The Group Reviews: CODA

This week on the podcast, the group - including super producer Kellie - review the indie film fest hit, CODA! From predictable moments to incredible performances, this one pulled at the heartstrings. But did it win over our hearts in the process? Tune in to find out on our first “current film” review episode of the show!

CODA is currently streaming on Apple+ and in select theaters.

View the transcript here. 

Transcript

Tom: (00:02)
[Into music] Hello, hello, and welcome back to the best thing you've never seen. My name is Thomas. I am joined as always with my cohosts Phil Hughes and Chase Ellison. Hey guys, how you doing?

Phil: (00:21)
Doing good, bro. Hey guys!

Chase: (00:32)
I'm doing very well, a little sleepy, but I am trying to rally for this.

Tom: (00:37)
Well, let's wake you up. Let's wake you up a little bit because we have a somewhat special episode or at least a unique episode from what we've done in the past. Uh, the movie that we are talking about today is a movie that is our most current, uh, movie that, that we have watched in that it is currently streaming on apple plus and in select theaters. The movie is Coda and I love this movie. I got a chance to see it a few months ago and immediately came home and told you guys, I just saw this movie. I can't stop thinking about it. As soon as it's out, we're going to talk about it. And here we are talking about it so fast, so fast. Um, and I was very happy to rewatch it as well. We'll get into that. We're also gonna make this an extra special episode because we, since this is kind of our, our review episode of sorts, we're not doing the saving private Ryan. So we're not doing the Pan's labyrinth. This is, this is a movie that's out. Now. We wanted to get all inputs of our podcasts.

Phil: (01:47)
Well, Thomas, what do you mean? How could...

Chase: (01:49)
All three of us are here right here?

Tom: (01:50)
No, no, no, no, no, no. Please welcome our super producer Kellie Malone to the podcast. She emerges from the shadows.

Kellie: (02:03)
She's got a steel chair! [Inaudible].

Kellie: (02:11)
I'm off the mute button, boys.

Tom: (02:11)
she's, she's crept out of her corner corner.

Phil: (02:17)
She's taken to the main stage.

Tom: (02:19)
Uh, well, I'm excited to talk to the three of you about this movie. Uh, just a quick little, oh, I want to say there will be spoilers in this podcast. So please, uh, please watch the movie if you haven't yet. Although I'll get to a point later, but I don't know if there are really anything, if there's anything to be spoiled in this movie, per se. Um,

Chase: (02:38)
There's not any big gasps, like, oh my gosh, I didn't see that coming.

Tom: (02:41)
But I would say it's best to see it with fresh eyes and without knowing that things are coming, although you might be able to Telegraph it there,

Chase: (02:49)
You want to live in the moment with this movie.

Phil: (02:52)
Yes, I would agree. Yeah, please, please go watch the movie. We don't want to spoil anything part of doing this podcast is because we love. And the last thing we want to do is ruin part of that viewing process. So go watch it and then come back and listen to us.

Kellie: (03:05)
Okay. Now, if people haven't stopped it by now, let's ruin some movies for 'em.

Tom: (03:13)
All right. So CODA is about a girl named Ruby Rossi, a high school senior in Gloucester, Massachusetts and Dakota. That stands for child of deaf adults. Her father, mother, and brother are all deaf. When Ruby's not in school. She works on her father's fishing boat, along with their brother and as a hearing person, she also acts as interpreter for a family. So when Ruby decides she wants to pursue her love of singing, despite no formal training, she must make a tough choice, pursue her passion or leave her family. The cast Amelia Jones as Ruby Rossi, Eugenio Derbez as Mr V. Troy Kotsur, as Frank Rossi, Daniel Duran as Leo Rossi and Marlee Matlin, the great Marlee Matlin as Jackie Rossi. This is based on a French film from 2014, not family bill. Yeah, I hope I'm saying that. Right. I don't know French where I tried it. Um, and it premiered in, uh, at Sundance film festival this January of 2021, where it won the us grand jury prize, the U S dramatic audience award, the special jury entry on a special jury ensemble cast award. And Sean hater, the director won best director in a us dramatic section after it was such a success at Sundance. It was purchased by apple TV for a record breaking $25 million.

Kellie: (04:34)
Ooh,

Chase: (04:36)
Should I imagine you saying a hundred million the other night? Yeah.

