best scene

When danny is kissing lorna goodbye and he starts crying...

Where they're all dancing to fire and rain, and at the end when River says goodbye to his family and fire and rain starts to play.

yes the best scene was the end when the family leaves him. its so sad.

I'm so glad you brought up the restaurant scene. The acting from Christine Lahti and Steven Hill in that scene is just incredible. There are so many emotions running through it -- love, anger, resentment, shame, bitterness... it's an incredibly complex scene.

But what gets me most is the moment near the end of the restaurant scene, when Annie gets up to leave and her father's face just breaks (and you can see that he's on the verge of sobbing)... in that moment, my heart just breaks all over the place.

I remember that same year that Roger Ebert singled out Steven Hill as one of the greatest and most underappreciated actors working at the time, and he specifically showed this scene to illustrate why.

Great movie.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I keep thinking I'm a grownup, but I'm not.

I agree that the best scene is between Christine Lahti and her father. I cry everytime I see it. One of the most human moments I've ever seen.

Completely agree -- it's so moving and utterly heartbreaking. Lahti and Hill are fantastic in that scene -- it's devastating but worth the price of the entire film. And it directly affects the emotion of the ending for me, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I keep thinking I'm a grownup, but I'm not.

Alot of scenes.......

I loved the birthday scene with Fire and Rain. It was sweet, and showed that the family could actually be simple and fun and loving.

When Danny leads Lorna out to the woods and tells her the truth. He has got the best delivery......love that boy to death.....

When Lorna picks up the shell and Danny is standing right in front of her and they show that side view.

The one with Christine Lahti and the father in the resturant.....so sad!!

The ending, when Danny leaves the family and when he leave Lorna.


And for funniess, I absolutely LOVE that part where Danny grabs the hat, and then grabs the blown up guitar and says "Guitar is my liiiife!" and then he pretends to jam- LOL TOO HILARIOUS!!! sounds like something River would do hehe.

This film is filled with many great and unforgettable moments as all these comments suggest. So many that it's very difficult to hold up one in particular as the best. River had a tenderness that just radiates on screen and rings so true in every scene. There's a moment when he spontaneously hugs his mother (Lahti) after her argument with Carson that would be such an ordinary scene with anyone else, but with River, is lent a poingant and emotional impact that almost defies explanation. A similar moment occurs when his father (Hirsch) arrives home drunk and upset and collapses on the floor. The scenes in which he cries (parting first from Plimpton and then his family), are uniquely moving and in my opinion beyond the means of almost any other actor - past or present. There's very little facial movement - maybe just a quiver across the mouth, a sadness in the eyes and the most believable tears I've ever seen on film. All this plus many great moments from the rest of the cast make this movie a real treasure.