MovieChat Forums > Down in the Valley (2005) Discussion > siblings

siblings

posted 17 years ago by ppeerrssoonnaa
5 replies | jump to latest

is it me or there is something weird going on between lonie and his sister Tobe. There are elements of jelousy in certain way during the film...

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] SamanthaWho88 17 years ago

ppeerrssoonnaa, I completely agree with you.

I think that Lonnie was jealous of Tobe, purely because she had found somebody new who took an interest in her and genuinely cared about her. If you look at the first few scenes it's Tobe and Lonnie always together, suggesting they are really close. Then Harlan comes into Tobe's life and the scenes the siblings share become more and more infrequent. Their Dad (Wade) is hardly there to see the problems emerging with Tobe and Harlan so undoubtedly he's sort of ignoring Lonnie as well, as Lonnie spends more time with Harlan and perhaps sees him as a surrogate father figure.

That's why Lonnie tries to stop Wade hurting Harlan. He doens't want to lose one of the few friends he has. And he's jealous of Tobe for finding someone who loves her.

*I'm your stranger ... Jump!*

[–] amelia957 17 years ago

yeah i do agree that lonnie seems kinda jelous.
hes a bit of a loner and tobe seems like his only friend, so when tobe starts hanging out with harlan, lonnie wants to be with them

join the army...go to exotic places...meet interesting people......and kill them

[–] Isaac5855 17 years ago

It wasn't until I was a ways into the film that I realized Wood and Culkin were brother and sister...in their opening scene, Culkin comes off like an annoying neighbor kid following Wood around.

[–] geotalker-1 17 years ago

i wouldn't call Lonnie a little jealous,but that i mean he doesn't resent Harlan for being with Tobe.in fact he is grateful to Harlan for giving him attention. he certainly seems detached and "off". At 13,he should have his own interests and friends and hobbies. they should be fighting over the phone time, for example..lol. even though she means well, his sister is not helping him by letting him hang around her so much, especially at night. she should have encouraged the dad to get help for him to sleep alone at night. Wade was on the right track by talking to lonnie about sleeping in Tobe's room, but should have gotten Lonnie more help than that. Harlan, as damaged as he is psychologically, knew enough to try to help him. now, Lonnie did try to hang out with the dad, he asked to watch him with the guns, but dad was hesitant about even that initially, and when Lonnie asked if gumption could be taught, once again asking for his dad's companionship, Wade doesnt seem to realize that and just says no. hopefully in the future Wade will seriously take the words of the horseman to nurture his children a little more. if he doesnt, it will leave his children open to predators.