Great Dialogue

[Emilymcplugger]

So just like bad dialogue can pull you out of a story, great dialogue can pull you in and have you intellectually swooning in your head.

Often we think of the big exchanges and the big memorable moments such as “Show me the money” etc, but I often find that great dialogue needn’t be showy, sometimes a few words in the right order can hit harder than the big scene.

Everyone remembers “ADRIAN” from Rocky. I always preferred “Where’s your hat?” He’s gone 15 rounds with the world champ and that’s his concern, it shows character beautifully.

So as before, what dialogue do you rate that might go over others heads?

 

[SamScribble]

Check out Martin McDonagh’s ‘In Bruges’.

 

[SimonDoom]

Off the top of my head, some of the movie screenplays with the best dialogue are Casablanca, The Godfather, Chinatown, Tootsie, Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas, Fargo. The two movies with the most quoted lines of all time are probably Casablanca and The Godfather. But more than being quotable, they're movies that are driven by the way the characters talk to each other. Great dialogue propels the story and reveals character.

I thought The Dark Knight had by far the best dialogue of any superhero movie I've seen. The dialogue (and the actors speaking it) gives it a depth that's missing from other similar movies. Heath Ledger's Joker has many, many great lines. I liked this one, a play on the usual saying: "Whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you . . . stranger."

The movie Unforgiven used numerous clever dialogue-heavy scenes to upend and subvert the myths of the Old West. I always liked this passage:

Kid: "I guess they had it coming."

Will Munney: "We all have it coming, kid."

 

[CyranoJ]

A lot of great dialogue seems to happen in long sequences. The "coin-toss" scene in No Country for Old Men, the Joker interrogation in The Dark Knight, the "tell me what's funny" scene in Goodfellas, "I drink your milkshake" from There Will Be Blood, and so on. Great single lines that aren't endlessly quoted and requoted are harder to think of, but a few come to mind:

"Purgatory is kind of like the in-betweeny one. You weren’t really shit, but you weren’t all that great either… like Tottenham.” - Ray, In Bruges
(That movie is packed with memorable lines. This one, from Colin Farrell's character, is one of them that doesn't require a ton of context.)

"You shouldn't hang me on a hook, Johnny. My father hung me on a hook once. Once!" - Danny Vermin, Johnny Dangerously
(Underrated 1984 comedy with Michael Keaton and Joe Piscopo. Piscopo's 'Danny Vermin' character has a running gag with this theme; for my money, this is the best one.)

"I know you gentlemen have been through a lot. But when you find the time... I'd rather not spend the rest of the winter tied to this fucking couch!" - Garry, John Carpenter's The Thing
(Classic line from a scene in the wake of one of the titular monster's harrowing attacks, as the protagonists are figuring out that it's a mimic.)

A couple of slightly longer dialogues. This brief and agonizing exchange in Amadeus:

SALIERI: Mozart, it was good of you to come!
MOZART: How could I not?
SALIERI: How... Did my work please you?
MOZART: I never knew that music like that was possible!
SALIERI: You flatter me.
MOZART: No, no! One hears such sounds, and what can one say but... Salieri!
(Subtle mockery at its finest. Also a 1984 film, come to think of it.)

From Gangs of New York, Bill the Butcher and Happy Jack, his crooked police constable minion, in a tavern and conferring over the carcass of a dead rabbit (a symbol of Bill's adversaries):

BILL THE BUTCHER: Tell me, this charge, does it sit uneasy with you?
HAPPY JACK: No, it's not uneasy, Bill. No, I wouldn't say that. But... my allegiance is to the law. I'm paid t'uphold the law.
BILL: [long pause, theatrical facepalm and frustrated sigh] What in heaven's name are you talking about? You may have misgivings, but don't go believing that, Jack. That way lies damnation.
JACK: [uncomfortably] I'm in no danger of damnation, Bill.
BILL: [after another long pause] Look, here's the thing. I don't give a tupenny fuck about your moral conundrum, you meat-headed shit-sack. That's more or less the thing. Now I want you to go out there -- you, nobody else, none of your little minions -- I want you to go out there. And I want you to punish the person who's responsible for murdering this poor little rabbit. Am I understood?
(All sorts of dialogue from that movie that would qualify.)

 

[MelissaBaby]

I got a lot of very kind praise for the "snappy patter" I wrote for my Gold Dollar Girl stories. My model was the Coen Brothers' movie Miller's Crossing.

Some samples:

Verna: Shouldn't you be doing your job?
Tom': Intimidating helpless women is my job.
Verna: Then go find one, and intimidate her.

Eddie Dane: Where's Leo?
Hitman: If I tell you, how do I know you won't kill me?
Eddie Dane: Because if you told me and I killed you and you were lying I wouldn't get to kill you then. Where's Leo?

