Mr. Pip (2012)

Hugh Laurie: Mr. Watts

Photos 

Quotes 

• Christopher : Can anyone be a gentleman?

  Mr. Watts : Yes, they can.

  Violet : Even a poor person?

  Mr. Watts : Absolutely a poor person can be a gentleman. A gentleman... a gentleman is someone who never forgets their manners, no matter what the situation is, no matter how terrible, how awful. Money and social standing have got nothing to do with it. A gentleman always tries to do the right thing.

• Daniel : What's it like to be white?

  Mr. Watts : You mean what's it like to be white, or what's it like to be white here?

  Matilda Naimo : Both.

  Mr. Watts : A bit like what the last mammoth must have felt, I suppose. It's lonely, at times. I don't know. What's it like being black?

  Daniel : Normal.

  Matilda Naimo : We only feel black around white people.

  Mr. Watts : Yes, well, I'd say the same is true for me.

• Mr. Watts : [during Grace's burial]  Grace lived in a beautiful big house in London. She lived in one part of the house, I lived in the other. But... it was very hard not to notice Grace. I'd never seen anyone so black with teeth so white.

• Mr. Watts : [about abandoned schoolroom]  I want this to be a place of light, no matter what happens. So, the first thing we must do is clear this space for learning.

• Matilda Naimo : Is it strange to feel like I know Pip? I mean... really know him?

  Mr. Watts : I think that is probably the greatest compliment you could pay Mr. Dickens.

  Matilda Naimo : Do you know him too?

  Mr. Watts : My Pip is probably not exactly the same as your Pip, but yes, I believe I do.

• Mr. Watts : [seeing Matilda's seashell writing of "PIP" on beach]  A shrine... Pip in the Pacific... Well, why not? Great Expectations doesn't tell the whole of Pip's life.

• PNG Lieutenant : I will give you one more chance. Bring me this man Pip, or I will burn it all.

  Mr. Watts : Please, sir! The man you're looking for is... He's a fiction. He's a character out of a book.

  PNG Lieutenant : No. You will speak when I ask you. I am not interested in any more of your lies.

• Mr. Watts : [during Grace's burial]  We had a room in the middle of the house, between us, for Sarah. We filled this room with our thoughts, our memories, our histories, which we'd take it in turns to write it on the wall. And Grace traced Sarah's lineage from her all the way back to a flying fish.

  Grace's grandmother : Was I on this wall?

  Mr. Watts : Uh, yes, I believe you were.

• Mr. Watts : We've all lost a lot in recent times. And those losses, I think we should use them... to remind ourselves of the things that we could never lose... our minds and our imaginations.

• Mr. Watts : The thing is, you can't really pretend to read a book. Your eyes will always give you away. Your eyes and your breathing. The house could be on fire and a reader deep in a book wouldn't even notice until the wallpaper was in flames.

• Mr. Watts : It's not easy to be a perfect human being, Matilda.

• Dolores Naimo : My daughter, my lovely Matilda, says she doesn't believe in the Devil. She believes in Pip!

  Mr. Watts : Well, Mrs. Naimo, what if I were to say to you that on the page, Pip and the Devil have the same status? Each one strikes out on their own, each one has the chance to make their own mistakes...

  Dolores Naimo : And to abandon his family? How will Pip even know if he's made a mistake? If there is no God and no Devil, how will he know what's right from wrong?

  [addressing kids in schoolroom] 

  Dolores Naimo : Mr Watts here thinks he can know all things, but for the rest of us people - and that includes you, my beautiful flower, Matilda - pack the teaching of the Good Book into your person. That way, you kids will be able to save Pop-Eye here, because I'm not going to.

  Mr. Watts : Thank you, Mrs. Naimo, for such an illuminating lesson on the relationship between good and evil. Once again, you've given us much food for thought.