Like wtf. That's all u give me as to why this man was killed. Really? Cause his best friend was drunk and mentally insane. What the hell. Seriously. You give me this entire movie which has a chance to be great then ruin with a terrible ending.
sharePTSD
shareYes. I know. But come on! Give me a better mystery than that!
shareI have been married to a vietnam vet for 43 years. When he came home, he was like an animal. He was de-sensitized by his harrowing experiences. Once, when I was pregnant with our first child, I got up to go to the bathroom. Unbeknownst to me, he had woke up and was waiting behind the bedroom door. He jumped out and karate chopped me in the neck. Fortunately, I somehow was able to jump back and avoided contact. It was especially problemsome when he drank, because reality became blurred and I was never sure what would happen. With the help of the V.A. and medication, he leads a relatively normal life, but he still suffers from panic attacks, hypervigilance & survivor's guilt. This is is what Paul Haggis was trying to show: the mental, physical and spiritual effects of war.
shareI'm sorry for what you went through. I pray that he and you continue to make progress in this everyday struggle you have to live with. However mam. I am not saying that the effects of war aren't real I am clearly stating that from a movie aspect they could have done a much better job portraying a soldier and the reprucussions that he had from war. Much much better.
shareI just wanted to know why he stabbed him at all. Bonner and Mike were arguing while the other two watched. Then Penning just randomly stabs Mike? It made no sense at all.
shareIt really didn't! Some great actors. And a nice idea. But was just a big pile of *beep*
shareI too felt that scene was a bit weird..... he just says "I stabbed him" all the sudden and Charlize THeron's face is the next shot like "WTF he just say?" expression on her face.......
But they chose not to even decide to divulge simple information. Maybe he was sick of them all fighting so he stabbed him.... or he's covering for an officer is a possible theory.
Notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn’t have f’ed with? That’s me.
You guys need to pay better attention earlier on in the movie, it was explained why messed up soldiers do crazy things like that when they get back. Hence the International distress symbol at the end.... (and the 22 Iraq war vets that kill themselves EVERY DAY). Look it up...
shareIt was anticlimatic for sure, but it didn't bother me at all. I thought the confession scene with Penning was amazing. It may be my favorite part. Its a simple, but strange conclusion and that's how it is in life sometimes. People do crazy things
shareThe story could have easily formed part of TLJ's opening monologue in No Country For Old Men.
shareI am persuaded that the whole of it was to make the absurd to which these men adjusted was now their new normal. They react without thought, they move on impulse and give no thought afterwards to the consequences...they simply cannot. They have been inured to horror. That's why it was so befuddling to the interrogators that immediately afterward they went to eat..."We were starving". For the sane (presumably)...you just stabbed a fellow GI to death, hacked up and burned his body, and your next thought is to just go and get some fried chicken? Yes...we were starving. No big deal.
Barnes hung himself when the dawning of the "old" normality began to break through in his sharing a drink with Hank. Things he'd forgotten...like being a human being, probably flooded him with guilt and remorse.
When he said "this is something I wouldn't have said before I went, but they should nuke the whole place back to dust". I think he was seeing the futility, the enforced brutality his role had taken, the very nature of trying to help in a helpless place, and the scores of stripes upon his soul...was just too much of a dire test...better to just destroy it all.
We are curious creatures in such ease found in blaming the victims of our cruelty.
I would not belong to any club that would have me as a member. G. Marx
Yeah, I think the anti-climactic, thrown-away nature of the ending was the point. He died for nothing. It all meant nothing. The mystery, his son's life, just evaporates like dust. I looked down and I was just stabbing him. What could be a worse explanation?
They react without thought, they move on impulse and give no thought afterwards to the consequences...they simply cannot.
I have to agree.
I have worked with mentally ill people for almost 10 years, quite a few with PTSD. Some were very ill for sure, sometimes scary. But why did they have to portray this murderer as being flat and unfeeling - no sorrow, no regret? If he was hiding the murder all along, then doesn't that show some kind of guilt? Otherwise just go about your business.
I'm not sure all the aspects follow along - not that anything like this couldn't happen - but in a movie?
Hey Brittgirl,
I agree. This story in this film is a murder mystery; it is not a film about PTSD. It is a mystery story which completely lost its way with its ending. If you want to tell a story about PTSD, by all means do so. Write the PTSD story it should be. When you write a murder mystery, however, give it a murder mystery ending. They completely changed the direction of the story with the last few pages.
Best wishes,
Dave Wile
It's a deliberate bait-and-switch, using the trope of a mystery thriller to lure you in, then hit you with a crazy plot development from left field that actually has political meaning. Much like Hank, you're forced to understand this new problem in order to make sense of the world again. If it irritates or confuses you, then it's done its job.
This story in this film is a murder mystery; it is not a film about PTSD.
If you want to tell a story about PTSD, by all means do so.