MovieChat Forums > Night Falls on Manhattan (1997) Discussion > why was jordan throwing money at people?

why was jordan throwing money at people?

posted 12 years ago by polysicsarebest
4 replies | jump to latest

Something I never understood... after Jordan blasts the door with his gun, he runs around to get away with his bag of money.. though there are countless scenes where he throws the money at people or scatters the money in an apartment somewhere.. what is the significance of this? Was the bag heavy -- maybe overfilled with cash -- and he was just trying to lighten his load? I find that theory hard to believe since he is such a big dude.

Anyway, I could overlook this if it was just him throwing money at the hooker but then the film specifically shows him throwing the cash at the dudes in the apartment he breaks into.

-
Shuji Terayama forever.

[–] pioflife 11 years ago

Presumably so the witnesses would say they hadn't seen him.

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

[–] Prismark10 11 years ago

It was hush money.

Its that man again!!

[–] mazlowe 11 years ago

Its that man again!!

What is your signature from?

[–] london777 9 years ago

To survive so long within a relatively restricted (though densely populated) area he would have needed more than corrupt cops turning a blind eye. He would have needed the acquiescence (or at least neutrality) of the local populace. He may even have posed as a "Robin Hood" figure as did Frank Lucas (Denzil Washington) in American Gangster (2007) and as have many real-life gangsters (and war criminals) all over the world who hide in plain sight within their own people.

A few dollars would have been enough to compensate destitute people and avoid pissing them off enough to assist the police.

The DA was anxious to avoid the case turning into a black/white confrontation (a la O J Simpson). Garcia seems aware of potential hostility from the two black older jurors when he first addresses the jury. Very subtle film-making by Lumet covers that ever-present issue without (hopefully) inciting the usual *beep* on IMDb.