Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, John Slattery, Anthony Mackie, Terence Stamp, Michael Kelly, Anthony Ruivivar, James Carville, Mary Matalin, David Bishins, Donnie Keshawarz, Mike DiSalvo
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story:
Romantic sci-fi thriller loosely based on the Philip K. Dick short story “Adjustment Team”, written and directed by George Nolfi. The story follows politician David Norris (Matt Damon) who just as he is on the brink of winning a Senate seat meets a ballerina named Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt). Though David is instantly smitten, mysterious men conspire to keep him away from her. David learns that he is facing the powerful agents of Fate itself, and after glimpsing the future laid out for him, he must either accept a predetermined path that does not include Elise or else defy Fate to be with her.
Our Favorite Quote:
'Free will is a gift, you'll never know how to use until you fight for it.' - Harry Mitchell (The Adjustment Bureau) Click To Tweet
Best Quotes (Total Quotes: 117)
[first lines]
Voice of announcer: Let’s welcome our favorite alumnus and the next senator of the state of New York, David Norris.
[speaking in front of a crowd at a political rally]
David Norris: Thank you!
[a woman in the crowd shouts his name]
Voice of woman in crowd: David!
David Norris: Thank you! Well, hi there.
[the crowd cheers]
David Norris: My name is David Norris and I’d like to be the next senator of the great state of New York.
[speaking at a press conference with David standing beside him]
Michael Bloomberg: For the last eight years, David Norris has represented Brooklyn, New York city and America.
[speaking in front of a crowd at a political rally]
David Norris: This is not going to be easy getting there, I have some real opposition. And what they’re saying about me is that I’m too young to hold this office.
[speaking in front of a crowd at a political rally]
David Norris: But that’s okay, cause even the same people who say that young people don’t vote, young people don’t care about politics, but I’m here to tell you, you’re future is about you’re choices, not theirs. So today I’d like to put them on notice, because come November I want them to know that it was young people like you who kicked their asses.
[the crowd cheers]
[answering his cell phone]
Harry Mitchell: Yeah.
Richardson: Any ideas?
Harry Mitchell: I’m working on it.
Richardson: Keep me posted.
Harry Mitchell: Yeah.
[in his hotel David watches the CNN news show TV as they discuss him]
CNN News Presenter: David Norris, until recently he was way ahead of the polls. Mary Matalin and James Carville are here. Uh, Mary, this is a surprise still.
Mary Matalin: It is a surprise. Such political promise, his compelling story. He grew up in a rough neighborhood in Brooklyn, he overcame the loss of his entire family. His mother and his brother when he was ten, his father before he got to high school. He got over that. He had such promise.
CNN News Presenter: And he was what, the youngest person ever elected to the house of representatives, James?
James Carville: Yeah, he was elected when was actually twenty four. But he gets into a bar room fight the night that he’s elected! I kind of like this, all right. Then you have this photo coming out in The Post. I think that the cretion of this stuff was just too much for the voters. I, there, there, was su, there kind of reeked of some level of, of imaturity here, of impulsiveness.
Mary Matalin: People want maturity, they want adults in congress.
[four men in dark suits and hats walk on the rooftop of a building and stand at it’s edge]
Richardson: Big night for us, gentlemen. Everybody ready?
[the men nod in agreement. Richardson looks at Mitchell]
Richardson: You look exhausted. You should take a vacation when all this is finished. You’ve earned it.
Harry Mitchell: I’m not sure the kind of tired I am can be fixed by a vacation.
Richardson: Everybody needs a vacation. Even us. All right, let’s get him back on track.
[after losing the votes in Suffolk County]
Kar: NBC has us up next.
David Norris: I’m going to go work on my speech.
[he starts walking away]
Charlie Traynor: David? David? Hey?
David Norris: I’m sorry I wasted your time, Charlie.
NBC News Presenter: NBC is now calling the election for Roger Lynnfield. After a shockingly a poor showing at Suffolk County and his home county Kings, it now appears David Norris will lose this election badly.
[David is in the men’s bathroom practicing his speech when he hears a noise]
David Norris: Hello?
[Elise comes out from one of the booths]
David Norris: It’s the mens.
