Though largely uplifting and funny, this movie is not shy about hitting you right in the feels.
- First, there's Lisa's incredibly abrupt death. It happens so fast that it almost feels like someone changed the channel to a whole different film, considering everything up to that was fairly upbeat.
- Then there is finding out his mother has early onset Alzheimer's and he has to find her around the clock care in short order, which is what motivates him to begrudgingly accept the $750,000 advance for "My Pafology" / "Fuck."
- THEN, there is an absolutely crushing scene where his mother wanders out of the beach house and is walking down the beach, showing that she could have easily walked into the sea and drowned thanks to her condition.
- THEN, there's the scene where she is slow dancing with Cliff and it's so sweet and lovely...until she says, "I always knew you weren't a queer." The look on Cliff's face is just...there are no words. He just silently lets her go and walks out even as Monk tries to comfort him.
- Another stinger, too, is when Cliff turns to Coraline and tells her, "This family will break your heart."...some time after which Monk proves him right by getting into a petty argument with Coraline, who has no idea why he's so upset about her liking his Springtime for Hitler novel, leading to a breakup that's not resolved by the end of the film.
- After all that, it's not even a question why Monk previously was living by himself and not interacting with his family; it's a rather sad affair at times when he's around them.
