Rumble Fish Quotes
Rusty James, an absent-minded street thug struggles to live up to his legendary older brother's reputation, and longs for the days when gang warfare was going on.
Father: No, your mother... is not crazy. And neither, contrary to popular belief, is your brother crazy. He's merely miscast in a play. He was born in the wrong era, on the wrong side of the river... With the ability to be able to do anything that he wants to do and... findin' nothin' that he wants to do. I mean nothing.
Benny: Time is a funny thing. Time is a very peculiar item. You see when you're young, you're a kid, you got time, you got nothing but time. Throw away a couple of years, a couple of years there... it doesn't matter. You know. The older you get you say, "Jesus, how much I got? I got thirty-five summers left." Think about it. Thirty-five summers.
Father: Every now and then, a person comes along, has a different view of the world than does the usual person. It doesn't make them crazy. I mean... an acute perception, man... that doesn't, that doesn't make you crazy.
Rusty James: Could you talk normal?
Father: However sometimes... it can drive you crazy, acute perception.
Rusty James: Could you talk normal?
Father: However sometimes... it can drive you crazy, acute perception.
Patterson the Cop: What's the big interest in the pet store all of a sudden?
Mr. Dobson: They've been hanging around here.
The Motorcycle Boy: Take a look at the fish.
Patterson the Cop: You're crazy. You're really crazy. And, you know, I've known all about it all along.
The Motorcycle Boy: But they belong in the river.
[guesturing at the fish]
The Motorcycle Boy: I don't think they would fight if they were in the river. If they had room to live.
Patterson the Cop: Someone ought to get you off the streets.
The Motorcycle Boy: Somebody ought to put the fish in the river.
[starts chuckling to himself]
Mr. Dobson: They've been hanging around here.
The Motorcycle Boy: Take a look at the fish.
Patterson the Cop: You're crazy. You're really crazy. And, you know, I've known all about it all along.
The Motorcycle Boy: But they belong in the river.
[guesturing at the fish]
The Motorcycle Boy: I don't think they would fight if they were in the river. If they had room to live.
Patterson the Cop: Someone ought to get you off the streets.
The Motorcycle Boy: Somebody ought to put the fish in the river.
[starts chuckling to himself]
The Motorcycle Boy: [he and Steve come across a wounded Rusty]
[quietly]
The Motorcycle Boy: You gotta keep still.
The Motorcycle Boy: [carefully begins to pick up Rusty] You're gonna be okay. Don't move.
Rusty James: You pissed off at me, man?
The Motorcycle Boy: [takes Rusty in his arms]
[whisper]
The Motorcycle Boy: Don't talk. I'll take care of you.
[quietly]
The Motorcycle Boy: You gotta keep still.
The Motorcycle Boy: [carefully begins to pick up Rusty] You're gonna be okay. Don't move.
Rusty James: You pissed off at me, man?
The Motorcycle Boy: [takes Rusty in his arms]
[whisper]
The Motorcycle Boy: Don't talk. I'll take care of you.
Rusty James: I saw that chick, Cassandra. She said she wasn't hooked.
The Motorcycle Boy: Yeah? I believe her. You remember what happened to the people who didn't believe Cassandra?
Father: [mumbling] The Greeks got 'em.
Rusty James: What?
Father: [more clearly] The Greeks Got-'Em.
Rusty James: Man, what the fuck do the Greeks have to do with anything?
The Motorcycle Boy: Yeah? I believe her. You remember what happened to the people who didn't believe Cassandra?
Father: [mumbling] The Greeks got 'em.
Rusty James: What?
Father: [more clearly] The Greeks Got-'Em.
Rusty James: Man, what the fuck do the Greeks have to do with anything?
Smokey: You know, if there were gangs around like in the old days, I'd be running things, not you. You'd be second lieutenant. You might have gotten by for a while on the Motorcycle Boy's rep, but you have to be smart to run things. You ain't got your brother's brains. It's nothing personal, Rusty James, but nobody would follow you into a fight because you'd get people killed - and nobody wants to be killed.
