Eric's Top 10 Swearing Movies

by Eric Melin on July 29, 2008

in Top 10s

I’m having a bad day. A real bad day. So this is what you get, folks: a list of my top 10 favorite swearing movies. Be it a memorable scene, or an overall, total badass bout of creative cursing, these 10 films popped in my head tonight as I sit here in a terrible funk. The best thing about swearing? It’s liberating. It feels good to get out of your system, and it’s even better when it’s loud. Anyway, if you are easily offended, skip this list. If you think a list of “bad” words (which ironically are in constant flux, and always will be as culture changes) will create “bad” people, then you need serious help. I believe there is a time and place for this kind of language, and for me—right here—that time is now. Enjoy my list of memorable cursing in the movies. Or fuck off.

e.t. thomas mcnaughton barrymore10. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

This movie may have only one memorable swearing scene in it, but for any adolescent growing up in the 80s, the moment where Elliot calls his brother “penis breath” at the dinner table was a big freaking deal. This is a kid-oriented, PG, Steven Spielberg-directed fantasy film, mind you. That word (or those two, out together) was about as shocking as it was confusing. Why would anyone have penis breath, I thought? All good things must come to an end, of course, so in 2002, when Spielberg Lucas-ized “E.T” for another home video release, he released a version without the offending word. (Also gone? His Mom scolds him on Halloween for dressing like a hippie in stead of “a terrorist,” FBI agents guns are replaced with less-scary walkie-talkies, and E.T.s lips re matched digitally to his mouth.) Make sure you know which DVD you’re getting before you buy this one. Or just watch it here (at 6:30).

Michael: Maybe an elf or a leprechaun.
Elliot: It was nothing like that, penis breath!

alec baldwin glengarry glen ross9. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

This David Mamet-written movie, adapted from his own play, was jokingly referred to by its excellent cast (Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Jack Lemmon, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Alec Baldwin, Jonathan Pryce) as “Death of a Fucking Salesman.” The inner-workings of a sad and desperate real-estate office have never been so electrifying. Mamet’s dialogue crackles like the foul-mouthed poetry it is. This is a movie acted by actors who know how to swear—they know how to get every bit of mileage out of each word. But it’s also about the words around it, and how they can cut someone down to size in a second. Watch it.

Blake: You got leads. Mitch & Murray paid good money. Get their names to sell them. You can’t close the leads you’re given, you can’t close shit, you are shit, hit the bricks pal, and beat it, ’cause you are going out.
Levene: The leads are weak.
Blake: “The leads are weak.” The fucking leads are weak? You’re weak. I’ve been in this business fifteen years…
Ross: What’s your name?
Blake: Fuck you. That’s my name. You know why, mister? ‘Cause you drove a Hyundai to get here tonight, I drove an eighty thousand dollar BMW. That’s my name.

tarantino mr. brown reservoir dogs8. Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Tarantino’s first has a “fucks per minute” score of 2.69, which is pretty dam impressive. But what’s really impressive is that, like Mamet, he’s able to take the foul-mouthed lingo of his criminal protagonists and twist it up so that it sounds fresh and new. Of course, he gave himself one of the most memorable bouts of dialogue in the entire film, which was also shocking for its realistic violence (especially the part where Michael Madsen slices off a man’s ear). Here’s Tarantino finding his writing “voice”—pioneering the use of silly pop culture references coming from big tough guys in movies and mixing it up with as many curse words as possible:

