MovieChat Forums > Midnight Run (1988) Discussion > the scene in Jack's ex-wife's house

the scene in Jack's ex-wife's house

posted 9 years ago by colinjbeesley
16 replies | jump to latest

I've just watched the film after several years and I enjoyed it every bit as much as the first time. One scene that is still very moving is Jack's reunion with his daughter. Notice how Grodin is centre shot for just about the entire sequence and barely reacts. It would have been so easy for him to steal it (as he does in the comic exchange with the ticket clerk that refuses Jacks Amex card with his shaking of the head) but here Grodin is generous and remains very still and calm.

[–] red95king 8 years ago

Its a great scene.

[–] Sonatine97 8 years ago

Agreed. Even though the scene only lasted 3 or 4 minutes, it was one of those pivotal moments that the film needed in order to give some pathos to the Jack Walsh character.

The scene was very well done: having Jack meet up with his wife & daughter in person; and even though Jack's hopes of a reconciliation with his wife was always doomed, the heart strings pulled hardest with his daughter.

It somehow made the principle storyline of bad men doing bad things less relavent; these guys are fighting over hundreds of thousands of dollars, and yet here we have one little scene with Jack's daughter willing to give her dad all of her savings, a mere $180 to help him out!

Very touching, and beautifully handled.

“When is old news gonna be old news?”
― Arnold Vinick

[–] DracTarashV 8 years ago

I'm in total agreement. As much as I love the more hilarious and exciting moments in the movie, this small poignant scene always leaves the biggest impression on me. It was very well done.

Hey there, Johnny Boy, I hope you fry!

[–] worldleaderpretend 8 years ago

I'm a white collar criminal LOL

[–] bill_kilgore 8 years ago

Yeah, I was just gonna say Grodin DOES get that classic line, lol...

[–] fentress 8 years ago

Totally agree. Great scene, and it's important for establishing a note of darkness as to how much Jack Walsh has lost of his formerly promising life. It's all the more powerful for being juxtaposed against all the comedic and action-packed scenes.

I was struck by the daughter staring at Jack in silence. I didn't interpret it as coldness on her part. I think like any kid in that situation she was stunned. She didn't know to react. They could have gone for some instant warmth and reconciliation scene, but they kept it real.

[–] ScopeWatcher 8 years ago

I love MIDNIGHT RUN, which still has what I think was the best screenplay of 1988. Further, I particularly love the entire poignant reunion with Jack Walsh's ex-wife and child.

For full disclosure, I'll admit in this thread that I went to see MIDNIGHT RUN only because as a film-music buff, I wanted to hear whether the new Danny Elfman soundtrack album for this movie might be worth picking up! I had acutely disliked Charles Grodin ever since 1972, when as a teenager I first saw him in THE GOODBYE GIRL (one of the cruelest movies I've ever sat through, because I found his role so thoroughly detestable). What's more, by 1988 I had already felt for years that the talents of both Robert DeNiro AND Meryl Streep were ridiculously overrated.

Well, while I never have changed my mind about Streep, it was MIDNIGHT RUN that finally made me appreciate that DeNiro in fact deserves his reputation. And it was the scene of Jack's unexpected reaction to his daughter that did it for me.

Up to that point in the film I had admired the story construction and very much enjoyed the comedy, the timing, and the obscene but well-crafted dialogue. But at the daughter's entrance, DeNiro conveyed so beautifully from within (and almost without dialogue) that father's love, and his sense of time poignantly lost, that the powerful moment elevated both the character AND the film. What's more, we don't expect the offer of the saved babysitting money -- but I think we all love both father and child for the offer [AND] for his refusal of it. We never see the girl again in the movie; but we see Jack differently ever after.

This is a hilarious and beautifully-played picture -- and composer Elfman's unexpected approach to the score (based on what he had written before then) serves the movie brilliantly. But for me, the greatest value of MIDNIGHT RUN lies in its peaks of that father's too-brief time with his absent child ... and the sublime, Elfman-aided power of Jack and the Duke's final parting.

