Tru Confessions

Summary

Pod Meets World Episode Summary: "Tru Confessions"

Release Date: March 19, 2025
Episode Title: Tru Confessions
Host/Author: iHeartPodcasts
Podcast Description:
"We're sending you to 1993 when TGIF reigned supreme and “Boy Meets World” first premiered. Danielle, Will, and Rider are going back to school as they rewatch every episode of the iconic series, sharing memories, behind-the-scenes moments, and all the “Boy Meets World” stories a fan could ever want. Relive your first crush, first kiss, favorite moments, and all the life lessons with Topanga, Eric, and Shawn."

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Introduction

In this episode of Pod Meets World, hosts Danielle, Will, and Rider delve into the Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) "True Confessions." The discussion is rich with insights about the film's themes, cast performances, and its place within the broader landscape of Disney productions.

Overview of "True Confessions"

"True Confessions" is a dramatic DCOM that premiered on April 5, 2002. Based on Jeanette Tasjan's 1997 novel of the same name, the movie explores the life of True Walker, a teenager documenting her experiences while navigating the challenges of having a twin brother, Eddie, who has an intellectual disability.

Notable Information:

• Filming Location: Toronto, Canada
• Cast Highlights:
  • Clara Bryant as Trudy True Walker
  • Shia LaBeouf as Eddie Bryant
  • Mare Winningham as Ginny Walker (True's mother)
  • William Francis McGuire as Bob Walker (True's father)
• Director: Paul Hoen, renowned for directing numerous DCOMs like Camp Rock 2 and Read It and Weep.

Cast Discussion

Clara Bryant:
Clara, a pioneer among DCOM stars, was the first-ever DCOM lead in Under Wraps (1997). Beyond Disney, her impressive resume includes roles in Roseanne, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Post-acting, she pursued a legal career, graduating from the University of Georgia School of Law and now serves as a corporate counselor.

Shia LaBeouf:
At just 12, Shia LaBeouf began his acting career with roles in Holes and Even Stevens. Over the years, he transitioned into more mature roles in Transformers, Indiana Jones, and critically acclaimed performances in art films like Lars von Trier's Nymphomaniac. Despite personal controversies, his talent remains undeniable. Danielle remarks, "[Shia] is one of the most arguably impressive actors of his entire generation" (13:32).

Mare Winningham:
Portraying Ginny Walker, Mare is a versatile actress with credits in St. Elmo's Fire, Grey's Anatomy, and American Horror Story. Recognized for her Emmy wins and Oscar nominations, her role in True Confessions adds depth to the Walker family dynamic.

Supporting Cast:
William Francis McGuire as Bob Walker brings a nuanced portrayal of a busy brain surgeon struggling to connect with his family. Kevin Dehaney and Yanni Gelman add layers to the ensemble, enriching the film's portrayal of familial relationships and personal struggles.

Plot Summary

"True Confessions" follows True Walker, a dedicated filmmaker documenting her life and the complexities of living with her twin brother, Eddie. Throughout the film, True grapples with feelings of neglect from her parents and the societal challenges Eddie faces due to his intellectual disability.

Key Plot Points:

• Introduction:
  [00:01-00:44] The film opens with True and Eddie as young children, setting the stage for their bond.

• Family Dynamics:
  [02:24-07:04] True's struggle with her parents' attention and Eddie's constant challenges are highlighted. True feels overshadowed, leading to frequent outbursts and emotional turmoil.

• True's Filmmaking Passion:
  [10:03-21:24] True embarks on a project to showcase Eddie's life, seeking to foster understanding and empathy. Her determination is juxtaposed with her mother's increasing frustration, [10:55] noting, "the acting was bar None" and "the cast was incredible" (10:55).

• Climax:
  [55:09-71:00] A pivotal scene occurs when True confronts a bully threatening Eddie, leading to True pushing the bully off a bridge. This moment encapsulates her protective instincts and the film's exploration of sibling bonds.

• Resolution:
  [74:38-84:35] True's documentary gains recognition, bridging gaps within her family as they confront their individual shortcomings. The film concludes with True gaining a newfound sense of self and acceptance within her family unit.

Thematic Analysis

Depiction of Disabilities:
The film portrays Eddie's intellectual disability with sensitivity, albeit through the lens of early 2000s filmmaking. Tia remarks, "Shia was early on in this development," referencing the evolving standards of representing disabilities in media (06:05).

Family and Empathy:
A central theme is the family's struggle to understand and support each other. The tension between True and her parents highlights the challenges of balancing personal aspirations with familial responsibilities.

Coming of Age:
True's journey reflects the quintessential coming-of-age narrative, grappling with identity, responsibility, and emotional maturity.

Directorial Choices:
Paul Hoen's direction stands out for its innovative use of flashbacks and blending of reality with sitcom-like fantasy sequences. Both hosts praise the artistic direction, with Danielle calling it "way ahead of its time" (09:07).

Reviews and Ratings

Five-Star Review:
An enthusiastic listener, Unamit, praises the film as "the best movie Disney ever made," commending Shia LaBeouf's performance and the emotional depth of the kite scene ([68:08]).

One-Star Review:
Delilah F. criticizes the film for its relentless sadness, stating, "It was sad as hell," echoing Danielle and Tia's mixed feelings about the movie's heavy themes ([68:58]).

Hosts' Ratings:

• Danielle:
  Gives 8/10, appreciating the acting and subject matter but noting the need for a more polished script ([78:17]).

• Tia:
  Awards a 9/10, moved by the emotional narrative and the portrayal of True's internal struggles ([79:29]).

Notable Quotes

• Danielle:
  "Shia is one of the most arguably impressive actors of his entire generation." ([13:32])

• Tia:
  "True is a really good sister. She does really care about him. She just struggles because it's hard." ([61:52])

Conclusion

This episode of Pod Meets World offers an in-depth exploration of "True Confessions," providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of the film's narrative, thematic elements, and character dynamics. Danielle and Tia's passionate discussion underscores the film's emotional resonance and its significance within the Disney Channel Original Movie canon.

Whether you're a longtime fan revisiting the DCOM or new to "True Confessions," this episode delivers valuable insights and thoughtful analysis, making it a must-listen for enthusiasts seeking to deepen their appreciation of the film.

Transcript

[Vanessa Marshall]

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[Tia Sircar]

Take the guesswork out of your Check.

[Vanessa Marshall]

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[Tia Sircar]

O'Reilly Auto Parts welcome to Pod of Rebellion, our new Star Wars Rebels Rewatch podcast.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I'm Vanessa Marshall, voice of Harrison Duelist Spectre II. I'm Tia Sirkar.

[Tia Sircar]

Sabine Wren, Spectre 5.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I'm Taylor Gray. Ezra Bridger, Specter 6 and I'm Jon Librody, the Ghost Crew Stowaway moderator. Each week we're gonna rewatch and discuss an episode from the series and share.

[Tia Sircar]

Some fun behind the scenes stories.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Sometimes we'll be visited by special guests like Steve bloom voices Zaborelio's Spectre 4, or Dante Bosco voices Jai Kell and many others.

[Tia Sircar]

So hang on because it's gonna be a fun ride.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Cue the music. Listen to Potter Rebellion on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ever wonder what it would be like to be mentored by today's top business leaders? My podcast this Is Working can help with that. Here's some advice from Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, on standing out from the leadership crowd. Develop your eq. A lot of people have plenty of brains, but EQ is do you trust me? Do I communicate well? Develop the team, develop the people, Create a system of trust. And it works over time. I'm Dan Roth, LinkedIn's editor in chief. On my podcast this is Working Leaders Share Strategies for Success. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tomer Cohen, LinkedIn's chief product officer. If you're just as curious as I am about the way things are built, then tune into my podcast Building One. I speak with some of the best product builders out there. I've always been inspired by frustration.

[Tia Sircar]

It came back to my own personal pain point.

[Vanessa Marshall]

So we had to go out to farmers and convince them. Following that curiosity is a superpower. You have to be obsessed with the human condition. Listen to Building One on the iHeartRadio app, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. We just talked about it off mic, but we got to talk about it on mic now. How are you doing? We're with daylight saving time every year.

[Tia Sircar]

It hits me so hard both times. Like one's not better than the other for me.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Come on. It's better when you gain sleep though.

[Tia Sircar]

Yeah, but then I'm like tired at night. Isn't that just being a parent in the morning. Yes. But then now you gotta fix your kids. Right? So last night I put Ledger to bed like 40 minutes after his bedtime. And then I'll have to transition it back, you know, to get back to his bedtime.

[Vanessa Marshall]

What is his bedtime?

[Tia Sircar]

He goes to bed at 8. My kids are, they're late, late sleepers. Like they, you know, they don't. They're, they're. They're party animals.

[Vanessa Marshall]

So I'm, I remember growing up, it was seriously like my, my bedtime was so early that I would be put to bed when it was still light out and I could hear the kids playing on the street. That's.

[Tia Sircar]

Oh, that is rough.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Cause it was like 7:30 or something. It's still light quarter of eight.

[Tia Sircar]

And it's like Ledger's not as good of a sleeper, but Monroe is. She's just like me. I didn't have a bedtime when I was growing up. Cause I just fell asleep on the couch. Like you put me on the couch and put me in front of a TV for 10 minutes, I'm out. It's.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Are you still that way?

[Tia Sircar]

Oh yeah, yeah.

[Vanessa Marshall]

So you're the person you don't want to watch a movie with because you're not going to make it to the end of the movie.

[Tia Sircar]

Jordan hates.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Oh, I know exactly what.

[Tia Sircar]

He's never get to pick the movie. And it's fair because he's like, you're going to pick this chick rom com. You're going to watch 10 minutes of it and then I will sit and watch. I have to watch the whole movie. So no, you don't get to pick the movie. So that's fair. I did it to him just last week. I was like, ooh, babe, can we watch this movie? Let's watch it. And he's like, yeah, 10 minutes. Done.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah. And you're done. There you go. I know exactly what that's like. It's the worst.

[Tia Sircar]

Do you? Oh, oh yeah. It's the worst. That, that and car rides. I don't drive at night literally because I get sleepy.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Wait, you'll fall asleep when you're driving.

[Tia Sircar]

Oh yeah, that's a road hypnotizes me at nighttime. Like bad. The lines.

[Vanessa Marshall]

That's not good.

[Tia Sircar]

And so I just really honestly try to keep my driving to a minimum at nighttime.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Okay.

[Tia Sircar]

Because I just get sleepy. I fall asleep on planes before we pull out.

[Vanessa Marshall]

That's fine. But it's when you're actually operating the vehicle. Maybe that's not a good thing to do.

[Tia Sircar]

It's not so I don't.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Very responsible, important safety tips. Stay safe out there, everybody. Well, welcome back to Magical Rewind, the show that makes you want to grab your friends, your PJs, and your popcorn and go back to a time when all the houses were smart, the wave, tsunamis, and the high school's musical. I'm Will Friedle.

[Tia Sircar]

And I'm Sabrina Bryant.

[Vanessa Marshall]

So break out the camcorder and document our journey as we cry our way through 2002's True Confessions. First off, I'd like to point out this is true without a knee. Don't you dare put a on there or we're gonna shut this whole place down.

