"Oh HELL No!" Movie Moments That Anger Up the Blood

[spaceytraci1208]

This might make me weird, but the thing about Polo's character that always bothered me the most -- not the "oops, that's my ex-fiance!" -- was not waking Greg up while the rest of family was having breakfast. She just vacantly says that she thought he'd want to sleep in, and I just want him to THROTTLE her, lol. I don't know why. The rest of the movie doesn't bother me more than I find it funny, but yes, she didn't do anything to remotely help him at all.

That scene pissed me off too. On top of not helping ease the existing tension and awkwardness between Greg and her father, she deliberately excluded him from a family activity. Not cool.

[Luckylyn]

The scene in the Spanglish with the too small clothes was just awful.  She was so happy her mother did something nice for her only to realize nothing fit and it was just further pressure to lose weight.  The whole thing where she showers someone else's daughter with attention while just fixating on her daughter's weight was just horrible.   She takes Christina out shopping and doesn't think to invite her own daughter.   She was so disrespectful of Flor by taking her daughter places without permission and lying about Christina needing to sleep over for school work when it was actually a slumber party for Christina's friends.   I totally understand Flor's determination to get Christina away from that woman's influence.  What other lies was that she going to teach Flor's daughter to tell her mother?  Plus, she was encouraging the daughter to be ashamed of her mother by having Christina invite her friends to Tea Leoni's house instead of Flor's.

[Bruinsfan]

The Philadelphia Story: Every time I hear Tracy's dad saying he was cheating on his wife because Tracy wasn't a sweet daughter I want to  punch his stupid face. 

I'd have been quite all right with either Tracy or her mother making him the beneficiary of a skeet shooting accident after that.

[magicdog]

The Philadelphia Story: Every time I hear Tracy's dad saying he was cheating on his wife because Tracy wasn't a sweet daughter I want to  punch his stupid face.

 

 

Ditto!  I kept thinking what exactly did Tracy do wrong?  She looked up to her dad and was rightfully upset when her father cheated on her.  Worse still, they were a prominent family and daddy's actions were published in tabloids and gossip columns.   I do chalk some of it up to the times;  Tracy's mother didn't seem too outwardly upset over it, but I am guessing that's because she was raised in an era in which it's expected to have a husband who has occasional dalliances and to keep quiet about it.

 

Tracy had every reason to be upset.

[Wiendish Fitch]

I'd have been quite all right with either Tracy or her mother making him the beneficiary of a skeet shooting accident after that.

 

I'm fully onboard with that plan too, Bruinsfan! Tracy's dad was irresponsible, sanctimonious scumbag. What's frustrating is that I kind of get what The Philadelphia Story is going for (tolerate others' weaknesses, forgive and forget, all that good stuff), but they botch it up by framing Tracy as completely in the wrong. Dexter didn't just have "weaknesses", he was a friggin' alcoholic! Mr. Lord's dalliance wasn't a solid decade ago where his wife has moved on from the pain and Tracy should too, it just happened! Tracy shouldn't be trying to make it up to these horrible, worthless men (no, I don't care that one is played by Cary Grant), they should be trying to make it up to her!

 

Speaking of Cary Grant, I hate how in The Talk of the Town, he is an escaped fugitive and he and ex-girlfriend Jean Arthur take turns deceiving and gas-lighting visiting lawyer Ronald Colman (le sigh) while lecturing him on his rigid moral code which involves unfair things like, you know, punishing criminals for crimes they were involved in! When Colman finds out he's been duped and has Grant arrested (as he should), Arthur proceeds to give him the most hateful, vindictive, vitriolic lecture on what a horrible person Colman, not Grant, is!

 

I really hate self-righteous movie characters who have zero right to be so, can you tell? 

 

RE: Dottie dropping the ball in A League of Their Own:

 

I politely disagree that Dottie dropped it on purpose (though I don't blame everyone for being annoyed regardless). Kit tackled her so damn hard that, unless Dottie had a grip like the Incredible Hulk, she couldn't help dropping it. And Dottie's such a girl scout, I highly doubt she'd throw integrity and team spirit to the wind by dropping the ball on purpose.

