Friday, February 7, 2014

Comic Relief: "Anybody want a peanut?"

I am studying the screenwriting style of William Goldman.  His screenplay for The Princess Bride (1987) is a treasure of humorous scenes and dialogue.  In the following scene, humor comes through incongruity: two supposed "thugs" share the gift of rhyme as a way to sooth the giant's feelings after being insulted.

INIGO
(softly)
That Vizzini, he can fuss.

FEZZIK
…fuss…fuss…
I think he likes to scream at us.

INIGO
Probably he means no harm.

FEZZIK
He's really very short on charm.

INIGO
(proudly)
Oh, you've a great gift for rhyme.

FEZZIK
Yes, some of the time.
(He starts to smile.)

VIZZINI
(whirling on them)
Enough of that.

As they sail off, we hear their voices as the boat recedes.

INIGO
Fezzik, are there rocks ahead?

FEZZIK
If there are, we'll all be dead.

VIZZINI 
No more rhymes now, I mean it.

FEZZIK
Anybody want a peanut?

As Vizzini screams we

DISSOLVE TO

THE SAILBOAT RACING ACROSS THE DARK WATERS.


Here's the scene with their rhyming.