[Tia Sircar]

It's going down big time.

[Vanessa Marshall]

This dramatic dcom debuted on the Disney Channel April 5, 2002, and it's based on the debut young adult novel of the same name from writer Jeanette Tasjan. The 1997 book is written in the format of a diary and uses lists and illustrations all set to look like it's from a computer. And the book was a very big hit, translated into many languages. It was named a New York Public Library favorite for teens and won multiple awards, including the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award. Tasian is still writing today, working on a few different popular series of books, including My Life as Einstein, the Class Hamster, and Marty Private Eye. I don't know what that is, but, man, I want to read it. Any books that rhyme, I'm in.

[Tia Sircar]

So good.

[Vanessa Marshall]

If the book rhymes, I'll read it a hundred times. And she often collaborates with her son Jake, who illustrates the novels. But this is the only one of her books ever adapted into a movie. It was filmed in. Brr. Wait for it. Toronto. Yes. Love to see it again. Coin flip is once again in Canada. We get some shots of the famous CN Tower, and the school scenes are all at Danforth College and Technical Institute, which answers a question I think we all had later. And we will talk about that. Sabrina, did you know True Confessions existed before we were assigned to watch this one?

[Tia Sircar]

I did. I had not watched it yet, but this was right at the beginning of the Cheetah Girls. We filmed in 20. 20 or 20. Sorry, 20 2002. We filmed it and I remember this was a big one because it really took Shia LaBeouf from being that funny, just crazy character to being such a real. I remember the actors in the Disney Channel at that time saying, disney's giving us a chance to really be something different than what we've Got to do in our regular shows. So there's a lot of buzz around this one. And it was.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Well, yeah, it certainly wasn't a. Wasn't a decom like we've seen.

[Tia Sircar]

Yeah, we've seen. We've seen a couple of them.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah, a couple. But this was certainly taking it to the next level. I, of course, again, everybody knows I don't even talk about this anymore. Of course, I didn't know anything about this. Okay, so let's get this out of the way now. What? We said this would happen at some point in the show, but did it happen this quickly? Did we both cry? Did you cry, Sabrina?

[Tia Sircar]

Of course I cried, Will. Yes, I did. Started weeping, like, at the very beginning, because I knew. I knew what Shia's character was, so I was ready for that. But just the. You hit me with a field and two kids and matching overalls and I'm dead.

[Vanessa Marshall]

That was it. That was it.

[Tia Sircar]

I was like, oh, God, this is gonna be a sob fest for me.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Wow. Okay.

[Tia Sircar]

Please tell me you did.

[Vanessa Marshall]

No, I didn't cry. I didn't cry. It just. I'm sorry. It didn't. It didn't get me like that. It didn't get me. Nice movie. You know, I. But no, it's. It takes a lot to make me cry at something. I mean, it really does. There's, like, I can list three or four things that make me cry all the time, but other than that, like, I am basically a robot with my emotions when it comes to stuff like that. I just don't. Because I. It takes a lot to get me so lost into a project, like into a picture that I'm. I'm weeping at something, and. And sometimes it happens at strange times. But, no, I didn't. I just. I didn't.

[Tia Sircar]

So I was, like, in it, I think, a little bit, because I knew it, like, what kind of character was happening. So I was ready for it.

[Vanessa Marshall]

But I was. I was in it in. And we'll get into this. I was in it because I was watching. And I've said this before, arguably one of the greatest child actors that's ever acted in the history of child actors. And again, he. His career is what it is now, and we'll get into that as well. Um, and he could be one of the greatest actors of his generation, but as a child actor, I mean, he's one of the best that's ever done it. So that's kind of what I was watching more than anything else. But with some very heavy subject matter. This Won't be the same DCOM category as, say, a High School Musical or a Johnny Tsunami. But I wanted to talk about the role of the drama in the history of these films. And what do we think of a sad drama when we analyze the entire pantheon of Disney Channel original movies? So, yes, there's a lot going on with this movie. It is completely different than most of the stuff we've seen. Even with stuff like color, friendship and things like that.

[Tia Sircar]

It's.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It's not kind of the same as this.

[Tia Sircar]

Yeah, I think it. It hits again. It just shows Disney's range that they are.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It does.

[Tia Sircar]

They're going. It shows the range of these incredible actors that they have in these movies. Yeah, like we said, the talent level is just unbelievable. But the writers that they bring in, the directors that take on these. This is. This is just. I think it was such a cool movie to watch in the sense that we've just seen some really great ones here recently. I mean, yeah, it's like, I. It's just awesome. And this one was a different, different kind of great. You know what I mean? It was like, oh, man, this is great. But it's like not like what we just watched. You know what I mean? It wasn't. It wasn't. It wasn't some Corbin Blue, you know.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I thought it was good. I didn't think it was great. Oh, I know. And I know. I mean, it was. And I don't know. I'm trying to work out my feelings because we'll get into it. But anyway, let's go push a bully off a bridge because it's time for a synopsis.

[Tia Sircar]

Shove that dude off.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah, I cheered. Teenager. True Walker, an inspiring filmmaker, documents her life and the challenges of having a twin brother, Eddie, who has an intellectual disability. Through her frustrations and their undeniable love, she gains a deeper understanding of family empathy and self acceptance. All right, so I think we heard your thoughts. You loved this movie you were in. I did not dislike this movie by any stretch of the imagination. I thought the story was a little bit muddled, frankly. I thought it could have used a rewrite just strictly from that standpoint. I thought some of the character turns didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. They went back and forth from I'm very happy to hate you in, like, sometimes one sentence, and it's like, wow. Maybe that's indicative of being a teenager at the time, I don't know. But it came off as a little abrupt to me. But again, the acting was bar None. The cast was incredible. I had some questions, but we will get into those.

[Tia Sircar]

If I had a critique, I think it could have gone farther.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Maybe.

[Tia Sircar]

Maybe that was it with his disabilities. It could have gone farther too. As far as showing like the kind of bullying that someone that.

[Vanessa Marshall]

See, maybe you're right. Maybe that's what I needed. More of his day to day life than the fate family life. But it was really about the family. So maybe it was a. Maybe it was unbalanced is what I was kind of feeling. Yeah, yeah. But again, the directed, the directing, acting and the directing I thought for this one and we'll get into who directed it was, I thought way ahead of its time. But anyway, as predicted as the day is long, this movie is directed by the legendary Paul Hoen. So yes, Paul Hoen again, friend of the pod, the man who's directed everything in the history of Disney. Who else could it be? He is two DCOMs where Tom Hanks is two movies about World War II. Week after week we seem to review only his films. But as a reminder, here are some of his greatest hits. I feel like our lovely listeners can speak them along with us because we say them every week. Camp Rock 2, Luck of the Irish, the entire Zombies franchise, Cheetah Girls, One World and Read it and Weep. And dad napped. Dad napped.

[Tia Sircar]

But one we just did too. Jump in.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Jump in and jump again. We can't. If we just talked about his movies all the time, that would be the hour that we're talking is just Paul.

[Tia Sircar]

Hoenfeld one or whatever that we haven't seen yet.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I can't wait to Eddie's Million Dollar Bake Off. We've got so many. Yeah, this guy. Guy makes the D in DCOM stand for Director Paul Hoen. So yes, that means DCOM stands for Director Paul Hoen Channel Original Movie. And let's get to the cast, of course, because this was just bar none. First up is Clara Bryant, who I thought maybe could be related to you if you added a T to your name, but you didn't.

[Tia Sircar]

She's a mix of me and Kobe.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Exactly. She's playing Trudy True Walker. Clara was not a newbie when it came to the channel. She was the first ever DCOM star in Under Wraps from 1997. Again, depending on where you consider the DCOM to have started. And I know we will be arguing back and forth on where that actually is with Zoog and Disney Channel original movies and everything else, but under wraps, a lot of people consider the first one ever. And she was the first ever dcom star. She is a pioneer. She was also the star of a very short lived TGIF sitcom called Billy and appeared on Roseanne, Star Trek, Deep Space Nine and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Awesome list. But left the business around 2007 to attend some small little university called Columbia. Then was a graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law and she's now a corporate counselor for Swiss Log and a mother of two.

[Tia Sircar]

Wow. Get it, Clara.

[Vanessa Marshall]

So, I mean, we have. This is. She's not the first of these actors we've seen that have gone on to tremendous things outside of the business and she is one of them. Next, of course, we have Shia LaBeouf as Eddie Bryant. Beginning his career at 12 years old, Shia has grown up in the spotlight, both good and very bad. Though he appeared on TV shows like X Files and Freaks and Geeks at a young age, he first broke out for the Disney Channel crowd or just the Disney crowd in the movie Holes. Phenomenally good movie. I know it wasn't technically a decom, but hopefully we'll get to review it because it's one of my favorites. Then on the classic show, of course, even Stevens, which would become a dcom that we've already covered here on Magical Rewind, so go back and check that out. LaBeouf would enter adulthood and the rise to stardom after his appearance on HBO's Project Greenlight, landing roles in I, Robot, Transformers, Indiana Jones and the Wall street sequel. He became one of the more erratic, infamous method actors, focusing on art films like Lars Von Trier's Nymphomaniac Volumes and even creating a loud performance art career for himself. But sadly though, proving himself as one of the most arguably impressive actors of his entire generation. He has battled controversies and numerous concerning allegations that have held back his career. He appeared in last year' Massive bomb Megalopolis. But here's to hoping he gets his life together and is able to work in a craft he was born to excel in. If he could just get out of his own way, he would truly be one of the greatest in the history of Hollywood. And that is not hyperbole. Are you a Shia fan?

[Tia Sircar]

I am a shy fan of his work, absolutely. He did date Keely for a while, so that's how I actually know Shia and got to know his good friend Lorenzo as well. And we had such fun times together. Just is like so fun. But you know, when your besties and her boyfriend break up, that's kind of the end of your, you know, you got to get on that, sorry, that's.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Your ride or die. I love that. That's how it's supposed to be.

[Tia Sircar]

But as far as his work goes, I just think it's. It's. You can't question it. He's just a phenomenal actor. When he gets on this, on any screen, big or small, he freaking shines. So, you know, he's one of those.

[Vanessa Marshall]

People, especially when you see him when he's 11, 12 years old, he's one of those people that you say, born to do this.

[Tia Sircar]

Yes.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Raw talent from the time you were born and this is what you were meant to do. So here's to hoping he has a wonderful career because we're all missing out as fans for not being able to see him.

[Tia Sircar]

But we need more Shia in our lives when it comes to.

[Vanessa Marshall]

But he's got to get out of his own way. And some of the allegations are pretty scary anyway.