 

I do, however, agree that Kit was a hateful little brat. When I was younger, I would have had nothing but sympathy for her (I also have a "perfect" older sister), but now that I'm older and more curmudgeonly, I just want give her a hearty slap in the face. I'm sorry, but there comes a time in your life when you have to grow the hell up and, instead of whining "Why is so-and-so so perfect?", you should look in the mirror and ask yourself, "Why am I so mediocre?" 

Edited January 5, 2015 by Wiendish Fitch

[Shannon L.]

 

I politely disagree that Dottie dropped it on purpose (though I don't blame everyone for being annoyed regardless). Kit tackled her so damn hard that, unless Dottie had a grip like the Incredible Hulk, she couldn't help dropping it. And Dottie's such a girl scout, I highly doubt she'd throw integrity and team spirit to the wind by dropping the ball on purpose.

I agree.  I also think she was just pissed off enough at Dottie to not want to just give her a win.  I haven't seen the movie in a long time, but IIRC, the look on her face when they were celebrating said, to me, "well how about that, the kid finally did it."

 

That said, I also hated the ending and thought Kitt was a brat.

Edited January 6, 2015 by Shannon L.

[nomodrama]

I'm the oldest of three sisters and anytime I watch or even just discuss this movie with the other two, one of us will always look at another and say, "I love you but there is no way I would throw a game that important for you."

 

Atonement was just the worst - I almost wish I could unwatch it and wipe it completely out of my head. I don't think I have ever encountered more deplorable characters. And worst yet, the jerks get married (Paul and Lola) and no one pays for the horrible deaths of two innocent people! GRRRRRR!

[Spartan Girl]

The scene in the Spanglish with the too small clothes was just awful.  She was so happy her mother did something nice for her only to realize nothing fit and it was just further pressure to lose weight.  The whole thing where she showers someone else's daughter with attention while just fixating on her daughter's weight was just horrible.   She takes Christina out shopping and doesn't think to invite her own daughter.   She was so disrespectful of Flor by taking her daughter places without permission and lying about Christina needing to sleep over for school work when it was actually a slumber party for Christina's friends.   I totally understand Flor's determination to get Christina away from that woman's influence.

 

 

Yes, but who was going to protect HER OWN kids from her influence?!  It was those kids I felt sorriest for.  In my mind, Adam Sandler's character took the kids and left her insufferable ass. 

 

Another thing that pissed me off in Spanglish is how Tea Leoni is quick to blame her behavior on the fact that her mother (Cloris Leachman's character) was a crappy  mother and therefore a bad influence.  TAKE RESPONSIBLITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS, BITCH.

[Luckylyn]

Yes, but who was going to protect HER OWN kids from her influence?!  It was those kids I felt sorriest for.  In my mind, Adam Sandler's character took the kids and left her insufferable ass. 

 

Another thing that pissed me off in Spanglish is how Tea Leoni is quick to blame her behavior on the fact that her mother (Cloris Leachman's character) was a crappy  mother and therefore a bad influence.  TAKE RESPONSIBLITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS, BITCH.

Tea never seems to consider how her actions affect her kids at all which just makes her more infuriating for blaming her mother for Tea's faults.  I totally wanted Adam Sandler to take the kids and run.   But Tea's character is the vindictive type who would give him hell in a divorce and probably try to restrict his access to the kids leaving them alone with her.  So, I totally understood what Adam felt he had to stay for the kids sake.  I always imagined him serving her with divorce papers the second the youngest turned 18.  I kinda want a sequel just to see that happen.  This was a rare movie when I was rooting for adultery because the kids would be better off with Flor as their step mother.

[Spartan Girl]

The original script had Adam screaming "YOU'RE A TERRIBLE WIFE!" at Tea Leoni, and added a scene at the end with Tea trying to wheedle out what happened between the two of them when she leaves the house, and gives the whole, "we were friends, weren't we?" only to have Flor say coldly, "No, we weren't friends."

 

I so wish they had kept in those scenes.

[Bastet]

The first time I saw A League of Their Own, I thought Dottie had dropped the ball on purpose (I think it's the slow-mo that gives that feel).  This so enraged me - thinking Dottie screwed over her entire team to coddle someone who needs to grow the hell up - I didn't watch the movie again for years.  But then the film came up in an online conversation, and whether the drop was intentional or not was a big focus, with opinion split about 50/50.  I watched it again the next time it was on TV, and realized if I viewed the drop as being a natural consequence of the collision, the scene didn't ruin the entire film for me.  I still hate that Kit won, and like someone upthread I will skip over that scene to spare my blood pressure, but for all these years since that switch in perspective I have been able to enjoy the film as a whole.  (Thankfully, because other than that one moment, I just love it.)

