Vincent I am a cool guy, with a job I contracted to do.
Played by Tom Cruise 
Collateral (2004) · 66 quotes
Collateral (2004) · 66 quotes
Most-quoted character in Collateral (2004): in 42 of its 66 quotes
Most scenes with: Max (22), Lenny (4)
"Someday, someday my dream will come?" One night you'll wake up and you'll discover it never happened. It's all turned around on you, and it never will. Suddenly you are old. It didn't happen, and it never will because you were never going to do it anyway. You'll push it into memory, then zone out in your barcalounger, being hypnotized by daytime TV for the rest of your life. Don't you talk to me about murder. All it ever took was a down payment on a Lincoln Town Car, and that girl... you can't even call that girl. What the **** are you still doing driving a cab?
More lines from Vincent
18 quotes Vincent Vincent [after the nightclub shootout]
Only thing that didn't show up is the Polish cavalry.
Vincent Don't get me cornered. You don't have the trunk space.
Vincent If you open that trunk, they go inside.
Vincent Yo, homie. Is that my briefcase?
Vincent [after Max crashes the cab]
Well, that was brilliant...
Vincent Max, I do this for a living!
Vincent You attract attention, you're going to get people killed who didn't need to be.
Vincent Most people, ten years from now, same job, same place, same routine. Everything the same. Just keeping it safe over and over and over. Ten years from now. Man, you don't know where you'll be ten minutes from now . . .
Vincent [pulls a gun on Max]
Red light, Max.
Vincent Get with it. Millions of galaxies of hundreds of millions of stars, and a speck on one in a blink. That's us, lost in space. The cop, you, me... Who notices?
Vincent Guy gets on the subway and dies. Think anybody'll notice?
Vincent There's no good reason, there's no bad reason to live or to die.
Vincent [after Max destroys his briefcase]
All my prep was in there! You are screwing with my work! Let's see what else you can do.
Vincent Guy told me about this place off Crenshaw. Leimert Park. All the West Coast greats played there. Dexter Gordon, Charlie Mingus, Chet Baker, like that.
Vincent How's this? I'll ask a question. A jazz question. Now, you get it right, we roll. You disappear tonight.
Vincent Dropped out of Juilliard after less than a year. Tracked down Charlie Parker on 52nd street, who mentored him for the next 3 years.
Vincent Hey, Max, a guy gets on the MTA here in L.A. and dies. Think anybody will notice?
Scenes with Vincent
23 scenes
What's with you?
Vincent As in?
As in if somebody had a gun to your head and said: "You gotta tell me what's going on with this person over here or I'm gonna kill you. What is driving him? What was he thinking?" You know, you couldn't do it, could you, because... They'd have to kill your ass because you don't know what anyone else is thinking. I think you're low, my brother. Way low. Like, what were you? One of those institutionalized raised guys? Anyone home? The standard parts that are supposed to be there in people, in you... aren't. ... And why haven't you killed me yet?
Vincent Of all the cabbies in L.A. I get Max: Sigmund Freud meets Dr. Ruth.
Vincent What's your name?
Max.
Vincent Max. I'm Vincent.
First time in L.A.?
Vincent No. Tell you the truth, whenever I'm here I can't wait to leave. It's too sprawled out, disconnected. You know? That's me. You like it?
It's my home.
Vincent 17 million people. This is got to be the fifth biggest economy in the world and nobody knows each other. I read about this guy who gets on the MTA here, dies.
Oh.
Vincent Six hours he's riding the subway before anybody notices his corpse doing laps around L.A., people on and off sitting next to him. Nobody notices.
Hey. He, he, he fell on the cab. He fell, he fell from up there on the mother**** cab. Shit. I think he's dead.
Vincent Good guess.
You killed him?
Vincent No, I shot him. Bullets and the fall killed him.
I can't drive you around while you're killing folks. It ain't my job!
Vincent Tonight it is.
Vincent Okay, look, here's the deal. Man, you were gonna drive me around tonight, never be the wiser, but El Gordo got in front of a window, did his high dive, we're into Plan B. Still breathing? Now we gotta make the best of it, improvise, adapt to the environment, Darwin, shit happens, I Ching, whatever man, we gotta roll with it.
I Ching? What are you talking about, man? You threw a man out of a window.
Vincent I didn't throw him. He fell.
Well what did he do to you?
Vincent What?
What did he do to you?
Vincent Nothing. I only met him tonight.
You just met him once and you killed him like that?
Vincent What? I should only kill people after I get to know them?
