Four Rooms
written by Quentin Tarantino
Chester: Okay, pay attention here, Ted, I ain't got much time. Now, I'm gonna \make two piles here on the bar. (he takes the hundred-dollar bill and lays it out on the bar) One pile, (pointing at the hundred-dollar bill) which is yours. And another pile, (Chester whips out a money roll fat enough to choke a horse to death) which could be yours. (He sets down a matching hundred-dollar bill on the bar, starting a second pile) Now, what you have to be aware of is we're gonna do this bet, one way, (he lays another hundred on the end pile) or the other. (another hundred on the pile) Whether it's you who holds the axe, (another hundred on the pile) or the desk clerk downstairs, (another hundred on the pile) or some bum we yank off the street. (he lays another hundred on the pile)
Norman (Paul Calderon): You can buy a lot of soup with that pile.
Chester: (to Norman) Shhhh, I'm the closer. (to the group) How much is on the bar already? I lost count.
Angela (Jennifer Beals): Six hundred.
Chester: Six hundred. Ted, do you know how long it takes the average American to count to six hundred?
Ted (Tim Roth): No.
Chester: (another bill on the pile) One minute less than it takes to count to seven hundred. You know, Ted, a person's life is made up of a zillion little experiences. (another bill) Some, which have no meaning, are insignificant and you forget them. And some that stick with you for the rest of your natural life--(another bill on the pile)--barring Alzheimer's of course. Now, what we're proposing is so unusual, so outside the norm, that I think it would be a pretty good guess that this will be one of those experiences that sticks. So, since you're gonna be stuck remembering this moment for the rest of your life, you gotta decide what that memory will be. (one last bill on the pile) So, are you gonna remember for the next forty years, give or take a decade, how you refused a thousand dollars for one second's worth of work, or how you made a thousand dollars for one second's worth of work?
Kudos and much thanks go to Melissa for this monologue, it is very much appreciated.