[vibeology]

The only reason I've always considered the dropped ball intentional is because earlier in the film they show some random player running Dottie down the same way and she manages to hold on to the ball. Putting that moment in the movie makes me think that Dottie dropping the ball for her sister was because she wanted Kit to get a win. So frustrating!

[nilyank]

For A League of Their Own, I never thought that Dottie dropped the ball on purpose. She loved the game and her sister too much to cheapen the moment by intentionally dropping the ball. 

 

Dottie earlier told Jimmy that it was getting too hard for her (playing/dealing with Kit), he rightfully tells her "It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great."

 

Dottie quit the team but came back for her final game. She knew it. She was planning to go back home with hubby and start a family. As bratty as Kit was, she wanted it more than Dottie by that point.

[Spartan Girl]

Lots of things made me made in The Help but one of the biggest ones had to be when Mae Mobley's dad barks at Aibileen to make him a sandwich.  Not even so much as a please or a thank you.  Make your own fucking sandwich, asshole!

[Actionmage]

The Wizard in The Wizard of Oz hacks me off so much, even if I enjoy other parts of the story.    

 

The Wizard of Oz is extorting Dorothy to assassinate The Wicked Witch of the West.  "You want to get back to this 'Kansas?' Bring me back the witch's broomstick." Tin Man (?)  counters mentioning, the witch would never give up her broomstick, she'd die first. The Wizard's all " And...?"  Never mind  that the Wizard is just a conman from Kansas, obviously working from sheer terror. Send that 12-15 girl to kill the woman whose sister she (Dorothy) accidently killed in the first place.

 

Also, the citizens of Oz are a credulous lot, aren't they? They let this guy run the country, but he isolates himself and makes scary effects when folks "meet" with him. Yet the old country dude that, at the end of the movie, says he's the Wizard- as does the outworlder and her three weirdo companions- everything's still cool and no one questions the old guy. On top of that, they are okay with another virtual stranger- the Scarecrow- taking over the government from The Wizard.

 

Glinda's "you wouldn't have believed me" defense is weak, as has been talked about elsewhere. (http://www.cracked.com/article_18881_5-reasons-greatest-movie-villain-ever-good-witch.html )

 

Another movie that gets me angry? Star Wars: The Phantom Menace , not for the usually stated reasons.

 

I am the odd duck that liked goofy Jar-Jar Binks. In fact, I noticed that as accident-prone as he was written to be, Jar-Jar had a Heroic Journey in that film, but it was all ignored because Jar-Jar wasn't considered important enough, outside of his guide duties.  He goes from local outcast to heroic friend to the queen and a junior senator! 

 

No one has to join me at the little fold-down table here in the corner, but the second time I saw the movie, it seemed to jump out to me.

[Sandman]

I don't mind Glinda, because even as a kid I figured that Dorothy had to earn the right to get home. That's the way of fairy tales, ain't it?

 

And as much as I hated Lola, I didn't think she deserved to marry to get married off to her rapist. She was a nasty little piece of work, but her fate chilled me. I hate Atonement in general, though. Insufferable twaddle. Just the thought of Joe Wright's pawprints on Pan makes me want to swear never to waste my money and time on it.

[magicdog]

 

I am the odd duck that liked goofy Jar-Jar Binks

 

I remember coming across news of an underground version of the film in which someone deftly edited Jar-Jar out of the film almost entirely and according to those who saw it, said it improved the film a bit.  Others said it didn't make much difference, as the movie still sucked.

 

As for The Wizard of Oz, I had always wondered about the scenes in which we see the other characters played by Frank Morgan, namely the carriage driver and the castle guard.  Was it a joke to have Morgan play these characters before ultimately playing the Wizard, or was it supposed to have been the Wizard's way of hiding and keeping people from getting too close?   When asked about the Wizard, the carriage driver hems and haws before driving the gang there, then the guard stalls them by claiming "Not nobody, not no how!" was getting in to see the Wizard.  If it was the Wizard playing both those roles, he'd have had to run like the dickens between opening the door to let the group in and running to his apparatus behind the curtain without being seen.

