October Sky (1999)

Jake Gyllenhaal: Homer Hickam

Photos 

Quotes 

• Homer : [to John]  Dad, I may not be the best, but I come to believe that I got it in me to be somebody in this world. And it's not because I'm so different from you either, it's because I'm the same. I mean, I can be just as hard-headed, and just as tough. I only hope I can be as good a man as you. Sure, Wernher von Braun is a great scientist, but he isn't my hero.

• Homer : No. Coal mining may be your life, but it's not mine. I'm never going down there again. I wanna go into space.

• O'Dell : God's honest truth, Homer. What are the chances... a bunch of kids from Coalwood... actually winning the national science fair?

  Homer : A million to one, O'Dell.

  O'Dell : That good? Well, why didn't you say so?

• Homer : Man, we should be trying to get into that science fair instead of sitting around here like a bunch of hillbillies.

  Roy Lee : Well, I got some real sad news for you Homer. We *are* a bunch of hillbillies.

• Quentin : What do you want to know about rockets?

  Homer : Everything.

• Homer : [after Homer sees the tiny shack that Quentin lives in with his family]  Quentin, I wouldn't care if you lived in the Governor's mansion. I'd still think you're weird!

• Homer : [Reading the newspaper aloud]  "The silvery cylinder burst forth in a fiery column of smoke and flame, racing the very wind as it soared into the sky, a messenger of these Rocket Boys of Big Creek.

  [Chuckling] 

  Homer : These boys use their brains, not brawn, who play not football, but with Apollo's fire."

  O'Dell : [Chuckles] 

  Dorothy Platt : [Walks up to Homer, elated]  Hi Homer.

  Homer : [Quietly]  Hi Dorothy.

  Dorothy Platt : Would you please sign my newspaper?

  Homer : Sure.

  Dorothy Platt : I just know you're going to be really famous someday.

  Homer : [Stares at Dorothy, mesmerized] 

  Roy Lee : H - O - M - E - R

• Homer : [to his dad]  Sure Dr. Von Braun is a great scientist, but he isn't my hero.

• Homer : Listen, I'm sorry about what's going on around here, but it isn't my fault! What do you want from me anyway?

  John : You better watch yourself, Homer.

  Homer : If I go on to win at Indianapolis, I can go to college, maybe even get a job at Cape Canaveral. There's nothing here for me. The town is dying! The mine is dying! Everybody here knows that but you!

  John : You want to get out so bad, then go. Go!

  Homer : Yeah, I'll go! Yeah, I'll go!

  John : GO! GO!

  Homer : And I'll be gone forever! I won't even look back!

• O'Dell : Besides, didn't your dad say no more rockets?

  Homer : No, he said no more rockets on company property.

  O'Dell : Do you realize how far we'd have to go to be off company property?

  Homer : Yeah, we'd have to go to Snakeroot.

  Quentin : Snakeroot? That's eight miles!

  Homer : It's not *that* far. I mean we could walk if we had to...

  O'Dell : Hey, walk! Heh! That's a great idea!

  Homer : Come on let's go!

  Roy Lee : Wait the hell up, will you Homer? Now I got about as much chance of winning that science fair as you do winning a football scholarship. I know I'm gonna be a miner. I've known my entire life. What the hell's so bad about mining coal anyway?

  Homer : Nothing Roy Lee. It's great. That's why your stepdaddy is the biggest drunk in West Virginia! I mean, come on guys! You know the mine'll kill you!

  [to Quentin] 

  Homer : You ever hear the story about how O'Dell's dad died?

  Roy Lee : Homer... will you forget it, man?

  O'Dell : Shut up, Homer.

  Homer : Piece of slate caught him right in the neck... and it cut his head clear off.

  O'Dell : [tackles Homer]  You son of a bitch!

• Homer , Roy Lee , O'Dell : [after lighting their first rocket]  Ten, nine, eight...

  Roy Lee : Should we get behind something?

  [it blows up and they fly back] 

• Homer : You know, it, uh, won't fly unless somebody pushes the button. It's yours, if you want it.

• Homer : Why're the jocks the only ones who get to go to college?

  Roy Lee : They're also the only ones who get the girls.

• Homer : [jumps into Roy Lee's car to go to football tryouts]  Let's go, Roy Lee! It's almost nine.

  Roy Lee : You sure are in a hurry to get yourself killed, huh, kid?

  O'Dell : There are easier ways to commit suicide, Homer.

  Homer : Would you just step on it, Roy Lee?

  Roy Lee : [frustrated with his car]  I *am* stepping on it.

• Homer : Did you ever see Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man?

• Jim Hickam : [at football practice]  Hey, Lenny; take it easy on my kid brother, but make it look good, all right?

  Jim Hickam : [Homer is tackled hard]  I thought I told you to take it easy on him.

  Lenny : I *did* take it easy on him

  Homer : [playing against Lenny]  I'm gonna run right over you, you son of a bitch! You hear me?

  [is tackled several times more] 

  Coach Gainer : [helping Homer up]  Well, Homer, you've sure got guts; but ya gotta know when to quit.

• Homer : [gunshot in background]  Hey Quentin!

  [another gunshot] 

  Homer : That rocket had to have gone up at least 100 feet didn't it?

  Quentin : More like two hundred.

  [another gunshot] 

  Homer : Goddammit.

  Homer : [another gunshot]  Will you cut it out, Roy Lee?

  Roy Lee : Die you son of a bitch!

  [fires another round into the grill of his broken down car] 

• Homer : Well actually, my family raised me and send me to school and feed me and all that other stuff my friends didn't do. Besides who cares about my launch!

• John : [after a cave in]  Come on. Come on, Jensen. Come on back.

  Jensen : What happened?

  Jake Mosby : Whole damn mountain about fell on your head. And John here, he saved your life.

  Homer : [proud]  That's my dad.

  John : I want you out of this mine, and don't you ever come back, you stupid son of a bitch. Didn't I tell you to watch those pillars? Now we coulda all been killed today, because you didn't have the sense to look up!

  Homer : [ashamed]  That's my dad.

• Homer : My family is not more important than my friends. My dad won't even come to one launch!