Mr. Brown: Let me tell you what ‘Like a Virgin’ is about. It’s all about a girl who digs a guy with a big dick. The entire song. It’s a metaphor for big dicks.
Mr. Blonde: No, no. It’s about a girl who is very vulnerable. She’s been fucked over a few times. Then she meets some guy who’s really sensitive…
Mr. Brown: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa… Time out Green Bay. Tell that fucking bullshit to the tourists.
Joe: Toby… Who the fuck is Toby? Toby…
Mr. Brown: ‘Like a Virgin’ is not about this nice girl who meets a nice fella. That’s what “True Blue” is about, now, granted, no argument about that.
Mr. Orange: Which one is ‘True Blue’?
Nice Guy Eddie: ‘True Blue’ was a big ass hit for Madonna. I don’t even follow this Tops In Pops shit, and I’ve at least heard of “True Blue”.
Mr. Orange: Look, asshole, I didn’t say I ain’t heard of it. All I asked was how does it go? Excuse me for not being the world’s biggest Madonna fan.
Mr. Orange: Personally, I can do without her.
Mr. Blue: I like her early stuff. You know, ‘Lucky Star’, ‘Borderline’ – but once she got into her ‘Papa Don’t Preach’ phase, I don’t know, I tuned out.
Mr. Brown: Hey, you guys are making me lose my… train of thought here. I was saying something, what was it?
Joe: Oh, Toby was this Chinese girl, what was her last name?
Mr. White: What’s that?
Joe: I found this old address book in a jacket I ain’t worn in a coon’s age. What was that name?
Mr. Brown: What the fuck was I talking about?
Mr. Pink: You said ‘True Blue’ was about a nice girl, a sensitive girl who meets a nice guy, and that ‘Like a Virgin’ was a metaphor for big dicks.
Mr. Brown: Lemme tell you what ‘Like a Virgin’ is about. It’s all about this cooze who’s a regular fuck machine, I’m talking morning, day, night, afternoon, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick, dick.
Mr. Blue: How many dicks is that?
Mr. White: A lot.
Mr. Brown: Then one day she meets this John Holmes motherfucker and it’s like, whoa baby, I mean this cat is like Charles Bronson in the ‘Great Escape’, he’s digging tunnels. Now, she’s gettin’ the serious dick action and she’s feeling something she ain’t felt since forever. Pain. Pain.
Joe: Chew? Toby Chew?
Mr. Brown: It hurts her. It shouldn’t hurt her, you know, her pussy should be Bubble Yum by now, but when this cat fucks her it hurts. It hurts just like it did the first time. You see the pain is reminding a fuck machine what it once was like to be a virgin. Hence, ‘Like a Virgin’.
Joe: Wong?

big lebowski trio bridges goodman buscemi7. The Big Lebowski (1998)

260 “fucks” in less than two hours isn’t a record, but for some reason the cursing in this movie, mostly bellowed at top volume to Donny (Steve Buscemi) by John Goodman, has really caught on with audiences. It’s no secret that “The Big Lebowski” is a modern cult classic; it’s just that I personally have never gotten out of it what everybody else does apparently. Either way, its legacy in swearing is too huge to ignore. Many will find this way too low on this list, but as one of the Coen brothers’ weakest efforts (second maybe only to “The Ladykillers”), you’re lucky it’s on here at all. It probably wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for this terrific little fan film: Watch “The Fucking Short Version of The Big Lebowksi,” a two-minute edited version of the movie’s highlights.

Walter Sobchak: I told those fucks down at the league office a thousand times that I don’t roll on Shabbos!
Donny: What’s Shabbos?
Walter Sobchak: Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don’t work, I don’t get in a car, I don’t fucking ride in a car, I don’t pick up the phone, I don’t turn on the oven, and I sure as shit don’t fucking roll! Shomer shabbos!
The Dude: Walter…
Walter Sobchak: Shomer fucking shabbos.
The Dude: Oh fuck it. I’m out of here.

steve martin planes trains automobiles mad6. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (1987)

I think we’ve all had a moment like this before. When Steve Martin’s weary traveler Neal Page is at the end of his rope trying to get home for Thanksgiving, he goes to a car rental agency and is greeted with the sweetest fake smile ever, from none other than the terrific Edie McClurg (who you’ve seen a million times before but probably never known her name). I could blabber on about how great this scene is, but I think it speaks for itself. 19 “fucks” in just over a minute. Read below or watch here (start at 2:24).

