Ten Movie Lines That Are Off the Beaten Path

Is there anything better than a great line of dialogue? A masterful phrase encapsulates everything we love about the movies. Because stellar dialogue isn’t just about the combination of words, but what those words represent emotionally. Whether they make us laugh or cry or tell us that something drastic has changed, dialogue can act as a microcosm for the whole film. Many of the lines on this list really sum up the entire appeal of the films they appear in. Judging dialogue, even more so than movies as a whole, is deeply subjective. There are many widely acknowledged classics, “Stella!”, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”, “I coulda been somebody. I coulda been a contender.” But as time marches on, new classics spring up along the way. What makes someone’s favorite line of dialogue, like good dialogue itself, is distinct to each individual.  So while there is no the list, here’s a list of extraordinary lines of dialogue.

10. “That ain’t no Etch-A-Sketch. This is one doodlbe that can’t be un-did, Homeskillet.” JUNO (2007)

Heralding the arrival of a very particular voice, JUNO managed to both amuse and endear us with its gymnastically playful verbosity. In doing so it launched the career of Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman, who’ve gone on to make other critically acclaimed, standout works like YOUNG ADULT and UP IN THE AIR.

9. “On a daily basis I consume enough drugs to sedate Manhattan, Long Island, and Queens for a month. I take Quaaludes 10-15 times a day for my "back pain," Adderall to stay focused, Xanax to take the edge off, pot to mellow me out, cocaine to wake me back up again, and morphine… Well, because it’s awesome.” WOLF OF WALL STREET (2013)

Coming very early in the film, delivered directly to the camera, this line sets the stage for the wild free-for-all that follows. In a crowded showing of the film it never fails to get a big laugh as Dicaprio charms us into joining his character’s crazy world of Wall Street excess, which, at least for a while, does seem awesome. The fun of experiencing his life at a safe distance is what makes WOLF OF WALL STREET such an enjoyable ride.

8. “I’m not sure I agree with you a hundred percent on your police work there, Lou.” FARGO (1996)

Frances McDormand wins the Oscar right here, because what made Marge Gunderson such a unique cop was her absolute, almost comical level of human decency. It’s a classic Coen brothers move, going so far against what we expect that they create something altogether their own. Every cop movie ever would give the passive aggressive response at Lou’s inept police work, the insult, the gruff dismissal, in the same situation. But Marge is genuinely trying not to offend Lou, and we love her for it.

7. “I have a competition in me. I want no one else to succeed. I hate most people..” THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007)

Like the Coens, Paul Thomas Anderson is a total original. Here he boldly stakes out Daniel Plainview as the harshest embodiment of capitalism, the dark side of the American dream. And this is the protagonist! Paul Thomas Anderson explicitly tells us the hero is about as hateful a person as you could find, then manages to keep us spellbound in watching him. Daniel Day Lewis would win the Lead Actor Oscar for the role.

6. “Laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep, and you weep alone.” OLDBOY (2003)

A repeated line in the film, this dialogue gathers power by the lengths to which the film goes to explore this theme. Oh Dae-Su smiles at the death of a suicidal man, early on. At the end, after having discovered [SPOILER ALERT] that his nemesis has tricked him into falling in love with his own daughter, Oh Dae-Su hypnotizes himself so he won’t remember. And as the film ends, with the haunting bittersweet music playing and Oh Dae-Su reunited with Mi-do, there’s a sense that maybe Oh Dae-Su has found some measure of happiness, even if only by tricking himself. He’s following the thematic philosophical mantra of the film. It’s a deeply challenging final image that doesn’t allow for any easy answers.

5. “Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” THE DARK KNIGHT (2008) 

In a moment, this line sums up everything that has made the Joker not only an archetypal figure in mythology through human history (the “trickster” archetype) but also what has made the Joker Batman’s greatest villain in all of the Batman incarnations. There’s nothing more frightening than an antagonist who wants nothing tangible, because he has no weakness. There’s no person Batman can squeeze to stop the Joker, nothing he can threaten him with. It makes the Joker the embodiment of evil, free of motivation and earthly desire. 

4. “I will see you again… but not yet… not yet.” GLADIATOR (2000)

A movie that managed to make the hero dying a sort of happy ending, this line, delivered by Maximus’ friend Juba, communicates the hopefulness and bittersweet triumph of the film elegantly and with great emotion. Russell Crowe’s Maximus is dead, but he has gotten to see his family again. And one day Juba will die, but when he does he will see Maximus. GLADIATOR faces death and offers an optimistic interpretation of the afterlife. Who doesn’t want to see their family again? It strikes a chord on a universal level and makes the death of Maximus seem like a triumph, not a tragedy.

3. “That’s right. I’ve killed women and children. I’ve killed just about everything that walks or crawled at one time or another. And I’m here to kill you, Little Bill, for what you did to Ned.” UNFORGIVEN (1992)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=0B5lFuTUhso

The line is the payoff to what UNFORGIVEN has been setting up all along, and a major subversion of both Western genre tropes and our perception of Clint Eastwood as a movie hero. The man who we cheered as he shot down men in the street as DIRTY HARRY, the Man With No Name, the mysterious drifter who always can be counted on in a gunfight, Eastwood’s screen persona has long been darker than anyone readily acknowledged, as he was “the hero”. In UNFORGIVEN he’s still the hero, but as this line demonstrates, in another film he could easily also be the villain. The line truly sets UNFORGIVEN apart from the vast majority of Westerns, by daring to go somewhere vile that feels honest.

2. “Don’t ask me about my business.” THE GODFATHER (1972)

If you stop twenty people on the street and ask their favorite movie, it’s a safe bet at least a couple will say THE GODFATHER. The story is in many ways a tragedy, with Michael Corleone throwing away a potentially happy future to take on the responsibility of the family business. In the last scene, his wife does ask him about his business. He warns her not to and in doing so gives his real answer to her question, “Is it true?” Ultimately he lies to her and says “No”. But his first response cements the darkness that has now overtaken Michael’s life and will always make him separate from people like his normal wife, Kay. 

1. “I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope.” THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994)

The number one film on the IMDB top 250 (with ratings from 1.2 million users), SHAWSHANK continues to resonate with people because of its tremendously uplifting story about the power of the human spirit. This final line from Morgan Freeman eloquently communicates the ultimate point of the movie, as through his relationship with Andy Dufresne, Red has found hope again.