Bring out your wailing, moaning losers
November 1, 2010 5:37 PM   Subscribe

I'm looking for short, humorous movie/TV clips of people who've lost it all. Wailing, moaning, gnashing of teeth preferred.

I'm giving a talk on this guy who lost it all (and, no worries, got it all back), and I was hoping to open with a humorous clip of someone who has lost it all. A businessman with his clothes all ruffled, lying in the street, wailing about his sad lot in life. Or something like that, I don't know. It doesn't have to be a man, or a businessperson. Something I could find a short sample of on YouTube is all I need. Any ideas?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero to Media & Arts (28 answers total) 7 users marked this as a favorite
 
There's a scene at the end of the What is Sodomy vignette in Woody Allen's Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex -- the vignette where Gene Wilder plays a respected doctor who falls in love with a sheep -- in which Wilder is seen lying in the gutter, clutching a bottle of Woolite.
posted by bearwife at 5:48 PM on November 1, 2010




Also, you've got that look in the clips from Its a Wonderful Life when Jimmy Stewart is wandering away from his smashed car with his bleeding lip, headed toward the bridge to throw himself in the river.
posted by bearwife at 5:50 PM on November 1, 2010


The Room!

Not exactly the same thing, but the beginning of The Hudsucker Proxy has a great scene featuring a businessman who decides to end it all.
posted by The Card Cheat at 5:52 PM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


Life Stinks is sure to have a few. This clip starts out with a good one.
posted by ODiV at 5:55 PM on November 1, 2010


The opening scene of The Jerk is perfect for this. Can't find a clip on the tubes though. =\

Navin: Huh? I am *not* a bum. I'm a jerk. I once had wealth, power, and the love of a beautiful woman. Now I only have two things: my friends, and... uh... my thermos. Huh? My story? Okay. It was never easy for me. I was born a poor black child. I remember the days, sittin' on the porch with my family, singin' and dancin' down in Mississippi...
posted by carsonb at 6:00 PM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]


I came here to say "The Jerk" too, but I was thinking towards the end when he walks out of his mansion with his pants around his ankles. "The paddle ball and the remote control and that's ALL I need!"

Possibly the best sad/funny scene in the history of movies.
posted by drjimmy11 at 6:09 PM on November 1, 2010 [3 favorites]


There was a bit of that at the end of this Twilight Zone episode.
posted by routergirl at 6:10 PM on November 1, 2010 [1 favorite]




This is the scene routergirl is talking about. So good.
posted by griphus at 6:12 PM on November 1, 2010


There's also at least one Futurama parody of that Twilight Zone scene, which starts with the glasses breaking and ends with the guy's head exploding.
posted by drjimmy11 at 6:18 PM on November 1, 2010


Best scene from Trading Places.
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 6:23 PM on November 1, 2010




haha, I didn't preview!
posted by Fairchild at 6:26 PM on November 1, 2010


Nothing is fucked, dude.
posted by thebergfather at 6:37 PM on November 1, 2010


Lost in America the "lost it all" casino scene.

(Contains a couple "shit"s, so not sure if it's appropriate for your crowd.)
posted by The Deej at 6:39 PM on November 1, 2010


Jude Law in "I Heart Huckabees"
posted by hermitosis at 6:50 PM on November 1, 2010


Nicolas Cage had some great freak out moments in Vampire's Kiss.
posted by cazoo at 7:09 PM on November 1, 2010


My students love to watch the "Greatest freak out ever"
posted by davey_darling at 7:31 PM on November 1, 2010


Anything featuring Gil from the Simpsons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRWAQ255qhs
posted by darkgroove at 7:46 PM on November 1, 2010


The airport/car rental scene from Planes, Trains and Automobiles. NSFW, many F-bombs.
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:17 AM on November 2, 2010


John Cleese has had some classic moments:

Clockwise: 1, 2

Monty Python: 3
posted by MuffinMan at 1:45 AM on November 2, 2010


Milk was a bad choice!
posted by jbickers at 3:15 AM on November 2, 2010


Best answer: "Anything I wanted was a phone call away. Free cars. The keys to a dozen hideout flats all over the city. I bet twenty, thirty grand over a weekend and then I'd either blow the winnings in a week or go to the sharks to pay back the bookies. Didn't matter. It didn't mean anything. When I was broke, I'd go out and rob some more. We ran everything. We paid off cops. We paid off lawyers. We paid off judges. Everybody had their hands out. Everything was for the taking. And now it's all over. And that's the hardest part. Today everything is different; there's no action... have to wait around like everyone else. Can't even get decent food - right after I got here, I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce, and I got egg noodles and ketchup. I'm an average nobody... get to live the rest of my life like a schnook."
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 7:20 AM on November 2, 2010


There's this classic hidden camera stunt - Man parks his van by the quayside, it gets secretly switched, and then sees the stunt-double van pushed into the water. The stunt starts at 1.30 in the video, and his horrified response starting at 1.55 is one of the all time 'candid camera' great reactions.
posted by ArkhanJG at 7:51 AM on November 2, 2010 [1 favorite]




See also:

Hamlet (cigar) advert: Photo booth

Volkswagen Golf adverts: 1, 2
posted by MuffinMan at 1:04 AM on November 3, 2010


Response by poster: So many good answers, thank you all! I ultimately went with the clip from Goodfellas, which went over well.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:46 PM on November 9, 2010


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