[Spartan Girl]

How about the ending to Mystic River.  Marcia Gay Harden thinks her husband murdered a girl, and instead of going to the police, she blabs her suspicions to the girl's father -- who might I add was a convicted felon.  And it isn't until after the father kills her husband that everyone finds out that he was actually innocent the whole time.

 

Say it with me: YOU STUPID BITCH!

 

I hope her son found out what she did and hated her for the rest of her miserable life.

[Sandman]

Not just the ending of Mystic River. Mystic River, full stop. The whole enterprise is angrifying. Between this movie and I Am Sam, it took me years -- years! -- before I would consider watching another movie starring Sean Penn. (I just can't with I Am Sam.)

[Wiendish Fitch]

Not just the ending of Mystic River. Mystic River, full stop. The whole enterprise is angrifying. Between this movie and I Am Sam, it took me years -- years! -- before I would consider watching another movie starring Sean Penn. (I just can't with I Am Sam.)

Ah, yes, I Am Sam, the movie that taught us that to raise a kid, "all you need is love". Even if you're developmentally unable to navigate the adult world on your own, don't listen to those mean ol' social worker poopheads, good intentions are all you need to rear a human being into maturity!

 

There have been cases of mentally challenged people who are somehow able to parent children. It's not easy, and they need a lot of help, but they do it, but not in the way it's depicted in I Am Sam. As someone who has known and worked with adults with mental disabilities, Penn's portrayal of a mentally handicapped man absolutely disgusted me. He reduced these people, who deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect granted anyone else, into a pitiable and cartoonish caricature. I Am Sam is an insult to people with mental retardation, an insult to parenting, an insult to everyone's intelligence.

 

I hate Sean Penn, can you tell?

Edited January 21, 2015 by Wiendish Fitch

[Sandman]

Penn's portrayal of a mentally handicapped man absolutely disgusted me. He reduced these people, who deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect granted anyone else, into a pitiable and cartoonish caricature. 

 

Quoted for truth. Sean Penn's lazy, condescending crapstorm of a "performance" should have been laughed out of the Academy. It's absolutely vile.

[nicepebbles]

Pretty much any time the BF was on screen in the latest Transformer's movie. (Don't judge me! Watching Optimus Prime is never not cool!) I don't know, you're finally meeting your GF's dad (her only living parent) after sneaking around for however long and things just got crazy, you'd think you'd be a little last flippant, show a little respect. He was such a little ass and the his GF didn't give a shit that her BF was being such an ass to her dad. By the end of the movie, Mr. Nice and I both hated the daughter and the BF. The daughter sealed her fate when she was rescued at one point by her dad and BF and she only hugged the BF like he was the best thing since sliced bread.

 

Any scene, just about, from any Tyler Perry movie, except one, angers up my blood.

[ribboninthesky1]

I know what you mean about Transformers.  I remember hoping that one or both would somehow perish, though I knew my hopes would not be realized.

[Spartan Girl]

Seeing a recent Law and Order SVU episode reminded me just how much I hated Jennifer Lopez's family in Angel Eyes.  Her father almost kills her mom, she calls the police to stop him, and everyone turns on her for "betraying" the father?  Even the mother scolded her for "not remembering the good times."  What a bunch of ungrateful assholes!

[nicepebbles]

I felt the same way about Angel Eyes, Spartan Girl. Having in the past had to cut family off for their nonsense, I said aloud, "F 'em. Blood or not."

[dusang]

Seeing a recent Law and Order SVU episode reminded me just how much I hated Jennifer Lopez's family in Angel Eyes.  Her father almost kills her mom, she calls the police to stop him, and everyone turns on her for "betraying" the father?  Even the mother scolded her for "not remembering the good times."  What a bunch of ungrateful assholes!

 

I haven't seen Angel Eyes but mentioning Jennifer Lopez's family in a movie reminded me of The Wedding Planner where somehow the entire production confused "Italian-American" with "developmentally delayed."  Like, literally to this day I'm unclear on whether we were supposed to believe her father was developmentally delayed.  Honestly, can someone tell me?

[Spartan Girl]

Well he was developmentally delayed in the sense that his daughter needed a man so badly that it justified practically arranging a marriage for her.

 

Also that whole Wedding Planner movie makes me mad in general.  The whole time I watched to punch Matthew McConaughey in the face -- although to be fair, I want to do that in most movies he's in.

