Has Hollywood’s penchant for CGI action destroyed its flair for epic one-liners? When Britain’s Radio Times compiled the 50 greatest film quotations, not a single line from a 21st century movie was featured. While this might say more about the demographics of the magazine’s readership than it does about modern Hollywood scriptwriters’ prowess, they may have a point.
Has there been a modern one liner to compete with “You had me at hello” (Jerry Maguire, 1996), “I’ll have what she’s having” (When Harry Met Sally, 1989), “You’re going to need a bigger boat” (Jaws, 1977) and “You can’t handle the truth” (A Few Good Men, 1992)?
The most memorable recent line seems to be “Look at me, I’m the captain now” from Captain Phillips. We suspect nobody will be quoting that in 70 years time, like they do lines from the 1942 classic film Casablanca, such as Humphrey Bogart’s famous parting words: “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”