He acknowledges he was a bad dad to them growing up and he just CONTINUES to be a bad dad. Near the end when Larry wants to go to Chile and leave HIS SON for another get rich quick scheme, his dad is okay with it and agrees to take in Cool just like that. Really? Anyone else would have been like "NO, Larry, you need to stay here and take care of your responsibilities", not enabled that reckless behavior.
shareI think you have to realize that he does not know what to do.
He has tried everything, and poor "Cool" is innocent, so he is OK with just taking it as it comes.
You really also never know in real life. Some children are traumatized or have an organic brain problem.
This is a movie but in real life lots of kids are just unable to survive in the world.
Maybe he had undiagnosed ADHD, or he was autistic, or with Asperger's, or just ate too much sugar.
We do not know what it is that makes kids like this, and a movie does not portray things objectively,
they are for entertainment. Plus, it also has an obligation to make money and not depress its audience.
Also, that scene gives hope to the audience who is assured that the Dad knows more about
parenting than he did when he was raising Larry, and so Cool is better off.
It's a story. A good movie, and the TV series is even better.
1) UnWatchable 2)Watchable,ButBad 3)Decent,SeeOnce 4)Good,Repeat&Recommend 5)Great,Classic