American Gangster Quotes
In 1970s America, a detective works to bring down the drug empire of Frank Lucas, a heroin kingpin from Manhattan, who is smuggling the drug into the country from the Far East.
Frank Lucas: What is that you got on?
Huey Lucas: What? This?
Frank Lucas: Yeah, that.
Huey Lucas: This is a very, very, very nice suit.
Frank Lucas: That's a very, very, very nice suit, huh?
Huey Lucas: Yeah.
Frank Lucas: That's a clown suit. That's a costume, with a big sign on it that says "Arrest me". You understand? You're too loud, you're making too much noise. Listen to me, the loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room.
Huey Lucas: What? This?
Frank Lucas: Yeah, that.
Huey Lucas: This is a very, very, very nice suit.
Frank Lucas: That's a very, very, very nice suit, huh?
Huey Lucas: Yeah.
Frank Lucas: That's a clown suit. That's a costume, with a big sign on it that says "Arrest me". You understand? You're too loud, you're making too much noise. Listen to me, the loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room.
Detective Richie Roberts: Laurie, look, I'm sorry I never gave you the kind of life you wanted, all right.I'm sorry it was never enough.Don't punish me for being honest.Don't take my boy away.
Laurie Roberts: What are you saying? That because you were honest and you didn't take money like every other cop, I left you? No, you don't take money for one reason. To buy being dishonest about everything else. And that's worse than taking money nobody gives a shit about.Drug money, gambling money nobody's gonna miss. You know, I'd rather you took it and been honest with me. Or don't take it. I don't care. But then don't go cheat on me.Don't cheat on your kid by never being around. Don't go out and get laid by your snitches and your secretaries and strippers.I can tell by just looking,she's one of them. You think you're going to heaven because you're honest, but you're not You're going to the same hell as the crooked cops you can't stand.
Laurie Roberts: What are you saying? That because you were honest and you didn't take money like every other cop, I left you? No, you don't take money for one reason. To buy being dishonest about everything else. And that's worse than taking money nobody gives a shit about.Drug money, gambling money nobody's gonna miss. You know, I'd rather you took it and been honest with me. Or don't take it. I don't care. But then don't go cheat on me.Don't cheat on your kid by never being around. Don't go out and get laid by your snitches and your secretaries and strippers.I can tell by just looking,she's one of them. You think you're going to heaven because you're honest, but you're not You're going to the same hell as the crooked cops you can't stand.
Frank Lucas: The man I worked for, he had one of the biggest companies in New York City- he ran it for more than fifty years. Fifteen years, eight months, nine days- I was with him every day. I looked after him, took care of him, protected him... I learned from him. Bumpy was rich, but he wasn't white man rich, you see he wasn't wealthy. He didn't own his own company. He thought he did, but he didn't. He just managed it. White man owned it so they owned him. Nobody owns me, though. Because I own my company. And my company sells a product that's better than the competition at a price that's lower than the competition.
[Detective Trupo notices Richie's plans to arrest Frank Lucas]
Detective Trupo: What's this? Don't tell me you're actually gonna arrest Frank Lucas, are you?
Detective Richie Roberts: What? Haven't you heard? We're all fucking crazy over here. You know what we do here? Cops... arrest... bad guys. The next time you come across the bridge, you should call me first. Just make sure it's safe.
Detective Trupo: What's this? Don't tell me you're actually gonna arrest Frank Lucas, are you?
Detective Richie Roberts: What? Haven't you heard? We're all fucking crazy over here. You know what we do here? Cops... arrest... bad guys. The next time you come across the bridge, you should call me first. Just make sure it's safe.
Mama Lucas: You don't shoot cops. Even I know that. Eva knows it. The only one who DOESN'T seem to know is you.
Frank Lucas: [ignores her pleas as he escorts her outside] All right, Mama. I'm not going to, I promise you. I'm not going to shoot anyone.
Mama Lucas: I never asked you where all this stuff came from, because I didn't want to hear you lie to me. Please...
Frank Lucas: [talking over her] Ma, I understand. I don't want you to worry about it. Now come on, I have to go...
Mama Lucas: Don't LIE to me!
[slaps Frank roughly]
Mama Lucas: Don't... don't do that. Do you want to make things so bad for your family that they'll leave you? Because they will.
Frank Lucas: [dismissively] No. No, Ma, I understand...
Mama Lucas: [points towards Eva] She will leave you. *I* will LEAVE you!
Frank Lucas: [ignores her pleas as he escorts her outside] All right, Mama. I'm not going to, I promise you. I'm not going to shoot anyone.
Mama Lucas: I never asked you where all this stuff came from, because I didn't want to hear you lie to me. Please...
