Glengarry Glen Ross

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Here is another post that comes out of a class discussion at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), based on David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, focuses on the themes of the punishing aspects of capitalism, the line between legality and criminal behavior, and male toxicity.

The film begins with the credits displayed against passing subway cars. The images tell us that it’s an elevated train, which places us in Chicago, as one of the few cities that has this type of rail system. It also implies speed, which the real estate sellers in the story must adopt. As the audience soon discovers, they have to beat the clock or they will be fired. One of the rules in writing a play is to include a sense of immediacy to hold the audience’s attention.

The first part of the story takes place at night and there is a drenching rainstorm. The setting provides an atmosphere that suggests that dark deeds are about to transpire. One student noted that these elements are included in the film noir genre. However, our instructor noted that the noir element of a femme fatale is absent since these men do not need a conspiring female to corrupt them. (Mamet reverses the femme fatale character in House of Games where the con man subverts the female character).

The film starts in a restaurant with Shelley Levene (Jack Lemmon) in a phone booth inquiring about the health of his hospitalized daughter who has no insurance. In the phone booth next to him is Dave Moss (Ed Harris) who is trying to sell some properties. The story quickly sets up the theme that money is needed by these men not just to enrich themselves but so that they and their families can survive, which of course places extreme pressure on them. Following their calls they go into the men’s room and gripe (especially the vocal Moss throughout the film) about the bad “leads” they have. The company they work for is making them try to sell to people they have encountered before who are unwilling to buy property or don’t have the means to do so. The large financial institution that employs them is ordering them to make transactions that are almost impossible to finalize. It’s like Sisyphus trying to roll that big rock up the hill, and these men are also condemned to a fruitless task. The one salesman who has been successful lately is Ricky Roma (Al Pacino), who has an amazing gift of gab, and he is working on a sale at the restaurant to James Lingk (Jonathan Pryce).

At the office, Levene and Ross, along with George Aronow (Alan Arkin) are confronted with the crude and demeaning company representative, Blake (Alec Baldwin). (Mamet, who also wrote the screenplay, added this character and Levene’s phone calls to the movie, and many, according to the IMDb, believe the film script may be better than the play). Blake is brutal, telling the men that they are losers, and if they don’t go out into the literal (and figurative) storm and triumph over their adversity, they will be fired. Levene goes for a cup of coffee and Blake yells at the man, saying, “Put that coffee down! Coffee’s for closers only.” In this economic hell, even basic items are denied unless one meets the company’s demands.

There is a contest going on to determine who sells the most property. Blake says, “the first prize is a Cadillac El Dorado. Anyone wanna see second prize? Second prize is a set of steak knives. Third prize is you’re fired.” It’s sort of an all or nothing capitalistic game they must play. In the film Wall Street, the merciless Gordon Gecko points out two men on the street: one is well-dressed wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase, and the other appears homeless. Gecko says you can’t say that the difference between the two is just based on luck. The implication is that success is earned. That may be true, but is the alternative to winning mean that anyone who doesn’t finish first must sacrifice everything and become destitute? According to Blake, the answer is yes. Blake tells them the law according to their job is, “A-B-C... Always Be Closing!” He is saying that if they are not always making money on every deal then they are failures.

Moss complains that the “leads” are “weak,” Here is where Blake uses, as one of our students noted, emasculating language. He says, “The leads are weak? The fucking leads are weak? You’re weak!” He says that if they are good guys who just want to be with their families, they aren’t real men since they are not making the grade as salesmen. Blake flaunts his income, his expensive watch and car, setting them up as the measure not only of success but of what makes someone manly. He pulls out two metal balls attached to a string and places them in front of his crotch. He says, “It takes brass balls to sell real estate.” He calls them “cocksuckers.” The insults throughout the film accuse men of being homosexual or children, which, in this macho world, means they are not “real men” if they can’t close the deals. Blake holds up the Glengarry leads like they are a present, tied up in a bow. They will only go to the salesmen who can close the mediocre leads. It’s a sort of a Catch-22 because nobody can get the leads that will bring in money if they don’t already make the sales. It’s a version of the rich getting richer. The title of the movie, which also refers to other choice properties that were sold, thus becomes a symbol for the pot of gold at the end of a sullied mercenary rainbow.

John Williamson (Kevin Spacey) is the office manager (a job Mamet had in real life) who hands out the inferior leads. He is a bureaucrat who, like the others, is only out for himself since this survival of the fittest environment fosters that approach. Levene, worried about his daughter, feels driven to negotiate an unethical deal with Williamson so he can get some of the Glengarry leads, offering the office manager a cut of his earnings and payment for each lead. However, Williamson will not compromise on his price to meet Levene’s lean resources since he feels he must be highly compensated for taking a chance that might get Williamson caught. Human decency is not a factor here, as there is no sympathy shown for Levene’s daughter’s medical situation. After this rejection, Levene continues to cross over into unethical behavior as he pretends to be a busy big shot who is willing to throw some deals toward some potential customers. But, his high-pressured pitches fail to close on any properties.

There are extended scenes between Moss and Aronow which on the surface seem to be commiserating about how dire their fate is, and how badly they are being treated. The dialogue here illustrates Mamet’s signature style, with interruptions occurring between the speakers that sets up a rhythm that, as Arkin noted in an interview, is not subject to variation or improvisation. One student noted the musical score is jazzy, which fits in with Mamet’s writing style which has him riffing on a subject. IMDb states that Al Jarreau’s version of “Blue Skies” in the film refers to blue sky laws that aimed to prevent sales fraud, which is ironic given the unscrupulous actions occurring in this story.

Moss proposes that they stage a burglary at the office and steal the Glengarry leads from Williamson’s file cabinet and sell them to a competing firm. But Moss’s chumming it up with Aronow is just a ploy to get him to do the robbery since Moss, because of his vocal dissent, would be the prime suspect. Aronow does not wish to be part of yet another example of crossing over into illegal activity. But Moss, using the unscrupulous ploy of blackmail, says Aronow is already guilty since he has listened to Moss’s plan.

