# Worst single-line delivery in a movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 24, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778 "2004-04-24T06:16:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cdc98d/32.png) [@dook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dook)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/1 "2004-04-24T06:16:15Z")
Not ‘worst actor throughout the movie’, but just when an otherwise decent actor does a really shitty job at one or two lines… Chris Penn - Reservoir Dogs - “Why don’t you tell me what REALLY happened?” next? ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/2 "2004-04-24T06:21:22Z")
I first thought of William Shatner’s line in Wrath of Khan – “Still . . . old . . . friend.” Then I reread the OP and saw “otherwise decent actor” and realized Shatner is disqualified. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/3 "2004-04-24T06:24:48Z")
Well, hell, I was going to say Sofia Coppola’s “Daddy!” line from Godfather Part Three but she falls under the Shatner Rule as well… ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/4 "2004-04-24T06:50:48Z")
Can’t remember the exact line, but when Bill Pullman in _ID4_ said something like “A lot of people died today that didn’t have to.” Or something like that. _Can’t remember it cuz it was so bad I refuse to watch the scene again_ ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/5 "2004-04-24T07:20:56Z")
Easy- Vanilla Sky, Tom Cruise to bartender - “Why don’t you say it to my face…BITCH!” ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/6 "2004-04-24T12:01:19Z")
I notice Samuel L. Jackson is pretty inconsistent in this regard. Can’t think of a specific line off hand, but a lot of times his lines have this quality. He nailed it in Pulp Fiction, but it seems like his range is short in some other roles. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2004, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/7 "2004-04-24T13:34:22Z")
Storm in _X-Men_: “You know what happens when a Toad is struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else.” ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/8 "2004-04-24T15:06:39Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Storm in _X-Men_: “You know what happens when a Toad is struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else.” You stole my line! That line makes me cringe every time, and practically ruins the entire movie for me. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/9 "2004-04-24T15:23:07Z")
“No one puts Baby in a corner!” Ok, maybe that wasn’t the actor’ fault. I defy anyone to say that line without sounding like an idiot. Actually, my choice would be a famous line delivered by a great actor but delivered entirely wrong- to wit: Anthony Hopkins infamous “Fava beans and a nice chianti” line from _Silence of the Lambs_. What ruins it for me is that lip smacking thing after the line. Hannibal Lector’s character in the books is much too dry and restrained to ever do anything like that. In the book that line is delivered so casually and drily that it almost goes unnoticed. Hopkins made the character too cartoonish and actually detracted from his intelligence and darkness with that choice. It’s always bugged me. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/10 "2004-04-24T15:26:11Z")
OK, so this is another one which doesn’t count as an otherwise-good actor - but Andie McDowell’s “Is it still raining? I hadn’t noticed” at the end of _Four Weddings…_ is just dreadful. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/11 "2004-04-24T15:33:47Z")
Well, ignoring the “otherwise decent actor” bit, IMO it would be Tony (can’t sing, can’t dance, can’t act-the triple threat) Curtis’s “Yondah lies da castle uv my faddah” line. If we have to follow the rule, it might be John Wayne in “The King of Kings”: “He is in-_DEED_. Duh sonnuv Gohd.” Fenris ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/12 "2004-04-24T15:34:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Storm in X-Men: “You know what happens when a Toad is struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else.” I think the actor gets something of a pass when the line is that awful. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/13 "2004-04-24T15:35:04Z")
In Purple Rain (remember that movie?) when The Kid squeels “Daddy, no!” and minces across the room in his high-heeled boots to stop his Dad from smacking the crap out of his mother. Painful to listen to and to watch. And I love that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/14 "2004-04-24T15:43:39Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Storm in _X-Men_: “You know what happens when a Toad is struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else.” Yeah, I had this in mind when I opened the thread. IIRC, I read an interview with the guy who wrote the line, and it was supposed to be said casually, perhaps as she was walking away. I’d say it’s a decent line, but muffed by the director and/or Halle Barry. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNova](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SuperNova](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNova)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/15 "2004-04-24T15:50:16Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Yeah, I had this in mind when I opened the thread. > > IIRC, I read an interview with the guy who wrote the line, and it was supposed to be said casually, perhaps as she was walking away. I’d say it’s a decent line, but muffed by the director and/or Halle Barry. It was Joss Whedon who wrote the line. The only other line he wrote in the movie was Wolverine’s “You’re a dick.” line. Yes, he said Storm’s line was delivered horribly. There’s an interview online somewhere (I think in the Onion AV club) where he talks all about it. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/16 "2004-04-24T16:00:09Z")
Daniel-Day Lewis in _Last of the Mohicans_ “Someday you and I are going to have a serious disagreement” Missed it by a mile. ---
**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:** [April 24, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/17 "2004-04-24T16:05:25Z")
> [@SuperNova](#): > > It was Joss Whedon who wrote the line. The only other line he wrote in the movie was Wolverine’s “You’re a dick.” line. > > Yes, he said Storm’s line was delivered horribly. There’s an interview online somewhere (I think in the Onion AV club) where he talks all about it. Now that line, I liked. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/18 "2004-04-24T16:07:33Z")
That line was terrific. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/19 "2004-04-24T16:14:12Z")
> [@SuperNova](#): > > It was Joss Whedon who wrote the line. The only other line he wrote in the movie was Wolverine’s “You’re a dick.” line. > > Yes, he said Storm’s line was delivered horribly. There’s an interview online somewhere (I think in the Onion AV club) where he talks all about it. Yeah, that’s probably where I read it, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![NorwegianBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6bbea6/32.png) [@NorwegianBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NorwegianBlue)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2004, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778/20 "2004-04-24T16:22:11Z")
I think there are far worse examples than the ones posted here so far. One I can think of off the top of my head: (I have a five year old so that’s my excuse for having seen it) _Crocodile Hunter_ starring Steve Irwin. In which there is a scene when his Wife exclaims “Crikey!” It made me wince. It just didn’t fit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-single-line-delivery-in-a-movie/241778.md?page=2)