Good thread.

Actually maybe he really needed to go but couldn't upon entering a stranger's bathroom cause he felt uncomfortable. Has happened to me in the past. And eventually unease makes way for reality.
Did you ever notice that people who believe in creationism look really un-evolved? - Bill Hicks

Do we really know how much time actually passed between his gas station bathroom break and his arrival at the house?
I do not have attention deficit disorOoh, look at the bunny!

According to me , sorry cause my english is terrible, the scene represents the necessity to satisfied our needs urgently. At the beginnig of the movie Spader is a very selfish man, so nothing more important to satisfied himself, bathroom represents this actitud.
At the end of te movie, he changes dramatically whem he broke with the past (old friend Gallagher and videos and camera) and accept the help Anne gives, int his part he fall in love of her. (Jose Escalante, Peru)

The bathroom visit could simply be a prostate issue which sometimes causes a guy to feel the need to urinate.

Sometimes I think he went to the bathroom to masturbate.
" after only reading 3 of your posts, I can tell you're a dumbass "

It's even more strange because he was in a bathroom just before his visiting.
But I have this idea:
Very few people would do something like that because at that early stage of meeting someone is sort of embarrasing. The thing is that Spader was a weird character but also he was very outright with what he wanted to do or say. This bathroom urgency underlines his lack of concern on that department.
If every animal had wings the sh*t of this world would be evenly shared

^this

That could be it.
In what twisted universe is uploading photos of vampires to my blog "not really vocational"?

It relates to his impotence. He can't get an erection in other people's presence, similarly he can't piss in their presence. The fact that after a few more words with McDowell he's able to piss presages the development of their emotional relationship later in the film.
I know you are, you said you are, but what am I?

Spader didn't have to go to the bathroom twice. Graham did.
It is a well-known fact that all stars are carefully modified so that they never need to go to the toilet or do undignified things, ever.
Peacocks! Responsibilities!!

Spader didn't have to go to the bathroom twice. Graham did.
heh

Yeah I really just think it was there to show us that he was a strange and unusual character. Also, it kind of shows that he was "moved" when he met Andie's character. I dont really feel the scene is important but I dont think it should have been removed.

I totally agree - I think it's just that simple, and that the scene accomplishes that quite well.

My thoughts exactly.
Voting History:
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=26598711

An interesting theory, a very welcome addition to a rather quiet board.
We are loonies and we are proud!

Words of wisdom, hillygirl. Words of wisdom.

well here's my theory:
i don't think graham actually had to pee or poo. keep in mind that he and anne are quite intimate with one another almost immediately and despite his proclaimed impotency, they eventually have sex. (if not during the videotaping session, then they've at least had some since, because she appears to be now living with him.) also keep in mind that graham stopped at a filling station to change and shave, and presumably go to the bathroom, just before pulling into anne and john's driveway.
i believe that graham went to the bathroom to calm a sexual urge. no, i doubt he had a sudden erection and needed to beat off in 15 seconds, but i do feel like he needed to run out of the room and catch his breath and get into his "old college buddy" persona so as not to give his game away just yet. i think you can tell when anne opens the door to him that he's taken aback by her (she's quite fetching after all), enough so that eventually he lets her into his life. where are you going to go after you've just been invited in by a stranger whom you have the hots for? the bathroom, of course!

That's why indy and I had the disagreement about his "communicating non-verbally", and I said that he would say things about himself that he didn't need to, as well as just not lying.
Nobody ever suspects the butterfly!

I think this scene and many others demonstrate Graham being "extensively honest" the reaction to his former state as a compulsive liar.

May be so but it wasn't a good feeling at all, for sure. I'm more for the idea of inserting a bit of nature from the beginning, since evrthng was so natural the rest of the movie.
If pigs had wings the sh*t of this world would be more evenly shared

I just saw this today. Graham asks to use the bathroom, and then comes back; when Ann says "that was quick," he says "False alarm."
I have had instances where I thought I had to go and then found out I didn't, road trips will have that affect sometimes

I'm still waiting on getting the film back off a friend (i don't think i will haha) would someone be able to upload that scene of graham and ann on youtube?
If no one can thats fine, but if they can .thanks!
like someone already said i think he just had a weak bladder, though i can't remeber there first scene together all that vivdly anymore.:(

i think it was a smart [if i may say so] way to introduce the ann character to the graham character..it catches attention and gives a certain feeling about him