A rolled blue-and-white striped towel beside a wooden clapperboard and a coil of red rope.

Original artwork, not a still

Chili Palmer

Whew, this movie business is tough. I might just have to go back to loan-sharking for a while to get some vacation.

— Get Shorty · 1995

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The joke is a reversal of expectations: the speaker finds show business so exhausting that going back to loan-sharking sounds like a holiday. It plays on the idea that a rough former trade might actually be easier than the glossy, stressful world of movies.

Context reviewed

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