Jack and Diane Case - Something’s Gotta Give

Jack and Diane

Something’s Gotta Give

This movie has a plethora of interpersonal communication elements and processes; Harry’s (Jack Nicholson), desire or inability to develop long term relationships makes him a great example of a relational isolate. He chooses to keep women in his life at a very superficial level, not allowing any of them to get close to him, or maybe more interesting, he does not allow himself to get close to any of them. This leads to a lack of significant individuals in his life, and a major immediacy gap that I feel affects his well-being and psyche; he tries to convince himself that he is living a life of envy by every man, especially those in long-term relationships that become monotonous, anyone dealing with relationship issues, and the fact that he dates mostly younger, beautiful women.

This all changes when he has a heart attack while getting aroused by Marin (Amanda Peet), who he has gone away with for the weekend to Erica’s (Diane Keaton), beach house. They all end up there together including Zoe (Francis McDormand), who is Erica’s sister, even though the house was supposed to be vacant. Erica is clearly disgusted by Harry and everything he stands for but when the heart attack happens, they all end up at the local hospital and stay to support him since Harry has no relational history with anyone to call.

During the scene at the hospital, Harry is asked a question by the doctor right at the moment when the women step into the room. To save face and preserve his image as he knows it, Harry answers the question with an outright lie which the doctor suspected from the beginning, even though the conversation taking place between them was direct communication. When Harry finds out the possible ramifications for his answer, him pulling the IV from his hand was a loud and clear act of communication without saying a word.

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