Car Rental Agent: [cheerfully] Welcome to Marathon, may I help you?
Neal: Yes.
Car Rental Agent: How may I help you?
Neal: You can start by wiping that fucking dumb-ass smile off your rosey, fucking, cheeks! Then you can give me a fucking automobile: a fucking Datsun, a fucking Toyota, a fucking Mustang, a fucking Buick! Four fucking wheels and a seat!
Car Rental Agent: I really don’t care for the way you’re speaking to me.
Neal: And I really don’t care for the way your company left me in the middle of fucking nowhere with fucking keys to a fucking car that isn’t fucking there. And I really didn’t care to fucking walk down a fucking highway and across a fucking runway to get back here to have you smile in my fucking face. I want a fucking car RIGHT FUCKING NOW!
Car Rental Agent: May I see your rental agreement?
Neal: I threw it away.
Car Rental Agent: Oh boy.
Neal: Oh boy, what?
Car Rental Agent: You’re fucked.

ermay full metal jacket d'onofrio5. Full Metal Jacket (1987)

This Stanley Kubrick movie would be higher on the list if it weren’t for the fact that R. Lee Ermey ended up making an entire career out of parodying the creatively foul-mouthed drill sergeant that he so perfected here. The 99 credits on his imdb list are filled with character names like “Sergeant,” “Drill Sergeant,” “General Wallace,” “General Barnarky,” “Colonel O’Malley,” “Colonel Ben Wilder,” and “Army Sarge”—even, intriguingly—“General Puddles.” Even still, it’s hard to shake the fierce performance he gave in “Full Metal Jacket,” harassing poor Private Pyle (Vincent D’Onofrio) to do something rash but not wholly unexpected. Ermey took trash-talking to a new level in this one.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Who said that? Who the fuck said that? Who’s the slimy little communist shit, twinkle-toed cocksucker down here who just signed his own death warrant? Nobody, huh? The fairy fucking godmother said it. Out-fucking-standing. I will PT you all until you fucking die. I’ll PT you until your assholes are sucking buttermilk.

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman: Are you quitting on me? Well, are you? Then quit, you slimy fucking walrus-looking piece of shit! Get the fuck off of my obstacle! Get the fuck down off of my obstacle! Now! Move it! I’m going to rip your balls off so you cannot contaminate the rest of the world! I will motivate you, Private Pyle, IF IT SHORT-DICKS EVERY CANNIBAL ON THE CONGO!

clerks o'halloran dante black white4. Clerks (1994)

Kevin Smith’s no-budget, black-and-white debut was originally rated NC-17 for—get this—language. That’s it. No violence, no nudity, just bad words. Miramax hired civil liberties lawyer Alan Dershowitz to appeal the decision, and the MPAA relented and re-rated the film with an R rating. Ironically, the MPAA did so without altering a single frame or word of the picture. What was so groundbreaking about this film is that the characters talked like real people of the time. Well, OK, admittedly, they said shit out loud that most people were only thinking, but that is what made it so much fun. The amount of memorable scenes with swearing are too many too mention, but let’s just say that the number 37 will always have a special place in my heart. Read below or watch here.

Jay: I feel good today, Silent Bob, we’re gonna make some money, then you know what we’re going to do? We’re gonna go to that party, we’re gonna get some pussy, and I’m gonna fuck this bitch, I’ma fuck this bitch, I’ll fuck ANYTHING THAT MOVES! Yo, what the fuck you lookin’ at, I’ll kick your fuckin’ ass! Shit yeah. Doesn’t that fucker owe me 10 bucks? You know, fuckin’ tonight, we’re gonna rip off this fucker’s head, and take out his fuckin’ soul. Remind me if he tries to buy something, I’m gonna shit in the motherfucker’s bag. Hey, what’s up baby? What’s up, sluts?

south park bigger longer uncut3. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)

Trey Parker and Matt Stone undoubtedly have the most unique combinations of curse words and animal references ever. The great thing about all the swearing in the “South Park” movie is that it exists for parents and censors to be horrified at, while also showing what terrible hypocrites people are who think that mere “dirty” words are more damaging than truly dangerous ideas. Read below or watch here.

Kyle: You can’t say “fuck” in school, you fucking fat ass!
Mr. Garrison: Kyle!
Cartman: Why the fuck not?
Mr. Garrison: Eric!
Stan: Dude, you just said “fuck” again!
Mr. Garrison: Stanley!
Kenny: Fuck!
Mr. Garrison: Kenny!
Cartman: What’s the big deal? It doesn’t hurt anybody. Fuck-fuckety-fuck-fuck-fuck.
Mr. Garrison: How would you like to go see the school counselor?
Cartman: How would you like to suck my balls?
Mr. Garrison: What did you say?
Cartman: I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Actually, what I said was…
[picks up a megaphone]
Cartman: HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SUCK MY BALLS, MR. GARRISON?
Stan: Holy shit, dude.

