MovieChat Forums > Quiz Show (1994) Discussion > Exchange between Van Doren and Goodwin n...

Exchange between Van Doren and Goodwin near the end of the movie

posted 10 years ago by deddhedd-1
4 replies | jump to latest

Near the end of the movie Goodwin is waiting for Van Doren with a subpeona.
Goodwin tells a story of his uncle confessing to an affair he had had 8 years earlier.
When he asked him why he had confessed--he had gotten away with it--the uncle
says: "It was the getting away with it that I couldn't live with".
Van Doren says--"I would take that chance", and Goodwin says "a chance is what I am giving
you", pointing to the subpeona. What in the hell did he mean by that?

I never understood that exchange?

[–] TheMouseShadow 10 years ago

tell the truth or be exposed as a fraud by the courts.

[–] deddhedd-1 10 years ago

But he seemed to be saying that he was going to give him a chance to get away with it--which
he really wasn't?

So you mean, give him a chance to confess himself before he was pubilcally exposed.

The exchange still seems awkward to me but thanx for the reply.

[–] doug65oh 10 years ago

You know, now that I think of it that really is a fascinating exchange. I’ve always taken it to mean something along the lines (and this concerns the story about the uncle) of: “I could live with what I had done. What I couldn’t live with was keeping it a secret.”

Consider that old saying (now hopelessly clichéd) about confession being good for the soul. Spill your guts Charlie. Do the honorable thing and confess. You’ll feel better, and whatever may come along afterward, you’ll be a better person for it.

[–] smoko 10 years ago

@deddhedd-1 But he seemed to be saying that he was going to give him a chance to get away with it--which he really wasn't?

I can't speak for the other poster, but the way I interpreted it was that Goodwin was saying, "I'm giving you a chance to confess and then get on with your life. Or you can try to get away with it. If you fail, you'll be a weasel who wasn't man enough to confess; if you succeed, it will eat away at you for years. So either way you're screwed if you don't confess."

So Van Doren was saying that he'd take the chance of getting away with it, while Goodwin was saying that he's giving him the chance of not getting away with it - and avoiding the pain of being riddled with guilt for years, just like Goodwin's uncle went through.