Movie Quote of the Day (‘Get Shorty,’ With an Offbeat Exchange After an Assault)

[Chili beats up Bear, a movie stuntman, champion bodybuilder, and bodyguard who “throws out things” his boss doesn’t want.]

Chili Palmer [played by John Travolta]: “Bear, look at me. You tell your boss I don't ever want to see him again. And that means he's got to be nowhere near me, Karen, or Harry. You understand?”

[Bear, on the ground, nods.]

Chili: “Okay, get up. What are you hanging around that guy for, anyway? I mean, you were in the movies, right? You were a stuntman. What's he ever done that he can talk about? You okay?”

Bear [played by James Gandolfini] [gasping]: “Not too bad.”

Chili: “How about when you fell down the stairs?”

Bear: “Pulled my quadriceps.”

Chili: “So how many movies you been in, anyway?”

Bear [still struggling]: “About sixty.”

Chili: “No shit! What were some of them?”— Get Shorty (1995), screenplay by Scott Frank adapted from the novel by Elmore Leonard, directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

Nearly 30 years after I saw this film in the theaters, I was reminded all over again about its offbeat, hilarious dialogue when I read the recent New Yorker interview with Scott Frank.

Please note that Travolta and Gandolfini hailed from Bergen County, NJ, home of tough guys galore!