Roma does not try to strongarm his potential clients, as does Levene. He talks about all sorts of philosophical topics to ingratiate himself with his mark, because, as with other Mamet films, such as House of Games and The Spanish Prisoner, characters are trying to con others by achieving a personal connection. However, what Roma says to Lingk reveals a capitulation to a lack of a moral compass. He tells him, “You think you’re a thief? So what? … You cheat on your wife? You did it, live with it. You fuck little girls, so be it. There’s an absolute morality? Maybe. And then what? If you think there is, go ahead, be that thing. Bad people go to hell? I don’t think so. If you think that, act that way. A hell exists on earth? Yes. I won’t live in it.” Roma says it’s up to the individual how a person wants to live, but for his money, he doesn’t buy into rights and wrongs, He just wants to avoid the guilt that would hold him back from escaping from the hardships in life and enjoying whatever pleasures there are.

The story now enters daytime, where underhanded activities are revealed. The agency has been robbed, with the Glengarry leads taken. The audience might assume that Moss and Aronow did the deed, given their conversation. Roma is upset because he made a deal to sell property to Lingk and doesn’t want the burglary to mess up his first place standing that will get him the car and the good leads. Aronow and Moss are interrogated by the police concerning the theft, and Moss acts indignant about being suspected, which is deceptive considering we know he wanted Aronow to steal the leads.

Levene, however, is ecstatic because he sold property off of one of the inferior leads, and brags about his abilities. Roma admires the older man because Levene was his mentor. At that point Lingk shows up. He has talked the deal over with his wife. She contacted an attorney who told her the law says they have three business days to get out of the deal. Lingk haltingly tries to get out of the transaction. Roma, illegally trying to evade a termination of the contract, has Levine, who catches on quickly, to pretend he is an enthusiastic customer who Roma has to get to the airport. But Lingk stops him just before Roma leaves by saying he wants his money back. Roma tries to buy time to convince the Lingks to continue with the deal. Williamson, however, enters and doesn’t know what has transpired. He thinks he is helping by saying that he sent Lingk’s check to be cashed. Lingk is upset that he now has to take legal action to end the deal. He actually apologizes to Roma, and comes off as a pathetic character who allowed himself to be a victim, but now has been ordered by his wife to put him in this uncomfortable position. In this testosterone-fueled environment, he appears unmanly.

Roma then verbally attacks Williamson for opening his mouth when he shouldn’t, calling him a “fairy,” another example of the homophobic, emasculating attitude in this environment. After Roma goes into Williamson’s office to be interviewed by the police, Levene continues to insult Williamson, since he is angry at Williamson coldly dismissing him earlier when Levene tried to make a deal for the Glengarry leads. But, Levene slips up, telling Williamson he shouldn’t make things up if he doesn’t know what’s going on. Williamson then asks how would Levene know that Williamson didn’t send in Lingk’s check to be cashed. He and the audience now realize that it was Levene who broke in and stole the leads. In addition, Williamson says the people to whom Levene sold property are “crazy. They just like talking to salesmen,” and the check they wrote will bounce. His statement illustrates how futile their task is. The system is rigged to penalize these men if they aren’t unscrupulously slick enough to cheat their way to the top.

It is sad to hear Roma come back into the room and continue to praise Levene and talk about starting a partnership, not knowing that Levene will probably go to jail, not for doing something wrong, which is what would happen in an ethical world, but for getting caught. Aronow returns to his desk and starts making calls again, as the exploitative process continues.

The next film is The Station Agent.

A Beautiful Mind

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

 

The title of the film, A Beautiful Mind (2001), takes on depth as the story of mathematician John Nash unfolds. His mental abilities produced Nobel Prize winning insights. But, he also was schizophrenic, so the same mental powers that engendered brilliant rational breakthroughs also created damaging hallucinations. He was someone who was searching for insights in the abstract realm of numbers to be applied to the real world, but he also many times had no connection with reality. 

 

The opening speech from Professor Helinger (Judd Hirsch) at Princeton University in 1947 to new graduate students places a great deal of pressure on the entering class. There is a focus on using the science of mathematics to fight enemies, breaking codes and building the atomic bomb. Nash sits in the back of the room, his eyes avoiding contact, already establishing himself as an outsider. Helinger’s outlook may have contributed to what John Nash (Russell Crowe, excellent here) thought was his purpose and which fueled his paranoia about foreign adversaries targeting him. 

 At the outside reception, Nash observes patterns in what he sees as lines forming geometric shapes light up as he perceives them. This camera imagery is often used by director Ron Howard (winning the Oscar for Best Director here) and his fellow filmmakers to highlight mental epiphanies, according to IMDb. They are flashes of light, showing how his creativity is drawing things together. The scene also illustrates Nash’s witty humor when he says to a fellow student that “there could be a mathematical explanation for how bad your tie is.” Martin Hansen (Josh Lucas) asks Nash to get him a drink, saying Nash presented himself as a waiter, probably because he is wearing a bow tie. Again, Nash’s sarcasm surfaces as he says, “Imagine you’re getting quite used to miscalculation.” He goes on to say that Hansen’s publications lack anything noteworthy. Rivalry obviously exists between these two winners of the Carnegie Scholarship. Nash has nervous, quirky hand movements which show his awkward social skills. Nash also meets Sol (Adam Goldberg) and Bender (Anthony Rapp) here who become Nash’s friends. 

 

In his room, Nash encounters his supposed English major British roommate, funny (“Officer, I know who hit me, it was Johnny Walker) Charles Herman (Paul Bettany), who is suffering from a hangover. While he cracks jokes, Nash writes mathematical equations on his dorm window, a sort of metaphor for how his mental powers shed light on his numerical exploits. In answer to Charles’s questions about him, Nash says he is “well-balanced” because he has “a chip on both soldiers.” It is comical, but it also reveals Nash feeling that he must battle adversity. Charles points out that Nash is better with “integers” than people. Nash adds that he had a teacher who said he had “two helpings of brain but only half a helping of heart.” This discussion points to Nash’s lack of emotional connection to others. He admits that he doesn’t like people and they don’t care for him. He is impatient to bypass personal relationships so he will not waste time on his quest to map out “the governing dynamics” of existence and find a “truly original idea” so, as Charles says, he will “matter.” The two are drinking on a roof, which is fitting as Nash looks down literally and figuratively on the other students, calling them, “lesser mortals.” 

