Movie lines I wish I’d written
I love movies featuring great dialogue. They’re the ones I remember the most and watch over and over and over. Movies with wicked good dialogue that I can on my shelf from my couch: Good Will Hunting (best dialogue ever), The Rock, Armageddon, Pulp Fiction, The Princess Bride, the 2 Pirates movies, Fargo, Con Air, As Good as it Gets, and Seasons 1 and 2 of Deadwood.
I’d love to explore all my favorite lines from all of those movies, but a 100-page blog entry would be a bit much. So here’s just a small sampling of my favorites:
I drive a Volvo. A beige one. — Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage) in The Rock
That’s the best “characterization through dialogue” line ever. Everything you need to know about Stanley Goodspeed in seven words.
You know we’re sitting on four million pounds of fuel, one nuclear weapon and a thing that has 270,000 moving parts built by the lowest bidder. — Rockhound (Steve Buscemi) in Armageddon
That one’s a double-whammy. There’s the immediate laugh, but then what he said sinks in and you think, Holy crap, he’s right. While that’s one of the best lines in the movie, the one I SAY most often is “It’s all fun and games until somebody gets shot in the leg”.
I see dead people. — (Haley Joel Osmet) in The Sixth Sense
There’s nothing particularly profound about this line, but what author wouldn’t like to write a line that practically overnight becomes a part of the world’s vocabulary? And it’s slightly less annoying than “I’ll never tell”.
Where do they teach you to talk like this? In some Panama City “Sailor wanna hump-hump” bar, or is it getaway day and your last shot at his whiskey? Sell crazy someplace else, we’re all stocked up here — Melvin Udall (Jack Nicholson) in As Good As It Gets
That whole movie is chock-full of brilliant dialogue. I have extreme writer envy.
And…
I aim to misbehave. — Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) in Serenity
Just because. 
March 1st, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Ooh I loved As Good As it Gets - great lines from that one!
March 1st, 2007 at 2:33 pm
One of my favorite lines comes from French Kiss. “Happy people make my ass twitch.”:rofl:
March 1st, 2007 at 4:19 pm
I can’t believe you didn’t list this one: “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” - Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) The Princess Bride
March 1st, 2007 at 6:29 pm
I loved when Hayley Joel Osment said that. It sent shivers down my spine
March 2nd, 2007 at 2:05 am
Oh, busted! How could I leave out Inigo’s famous and oh-so-quotable line?
March 2nd, 2007 at 8:45 am
Movie ho here, so I must say:
You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.
March 2nd, 2007 at 11:22 am
Yummy!
Even though it’s a cliche at this point, I’ve gotta say “You played it for her, you can play it for me.”.
The alpha male torturing himself. So delicious.
March 5th, 2007 at 8:12 am
Dear Ms. Stacy,
I have been enjoying your blog for quite some time and am thrilled to know that you are a fellow Browncoat. So happy when they came out with the DVD’s because my hubby was afraid I was going to wear out the VHS tapes I had made. Whew.
You are quite the inspiration since we run our own business, I have two kids and I’m trying to get started writing romances. So keep blogging because you help me to believe that I can do it also.