by: Steve Loring

Comeback line:

A line of dialogue used by one character to silence another, usually ending a conversation.

The secret of a great comeback line of dialogue has always been the specificity of scene. That is, the comeback cannot simply be a good one liner stuck in the middle of a verbal exchange, but one that is derived from the specific drama at hand and further informs its characters as well.

1997 was a good year for the comeback line. Whether it be the verbal fencing of "Jackie Brown" or the more visual based panache of a film like "Starship Troopers," there was something for almost everyone.

Here are, in no particular descending or ascending order, my favorite comeback lines of 1997 (well, one is actually late 1996). Feel free to email me with some of your own.

Will: "Ya like apples?"
Snob: "Yes."
Will: "I got her number...how do you like them apples?"
- an exchange between Will Hunting and a Harvard snob perusing the
same woman...from "Good Will Hunting."

Trent: "Wait, I'm gonna do my thing with the thing."
- actor Trent, as he is about to make Wayne Gretzy's head bleed in
video hockey...from "Swingers."

Lynn Bracken: "You say fuck allot."
Bud White: "You fuck for money."
- prostitute Lynn Bracken to cop Bud White...from "LA Confidential."

Martin: "It's true what they say, Oatman, you can't go home again, but I guess you can shop there."
- Hitman Martin Blank, talking to his shrink as he finds his childhood home has been turned into a convenience store...from "Grosse Pointe Blank."

Ordell: "My ass may be dumb, but I ain't a dumbass."
- Gunrunner Ordell Robbi, interrogating bail bondsmen Max Cherry about his missing money...from "Jackie Brown."

Carol Connelly: "Do you have any control over how creepy you can get?"
- Waitress Carol, to obsessive-compulsive, borderline sociopath Melvin Udall...from "As Good As It Gets."

Newsreel Announcer: "Want to know more?"
- The refrain heard after each successive bombardment of graphic war violence shown on the news...from "Starship Troopers."

Joseph Cinque: "What kind of country is this where you almost mean what you say? Where your laws almost work?"
- African prisoner Cinque, held for murdering his would be captors, on American justice circa 1839...from "Amistad."

Rose: "Half the people on this ship are going to die."
Cal: "Not the better half."
- Hyper Aristocrat Cal Hockley to his fiancée, Rose on...well, you
know this one...

Gerald: "He's fat, you're thin, and you're both fucking ugly."
- Jobless steelworker Gerald, on the subject of stripping with his mates for money...from "The Full Monty."