Tom: (04:39)
You, yeah, you don't need to call me out on my mistakes. Okay.

Chase: (04:43)
I was just like, I wasn't as blown away as I was in that moment where I was like, oh my God. A hundred million. And when you said 25, just now, I was like, oh, that's not as much. Okay.

Tom: (04:52)
Yeah. I went for, I went for shock factor last night. I went for honesty today. There you go. Bringing the facts. Yeah. Let's, let's get into it. Let's get into this, this, uh, uh, coming of age movie, and I'm going to turn it over to the three of you and ask you what your thoughts were. So let's go ahead and start with Kellie

Kellie: (05:16)
Woo, is starting with the newbie. Okay. No pressure. Usually I have most of that episode to like get it together. Um, so I knew absolutely not a thing about this movie and that made it really fun. Cause then I was very much getting to know the relationships between them in real time, when she started singing at the beginning, I was like, wow, she's just kind of going for it. And then as I came to realize that she's able to just belt it because her family is all deaf, that kind of actually set it up really nicely. But overall, I thought that this was, I enjoyed the ride. I thought it was very heartwarming and, um, felt pretty genuine. Even if you could kind of see where it was going, it was still really satisfying in the end. And overall, I just, I had a great time.

Tom: (06:12)
Yeah. You know, this, this movie is I think incredibly predictable, but not in a bad way. I don't know if that makes sense. Like, it's, it's very much like has a checklist of things that it needs to hit and it hits them all very effectively so that you're not walking away being like, I feel like I've seen this movie before, but instead it tells a story that we all know and are familiar with, but just in a very, you know, different kind of way. I mean, it's not a subtle movie, right? Like the two major songs are, you're all I need to get by and both sides now,

Kellie: (06:50)
Like this movie, Phil, what did you think

Phil: (06:54)
Of this movie? Um, yeah, you know, my background was pretty much just from, uh, you know, your praise that you had the first time you had the experience of watching it. And we were going to wait until it came out and, uh, kind of just talk about it and review it a little bit. Um, so I, I didn't watch anything. Didn't watch the trailers, uh, and I knew kind of going into it, what I'm, you know, the major plot is. Um, but I was, I was pretty floored by this movie. I was super impressed. And I think like, like you guys said, yeah, it's kind of predictable, but I think, uh, I was able to listen to this interview they had, um, with one of the producers and with Marlee Matlin, right? That's that's her name? That's correct. Yes. Yes. Marlee Matlin, who is, um, I know her from the west wing, which I've been watching binging right now.

Phil: (07:42)
She's in that a pretty big part, but a Hollywood reporter had this interview with them and they kind of talk about, you know, what it's been like for the deaf community, watching movies and, um, trying to get their stories told. And I think from people that are not a part of that community who don't understand their storylines and always like where the, you know, the community might be, uh, trying to tell a different story that we haven't seen before. And so yes, we might be able to see what is going, but in it told in a very different way that it's super unique and, uh, just a blast to watch. And, uh, yeah, hit me in a lot of different ways that I'm sure we'll get into, uh, when we get, when you start talking about scenes and stuff, but definitely a movie that I think is going to get a lot of attention.

Tom: (08:25)
Yeah. I completely agree. I think that something, this movie does really well, that I hope people in the deaf community are excited about is having characters that are so much more than just deaf and having these really fleshed out funny, personable, relatable characters that don't th that their only trait isn't just, oh, they're the deaf person and telling a story and getting a snapshot into a family that has a very specific situation. You know, one thing that I didn't really love about this movie, oh, well, there are a couple of things, you know, deaf people aren't helpless. I think that was one thing that maybe the movie tended to fall on was like, at least, at least it presented as, oh, the family needs Ruby as a hearing person, ultimately by the end of the movie, that's not the case at all. And I hope people's takeaway from watching this. Isn't like, oh, they needed her to, you know, be successful or be in their community because we see very explicitly that they're able to function just fine. Just like what the brother tells her at the end scene, you know, where he is. Like, we were fine without you. We will be fine without you. We don't need you. Right. Um, chase, what'd you think about the movie? Uh, I'm

Chase: (09:49)
Gonna try and not sound too much like a broken record, but I got to start with, I also didn't know almost anything about this movie. Tom came home and said, this is amazing. And that immediately made me make sure I didn't watch anything about it or like no too much, because I like being surprised in these sorts of things. I think somehow I don't know if it was on TV or something, but I think the trailer played and I was sort of half hearing, half paying attention to it. So I knew it was about singing and sort of that sort of thing. Uh, but I was very excited to go into it. Uh, I found it super satisfying movie. Yes. Predictable, but in a satisfying way where it's like, it's the things you want to happen and you want to see in films. So it was, it was nice when those things came up, it wasn't, oh, I knew that was going to happen. It's like, yes, I'm glad that happened. And then just, I love a movie that pulls on the heartstrings. I love are telling me,

Kellie: (10:44)
Man. Well, it was the movie where I'm in a group of people.