[MrsRafaelBarba]

Mystic River...

Laura Linney's You're a King speech, still makes me want to punch babies.

Only time Penn was Oscar Worthy to me, was Dead Man Walking.

Blue Jasmine...

Ginger running back to her ex, after learning her car fucking buddy was married.

Really?

[Sandman]

I actually liked Penn's performance in Milk far more than in Dead Man Walking; I found Dead Man Walking obvious and cheaply sentimental. In particular the unearned Christ parallels -- or, rather, anvils -- made me want to punch the director in the schnozz.

[Wiendish Fitch]

Blue Jasmine...

Ginger running back to her ex, after learning her car fucking buddy was married.

Really?

 

Ginger was too good for either of those losers. I was annoyed that she went back to her loutish fiancee. Bobby Cannavale specializes in playing men that no sane woman would ever want to date, much less marry. 

 

In The Talk of the Town, when Nora rips poor MIchael a new one because he had Leopold arrested, I wanted to smack her in her mealy little mouth. Don't mind me too much, though, because Michael is played by Ronald Colman,and I'm naturally very protective of him.

 

Every scene with Victor Moore in It Happened on Fifth Avenue fills me with rage. It doesn't help that his character is a sanctimonious, hypocritical, entitled squatter who is treated as a saint by everyone else, but Moore has one of the most punchable faces ever, combined with that creepy leer and mumbly speech. I find I can't enjoy the Astaire/Rogers musical Swing Time because of him.

[spaceytraci1208]

In The Sixth Sense , the reveal that the little girl's mother was poisoning her. I wish there was some payoff besides just seeing that the family now knows...I wanted that bitch to catch an uppercut or something.

[xaxat]

Cloverfield. I was pissed when they killed off Malena. It was really bad ass they way she wailed on that alien. Everybody else was annoying.

[blueray]

I honestly liked Sam I am , of course I saw it before I begun working with people who are developmentally disabled. I had no problem with his performance or the movie. My only complaint is I doubt Child Protection Services would have taken Lucy away without trying something else like maybe more support at home, or helping him with parent classes. Sam was providing a loving home for his daughter, he did have friends that were helping out. Lucy was going to school, she was fed and had a roof over her head. She was never beaten or neglected. The issue turned out to me that the daughter was afraid (I guess) to be "smarter" than her father. This is something that could have been worked through in therapy, along with other issues that could come up and not something so drastic like putting her in foster care. 

 

The way it is now, parents should have custody of their children assuming they aren't being abused or neglected, which in this story she wasn't.

[hardy har]

Atonement was just the worst - I almost wish I could unwatch it and wipe it completely out of my head. I don't think I have ever encountered more deplorable characters. And worst yet, the jerks get married (Paul and Lola) and no one pays for the horrible deaths of two innocent people! GRRRRRR!

One of my favorite movie promo tour things EVER was Keira Knightley and James McAvoy relating an onset story about Joe Wright saying Briony should be forgiven because she felt so horrible about what happened to Robbie and Cecelia. James said he just sort of politely disagreed because he didn't know Joe well enough, but in his mind he was freaking out. Keira, OTOH, basically told him he was fucking insane and that Briony was a horrible asshole who ruined two peoples lives. Then, the interviewer asked them (in a few different ways) if they could at least understand why Briony waited so long or if they could perhaps sympathize with her and they were both like, "Fuck, no. She's a terrible person."

 

I liked both of them already, but that interview pretty much put them on my Awesome List forever.

Edited February 22, 2015 by hardy har

[Sandman]

James said he just sort of politely disagreed because he didn't know Joe well enough, but in his mind he was freaking out. Keira, OTOH, basically told him he was fucking insane and that Briony was a horrible asshole who ruined two peoples lives. Then, the interviewer asked them (in a few different ways) if they could at least understand why Briony waited so long or if they could perhaps sympathize with her and they were both like, "Fuck, no. She's a terrible person.".

 

Jamie-Boy McAvoy is already on my Awesome For Life list, but now I'm definitely adding Knightley, too. That story elevates my opinion of her immeasurably.