goodfellas pesci deniro liotta2. Goodfellas (1990)

Technically, Martin Scorsese’s “Casino” has 98 more “f” words in it, but it’s way longer and nowhere near as good as this, one of the definitive mob movies of all time. According to imdb.com, “fuck” is used 296 times in “Goodfellas,” for an average of 2.04 fucks per minute. I may be wrong, but if I were a betting man, I’d bet that most of those came from Best Supporting Actor winner Joe Pesci (no stranger to Scorsese’s world, having “fucked” up “Raging Bull”). Rotten language is used so often in “Goodfellas” that, spoken by Pesci and an all-star cast such as Robert Deniro and Ray Liotta, it begins to develop its own cadence. As it gets repeated, the effect is dulling and it is more than just “swearing”—it becomes another essential part of the setting.

Jimmy Conway: What’s the fuckin’ matter with you? What – what is the fuckin’ matter with you? What are you, stupid or what? Tommy, Tommy, I’m kidding with you. What the fuck are you doin’? What are you, a fuckin’ sick maniac?
Tommy DeVito: How am I meant to know you’re kidding? What you mean, you’re kidding? You breaking my fuckin’ balls?
Jimmy Conway: I’m fuckin’ kidding with you! You fuckin’ shoot the guy?
Henry Hill: He’s dead.
Tommy DeVito: Good shot. What do you want from me? Good shot. Fuckin’ rat anyway. His family’s all rats. He’ll grow up to be a rat.
Jimmy Conway: You stupid bastard, I can’t fuckin’ believe you. Now, you’re gonna dig the fuckin’ thing now. You’re gonna dig the hole. You’re gonna do it. I got no fuckin’ lime. You’re gonna do it.
Tommy DeVito: Who the fuck cares? I’ll dig the fuckin’ hole. I don’t give a fuck. What is it, the first hole I dug? Not the first time I dug a hole. I’ll fuckin’ dig a hole. Where are the shovels?

exorcist linda blair regan devil satan1. The Exorcist (1973)

From the dulling sensation of “Goodfellas” to as shocking as language can get—it’s “The Exorcist.” What could be more offensive than rampant blasphemy? For shocking and really horrifying swearing, nobody beats the shit that came out of little Linda Blair’s mouth in one of the scariest movies of all time. First, it was shocking to hear the mouth of a sailor on a 12-year-old girl. Secondly, it was shocking because she was possessed by the Devil, who felt very real and very powerful due to a methodical buildup of suspense from director William Friedkin and the growly, backwards-taped Satanic voice that overtook her. Thirdly, did I mention that her head spun around on her neck like a Sit ‘n Spin? She tells the men of the cloth what they can do with their cross, that’s for sure. I never thought anyone could talk like that when I saw this movie as a kid and I never wanted to hear it again, frankly.

Father Merrin: I cast you out! Unclean Spirt!
Regan: Shove it up your ass, you faggot!
Father Merrin: In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ! It is he who commands you! It is he who flung you from the gates of Heaven to the depths of Hell!
Regan: Fuck Him!
Father Merrin: Be gone…
Regan: Fuck Him, Karras! Fuck Him!
Father Merrin: …from this creature of God!

Regan: Your mother sucks cocks in Hell, Karras, you faithless slime.

Eric is the Editor-in-Chief of Scene-Stealers.com, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and contributor for The Pitch. He’s former President of the KCFCC, and drummer for The Dead Girls, Ultimate Fakebook, and Truck Stop Love . He is also the 2013 Air Guitar World Champion Mean Melin, ranked 4th best of all-time. Eric goes to 11. Follow him at:

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{ 52 comments }

1 Reed July 29, 2008 at 7:34 am

I’m gonna pretend you didn’t say that fucking bullshit about The Big Lebowksi. You’re fucking lucky you didn’t leave it off your goddamn list or there would be a fucking lot of fucking hell to pay. I mean, Jesus hippie-fucking Christ. The goddamn Ladykillers? Besides, everyone fucking knows that Intolerable Cruelty is their shittiest film.