Chase: (10:48)
I watched this with Tom, this girl, Kristen. And I was like, Kristen. Yeah, Kristen. Hello. I was like, I can't cry in front of these people right now. I love having to fight the tears and losing. So the fact that this movie had a few of those moments was, oh, chef's kiss. Beautiful. I kind of wish it was the only part of the movie where every few minutes I'm like, oh, I'm going to cry again. That's kind of where I was

Phil: (11:18)
At. I feel like I've watched so many scenes and I was like, I had my notebook out and just kind of trying to jot down notes. And I was like, oh, this is my favorite scene up to this point. And then like almost every scene. I'm like, oh, this is my favorite scene. I was like, oh my gosh, my final note at the end that we'll get to that. But

Chase: (11:33)
All of my favorite scenes is my favorite scene. Yeah. It was a, it was a beautifully told story, super unique perspective, at least from my point of view, something I had never seen before. And it was a cool thing to have some insight into this world that I know very little about.

Tom: (11:50)
Well, let's maybe talk about some, some scenes because one thing we haven't really touched on is just how funny this movie is. This is, this movie is very funny. There are scenes and lines and deliveries of things that make you laugh out loud. Despite the fact that we've are all well, I don't know if Kellie was fighting tears and she didn't speak up, but the fact that we were all fighting tears or actively crying. So I'm not willing to say not made of stone. Uh, you know, like, like for example, starting off with the doctor scene where we see Ruby, both having to be interpreter for her parents and just the dynamic of her parents and, and their sort of love of each other and

Kellie: (12:44)
Her hot, hot love of each other. Dad keep

Tom: (12:47)
Her hands off her, look at her. She's hot, you know, it's funny. Um, you know, we got the Tinder at the table. That's another very funny sort of family dynamic in a very, I'm very normal dynamic, which again, I spoke on already, but I just love how there's like nothing abnormal about this family, despite the fact that they have such a unique situation.

Phil: (13:12)
I would say that the thing that's unique about them is, is the, um, you know, they, they reinforce this like a family dynamic, like you said, at the doctor's office and at the dinner table. And like what I followed throughout, uh, they continue to back that up is that they're super like healthy family. They communicate openly, everything gets crossed. And every other character that kind of Ruby runs into it's like my parents hate each other. My parents are divorced. Like, so you ended up finding out and like, even, uh, what's his name miles like you have this like perfect family, you know, that they're like family life is so great. And that's what makes them unique in this story is that all the other families seem to be like broken in a way. And there's this so tightly knit,

Kellie: (13:52)
But I also really loved that the dynamic that they established with the family and those funny moments always fed back to like adding more layers to them. Like even that Tinder scene, the funny Tinder scene where they were at the table, Ruby got in trouble because she was listening to music, but it was fine to go through Tinder because the mom said everyone could have fun going through Tinder

Phil: (14:17)
And participate, you know, it's a family.

Kellie: (14:19)
So it was like that thing, you know, your, your mom might come in and have some weird boundaries of like, this is cool, and this is not, that are annoying. But it, it kind of also shows how Ruby might feel like an outsider because her family can't enjoy the things that she really likes. So it just like, you know, all of those funny moments led into like a deeper understanding of them on, I thought that was very nuanced and clever and, and fed into why all this was so satisfying in the end.

Tom: (14:48)
Yeah. Well, let's, let's talk about Ruby for a second. Here. She is deeply insecure of herself and her family, and I really just loved the journey that she goes on in this movie in terms of, you know, kind of accepting herself and also letting go at the same time and, and having that done through song, I think is very powerful. Like one thing, one thing that I really noticed on my second watch is, you know, there's, there's the scene. That was one of the things that I didn't like about this movie, but I think I like it now. I'm going to do it in a second, the scene where she's in her voice lesson, and she's describing how, when deaf people speak, they sound ugly. And at first I was like, okay, well, that's not a good look. You know, like you don't, you shouldn't be it.

