"I can't work in an office. I don't like wearing suits. I like to ride. Fixed gear, steel frame, no brakes. The bike cannot coast. The pedals never stop turning. Can't stop. Don't want to either. There are 1,500 bike messengers on the streets of New York City. You can e-mail it, FedEx it, fax it, scan it, but when none of that shit works and this thing has to be at that place by this time, you need us. Some of us get killed out here. Pedestrians are a menace. Cabs are killers. One time or another we all get hit. Sometimes we gotta hit back. And we stick together, 'cause most people just wish we'd get off the street. "Go get a haircut. Take a shower. Get out of the way." They have no idea why anyone would risk their lives in a death maze for 80 bucks on a good day. But if you're out here thinking about the money, you're not gonna be around to spend it."

"[To Nima] If you lose the ticket I cannot give you back the money. You understand? This ticket now is money... for whoever holds it. If you have problems you don't call the police. You call this number. The Hawala system settles its own problems."

"Ride Like Hell"

"Racing against the clock."

"Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Wilee, a bicycle messenger"

"Michael Shannon – Robert "Bobby" Monday, a corrupt gambling-addicted NYPD detective"

"Dania Ramirez – Vanessa, Wilee's girlfriend, and bike messenger"

"Wolé Parks – Manny, Wilee's rival"

"Aasif Mandvi – Raj, Wilee's dispatcher"

"Jamie Chung – Nima, Vanessa's roommate"

"Jackie Earle Haley - Moocher"

"Barbara Barrie - Evelyn Stoller"

"Paul Dooley - Raymond Stoller"

"No, I don't feel lucky to be alive! I feel lucky I'm not dead. There's a difference."

"Hart Bochner - Rod"

"Amy Wright - Nancy"

"P. J. Soles - Suzy"

"Robyn Douglass - Katherine"

"[to Dave] What's the matter? What are you cryin' for? I think you lost your wallet or something. I didn't want you to be this miserable. A little bit's all I asked for."

"I was proud of my work. And the buildings went up. When they were finished the damnedest thing happened. It was like the buildings were too good for us. Nobody told us that. It just felt uncomfortable, that's all."

"I was sure I was going to get that scholarship. My dad of course was sure I wasn't. When I didn't, he was real understanding, you know. He loves to do that. He loves to be understanding when I fail."

"You know, I used to think I was a really great quarterback in high school. Still think so, too. Can't even bring myself to light a cigarette 'cause I keep thinkin' I gotta stay in shape. You know what really gets me, though? I mean, here I am, I gotta live in this stinkin' town, and I gotta read in the newspapers about some hot-shot kid, new star of the college team. Every year, it's gonna be a new one. Every year it's never gonna be me. I'm just gonna be Mike. Twenty year-old Mike. Thirty year-old Mike. Old, mean old man Mike. These college kids out here - they're never gonna get old or out of shape 'cause new ones come along every year. And they're gonna keep calling us 'Cutters'. To them, it's just a dirty word. To me, it's just somethin' else I never got a chance to be."

"Somewhere between growing up and settling down..."

"The movie that tells you exactly what you can do with your high school diploma!"

"Dennis Christopher - Dave Stoller"

"Dennis Quaid - Mike"

"Daniel Stern - Cyril"