Also, where the fuck is Pulp Fiction? OK, OK, you had to get the Madonna dick,dick,dick,dick scene in there. I get that shit. But with Pulp Fiction being the tremendous fucking cultural phenomenon it was and continues to be, the relative impact on our popular vernacular was on such a higher level. Ain’t no fucking ballpark, neither!

But beyond my whiny-ass bitching over those two points, this is a stupendous fucking list, penis breath. I’m gonna tell all my asshole friends to read it.

Also,
Dog-shit taco! and ……..butthole, Barbra Streisand!

2 Ashly July 29, 2008 at 8:27 am

You have to give a honorable mention to Samuel L. Jackson.. The ‘F’ word, among others, pretty much made his career. Sometimes its not what you say, its how you say it and Mr. Jackson defiantly knows how to deliver..

3 Josh July 29, 2008 at 9:12 am

fuck

4 Dana July 29, 2008 at 10:17 am

We played a drinking game while watching “Pulp Fiction” one day, every time they said the word fuck,you had to take a shot. Our mistake was starting on the overdose scene, whoops!

5 Steven July 29, 2008 at 11:16 am

“Either way, its legacy in swearing is too huge to ignore. Many will find this way too low on this list, but as one of the Coen brothers’ weakest efforts (second maybe only to “The Ladykillers”), you’re lucky it’s on here at all. It probably wouldn’t be if it wasn’t for this terrific little fan film: Watch “The Fucking Short Version of The Big Lebowksi,” a two-minute edited version of the movie’s highlights.”

Your right it is way too low on the list! Any movie that has a festival after it, especially on the cult level hints to how iconic it is. I would love to shaft you out for your preoccupation with having South Park the movie on your lists, but that fact that you believe it warrants such a high spot on any list other then the “Razzies” is a shaft out enough!!! If you could come up with with a worst top 10 lists of all time(being the history of top 10 lists, including top 10’s for enjoying fishing, and why I might be a redneck jokes, come to mind) I would put this as at least 4!

6 Kenny July 29, 2008 at 11:38 am

South Park is a must in this list. I’ll never know how Stone and Parker pull off creating an animated show that curses as well as it does. I agree, cursing in movies and television isn’t always about the sheer quantity but also about the quality, context, and the manner in which it’s done, such as E.T.

7 t.s. July 29, 2008 at 11:59 am

This list reminded me of an awful movie called “The Doom Generation”, I guess to make the movie edgy or whatever the writer would just randomly string cuss words together like an 8 year old on the playground, some examples…

“Look, you fucking chunky pumpkinhead!”
“Eat my fuck”

8 RCM July 29, 2008 at 12:38 pm

Their not films but I add HBO television shows, all of them (well, most of them). Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs, it’s fine to stick with one Tarantino but I may have gone with Pulp Fiction.

Otherwise, FUCKING awesome list!

9 Craig July 29, 2008 at 2:00 pm

Great list. Although I’m surprised that there’s not a Joe Pesci mention in there at all. He definitely knows how to deliver a ‘Fuck’.

10 AJ August 1, 2012 at 11:47 am

There IS a Pesci reference in there! did you read the Goodfellas section?

11 Matt July 29, 2008 at 2:13 pm

You’ve left out ‘Boondock Saints’. Try taking a drink every time you hear the word fuck and you will be shitfaced in 3 minutes. Not even kidding. It’s a great movie too

12 Kenny July 29, 2008 at 4:41 pm

There is a Pesci reference under the Goodfellas listing. It certainly is a toss-up between Pulp Fiction/Resvoir Dogs and Casino/Goodfellas. Boondock Saints is a good one, however the director is a little loopy. YouTube “Winnebago Man” and you will find Joe Pesci’s expletive-interjecting rival.

13 Ace July 29, 2008 at 6:43 pm

Somebody mentioned HBO shows and that reminded of by far the best scene involving cursing in the first season of Deadwood when Wild Bill goes off on Jack McCall, repeatedly calling him a “cunt.” It’s a great scene and would probably top this list if it was a movie.

14 Troy July 29, 2008 at 8:28 pm

Fuck!! thats one hell of a fucking list!!

15 Eric Melin July 29, 2008 at 11:29 pm

Ian McShane from “Deadwood” would be very near the top for his unique take on eloquent swearing if that shw (which was cut down too early) had been a movie:
“In life you have to do a lot of things you don’t fucking want to do. Many times, that’s what the fuck life is… one vile fucking task after another.”
“Get a fucking haircut. Looks like your mother fucked a monkey.”