Elise Sellas: Yep. Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I just didn’t know what to do. Because I heard you come in and say hello and I probably should have say hi, but then I thought that would be weird, cause it’s the mens. Um, and then you started talking to yourself and, and it was obviously very personal, so I was kind of stuck in no mans land. And, uh, then it all got it to be too much, so I came out.
David Norris: What are you doing in here?
Elise Sellas: Just, I’m hiding from security.
David Norris: Why?
Elise Sellas: I crashed a wedding, upstairs.
David Norris: People still do that?
Elise Sellas: It was a dare.
David Norris: Who dared you to crash a wedding?
Elise Sellas: Me.
David Norris: Oh! I crashed a wedding once.
Elise Sellas: Did you?
David Norris: Yeah. In high school.
Elise Sellas: Oh!
[they both start laughing]
David Norris: But I got caught, I spent the night in jail.
Elise Sellas: I think that happened more that once from what I heard.
Elise Sellas: You’re that guy running for senate, aren’t you?
David Norris: Yeah, I am that guy.
Elise Sellas: And judging from your speech, you’re not winning?
David Norris: No.
Elise Sellas: Oh, that’s too bad the other guy’s such a tool.
David Norris:[laughing] He is a tool! I wish I could have made that clearer in the campaign ads.
Elise Sellas: Yeah, I mean personally I think mooning your friends at a college reunion is no big deal.
David Norris: The Post did not have to run the photo.
Elise Sellas: Oooph, what a page!
David Norris: Yeah, I know.
[they both laugh]
Elise Sellas: It’s my favorite moment of your whole campaign.
David Norris: Really? I could have used you on my team a couple months ago.
Elise Sellas: Yeah, I could help poll test every word that comes out of your mouth before you say it.
David Norris: Oh, you like politicians then.
Elise Sellas: I like it when they do stuff I can relate to.
David Norris: Like pull their pants down.
Elise Sellas: I love that.
[they laugh]
David Norris: See that kind of candidate wouldn’t even get elected to the student council.
Elise Sellas: My guy would know how to tie his own tie.
David Norris: It’s a clip on.
Elise Sellas: Oh, I wish. That would have been my other favorite moment of your campaign.
Elise Sellas: Do you still have a chance? Is it over?
David Norris: He crushed me.
Elise Sellas: Sorry.
David Norris: Well, losing has it’s advantages.
Elise Sellas: Like what?
David Norris: Uh, for one thing as a politician you’re never really alone unless you’re asleep or in the bathroom, usually. Uh, that gets, that gets old.
Elise Sellas: Really?
David Norris: Yeah, I mean I guess I’m mostly just looking forward to having sometime by myself.
Elise Sellas: I don’t buy it. I think you’ll love it.
David Norris: It, do I know you?
[they start to laugh]
David Norris: Yeah, I guess I could have been more convincing.
Elise Sellas: Okay, you don’t have to worry about being convincing till the next election.
David Norris: Are you a registered New York voter?
Elise Sellas: Do I sound like I am?
[they look at each other and suddenly start kissing passionately]
David Norris: Holy shit!
Elise Sellas: I got to go. Sorry.
[she runs out of the bathroom]
Charlie Traynor: Wow!
[to Charlie]
David Norris: Hang on.
Are you going to do your speech?
David Norris: Hang on.
[David goes after Elise]
David Norris: Hey? Hey?
[she stops and two security guards call out to her from down the corridor]
McCrady: Ma’am?
Elise Sellas: I got to go.
McCrady: Ma’am?
[she loosens David tie]
Elise Sellas: That is so much better.
McCrady: She’s on the move.
[she turns and runs to get away]
[giving his concession speech in front of his campaign supporters]
David Norris: But we had a rule in my neighborhood, when you got in a fight, it wasn’t whether or not you got knocked down. It’s what you do when you get back up.
[the crowd cheers]
David Norris: And I came here to tell you tonight that I will get back up!
