No Sudden Move (2021) Best Movie Quotes

Starring: Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, David Harbour, Jon Hamm, Amy Seimetz, Brendan Fraser, Kieran Culkin, Noah Jupe, Craig Grant, Julia Fox, Ray Liotta, Bill Duke

OUR RATING: ★★★½

Story:

Crime thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh. Set in 1950s Detroit, No Sudden Move (2021) centers on a group of small-time criminals who are hired to steal what they think is a simple document. When their plan goes horribly wrong, their search for who hired them, and for what ultimate purpose, weaves them through all echelons of the race-torn, rapidly changing city.

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Our Favorite Quotes:

'All truths must be acknowledged, however painful they are, or else there's no growth. And growth is the key. Growth. Progress.' - Mike Lowen (No Sudden Move) Click To Tweet 'You know what I love? When characters you've long since forgotten in this great novel called Life show up at the end, and the whole story gets filled right in.' - Mike Lowen (No Sudden Move) Click To Tweet

Best Quotes

Curt Goynes: You said a man wants to see me.
Jimmy: Alley out back.
Curt Goynes: He can’t come in here? What is he, white?

Curt Goynes: So what’s the score?
Doug Jones: We’re sending a man that works in an office to pick something up from that office and bring it back to his home. You are part of a babysitting team watching his family while he does it. No one gets hurt. Three hours of work.

Vanessa Capelli: Do you think I’m a schemer, Ronald?
Ronald Russo: I think you have ulterior motives. But I find that sexy.
Vanessa Capelli: Oh, I get it. So, this is my scheme, is it? Don’t kid yourself, Ronald. We both know who you’re really f***ing here.
Ronald Russo: How could you say that?

Doug Jones: Self-interest is the sincerest form of flattery.

Ronald Russo: If Frank is involved, you can let yourself out the door.
Doug Jones: Everyone has a problem with Frank these days.
Ronald Russo: Who’s everyone?
Doug Jones: For our purposes, no one.

Curt Goynes: You seem worried about how you might be described.
Ronald Russo: Let’s be clear, the only thing I’m worried about is this thing getting f***ed up because of you.
Curt Goynes: What’s that supposed to mean?
Ronald Russo: It’s not your fault. You were born like that.
Curt Goynes: Born like what?

Charley: What’s with the f***ing eye?
Curt Goynes: Sometimes when people lie, they tend to overexplain. Kind of thing.

Charley: Both sides lose people, Watkins loses his twenty-five K. And both blame Goynes. But not for the deaths because that’s, you know, people.

Ronald Russo: [as they enter the house wearing masks and holding guns] Good morning. This is a typical morning. Nothing changes. Okay? Now, what would you do now, normal Monday?
Mary Wertz: I would make breakfast.
Ronald Russo: Well, there you go then.
Mary Wertz: What do you want?
Charley: Is that something you’d say, normal Monday?
Mary Wertz: I don’t know.

Matt Wertz: I don’t have the combination to that safe.
Charley: That’s okay, his secretary does. And from what we understand, you have the combo
to his secretary.
Matt Wertz: Do you mind if we have this conversation without my son present?
Charley: Do I mind? Pleasure.

Matt Wertz: [to Matthew Jr.] Hey, do not be a hero. Do you understand me? Do not.

Matt Wertz: Everything will be fine. I promise you.
Paula Cole: Yeah, sure. Another promise.

Matt Wertz: [referring to the document] Naismith. He moved on it anyway.
Paula Cole: “Anyway”?
Matt Wertz: Oh, Paula, this is bad.
Paula Cole: What do you mean “anyway”?
Matt Wertz: What?
Paula Cole: This is bad.

Matt Wertz: Are we finished? Can I go home now?
Doug Jones: [to Charley] Wait at the house after. I’ll call with instructions.

Matt Wertz: [referring to Jones] What did he mean “after”?
Charley: What?
Matt Wertz: He said, “Wait at the house after.” After what?
Charley: After we get there.

Mary Wertz: I don’t want to know anything about you.
Ronald Russo: We’re more alike than you think.

Ronald Russo: What if you don’t want the things that you’re supposed to want?

Curt Goynes: Yeah, what are we doing here, Charley?
Charley: We’re following instructions. Living room. Are you helping me, or are you not helping me?
Matt Wertz: No, no, no, no. The man in the alley said that you would wait here, and he would call you with instructions.
Charley: Those are other instructions, which are none of your business.