[Tia Sircar]

Yeah.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Mare Winningham is mom, Ginny. Mare is one of the original and less mentioned members of one of the greatest troops of all time, the brat Pack, a group of young actors who took Hollywood by storm in the 80s. She broke out in the movie St. Elmo's Fire, which if you go back and watch it, sucks. It's an awful movie. Alongside fellow PAC members Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Ali Sheedy, and many more, she also appeared in movies like Turner and Hooch, Swing Vote and Mildred Plays. And as far as tv, she's been on Grey's Anatomy, dope sick, four seasons of American Horror Story. She's just does it all. And here's a fun trivia question. Who was her high school boyfriend? Hmm. Her high school boyfriend was Val Kilmer. She was also Oscar nominated for her part in the 1995 movie Georgia and was nominated for two Tonys and won two Emmys for her performances in TV miniseries or movies. She's incredibly great. What a get for this movie. It is just stacking this cast one after another.

[Tia Sircar]

Again, you're just going, oh, my gosh. I mean, she popped on screen. I was just like, wow, she was great.

[Vanessa Marshall]

This is what the. It showed what especially in the early 2000s, what Disney Channel thought of their dcoms and thought where they were going to go, where they could do a movie like this and then a movie like Cheetah Girls within a couple years of each other. It's like we're going to. We're going to run the gambit. And it's was very impressive. William Francis McGuire is dad, Bob. He's been seen in movies Like Day After Tomorrow and Mission Impossible 3 and TV shows like the Mentalist and Jaguar, which is what my dad did for a living. He currently is teaching acting at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California where my wife is from. Once again making all of this about myself. Oh, see, Kevin Dehaney is friend Jake. He played a young Dave Chappelle in Half Baked. Great movie. Would later become the Blue Dino Thunder Power Ranger on Power Rangers spd. Yes, you may have also seen him in the movies Honey or Four Brothers. And he now has a very prolific career in voice acting. I hope I get a chance to work with him someday. And then Yanni Gelman is Billy. He is best known Rewinders as Paolo in the Lizzie McGuire Movie. And he's a well established TV actor from the famous Jett Jackson to the Young and the Restless to Pretty Little Liars where he played Garrett Reynolds. Now I know this one doesn't quite have the big names for the lower down cast as something that, you know, like Jump in did, but what did you think of this cast all the way around?

[Tia Sircar]

I think it was great. I honestly, I loved the two friends. They kind of. The one girl kind of irritated me here and there. But just because that was, that's not her fault. That that was her character. Her character irritated me. But I thought all around, I mean, you know, I thought that there was moments that felt very real when it comes to like what you think of dealing with a teenage daughter. Like, I thought the parents handled their characters very well and the kids really like stepped into, you know, the drama of what it would be like to watch their friend, you know, go through something like this. So I thought they were all very like easy to, easy to take. And I, I love that.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I thought this was a truly a movie that I think hits you differently if you have children.

[Tia Sircar]

Oh yeah.

[Vanessa Marshall]

You know, if you watch it as an, as an older adult or and you've got kids, I think this is different than somebody who doesn't have children. I just, I do. But anyway, yeah, as I mentioned earlier, this is based on a book. So the writer Jeanette Tashgin gets a credit and she shares it with good old Ironsides, a name Disney approached whenever they needed a dcom heavy hitter, former Magical Rewind guest and friend of the pod, Stu Krieger. He is the daddy of the dcom and he has returned. We know his work from movies like Xenon, Smart House, Going to the Mat, Gotta Kick it up the Poof point Cowbells list goes on and on and on again, as I said, he was a former guest of ours, and the conversation was great. So please go listen to it. Even if you have to pause this one and go listen to that. Cause it's worth it. He is that cool.

[Tia Sircar]

So amazing.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Okay, get the tissues ready, gang. At least for Sabrina. Let's get into True Confessions. We open with two little kids and Sabrina crying. A brother and a sister in overalls running carelessly through a field. Right on cue, we hear a female voice. Our narrator, True. She thinks it's funny that people on TV always live perfect lives. We see some photos and footage of them now as teenagers. They're twins, Eddie. And True. True admits she's obsessed with her camcorder, as we see footage of her brother winning at what we think is the Special Olympics. And then we're in her room. Yes, the trope has returned. Even if we didn't open right with it. It is here. It is back, baby. Even if it's only for a few seconds. We see a lot of photographs of her family and friends. And we see scattered VHS tapes of movies she makes with classmates who are annoyed by how much she documents. And again, now everybody's used to that. Everybody's used to having their phone in their hand and filming everything. But back in the day, you got. You had to work for it.

[Tia Sircar]

Oh, yeah.

[Vanessa Marshall]

If you wanted to document everything, you got the. The Super 8 camcorder going on and all the time. And I can see how that would get annoying for your friends.

[Tia Sircar]

I was that person.

[Vanessa Marshall]

You were. You did. You have a video camera in your. In your hand the whole time. Way to go.

[Tia Sircar]

I've got. I've got a shoe box filled with those mini DVDs. The ones that are this big.

[Vanessa Marshall]

The mini DVDs.

[Tia Sircar]

Yeah, yeah. And there I've got. It's from, like, our whole first tour on the Cheetah Girls that I would love to sort through. But you can't watch them anymore because I don't have a thing. You know what I mean?

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yes, you can. Oh, my God. I can't believe the synergy we just found. Sabrina, throw them all in the Legacy Box. Send them to Legacy Box, and they digitize everything for you.

[Tia Sircar]

I'm so scared someone will take them and do something.

[Vanessa Marshall]

No one's gonna take anything and do them with them. They're POD Meets World sponsor. They are wonderful. Send everything to Legacy Box. We've been sending in all our stuff. They are great. Look at the synergy. Boom. Just got in the commercial. Thank you. Seriously, throw them In a box, you'll get them all back. It is amazing. And you get to watch everything. We've been watching stuff from Boy Meets World where Ryder was taking behind the scenes footage. Watching it again has been incredible.

[Tia Sircar]

So there you go.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Shout out to our friends at Legacy Box. So, yeah, anyway, her friends are not feeling it. True won't be happy until she turns her life into a sitcom, which she's fine with, because no matter how big the problems are on tv, by the final commercial, it's all worked out. Her reality is harsh, but she'd much rather live her life in the tube, off the ferry, and now biking across beautiful Toronto. And it is absolutely beautiful. The three friends end up at True's house where they're welcomed by her brother Eddie, flashing a camera in their faces, yelling, paparazzi. Paparazzi. True is not thrilled with the jump scare and he really does not know when to give up. Eventually, he's stopped by their mom returning home from the day at work. We get an awkward silence here, and Denise and Jack realize it might be time to go home. True is mad, but Eddie isn't sure what he did wrong. And here it becomes more obvious that Eddie does have a mental impairment. It's worth noting now we do have to say this. Of course, the times were then what they are. They are different now. And looking at the past through the lens of the future never works. However, you do have to point out that the portrayal of disabilities in TV and movies appears to still be an evolving standard, with more and more actors who are actually part of the affected communities finally getting a chance to portray themselves. But it's a very new trend. And coincidentally, Shia was early on in this development in the great movie Peter Butter Falcon, co starring Zack Gottsagen, an actor who became the first person with down syndrome to be a presenter at the Academy Awards, which he did with Shia. So this is a great change that's taken place over the last few years, and if they did it now, you probably would not see Shia in this role anymore in 2025. But this was 2002 and this is just how it was done. Eddie reenters the house, ashamed, and True doesn't let up. Their mom tries to step in, but True is fed up with her brother getting his way. He explains he just wanted to be funny, but she's still seeing white spots and he chased away all of her friends. He says he's sorry and True, of course, reluctantly forgives him. A very affected Eddie goes off to work on some homework, leaving True alone With her mom. Ginny is not happy with her daughter and True doesn't understand the double standard her mom has for her kids. But Eddie doesn't want to feel left out. And then we see that Eddie secretly is listening from the stairs. True doesn't understand how her brother can't do anything wrong, but she can't do anything right. She storms off, which becomes a big motif in this movie, which was one of my problems. And Eddie, as if he needed to feel any worst, hangs his head in sadness. True slams her bedroom door shut and imagines a surreal world where she's the star of a Brady Bunch esque TV sitcom. It's in front of a live studio audience and it's all painted as her fantasy. And this is where I thought this was way ahead of its time. We saw this on, I mean in the 90s they did it in Natural Born Killers and things like that. But I thought the direction of this movie taking it to occasionally being on a sitcom stage, going into her fantasy fantasies, the flashbacks of them running in the field. Really well directed for a decom. This might in my opinion be the best directed Paul Hoen joint, which is saying something because he does everything. But it was artsy and fun and different.

[Tia Sircar]

And I loved the flashbacks because they were like slower motion, they were more grainy. You could absolutely tell that this was like you instantly go into that flashback mode and they were like very seamless to me. Like they didn't seem abrupt, which I think sometimes flashbacks can. And especially I loved this, this, this TV show idea that they did.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Me too. I thought the way they were doing it was very, very cool. Her mom is a June Cleaver type now and on this new show and tells her how proud she is and how True has the best taste in clothes. She gets a hundred dollar raise in allowance and a boop on the nose only to quickly return to reality. Alone in her room, True sits down and talks into the camera. MTV confessional style. So there we go, breaking the fourth wall again. It's her secret video journal called True Tales. She explains her life isn't a sitcom, it's a soap opera. She can't talk to her mom, who's always so busy with Eddie. And her dad is never home because he's a brain surgeon, which is a gross profession. Also kind of an important one. One day she'll be incredibly famous on TV and this journal will show what her life was really like. But more than anything, she just needs something that is completely and privately her, hers fair now getting ready For a family dinner, Eddie is carefully setting the table. Their dad is busy at the hospital, so they start a little later than usual. Meanwhile, True starts correcting Eddie's mistakes with the setting. They don't need soup spoons tonight. But this immediately messes with what Eddie knows and what he wants. It's True's night to do the dishes, though, and she doesn't want to wash anything that they don't use. But her mom says it seems like she just wants to argue about everything. She grabs her camera and instructs her future self to cast someone other than her mom when they make a show of her life. Harsh. As True storms off, this one obviously hurts her mom's feelings. Now in her room, True is talking to her camera again, explaining that her mom is vain and asked the most embarrassing questions about her in public. She also packs intricate lunches for them, which True finds very corny, which, again, I find very nice. Eventually, we are back at the dinner table and now finally joined by dad. Eddie is retelling the paparazzi story from earlier, telling it as a funny moment instead of the one that infuriated his sister. But True lets her dad know the truth. It wasn't funny. Then, while being handed the broccoli, Eddie drops the bowl, breaking the glass dish, and shards fly everywhere. The dad responds on impulse, jumping up and yelling, not again. But their mom calms him down quickly. She'll get it cleaned up. But Bob is still annoyed that the broccoli is covered in glass. And this is when I was having. I was like, okay, this is. I had a feeling where we were heading with this. At this point. I was getting the dcom dad red flags instantly.

[Tia Sircar]

Also, first of all was like, why are you guys not using plastic bowls? If this kid drops stuff everywhere? Why have we not changed our behavior to help him out a little bit?

[Vanessa Marshall]

Simplest thing in the world.

[Tia Sircar]

Super simple.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It's like, no, I want to have delicate crystal at every meal that we serve. Like, yeah, exactly, Exactly.

