A Good Year (2006)

Russell Crowe: Max Skinner

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Max Skinner : Forgive my lips. They find joy in the most unusual places.

• Fanny Chenal : [Fanny approaches a customer who is behind a raised newspaper]  Bonjour. Vous avez choisi?

  Max Skinner : [lowers newspaper]  I think so.

  Fanny Chenal : [recognizing him]  You sure you don't need more time?

  Max Skinner : No, I know what I want.

  Fanny Chenal : You're sure?

  Max Skinner : Absolutely.

  Fanny Chenal : So, what is it to be?

  Max Skinner : How's the soup?

  Fanny Chenal : The soup is finished.

  Max Skinner : Like my job... The fish?

  Fanny Chenal : We've run out.

  Max Skinner : That's like me with excuses.

  Fanny Chenal : Don't waste my time. Choose something we have.

  Max Skinner : I would like a lifetime spent with an irrational and suspicious goddess, some short-tempered jealousy on the side, and a bottle of wine that tastes like you, a glass that's never empty.

  [they kiss] 

• Francis Duflot : You know what Proust said. Leave pretty women to men without imagination.

  Max Skinner : Francis, I'm a banker. I have no imagination.

• Max Skinner : This place does not suit my life.

  Fanny Chenal : No Max, it's your life that does not suit this place.

• Max Skinner : Joan of Arc?

  Fanny Chenal : Oh. Jacques Cousteau.

• Max Skinner : [Upon first encountering Christie, at the door]  The only country that issues teeth like that is America.

  Christie Roberts : Oh... you speak English.

  Max Skinner : Like a native.

• Max Skinner : In France, is it actually illegal to shag your own cousin?

  Charlie Willis : Only if she's ugly.

• Max Skinner : Look, I wasn't joking about what I said before about the wine they make here. It is not - I repeat, NOT - first class. Will that affect our price?

  Charlie Willis : Well, how bad can it be?

  Max Skinner : Uh, well, it gives you a blinding headache and it makes you angry... I can't imagine the damage a second sip might do.

  Charlie Willis : Well, we'll just have to make sure our buyers don't know anything about wine. We'll concentrate on the Americans.

• Max Skinner : Kenny, I want the 10 year yield, I want the figures for the Andserson account and I want you to get your scrawny little arse out of my chair. Thank you.

  [hangs up] 

  Kenny : How did he know?

• Kenny : [reading "fan mail"]  You're my hero.

  Max Skinner : Who wrote that?

  Kenny : Your lawyer.

• Christie Roberts : Are your memories of my father good?

  Max Skinner : No they are extraordinary. My uncle loved women, although no one for a long time, and he never married. He loved England, yet lived in France. He was an adventurer, yet all my memories take place within 100 steps of this spot.

• Max Skinner : [Surprised at the make of tractor he finds in the work-shed]  A 'Lamborghini' tractor!

• Christie Roberts : Did you know that dad mixed a martini for Winston Churchill? He also danced a waltz with Amelia Earhart in 1975.

  Max Skinner : Well, considering that Amelia Earhart died in the 1930's, that's a perfect example of the type of exaggerator Uncle Henry was. Want to know the real Uncle Henry? Not the one your overactive imagination is manufacturing? The *real* Henry Skinner was a man so afraid of committing to the real world, that he retreated from life to drink and shag his way to a lonely and loveless end.

• Max Skinner : [points to his shirt]  Fred Perry.

  Francis Duflot : [points to his cap]  René Lacoste.

• Fanny Chenal : [Max has brought a bottle of the rare wine]  Wow - "Le Coin Perdu"? I've never actually seen a bottle...

  Max Skinner : Have you heard of it?

  Fanny Chenal : It's expensive... Are you trying to seduce me, Max?

  Max Skinner : Oh gosh, no, of course not. Thought would never even cross my mind. Not more than six, or ten times.

• Max Skinner : Ludivine? Don't you think this is a bit much? I mean, she is my cousin.

  Ludivine Duflot : Almost all French aristocrat have, how you say... liaison with their cousins, yes?

• Max Skinner : [to Charlie Willis]  Real men don't play bridge.

• Max Skinner : [as the diving board breaks and he falls into the empty pool]  Bollocks.

• Max Skinner : Good morning, lab rats.

  Assembled traders and staff : Good morning, Max.

  Max Skinner : Today we're shifting gears. Today... is "greedy bastard" day.

