Deliverance (1972)

Burt Reynolds: Lewis

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Lewis : Sometimes you have to lose yourself 'fore you can find anything.

• [Lewis and Ed take a wrong turn looking for the river] 

  First Griner : Where you goin' city boy?

  Lewis : We'll find it. We'll find it.

  Second Griner : It ain't nothin' but the biggest fuckin' river in the state.

• Bobby : We beat it, didn't we? Didn't we beat that?

  Lewis : You don't beat it. You don't beat this river...

• Lewis : Do know what's gonna be here? Right here? A lake. As far as the eyes can see. Hundreds of feet deep. HUNDREDS of feet deep. Did you ever look out over a lake and think of somethin' buried underneath it? Buried underneath it. Well man, that's just about as buried as you can get.

• Lewis : Now you listen, Ed. Damn it, we can get out of this thing, without any questions asked. We get connected up with that body, and the law, this thing's gonna be hangin' over us the rest of our lives. We've gotta get rid of that guy.

  Drew : Just how're you gonna do that, Lewis? Where?

  Lewis : Anywhere. Everywhere. Nowhere.

• [Lewis and Drew are arguing about whether to bury the dead mountain man] 

  Drew : It is a matter of the law!

  Lewis : The law! Ha! The law! What law? WHERE'S THE LAW, DREW? HUH?

  [sarcastically] 

  Lewis : You believe in democracy, don't you?

  Drew : Yes, I do.

  Lewis : Well, then we'll take a vote. And I'll stand by it. And SO WILL YOU.

  [points menacingly at Drew] 

• Lewis : Why do you go on these trips with me, Ed?

  Ed : [somewhat defensively]  I like my life, Lewis.

  Lewis : Yeah, but why do you go on these trips with me?

  Ed : You know, sometimes I wonder about that.

  Ed : [Lewis accurately shoots a fish in the river with an arrow; Ed raises his beer can in salute]  Here's to you, Lewis.

• Lewis : Your name Griner?

  First Griner : What you wanna know for?

  Lewis : Can you and your brother drive two cars down to Aintry for us?

  First Griner : Drive 'em down there for what?

  Lewis : Me and my buddy here are taking a canoe trip down the Cahulawassee. We'd like our cars to be down in Aintry when we get there. Be there about Sunday noon.

  First Griner : [sarcastically]  Canoe trip?

  Lewis : That's right, a canoe trip.

  First Griner : What the hell you wanna go fuck around with that river for?

  Lewis : Because it's there.

  First Griner : It's there all right. You get in there and can't get out, you gonna wish it wasn't.

  Ed : [to Lewis, whispering]  Look, Lewis, let's go back to town and, ah... play golf.

  Lewis : [ignoring Ed]  I'll give you thirty dollars to take those cars down to Aintry.

  First Griner : I'll take fifty.

  Lewis : Fifty, my ass.

  Ed : Lewis, don't play games with these people!

  First Griner : Whud you say?

  Lewis : I said "fifty, my ass."

  Ed : [whispering urgently]  Lewis!

  First Griner : I'll do it for forty.

  Lewis : Mm-hmm...

  [to Ed] 

  Lewis : You good for ten?

  Ed : Sure.

• Lewis : Can that chubby boy handle himself?

  Ed : Bobby? He's rather well thought of in his field, Lewis.

  Lewis : Insurance? Shit. I never been insured in my life. I don't believe in insurance. There's no risk.

• [first lines] 

  Lewis : You w- you wanna... you wanna talk about the vanishing wilderness?

  Bobby : Lewis, listen - what are you so anxious about this?

  Lewis : Because they're buildin' a dam across the Cahulawassee River; they're gonna flood a whole valley, Bobby, that's why. Dammit, they're drownin' a river; they're drownin' a river, man.

• Lewis : This is the one! There she is.

  [Lewis pushes aside tree branches and we see the river for the first time] 

  Ed : Looks good. Looks good.

  Lewis : [mournfully]  Couple more months, and she'll all be gone.

  Bobby : [offscreen]  Ed! Lewis!

  Ed : Even up as far as here?

  Lewis : From Aintry on up. One big, dead lake.

  Lewis : [to Bobby, angrily]  OVER HERE!

• Lewis : [Ed and Lewis are driving to find the river and come to a dead end]  Well, we fucked up.

• Bobby : Which way we goin', this way or that way?

  Lewis : I think downstream would be a good idea.

• Lewis : Anybody know anything about the law?

  Drew : I was on a jury once.

• Lewis : We killed a man, Drew. Shot him in the back. A mountain man. A cracker.

• Bobby : Hey, what happens if we flip this thing over?

  Lewis : Now that you brought that up, hang onto your paddle. And if you hit any rocks, don't hit 'em with your head.