I hadn't realized this conversation had continued...
Umm, yes it did fail, FOR ME. You can like it, but you need to accept that others can dislike it and not be "wrong". I didn't say the main character was unrealistic, just that I disliked him so much I wanted to see him mowed down by the truck.
What would this "tough guy" have done different? Well, for starters, I would have mentioned to the waitress that I needed ketchup in a voice that was audible.
Beyond that, walking out to the truck sitting in front of the diner and cutting the brake line would have occurred to me. Of course, then again, I could walk over to the pay phone in the restaurant, dial "911", say, "There's this guy in a truck who's chased me down the hill and is waiting for me outside" and waited for an officer or two to arrive. Fast forward a bit to the scene of stand-off on the road where the truck just waits for me but won't let me get closer...seeing as how we are alone, safe from the possibility of hurting innocents, and yes indeed---I always have a concealed weapon with me (sorry, I know that must be deeply upsetting to some of you)--I'd start pumping a few rounds into those nice, big ol' truck tires. I want to see that big rig catch me with the rear quarter flat.
But then, that's me: born into a family of soldiers and firefighters who frowned on whining and panicking, and then grew up to be a soldier myself, I'm afraid that you're correct in that I really can't identify with this main character. Perhaps the reason so many people today are repelled by testicular fortitude is that they don't identify with it. Maybe? :)
And hey, by the way, in my own little non-wuss version of this story, I might end up in a mano-a-mano fight with the trucker and TOTALLY get my ass kicked; it's certainly been kicked before. No illusions about being the toughest guy on earth...just tougher than the guy in "Duel". ;)
**Edited for replacing the wrong "too" with the correct "to" which is a pet peeve of mine and I can't believe I messed up.
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klondike99
9 years ago
After that arrogant jack ass spelled out R-Y-E to the waitress, she should have spelled out *beep* O-F-F and slapped his whiney face red.
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chocchipbookie
9 years ago
"Perhaps the reason so many people today are repelled by testicular fortitude is that they don't identify with it. Maybe? :)"
That's the funny thing about people who say things like this. You/they don't realize that it's not some issue of "manly men against the world which increasingly hates them because they'll never be as manly." Sometimes people just disagree with you. Or they get tired of you launching into why a movie character should be more like you, and unnecessarily defending your opinion by throwing in irrelevant details about what a manly man you were raised to be. Or even see the artistic direction in making a character markedly wussy.
In short: it's ok, dude, nobody's out to get manly men, don't be so easily offended.
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t1mpani
9 years ago
I wasn't offended, I just wasn't entertained; others were offended by my lack of relation to a character they liked, and vented. As to the "irrelevancy" of my manly raising stories, it was in response to the "what would you do, tough guy?" question, which was both a question and an insinuation that my self-assessment was delusional. As you seem to suffer from some difficulties in reading comprehension, I'll reiterate the salient point---experience has taught me that I'm far from invincible, but I cannot relate to a completely feckless main character, and thus had trouble being interested in him. Actually, it's rather similar to the lack of interest a modern, educated, working woman has in the age old portrayals of very pretty, very dumb, very helpless damsels in distress. But none of that stops YOU from enjoying this movie, so I'll hope a remastered, 4K version of it comes out for you. :)
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