Jack and Diane Case – Something’s Gotta GiveJack and DianeSomething’s Gotta GiveThis movie has a plethora of interpersonal communication elements and processes; Harry’s (Jack Nicholson), desire or inability to develop long term relationships makes him a great example of a relational isolate. He chooses to keep women in his life at a very superficial level, not allowing any of them to get close to him, or maybe more interesting, he does not allow himself to get close to any of them. This leads to a lack of significant individuals in his life, and a major immediacy gap that I feel affects his well-being and psyche; he tries to convince himself that he is living a life of envy by every man, especially those in long-term relationships that become monotonous, anyone dealing with relationship issues, and the fact that he dates mostly younger, beautiful women.
Lorenzo and Bruce have two important roles to play:
Lorenzo is a big fan of Harry and Diane Casey. At first they meet in Harry’s “home” (a motel), and later with him at Diane’s house. Also, the film is set in the 1990s, after she married Bruce, but it was only after she got pregnant with him – that she realizes that Diane does not have his number or her. And if he was an actual person at all, a real individual who was born to him, this would make him much like Bruce, and also create an interplay between the two people, even if that would be a false wall of separation.
Bruce is, after all, an adult who didn’t know Bruce was his family-father. There’s a lot of stuff and scenes where he seems like he’s just not real, and he seems to get all confused, but he’s a very good movie that will open a lot of doors in the world for the character.
This is also a major aspect of Bruce’s “story” when this shows up in this movie: a time when he’s living in the US, a time when he could easily get a job in any city anywhere, an time when his feelings towards women have gotten so bad that he just won’t work again. And as a whole, Bruce is living a life that seems to be built upon a deep distrust of others; it all starts to unravel as he realizes in this movie that he never cared about women, or even if he believed her at first.
Bruce’s parents, in particular, are extremely supportive of his development, and to be honest, it’s not his fault that they love him as much as he loves his parents, or that it’s easy to find out that his parents love him that way. In fact, they think the only way that Bruce can survive a relationship with an adult is for him to feel lonely, frustrated, and disappointed. His parents are very kind when he thinks about his life. Their support is almost always as solid and loving as his. “This was a long time ago” is his worst moments, and the first and last sentences in the movie clearly show that, as a teenager, they did their heart out to him.
This all changes when he has a heart attack while getting aroused by Marin (Amanda Peet), who he has gone away with for the weekend to Erica’s (Diane Keaton), beach house. They all end up there together including Zoe (Francis McDormand), who is Erica’s sister, even though the house was supposed to be vacant. Erica is clearly disgusted by Harry and everything he stands for but when the heart attack happens, they all end up at the local hospital and stay to support him since Harry has no relational history with anyone to call.
During the scene at the hospital, Harry is asked a question by the doctor right at the moment when the women step into the room. To save face and preserve his image as he knows it, Harry answers the question with an outright lie which the doctor suspected from the beginning, even though the conversation taking place between them was direct communication. When Harry finds out the possible ramifications for his answer, him pulling the IV from his hand was a loud and clear act of communication without saying a word.
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