[Bastet]

This only gets my blood mildly percolating, but ... I find the Steve Martin remake of Father of the Bride charming - in fact, I like it better than the original - but I find many of George's objections to Annie's wedding quite reasonable, despite the movie's assertion he's being ridiculous 100% of the time.  First and foremost, his 22-year-old daughter who is still in graduate school and lives at home announces she intends to marry a man she's known only for a few months (and whom the parents have never even heard of, let alone met).  His "WTH do you mean you're getting married?" reaction is perfectly normal; what's ridiculous is expecting him to just keep eating his dinner and immediately come to terms with the fact this is her choice to make.  Then, for a wedding the bride and groom aren't spending a penny of their own money on, Annie and Nina (and that ridiculous wedding planner) come up with a $250/person ($250 in 1991 dollars, mind you) plan and then proceed to propose an invitation list of over 500 people.  But George is unreasonable for going through the list, culling people they're not close to, haven't seen in ages, are clients rather than personal contacts, etc.

 

All the stuff he gets up to with the future in-laws, his hot dog bun meltdown in the store, etc. -- yes, he acts crazy on many occasions.  But I am completely with him on his fundamental "it's too soon for her to get married" and "this wedding has gotten completely out of hand" objections and it bugs me they're waved away in the same manner as his nonsense.

[ChelseaNH]

I am convinced that movie was subsidized by the wedding industry, with the whole "extravagant expense = love" message.

[Sandman]

Plus, the extravagance of the wedding is far beyond any reasonable, Kardashian-free event, and has nothing to do with George's ostensible budget, 1991 dollars or no. Don't get me wrong, the movie is mostly charming, and it's one of Martin's warmest, most appealing portrayals. I find both Kimberly Williams and George Newbern kind of adorable as the bridal couple. But George is not a crackpot, to borrow a phrase. I mean, swans, FFS? Nancy Meyers' movies are so filled with conspicuous consumption, it's not even funny.

And that wedding planner doucheflange Is the only Martin Short I've ever HATED. He's enragingly ridiculous all on his own. I'm fairly certain that "Why won't you diiiiiiiieeeee?!" is not the audience reaction the movie was looking for.

Edited February 26, 2015 by Sandman

[dusang]

I don't even see the hotdog meltdown as unreasonable -- why would they package the weiners and buns in different numbers?!?!  WHY?!

[ChaseMCP]

I've never seen Father of the Bride, but that reminds me of how annoyed I was when I watched Guess Who's Coming to Dinner cause the main couple are getting married even though they met like ten days ago, and it's brushed over (for obvious reasons). It doesn't anger me, cause the movie was always about tackling the larger issue of race at the time, but it was a little hard to sit through as I spent the entire viewing going, "they have every right to be concerned - you two just met and they know absolutely nothing about him." Still a good movie nonetheless.

[scarynikki12]

Regarding Father of the Bride, I was irritated that George didn't get to enjoy the wedding.  Yes, him helping park cars and dealing with every other last minute issue was part of the wacky hijinks that were necessary for the comedy aspect but they could have pulled a lot of that off without ignoring the wedding staples.  This wasn't an alternative wedding where the bride and groom don't do anything traditional.  This was a wedding where everyone automatically expected George and Nina to pay for everything (save a comment by Brian's parents that were made offscreen and never brought up again).  The craziest thing that happened was that they had the reception at the house, but was otherwise a traditional wedding.  Yet, there was no dance for George and Annie, no dance for George and Brian's mom, no toasts, no insistence that the family of the bride and groom are next in line to eat, no pictures, nothing.  George walked Annie down the aisle and then didn't see her again until sometime after her honeymoon.  The movie couldn't have made it clearer that his only purpose was to pay for everything yet he was presented as being So Unreasonable for objecting to the cost of the cake, the swans, planting tulips, inviting people they don't even spend much time with, and so on. 