 

Hansen challenges Nash to a board game, and he is astonished that he loses to Hansen. Nash feels his “play was perfect.” Competition is at the center of Nash’s drive to succeed. It is here that he starts to investigate “game theory,” which will lead to the idea of those “governing dynamics” that will be applied to economics and for which Nash will be most known. 

 

Nash approaches a blonde at a bar and is unsocial to the point of insensitivity. He says he is not sure what he is supposed to say so that they can have sexual intercourse, so maybe they should skip right to having sex. She slaps him and walks out. He must learn to try a different tactic, as we soon discover. 

At present, Nash hasn’t been attending classes, which he sees as being just derivative, and not aiding invention. He doesn’t have a topic for his doctoral dissertation, and hasn’t published anything. Helinger tells him that he can't be recommended for placement in a post-graduate position. Nash sees recognition and accomplishment as the same thing, showing his need for validation as the talented outsider. 

 Nash becomes upset, telling Charles he must follow “their” rules in order to get ahead instead of taking the road less traveled. This idea is symbolized by his pushing his desk away from the window, on which he scribbles his equations, where the light of inspiration shines upon him. Charles counters that argument by telling Nash he must follow his passion outside the walls of the educational institution, and he pushes the desk through the window, watching it fall to the ground. The act shows the need for Nash to break through traditional restrictions on his “beautiful mind.”

 Nash is in the bar again. But now he employs a version of game theory when he tells the other math men that if they avoid making a play for the blonde who is present, then they will not have to compete for her, and the other women there will not consider themselves as second choices. That way, they can all “get laid,” and thus win. He says that economist Adam Smith's idea of everyone doing what’s best for himself will automatically be good for the group is “incomplete.” Crowe does a hand gesture with the fingers of one hand curled up touching his forehead. It seems to signify that he has some idea to communicate, but it also shows his shyness, a way of not looking directly at someone. Nash says that the individual must do what’s good for himself and take into account what’s good for the group. He is devising a plan that allows for participation in a goal-oriented strategy that does not have to produce a loser but instead allows each person in the group to win. He goes back to his desk, restored to its spot near the illuminating window, and he begins writing his equations, revising 150 years of economic theory. Helinger is impressed with Nash’s work and gives him the go-ahead to develop his theories on “governing dynamics.” He chooses his pals, Sol and Bender, to be part of his team.

 

When we catch up with Nash later he has his doctorate and has gained that recognition he sought, appearing on the cover of Fortune magazine. The Pentagon calls him to attempt to decipher code they believe the Russians are transmitting. After looking at a wall of numbers, the digits illuminate for Nash, and he says that there are latitudes and longitudes among the figures that relate to routing places in the United States. When he asks about what the Russians may be planning, he is basically told to leave as he is not authorized access to further information. He looks up and he sees a man on a walkway, but the others there do not acknowledge this person. 

 

While in a car, Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s voice is heard, the man who promulgated the “red scare,” and paranoia about communism. The belief that the enemy was among us plays into Nash’s personal feelings of persecution and the urgency being promulgated that mathematics must be used to fight political adversaries. Nash now works at the defense labs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He complains to Sol and Bender that the Russians have the hydrogen bomb, the Nazis found sanctuary in South America, and the Chinese are gaining force. But he complains that he is being underused by being assigned to study stress problems in a dam. He has taken Helinger’s mission that he first heard as a graduate student very much to heart.

 

Nash must still teach classes as part of the deal to keep his research projects going. At the class, he throws the textbook into the trash, showing his disdain for tradition. He sees the class as a waste of his time. He puts an equation on the board as a kind of test to weed out who is worthy of his teaching efforts. In the class is Alicia Larde (Jennifer Connelly, winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for this role). By using her attractive attributes, she is able to persuade the construction workers outside to be quiet during the class, winning Nash’s admiration for problem solving.

 Just as Nash has complained that he isn't getting a chance to show his abilities to fight America’s enemies, the man who Nash called “Big Brother” at the Pentagon observing from above shows up to give Nash a chance at more recognition. He calls himself William Parcher (Ed Harris), and he says he supervised security over J. Robert Oppenheimer’s atomic project. When Parcher brings up how many lives can be lost in the pursuit of weapons, Nash is rather cold, saying progress requires the need for sacrifice. Parcher says Nash’s “lone wolf” life will be advantageous, most likely for performing covert activities. Thus, Parcher’s existence justifies Nash’s anti-social nature and his desire for recognition. As they walk into a “secure” area, Parcher says they know him there, so he doesn’t have to show credentials. Therefore, he does not interact with the guard. The above details become important later.

 

Parcher takes Nash into what were supposed to be abandoned warehouses. Inside, he sees many men in white coats operating rows of computers. Parcher tells Nash he now has top secret clearance, and calls him the best natural codebreaker around. Parcher’s function then is to bestow the acknowledgement of Nash’s talents that the mathematician believes he deserves. Parcher says that the Russians took a portable atomic bomb that the Nazis had developed, and the locations that Nash identified earlier at the Pentagon are places the Russians are exploring to explode the bomb. Parcher says that the Russians are placing coded messages in newspapers and magazines, and that’s why they need Nash’s help. Parcher makes an interesting observation when he says, “Man is capable of as much atrocity as he has imagination.” His comment adds irony to the title of the film by showing the underside of a brilliant “beautiful mind.” Parcher’s team supposedly puts an implant in Nash’s arm so he will have access to a drop point where he can deliver his findings.

 

Alicia comes to his office with what Nash calls an “elegant” proof of the problem he wrote on the board, but she made assumptions which didn’t solve the problem. She asks him to dinner, but he says he usually eats alone, and he says he is like Prometheus with a bird circling above. His humorous image reveals that he sees himself as a rebel, like the mythological personage, who gave fire to earthlings. Nash sees himself as a godlike entity who will endure tribulations to bring mental illumination to those incapable of such achievement. 

 Nash takes Alicia to a formal university affair. She is able to navigate his social awkwardness by engaging in his peculiar humor. He draws objects in the night sky by connecting stars with his hand. He sees patterns, maybe where there are none except what we impose on them. The exercise again shows his desire to find form and insights in the universe. However, at the event, he believes men there are observing him, which shows how imagination can warp reality into something ominous. He later drops his sealed classified findings into a lockbox at a gated house by using the changing codes on his implant that are illuminated under a black light. It is done at night and there is a dangerous feel to the place as a car slows down to observe him there.