16 Eric Melin July 29, 2008 at 11:31 pm

“The Doom Generation” tried way too hard to build the cursing vernacular that comes by “Deadwood” naturally!

17 Eric Melin July 29, 2008 at 11:35 pm

Yeah, “South Park” has been on here a lot lately, but its so perfect for this list because the idea that bad words can’t hurt anybody is what this list and that movie are both about.

18 Dave July 30, 2008 at 12:26 am

Great fucking list you uncle fucking cockmaster.

19 Mick July 30, 2008 at 9:05 am

Really fucking good list. But what about “Scarface”? That movie would only be about 20 minutes long if you took all the swearing out.

20 Phil July 30, 2008 at 12:01 pm

Everyone that leaves you comments full of curse words thinks they’re really clever.

21 Johnnyboy July 30, 2008 at 1:37 pm

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation isn’t exactly known for its swearing, but it had one great tirade in it (which is all the funnier because it mostly uses ridiculous euphemisms).

Clark: Hey. If any of you are looking for any last-minute gift ideas for me, I have one. I’d like Frank Shirley, my boss, right here tonight. I want him brought from his happy holiday slumber over there on Melody Lane with all the other rich people and I want him brought right here, with a big ribbon on his head, and I want to look him straight in the eye and I want to tell him what a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sack of monkey shit he is. Hallelujah. Holy shit. Where’s the Tylenol?

22 Eric Melin July 30, 2008 at 2:53 pm

i knew the lebowski comments would ruffle feathers, but isn’t it enough that i included that funny edited Lebowski short with all the nasties in it?
if you must know why i don’t like it:
lots of yelling = trying too hard to be funny.
main offender: john goodman
everything is just weird for weird’s sake.
southern drawl of the narrator done better in Raising Arizona.
Julianne Moore, the “celeb” nihilists, Jimmie Dale Gilmore = not funny, not needed, although not trying near as hard as Goodman.
tries to pay homage to The Big Sleep which was populated by freaks and twists and didnt make a lick of sense either, but was overflowing with character, not caricature.
funniest person in the film is John Turturro, he’s in it for a couple minutes.
dream sequence is lame, not worthy of Coen’s surrealistic talents.
have i mentioned that yelling all the time is a desperate, annoying way to get laughs?

PS I thought Intolerable Cruelty was a tolerable, sometimes impressive example of twisted screwball comedy, even if the Coens didn’t write it–way better than Leatherheads, although that’s not saying much.

23 Cazart July 30, 2008 at 5:26 pm

South Park should have been at the top of the list, seeing as the entire subject of the movie was obscenity. And yeah, you can’t really leave Pulp Fiction out. Otherwise, solid list.

You shit-faced cockmaster.

P.S. Honorable mention for Apocalypse Now. Great opening line. “Saigon…shit.”

24 Eric Melin July 30, 2008 at 5:44 pm

Oooh, that reminds me of the opening scene of “Four Weddings and a Funeral”:
fuck! fuck! fuck! fuck! fuck! fuck!
I don’t remember how many times, but you get the idea…

25 Reed July 30, 2008 at 6:35 pm

Re: Lebowski
I’ll give you the lousy dream-sequences, but what about this:
–Goodman’s character is based on John Milius, the director of Conan the Barbarian. The yelling is over the top, but the remainder of his persona is pretty true to life if you’ve seen a recent Milius interview. That guy, like, exists and stuff.
–Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Brandt
–There are also references to The Maltese Falcon, Chinatown, and probably various other classic noir mysteries. I dig the genre a ton and was into the way they remained true to the constraints of the genre while modernizing and “quirking up” the story.
–At first, Turturro’s is the funniest character, but not on subsequent viewings. For me, nothing beats Bridges’ stammer: “I dropped off the money exactly as per… look, man, I’ve got certain information, all right? Certain things have come to light. And, you know, has it ever occurred to you, that, instead of, uh, you know, running around, uh, uh, blaming me, you know, given the nature of all this new shit, you know, I-I-I-I… this could be a-a-a-a lot more, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, complex, I mean, it’s not just, it might not be just such a simple… uh, you know?” There are caricatures all over the movie to be sure, but The Dude is the “normal” guy in the midst of all this nonsense. Without him steering the ship, albeit in his own meandering way, I would agree that it’s all a bunch of nonsense. The fact that he’s an endearing but pathetic guy holds everything together. He’s just clever enough to make the story hold together.
–Failing that, Maude tersely sums up your complaint herself in one of my favorite lines from the movie: “The story is ludicrous.”

