Joe: What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be at Elton John’s.
Billy: Well, I was there for a minute or two and then I had an epiphany.
Joe: Really?
Billy: Yeah.
Joe: Come on. Just come up. So what was this epiphany?
Billy: Erm, it…it was about Christmas.
Joe: You realized that it was all around.
Billy: No. I realized that Christmas is the time to be with the people you love.
Joe: Right.
Billy: And I realized that, as dire chance and fateful cock-up would have it, here I am, mid-fifties, and without knowing it, I’ve gone and spent most of my adult life with a chubby employee. And, much as it grieves me to say it, it might be that the people I love is, in fact… you.
Joe: Well, this is a surprise.
Billy: Yeah.
Joe: Ten minutes at Elton John’s and you’re as gay as a maypole.
Billy: No, look. I’m serious here. I left Elton’s and a hefty number of half-naked chicks with their mouths open in order to hang out with you at Christmas.
Joe: Well, Bill…
Billy: It’s a terrible, terrible mistake, chubs… but you turn out to be the fucking love of my life. And to be honest, despite all my complaining… we have had a wonderful life.
Joe: Well… thank you. I mean, come on, it’s been an honour. I feel very proud.
Billy: Oh, look, don’t be a moron. Come on, let’s get pissed and watch porn.

– Love Actually (2003), written by Richard Curtis

The Daily Dialogue theme this week is confessions of love suggested by Sabina Giado. Today’s suggestion by Teddy Pasternak.

Trivia: When Curtis was in college, his girlfriend left him for a man named Bernard. In each of his screenplays, there is a fairly unpopular character named Bernard. In this case, the character is Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman’s “horrid son”.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Saying “I love you” may be one of the most challenging points of dialogue for a writer and I guess we should every which way we can to avoid actually using those words. Here Curtis goes with: “And, much as it grieves me to say it, it might be that the people I love is, in fact… you.” And he has the good sense to end the exchange with a killer out line: “Come on, let’s get pissed and watch porn.”