***

Tom: All in all not a bad guy - if looks, brains and personality don't count.
Verna: You better hope they don't.

***

Tom: So what's the deal, you get to live and Verna has to be Leo's girl?
Bernie: I have nothing to do with that, she'll sleep with anyone Tom, you know that! She even tried to teach me a thing or two about bed artistry once. Some crackpot idea about saving me from my friends. She's a sick twist all right.
Tom: She speaks highly of you.
Bernie: Yeah, well, you stick by your family.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I could post almost any scene from Kind Hearts and Coronets. It's one of those "British people do awful things to one another politely" films, and I'm a sucker for that kind of dialogue where the style is genteel and the substance is very dark.

It opens with the hangman walking into the prison and chatting with one of the guards as he does the paperwork:

"Been keeping you busy, Mr. Elliott?"
"Oh, just nicely. Went up to Manchester on Monday - a poisoner. Baby-farmer at Holloway this morning. Very ordinary crimes, both of them."
"This one we've got for you tomorrow is something special."
"Yes, very much so ... even my lamented master, the great Mr. Berry himself, never 'ad the privilege of 'anging a duke."

Elliott is more nervous than the man he's about to execute, and plans to retire afterwards: "'aving once used the silk rope, never again be content with hemp."

Or a later scene between a married man and his mistress:

"What am I doing?"
"You know very well what you're doing. You're playing with fire."
"At least it warms me."

 

[SimonDoom]

I got a lot of very kind praise for the "snappy patter" I wrote for my Gold Dollar Girl stories. My model was the Coen Brothers' movie Miller's Crossing.

Some samples:

Verna: Shouldn't you be doing your job?
Tom': Intimidating helpless women is my job.
Verna: Then go find one, and intimidate her.

Eddie Dane: Where's Leo?
Hitman: If I tell you, how do I know you won't kill me?
Eddie Dane: Because if you told me and I killed you and you were lying I wouldn't get to kill you then. Where's Leo?

***

Tom: All in all not a bad guy - if looks, brains and personality don't count.
Verna: You better hope they don't.

***

Tom: So what's the deal, you get to live and Verna has to be Leo's girl?
Bernie: I have nothing to do with that, she'll sleep with anyone Tom, you know that! She even tried to teach me a thing or two about bed artistry once. Some crackpot idea about saving me from my friends. She's a sick twist all right.
Tom: She speaks highly of you.
Bernie: Yeah, well, you stick by your family.

One of the great underrated movies, and it's got a lot of great dialogue. The final scene and dialogue between Tom and Bernie is a classic.

 

[MelissaBaby]

One of the great underrated movies, and it's got a lot of great dialogue. The final scene and dialogue between Tom and Bernie is a classic.

"What heart?"

 

[Lifestyle66]

I enjoy some of the dialog I write for my main characters (modeled after my wife's comments). I try to make the MFC a STRONG personality.

Their back & forth from Ted's proposal to Jan in A Different Proposition -750 Words:

[Jan] "And don't let them con you into paying any more for the ring. You can be naive sometimes ... My best friend, Marlene said she'll set up my Bachelorette Party with the theme; 'No Holes Barred'. You can get your friend Eric to do the same for you."

"You planned this? You didn't even know I got a job offer, or that I would propose!"

"I knew you were smart enough to get a good job. And I saw the signs you were hooked on me. I just waited and reeled you in."

"And what's this 'No Holes Barred'? You're going to fuck other guys before we get married? And take it in your ass, too?"

"Probably not, but you know how wild Marlene can be. So ... maybe. And Ray fucked me in the ass sometimes, so it's not a virgin hole. But if you do fuck anyone at your Bachelor Party, use condoms!"

"You never told me you took it in the ass."

"You never asked! ..."

 

[Emilymcplugger]

I could post almost any scene from Kind Hearts and Coronets. It's one of those "British people do awful things to one another politely" films, and I'm a sucker for that kind of dialogue where the style is genteel and the substance is very dark.

It opens with the hangman walking into the prison and chatting with one of the guards as he does the paperwork:

"Been keeping you busy, Mr. Elliott?"
"Oh, just nicely. Went up to Manchester on Monday - a poisoner. Baby-farmer at Holloway this morning. Very ordinary crimes, both of them."
"This one we've got for you tomorrow is something special."
"Yes, very much so ... even my lamented master, the great Mr. Berry himself, never 'ad the privilege of 'anging a duke."

Elliott is more nervous than the man he's about to execute, and plans to retire afterwards: "'aving once used the silk rope, never again be content with hemp."

Or a later scene between a married man and his mistress:

"What am I doing?"
"You know very well what you're doing. You're playing with fire."
"At least it warms me."

