Jamie Reidy adds a classic “I quit!” scene to the list of famous movie departures.
In the wake of the Goldman executive’s public F-you on the way out the door, NPR came up with its own list of the top four quitting moments. Then, the author asked for readers’ submissions from either real life or cinema.
I jumped into the Waaaaay Back Machine and came up with the pivotal scene in the original BAD NEWS BEARS. (Note: in Hollywood, everyone ALL CAPS movie titles; in order to give the misimpression that I’m an industry insider, so do I.) Please do not even mention the remake of BNB. As the Sportsguy Bill Simmons says about GODFATHER III, “It never happened.”
In the championship game, Walter Matthau’s Bears take onVic Morrow’s umpteen-time defending champion Yankees. The latter are, to put it delicately, complete douchebags, with “Joey,” their best player and manager’s son, reigning as King DB.
Despite the Bears’ best efforts, the Yankees are all set to win the crown. But then a strange thing happens: Nazi Dad instructs Joey to intentionally walk Engelmeyer, the token fat kid. This is a major affront to the star’s ego; he wants to strike out this chump.
“Low and outside,” Vic Morrow tells him. “Low and outside.”
Or not. Joey throws a fastball at Englemeyer’s head, causing his father/manager to sprint from the dugout to the mound and smack his son in the face, knocking the boy to the ground. Unbelievably powerful moment, as Vic Morrow snaps out of his rage to see every player and fan gawking at him as silence smothers the Little League field.
Amazingly, Dad leaves his son in as pitcher to finish out the game. Engelmeyer taps the ball back to the mound for a sure-as-shit game ending out.
Or not. Joey fields the ball cleanly… but doesn’t throw it to the first baseman. Instead, the pitcher tosses it into his mitt over and over, all the while staring at his old man with a sick smile on his face. Eventually, his teammates realize their ace has gone rogue; they tackle him on the mound and try to get the ball. They never wrestle it away from him, and the fat baserunner completes the unlikeliest inside-the-park home run ever.
Joey stands up and walks off the field, stopping to drop the baseball at his father/manager’s feet.
FUCK YOU, DAD.
And sons everywhere rejoice!
What famous “take this job and shove it!” moment would you pick?
Get ready to completely freak out on me Jamie, for this uber-mom answer…
Working Girl!