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Re: You think they were "real cops?" No, no, no Jimmy.

Posted by jamesgarvin (A) on April 20, 2007 at 10:38:44

In Reply to: You think they were "real cops?" No, no, no Jimmy. posted by tinear on April 19, 2007 at 16:19:53:

"You think they were "real cops?"

Where did I write that they were real cops? You wrote: "the two cops pursuing him are flat: they look more like grad students than tough cops." I merely responded that I have had contact with many investigative police officers, and their "look" was consistent with many of the investigative officers I have had contact with. Therefore, your statement they look like grad students rather than cops was factually incorrect, as they most certainly look like many investigative officers.

"The jerk was avenging the death of the 12 yr-old. Period."

No doubt. The question is not what he was doing, but why. Would he have done so had he not had alzheimers? I say no. My basis? Because he not only went after the killer, which he could have done indiscreetly, returned home, and await instructions for his next job, but he also went up the food chain like a bull in a china shop, obviously not caring about being discovered by police. Why would a discreet, professional hitman not care about being discovered by police? Because he knows this is last job, and he does not care about being caught. Why does he not care about being caught? Because he has alzheimers.

"The writer threw in the Alzheimer's angle as an afterthought to make guys like you think they were watching art."

Huh? Guys like me, you mean Andrew Sarris? Alzheimers equates to art? You mean to suggest that you discovered this manipulation, whereas more than 80% of the professional critics, whom you have previously held out as being informed, missed it? Perhaps this is what rico was referring to above. Your unwillingness to countenance that you may be wrong in the face of significant quantity and quality of opposing opinions. I have gone to great lengths to explain why the alzheimers "angle" was important. Perhaps you would begin by responding to those comments, and actually explain why it was not important, why this hitman would have continued on the same path regardless of his disease, rather than merely state conclusions.

I'll provide another example. Early in the film, he tells his handler he was wants to retire. Why? If you recall the scene at the restaurant when he told his handler this, he re-ordered french fries from the waitress. He forgot his previous order because of his alzheimers.

Is he avenging a 12 year old's death? Sure. But let's weigh the pros and cons of his "revenge" both with and without alzheimers. Having alzheimers, his "revenge" now leads to his retirement. He gets out of the business, which he wants to do anyway. If he is killed, so what, he prefers that to the condition his brother is in (which is the point of the scene with his brother.) If he gets incarcerated, so what, does it matter that his brain is rotting in a mental hospital or a jail cell? With Alheimers, he gives up nothing, making his decision to exact "revenge" easy.

Now, let's assume that he does not have alzheimers. Without alzheimers, what would tip the scales such that he would decide to avenge her death, given that he would likely be giving up his career, and guaranteeing incarceration for the rest of his life, and risk being hit by his bosses to avoid him being force to spill the beans for other hits? Would he continue to communicate with the investigators?

You say that the alzheimers is merely an "angle." I think I have come to the table and explained why it is not. Perhaps you could do the same, and provide some analysis as to why it is an "angle."

These are the reasons why this film is different than your typical police procedural, or hitman type film. There are more issue lurking under the surface than simply killing people for no reason other than they are paid to do so. Merely because you cannot see the sun does not mean that you are right when it is raining. And I am still waiting for an explanation as to why senseless killing in Pulp Fiction and Bourne are acceptable, whereas in this film they are not.

You have, thus far, provided dessert. I've prepared and served the entre' for you. Enjoy your meal. Perhaps you will serve more than the fast food you like to ridicule.

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