Discuss The Money Pit
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The subplot with Walter's dad
posted by theburbsSTAFFMOD on February 18, 2017 at 2:55 PM
First off, this is one of my favourite comedies of all time, but I'm never quite sure what the Walter's dad subplot adds to the movie. It bookends the film (seems to only really appear at the very beginning and very end), so I feel it could be easily removed and not affect the main story at all.
I showed this movie to my boyfriend recently, and one of his comments was that he didn't care about the dad subplot at all. I see where he's coming from. I guess at the end we're supposed to assume that he's going to get "Money Pitted", but does anyone really care?
Is anyone else confused by the addition of the Walter's dad character? I can't make sense of why it's included at all!
Reply by silver_doe
on April 7, 2017 at 1:31 AM
I think it's supposed to set up Walter's money-woes and show why he is already struggling to make ends meet... because his father skipped town and left him to deal with all his financial debts.
It also raises the subject of marriage... to show that Walter wanted to get married but Anna didn't.
As well as that it just works as quirky little bookends to the film, because it shows his dad getting his comeuppance at the end for stiffing everyone back home.