MovieChat Forums > Jaws (1975) Discussion > One flaw

One flaw

posted 3 years ago by Orleans87 (12)
11 replies | jump to latest

I love this movie from beginning to end, but there is one flaw. When the remains of Chrissy (first victim) are found at the beach, you see the deputy falling to his knees, portraying how shocked he is by what he discovered. Then you see Brody also looking at her remains, being visibly shocked as well. And for some reason the blond dude, who tried to get in Chrissy’s pants and only survived because he was drunk and passed out on the beach, is looking around cluelessly, like he can’t find what everyone else is looking at. This always bothered me (made me laugh) because it’s so obvious that the actor has no clue what to do in this scene. And it’s so weird because at first he looked in the same direction as Brody. Brody holds him back not to step closer, but “hilariously” the guy doesn’t see her. Was he not instructed what to do in that scene? It’s a shame because it’s such a tense scene as well.
And in the next scene he is sitting around with a blank stare in the police station all zoned out like he has actually seen her (or what was left of her). I’m just thinking, when did he see her ? 🤣
Thoughts?

[–] moviechatterer (13465) 3 years ago

I think he saw her early on , before brody held him back , or at least realised she was dead.
and from then on was just in a bit of a "daze" not knowing what to do

[–] Orleans87 (12) 3 years ago

Yes, he was looking in the same direction as Brody while they are jogging over and in that moment it looks like he’s seeing her. But as Brody continues looking in Chrissy’s direction, the blond guy looks to the right, behind him, to the left and down with a searching look on his face. To me it looks just like the actor wasn’t guided properly.

[–] ebhaynz (3540) 3 years ago

I think the director wanted the focus to be between the deputy and Brody, especially to show how professional city boy Sheriff Brody is, letting the audience know he's not what the locals think of him.

Spielberg probably told the kid to look around confused and he just did the best he could.

[–] ebhaynz (3540) 3 years ago

He didn't seem to know what was going on, her remains were covered up by crabs maybe he was looking around thinking there was some other reason the kneeling deputy(who was on the other side of the sand dune facing AWAY from the crab covered remains) blew the whistle.

Also, in times of intense stress there's often nothing but fog and confusion..then, when reality finally hits home, you end up with the same type of blank stare he ended up having. He was probably thinking "My god, she didn't drown she got chopped up by a boat propeller or somebody cut her up and there she was I didn't even know it was parts of a human body, and I certainly didn't know it was her!"

[–] Orleans87 (12) 3 years ago

He really looked clueless, but he also didn’t fit the scene in that moment. Throughout his searching looks his eyes fall on the deputy once, but his gaze doesn’t linger.
It could be PTSD, but this could have been done better imo. Like after he first looks in her direction, instead of continuing to nonchalantly search all over the sand, it might have been better for him to just turn away abruptly in horror and leave the shot. Or just continue to look at the deputy in speechless shock, refusing to look towards Chrissy. As it is, it’s unfortunately unintentionally goofy, especially in a scene that is quite shocking. I personally think the actor wasn’t prepared properly, like no one told him what the scene was about or what to focus on and how to react. And I wouldn’t be too surprised after watching the making of and how taxing the shoot was, that such a small detail of a minor actor (who appears for maybe 2 minutes in the movie) not giving a fitting reaction might have been overlooked.

[–] ebhaynz (3540) 3 years ago

You're right it's pretty bad acting but that's part of the charm of the movie. Note a lot of the actors who play the locals are bad actors, almost cringe-worthy. The only actors who are good are the 3 main actors, the guy who plays the mayor, and the girl in the opening scene. Also note when the 3 main actors go out at sea the picture goes from being good to fantastic. Quint, Brody, and Hooper are like "I'd rather be out here fighting this shark then being back on the Island with those losers"

[–] PaladinNJ (20326) 3 years ago

Could be he was supposed to be in shock.

[–] Theman (1072) 3 years ago

Maybe he and the Shark were in cahoots?

[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

He's a stupid, spoiled, immature teenager, who still has plenty of alcohol and weed sloshing around in what passes for his brain.

All he's thinking is "Oh shit, I'm gonna get in trouble", and how this is going to affect his ability to party, he doesn't give a rat's ass about that girl. So no, it's no error or plothole, it's just a twerp who doesn't care about anyone but himself.

[–] triplea (3577) 3 years ago

Exactly.

How someone can't understand this is beyond puzzling.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 3 years ago

Beware of people who hang out on the Psycho board.