 

Nash tells Alicia that his directness has not been socially successful, so it is an effort for him to adapt to the rules of society. She encourages him to say what he wants to say. He concedes that even though he finds her attractive and wishes to have intercourse as soon as possible with her, he feels he must go through “platonic” romantic rituals to reach that outcome. He then says he expects a slap across the face, as he experienced earlier at the bar. Instead, she kisses him passionately, showing that with her his honesty is rewarded, and how the two are compatible.

 

Charles reunites with Nash and brings his niece, Marcee (Vivien Cardone), who Charles says he has taken custody of since the death of his sister. Charles says he is close by at Harvard. IMDb notes that when Marcee runs through a field full of birds, they do not scatter, suggesting that she doesn’t exist. Nash tells Charles about Alicia and wonders how he can be sure that asking her to marry him is the correct move. Charles says, “Nothing’s ever for sure, John. That’s the only sure thing I do know.” That unpredictability comes from a person who supposedly studies literature, an art form, and it offsets Nash’s longing for mathematical certainty.

 

Nash meets Alicia at a restaurant and says he needs “proof” and “verifiable data” that would indicate that they can be in a long-term relationship. He says this while bending on one knee. It is like a mathematical marriage proposal. In response, Alicia says she must modify her notions of romance to accommodate his data-driven inquiry. She asks how big the universe is, and he says it is infinite. But, he concedes that impression can’t be proven, so he just believes it. She says it’s the same with love, one can’t prove it, but somehow just believes it. Alicia is able to show that not all things, such as emotions and ideas, can be proven, but they still exist within people.

 The two get married, but on his wedding day Nash sees Parcher with a disapproving look, since the lack of attachments to others supposedly justified his service. This image shows the conflict within Nash. When Nash drops a report off, Parcher drives by, tells Nash the spot is compromised, and they are being followed. They speed away as Parcher fires on the approaching vehicle. The terrified Nash sees the enemy vehicle eventually end up in the water. Nash is distant when he goes home to Alicia, and locks the door of his room behind him, as he is now suspicious of everyone, which reinforces his detachment from others. He looks at his students and out through windows and doors as if everyone is a threat. His warped view of reality paints him as a victim of other forces which are trying to destroy him. 

 

Parcher visits Nash in his office, and his presence is there to prevent Nash from rejecting his immersion into his world of paranoia. Nash asserts that he has a wife and will soon be a father, and wants to quit so as to shift his focus to positive things, away from his preoccupation with fear. But Parcher is here to assert that feeling of dread by threatening Nash, saying if he doesn’t continue his work, Parcher will not protect him from the Russians. 

 

There are shadows on the walls of Nash’s house as he keeps watch through his blinds. They appear to be real, but shadows are just optical illusions, like Nash’s fears. Alicia begins to realize there is something wrong with her husband as he acts irrationally, suspicious of why she turned on the light at night, and then ordering her to leave for her sister’s place. She looks at the telephone and it seems she is about to seek help for Nash.

 

As Nash gives a lecture he sees men entering from the back of the room that he thinks are enemy agents who are after him. He says to his students that one can’t assign values to variables, which shows that Nash can't even find sanctuary among the predictability of mathematics. He runs out of the lecture hall and he is pursued, but not by enemy agents. Dr. Rosen (Christopher Plummer) approaches him and says he is a psychiatrist. Nash punches Rosen and tries to flee. Rosen injects him with a sedative as Nash sees Charles and his niece observe what transpires.

 

Nash has been admitted to a psychiatric facility where he is in restraints. Nash addresses Charles who he sees there, and he believes that Charles betrayed him by delivering him to the Russians. But, Rosen says there is no one there. If we haven’t already deduced it, Nash has hallucinations. Rosen informs Alicia that Nash is schizophrenic, which many times involves paranoia, and her husband’s belief that he is working to discover conspiracies is a symptom of his mental disorder. Moreover, Nash’s occupation allowed these delusions to go on without being discovered. Rosen gets Alicia to admit she never met Charles, saw a photo of the man, or talked to him on the telephone. Nash said that Charles was his roommate, but Rosen discovered that he lived alone at Princeton. Rosen says he must make Nash distinguish between what is real and what are illusions generated by his otherwise beautiful mind.

 When Alicia gets into Nash’s college office she sees how extreme his activity has been, cutting up magazines and placing pictures and articles all over the walls. Sol and Bender, knowing how offbeat Nash is, gave him a great deal of leeway and did not question his covert activities. Sol followed Nash once to the drop site and now Alicia goes to the estate where Nash was supposed to deliver his findings. The place has been abandoned for some time, with the drop box a broken mailbox and the gate opener busted. 

 

At the hospital, Nash adapts the “facts” as he sees them to fit his beliefs, as most conspiracy obsessed people do. He says the Russians can’t kill him because he is too well known, so they are confining him. Alicia tells her husband that she found out there is no Parcher and no conspiracy. She shows him all the unopened envelopes he placed in the mailbox. Of course, he walks out on her because the truth will upend his universe, and he can’t tolerate that. 

 He tries cutting out the implant in his arm, but says that it is already gone. Nash starts to get a glimmer of what has been plaguing him. As Rosen prepares Nash for drug therapy, Rosen says how horrible it is to realize that people an individual thought one knew never existed, and that beliefs one held were completely false. It’s as if the “fake news” that one accused others of propagating was real, and one’s own beliefs were the false ones. 

 

Back at Princeton, Alicia tells Sol that the delusions have passed, but Nash will not show up at Princeton, possibly feeling shame, where his academic competitor Hansen is now department chairperson. She feels an obligation to take care of the man she fell in love with, making sure he takes his medications and encourages him to be active. Sol visits Nash, who tells him not to sit on Harvey, the imaginary rabbit from the film. Nash has kept his sense of humor, saying what’s the point of being “nuts” if one can’t have some fun. But when he hands his indecipherable scribblings to Sol, it is obvious that Nash isn’t capable of functioning efficiently, as he says, due to the effects of the medications he is taking. He still feels that his work is the most important part of his life at this stage. He holds his child while in a stupor, despondent, devoid of any emotional attachment to his family.

