No Bad Guy ... The Gift

TheCentralScrutinizer · 04 Oct 11 :: 19:19

Finally, Joan starts to figure out that she doesn't "just like" Adam. And all protests from him about his relationship with Babyvoice aside, he finds the guts to fess up to his feelings for Joan. This is a really fun arc too, though I still cringe over the insanely ridiculous laundry injury. Of course, it still takes him another 2 weeks and an almost kiss to realize that it's time to handle his business and do right by the women in his life. It was wrong of him to string Iris along knowing that he was really into Joan. Just like it was wrong of him to put the moves on Joan when Iris could walk in at any minute, and did. I don't see this as the kind of caddish behavior he would exhibit a year later though. Everyone makes mistakes in their first relationships. I understand why he held onto Iris until Joan admitted her flakiness and indicated that she was open to the possibility --- finally --- of getting together with him. In the end, I do feel bad for Iris. But you can't make someone love you if they don't, so it was obvious from the get-go that someone was going to be hurt.

I love the look on his face when she says what he's been longing to hear for months...

CappuGirl · 04 Oct 11 :: 20:09

I don't know if I like it how fastpaced their relationship gets when it's finally there. I understand that Joan is supposed to get more flaky and nutty because she's having Lyme's but I still find the story arcs a little like a senseless rollercoaster of nutty.I would have wanted them to have sweet and innocent first love like it was before.

a more positive note: best part of The Gift is definately Adam's kissy face. <3

Marvalus · 05 Oct 11 :: 04:18

Ahhhh, Adam/Chris's hands in this shot from The Gift. Sigh. They speak volumes......

TheCentralScrutinizer · 05 Oct 11 :: 04:41

I just adore that scene. It's priceless from beginning to end. There was a bit more in the script that was left out, but also, all those looks and touches and stuff were not scripted. It was just Chris and Amber in the moment.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 05 Oct 11 :: 04:44

And Adam and Joan clearly feel so much more for each other than they have the slightest clue what to do with. When I look at that scene, like you said, what they're both doing with their hands, just for example, I think it's pretty amazing that A/J was the the first big onscreen romance either Chris or Amber had ever played. They're remarkable.

BiggestChrisMarquetteFan · 08 Oct 11 :: 01:57

They are so great together because they have perfect chemistry in my opinion!

Moonlight · 01 Dec 11 :: 06:47

My favorite episode during that time was Do The Math but no one ever talks about that one. They always talk about No Bad Guy cuz that moment at the end is priceless. And they always talk about The Gift because that scene in the hotel room is fantastically acted by both of them. But I love Do the Math because there is so much going on it. Ya know, you get to see a bit into Dad's history. She gets to really help the piano teacher. You get to be exposed to Russ Tamblyn as the Dogwalker...he was one of my favorites way back when - but most of all, you have several tremendously sweet moments between Adam and Joan where they both are trying not to say what they obviously feel until she finally blurts it out in the hallway at school that she keeps seeking him out because she needs him and then immediately wants to take back the words but she can't because they're out there. And then, of course, that sweet moment on the porch where they share their second kiss and you know that they finally have crossed that line. The Collide song was the perfect song choice. I can't hear it on the radio without seeing Adam and Joan sitting on the porch sharing that sweet little kiss. I'm so glad when they messed with the music on the DVD's, that one stayed. Any other song in that moment would be just wrong.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 01 Dec 11 :: 16:30

I totally agree. I think there might be a thread on here just for that specific ep because we do love it so much and we've talked about it a lot. I've seen that one so many times it's kinda of pathetic. I finally broke down and bought the Collide single from Amazon downloads a few weeks back. That and "Time" from the end of Jump and "Always" from the end of No Bad Guy. I think those will always stand as my favorite A/J songs. At one time, I was creating threads for episodes and posting our A/J-centric recaps in the hopes of starting discussions. I'll see if I can find that thread and bump it to the top.

Have you ever read the JoA recaps at www.televisionwithoutpity.com? They're a blast.

Edited to add: There's no Do The Math thread, sadly.