[the crowd cheers again but David goes quite]
David Norris: Um, that’s bullshit! We didn’t have that saying in my neighborhood. It’s just one of those phrases that, uh, that has some attraction with a focus group and so we kept using it. That’s not true. You know nineteen ninety eight I did a cover for GQ, the title was ‘Youngest Congressmen Ever’, and since then every story I tried to explain how I got here so fast. And the word that people kept, uh, using was authentic and…
[the crowd cheers and claps]
[continuing his speech in front of his campaign supporters]
David Norris: But here’s the problem, this isn’t even my tie. This tie was selected for me by a group of specialists, in Tenafly New Jersey, who chose it over fifty six other ties we tested. In fact, our data suggests that I have to stick to either a tie that is red or a tie that is blue. A yellow tie made it look as if I was taking my situation lightly and I may in fact pull my pants down at any moment.
[the crowd laughs]
David Norris: A silver tie meant that I’d forgotten my roots. My shoes, you know shiny shoes we associate with a high priced lawyers and bankers. If you want to get a working mans vote you need to scuff up your shoes a little bit, but you can’t scuff ’em so much that you alienate the lawyers and the bankers, cause you need them to pay for the specialist back in Tenafly.
[continuing his concession speech]
David Norris: So what is the proper scuffing amount? Do you know we actually paid a consultant seventy three hundred dollars…
[he turns to his campaign aids standing in the stage wings]
David Norris: Was it seventy three hundred dollars, Charlie?
[Charlie whispers something to the other campaign aids]
David Norris: Seventy three hundred dollars for a consultant to tell us that…
[he takes off his shoe and brings it up to show everyone]
David Norris: …this is the perfect amount of scuffing.
[sits down next to Mitchell on a park bench]
Richardson: He is to spill his coffee on his shirt by seven oh five. Seven oh five at the latest.
Harry Mitchell: I’ll get him as soon as he enters the park.
[Richardson gets up to leave]
Richardson: Can’t imagine being on this guy as long as you have.
[David watches the morning news on TV]
Female News Presenter: RSR Venture Capital announced yesterday that former Congressman, David Norris would become a senior partner. Norris led an unsuccessful bid for senate last month, but his concession speech was considered by many to be electrifying and has made him the obvious front runner in the two thousand ten senate race. Investment banker Charles Traynor founded RSR under the countries most successful venture capital firm. Traynor is a childhood friend of Norris and was the Chairmen of his senate campaign.
[talking on the phone to Charlie]
David Norris: Hey, I just saw you on TV.
Charlie Traynor: Really?
David Norris: Mmm.
Charlie Traynor: What did I say?
David Norris: You’re bald.
[Charlie laughs]
Charlie Traynor: Nice.
David Norris: Yeah, it was weird too because it was a financial show. But they were really, just kind of captivated by your receding hairline.
Charlie Traynor: I got to go, you jackass!
David Norris: [laughing] Bye.
[man in the park calls out to Norris]
Man in Madison Square Park: Congressman? I have to tell you, I really admire what you did last month.
David Norris: Oh, thank you. I appreciate it.
Man in Madison Square Park: I wish there were more politicians like you.
David Norris: Thank you. I’m retired now. I had to go get a real job.
Man in Madison Square Park: You’ll do well.
David Norris: Thank you.
[Norris notices Elise asleep on the bus he’s just got on and takes the sit next to her, she wakes up and sees him]
Elise Sellas: Oh my God!
David Norris: [jokingly] Have we met?
Elise Sellas: You look vaguely familiar, yeah.
David Norris: Yeah. Waldorf, men’s room.
Elise Sellas: You got it. Were you just staring at my legs while I slept?
David Norris: I was defenseless against the small dress stare.
Elise Sellas: It’s a skirt!
David Norris: It’s a belt.
David Norris: What is it with you and the argyle?
Elise Sellas: What is the deal with you and the boring shades of blue?
David Norris: My clothes match!
Elise Sellas: Did your team pick that out for you or…?
David Norris: No team. Team is gone.
Elise Sellas: Wow!
David Norris: I did it all by myself.
Elise Sellas: I saw your speech.
David Norris: Yeah, the speech. Something must have got into me.
[his cell phone rings loudly]
Elise Sellas: Wow! That is something.
David Norris: Really, up against the moment.
[he takes out his cell phone from his pocket and answers it]
David Norris: Hello? Hello?
[he gets no reply]
David Norris: Doesn’t even work.
Elise Sellas: Could that ring any louder? You pretty much had that maxed out.
David Norris: [laughing] It’s a new phone.
