I am an unabashed fan of monologues. A great one can be hilarious, heartrending, or both. It can sum up the theme of a film, or simply provide an amusing aside. Here are a few of my all-time favorites:
George C. Scott in Patton, opening monologue. Made even better because it’s taken, 98% verbatim, from Patton’s actual speeches. “We are going to rip the living guts from their bodies and use them to grease the treads of our tanks!”
Ray Liotta in Goodfellas, closing monologue. I love the camera work throughout his voice-over. “Now I get to live like a schnook.”
Burt Lancaster in Field of Dreams, in his (Dr. Graham’s) office. It seems as if this movie is about 40% monologues (Costner, Liotta and Jones each have at least one big one each), but Burt is just magic on this one. “I want to stretch a double into a triple…slide headfirst into third…and wrap my arms around the bag.”
Costner’s speech in Bull Durham about what he believes in is pretty good.
I caught a little bit of The Hot Rock the other day. Dortmunder (Robert Redford) has been asked to steal a diamond for a man named Amusa. His friend wants to know if he’ll take the job.
I’m not sure if that’s a monologue, really, but I liked it.
A good monologue needs to be made in the face of impending disaster, so I’m partial to Dennis Hopper’s monologue when faced with being killed by Christopher Walken in True Romance .
Several by Paul Scofield in a Man for All Seasons (by screenwriter Robert Bolt, closely adapting Thomas More’s own words), especially his defense and his final word at his trial.
I think Jack Thompson’s closing statement in the excellent **Breaker Morant ** is very good. (“The barbarities of war are seldom committed by abnormal men. The tragedy of war is that these horrors are committed by normal men in abnormal situations.”)
Burt Lancaster has a couple of great sermonizing scenes in Elmer Gantry. (“Sin, sin sin! You’re all sinners! You’re all doomed to perdition!”)
The scene in “The pope of greenwich village” in Charlie’s(Mickey Rourke) apartment after the mob guys cut off Paulie’s (Eric Roberts) thumb. What a great scene!!!
The beginning of Thomas Culpepper’s (Played by Eric Portman) history lecture in Powell and Pressburger’s A Canterbury Tale: - “There is more that one way of getting close to your ancestors. Follow the Old Road and as you do, think of them…”
Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman.
“Out of order, I show you out of order. You don’t know what out of order is, Mr. Trask. I’d show you, but I’m too old, I’m too tired, I’m too fuckin’ blind.”
