Barfly (1987)

Mickey Rourke: Henry

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Wanda Wilcox : I can't stand people, I hate them.

  Henry : Oh yeah?

  Wanda Wilcox : Do you hate them?

  Henry : No, but I seem to feel better when they're not around.

• Henry : Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.

• Henry : This is a world where everybody's gotta do something. Y'know, somebody laid down this rule that everybody's gotta do something, they gotta be something. You know, a dentist, a glider pilot, a narc, a janitor, a preacher, all that.

  Henry : [sighs]  Sometimes I just get tired of thinking of all the things that I don't wanna do. All the things that I don't wanna be. Places I don't wanna go, like India, like getting my teeth cleaned. Save the whale, all that, I don't understand that.

  Jim : You're not supposed to think about it. I think the whole trick is, not to think about it.

• Tully : You can really write. Why do you live like a bum?

  Henry : I am a bum. What do you want me to do? Do you want me to write about the sufferings of the upper classes?

  Tully : This may be news to you but they suffer too.

  Henry : Hey baby, nobody suffers like the poor.

• Henry : It's hatred. It's the only thing that lasts.

• Henry : [voice over]  And as my hands drop the last desperate pen, in some cheap room, they will find me there and never know my name, my meaning, nor the treasure of my escape.

• Henry : That's it.

  Wanda Wilcox : That's what?

  Henry : I'm broke. Can't buy another drink.

  Wanda Wilcox : You mean you don't have any money?

  Henry : No money, no job, no rent. Hey, I'm back to normal.

• Tully : Why did you send your stuff to us?

  Henry : Well, I liked the title of the mag. It boggled my scrotum.

  Tully : Why don't you stop drinking? Anybody can be a drunk.

  Henry : Anybody can be a non-drunk. It takes a special talent to be a drunk. It takes endurance. Endurance is more important than truth.

• Henry : [screaming]  Why did it have to be Eddie? He symbolizes everything that *disgusts* me.

  Wanda Wilcox : [quietly]  What.

  Henry : Obviousness. Unoriginal macho energy. Ladies man...

  Wanda Wilcox : You're right. He's not much.

• Henry : [to Eddie]  Your mother's cunt stinks like carpet cleaner.

• Henry : Drinks for all my friends!

• Henry : Nobody who ever wrote anything worth a damn could ever write in peace... Jesus.

• Henry : Some guys really know how to get the women.

  Jim : Now, you don't know how?

  Henry : Hey, I can get one for ten minutes. That's my limit.

• Wanda Wilcox : [talking about the rumor that her neighbor killed people]  Maybe he had a reason to kill those people.

  Henry : Yeah well most people think they do.

• Henry : So you hired a dick to find an asshole?

• Henry : Baby, what we had was just green corn.

• Tully : Do you need a drink?

  Henry : Yeah, like a spider needs a fly.

• Tully : I take it you don't care for my world.

  Henry : [scoffs]  Well, baby, look around. It's a, it's a cage with golden bars.

• Henry : [to his own bloody face as reflected in the bathroom mirror]  Nothing but the dripping sink. Empty bottle. Euphoria. Youth fenced in, stabbed and shaved. Taut words propped up to die

• [first lines] 

  Eddie : What you gotta do is beg for little mercy.

  Henry : Begging you would be like swallowing penis for eternity!

• Henry : I remember ordering a draft, barkeep. What, are you out of brew, or has that lobotomy finally taken hold?

• Henry : You know, in the guest house, you could write in peace.

  Tully : Hey, Tully baby, nobody who could write worth a damn could ever write in peace, Jesus.

• Tully : What is it? What went wrong?

  Henry : Look, baby. I belong on the streets. I don't feel right here. I feel like I can't breath.

  Tully : You just aren't used to easiness. You can grow into it.

  Henry : Hey, baby. Grow's for plants. I hate roots.

• Henry : I sure want to thank you for your hospitality.

