Question: At Jack Jr's birthday party, you don't see Shelby's head at all... It was her 'body' because later that day she is wearing the same shirt when she gets her hair cut. Was there a sit in for Julia Roberts in that scene?
Answer: I believe that Jack Jr is being held by a man. When you freeze the scene, you can see facial hair on the chin and when the person says "blow, blow" it sounds to be a man trying to sound like a woman.
I actually think it's a man, too. The person's hands seem to be deliberately hidden.
Answer: I agree with the other answers that this was probably the child's real mother and not Julia Roberts. It was probably because the boy was upset, but major movies do use second and third-unit directors and often shoot scenes using a body-double as a stand-ins so that other scenes can be filmed simultaneously with the principal actors. It shortens the film's production time and is more economical. It's possible that Roberts was shooting another scene elsewhere. Also, it's definitely not Jack's father (Dylan McDermott) holding him as he is sitting next to Shelby and is saying "blow." It was also not Shelby's father (Tom Skerrit) holding Jack, as he is videotaping the party at the opposite end of the table.
Answer: Yes, there was a sit-in. My mom was Julia's double for this movie. Jack Jr. was played by two babies, my brother being one of them. My brother was upset during this scene and was being held by our mom.
Answer: It was said that the child actor was crying, so they had his real mother sit with him in that scene instead of Julia.
Answer: No. It wasn't a man. It was the child's real mother holding her kid during the scene. The kid wouldn't shut up with the crying and only would calm itself sitting on the mother's lap.
Answer: It's Shelby's father that is holding him.
Shelby's father is across the table taking pictures.
Question: I once heard that there's a shell somewhere in the movie that has a profanity written on it. Is this true?
Answer: Yet another Disney urban legend.
Question: Both the main characters are named after cowboys, Dalton and Wade Garrett. Was this intentional?
Answer: Only in the sense that the writer wanted them to have very masculine names.
Question: At the end, does Shirley go back to her old life or does she stay?
Answer: Shirley stays. You can see that she has found herself and has fallen in love with herself and the life she created. After a life changing moment like that, she realises she can never go back again. She simply doesn't want to. At the end as she watches her husband walk toward her, you see that she observes him from a different perspective. She feels compassion, and she feels sorry for him even mentioning she hopes he stays a while to feel the sun on his face. You can sense the compassion she has for him in a more detached way and in that moment, you know without a doubt that she stays.
Answer: My thoughts are he stays for a while, loves it, so they fall in love again and stay together in Greece.
Answer: That's what you're meant to be left wondering. I get the feeling that she will eventually go back to her life in England but her husband will have to do some serious listening first about the changes that have to be made.
Answer: I believe it is because the child playing Jack Jr. was basically crying through this whole scene, as you can see. It's most likely his (actually her, as the real baby was a girl) real mother holding him to calm him down. Also, when the family is saying "Blow, blow," you can hear a female voice that is neither Julia Roberts or Sally Field.
When she is sitting with Jack Jr, it is before she goes to get her hair cut. When she tells M'Lynn she wants to cut her hair, she is wearing it in a banana clip and you can see the hair past her shoulders. When "she's" sitting with Jack Jr, there's no hair to be seen. Total stand in.
Daniel Camp is the actor who played Jack Jr.
Along with Daniel two other children played Jack Jr, C. Houser and Clara Gabrielle.