There are a number of amazing scenes in the movie Saving Private Ryan but of all of them, I think this might be my favorite one. I also think it was Giovanni Rabisi’s best acting moment on film. You might recall this scene. It’s when Tom Hanks and his team are trying to get sleep after yet another day of tough battle. Rabisi’s character, Wade, can be seen in the background, listening to the conversation when he chimes in with tips on how to fall asleep.
He begins by saying that the best way to fall asleep is to try to stay awake. But his initial advice turns into a poignant and sad moment as he reflects on his relationship to his mother. Rabisi talks about how he’d pretend to be asleep when his mother would come in so he could avoid having to talk to her. All she wanted to do was find out how his day was but he’d still sit there, pretending to be asleep.
My favorite line of the scene is when he says, “I don’t know why I did that.” It was at that moment you realize just how far away all the soldiers truly are from home. It was at this moment in the film that it becomes extremely grounded and the reality of war has completely settled in.
Check it out below:
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