Kind Hearts and Coronets is so classy. A great example of skill and wit working around the morality code as we witness an hilarious comedy about a dispicable serial killer.

 

[Emilymcplugger]

A lot of great dialogue seems to happen in long sequences. The "coin-toss" scene in No Country for Old Men, the Joker interrogation in The Dark Knight, the "tell me what's funny" scene in Goodfellas, "I drink your milkshake" from There Will Be Blood, and so on. Great single lines that aren't endlessly quoted and requoted are harder to think of, but a few come to mind:

"Purgatory is kind of like the in-betweeny one. You weren’t really shit, but you weren’t all that great either… like Tottenham.” - Ray, In Bruges
(That movie is packed with memorable lines. This one, from Colin Farrell's character, is one of them that doesn't require a ton of context.)

"You shouldn't hang me on a hook, Johnny. My father hung me on a hook once. Once!" - Danny Vermin, Johnny Dangerously
(Underrated 1984 comedy with Michael Keaton and Joe Piscopo. Piscopo's 'Danny Vermin' character has a running gag with this theme; for my money, this is the best one.)

"I know you gentlemen have been through a lot. But when you find the time... I'd rather not spend the rest of the winter tied to this fucking couch!" - Garry, John Carpenter's The Thing
(Classic line from a scene in the wake of one of the titular monster's harrowing attacks, as the protagonists are figuring out that it's a mimic.)

A couple of slightly longer dialogues. This brief and agonizing exchange in Amadeus:

SALIERI: Mozart, it was good of you to come!
MOZART: How could I not?
SALIERI: How... Did my work please you?
MOZART: I never knew that music like that was possible!
SALIERI: You flatter me.
MOZART: No, no! One hears such sounds, and what can one say but... Salieri!
(Subtle mockery at its finest. Also a 1984 film, come to think of it.)

From Gangs of New York, Bill the Butcher and Happy Jack, his crooked police constable minion, in a tavern and conferring over the carcass of a dead rabbit (a symbol of Bill's adversaries):

BILL THE BUTCHER: Tell me, this charge, does it sit uneasy with you?
HAPPY JACK: No, it's not uneasy, Bill. No, I wouldn't say that. But... my allegiance is to the law. I'm paid t'uphold the law.
BILL: [long pause, theatrical facepalm and frustrated sigh] What in heaven's name are you talking about? You may have misgivings, but don't go believing that, Jack. That way lies damnation.
JACK: [uncomfortably] I'm in no danger of damnation, Bill.
BILL: [after another long pause] Look, here's the thing. I don't give a tupenny fuck about your moral conundrum, you meat-headed shit-sack. That's more or less the thing. Now I want you to go out there -- you, nobody else, none of your little minions -- I want you to go out there. And I want you to punish the person who's responsible for murdering this poor little rabbit. Am I understood?
(All sorts of dialogue from that movie that would qualify.)

Personally I love lines that just shine so brightly from the rest of the quality film around them, usually it’s a combination of script, direction and performance. Like Bogie’s terrifying descent into madness in the courtroom of THE CAINE MUTINY or this one from Alan Rickman.

Dr Lazarus: Quellek, By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Worvan, you shall be avenged.

Brilliant.

 

[12oclocktales]

From The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde: (filmed at least 3 times)

Lady Bracknell: [Pencil and note-book in hand.] I feel bound to tell you that you are not down on my list of eligible young men, although I have the same list as the dear Duchess of Bolton has. We work together, in fact. However, I am quite ready to enter your name, should your answers be what a really affectionate mother requires. Do you smoke?

Jack: Well, yes, I must admit I smoke.

Lady Bracknell: I am glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind. There are far too many idle men in London as it is. How old are you?

Jack: Twenty-nine.

Lady Bracknell: A very good age to be married at. I have always been of the opinion that a man who desires to get married should know either everything or nothing. Which do you know?

Jack: [After some hesitation.] I know nothing, Lady Bracknell.

Lady Bracknell: I am pleased to hear it. I do not approve of anything that tampers with natural ignorance. Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. The whole theory of modern education is radically unsound. Fortunately in England, at any rate, education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square.

 

[Zootonius]

In To Have and Have Not, a famous bit.

Slim: You know, Steve, you're not very hard to figure. Only at times. Sometimes I know exactly what you're going to say - most of the time. The other times [She sits in his lap], the other times you're just a stinker. [She plants a kiss on his lips]
Morgan: What'd you do that for?
Slim: Been wondering whether I'd like it.
Morgan: What's the decision?
Slim: I don't know yet.[She kisses him again]
Slim: It's even better when you help.

 

[CyranoJ]

Personally I love lines that just shine so brightly from the rest of the quality film around them, usually it’s a combination of script, direction and performance. Like Bogie’s terrifying descent into madness in the courtroom of THE CAINE MUTINY or this one from Alan Rickman.

