What’s Aged the Best?
Clerical-abuse plot; ensemble; Good Will Hunting connection; surprise witness; Hawthorne quote; final shot; Biderman rewrite; Faulkner clue
In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 00:50:35Read transcript
- The clerical sexual-abuse cover-up plot is considered ahead of later public revelations.
- The archbishop’s lawyer-and-confession joke at the banquet is enjoyed.
- Bauer’s charm includes the first-kiss/pregnancy line and giving Vail the CD containing the song he liked.
- Linney and Tierney’s enduring careers are strengths of the casting.
- Damon’s failure to get this role is credited with helping motivate Good Will Hunting.
- The surprise abuse complainant in the audience works like Airman O’Malley in A Few Good Men, unsettling the opposing side.
- The Hawthorne quote applies to multiple characters.
- The final shot is considered one of the great endings.
- Gere reportedly pushed for Ann Biderman’s rewrite after her NYPD Blue work; her later Southland and Ray Donovan success reinforces that early judgment.
- Absalom, Absalom! on the nightstand is noticed as a possible clue that Aaron is more sophisticated than he appears.