The Good Son
23 winners · 0 left open
Most rewatchable scene
Apparent consensusMr. 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.
Open the full ledger22 more categories, in podcast order↓
Most 1993 thing about this movie
DeclaredMark playing Game Boy instead of enjoying Monument Valley
They settle on Mark playing Game Boy while ignoring Monument Valley as the most 1993 detail.
The Floyd Gondelli butter on my ass and lollipops in my mouth award for something I just enjoy
DeclaredQuinn Culkin’s terrible sister performance
They use the award to spotlight Quinn Culkin’s extremely wooden performance as the sister.
What’s age the best?
DeclaredMacaulay 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.
Great check order
Apparent consensusHenry’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.
Great quote
Declared“Don’t fuck with me.”
The clearest quoted line is Henry’s “Don’t fuck with me,” which they treat as the standout quote.
Sean’s flex
DeclaredThe Good Son has a direct Shining reference
Sean’s flex is that the movie knowingly echoes The Shining, including the “bombing the universe” line.
Hottest take
DeclaredThis 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.
The Zane Lowe award
DeclaredMacaulay Culkin
They award the Zane Lowe bit to Culkin after joking about the movie’s climactic bad-news moment.
Butch’s girlfriend award for weak link of the film
DeclaredThe adults
They say the adult performances and behavior are the weak link, with the father singled out as especially underwhelming.
What sage the worst?
DeclaredThe soccer scene
They pick the clumsily staged youth soccer sequence as the worst-aging element.
Music
DeclaredElmer Bernstein’s score feels wrong for the movie
The hosts complain that Bernstein’s score feels mismatched to the film’s tone.
Hans Gruber scale for villain ranking
DeclaredHenry
They rate Henry very highly on the villain scale, even while debating what the scale’s ceiling should be.
Ruffalo Han and Ruben Apart, the Joe Beracting Award
DeclaredQuinn Culkin
They give the acting award to Quinn Culkin for underacting, while noting Elijah Wood can also overplay scenes.
The big kahuna burger award for best use of food and drink
DeclaredThe fridge freakout
They choose the refrigerator meltdown as the movie’s best food-and-drink moment.
The Amanda Dobbins Award for best piece of real estate, along with the Denethy’s Benihana Award for scene stealing location in the house
DeclaredThe house in Rock Harbor
They agree the Rock Harbor house is the standout property, though the Sleeping with the Enemy house gets a shoutout.
The Denethy’s Benihana Award for scene stealing location in the house
DeclaredThe 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.
Recasting couch
DeclaredMichelle Pfeiffer as the mom
They most strongly want Michelle Pfeiffer as the mother, with Sam Shepard suggested as an upgrade for Wallace.
What do you have for flex, CR?
DeclaredSean Penn smoke-pack at the well
Chris’s flex is that he had his own pack ready for the smoking-at-the-well scene.
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
DeclaredThe 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.
The Ed Norton reverse dunk award for did this movie need a random sports scene?
DeclaredNo, 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.
Sequel, prequel, prestige TV, all black cats are untouchable
DeclaredA 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.
Zawane award
DeclaredDid 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.