negative question invitation
Won't you come in?The Mask · 1994 — Chapter 5 of 8 · 4'04" · B2
Police Grill Ipkiss Over Pajamas, Explained: beat him to the punch
A lieutenant shows up with the Coco Bongo pajamas and asks where Ipkiss was last night. The alibi is a stolen drawer. Underneath, the same man later tells a coworker "I haven't exactly been myself lately", the closest he comes to saying he was not himself last night.
What happens
At home a lieutenant asks about the mask and pajamas from the Coco Bongo. Someone says they were stolen. Cash prints do not match Tyrrell's men, so the order is to check Stanley Ipkiss. Elsewhere, word goes out to bring the green-faced man in alive. At the bank a late clerk talks back, then admits he has not been himself, and is handed two charity-ball tickets.
Listen for
I haven't exactly been myself latelybeat him to the punchan inside jobput up with
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Phrase of the scene
beat him to the punch
strike before the other person can
警探发现指纹对不上，说这面具人抢在黑帮之前先动了手，用 beat him to the punch 收尾。
Our team beat them to the punch by filing the patent first.
Also in this scene
- I haven't exactly been myself lately
a huge understatement for a total identity crisis
- an inside job
a crime or trick carried out by someone with inside access
- put up with
to tolerate something annoying without complaining
Everything marked in this scene
32 notes across 78 lines
What do you know about this mask character?Don't insult my intelligence, Ipkiss.negative existential guess
There can't be two idiots with pajamas like these.I mean, uh, what is, uh, what is this city coming tothat's one hell of a rubber mask.liaison
that's one hell of a rubber mask.strike before the other person can
This guy beat him to the punch.Get the bank employee files and run down the prints of a Stanley Ipkiss.a crime or trick carried out by someone with inside access
You figure it was an inside job?All I need is prints to lock this whack job up till doomsday.All I need is prints to lock this whack job up till doomsday.a crazy or unhinged person
All I need is prints to lock this whack job up till doomsday.a strong insult
who finds that green-faced son of a bitch before the cops do.I want you to get the word outelision
What are you lookin' at?You're losing it, Dorian.Except maybe some extra baggage around here.You weren't putting up much of a fight when that freak show tried to kiss you.time clause
You weren't putting up much of a fight when that freak show tried to kiss you.a freak or a grotesque spectacle
You weren't putting up much of a fight when that freak show tried to kiss you.Who knows, right?I'll tell you one thing.It's going to be payback for anybody who crosses me.to tolerate something annoying without complaining
If I have to put up with your slovenly behavior-- back off, monkey boy...conditional clause
If I have to put up with your slovenly behavior-- back off, monkey boy...Before I tell daddy you're running this place like it's your own personal piggy bank.time clause with before
Before I tell daddy you're running this place like it's your own personal piggy bank.That'll be all, Ipkiss.liaison
God! What side of whose bed did you wake up on, man?I haven't exactly been myself lately.This will put the color back in your cheeks.Police Grill Ipkiss Over Pajamas, explained
What's really going on
The pajamas are a joke and a threat. Someone robbed the bank and turned up at the Coco Bongo, and the lieutenant treats those pajamas as proof there is only one suspect. The speech about a stolen drawer is panic dressed as civic outrage, a man grieving that his pajama drawer is no longer safe. At the station the case splits. Prints do not match Tyrrell's men, and "This guy beat him to the punch" means the green-faced robber got there first. That is why the order is to bring him in alive, and why a kiss at the club turns into a test of loyalty. "You weren't putting up much of a fight" is less about the kiss than about whose side someone is on. The bank repeats the crack: a late clerk answers a scolding with the IRS and Club Fed, then retreats into "I haven't exactly been myself lately." Two tickets to the Coco Bongo pull him toward the room where the pajamas were found.
Theme
IdentityA late clerk talks back with nerve that is not his, then admits he has not exactly been himself.
DeceptionA story about stolen pajamas hides the man both the police and Dorian are hunting.
What you'll learn
- Use insult my intelligence in the same situation
- Hear beat him to the punch as pressure, not small talk
- Catch who the line is aimed at
Listen for
- hell of a — liaison
- lookin' at — elision
- wake up on — liaison
I haven't exactly been myself lately.Right after the clerk shocks the room by threatening his boss, this hedges the outburst: he knows he did not act like his usual self, and he will not explain why.
All I need is prints to lock this whack job up till doomsday.Spoken at the station after the prints fail to match Tyrrell's men: the speaker wants Stanley Ipkiss's fingerprints and a sentence that effectively never ends.
It's going to be payback for anybody who crosses me.It follows the argument about the kiss. Anyone who opposes the speaker, the green-faced stranger or the person in the room, is being promised punishment.
There can't be two idiots with pajamas like these.The lieutenant links the bank robbery to what he found at the Coco Bongo. The pajamas are so loud that, to him, only one person in the city would wear them.
Questions about this scene
Why do the pajamas make Ipkiss a suspect?
The questioner says the masked man robbed the bank and that the pajamas were found at the Coco Bongo. "There can't be two idiots with pajamas like these" treats the outfit as unique, so the matching pair at home identifies the suspect.
Why check the fingerprints of Stanley Ipkiss?
Prints on the currency do not match Tyrrell's men, and "This guy beat him to the punch" means another man reached the bank first. Ipkiss works there. Someone then asks if it was an inside job, and the next line says prints alone would be enough to lock the robber up till doomsday.
Does anyone settle whether the kiss was a choice?
No one gets the last word. One speaker says the other barely fought when the masked man tried to kiss them. The reply is "Did it look like I had much of a choice?" What comes back is "Maybe you did" and "Maybe you didn't." The scene leaves it open, then promises payback for anybody who crosses the speaker.
Why does the late clerk threaten his own boss?
He arrives an hour late and gets a lecture about slovenly behavior. He answers by threatening to tell the boss's father, and the IRS, that the bank is being run like a personal piggy bank, with Club Fed as the punchline. A coworker calls it genius. "I haven't exactly been myself lately" is the only explanation he offers.
The Mask · 8 chapters
All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 6written in the starsThe Mask Cornered by Police
Chapter 1crème de la crèmeStanley Hands Over the Tickets
Chapter 2school is outArguing the Plan Against Niko
Chapter 3put downStanley Becomes the Mask
Chapter 4you can quote mePeggy Questions Stanley
Watching · Chapter 5beat him to the punchPolice Grill Ipkiss Over Pajamas
Chapter 6written in the starsThe Mask Cornered by Police
Chapter 7I'm historyStanley Confesses He's the Mask
Chapter 8one hell of a timeStanley at the Police StationChapter 5 of 8 · about 12 min to go