After thinking about it for a while, I wonder if maybe "they" (Jen Westfeldt?) cut that line because they feared it made Jason seem too desperate at the end, like maybe he was latching onto Julie simply because he was miserable and vulnerable and not because he'd finally realized how much he needed and wanted her. I can sort of see that, or at least see how the possibility of that interpretation could be a genuine concern.
*BUT* I think that the way Adam delivered that line was pretty perfect. (what? biased? me? never!) It was wry and sardonic, and, yes, vulnerable, but not *needy.* It wasn't delivered as if he was just, in that moment, coming to that realization, but rather that this was the end point, or climax of his self-actualization. He'd already done a lot of the "work" necessary to get to that point, and now he could finally put a name to it and start the work of letting it go.
But anyway, yes, I'd be really interested to hear the reason that line was cut, especially because it was such a punch to the gut and really stood out to me when I first say the film.
I was thinking about it some more too, and I thought maybe they might have cut it because the movie didn't show how he got past that. As it aired, leaving that question unanswered, it felt like one of the steps to Jason realizing that he should be with Julie. If he answered it with "Because I hate myself," then it doesn't seem like it makes sense for him to change his mind about that so soon afterward. But the way you're describing how it was delivered ... maybe I'm wrong about that?
You're right, it would make his character seem sadder, though, and I think if it had been left in, I might have been disappointed that we didn't see that part of his personality explored anywhere else in the movie.
Yeah, see the way it aired, it felt like him saying "Because I hate myself" was followed by an unspoken, but acknowledged "Yeah, and how stupid is that? I'm an idiot for a) taking so long to realize that that's what I've been doing b) letting that get in my way." It felt like him being able to acknowledge that out loud *was* a crucial step in his realizing he should be with Julie: because he knew what "the problem" was, he could go about fixing it. And being able to (ruefully) name it out loud and acknowledge the absurdity of it (i.e. "I'm not able to be with this woman because she knows and loves the real me *too well*) is itself an indication of both that and how he's getting past it. (<-- that's sort of a crude way of putting it, but you know what I mean, right?)
Basically I think the line really worked; it made things more messy, but I think in a good, emotionally true way. It helped me to feel that by the end Jason had really "earned" his relationship with Julie, that he hadn't just changed his mind, but that he actually had worked through some things - not just about his feelings for her but on himself, in general - that made him ready and worthy of fully being "her person." (<--please excuse the potentially problematic language, I'm just typing as I think, here.) The cut may have been a way to streamline the ending a bit, and I don't necessary think it hurts the film (and I get thinking that it had the potential to be misinterpreted and not wanting to risk that at the expense of being able to sell the ending) but, personally, I do wish they'd left it in.
*BUT* I think that the way Adam delivered that line was pretty perfect. (what? biased? me? never!) It was wry and sardonic, and, yes, vulnerable, but not *needy.* It wasn't delivered as if he was just, in that moment, coming to that realization, but rather that this was the end point, or climax of his self-actualization. He'd already done a lot of the "work" necessary to get to that point, and now he could finally put a name to it and start the work of letting it go.
But anyway, yes, I'd be really interested to hear the reason that line was cut, especially because it was such a punch to the gut and really stood out to me when I first say the film.
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You're right, it would make his character seem sadder, though, and I think if it had been left in, I might have been disappointed that we didn't see that part of his personality explored anywhere else in the movie.
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Basically I think the line really worked; it made things more messy, but I think in a good, emotionally true way. It helped me to feel that by the end Jason had really "earned" his relationship with Julie, that he hadn't just changed his mind, but that he actually had worked through some things - not just about his feelings for her but on himself, in general - that made him ready and worthy of fully being "her person." (<--please excuse the potentially problematic language, I'm just typing as I think, here.) The cut may have been a way to streamline the ending a bit, and I don't necessary think it hurts the film (and I get thinking that it had the potential to be misinterpreted and not wanting to risk that at the expense of being able to sell the ending) but, personally, I do wish they'd left it in.
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