Top 10 Movie Meltdowns
One of the most enjoyable things about movie watching is that moment when a beloved character loses his or her crackers, even if just for a moment, showing us a whole other shade of character.
Top 10 Movie Meltdowns
One of the most enjoyable things about movie watching is that moment when a beloved character loses his or her crackers, even if just for a moment, showing us a whole other shade of character. And as enjoyable as it is for the audience, we suspect that it’s probably lots of fun for the actors to let loose a little too. A compendium of raging, comic, emotional and/or heartbreaking meltdowns follows.
10. Paul Giamatti in SIDEWAYS
Talk about being a wine enthusiast. In a hilarious mini flare-up of rage, Paul Giamatti as the manic Miles warns Thomas Haden Church that he is "NOT drinking any fucking merlot!" prompting Church to beg him, “No going to the dark side!” We know Miles is partial to pinot noir, but seriously, is merlot really that bad?
I will not drink merlot!
Watch SIDEWAYS on Sundance Channel.
Author: Dan Heching
9. Amy Adams in JUNEBUG
Perhaps the most unsettling element in Amy Adams' portrayal of Ashley, a very deluded pregnant woman who doesn’t care for her unborn baby in the best of ways, is her almost total lack of a meltdown when things go terribly wrong. But in one of her final scenes (after telling her brother-in-law of her intention to name the baby Junebug), her veneer does crack just a little, and the emotion that comes forth is very raw. Of course, she soon puts a cap right back on it.
Watch JUNEBUG on Sundance Channel.
Author: Dan Heching
8. LENA DUNHAM in TINY FURNITURE (2010)
In the strongest scene from Lena Dunham's film TINY FURNITURE (and the one most reminiscent of her brilliant HBO series GIRLS), Dunham as the chirpy Aura gets into a fight with her mom, martyring herself and generally displaying a grand helplessness to deal with life. Dunham is in fact a master at this, and her performance in this film can be summed up by the tagline on the poster: "Aura would like you to know that she’s having a very, very hard time."
Watch TINY FURNITURE on Sundance Channel.
Author: Dan Heching7. FAYE DUNAWAY in CHINATOWN (1974)
For anyone who hasn’t seen this remarkable Roman Polanski classic, stop reading: the twist in this film is one for the record books. Faye Dunaway’s legendary meltdown, crying “She’s my sister and my daughter!” as Jake Gittes (Nicholson) slaps her repeatedly, reveals a whole layer that you never saw coming at all, and what an icky layer it is.
Spoiler alert, this is the twist!
Author: Dan Heching6. PAUL DANO in LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE (2006)
When Dano as the willfully mute Dwayne learns of his colorblindness, all hell breaks loose: pounding on the walls and roof of a minibus, running down a hill on the side of a highway, maniacal yelling and collapsing into a heaving mess. As Dwayne’s grand plan for escape to the air force is dashed, the scene perfectly captures that moment when a child realizes life doesn’t always go as planned, and how you can’t put all your eggs in just one basket.
Author: Dan Heching5. BILL PAXTON in ALIENS (1986)
Providing the only slight comic respite in James Cameron’s taut and brilliant masterpiece of a sequel, Bill Paxton plays a whimpering, simpering mess of a space marine, who starts freaking out about their ‘predicament’ on an alien-infested planet almost at the get-go. He never lets up, even after getting slapped in the face and yelled at by the rest of the (more calm and collected) military crew. Inexplicably, his bravery only comes out at the very end of his life, just before the floor is literally ripped out from under him.
Author: Dan Heching4. SHIRLEY MACLAINE in TERMS OF ENDEARMENT (1983)
Toward the end of this James L. Brooks tearjerker, MacLaine as Aurora Greenway goes to see the nurse about getting her cancer-stricken daughter a shot of painkillers. See, “It's past ten. My daughter is in pain. I don't understand why she has to have this pain. All she has to do is hold out until ten, and IT'S PAST TEN! My daughter is in pain, can't you understand that! GIVE MY DAUGHTER THE SHOT!” Suffice it to say, the nurse goes and gives her daughter (a young and delicate Debra Winger) the shot.
Mom's are always doing this sort of thing.
Author: Dan Heching3. PETER FINCH in NETWORK
Another Faye Dunaway classic, NETWORK features Peter Finch (the guy before Heath Ledger to win a posthumous Oscar) as a totally stressed out newscaster who is “mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it anymore!” Not only is this definitive meltdown the driving plot point of the film, but many a hokey ad campaign have been modeled after it since.
Peter Finch is mad as hell.
Author: Dan Heching2. ELLEN PAGE in HARD CANDY (2005)
Ellen Page gives us one long, brutal but very talky meltdown in HARD CANDY, a pressure cooker of a film that never lets up and always keeps you guessing. After a relentless torture scene that we dare not write about here, Page continues her ravings and revenge fantasy on the roof, literally driving a bland and listless Patrick Wilson to jump clear off it. We probably would, too.
Ellen Page is scary in this scene.
Watch HARD CANDY on Sundance Channel.
Author: Dan Heching1. EVERYONE in BLUE VELVET (1986)
As for the best meltdown in this film, take your pick! In the surreal world of David Lynch, every single character seems to be at a different point in his or her own personal undoing, as everyone’s hold on reality becomes increasingly un-tethered. BLUE VELVET is the epitome of this notion; as with most of Lynch’s work, this can be considered an exploration of what happens after the meltdown.
Watch BLUE VELVET on Sundance Channel.
Author: Dan Heching
