*Spoiler* Haunting + Sad Commentary on Mentle Illness

I found this movie to be very sad, a gentle commentary on mental illness. It does amaze me that there are so many people who have either never had experience with someone who is damaged or just hasn't had an experience that makes them compassionate toward someone who is suffering, as so many people have made clear who didn't seem to "get" this movie. I think the movie was so haunting and disturbing to me because of the reality I found in some of the actions of the characters. My friends & I knew someone really similar to the Harlan character when we were about 18 ourselves. I also agree with someone else who posted earlier, who said that there are lots of other people like the Harlan character living in L.A. For those of you who do live here, or in any other major cosmopolitan city, there are probably waaaaay more than you would feel comfortable knowing about in your day-to-day lives.

The character of Harlan just broke my heart. I don't think his intentions were bad - I don't think he was psychopathic in a premeditated way like Travis Bickle, whose intentions were to commit murder from the very beginning. I think his circumstances made him end up that way. Mental illness is very unpredictable, but I would think that someone who was delusional in the fact that they thought they were a cowboy in a bygone era, simply reacted the way that character would when backed into a corner - come out shooting. It literally broke my heart when he & Lonnie woke up in the "old western" movie set. The look on Ed Norton's face when he looked around and started clapping with the music - the way you could just see in his facial expressions that he felt like he finally fit in, the way he never never even questioned what the people were wearing or the music they were listening to - the way he was so disjointed from reality - just heartbreaking, and fantastically acted. I also don't think he was psychopathic because of the look on his face when he accidentally shot the Tobe character. The movie went to great lengths for Harlan to show how precise and intentional someone has to be when shooting the single-action Colt shotgun, the one where you have to take the added step of cocking the hammer back on purpose before shooting or the gun wouldn't go off. Harlan had just taken the father's gun, a different type of handgun that didn't need to be cocked before shooting and it accidentally went off. You could tell in his facial expressions that he was completely shocked when the gun went off. People in fear can be desperate and do stupid things, like brandishing a gun to scare someone. But he loved Tobe and I don't think he intended to shoot her. And lying about it would be only logical for a person who is so emotionally stunted. That's why he could relate to a 16 year old and her younger brother in the first place. His character was very much like a child himself, and children lie when they do something they aren't supposed to do.

I even think it makes sense for the Tobe character to decide not to run away from home with Harlan. Who hasn't stormed out of the house when you were little because you were angry at something your mom said, only to come back again in a few hours when you're hungry or cold? It's a big, bad, harsh world out there, and as romantic as it would seem to just drop everything and run away, it's also really hard. And I would think that it's more than just a little scary when someone with that kind of intensity, whom you barely know, insists that you simply drop your whole life and depend on them completely. He had already freaked her out with the whole horse-riding incident.

I think the father, being in the correctional environment, had vast experience with people who lie (especially those who are lying to themselves), so he could sense something was up with the Harlan character. And it's my worst nightmare to have a child who was like me, who thinks they know better and has made up their mind to do something ridiculous and self-destructive. LOL! Honestly, short of locking a child up, what can you do when they've made up their mind that way? Being a single parent PLUS a being dad without a mom to a 16 year girl and having to work full time leaving latch-key kids, are just recipes for disaster.

I even forgive the plot holes in the script or the lack of evolved story-telling in some areas - this is an indie film made for next to nothing. I just saw 'Michael Clayton' the other night, and TALK ABOUT plot holes and plodding storyline... The characters in this film were so much more moving and believable than many films I've seen in past years. And I have to give it up completely for the cinematography. It was just beautifully shot, almost a love story to the valley, the way Woody Allen makes New York so romantic and appealing. Edward Norton is one of the greatest artists working now. His pathos and soulfulness just breaks my heart. Overall, a really good film watching experience.

One more quick thing: I was just thinking about how child-like & fragile I found the Harlan character to be, and why I was haunted about the sadness I felt for the character despite him shooting and killing innocent people & having an intimate relationship with a much younger minor girl, which would normally repulse & anger me... Then it occurred to me that in order for Harlan to be so fragmented from society and reality in that way, there must have been much abandonment & abuse in his life when he was a child. Then I realized that he had willed himself into the most coveted goal of most 10 year boys: a cowboy. Just really so sad.