Cookie's Fortune (1999)

Charles S. Dutton: Willis Richland

Photos 

Quotes 

• [playing Scrabble in Willis's cell] 

  Willis Richland : Ohh, wow, wow, wow, wow we! That's a triple letter there, that's 12, that's 14 and that's A-W-E. Huh, I'm out, give it up.

  Lester Boyle : A-we?

  Willis Richland : Give it up.

  Lester Boyle : A-we?

  Willis Richland : Come on.

  Lester Boyle : A-we?

  Willis Richland : Come on.

  Lester Boyle : "A-we" is not a word!

  [He hits the table, upsetting the board and scattering letters everywhere] 

  Jack Palmer : Awe. Bless me. Awe. Derived from old Norse which goes back to the reconstructed Indo-European base "agh". A mixture of reverence, fear, wonder.

• Jack Palmer : I'm your lawyer.

  Willis Richland : I'm gonna need a lawyer?

  Jack Palmer : Everybody needs a lawyer.

• Willis Richland : Every family got a few loose screws here and there. But, there's always some keepers too.

• Emma Duvall : So Jack, then tell me exactly how this happened.

  Jack Palmer : Well, old Donny, he was a good-looking hunk, but he was not much of a provider, to say the least. So, he and Cora moved in with Camille right after they were married, and Camille ended up taking care of both of them. I guess there were times that got pretty tight in that little house.

  Willis Richland : Boy, I bet that's right.

  Jack Palmer : Of course, nobody knows what happened behind those walls, not even me. But a few months later, old Donny just up and disappeared. And shortly thereafter, Cora and Camille leave town on an extended vacation. And when they got back, little Emma belonged to Cora.

  Emma Duvall : What do you mean "disappeared"? I was told that he went to Africa on a church mission and gave his life saving children during the famine.

  Jack Palmer : Well, not exactly what happened. He died all right, about four years later, somewhere down in Alabama, in a button factory accident.

  Emma Duvall : The button factory?

  Jack Palmer : Yep. Seems the hole-poker machine broke loose and fell on him. They said he had 273 holes in him before they could get it off him.

  Emma Duvall : Willis...?

  Willis Richland : Huh?

  Emma Duvall : What's wrong with all these people?

• Jewel Mae 'Cookie' Orcutt : Greek Sun God. Six letters. Last one is an "S".

  Willis Richland : Helios. H-E-L-I-O-S. God of the Sun. He had a great big old palace up on the hill. And every night when the sun went down, he rode up to it - in a golden boat - with golden wings.

  Jewel Mae 'Cookie' Orcutt : Golden boat. Golden wings.

• Manny Hood : Need some fish?

  Willis Richland : I catch my own fish.

• Josie Martin : What's going on, baby?

  Willis Richland : How you doing?

  Josie Martin : Ain't nothing but a party.

  Willis Richland : Yeah.

  Josie Martin : Wanna drink?

  Willis Richland : No. Never before Tom Brokaw.

  Josie Martin : Oh, Lord knows it.

  Willis Richland : You looking good as ever.

  Josie Martin : Thank you, sugar.

• Willis Richland : Hey, listen Emma. I'm worried about Cookie.

  Emma Duvall : Why? What's wrong with her?

  Willis Richland : She's old.

• Willis Richland : Hot dog! Look, come over about noon, okay? Cookie gonna be in heaven! Oh, man! She gonna be in heaven!

• Willis Richland : You smell like fish.

  Emma Duvall : Yeah, you smell like Turkey.

• Emma Duvall : Oh, God! Damn you, Willis! You scared the holy piss out of me!

  Willis Richland : Hey, the kid is back. Emma Duvall's back in town.

  Emma Duvall : Yes, she is back and she can't even seem to get her feet wet before certain people start snooping around trying to check up on her.

• Jack Palmer : They read you your rights, didn't they?

  Willis Richland : [pacing the jail cell]  Yeah. They gave me coffee and a "Field and Stream" magazine, but I can't concentrate too good right now.

• Jack Palmer : Did Cookie ever show you a copy of her will?

  Willis Richland : I don't know anything about that. She had a cookie jar where she kept all of her important papers and stuff like that. So, uh, if she had a will, I reckon that's where it would be.

• Willis Richland : Man, if the electric chair doesn't kill me, this jail food will. Ain't no telling what my last meal's gonna be.

• Willis Richland : If anybody's hungry, I got some stuff at home for catfish enchiladas.

• Willis Richland : It's just acting, Emma. I bet he's good in that death scene. Maybe, he knows what it's like to *feel* that way about a woman.

  Wanda Carter : I know what it's like to *feel* that way about a man.