Tom: (15:42)
Shouldn't be saying that. And I was thinking about it more and, and, you know, she's she screaming in that scene? They're, they're screaming at each other. And then he says sing and she sings her song and she sounds angry and she sounds upset as she's singing. And then you compare that to the end of the movie where she's in her audition for Berkeley music school, and she's singing this song to her family and it's not angry, but it still has that emotion behind it because the emotion is switched to pride and to love. And, you know, I just, I think it's, it's just, it's just beautiful. And that's also is like, that's my MVP scene was the, the audition. Oh God, it's so good. Yeah. Talking

Chase: (16:33)
About that, the scene where she's shouting and he gets her to finally sing. Right. I will say I didn't like that, that moment almost happened twice in this movie where she's in the classroom and they're doing the like small dog, medium dog, big dog now sing. And then we have that almost exact moment again, but different. I kind of wish they had changed it up or found some other way to it's like, oh yeah, okay. You keep doing this thing and it fixes it. I dunno. It just felt copy and pasted to me. Yes. The exercise was different, you know, is it a huge deal? No. Did I think about it until just this moment? No. Like in the moment I didn't have any issues, but now that you brought it up, I was like, oh, this is something I wish there had been a little bit more variety too, or some other way he had helped her grow other than quick exercise, instant fix. Well, I think it's kind of,

Phil: (17:22)
She's dealing with different things. She's dealing with kind of this like pressure in front of the class. And she's not really comfortable in her own skin in front of her peers. And so like that scene, I think helps her to kind of unlock that side of herself where like, you know, we all have different lives that we do with our friends. And we do with our family. The other scene is like very personal and she's upset about, you know, some of the things that, you know, her character thinks like this is what people must see. This is what they must hear this ugly though. It's not like that's just her character thinking that like having that kind of warped perception of reality. Um, and then, you know, uh, Mr. V I can't roll my R's, so I won't embarrass myself Mr. [inaudible]

Chase: (18:03)
To all of us, give it a try right now. And, uh, Mr. V's wishes, I already failed at a French accent.

Kellie: (18:13)
I'm not going over to. Um, and so, yeah, I like

Phil: (18:18)
That scene a lot of her pushing and using these emotions that she has, that she really can't let out all the time. Um, and finally using them in a way that's going to be beneficial for this passion that she's found

Tom: (18:32)
Kellie, any, any scenes that you, uh, want to flag? I do want to say we're gonna, I think this movie really just like becomes a cannon ball of emotions at the recital. So we'll, we'll discuss the recital onward, but anything, anything specific before that, that, that jumps out or that you liked, or tell me your thoughts?

Kellie: (18:55)
I think this happened before the recital, when they were on the boat and she didn't show up that day and then the, oh, Tom got that delicious. Then the observer woman caught basically terminal on them. Yeah. Ratted them out to the coast guard. Um, and, and I thought that was just a, that was very stressful scene. Maybe the most stressful of the whole movie and the very real, um, I don't know that one, that one went from like, oh, this is a coming of age story to like, oh no, like this family's going to get in trouble with the coast guard. Like that's not great. And it really put it into like a real world issue. Like how do you navigate the world as deaf people? And, and there's a lot of hazards that come with it. And a lot of people who are not looking out for you. So it just kind of, um, I don't know that added another element to this and it was away from Ruby too. So it was really interesting to see the dynamic when she wasn't around and to see what happens when, when she wasn't there. Um, and the fight that ensued afterwards was,

Phil: (20:09)
Oh, man, that was definitely a high tension, couple of scenes there. I mean the whole boat pulling up and like, that's kind of just like a, one-shot almost of just the, the coast guard, like pulling up,

Chase: (20:21)
They were going to get like rammed. I was like, what's about to happen.

