Ordinary People

That's a very clever observation. I thought the speech sounded vaguely familiar; now I know why. I seriously doubt it was intentionally copied—more likely just an unconscious influence from something memorable heard many years earlier in a similar situation.

The speech from Ordinary People is beautifully worded, with very broad relevance to certain types of people, like both of these strong-willed but flawed heroines. So I think borrowing parts of the lines or adapting the sentiments—even if it was done intentionally—is more like paraphrasing Shakespeare than plagiarism.

Gayle is a much more sympathetic character than Beth is, though, don't you think? Moore and Light are both outstanding in their respective roles, but I'd have to give Sutherland a slight edge over Gant in the delivery of this speech. I can still hear him saying the words after all these years.

Comparing the two movies, though, Save Me comes out slightly ahead of Ordinary People in my opinion. Maybe that's because I'm both happily gay and a seriously dedicated Christian, so this one is much more meaningful to me personally.

Thanks for your post, it was an interesting observation! Doubtless there are other films with similar dialogue. We all speak in cliches to some extent; I think that gives fictional characters realism. Certain words and phrases come naturally to us under the right circumstances. After all, we learn to speak from mimicry so it's not surprising that our speech tends to follow predictable patterns. Don't we all have words we rely on frequently? Film comedies make a parody of this quirky tendency but of course it will emerge in serious films, too.

Yes, I noticed it instantly, and wondered if the writer of the film had inadvertently copied the earlier script, or whether it was deliberate.

Either way, I think this confrontation scene plays wonderfully in both films; quite moving.