Cliched Line

December 21, 2009 1:00 PM

I was watching Say Anything (Cusack) when I heard the semi-cliched line " I wanna be with her. I'm good at it". Now I swear I've heard a a line to that effect or a variant on a similar 80/90s RomCom or Brat Pack film. I have a suspicion that the story line may have featured heart broken college teenagers. It's driving me mad. Can anyone help identify any titles which features that line?
posted by ashaw to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Max Fischer says something vaguely similar in Rushmore (Max Fischer: The secret, I don't know... I guess you've just gotta find something you love to do and then... do it for the rest of your life. For me, it's going to Rushmore.)
posted by oinopaponton at 1:06 PM on December 21, 2009

Response by poster: Regarding the line itself, i'm almost certain it contained the words 'good at it" integrated into the context of romantically loving someone.

I imagine it to be uttered by a guy who's been spurned by a girl who's slightly out of his league.
posted by ashaw at 1:13 PM on December 21, 2009

I don't know if I'm trying to diagnose confirmation bias here, but this doesn't strike me as being common or cliche. I can't remember another case in which I've heard it.

Could it be that it seems cliched to you because of people often quoting Say Anything?
posted by hermitosis at 1:25 PM on December 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yeah, it actually seems like a rather original line to me. People usually talk about being with someone in terms of "completing each other" or "soul mates" or "my missing half," not something one is "good at."

Maybe it's been ripped off a lot since? A lot of times things that are very original end up seeming cliched, because they get ripped off so much after the fact.
posted by drjimmy11 at 1:42 PM on December 21, 2009

Sex is my one thing--I'm good at it. (Bachelor Party)
posted by TheRaven at 1:52 PM on December 21, 2009

Heartbroken college teens? Perhaps it's from Overnight Delivery with Paul Rudd? It's not in the memorable quotes, though.
posted by brina at 5:52 PM on December 21, 2009

Oh, and then there's "I'm never as good as when you're there." -- Russell Hammond, Almost Famous, 2002.
posted by brina at 5:54 PM on December 21, 2009

Not Duckie Dale from "Pretty in Pink," is it? He said a lot of stuff like that to Andie, including "I live to like you, and now I can't like you anymore."
posted by GaelFC at 4:28 PM on December 22, 2009