L.A. Confidential (1997)
Russell Crowe: Bud White
Photos
Quotes
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Lynn Bracken : You say "fuck" a lot.
Bud White : You fuck for money.
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Ed Exley : A naked man with a gun? Do you really expect anyone to believe that?
Bud White : Get the fuck away from me.
Ed Exley : How's it gonna look in your report?
Bud White : It'll look like justice. That's what the man got. Justice.
Ed Exley : You don't know the meaning of the word, you ignorant bastard.
Bud White : Oh yeah, well you think it means getting your picture in the paper. Why don't you go after criminals for a change, instead of cops?
[punches Exley in the shoulder and then starts to walk away]
Ed Exley : Stensland got what he deserved, and so will you.
[a furious White tries to attack Exley, only to be restrained by the Captain and by several other cops]
Captain Dudley Smith : It's best to stay away from a man when his blood is up.
Ed Exley : His blood is always up.
Captain Dudley Smith : Then perhaps you should stay away from him altogether.
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[Exley and White are waiting inside the Victory Motel with guns drawn]
Ed Exley : All I ever wanted was to measure up to my father.
Bud White : Now's your chance.
[Exley gives him a puzzled look]
Bud White : He died in the line of duty, didn't he?
[the two share a laugh, just before thugs storm the room and a gunfight begins]
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Captain Dudley Smith : You'll do as I say, and ask no questions. Do you follow my drift?
Bud White : In technicolor, sir.
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Bud White : I'd like to see you again.
Lynn Bracken : Are you asking me for a date, or an appointment?
Bud White : ...I don't know.
Lynn Bracken : Well, if you're asking me for a date, I should know your first name.
Bud White : [embarrassed] Forget I asked. It was a mistake.
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Lynn Bracken : You're the first man in five years who didn't tell me I look like Veronica Lake inside of a minute.
Bud White : You look better than Veronica Lake.
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[White approaches Loew in the bathroom after he refused to answer Exley's questions]
Ellis Loew : Unless you came here to wipe my ass, I believe we're through.
[White looks at him, silently]
Ellis Loew : Come on, don't try that "Good Cop-Bad Cop" crap. I practically invented it. So what if some homo actor is dead, huh? Boys, girls, ten of them step off the bus to L.A. every day...
[White smashes Loew's head into the mirror and then sticks it into the toilet]
Ellis Loew : Pull him off me, Exley!
Ed Exley : I don't know how.
Bud White : Now, I know you think you're the A-number one hotshot. But here's the juice: if I take you out, there'll be ten more lawyers to take your place tomorrow. They just won't come on the bus, that's all!
[White drags Loew into his office and dangles him out of the window by his legs until he confesses]
Ed Exley : Was that how you used to run the "Good Cop-Bad Cop"?
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City Councilman : [told by Bud to leave Lynn's house] Maybe I will. Maybe I won't.
Bud White : [flashes his badge] LAPD, shitbird. Get the fuck outta here or I'll call your wife to come get you!
[while Lynn hides a smile, the client gathers up his clothes, and walks out front door]
City Councilman : Officer.
Bud White : Councilman.
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[White catches a parolee beating his wife]
Wife Beater : Who in the hell are you?
Bud White : The ghost of Christmas past. Why don't you dance with a man for a change?
Wife Beater : What are you, some kind of smart ass?
[tries to attack Bud]
Bud White : [after beating up and handcuffing the wife beater] You'll be out in a year and a half. I'll get cozy with your parole officer. You touch her again, I'll have you violated on a kiddie raper beef.
Bud White : [grabs wife beater by the head] You know what they do to kiddie rapers in Quentin, don't ya?
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Bud White : Merry Christmas.
Lynn Bracken : Merry Christmas to you, officer.
Bud White : That obvious, huh?
Lynn Bracken : It's practically stamped on your forehead.
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Bud White : Something's wrong with the Nite Owl. I know it in here,
[points to his chest]
Bud White : I know it. That prick Exley shot the wrong guys. Whoever killed my partner, is still out there. I... If I could work cases like a real detective, I could prove it. But I'm not smart enough. I'm just the guy they bring in to scare the other guy shitless.
Lynn Bracken : You're wrong. You found Patchett, you found me. You're smart enough.
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Bud White : Bullshit. How would a two-bit hick like Meeks get his hands on a large supply of heroin?
Johnny Stompanato : You're right, it's probably bullshit. Even if he did, he could never unload it. Not without drawing all kinds of attention.
Bud White : Maybe that's why he's under a house in Elysian Park and he don't smell too good, paisano.
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[lying in bed, Lynn touches a scar on Bud's shoulder]
Lynn Bracken : Where did this come from?
Bud White : When I was twelve, my old man went after my mother with a bottle. I got in the way.
Lynn Bracken : So you saved her.
Bud White : ...Not for long.