Frank Lucas: [talking over her] Ma, I understand. I don't want you to worry about it. Now come on, I have to go...
Mama Lucas: Don't LIE to me!
[slaps Frank roughly]
Mama Lucas: Don't... don't do that. Do you want to make things so bad for your family that they'll leave you? Because they will.
Frank Lucas: [dismissively] No. No, Ma, I understand...
Mama Lucas: [points towards Eva] She will leave you. *I* will LEAVE you!
[last title cards]
Title cards: Frank Lucas was convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics and sentenced to 70 years.
Title cards: Federal authorities confiscated over 250 million dollars of Frank's assets in U.S. and foreign banks.
Title cards: Frank and Richie's collaboration led to the conviction of three quarters of New York City's Drug Enforcement Agency.
Title cards: Thirty members of Frank's family were convicted of drug trafficking and sent to prison.
Title cards: Frank's wife returned to Puerto Rico.
Title cards: His mother moved back to North Carolina.
Title cards: Richie Roberts quit the Prosecutor's Office to become a defense attorney. His first client was Frank Lucas.
Title cards: For his cooperation, Frank's prison sentence was reduced to 15 years. He was released in 1991.
Title cards: Frank Lucas was convicted of Conspiracy to Distribute Narcotics and sentenced to 70 years.
Title cards: Federal authorities confiscated over 250 million dollars of Frank's assets in U.S. and foreign banks.
Title cards: Frank and Richie's collaboration led to the conviction of three quarters of New York City's Drug Enforcement Agency.
Title cards: Thirty members of Frank's family were convicted of drug trafficking and sent to prison.
Title cards: Frank's wife returned to Puerto Rico.
Title cards: His mother moved back to North Carolina.
Title cards: Richie Roberts quit the Prosecutor's Office to become a defense attorney. His first client was Frank Lucas.
Title cards: For his cooperation, Frank's prison sentence was reduced to 15 years. He was released in 1991.
Detective Richie Roberts: His name is Frank Lucas, originally from Greensboro, North Carolina, he has a couple of arrests years ago for gambling and for carrying an unlicensed firearm. For fifteen years he was Bumpy Johnson's driver, bodyguard and collector. Hhe was with him when he died, he has five brothers, he's the oldest and a lot of cousins, they're all living up here now, spread out in the five boroughs and New Jersey. His brother's businesses are the distribution and collection points of Frank's dope and his money. Everything about Frank's life seems unpretentious and broadly legitimate, he starts early, gets up at 5am, has breakfast in a diner in Harlem usually by himself, then he starts work, takes a meeting with his accountant and with his lawyer. At nights he usually stays at home, if he does go out, it's only one of two clubs or a handful of restaurants with his wife, ball players, musicians and his friends and never organized crime guys. Sundays he takes his mother to church and changes the flowers on Bumpy's grave, every Sunday no matter what.
Dominic Cattano: What do you think of monopolies?
Frank Lucas: You mean like the game?
Dominic Cattano: Nah, I just think that monopolies are made illegal in the country, Frank, 'cause nobody wants to compete. Y'know? Nobody wants to compete. Not with a monopoly. I mean, you let the dairy farmers do that, right? They'd be out of business tomorrow.
Frank Lucas: Just tryin' to make a livin'.
Dominic Cattano: 'Course you are right. Everyone's right. It's America. We just can't do it at that unreasonable expense of others. Because then it becomes un-American. That's why the price we pay for that gallon of milk could never represent the true cost of production 'cause it's gotta be controlled, right? It's got to be set. It's gotta be fair.
Frank Lucas: Gotta be controlled by who? I set a price that I think is fair.
Dominic Cattano: I don't think it's fair.
Frank Lucas: You don't?
Dominic Cattano: I don't think it's fair.
Frank Lucas: I think it's fair.
Dominic Cattano: I know your customers are happy Frank. Bunch of fuckin' junkies that they are. What about your fellow dairy farmers out here, Frank? Are you thinkin' of us? You thinkin' of them?
Frank Lucas: Dairy farmers?
Dominic Cattano: Yeah.
Frank Lucas: I'm thinking of them, Dominic, about as much as they've ever thought about me.
Dominic Cattano: I'm just thinking out loud now. If you took some of your inventory, Frank, and you sold it wholesale, we could work. We could do some distribution.
Frank Lucas: I dunno. I'm pretty good, Dominic. Yannow, I've got 110th to 155th-river to river-I'm alright.
