Top Ten Most Overused Movie Cliches

Here is a list of what I consider the most annoyingly overdone lines used in movies and TV. Obviously there are lots more to choose from, but these ten I find most conspicuous, plus one I threw in as a bonus. See if you recognize any of these gems.

Honorable mention:
"I'm only going to say this once"

What was that? I had one earbud in rocking my iPod. I missed the beginning part of your plan to break into the Pentagon. Can you repeat..

"I said I'd only say it once!"

Plan fails, everybody dies. The End. This is what I think of that stupid line.
As an old boss of mine once said, "Talk is cheap. Mistakes are expensive"
If you want to succeed or get your life altering deathbed point across, maybe repeat it for emphasis. 

10. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"

Usually spoken by a villain or a very smarmy character. If I have to hear this it had better be tongue-in-cheek.

9. "You just don't get it, do you?"
     OR "You still don't get it, do you?"
     OR "Man, you really don't get it"

...and other variations.

This clever little device in a screenplay is there to set up a twist in the plot along with some character development for the apparently clueless protagonist. What they are saying, by the way, is that you the viewer are also clueless. See, YOU don't get it because there's some piece of the screenplay puzzle that's been kept from you...unless of course it's obvious to you because the story wasn't well written. If they had to use this line then that is highly likely. And it has been used in everything from movies to TV dramas to cartoons. Of course this line has been spoofed a time or two as well. Case in point:

8. "I've got a bad feeling about this"

Most well known for its use in every Star Wars film but also found elsewhere. This is an easy way to let the audience know, um, something bad is gonna happen. Possibly. 

7. "I'd tell you but then I'd have to kill you"

Yeah this was cute once. But, like many movie cliches, they beat it to death. It isn't remotely amusing anymore. And if anyone still puts this line in a movie expecting a laugh they deserve a swift kick in the groinal area. I made up the word groinal because it makes me laugh. Now watch that get used in 30 movies and ruined forever!

6.  "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already" 

      OR "If they wanted to kill us, we'd be dead already"

Nonsense. Every time I hear this line I think it's a crock of crap. I mean think about it. Just because the good guy is still alive at the moment this line is said it doesn't mean the bad guy doesn't want to kill him. There could be valuable information to acquire first. And usually that is exactly what happens. It turns out the baddie DOES in fact want to kill you....eventually. 

5. "I need to talk to you....in private"

     "If you have something to say, you can say it in front of (fill in the blank)"

This happens frequently in dramatic movies and TV shows. It suggests a shift in allegiance and tension between characters who were once tighter than they are now. And invariably the new person in the circle of trust probably shouldn't have heard that private conversation after all. 

4. "Don't you die on me!"

Please, die over there. I just had this shirt dry cleaned.

3. "We've Got Company!"

At this point can't we have visitors? Or can't we say "Some other people are here now and I don't know who they are" or maybe "these people don't look like our friends"....something, anything but the stale, tired old phrase "we've got company". Unless of course John Ritter and Suzanne Somers show up then I would bow with respect at that clever reference. 

2. "I'm coming with you"

    "No you're not. I need to do this alone" 

    OR "You're staying here. It isn't safe"

...and many various permutations.

I have thought many times that this scenario is in every action movie ever made. I haven't checked on that to be sure but it sure does feel like it. What follows this exchange of course is that the first person shows up later after stowing away (or drinking Mai Tai's in their trailer until their scene comes up) and either helps save the day OR gets captured and needs rescuing by the hero who told them to stay put in the first place. Then there are kids who just have to come along and add unneeded stress to their parents who have to save them, like Jeff Goldblum's daughter in The Lost World (Jurassic Park 2)....who is black for some reason. The Incredibles kids do a decent job of helping themselves, but that doesn't make Mom (ElastiGirl) any happier when she sees they've come along for the ride. In everyday life if one of my kids asks to come with me, to the grocery store for instance, I have to say "NO! It's too dangerous!" 

1. "We aren't so different you and I"

....and other ways of phrasing the same idea.

Yes, there are many movie phrases used more often, but this tired plot trick is by far the most irritating and glaringly obvious. If I hear these words in a film at this point in cinema history...automatic thumbs down. A recent critically acclaimed film was moving along nicely until this phrase escaped the villains lips. I was very disappointed in the director who really should know better. This is an obvious narrative device used to challenge the protagonist and push them to prove they aren't the same in any way with the villain. It's the yin and yang of character development that I suppose was taught in screenwriting courses forever. But in this new century it is completely overcooked and needs to be thrown out for good. When it was used in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) it may have worked, but unless you've never watched a movie this line shouldn't move you in any way in 2013. Heck it was spoofed in the first Austin Powers sixteen years ago!

That's my top ten. In case you think I forgot about a whole bunch of obvious lines here's a perfect video to add to this small list. There are a few bad words. You've been warned. Enjoy.