I was reminded recently that Sydney Pollack, one of the great film director’s passed away in 2008. A couple of my favorite movie scenes ever involved him in Tootsie with Dustin Hoffman. He also had a great scene in Eyes Wide Shut as well, but it wasn’t the dialogue.

Hoffman & Pollack

George: Where do you come off sending me your roommate’s play for you to star in? I’m your agent, not your mother! I’m not supposed to find plays for you to star in – I’m supposed to field offers! And that’s what I do!

Michael: ‘Field offers?’ Who told you that, the Agent Fairy? That was a significant piece of work – I could’ve been terrific in that part.

George: Michael, nobody’s gonna do that play.

Michael: Why?

George: Because it’s a downer, that’s why. Because nobody wants to produce a play about a couple that moved back to Love Canal.

Michael: But that actually happened!

George: WHO GIVES A SHIT? Nobody wants to pay twenty dollars to watch people living next to chemical waste! They can see that in New Jersey!

Michael: Are you saying that nobody in New York will work with me?

George: No, no, that’s too limited… nobody in Hollywood wants to work with you either. I can’t even send you up for a commercial. You played a tomato for 30 seconds – they went a half a day over schedule because you wouldn’t sit down.

Michael: Yes – it wasn’t logical.

George: YOU WERE A TOMATO. A tomato doesn’t have logic. A tomato can’t move.

Michael: That’s what I said. So if he can’t move, how’s he gonna sit down, George? I was a stand-up tomato: a juicy, sexy, beefsteak tomato. Nobody does vegetables like me. I did an evening of vegetables off-Broadway. I did the best tomato, the best cucumber… I did an endive salad that knocked the critics on their ass.

Along the way, I found this great web site which catalog’s the Funniest Movie Moments.