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Whole Nine Yards

Date: Jun 01 2000

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

hitman

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Plot: A hitman named Jimmy (played by Bruce Willis) moves in next door to a married couple. The wife learns that there is someone who wants to kill him, but doesn’t know where he is. In order to live a safe life in her neighborhood, she tells her husband to go to this person and tell him where the hitman lives. Interesting twists in the story happen from this point on.
Clip: In this scene, Jimmy’s wife Cynthia tells Oz (Matthew Perry) about the plan to kill Jimmy and herself.

Dialog

1. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Cynthia

Cynthia: There was no one like him at my daddy’s country club. Lousy husband, though. Cheated on me constantly.

Oz: So why don’t you just…

Cynthia: Divorce him? Jimmy doesn’t believe in divorce. Thinks it’s a sin. I know, a hitman with morals. Go figure.

Oz: So, now that he’s out of prison, are you guys going to get back together?

Cynthia: You mean if Frankie and Yanni don’t kill him first? No. Jimmy and I are over. And even if I wanted to make another go at it, which I don’t, there’d always be that other thing between us.

Oz: What other thing?

Cynthia: The fact that he wants to kill me.

Oz: Why?

Cynthia: You’re a sweet guy. Money.

Oz: Oh. Are you rich?

Cynthia: The money Lazlow gave us as a wedding present. Only it wasn’t a wedding present. Lazlow was just parking the money with us to hide it from the feds.

Oz: How much was it?

Cynthia: 10 million dollars.

Oz: Hell of a parking space.

Cynthia: The only way anyone could get the money was if Jimmy, Yanni and I all signed for it together. You need to have all three signatures, or you need two signatures and a death certificate. Or one signature and…

Oz: ...two death certificates. That’s why Jimmy wants to kill you because if he kills you…

Cynthia: ...and Yanni, let’s not forget about Yanni…

Oz: ...then he gets the money. All of it.

Cynthia: *The whole nine yards.

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Discussion

This is a good conversation between a man and a woman. It’s pretty fast in the movie, but when it’s written down like this, it isn’t too hard to understand. There are some really good slang/idiomatic words and phrases in it. Bruce Willis has had some good movies, and Matthew Perry is usually really funny. But this movie just wasn’t good. The plot wasn’t interesting and the humor was very simple. I give it a 3 out of 10. Don’t see it unless you love Bruce Willis or Matthew Perry. From the front row, John