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We're the Millers · 2013 — Chapter 2 of 21 · 3'54" · B1

David Fights for Casey, Explained: a real Sophie's choice

A favor between neighbors turns into a street fight, and David's bluff as a tough guy is both funny and dangerous. On the surface he's playing hero for a stranger. Underneath, he's a small-time dealer who throws out a threat he can't back up, telling the gang, "You're dead meat!"

What happens

Rose asks David to settle Jimmy's debt as a neighborly favor, and he refuses on the grounds that they are not actually neighbors. Later, on the street, he steps in when a group of men harasses Casey, threatening them. After the scuffle he finds his backpack stolen and the money missing.

ArgumentsThreatsThreateningConfrontingNeighborsB1mediumamerican
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Listen for

do someone a solida real Sophie's choicedead meatpick on someone

00:00 / 03:54
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Phrase of the scene

a real Sophie's choice

两难抉择；怎么选都要付代价

混混逼大卫交出背包，威胁不交就捅他脖子，大卫把这种选择嘲讽成苏菲的抉择。

Choosing between the two job offers felt like a Sophie's choice.

Also in this scene

  • do someone a solid

    帮某人一个忙；给个人情

  • dead meat

    死定了；要倒大霉了

  • pick on someone

    欺负、找某人的茬

  • move along

    继续往前走；走开别停留

Everything marked in this scene

30 notes across 73 lines

SoundHow was work

weak form

How was work this evening?
Phrase · B2loan something to someoneMaybe you shouldn't loan drugs to people.
Phrase · A2help someone outI was thinking is that maybe you could help him out, settle his debt.
Phrase · B2settle a debtI was thinking is that maybe you could help him out, settle his debt.
Grammar · B1maybe you could help him out

could for a soft suggestion

I was thinking is that maybe you could help him out, settle his debt.
Soundhelp him out

elision

I was thinking is that maybe you could help him out, settle his debt.
Phrase · B2do someone a solid- Not a fucking chance. - You'd be doing me a solid, neighbor.
Slang · B1Not a fucking chance- Not a fucking chance. - You'd be doing me a solid, neighbor.
Phrase · A2smell like somethingYou're a drug dealer whose apartment smells like cheese and feet.
Grammar · B2whose apartment smells like cheese and feet

relative clause with whose

You're a drug dealer whose apartment smells like cheese and feet.
Phrase · A2lend someone somethingI'd lend you some money, but we're not neighbors.
Grammar · B2I'd lend you some money

would for a hypothetical

I'd lend you some money, but we're not neighbors.
Slang · B1a dickOh, you're such a dick!
Phrase · B1die aloneHave fun dying alone, jerk.
Sounddying alone

liaison

Have fun dying alone, jerk.
Phrase · B2have somewhere to oneselfUh, so I got the whole place to myself.
Soundplace to myself

weak form

Uh, so I got the whole place to myself.
Slang · B2Rolling Han SoloYeah. Rolling Han Solo for the weekend.
Phrase · B1speaking of somethingUm, speaking of rolling, I was wondering if--
Phrase · A2leave someone aloneLeave her alone.
Phrase · B1carry onOkay, this was fun. Carry on.
Phrase · B1pick on someoneThese guys are picking on her and it's not fair.
Phrase · B1move alongI got an idea. Leave the girl alone. Just move along. Huh, what do you say?
Phrase · A2get an ideaI got an idea. Leave the girl alone. Just move along. Huh, what do you say?
Grammar · B2you either give me the backpack

either ... or ...

Well, there's not gonna be a fight. See, you either give me the backpack...
Phrase · C1a real Sophie's choiceIt's a real Sophie's choice here, huh? All right.
Phrase · B1someone is dead meatYou're dead meat!
Sounddead meat

stress

You're dead meat!
Slang · B2motherfuckerWhoa-ho-ho, motherfucker.
Phrase · B1call the copsYou okay, David? I can help. I'll call the cops.

David Fights for Casey, explained

What's really going on

The scene keeps changing shape. It opens as a comedy of bad neighbors, with both sides landing insults, then turns into a real street threat when David tries to protect Casey. His line, "These guys are picking on her and it's not fair," sounds like principle, but he is also a drug dealer who cannot afford a fight he might lose. The menace in "You're dead meat!" is mostly performance, and it works just long enough for the men to hesitate before the scene swings back to violence. By the end the joke is on David: the money that isn't even his has been stolen, and his only real worry is what his boss will do.

Theme

CourageDavid steps in for Casey even though he is outnumbered, bluffing far more than he can deliver.
MoneyThe stolen cash that isn't David's drives his panic, tying the whole fight back to debt.

Listen for

  • How was work — weak form
  • help him out — elision
  • dying alone — liaison
  • place to myself — weak form
That scared me. Your voice was so much deeper than your bone structure.

The line delivered when someone's disguise slips, turning a threat into an awkward comedy beat.

It's called flirting, Kenny. You'll learn about it in college.

A dry put-down that defines David's relationship with Kenny, who mistakes an argument for something else.

I'd lend you some money, but we're not neighbors.

David's cutting refusal, using the other person's own neighbor line to shut down the request.

Have fun digging out the singles from your crotch.

A crude parting shot about a stripper's tips, ending the argument on a low, funny note.

You're a drug dealer whose apartment smells like cheese and feet.

The neighbor's insult that reduces David to his worst details, answered by a candle joke.

Questions about this scene

Why does Rose ask David to pay Jimmy's debt?

Jimmy owes money to David's boss, and Rose hopes David will cover it as a favor between neighbors. David refuses, pointing out that they are not really neighbors and that he is not responsible for Jimmy.

Why does David step in for Casey?

He sees a group of men ganging up on her and says it isn't fair. Even though he is outnumbered, he bluffs with the threat of violence to get them to back off.

Why does the money matter so much to David?

The cash in the safe belongs to his boss, not to him. That is why he panics when the thieves empty it, telling them his boss will kill him if it goes missing.

Who is Kenny?

Kenny is the awkward guy who hangs around David, calls him a friend, and blurts out that David is a drug dealer. His habit of saying the wrong thing constantly undercuts David's plans.

We're the Millers · 21 chapters

All chapters →
Up next · Chapter 3out of my leagueBrad Offers David a Job
Chapter 1what I wouldn't giveDavid Runs Into Little RickyWatching · Chapter 2a real Sophie's choiceDavid Fights for CaseyChapter 3out of my leagueBrad Offers David a JobChapter 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 2 of 21 · about 85 min to go