Originally posted by: Platypus
Originally posted by: purbeast0
Originally posted by: Platypus
This isn't directed at the OP or anything but I think if people were disappointed by the end of the film then they were following the wrong subject in the film. A lot of times people focus on what they preceive to be the subject of a movie and get disappointed when they realize that said subject was just a catalyst to further the actual subject/message. This is very true of this movie in particular.
**** POSSIBLE SPOILERS *****
I can agree to that. From the name of the movie itself you can kind of tell what it's about when you realize that Tommy Lee Jones just cannot hang with the way crimes are being committed. And then at the end when he's retired you just get the feeling that he knew it was his time to get out of what he used to be good at because he hasn't changed well with the times and can't do it anymore.
Is that the story line you are referring to? I also missed the scene where Woody Allen was introduced (came back mid-way through that scene) so I didn't understand his character 100%, but I was thinking he was basically just like Anton was, like he was supposed to get this money for that head hancho, however the head hancho was pissed cause Anton was making a mess while getting the money back.
more spoilers
Hmm.. I think we have different views of the story line here. Remember that scene with TLJ and the man in the wheelchair? TLJ complains that he can't keep up with the way criminals are today and the old man corrects him and tells him that story about the man getting gunned down on his porch. The message is that true evil/crime never really changes but it's the person that changes as time goes on. He even says something like 'to assume the world waits for you is vanity.'
TLJ's character is just burned out after all he's seen but as the old man illustrated, this is nothing new hence the name of the film. Woody Harrelson (not allen
), Anton, Llewellyn, etc all represent different takes on this message.
Anton represents pure, unfiltered madness in my opinion. Woody's explanation of him is exactly spot on. He follows rules that are above money/drugs and everything else. He relies on pure chance and the honesty of someone's word as his motivations in life and that's precisely why he never dies in the movie. He represents the evil in the world. The flip of the coin scene in the beginning and at the end is exactly illustrating this point. Both Llewelyn's wife and the drunk lady with the beer at the hotel explain that you can't wait for things to happen to you, that they just do... another main point of the film. Woody's character represented logic/reason to me. He calls Anton out for what he is and even tries to explain to Llewelyn what he's dealing with and the boss guy in the building. This is further brought home with the reappearing line 'you don't have to do this' that both Woody and later Llewelyn's wife repeats to him. The car scene is another perfect illustration of the element of chance. Anton 's character is definitely personified as evil in my opinon based on the above and also the fact that he always shows up at the right place at the right time. He even calmly fixes himself after getting attacked and makes every move calculated and precise. There is no logic at all to him, no reason, but he abides by the simple rules Woody illustrated in the first scene with him.
Llewelyn represented the opposite in my opinion and that's why he wasn't killed by Anton and he's the only one to actually hurt him. He represents the cavalier spirit of a young man fighting the evil before he 'grows old' like TLJ and loses site of the bigger picture
Then the very non-subtle issue of the blood money and how it destroys everyone who touches it except Anton. Notice how the exchange of bloody 100 dollar bills always occured but Anton is the only one to exchange one without dying? First Llewelyn with buying that kid's shirt with one and later the same with Anton buying the young boy's shirt. I thought it was even more clever how the first time it happens after Llewelyn gets shot the kid asks him if he was in a car wreck; awesome irony for the later scene.
The entire movie was summed up perfectly by the latter dream TLJ told his wife about with his father on the horse. How he was older than his father was, etc. That was a brilliant way to end in my opinion. The message I got from the entire film was basically one of hopelessnes and despair which was why it was so haunting to me. It is brutally honest and perfectly illustrates what happens to you as time goes on and as you grow older. It was a window into reality with no sugar coating and no explanation for why.
I have a theory about Woody's line about the building missing a floor and the way that Llewelyn was found but I can't quite seem to connect it yet. I need to see it again and think about it more. It has something to do with the 13.
Anyway that is my take on it, probably not perfect but I'd have to rewatch it a few times to really develop these theories more.
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