[Tia Sircar]

Because I'm telling you, as a parent, regardless, this is something you go through, maybe not at his age, at Eddie's age, that you're still going through that, but that's what I'm at right now with, like, Ledger. Ledger just takes the bowl, and he's not dropping it. He's chucking it across the room. So Ledger will not get glass bowls for a very long time.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Plastic bowl.

[Tia Sircar]

Not hard plastic bowl. Dang.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yep. So Eddie apologizes and he hugs his dad, who comes back down to earth, and he's, you Know, sorry about my mistake. With a smile on his face, he says one day they'll get through a meal without dropping or breaking anything. And again. Plastic bowls, brother. Buy a plastic bowl. Eddie, though, is shaken up, but they get back to eating. That night in her room, True draws in her journal as she narrates about baby sharks attacking each other in the womb. Her drawings come to life again. Another, like, just cool directing thing. The sharks, now attached to her and her brother's head, swim around and her shark eventually eats her brother. She slams the book shut and wonders, what if everything that is wrong with Eddie is hurt her fault. She was born first, so maybe things would have been different if he was born first. She logs onto a special needs slash special care Internet message board and posts for some answers. She wants to make him more comfortable at their new high school and feel more accepted in the world and ask people for ideas. It's very sweet. This is. So this is where I. I was going back and forth with. Everything's changing. She's mad and then she feels bad. And then. But then I started to realize that's probably what it's like.

[Tia Sircar]

Yes.

[Vanessa Marshall]

You are a. A teenager and be dealing with somebody who deals with this in their life. I mean, it must be this kind of frustrating. And then you're guilty for being frustrated and you want to make their life better. It must be very difficult.

[Tia Sircar]

I feel like you. You have. You're still. You're still human. So your instincts and your reactions are. Especially as a teenager, they have such a hard time kind of filtering these things anyway. And then put on the fact that her brother really needs a lot of special care.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah.

[Tia Sircar]

You know, and she's in the part where she's wanting to demand her time with her parents. And that is even just what normal brothers and sisters do.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Right.

[Tia Sircar]

And it's just.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Maybe that's the scene that was missing for me.

[Tia Sircar]

Feel the guilt of it, you know, of going, damn, why can't I control my emotions? I know this is going to happen. You know, I just. That I'm. Maybe that's what was missing for me, though. Artie bawling in this movie, just going, this poor girl. Somebody help her.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah.

[Tia Sircar]

I mean, although I did cringe every time she jumps in her mom's face.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It's awful. But maybe that's the scene I was missing. Maybe I'm. I'm missing exactly that. I'm missing the mom going, I know this is tough. And I. It's hard on all of us. And we. I understand how Frustrated, you must feel. And I think you're a great sister. Like, maybe. Like maybe I needed that a little more, which I didn't see. It was just kind of yelling and. But anyway, True falls quickly asleep again and enters a dream. It's the two kids from the beginning still running through the field. They're picking flowers and wrestling. Obviously, it's an easier time for what we can guess is these same two siblings. The next morning, Chu is at her locker talking to Denise about how she connected with Billy Meyer, the hottest junior at school. But we see a flashback, and all he did was ask her if there was an assembly today. Denise rolls her eyes. Yeah. Wow. He must be in love with you. Jack runs up. He's got big news. But the bell rings before he can dish out all the hot goss. That's what the kids are calling it. And instead of walking a homeroom, True checks in on her brother. He's working in the special education class, talking to classmates, who, again worth noting, are all actors with real disabilities. So, you know, that was a good thing. But I get what they're.

[Tia Sircar]

A transition. A transition, yes.

[Vanessa Marshall]

The twins exchange a quick smile, and as she turns to get to class, she bumps into what? Billy Meyer, the hot junior. She awkwardly apologizes, and True know she's coming off very weird. She thinks if she had Billy as her boyfriend, life would be perfect. And we're thrown right back on that sitcom set. The audience is feverishly applauding as Billy, now dressed in a suit, holding flowers, does his best Desi Arnaz impression. True. See, I'm home. True is dressed just like Lucille Ball, red wig and all. They exchange some very I Love Lucy inspired dialogue. But as they profess their love for each other, we are thrown back to reality and school, where True is filming her Billy playing basketball from afar. She's interrupted by. Yeah, yeah, I'll say. Yikes. I don't. I don't even want to find. When she later finds all her secret tapes. I don't even want to find the secret. Secret stash. She has just a. Billy. She. She's interrupted by Eddie, Denise and Jack ready to eat lunch. Jack is grossed out by his liverwurst sandwich. Of course, he should be. So when he sees True's chicken wings, he wants to trade the wings for his hot gossip. Saying it again, she eventually accepts, and he reveals he knows a way she could become a TV star. She races home to her mom. It's a miracle, the chance of a lifetime. She throws down a newspaper ad that reads, host your own TV show, WTVV is having a contest for kids. The winner becomes a host on the channel. True knows she'll win, but her mom sets her expectations. They're going to get hundreds of entries. True wanted her mom to be supportive. So we're seeing a pattern here. And once again, she storms off very angry, and she does. She does this kind of happy angry. It's very. There's almost no transition between the two a lot of times. Now in her room, True is spitballing ideas into her camera. The show can be called True Life Adventures or True True or NYPD True. Mad About True. True Tales. True Wants to be a millionaire. She keeps thinking on it. All right, so if you had a talk show, what would you call it? Ooh, Cheetah Chatter Kind of works.

[Tia Sircar]

Yeah, it's true. Actually, Keely and I did1 on YouTube for a while called Dinner with Friends. We loved it because it was, like, at dinner, it wasn't a. A morning talk show with coffee. It was like a dinner talk show where we were chatting about different things that were happening in the world or, you know, and it was really fun. I actually really loved it. But, yeah, I. I think kind of more around, like, food.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Okay.

[Tia Sircar]

Like a dinner table where you really get into, like, just some fun, you know, chatter. But Cheetah Chat is always, always good.

[Vanessa Marshall]

We also didn't know each other, so I won't hold it against you that you didn't invite me to be on your show. We are now back at school. True is on her way out of English class when she decides to talk to her teacher, Mr. Taylor, about the KTUV contest. She needs his help coming up with an idea. He says he always teaches you to write what you know. And he says that could be applied to tv, too, which, by the way, for all you young writers out there, that is a great rule of thumb. She seems inspired by his advice. Now we are at Tru's mom's work. She's at her computer and reveals to a coworker that she was on the special needs special care site looking for music classes. Eddie. And she came across True's post. She's hurt that True didn't come to her for help like she used to. She's definitely growing up. Is this a weird kind of take? I mean, isn't she just. This is again where I was like. Her daughter is going out of her way to try to learn as much as she can to make her brother's life easier. Wouldn't she be proud of that? As opposed to like getting. It wasn't angry, but I just feel like she was focused on the wrong thing.

[Tia Sircar]

I, I don't, I don't know if it was like angry. I feel like she was just disappoint because I think what, what parents tend to do is they take on that kind of stuff themselves. Like, where did I go wrong in this relationship to where she's not coming to me. You know, I'm trying to set the, the pattern of how I think say things to Monroe when she comes home and tells me things about school. There's a way to do it to where you always make sure that they know that when they come to you, you're a safe place versus because you don't want them to be going out to other people. You want them to come in, you want them to be. You want to be their safe place. I think that's what her take was.

[Vanessa Marshall]

She.

[Tia Sircar]

She was kind of going, what? How did, how did I lose this? How did I lose this? How did I. Where did I go wrong? You know? And, and, and it's just understanding that kids are just like this. I've got, I go, I'm in this age with the girls that I, the, that I teach and I love that I get to sort of be a person that can help. Yeah, anything when, when they have this a little bit of a disconnect from the people they have gone to their whole lives, their mom and their dad. You know, people, kids just at this age are reaching out looking for other people. I don't know why it happens.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It's fair.

[Tia Sircar]

It's natural.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Okay. Ginny also knows that all that True does is yell at her, which is True. So she's insecure about their connection. She returns to True's post and it looks like she just sent a reply. At home that night, True is doing her homework and tells her mom that having a boy twin stinks. She doesn't get to do cool stuff like they did in the Parent Trap. Just then, Eddie enters dressed as a doctor. He says he's just like his dad. He performs an operation on a watermelon, or what he calls a broken brain. True and Ginny smile. They play along until their dad enters and he is mad. He wants to know what the hell is going on. Okay, we can't avoid it any longer, can we? Can we already induct Bob Walker into the Bad dad hall of Fame? I mean, Eddie's not even doing anything wrong at this point. Like, at all.

[Tia Sircar]

No, no, no. But I feel like it's it's hard because, yes, I could not. This. This guy was starting to bother me. But I feel like there's a lot of things that could have been set in place to not put Eddie in a position to keep pissing him off, too. Like, why is your. Why are these tools, if they're so important to you, in a place that he can get to?

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah. Well, he's keeping him with all the glass bowls.

[Tia Sircar]

That's what I mean.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Why are you in my glass bowl? Ancient tech.

[Tia Sircar]

It doesn't sound like an Eddie problem. Bob. It sounds like a Bob problem.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Sounds like a Bob problem. It does, but Bob is. Yeah, he's. I get. He's busy and he's doing all that stuff, and I think they're trying to make this movie. It's supposed to be about how nobody is really taking the time to look at anything through anybody else's point of view.

[Tia Sircar]

It's just how you're going through it yourself.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It's just. They're all kind of in selfish mode, at least in the beginning.

[Tia Sircar]

But I will say, except for eddie. Speaking of Mr. Stu again.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah.

[Tia Sircar]

Remember how he said that he refused to do characters where the dad and the daughter have, like. He doesn't like to have characters where the dad is looking like a jerk. This is. This is the jerkiest dad we've seen Stu do.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah, exactly.

[Tia Sircar]

I was like, I want to call Stu and be like, stu, Stu, we.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Got a jerky dad for you.

[Tia Sircar]

I think we forgot about one of your characters.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I'm telling you because this is. You got it. You got a jerky dad here. Yeah, Stu. Yeah, I'm. I can't. Okay.

[Tia Sircar]

And a mom that can't seem to get it together very well either. I mean, but they're all struggling.

[Vanessa Marshall]

They were missing each other. Yeah. And I think the struggle was the point of it. I get that. And she's supposed to be filming the struggle. I get it. It's just. It was very abrupt at times, but I understand what they're going for. Bob tells his son that the tools are antiques gifted down from his dad. Eddie starts crying and yelling. He's not a doctor. Doctors are mean. Ginny jumps in. She says Eddie was being careful. Then the young boy slams the watermelon to the floor, breaking it to pieces. Bob gives his look to his wife. And, yeah, he sucks as a dad. Later in their bedroom, Bob is explaining himself to Ginny. It's like everything he does with this kid is wrong. She says, it's his tone. Bob wonders if they don't put. If they don't push him, will he ever grow? And this gets slightly heated and things just aren't easy right now for the walkers. And again, a very rare frustrated conversation between two adults.

[Tia Sircar]

Yes, I thought of that. I said this is really kind of one of the first times where we're seeing, and it's. I assume this would be very real of how hard it is to be in a marriage when you're both having to, you know, handle this, this delicate of a situation and how you're looking at each other, somewhat judging each other. Yeah, I handle it this way. And this way is better than the way you handle it, you know, and how much that could affect their relationship.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Frustrated and you're yelling and I think they were trying to. They were trying to capture.