 

And I get that it was the early 90s, was a remake of the Elizabeth Taylor one, and George was supposed to be over the top in his frugality, but I think it could have been done better.  George having a hard time seeing Annie as an adult was one of the early things we learn about his character but the movie then ignores this, frankly, more interesting story until his realization during the ceremony.  And it wasn't earned.  Annie wasn't behaving maturely during the movie, with George refusing to realize in favor of the little girl who'd idolized him.  She was behaving like a spoiled child.  Don't get me wrong, Annie was a nice person with a good future, but she was spoiled and it showed all over the movie.  She expected her parents to be thrilled that she came home from Rome engaged to a man they'd never heard of (and then rubbed salt in the wound with the reveal that his parents not only knew about her but had met, and established a relationship with, her already) and then stormed off when they didn't jump for joy at the announcement (incidentally, I wish Nina's early stance of not wanting to alienate Annie for fear that she'd run off, marry Brian and never return home had remained because that would have also been interesting rather than her instant acceptance of Brian when they met him).  She expected them to pay for the wedding, including things that the bride's family don't traditionally pay for such as airline tickets for the guests, and got mad when he objected to the frivolous stuff or tried to find solutions to the exorbitant cost.  The estimated cost of the wedding was over $125,000.  That's insane for anyone who isn't a multimillionaire.  And then, after George gives in and accepts that this expensive wedding is happening, he doesn't get to enjoy what he paid for.  He doesn't get to eat, doesn't get to sit and relax, doesn't get to dance with Annie or at all, and doesn't get to see her off or say goodbye.  All he gets is treated like one of Franck's employees and a phone call minutes before Annie boards her flight.  Annie and Nina both make comments about Where's Dad? and He missed the bouquet toss, yet it apparently never occurred to either to grab Franck and make him get George.  It would have been more honest if Annie had just taken his wallet out of his hand. 

 

I get the metaphor they were going for but all I saw was a spoiled child getting showered with money and being completely ungrateful.  Annie was supposed to be this modern woman, who did the hyphenated last name, still intended to have a career, and refused to have veal at the wedding because of the appalling way the calves were treated.  Yet she was straight out of the fifties in every way that actually mattered.  Rather than throwing a fit at George's frugality, she should have put her foot down, told him to stuff his pride, and ask Brian's family for help funding the extravaganza.  Given how many people were on the invite list, they should have had the reception at Brian's house as it was actually equipped for such an event.  Or, and here's a crazy idea: suggest she and Brian pay for it themselves.  Brian made a lot of money in his job, so much so that companies couldn't afford to hire him as a permanent worker.  She could have planned the wedding, Brian could have paid for it, and the movie could have focused on George coming to realize that Annie was all grown up and leaving him and Nina for her new life.  Annie doing any of that would have presented her as the modern woman she was supposed to be. 

 

And I know that we have the scene where George comes upon a sleeping Annie and realizes she's reading a How to Save on a Wedding article, but none of the suggestions actually show up so I think she was just reading it in case she needed a defense should anyone confront her over her expectations.

[Bastet]

I think Annie was genuine with her "how to have a beautiful wedding on a budget" reading, but it was more of the film's foolishness that the tips contained within that article were ridiculously cheap so George has A Moment and decides he should just stand back and let Franck run with things.  Which, hello?!  There's a world of sanity between the two extremes.

 

The movie has so many genuine moments, like George seeing Annie as a little girl sitting there saying, "I met a boy in Rome and we're getting married," Annie's freak-out about what Brian's expectations are for their life together that he gives her a kitchen appliance as a gift (although threatening to call off the wedding in response just speaks to the fact she's too damn young and inexperienced to get married), Annie shooting hoops in the middle of the night because the realization this is her last night as a “kid” has hit her, George at the church doors musing this is the moment he’s been dreading for 22 years but realizing she knows what she’s doing, etc.  And so many funny ones.  But there's just no balance.  Fathers of daughters generally provide those around them with good laughs - a friend's brother-in-law went out in the middle of move-in day and bought his daughter a chair for her dorm room on the theory that only having the bed to sit on was just asking for trouble - that there is no need to present George's every action and objection as crazy. 

Edited February 27, 2015 by Bastet

[Wiendish Fitch]

See, this is why I prefer the original, 1950 Father of the Bride. Being a Golden Age MGM film directed by that most stylish and stylized  of directors Vincente Minnelli, it has that certain fantastic mood that you'd expect, the kind that movies back then could get away with. Is the wedding in that one bloated and overpriced? Sure (though, to be fair, it's nowhere near as ridiculous as the 1991 version), but, as one author put it, MGM films back then "only had a passing acquaintance with reality". I'm sorry, but in the more cynical, modern 1990s, Father of the Bride just doesn't work.

