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| Understatement |
Comic relief helps relieve the tension in drama and action films. Sometimes that comic relief comes through an understatement--dialogue that doesn't match the seriousness of the situation.
When Chuck (Tom Hanks) sets sail in a make-shift raft and tells a volleyball...
CHUCK NOLAND
Don't worry Wilson, I'll do all
the paddling. You just hang on.
In Jaws (1975), when Brody (Roy Scheider) sees the enormous shark they pursue:
BRODY
You're gonna need a bigger boat.
Yeah, you can say that again.
A favorite movie understatement is from Quigley Down Under (1990). Matthew Quigley (Tom Selleck) hired as a sharp shooter, is beaten to a pulp and left for dead in the Australian desert along with an outcast woman named Crazy Cora (Laura San Giacomo).
A favorite movie understatement is from Quigley Down Under (1990). Matthew Quigley (Tom Selleck) hired as a sharp shooter, is beaten to a pulp and left for dead in the Australian desert along with an outcast woman named Crazy Cora (Laura San Giacomo).
CRAZY CORA
Don't worry, on a new job it's quite
common for things not to go well at first.
Brody's line is one of my favorites. I try to extrapolate that to other situations whenever I can :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting. I love how you use Brody's line for other situations. It's fun to adopt movie dialogue into our lives.
DeleteTrudy, these are great. Here's another one for you:
ReplyDeletePsycho
Norman Bates: We all go a little mad sometimes.
Oh my goodness, yes! Definitely an understatement. *shiver*
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