BLOW [2001]

Based On A True Story

Danbury wasn't a prison, it was a crime school. 

I went in with a Bachelor of marijuana, came out with a Doctorate of cocaine. 

[George]

Money isn't real, George. It doesn't matter. It only seems like it does.

[Fred Jung]

[George]: May the wind always be at your back and the sun upon your face. 

[Fred Jung]: And may the wings of destiny carry you aloft to dance with the stars. 

*****

SERENDIPITY [2001]

Destiny ... 
With A Sense Of Humor

Jonathan: Where did you find this place?
Sara: I first came in because of the name.
Serendipity.
It's one of my favorite words.
Jonathan: It is? Why?
Sara: 'Cause it's such a nice sound for what it means: a fortunate accident.
Except I don't really believe in accidents.
I think fate's behind everything.
Jonathan: Oh, you do? Fate's behind everything?
Sara: I think so.
Jonathan: Everything's predestined?
We don't have any choice at all?
Sara: No, I think we make our own decisions.
I just think that fate sends us little signs,
and it's how we read the signs that determinas whether we're happy or not.
Jonathan: Little signals.
Fortunate accidents.
Lucky discoveries.
Like Colombus and America.
Sara: Yeah. Or Fleming discovering...
[both of them] Penicillin.
Jonathan: Fleming is his name?
Sara: Yes.
Jonathan: Or "Jonathan and the Gloves".
Sara: I don't know that one.
Jonathan: You don't know that story?
It's an old folk tale. Classic.
Our hero, Jonathan, goes out in search of black gloves.
And in the perfect act of seredipiocity or serendipaciousness,
he runs into a beautiful attractive English girl with a boyfriend.

Jonathan: So, you're gonna meet your boyfriend now, or what?
Sara: No, I think he's probably out doing what you're doing.
Jonathan: Getting a crush on someone else's girlfriend?

Jonathan: Here's the story.
 A long time ago in Ethiopia, there was this queen named Cassiopeia,
who taught she was the most beautiful woman in the entire world,
and there wasn't anybody in the kingdom who wasn't offended
by this woman's relentless vanity.
And then one day, she really screwed up and offended the gods.
I don't remember what she did and I don't remember who she offended.
But it was bad.
She crossed the line.
But anyway, Poseidon, the sea god,
punished Cassiopeia by placing her in the heavens upside down in her throne,
stuck for eternity with her skirt around her shoulders,
and all the blood rushing to her head.
And now she's just a constellation in the sky,
a bunch of English freckles in the shape of a throne.
So she made one tragic mistake.
Sara: And paid for eternity.

Sara gives him $5 and a pen: Write your name and number down.
Jontahan: On a $5 bill?
Sara: Just do it.
Jonathan: You are a strange and interesting woman.
Now what?
Sara: Wait here.
[she cross the street and buy a peppermint with that money]
Jonathan: Hey, what the hell was that?
Sara: When that $5 bill makes its way back into my hands, I'll be able to call you.
And when you hear my voice on the other end, then you'll believe in fate, won't you?

Sara: See this book?
When I got home tonight, I'm gonna write my name and number inside this book.
And then first thing tomorrow morning, I'll sell it to a used-book store.
Jonathan: Which one? [Sara shrugging]
You're not gonna tell me, you're not gonna tell me, why not?
Sara: Now, every time you go past an old bookstore,
you're gonna have to go inside to see if it's there.

I honestly think it's dangerous to use the term 'soulmate'.
It implies there's some magical element that we have no control over, like fate or destiny.
I think holding onto beliefs like that stops us doing the real work.
~Sara Thomas

The universe keeps revealing her to me, screwing with my head.
~Jonathan Trager

Dean: Why would you risk your relationship with Halley just to search for some pipe dream?
Jonathan: I'm sure that I love Halley, all right?
And maybe every time you fall in love with somebody,
it's a completely different experience, so it's a mistake to compare them.
It's like Halley is The Godfater, Part II.
Dean: She's what?
Jonathan: Godfather, Part II.
That was an incredible movie.
Might be better than the original, all right?
But no matter how much you love The Godfather, Part II,
you still have to see the original to understand and appreciate the sequel, don't ya?

