Instinct (1999)

Cuba Gooding Jr.: Theo Caulder

Photos 

Quotes 

• Theo Calder : I'm Dr. Calder. You've been charged with one count of murder and found incompetent to stand trial.

  Pete : She had a demon in her for a while. My neighbour, Mrs. Karsh.

  Theo Calder : Mm-hmm.

  Pete : It would come and go. Nobody saw it... except me.

  Theo Calder : What did it look like, the demon?

  Pete : Um... Did you ever see "Alien" with Sigourney Weaver?

  Theo Calder : It looked like a giant insect?

  Pete : No. It looked like Sigourney Weaver.

• Theo Calder : Okay, Ethan. You asked me a question once: "What has you all tied up in knots, when you wake up sweating in the middle of the night?" You still want to know? I've been thinking about it, been thinking about it a lot. It's not the work; I love the work. I've always loved the work. It's the game. The game, Ethan. And I was so good at it. I made sure all the right people liked me. At night, I'd go through the checklist in my mind: Am I cool with Ben Hillard? Am I cool with Dr. Josephson? Am I cool with all the people who can help me? Am I cool with all the people who can hurt me? Nobody thought I was weak or a loser. There was nobody I was offending, nobody I loved. *That* game, Ethan. But guess what? You taught me how to live outside of the game. You taught me how to *live*. And you know what scares me even more? That I'm going back in. "Forgive me, Ben. Put me back in the game. I'll make you like me again. I'll do the work. I'll do *all* the work, just put me back in the game!" And you want to know, you want to know the psychology behind this? Now, pay attention, 'cause I'm good at this. I'm trying not to say goodbye to you. I'm trying not to say I'll miss you. I'm trying to forget you. Ethan Powell: case closed. *Case closed*. Look at me...

• Theo Calder : Your father may be very ill.

  Lynn Powell : Really? I thought maybe he was just in bad mood.

• Theo Calder : Okay, so, you don't wanna talk. But your daughter needs you. So what do you say to her?

  Ethan Powell : 'Goodbye.' I talked. There. Have I made your fucking day?

  [reaches across and slams a pencil into the table] 

• Theo Calder : The patient is overmedicated and brutalised.

• Theo Calder : Well, he thought you were a gorilla.

  Ethan Powell : No! Not a gorilla. For the first time in history a gorilla reached out to a man. Do you know how significant that is?