Guest Essay #18

I hate lists.  Allow me to rephrase: I hate subjective lists, like “The Top 500 Albums of All Time” or “The 25 Greatest Directors Ever.”  So instead of telling you why “Jaws” is the best movie of all time, I’ll just tell you why it’s my favorite movie.

I don’t have a recollection of when I saw Jaws the first time.  It premiered in June of 1975 when I was still a bun in the oven and wouldn’t make my debut to the world until December that year.  I do remember seeing at least some of the movie as a kid.  I have a memory of being at my cousin’s house and being terrified by Quint’s death (pretty sure you can’t spoil an almost 50-year-old movie).  Something about the sound Robert Shaw makes when the blood spurts out of his mouth, even after all these years, and after seeing behind the scenes footage of the scene being filmed, still unsettles me.

I do know my most recent viewing, however: it was just a few weeks ago, with my wife and our two children, 10 and 15.  And despite a few remarks from the 10-year-old about the shark’s realism (or lack thereof), I think the kids enjoyed it.  It was my wife (not her first viewing), though, who centered in on why I love the movie so much: there’s no wasted scenes, no throwaway dialogue, no forgettable characters.  From Jaws’ three leads down to Polly, Chief Brody’s administrative assistant, who should always do the printing, everyone is interesting.

But it’s more than that.  The movie is a glorious series of little moments, many of which have absolutely nothing to do with a giant great white shark.  There’s the famous scene where Sean Brody, Martin and Ellen’s younger son, mimics his father at the dining room table, or the reason why .gif images exist “A whaaaaa?” response from the fisherman who’s been told he just caught a tiger shark.  My personal favorite, however, might be Deputy Hendricks’ gleeful smile and wave at Chief Brody after Brody throws some screws at a nearby window to get Hendricks’ attention.  I don’t know if that was scripted or improv, but it’s so damn genuine and endearing.

Two shark related deaths occur in one week, dozens of unqualified people have descended on the town to collect Mrs. Kitner’s $3,000 bounty (a few armed with dynamite!), and Lenny Hendricks is pleased as punch that his boss just wants to say hi during all the commotion.

Even maybe the movie’s most famous scene, featuring its most famous line, doesn’t work without a few small details.  Instead of Chief Brody screaming bloody murder after the shark pops out of the water while he’s laying a chum line, he simply bolts upright and silently walks backwards into the cabin, cigarette never leaving his mouth, before telling Quint something about requiring a larger vessel.  The jump-scare caused by the shark’s appearance is fine, but it’s Roy Scheider’s choice to stay as still and quiet as possible in response that makes the whole scene work.

We know now the movie’s creators leaned harder into character development and dialogue than intended for a simple reason: the damn shark in the shark movie didn’t work.  Steven Spielberg refers to the animatronic as The Great White Turd.  Maybe Jaws would have still been a hit if the shark worked as planned, but I don’t think it have made the same impact, and I certainly don’t think we’d still be talking about it decades later.

Want proof?  Read the book.  This is the very rare exception where the movie is better than the book (and it’s not even close).  None of the characters in the book come to life like they do in the movie, and with book-to-movie adaptations, it’s almost always the opposite.  The dialogue is stilted, the scenes are flat, and there’s a lot of filler (Ellen and Hooper have an affair?  What?).  Also, the end stinks.  Spoilers: the shark drowns.  You read that correctly.

So, would a shark relentlessly pursue a fishing boat for days on end?  Probably not.  Would a shark jump on to the boat’s stern, cracking it in half?  Nah.  Would a shark not spit out a can of compressed air and instead keep it clutched between its teeth as it bears down on its prey?  Again, not likely.  But by the time all of that happens, Jaws has sold you on the reality of this world not by dazzling special effects, but by simple acts of human behavior.  Amity is real, as are its people.  So, while I’ll never make a list of my favorite movies, I can tell you Jaws is at the top.  Everything else is tied for second.

Kevin L Parsons is a certified trial attorney from NJ who has an extremely hot wife, two amazing kids, and lives for Vermont Green FC, Philadelphia Union, and Leicester City football matches. He also folds a mean basket of laundry and plays guitar.