best scene - Running on Empty (1988) Discussion

[–] freakaman24 18 years ago

Two scenes stand out for me- The first one is when Christine Lahti plays the piano with River Phoenix at his school and the second and the best is the scene between her and her father ( the unforgettable Steven Hill )at the restaurant. It is one of the most tearful scenes in films and one of the best.

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[–] kman1020 18 years ago

The end scene. It really makes you wonder if in fact they ever see each other again or if Annie really turns herself in after Harry comes of age. I wonder if the book (if there is one) goes into that. Every time I hear Fire and Rain, I think of that scene.

Also a sad scene is the very beginning when they are on the move. They stop and leave the family dog in the middle of nowhere. That makes me cry.

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[–] TemporaryOne-1 18 years ago

Best scenes -

The end scene, Fire And Rain plays, and incorporated into the song is the family singing the same song, and laughing (from the birthday party), and River just standing there...

Christine Lahti in the restaurant with her father, Steven Hill deserved an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor just for that scene

I cannot even listen to Fire And Rain, because everytime I do, all I think about is River Phoenix, his----, and the end of Running On Empty.

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[–] actorman-99 18 years ago

"Also the end scene. Every time his father says "Go out there and make a difference. Your mother and I tried. And don't let anybody tell you any different." it just speaks to me. it makes me cry every time. Good stuff."

Couldn't have said it better myself. This film is really a hidden gem, and it's amazing how few people know about it/have seen it. I will say that one of the reasons the ending works is because the first "Fire and Rain" scene was so great -- one sets up the other.

I also love the scene where River Phoenix auditions for Julliard. The look on the woman's face who's watching is beautiful. There are just so many great moments in this film it's hard to narrow them down.

I've seen the film at least 10 times and it still makes me cry.

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[–] Samboknows 17 years ago

I think the Julliard scene is the best...the composition he played was nice and his humbleness afterward was perfect.
The moment when he meets his grandmother delivering the pizza was good as well. It's a simple, solid film that did a nice job of capturing this family...

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[–] kwongers 18 years ago

I loved the entire birthday party scene. It was really well done, especially when they all started dancing.

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[–] mypencilportraits 18 years ago

I think the best, well, most intense scene is when Danny is finally let go in sort of a ripping kind of way. The look on his face is as though he is on the edge of a cliff being let go from a family slave kind of life, though it was for his best interest.

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[–] VCheerchic 18 years ago

I enjoyed the whole movie, but here are some of my favorite scenes:

The birthday party scene with the song "Fire and Rain." I love that song!!

The scene where Michael (Danny) tells Lorna the truth about himself and his family.

The scene where they go for their walk, or hike, to the beach.

And finally, the end of the movie. I thought it was so sad when he said goodbye to Lorna. Then when he said goodbye to his family and "Fire and Rain" started playing again, I could not stop crying!!

This was an excellent movie. I just recently watched it over the weekend and I love it. River Phoenix was an amazing actor. It is such a shame that we will never get to see any new movies from him. He was so talented. I love and respect the work that he did, though, and I will miss him always.

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[–] Sweet_Petite 18 years ago

When he plays the piano for Phillips for the first time.

When Danny and Lorna are in her room for the first time and he puts the hat on and that fake guitar and starts pretending to play and rock out to it.

The birthday scene.

Of course, the scene when Danny goes to Lorna's place and they go out back to to talk and he tells her everything. River was so great during that scene.

The resturant scene with Annie and her father.

When Danny says goodbye to Lorna and he starts crying right before he leaves.

And of course, the last scene when the family let's him go.

I don't shut up, I grow up, and when I look at you I throw up.

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[–] Samboknows 17 years ago

the scene where he plays for Phillips was nice and one I'd forgotten about. My favorite is the audition for Julliard...it's a good, simple film. There should be more stories like this told...

