I watched a movie last night. It could have been good, but it wasn’t. There were many tropes, predictable chases, gunfire, and dialogue that would never happen. The bad dialogue more than anything is the thing that drives me crazy when watching a movie.

Confessions are made to people that were strangers just hours before. People open doors to strangers and invite them in and then over share information. People obviously guilty say, “I didn’t do it”, and then the response is, “If I ever find out you were responsible…” as if this is some kind of clever foreshadowing. And people say things like, “You do know how dangerous this could be!” And then there is this agreeing nod as if to say, ‘Yes, this is so dangerous but we have to do it anyway!’

All this leading to the great final battle where all seems lost, then bad guy does a monologue or confession, then breaking all odds the hero saves the day. Then a somewhat happy finale where thanks and appreciation are given and/or family reconnects. The end.

I didn’t mention the name of the movie, but I bet you have seen one that fits this description. If you told me which one you were thinking about it wouldn’t be the same one I watched.

When I watch a poorly written movie I roll my eyes, I laugh at how bad it is, and unfortunately I ruin any chance for my wife to enjoy it because I make easy predictions of what’s next and I make fun of the dialogue. When I think of how much money is spent making a movie, I wonder how people can read a bad, predictable script and think, ‘We can make this good’. I guess people think if a formula works once, it can be done again. But then again when the formula is good… it can be repeated!