 

Alicia has her own paranoia concerning what Nash states, assuming what he says is influenced by his schizophrenia. He tells her he was talking to the garbage collectors, but she says they don’t pick up trash at night. Then she sees the men working outside. They both giggle, and she apologies, probably realizing she too must adjust to what is really happening. But that light moment is followed by a heartbreaking one as Alicia makes sexual overtures in bed and he resists. He admits it’s the medication, which can decrease the libido drastically. She looks devastated, so the implication is that there has been no intimacy for a long time. She goes into the bathroom and throws a glass of water at the mirror, shattering both, and screams her frustration. When Nash takes the shards out to the trash, it is a metaphor for what is broken in their lives.

 

Nash secretly stops taking his pills, most likely so he can provide the intimacy that Alicia wants. But, that brings back his condition as he is confronted by Parcher who has armed soldiers with him. He takes Nash to a large shed on Nash’s property that he staffed with personnel and electronic equipment to pinpoint the location of the nuclear weapon the Russians want to detonate. Nash tries to deny the existence of what he sees, but then submits to the fantasy. The film seems to be saying that delusions which feed our preconceptions are difficult to let go.

 

Alicia hears a radio transmission coming from the dilapidated building on their property, and when she enters she sees that her husband has reproduced his office and plastered the place with newspaper clippings and push pins with thread which try to depict an imagined conspiracy. She runs back into the house where Nash has left their baby alone in a tub filling up with water. He says that Charles was watching over the child, but she can't see him because Charles has “been injected with a cloaking serum.” His own arm implant “dissolved” allowing him to see Charles. The storm that is raging outside mirrors the mental one that is devastating Nash’s mind, tearing down all the sturdy logical ideas that once thrived there. 

 

Parcher appears and tells Nash that he must get rid of Alicia because she is a national security risk. After Alicia sees Nash talking to nobody, Nash then conjures up Charles and his niece, and Charles tells him to do what Parcher said. Nash is mentally at war with himself, wanting to believe what he sees but also protective of his family. Then, his mathematical rationality bursts through with an epiphany that will not allow a delusion to extinguish. He stops Alicia and says that he realizes that Charles’s supposed niece, Marcee, never ages; therefore, she can’t be real. 

 

With Rosen present, Nash still sees Charles and his niece, and Rosen says he must return to the hospital for more treatment. Nash says the medication stops him from working, taking care of his child, and responding to his wife. He says he is a problem solver, and he needs time to figure out the solution. But Rosen points out the dilemma, since Nash’s condition is not like a mathematical mystery, and Nash’s mind can’t be the tool to fix things since the defect is in his brain. 

 

Nash does not want to return to the institution, but fears for how his condition threatens Alicia’s safety. So, he tells her to go to her mother’s place where the baby is already. But, she refuses to leave him, and touches him, saying what’s real is in his feelings, not in his mind. In this way, she expands his sense of reality.

 

Two months later, Nash visits Hansen at Princeton University. Hansen says he is an old friend, and he no longer seems to be a foe. As opposed to feeling that being apart from others allowed him to excel without distractions, Nash now sees being part of a community will help him become mentally healthy. He just wants to be able to hang out in the library. But, he appears outside, fighting his demons, as Parcher resurfaces and harasses him, while others watch as Nash argues with an illusion.

 

But, with Alicia supporting his fight to overcome his symptoms without resorting to extreme medical treatment, Nash goes back to the college library each day, writing equations as he once did, on the windowpanes, letting the real and figurative light shine upon him. He now refuses to speak to his imaginary creations. 

 

Time passes, their son grows up, and there is now a gray-haired Nash in 1978 still working on equations at the Princeton University library. He eventually engages with some students and expresses a desire to teach again. He admits to Hansen that he still sees Parcher, Charles and Marcee, but since he has ignored them, they don’t intrude anymore. Hansen says that they still haunt him, but Nash says. “They are my past. Everyone is haunted by their past.” The problem he must deal with, though, is that Nash’s past just happens to feel like it has more substance in the present than that of others. 

 

The next jump is to 1994 and Nash is an elderly man, but he is back to teaching and working on his math projects. Someone from the Nobel Prize committee visits him, saying he is being considered for the award based on his bargaining theories that have numerous economic applications and eventually even biological evolutionary considerations. Nash realizes that the visit is to make sure he doesn’t embarrass the prestigious awards ceremony by acting crazy. He admits to the possibility that he may act out because he still sees things that aren’t there. He takes newer medications, and says he is on a sort of mental “diet” where he does not indulge his fantasies. While entering the faculty dining area for the first time in years the other professors pay Nash tribute, as he saw they did many years ago for another professor, by giving him their pens. He has received the recognition he once sought.

 The story concludes with Nash’s Nobel Prize speech where he says all of his mental explorations have brought him to the conclusion that, “it is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic or reasons can be found.” Love, a supposedly irrational area, has provided him the most meaning concerning existence. He directly thanks Alicia for all that he has come to really understand about life as a whole.

The next film is Zorba, the Greek.

Gone Baby Gone

SPOILER ALERT! The plot of the movie will be discussed.

I chose this 2007 film, directed by Ben Affleck, not only because I believe it was one of the best motion pictures that year, but also because it is a worthy follow-up, in terms of the questions it asks, to last week’s entry, Mississippi Burning. Both movies pose moral dilemmas for their characters when they must decide what they believe are the right actions to take, even if those choices break legal and moral guidelines.

The first shot we see is of a lower-class section of Boston. You can tell it is summer by the bare midriff tops worn by the women, and you can almost smell the perspiration of the inhabitants living in this crowded area, where steaming tempers crave for a chance to blow off. The faces of the people look hardened by the fight for survival here. The first words are a voice-over delivered by the main character, Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck, in a terrific performance). He says, “I always believed it was the things you don’t choose that make you who you are. Your city, your neighborhood, your family.” This is an ironic line, because in the film, the choices people make are the things that end up defining them. He then gets specific about himself, telling us that he, like many others here, have lived their whole lives in this section of town. Thus, he knows the turf, and, since his job is to find missing people, he says, “it helps to know where they started.” He says that these marginal people started in the “cracks” of the society, and then “fell through.” Although Patrick acknowledges that “the city can be hard,” he has not given in to despair, relying on his Catholic faith to help him “get to heaven” without being destroyed by the “evil in the world.” He once asked his priest for guidance, who offered up God’s words: “You are sheep among wolves. Be wise as serpents, yet innocent as doves.” Not an easy task. But, Patrick still believes in innocence, and the hope to escape the evil. His job is a significant one, akin to that of a religious man, trying to save souls before they are irreparably lost.

