A Very Touching Film

I agree...a very touching movie surrounding a movie legend. Perhaps the most touching scene is when Alan Swann dances with an elderly lady who has been a lifelong devoted fan of his. The acting was such that it seemed to have made both their days.

It is enjoyable & Peter O'Toole is wonderful. He's great in anything he does anyway.

>>The slapstick style fistfight on the stage of the show near the end threatens to break the otherwise gentle tone of the character study, but the film still succeeds in spite of this.<<

(SPOILERS, KIND OF)

It succeeds because there are quieter, gentler scenes which balance out the over-the-top fistfight. The two that readily come to mind for me are Peter O'Toole dancing with Gloria Stuart (the wedding anniversary matron) at the Stork Club, and the scene in Central Park where Swann and Benjy, hung-over from their night of drinking and 'throwing up,' are seen quietly walking at dawn and swapping secrets with each other: Benjy revealing his real, Jewish name and Swann revealing that his work on the television show is really for the benefit of back taxes owed to the IRS. You can see a friendship really blossom between them, and it's probably my favorite scene of the whole movie.

My opinion of the most touching scene, and I think THE most important scene in the film -- the one scene that got to the root of Alan Swann's character was this:

...at Belle's house in Brooklyn at dinner. Belle tells Alan Swann having a family is "what it's all about" and that he should have children.

Alan Swann: Unfortunately Belle, that part of my life hasn't worked out too well; though I did produce a perfectly glorius little child...her name is Tess.
Belle: See! You're a daddy and this we didn't even know. So where is she?
Alan: She lives with her mother in Connecticut; I haven't seen her in over a year.
Belle: A year? [disapprovingly]...shame on you Swanny.
Alan: [sadly] Oh yes, you're right Belle. Shame on me indeed.

...everyone around the dinner table, Belle, Rookie, Morty, Sadie -- and even Alan -- all have a look of great pity and sadness on there faces. It was the dramatic turning point in the film, and it opened up the character of Alan Swann. Definitely touching.

That scene, and the "Clarence Duffy" scene in Central Park the next morning -- which by the end of that scene turned into a continuation of the "shame on me, indeed" idea -- were the most touching.

Of course both of those scenes leads up to the dramatic climax of the film when Alan finally goes to talk with Tess.

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