What was the point of humiliating his step-son by making him pick up his wrecked bike and carry it across the finish line? Especially when it was not his fault that the other guy bumped him from the race?
And what a loser mother to not stick up for her son! But pretty typical.
I agree with you. He had no right to act like he did in some parts, and continue to treat his son like garbage after he saved his life pulling him out of the truck
Also the son should of rebelled since well, it's not his real father
I just watched this movie again for the first time in a long time, and my god the stepfather is an ass. He came off more abusive than stern. At no point did I like him or even want him to live.
shareI was hoping he would have been injured and really needed his stepson to help him. That would have been a nice turn of events. His "mother" wasn't much better for allowing it to happen.
shareYeah her standing there and smiling all the time, and then later confiding to her sister how hard her husband was on her son, was kind of infuriating. I don't know, the whole thing gave me abusive family vibes. I know that's not what they were going for, but I didn't like it.
shareI felt that way about the Grandmother too. She didn't seem at all grateful that Dan had rescued her. She just blathered on about her farm animals and an imaginary angel. She didn't even bother to ask about Dan or his family. And then she pretended not to know she'd seen Dan when Dan's mother asked about him. I have a feeling that she was the driving force behind Dan's stepfather's abusiveness. I just didn't like her. But then I felt sorrowful at the end when Dan said that she had passed in the Spring.
shareYou can discipline (when actually needed) without being a jerk. But humiliating a kid by making him carry his wrecked bicycle over the finish line (and being the only one) was not discipline. It was just humiliating.
And what was the need for "discipline" there anyway? It's not like the kid purposely wrecked the bike, or was goofing around, etc.
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Yes, in other parts he was a jerk, but I did think he was right here. The son was upset that his bike was wrecked, so he wanted to just quit the race. His step-father didn't want him to be a quitter, but to be brave and still go on with the race, possibly to show the bad guys that he was not going to let them stop him from doing his best. But in all other areas, I also agree that his mom should have stood up for him and let the step-father know not to treat him like he is dumb or would harm his step-brother. The grandma should have stepped in also and told her son to stop being so rough.
share