A masterful character study of loneliness and purpose

Good post - agreed. His isolation was palpable, it felt real. Great atmosphere

I don't think it's a character study because his character lacks an arc. That's why people call it empty: they're only seeing his character's stagnant qualities. It's more of a meditation on the human condition. Death is the major symbol here. The metaphors are found in the visuals, not so much the dialogue. The tunnel he travels through in the film opening credit sequence is essential to understanding the movie as an existential journey. And there are so many other metaphors along the way.

Personally, my favorite scenes involve him finding and using raw materials to create a lethal weapon. They feel meditative and reminiscent of the artistic process.

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Except there's not much character to study, the film is ultimately underdramatized to a fault and towards the end it takes a seriously misguided left turn by getting all fatalistically soulful, attaching elegiac overtones of redemption and whatnot. The relationships Clooney develops with the priest and the whore play out in a way that's just kinda corny and boringly expected... and his sudden "despair" towards the end comes from nowhere.

The film IS very well shot though and the deliberate pacing didn't bother most of the time; it was kinda cool to watch the "emotionally unavailable" pro go about the business, even if there wasn't much business once he'd holed up in that little town. It would have been better if they'd kept the thing more matter-of-fact and action based till the end.


"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan