MOVIE MONOLOGUES I LOVE
I wouldn’t go so far as to call these the greatest monologues of all time but they are 5 I LOVE. I could have put up audio clips but I think it’s better to see them as they appeared in the script, the way the actor first saw them. Check them out:
BULL DURHAM.
“Well, I believe in the soul, the cock, the pussy, the small of a woman’s back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.” – CRASH DAVIS (KEVIN COSTNER)
I think this one is great because the manner in which it’s delivered. He doesn’t hesitate… he’s knows who he is. Plus, he manages to sound manly and romantic in the same breath.
PULP FICTION.
” Ezekiel 25:17… The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.” – JULES WINFIELD (SAMUEL L. JACKSON)
It’s amazing that a Bible verse could fit so right in a film like this. The speech is given twice in the film and manages to be relevant and poignant both times!
JERRY MAGUIRE.
“Hello? Hello. I’m looking for my wife. Wait. Okay… okay… okay. If this is where it has to happen, then this is where it has to happen. I’m not letting you get rid of me. How about that? This used to be my specialty. You know, I was good in a living room. They’d send me in there, and I’d do it alone. And now I just… but tonight, our little project, our company had a very big night — a very, very big night. But it wasn’t complete, wasn’t nearly close to being in the same vicinity as complete, because I couldn’t share it with you. I couldn’t hear your voice or laugh about it with you. I miss my — I miss my wife. We live in a cynical world, a cynical world, and we work in a business of tough competitors. I love you. You — complete me.” – JERRY MAGUIRE (TOM CRUISE)
The final words in this speech have been bastardized as much as any quote from Napolean Dynamite or an Austin Powers film. Still, the sentiment remains. This is one of most beautiful admissions of love ever written for the screen… as cheesy as it may be!
FIGHT CLUB.
“Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who’ve ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.” – TYLER DURDEN (BRAD PITT)
I don’t think I’ve ever heard a better summary of my generation and it’s delivered so eloquently.
CLEAN AND SOBER.
“You know, um, I was waiting for a ride here tonight. Watching the headlights go by and I got thinking how different it was back in the old days. Standing in front of a burger stand and waiting. Yeah, those were the days of the really important headlights. Is that him? No, too narrow. Is that him? No… is that him? So, you think after 7 or 800 hundred cars, you’d lose interest. But, that’s the one thing about waiting for drugs, you never lose interest.” – RICHARD DIRKS (M. EMMET WALSH)
These are the opening words of the film. The ending is juxtaposed by a street full of blurred headlights. I love this film and this opening is so great because it just sums up what it’s like to be addicted so well.
That’s it for now, Dear Readers.
Feel free to comment below. You can also sign up to get this blog via e-mail at the top of the page. And, as always, if you like this site, TELL A FRIEND!
Have a great day and remember… if you didn’t know, now you know!
July 13, 2010 at 4:25 am
The Pulp Fiction scene is one of my all-time favorites….I still get goosebumps when I see it. And I’m glad to see another dude who admits to liking that scene in Jerry Maguire.
July 13, 2010 at 5:13 am
It boggles my mind as to how Costner is so excellent in Bull Durham. I rarely enjoy him elsewhere, but he’s just great with this (it’s probably being with the excellent Susan Sarandon). Great choices.
July 13, 2010 at 6:38 pm
See, I like Costner but not Sarandon… haha. I actually think Raimi’s For the Love of the Game is his best baseball movie but love this monologue.
July 16, 2010 at 11:28 am
Seeing that my knowledge of baseball exists only though movies, my devotion lies with The Natural.
July 16, 2010 at 1:59 pm
That’s OK… that’s a classic!
July 13, 2010 at 5:34 am
I love a good monologue and you’ve picked some fine ones here. Bull Durham is probably my favourite sports movie (it’s definitely the best movie about baseball) and reading that quote reminds me that never before or since has a writer mixed sex with baseball analogies so well.
July 13, 2010 at 6:39 pm
True but see my comment above regarding Baseball movies. 🙂
July 13, 2010 at 7:15 am
F your GAY choices, lol. How could you NOT like Glen Gary Glen Ross, the greatest monologue of all time. then what about the paper bag in American Beauty? Fight Club? C’mon, I love it too but I grew up. And doesnt the fact that the toughest guy movie of all time making statements about what it is to be a man in America at that time was written by what we later discover to be a closeted gay man kill it for you? Sure, it says a lot- but not what the original monologue was thought to say- in my opinion. Nothing against gays, its all good, but that one at least seems elementary. But if you want to love a monologue, why not it be one from the Princess Bride, like Inigo Montoya’s “I am Ingigo Montoya, ju keel my fadder”? Thats at least classic. Pulp Fiction? Really? how much was that ticket to the band wagon? Lemme see? I think it’s time to jump off it. You want to throw Tom Cruise in there- why must it again be the most basic choice my man? Tom’s Magnolia monologues, both of them, the public speaker and the deathbed, best that cheesy you had me at BS.
haven’t seen Clean and Sober, I’ll have to check it out- but I’ll put any scene from Permanent Midnight up against it sight unseen, lol. Kidding, I do have to check it out- I like MK when he’a serious. ‘cept for Batman of course.
