Syriana (2005)

George Clooney: Bob Barnes

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Quotes 

• Bob Barnes : If anything happens to me or my family, an accident, an accusation, anything, then first your son will disappear, his body will never be found. Then your wife. Her body will never be found either. This is guaranteed. Then, whatever is the most dangerous thing you do in your life, it might be flying in a small plane, it might be walking to the bank, you will be killed. Do you understand what I'm saying? I want you to acknowledge that you do understand so that we're clear and there won't be any mistakes.

  Dean Whiting : Beirut rules, Mr. Barnes?

• Bob Barnes : I want you to take him from his hotel, drug him, put him in the front of a car, and run a truck into it at 50 mph.

• Mussawi : Bob, what do you know about the torture methods used by the Chinese on the Falun Gong? Huh? Method number one. What's your guess?

  [pause] 

  Mussawi : Water dungeon. Did you guess water dungeon? Number two method? Number two, twisting arm and putting face in feces. Not interested in two? Number three. Number three is called 'pulling nails from fingers'. What do you think Bob? Number three sound good to you? The purpose is to get the monks or whatever to recant their beliefs. What if I had to get you to recant? That would be pretty difficult right? Because if you have no beliefs to recant then what? Then you're fucked is what. You're going to give me the names of every person who's taken money from you.

  [rips off one of Bob's nails] 

  Mussawi : Oh that is dusgusting.

  Bob Barnes : Come on Jimmy, you're not one of those Koran thumpers!

  Mussawi : My name is Mussawi.

  [rips off another nail, then starts punching Bob] 

  Mussawi : You fucking fuck, fucking fuck, stupid fuck, what the fuck, this is a war! Fuck you're a PO fucking W! Give me the fucking names! I'm cutting his fucking head off. I'm going to cut your head off, Bob!

• Bob Barnes : Innocent until investigated? That's nice. It's got a nice ring to it. Bet you've worn some miles on old sayings like that. Gives the listener the sense of the law being written as it's spoken.

• Bob Barnes : I punched in "Prince Nasir Al-Subaai" and my computer gets seized. Where'd that job come from? Where did the Nasir job come from?

  Fred Franks : I'm advising you to drop it.

  Bob Barnes : Why am I being investigating? Why am I being investigating, Fred?

  Fred Franks : Goodbye, Bob.

• Bob Barnes : Intelligence work isn't training seminars and gold stars for attendance.

  Fred Franks : What do you think intelligence work is Bob?

  Bob Barnes : I think it's two people in a room and one of them's asking a favor that is a capital crime in every country on earth, a hanging crime.

  Fred Franks : No Bob, it's assessing the information gathered from that favor and then balancing it against all the other information gathered from all the other favors.

• Stan : I like consulting. No, I love it. Love it. And I'll say this for it: "Private business is efficient." There, I've said it. Fucking cliché. And the CIA is like, what, a 30-billion-dollar-a-year business, so anybody who wants to sell anything, a pencil, a computer, they gotta interface through a security clearance. Don't give me shit. I got two kids in college and we're doing our kitchen.

  Bob Barnes : Stan, I got a chance to go back to Beirut. I wanna go back. Is it safe for me?

  Stan : Are we talking about with your wife or with the wackos?

  [long pause] 

  Stan : Clear it with Hezbollah.

• Bob Barnes : Why am I being investigated, Fred?