You see, that is what happens when people get hooked on the New Age life.
They end up sitting at home burning candles for Mr. Right,
when Mr. Good Enough For Right Now is waiting at the corner bar.
~Eve

I've just spent the entire flight staring into the sky, thinking.
Not about my fiance, but about this mystery guy I met a million and a half hours ago.
A guy I don't even remember, except for this vague picture I have inside my head.
It was just a few seconds. A fragment, really.
And it was like in that moment,
the whole universe existed just to bring us together.
That's why I'm here.
That's why I'm gonna let fate take me wherever it wants to go.
Because when all this is over,
at least I'm never gonna have to think of him ever again.
Let's just pray he's a bald fascist who picks his nose and wipes it under the car seat.
~Sara Thomas

 Jonathan: It's not a clue. It's a sign.
Dean: What's the difference?
Jonathan: A clue is what a detective uses to find a suspect.
The receipt, the warehouse, that French guy...
Those are clues. [points to bridal shop] This is a sign.
Me never finding the book, that's a sign.
Sara never finding the $5 bill, that's a sign.
Dean: How could something not happening be a sign?
Jonathan: Maybe the absence of signs is a sign.

Dean: If you don't do this. you may never find out who Sara is.

Jonathan: Maybe I was never supposed to.

Maybe all this is just a maze designed to lead me directly back to where I started.

Which is getting married.

Do you remember the philosopher Epictetus?

He said, "If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid."

That's what you've done.

~Dean Kansky

*****

KATE & LEOPOLD [2001]

If They Lived In The Same Century 

They'd Be Perfect For Each Other

Time. Time, it has been proposed, is the fourth dimension. 

And yet, for mortal man, time has no dimension at all. 

We are like horses with blinders, seeing only what lies before us. 

Forever guessing the future and fabricating the past.

[Roebling]

I don't want it to be Sunday. I want more of this, more 1876. 

[Kate] 

Sunday is the day before the day I work, so it gets poisoned. 

[Kate]

The brave are simply those with the clearest vision of what is before them - glory and danger alike - and, notwithstanding, go out to meet it.

[Leopold, quoting Thucydides]

Marriage is the promise of eternal love. 

As a man of honor I cannot promise eternally what I've never felt momentarily. 

[Leopold]

Otis always told me love is a leap. Lamentably, I was never inspired to jump. 

[Leopold]

What has happened to the world? 

You have every convenience and comfort, yet no time for integrity. 

[Leopold]

Where I come from the meal is the result of reflection and study. 

Menus are prepared in advance, timed to perfection. 

It is said that without the culinary arts, the crudeness of reality would be unbearable. 

[Leopold]

[Stuart]: I found it. 

[Kate]: What did you find?

[Stuart]: The portal. A crack in the fabric of time. 

It was over the East River, Kate, just where I said it would be.

[Kate]: You found the portal?

[Stuart]: A portal into April 28th, 1876. 

I jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge and took a walk in 1876 today. 

I followed the Duke of Albany around old New York. 

Are you listening? 

[Kate]: Avidly. 

[Stuart]: This here's the twist, Kate. Here's the kicker. 

[Kate]: What's the kicker?

[Stuart, whispering]: He followed me home.

[Charlie]: Don't you think it's time you told me who you are. 

I mean, don't get me wrong, doing the Duke thing with you 24/7 is a blast, but really. 

Who are you?

[Leopold, after a pause]: I'm the man that loves your sister. 

[Kate]: Why are you standing? 

[Leopold]: I am accustomed to stand when a lady leaves the table. 

[so Charlie gets up]

[Kate]: I'm not very good with men. 

[Leopold]: Perhaps you haven't found the right one. 

[Kate]: Maybe. 

Or, uh... maybe that whole love thing is just a grown-up version of Santa Claus; 
just a myth we've been fed since childhood. 

So, we keep buying magazines, joining clubs, and doing therapy and watching movies with hit pop songs played over love montages all in a pathetic attempt to explain why our love Santa keeps getting caught in the chimney. 

[Kate]: Are you for real? 

[Leopold]: I believe so. 

[Stuart]: It is no more crazy than a dog finding a rainbow. 

Dogs are colourblind, Gretchen. They don't see colour. 

Just like we don't see time. We can feel it, we can feel it passing, but we can't see it. 

It's just like a blur. 

It's like we're riding in a supersonic train and the world is just blowing by, 
but imagine if we could stop that train, eh, Gretchen? 

Imagine if we could stop that train, get out, look around, and see time for what it really is? 

A universe, a world, a thing as unimaginable as colour to a dog, and as real, as tangible as that chair you're sitting in. 

Now if we could see it like that, really look at it, then maybe we could see the flaws as well as the form. 

And that's it; it's that simple. 

That's all I discovered. 

I'm just a... a guy who saw a crack in a chair that no one else could see. 

I'm that dog who saw a rainbow, only none of the other dogs believed me. 

[Gretchen]: I believe you. 

*****

I AM SAM [2001]

Love Is All You Need

All you need is love.

[Lucy]

I want no other daddy but you. [shouts]

Did you hear that? 

I said I didn't want any other daddy but him. 

Why don't you write that down? 

