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To quote or not to quote...

I have written a short screenplay for my Media Production class at school, it is a short film noir type story about a hit man and at the moment I am going over the screenplay and fixing bits and the like. Now I saw The Usual Suspects yesterday and in it I heard possibly the best line I have ever heard in a film "How could you shoot the devil in the back? what if you miss?" - Kevin Spacey.

Now I have realised this line would work perfectly in one scene of my film and I would love to use that line some how but I'm not sure if it would sound tacky using a line from another film in mine. So what do you guys think? To quote or not to quote?
 
Not to quote. :)

Now quoting Shakespeare is a bit different... he's been dead for a long time and can't come whack you in the kneecaps with a baseball bat for using his lines.

Start lifting lines from a more recent (and copyrighted) "Usual Suspects" and you may find Kaiser Sozay at your front door, with a legal team.

:shock:
 
I don't think it's clever enough to be an homage ... like "Go ahead .. make my day". It seems more like you said, you heard the line, and thought it was perfect for your film. If it was a catch-phrase instead of just a line of dialogue, I could see it as an homage. And for that, I would go about looking into the legalities in using it. In your case, I would say think of a similar line on your own, or do some creative rewording. Good luck.
 
"How could you shoot the devil in the back? what if you miss?" - Kevin Spacey.
If you do decide to quote this line, give credit to the author not the actor who spoke it.

Sometimes us screenwriters wish WE got the credit for great lines and not the the actors.
 
Just a little friendly ribbing!

I always find it interesting that even among writers on a Screenwriters thread we don't often even know who wrote the movies we like.
 
I'm gonna go against the grain here and say "QUOTE". If there's one thing I've learned in life it's that pretending to be smarter than you are can really be beneficial. Any screenwriter who tells you they've never "borrowed" is lying through their coffee stained teeth (a borrowed line). If there was a "Top Ten Rules of Screenwriting", number 11 would be, borrow from better writers.

And borrowing this line won't get you into legal trouble like borrowing a catch phrase like "Make my day" could (but still probably wouldn't). I've read so many stories (screenplays, novels, short stories) that have variations on that line, so Christpher McQuarrie, Bryan Singer, or Kevin Spacey can't own it. Plus, I can't remeber the last time any filmmaker sued a student for using any kind of material in his/her film.

I would however say that if anyone ever asks you how you came up with such a clever line, be sure to mention that it's an homage to Christopher McQarrie's line from The Usual Suspects.

Poke
 
I say don't quote. It doesn't sound like you are "borrowing." It sounds like you want to take an exact line of dialogue from one film and put it into your film. If someone recognizes this, they will more than likely call it "ripped off," rather than an "homage." I would say, try to be original. So something about that line has inspired you, what is it? Find that something and apply it to your own words.
 
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