Really good/lean/efficient screenplays

[Dr Rock]

Imagine him really having a big cry and someone says 'why are you crying?' and he says 'don't you get it? There's no more worlds to conquer! Boo hoo hooo!'

[MortSahlFan]

Harry and Tonto
La Strada
Nashville
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Network
The Professionals (Brooks)
The Swimmer
There Will Be Blood

"Sweet Smell of Success" would be a perfect example.. "Shane" too.

[Brundle-Fly]

It's A Wonderful Life (1946) has a great script and really progressive too with its naturalism. This scene is beautifully performed by everybody. It sets up George's hopes and fears perfectly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Casf9U2gaOI

[Dr Rock]

Duel (Spielberg).

[Dr Rock]

Which reminds me of The Hitcher. No wasted dialogue there, screenplay is lean and tight as fuck.

[NoSleep]

There's lots of good scripts that even shine through poor direction and acting. Can't think of a movie offhand, but I've recently watched I, Claudius, where the script powers through the series (and kept my interest). Most of the main actors are great in it, but there's a huge cast, some of which appear not to understand what they're saying nor are they getting the necessary direction to improve upon this. John Hurt does a good job of playing Caligula but I can't get over his pronunciation of "impious": "impy-us" instead of im-pie-us. They must have been rushed to get it all finished on time.