Elise Sellas: Are you going to run again?
David Norris: Don’t know. I’m starting a new job today.
Elise Sellas: You have to run again, you can’t do that. The country’ll end up being run by tools like Lynnfiled.
David Norris: kind of is.
[the coffee in Norris’s hand spills on Elise’s skirt]
Elise Sellas: Wow!
David Norris: Oh, sorry! I don’t know what just happened.
David Norris: Here, I’ll pay for the dry cleaning.
Elise Sellas: No. It’s really fine. Please don’t.
[she counts the money in his wallet]
Elise Sellas: Wow!
David Norris: Seven bucks will probably cover it.
[the both laugh]
Elise Sellas: You keep that. You might need it.
David Norris: You know what, here?
[he gives her a card]
David Norris: You write your number down and then I will call you and come and pick up your skirt?
Elise Sellas: Oh, my goodness me! That is very smooth.
[referring to the coffee he just spilt on her]
Elise Sellas: Why don’t you let me spill some on you and then we’ll be even.
David Norris: That’s a terrible idea.
Elise Sellas: I think it’s a great idea. Just one bit? Cause that’s not fair
David Norris: You actually are crazy!
Elise Sellas: Just a little spill, right before…
David Norris: Now it all makes sense.
[his cell phone ring again]
David Norris: Okay, hang on.
[she takes the phone from him and answers it]
Elise Sellas: He’s not here. I know, I’m sorry.
[she ends the call]
David Norris: Who was that?
Elise Sellas: I don’t know. Who cares!
David Norris: It’ll be on the ID. Can you, just…
Elise Sellas: No.
[she hides the phone from him]
David Norris: Okay, now we’re in the third grade. This is great.
[the phone rings again and she puts it in his coffee]
Elise Sellas: It’s a sturdy little fucker, isn’t it?
[the phone keeps on ringing in his coffee cup]
Elise Sellas: I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. It just happened.
[he takes the phone out of the coffee]
David Norris: Okay. Okay, that was new phone.
Elise Sellas: Let’s wipe it off.
[she takes the phone from him and wipes it clean on her skirt]
Elise Sellas: I’m Elise, by the way.
David Norris: I’ll remember that.
[she hands him the card where she’s written her number]
Elise Sellas: That’s my number.
David Norris: Terrific. Thank you.
[she steps out of the bus as it stops]
David Norris: I’ll call you.
[she turns and looks at him]
David Norris: The morning after the election I woke up thinking about you.
[the bus door closes, she smiles at him and then give him the finger and walks away]
[talking on his cell phone to Traynor after his meeting with Elise on the bus]
Charlie Traynor: Hey, man. What’s up?
David Norris: You’re not going to believe who I just ran into!
Charlie Traynor: Who?
David Norris: The girl! The girl from election night.
Charlie Traynor: The one you kissed?
David Norris: She kissed me!
Charlie Traynor: You’re still sticking’ with that story?
David Norris: It’s the truth!
Charlie Traynor: Whatever, dude!
[continuing his conversation about Elise over his cell phone]
David Norris: What are the odds, it’s amazing!
Charlie Traynor: That’s great, man. Just don’t take her advice on speeches anymore. First time works, it’s not going to work again.
David Norris: You’re just jealous cause it’s the best speech I ever gave, and you didn’t write it.
Charlie Traynor: Just so you know, I think I’m coming down to get your solar panel thing.
David Norris: Why?
Charlie Traynor: Well, I just don’t think the research is there and the price points too high on these things.
David Norris: Of course it’s too high. But if our company doesn’t get involved with stuff like this, who will?
Charlie Traynor: Well convince me in the meeting.
David Norris: I will. See you, buddy.
[David enters the meeting room he sees the people in the meeting room frozen and men in dark uniforms scanning them with lasers]
David Norris: Hey! What the hell are you doing?!
Richardson: Grab him.
[David suddenly grabs the door open and makes a run for it]
[to David, who’s locked himself in an office]
Richardson: David, you’re really making this harder than it has to be.
[after he’s finished talking on his cell phone]
Richardson: What a God damn mess!
McCrady: Thompson?
Richardson: Yes.
McCrady: What do you want to do?
Richardson: We have to reset him. Call for a brief case.
