Review of The Sunset Limited (2011) by Kenneth L — 12 Mar 2011
This is based on a play by Cormac McCarthy, whom I wrote my honors thesis about, so of course I was going to like it. Along with No Country for Old Men and The Road, this is the third essentially perfect McCarthy movie adaptation to appear. It's an exceedingly simple and minimalist work, about two men sitting in a room debating the meaning of life. That's it: one set, two actors, 90 minutes of dialogue. And yet it is never boring.
The movie works for two reasons: the script, adapted by McCarthy himself, and the two actors, Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson. The script is very compelling: it presents two opposing worldviews and really fleshes out how each man came to have his position and what the implications of that position are. The meaning of life may sound like a dull and vague topic for a movie, but not when it is debated by two such well-defined and interesting characters. The film is genuinely thought-provoking, and may cause you to look at your own assumptions about life and/or have interesting conversations with other people who watch it with you. The acting in the movie is really excellent. Tommy Lee Jones, who also did a solid job of directing, is very good as the suicidal professor. Samuel L. Jackson gets one of the best performances of his career out of the poor ex-convict who serves as the professor's interlocutor. People rag on Samuel L. Jackson sometimes because he occasionally does bad or cheesy movies, but the man is a legitimately great actor.
My one little quibble about the movie is that I didn't like the music. Something to me about McCarthy's writing just does not require music - the Coen brothers seem to have sensed this when they put basically no music in No Country for Old Men. Fortunately, this movie only uses music sparingly, but when it does, it is noticeable, redundant and distracting. Overall, though, this is a great adaptation of a play by one of the best writers in America. And it has a great Samuel L. Jackson performance. So there.
This review of The Sunset Limited (2011) was written by Kenneth L on 12 Mar 2011.
The Sunset Limited has generally received very positive reviews.
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