This might be the only comedy which I value most for how it makes me cry.

Most great films deserve a more appreciative audience than they get.

[–] nocomputer1962 8 years ago

The Goodbye Girl was released in 1977 and stars Richard Dreyfuss. Are you maybe thinking of The Heartbreak Kid? It was released in 1972, and features Grodin in a detestable lead role. (Ironically, it was Grodin's brilliance in this impossibly unsympathetic role that made me a big fan of his. It's still one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.)

[–] ScopeWatcher 8 years ago

The Goodbye Girl was released in 1977 and stars Richard Dreyfuss. Are you maybe thinking of The Heartbreak Kid?

Yes, you're right, and I'm sorry. Good catch. (In my earlier post I didn't notice I was mixing up two different Neil Simon scripts.) It's THE HEARTBREAK KID which I still consider one of the most cruelly unbearable movies I'VE ever seen -- and with equal irony, it was "Grodin's brilliance in that impossibly unsympathetic role" which made me hate the sight of him for years!

I was only a teenager then. But his brilliance 16 years later in MIDNIGHT RUN is what finally made ME a Grodin fan. (Not to the point of wanting to sit through one of the BEETHOVEN pictures, perhaps ... but my real Charles Grodin test will be whether I ever try THE HEARTBREAK KID again!)

Most great films deserve a more appreciative audience than they get.

[–] nocomputer1962 8 years ago

It helps if you keep telling yourself that you're not "supposed" to like Grodin's character in The Heartbreak Kid. In a way, he's a spiritual ancestor of Rupert Pupkin, the character played by Robert DeNiro in The King of Comedy (another movie that is despised by many people.) In both films, you get the vicarious thrill of watching a quixotic character with no filter, and with no real sense of how obnoxious he appears to the outside world.

I don't think either movie would work as well (for me, at least) without a rational character to set them straight. (Eddie Albert in The Heartbreak Kid, and Jerry Lewis in The King of Comedy.)

[–] kennellygerard 7 years ago

would you believe me if i told you the whole film was oscar snubbed?

Best Picture
Best Actor
Best Supporting Actor
Best Musical Score
Best Original Screenplay

the best screenplay of 1988

[–] eric-264-260280 8 years ago

I was struck by how truly awful his ex-wife was. Keep running Jack!

[–] user106001 8 years ago

We dont know the exact back story.. but maybe she was given that attitude by the director. As in, when Jack was married to her, he was a great cop, and honest cop, did his job right. But as a husband, he maybe didnt cut it, and over many years, it added up, and she had enough. Then they divorce, and it appears Jack doesnt make any attempt to stay in touch, especially with his daughter? Yeah, the movie has you on Jacks side, but part of the reason for that, it opens up all of Jack. And part of that is he probably wasnt the best husband, and then the best father, the years following

[–] gottaluvafriend 8 years ago

That's due to the director.

[–] tarek-elsakka 7 years ago

I completely agree with you. I don't normally tear up when watching movies but I did when Jack hugged his daughter and then when she wanted to give him the 180 dollars, that scene was definitely one of the best and most touching moments I've ever watched on television. And boy was that an absolute stunning performance by De Niro and Grodin. Very underrated movie and I am glad I watched it.

[–] MikeO_64 7 years ago

I choke up just thinking about it..
It was not just wonderfully acted by all, it was great timing inside the movie. For at least an hour straight, it was nothing but laughs, violence, Jimmy Serrano, played perfectly by Dennis Farina (RIP)..then...out of nowhere, this incredibly touching scene.
Beautiful girl, not happy, not angry.. and Deniro played it like a maestro. Awkward but loving. You could see the regret in his eyes for not seeing his daughter grow up.

And yes, Grodin, who had been wonderfully comedic up to this point, just stood back in silence like the perfect straight man.
Maybe my all-time favorite comedy, and this was a huge reason why.. it's great to see others here who feel the same way..
thanks..

"I must be crazy to be in a loony bin like this."