Ronald Russo: [after Goynes shoots Charley] What the f*** was that about?
Curt Goynes: [referring to Russo’s gun] Put it down. Ronald. Ronald, just think.
Ronald Russo: I am not putting it down.
Curt Goynes: Alright. It was a setup, man. Think. Think. It’s a setup, man.

Ronald Russo: [on the phone] Are we getting f***ed here, Jones?
Doug Jones: Put the other one on. Put the other one on, now, or I will go so far up the chain, you will find yourself in all forty-eight states at the same f***ing time!

Matt Wertz: The safe was empty. Forbert must have taken the document home. I had to put something in the envelope.
Mary Wertz: You put us at risk?
Matt Wertz: What was I supposed to do?
Mary Wertz: What is wrong with you?

Ronald Russo: I got cash up front.
Curt Goynes: Yeah, which they were going to pick right back up off your corpse. He told me to kill everybody in the house. You too, Ronald.
Ronald Russo: Who told you to kill me? Jones? On the phone? Or before?

Curt Goynes: I know why Frank wants me dead. Why does he want you dead?
Ronald Russo: No f***ing idea.

Curt Goynes: This thing is bigger than Frank. I mean, think about it. They going to give us five thousand dollars for just three hours of babysitting? And the thing they want is in a f***ing safe at GM?

Curt Goynes: Try to kill me. Think you’re the only one that can make a move? Yeah, I can make a move too. They can consider this s**t a market adjustment.

Curt Goynes: Jimmy, I will put a bullet in your gut, flip you over this rail, and let you bleed out down there.
Jimmy: All I know is that a guy called me a half an hour ago. Offering me ten thousand dollars to turn you in. Fifteen thousand for the white guy.
Curt Goynes: Was it Jones?
Jimmy: He wasn’t white.

Matt Wertz: Organized crime? Like the mob?
Joe Finney: Well, I guess that’s the sixty-four thousand dollar question, isn’t it?

Joe Finney: Any reason for this man to have targeted you and your family?
Mary Wertz: He doesn’t like happiness?

Ronald Russo: [as Goynes leaves him in the car] Can I have the keys? I’d like to listen to the radio.

See more No Sudden Move Quotes

Clarisse: [referring to prison] So, what did you do in there, all that time?
Curt Goynes: Thinking. You know. Just a lot of thinking.

Clarisse: You know Aldrick Watkins is never going to let you out of here alive.
Curt Goynes: I know. I know. I’m working on that. Trust me.

Ronald Russo: Is that what I think it is?
Curt Goynes: It depends on what you think it is.

Matt Wertz: What are you doing?
Curt Goynes: Making sure you don’t do something stupid.

Matt Wertz: Okay, that was a lie. That’s how important it is, that I would lie to you. And that I would do what I did at work, which I never would do, if it weren’t that important.

Matt Wertz: This is me warning you that I’m going to have to get physical. It is literally life or death for me, sir.
Mel Forbert: Look, do you know what will happen to you if you keep going with this?
Matt Wertz: I do. I’m sorry.

Matt Wertz: I’m going to punch you now, sir.
Mel Forbert: What the f***, Wertz?
Matt Wertz: I’m punching you. This is going to be a punch.

Matt Wertz: [as he punches Forbert] I love my job, sir! I love my job, and this is how important this is that I’m willing to be fired! I’m sorry. I’m sorry.

Ronald Russo: [as he places a blanket over Forbert’s wife] Ma’am. It’s been a long day. And I’m going to have to put this over you so I can relax. You understand? Thank you.

Matthew Wertz Jr.: Is my dad in trouble?
Joe Finney: Well, honestly, Matthew, the only time in my experience people get into trouble is when they don’t tell the truth.

Dawn Atkinson: I was thinking that maybe we could go away somewhere?
Mary Wertz: Who?
Dawn Atkinson: Us. A trip. Together, somewhere.
Mary Wertz: Good luck explaining that one.

Matt Wertz: They don’t tell me anything. I just push numbers around.
Ronald Russo: You’re pushing more than numbers now, big guy.
Curt Goynes: You got that right.

Matt Wertz: May I have my car back, please?
Ronald Russo: We like your car, Matt.

Matt Wertz: Imagine this is two days ago that I’m telling you this, okay?
Paula Cole: You never called him back.
Matt Wertz: No. I did. I did. But what I wanted to tell you is that…
Paula Cole: You chickened out.
Matt Wertz: No, I decided it was wrong.
Paula Cole: And so you chickened out.