Phil: (20:24)
Yeah. It was an intense. And, uh, you know, she gets torn in so many different directions throughout this entire movie. It's like, do I practice for myself? Do I stay with my family? And you know, all of the coming of age tropes a little bit. Um, but I think that it's so unique because she loves her family so much. She's clearly so close to them. And yet she wants to pull away from them, but she can't because she has like, she wants to help them. But she also like, doesn't want to pull away either. And it's kind of the same dynamic that the mom has, where she's like, you know, they're in the, uh, the scene where, uh, her and the father are talking and she's like, what if she's not good? What if she fails? And then immediately asked, she's like, what if we lose her? It's like, are you more afraid of her failing at something? Or are you more afraid of her succeeding at it? And it's like, no, one's really sure how to feel about this. You know, young girl who's, you know, feels like the tent pole of the family right now, changing her life is changing so dramatically. So

Tom: (21:23)
Both in both Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur, I hope I'm saying his last name right. Are so good. And, and Daniel Duran, I wanted to talk about the actors in this at some point. Cause it's, it's incredible now

Kellie: (21:38)
Let's do it. Yeah.

Tom: (21:41)
They're just, they're, they're so incredible. You know, I think we'll get to the dad stuff here in a minute, but one of my favorite scenes is when, when her mom gives her the dress for the recital and they have that conversation on the bed about, you know, did you ever wish that I was born deaf? Yeah. And she is like painfully honest, like I prayed that you would be deaf because my mom was, was hearing and I couldn't connect with her. And I was just so worried that I wasn't going to be able to connect with my daughter. I just,

Kellie: (22:18)
I didn't love that. She says, she says, hang up the heart wrenching, as

Phil: (22:22)
It goes. It's like the mother daughter scene brother, sister scene. And then it like cherry on top is the father-daughter scene. So it hits all like the family members with their own specific scenes. Yeah. When she says, I thought I would fail you. I was like, oh my God. Oh my God, stop. I can't handle this. So, um, yeah.

Chase: (22:40)
I weirdly want to talk about Miles and I want to do this. And I don't know these love interests. Yes. I don't know how to not sound like a complete, young Sebastian, Stan, but he is the most like appropriate love interest I've ever seen cast in high school of like, he's not clearly a male model. Like this is just a very real person. And I was like, is this the love interest? Like, this is who she's into. And he does a great job, I think, but it was just like, it was, I found it fascinating that it was such a real person, rather than an Abercrombie and Fitch model that she looks at from afar. And who's the most popular guy in school that you could never have. It's just like, no, there's this guy at school and yeah. Yeah. It's like a teenager.

Kellie: (23:30)
And, you know, Ruby was also, she was a real teenager too, you know, maybe I don't know how old she actually is, but in terms of like, she wore flannel and jeans and you know, was just not super concerned about that kind of stuff. She came to school smelling like fish because she was helping her dad on the boat. Like, it was nice that they didn't try and, and make her try and like change to get the guy. Like they just kind of fit well together. I felt

Kellie: (24:01)
Very real in many ways. And

Chase: (24:04)
That, that was a breath of fresh air in so many movies and high school dramas.

Phil: (24:08)
And I like it out, like when they had like, they, they catch their parents having sex and he's like enjoying the situation. Cause like, that's what teenagers do. He's like, this is like, he understands like, this is ridiculous. If anybody's parents got caught having sex, like this would be kind of funny. Like he's not making fun of anyone. He's just like, this is wild. And he feels, you know, he kind of gets brought into the family, dynamic a little bit of being like, listen, we're going to have a conversation with you and they around with them a little bit. And it's funny. And then unfortunately he decides to tell somebody who isn't as understanding or wasn't in that situation.

Kellie: (24:40)
Speaking of which Jay, I will, I don't

Chase: (24:44)
Rarely do this. I'm going to nominate who I think the worst actor in a movie was, and it was the background actor in that scene at lunch, who's laughing at the like helmet joke or like the thing that miles shared with the one person that kind of got around. He's like laughing at the table and it's so

Kellie: (25:04)
It's like, there's this

Chase: (25:06)
Background, actors, time to shine. And, uh, it was a little over done.

Phil: (25:12)
Uh, us background artists find our time to really step into the limelight I've been there. You know, maybe it was me sitting at the table at one point, he took

Chase: (25:22)
A chance and I will say, I did notice him more than I would have noticed other background actors,

Kellie: (25:26)
But he made the pocket. Maybe he made the pot. Yeah. You gotta shoot your shot.