[Tia Sircar]

Yes.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah. We are now back in True's bedroom. She's dreaming once again about her and Eddie as kids in the field. But now she can't find him. She's yelling his name, running all around. Sabrina's still crying. And over somebody find Eddie. And over in Eddie's room, he's sleeping on the floor, violently tossing and turning, crying and saying True's name. We don't know if he's having the same dream or he's kind of still reacting to being yelled at by his dad. I don't know if twins have the same dreams. I bet you they do. Eddie's dad eventually puts him in the bed and rubs his head until he is back asleep. The next day, Eddie is playing catch with his dad. We get a montage seeing all of Eddie's throws sail well over Bob's head or into the ground. Bob is all smiles at first, praising his son's attempts. So I think he's probably felt guilty about how he treated him the day before, but eventually just gets exhausted running everywhere to get the ball. So he decides to take Eddie to get a hot fudge sundae. Eddie loves that idea. So do I. I'd be eating one right now if I could. It's now later and True is still working in her bedroom when she turns her attention to the special needs site again. Her post has gotten some replies. She reads them and imagines the contributor. She concocts an old lady yelling. And again now this is another great moment of direction where it's kind of we're cutting to all these things. We could easily just read it off the screen or it could be read in a voiceover. But no, we're cutting to these things, which is another cool Paul Hoen Trick. Here she concocts an old lady telling her the question isn't what's wrong with her brother, it's what's wrong with her. Harsh. She also suggests True just needs a strong sense of faith. The next reply is from a motorcycle dude. He has a son who sounds a lot like Eddie, and their school board was a big help. Maybe she can try that. What?

[Tia Sircar]

This is when I went, oh, okay, now we're entering the scariness of chat rooms and who the heck you could be talking to? Like, of course my 2025 brain goes so badly into the dark side once I see this motorcycle guy. Like, oh, God, now he's gonna be talking. Oh, gosh, what's going on? You know, I couldn't even help it. But this is 2002.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It's all nice. I know.

[Tia Sircar]

I'm not even super scared about weirdos on the Internet.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah, we'll get scared soon. But we weren't scared yet. The motorcycle dude. He has a son who sounds a lot like Eddie. And the school board was a big help. Maybe she can try that. And finally, she imagines an all American housewife with the screen name Dee. The woman is praising True as a sister. She suggests that support and love can do the trick. And she says she's always around if True needs her. The next day, back on the ferry, True asks Denise and Jack if they think Billy Meyer would be in her film. But her friends don't really care. They say, I'm sorry. No, I'm just. I just got a rashly pissed over Yolanda from the Dutch Dragons. Yolanda. Anyway, the Dutch dragon. Don't get me started. But her friends don't really care. They say he is an egomaniac. True thinks this contest can be the beginning of the rest of her life. But her friends think she's probably overselling it. We are now back on land, being followed by eddie. She mentions Mr. Taylor's suggestion, but everything she quote unquote knows is incredibly boring. Should she do a movie parody and animation and hip hop music? And then she gets the most brilliant idea ever and races back on the boat to do some research. When True eventually returns home, she's carrying a bunch of heavy books. Her dad is home early from work, which is a rare occurrence, and True is happy to see him. She needs his help on the WTUV contest. She decided on a new magazine show to teach people about kids like Eddie, how they get that way, what doctors are doing to try to help him. She wonders if one of his really smart and TV Friendly doctor coworkers could sit for an interview. He slyly suggests himself. But she wants professional, not pathetic. Ouch. The family is just so mean to each other. That's what I meant.

[Tia Sircar]

I wrote that one down.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Just mean.

[Tia Sircar]

Damn. She just has them coming out one after another. It would be hard to live with her, honestly, because they're just.

[Vanessa Marshall]

She's mean anyway. Yeah, it is. Yeah. But just then, Eddie comes rollerblading in, but he's falling all over the place. He's proud and wants his dad to come watch him skate outside. But that's when Bob gets paged by work. He runs the phone just as the doorbell rings. True answers it and it's Yolanda. No, it's Billy Meyer. He is delivering groceries. He helps her bring in the bags, and her brother continues to scream and glide around. He eventually bumps into his sister, forcing oranges to fall to the floor. True won't pick them up. It wasn't her fault. Eddie accidentally tackles his dad, who's trying to talk on the phone, and then skates right over his sister's finger. Now, Billy is, of course, seeing all of this chaos, waiting for his tip. He finally exits just as Ginny arrives home, which is good news for Bob because he's got to go to the hospital for an emergency. Big shocker. He's leaving again and leaving True without the project help she needed and leaving his wife, Ginny, with all the mess and everything else going on. True is furious and slams her brother's uneaten carrots down the garbage disposal. She just wants it to be normal in her house for once. Billy Meyer was in their house. It was Billy Meyer, mom. And she was so embarrassed. Later that night, we're at the Walker's dinner table. Dad, mom and Eddie take their seats on the glass table with glass bowls and glass plates. And True eventually arrives with new carrots, this time paper ones she made from construction paper. This gets a smile from the family and peace is sort of re established. At least for now. That night, True writes back Dede on her message board. She goes into detail about how her mom is always too busy to hear about her TV project and how Eddie is just so content in his life. She spends so much time worrying about and looking out for him. But maybe he's one of the luckiest people in the family. He's happier than anyone she knows. The next day, True is back to work on her project. So we get a montage, my favorite. She interviews one of her dad's doctor friends. She edits. She films her Brother. And gets some shots in her science classroom. She's working very hard. In fact, so hard that she falls asleep in class and right out of the chair. Which is starting to become a new Disney trope. We've now seen that a few times. Because didn't he. He fell asleep in the middle of class and jump in.

[Tia Sircar]

Yep.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Remember that. So everybody's falling asleep in class. Another Paul Hoenn joint.

[Tia Sircar]

I think way back in. In Brink when he was going two times with the. With the skate group. He was falling asleep in class I think as well.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yep. Fall asleep in class. But of course she's doing this right in front of Billy Meyer. Oh, that cute Billy Meyer. She just cannot catch a break with this guy. But the hard work was worth it. The project is now done and it's time to screen it for Denise, Jack and Eddie. They promise to be honest once it begins. Eddie loves seeing himself on the screen and they all seem interested at first. But it becomes way too scientifically focused on the brain and they start to doze off. Finally, it ends and her friends let out a big sigh. They admit it's just boring. True agrees. She knows that she's got to make some changes and Jack suggests getting a second opinion. Sweetly. Eddie still congratulates his sister on a job well done. Her second opinion is her mom, who watches it and also thinks it's a little bit boring. She thinks that True played it too safe. She wants to see what True's emotional POV is, not just medical explanations. And then guess what happens. True gets irrationally mad and shouts and storms off. Oh, I can't even believe it again. And that's when I was like, where? Where did. That was the instant it was like.

[Tia Sircar]

Where did that come from? Real life. This is for sure real life with girls and. And their moms at this age. I swear it is. It happens so quick. You just don't even know what's happening. Even when I was a girl doing this, I don't know what was happening and why.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Okay.

[Tia Sircar]

All of a sudden pissed so quick.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Because I was like, what did what? Wow.

[Tia Sircar]

That came out of nowhere, out of nowhere. You cannot see it coming. Will. Okay, Just smash in the face.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I will take your word for it. We are now in Eddie's room. True is reading her brother a bedtime story and asks his real opinion on the project. He said it needed more car crashes. She laughs, but second guesses her talent. Eddie assures her that she's funny, but then gets serious. He wants to know if True is mad at him. She says, of course not. She explains that she's been busy with her tape, but Eddie admits it makes him sad. She used to be his twin, and now she's not. It's a very touching scene that leads True back to the message board. It is hard not to love Eddie. And I almost teared up here.

[Tia Sircar]

Okay.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It was close. I was like, okay little. Which for me is bawling. If I'm like, I have a slight emotional feeling, then it's like I'm crying my eyes out. But how do you not love Eddie?

[Tia Sircar]

Yes, I know. And he's so honest, too, about it, you know? And it's like he's learned to be able to express his feelings. And you're just going, wow.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah.

[Tia Sircar]

I mean, especially with twins. Twins. I do believe I've always wanted to be one of them.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I know you wanted one. You want to have them. I know.

[Tia Sircar]

I like you. Just, it's like this connection between the two of them. And to imagine what it would be like for one of them to struggle so much.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It's gotta be tough.

[Tia Sircar]

Oh, man, this was such a great scene. And Shy did such a great job.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah, he was great. True replies to Dee Dee again. She feels like a loser who can't figure out this project. And her mom isn't helping at all. She ends by asking Dee Dee if the project gets too personal. Won't people just laugh at her at the next day soccer game?

[Tia Sircar]

And I okay, this I didn't understand.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Why is she on the team with the. With the. Because. Because this is obviously a team for people with intellectual disabilities. But why is she the only person on a team who doesn't have intellectual disabilities? I didn't understand that.

[Tia Sircar]

I didn't get it.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah, I didn't either. But True arrives with her family. I figured they'd all just be there to support him. Eddie is also in a jersey. True tells her dad that she's still creatively stuck, but he's convinced she'll do fine in the end. On the field, the coach, who's awesome seems great. Almost like he'd be a better dad for the twins, which he would. He reminds Eddie not to use his hands and tells him to go and have some fun. Now we're mid game. Ginny gets a breakaway and passes to an open Eddie without even looking up. It's almost like they have some sort of twin telepathy, which is what she's talking about in the voiceover. Then Eddie shoots and scores. Everybody celebrates, especially Eddie, who hugs his sister and waves to his parents who are filming the whole thing. Back at home, Didi, still being imagined as an old fashioned housewife, has replied. She admits that True's life is intense, but no one makes great art without taking a risk. Dede suggests she should show her true self to be rewarded. True is now on a walk with Denise and Eddie, chatting about her new online friendship with Dee. Denise wonders if it's actually a 500 pound man with nasty BO and a hairy back, which is exactly what you were talking about. Which is what people were starting to wonder about in, in the early chat rooms. Never been in a chat room in my entire life.

[Tia Sircar]

Not even those AOL ones when they were first.

[Vanessa Marshall]

And I'm still aol, by the way. I'm Ride or Die aol. My email is still aol. Existing aol. Well, there's like three of us left. It's me, my mom and I think some like one of my old friends, that's it. But I am aol Ride or Die. But I've never in my. Because I'm not a computer guy. I've never in my life been in a chat room ever.

[Tia Sircar]

Yeah, they're mean. I went on I, I. Yeah, they're mean.

[Vanessa Marshall]

No, thank you. Ginny says it's a medical site and Dede is very supportive, so she trusts her. After filming her brother and some ducks, True announces she's decided to include herself in the movie. Denise asks if she's sure she wants to do that. True isn't, but she knows that it's the right thing to do. Back at home, Tru unlocks a small safe in her room. It's filled with a dozen or so camcorder tapes. All of Sabrina behind the scenes doing Cheetah Girls. No, I'm kidding. Camcorder tapes labeled as top secret. We see another montage of home videos, both good and bad, including a family dinner where Bob freaks out on Eddie again. This guy can't get through a meal without yelling at his kid. It ends with footage of Eddie being bullied at school by jocks. They even call him the R word, which is just awful.

