The 2004 movie Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (written by Victor Levin) is a sweet and well-done (if occasionally predictable) romantic comedy. It includes its share of snappy one-liners, such as the archetypal male reaction to a much-too-long female description of the title date — "Wow. I cannot remember a time before you started telling that story." — the cynical agent's explanation of why Tad Hamilton can't get the girl — "You're too different. Your values are different. For example, she has them!" — and the girl's angry plan for revenge — "I am going to kill that Pete, bring him back to life, and then kill him again!".

But there's also some fine advice offered by one of the less-major characters, a tattooed bartender/advisor named Angelica. At a key moment she counsels one of the protagonists, Pete:

So how much do you love her? Is it love, big love, or is it great love?
         Like, what do you mean?
Well, love you get over in two months. Big love, two years. Great love ...
         Yeah?
Great love changes your life. ... Oh, my God. It's great love.
         ls that great?
Well, you got to win her back.
         Angelica, trust me, I have tried everything.
What did she say when you told her that you love her?
         Well, uh, actually not everything, but ...
What did she say when you kissed her?
         It's more like, uh, two things I haven't tried.
Well, what have you tried?
         I have very unsubtly implied how I feel about her.
OK, get up.
         What?
Get your ass off the barstool.
         Angelica.
Hey, if you feel it and you don't do everything in your power to reach for it, you are basically slapping life in the face.
         I hate to break it to you, but I don't stand a chance here, OK?
As my father told me when I said I'd never get that job in a bar, "Honey, your odds go up when you file an application."
         Sure, but I'm up ... against ... Tad Hamilton.
You are Tad Hamilton.
         What?
Don't you see? Everybody's Tad Hamilton to somebody, Pete. Rosalee's Tad Hamilton to you. And you're Tad Hamilton to me.
         Angelica, thank you.
So start acting like it.
         OK. Yeah, OK. ... You are a really good bartender!

A bit later, Angelica similarly helps get the female protagonist back on track:

I cannot believe I am taking my work home with me. When great love is rejected, Rosalee, something inside a man dies. So all he can do is run away, where he can meet the girl he'll love second most. Unless ...
         Unless what?
Unless you can get to him before he closes the book on you. But once it's closed, it's closed. It's finished. It's gone, dead. It's crushed. It's beaten. It's buried. It is lost for all of time in a sea ...
         Angelica.
OK.
         I owe you.
Go.

(see [1] for some excellent movie scripts; the above fragments were corrected by ^z; cf. Must Love Dogs (2006-08-27), ...) - ^z - 2008-06-30

(correlates: GreatWriters, OnComfort, ReallyGreat, ...)