Dominic Cattano: Well that's kind of a mom and pop store next to what I'm talking about. I mean, let's go at least bigger than K-mart. I'm talking about L.A. Chicago. Detroit. Las Vegas. Let's go nation-wide. Yannow. I'm gonna guarantee you peace of mind here. You're gonna want that. You're gonna need it. I don't know how you view me. Y'know, I'm kinda a Renaissance Man, Frank. Y'know, people I deal with on a daily basis, t-t-they're not enlightened, Frank. You talk to them about Civil Rights, they don't know, y'know? They're not open to things. Not from the way things are done. And who's doin' it? I talk to them, there's just no misunderstandings. And that's what I mean. Buy you peace of mind. Yeah.
Frank Lucas: You're paying what? Seventy-five? Eighty thousand a kilo? I'm a Renaissance Man too. I'll consider fifty thousand.
Frank Lucas: You mean like the game?
Dominic Cattano: Nah, I just think that monopolies are made illegal in the country, Frank, 'cause nobody wants to compete. Y'know? Nobody wants to compete. Not with a monopoly. I mean, you let the dairy farmers do that, right? They'd be out of business tomorrow.
Frank Lucas: Just tryin' to make a livin'.
Dominic Cattano: 'Course you are right. Everyone's right. It's America. We just can't do it at that unreasonable expense of others. Because then it becomes un-American. That's why the price we pay for that gallon of milk could never represent the true cost of production 'cause it's gotta be controlled, right? It's got to be set. It's gotta be fair.
Frank Lucas: Gotta be controlled by who? I set a price that I think is fair.
Dominic Cattano: I don't think it's fair.
Frank Lucas: You don't?
Dominic Cattano: I don't think it's fair.
Frank Lucas: I think it's fair.
Dominic Cattano: I know your customers are happy Frank. Bunch of fuckin' junkies that they are. What about your fellow dairy farmers out here, Frank? Are you thinkin' of us? You thinkin' of them?
Frank Lucas: Dairy farmers?
Dominic Cattano: Yeah.
Frank Lucas: I'm thinking of them, Dominic, about as much as they've ever thought about me.
Dominic Cattano: I'm just thinking out loud now. If you took some of your inventory, Frank, and you sold it wholesale, we could work. We could do some distribution.
Frank Lucas: I dunno. I'm pretty good, Dominic. Yannow, I've got 110th to 155th-river to river-I'm alright.
Dominic Cattano: Well that's kind of a mom and pop store next to what I'm talking about. I mean, let's go at least bigger than K-mart. I'm talking about L.A. Chicago. Detroit. Las Vegas. Let's go nation-wide. Yannow. I'm gonna guarantee you peace of mind here. You're gonna want that. You're gonna need it. I don't know how you view me. Y'know, I'm kinda a Renaissance Man, Frank. Y'know, people I deal with on a daily basis, t-t-they're not enlightened, Frank. You talk to them about Civil Rights, they don't know, y'know? They're not open to things. Not from the way things are done. And who's doin' it? I talk to them, there's just no misunderstandings. And that's what I mean. Buy you peace of mind. Yeah.
Frank Lucas: You're paying what? Seventy-five? Eighty thousand a kilo? I'm a Renaissance Man too. I'll consider fifty thousand.
Detective Trupo: Did you pay your bills, Frank?
Frank Lucas: I don't know what you're talking about.
Detective Trupo: You pay your bills, I asked you?
Frank Lucas: Look, if you're not getting your share
Detective Trupo: [interupts] What's my share? Cause you don't even fuckin' know me. Maybe I'm special.
Frank Lucas: I don't know what you're talking about.
Detective Trupo: You pay your bills, I asked you?
Frank Lucas: Look, if you're not getting your share
Detective Trupo: [interupts] What's my share? Cause you don't even fuckin' know me. Maybe I'm special.
Frank Lucas: They tried to kill my Wife!
Frank Lucas: Who are they?... Huh?... Maybe it was one of your people?
Dominic Cattano: I don't know yet.
Frank Lucas: You don't know.
Dominic Cattano: No.
Frank Lucas: You don't know.
Frank Lucas: I tell you what I know maybe I should just uh, put five hundred guns out there on the street and just start shooting up some people just to make a point.
Frank Lucas: Who are they?... Huh?... Maybe it was one of your people?
Dominic Cattano: I don't know yet.
Frank Lucas: You don't know.
Dominic Cattano: No.
Frank Lucas: You don't know.
Frank Lucas: I tell you what I know maybe I should just uh, put five hundred guns out there on the street and just start shooting up some people just to make a point.
Detective Richie Roberts: I want to know everyone you've met for the last twenty years. Everyone you sold to. Every cop you ever paid off. Every one who ever stole from you. Every one you remember.
Frank Lucas: Oh, I remember them all. That's not the problem.
Detective Richie Roberts: What is?
Frank Lucas: The jails aren't big enough.
Frank Lucas: Oh, I remember them all. That's not the problem.
Detective Richie Roberts: What is?
