The Best Richie Roberts Quotes

Detective: His name is Frank Lucas, originally from Greensboro, North Carolina, he has a couple of arrests years ago for gambling and for carrying an unlicensed firearm. For fifteen years he was Bumpy Johnson's driver, bodyguard and collector. Hhe was with him when he died, he has five brothers, he's the oldest and a lot of cousins, they're all living up here now, spread out in the five boroughs and New Jersey. His brother's businesses are the distribution and collection points of Frank's dope and his money. Everything about Frank's life seems unpretentious and broadly legitimate, he starts early, gets up at 5am, has breakfast in a diner in Harlem usually by himself, then he starts work, takes a meeting with his accountant and with his lawyer. At nights he usually stays at home, if he does go out, it's only one of two clubs or a handful of restaurants with his wife, ball players, musicians and his friends and never organized crime guys. Sundays he takes his mother to church and changes the flowers on Bumpy's grave, every Sunday no matter what.

[from trailer]
Detective: I swear, I will pull out my gun and put a bullet in your fuckin' head!

Detective: I want to know everyone you've met for the last twenty years. Everyone you sold to. Every cop you ever paid off. Every one who ever stole from you. Every one you remember.
Frank: Oh, I remember them all. That's not the problem.
Detective: What is?
Frank: The jails aren't big enough.

Detective: Good work Frank. You... want a drink or something? Celebrate?
Frank: You got any holy water?

Detective: Laurie, look, I'm sorry I never gave you the kind of life you wanted, all right.I'm sorry it was never enough.Don't punish me for being honest.Don't take my boy away.
Laurie: What are you saying? That because you were honest and you didn't take money like every other cop, I left you? No, you don't take money for one reason. To buy being dishonest about everything else. And that's worse than taking money nobody gives a shit about.Drug money, gambling money nobody's gonna miss. You know, I'd rather you took it and been honest with me. Or don't take it. I don't care. But then don't go cheat on me.Don't cheat on your kid by never being around. Don't go out and get laid by your snitches and your secretaries and strippers.I can tell by just looking,she's one of them. You think you're going to heaven because you're honest, but you're not You're going to the same hell as the crooked cops you can't stand.

[Detective Trupo notices Richie's plans to arrest Frank Lucas]
Detective: What's this? Don't tell me you're actually gonna arrest Frank Lucas, are you?
Detective: What? Haven't you heard? We're all fucking crazy over here. You know what we do here? Cops... arrest... bad guys. The next time you come across the bridge, you should call me first. Just make sure it's safe.

Detective: [Referring to Frank Lucas] His seats were phenomenal better seats than Dominic Cattano, Joe Louis shook his hand, who the fuck is this guy?

Detective: This is the newly formed Essex County narcotics squad, our mandate is to make major arrests, no street guys, we're looking for the suppliers and distributors, Heroin, Cocaine, Amphetamines, no grass under a thousand pounds, no powder under forty kilograms, any less than that we're going to waste our time, we're going to handling the big shipments, the big money, the big temptation

Detective: They don't want this to stop. It employs too many people. Cops, lawyers, judges, probation officers, prison guards... The day dope stops coming into this country, a hundred thousand people lose their jobs.

[from trailer]
Detective: Frank Lucas is the most dangerous man walking the streets of our city.

Frank: Now, I got no problem with you showin' up in court tomorrow with your head blown in half.
Detective: Get in line. That one stretches around the block too.

Detective: The number one fear of people isn't dying, it's public speaking.

Frank: What you want me to do? Snitch? I know you don't want no cops. What you want? Gangsters? Pick one. Jew gangsters, mick gangsters, guinees? They been bleeding Harlem dry since they got off the boat. I don't give a fuck about no crime figures. You can have them.
Detective: I'll take them too.
Frank: You'll take them too? No you didn't. You talkin about police? You want police? You want your own kind?
Detective: They're not my kind. They're in business with you, they ain't my kind. They ain't my kind like the Italians are not yours.