Dr Lazarus: Quellek, By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Worvan, you shall be avenged.

Brilliant.

The Dr. Lazarus one is genuinely great. Especially when the moment comes when he says it and means it.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Personally I love lines that just shine so brightly from the rest of the quality film around them, usually it’s a combination of script, direction and performance. Like Bogie’s terrifying descent into madness in the courtroom of THE CAINE MUTINY or this one from Alan Rickman.

Dr Lazarus: Quellek, By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Worvan, you shall be avenged.

Brilliant.

That one qualifies for both the Bad Dialogue threads (on first appearance) and this one (on last).

I also loved "Think. Can you fashion some kind of... rudimentary lathe?" for its sheer ridiculousness. But there are so many to choose from in that film, and it's hard to separate the writing from the delivery. Adam Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, soooo good.

 

[CyranoJ]

That one qualifies for both the Bad Dialogue threads (on first appearance) and this one (on last).

I also loved "Think. Can you fashion some kind of... rudimentary lathe?" for its sheer ridiculousness. But there are so many to choose from in that film, and it's hard to separate the writing from the delivery. Adam Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, soooo good.

"It's a rock, it doesn't have any vulnerable spots!"

 

[Bramblethorn]

"You can't fight in here, gentlemen! This is the War Room!"

...hmm, I really do love that cognitive dissonance, don't I?

 

[Bramblethorn]

"It's a rock, it doesn't have any vulnerable spots!"

"See, that's your problem, Jason. You were never serious about the craft."

 

[Zootonius]

"Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night."

 

[Rob_Royale]

I've always thought King Theoden in LoTR had a lot great dialog.

 

[HeyAll]

There Will Be Blood has fantastic dialogue. I've always loved this scene.

 

[ronde]

So just like bad dialogue can pull you out of a story, great dialogue can pull you in and have you intellectually swooning in your head.

Often we think of the big exchanges and the big memorable moments such as “Show me the money” etc, but I often find that great dialogue needn’t be showy, sometimes a few words in the right order can hit harder than the big scene.

Everyone remembers “ADRIAN” from Rocky. I always preferred “Where’s your hat?” He’s gone 15 rounds with the world champ and that’s his concern, it shows character beautifully.

So as before, what dialogue do you rate that might go over others heads?

It depends upon the character speaking and the listener to that dialogue as well as the intended reader or viewer. Very few real people make particularly noteworthy statements in normal conversation. They don't follow proper sentence structure, they use slang, and they shamelessly dangle their participles all over the place. If you write Mac, the man who works in a factory making widgets explaining to one of his co-workers that the efficiency of production is inversely proportional to both the number of individual operations as well as the tensile strength and malleability of the materials, that's not going to sound correct to most readers. Likewise, if you write Dr. Rachael Madison telling a patient that his dick is too small to make a woman cum, that's not going to sound right either. It's best to write dialogue the way real people speak - short sentences that often aren't sentences and to use words that fit the personality you have assigned to the speaker.

It's also important to keep the time period in mind. In the 16th century, "pussy" was a term of endearment for women. In the 17th century, that changed to mean a woman's genitalia. By the 19th century, pussy denoted an effiminate man. Up until about the 18th century the common term for a woman's genitalia was "cunt". Also common to earlier times, even up into the 1800's, people wrote using more proper English, at least they did when they exchanged written correspondence, and they hinted at intimacy rather than expressing it as we would today.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

Gone With the Wind. When Rhett Butler tells Scarlett, "You look good enough to eat," when he sees her in the dress she managed to create with green velvet curtains.

A few years back I watched it in a cinesphere with a large audience, and people laughed long and hard at that line.

 

[Ian_Snow]

Definitely agreed with the Coen brothers love in this thread. O Brother Where Art Thou and Raising Arizona are probably my favorites for great dialogue and delivery. I'm a big fan of Nick Hornby's dialogue in his novels too, High Fidelity and Juliet, Naked probably being my favorites.

My absolute favorite bit of dialogue, good or bad, isn't from a book or a movie, but a porn from the mid 2010s. It opens, very literally, with no special effects or anything on a woman saying to a guy, "Holy shit, you're a ghost. You want to fuck?" In my mind, it's the single greatest line ever put to film. Genius in how goddamn awful it is.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

I loved a lot of the classic lines from Princess Bride, too.

-"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

-"I'm on the Brute squad." "You are the BRUTE squad."

-"Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while."

-"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

-"I wonder if he is using the same wind we are using."

-"I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand?" -- "Do you always begin conversations this way?"

-"Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?" -- "Yes." -- "Morons!"

-"Since the invention of the kiss, there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate, this one left them all behind."

There are so many good lines in the movie. Every time I see it, I still laugh.