Daily Dialogue — June 1, 2015

Calvin “Cal” Jarrett: You are beautiful. And you are unpredictable. But you’re so cautious. You’re determined, Beth; but you know something? You’re not strong. And I don’t know if you’re really giving. Tell me something. Do you love me? You really love me?
Beth Jarrett: I feel the way I’ve always felt about you.
Calvin “Cal” Jarrett: We would have been all right if there hadn’t been any mess. But you can’t handle mess. You need everything neat and easy. I don’t know. Maybe you can’t love anybody. It was so much Buck. When Buck died, it was as if you buried all your love with him, and I don’t understand that, I just don’t know, I don’t… maybe it wasn’t even Buck; maybe it was just you. Maybe, finally, it was the best of you that you buried. But whatever it was… I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what we’ve been playing at. So I was crying. Because I don’t know if I love you anymore. And I don’t know what I’m going to do without that.

— Ordinary People (1980), screenplay by Alvin Sargent, novel by Judith Guest

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Grief. Today’s suggestion by James Schramm.

Trivia: The final scene in the dining room between Calvin and Beth was originally shot with both Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore on location. However, during editing, Sutherland thought that he had Calvin crying too much, ruining the scene. So, he and director Robert Redford reshot his scenes on a partial set recreated to look like the dining room. Since Moore, who was doing theater work in New York, was unable to return for the reshoot, Redford read her lines off camera for Sutherland to respond to.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by James: “Fabulous movie about people dealing with grief. One of Sutherland’s best roles.”