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In Bruges (2008), written by Martin McDonagh http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0jq8p6Sjjs Harry: I suppose you've got a gun up there. Ray: Yeah. Harry: What are we gonna do? We can't stand here all night. Marie: Why don't you both put your guns down and go home? Harry: Don't be stupid. This is the shootout. Ray: Harry, I've got an idea. Harry: What? Ray: My room faces out the canal, right? I'm going to go back to me room, jump into the canal, see if I can swim to the other side and escape. Harry: All right. Ray: If you go outside around the corner, you can shoot at me from there and try to get me. That way we'll leave this lady and her baby out of the whole entire thing. Harry: You completely promise to jump into the canal? I don't want to run out there, come back in ten minutes, and find you fucking hiding in a cupboard. Ray: I completely promise, Harry. Harry: So, hang on - I go outside and I go which way? Right or left? Ray: You go right, don't you? You can see it from the doorway! It's a big fucking canal! Harry: All right. Jesus. I only just got here, haven't I? Okay, on the count of one, two, three, go. Okay? Ray: Okay. What? Who says it? Harry: Well, you say it. Marie: You guys are crazy.

One writer-director famous for his standoffs: Quentin Tarantino. So many to choose from. Probably all his movies feature some sort of standoff. Right? You've got Pulp Fiction standoff at a coffee shop: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zgy2PlDkAw Inglorious Basterds at a pub: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfiNVTPqWPY Django Unchained has a couple of standoffs. Kill Bill a lot. And a couple more in movies he only wrote (True Romance, Natural Born Killers) But we should probably focus on his first film. Reservoir Dogs Warning: a little bit graphic. And spoilers. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljjRZe6g5EM Nice Guy Eddie: Let me say this out loud, 'cause I wanna get it straight in my head. You're saying that Mr. Blonde was gonna kill you, then when we got back, he was going kill us, take the satchel of diamonds, and scram. I'm right about that, right? That's correct? That's your story? Mr. Orange: I swear on my mother's eternal soul that's what happened. Nice Guy Eddie: The man you just killed was just released from prison. He got caught at a company warehouse full of hot items. He could've fuckin' walked. All he had to do was say my dad's name, but he didn't; he kept his fucking mouth shut. And did his fuckin' time, and he did it like a man. He did four years for us. So, Mr. Orange, you're tellin' me this very good friend of mine, who did four years for my father, who in four years never made a deal, no matter what they dangled in front of him, you're telling me that now, that now this man is free, and we're making good on our commitment to him, he's just gonna decide, out of the fucking blue, to rip us off? Why don't you tell me what really happened? Joe: [walks in] What the hell for? It'd just be more bullshit. Joe: This man set us up. Nice Guy Eddie: Dad, I'm sorry, but I don't know what the hell's happening. Joe: It's all right, Eddie. I do. Mr. White: What the fuck are you talking about? Joe: That lump of shit's working with the L.A.P.D. Mr. Orange: Joe, I don't have the slightest fucking idea what you're talking about. Mr. White: Joe, I don't know what you think you know, but you're wrong. Joe: Like hell I am. Mr. White: Joe, trust me on this. You've made a mistake. He's a good kid. I understand. You're hot, you're super fucking pissed. We're all real emotional. But you're barking up the wrong tree. I know this man. He wouldn't do that. Joe: You don't know jack shit! I do! The cocksucker tipped off the cops and had Mr. Brown and Mr. Blue killed. Mr. Pink: Mr. Blue is dead? Joe: Dead as Dillinger. Mr. White: How do you know all this? Joe: He was the only one I wasn't a hundred percent on. I should have my fuckihng head examined, going ahead when I wasn't a hundred percent. Mr. White: That's your proof? Joe: With instinct, you don't need proof. I ain't gonna be fooled. Nice Guy Eddie: Have you lost your fuckin' mind? Mr. White: Joe, you're making a terrible mistake. I'm not gonna let you make it. Mr. Pink: Come on, guys! Nobody wants this! We're supposed to be fucking professionals! Nice Guy Eddie: Larry, look. It's been quite a long time. A lot of jobs. There's no need for this, man. Lets just put our guns down, and lets settle this with a fuckin' conversation. Mr. White: Joe, if you kill that man, you die next. I repeat: If you kill that man, you die next. Nice Guy Eddie: Larry, we have been friends, and you respect my dad, and I respect you, but I will put fucking bullets right through your heart. You put that fuckin' gun down, now. Mr. White: Goddamn you, Joe. Don't make me do this. Nice Guy Eddie: [angrily] LARRY, STOP POINTING THAT FUCKIN' GUN AT MY DAD!

