"U-Turn": Darrell the Mechanic Quiz

Answer: Harlin's

The garage is called Harlin's, so when Bobby finds a lone mechanic working there, he assumes it's Harlin. In fact it's Darrell, who explains to Bobby (in the brief and somewhat coy words of a six-year-old) that Harlin is a) the former owner of the garage, after whom it was named; and b) deceased. Darrell is the current owner, and apparently the entire staff.

Answer: replace a radiator hose

Darrell grossly overcharges Bobby for a minor repair (replacing a blown radiator hose) on the grounds that his car is a 1964-and-a-half Ford Mustang. This, Bobby contends, is of little import as long as it is a Ford. However Harlin insists that the car's vintage make and model make it a harder, therefore pricier job. Darrell apparently does not feel the need to provide any further justification.

Bobby: "What's that got to do with the radiator hose?"
Darrell: "I dunno, but it's the reason I live here and you're just passing through."

Answer: Movado

Since Bobby just got robbed for his bag of cash (which is shortly blown to shreds by an angry old woman with a shotgun), he has no money to pay Darrell and get his car back. His last resort is to offer up his watch, a $7800 Movado, telling Darrell he can sell it. Darrell fails to see the value in it, however, because there are no numbers on it and because there are no extra functions. Darrell makes it clear in showing off his cheap plastic digital watch that exchange value is far behind functionality in his book:

"No day? No date? (Shoot), far as I can tell this ain't worth a duck's fart. Lookey here, got that one for $3.75, it's got every doodad you can ever imagine on it. I believe I'll just stick with this."

Just one of the many unresolvable "Darrell moments" Bobby experiences throughout the movie.

Answer: "If ya think bad, the bad's whatcha git"

When Bobby returns to the garage later in the day, both he and Darrell seem to have simmered down from their previous antagonism, and engage in a brief discussion on life. Darrell tells Bobby that when you feel as though you're running around in circles getting nowhere, the best thing to do is just tough it out, his logic being contained in the above-mentioned quote.

Approximately five seconds later, their quasi-civil banter disintegrates into complete chaos. Such is the dance of Bobby and Darrell.

Answer: who knows me

Following one of many breakdowns in dialogue, Darrell instructs Bobby to vacate Harlin's until he has the money to pay the repair bill. For added effect, he invokes his connection to local law enforcement.

This is less a statement on Darrell's prestige than a statement on the town of Superior itself, which is small enough for its entire population to be on a first name basis, and which, apparently, is backward enough to have ol' Darrell as its only mechanic.

Answer: scratches the hood

After yet another impasse in negotiations (the watch thing), Bobby tries to blindside Darrell in desperation. The latter sees him coming a mile away and confronts him with a crowbar, Bobby instantly backs down. This does not appease Darrell, who colorfully tells him he has run out of patience and proceeds to crowbar (as opposed to keying) Bobby's hood.

This scene is to a car-lover what "Hostel" is to the rest of us: unbearable to watch.

Answer: Cash preferred

Darrell justifies his billing practices by pointing to positively the most filthy and unintelligible store policy sign ever to not be noticed, until pointed out. At the top of the list one can vaguely make out: "Garage rules: cash preferred." Among other things, the sign also includes what appears to be a scribbled price list, and the aforementioned "I break it/you break it" mantra.

Answer: Twister

When Bobby comes around in the evening, he finds Darrell in his grimy little abode, dressed in a parka and matching short shorts, playing a one-man game of Twister. Not a pretty sight. But at least he appears to have bathed by then. The background is laden with a genre of music I can only describe as hick twang, and Darrell says he is expecting a waitress to stop by shortly. No doubt she is in snow pants and a bikini top, ready for a rowdy night of Twister, although this is never confirmed.

Answer: his gun

By the end of the movie, Bobby has the money to pay Darrell and get his car back. Darrell tosses him his keys, then pulls Bobby's trunk lock (which he had popped by force) out of his underwear and gives it back to him. Darrell also mentions he filled up the gas tank ("no charge").

The one item Bobby never gets back is the gun he had hidden in the trunk, which he suspects was sold by Darrell.

Answer: die every day

Despite the relatively happy ending to their standoff, Bobby is clearly in no danger of becoming a Darrell fan, as evidenced by the above statement. Before leaving him to his game of solo Twister, Bobby reminds Darrell that the missing gun from the trunk (which Darrell has probably sold) has the latter's fingerprints all over it. Darrell's only response is a blank, idiotic stare. Score one for Bobby (at long last).