Accidents Happen (2009)

In 1974, the Conway family are at a drive-in theater in Connecticut watching The Three Stooges. The parents are Gloria (Geena Davis), a foul-mouthed and strict mother who will always take responsibility over the family, Ray (Joel Tobeck), an easy-going father, and siblings Linda, Gene, Larry (Harry Cook (actor)), and Billy (Harrison Gilbertson), who is an accident-prone child. In the meantime, the Conway’s neighbor, Douglas “Doug” Post (Sebastian Gregory), whom Gloria hates and often calls him names because he is the one who causes problems that could be offensive towards the family, drives by on his bike, and Gene leads him up to the top of the drive-in screen. Gene then proceeds to urinate out of the screen. While an infuriated Gloria trips as she approaches the screen, the police are dispatched to handle the situation as infuriated and confused guests honk at Gene and Doug. While driving back home, an argument over the incident causes their car to collide with a pick-up truck during the rainy night. Although Gloria, Ray, Billy, and Larry only suffer minor injuries, Linda is killed and Gene is severely injured with severe brain damage (that could be fatal in a matter of time) and is left paralyzed from the head down.

In 1982, eight years after the accident, Ray is divorced and more problems arise not only concerning about Doug, but also about Gene’s severe condition, as he could die in any day or any month. Fifteen-year-old Billy is still friends with Doug even after the accident. One night, an argument occurs over a TV dinner with Larry, now a belligerent and profane alcoholic. Billy accidentally knocks over the dinner and it lands on him, burning his back. When Doug overhears what is going on, he intervenes and gets into a short scuffle with Larry, as Billy blames his brother for the burn on his back. After streaking and robbing a convenience store, Billy and Doug are playing when he causes an almighty crash with a bowling ball and a moving car, actually killing Doug’s father by accident.[3] Just a few days after the incident, Larry’s incessant harassment causes Billy to fight against his older brother, and when Gloria breaks up the scuffle and discovers a gauze on Billy’s back (after Billy knocked the TV dinner and injured himself, and on the newspapers regarding the robbery that Billy was wearing the gauze), Larry immediately tells her that Billy and Doug went streaking and stealing things as evidence, but is still taken away by Ray, who came to cause another argument with Gloria over their divorce. Because Billy has no way to hide any of the evidence, an incensed Gloria reprimands and admonishes him, restricting him from seeing Doug permanently. Although she knows what Billy and Doug did, Gloria does not know what really happened at the car crash.

When Doug receives a mistaken note that his father committed suicide and that the insurance company does not pay for suicide, they decide that it is time to confess to the police of what really happened. When Billy tells this to Gloria, she describes him as a selfish son and she slaps him across the face in disbelief and breaks down in tears. As the police interrogate Billy and Doug, the family receive word that Gene had finally died. It is then revealed that when Doug attended Gene’s funeral, Gloria had forgiven him for what happened. The movie ends when Billy takes the bowling ball that was found after the fatal accident and roles it down the sidewalk as Billy looks on.

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