Friday, April 30, 2010

Countdown to DVD Release - Favorite Quotes

Quote #53



"I don't wanna be bailed out of anything."
~Tyler
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5 comments:

LTavares2011 said...

The confrontations of Tyler and Charles are great, so tense and intense. In this scene and the other in the boardroom, father and son are very distant from each other, always separated by a table. The mutual incomprehension of their feelings make of the discussions they have, a means to communicate with each other. Pierce did a great job as the distant father shut in his own world and Rob too, as the resentful son. They are terrific.

April 30, 2010 at 10:10 PM
WhyIstheRumAlwaysGone said...

It's strange how Charles manages to convey the intensity of the confrontation with his son by remaining always so poised and calm (even when he shouts!), he's always in control. Tyler has more difficulty to rein in his anger and emotions, he has to move around, he stutters a bit. It's easier to see Tyler's feelings on his face but has anyone seen how Charles's sadness show in his eyes, on his face, in a subtle way? This scene is heartrending in an understated way. At the beginning I did not get it. Now I see Tyler as rather self-centered and refusing to listen to his father, not seeing the gesture of love of his father when he bailed him out. He only sees what he wants to and the only theme discussed seems to be... the lawyer's fees. And Charles is incapable to say "I bailed you out because I care for you", he chooses to express it in such an indirect way that Tyler can't and won't hear his love for him.

May 1, 2010 at 4:17 AM
kat said...

I definitely saw Charles's sadness and wistfulness both in his face and his tone when he was talking to Tyler about his birthday a little later in the film.

May 1, 2010 at 10:48 PM
WhyIstheRumAlwaysGone said...

Yes, Kat, the birthday moment on the phone, it was heartbreaking, such great acting by Pierce, you could see that terrible sadness invading his eyes. I thought he also remembered Michael's 22nd birthday at the same time. A very painful moment.

May 2, 2010 at 4:34 AM
jessegirl said...

Yes, Rum, Tyler is a young, self-centered guy and not too perceptive. I've felt the kind of sadness Charles has; it makes you somewhat resigned, and, therefore, appear calm when it is really melancholy wistfulness. The apparent poise is even easier to maintain when the other person--Tyler--is emotional, because Charles feels safe being the foil and allowing Tyler to express the rage that he himself also feels.

Remember, Charles' first-born son committed suicide. His grief is exacerbated and complicated by feelings of anger at Michael and at himself, for not saving him. He must feel he failed his son because his job is to protect his children.

So, I think Charles is glad for Tyler's anger, because Tyler is doing what Charles himself really wants to do but feels he can't. In a way, Tyler's protection of Caroline, his destructive actions, are all things Charles WANTS TO DO, but can't. Tyler is his stand-in.

Yes, bailing him out was a loving gesture and the action itself was a way of indicating his love. I get that. But--and I agree that Tyler has tunnel vision--Tyler so desperately needs obvious and direct expressions of love. He needs them! The sad thing is that his dad, the big businessman, must rein in his vulnerable emotions because if he lets them out, he's afraid they will destroy him.

And I think both father and son are afraid physically loving gestures--hugs, etc.--will open the floodgates, so Charles uses reserve and Tyler uses anger to just go on.

About the lawyer fees: Well, yeah, Tyler must know this would be expensive. But he wants to appear, somehow, grown up, a man, able to meet his dad on adult terms. He is 21 after all. Later, when, in front of all those executives, Charles puts Tyler down by drawing attention to his immaturity--rode down on your bike, responsible for no one--he is deflecting the issue Tyler has brought up. And I think this is immature and unfair of Charles. He WILL NOT be forced to show love. That is his stand and he sticks to it.

That is why, by the end of the film, it is important to know that Tyler and his rants--the things he did to force his dad to show love--made a difference, mattered. Somehow, Tyler broke through that poise of Charles in the end. And, self-centered as it was, it was necessary that Tyler do it...because no one else would.

Which takes us back to the theme of the film.

May 2, 2010 at 5:16 PM

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