Greatest movie monologues?
Following this link will take you to one person's list of the top 10 movie monologues of all time (including the film clips themselves). I find little room for disagreement, except toward the end. I'm not familiar with the film Withnail & I, but it seems to me that a monologue taken from Hamlet should be attributed to, I dunno, Hamlet. And while we're on the subject of Shakespeare, I would argue (and I suspect at least one person would agree) that Kenneth Branagh's version of the St. Crispin's Day speech from Henry V should trump Mel Gibson's speech in Braveheart, although the latter's far greater renown may be a contributing factor to its inclusion.
But also, what's missing? Immediately springing to my mind is the president's speech in The American President. Of course, it seems unfair to include Michael Douglas twice on one list, but c'mon, that was a great speech. And what of the president's speech in Independence Day? Cheesy? Cliche? Sure, but I saw that movie on opening night and recall when the audience stood up and cheered.
Anyone else care to contribute to this one-man discussion?
Song lyric of the day:
"So when're you gonna realize
Those are not your wrongs to right?
Have another life, have another drink
I am a martyr, I just need a motive
I am a martyr, I just need a cause"
- Bloc Party, Uniform
But also, what's missing? Immediately springing to my mind is the president's speech in The American President. Of course, it seems unfair to include Michael Douglas twice on one list, but c'mon, that was a great speech. And what of the president's speech in Independence Day? Cheesy? Cliche? Sure, but I saw that movie on opening night and recall when the audience stood up and cheered.
Anyone else care to contribute to this one-man discussion?
Song lyric of the day:
"So when're you gonna realize
Those are not your wrongs to right?
Have another life, have another drink
I am a martyr, I just need a motive
I am a martyr, I just need a cause"
- Bloc Party, Uniform
6 Comments:
Damn straight the St. Crispin's day speech of Henry V beats Braveheart. Braveheart wouldn't EXIST if it weren't for Henry V. Braveheart is a cheap.....er, expensive rip-off of Henry V.
My favorite monologue? Try this one on for size: "Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long Holly. "
I thought of that one too after I posted, but rather than update I figured I would let you post it, as I knew you would. Thanks for not letting me down :)
I would include the following:
- The St. Crispin's Day speech from Branagh's Henry V
- Patrick Fugit's "And I love her!" rant from Almost Famous
- Al Pacino's "Look, but don't touch" rant from The Devil's Advocate
- For sheer humor value, Mike Myers' "The details of my life are quite inconsequential..." monologue from Austin Powers
- The speech Mike mentioned from The American President
- Wes Bentley's plastic bag bit from American Beauty
I'm sure I'll think of others later.
How could I forget Wes Bentley's bag speech?
Another one that occurred to me is Silent Bob's "Chasing Amy" monologue, which is just fantastic. As a side note, I was watching that movie recently, and I noted that Holden compares Bluntman and Chronic to Vladimir and Estragon at the beginning. These are of course the main characters of "Waiting for Godot", whose first act centers around an otherwise silent character, Lucky, delivering a long monologue that in its own odd way captures the entire message of the play. I find this awesome and continue to bow before Kevin Smith's screenwriting abilities.
I will defer most of this discussion to those of you with cinematic standards (Mike, we've established mine don't exist.). However, I will add one monologue/rant to this list. Kevin Costner's "I believe in..." rant as Crash Davis in Bull Durham is one of the few monologues I actually remember from any of them films I've seen so as much as it pains me to admit that I watched a Costner film not named "Field of Dreams" or "Dances with Wolves", it should be acknowledged.
Glad to participate thus preventing one-man discussions because as we know self-dialogue is dangerous.
Indeed, as a baseball fan, I'm not sure how I forgot the "I believe in" speech from "Bull Durham", and also, more importantly, James Earl Jones' speech about baseball at the end of "Field of Dreams".
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