A Perfect World (1993)

T.J. Lowther: Phillip Perry

Photos 

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Quotes 

• Butch Haynes : You know, Phillip, you have a goddamn red, white and blue American right to eat cotton candy, ride roller coasters.

  Phillip Perry : I do?

  Butch Haynes : Hell, yes, you do!

• Butch Haynes : Hey - have you ever ridden in a time machine before?

  Phillip Perry : [shakes his head] 

  Butch Haynes : Well, sure you have - what do you think *this* is?

  Phillip Perry : A car.

  Butch Haynes : You're lookin' at this thing bass-ackward. This is a 20th-century time machine. I'm the captain...

  Butch Haynes : [taps Phillip on the head]  And you're the navigator. Out there?

  Butch Haynes : [points out front windshield]  That's the future. And back there?

  Butch Haynes : [taps on the rear view mirror, then points toward the back windshield]  Well, that's the past. If life's moving too slow, and you wanna project yourself into the future? Just step on the gas, right here.

  Butch Haynes : [steps on the gas pedal]  See?

  Butch Haynes : [laughing lightly]  If you wanna slow her down? Well, hell - you just step on the brake here, and you slow her down.

  Butch Haynes : [car comes to a stop]  This is the present, Phillip. Enjoy it while it lasts.

• Phillip Perry : [after Pugh snatches the car keys]  Why'd he take the keys?

  Butch Haynes : So I won't leave him.

  Phillip Perry : ...*Would* you leave him?

  Butch Haynes : ...Oh, yeah.

• Butch Haynes : You and your old man get along alright?

  Phillip Perry : Yes, sir.

  Butch Haynes : Toss the ball around, play grab-ass in the yard - that sort of thing?

  Phillip Perry : No, sir.

  Butch Haynes : Why the hell not?

  Phillip Perry : He ain't around, really.

  Butch Haynes : Well, he is, or he ain't... When's the last time you saw him?

  Phillip Perry : [shrugs] 

  Butch Haynes : ...Me and you got a lot in common, Phillip. The both of us is handsome devils...

  Phillip Perry : [smiles] 

  Butch Haynes : We both like RC cola, and neither one of us got an old man worth a damn.

  Phillip Perry : [frowns] 

• Butch Haynes : Ain't you ever seen your mama kiss a man?

  Phillip Perry : No... Kissed her backside, huh?

  Butch Haynes : ...Well, it's kinda hard to explain. I... I know how it must've looked... Hell, I - hell, *I* don't know how it looks.

  Phillip Perry : You love her?

  Butch Haynes : Who?

  Phillip Perry : The lady who cooked the hamburgers.

  Butch Haynes : ...Yeah, Phillip - yeah, I love her... I kissed her butt, didn't I?

  Phillip Perry : [bursts out laughing] 

• Butch Haynes : You don't want to get undressed in front of me? Is that it?... You're embarrassed 'cause I might see your pecker?

  Phillip Perry : ...It's... puny.

  Butch Haynes : What?

  Phillip Perry : It's puny.

  Butch Haynes : Who told you that?

  Phillip Perry : [sits sullenly] 

  Butch Haynes : Lemme see.

  Phillip Perry : [shifts uncomfortably] 

  Butch Haynes : Go on - I'll shoot you straight.

  Phillip Perry : [pulls down shorts] 

  Butch Haynes : Hell no, Phillip. Good size, for a boy your age.

  Phillip Perry : [smiles broadly] 

• Lucy : Oh, look - a friendly ghost! Say boo!

  Phillip Perry : Boo.

  Lucy : Oh, well - not very scary. But you'll have a whole year to work on it, if your daddy lets you have it. It's a good price, too. What'd you go as this year?

  Phillip Perry : [pulls back mask]  A bandit.

• Phillip Perry : Are you gonna shoot me?

  Butch Haynes : No - no, no. Me and you are friends... If I was choosin' a runnin' buddy, I'd take you over him any day of the week.

• Phillip Perry : Can we stop at the filling station?

  Butch Haynes : What for?

  Phillip Perry : Number one.

  Butch Haynes : ...This here's nature, Phillip. Why don't you just... pee over by the tree?

• Butch Haynes : Can you write?

  Phillip Perry : I can print.

  Butch Haynes : Good enough. I want you to make up a list, of everything you ever wanted to do, wasn't allowed to.

  Phillip Perry : Like what?

  Butch Haynes : Like... cotton candy.

  Phillip Perry : [writing]  Cotton candy...

  Butch Haynes : Hell, I don't know, Phillip. It's your list.

  Phillip Perry : ...Butch?

  Butch Haynes : Yeah?

  Phillip Perry : How do you spell rocketship?

• Butch Haynes : If you wanted to go home so bad, why didn't you stay at the store today?

  Phillip Perry : 'Cause.

  Butch Haynes : 'Cause why?

  Phillip Perry : 'Cause - I stole. Put me in jail - probably go to hell.

