MovieChat Forums > The Stepfather (1987) Discussion > Jim's whole journey was pointless

Jim's whole journey was pointless

posted 5 years ago by Mister Babadook (2623)
10 replies | jump to latest

He accomplishes nothing the entire movie, you'd think he was gonna kill Jerry, or at the very least provide a distraction to save Stephanie or the mom but he doesn't even do that. He arrives at the house and stands there like a dumb ass with his gun not even out despite knowing this is the house where he's at, and he gets killed.

The most you can say he did was provide a gun for the mom to shoot him but even then the gun shots isn't even what killed him it was Stephanie stabbing him in the chest with a knife.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

He was basically like Hallorann from The Shining. Comes all that way just to get hacked up. His main purpose is to momentarily distract the killer allowing the protagonist a short reprieve.

[–] Mister Babadook (2623) 5 years ago

Yeah i get the comparison but Jim got way more dialogue and screen time than Hallorann got during his journey, half the movie is cutting back to Jim showing him figuring things out and trying to get the law to help him, you get alot of sympathy built up for Jim. And its all just to give Stephanie time to get out of the shower?

On one hand i can respect the shock factor of it, but on the other hand it just kinda pisses me off how dumb and useless it made Jim after getting you to care about this character and root for him.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Yeah I agree, a lot of time invested for such an unceremonious death.

[–] Stratego (29246) 5 years ago

Yeah, it was. Although the newspaper article and his visit to the house did cause Stephanie and Susan to suspect Jerry. But his death should've been more meaningful.

[–] Mister Babadook (2623) 5 years ago

Thats true.

[–] Wuchak (8104) 5 years ago

Jim didn't get his gun out in time, that's all. He didn't realize that he just walked in on the psycho in the act of (trying to) kill the family.

As far as his swift death being pointless, it was a set-up for the viewer: You (and I) were expecting Jim to play a pivotal role in the last act due to his considerable screen time, but instead he is suddenly removed from the story altogether. It's sort of similar to Janet Leigh's role in "Psycho": She's a key part of the first act and yet she's unexpectedly killed in the second act. It serves to shock and disorient the viewer.

[–] TommyJarvis82 (2473) 4 years ago

Similar to "Rob" in Friday the 13th 4 and "Barney" in Sleepaway Camp 3.

[–] Wuchak (8104) 4 years ago

Except in the F13th movies you know beforehand that everyone's gonna die, except the 'final girl.'

[–] TimMC (9143) 4 years ago

He provided tension for the drama.

[–] HorrorMetal (833) 3 years ago

I always thought the exact same thing and I kind of wish there had been more of a struggle between him and Jerry. But, as others have already said, it was very likely just for the shock factor as no one was expecting him to get killed off so swiftly after all that build up. I think another reason his whole journey was included in the movie was to provide some backstory for the Jerry character.