Loved the book. I’ve read it, I don’t know, 5 or 6 times along with the rest of McCarthy’s Border Trilogy. The man is a phenomenal writer–Nat’l Book Award for ATPH, a MacArthur Genius Grant, his other books I’ve read have been along the same lines of quality.
Needless to say, I approached Billy Bob Thornton’s movie version with a bit of trepidation. First, good books rarely make decent movies. Second, John Grady Cole is only 15 or 16 in the book, and there ain’t no way Matt Damon can pass for that.
Well, folks, I’ll be hawgtied and dragged behind a wild mustang through a cactus patch, but the movie was great! Aside from the necessary cutting, it stayed incredibly true to the book both in plot and dialogue. Thornton’s directing was great and the cinematography was wonderful. Thornton used the awesome landscape almost as another character. Damon was good, though the accent was a bit off at times, and the kid from “Slingblade” pulled off the combination of comic relief/pitiful loser.
My 2 cents, anyhow. Mods, please move if this is in the wrong forum.
I forgot to mention: Penelope Cruz has replaced Gwen Stefani in my “one famous person, that if you get the chance, you can sleep with without marital repercussions” agreement.
The musical score was AWESOME! And the cinematography (in the beginning of the movie, when they were travelling in to Mexico) was fantastic-the vastness of the desrt was really beatiful. It reminded me of the classic John Ford westerns of my youth.
Some criticisms:
-why on earth would two AMERICAN cowboys look for work in MEXICO? They pay would be lousy, and the living conditions hellish@!
-Matt Damon is just too pretty to be a cowboy-his face isn’t craggy enough!
-I’m sure that had Penelope Cruz’father found out about the affair, Damon would not have been dragged off to jail-he would have been dead!
other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the flick!
The book helps some with these, I think. In McCarthy’s version, the boys are 15 or 16–Mexico is romantic. Also, this takes place in 1949–the cattle industry in Texas is being replaced by the oil business (remember, that’s what John Grady’s mom is doing with the ranch). For two teenagers who want to be cowboys, Mexico is the place.
Damon–remember, he’s supposed to be about 16. Though I think Damon’s too old to pull it off, John Grady and Lacy are still wet behind the ears.
That was the idea behind sending them to prison. Two teenage gringos in a Mexican jail? There were attempts on both of their lives, remember. This way, daddy gets to keep his hands clean. Again, that’s a bit more clear in the book. Had Grandma not intervened, both John Grady and Lacy would surely have been killed after being returned from the infirmary to the general prison population.
