Garry

Sure this kid had some issues on the surface, but its not difficult to understand why. He desperately wanted a father figure and he didn't have one, or another dude to talk to about anything. Throw being 13 and going through puberty into the mix and that just made a bad situation even worse. From what we know, his dad was a deadbeat, so (even if it was overboard) I can see why he'd smash up the scumbag's office.

That's interesting as you mentioned, there aren't any scenes between Gil and Gary. We already know that no matter how stressed and tense he sometimes got lol, that Gil was a great dad...and you're right I'm sure he could've had a talk with Gary and made him feel a little better.

I really like how Tod became like a big brother to him and you can tell how much better he felt when Tod told him there's nothing wrong with w*cking off lol. I mean really, how can a 13 year old boy feel comfortable confiding in his mom and sister about stuff like that? Even something simple like that probably gave him validation that he wasn't weird or a pervert...and later on in the movie he definitely comes out of his shell more.

I loved the way they portrayed the character of Gary. He wasn't a one-dimensional sullen teenager, like so many films portray them these days.
He wasn't perfect, but he was a sweet kid who was lost & lonely.
I also found it wild that he trashed his dad's office! You knew how deeply, heartbreakingly hurt he must have been to do such a thing, because the film explored his character previously.

We the viewer also got to know the extra emotional knife that Gary must have gotten in his back, even before his dad refused to let him come stay for even a few months:
That it wasn't like his dad just wanted to be a free & clear bachelor with no kids (bad enough but it would have been a reason). The dad went and had a NEW FAMILY COMPLETE WITH KIDS!
He just wanted to forget about the past ones, for some diabolical reason. He wouldn't even fix his kids' aching teeth!
I would have smashed up his office & his CAR just for those things alone!



I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus.
Didn't he discover America?
Penfold, shush.

Wow, I don't think you can know much about child psychology. This sort of acting out is pretty normal after a kids goes through traumatic events & feelings of abandonment & jealousy. If kids don't act out in some way & bottle everything up when they feel so bad, it can actually make things a lot harder for them to deal with things when they get older, may get problems of low self-esteem, worthlessness, depressions etc, & possibly breakdown internally or an big external release against other people.
I think Joaquín Phoenix played the part amazingly & still do - you can feel the pain & hurt coming off that little dude, it makes you just want to hug him. He was a brilliant actor even then.

I think it shows some degree of caring on Garry's part that he recognises Gil's got his own problems, he doesn't want to bother him.

Gary probably didn't want to bother Gil because he knew what a trainwreck Kevin was.

https://www.fanfiction.net/u/5423577/Bobbydrake2000

Maybe Garry left his hammer there deliberately so that his father would know he'd done the damage. He didn't really think clearly about the repercussions and maybe didn't expect that his father would inform his mother about what had happened. He didn't feel comfortable talking to Gil because he didn't want his uncle to know about his "perversion" and likely felt more comfortable talking to someone who was
not directly related to him, younger, and a little less "establishment." And he may have sensed Gil's contempt towards him (at the beginning of the film, Gil sneers at the idea that one of his kids may need therapy, while his sister's son
is really the one with the problems).


I'm not crying, you fool, I'm laughing!

Hewwo.

We are not supposed to know it is Gary until afterwards. I think he does that because of the fact that after he called his dad, his dad brushed him off like he didn't exist, which is why the last thing he smashes is the picture of his dad with his new kids (wonder who that was playing him?). Why did he leave his hammer there? Maybe he was in a rage and just dropped it and then wanted to flee rather than look for it because the longer he stayed there, the more of a risk he took getting caught. I'd love to have seen the look on the dad's face when he saw his office trashed like that. He might've tried suing Helen for the damages and I'd love to see her say, "Aw, take me to court. Some of this is your fault too." Then a judge agrees with her and makes her pay 25% of the damages only.

I'm sure Gil wouldn't have had a problem talking to Gary about the sex stuff, but to Gary he felt that Gil had his own kids to deal with and Gary didn't want to take time away from that. He didn't see Gil as his dad, but an uncle, who even said, "Now there's a kid with problems," like he is amazed at him.

Finally, the scene never scared me. I loved the way they shot it.