MovieChat Forums > The Missing Person (2009) Discussion > The first line.

The first line.

posted 14 years ago by robki
8 replies | jump to latest

"I could have lied there forever, but the phone rang."

This, admittedly small, misuse of language really grated when I first watched the movie, and had me very distracted for the next half-hour whilst I wondered if it had been done intentionally to highlight a flaw or lack of education in the protagonist, or if it was merely an oversight in the script editing process.

I think as a first line it would have been more effective had the language been used correctly, but the line has stuck in my head for a few weeks now and I really want to know if there was a definitive purpose behind the wording.

So, if anyone associated with the movie is reading this, kindly set my (probably overly-obsessive!) mind at ease with a few words on the subject. Thanks!

As an art piece I found the movie to be wholly enjoyable and the plentiful homages to the noir movie style were splendidly done. Now, if only I knew about the first line... haha! :)

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Faye-9 13 years ago

It annoyed the kajeebies out of me too Robbie. For the first half hour as well. Grammar and language were my favorite things in school so I always notice the obvious mistakes. I don't think it was wise of the writers to find it necessary to have the character us lied instead of laid. And we wonder why our kids run around saying, "I seen them." "Them are good." and my favorite: "Me and her went out."

"Fingernails on a chalk board two by two!"

Btw, the follow-up poster to your comment missed the point completely huh? haha

[–] Austinwj 13 years ago

The line, grammatically accurate, should have been " have lain," not "have lied." But imagine a private dick in a film noir speaking that way. Sometimes perfect grammar makes the speaker seem like an anal retentive snob. "Have lain" would have undermined the tone of the film as well as the character of the detective.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] dashaw21 12 years ago

Everyone's just jokin' around, right:

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/lay-versus-lie.aspx

[–] dashaw21 12 years ago

Everyone's just jokin' around, right:

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/lay-versus-lie.aspx

[–] al_dupea 11 years ago

Funny, I'm a bit of a grammar buff, semi-literate that is. You know how the memory is, if you don't remember things exactly the imagination comes into play. So when I recalled the line it was 'I could have laid there forever....'. That's apparently incorrect also. lol

[–] Zando777 11 years ago

That's how normal people talk. Deal with it, or lock yourself up with the other useless women and gays in your local college english department.