Jaws has some incredibly memorable scenes – the “bigger boat” scene, the USS Indianapolis story just to name two. My favorite, however, is the dinner table scene just after Alex Kitner’s mother confronts Chief Brody. She had just learned that Chief Brody knew that there had been an earlier shark attack and hadn’t closed the beaches. She slaps him and then blames him for her boys death.

The scene that follows is pure brilliance. Chief Brody sits at the table processing the emotional uppercut he’s just received. She’s right. He could have prevented her son’s death. At this point, we notice Brody’s son sitting at the table too. I’m sure you remember the rest. Brody notices his son mimicking him and plays along for a bit before the following bit of dialogue:

How the heck does this scene move the story along? It doesn’t. Most modern blockbusters would have immediately cut to the scene where Brody goes to the hospital, a man on a mission, and demands that the mayor let him hire Quint. The movie would have worked just fine that way, but Spielberg brilliantly gave us this scene to show us that Brody wasn’t just some action hero hell bent on killing the shark.

This scene shows us that Brody is a real person with real feelings. The death of the Kitner boy affected him. This scene motivates everything that follows. He’s trying to make things right and prevent any more suffering.

Think about this in your writing. It’s very tempting to omit scenes like this in order to keep the story moving. Instead, give your characters some breathing room. Let us see how the events in your screenplay are affecting them. It’ll make them more human and relatable.

What’s your favorite scene in Jaws?