[Lucy, being observed]

[Sam]: You think what they think. 

[Rita]: It doesn't matter what I think. It matters that we win.

[Sam]: No, you think what they think. You think Sam can't take care of Lucy! 

[Rita]: Sam, it doesn't matter what I think! 

[Sam]: It matters to me! 

[Sam]: Yeah, but I tried, I tried hard. 

[Rita]: Try harder! 

[Sam]: Yeah, but you don't know, you don't know! 

[Rita]: I don't know WHAT?

[Sam]: Yeah, you don't know what is like when you try, and you try, and you try, and you try, and you don't ever get there! 

Because you were born perfect and I was born like this, and you're perfect! 

[Rita]: Oh, is that right? 

[Sam]: People like you don't know... 

[Rita]: People like me? 

[Sam]: People like you don't know what is like to get hurted. 

Because you don't have feelings. 

People like you don't feel anything! 

[Sam]: Lucy doesn't need me anymore. 

She has a new family now... and she doesn't need me anymore.

[Rita]: Is that what she said? 

[Sam]: It's because I know that. Because I just know that. 

[Rita]: Well. That's the first stupid thing I've ever heard you say.

[Rita]: Now, Ms. Cossell, in all the time that you've known them, have you ever questioned Sam's ability as a father? 

[Annie]: Never.

[Rita]: Never? 

[Annie]: Never. 

Look at Lucy. She's strong. She displays true empathy for people, all kinds of people. 

I know that you all think she's as smart as she is despite him, but it's because of him. 

[Rita]: So what you're saying is you don't worry about Lucy's future? 

[Annie]: No, I do. 

[Rita]: Ah... 

[Annie]: I worry all the time. 

I worry if they take Lucy away from her father they will take away an enormous piece of her, and I worry that she will spend the rest of her life trying to fill that hole. 

[Conner Rhodes]: Are you a retard too? 

[Lucy]: No! 

[Conner Rhodes]: How do you know?

[Lucy]: Because he told me. 

[Conner Rhodes]: But he's a retard!

[Lucy]: It takes one to know one. 

[Lucy]: Why are men bald? 

[Sam]: Sometimes they're bald because their head is shiny and they don't have hair on it. 

So their head is just more of their face.

[Lucy]: I won't read the word! 

[Sam]: I'm your father and I'm telling you to read the word. 
Cause I can tell you to because I'm your father. 
[Lucy]: I'm stupid.

[Sam]: You are not stupid! 

[Lucy]: Yes, I am. 

[Sam]: No, you are not stupid 'cause you can read that word. 

[Lucy]: I don't wanna read it if you can't. 

[Sam]: No, because it makes me happy! 

It makes me happy hearing you read. 

Yeah, it makes me happy when you're reading. 

[Lucy]: Daddy, did God made for you to be like this or was it an accident?

[Sam]: Ok, what do you mean? 

[Lucy]: I mean you're different. 

[Sam]: But what do you mean? 

[Lucy]: You're not like other daddies. 

[Sam]: I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm sorry.

[Lucy]: It's ok, daddy. It's ok. Don't be sorry. 

I'm lucky. Nobody else's daddy ever comes to the park. 

[Sam]: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah, we are lucky. Aren't we lucky? Yeah! 

*****

AMELIE [2001]

She'll Change Your Life

On September 3rd 1973, at 6:28pm and 32 seconds, a bluebottle fly capable of 14,670 wing beats a minute landed on Rue St Vincent, Montmartre. 

At the same moment, on a restaurant terrace nearby, the wind magically made two glasses dance unseen on a tablecloth. 

Meanwhile, in a 5th-floor flat, 28 Avenue Trudaine, Paris 9, returning from his best friend's funeral, Eugène Colère erased his name from his address book. 

 At the same moment, a sperm with one X chromosome, belonging to Raphaël Poulain, made a dash for an egg in his wife Amandine. 

Nine months later, Amélie Poulain was born.

[Narrator] 

With a prompter in every cellar window whispering comebacks, 

shy people would have the last laugh.

[Narrator] 

It's better to help people than garden gnomes.

[Amelie]

She doesn't relate to other people. She was always a lonely child.

[Amelie] 

Without you, today's emotions would be the scurf of yesterday's.

[Hipolito, the Writer]

We pass the time of day to forget how time passes.

[Hipolito, the Writer] 

Failed writer, failed life... I love the word 'fail.' Failure is human destiny.   

Failure teaches us that life is but a draft, a long rehearsal for a show that will never play.

[Hipolito, the Writer]

You mean she would rather imagine herself relating to an absent person 

than build relationships with those around her?

[Raymon Dufayel, the Glass Man] 

*****