Lynn Bracken : I'm sorry, it's none of my business...
Bud White : He tied me to the radiator. I watched him beat my mother to death with a tire iron. Then he left me there. Three days before a truant officer found us... They never found the old man.
Lynn Bracken : Is that why you became a cop? To get even?
Bud White : ...Maybe.
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Pierce Patchett : I use girls that look like movie stars. Sometimes I employ a plastic surgeon. When the work had been done, that's when you saw us.
Bud White : That's why her mother couldn't I.D. her. Jesus fucking Christ.
Pierce Patchett : No, Mr. White. Pierce Morehouse Patchett. Now I sense that you're on your best behavior, but that's really all you're going to get. If you have any more questions, I'll meet you with my attorney.
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Dick Stensland : I got a hot date.
Bud White : Yeah? Who is she and what did you arrest her for?
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[when Sid Hudgens is found dead]
Bud White : What happened?
Detective at Hush-Hush Office : Somebody beat him to death and stole a bunch of files. Must've dug up garbage on the wrong guy. Got it narrowed down to a thousand suspects.
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Lynn Bracken : I was wondering when you'd knock on my door again, Officer White.
Bud White : It's Bud.
Lynn Bracken : Bud...
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[to Lynn]
Bud White : Don't ever try to fucking bribe me or I'll have you and Patchett in shit up to your ears.
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Ray Pinker : Bud White - what brings *you* to the basement?
Bud White : I got a couple Nite Owl questions.
Ray Pinker : I don't know if you'd read the papers, but that case is closed.
Bud White : Is there anything bothering you about it, Ray?
Ray Pinker : Yeah, the fact that the pack-up boys haven't carted this shit out of here yet.
[Bud sees all the boxes of case files, and starts to look through the crime scene photos]
Ray Pinker : I got three shotguns, taken from the suspects, that match the strike marks on the shells from the Nite Owl. What more do you want?
Bud White : [suddenly spotting a detail in a photo] There's blood on the wall here. I thought everybody but the cook got shot in the men's room?
Ray Pinker : That is Stensland's blood.
Bud White : Stensland?
Ray Pinker : He took a blow to the head. Was probably unconscious when they dragged him in the john.
Bud White : Did they hit anybody else?
Ray Pinker : No. But he was a cop, he probably tried to "do something."
Bud White : [remembering that Stensland said he had a date that night, he studies a photo showing a table with two settings, including a coffee mug smudged with lipstick] Grilled cheese, black coffee... two of the victims were women, right?
Ray Pinker : Yeah - Patti DeLuca, the night-shift waitress, and a Susan Lefferts.
Bud White : Susan Lefferts...
Ray Pinker : Yeah, what about her?
[Bud runs out of the room]
Ray Pinker : You're welcome!
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Lynn Bracken : There's blood on your shirt. Is that an integral part of your job?
Bud White : Yeah.
Lynn Bracken : Do you enjoy it?
Bud White : When they deserve it.
Lynn Bracken : Did they deserve it?
Bud White : I'm not sure.
Lynn Bracken : But you did it anyway.
Bud White : Yeah, just like the half-dozen guys you screwed today.
Lynn Bracken : Well, actually, it was only two.
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Bud White : Pierce Patchett?
Lynn Bracken : He takes a cut of our earnings and invests it for us. He doesn't let us use narcotics and he doesn't abuse us. Can your policeman's mentality grasp those contradictions?
Bud White : He had you cut to look like Veronica Lake.
Lynn Bracken : No. I'm really a brunette, but the rest is me.
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Ed Exley : I want D.A. bureau men to tail Dudley Smith and Pierce Patchett 24 hours a day. I want you to get a judge to authorize wiretaps on their home phones, and I want authorization to check their bank records.
Ellis Loew : On what evidence?
Bud White : Call it a hunch.
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Dick Stensland : We'll do the town one night... on me.
Bud White : I'll bring my wallet, just in case.
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Bud White : Well, Captain, what do you want?
Captain Dudley Smith : Call me Dudley.
Bud White : Dudley... what do you want?
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[Bud grabs Johnny Stompanato by the testicles to get him to talk]
Bud White : What do I get if I give you your balls back, you wop cocksucker?
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Bud White : There's no god damn bill on me?
Captain Dudley Smith : Four of the witnesses recanted their testimony.
Bud White : Why?
Captain Dudley Smith : They had a change of heart.
Bud White : What about Stensland?
Captain Dudley Smith : Your partner's through. Departmental scapegoat on the chief's orders.
Bud White : A year from his pension. Exley.
Captain Dudley Smith : Exley made his play and got what he wanted. As a politician, he exceeds even myself. The Department needs smart men like Exley... and direct men like you.
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[Lynn leads Bud to her private bedroom]
Bud White : Why me?
Lynn Bracken : [shakes her head, whispers] I don't know.
