Very disappointed with this. Ripped the guts out of the brilliant Joe R Lansdale book. Hardly any of Joe's brilliant dialogue and some baffling plot changes.
Gutted. Was really looking forward to this.
"Perhaps he's wondering why someone would SHOOT a man before throwing him out of a plane"
Haven't read the novel. Can you articulate on some of the major differences between the book and the film? Is the identity of the intruder explained in the book? Or is it similar to the movie in that he is just an (otherwise meaningless) plot device to kick off and drive the story?
shareIn the novel i'm pretty sure the intruder is named at the end but it's not that important to the actual plot.
When Russel hides in Dane's house he actually does intend to kill the kid, but after a violent struggle between Dane and him he can't go through with it. And is knocked out by Dane's wife who smashes a lamp over his head.
Dane finds a passport photo on the floor of his kids bedroom after the police have taken Russel away. On the back is written 'Freddy'. Dane believes it must have fallen out of Russels wallet, and it must be Russel's son. But the picture isn't of the the man he shot.
Much to Danes wife's disgust he droppes the charges against Russel because he believes the police are up to something and books him into a motel so they can start an investigation.
Once Jim bob turns up Dane's wife also helps with the investigating and they are all there when they dig up the intruders body. They are attacked by unknown assailants at the graveyard, but come out on top.
From then the film follows the books plot quite closely but so much of Lansdale's dialogue is missing, and believe me, his dialogue is so good and very funny. Some of Jim Bob's lines are brilliant and he is one of Lansdale's best ever characters (He turns up in quite a few of joe's books) but in the film he's just a shadow of the character. Such a shame.
The book is all written in the third person, from Dane's point of view and a lot of his motivations are lost in the film. The only way to get around that is to have a voiceover.
I really do recommend reading the novel, so you can sample just how good a writer lansdale is. He was doing cool dialogue way before Tarantino came on the scene.
Believe me, when you've read one of his books you'll want more!
"Perhaps he's wondering why someone would SHOOT a man before throwing him out of a plane"
Great write-up. Thanks. I'm definitely game to check out some of Lansdale's books, especially as I've read that he and Damici are adapting Hap & Leonard as a series (for either IFC or Sundance, I forget which). I'm so very far behind on my reading, though... we'll see.
I see that there is a follow-up book called "Hot in December" but it only tangentially involves 1-2 of the characters from Cold in July. Have you read it?
Not read that yet, no, but definitely on my list!
I'd recommend Savage Season (the first in the Hap & Leonard series) as well as Cold In July and The Magic Wagon to get you started.
If you like Savage Season then there are several other Hap & Leonard books. My own personal favourite is The Two Bear Mambo.
Lansdale also has some brilliant and strange short story collections and a really weird tale called The Drive In. There's also a sequel to that!
But basically he has a wealth of stuff to delve into, and it's all good!
Lansdale often converses with his fans on Facebook and is a very friendly guy. I was lucky enough to meet him once. If your on the same wavelength as his writing then you will become addicted to his stuff.
"Perhaps he's wondering why someone would SHOOT a man before throwing him out of a plane"
So you mean that the lame plot about an ordinary frame worker gets to tag along some old school hardcore mercinaries on a revenge killing spree and he is okey with that? no problem killing people in a *beep* english mansion some lowlife got their hands on? how thats even possbile? and you mean that they find a random video tape cause there is a random accident with a car backin up into their car and you mean that the cops can actually bring out arrested people the back way and no one will notice or asking questions where the suspect went?
The movie is so *beep* lame in the story but if its true to the book then I will never read anything from this lame writer...
~If the realistic details fails, the movie fails~