Vincent [after Vincent and Max load a corpse into the cab's trunk]
Let's go.
Hey, why don't you just take the cab?
Vincent Take the cab?
Yeah, you take it. I'll - I'll chill. I'll - I'll just chill. They don't even know who's driving these things half the time anyway. They never check or anything. Okay... so... just - just take it. You, me...
Vincent You promise not to tell anybody right?
Yeah... yeah... yeah... Promise.
Vincent Get in the **** car.
Vincent Lady Macbeth. Leave the seats. The light's green. We're sitting here.
[A car horn honks behind Max. The car whips around them to get through the intersection]
Asshole!
Vincent You no longer have the cleanest cab in La-La Land. You gotta live with that. Focus on the job. Drive.
Vincent Max, six billion people on the planet, you're getting bent out of shape cause of one fat guy.
Well, who was he?
Vincent What do you care? Have you ever heard of Rwanda?
Yes, I know Rwanda.
Vincent Well, tens of thousands killed before sundown. Nobody's killed people that fast since Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Did you bat an eye, Max?
What?
Vincent Did you join Amnesty International, Oxfam, Save the Whales, Greenpeace, or something? No. I off one fat Angelino and you throw a hissy fit.
Man, I don't know any Rwandans.
Vincent You don't know the guy in the trunk, either.
Just got off the phone with the cops. Desk sergeant called to check if you brought the cab in?
Yeah, so?
So, aside from I hate talking to cops, they tell me you crashed the goddamn cab?
No, no, I got crashed into. I didn't...
Do I care what, where, why? You're paying.
Vincent [to Max]
It was an accident. You're not liable.
It was an accident. I'm not liable.
Bullshit. I'm making you liable. It's coming out of your goddamn pocket.
Vincent [to Max]
You tell him to stick this cab up his fat ass.
I can't do that, that's my boss.
Vincent So?
I need my job.
Vincent No, you don't.
Still there? I'm talking to you. Max. Max!
Vincent [over the radio]
He's not paying you a damn thing.
Who the hell is this?
Vincent Albert Ricardo, Assistant U.S. Attorney, a passenger in this cab, and I'm reporting you to the D.M.V.
Let's not, oh, let's not get excited.
Vincent Not get excited? How am I supposed to not get excited? Listen, you try to extort a working man. You know goddamn well your collision policy and general liability umbrella will cover the damages. And what are you trying to pull, you sarcastic prick?
Look, I was just trying to...
Vincent Tell it to him. [to Max] Tell him he's an asshole. Go ahead.
Vincent Tell him he pulls this shit again, you're gonna stick this yellow cab up his fat ass.
[to Lenny]
And, and next time you pull any shit, I'm gonna... I'm gonna have to stick this yellow cab up... up your fat ass.
Vincent They project onto you their flaws, what they don't like about themselves. I had a father like that.
Mothers are worse.
Vincent Wouldn't know. My mother died before I remember her.
What about your father?
Vincent Hated everything I did. Got drunk, beat me up. In and out of foster homes, that kinda thing.
And then?
Vincent I killed him. I was twelve.
Vincent [Pauses, then laughs]
I'm kidding. He died of liver disease.
Well, I'm sorry.
Vincent No, you're not.
How long have you been doing this? In case anyone asks?
Vincent Private sector? Six years.
Uh... you get health benefits? Pension...?
Vincent No, and no paid vacation. Quit stalling, and get in there.
I'm not taking you to see my mother.
Vincent Since when was any of this negotiable?
Vincent You're alive. I saved you. Do I get any thanks? No. All you can do is clam up. You wanna talk? Tell me to **** off?
**** off.
Why didn't you just kill me and get another cab driver?
Vincent Cause you're good. We're in this together. Fates intertwined. Cosmic coincidence.
You're full of shit.
Vincent I'm full of shit? You're a monument of it. You even bullshitted yourself, all I am is taking out the garbage, killing bad people.
Yeah, well that's what you said.
Vincent You believed me?
Then what'd they do?
Vincent How do I know, you know? They all got that 'witness for the prosecution' look to me. Probably some major federal indictment of somebody who majorly does not want to get indicted.
Vincent There's no good reason, there's no bad reason to live or to die.
Then what are you?
Vincent I'm indifferent.
Vincent [Visiting Ida]
Flowers?
It's a waste of money. Won't mean a thing to her.
Vincent [Staring him down]
She carried you in her womb for nine months. People buy flowers. Buy flowers.