  Butch Haynes : [laughs]  Same difference, Phillip. Same difference.

• Butch Haynes : If you and your pals back outta here, uh... I'll drop the boy at the border! If you don't, I'll shoot him in the head. I mean it!

  Phillip Perry : [stares at Butch] 

  Butch Haynes : ...Don't look at me like that. I ain't have a gun... What'd you do with the pistola, anyway?

  Phillip Perry : ...Dropped it in the well.

  Butch Haynes : ...Good thinkin'.

• Chief Red Garnett : She promises!

  Butch Haynes : Make her say it!

  Gladys Perry : ...Uh - I promise!

  Butch Haynes : Can we trust her?

  Phillip Perry : She's a real good mama.

• Butch Haynes : [after Phillip nervously picks up the revolver]  Point it at me.

  Phillip Perry : [looks at Butch, confused] 

  Butch Haynes : Point it!

  Phillip Perry : [points it at Butch, uncertain] 

  Butch Haynes : Now say, "Stick 'em up!"

  Phillip Perry : ...St- stick 'em up.

  Butch Haynes : [laughs]  ... Perfect.

• Butch Haynes : You feel like a hike?

  Phillip Perry : How far?

  Butch Haynes : Can't be more than - oh, say... fifteen hundred miles.

  Phillip Perry : [looks up, stunned and worried] 

  Butch Haynes : You're probably right. Go give our supplies a check.

• Phillip Perry : [on the family they have deserted along the road]  They look funny.

  Butch Haynes : Maybe. But Bob did the right thing. What if he'd put up a fight? I mighta had to shoot him.

  Phillip Perry : [turns to Butch, angry] 

  Butch Haynes : And where would that family be then? No, Bob's a fine family man. And that's about the best thing a fella can hope to be.

• Phillip Perry : [seeing the approaching trailer]  What is it?

  Butch Haynes : Well, it's kinda like a silver whale. And there's people inside, just like old Jonah in the Bible.

  Butch Haynes : [honks the horn and pumps his arm in the air]  Go like this - maybe they'll honk. Maybe they'll honk back at us.

• Butch Haynes : I want you to strut right over to them cops, and yell, "Trick or treat!"

  Phillip Perry : What are you gonna do?

  Butch Haynes : Somethin' will come to mind.

• [first lines] 

  [Butch lies in a grassy meadow, next to a Casper the Friendly Ghost mask; he opens his eyes as money begins to flutter over him, and looks up at the overhead sun, which is then blocked out by a helicopter, and Butch closes his eyes again; CUT TO: an early Halloween evening as costumed children run about the street; inside the Perry home, the three children sit around the kitchen table] 

  Naomi Perry : If I was going, I'd go as a, um...

  Ruth Perry : A princess!

  Naomi Perry : A - yes! Judy Baumer's going as a twirler.

  Ruth Perry : But she's so fat. I'd rather go as Cinderella, or Peter Pan.

  Naomi Perry : Peter Pan's a boy; Tinkerbell's a girl. Phillip could go as Peter Pan, except you gotta fly.

  Ruth Perry : Phillip could go as a bump on a log.

  Phillip Perry : Why can't we just go once?

  Ruth Perry : 'Cause we just can't, OK?

  Gladys Perry : Our personal beliefs lift us to a higher plane.

• Superman , Tinkerbell , Dancing Skeleton : Trick or treat!

  Gladys Perry : Sorry - we don't take no part in Halloween.

  Mr. Hughes : Excuse me?

  Gladys Perry : We're Jehovah's Witness.

  Superman : [happily]  Hey, Phillip Perry!

  Phillip Perry : Hey, Billy Grieve!

  Superman : How'd you know it was me?

• Phillip Perry : Thank you, Father, for your bountiful nature and goodness.

  Butch Haynes : Amen. Now, dig in, Buzz.

• Butch Haynes : We're goin' trick or treatin', Phillip.

  Phillip Perry : [stops in his tracks] 

  Butch Haynes : ...What's the matter now?

  Phillip Perry : We ain't allowed to go trick or treatin'.

  Phillip Perry : Huh?

  Phillip Perry : My mama doesn't allow it.

  Butch Haynes : Trick or treatin' - why not?

  Phillip Perry : Against our religion.

  Butch Haynes : It's against your... against your - what kind of foolishness is that?

  Phillip Perry : Jehovah's Witness.

  Butch Haynes : ...Now, Phillip, I'm askin' you. I ain't askin' your mother; I ain't askin' Jehovah. You want to go trick or treatin', or not?

  Phillip Perry : [thinks for several seconds, then nods determinedly; Butch walks off, and Phillip follows] 

• Butch Haynes : Now that you got your... self a ghost suit, think she'll let you trick or treat?

  Phillip Perry : I got to do *one* house.

• Butch Haynes : Personally, I think we negotiated a pretty fair deal. Was there somethin' else you want?

  Phillip Perry : Do they want to shoot you?

  [Butch puts his head down; Phillip kneels and hugs him, crying]