But, before now, he was just bringing back adult transgressors, who maybe tried to skip out on making payments on what was owed. His life changes when the “innocence” of a four-year-old girl from the neighborhood, Amanda McCready (Madeline O’Brien) is in jeopardy because she is reported missing. We witness the concern from the locals, but the cops and the reporters are there in large numbers, which turn the scene into a media circus, feeding the public’s cannibalistic desire for lurid stories. Patrick’s partner, and love interest, Angie (Michelle Monaghan) comments how horrible the situation is. To which Patrick sarcastically says, “Not for Channel 9.”

Angie asks if Patrick knows Amanda’s mother, Helene (Amy Ryan). Even before we meet Helene, we get an idea of her propensities when Patrick says she performed oral sex on a fourteen-year-old friend of his when they all went to high school together. Patrick says the boy at the time was “innocent and milking cows in Vermont,” a wholesome image of a boy defiled by a seductress. To which Angie says, “I don’t know about innocent.” In this short exchange, we see the difference between these two characters. Patrick can still talk about a world without sin, but that world does not exist for Angie, not even as a memory.

Bea McCready (Amy Madigan) and her husband, Lionel (Titus Welliver), Helene’s brother, visit Patrick and Angie because the neighborhood people, who have had their criminal brushes with the law, are not forthcoming with the police. They want these private investigators to supplement the official investigation. It is important to note that it is Bea who pushed for the media to help and wanted to involve Patrick over the protests of Lionel and the police, since this fact is a clue to the resolution of the story. (A small detail, such as the uniform that Lionel wears with his name tag on it, tells us about his place in society: he is a blue-collar serviceman). Lionel says that Helene is hurting, but Bea has no sympathy for her, saying that she was the one who left the girl alone in the house. He admits that his sister and he inherited a tendency toward addiction, but he has been able to kick it for twenty-three years, because of his wife’s support. Angie is reluctant to get involved in the case. She later tells Patrick that she doesn’t want to find the little girl in a dumpster, or abused. Her mind assumes the worst-case-scenario will play out. Again, Patrick offers the possibility that they may be able to save Amanda. He wants to accept the job because he clings to having faith in hope.

They go to Helene’s home, and the low-life existence of Amanda’s mom’s world is displayed in full force. Helene sits on her couch not with sorrow about the loss of her child, but with hostility toward others, even her own family. For her and her friend, Dottie (Jill Quigg), everyone is the enemy. Their first impression is that Patrick and Angie are just trying to cash in on the publicity surrounding the abduction. This attitude derives in part from class resentment here. Dottie says she recognizes Angie. She says, “I remember you from high school. I see you’re still a little conceited, huh?” Helene feels the same way about Bea, who has enough money to hire the two PI’s. (It’s noteworthy that Patrick says the money’s not important, because he is, in a way, on a holy quest to redeem a fallen community). Helene spews forth profanities and racial and homophobic insults as easily as others might talk about the weather. Bea actually seems more motherly than Helene, showing a picture of the sweet-looking Amanda to Angie, who comes around to taking the case. She echoes Bea’s earlier statement that after all, “What harm can it do?” This statement can be seen as an ironic foreboding.

Patrick and Angie go with Bea and Lionel to check out Amanda’s room. While watching a video of Amanda, Bea says the little girl always tried to be a good girl; a simple statement, but it points to how hard that goal is to achieve in this environment. Lionel says that Helene drinks a lot, takes cocaine, and is at a local bar almost every day. Patrick, while observing Amanda’s room, notes that items are missing. He says, “What did they do, kidnap the furniture, too?” This fact is a hint that whoever took Amanda, wanted her to feel safe among familiar things. Police Captain Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman), who heads up the Crimes Against Children unit, shows up. He pointedly says that he does not appreciate Patrick and Angie interfering in the investigation. Patrick stands up to him, saying that they have a legal right to work for the family. As in most mysteries, when you watch a film again you can see significant details. Here, it is no coincidence that both Lionel and Doyle are the ones discouraging Patrick and Angie’s participation. It is also important that we later learn that Doyle’s own child of twelve years of age was killed by a predator. At one point in the story he says of Amanda, “This child. It’s all I care about.” The plot shows how this concern is all too true.

Patrick and Angie go to the bar which Lionel said Helene frequents. The inhabitants of this place are not part of what one would call a civilized urban establishment. The hostility they exhibit shows them to be more like de-evolved humans. Again, the anger of perceived condescension is present. When Patrick is seen as the enemy because he starts asking question, he hits a wall of resentment. Once he starts to crack wise with them, Patrick (even though he is not an outsider) is viewed as not on the side of those present. One person says to Patrick they don’t serve martinis here, which goes along with the bartender warning Patrick not to talk down to him. Obviously, these guys are paranoid about feeling judged. Patrick does see an old friend there who tells him that Helene would meet up here with a guy to do coke. He’s another person Patrick knows about, Skinny Ray Linkanski (Sean Malone). Patrick finds out that Helene, who said she was only away from the house for a short time at a neighbor’s during the time of Amanda’s abduction, was actually at the bar for hours. Patrick’s informant here says that Helene would take Amanda to this hellhole during the day, because it wouldn’t be fit to take her at night because of the fights and drugs. In this depraved world, Helene not taking her daughter here in the evening is considered good mothering, a realization which disgusts Angie. When the customers don’t like inside information being revealed, they harass Patrick, and make abusive sexual comments about Angie. They lock the doors, preparing for an assault. Patrick, however, is carrying a gun, cracks one of the others over the head, and they escape. This joint would definitely not show up in a AAA guide for tourists.

Doyle promised Patrick they would have the cooperation of two cops, Remy Bressant (Ed Harris), and Nick Poole (John Ashton). They meet at a restaurant, and the policemen point to a threesome of degenerates who could be involved in the abduction (misdirection?). They are drug users Leon Trett (Mark Margolis), his wife Roberta (Trudi Goodman), and the guy they work with, serial molester Corwin Earle (Mathew Maher). Nick does concede that Earle’s preference in the past has been seven-to-nine-year-old boys. Patrick is surprised that they have no other leads. He asks if they knew anything about Skinny Ray, to which Remy says he never heard of him (major clue). Another important fact is that, in response to Patrick’s question about his name, Remy says he was originally from New Orleans.