McCrady: You kidding? It’s going to take a signed order from the Chairman.
Richardson: Well, then get legal on it.
Burdensky: Legal just arrived. There’s no way that the Chairman will approve a reset. This your fault. There’s no way you’ll get a brief case.
[listening to them as he comes round to find himself handcuffed and sitting in chair]
David Norris: Hey?
Richardson: What are my options?
David Norris: Hey?
Burdensky: Just bullshit him.
[referring to David]
Richardson: Bullshit this guy?
David Norris: Hey? What’s going on here?
[they all ignore him]
[shows Burdensky a hardback note book, referring to David]
Richardson: Look at this. Questions will burn in him till the day he dies. He won’t stop searching for answers. He won’t quit. We have to watch him forever! Make sure he doesn’t talk. Endless ripple effects.
Burdensky: Remember the Toraz case forty years ago?
Richardson: It’s not that bad. Is it?
Burdensky: In the end they just leveled with him.
Richardson: Completely?
Burdensky: Looking at that, I don’t see you have a choice.
David Norris: Who the hell are you guys?
Richardson: We are the people who make sure things happen according to plan. My name’s Richardson
David Norris: Oh!
[he suddenly bolts out of his chair and makes a run for it]
[after he’s stopped David from running away]
Richardson: You really think I couldn’t see that coming? I can read your mind.
[David just looks at him]
Richardson: Yeah, really. Pick a color?
[David doesn’t say anything and continues to look at him]
Richardson: Blue. Pick a number? Seventeen. Now, why are you still thinking about running?
[David put his hands to his head as if in pain]
David Norris: I don’t really know what’s going on here.
Richardson: But you’ve just seen behind a curtain that you weren’t even supposed to know existed. It must be jarring. It’s not your fault. Your path through the world this morning was supposed to have been adjusted.
[he looks at Mitchell who looks downs looking guilty for his mistake]
Richardson: You were supposed to spill your coffee as you entered the park this morning. You would have gone upstairs to change, you would have missed the bus, and you would have arrived at work ten minutes later than you did and we would have been gone.
David Norris: I was supposed to spill my coffee?
Richardson: We call that an adjustment. See sometimes when people spill their coffee, or their internet goes out, or, or they misplaced their keys, they think it’s chance. Well sometimes it is, sometimes it’s us nudging people back on plan. Sometimes when nudging isn’t enough, management authorizes a recalibration. We deploy our intervention team and they change your mind for you. Like with your good friend, Charlie. He’s fine by the way. You don’t need to worry about him.
Richardson: Now, there’s something I need you to understand if I’m going to let you go?
David Norris: Okay.
Richardson: Very few humans have seen what you’ve seen today. And we’re determined to keep it that way. So, if you ever reveal our existence, we’ll erase your brain. The intervention team will reset you. You’re emotions, you’re memories, your entire personality will be expunged. You’re friends and family will think you’ve gone crazy. You? You won’t think anything.
[David just looks at him]
Richardson: You understand? Not one word about us.
[David nods his head in agreement]
Richardson: Okay. Oh, one more thing. You, uh, you bumped into a woman this morning on the bus, Elise?
David Norris: What has that do with anything?
Richardson: Well, you were never supposed to see her again.
David Norris: What is, what does that matter?
Richardson: Because it matters.
[to his men who grab hold of David]
Richardson: It’s in his wallet.
[the men search for his wallet]
David Norris: Hey! Hey! Ahhh! God! Hey! What’s with you guys? Jesus!
[McCrady grabs his wallet and takes out the card with Elise’s number on it]
David Norris: Oh, com on! No! No!
[Richardson hold the card and lights a lighter underneath it and it starts to burn]
David Norris: What the hell! Really? What the hell!
Richardson: Okay.
David Norris: Okay.
[to his men]
Richardson: Take him back.
[to David]
Richardson: Enjoy the rest of you day.
[after Richardson has released him]
Charlie Traynor: You sure you’re okay?
David Norris: Yeah. You?
Charlie Traynor: I’m good. Why?
David Norris: You don’t, uh, have a headache maybe?
Charlie Traynor: No, I feel fantastic, man, Is it me or is this some odd conversation?
[after their meeting]
Charlie Traynor: Come into my office for a second.
