That's understandable if you had no emotional connection to the characters. But still, the movie had a lot to say. Sort of the naive optimism of young Joe Buck trying to make a name for himself on his own. The thin veneer of civilized society and how rather empty and meaningless it is for the people on the streets. One of the themes is to not judge a book by its cover (a timeless one). Ratso Rizzo is originally seen by Joe as a scheming, Jerk who's in it for himself, but is gradually revealed to be a sad, loveable guy dying of TB and living by himself in an abandoned building. Meanwhile, Joe's clients are seen as rich and successful at first, but turn out to be just a bunch of lonely, depressed shells inhabiting the city and willing to pay for cheap tricks. I guess the irony is that is what waits for you at the end of that life, and one of the character's recites this existential dilemma to Joe, "Isn't this all just taking advantage of lonely people?"
To be a hustler, there was clearly only darkness at the end of that path, and it was the "Miserable creature" Ratso that managed to save Joe from self-destruction. And Joe becomes a loving person to Ratso in his final hours. They both end up saving each other, and the sad part is that now Joe is back where he started, albeit in Florida and with a new lease on life. And so the question remains will he find happiness? The film is a grand analysis of the "American Dream", the shallowness of high society, and a realistic portrait of poverty and homelessness, in the same vein as a Steinbeck novel like "Of Mice and Men" or "Grapes of Wrath". But most of all, it is about the true value, the realism, of friendship.
~ There is nothing more pathetic than an aging hipster.
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koko-10
10 years ago
Excellent analysis!
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue.
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