So after writing What makes a good movie I figured maybe I should expand on some the subjects I covered. You can make a good movie that is solely based on dialog. There are quite a few of these movies out there but one I want to focus on is the movie Brick. If you have not seen this movie do yourself a favor and rent it soon. You’re girlfriend/wife will even watch it with you. So this time on movie night she will only get one disappointment and yes I am referring to you.

Brendan is a loner but has connections to the various social groups in his high school. Brendan receives a mysterious phone call from his ex girlfriend that puts him on the path to find out exactly what happened. As you walk through the underworld of Brendan’s high school you walk through a complex web of lies and social hierarchies.

The dialog in this film is largely slang based but sets the tone and makes it believable. Due to the large amount of slang in this film I would recommend turning on the subtitles. It helps with understanding the context and thus saves you from having to spend too much time figuring out what the hell thy are talking about. At the same time there are not wasted words. Every word matters and it is part of the story. Each scene means something. If you take out one of the scenes of dialog in this movie it would alter the way the story is told and take away from the movie. It’s like watching Clerks with out ever finding out Veronica sucked 36 dicks, 37. Definitely changes the movie. Now that is an over the top reference but you get the point.

There is a reason I am not giving you the story or naming any of the actors. This is about dialog jack ass not acting or a full blown review. That is another post for another time. However I will say that when you make a movie that is dialog based your are putting everything into the hands of the actors and their ability to deliver the dialog in an effective way. Let’s face it give the speech at the end of The Devil’s Advocate to Tommy Chong and tell me it does not have a profound effect on the scene. So while it is important for your dialog to be beyond reproach it is only but one part of your film.