Patrick and Angie have a meeting with another old pal, Bubba (the rapper Slaine), who is the self-proclaimed ruler of the region’s druggie underworld. He doesn’t know the Tretts or Earle, but says he’ll ask around about them, and that Skinny Ray used to work for him, but now is an associate of another drug dealer, a Haitian criminal named Cheese. Remy, Nick, Angie, and Patrick interrogate Helene, telling her she lied about where she was when Amanda was taken. Lionel says that he sometimes heard Ray and Helene talking, snice he lived on another floor in the same building. She admits that she used to run drugs for Cheese through her association with Skinny Ray. Remy now (conveniently?) reveals that he heard that someone stole money from Cheese. After a lot of profanity-saturated shouting, Helene admits that she and Ray took the money from Cheese’s drug deal with bikers who were busted by the cops. They thought they could rip off the cash, since it would look like the cops confiscated it. Helene admits to bringing Amanda to this drug deal. Bea is horrified. We again get Helene’s perverted version of mothering when she said she protected Amanda by leaving her in the car. She says to Bea, “I ain’t got no day care,” which refers to her disadvantaged situation in life. She says she is a single mom facing insurmountable odds, in an attempt to justify her choice to escape into intoxication and crime (remember Patrick’s first words about what makes you who you are, surroundings or individual choice). We also learn from her that Bea can’t have children (which emphasizes why her niece is so important to Bea).

Helene leads them to Ray’s place where Helene stashed the money. On the way there, Helene, instead of being the grieving mother, engages in homophobic jokes, while also giving lip service to motherhood by saying how Ray was loud and would wake up Amanda, and her girl needs her sleep. We see on Angie’s face how her disgust for Helene grows. Helene talks about a guy, whom she dated in high school, who stabbed somebody in the heart and was now in prison. This horrible story is just probably one of others she has to share about her formative years. To stress the town’s fall from grace and innocence, we have a quick scene where a young boy riding on a bike gets in the way of Patrick’s car. Instead of apologizing, the youth tells Patrick to “Go f--- your mother,” after which Patrick shakes his head at how corrupted his world has become. They find Ray dead after being beaten. They assume this was done by Cheese, but Ray didn’t know that Helene buried the bag of cash in the back yard, so he couldn’t tell Cheese where it was. They retrieve the money, and after seeing what happened to Ray, Helene says that she hopes Amanda is resting because she was sleepy when she saw her last. She then seems sincere as she tells Patrick that “I won’t use no drugs no more. I won’t even go out.” She says she just wants her daughter back and makes Patrick promise that he will find Amanda. This vow is pivotal in Patrick’s decision later.

Given the way things look, it appears that Cheese took Amanda and wants to exchange her for the money. Patrick says he knows Cheese and convinces Remy and Nick to stay outside while he and Angie talk to the Haitian. Cheese appears not to know about Ray or Amanda as he darts looks at his second-in-command, Chris Mullen (Jimmy LeBlanc). He says that he doesn’t mess “with no kids,” but if they have his money, just drop it off. He also says that if Patrick is all that the little girl has to rely on, then she is “gone, baby, gone.” Cheese is definitely a colorful character. After he tells one of his girlfriends to stay close by, he says, “Bitches love the cheddar,” and tells Patrick on his way out, referring to the derogatory reference to cops as “pigs,” says, “Get that sausage off my lawn,” cement substituting for grass.

Surprisingly, Remy calls Patrick and says Cheese is ready to make the swap. Amanda’s blanket and instructions are found in Patrick’s mailbox. But, they meet with Doyle, who is angry because the deal was made without the approval of the police department. It is significant that this meeting only involves Remy, Nick, and Doyle, who hands Patrick a copy of the transcript of the recorded call that Cheese made to the department. Doyle says he has been forced to go along with the exchange, but it must be kept quiet to avoid any show of force that might cause Cheese to hurt Amanda. The place the swap is to occur is near a water-filled quarry. Patrick and Angie are supposed to receive Amanda on one side, while Remy and Nick give Cheese the money on the other (why separate them? We learn later). Chris Mullen is supposed to be there, too, and Patrick doesn’t like that because he thinks Mullen killed Skinny Ray. Patrick also wonders about bringing Amanda up the steep terrain, asking “How’s he going to get her up here?” Just them shots ring out, and Remy and Nick say there has been an ambush and someone shot Cheese. There is a splash and Angie, after seeing Amada’s doll floating on the water, dives in. But, all she can do is retrieve the doll.

Amanda is presumed dead. Another significant detail is that it is Doyle who calls off the search, saying that the quarry is too deep, a metaphor for the depth of this mystery. In a temporary switch of stances, it is now Angie who says Amanda could still be alive, while Patrick doesn’t think so. Remy, Nick, Patrick, and Angie are absolved of what happened at the quarry, while Doyle takes full responsibility, and retiring at half his pension. Chris Mullen is the one who double-crossed Cheese, wanting the money for himself, but he, too, is killed (conveniently?), supposedly by someone trying to rip him off. Patrick and Angie start to drift apart, with guilt over the loss of Amanda weighing heavily on Angie.

Another child is now missing. It is a young boy, who we see in his picture holding a St. Christopher’s medallion (ironically, the saint of safe passage). The Boston area is predominantly Irish Catholic, and this symbol of that faith accentuates the lapsed state from God’s grace the people here find themselves in. Patrick’s gangster friend, Bubba, promised he would find the Tretts and he delivers. He takes Patrick with him on a drug deal with the Tretts. Patrick tells the police afterwards that he saw Corwin Earle, the pedophile, upstairs possibly wearing the St. Christopher’s medal (purity hijacked?). Patrick goes with Remy and Nick to go after the Tretts and Earle. Why does Patrick go too? Perhaps he feels he needs to seek redemption for himself for having lost Amanda, by trying to rescue another child. Nick is shot, and later dies. Patrick shoots inside, and probably kills Leon, who lies on the floor. Roberta starts shooting at him, and he locks himself in Earle’s room, who says “It was an accident,” while he cowers and cries. Patrick finds the missing boy dead in a tub. In his anger, he shoots Earle dead in the back of the head. Remy kills Roberta.

