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We're the Millers · 2013 — Chapter 4 of 21 · 4'24" · B2

David Recruits Rose for the Trip, Explained: a huge red flag

David needs a fake wife to cross the border, and he pitches the job to Rose, a stripper ready to walk out on her club. She asks what she gets out of it, and he answers with the movie's best line: "I'm not buying you, all right? I'm renting you."

What happens

David, a small-time dealer, needs to smuggle weed from Mexico and decides a fake family will avoid suspicion. He recruits Rose, a stripper who just quit her club, and promises her a roof over her head and food. She wants to know what is in it for her.

NegotiationPersuadingBargainingStrangersB2mediumamerican
IMDb ↗

Listen for

a huge red flaga roof over your headWhat's in it for meWhen it comes to

00:00 / 04:24
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  44. ❝ MonologueKenny kills the father-son trip4 linesPractice page ↗
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Phrase of the scene

a huge red flag

巨大的危险信号；明显不对劲

大卫劝罗丝一起运毒，说自己一个人过境会显得特别可疑，像举着一面巨大的危险信号。

He never introduces you to his friends? That's a huge red flag.

Also in this scene

  • a roof over your head

    有个遮风挡雨的地方；有住处

  • What's in it for me

    我能得到什么好处

  • When it comes to

    说到、在……方面

Everything marked in this scene

32 notes across 77 lines

Phrase · B1hate to bug someoneHate to bug you, but I'm trying to get the fam to the zoo and I'm lost as all heck.
Slang · B1the famHate to bug you, but I'm trying to get the fam to the zoo and I'm lost as all heck.
Slang · C1real-life FlandersFuck off, real-life Flanders.
Phrase · B2when it comes to somethingIt's my fault. When it comes to reading maps, I sure can be an old flibbertigibbet.
Grammar · B2When it comes to reading maps

when it comes to + gerund

It's my fault. When it comes to reading maps, I sure can be an old flibbertigibbet.
Phrase · B2not know which way is upI don't know which way is up around here.
Soundwhich way is up

liaison

I don't know which way is up around here.
Slang · B2dickheadsThank you, dickheads.
Phrase · B2ask for someone by nameHey little lady, don't you say maybe Rose, the guy at the bar asked for you by name.
Slang · B1You assholeYou asshole.
Phrase · B1and all that stuffDon't worry. You don't have to get naked and all that stuff.
Soundget naked

flap

Don't worry. You don't have to get naked and all that stuff.
Phrase · B2all I'm asking is that ...All I'm asking is that you go to Mexico with me.
Soundgo to Mexico

elision

All I'm asking is that you go to Mexico with me.
Phrase · B2a huge red flagNow, me crossing the border by myself, huge red flag. Huge, all right?
Phrase · B2get a second lookBut families, they don't get a second look.
Grammar · C1families, they don't get a second look

left dislocation

But families, they don't get a second look.
Phrase · B1the ...est thing I've ever heardThat is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
Phrase · B1can't buy someoneYou can't buy me.
Grammar · B1I'm renting you

present continuous

I'm not buying you, all right? I'm renting you.
Phrase · B2a bonding tripCool. So I guess it's just us, then. A little father and son bonding trip to Mexico.
Phrase · C1the ... OlympicsAre you kidding? You and me alone in a van? It'll look like the pervert Olympics.
Grammar · B2unless you can think of someone

unless clause

And unless you can think of someone that can leave town tomorrow, I'm fucked.
Phrase · B2what's in it for someoneI don't get it. What's in it for me?
Phrase · B2a roof over one's headI'm thinking a roof over your head, some actual hot food. That'd be good enough.
Soundroof over your head

liaison

I'm thinking a roof over your head, some actual hot food. That'd be good enough.
Phrase · A2let go of something- Get it off me. Get it off! Get off! - Hey, come on. Let go.
Phrase · B1glad I caught youOh, great. Rose, I'm glad I caught you.
Phrase · B1go over somethingI wanted to go over a couple of minor policy changes...
Phrase · B2stay competitive with someoneI gotta stay competitive with those fuckers who opened up across the street.
Phrase · B2something is killing usYeah, and they're killing us.
Phrase · B1be out of hereI'm out of here. I am out of here. I quit.

David Recruits Rose for the Trip, explained

What's really going on

The joke is that David sells the worst idea in the world as a normal business arrangement. He needs a family to look ordinary at the border, so he recruits a stripper and a stray kid and calls it a plan. Rose is nobody's fool, and her question "What's in it for me" is the scene's real negotiation. David's pitch line, "I'm not buying you, all right? I'm renting you," is funny because it is honest and shameless at once, and it also defines the whole movie: a fake family built on a transaction. Meanwhile the club subplot shows why Rose is ready to leave, since her boss wants her to do far worse for money.

Theme

LiesDavid's whole plan depends on a lie: a fake family that will look normal at the border.
MoneyEvery relationship in the scene is a deal, and Rose's first question is what she gets paid.

Listen for

  • which way is up — liaison
  • get naked — flap
  • go to Mexico — elision
  • roof over your head — liaison
It's my fault. When it comes to reading maps, I sure can be an old flibbertigibbet.

A comic apology from a lost man: he admits he is hopeless with directions, wrapping the confession in an old-fashioned word.

But families, they don't get a second look.

David's reasoning for the con: a family looks harmless to border guards, so nobody inspects them.

I'm not buying you, all right? I'm renting you.

David's backhanded defense of his offer, which reframes the insult as a mere business deal.

Are you kidding? You and me alone in a van? It'll look like the pervert Olympics.

The objection that two men alone would look suspicious, delivered as an absurdist joke.

Questions about this scene

Why does David want a fake family?

Crossing the border alone would look suspicious. A family looks ordinary, and families are not given a second look.

Why does Rose agree to the plan?

She has just quit the club and needs work and a place to stay. The offer of a roof and food is enough for someone with nothing lined up.

What does I'm renting you mean?

David is refusing the charge that he is buying her, insisting it is a short-term job. It is his way of calling the arrangement a transaction, nothing more.

Why does Rose compare the offer to Pretty Woman?

David brings up the movie, and Rose points out that its heroine was a prostitute, which is her way of calling his plan sleazy.

We're the Millers · 21 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 5in my sleepThe Millers Fly to Mexico
Chapter 1what I wouldn't giveDavid Runs Into Little RickyChapter 2a real Sophie's choiceDavid Fights for CaseyChapter 3out of my leagueBrad Offers David a JobWatching · Chapter 4a huge red flagDavid Recruits Rose for the TripChapter 5in my sleepThe Millers Fly to MexicoChapter 6blend inThe Millers Cross into MexicoChapter 7as we speakDavid Picks Up the Wrong LoadChapter 8be a team playerA Cop Demands a BribeChapter 9look the partFake Family at the Border CheckpointChapter 10save your baconThe RV Breaks Down in the DesertChapter 11a bit of a hiatusHow David and Rose MetChapter 12pass the batonThe Millers Perform at the JamboreeChapter 13the birds and the beesKenny's Bad DrawingChapter 14spice things upThe Couple Walks In on ThemChapter 15Mum's the wordCasey Teaches Kenny to KissChapter 16worth way more alive than I am deadPablo Chacon Confronts the MillersChapter 17make a good caseKenny Gets Bitten by a SpiderChapter 18a cheap shotInterrogating Casey's BoyfriendChapter 19dead in a ditchThe Fake Family Falls ApartChapter 20get one's hands off someoneCasey Punches Scottie P.Chapter 21a huge paydayDavid Begs the Group to Come Back
Chapter 4 of 21 · about 76 min to go