Moonlight · 01 Dec 11 :: 17:18

Maybe there should be. I love pretty much every episode in Season One but that one may be my favorite tied with Jump. Love Jump to. It doesn't get much better than the emotion that you get from Adam and Joan when Helen reads him his mothers letter. Thats one thing that Marquette is so freaking good at....you feel every ounce of emotion with him when he has moments like that. Makes a fantastic actor....don't know too many of those "A" list actors who can get that kind of emotion. Something tremendously unique about him. Wish he would get on someones "A" list so we can see more from him.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 01 Dec 11 :: 18:01

You can certainly start a thread if you like. We're not one of those boards that frowns upon new topics. We love a good freewheelin' discussion and anyone is welcome to start one.

Chris really is wonderful at getting right down to the pain in a character's soul. He always excels at parts where he's emotionally tortured in some way. And without hammy histrionics. There's a beautiful subtlety in his work. He can get so still and so quiet and yet you can read his feelings in his eyes, or even his posture. And I believe his range is incredible, there's nothing he can't do given half a chance.

What really impresses me is when he can make a rather perpetually sad character like Adam funny. He slays me in Queen of The Zombies, for instance. And then he can turn around and pull some tears out of his hat in a movie about giant bugs from outer space for goodness sake! Let's face it, the kid's amazing.

Moonlight · 01 Dec 11 :: 18:52

This is probably the wrong place to be commenting on it but since you brought it up...I watched the giant bug movie with low expectations cuz I usually hate movies like that and found myself pleasently surprised. Great to see him play a grown up and not a kid. I didn't really know much about him before Joan of Arcadia but I've seen some of his stuff now. Can't say I've loved every movie, but I always am impressed with him. Got some great talent....too bad he's so underrated. The one thing that I appreciate about him the most is its really hard to find news about him. That says a lot, if you know what I mean. Doesn't get lots of attention for bad behavior. Some of those guys do stuff on purpose just for the media buzz.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 01 Dec 11 :: 19:40

We're also not that tight about off topics posts, so no worries.

Of course, we followed Infestation's progress from the moment it was announced and made friends with the director, Kyle Rankin before a frame of film was shot. We had no idea what to expect from that movie beyond the fact that Rankin had done a couple of short films that were terrific. I adore Hell Hole with Ray Wise. It's hilarious. Been a fan of Ray's for a couple of decades so I loved seeing the great chemistry he and Chris had. Personally, I count Infestation as one of my very favorite Chris movies and I have zero shame about that. For what it is, it's remarkably good. Plus, we get to hear him speak Spanish, which just melts me. LOL! I've probably seen it 8-10 times by now. It made me fall for Brooke Nevin as well.

Thing about Chris is he's a very low key, private, decent young man. You never hear about him doing anything bad and getting in trouble because that's just not who he is. It is sad that he's so underrated, but I don't think you will ever see him out there stirring up trouble just to get attention. It's more likely that if he ever did get really famous, he'd be one of those guys who's so guarded about his personal life he would make entertainment reporters crazy. He has said that he enjoys his anonymity and would rather be a respected working actor than a big star. As frustrating as it is not to see his beautiful face splashed all over the web, I kinda love that about him.

Moonlight · 01 Dec 11 :: 20:12

Yeah, that was my point. Fantastic to see young guy more interested in being noticed for his great acting and not his exploits. Definately something to respect and admire. Wish more of his movies were a bit more family friendly...hard to find ones appropriate for my kids. Though they love Race to Witch Mountain and my 11 year old loves JOA as much as I do, though she hasn't really seen the last few episodes. She loves the Zombie episode. Looking forward to seeing more from him. He'll find his place...he's too good an actor not to.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 01 Dec 11 :: 22:28

Yeah, I guess pretty much only JoA and the stuff he did as a kid is appropriate for viewing by children. He always seems to end up in stuff that's edgy or raunchy. Even his TV stuff like House and Weeds. Heck even Miracles is pretty scary, though it's a great ep and he's brilliant in it.

Moonlight · 02 Dec 11 :: 01:07

I'm not a fan of Weeds at all and I only saw his episodes for him. Though he's always good, thought it was a waste of his time. Disappointed with how little screen time he had. Just really dislike the show. Both my girls actually watched that episode of House. We all enjoyed it...I thought he was brilliant in that and loved the one scene with Amber where he thinks he's dying. I loved that Miracles episode with him...it was fantastic acting and a really interesting show. I am a fan...really, I am. Adam Rove may have turned me into a Chris fan for life.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 02 Dec 11 :: 03:40

Well, it certainly did that for me. Oooh, Graduation. Have you seen that one? Kids could watch it. He's unbelievably adorable in that flick. I think Carl is my favorite character after Adam. Well, I also love Linus, of course. They could watch the TV version of Fanboys. It just started playing on Comedy Central. They could probably watch the TV version of Just Friends, for that matter.

I think Travis in Miracles might be his most tortured character ever. The kids couldn't watch it, but did you see his eps of Huff?

Moonlight · 02 Dec 11 :: 05:59

Yeah...Carl Jenkins. Actually have a copy of that movie. That was another unique character for him. He may be my second favorite movie character. The first one being Miles Caraday. The Tic Code may be, in opinion, the best child performance by anyone in decades. So impressed with him in that movie. But I do love Carl. Cooper would probably be next on my list of favorite characters. Though I love him as Linus, Fanboys was just okay for me. I think I would have liked the original version better. Wish I could see that one.

Just Friends, again an okay movie but for me the best part of it is the thing between Chris and Ryan Reynolds. Love the way they play their brother relationship. It makes the movie for me. I've only seen clips of Huff, the ones on this sight. That was certainly a different kind of character for him. Great that he can play anything so well.

Another of his characters that I loved is Danny from Charlie Banks. Though there are things I dislike about that movie, there are more things that I love. I found the relationship between those three characters interesting. I read some Netflix review by someone clueless who thinks that the Danny character was unnecessary to the story. Could not disagree with that statement more. In my opinion, he was highly important. He was like the bridge holding Charlie and Mick at a distance from each other. As long as he was there, Mick could control himself and Charlie could hold his tongue. But when he wasn't there, that's when the two of them would have their conflicts.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 03 Dec 11 :: 20:44

Carl for me, is just such a good guy. Not perfect, but what a heart. And he's funny and cool in a geeky way. And I love the look. Not something I would choose for Chris if I was in charge, but it just really worked. It was perfect. I wish they had kept more of the stuff between Carl and his mom in because I have always, always loved Glynnis O'Connor. When I was a teen girl I wished I could be her for a few years there. I like to imagine that Carl's dad was Robby Benson.

Whittling that aspect of the story to the bare bones turned Chris sour on the movie, which is sad.

Of course we all adore The Tic Code, probably Anne (domesticelephant) most of all. We're so glad she got to have a private conversation with Chris and express her love for that film and why it means so much to her. It's his favorite of his own films as well.

Agreed about Just Friends, but I would add that I find it almost endlessly watchable because he's so cute in it. Have you watched all the DVD extras? He was adorable in those too. Have you seen that wallpaper TeeJay made with the Ken Doll quote. I love that thing. Hee.

I really love Charlie Banks. Not a great movie, by any means, but certainly a very good one. That story has so many layers to it. I find it more fascinating each time I watch it. And I think a lot of that is because Ritter's performance is so nuanced. Funny thing is, I find Charlie impenetrable, and a crushing bore.

Of course Fanboys is a little special to us. It was such a long fight. And ultimately, though I'd love to see more of the original material restored, I'm happy with the way it turned out. Linus isn't allowed to show much depth, and I think people might relate to him a little more and care more about him if he were, but I guess it is supposed to be a comedy. I'm just glad Darth Weinstein finally listened when enough of us yelled Linus Must Die!

Also, the first two times I saw the film were just so amazing and fun I always feel the way I felt at those two screenings whenever I watch our little movie that could.

domesticelefant · 04 Dec 11 :: 00:15

TheCentralScrutinizer wrote:

Of course we all adore The Tic Code, probably Anne (domesticelephant) most of all. We're so glad she got to have a private conversation with Chris and express her love for that film and why it means so much to her. It's his favorite of his own films as well.

Oh yes, this movie has a special place in my heart. I watch it every year on his birthday. My dream was to get my DVD signed one day and not only that did happen, I also got to tell him in person how much the movie means to me, which was my most awesome moment of our whole trip.

But hey, I love Graduation and Fanboys, too.

Chris Marquette Message Board

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No Bad Guy ... The Gift

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