[Tia Sircar]

That just, I mean, jumped out at me.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It does.

[Tia Sircar]

So bad. And I. And it made me think, that poor actor. Now knowing that that is forever on film.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I know it's. But it just, it just hits the ear so wrong. It's so wrong.

[Tia Sircar]

It does going, oh man. And like, you know, he wanted a line, he was so stoked to book it. And now it's like he's probably like, oh man.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Oh, My God. I can't believe. Yeah, I know. I can't believe.

[Tia Sircar]

You've seen the movie. No, it's awful.

[Vanessa Marshall]

True is devastated, reliving some of these memories, obviously. The next day, True and a vacation ready Eddie are off to the beach with their mom. It was supposed to be a trip for all four walkers, but you might guess that. Right, Dick? Bob has an emergency and can't join. Now, I understand. He's literally a brain surgeon. He's saving people's lives. I totally get it. You are on call 247 when you are a doctor of that caliber. I understand. But then you figure maybe you're the coolest dad in the world for the 20 minutes with your kid as opposed to yelling at everybody. Who knows? So, yeah, Bob once again can't join. At the beach, Eddie becomes frustrated with his kite. He can't get it to fly no matter how hard he tries. True, who is filming her brother, suggests there might not be enough wind. But Eddie is taking it really hard. He calls the kite stupid and he repeats the R word about the kite. He's crying very hard. As True keeps the camera rolling, she eventually turns it off. Obviously affected by this episode. It was a very powerful scene watching Shia dog that.

[Tia Sircar]

Yeah.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Later that night, it is pouring rain on the. On the drive home. Pouring rain. True is watching the emotional footage back with her brother fast asleep in the back seat. True thinks she can't show this tape to anybody. What if they laugh at Eddie? Her mom wonders why they'd even laugh. The footage shows how much he means to True and it's very moving. Also, again, unrelated to the film, the rain outside is insane. Go back and watch this scene. It's amazing.

[Tia Sircar]

I guess it's just Paul just making the decision to film in Toronto so often. But like, I feel like this has happened to him so many times during shoots. Like, it's pouring. It is literally pouring.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It's incredible. The yes, they're in the eye of a tornado or a hurricane. The type of weather that can kill a wicked witch. Incredible.

[Tia Sircar]

So True.

[Vanessa Marshall]

True quotes her message board pal Dee Dee saying something along the lines of not being afraid to expose your true feelings. And that's when her mom has a question. Can she tell her something about this Dee Dee? True gets defensive. It's not some 500 pound guy, if that's what you're gonna say. Her mom decides not to tell her whatever she's thinking. It's too sensitive a subject. But we all knew at this point. Well, we'll get into that that night, while it's still El Nino outside, True reads a new Dee Dee Post. Her pen pal encourages her to send in her tape the following day. True and Denise cast a luck spell on the now completed video project. Jake has joined them on a mission to mail it. True is entering the contest without any time left to show her friends she's just going to let it fly and hope for the best. True returns home and tells her mom the tape is on the way to the studio. Her mom is very proud of her. She responds with, if you show your true self, you will be rewarded. An exact quote from Dee Dee.

[Tia Sircar]

What? Oh, man.

[Vanessa Marshall]

True imagines the housewife she's been imagining as Dee Dee now morphing into her real mom. She's figured it out. Her mom is Dede. Duh. I mean, come on, we all knew it. Do you think anybody watching the movie didn't know this at this point? I mean, it was so obvious.

[Tia Sircar]

Okay, no, no, no. But I could see how she wouldn't know, Right?

[Vanessa Marshall]

But. I mean, maybe. But yeah, True is the last one to find out. But they didn't try to hide it from the rest of us. We all knew.

[Tia Sircar]

No.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Ginny tries to explain, but True feels tricked and feels stupid for everything going on. She says she hates her mom. And then here it is yet again. She storms out. It's like a catchphrase at this point. Now, at a local carnival, we see that True is on a carousel, feverishly looking for Eddie. She's become worried. Where is he? She eventually finds him by a nearby lake wearing a new hat. He says some boys in the bridge gave it to him, concerned he's stolen something from strangers. She walks over to these boys to find out what happened. And then she realizes one of them is Billy. Billy Meyer. She tries to give him the hat back, but it dramatically falls to the floor when he rejects it, he. Then he turns total heel. He asks True, isn't it Be kind? I can't even. Isn't it Be kind to an R word week. And just like that, Billy's a hole.

[Tia Sircar]

You know, I had hopes for Billy.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I did, too.

[Tia Sircar]

When he showed up at the house, I thought his character was gonna see True and see how much she goes through, and it was gonna be this, like, really great character moment for him. And that's what his storyline was gonna develop into. I wanted her to push this dick off of this bridge so much faster than she did. Like, I can't even.

[Vanessa Marshall]

The only part of this that upset me was the fact that it wasn't concrete underneath that. It was water that he landed in.

[Tia Sircar]

I did love that. It wasn't. It was. It was more shallow than what you thought it was gonna be. Cause he stood up, and I was like, oh, yeah, you hit your back. You hit your back. I know you did.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I. You wanted to climb through the screen and punch this guy in the jaw so bad. It was. I mean, really punch this guy in the jaw. So True is, of course, shocked. The jerk keeps laying it on, saying the guys all spit in the hat. Too True. Asks, what the hell is wrong with him. He calls her a freak while his friends are laughing. Did you. I feel like you. I was hoping. I had high hopes for Billy Meyer. I thought he was going to be a good guy.

[Tia Sircar]

Even with the hat. I thought he was going to be like, no, we gave that to him.

[Vanessa Marshall]

We wanted him to have it. He needed to have it.

[Tia Sircar]

He needed a hat. He wanted a hat, too.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yes. It was. It was awful.

[Tia Sircar]

I got so heated so fast.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Me, too.

[Tia Sircar]

I. I switched. That's when you know you can't trust me. It takes one thing, Billy. All right, you're out. You're out. You're off the roster. You are out, out, out.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It's one of those things where I said to myself in my head, I was like, okay, if I was an adult, my own age, 48 right now, and walking on the bridge and heard some kid who's probably 15 or 16 saying this to people, like this played out in front of me. I don't know what I would do. Oh, I don't know if I would have smacked this kid in the mouth.

[Tia Sircar]

I have. I. Because we work in the gym, at the school, and there are many times, it's. It's sometimes girls, but a lot of times it's guys saying things, and they. They use such terrible. It's not even the curse words that bother me. It's right. It's the names like this.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah.

[Tia Sircar]

And I fully go like grandma mode on the. Excuse me, sir. Excuse me. I'm sorry. I had to have heard you wrong. There's just no way you speak to someone like this. You are not a little kid. You are almost an adult gonna be in the big world, and someone's gonna smack you in the face if you do that again. That's not cool. Don't do that again. Oh, I got right in that room right there. I don't want to hear this again.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Oh, God. I want to see you like that. That's great.

[Tia Sircar]

Because I'm sure they can Be.

[Vanessa Marshall]

But.

[Tia Sircar]

And I know they're probably great kids, but it's like you just. It's not funny. It's, it's, it's nothing but wrong. That's just the end of the story.

[Vanessa Marshall]

There is a very simple concept to live by people. Don't be a dick. Yes, just that simple.

[Tia Sircar]

It's just, you know, be a dick.

[Vanessa Marshall]

So True reacts exactly as she should by pushing him off the bridge into the river. Good for you, True. The twins run away, leaving the bully drenched, and they sprint right past their parents who drive them home. In the car, True still feels the tension with her mom and is very disturbed by what happened on the bridge. She closes her eyes and imagines her and her brother in the field again. But she still can't find Eddie. Also worth noting, back in the car, Eddie is playing with a very nostalgic Bop it. Do you remember Bopit? Yeah. Okay, good. All right, good.

[Tia Sircar]

Oh, I was so stoked to see that.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Bop it was the best. Back at home, True is already removing Billy from her footage. When her mom enters, True still doesn't want to talk to her, but Jenny apologizes for pretending to be dead. She just wanted to connect with her. True accepts the apology, it was a half exception of the apology, but is really still mad about what that creep Billy did with the hat. She slams the door on her confused mom's face. Which again later, True decides to call WTVV and asks when the winner of the host your own TV show contest will be announced. But she's been calling so much they recognize her voice. Then we are at an A possibly big library.

[Tia Sircar]

This library is the size of a mall.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It is. It's like the library at Alexandria back in the day. Yes, I have.

[Tia Sircar]

Okay, then it made me go. Well, I do have to admit I haven't been in like a ton of libraries throughout my life, which is probably not a good look for me. But it's true. And I have never been in a library anywhere near this. The biggest is maybe a two story.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah, you're talking not one.

[Tia Sircar]

Not one with an elevator. Yeah, I mean maybe it has an elevator for like handicap like reasons, but not. Not a one.

[Vanessa Marshall]

This is huge. This is what they call a bal or a big ass library.

[Tia Sircar]

Yeah.

[Vanessa Marshall]

So it's probably the biggest library in the history of the world. Which I'm assum. Was actually the library at this Danforth College. Which that's true, is a massive library. True is studying with Jake and Eddie is reading kids books next to them. Once Eddie needs a new Book to read. He goes to make a trade, but accidentally walks into an open elevator. He, you know, is now going down many, many floors again. This library is the size of a hotel in Vegas. You can feel the fear as he exits onto a new floor. He has no idea where he is. He's roaming the aisles, hearing voices and completely lost. He's panicked now and running, screaming for his sister. Tru and Jake hear his cry and run towards him. Eddie eventually is cornered and a librarian walks in and asks him to keep it down. Eddie just wants to find his sister. And when the librarian starts to get a little aggressive, it seems like a scared Eddie backs into a wall, slamming into some of the bookshelves. And the books fall on the ground. He then falls to the ground, balls up and starts to cry. Finally, True arrives and immediately embraces him. And then the librarian gets snotty. Excuse me, this is a library. Perhaps it'd be better if you took him outside. And I wanted Jake to walk over and just punch this guy in the face.

[Tia Sircar]

Yeah, handle this.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Handle your business, please. Because it's like, are you kidding me? Yeah, but. Yeah. So awful. But Jake asks for a minute and tells the guy to chill out. Eventually leaving to call their mom for a ride home. A defeated Eddie tells his sister it's not fair. He doesn't want to be different anymore. He wants to be the same as everyone else. True tells him everyone is different, but Eddie says, yeah, but he's really different. True agrees he is different. But if he was the same as everyone else, he wouldn't get that special help at school. Or be allowed to rollerblade in the house. And he wouldn't be such an amazing brother. She starts to cry, but Eddie doesn't want her to be sad. He gives her a big hug and they say I love you to each other. It's a very tough dcom scene. It's arguably the most emotional dcom scene we've seen to date. And it still didn't make me cry. I'm dead inside, but I'm sure you were bawling.

