Partial Greatness

There are movies that rank among the greatest of all time (or among my greatest of all time) because, much like athletes whose careers earn them berths in their sports' respective halls of fame, they endure and display greatness over time, not just in a short burst. This is why Larry Walker is not a hall of famer (he had a few great years, but not enough of an entire career) and Tony Gwynn is (undeniable greatness over a 20-year career). So I got home from work last night and turned on the television (as I am wont to do on occasion), intending to play the still-TiVo'd Studio 60 episode from Monday night, but I was instead greeted with "That Thing You Do" on HBO. Highly underrated film, but its greatest moment is the scene in which the band members first hear their song on the radio. I arranged my lunch-making and bag-packing schedule around the scene, which (if you'll recall) comes just after the Oneders sign their first deal with Phil, and it did not disappoint. The set-up is great: the lovely Faye (Liv Tyler) is mailing letters and listening to her radio; T.B. Player (seriously, the bass player's name in the movie is 'T.B. Player', look it up) is doing likewise as he exits the Marine recruitment office; Guy is working in his dad's store, showing a few female customers the different colors of stoves they have available. All of a sudden, "Erie's own oh-nee-ders" are playing, and Faye goes crazy, running down the street, grabbing T.B. and careening into the appliance store, where Guy turns on all the radios in the place and they proceed to dance like maniacs. Jimmy and Lenny eventually join them, and the sheer joy is so fun to watch. There are several moments like this in the movie (running through the throngs of screaming girls on their way to the limo) where the excitement of "making it" as a band are so deftly displayed, but this is the defining moment, and one of my favorite movie scenes of all time. Others that came to mind as I started to consider great scenes...
- The hockey scene in Swingers. Video gaming in movies has never been done better, though it's been imitated often since then.
- The "You know how I know you're gay?" scene in 40-Year Old Virgin. They're also playing video games in this one, but it's hardly the focal point. The extended version on the DVD, the two dudes just riffing on this topic forever, is hilarious.
- The climactic scene in Scent of a Woman, in which Pacino earns his Oscar, putting Headmaster Trask in his place and getting Charlie out of any punishment for his so-called crimes--Charlie may have been many things, "but not a snitch!"
- The scene at work where I have way too much to do to finish writing something fun like this. Oh well.