Millions,
How many movies contain that scene where the guy driving turns his head to talk to someone in the car and he crashes? About 4 billion, roughly—yet I can’t remember a single one right now. It’s very frustrating. What movies contain this stupid little trope?
Okay, now you got me. I am drawing such a blank and can only think of that commercial for All State with the couple on their way to the opera and they crash.
oooo, wait…how about Clear and Present Danger? Does that happen in Crash?
Tommy Boy… David Spade is making fun of Tommy and crashes into a large deer.
oh that one is much better…
Phew…there’s one. I think it happens in dramas as well. Inexplicably.
[hijack & rant] There are gazillions more movies that bug the hell out of me, showing the driver looking at and talking to a passenger for minutes at a time while driving, and never hitting anything! Totally stupid, don’t these directors drive? [hijack/rant]
Not quite matching the specs of the OP, but Robin Williams crashed his car due to similar inattentiveness in The World According to Garp. As a result, his character’s younger son died, his older son lost an eye, and his wife bit her lover’s penis off (she had been giving him a blow job in the car that got rear-ended).
You’re right…that is a well-used device. Only one I can think of right now is Angel Eyes, however.
Unfortunately, my saying that makes it quite clear that I’ve seen Angel Eyes.
It actually happened to me.
Passenger:
Hey, doesn’t the road curve up here a little bit?
Me:
(turning head to face him)
What?
::crash::
I wouldn’t classify it as “similar inattentiveness”.
Williams had a game with the children where he would turn off the headlights and brake at the last minute. But in this one case there was an unanticipated car in the driveway (not enough room to stop) that he couldn’t see.
I raise you “Adaptation.”
Didn’t *Vacation * and *Planes, Trains, and Automobiles * have some fun with this?
It happens in The Muppet Movie too.
Well, similarly inattentive to the principles of safe driving (watch where you’re going, don’t drive in the dark without your headlights on, stuff like that).
Sort of. Vacation had Clark falling asleep at the wheel and I believe Del in PT&A was the same.
Christmas Vacation, IIRC, had Clark arguing with his family, causing him to drive under a logging truck, and crash into a snowbank.
Oh, now I remember: Vacation also had Clark eyeing the blonde in the sports car.