[Tia Sircar]

I. Oh, man. Oh, gosh. This is the thing. True, she is such a. Such a really, like, relatable teenager in the sense of all her emotions. And this is showing that she is a really good sister. And she does really care about him. She just struggles because it's hard. She's not struggling because she's. She's a rude kid. She's struggling because it's tough.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah.

[Tia Sircar]

This is stuff to deal with. It's not a Teenager thing to deal with.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yep. And it was a really devastated, really beautiful scene between two good actors. It really was.

[Tia Sircar]

So good. So good.

[Vanessa Marshall]

No, still just eating my popcorn. True is now with her dad, wondering if it's awful that she's mad she didn't have her camera when Eddie was crying at the library. He tells her not to be so hard on herself. She's only a mere mortal. He tells her to get some sleep. The next day, the twins return home from school and True got a letter in the mail. It's from the TV station. Eddie and Ginny are excited as she rips it open to find out she's won. Everyone celebrates. Finally, some happiness in the family. But after initial excitement, True quickly turns again. She warns her mom if people laugh at her for all the personal stuff she just showed, it'll be her fault. And then she storms off again. And I'm like, what? This one is going on?

[Tia Sircar]

Yes. This one is like, okay.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It's like. Wait, what?

[Tia Sircar]

Wow.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I mean, yeah, this is where I was kind of like, okay, this is where the. It was too much. It's too much of the constant changing, storming off. It was. Yeah. She just can't stop doing it for some reason. Eddie and his mom, however. High five. Because this is good news. The next day, the principal announces that Trudy won the contest to the whole school. Her movie will air tomorrow at 8pm and he encourages all the students to tune in. And then it is the big night. True, Jack and Denise are ready to watch, surrounded by snacks. They're joined by Ginny, but her dad, of course, has not gotten home yet. He swore he'd make it, but he only has a few minutes left. Eddie enters the room in dark sunglasses and a shirt printed to look like a tuxedo. He's ready for his close up. The phone rings. It's Bob. He's still at the hospital and running late. He asked True to tape it. They'll watch it together later. But she's of course, extremely disappointed. And then the show starts. Everyone is seated at the Walker house and enthralled. Back at the hospital, Bill sees it on the nearby TV and he stops dead in his tracks. It's time for A Day in the Life of Trudy Walker. Not.

[Tia Sircar]

Not a great title.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Not a good title. NYPD True was better than that.

[Tia Sircar]

But why would they use True Confessions here?

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah, you'd think. I don't know. That's a great idea.

[Tia Sircar]

That's exactly what it should have been. I was like in all caps. What the Hell is this title? That didn't make any sense. We have a title already. True Confessions.

[Vanessa Marshall]

The name of the movie. It is a movie about Eddie splicing together fun memories. Eddie sees himself on tv like Gilligan. It's a bit of a music video. And we see Bill watching at the hospital, still smiling and shaking his head. Why didn't he just come home if he's just gonna stand there and watch the movie?

[Tia Sircar]

I don't know.

[Vanessa Marshall]

It's like you're just standing there.

[Tia Sircar]

Just go, yeah.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Or something. Cause you're just. I'm standing there. So. Yeah, I didn't understand that. Back in the movie, True calls Eddie the most beautiful and profound person she knows. It is a gorgeous portrait of siblings that eventually shifts when she admits having a brother with a mental disability is not always easy. She includes the hard footage, the tough times that she instinctually wanted to exclude. She continues her narration over the tough kite footage, explaining, he throws fits. And True admits it embarrasses her. She wishes others would take the time to get to know him the way that she does. It ends with a return to uplifting footage as Trieu tells the audience not to feel sorry for him or her. He's happy and she gets to learn from him. Movie comes to an end and her friends and family loved it. Eddie tells True she's going to be a star. A big, humongous star. Back at the hospital, her dad watches the whole thing. So watch an entire thing, ignoring whatever dying patient he was supposedly there to see. The patient's probably dead by now. Another doctor watched right next to him. Apparently, these doctors have nothing to do. He's very impressed, but didn't see Bob in it at all. Bob realizes he's become an invisible father. Back at the house, True admits it was scary to open herself up. She imagines classmates and teachers calling her a movie cliche and ineffective. She's ready to face the school anyway, though. And the next morning, she walks the halls with her head held high. And to her surprise, everyone loved it. They applaud her and Eddie, who hug before class. True captures a glimpse of Billy. Billy and just ignores him. When True gets home, her dad wants to talk. He tells her he watched the show and loved it, but most people probably think she doesn't even have a dad. She says she tried to include him, but if she used his footage, he would have been really mad. He doesn't believe her. He wants to see it. She warns him it might hurt his feelings. But they sit and watch his raw footage anyway. He Sees himself overreacting to spilled milk, getting mad at Eddie for playing in the house, and repeatedly leaving for work. He's at first defensive, then starts to see his true self. He wonders if it's like this all the time, and True says yes. She tries to make him feel better, that they know he's under a lot of stress at work. But he says it's no excuse. They deserve better. He doesn't even recognize himself on the tapes. True says Eddie loves them no matter what. They are his entire world. All they have to do is love him back. She hugs her dad and suggests they throw the footage out. He says no, save it. She may need it to keep him in line. He leaves, and one last scene makes its way to the screen. The one where she says she would want to cast someone else to play her mom on tv. She now notices in the background how much that hurt her mom. As a result, True wants to clear the air. She tells her mom that she didn't need to be Dee Dee just to connect. Ginny says she just misses her daughter. They both start to cry, and True admits it just hit her. She grew up with Eddie playing and having fun, but now she'll go to college, probably get married and have kids, but Eddie will always stay Eddie. And now they're both sobbing. She then turns around, yells at her mom and storms out. No, I'm kidding. That didn't happen. It just ended with them both sobbing. Just seeing if everyone's still there with us. True is back in her room, talking to her camera. She admits her life isn't a TV show. So what? Things don't get wrapped up nice and tidy. They can always improve. She updates us on some changes. Her dad is around a lot more and trying to relax. Her mom promised to be more available to talk, and True will be more open with her in return. And Eddie? Well, it's safe to say that Eddie will always be Eddie. True finally puts down the camera to play with her brother. They're watching his soccer goal and True's assist over and over and over again. True says they should watch something else. They don't need this on repeat. It's not going to change. To which Eddie says, I like it. I don't want it to change. It's you and me being twins. We see them as kids back in the field now, reunited and holding hands. And then we get some information about the Special Olympics and a support group for siblings. Then the credits. And that's our movie. And I'm sure Sabrina was sobbing, sobbing, sobbing.

[Tia Sircar]

By this point ending with the same overall outfit. And I was, oh, it knows how to do it.

[Vanessa Marshall]

He is done. And of course it end once again with True yelling at her mom and storming out. Let's do some real reviews. I think I have the five star review this week from our old friend Unamit. Unamit is back. Yes. Unnamed. Okay. This is like the best movie Disney ever made. Shia LaBeouf was so amazing and this is some of the best acting I've ever seen from him. Like the kite scene, it was so sad, I cried. I don't disagree with that review, frankly. Yes, very wonderful. Sabrina, what is the one star review?

[Tia Sircar]

The one star this week is from Delilah F. This was sad as hell. I also agree.

[Vanessa Marshall]

But one star, I mean, but one star star.

[Tia Sircar]

It was like so good. It was that sad. It made you feel something. Delilah. That's how you rate a movie.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah, Delilah.

[Tia Sircar]

Hey there, Delilah.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Hey there, Delilah. You just gave us one star for no real reason. Okay, so we've got. We are coming once again to Sabrina's favorite part of the program here. That is producer Jensen's feature of the week. Our feature this week is called Public access. So in True Confessions, the main character hopes a show on her local channel will turn into worldwide fame. Now this rings true because many celebrities did start their careers on local news programs. So we're going to read a description of a celebrity whose origin is just like trues and we have to guess who it is. 3 out of 5 wins. This is going to be tough. Producer Jensen, you with us? Well, I'm here. There's no multiple choice, though. Just reminding you that I know that's why this is gonna be.

[Tia Sircar]

This is so hard.

[Vanessa Marshall]

So there's a couple here where I'll.

[Tia Sircar]

Hopefully we should have a key. A through F key that we can pick from.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Again, that's just multiple choice. Literally what's not happening. Here we go. So number one, this talk show host might have counted down from 10, but his number one was as a weatherman in Indianapolis list. You know, you must know this one. I mean, you should probably define must. You should probably know this one. Count it down.

[Tia Sircar]

Is it Ryan? Ryan Seacos?

[Vanessa Marshall]

You know what? No, but. But I actually am fine with where you got it from. That does make sense. Yeah, but I'm gonna say David Letterman. It's David Letterman. Yeah. Okay. David Letterman did his top tens. Number two, the one who knocks. More like the one who starts his career in local Granada Hills TV commercials. The one who knocks like, come and.

[Tia Sircar]

Knock on my Door, maybe knock.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I, I, I don't even know. You said come and knock on our door. Okay. John Ritter. Is that what you're thinking? Is John Ritter okay? John Ritter. Nope, It's Bryan Cranston. The one who knocks is what he's called in Breaking Bad. Literally, probably the greatest TV show ever. Oh, I've seen it. I don't remember that at all. The one. Okay, Brian. I'm the one who knocks. Yes. Gotcha. Okay, number three. Another weatherman, this time in Nashville, which is a name that has three vowels. What? Oh, this one will really bother you when you don't get it. Will. Wait a minute. Okay, a weatherman, this time in Nashville, which is a name that has three vowels.

[Tia Sircar]

Would it be a country star if it's a Nashville.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Three vowels. Oh, God. This is gonna really upset me when I don't. Okay, I, I don't even have a guess.

[Tia Sircar]

No idea. Three vowels.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Can't believe it. It's Pat Sajak. Oh, okay, now I get the question. I get how you're doing it. Well, still only one right for will. And reaching. Going for the goose egg.

[Tia Sircar]

Here we go.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Okay, number four. Some could argue he's the modern day king of late night. But his journey started as the prince of sports on LA's local alt rock radio station. I think I know this one.

[Tia Sircar]

Who's the He? He. I love his show at night because it's like he's like the biggest fan of everyone that comes on his show. That's what's so cool about him. What is his name? I've been on it too. This is horrible.

[Vanessa Marshall]

You've been on the show?

[Tia Sircar]

Is it Jimmy Fallon?

[Vanessa Marshall]

I'm gonna say Jimmy Kimmel. It's Jimmy Kimmel. Jimmy Kimmel. Okay.

[Tia Sircar]

Okay.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah, he does this. Kroc. Yeah. All right, so here we go. I got one last.

[Tia Sircar]

He was on kroc.

[Vanessa Marshall]

He was? Yeah. Yeah.

[Tia Sircar]

That's awesome. Were you on KROC with him?

[Vanessa Marshall]

Not with him. But we were on the same show. Yeah. Okay. All right. Before ending up. And this is number five, the last one. So this I could win with this one. Sabrina could get one right.

