maybe i missed something in the movie, but was oscar's father steve zahn's character?
i hope not
i really don't think so, but the movie doesn't make it a point to let you know who the dad is other than it not being the cop's son.
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ah... sweet liquor eases the pain
Yes Mac is Oscar's father. I don't think Rose was involved with some other random scumbag that just up and left out of her life. The film makes it clear that Mac is the only guy she's ever seen. Also, read Roger Ebert's review on this film. He states that Mac fathered her son.
shareI don't think Steve Zahn's character was Oscar's father. Even when Rose called him about needing to put Oscar in private school, she called him like she needed someone to talk to not like she was trying to get money and he didn't feel obligated to pay for the schooling and instead hooked Rose up with a better job; it was always about Rose. Obviously, there was a period of separation there for Mac to hookup with Heather and for Rose to hookup with Oscar's father.
shareI completely disagree - the film does NOT make it clear that Mac is Oscar's dad. I don't know where you could have gotten that idea, especially since he's 8 or 9 or however old. I seriously doubt Mac was with Rose for that long. He would have been more involved in the kid's life.
shareAlso, read Roger Ebert's review on this film. He states that Mac fathered her son.
i don't think so
shareI think that he's not the father. If Mac was the father, it would not have been abnormal for her to call him at his house. When she called Mac at his house, he flipped out.
shareWhen Rose ran into her old highschool friend cleaning her house the friend asked Rose if she ended up marrying Mac, Rose said no, she heard that Mac had married Heather. So Rose had been seeing Mac since high school.
shareSo Rose had been seeing Mac since high school.I disagree, we don't know that, exactly.
I got the impression that Rose herself might not have been sure. When she told Winston that she was good at making men want her, but bad at making them stay, It made me think she'd had a lot of lovers and that Oscar's father could have been one of any number of men.
After breaking up or even arguing with Mac, I think she would have consoled herself with lots of random sex and not been very careful about it.
I think that Mac IS Oscar's father ... the clues are very subtle, but also very telling.
1) In the grocery store when she calls Mac, she says "No, we have to talk about this NOW." The tone and the language that she uses implies, "Mac, this is your problem too and you have to help me deal with it."
2) In the second scene hotel scene with Mac and Rose, he says, "I feel like I got you into this mess." I think he's talking about Oscar here; she wouldn't be having so many money problems if she didn't have a child. If he hadn't gotten her pregnant she would have had a very different life.
Although everyone makes a good point, I have to agree with eskelly. I just watched this again, and noted those very things.
Plus, Rose wouldn't be someone to be assertive about wanting Mac around to help out unless she really needed him. Her mother killed herself when she was little, and she pretty much had to raise herself and her little sister, because Dad probably wouldn't have been able to handle that. She got used to hiding her sorrows and worries, so it was no doubt quite uncomfortable for her to have had to call Mac to ask for any help at all.
I find it very interesting that there are so many threads saying how unsympathetic the characters in this movie are. Perhaps not enough real-life experience...?
Excellently put. That only proves that Mac was the father. I don't know how anybody couldn't see that. I knew he was the father from the first time I saw it because of those teo scenes.
sharehi everyone
just wanted to say that I agree - Mac is Oscar's dad indeed
because of that scene in the motel room
the one that Rose asks him "Why did you choose her?"
so,this is what I believe happened
Mac was married to the other woman and was again secretelly seeing Rose
at some point she got pregnant and he had to choose between
a)leaving his wife for Rose and her baby or
b)staying with his wife and never adopt Oscar
and he chose b
I thought so too because of those scenes, but I don't think it was clear. I think he would have been paying for half the school if that had been the case - not indirectly helping or offering to help. And like someone else here said, it wouldn't have been weird to call the house if he was the father. Unless he was secretly the father and nobody noticed for 8 years (which doesn't seem likely because everyone knew they used to be together and the wife knew he was cheating - we don't know if the kid was from their initial relationship or from their later cheating).
share[deleted]
In the scene in the supermarket, just before she calls him, she tells Oscar "We're gonna call your father now" What else do you people need to know about this ????
share