Prodigy (2017)

Richard Neil: Fonda

Photos 

Quotes 

• Ellie : I don't like that term. "Love." It's vague, overused.

  Fonda : How so?

  Ellie : Love is the guise under which selfishness operates. Parents only love their children so long as they maintain control over them.

• Fonda : Chess is not a game of speed.

  Ellie : Not for some, clearly.

• [first lines] 

  Olivia : [walking up]  Do you always play alone?

  Fonda : [playing chess]  Challenging yourself can teach you quite a bit about who you are. Plus, I always win.

  [swivles the board to play the opposite side] 

  Olivia : [toppling the king]  Or lose.

  Fonda : A matter of perspective.

• Fonda : Yeah, that was a very dark time for me, yet every year since, I've become more convinced that it's those moments that define us, that our struggles are simply questions that life asks. In the end, all that matters is how we answer.

• Ellie : [upon first meeting]  You have it all. Worn loafers, second hand slacks, tattered briefcase.

  Fonda : I'm not quite sure I follow.

  Ellie : But the truth is in the details. The lines on your face. Your posture. Distinct lack of concern with your hairstyle. Did Miss Olivia send a bargain-bin-find in with me? How quaint.

  Fonda : You're a very observant young lady.

• Ellie : I have had enough exposure to you working-class folks to know what you are.

  Fonda : What are we?

  Ellie : A lost cause.

  Fonda : I don't believe you're qualified to condemn and entire class of people.

  Ellie : The number of dumpy towns we pass through might surprise you.

• Ellie : What if your provocation backfires and convinces me to turn on both sides? To become the monster they would so like me to be?

  Fonda : You decide what you become.

• Fonda : Behind all your understanding, is there no fear of your own mortality?

  Ellie : I'm not afraid to die.

  Fonda : I believe you. I think you're afraid to live with yourself... After what happened.

• [last lines] 

  Ellie : Careful, doctor, you're slipping.

  Fonda : I'm not so sure about that.

  [moving his piece] 

  Fonda : Check.