# Worst delivery of a line in a movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 4, 2004, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503 "2004-07-04T16:27:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/41 "2004-07-05T13:45:40Z")
For a whole movie’s worth, check out [The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307109/), although of course it was done intentionally. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/42 "2004-07-05T13:50:02Z")
> [@Glory](#): > > Do you like our owl? Sean Young, Blade Runner. “looks expensive” For some reason years ago I memorized every word of that scene. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/43 "2004-07-05T13:54:39Z")
> [@sturmhauke](#): > > “There’s a monster under my bed. Can I have a glass of water?” > Spoken in a deadpan (emphasis on dead) voice by the little girl in Signs. I admit I haven’t seen the movie, and I’m told the line makes sense in context, but it still sounds like crap. What was the line of the kid in Jurrasic Park 2 when he spots the t-rex in his back garden and goes to tell his parents? Because for a moment I thought “There’s dinosaur in the garden. Can I have a glass of water?” ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/44 "2004-07-05T18:08:39Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > For some reason years ago I memorized every word of that scene. Probably because it’s quoted in full on the OST album. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/45 "2004-07-05T18:14:58Z")
I was watching _Silence of the Lambs_ for the bajillionth time and I was suddenly struck by the strange way that Anthony Hopkins delivered the line (referring to his drawing) “It’s the Du-OH-mo, as seen from the BEL-vih-deer.” Surely, I though, Anthony Hopkins was aware that Hannibal Lector was supposed to be an educated and cultured man. What intellectual worth his salt would have spent enough time in Florence to draw the Duomo from memory, and then say “Du-OH-mo” and “BEL-vih-deer?” This bothered me for some time, and I would have chalked it up as simply a poor delivery. Then I noted the name of the town where Buffalo Bill was finally found. :smack: Hannibal gave Starling what she wanted in the first interview. Very smooth. And if he had said “It’s the DWOH-moh, as seen from the Bel-vee-DAIR-ay”, the hint would have vanished. Needless to say, I changed my mind. It’s one of the most nuanced and subtly clever deliveries I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/46 "2004-07-05T18:21:13Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > Hannibal gave Starling what she wanted in the first interview. Very smooth. And if he had said “It’s the DWOH-moh, as seen from the Bel-vee-DAIR-ay”, the hint would have vanished. Needless to say, I changed my mind. It’s one of the most nuanced and subtly clever deliveries I’ve ever seen. He also says, “Simplicity” during their last interview. It’s the name of a dress pattern company, hinting on Buffalo Bill’s hobby. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/47 "2004-07-05T18:35:36Z")
I’ll probably get flamed for this, but Brando’s “Stella!” was a bit much, although to some degree, I blame Julia Louis-Dreyfus for leaving me that impression. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/48 "2004-07-05T18:36:58Z")
Pretty much any exchange between Jinx (Halle Berry) and James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) in _Die Another Day_. Just some examples: “And what do predators do when the sun goes down?” “They feast like there’s no tomorrow.” “I’ve missed the love of a good woman.” “Who says I’m good?” Hevens, you could almost see the cue cards. ---
**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/49 "2004-07-05T19:24:13Z")
Okay, memory and a netsearch fail me on the exact wording of the line, but… In _Robin Hood: Prince of Theives_ (an entire movie of bad lines), Costner’s Robin asks Slater’s Will Scarlett why Scarlett is so angry at him. Christian Slater pauses for WAAAAY to long, and replies “Because our father liked you better than me.” The line is supposed to be a bombshell, revealing that Slater is Robin’s long lost brother. Instead the protracted pause makes it seem like something he just made up on the spot. I don’t blame Slater. The director should have shortened the pause, or the editor should’ve taken it out. Or the writer shouldn’t have included it. Or the producers shouldn’t have made the whole craptacular piece of dreck to begin with. Any of those options would’ve been fine with me. thwartme ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/50 "2004-07-05T19:30:45Z")
Thwarted again by **Biggirl**! ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/51 "2004-07-05T20:28:25Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Prince skittering across the kitchen tiles in his high heels while his father jackslaps his mother shrieking “Daddy no!” in _Purple Rain_. Loved the rest of the movie. I second that. HORRIBLE. Much made up for when he sings Darling Nikki. The dialog for Anakin Skywalker was horrible, but man, his delivery of this speech made me cringe: “I… I killed them. I killed them all. They’re dead - every single one of them. Not just the men… but the women, and the children too! They’re animals, and I slaughtered them like animals… I hate them!” ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/52 "2004-07-05T20:59:27Z")