Of course, I wasn’t really outraged at all. The movie’s not for everyone. But if you have a good reason to curse, you’re going to fucking do it. So I fucking did it.

Phil, thanks for the clever retort.

26 RCM July 30, 2008 at 11:45 pm

That Big Lebowski clip is hilarious. Where the fuck do you find that stuff?

Season one episode “Old Cases” of “The Wire” has one of HBO’s classic cursing scenes when the Bunk and Jimmy McNulty investigate a murder committed by Diangelo Barksdale. The scene involves both characters conversing in nothing but a series of “fuck” and variations of phrases using “Fuck” back and forth to each other for about 3 minutes as the crime-scene unravels. Classic, profane, and funny as FUCK!

27 Tommy July 31, 2008 at 10:53 pm

Midnight Run remains the top of my swear list for movies. Not very well known, but fuck me running Robert DeNiro delivers the F Word so poignantly that it’s comedic poetry. And watching DeNiro deliver the majority of these bombs to the ever-talentless Charles Grodin makes them that much more powerful.

28 Phil August 1, 2008 at 12:50 am

Reed,

It wouldn’t have been possible without your remarkably clever post.

All the best,

Phil

29 Greg August 1, 2008 at 7:52 am

You left off some ones I was thinking of.

1) The Departed…come on, Best Picture not even 2 years ago. Cutting the movie down to just the word “Fuck” still makes the film clock in at several MINUTES (it’s on YouTube).

2) Scarface “Fuck Casper Gomzez and Fuck The Fucking Diaz Brothers. Fuck ’em all. I bury those Cock-A-Roaches!”

3) Christine “Yea, try it you little bald fuck and I’ll knock you through the fuckin wall. FUCK!” Before Scarface, this movie the most occurances “Fuck”

30 Beck August 1, 2008 at 8:39 am

Not even a nod to Waiting for Guffman’s coining of a new term?

“I hate you and I hate your ass face.”

31 Doug August 1, 2008 at 10:53 pm

Just an honorable mention:

Donnie Darko

Donnie: You are such a fuckass.
Elizabeth: Did you just call me a fuckass? You can go suck a fuck.
Donnie: Oh, please, tell me Elizabeth, how exactly does one suck a fuck?

32 Eric Melin August 2, 2008 at 12:49 am

Because you’re all bastard people!

33 paresh August 2, 2008 at 7:33 am

thanks for sharing.

34 Phil August 2, 2008 at 9:17 am

I agree with everything Tommy said, except for the part about Grodin. “Midnight Run” is one of my favorites and wouldn’t be the same without him.

35 K.G. August 3, 2008 at 12:00 pm

In fairness to Lebowski, it was too much of a Los Angeles movie for people to understand the characters or the locations they travel to. Like most of their films they use the local culture in their settings to excess (O Brother, Fargo, Raising Arizona). There are as many “Dude” characters here in real life as there are Carl’s from Aqua Teen in New Jersey.

36 Josh T August 6, 2008 at 7:53 am

Come on – where the hell is Bad Santa on this list??? Man this movie has a cult following for people playing drinking games to the amount of cussing in it. I’d say word per word, it would rank around top 3 for this list, easy.

Willie: You can’t drink worth shit.
Marcus: I weigh 92 pounds, you dick!

Gin: Santa likes to fuck fat chicks in the ass.

And of course…
Sue: Fuck me, Santa! Fuck me, Santa! Fuck me, Santa!

37 chris August 22, 2008 at 12:32 am

Had the misfortune of watching Harlem Nights (Eddie Murphy & Richard Prior) – that should have been on this list although it is quite a forgettable movie. Obviously done way before Murphy was doing only kid-friendly flicks.

