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The Good Son

1993Runtime unavailableThrillerHorrorDrama

Movie details, ratings, and The Rewatchables episode for The Good Son.

On the mic
The Good Son1993
RT CRITICS26
RT AUDIENCE54
METACRITIC45
Directed byJoseph RubenMovie director
On the mic
RT critics26%Tomatometer
RT audience54%Popcornmeter
Metacritic45Critic score

MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT

Where to watch

UNITED STATES

Checking where The Good Son is available…

THE POD'S PICKS

Episode awards

See who or what the hosts picked for each award.

23award categories
EPISODE 457

The Good Son

23 picked · 0 without a winner

Most rewatchable scene

Likely pick

Mr. Highway accident

The room lands most strongly on the highway crash scene as the movie’s most rewatchable stretch, with Connie on the ice also getting heavy support.

~ 0:48:00Runner-up: Connie on the ice
Show every award22 more, in episode order

Most 1993 thing about this movie

Picked on the show

Mark playing Game Boy instead of enjoying Monument Valley

They settle on Mark playing Game Boy while ignoring Monument Valley as the most 1993 detail.

~ 0:48:00Runner-up: Landlines and no-caller-ID communication

The Floyd Gondelli butter on my ass and lollipops in my mouth award for something I just enjoy

Picked on the show

Quinn Culkin’s terrible sister performance

They use the award to spotlight Quinn Culkin’s extremely wooden performance as the sister.

~ 0:48:00

What’s age the best?

Picked on the show

Macaulay Culkin’s eerie child performance

The panel chooses Culkin’s unsettling performance as the thing that has aged best, with the preserved bedroom trope also praised.

~ 0:56:00Runner-up: The pristine dead-child bedroom plot device

Great check order

Likely pick

Henry’s menacing looks and physical movement

They mostly use this slot to praise Henry’s intimidating physicality, especially the way he stalks and corners people.

~ 0:56:00Runner-up: Henry approaching Connie in the hospital bed

Great quote

Picked on the show

“Don’t fuck with me.”

The clearest quoted line is Henry’s “Don’t fuck with me,” which they treat as the standout quote.

~ 0:56:00Runner-up: “Once you realize you can do anything, you’re free.”

Sean’s flex

Picked on the show

The Good Son has a direct Shining reference

Sean’s flex is that the movie knowingly echoes The Shining, including the “bombing the universe” line.

~ 1:06:00

Hottest take

Picked on the show

This should have been a bigger awards-season deal because Culkin and Wood were both Oscar-worthy in prior roles

Sean argues the movie should have been an even bigger deal because both child stars were coming off performances he believes merited Oscar wins.

~ 1:06:00Runner-up: Culkin’s greatest performance is here

The Zane Lowe award

Picked on the show

Macaulay Culkin

They award the Zane Lowe bit to Culkin after joking about the movie’s climactic bad-news moment.

~ 1:06:00

Butch’s girlfriend award for weak link of the film

Picked on the show

The adults

They say the adult performances and behavior are the weak link, with the father singled out as especially underwhelming.

~ 1:00:00Runner-up: Daniel Hugh Kelly as the dad

What sage the worst?

Picked on the show

The soccer scene

They pick the clumsily staged youth soccer sequence as the worst-aging element.

~ 1:00:00Runner-up: The Tokyo business-trip setup

Music

Picked on the show

Elmer Bernstein’s score feels wrong for the movie

The hosts complain that Bernstein’s score feels mismatched to the film’s tone.

~ 1:00:00

Hans Gruber scale for villain ranking

Picked on the show

Henry

They rate Henry very highly on the villain scale, even while debating what the scale’s ceiling should be.

~ 1:08:00

Ruffalo Han and Ruben Apart, the Joe Beracting Award

Picked on the show

Quinn Culkin

They give the acting award to Quinn Culkin for underacting, while noting Elijah Wood can also overplay scenes.

~ 1:08:00Runner-up: Elijah Wood

The big kahuna burger award for best use of food and drink

Picked on the show

The fridge freakout

They choose the refrigerator meltdown as the movie’s best food-and-drink moment.

~ 1:08:00

The Amanda Dobbins Award for best piece of real estate, along with the Denethy’s Benihana Award for scene stealing location in the house

Picked on the show

The house in Rock Harbor

They agree the Rock Harbor house is the standout property, though the Sleeping with the Enemy house gets a shoutout.

~ 0:56:00Runner-up: Sleeping with the Enemy house

The Denethy’s Benihana Award for scene stealing location in the house

Picked on the show

The house in Rock Harbor

The award goes to the Rock Harbor house as the scene-stealing location, with the desert briefly mentioned as another strong setting choice.

~ 0:56:00Runner-up: The desert/Arizona opening location

Recasting couch

Picked on the show

Michelle Pfeiffer as the mom

They most strongly want Michelle Pfeiffer as the mother, with Sam Shepard suggested as an upgrade for Wallace.

~ 1:08:00Runner-up: Sam Shepard as Wallace

What do you have for flex, CR?

Picked on the show

Sean Penn smoke-pack at the well

Chris’s flex is that he had his own pack ready for the smoking-at-the-well scene.

~ 1:08:00

The Rick Shachetti guard meter award for most memorable death by a security guard or other bystander whom the movie treats as inconsequential but probably had a spouse and kids who loved them

Picked on the show

The motorists in the highway crash

They give the bystander-death award to the motorists involved in the highway pileup, noting the film minimizes the injury fallout.

~ 1:08:00

The Ed Norton reverse dunk award for did this movie need a random sports scene?

Picked on the show

No, the movie already had enough with the soccer scene

They treat the existing soccer scene as the answer and agree the movie did not need another random sports insert.

~ 1:18:00

Sequel, prequel, prestige TV, all black cats are untouchable

Picked on the show

A prestige-TV version would answer too many questions

They decide the story would translate to prestige TV, but mostly at the cost of the movie’s unanswered questions and tension.

~ 1:18:00Runner-up: A sequel/prequel would be hard because the movie is already so compact

Zawane award

Picked on the show

Did Mark’s dad close the Tokyo deal?

Their final unanswered-question award goes to the status of the Tokyo deal, with the family relationship fallout as the next-best mystery.

~ 1:18:00Runner-up: What is Mark’s dad’s relationship with his brother after this?

About these picks Winners come from the episode transcript. Timestamps may be a little off.

WHAT TO WATCH NEXT

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