"On a Serpentine Road, With the Top Down"
"I'm selling the car. And it's breaking my heart. It's the bills, though. It's getting older, and I'm not getting any richer. I can't talk to you back at the house or at the office. I mean, people would think I'm crazy. But here? Who cares? It's like I can feel your presence."
— Stephanie
Stephanie (Minnie Driver) struggles to sell her deceased first husband's beloved sports car.
Based on the essay of the same name
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Tropes:
- Expository Hairstyle Change: College-aged Minnie is shown with bangs and long straight hair, in contrast to the curly hair she has in the present.
- Good-Times Montage: The first half of the montage Minnie has about the car is her husband first showing it to her, proposing during a woodland roadtrip, then raising their daughter alongside it. Morphs into a Sad-Times Montage when she recalls having to drive it after he got sick.
- Hero's Classic Car: Downplayed. According to the mechanic who perennially has to clean up whenever it breaks down, Stephanie's Triumph Stag is too young to really be classic and too old to be functional. However, it's still a lovely sports car that has great personal significance, and a fellow car enthusiast is all too happy to take it off her hands.
- The Mourning After: Stephanie has largely gotten over her husband's death, even remarrying and having a child with another man, but it's difficult for her to let go of his old car, since she still talks to him while she's in it.
- Scenery Porn: The serpentine road Stephanie loves to drive down is gorgeous even in winter, and it's shown with sweeping camera shots.
- Tragic Keepsake: The car is one for Stephanie, since it belonged to her first husband and she still feels like she's talking to him when she drives it. Her second husband Niall didn't realize this and tells her that he understands — he keeps a mug that belonged to his mother. He even buys the car back for her.