  Wanda Wilcox : Just one thing. I don't ever wanna fall in love. I don't wanna go through that. I can't.

  Henry : Hey, don't worry. Nobody's ever loved me yet.

• Henry : I'm gonna ask you the same damn thing, people are always asking me?

  Wanda Wilcox : Like?

  Henry : Like what do you do?

  Wanda Wilcox : I drink.

• Henry : Hey, what do you think I am? A bum?

• Henry : The first thing I noticed about you were your legs.

  Wanda Wilcox : Really? I guess I got lucky with legs. It's the brain I was shorted on.

  [Wanda pulls up her robe to expose her entire legs while she lies on the couch] 

  Henry : Oh. Oh, yeah. Hey. I could look at a woman's legs for hours.

  Wanda Wilcox : I've got nothin' but time.

• Henry : Humanity, you never had it - from the beginning.

• Wanda Wilcox : Maybe this guy had a reason for killing.

  Henry : Hey, well, most people think they do.

• Henry : Hey, you don't believe in that crap, do you?

  Wanda Wilcox : Sure. The more crap you believe in, the more better off you are.

• Tully : What do you want to be - when you grow up?

  Henry : Hey Tully, I'm not pretending to be anything. That's the point.

  Tully : I'm glad there's a point.

• Henry : Who's Wilbur? Is he your pimp?

  Wanda Wilcox : I'm no hooker, I don't have a pimp.

• Wanda Wilcox : Don't you hate cops?

  Henry : No, but I seem to feel better when they're not around.

• Wanda Wilcox : How did your face get so beat up?

  Henry : You don't mind, do you?

  Wanda Wilcox : I think it looks beautiful.

• Tully : Excuse me, who are you?

  Henry : Hmm, the eternal question. The eternal answer: I don't know.

• Henry : Do you think I'm crazy?

  Wanda Wilcox : What's crazy? I dunno. We're all in some kind of hell. And the madhouses are the only places where people *know* - they're in hell.

• Wanda Wilcox : You're the damndest barfly I've ever seen. You act like some real blue blood, like royalty.

  Henry : Oh. Oh, I wasn't aware of that. Thank you. Yeah, I noticed you're class too, baby.

• Lilly : What are you doing with a woman, Henry?

  Henry : Lilly, sometimes - I think you could use one too.

• Wanda Wilcox : What is it?

  Henry : Oh, it's hatred. It's the only thing that last.

• Wanda Wilcox : What are we gonna do about us?

  Henry : Well, us? Us is gonna drink, I hope.

  Wanda Wilcox : Pour me one then.

• Henry : This thing upon me, like a flower and a feast. This thing upon me, crawling like a snake. It's not death, but dying will solve it's power. And as my hands drop the last desperate pen, in some cheap room, they will find me there. I never know my name, my meaning, nor the treasure of my escape.

• Wanda Wilcox : See. The angels are everywhere.

  Henry : Oh, it's time those fuckers came out of hiding.

• Tully : I know something about you.

  Henry : Really?

  Tully : You've been jailed twelve times. You like Mahler and Mozart... You hate movies. You like avocados and Schopenhauer.

  Henry : Sound's like your man did his homework, baby.

  Tully : When I read your stories, I had to find out. They made me feel. And they make me curious, very curious.

• Tully : Shouldn't we tell the police?

  Henry : Not unless you want your new discovery in jail. Hey, they've got the wrong kind of bars in those places.

• Tully : I'm one of the main producers of the "Contemporary Review of Art and Literature."

  Henry : Oh, producer?

  Tully : I own the magazine.

  Henry : So?

  Tully : So, we've discovered you.

  Henry : Oh. Oh, I had an idea, that I'd be discovered - after my death.

  Tully : You look well on the way. You might beat our deadline.

• Tully : That whole thing was dumb! Childish. The impetuous act of a spoiled asshole.

  Henry : So, you hired a dick to find an asshole.