Frank Lucas: The jails aren't big enough.
Detective Trupo: [after Detective Trupo finds Blue Magic in a small bag in the car] What are we gonna do about this?
Frank Lucas: We ain't gon' do shit about it. Close it up. Throw it back in the trunk. Everybody go home. Have some pumpin pie, warm apple cider...
Detective Trupo: I got a better idea, or would you rather me throw you and your brother in the fuckin' river?
Frank Lucas: Or, would you rather your house blows up next time?
Frank Lucas: We ain't gon' do shit about it. Close it up. Throw it back in the trunk. Everybody go home. Have some pumpin pie, warm apple cider...
Detective Trupo: I got a better idea, or would you rather me throw you and your brother in the fuckin' river?
Frank Lucas: Or, would you rather your house blows up next time?
Detective Richie Roberts: This is the newly formed Essex County narcotics squad, our mandate is to make major arrests, no street guys, we're looking for the suppliers and distributors, Heroin, Cocaine, Amphetamines, no grass under a thousand pounds, no powder under forty kilograms, any less than that we're going to waste our time, we're going to handling the big shipments, the big money, the big temptation
Bumpy Johnson: [to Frank] A leader, like a shepherd, he sends his fastest nimble sheep, out front. And the others will follow. While the shepherd, he walk quietly behind... Now he's got the stick, and the cane, and he'll use it! If he has to. But most times he doesn't have to. He moves the whole herd quietly.
Frank Lucas: My man. You know what normal is to me? I ain't see normal since I was 6 years old. Normal is seeing the police ride up to my house, dragging my 12 year old cousin out and tying him to a pole, shoving a shotgun in his mouth so hard they bust his teeth, then they bust two shotgun shells in his head, knocking it off. That's what normal is to me. Didn't give a fuck about no police then... Don't give a fuck about no police now.
Bumpy Johnson: This is the problem. This is what's wrong with America. It's gotten so big, you just can't find your way. The grocery store on the corner is now a supermarket. The candy store is a MacDonald's. And this place, a super fucking discount store. Where's the pride of ownership? Where's the personal service?
[Enters the store]
Bumpy Johnson: See what I mean? Shit. I mean, what right do they have, of cutting out the suppliers? Pushing out all the middlemen. Buying direct from the manufacturer. Sony this. Toshiba that. All them Chinks putting Americans out of work. That's the way it is now. You can't find the heart of anything to stick the knife.
[Enters the store]
Bumpy Johnson: See what I mean? Shit. I mean, what right do they have, of cutting out the suppliers? Pushing out all the middlemen. Buying direct from the manufacturer. Sony this. Toshiba that. All them Chinks putting Americans out of work. That's the way it is now. You can't find the heart of anything to stick the knife.
Detective Richie Roberts: I got possession, supply, conspiracy, bribing a law officer, I got your offshore bank accounts, your real estate, your businesses, all bought with money from heroin, I got hundreds of parents from dead kids, addicts who OD'ED and that's my story, that's how I make it all stick for the jury, this man murdered thousands of people and he did it from a penthouse driving a Lincoln, I got a line people wanting to testify against you that stretches out the door and around the block
Detective Trupo: When was the last time I was in New Jersey? Let me think, never, what are you doing coming over here unannounced? You think you're going to get hurt doing that? you got your fucking money, never come into this city unannounced, you come to the city to see a fucking Broadway show, you call ahead first to see if it's ok with me
Chinese General: How would you get it into the States?
Frank Lucas: You ain't got to worry about that.
Chinese General: Who do you work for in there?
Frank Lucas: You ain't got to worry about that, either.
Chinese General: Who are you really?
Frank Lucas: It says right there, Frank Lucas.
Chinese General: I mean, who do you represent?
Frank Lucas: Me.
Frank Lucas: You ain't got to worry about that.
Chinese General: Who do you work for in there?
Frank Lucas: You ain't got to worry about that, either.
Chinese General: Who are you really?
Frank Lucas: It says right there, Frank Lucas.
Chinese General: I mean, who do you represent?
Frank Lucas: Me.
Detective Trupo: Your husband's illustrious career is over. Now the Feds are going to come in, they're gonna take everything. I mean they're gonna take it all. But not before I get my gratuity. So where's the money?
Eva: What are you talking about, what money?.
Detective Trupo: What am I talking about, what money? The getaway money that Frank and every other gangster keeps in his house!
Eva: If you leave now, there's a chance Frank might not kill you.
[Trupo hits her]
Eva: What are you talking about, what money?.
Detective Trupo: What am I talking about, what money? The getaway money that Frank and every other gangster keeps in his house!
Eva: If you leave now, there's a chance Frank might not kill you.
[Trupo hits her]