Daniel
Just when I thought you were a cool guy.
Vincent I am a cool guy, with a job I contracted to do.
Vincent Lady Macbeth, we're sitting here and the light's green. Leave the seats. You no longer have the cleanest cab in La-La Land. You gotta live with that. Focus on the job. Drive. 7565 Fountain. You know it?
West Hollywood.
Vincent How long you figure?
I don't know, man, 17 minutes. Why? Oh, no. No, no, no. Hold on, man.
Vincent I told you we had other stops to make tonight.
You said you had to go and visit some friends.
Vincent Well, they're somebody's friends. You drive a cab, I make my rounds, you might make it through the night, come out 700 bucks ahead.
I'm not trying to piss you off, but I can't do this. I can't drive you while you go around killing people. It ain't my job.
Vincent Tonight it is.
Look, you don't get it. I mean it. I mean it. I'm not up for this.
Vincent Okay, hey, hey, hey. You're stressed. I understand that. Now, you just keep breathing and stay calm. Okay, look, here's the deal. Man, you were gonna drive me around tonight, never be the wiser, but El Gordo got in front of a window, did his high dive, we're into Plan B. Still breathing? Now we gotta make the best of it, improvise, adapt to the environment, Darwin, shit happens, I Ching, whatever man, we gotta roll with it.
I Ching? What are you talking about, man? You threw a man out of a window.
Vincent I didn't throw him. He fell.
Well what did he do to you?
Vincent What?
What did he do to you?
Vincent Nothing. I only met him tonight.
You just met him once and you killed him like that?
Vincent What? I should only kill people after I get to know them? Max, six billion people on the planet, you're getting bent out of shape cause of one fat guy.
Well, who was he?
Vincent What do you care? Have you ever heard of Rwanda?
Yes, I know Rwanda.
Vincent Well, tens of thousands killed before sundown. Nobody's killed people that fast since Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Did you bat an eye, Max?
What?
Vincent Did you join Amnesty International, Oxfam, Save the Whales, Greenpeace, or something? No. I off one fat Angelino and you throw a hissy fit.
Man, I don't know any Rwandans.
Vincent You don't know the guy in the trunk, either. Okay, if it makes you feel any better, he was a criminal involved in a continuing criminal enterprise.
What are you doing? You just taking out the garbage?
Vincent Yeah, something like that.
Vincent Hands on the wheel.
Why?
Vincent Because I say so. (ties up Max's hands to the steering wheel with zip tie)
Max, Max! You out there you son of a bitch?!
Vincent Who is that?
That's Lenny. It's just dispatch.
Max, I know you're out there. Answer the goddamn call.
Vincent What happens if you don't?
He just keeps calling me.
Max, answer.
Yeah, Lenny, what's up? It's me.
Just got off the phone with the cops. Desk sergeant called to check if you brought the cab in?
Yeah, so?
So, aside from I hate talking to cops, they tell me you crashed the goddamn cab?
No, no, I got crashed into. I didn't...
Do I care what, where, why? You're paying.
Vincent [to Max]
It was an accident. You're not liable.
It was an accident. I'm not liable.
Bullshit. I'm making you liable. It's coming out of your goddamn pocket.
Vincent [to Max]
You tell him to stick this cab up his fat ass.
I can't do that, that's my boss.
Vincent So?
I need my job.
Vincent No, you don't.
Still there? I'm talking to you. Max. Max!
Vincent [over the radio]
He's not paying you a damn thing.
Who the hell is this?
Vincent Albert Ricardo, Assistant U.S. Attorney, a passenger in this cab, and I'm reporting you to the DMV.
Let's not, oh, let's not get excited.
Vincent Not get excited? How am I supposed to not get excited? Listen, you try to extort a working man. You know goddamn well your collision policy and general liability umbrella will cover the damages. And what are you trying to pull, you sarcastic prick?
Look, I was just trying to...
Vincent Tell it to him. [to Max] Tell him he's an asshole. Go ahead.
Vincent Tell him he pulls this shit again, you're gonna stick this yellow cab up his fat ass.
[to Lenny]
And, and next time you pull any shit, I'm gonna... I'm gonna have to stick this yellow cab up... up your fat ass.
Daniel Baker No, now, see, I was about 19, bussing tables right here. The money wasn't shit, but that wasn't the point. It was about being around the music. And I was. I mean, take this one night. July 22nd, 1964. Who you think walks through that door? Miles Davis. That's right. I'm talking about, through those doors, the coolest man on the planet. Anyway, he had been at a recording session up at Columbia, up on Vine. So Miles comes through that door. Before you know it, he's up on the bandstand, jamming with the band.
