I think about this all the time, cause I don't know what I would have said to my crazy uncle at 16 about ditching school.
shareimagine if she said the wrong thing then found out a cop was killed because of it. Hard thing for a kid to live with.
shareNo kidding... to say Jake got lucky there would be the biggest understatement ever. If Letty had lied in any way, Jake would’ve been a goner for sure.
That whole sequence with Jake and Smiley’s gang is one of the most tension-filled in film.
Well she did lie at first then told the truth.
shareYes, Jake's survival was meant to be a freak occurrence
He just randomly sees two crackheads raping a girl, even when he's in high and inside of a moving vehicle. The girl happens to leave behind her wallet, which Jake picks up. The girl happens to be the cousin of the gang leader who is hired to kill him. The gangbangers happen to check Jake's pockets before killing him. Smiley happens to have enough honor to not kill the dude who saved his cousin
All of it was meant to show that Alonso's plan would've worked 99/100 times. Jake got lucky
Speaking of saying things . . . I found it slightly odd that Jake didn't say anything until after they found the girl's wallet on his person.
It was only then he started pleading and pointing out that he had a child, etc.
Didn't it occur to him what they planned to do when they dragged him to, then put him in, the tub?
It wouldn’t have made any difference and he knew that. The only reason he brought up his own kid was to piggy back off of his recent discovery that he saved his would he killer’s kid cousin from certain rape and possible death.
shareYeah, I think so too. That's why it's only "slightly" odd to me.
But I guess it depends on how the scene strikes me each time I watch the film, what mood I'm in, energy level, etc.
Because if you're Jake and get slapped, then grabbed by the hair and arms and dragged to the bathroom and hear along the way things like "Get him in the bathtub . . Gotta F this vato up . . . It's gonna be loud - close the door (all while with a gun pointed at you)"
I don't know if you can wait for a better opportunity to plead your case. Whether you think it will do any good or not.
Set aside the luck of the girl being truthful. The luck actually began when one of the characters says "wait -- let me get his wallet." It was only then that the girl's wallet was found, etc.
If you're Jake, are you really waiting for someone to ask for your wallet before thinking of your little girl?
All the same, I agree, someone in his position would rightfully assume he was a goner. So why go out begging? My original point is that he DID start begging. And if he was going to start begging. Why wait until he was in the tub?
The whole scene was intense and captivating though. I'll give it that.
He didn't start begging until he knew he had a chance to survive. And THAT only happened after they found Letty's wallet.
Way I see it, Jake knew he was a dead man once he saw Alonzo had left him there. No point begging when he knew he had no chance, might as well go out fighting.
But when Letty's wallet made Smiley pause, THAT's when Jake figured he actually had a chance