38 frothy August 23, 2008 at 9:19 am

No real qualms with the list. I kind of got the feeling it wasn’t about which movies cussed the most, which would be objectively determined, but about the best use of said profanity.

Hey, how about Blue Velvet’s legendary line “Fuck you, you fucking fuck!” Conjugate that, motherfuckers!

39 Tom October 13, 2008 at 12:51 pm

Great list, but if you don’t have “Scarface”, the list just couldn’t be complete.

40 Tully Moxness October 13, 2008 at 6:26 pm

First things, you stupid fuck, how the fuck could you not have fucking Scarface on the motherfucking list. Secondly, The Big Lewbowski makes no sense on purpose; it’s a random explosion of ideas that were festering within the twisted brains of the Coen Brothers and much like the recent Burn After Reading, it was a big ‘Fuck You’ to the critics and filmgoers who expected Fargo like gravity from every movie of theirs. Most of the time, the Coen’s make a movie to say essentially, “The jokes on you”. The Dude may be the funniest cinematic creation of all time, but he takes a little getting used to; watch it again, again and again, and I guarantee that at some point, it’s just going to click with you.

41 Willis October 14, 2008 at 1:13 pm

Step Brothers with Will Ferrel is loaded with F bombs.
There is a new to DVD movie The Foot Fist Way, also heavy on curse words.
Trainspotting throws around “cunt” like it’s hello.
Ralph Finnes in In Bruges swears a lot.

Lebowski is GOD! If you don’t understand that you’re a fucking amateur.

“Second place is a set of steak knives. Third place…fuck you, you’re fired”

42 Eric Melin October 14, 2008 at 2:18 pm

Nothing to “understand,” Willis. I get that “Lebowski” is supposed to be funny, but it’s too forced for me. Also, the idea behind this list was not to merely mention movies that have swearing, but movies that do it uniquely or have defining moments in them, which your list doesn’t do. Who doesn’t “understand” now?

43 Willis October 14, 2008 at 3:32 pm

I would have to take issue with Eric’s comments. I feel like Lebowski perfectly weaves swearing into the dialouge. It didn’t feel forced at all to me. Trainspotting is the same way. The swearing isn’t meant to offend, it’s just part of the charecters personality in both films. The other comidies mentioned use profanity in an attempt to shock you and make you laugh. Many comidies attempt to do this but the ones mentioned take it so much further than had done before. That seams pretty unique to me.

ABIDE

44 Eric Melin October 14, 2008 at 3:52 pm

Willis- I’m not taking issue with the swearing in “Lebowski.” It’s on the list! I even gave it #7. It’s just that I don’t share the love for that film that 90 percent of the rest of the world seems to. On the other hand, The Dude is a great, classic character that’s really weaved his way into culture.

45 Willis October 15, 2008 at 7:42 am

Eric, That’s cool. It’s a kick ass list. Glengarry Glen Ross was an inspired pic and one of my favorite films. Whenever I have a bad day at work I go home and watch the Alec Baldwin scene and wish I could talk to my workers like that. My list would have made room for Pulp Fiction (my all time favorite film) and Trainspotting, but I never would have thought of ET.

46 alison October 18, 2008 at 1:34 pm

Willis – ‘cunt’ is scottish for ‘hello’

the commitments is also ‘fuck’ strewn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk49yqKV_24

47 JH November 18, 2008 at 7:54 pm

correct me if im wrong
but at one point didnt Scarface contain the most usages of the F word.
then Pulp Fiction came out and topped it with something like 250 usages of it.

48 Acrobat January 4, 2009 at 9:01 am

What about The Boondock Saints? its fucking fabulous.

49 mistamojo March 11, 2009 at 7:12 pm

Absolutely. How does “Scarface” get left off this list??!?

50 lazywolfeyes May 5, 2009 at 3:40 pm

Withnail and I is missing from your list my friend!

“We’ve gone on holiday by mistake, are you the farmer?”
“Stop saying that Withnail, of course he’s the fucking farmer!”

51 Nat September 29, 2016 at 11:17 am

What fucker said that?

52 matt January 4, 2010 at 1:58 pm

what about nil by mouth,summer of sam,one day removals,in the loop and twin town.nil by mouth (1997) has 522 f words according to celebrityfword.summer of sam has 476 f words.one day removals 459 f words

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