Argo (2012)

Bryan Cranston: Jack O'Donnell

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Quotes 

• Jack O'Donnell : This is the best bad idea we have, sir. By far.

• Jack O'Donnell : I am not going to leave him at the airport with six people and his dick in his hand. Tell the Director to call the White House. Do your fucking job!

• Jack O'Donnell : Brace yourself; it's like talking to those two old fucks on "The Muppets".

• Jack O'Donnell : Carter said you were a great American.

  Tony Mendez : A great American what?

  Jack O'Donnell : He didn't say.

• Jack O'Donnell : If we wanted applause, we would have joined the circus.

  Tony Mendez : I thought we did.

• Tony Mendez : There are only bad options. It's about finding the best one.

  C.I.A Director Stansfield Turner : You don't have a better bad idea than this?

  Jack O'Donnell : This is the best bad idea we have, sir... by far.

  C.I.A Director Stansfield Turner : [pauses to make decision]  The United States government has just sanctioned your science fiction movie.

• Jack O'Donnell : [dropping Tony off at the airport]  I'm required to remind you that if you're detained, the Agency will not claim you.

  Tony Mendez : They barely claim me as it is.

• Cyrus Vance : What's wrong with bikes, again?

  Jack O'Donnell : We tried to get the message upstairs, sir.

  C.I.A Director Stansfield Turner : You think this is more plausible than teachers?

  Jack O'Donnell : Yes, we do. One, there are no more foreign teachers in Iran.

  Tony Mendez : And we think everybody knows Hollywood people. And everybody knows they'd shoot in Stalingrad with Pol Pot directing if it would sell tickets.

• Jack O'Donnell : [to Mendez]  The whole country is watching you, they just don't know it.

• Lamont : Call the Times, nail it to the goddamn door. CIA are the good guys.

  Rossi : The Canadians are the good guys.

  Lamont : Yeah, we're not greedy. Them, too.

  Rossi : Only. Canada takes the credit, or they retaliate against the hostages. Great Satan wasn't involved. No CIA.

  Lamont : Is that right, Jack?

  Jack O'Donnell : Involved in what? We were as surprised as anybody. Thank you, Canada.

• Tony Mendez : What about the White House?

  Jack O'Donnell : Carter's shitting enough bricks to build the pyramids.

• Tony Mendez : Okay, you know those science fiction movies? "Star Trek", "Star Wars". They need an exotic location to shoot. Moonscape, Mars, desert, you know. Now, imagine this: they're a Canadian film crew on a location scout for a science fiction movie. We put it out there - the Canadian producers put out there - that we're looking at Egypt, Istanbul. Then we go to the consulate and say "Hey, we wanna look at Iran, too." I fly into Tehran, we all fly out together as a film crew. Done.

  David Marmor : Flamboyant cover identities should be avoided, as it increases operational visibility.

  Tony Mendez : This is a lot more plausible than foreigners who wanna go be teachers in Iran.

  Bates : You wanna blend in with the population, you don't look like a rodeo clown.

  Adam Engell : Just gonna wake up tomorrow morning and be in the movie business? We already have credentials for the teachers.

  Tony Mendez : No, sir, we have a contact in L.A.

  Jack O'Donnell : Chambers.

  Tony Mendez : John Chambers. He's a Hollywood prosthetics guy. He's got an Oscar, he did "Planet of the Apes", and he's done a bunch of contract work for us in the past. I go see him, he sets us up. One, two days, make it look real.

• Tony Mendez : We are responsible for these people.

  Jack O'Donnell : What we are is required to follow orders.

• Jack O'Donnell : [while running into CIA main office]  Find the White House Chief of Staff.

  Malinov : How would I find him?

  Jack O'Donnell : We're a fucking spy agency! Find him!

• Tony Mendez : I should've brought some books to read in prison.

  Jack O'Donnell : Naw, they'll kill you long before prison.

• Tony Mendez : "The Minister of Culture and Guidance has approved your location scout. He will send his representative to meet you and your crew at the Khayyam entrance to the Grand Bazaar tomorrow at 3 p.m."

  Jack O'Donnell : They called your bluff.

  Tony Mendez : Maybe they're cooperating.

  Jack O'Donnell : Absolutely not. Seven Americans walking the bazaar is asking for a riot. It's the hive.

  Tony Mendez : Seven Canadians, Jack.

  Jack O'Donnell : Never give them multiple shots at a cover. Are they even ready?

  Tony Mendez : They're getting there.

  Jack O'Donnell : There's no prize for most improved.

  Tony Mendez : I don't have a choice. We say no, they show up at the residence and drag everyone out at gunpoint. How well do you think their covers are gonna hold up while they're getting their fingernails pulled out?

• Tony Mendez : I need another week, Jack.

  Jack O'Donnell : You don't have it.

• Jack O'Donnell : His eminence called me. He wants to see you.

  Tony Mendez : Probably wants to fire me himself.

  Jack O'Donnell : He wants to give you the Intelligence Star. You're getting the highest award of merit of the clandestine services of these United States. Ceremony's on the 14th.

  Tony Mendez : If they push it a week, I can bring Ian. That's his winter break.

  Jack O'Donnell : The op was classified, so the ceremony's classified. He can't know about it. Nobody can know about it.

  Tony Mendez : So they're just gonna give me an award and then they're gonna take it back.

  Jack O'Donnell : That's right.

• Tony Mendez : There are only bad options. It's about finding the best one.

  C.I.A Director Stansfield Turner : You don't have a better bad idea than this?

  Jack O'Donnell : This is the best bad idea we have, sir, by far.

  C.I.A Director Stansfield Turner : The United States government has just sanctioned a science-fiction movie.

• [at the CIA - O'Donnell is on the phone with Mendez in Iran] 

  Jack O'Donnell : It all just changed. They called the game. You've got to come back. Joint Chiefs are planning a military rescue of the hostages in a month. Delta Force started training to storm the grounds. So if the six of them get brought down there, they won't be held for long.

  Tony Mendez : I never would have exposed them if I wasn't authorized to take them out.

  Jack O'Donnell : It's over, Tony.

  Tony Mendez : They will be taken. Probably not alive.

  Jack O'Donnell : Listen to me. The thinking's changed. Six Americans get pulled out of a Canadian diplomat's house and executed, it's a world outrage. Six Americans get caught playing movie make-believe with the CIA at the airport and executed, it's a national embarrassment. They're calling the operation.

  Tony Mendez : We're responsible for those people.

  Jack O'Donnell : What we are is required to follow orders. I'm sorry.

  [Mendez hangs up. O'Donnell sits listening to the dial tone for a moment, then puts the phone on the receiver. Then, very suddenly, he looks at an old coffee cup near him and backhands it off his desk]