Tom: (25:30)
Yeah. Well, I want to give a, I want to quickly highlight something. Amelia Jones. Ruby is British. He did not speak ASL before, or did not know how to sign ASL before this movie. So she was doing an American accent while signing ASL because British sign language is different and all while, you know

Phil: (25:57)
Yeah. Singing an actual things. Yeah. I think, I think she is

Tom: (26:02)
Very, very impressive and yeah, let's, let's, let's, let's get into some of this emotional stuff here because once we get to this recital, once we get to this recital, this song that we have heard song so many times I need to get back. I mean, how many times did we hear them start that song? And you're waiting for them to sing it. You're

Chase: (26:28)
Like, no, this is finally like, we're going to hear it in its best form.

Tom: (26:31)
And then the song starts and then silence, silence, and you, and you really understand what this family, I mean, you don't really understand. That's not true at all because we will never understand what it means to be deaf. But as a viewer watching, you're put in their shoes and it's just so painful because you want to hear, we want to hear, we know she's good. We know they're good. And just like them, we don't get the satisfaction of hearing this talent.

Chase: (27:10)
I love that it went on for so long. Like I thought it was going to be like, oh, a quick thing. He looks around, we have it for a moment. But the fact that it was like, the rest of the song was

Kellie: (27:21)
Beautiful and it offered like, just a very, very brief little glimpse into the ways that the family must kind of cope in a hearing world every day. Like they knew she was singing and she was good. Um, because other people told them, but then the mom was looking around and she's like that woman's crying. You know, she's like pointing stuff out. She's like seeing, but

Kellie: (27:46)
Like, they're like

Kellie: (27:49)
Trying to, trying to gauge other people's reactions so they can figure out how their daughter is doing because they've only ever heard other people be like, she's good, but right. Yeah. Starting

Tom: (28:00)
To realize that she has a gift and leading into the next scene. Are we

Phil: (28:07)
Just going to jump right into it before I go there, before we go there, talk about when they, uh, then they start practicing and he brings out the guitar and they go back to back. My heart like skipped a beat. For some reason, I was like, oh my gosh, what is happening? I was like, it's her little smile. And like, they start singing. And the song is about like, yo, I was like, yo, this is about to be something. And then you kind of, like you said, you get to that moment at the concert. And, um, it's epic. And then after the concert, when I, if that, if that's a senior going into next week, this is her father sitting,

Tom: (28:46)
Sitting on the back of that truck. Or her father asked her to sing for her and she starts singing and he says louder. And he attempts to choke her out. Chase, come on.

Kellie: (28:59)
You knew it was coming. I knew it.

Tom: (29:02)
He puts his hands on her vocal chords and feels their vibrations and cries. And it's such an, I think, I mean, I think for that scene alone, at least Oscar nom coming for both of our, our friend Troy, but I would, I would imagine both of them, but yeah,

Phil: (29:19)
I would imagine. Yeah. Uh, yeah, all I wrote for that scene was just, but that's my only though, cause like you're watching it and like they're kind of talking about the stars and everything. And then like he starts to break down cause he's already had this kind of like knowledge. He's been given this knowledge at the concert of like how talented she is and what her gift does for other people and how happy she makes other people. And he gets to like be a part of, for like a moment for just a small moment. And how can you not break down at bat? Cause you start to understand. He's like, I gotta let her go. She's got, you know, it's got

Chase: (29:49)
A human to human connection that I think

Phil: (29:52)
We all seek whatever

Chase: (29:55)
Relationships we have in our life, whether it's father, daughter or you know, significant others. It's just like when you see two people like truly understand each other in a moment, I think it's hard not to shed a tear.

Tom: (30:07)
And then that scene immediately leads into the next morning, waking up to go to the recital, go into, is it Berkeley school of music in Boston? Is that, am I saying,

Phil: (30:16)
That's it? Yeah. I believe that's it. So yeah, they hit you with the one punch right there and then they're just going to come with a big one.

Tom: (30:23)
The haymaker, everything seems like it's not going right for Ruby. And she forgets her sheet music and she's under dressed

Phil: (30:31)
And Myles blew it. Like mine was like, I choked that. Yeah. Good luck.

Tom: (30:45)
I had a dream last night, the plane went down, you were in it.

Phil: (30:48)
You go out there, bad things will happen.

Tom: (30:54)
Then you get Mr. V coming in to save the day with his class of 89. You're like, all right, dude, shut it. I love it.

