The Company Men Quotes

Phil Woodward: You know the worst part?

[a beat]

Phil Woodward: The world didn't stop. The newspaper still came every morning, the automatic sprinklers went off at six. Jerry next door still washed his car every Sunday.

[then]

Phil Woodward: My life ended and nobody noticed.

HR Director: I'm confident all these dismissals will stand up under legal scrutiny.

Gene McClary: What about ethical scrutiny.

HR Director: We're not breaking any laws, Gene.

Gene McClary: I guess I always assumed were trying for a higher standard than that, Paul.

Phil Woodward: Dress code pretty lax around here?

Bobby Walker: You should see casual-Friday...

[last lines]

Bobby Walker: We work as hard in here every day as we did when we were trying to get a job, we'll be alright. What's the worst thing they can do, fire us?

Robertson: Well, our base salary is sixty-five thousand a year for regional sales directors.

Bobby Walker: I responded to an ad for the Vice-President of Marketing.

Robertson: Well, we've had a number of highly... qualified applicants for that position.

Bobby Walker: I'm a highly qualified applicant for that position! I'm a highly qualified applicant for that position! Excuse me, I'm sorry. I must have had too many cups of coffee while I was sitting in your fucking waiting room for two hours. Thanks for your time, Joyce. And just between the two of us... you can probably skip the Diet Cokes. They're not helping.

Jack: How go the suit wars, Bobby?

Bobby Walker: All right, Jack.

Jack: Move any more high-paying American jobs offshore to Asian shitholes this week?

Bobby Walker: Mostly focused on union busting now; you know how it is.

Bobby Walker: [on phone] Hi, Sally. Bob Walker. Uh, thanks for not returning any of my phone calls. If you do return my call, I would love to know why you fired me without any notice, you fucking, cowardly bitch.

Danny: Gee, I wonder why she never calls you back.

Bobby Walker: Feels good though. God.

Bobby Walker: When did it all go to shit?

Maggie: It hasn't turned to shit. You have Drew and Carson, your parents, and me. OK, you have me.

Gene McClary: We used to make something here. Back before we got lost in the paperwork. At one time, we had a frigate, right here, back there. Guided missile cruiser. Phil started out here, in hull assembly.

[laughs]

Gene McClary: He was a skinny little bastard. Fearless. He'd hang upside down all day long in a bosun's chair, 70 feet off the shop floor welding an inside seam. I mean, Jesus. Two thousand men a shift, three shifts a day. Six thousand men earned an honest wage in that room. Feb their kids, bought homes. Made enough to send their kids to college. Buy a second car. Building something they could see. Not just figures on a balance sheet, but a ship. They could see, smell, touch. Those men knew their worth, knew who they were. One day, you're making fifty dollars, the next day, 5,000. And then, one day, five million. Start out with a crazy plan. Take insane risks. Barely make enough money to feed your family. Not a chance in hell you're going to succeed. And then, all of a sudden, you've got all these things. You get terrified of losing them. Stock options, corporate jets, vacation homes in the Bahamas. You know. Truth is, I like 500-dollar lunches and 5,000-dollar hotel suites. Now, everything I spent 30 years trying to build for myself and everybody else is... gone.

Bobby Walker: I'm sorry, Maggie.

Maggie: For what?

Bobby Walker: For everything. For letting you down.

Maggie: You haven't let me down.

Bobby Walker: Yeah, I did.

Maggie: You were never here before. And now you are.