Nomadland (2020)

Frances McDormand: Fern

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Quotes 

• Makenzie : My mom says that you're homeless, is that true?

  Fern : No, I'm not homeless. I'm just house-less. Not the same thing, right?

• Fern : It's strange that you encourage people to invest their whole life savings, go into debt, just to buy a house they can't afford.

• Fern : Bo never knew his parents, and we never had kids. If I didn't stay, if I left, it would be like he never existed. I couldn't pack up and move on. He loved Empire. He loved his work so much. He loved being there, everybody loved him. So I stayed. Same town, same house. Just like my dad used to say: "What's remembered, lives." I maybe spent too much of my life just remembering, Bob.

• Dolly : You know, when you were growing up, you were eccentric to other people. You maybe seemed weird, but it was just because you were braver and more honest than everybody else. And you could see me when I was hiding from everybody. And sometimes you could see me before I saw myself. I needed that in my life. And you are my sister. I would have loved having you around all these years. You left a big hole by leaving.

  Fern : That one's on me.

• Fern : I've been thinking a lot about my husband, Bo. When it got really bad at the end, they had him in the hospital on morphine drippin'. I was sitting there at night in the hospital. And... I'd wanna put my thumb down on that morphine drip just a little bit longer. So I could let him go. Maybe I should've tried harder. So he could've gone sooner without all that pain.

  Swankie : Maybe he wouldn't have wanted that. Maybe he was trying to stay with you as long as he could. I'm sure you took good care of him, Fern.

  Fern : I did.

• Fern : We be the bitches of the badlands.

• Carol : I see that you have this ring. Are you married?

  Fern : I am, but my husband died.

  Carol : And so...

  Fern : I'm not gonna take that off.

  Carol : That ring is a circle and it never ends. And that means that your love never ends. And you may not be able to take it off, if you tried.

  Fern : I don't think I can.

• Fern : What's remembered, lives.

• Dave : Hey, find anything?

  Fern : ROCKS!

• Linda : What did you name your van?

  Fern : Vanguard.

  Linda : Oh, that is very strong.

  Fern : She is.

• Fern : I blew my tire.

  Swankie : Well, go change it.

  Fern : I don't have a spare.

  Swankie : You don't have a spare? You're out in the boondocks and you don't have a spare? You can die out here. You're out in the wilderness, far away from anybody. You can die out here. Don't you understand that? You have to take it seriously. You have to have a way to get help. You have to be able to change your own tire.

• Dolly : Why don't you move in with us?

  Fern : I can't live here. I can't live in this room. I can't sleep in this bed. Thank you, but I can't...

  Dolly : I know, we're not as interesting as the people you meet out there.

  Fern : That's not what I'm talkin' about.

  Dolly : No, that's what it is. It's always what's out there that's more interesting. You left home as soon as you could, you married Bo after just knowing him a few months, and then you moved to the middle of nowhere with him. And then even after Bo passed away, you still stayed in Empire. I just didn't get it. I mean, you could have left...

  Fern : Yeah. See, that's why I can't come here.

• Fern : [Groans about her van]  Grrr, ratty!

• Fern : You're gonna be a grandpa. When's she due?

  Dave : In two weeks, he said. He's... he's on his way home now. Asked me to come with him.

  Fern : You should go.

  Dave : I was... I was, uh... He didn't like it very much that I wasn't around when he was... when he was young. I tried to be around when he was older, but he was into his thing, and I was into mine and I guess, I just forgot how to be a dad. Anyway, I wasn't very good at it.

  Fern : Don't think about it too much, Dave. Just go. Be a grandfather.

• Fern : You know, we had an airport, public pool, a golf course.

  Emily : Wow. Sounds nice. What was your house like there?

  Fern : Nothing special. Just a company tract house. Actually, it was special. We were right on the edge of town. And our backyard looks out at this huge open space. It was just desert, desert, desert, all the way to the mountains. There was nothin' in our way.

• George : I mean, we're not all in a position to just chuck everything and hit the road.

  Fern : Oh, you think that's what I've done, George? I chucked everything to hit the road? Is that what I did?

  George : All right. I'm sorry.

• James : This place, man. I don't know why anybody would wanna live here.

  Fern : Well, I can think of worse places.

  James : You wanna know a good way to get to know a place?

  Fern : What?

  James : AA meetings.

  Fern : Really?

  James : I mean, for me. Back when I was with the band, and I was travelin' around, I used to go to AA meetings everywhere. It was a great way to get to know people and to get to know a place.

• Fern : How's the burger?

  James : Well, it's not bad.

  Fern : Yeah? He's a good cook, your dad.

  James : It's not that hard to make a burger.