[they walk into his office]
Charlie Traynor: Something’s wrong. A couple of hours ago you miraculously reunited with the girl of your dreams, explain to me why you don’t have an ear to ear grin right now?
David Norris: I lost her number.
Charlie Traynor: What?
David Norris: The woman on the bus, I lost her phone number and all I had was her first name. So I’m never going to see her again.
Charlie Traynor: I’m sorry. Wow, I’m really sorry.
[David is sitting at a bar writing on a napkin telephone number combinations]
Harry Mitchell: You’re entire world has turned upside down and you’re thinking about a woman. Even if you could remember the number, you’ll never get through. Lost cell phone, changed numbers, whatever creates defused ripples. My name’s Harry by the way.
David Norris: Defused ripples. You freeze people. You froze my friend!
Harry Mitchell: We need special authorization to do…
David Norris: You poke around in people’s brains to make them think whatever you want!
Harry Mitchell: Be quite, David.
Harry Mitchell: You’re friend will be fine. Recalibrations make tiny changes in the way people reason. It doesn’t work on emotional personality. That’s too intrusive.
David Norris: You said authorization. Authorization from who?
Harry Mitchell: The Chairman.
David Norris: The Chairman?!
Harry Mitchell: Shh! That’s just a name we use. You use many other names. We can’t talk here. Meet me on the four pm boat and I’ll answer what I can.
[he gets up to leave]
Harry Mitchell: If you reveal us, even if it’s unintentional…
David Norris: I know, I know. You’ll bump me on the head.
Harry Mitchell: Richardson has automatic authority to rest you.
David Norris: You mean lobotomies me.
Harry Mitchell: Try not to forget it. Be on the four pm boat.
[Mitchell leaves]
[David meets Mitchell on the boat]
Harry Mitchell: Ask your questions, I’ll tell you what I can.
David Norris: Well what, what were they doing to Charlie?
Harry Mitchell: Just changing the way he weighs investment risks, which are subtly shift the direction of his company in the way upstairs wants.
David Norris: So Richardson can read my mind?
Harry Mitchell: Richardson was trying to scare you.
David Norris: No, he knew the number I was thinking of, the color.
Harry Mitchell: Because he set it up as a choice. Choose a color, choose a number? We can’t read your mind or hear your thoughts. When you make a decision your mind weighs options. We can precede that. We know when you’re going to go off the plan or not, because if we’re close enough we can sense when it’s going to happen. We’re just here to keep you on plan, that’s all we’re authorized to do.
David Norris: Are you allowed to be telling me this? I mean are they following me now?
Harry Mitchell: We have to monitor the entire world. We don’t have the manpower to follow everyone all the time. And there’s something about water, it blocks our ability to read your decision trail.
David Norris: Are you an angel?
Harry Mitchell: We’ve been called that. We’re more like case officers, who live a lot longer than humans.
David Norris: Why are you helping me?
Harry Mitchell: I have my reasons.
David Norris: And why won’t they let me be with Elise?
Harry Mitchell: All I know is, the amount of resources they’ve used, keeping you from her is pretty damn important to them. You’re going to look for her, aren’t you?
[David doesn’t answer]
Harry Mitchell: You won’t find her. They’ll make sure of it. Even if they weren’t trying to stop you, they’re nine million people in this city. You’ll never find her. Forget about her. Move on with your life.
[after spotting Elise walking in the street, 3 years later]
David Norris: Elise? Elise? Hi.
[she turns around surprised to see him]
Elise Sellas: David!
David Norris: Yeah, I rode the M6 to work everyday for three years, hoping that I’d bump into you. Oh, uh, listen, is there a place where we could go and, um, and talk?
Elise Sellas: Don’t you have to get to work or something?
David Norris:I just got sick.
Elise Sellas: I haven’t seen you in three years, you make me sick. That’s not an ideal company, just so you know.
[David cell phone starts ringing and he keeps looking around him]
Elise Sellas: What are you looking for?
David Norris: I just, uh, felt like someone was watching me.
[he answers his cell phone]
[after quickly talking to Charlie on the phone and hanging up on him]
Elise Sellas: You just hung up on your friend.
David Norris: Yeah, but we’ve known each other since we were kids. We have a sure thing.
