Rush (1991 film)

Rush is a 1991 film about two small-town Texas cops who go undercover to catch a major drug dealer and are sucked into the drug culture, compromising their assignment.
 * Directed by Lili Fini Zanuck. Written by Pete Dexter, based on a novel written by Kim Wozencraft.

How far do they go before they've gone too far? taglines

Dialogue

 * Jim Raynor: [about Kristen] She's got an edge to her, don't she?
 * Larry Dodd: Jimmy, the girl ran track somewhere, man. That doesn't mean you want her watching your back. Look it, Nettle ain't going to want to throw her in with you. First thing he'll think is you'll bang her. You know how he is about that. Second thing he thinks is if she gets hurt, how's that make the department look? Throwing a little girl like that into the world. Man, I can just hear what he's going to say.
 * Jim Raynor: She looks stout to me.


 * Larry Dodd: You don't have to do this, you know.
 * Kristen Cates: I know.
 * Larry Dodd: It isn't going to be the way you think it is. It gets ugly.
 * Kristen Cates: Yes sir, I know.
 * Larry Dodd: No, you don't know. You get ugly with it. [pause] What d'you ever wanna do this for, anyway?
 * Kristen Cates: Seems like a chance to make a difference.
 * Larry Dodd: I'll tell you what's gonna be different. You.
 * [Jim walks up]
 * Larry Dodd: Miss Cates, this is Jim Raynor. He was pretty himself once.


 * Jim Raynor: [about the heater] Broke in Montana. I kept meaning to get it fixed, then I came down here, where it's warm, and I lost my motivation.
 * Kristen Cates: Is that where you're from, Montana?
 * Jim Raynor: The eastern part. The Big Empty. And now, I'm from Caddo Lake, Texas.
 * Kristen Cates: Were you a narc up there too?
 * Jim Raynor: Ruins you for everything else.
 * [Kristen laughs]
 * Jim Raynor: That's probably not a joke.


 * Jim Raynor: It's a long haul, and you hate yourself most of the way.
 * Kristen Cates: Is that how you live?
 * Jim Raynor: No. It's simpler than that for me. But then I got low self-esteem.


 * Jim Raynor: Gotta do something about your hair.
 * Kristen Cates: What?
 * Jim Raynor: Quit washin' it. There are some things we gotta talk over.
 * Kristen Cates: Okay.
 * Jim Raynor: We buy drugs. Larry Dodd gives us the money. And he's the only one we ever talk to in the whole department. To everybody else, we're junkies. What that means is if we get into something, we ain't gonna call in no "Officer assist" to get out. Our "Officer assist" is each other. So, what I'm saying is when you come into this it can't be halfway.
 * Kristen Cates: I didn't think it was.
 * Jim Raynor: You know what you're doin'?
 * Kristen Cates: Yeah.
 * Jim Raynor: Gotta be able to lie better than that.
 * Kristen Cates: I can do what it takes.


 * Jim Raynor: You wanna try to light that up?
 * [Kristen clumsily lights a joint]
 * Jim Raynor: You do that on the street, I guarantee you're fucked. You're fucked. And I'm fucked with you, 'cause we're partners.
 * Kristen Cates: It's simulation.
 * Jim Raynor: Simulation's something you say in court. Outside the court we're here to buy dope. You go in thinkin' these people are stupid, it'll get you hurt, and me hurt with you. That's what happens when the shit comes down. One of us is fucked, we both are. And that's what this is about. You and me. 'Cause people find out what we do, I mean either side, the DA or the dealers, it's over. Over. All we got is each other.
 * Kristen Cates: All right.


 * Jim Raynor: Listen, I know this is a little hairy.
 * Kristen Cates: I'm not scared.
 * Jim Raynor: It happens. All this shit about addiction is a matter of how strong you are. I've seen agents brought up for air. They've been doin' it steady five, six months, plenty strung out. Gotta get strong. You kick the bed covers a week or two, you run a little temperature. You get up on your feet, stand and walk. Cops? That's how it's done. A fuckin' dealer won't split down with nobody till he knows he's cool. Business. That's the way it is.


