The wedding toast

I don't think he disrespected either step-father, or daughter.
He stepped up and gave everyone their due, and passed the toast off to the step-father.
I think it is unlikely that would have played out that way in real life, but I think the
point was to show that Harvey was not a bad guy at heart, he had it rough, things
were not working out for him.

I don't think his speech made him the star, he was congratulatory to everyone with
droning on. The point of the moment was that he had the right as the real father
to ask for that moment, and he did it well, without humiliating anyone.

For a real person in that moment it would have taken one hell of a lot of focus
and concentration to make a speech like that.

Clearly he did not ruin his daughter's wedding since Susan (along with, apparently, even Brian and Jean) was touched by the toast.

Good grief to you. Clearly, you missed the point of the scene, or are wired quite differently from most others. Harvey was perfectly sincere and loving during his speech, and respectful to the stepfather as well, passing the toast back to him to let him speak afterward.

Boyoboy...did you ever miss THIS boat! He took responsibility for his own failures, praised his daughter and her new husband and lauded the stepdad. It was indeed the movie's best moment.

I agree with the other posters - you must have some Daddy issues of your own. Harvey was gracious, sincere and did not blame anyone else for the fact that he was sitting at the kiddie's table and not the head table. His family acted with appreciation after the toast, and appeared to be happy to welcome him to the wedding reception-once they knew what tone his behavior would take.

He kept his daughter the star by pointing out that in spite of the difficulty of the divorce during her formative years, she remained a lovely person.

Cheers!

I have had many special days in my life. One of them involved my wedding, but the days I count among the most precious to me are neither necessarily defined by, nor limited to, that service. If any woman has only "one special day" in her life, then I have to pity her for a life only partially lived.

Being a parent is "about" an innumerable amount of things, but chief among them are being available, and present, and supportive, even if (or perhaps particularly when) you're least wanted. Harvey did that at his daughter's wedding, and he did it graciously.

The film has its flaws, but a man offering a beautiful toast to his daughter on the day of her wedding is not one of them.

A bit of an overreaction. It was one of my favorite scenes also, and your protest that he ruined his daughter's wedding is pretty silly considering that - in the film - the daughter and everyone else are obviously pleased by the speech, which is humble and self-critical, praising of the new father, and totally healing. To say someone hates women and wedding because they read the scene correctly and you seemed to miss it entirely is uncalled for.

WOW! Have you got issues. May I suggest you talk to a professional?

Life is complicated and not everything turns out the way we expect it. That daughter wasn't humiliated...not even close. She got a chance to see her father, happy & proud of her, and not just a bad memory. If you want perfection, I suggest you stick with fairy tales.



"I'd never ask you to trust me. It's the cry of a guilty soul."

First, the mother should not have given herself to another man. She married a man, had a child with him and that's it. Then you don't have to have these situations.

Second, does the real father stop being a dad just because his wife is banging another man...no. He has a right to speak at his daughter's wedding. Is he supposed to be relegated to the back seat, back of the church just because the mother is a whore?

Third, the speak was actually quite eloquent. There was an elephant in the room which needed to be addressed and he took care of that. Even gave the a-hole props for doing a good job with His daughter.


The Brolin character is a piece of *beep* Because he's baning the whore mother he dad rights?






-That's all the time we have, thanks for playing.

I didn't like the Brolin character so much. It's easy to be glib and smooth when you're very successful, but he was a little too smooth for me. He was all ready to speak as though he were her real father, until her real father spoke up, and did so with sincerity and decency. And it appears he was invited to a wedding, only to find out he won't be giving his daughter away. Why didn't somebody tell him in advance so he could avoid the embarrassment of just being part of the audience? That was pretty shabby treatment to me. To call him a "loser" is pretty judgmental when we don't know what disappointments he might have had in life and took work just to put bread on the table. Don't forget, divorced fathers still have to pay child support.

He, in no way, ruined the reception. She loved it and it made a somewhat uncomfortable situation better for the future. He also did not decline to go to the wedding. He left the reception early, not the wedding. The wedding is the important part, not the reception. He turned out to be a great father and gave the step-father his due. Seems like you might have family issues. There was no humiliation. You must be confused with another movie altogether, it certainly isn't this one.

yea great scene. Reminded me of About Schmidt where you really want the protagonist to get it together in front of a crowd but have little confidence that he or she will. It was just right IMO

Great speech and definitly the best scene of the movie.

This scene indeed makes you nervous because Harvey could easily ruïn everything. and that with his first stupid 'speech' in mind from the night before doesn't make you more comforteable before Harvey starts talking. But man, he really manages to set everything straight with those strong words. Beautiful.