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Talk about "something to notice" - did you see the rattle snake that was about to strike Tanner's leg just before he was shot? I think he heard the snake's movements and possibly mistook it for being further away as he looked around. Was this to tell us he going to be dead one way or another if he bullet hadn't hit him? The coiled snake was also an image in Jeremy Chalker's trailer on the "Don't Tread On Me" Gadsden flag (a symbol of revolution) over the bed where Tanner slept.
My impression was he only found out about the reverse mortgage after his mother died which set a ticking clock to the end of the month (the "she died 3 weeks ago" line to the ex-wife). His attorney clearly stated the money was given to the mother herself so her son wouldn't have had knowledge of it until she died. To get an investor, it would most likely take more than this time limit too - it doesn't happen that fast. You have to provide all kinds of proof of what you are saying is true - otherwise a person could end up investing with a JMACK scam style investment.
So either way there is a ticking clock and he had to make a decision and work fast. Robbing the banks also spoke to a self-reliance other than expecting a "bailout" a concept repeated numerous times in graffiti and other signs throughout the movie.
I think she was placed in the movie to give a taste of the deceased mother's personality. She was the perfect image of how the mother had been described.
The Hays Code dictated that a character couldn't "get away with it" - his insanity fulfilled that requirement.
There is a subliminal image in that scene that really adds to the creepiness factor of it. I like to think it is intentional - pretty sure it isn't. About 1 hour 39 minutes into the move when Chris is walking down the street a broken man (just evicted from the park bench). A man passes him briskly and there is what I call a "ghost puff" of smoke that seems to pass Chris and rush ahead of him - just then is when he sees Kitty's portrait. To me, it was almost like her spirit dogging his every move but this time she wanted to rush ahead to see him face on approach her portrait. You have to have a good quality screen and a good quality copy of the movie to see it.