 * Nettle: [appearing before a public city council meeting] As you gentlemen and ladies know, I took over the job of Chief of Police six months ago.
 * Mayor: [correcting him] Acting Chief of Police.
 * Nettle: Acting Chief of Police - yes, sir. Now, at that time I had only a cursory knowledge of the volume of drug trafficking within the city.
 * Nettle: [Holds up a drug syringe with a Police Department evidence tag on it] This syringe was found two weeks ago on a playground at Lamar Junior High. [holds up another syringe from evidence] A high-school teacher took this off a sophomore. [holds up a small revolver] This here came off a little colored boy who was selling marijuana joints to his friends.
 * Mayor: I believe we've seen enough now to appreciate your point, Acting Chief Nettle.
 * Nettle: With all respect, sir, I think the people of Katterly need to know what their children are facing when they send them off to school in the morning. [hearty applause from the audience]


 * Jim Raynor: [after taking a hit] That's some nice shit, man.
 * Willie Red: And you know that. Willie Red gets the best. Only the best. Kinda make you feel like floatin' on a cloud of titties. [to Kristen] So what about you, sister? You wanna taste?
 * Kristen Cates: No.
 * Willie Red: No?
 * Jim Raynor: No, she don't fix. The lady, she don't fix.
 * Willie Red: Oh, man. She be missin' out on the good things in life. [pause] I think she fix. I think she fix, else you don't walk outta here.
 * Kristen Cates: Walker told us everything was cool with you, man. He said "Just come on by, everything's fine."
 * Willie Red: Damn straight. Walker cool as the other side of my pillow, honey. But you ain't showed me shit. What the fuck you come down here for? You don't wanna get down, tell me that.
 * [Kristen starts to take her first hit]
 * Willie Red: There you go, baby. Ain't nothin' to it but to do it. Yes, Lord. Pretty soon you'll be feelin' all unnecessary.


 * Kristen Cates: [about Willie Red] Did you smell him?
 * Jim Raynor: Yeah, they don't take many baths. It's a better high if they're dirty.
 * Kristin Cates: Really?
 * Jim Raynor: Yeah. It doesn't leak through the skin.
 * Kristin Cates: So what happens now?
 * Jim Raynor: We go back to sleep.
 * Kristin Cates: No, I mean to him.
 * Jim Raynor: He's already asleep. He's just like anybody else. We don't touch any of them until we get them all. How bad did that scare you last night?
 * Kristin Cates: Some. But I didn't mind. And I liked it.
 * Jim Raynor: What did you like?
 * Kristin Cates: I liked being there with you. And I liked being scared. I liked knowing he was going away for it.
 * Jim Raynor: Don't like it too much.
 * Kristin Cates: D'you like it too much, Jim?
 * Jim Raynor: Yeah, I like it too much.


 * Kristen Cates: What'd you say if we told you Gaines isn't dealin' drugs?
 * Nettle: I'd say, "When are you gonna make the case?"
 * Kristen Cates: Will Gaines isn't dealin' drugs. At least not to us. We've tried to get next to the man for five months. He won't come across with anything. Nothin'. He won't even talk about it.
 * Nettle: [unperturbed] Now, Will Gaines is a dealer in drugs and pornography, and that is a fact. Make the case.
 * Kristen Cates: Are you tellin' us to plant evidence?
 * Nettle: [glances at Dodd, then back to Kristen] I'm tellin' you that sometimes good work is accomplished in mysterious ways.


 * Jim Raynor: Look, I need something you've got.
 * Will Gaines: Somebody told me you're a bad-ass.
 * Jim Raynor: There's no bad-asses. Ain't nobody can't die.
 * Will Gaines: Tell me something, bad-ass: you think I'm stupid?


 * Kristen Cates: You know what scares me? The thought of all those people getting up in court, telling what we did.
 * Jim Raynor: Nobody believes them, except other dealers and other cops. That's what makes the whole thing work. You never admit to anything. Someone's holding evidence in your face... nothing.


 * Jim Raynor: Feels like a long ride to nowhere, doesn't it?
 * Kristen Cates: You know, after I finished with the grand jury, they applauded me. It made me feel sick. I feel sick.
 * Jim Raynor: You pick a side. Because you have to. And it's supposed to be the right one. Difference being, our intentions were good. But...
 * Kristen Cates: Difference is there isn't any difference.

Taglines

 * How far do they go before they've gone too far?


 * Somewhere between the buy, and the high... they forgot they were cops.

Cast

 * Jason Patric - Jim Raynor
 * Jennifer Jason Leigh - Kristen Cates
 * Sam Elliott - Larry Dodd
 * Max Perlich - Walker
 * Gregg Allman - Will Gaines
 * Tony Frank - Nettle
 * William Sadler - Monroe
 * Dennis Letts - Senior District Attorney
 * Dennis Burkley - Motorcycle Guy
 * Merrill Connally - Defense Attorney
 * Michael Kirkland - Assistant DA
 * Special K McCray - Willie Red