Character Analysis
We wish we had something nice to say about Harry Ellis, but if we're being honest, the dude's a butthead.
There, we said it.
Greed is Good
Harry Ellis is slimy, opportunistic, and coke-addled. He's basically Gordon Gekko, but in L.A. When we first meet him, he's hitting on Holly (paws off, dude, she's taken), and we're a bit suspicious that he's got his eye on her (as McClane possessively points out) in order to advance his own career. When he meets John, he's fresh off snorting coke off of Holly's desk, so it's not like he's good at first impressions. We don't like him, McClane doesn't like him, and no one else seems too keen on him either. The look on Takagi's face in this early scene says it all.
Minding His Business
Ellis approaches the world like one big business opportunity, which is exactly what gets him killed in the end. He's always looking for an angle, and that angle usually has to do with money. He tells Holly to show off the watch he gave her—a corporate reward—to McClane, and says, in the smarmiest, most possessive way possible:
"It's a Rolex."
Gross, dude.
So it's no surprise that, a few hours into the hostage situation, Ellis decides to take matters into his own hands in the worst way possible. After snorting some cocaine, he tells Holly he's going to handle the situation:
"Hey babe, I negotiate million-dollar deals for breakfast. I think I can handle this eurotrash."
- Don't call your coworker "babe."
- Don't call Hans Gruber eurotrash.
This is a classic case of an inflated ego missing the memo. Holly knows that Hans and his henchmen are serious business. But Ellis, hopped up on cocaine and greed, thinks he knows best. So he goes in to wheel and deal with Gruber.
He frames the negotiation like a business deal ("It's not what I want—it's what I can give you."). He tries to convince Gruber he can give him what he wants—"business is business." Gruber's intrigued, and Ellis thinks he's sealed the deal:
"Hans, bubbe, I'm your white knight."
(Fun fact: Hart Bochner, the actor who played Ellis, actually improvised the "bubbe." Which totally makes the line, right?)
Ellis is riding high at this point. A Hans henchman grabs him a Coke, and he thinks he's gonna sail through this deal. When he raises McClane on the horn, hoping to hand him over (and the detonators) to Gruber, John sees right through the situation. He knows Ellis is going to die, and sure enough, he does. McClane does his best to save him, but no dice.