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IMDbPro
What the Deaf Man Heard (1997)

Matthew Modine: Sammy Ayers

What the Deaf Man Heard

Matthew Modine credited as playing...

Sammy Ayers

Quotes6

  • Sammy Ayers: [narrating] To my knowledge it is the only trial in the history of American jurisprudence that was over in just two spoken words.
  • Sammy Ayers: [speaking out loud] I... I do.
  • [Sammy leaves the town by bus]
  • Sammy Ayers: [narrating] I gave a lot of the money away. Norm and Lucille would never have to live in a bus shelter again. Tallassee would go around the world taking pictures to her heart's content. The Tynan home would become an estate for lost boys. As for Tolliver, I felt I had lost an enemy but gained a brother, so I felt an obligation to take care of his pocket money while he served his prison term...
  • [last lines]
  • Tallasse Tynan: [sits next to Sammy] So... what are your plans?
  • Sammy Ayers: I... I guess I don't have any at the moment.
  • Tallasse Tynan: Then I guess I got on the right bus.
  • Sammy Ayers: I have something to show you.
  • [takes out his mother's music box]
  • Sammy Ayers: It was then that I was struck by a revelation: if people thought you were deaf and not able to talk, they blurt out their true feelings without holding back.
  • Sammy Ayers: [to Norm Jenkins] From time to time... I thought if ever I could pick out a father, it might be somebody pretty close to being like you. Not exactly. Close.
  • Sammy Ayers: If people thought you were deaf and not able to talk, they blurt out their true feelings without holding back.

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