  [Assembled traders and staff let out a murmur of excitement] 

  Max Skinner : The secret to riches, lab rats, is the same as the secret to comedy: timing.

• Max Skinner : [sticking his fist out of the sun roof]  LANCE ARMSTRONG!

  group of french cyclists : [grumbling and flicking him off]  Fuck you!

• Max Skinner : [after hiring Max a smart car]  This is because I didn't shag you at the Christmas party isn't it.

  Gemma : Listen, I swear on my life, Max, they didn't have any other cars.

• Max Skinner : [dealing with two obnoxious tourists]  Macdonalds is in Avignon, fish and chips in Marseille. Allez.

• Max Skinner : [gets in on the wrong side of the car]  Bollocks.

• Charlie Willis : [Calling from London]  How's the house, Max? Is it gorgeous?

  Max Skinner : Well, to tell you the truth, Charlie, it's a little shabby.

  Charlie Willis : We don't say "shabby," Max. We say "filled with the patina of a bygone era."

• Max Skinner : Never pet a burning dog.

• Max Skinner : [greeting two attractive women in a wine bar]  Lucy! Ah, didn't know you two knew each other. Whoops.

• Max Skinner : I have an obligatory cultural activity in the village tonight.

  Charlie Willis : Can I come? Will there be girls?

  Max Skinner : No and yes.

• Max Skinner : When's my appointment with the notaire?

  Gemma : A little over an hour from now.

  Max Skinner : My time or your time?

  Gemma : Shit.

  Max Skinner : Gemma!

• Max Skinner : Morning lab rats.

• Max Skinner : Kenny, why don't you go and find some small animals to hurt? I know, find a poodle and punt it off the balcony.

• Max Skinner : You tried to drown me.

  Fanny Chenal : And you tried to run me over in your little car.

• Gemma : That's a lot of zeros Max.

  Max Skinner : Or a partnership for life. My choice.

  Gemma : Now you listen to mummy, Maxy. Partner, you're made for life. Sir Nigel didn't become a partner until he was 53 and look at him.

  Max Skinner : Yeah. Look at him.

• Max Skinner : [referring to Fanny Chanel]  She's fantastic.

• Francis Duflot : [Offering his hand]  A Frenchman's hand is his word... Concord?

  Max Skinner : [Reluctantly shaking hands]  An Englishman's word is his bond... Deal.

  Max Skinner : [Walking away, muttering]  Frog toss-pot!

  Francis Duflot : [Walking away, muttering]  English prick!

• Christie Roberts : Huh! Back in Napa, we're known to gargle and spit on occasion.

  Max Skinner : Well, well. Guess who knows a thing or two about wine?

• Gemma : [re: Kenny assuming Max's place as head of the trading department]  He's even taking credit for your trade this week. He's telling everyone in the office that HE's the one who gave you the idea.

  Max Skinner : [Unconcerned]  Well, if he wasn't an ambitious and mercenary little bastard, I never would have given him the job in the first place.

• Max Skinner : Your asparagus is - is lovely.

  Ludivine Duflot : Thank you!

  Max Skinner : Very chewy, but... lovely.

• Francis Duflot : [Bringing out a special bottle of wine]  C'est "Le Coin Perdu"... it's a local vin de garage.

  Max Skinner : [confused]  "Vin de garage"?

  Christie Roberts : It's a "garage wine." Like a boutique wine. Small vineyards, small productions - *seriously* big prices.

  Francis Duflot : [dismissively]  It's overrated.

  Christie Roberts : It didn't say that on the Web. Turns out "Le Coin Perdu" is a Provencal legend. It changes hands among collectors, but nobody knows who makes it.

• Charlie Willis : [Calling from London]  Hello... You working out on the house?

  Max Skinner : Charlie, yes. At it since daybreak.

  Charlie Willis : Really... I hate to think of you, toiling down there all on your own.

  Max Skinner : Well, we're English, Charlie, you know? Born to rule and sacrifice.

  Charlie Willis : Yes...

• Francis Duflot : [Presenting various home-cooked dishes at the dinner gathering]  ... and finally, civette of wild boar, marinated in red wine, and blood pressed from the carcass.

  Max Skinner : Why would you have it any other way?

• Sir Nigel : [Noticing Max admiring a valuable painting on the wall]  Van Gogh.

  Max Skinner : I hope you've got a good lock on the door, sir.

  Sir Nigel : Don't be soft. It's not real. The REAL one's in my vault. It's a copy. Two hundred grand for a knockoff... Sit!