, coffee-house misanthropes I've been seeing in Newsweek.
- Marty: No-no-no, I went the other road. Six figures, doing business with leadpipe cruelty, mercenery sensibility. You know... sports, sex, no real relationships. How about you - how have the years been treating you?
- Mr. Newberry: Well, you know me Martin - still the same old sell-out, exploiting the oppressed...
- Marty: Sure.
- Mr. Newberry: Ah what a piece of work is man, how noble... oh fuck it, let's have a drink and forget the whole damn thing.
- Marcella: Don't hang up! Wait! Did you read yesterday's offer?
- Marty: Hold on a minute.
- Marcella: It's in French. It's a Greenpeace boat. It'd be so easy.
- Marty: No way! I have scruples.
Cast
- John Cusack - Martin Blank
- Alan Arkin - Dr. Oatman
- Joan Cusack - Marcella
- Dan Aykroyd - Mr. Grocer
- Minnie Driver - Debi Newberry
- Jeremy Piven - Paul Spericki
- Hank Azaria - Agent Steve Lardner
- K. Todd Freeman - Agent Kenneth McCullers
- Mitchell Ryan - Mr. Newberry
- Barbara Harris - Mary Blank
- Duffy Taylor - Ultimart clerk
- Wendy Thorlakson - Melanie (the waitress)
- Michael Cudlitz - Bob Desteppelo
- Benny Urquidez - Felix La Pubelle
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