Most Rewatchable Scene
Conrad and Dr. Berger's climactic session
In the discussion (24)
Approx. transcript time · 00:51:40Read transcript
- The rewatchable-scene format is awkward for this theme, making it almost a best-scene category.
- Beth sitting in Buck's preserved room, followed by the awkward trig conversation with Conrad and 'I bought you two shirts,' is the first nomination.
- The mother-son relationship strains credulity at times, a testament to how effectively she distances herself; the scene would not be pulled up on YouTube, but it is gripping.
- Retitling the category for the theme is floated: most gripping scene, which scene held on, or most dysfunctional scene.
- The museum-like room, Conrad trying to talk about swimming the 50 and his trig grade to a statue-like Beth, and her dismissive gesture to get off the hutch are called devastating; a later effort by her fizzles as soon as Buck is mentioned.
- The party, with Beth's fake party personality and Cal on the staircase explaining Conrad's doctor visits, and the car ride ('You drink too much at parties, Calvin') are nominated together; the party is called nimbly directed and 'it is a very private matter' an iconic line.
- The family photo fight over the camera is called an all-timer and painful to watch; the Rachel Getting Married rehearsal-dinner speeches are compared.
- Beth learning Conrad quit the swim team escalates into the hospital exchange and 'Buck never would have been in the hospital,' called one of the cruelest moments in film six weeks after his suicide attempt; it shows she is embarrassed by him.
- The food-court line about having had enough change offers a path to empathy, but learning she went to Europe instead of visiting during his four months in the hospital makes that hard.
- Mary Tyler Moore letting herself be this unlikable is rare even in today's prestige TV, contrasted with Big Little Lies.
- The garage scene after Cal's first therapy visit, about what he wore to Buck's funeral, ends with at least a half-hearted hug.
- The garage scene is in one participant's top two: Calvin's brokenness, the lines about what he wore on his feet, and recognizing oneself fixating on something mundane in despair, which also offers a way to understand Beth.
- The first date with Elizabeth McGovern, with Conrad describing depression as falling into a hole, the intruding jackasses at the restaurant and the God exchange, is praised as a sensitive portrayal of depression.
- The golf-course argument is another all-timer: Beth's outburst at Ward about his kids and the swimming pool he's so proud of is called her most honest moment, along with her saying she cannot respond to someone asking to be loved.
- Asides: don't play golf or tennis with your spouse, and the name Ward prompts an Outer Banks reference.
- The late-night breakup scene, which had to be refilmed, with 'We would have been all right if there hadn't been any mess,' is the last nomination in the list.
- The big scene, Conrad's session with Berger after learning his hospital friend is dead, with the flashback and 'Why did you let go?', is called one of the best seven-minute scenes in a drama and probably why the film won.
- Earlier sessions set it up, from 'I never promised you a rose garden' to the first session where Conrad keeps his jacket and backpack on and cannot get comfortable.
- The lounge-chair session shows how far they have come, and the 'I hung on' scene is the film's true culmination, with the coda effective.
- How much of the timeline cutting comes from directing, editing or the screenplay is asked; it is called ahead of its time for 1980.
- A dissent says the flashbacks during the session hold the viewer's hand, since earlier flashes came in dreams.
- Counterpoints: the brother disappearing into the water is effective, and waking flashbacks appear earlier, such as at the train tracks and in Cal's memory of the sweater argument.
- Favorite lines include 'Did it ever occur to you that you might've been stronger?', called the key line, and 'I hung on. I stayed with the boat.'
- All agree this session is the most rewatchable, or most gripping, scene.