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[–] Menthol_Rock_n_Roll 17 years ago

its little gestures like that which make you like a guy:)

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[–] Stephanay0791 17 years ago

i love the scene where he tells her everything and he says "i don't know what i'm doing. but i'm telling you because i love you" it was just so sweet and so sad at the same time.

and the ending where they tell him he's staying fire and rain starts playing by James Taylor and his brother screams goodbye and River gives the peace sign.the end of that movie always makes me cry . i love this movie

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[–] Menthol_Rock_n_Roll 17 years ago

stephany, the ending is my fave too, i love his smile and James Taylor's beautiful song. The song never gets old! Gosh i love Riv's smile. lil sweetie.

When all else fails...blame it on Darnell or Botswana-Mobay

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[–] funnelcake 17 years ago

I just saw the film because it was posted on youtube, it wasn't the best quality or anything but it was still good. It probably didn't have the same effect on me either because I couldn't really make out facial expressions or see people's faces that clearly. I hear on here that people said they cried and I was like wtf because I didn't, maybe because the people's faces were blurry and I couldn't feel the emotion? Anyway I don't know if this was mentioned but I liked the scene where Danny goes into the home ecomnomics class the the girl was laughing..lol. I also like that part where Danny was like "you can't dance to beetoven" in that classroom or whatever where those kids were dancing to Madonna. haha..peace.

"Don't blend in, blend out" -Oprah kid

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] mealex 17 years ago

I like the scenes where Danny sneaks into Lorna's room late at night secretly and they both go walking out in the woods late at night alone.
It's very sweet.
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Yeah, and do you remember he gives her his sneakers because she's barefoot? Adorable.

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[–] moonflower_878005 17 years ago

I like part where she's mad at him but he follows her home anyway

and the scene where he takes her out of class and says goodbye and starts crying... its sooo sad... it makes me wanna hug him. lol

and both fire and rain scenes,
expecially the last one where the dad says
"we all love you. now go out there and make a difference. your mother and i tried" and they circle him in the car, and the brother yells "Bye danny!"
its so sad!

I love this movie. <3

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[–] sharp409 17 years ago

My favourites:

The scene where they all dance to Fire and rain
The ending scene (especially when Arthur says: ”your mother and I tried - don’t let anyone tell you any different.”)
The scene where Lorna and Danny walk in the woods and on the beach
The scene where Danny plays piano in the classroom
The scene where Danny is in the bathroom with his mother, to have his hair dyed

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[–] NatalieRae_xo 17 years ago

My two favorite scenes are definitely the "Fire and Rain" scene, and the part where he tells Lorna his true identity.
BUT.. I also really liked the part where (you guys are gonna think this is so dumb) but I really liked the part where he walked Lorna home after he could no longer be with her because he didn't want to lie, even though she wasn't speaking to him. I just couldn't help but think of how sweet and considerate of him it was. Most guys would have just went home if she was that ticked off, but he walked her to her door instead, even though she wouldn't even look at him! lol I donno, just a little thing I noticed.

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[–] entertainme5 14 years ago

i'm with everyone else, I love the scene where their dancing to "Fire and Rain"
I love this movie so much that River and Martha showed up in my dream and they were filming this movie but it was an extra scene meant to be the ending. They were on this lush green grass, and River had his feet propped up chilling in a chair listening to Martha, who was sitting on a rock. I can't remember what was said, but it was beautiful and I never have dreams of celebrities! The last thing I remember is that River was just staring at the camera, it was kinda hot and freaky!

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[–] avekpms 14 years ago

My favorite scene is when Christine Lahti and River Phoenix play the piano duet. I think it is a beautiful scene that says so much about the bond they share.

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[–] mellison-2 14 years ago

Jennifela and sourpuss posted way back about the restaurant scene with Danny's mom and her dad. That scene was terrific. One of the most gut wrenching scenes in movie history--honestly. Every great movie has three great scenes. The other two are the fire and rain scene and I really liked the scene when Danny first played piano for Mr. Phillips. Terrific movie.

"Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death."

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] silverkid 13 years ago

The dancing scene to Fire and Rain was fantastic!

My favorite scene however is when River Phoenix tells Martha Plimpton the truth about his life and family in the woods. He's so sincere and genuine. Great acting.

http://most-underrated-movies.blogspot.com/

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