I forgot about this.. The takeaway: a standoff can be a high dramatic point in your story, so you have to be very careful where to use it. Imagine how would it be if this happened earlier in the screenplay. And a standoff puts the characters on the edge. Their lives are at stake, so they may reveal their true nature and impulses. Sometimes with dire consequences. Trivia: During filming, a paramedic was kept on the set to make sure that Mr. Orange's (Tim Roth) amount of blood loss was kept consistent and realistic to that of a real gunshot victim. Michael Madsen had difficulty filming the torture scenes. He was particularly reluctant when he was required to hit actor Kirk Baltz. When the cop, pleading for his life, says that he has a child at home (a line not in the script), Madsen, himself a new father at the time, was so disturbed by the idea of leaving a child fatherless that he couldn't finish the scene. You never actually see the heist. Quentin Tarantino wrote the first draft in three and a half weeks. The title for the film came to Quentin Tarantino via a patron at the now-famous Video Archives. While working there, Tarantino would often recommend little-known titles to customers, and when he suggested Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987), the patron mockingly replied, "I don't want to see no reservoir dogs!" The title is never spoken in the film, however.

The Untouchables (1987), written by David Mamet Bowtie Driver: Me and the bookkeeper are walking out of here, getting into a car, and driving away. Or else he dies! He dies! And you ain't got nothing! You got five seconds to make up your minds! Ness: You got him? Stone: Yeah, I got him. Bowtie starts counting off five seconds. Bowtie Driver: One! Ness: Take him. Stone shoots him. Stone: Two! Can't find the clip for this scene, but this short standoff immediately follows the famous stairway shootout: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJpRSf4q-hI In a way, this standoff ends not with the death of Bowtie, but when Stone says “Yeah, I got him.” He says it with such conviction and certainty that there is no doubt that our heroes have won this battle. It's the 'check mate' before the final piece has been moved. The shot is a punctuation to the inevitable outcome and the “Two!” acts as a punchline. It's a great ending to this scene with dialogue grown organically from the characters and the theme of the movie.

BLAZING SADDLES (1974) written by Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Uger [the Johnsons load their guns and point them at Bart. Bart then points his own pistol at his head] Bart: [low voice] Hold it! Next man makes a move, the nigger gets it! Olson Johnson: Hold it, men. He's not bluffing. Dr. Sam Johnson: Listen to him, men. He's just crazy enough to do it! Bart: [low voice] Drop it! Or I swear I'll blow this nigger's head all over this town! Bart: [high-pitched voice] Oh, lo'dy, lo'd, he's desp'it! Do what he sayyyy, do what he sayyyy! [Townspeople drop their guns. Bart jams the gun into his neck and drags himself through the crowd towards the station] Harriet Johnson: Isn't anybody going to help that poor man? Dr. Sam Johnson: Hush, Harriet! That's a sure way to get him killed! Bart: [high-pitched voice] Oooh! He'p me, he'p me! Somebody he'p me! He'p me! He'p me! He'p me! Bart: [low voice] Shut up! [Bart places his hand over his own mouth, then drags himself through the door into his office] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGVY-HO7w9s Dialogue takeaway: On paper, the dialogue is almost completely straight. Only the visual of Bart holding a gun to his own head makes the scene howlingly funny.

FULL METAL JACKET (1987) screenplay by Stanley Kubrick, Michael Herr, and Gustav Hasford, based on the novel THE SHORT TIMERS by Hasford JOKER: Hey, Lone Ranger. COWBOY: Holy shit! JOKER: You old motherfucker. COWBOY: It's the Joker. JOKER: What's happenin'? COWBOY: Boy, I hoped I'd never see you again, you piece of shit! JOKER: What's happening, man? COWBOY: Oh, I'm just waiting to get back to the land of the big PX. JOKER: Yeah? Well, why go back? Here or there, samey-same. COWBOY:Been getting any? JOKER: Only your sister. COWBOY: Well, better my sister than my mom, though my mom's not bad... This is my bro Joker from the Island. And this is - JOKER: Rafterman. COWBOY: Rafterman. They're from Stars and Stripes. They'll make you famous... We're the Lusthog Squad. We're life-takers and heartbreakers. We shoot 'em full of holes and fill 'em full of lead. ANIMAL MOTHER: Are you a photographer? JOKER: No ...I'm a combat correspondent. ANIMAL MOTHER: Oh, you seen much combat? JOKER: Well, I've seen a little on TV. ANIMAL MOTHER: You're a real comedian. JOKER: Well, they call me the Joker. ANIMAL MOTHER: Well, I got a joke for you. I'm gonna tear you a new asshole. JOKER: Well, pilgrim ... only after you ... eat the peanuts out of my shit! ANIMAL MOTHER: You talk the talk. Do you walk the walk? EIGHTBALL: Now you might not believe it but under fire Animal Mother is one of the finest human beings in the world. All he needs is somebody to throw hand grenades at him the rest of his life. COWBOY: Come on, sit down. Come on, new guy. ANIMAL MOTHER: Hey,jungle bunny. Thank God for the sickle cell, huh? EIGHTBALL: Yeah, mother. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iH5R4tgGdDk Commentary: Sarcasm, posturing, play-acting, and vicious jibes in the dialogue all serve to distance these young men in war from their feelings. Even the underlying affection in the exchanges before and after the stand-off is buried in obscenity and racism.