Paula Cole: [to Matt] Oh, my God. You said “anyway”. Back in the office, you said, “He moved on it anyway,” and I was thinking, “Anyway what?” But now I know exactly what “anyway what?” means. It means you chickened out, and Naismith knew about it, and he moved on it anyway. And now I am stuck in the Humpty f***ing Dumpty Motel, with a guy who could see the brass ring coming around the corner, and then literally watched it pass, while he was making a plan to grab that brass ring.

Matt Wertz: I was not making a plan. I was executing a plan.
Paula Cole: To not do the thing.
Matt Wertz: That I acknowledge that we said we would do.
Paula Cole: Executing how?
Matt Wertz: Calling Naismith.
Paula Cole: And telling him we were out.
Matt Wertz: Which is what I was going to tell you two days ago!

Curt Goynes: [referring to Capelli] Now if he balks, we’ll know we hit near the ceiling. But if he bites, then we know there’s a lot more where that came from.
Ronald Russo: You know, he’s not going to move a hair unless he sees that thing.
Curt Goynes: Yeah, you probably right about that.

Lonnie: And they just raised the bounty.
Curt Goynes: What?
Lonnie: I’m talking twenty for you now. Twenty-five for the white guy.
Curt Goynes: Wait, you telling me that the bounty is forty-five for just us?
Lonnie: That’s what they told me.
Curt Goynes: They?
Lonnie: Both gangs. Capelli and Watkins.

Curt Goynes: Okay, this bounty. Is it dead or alive?
Lonnie: The white dude, either. But for you? Capelli wants you dead, and Watkins wants you alive.
Curt Goynes: That’s not good.

Lonnie: Why are you doing this?
Curt Goynes: Because I’m going to get what’s mine.

Lonnie: I just got to ask you this, man. Why the extra muscle?
Curt Goynes: In case the fellow I’m working with is trying to sell me out.
Lonnie: And how you going to know this?
Curt Goynes: It’s Ronald Russo.

Ronald Russo: Hi, Frank.
Frank Capelli: What do you want?
Ronald Russo: We had a little slip up at work.

Ronald Russo: A Cadillac convertible. I was set up to die for the plans for a Cadillac f***ing convertible?
Frank Capelli: It’s what I heard. That’s all I know.
Ronald Russo: See, Frank, now I know you’re lying. Because I happen to know it’s about some new exhaust system.
Frank Capelli: Well, maybe it’s an exhaust system for a Cadillac convertible. What f***ing difference does it make?

Ronald Russo: I need you to admit you picked me for this babysitting job. Now, I’ll admit I know why you want me gone. Just like you know why I want you gone.
Frank Capelli: I never aced you for my job.
Ronald Russo: I was in line, and you know it.
Frank Capelli: Well, you might’ve been in line, but you were walking the wrong direction. It’s never your fault, is it? Is it?

Frank Capelli: And since you’re so sure about why I apparently want you dead, you might want to get yourself checked for the clap. Consider it a gift from me to you through my lovely wife “Veronica”.
Ronald Russo: I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Frank Capelli: She already told me. And I could kill you, but I’d rather give you a trophy. You can have her.

Doug Jones: What if there’s some bigger deal that he’s not letting on to?
Frank Capelli: It’s a plan of Ronald Russo’s. How big a play could it be?

Ronald Russo: Pour you some Chianti?
Curt Goynes: No.
Ronald Russo: Wine is good for you. Ask Jesus.
Curt Goynes: Yeah, well, so’s a clear head. Ask Pontius Pilate.

Frank Capelli: You see, Ron, the problem is you’re not smart enough to know how not smart you are. Which makes you unpredictable. Which makes you untrustworthy.
Doug Jones: And sloppy.
Ronald Russo: Sloppy?
Doug Jones: You f***ing heard me. This whole f***ing thing is offensive.

Ronald Russo: Where are we going to go?
Curt Goynes: Well, it ain’t going to be no place good, Ronald.

Curt Goynes: [referring to Capelli] Where is the son of a b**ch?
Ronald Russo: He’s going home.
Curt Goynes: And when he gets home, he’s going to call the cavalry.
Ronald Russo: If he goes home, he ain’t calling anyone. Trust me.

Mary Wertz: [to Matthew Jr. telling the truth to Finney] It’s not your fault. Okay? We all make choices. And your dad’s going to have to deal with the consequences of his. But you did what you did, and it was the right thing.

