Cape Fear (1991 film)

"[watching passing teenaged girls] They're great at that age, ain't they? All those discoveries ahead of 'em. You're lucky, Counselor. My own daughter, she don't even know me. After I went inside, her mama told her I was dead - which, in a way, I was."

"I learned to read during my stretch. First, Spot Goes to the Farm, then Runaway Bunny, then law books mostly. Did you know that after I discharged you, I acted as my own attorney? Applied several times for an appeal. Mm-hmm. So, here we are - two lawyers, for all practical purposes, talking shop."

"It's not necessary to lay a foul tongue on me, my friend. I could get upset. Things could get out of hand. Then in self defense, I could do something to you that you would not like, right here."

"What you gonna do, arrest me? You a cop? Or were you a cop? Or were you not good enough to remain on the force, cause you know what? That's the feelin' I'm gettin' here."

"Guess I'm covered in too many tattoos, huh? But you see, there's not a hell of a lot to do in prison but desecrate your flesh."

"[after fighting off Kersek's thugs while Bowden watches] Counselor? Counselor, is that you? Counselor, come out, come out, wherever you are! I ain't no "white trash piece of shit", I'm better than you all! I can outlearn you, I can outread you, I can outthink you, and I can out-philosophize you. And I'm gonna outlast you! You think a couple whacks to my good ol' boy guts is gonna get me down? It's gonna take a hell of a lot more than that, Counselor, to prove you're better than me! "I am like God, and God like me! I am as large as God! He is as small as I! He cannot above me, nor I beneath Him be!" Silesius, 17th century! Counselor? Counselor? Could you be there? Could you be there? [whistles] Counselor? I wonder if you're here. Ah, fuck it. You're here, you ain't here. What the fuck's the difference?"

"I am going to teach you the meaning of commitment. Fourteen years ago, I was forced to make a commitment to an eight-by-nine cell, now you are going to be forced to make a commitment. You could say I'm here to save you."

"[Danielle throws scalding grease over him] Are you offering me something hot? [lights a flare and holds it aloft] Let's get something straight here. I spent fourteen years in an eight by nine cell surrounded by people who were less than human. My mission in that time was to become more than human. [lets boiling wax drip on his skin] You see? Granddaddy used to handle snakes in church, Granny drank strychnine. I guess you could say I had a leg up, genetically speaking."

"Tonight, you're gonna learn to be an animal! To live like an animal and to die like one!"

"[singing] On Jordan's stormy branks I stand! Oh, who will come with me? I am bound for the promised land! I am bound for the promised l-... land! I am bound for the promised land!"

"My reminiscence: I always thought that for such a lovely river, the name was mystifying - Cape Fear - when the only thing to fear on those enchanted summer nights was that the magic would end, and real life would come crashing in."

"We never spoke about what happened, at least not to each other. Fear, I suppose, that to remember his name and what he did would mean letting him into our dreams. And me, I hardly dream about him anymore. Still, things won't ever be the way they were before he came. But that's all right, because if you hang onto the past, you die a little every day. And for myself, I know I'd rather live. [whispers] The end."

"[to Sam, after meeting Max] You were right, there is a lot of "cutesy-cutesy" in that little prick, ain't there?"

"No, you're scared. But that's okay. I want you to savor that fear. The South evolved in fear: fear of the Indian, fear of the slave, fear of the damn Union. The South has a fine tradition of savoring fear."

"[on Cady's tattoos] I don't know whether to look at him or read him."

"This court does not condone feuds, vendettas or vigilantism. Let me quote our great Negro educator, Mr. Booker T. Washington: "I will let no man drag me down so low... as to make me hate him.""

"There is nothing in the dark that isn't there in the light. Except fear."

"Sam Bowden has always provided for his family's future. But the past is coming back to haunt them."

"[from TV spot] He paid his debt to society. Now he's paying back his lawyer."

"[from TV spot] One man's freedom becomes another man's fear."

"[from TV spot] There is a darkness in every soul, where evil waits."

"Robert De Niro - Max Cady"

"Nick Nolte - Sam Bowden"

"Jessica Lange - Leigh Bowden"

"Juliette Lewis - Danielle Bowden"

"Joe Don Baker - Claude Kersek"

"Robert Mitchum - Lt. Elgart"

"Gregory Peck - Lee Heller"

"Martin Balsam - Judge"

"Illeana Douglas - Lori Davis"

"Fred Thompson - Tom Broadbent"

"Zully Montero - Graciella"