Vincent I mean, it had to be.
Daniel Baker I mean, the dude was so focused, man. Plus, he was kind of a scary cat anyway, man. I mean, everybody and their mama knew that you don't just come up and talk to Miles Davis. I mean, he may have looked like he was chilling, but he was absorbed. This one young, hip couple, one of them tried to shake his hand one day. And the guy says, "Hi, my name is..." Miles said, "Get the **** out of my face, you jive mother****er. Take your silly bitch with you." You know? That's... That was Miles, man. That's the way he was when he was in his musical headspace. Fierce.
Vincent But did you get to talk to him?
Daniel Baker Better than that. I played for about 20 minutes.
Vincent Unbelievable.
How'd you do?
Daniel Baker How'd I do? Well, you really ain't shit when you're playing next to Miles Davis. But he carried my ass.
Vincent What did he say?
Daniel Baker He said one word, "Cool."
Vincent "Cool"? That's it?
Daniel Baker Yeah. That meant, "Good, but not ready." It meant, "Look me up when you are."
Vincent Did you?
Daniel Baker No. I got drafted and got into some other things. And by the time I got back to music, the season had passed. But, you know, I was born in 1945, but that night was the moment of my conception. Right here in this room.
Vincent [notices a waitress leaving]
Crowd's not here now.
Daniel Baker Well, jazz ain't the draw that it used to be.
Vincent What a great story. I got to tell the people in Culiacán and Cartagena that story.
Daniel Baker [stops]
You know the folks in Culiacán and Cartagena?
Vincent Afraid so.
Daniel Baker Just when I thought you were a cool guy.
Vincent I am a cool guy...with a job that I'm contracted to do.
Come on, Vincent. Give the dude a pass.
Vincent I'm working here.
You the one talking about improvisation. You like the guy, you like how he plays. Let's just play a little Jazz, come on.
Vincent Improvise. That's funny coming from you. [to Daniel] How's this? I'll ask a question.
Daniel Baker What question?
Vincent A jazz question. Now, you get it right, we roll. You disappear tonight.
Daniel Baker If I walk out of here tonight, I will go so far away, it'll be just like I was dead. And one more thing: These people and their rep here, Felix. Well, you tell them I'm sorry. You tell them I had to. They laid a grant of immunity on me. I was compelled. It was either play ball or go back inside. And I'm not going back inside.
Vincent Yeah.
Daniel Baker Lay it on me.
Vincent Where did Miles learn music?
Daniel Baker I know everything there is to know about Miles.
Vincent Then let's have it.
Music school. [to Daniel] He got it in music school, right?
Daniel Baker His father was a dentist, East St. Louis. Invested in agriculture, made plenty of money. He sent Miles to Juilliard School of Music, New York, 1945. [Vincent shoots Daniel three times in the head with a silenced pistol, frightening Max. Vincent catches Daniel's chin mid air and gently lays his head down on the table and puts his hand up to make it look like he passed out drunk]
Vincent Dropped out of Juilliard after less than a year. Tracked down Charlie Parker on 52nd street, who mentored him for the next 3 years. [Vincent follows a frightened Max outside the Jazz club] Hey.
No. No, I'm done. Find you another cab.
Vincent Max.
Leave me alone. I'm collateral anyway. [Vincent punches Max three times in the chest, grabs him by his neck and pins him against his taxi]
Vincent I'm not playing.
You played him, man. He got the answer right, would you have let him go?
Vincent What is it with this guy? [talks to Lenny] You hassling my driver again?
Who are you?
Vincent The same guy you talked to last time.
Max's mother is driving me crazy. Put him on the line, please.
Vincent [to Max]
Carefully.
Yeah.
Your mother's calling every ten minutes. Why didn't you show? Are you alright? Where are you?
Vincent Show for what?
Tell her I can't make it tonight.
I'm not related to her. You tell her yourself.
Vincent Show for what?
She's in the hospital.
Vincent You visit her every night?
Yeah. What difference does it make?
Vincent You don't show up, it breaks routine.
So?
Vincent So people start looking for you, this cab. That's not good.
I'm not taking you to see my mother.
Vincent Since when was any of this negotiable?
Let her go.
Vincent Max? Why? What are you gonna do about it? [Max shoots a chunk out of Vincent's ear with Vincent's Heckler & Koch USP45]
