Usually when there is an unexpected father-son reunion after… tumultuous past, there are two ways of representing it: either it is a riot of instant forgiveness, moved tears and filial love; or it is the fair of bombastic phrases “ill-omened! scoundrel! swindler! I will not forgive you until the end of the universe! you will now pay for what you have done to me!!!”
Instead, the dialogue between Mark and Nolan was so realistic that it could be written in screenwriting manuals! Mark was so angry and confused and scared that he didn’t even know what to say or how to act. There was also happiness in seeing his father again, but buried by the mass of negative feelings. And Nolan was also worried and confused by his son’s reaction, knew he was wrong but didn’t really want to apologize, feeling anger at the impasse and trying to suppress it so as not to ruin everything.
Am I the only one who really liked their dialogue?
I loved it. It felt natural, and complicated. Mark is young, impressionable, but loved his dad. Looked up to his dad. It’s only naturally for him to feel so conflicted and it felt very well written during that dialogue. He wasn’t even angry at Nolan’s wife or his new Half-brother, but rather at Nolan. Ugh so good