Tear Jerker / Dominick and Eugene

Even though it’s a movie about the bond between two brothers, Dominick and Eugene still manages to have many tearjerker moments in its runtime - definitely more than many viewers expected on their first watch.

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• Eugene’s dilemma on receiving his acceptance to finish his education at Stanford - while he does want to go and finish his education, as that’s what he’s been working towards for years, he’s torn between going and staying with his brother, the quintessential dilemma of family vs work. It’s a fear that can hit close to home for many people, the trouble with distance and work, whether it’s about friends or family. Making it even sadder for Eugene is that his fear isn’t even about losing contact with Nicky, but rather concern over whether Nicky can even manage on his own without his brother constantly looking after him. The incidents with Larry and Guido (the drug dealer) only serve to make him even more worried about Nicky’s naivety.
  Eugene: I can only take so much care of you, Nicky! I can’t watch you every minute, I’m not God!
  • This eventually culminates into the brothers’ big argument on their birthday night, when Eugene was busy at the hospital and couldn’t come celebrate - which itself was sad enough as the brothers had been looking forward to celebrating their birthday together and had saved up money for it. Nicky gets back to find Eugene and Jennifer at home, having just arrived from the hospital with a cake to celebrate their birthday and apologize for being late. Nicky, however, being drunk (and having Larry’s taunts about Eugene abandoning him for Jennifer in his head) ends up assuming that Eugene simply blew off their birthday to spend it with Jennifer, and tells him as much. This results in an argument that ends with Jennifer leaving and the brothers yelling at each other, with Eugene calling Dominick an idiot and shoving him into the wall, hurting him. The looks on both their faces after this say it all and show their regret over what happened.
    • With the reveal from their confrontation in the warehouse later on, it becomes even sadder on Eugene’s end: he was terrified at the thought that he was becoming like their violent, abusive father.
• Fred’s death, especially with how out of nowhere it came, bordering on Mood Whiplash. The brothers, along with Jennifer and Mrs. Gianelli and their dog Fred, go on a picnic in a park to relax. Nicky and Gino go to talk things out after their argument the night before, and Gino explains how he has to leave to finish his education but doesn’t want to leave Nicky behind, and it seems like they’ll talk things out and find a solution. Then Fred is suddenly hit by a car, and the brothers run over to see what happened. It immediately cuts to Nicky’s tear-streaked face in church, making it clear that Fred had died. Father T. tries to comfort him, but Nicky just walks away.
  Dominick: If I was God, I wouldn’t let that happen to my boy.
• Michael "Mikey" Chernak. The poor boy is friends with Nicky and enjoys talking to him about comic books - and he’s being abused by his father, with no one else aware of it. When Dominick sees him outside his house earlier in the film as his parents argue inside and asks about his bruises, Mikey simply tells him he fell down. Later on he is killed by his father throwing him down the stairs to the cellar when he was afraid to go in there as a punishment.
  • Tying into that, Mikey’s mother Theresa. She loses her son Mikey, has her baby Joey kidnapped, and then finds out her husband had killed Mikey, all in the same day. When she hears about her son getting hurt after getting home she rushes into the house to check on him, and her horrified wailing of his name is absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking to hear. It’s ambiguous if she knew about Mikey being abused, but judging by her horrified reaction at his death and the reveal that her husband killed him, she may not have known about it or at least how bad it had gotten, as the abusive interactions shown on-screen between Martin and Mikey all occur when she isn’t around.
• Everything about the brothers’ confrontation following The Reveal behind Nicky’s Childhood Brain Damage:
  • When Dominick tells Eugene that he knows his brother had been lying to him and that his handicap was caused by his father beating him, Eugene’s irritation with his brother for kidnapping a baby (not knowing Dominick’s reasons for doing so) instantly shifts to concern and fear, for his brother’s mental/emotional state and knowing that he can’t hide the truth from him anymore. All he can do is ask for his brother to wait as he chases after him, a stark contrast to how he had been acting beforehand.
    • Followed by Dominick being understandably angry with his brother for hiding the truth, demanding to know why he lied and never told him. Eugene is completely speechless, unable to come up with anything to say. It’s clear he wants to say something, wants to tell to his brother, but just has no idea where to even begin with explaining himself. He had obviously been hoping his brother could live in ignorance without ever knowing the awful truth.
  • When Eugene finally reaches his brother onto the rooftop of the warehouse and they actually begin to talk, he has to reassure Nicky that what happened to him wasn’t his fault and that he didn’t deserve what their father did to him.
  Dominick: He [Dad] hit me, didn’t he? Why, Eugene? ...Was I bad?
  Eugene: Oh, God, no, Nicky. You were good. You were brave.
  • Eugene slowly breaking down as he recalls the day of Nicky’s "accident", and how Nicky had been protecting him from their father and taken the beatings for him - he feels guilt and responsibility not only for hiding the truth, but also because he considers it his fault (even if indirectly) for what happened to Dominick - because he was too afraid to ever do anything and always had to have his brother stand up for him and take their father’s abuse for him, which is what led to the incident where Nicky became brain damaged.
    • This can lend a deeper meaning to Eugene’s thoughts and actions earlier throughout the movie - when he’s watching out for his brother and checking that he’s taking care of himself, and making sure others don’t try to take advantage of him. From what Eugene says, before the incident Dominick was the one who looked out for him and worked as The Caretaker, but afterwards due to his acquired handicap Eugene had to take responsibility, essentially switching roles and caring for his brother they way Dominick used to do so for him.
  • This also puts Dominick’s reaction to Mikey’s death in a new light - when he was in shock after the incident, it was assumed to be because of how sudden and terrible the events he saw were - which was true, and on its own tragic enough, but on a rewatch you realize that he was also crying in shock from his resurfacing memories of his own abuse - the realization of the true reason behind his disability as well as the fact that his brother had kept the truth from him and been lying to him about it all his life. The combined shock of both things on his mind rendered him incoherent and mute for a while.

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