Karel Reisz, James Toback and James Caan‘s The Gambler (’74) is at least ten or fifteen times better than Rupert Wyatt and William Monahan‘s 2014 remake. But at least the latter allowed costar John Goodman to deliver a magnificent riff about “fuck you” stability.

Goodman: “You get up two-and-half million dollars, any asshole in the world knows what to do. You get a house with a 25-year roof, an indestructible economy shitbox car and you put the rest into the system at 3 to 5 percent and you pay your taxes. That’s your base. Get me? That’s your fortress of fucking solitude. That puts you, for the rest of your life, at a level of ‘Fuck You.’ Someone wants you to do something? Fuck You. Boss pisses you off? Fuck You. Own your house. Have a couple of bucks in the bank. Don’t drink. That’s all I have to say to anybody.”

“A wise man’s life is based around Fuck You. The United States of America is based upon Fuck You. You’re a king? You have an army? You have the greatest Navy in the history of the world? Fuck You.”