The Sunset Limited
I stumbled upon this Cormac McCarthy film adaptation of his own play while flipping through the HBO Movies On Demand feature on my home television set. What initially peaked my interest in the film was the pairing of actors Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson, who play the respective characters White and Black. These are the only two characters in the film outside of a hypothetical voyeuristic neighbor, Cecil, and some references to people involved in each man's life.
For the duration of the movie, we are confined with the two men in Black's apartment after he saves the life of the suicidal White at a subway station. This leads to a lengthy philosophical discussion between Black, a Christian ex-convict, and White, an atheistic professor. The dialogue alone tells the story, powerfully exploiting the interpretations of life and death.
1 comment:
Great play. I like the movie adaptation (Jones directed it). The scene where Jackson tells the "jailhouse" stories is amazing(reminded me of Pulp Fiction). Also the ending is very powerful - typical McCarthy atheist bests the faithful Christian but leaves the door open to a more mystic, non-interventionist, science-based interpretation of God. If you liked that, read Blood Meridian, a western of existential and mythic proportions.
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