I don’t know if this counts since the movie as a whole sucks, but … … in _Paycheck_, with Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman (don’t make me recap the plot) there’s this one part where they’re being chased by the bad guys, who are out to kill them. They’re racing through streets and construction zones on a motorcycle and at one point Uma drops something (I forget what) and then they sort of screech to a halt. Ben tells Uma, “you go back and grab it and I’ll turn the motorcycle around,” – like that makes sense to begin with – but in this tense moment, with killers out to get them, when she’s about to run basically in the face of hostile gunfire to retrieve this lost thingie, she waves over her shoulder and liltingly says, … “Ok. See ya.” … like she was telling him, “Okay, I’ll meet you over by the Orange Julius then.” Anyway … that’s a really bad movie and that was the moment at which I completely wrote it off as horrible. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/53 "2004-07-05T21:10:57Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Supposedly the response was to be, “it croaks”. How it got screwed up, I don’t know. [No, it wasn’t.](http://www.theonionavclub.com/feature/index.php?issue=3731&f=1) > [@](#): > > Okay, [the ‘toad’ line] was also mine, and that’s the interesting thing. Everybody remembers that as the worst line ever written, but the thing about that is, it was supposed to be delivered as completely offhand. [Adopts casual, bored tone.] “You know what happens when a toad gets hit by lightning?” Then, after he gets electrocuted, “Ahhh, pretty much the same thing that happens to anything else.” But Halle Berry said it like she was Desdemona. [Strident, ringing voice.] “The same thing that happens to everything eeelse!” That’s the thing that makes you go crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/54 "2004-07-05T21:20:41Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > Then I noted the name of the town where Buffalo Bill was finally found. … which is? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/55 "2004-07-05T21:30:34Z")
> [@kung fu lola](#): > > [No, it wasn’t.](http://www.theonionavclub.com/feature/index.php?issue=3731&f=1) :smack: I know I read that is was, possibly here. Halle Berry was ACT-ING! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/56 "2004-07-05T21:39:02Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Halle Berry was ACT-ING! I wouldn’t ever accuse her of that, Blue Sky. In response to someone else’s plaint, she _always_ sounds like she’s reading from cue cards. She’s the worst actor on the A-list, including Keanu and Vin Diesel. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/57 "2004-07-05T22:00:10Z")
> [@Evil Death](#): > > I wouldn’t ever accuse her of that, Blue Sky. In response to someone else’s plaint, she _always_ sounds like she’s reading from cue cards. She’s the worst actor on the A-list, including Keanu and Vin Diesel. But…but…she’s has an Oscar! Are you trying to tell me THAT doesn’t mean she’s a great actress? 😃 As for Vin, the younger crowd needs it Van Damme, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/58 "2004-07-05T22:04:41Z")
I saw the title to this thread and opened it, thinking idly, “I wonder if anyone’s mentioned Andie Macdowell yet?” First post, baby. First freaking post. That taken, I’ll add some of my own least favorite lines: Keanu Reeves, opening his mouth, ever. More specifically, the dramatic moment in _Johnny Mnemonic_ (or maybe it was supposed to be funny, I couldn’t tell) where he raises his hands to the heavens and bellows, “I WANT ROOM SERVICE!” I, being a big old William Gibson fanboy, just about crawled under my chair in shame. Anakin: “I don’t like sand. It’s coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere. Not like here. Here everything’s soft… and smooth…” And Andie Macdowell, in _Groundhog Day_, slapping Bill Murray and saying something like, “That’s for pretending you liked me!” God, what a mess of a movie. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/59 "2004-07-05T22:20:38Z")
> [@Kizarvexius](#): > > Then I noted the name of the town where Buffalo Bill was finally found. > [@Evil Death](#): > > … which is? **Belvedere** , Ohio. [hijack] But how could Lector possibly have known where Buffalo Bill lived (I haven’t seen the movie in a while, so may be missing something)? And if he did, and it’s supposed to be part of his manipulation of Clarice Starling, it’s a remarkably obscure clue even for him. [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2004, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503/60 "2004-07-05T23:09:41Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > And Andie Macdowell, in _Groundhog Day_, slapping Bill Murray and saying something like, “That’s for pretending you liked me!” God, what a mess of a movie. “That’s for making me like you.” It was just on HBO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-delivery-of-a-line-in-a-movie/253503.md?page=4)