MovieChat Forums > The Awakening (2011) Discussion > Completely useless sub-plot (*SPOILERS*)

Completely useless sub-plot (SPOILERS)

posted 13 years ago by elliest_5
8 replies | jump to latest

I found absolutely no point in the sub-plot with the creepy driver guy who tried to rape her. Not only didn't it offer anything to the main plot (apart from the scene in which the ghost protects her, but this doesn't really help the suspense of the following revelations) but it was also distracting and spoiled the atmosphere of the film.

This and the scene with the poisoned wine / "I want to be with you forever", were two of the main reasons that the script seemed unfocussed and sloppy.

~*~

[–] Bens_Basement 13 years ago

I very much agree. They were using the groundsman/caretaker as a red herring when really he was just a weirdo and had nothing to do with the ghostly goings on. Really weak writing.

http://benendsbasement.blogspot.com/

[–] JaneNg 13 years ago

I don't agree with that, it was at the right moment to get the audience off the edge and let the audience think that "ahh it was the driver, this is not a complete ghost story after all" moment. And I feel it should be in there, else it would have been too bland.

But I do agree that the whole wine scene was too rushed and felt like "omg it's 90 minutes already. We need to close it off in a hurry now".

yes the creepy driver guy did creep me out.

[–] targa9 12 years ago

Um..the driver made up all those little dolls in the dollhouse, including the one where she's looking in the dollhouse at the same time? I don't think so.
He was just a gratuitous distraction.

[–] carol_schwartz 12 years ago

The creepy caretaker was a good red herring, as well as a vehicle for some of the themes in the story. More than once she encountered him carrying a gun (like her father), and when he tried to rape her, he was drooling in an absurd animal-like way---if you watch that scene again, you'll see how much he looks like a lion. Just like her version of how she got the scar on her shoulder.

[–] Kawada_Kira 10 years ago

I agree, it was a pointless distraction that did nothing for the story. Seemed like a gratuitous excuse to bash draft-dodgers by portraying them as creeps like this guy. It had nothing to do with the overall plot and the movie would have been better off without him. He wasn't even good as a red herring because realistically he couldn't possibly be doing all the things that were going on in that school.

The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of history.
-Mao Zedong

[–] essex9999 9 years ago

I agree, it was a pointless distraction that did nothing for the story. Seemed like a gratuitous excuse to bash draft-dodgers by portraying them as creeps like this guy.

I disagree. While Judd was only so-so as a red herring - he couldn't have been responsible for everything that was going on, although he could have been responsible for some of it - he was important as part of the period setting. He was a reminder of how recently the war had ended and how deeply it had scarred both those who served and those who didn't. Among the latter, able-bodied men who faked disability to get out of service were indeed considered "creeps" by the rest of society. There's a difference between courageous pacifism and simple deception and cowardice. Anyway, Judd is an element of the story appropriate to the period and relevant to the development of Robert's character.

[–] gary_overman 8 years ago

I disagree. While Judd was only so-so as a red herring - he couldn't have been responsible for everything that was going on, although he could have been responsible for some of it - he was important as part of the period setting. He was a reminder of how recently the war had ended and how deeply it had scarred both those who served and those who didn't. Among the latter, able-bodied men who faked disability to get out of service were indeed considered "creeps" by the rest of society. There's a difference between courageous pacifism and simple deception and cowardice. Anyway, Judd is an element of the story appropriate to the period and relevant to the development of Robert's character.

This is quite close to where I am here. I think that while they could have used him better, Judd's function in the story was as a red herring--a distraction--and the script used him decently.

I don't think it was a useless sub-plot at all.

[–] summer_wine7 8 years ago

Yep the movie tried way too hard to come at you from all angles... sometimes less is more. They could have just tried to blow our minds with one good story instead of trying to blow our minds with a disproportionate explosion of randomness.