Chase: (31:02)
That's why one of the reasons they like allowed him to do it. It's like, oh yeah, you said alumni. Like, we should let him do this. I thought it was a smart move by him to say class of 89.

Tom: (31:11)
I thought it was just classic classic theater teacher or, or choir teacher. That's like, I teach. So and I went here. So let me in. Well,

Phil: (31:23)
I liked that he, that his story grows as well when he gets upset with her. He's like, don't try and talk to me about failing, coming from someone who's too scared to try. He's like I started teaching because I love to teach.

Tom: (31:33)
So I wish he was more compassionate. I wish she was more compassionate to her situation where she is literally running this family's business for them on top of going to school on top of working, working for four,

Kellie: (31:49)
Does, he does kind of make her choose what she wants to do because he's so hard-lined like, if he was like, like, you know, whatever, if you want to come, that's fine. Then she might not realize like, no, I have to dedicate it to this. If I want to make it work. And she had previously only ever prioritized her family before that. So it was almost like he gave her an out to pursue something else. But

Tom: (32:20)
Is this a, is this a whiplash scenario?

Kellie: (32:24)
Ah, I would say he is not anywhere close to Jake. Not quite my tempo. Yeah. Well, let's try it again. Um, um, sorry.

Tom: (32:35)
So we're at the recital. We're at the recital and she starts to sing and he he's Mr. V. He's like, no, no, you're not giving it your all you are better than this. He, he, he flubs sibs. He flubbed, he fills a flub, definitely start again. And she sees her family has snuck up to the top row and they're watching her and she starts to sing. And as she sings her, you see her hands kind of fidget. And suddenly as she sings, she begins to sign. And it is my, it it's the scene that I couldn't stop thinking about. I kept, I would listen to both sides now by Joni Mitchell in my car, thinking about this scene and getting emotional, just hearing the words again. I love it so much. It's so good. It's such a great cap to this movie and such a, such a powerful and emotional climax that I'm like here for again and again. I loved it so much. What are your thoughts?

Kellie: (33:46)
Okay. I just want to jump in with one thing. The, so it had just a great callback to cause one scene I forgot to mention before is when, um, Mr. V was trying to get her to say why she loved to sing her house. Singing made her felt and she couldn't verbalize it. She had to sign it. And in that moment they didn't even do the subtitles because like her emotion came through, you could kind of figure out what she was saying through the signs itself. And then in a way, yeah. And then in this scene, she like, you know, the whole time Mr. V is trying to get her to have some passion and try and get her to like release that. And, you know, signing was her first language, you know, she's a bilingual person. And so she was able to like, get that passion out through signing the song as she sang it. And I just thought that was a beautiful moment of all of those pieces coming together from different parts of the movie. It was chef's kiss indeed. Yeah. I

Phil: (34:53)
Mean, that's, that was, I mean that, like you said, Tom, that's the scene. Um, cause she starts singing and you're like, you're feeling it. And like she she's sung the song, you know, only at one other moment in the movie. Uh, and she starts to go on and you're like, oh man. And then her family comes in. You're like, all right guys, like relax. You know? And then when she does like that first handset, like, you know, and then I was just, I wrote, I'm a mess. I threw my notebook. I was like,

Kellie: (35:18)
It was just like

Phil: (35:20)
That. Yeah. That hit me hard, man. I was like I said, the haymaker knockout punch. And you just feel like the love of what she's doing for her. Like with her family there, like with her like best supporter and teacher and it just all comes together and then it like, yeah,

Tom: (35:38)
Just then it goes right into the montage of what happens after the fish business is a success and the mom is bonding with the other women and the dad and the brother are getting beers with the guys and, and you realize, yeah, they're going to be fine. Like it's, it's there again. They're not, they're not helpless. They're human. They, they, yes, there is uh, a curve for them and that they can't hear, but that's not, I love when the brother said like, let them deal with us with deaf people. Not the other way.

Kellie: (36:13)
Yeah, exactly.

Tom: (36:16)
It's not on us. And, and, and it all caps to Ruby going to school. She gets in, oh man, when she got in and it's kind of like cuts the silent and then, and then they, it's just them cheering.

Phil: (36:29)
And it's one of the few moments. Cause usually in their family, like conversations and the dynamic they're having, it's dead quiet. Like they're just signing. And like, they do a very clear point to like, make sure there's no other noise. Like there's no planes or cars or other people talking. It's just them. So when that moment comes and you hear them all celebrate together, uh, and when then, then they send her off and her dad says go, oh

Kellie: (36:53)
Kidding me, dude. Is that what it sounds? That's what does that mean? I really love you is when you cross, when he crossed the finger. Oh. As opposed to, I don't really love you.