Just weighing in. Dont take it personally.
July 13, 2010 at 6:45 pm
WOW… haha… anger, I like that. First, these are 5 I love and I will do this post again… these are not the best ever. Don’t care if you like ’em or not. Glengarry was featured on my scenes that kick ass and I thought about it but it also includes interaction with Ed Harris so is technically not a monologue… since there is dialogue between 2 characters. And Permanent Midnight is a good little film but, if you’ve ever really had a problem with substances or booze, C&S is the movie for you… and MK kills it.
Thanks for stopping by, man. You’re welcome to bitch anytime.
July 13, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Oh, and I put Pulp up there for the way it’s delivered at the end of the film which is often forgotten!
July 13, 2010 at 11:03 pm
i say how can you pick just ONE good monologue in pulp…seriously?! band wagon, or not, it’s filled with great dialogue!!! who is this guy?! honestly!!
July 15, 2010 at 8:37 am
You crack me up!
July 13, 2010 at 11:24 am
Great list! One that really stands out for me is the opening monologue in Patton. George C. Scott nails it and really sets the tone for the rest of the film.
July 13, 2010 at 6:45 pm
Good pick but I’ve never seen the whole film I’m ashamed to say!
July 14, 2010 at 10:18 am
The first five minutes of that film are incredible. I love George C. Scott.
July 14, 2010 at 7:42 am
I like the choices, but f*ck Jerry Maguire. I agree with Danieldamianm, if you’re gonna go with Mr. Cruise, use his monologues from Magnolia. A monologue I’ve always enjoyed is from “The Stupids” (which you have failed to return to me by the way). At the beginning of the film the wife informs Stanley Stupid (Tom Arnold) that their trash has been stolen again, and he goes on a rant about “what kind of world is it where a man steals another man’s trash week after week after week….” It sets up the whole film and is fantastic.
July 14, 2010 at 8:35 am
hahaha… I still need to watch it… and I haven’t seen you in a while!
July 14, 2010 at 10:15 am
Don’t worry, our great depression is coming 😦 Great picks of monologue. Another one that I enjoy is the one in A Few Good Men with Nicholson tearing a new one into Tom Cruise.
July 14, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Thought of that one too and while it is a majority of a monolgue, it still incledes a dialogue in the “I want the truth!” part.
July 14, 2010 at 10:33 am
Great choices. I don’t care how obvious some of them are, that doesn’t make them any less valid. The Jerry Maguire one has been abused, but that doesn’t denote the fact that it was a powerful moment in that film, and was Cruise in one of his most vulnerable moments ever. I believed him.
A few other favorites of mine are Michael Douglas in Wall Street, and one of my favorites ever is Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting:
“If I asked you about art you’d probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo. You know a lot about him. Life’s work. Political aspirations. Him and the pope. Sexual orientations. The whole works, right? But I bet you can’t tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You’ve never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling, seen that.”
July 14, 2010 at 12:18 pm
OOOOHHHH… that’s a friggin’ good one.
July 14, 2010 at 11:34 am
I loved almost all of those monologues. I haven’t seen Clean and Sober.
July 14, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Not enough people have. It’s one of my guilty pleasures. Keaton is great though it is VERY 80’s.
July 15, 2010 at 1:00 am
Keaton has a tendency to be absolutely great in crap films. And before people react, that doesn’t apply to Burton’s Batman films, where he’s very good in two very good films.
July 19, 2010 at 10:31 am
Well, it’s very 80’s as far as hair and style of the time goes…but Keaton is still awesome:)
Good call on Fight Club although I like the short sweet one that goes “Look, the people you are after are the people you depend on. We cook your meals, we haul your trash, we connect your calls, we drive your ambulances. We guard you while you sleep. Do not… fuck with us”
But here’s a list I did a little while back:
http://www.goseetalk.com/?p=4231
July 19, 2010 at 5:23 pm
That is a good one too!
July 15, 2010 at 12:59 am
Myself and the girlfriend invented “speechaoke” for college (okay, she invented it, I did some technical work) which is Karaoke, but with iconic movie speeches. It actually went down a bomb during the annual Freshers’ Week. Among the selections were the Al Pacino “the six inches in front of your face” bit from Any Given Sunday. Or Walken’s watch scene from Pulp Fiction (AND the Jackson bit).
July 15, 2010 at 8:00 am
That sounds like fun, Darren. I thought about Walken’s speech, which is classic and a true monologue in every sense of the word, but had to go with Jackson’s.
July 31, 2010 at 12:14 am
Fantastic choices, my first thought though had to be why haven’t I seen Bull Durham. I love both Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon!?!?!