Elise Sellas: What speech?
David Norris: Doesn’t matter. You want to take a walk?
Elise Sellas: No.
David Norris: We have a lot to catch up on.
Elise Sellas: I don’t think you should cancel your speech. What if I don’t like you at the end of our walk?
David Norris: I’ll take my chances.
Elise Sellas: Right, seriously, my number hasn’t changed. Just call me like you didn’t last time.
David Norris: Look, if you take a walk with me I’ll explain why.
Elise Sellas: It’s been years! How do you know I don’t have a nice boyfriend?
David Norris: Uh, do you have a nice boyfriend?
Elise Sellas: Would it matter if I did?
David Norris: Yeah.
Elise Sellas: Oh, so you don’t have any real conviction then?
David Norris: Okay, it wouldn’t matter at all.
Elise Sellas: Oh, so you do, do you don’t mind being a home wrecker?
David Norris: Okay, if you were married, then it would bother me.
Elise Sellas: But now you’re just saying what you think I want to hear. I’m single. Now, let’s see you bullshit excuse for not calling me.
David Norris: I didn’t have your number.
Elise Sellas: I gave it to you on the bus. I handed it to you.
David Norris: I was mugged. It was taken from me.
Elise Sellas: No, come on!
David Norris: No I, it, I, my wallet was taken, they took it.
Elise Sellas: Come on!
David Norris: Look, why else would I fawn all over you on the bus three years ago and then never call you?
Elise Sellas: Cause I don’t know. You have a girlfriend, you felt terrible and…
David Norris: Okay, listen I swear to you that I did not have a girlfriend.
Elise Sellas: All right.
David Norris: Okay, listen. No, I, on my parents graves.
Elise Sellas: That’s heavy.
David Norris: That’s too heavy, I know. But it’s true. I didn’t have, I didn’t your number. And I didn’t even have a last name to go by. You know, if you Google just Elise you get seven hundred and…
Elise Sellas: You did not!
David Norris: …fifty seven thousand hits. And none of ’em were you.
[McCrady runs into Richardson’s office]
McCrady: We have a problem.
Richardson: What?
[he puts down a notebook showing map on Richardson’s desk]
McCrady: David Norris is off plan.
Richardson: Son of a bitch! How did he find her?
McCrady: Chance. Just spotted her on the street.
Richardson: We never should have let him meet her in the first place.
McCrady: We followed protocol to the letter.
Richardson: The guy rides the same bus everyday for three years. Who does that?
[to Mitchell when Richardson runs into him in the corridor of their offices]
Richardson: Three years later, I’m still cleaning up your mess.
Elise Sellas: Uh, I’m a dancer.
David Norris:Oh!
Elise Sellas: Oh, not like that! You pervert! I’m in a contemporary ballet company.
David Norris: I’m not, I think you have the wrong idea about me.
Elise Sellas: No, I think that was the first thing that crossed your mind, actually.
David Norris: I think you should invite me to one of your performances
Elise Sellas: Uh, the company is called, Cedar Lake. And and there’s actually a show tomorrow night, if you want.
David Norris: Was that an invitation?
Elise Sellas: No, that’s information.
[watching as Elise and David enter a cafe]
Richardson: Thirty six hours without contact, she’ll never speak to him again. Look at her file. What’s the last thing in the world she’ll put up with?
[looking at the notebook with the map of Elise’s decisions]
McCrady: No, something’s wrong. I’m already seeing deflection points.
Elise Sellas: You have to be born with the right body. Like, very flexible hips and shoulders and long neck.
David Norris: And you were?
Elise Sellas: No, I was. I was lucky. But, you know, after fifteen years of that precision and training it’s just…
[a waitress interrupts their conversation]
McCrady: Look.
[he sees a flashing red dot on Elise’s map of decisions]
Richardson: What’s this?
McCrady: If they kiss.
Richardson: A kiss! That’s all it takes?
McCrady: A real kiss. If that happens, every possible adjustment strong enough to break them up will cause ripples over your limit.
Elise Sellas: I think that everything that you go through in life should come out in the way that you dance.
David Norris: I haven’t found that to be the case with my dancing.
[Elise laughs]
Elise Sellas: That’s a shame.
Total Quotes: 117