Phil: (37:10)
Yeah. You chill, chill, beautiful ending.

Tom: (37:13)
I hope that you all like this movie as much as I do. I think, I think we do. That's what I'm taking away.

Chase: (37:20)
Well, maybe you should ask some sort of question to figure that out.

Tom: (37:24)
We're we're at we're at the end here. Um, you know, I, I know it feels weird to ask, is this the best thing you've never seen since this movie has been out for a week and a half, two weeks at this point after this podcast releases, but for the, for the sake of, for the sake of the name of this podcast, I'll go ahead and ask you, uh, chase. Was this the best thing you had never seen? You know, I keep

Chase: (37:52)
Trying to figure out what that means. Every time we do one of these episodes, because is it my favorite movie?

Tom: (37:59)
No. No, it's not your favorite.

Chase: (38:02)
Like it's hard to classify. I don't think I could watch Tron legacy. Yes. Just didn't have daft punk. I don't care about it. No, but I'm still going to classify it as a best thing. I've never seen like it's on the list. It is, has my approval 100% a movie that gets me to cry. You know, you got me, how could you not? And just some beautiful, beautiful moments I was in the thrawled all the way through. I loved watching the whole thing. So yeah. It's, it's a winner for me, Phil.

Phil: (38:36)
Uh, yeah. So I think there's a movie that we've expedited this process a little bit for those, but we do have another episode coming out in later weeks. I believe that. Or I, I put my best thing. I've never seen on that movie. This has taken over as the best thing I'd never seen. Like I said, when you're going through a movie, you know, like that's the best scene in this movie and then it just keeps topping itself. It's the best thing I've ever seen. So the best scene I've ever seen, oh man, that's a tongue twister. Uh, yeah. Great pig, great film. Uh, highly suggest everyone to go watch it when you have the time. And uh, yeah. And we have a chance already

Kellie: (39:13)
Though. Yeah, exactly. And

Phil: (39:16)
You have a chance we should maybe throw on the Instagram, check out that Hollywood reporter video that they have the interview. There's a lot of interesting points and a lot of interesting dialogue that they have with the producer as well as Marlee. Um, it's really interesting. So yeah. Good pick dude.

Tom: (39:31)
Great Kellie. First time formally asking you this question, Kellie, is this the best thing you'd never seen?

Kellie: (39:40)
So I thought this movie was a delight and it just so naturally wove from one part to the next. And it was such a satisfying ending, how they just kept weaving it all together. Family dynamic was awesome and interesting and hilarious and heartwarming. And I'm going to say, yeah, this is the best thing I've never seen. That's a clean sweep

Speaker 7: (40:10)
Task we've done so far.

Tom: (40:13)
Not when you know what I'm again, I, even though this technically was a movie that I brought to all of you, I think this is a movie we can all share together. You know, it's got heart, it's got representation. It's got a familiar story told in a unique way, with a unique perspective, it's got incredible, incredible acting. I think we will be seeing these people, uh, on our TV screens during award season. And I already saw that Troy is in Sean's next movie. That was just announced. So, uh, we're going to be getting hopefully much more of these people and hopefully it opens up the door for more actors that are deaf or hard of hearing or blind or differently able to, you know, have these stories be told. And I I'm just excited for what's to come. And I hope that I hope that this is the start of, you know, a real, uh, um, a real showing of just different stories across the board. So thank you all for sharing this with me and for sharing your thoughts. I hope everyone enjoyed this review. We're going to call this a, uh, a group review of Coda again, apple plus, or in your theater, if you somehow are here and you haven't seen it, although, like I said, you kind of feel like you've seen the movie as you're seeing it. Although not also not, I don't know what

Cross talk: (41:37)
I'm saying. [inaudible] so close. We almost had no edits for Kellie. [inaudible] don't cut anything.

Tom: (41:56)
All right, everyone. Thank you for tuning in. Thank you for listening to the best thing you've ever seen. We will be back next week with In Bruges and by next week, I mean in two weeks with In Bruges. All right. Hey, thanks guys. Bye everyone. And thank you, Kellie.