[Tia Sircar]

You've already beat me.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Number five. Before ending up as a mainstay on the Today show. This hard to pronounce name started her career in Greenville, Mississippi as an unsuccessful news anchor with zero experience. The Today show. Who's on the Today show with a hard to pronounce?

[Tia Sircar]

I mean, is it.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Today show? I don't know either. Is that the only one I could think of? No, I'm thinking. What's the morning show? It's George Stephanopoulos, but that's not a woman. Today's show.

[Tia Sircar]

I don't know.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Who is it? Who is Ryan Seacrest? That'd be great. It's Hoda Kotab. Who? What? Hoda? You don't know Hoda? I do.

[Tia Sircar]

Hoda Koda.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah, Hoda Kota. I don't. Okay.

[Tia Sircar]

Wow.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Wow.

[Tia Sircar]

You're out.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I got two for five. We both lost. Well, thank you, producer Jensen, for once again making us feel pretty stupid. I mean, both you guys losing has not happened recently. No, I appreciate that. I think. I think we definitely need multiple choices in moving forward.

[Tia Sircar]

This is really tough. It's just like bullying celebrities names out of nowhere.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I got.

[Tia Sircar]

I almost got Jimmy killed. Yeah, you almost got Jimmy. I was close.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I can't believe the Bryan Cranston one. I thought. I thought you'd have that one for sure. I only. I've only seen Breaking Bad once. I'd like to watch through it again. Yeah. But thank you very much, producer Jensen. And now can we do some Sabrina sees? Sabrina see?

[Tia Sircar]

Yes, we can. Okay, so. God, I gave up all my Sabrina Cs. Or we had them already done from you. You kind of covered most of them. Okay, two things. Did this house give you. And it might be. And I'm like, it's probably just because Will and I went to the. The remake of the house.

[Vanessa Marshall]

The Brady Bunch house.

[Tia Sircar]

It gave me Brady Bunch vibes so much throughout the whole. Did it at all?

[Vanessa Marshall]

It was. Yeah, well, it kind of. It gave me. It was a cool, architecturally designed house. Like, that was a cool house. Yeah.

[Tia Sircar]

It gave me such Brady Bunch vibes. I kept going. God, every. I wrote it, like, three times. Like, every time we get back into this. That one living room part where, you know, like, at the very beginning where he overlooks and. Or overhears their conversation.

[Vanessa Marshall]

That.

[Tia Sircar]

Yeah, that whole scene right there, just constant. Also, again, very confused on how they were on a soccer team together. Think it's cool. I actually thought it was, like, a really cool idea. If that's not something that is offered that it would be cool for especially, like, siblings or, you know, for you to dedicate your time or donate your time to. To play with others like that. But Eddie was offsides, and that's. That goal did not way, way offsides.

[Vanessa Marshall]

And it didn't count. Yeah, I thought the same thing. I didn't want to bring it up, but Eddie was not even close to being on side.

[Tia Sircar]

It literally says not trying to take away from his glory moment, but that goal didn't count.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah, he was. I know. He was offsides. Yeah.

[Tia Sircar]

Every single angle they show of it.

[Vanessa Marshall]

He was. It wasn't even close. It wasn't even close, unfortunately. No, he was way off sides. I know. I thought the same thing.

[Tia Sircar]

Oh, my gosh. And then I did notice, you know, I always. Music always pops out to me. This is different for us in a lot of ways. The music had a lot of adult artists versus young. You know, a lot of times it's the synergy that Disney pulls into it where they have even the actors that are actually on screen doing, using their music. And a lot of the music was actually like, obviously an adult artist, which I thought was different. And it. I thought all the songs worked. It wasn't like a bad thing. It just was something very different. And then. Yes. Push that over that bridge. I was so excited. That's the last little thing. And then again, biggest library. And it was his line. I want to be done being different. Yeah, that was my line. That just took me right over that edge myself. I was just so. Oh, God, this poor. I mean, it is so difficult. And I just. It was. This was a good movie for me. I loved watching it. All the stuff I said was just the funny things. The plastic bowls is in bright.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Yeah, of course.

[Tia Sircar]

Giant letters, big font, bolded like, what the hell? Get the plastic bowls. I will always, always back you on the plastic bowls.

[Vanessa Marshall]

How hard is that to get plastic bowls? Sue doesn't even let me have glass stuff. Okay, so now let's rate our film for the week. Week one out of ten. One being the worst, ten being the best. We're gonna do that this week. And our options are 1 out of 10 absent ease. Just remember, no E on the end of True Confessions. Number two. One out of ten Paparazzi's hot Junior Aussies. Paparazzi.

[Tia Sircar]

Paparazzi.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Hot junior boys. Hot fudge sundaes. One out of ten Girls storming off.

[Tia Sircar]

Yes.

[Vanessa Marshall]

One out of ten Nasty BO and hairy backs. One out of ten Massive tornado storms. One out of ten total souls. One out of ten Biggest libraries in the world or one out of ten decoms to cry about.

[Tia Sircar]

Sabrina, you picked this week decoms to cry about. The hundred percent. Hands down, because I cried pretty much top to bottom of this movie.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I'm like, yeah.

[Tia Sircar]

I just literally was like, geez, I am such a sobby mom. Just like my own mom now. It happened to me all those times. I made fun of her every Car. She opened and just continuously cried all the time. Now it's happening to me. Payback is a B for sure.

[Vanessa Marshall]

There you go. Karma, karma, karma. I think. I think you rated first last time, so it's my turn to go first this time. Okay. I liked this movie. I definitely like this movie. The acting is phenomenal. It did not feel like a dcom. It felt just like a Disney film, if that makes sense. I did not. I thought I could have used a rewrite of polish. I did not like the constantly storming off and the chain. I mean, it got to be too much. That being said, the subject matter, what they were covering, the actors doing it. Amazing. So I am giving this a. A soft eight.

[Tia Sircar]

Okay.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Dcoms to cry about because I. I could have gone 7.5, but the acting so good and the subject matter is so important that I could. I can feel good with myself giving this an eight decoms to cry about. How about you?

[Tia Sircar]

I. I agree. I think it was. I really loved it. I think I loved it more than you did, but I. Again, I'm. I'm a sucker for a sob story. I love it like this. To me, I now am completely affirming the fact that Stu and Paul are like the greatest team in. Great team.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Great team. Great team.

[Tia Sircar]

And this was just out. Knocked it out of the ballpark for me. There were. And I. And again, I think it's because I also was a teenager myself, so her storming off, that. The flip of a hat, how that happened so quick, didn't. It wasn't as jarring to me. It started to get annoying, but it's like, annoyed with her character, you know? And then again, you realize what. What this movie was about. And it was about a young teen struggling through how to handle such a heavy thing. And again, it's hard because she's not an adult, so she shouldn't be expected to understand or know how to do this. So her working through her feelings and her emotions was very real, in my opinion. And I absolutely loved it. Shia is just phenomenal and killed it. And I. I thought both of the leads. I mean, without one of them, the movie might not have been as good as it was, to be honest. So it was just such a great movie. I'm gonna go with 9D comms to cry about. Paul. Owen. I love you, buddy.

[Vanessa Marshall]

You killed it, Paul. Thank you. The direction was amazing.

[Tia Sircar]

81 minutes. I would do it again. I loved this movie so much. I will probably watch it again, I'm sure. On a rainy day.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Wow. That's on an incredibly rainy day when.

[Tia Sircar]

It'S a storm outside.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Monsoon rainy day. Oh, man. Okay, well, thank you, everybody, for joining us. Our next movie is taking us back to the Ice, a movie mentioned when we reviewed. Go figure. This is its spiritual sister. We're talking about 2005's Ice Princess. And this is gonna be a tribute to the late Michelle Trachtenberg. We are very excited about this one. But before that, for our Park Hopper episode, we talked to a Disney Channel legend, Jennifer Stone, also known as Harper Kinkle from Wizards of Waverly Place. She was part of an absolute television phenomenon, and we talked to her all about it. Here's a bit of an early listen. So you read with Selena. Yeah.

[Tia Sircar]

What was your guys's chemistry like? Like an audition? Was it, like, instant? Well, weirdly, I don't know if you guys know this. So I lived. Lena and I had never met, but, like, I was really close with Demi and we lived 10 minutes apart from each other in Texas. So we immediately had that, like, oh, my God, you're from Texas. And Demi and like, we have that mutual friend that was like her best friend.

[Vanessa Marshall]

And.

[Tia Sircar]

And so it was this kind of immediate, like, just dissolved any sort of, like, awkward first meeting stuff because we had the Disney Texas factory connection. That's awesome. That's very cool.

[Vanessa Marshall]

So make sure to subscribe to our dedicated Magical Rewind feed. You can search for us on your favorite streaming service and you can hear interviews just like that one. We have so many good ones already, so go check it out on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. And for more info, you can follow us at Magical Rewind Pod on the Instagram machine. You can do that now. Bye, everybody.

[Tia Sircar]

Bye.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Welcome to Pod of Rebellion, our new Star Wars Rebels Rewatch podcast. I'm Vanessa Marshall, voice of Harrison Duella, Specter 2. I'm Tia Sirkar.

[Tia Sircar]

Sabine Wren, Spectre 5.

[Vanessa Marshall]

I'm Taylor Gray. Ezra Bridger, Specter 6. And I'm Jon Librody, the Ghost Crew Stowaway moderator. Each week we're gonna rewatch and discuss an episode from the series and share.

[Tia Sircar]

Some fun behind the scenes stories.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Sometimes we'll be visited by special guests like Steve blum voices Zabarelio's Spectre 4, or Dante Bosco, voice of Jai Kel and many others.

[Tia Sircar]

So hang on because it's gonna be a fun ride.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Cue the music. Listen to Potter Rebellion on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tomer Cohen, LinkedIn's chief product officer if you're just as curious as I am about the way things are, then tune in to my podcast Building One. I speak with some of the best product builders out there. I've always been inspired by frustration.

[Tia Sircar]

It came back to my own personal pain point, so we had to go.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Out to farmers and convince them. Following that curiosity is a superpower.

[Tia Sircar]

You have to be obsessed with the human condition.

[Vanessa Marshall]

Listen to Building One on the iHeartRadio app, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. Reality TV and social media have love all wrong.

[Tia Sircar]

So what really makes relationships last? On this episode of Dope Labs, poet and relationship expert Young Pueblo breaks down the psychology of love and provides eye opening insights and advice we all need.

[Vanessa Marshall]

You should not be postponing your happiness. Your greatest happiness is not necessarily going to like come from a relationship. Your partner should add to your happiness, but your happiness is really coming from within you.

[Tia Sircar]

Listen to Dope labs on the iHeartRadio.

[Vanessa Marshall]

App, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Ever wonder what it would be like to be mentored by today's top business leaders? My podcast this Is Working can help with that. Here's some advice from Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, on standing out from the leadership crowd. Develop your EQ A lot of people have plenty of brains, but EQ is do you trust me? Do I communicate well? Develop the team, develop the people, Create a system of trust. And it works over time. I'm Dan Roth, LinkedIn's editor in chief. On my podcast this Is Working Leaders Share Strategies for Success. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.