The guitar scene


The part everyone seems to love so much - I thought was pretty terrible. Admittedly I've never heard of the song he was playing but I thought it was supposed to be a joke because of how ridiculous Ferrell sounded. But then Gyllenhaal literally throws herself at him? It was also weird because they had next to no chemistry throughout the film.

Was the impact lost on me purely because I didn't know that song or who Wreckless Eric is? Or maybe because I was so used to seeing Ferrell as a comedic actor before this role?

Someone please explain to me what was so good about this particular scene?

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It was also weird because they had next to no chemistry throughout the film.
It should go without saying that if you have little to no investment in the romance between Harold and Ana, you aren't going to enjoy that scene as much as people who are invested.

One reason it's satisfying is that it's the pay-off to the sub-plot in which Harold learns guitar. It's good to see the emotionally reserved Harold expressing himself, especially for those who see themselves in him.

I thought it was supposed to be a joke because of how ridiculous Ferrell sounded
I don't think the fact that his singing is unabashedly amateurish is meant to be funny (certainly not laugh-out-loud funny), it just makes him more endearing to the audience and Ana.

Was the impact lost on me purely because I didn't know that song or who Wreckless Eric is?
Knowing who Wreckless Eric is or anything about the song won't help much since the key thing is just whether or not you like the song itself.

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Like resmat-1 says, it's touching that Harold is doing something different, outside his shell, and doing it for Ana. He's willing to expose himself by doing something he's not good at. As a scene, it would be no good if Harold's performance was good.

Edward

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Well said. That was a perfect answer!

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I did buy the chemistry and that moment.

What I didn't buy is that the character of Harold would have learnt some obscure indie kind of song.

Harold would have learnt Coldplay or some other corporate soft rock. U2 perhaps.

The other thing with guitars that was way wrong is when Harold looked at the Gibson Hummingbird, J200 and other beautiful Gibson guitars (all of which cost a staggering amount of money) and these were for people who can't play guitar. Yeh right. These guitars only favoured by the likes of Keith Richards and George Harrison etc ...

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