[Bastet]

Plus being written by Goodrich and Hackett.  As I probably posted in the Unpopular Opinions thread at some point, although on paper I absolutely should like the original more, I prefer the remake.  I credit Steve Martin for that.  But, yeah - on the flip side, things that don't bug me in the original do bug me in this one.

[Spartan Girl]

Josie's brother in Never Been Kissed royally pisses me off after he reams her out for exposing herself and ruining his chance to make something of himself in high school after he tried to help her.  Like his motives for going back to high school just so that he can be popular and scam on high school girls again were that altruistic!  And where the hell was he when she went through hell when she was really in high school?!!!!!!!!

 

Plus the scene where that asshole tricked her into going to prom just so that he and his date could throw eggs at her was completely cruel.  Worse than Carrie even, because at least Carrie got to go to the prom (and have revenge).

[Wiendish Fitch]

Josie's brother in Never Been Kissed royally pisses me off after he reams her out for exposing herself and ruining his chance to make something of himself in high school after he tried to help her.  Like his motives for going back to high school just so that he can be popular and scam on high school girls again were that altruistic!  And where the hell was he when she went through hell when she was really in high school?!!!!!!!!

 

Plus the scene where that asshole tricked her into going to prom just so that he and his date could throw eggs at her was completely cruel.  Worse than Carrie even, because at least Carrie got to go to the prom (and have revenge).

 

I respectfully disagree about it being worse than Carrie. At least only Josie and that asshole she had the misfortune of trusting knew what happened, and I'm willing to bet Josie could at least seek comfort with her loving mom. Carrie was publicly humiliated and toyed with, and stabbed by her psycho mother. 

 

Moving along, don't forget that Rob was the one who invented the nickname "Josie Gross-y." Also, his flirting with that underage girl was 100 kinds of disgusting. Rob was an asshole who deserved to be a failure. He shouldn't have succeeded at the end, he should have served as a cautionary tale against being a douchebag who peaks in his teens.

 

And how about that teacher who humiliates Josie for being late to class… but doesn't utter a peep when that popular idiot waltzes in even later? What a hypocritical bitch!

 

Gosh, no wonder I haven't re-watched Never Been Kissed since high school...

Edited March 13, 2015 by Wiendish Fitch

[DeLurker]

Moving along, don't forget that Rob was the one who invented the nickname "Josie Gross-y." Also, his flirting with that underage girl was 100 kinds of disgusting. Rob was an asshole who deserved to be a failure. He shouldn't have succeeded at the end, he should have served as a cautionary tale against being a douchebag who peaks in his teens.

 

And how about that teacher who humiliates Josie for being late to class… but doesn't utter a peep when that popular idiot waltzes in even later? What a hypocritical bitch!

Didn't the douche bro become some kind of teacher or coaching assistant at the end?  Because this is the exact kind of gu you want around teenage girls.

 

Teachers IRL can play favorites - not all do, but I can think of several in my past that did.  It wasn't consistent though - it wasn't always popular vs unpopular.

 

But that movie left a lot to be desired.

[Shannon L.]

Yeah, Never Been Kissed was creepy and infuriating in regards to Rob, but I adore the very end with Michael Vartan's character kissing her on the baseball mound.  It's so sweet.  I just think he's adorable.

[Spartan Girl]

At least only Josie and that asshole she had the misfortune of trusting knew what happened, and I'm willing to bet Josie could at least seek comfort with her loving mom. Carrie was publicly humiliated and toyed with, and stabbed by her psycho mother.

 

 

Pretty sure that asshole probably bragged to his friends and the entire school about what he did to Josie, but I get your point.

 

Another Drew Barrymore movie with a moment that pissed me is Ever After, when the prince treats Danielle like shit in front of the entire ball.  Maybe he did have a right to be confused and upset, but let's not forget that he ignored her repeated pleas to go somewhere in private so she could tell him the truth and dragged her right up to the king and queen.  Okay, maybe he was too excited to listen, but he didn't give her the benefit of the doubt before ripping into her.  Either way, I think Danielle was a little too forgiving when he apologized.  Just my opinion.

[Sandman]

To be fair, the ball was a pretty low point for Henry, in that he was capitulating to his parents' pressure, and when he does apologize to Danielle, Henry does so in terms that make it plain he recognizes just how badly he has failed her. I guess I'm saying his apology worked for me.

(And it was her stepmother who dragged Danielle out into the centre of the company, as I recall, rather than the prince.)