funniest piece of dialogue i overheard today (weekend on this side of the earth) was from hurlyburly (1998, sean penn-kevin spacey-meg ryanetc). i can't understand why the reviews weren't favourable. this is a very dialogue-intensive film: very witty, and not pointless as some have suggested. it is an exploration of how eddie tries to make sense of the world and in the meantime we are treated to some delicious character studies.
the scene below follows a situation where mickey, eddie's bestfriend, reunites the lovers after their brief escapade into a "neurotic" love triangle.
20 seconds after orgasm, and still panting:
Darlene: (pant, pant, pant.) i mean ... a year ago ... i was a basket-case. if we had met a year ago i wouldn't have had a prayer.
Eddie: (pant, pant.) me too ... a year ago ... i was a nut. i mean, yknow, i still have ... things to think through (lights cigarette).
D: well, me too. i-i-i feel good ... better ... scared, too but mainly good.
E: mmmmmm ... by sinking (sic), i'll just mean some momental, ethereal thing ... but yknow being with people is part of your ... being with you ... is part of the thinkin ... is how im doing it ... it's just i have to go slow.
D: there's no rush i think ...
E: no. no, i cant rush: if i rush i panic.
D: ... and no guilt, ok? we don't need the guilt. i mean i yknow get outta town a lot, we both have our lives
E: we gotta keep our options open ...
D: and our hearts, ok?
E: ya, i mean the right attitude ...
D: exactly, yknow, if we had the attitude ...
E: ugh-ugh-ugh ... by attitude i don't just mean attitude--i mean real emotional space ...
D: we're also all over the place all the time yknow?
E: ... self absorbed ...
D: ... and distracted ... i am almost always distracted, aren't you?!
E: o, absolutely.
D: i mean everything distracts me from everything else
E: well, everything is very distracting. i mean ... but yknow what i find mostly ... what i, what i ... the biggest distraction?
D: eh-hem?
E: me, myself, i am my own biggest distraction ... yknow, getting it together, my head together, my act together.
D: little lines just bzzzzzzzzz-zzzzzz
E: chuckle
D: what do they think they're doing? (kiss)