Later, Angie says she is proud of what Patrick did, but Patrick feels guilty for his going outside of the law to mete out justice. He later encounters a drunk Remy, who also tells him he should be proud. Patrick says he was taught that if you feel shame, which is what he does, then it is God’s way of telling you that you did something wrong. He says murder is a sin, so he feels that he not only has broken a human law, but also one of God’s. As to whether killing someone is wrong, Remy’s less absolute view is it “depends on who you do it to.” Remy then tells a story about how he went to bust these people living in a slimy crack house full of roaches and rats, but their kid’s room was “immaculate,” “spotless,” (like the soul of an innocent child, trying to hold onto his purity?). The child was like Patrick initially said God described people to be, as sheep among wolves. There was supposed to be drugs there, they didn’t find any, but Remy planted evidence so that the boy, who suffered beatings and was malnourished, could be removed from that dangerous world. For Remy, the choice (that word again) was easy. Children are the true Christians for Remy, because they don’t judge, they turn the other cheek, they forgive. He goes on to say that there is a war being waged for the children’s salvation, and “You gotta take a side.”

But, in his drunkenness, Remy let it slip that his “old pal” Skinny Ray told him about the place in his story. Yet, at their first meeting, Remy said he never heard of Ray. Patrick wants to know why Remy lied to him. He learns from a policeman friend that Remy was asking around about the money that Cheese lost before Cheese even knew it was gone. Patrick believes he figured out what really happened. He sets up a meeting with Lionel at a local bar, fittingly called “Murphy’s Law,” the film emphasizing that what can go wrong will go wrong (i.e., the plan to take Amanda). Before the meeting, we see Lionel staring at numerous religious pictures, possibly suggesting that Remy’s “easy” choice of taking the righteous side is more complex than he would make it seem. We get Lionel’s flashback of a conversation with Remy, where Lionel says he can handle Patrick, while Remy says in his world you take a secret with you to your grave. At the bar, Patrick knows that Remy could only have found out from Lionel’s confessed eavesdropping that Skinny Ray and Helene had taken Cheese’s money. Lionel admits that he knew Remy from a while back when he had testified on Lionel’s behalf about a bar fight that went wrong. The plan was that Remy and Lionel would take Amanda and make it look like Cheese took her for the money. There would be a private exchange, so that Remy and Lionel, with Nick in on it, would get the money, and Helene would be taught a lesson about leaving her child alone. But Bea spoiled the plan by going to the cops, the media, and Patrick. So, they had to stage the fake exchange at the quarry for Patrick and Angie to witness. Chris Mullen set it up, but Cheese figured out that it was phony, and Mullen shot him, with Amanda running off and falling over the cliff. Lionel shows how much he cares about Amanda when he practically cries while saying how Helene and Dottie left the poor girl to literally roast for two hours in a closed car on a summer day at the beach while they smoked dope with some guys.

A masked robber then enters the bar, and threatens Lionel about talking too much. Patrick realizes that it is a disguised Remy, who didn’t trust Lionel to handle things. Patrick yells out that Remy took Amanda, so as to reveal him as a child abductor. The bartender then shoots Remy, who escapes. Patrick follows him to a roof top. His dying words are that “I love children.” He follows his own creed, taking his secret with him in death.

But, in the police investigation following Remy’s death, Patrick is again questioned about why he was at the quarry (which may be a flaw in the plot because this aspect should have been investigated earlier). However, Patrick learns that the local police station doesn’t record calls, so there could not have been a transcript of a call coming from Cheese or Mullen. Patrick now knows that Doyle was in on the plan, and learns that Doyle knew Remy from when they were both working in Louisiana. He goes with Angie to Doyle’s home. We then get visualizations of what probably happened at the quarry, with Remy and Nick pretending things went wrong, Mullen executing Cheese so he couldn’t give an alternative story, and Nick throwing a rock in the water followed by the doll to make it look like Amanda drowned. We see Remy waiting for Mullen, who he probably killed to tie up loose ends. Patrick realizes that Lionel, Remy and Doyle loved children and wanted to rescue Amanda from a doomed life. After approaching Doyle, Amanda runs out of the house into the arms of Doyle. After losing his child, Doyle, too, in his way, was trying to do an act of redemption by saving another innocent. But, Patrick says he is going to call the police, because the girl belongs with her mother, and he took an oath that he would find her and return her.

Doyle makes his pitch: “Thought you would've done that by now. You know why you haven't? Because you think this might be an irreparable mistake. Because deep inside you, you know it doesn't matter what the rules say. When the lights go out, and you ask yourself ‘is she better off here or better off there,’ you know the answer. And you always will. You... you could do a right thing here. A good thing. Men live their whole lives without getting this chance. You walk away from it, you may not regret it when you get home. You may not regret it for a year, but when you get to where I am, I promise you, you will. I'll be dead, you'll be old. But she... she'll be dragging around a couple of tattered, damaged children of her own, and you'll be the one who has to tell them you're sorry.” Doyle wants to break the vicious cycle of wasted life at least in this family. But, Patrick says that they should have presented proof that Amanda needed a new home and taken her to Child Services. He can’t stand the thought of an adult Amanda asking him why he allowed her to be stolen from her mother.

The police come, and arrest Doyle. Lionel goes to jail. Angie felt as Doyle did, and can’t live with what Patrick decided to “choose” to do. Angie can’t rid herself of the guilt of having agreed with Bea that their participation in this affair “couldn’t hurt.” The last scene has Patrick visiting an unchanged Helene, who hasn’t even firmed up plans for a babysitter for Amanda as she is ready to go out on the town. Patrick volunteers to look after Amanda, and they sit on the couch, watching TV.

Patrick was the one, in the beginning, who wanted to restore a semblance of innocence, of purity, to his decaying world. He wanted to do it the law-abiding way, but along that path, he himself committed murder. Even though he transgressed, given the circumstances, was that act justified? In the end, did he do more harm than good in returning Amanda to her home? More importantly, what would have been your choice? What would you have done?

The next film is A Face in the Crowd.