I'm sure I won't be the only one to suggest this from 'Tootsie'- but let's see if I can be the first!

Simply one of the greatest scenes of all time.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnHqiipcw6g

Michael Dorsey: Are you saying that nobody in New York will work with me?
George Fields: No, no, that's too limited... nobody in Hollywood wants to work with you either. I can't even set you up for a commercial. You played a *tomato* for 30 seconds - they went a half a day over schedule because you wouldn't sit down.
Michael Dorsey: Of course. It was illogical.
George Fields: YOU WERE A TOMATO. A tomato doesn't have logic. A tomato can't move.
Michael Dorsey: That's what I said. So if he can't move, how's he gonna sit down, George? I was a stand-up tomato: a juicy, sexy, beefsteak tomato. Nobody does vegetables like me. I did an evening of vegetables off-Broadway. I did the best tomato, the best cucumber... I did an endive salad that knocked the critics on their ass.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Eleanor Zissou: Your cat died.
Steve: Which one?
Eleanor: Marmalade.
Steve: Well, how did it die?
Eleanor: A rattlesnake bit it in the neck.
Steve: Goddammit, Eleanor. Couldn't you have broken it to me a little easier than that?
Ned: What kind of cat was it?
Steve: Who gives a shit? I think it was a tabby.

Denzel's character Serling Delivers bad news indirectly in "Courage Under Fire" by merely showing up while Altamayer is at work, training new Rangers. Rather than confess directly to his crime of leaving his captain to die in a napalm sweep, Altameyer drives his car head-on into a freight train.

Altameyer's speech as he drives Denzel in the car toward the rail crossing builds and builds toward the literally explosive climax.

A bit of trivia, Matt Damon did not have status at the time he was in the movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhkEYFEwfGk&feature=fvwp&NR=1

I took a look at the consummate tearjerker, "Beaches," and realized that, like the scene in "Courage Under Fire," the worst news of the movie is delivered indirectly. The audience learns the name Hillary's terminal disease through the POV of Hillariy's daughter, who simply overhears a hallway discussion (near the end of the youtube post):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=956Z7YY-qbI&feature=related

From the British sketch comedy show "Man Stroke Woman" featuring Nick Frost.

http://youtu.be/_Eng-pRT9uA

Doctor: We have had your test results. May I be blunt with you?
Woman: No.
Doctor: Right...well...everything is fine...you're not gonna die.
Woman: Oh, that's brilliant. Thank You.
Doctor: Goodbye.

From BASEketball:

http://youtu.be/CsWFLaHiQa8

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM

Coop, Reemer, and Squeak rush in.

JOEY'S BED

is EMPTY!

COOP
Oh why!?! Why!?! Why!?!

REEMER
C'mon Coop, it's over.

COOP
Poor Joey! Why!?!

SQUEAK
I'm sorry, dude.

A NURSE notices them.

NURSE
If you're looking for Joey Thomas, he's been moved next door.

COOP
Oh.

The guys scamper into

INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR

They pull up sharp when they see

THE MORGUE DOOR

COOP
Oh why!?! Why!?! Why!?!

The Nurse spots them again, motions to another door.

NURSE
Gentlemen! He's in this room.

INT. JOEY'S NEW ROOM

The guys charge in. The Nurse behind them.

Joey sleeps peacefully in his bed.

COOP
Joey! Joey! I'm here for you dude!

NURSE
The operation went fine. Then just after your game, we thought he was suffocating. He kept screaming, "Choke! Choke!" then he lost consciousness.

Here's a brilliant variation on the prototypical "doctor delivers bad news" scene...


DEATH BECOMES HER (1992) directed by Robert Zemeckis
written by Martin Donovan and David Koepp


Doctor: I tell you what, kids, it's, uh, odd thing here. Your wrist, uh, far as I can tell, is, uh, fractured in three places. Uh, and you've shattered, uh, two vertebrae, though I can't be certain without an X-ray... The bone protrusion through the skin - that's not a good sign. You're body temperature is below 80, and your, your, your heart's stopped beating.
Ernest Menville: What the hell does that mean?
Doctor: Exactly! What... what... I'm going to get a second opinion.
[the doctor leaves in a hurry]
Madeline Ashton: Well, it could be worse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03a-vG6wHDI&feature=relmfu

It occurs to me that if somebody suggests the Sydney Pollack billiard scene from EYES WIDE SHUT, we're getting close to having a twofer week - Sydney Pollack delivers bad news. Can we come up with two more?

Shout-out to movie I'm looking forward to, Contagion, clip here:

http://movieclips.com/XHjT-contagion-movie-she-failed-to-respond/

Doctor tells Emhoff his wife is dead, he's not believing it.

The great scene from Kurosawa's movie IKIRU when the protagonist is in the hospital's waiting room...

From "Stranger Than Fiction":

Harold: Professor Hilbert?

Professor: Hi Harold. You look tired.

Harold: No, no, just calm.

Professor: Harold, I’m sorry. You have to die.

Harold: What?

Professor: It’s her masterpiece. It’s possibly the most important novel in her already stunning career and it’s absolutely no good unless you die at the end.

I’ve been over it again and again and I know how hard this is for you to hear.

Harold: You’re asking me to knowingly face my death?

Professor: Yes.

Harold: (Sighs) Really?

Professor: Yes.

Harold: I thought you’d…I thought you’d find something…

Professor: I’m sorry Harold.

Harold: Can’t we just try and just see if she can change it?

Professor: No.

Harold: No?

Professor: Harold…In the grand scheme it wouldn’t matter.

Harold: Yes it would.

Professor: No.

Harold: I could change. I could just quit my job. I could go away with Ana. I could be someone else.

Professor: Harold, listen to me.

Harold: I can’t die right now. (Crying) It’s just really bad timing.

Professor: No one wants to die Harold, but unfortunately we do. (Harold gets up from chair) Harold…Harold, listen to me. Harold, you will die someday, sometime. Heart failure at the bank. Choke on a mint. Some long, drawn-out disease you contracted on vacation. You will die. You will absolutely die.

Even if you avoid this death, another will find you. And I guarantee that it won’t be nearly as poetic or meaningful as what she’s written. I’m sorry but it’s the nature of all tragedies, Harold.

The hero dies, but the story lives on forever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBRlxs0q2QY