Ronald Russo: Let’s not get greedy, Goynes.
Curt Goynes: I need more.
Ronald Russo: Never satisfied, huh?
Curt Goynes: Alright. Forget it. You don’t want to partake, you definitely don’t have to.
Ronald Russo: That is not what I’m saying. It’s f***ing bold. F***ing bold.

Mel Forbert: There’s no logical reason for them ever to come back here. Look, they got the thing they wanted. I literally have nothing they need.
Curt Goynes: [enters the room] Well, that’s not exactly true.

Mike Lowen: [as he hands over the money] This moment stings like a m**herf***er.

Mike Lowen: Well, I believe all truths must be acknowledged, however painful they are, or else there’s no growth. And growth is the key. Growth. Progress. Of course there’s no growth without reach, and the risk being overreach. So what I want to know is where was it, my guys, my structure, my weak links, my overreach, and where was it I was just simply outplayed?
Curt Goynes: Well, all that really matters is we’re here, like you said, and we know everything.
Mike Lowen: What do you know?

Mike Lowen: So again, what am I paying for?
Curt Goynes: Same thing you paid Forbert for. Silence.
Mike Lowen: About?
Curt Goynes: You know what about.

Mike Lowen: Finally this makes sense. The clown, Naismith, somehow hears the Big Four are working together. On what, he just has to know. Desperate to impress his bosses, who know nothing of his plan, he hires who he hires. They hire you. Somehow you sniff your way to the head of the pack. And hence, the twain has met. You and me. Against all laws of history, nature, class. No, caste.

Mike Lowen: [to Russo and Goynes] I know you think we are playing by your rules, but let’s be clear, you do not make rules, ever. You follow them, even when you think you have autonomy, even when you think you have control, that is an illusion. You are under the illusion of control, at all times, this is fact. It is a fact you will never understand, and you will go to the grave not understanding, the same way I will go to the grave not understanding the genius of God’s magnificent universe because I did not create it. But I, and others like me, did create these rules, in this world, on this field, and you are playing by them now, even if you walk out of here with my money. Am I clear?

Ronald Russo: What is clear is that we got your money.
Mike Lowen: Ah, it’s money. I have a lot of money. I will continue to have more still. It’s like a lizard tail. Cut it off, the damn thing just grows back. I work, it grows. I sleep, it grows. In fact, however we end up here, I’ll go home, I’ll call my banker, and I will sleep like a baby tonight.

Mike Lowen: [to Russo and Goynes] You know what I love? When characters you’ve long since forgotten in this great novel called Life show up at the end, and the whole story gets filled right in. Good to meet you both. Individualists. Defiers of rules. Two men who, against all odds, somehow arrived in the same spot, from entirely different places. Reach, gentlemen. Reach for the moon!

Curt Goynes: Good. Now let’s go get that Naismith money.
Ronald Russo: Oh, no. This is as far as I go.
Curt Goynes: What do you mean, “Oh, no?”
Ronald Russo: I’m done. You can have the Naismith money all to yourself.
Curt Goynes: So you’re just going to abandon the plan?
Ronald Russo: You just don’t know when to stop, huh?

Vanessa Capelli: So, how did it go?
Ronald Russo: It broke my way, baby. It broke my way.

Joe Finney: Chatty little bird in a tall tree said you might have something of mine. So, I suppose I should thank you.
Aldrick Watkins: Before you do, let me play out two scenarios. And to be clear, both end with Curtis Goynes dead. Scenario one, you solve the murder of Charley Barnes, Douglas Jones, and Frank Capelli. After an arduous trial that plunges an already racially divided Detroit into chaos, you get a promotion of a thousand a year? If that? And I make sure Goynes dies in prison. Or number two. You still solve the murders, but the perp himself is taken care of by his own. Which leaves you a hero, and which sets an example to others like him that might be tempted to play outside of their league. And instead of twenty-five grand that trickles out over the rest of your life, you get a bonus, paid instantly, that equals twice that.

Aldrick Watkins: M**herf***er’s got eyes, they just can’t see.
Curt Goynes: Including me.
Aldrick Watkins: Let me ask you something. What made you think that you could trust me?
Curt Goynes: You can be trusted, Aldrick.

Aldrick Watkins: I took the twenty-five I staked you back then, plus interest. Took another fifty for the federal man. How do you imagine the rest of it should be divided?
Curt Goynes: I just want five K.
Aldrick Watkins: Just what’s yours.
Curt Goynes: Just what’s mine. So we’re good?
Aldrick Watkins: Enjoy Kansas City.

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