Corruption in government. Corruption in the church. Corruption in the legal system. Corruption in the human spirit. And we are left to draw our own lines between the Hollywood version and the one we know about “in reality”.
PRIMAL FEAR
Directed by Gregory Hoblit
[b]Marty: On my first day of law school, my professor says two things. First was; “From this day forward, when your mother tells you she loves you - get a second opinion.”
Reporter: [chuckles] And?
Marty: “If you want justice, go to a whorehouse. If you wanna get fucked, go to court.”
…
Reporter: Where were you with the truth?
Marty: Truth? How do you mean?
Reporter: I’m not sure how many ways there are to mean it.
Marty: You think there’s only one? There’s only one that matters. My version of it. The one I create in the minds of the twelve jurors. If you want, you can call it something else like the illusion of truth.
…
Janet: Oh, Marty. Don’t tell me you think he didn’t do it. Has little Aaron Stampler gotten to you?
…
Marty: Yeah, I’m Martin Vail, from the public defender’s office. I’m handling the Aaron Stampler case.
Cop: Hmm, The Butcher Boy.
Marty: Yes, thank you, I forgot his real name
…
Marty: We saw each other for six months.
Janet: It was a one-night stand, Marty. It just lasted six months.
…
Alderman: Most people assume this land we’re walking on belongs to the railroad. But it doesn’t. It belongs to the Church.
Mary: The Church? So that’s the Rushman Foundation.
Alderman: That’s right. With a bunch of rich developers.
Marty: Including John Shaughnessy.
Alderman: Oh yeah. Then they got greedy. They bought up land and buildings around the Church property and tore them down. Our neighbourhood would disappear. I went to the Archbishop and said, “What are you doing to these people?” “They’re poor. They’re getting kicked out of their homes.” - “And they’re Catholic.”
Joey: Fucking A.
Alderman: He listened. I couldn’t believe it. He told them to stop developing around the Church property.
Marty: The partners hold buildings they can’t demolish and land they can’t build on. Shaughnessy loses millions.
…
Shaughnessy: This city doesn’t burn because I won’t permit it. I’m the great negotiator. You think people get that? The truth is I don’t care. The dumb bastards don’t even vote. They just eat, sleep, watch TV and occasionally fuck their wives.
Marty: Guess we should all thank you.
Shaughnessy: You’re welcome.
Marty: John, you need some new material. I’ve heard this great-city speech ten times already.
…
Shaughnessy: Your assistant’s been digging around in the Archbishop’s finances.
Marty: Yeah, well. How much did you lose when he pulled the plug from South River?
Shaughnessy: Let me tell you something. It’s a mistake to stick your thumb in the eyes of the city’s most powerful.
Marty: It’s not their eyes I’m aiming for.
Shaughnessy: Do not fuck with me, Marty.
Marty [stands up and leans over into the Mayor’s face]: John…the pipes are bursting again.
…
Marty: Your job is to sit and look innocent.
Aaron: I am innocent.
Marty: That’s it! That’s just how I want you to look!
…
Detective: The symbol B32.156 is actually catalogue code for a book discovered in a private reading room located in the church basement. That particular number, the B part, refers to a book, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. When we opened the book to page 156 we discovered an underlined passage.
Janet: Could you please read this underlined passage to the court?
Detective: “No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.”
Janet: Thank you. What does that passage mean to you?
Dtective: Well, to me it’s simple. The killer thought his victim was two-faced, dishonest in some way.
…
Marty: What were you doing at Aaron’s apartment? What were you looking for?
Alex: A tape.
Marty: A tape? A videotape?
Alex: Yeah.
Marty: Of what?
Alex: Sex stuff.
Marty: Sex stuff?
Alex: Do I have to draw a picture for you?
…
Tommy: Heeere’s motive.
…
Tommy: You told us the third man did it. You got your third man. And a fourth man and a fifth man…
…
Janet: Do you know what I would do if someone did that to me? I would kill him, I wouldn’t hesitate. I would stab him 78 times. I would chop off his fingers, slash his throat open, carve numbers in his chest, gouge out his eyes, I swear to God!.. But that’s me. No further questions, your honor.
Roy: Where the hell are you going?!
Janet: Excuse me:
Roy: Hey, you look at me when I’m talking to you, bitch!
Judge: Mr. Stampler!
Roy: Fuck you, lady! Come here!
…
Marty: You’re good. You are really good.
Roy: Yeah, I did get caught, though, didn’t I?
Marty: So there never…there never was a Roy?
Roy: Jesus Christ, Marty. If that’s what you think, I’m disappointed in you. There never was an Aaron counselor.[/b]