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I didn't get the moral compass in this movie...*SPOILERS*


So Cochran comes to Mexico, gets wined and dined, acts like an arrogant jerk, has sex with his wealthy drug-dealer friend's wife, and then later goes on a quest to kill his associates and find the girl, and we are supposed to feel sorry for him?

I get that they fell in love and all that, and I understand that the drug dealer wasn't a great guy, but I found it pretty hard to feel sorry for Cochran. Maybe the wife more since it was an arranged marriage and she was with a much older man (and they hint that the two of them fight a lot) stuck in a life she didn't want or choose, but Cochran was basically a bad friend and a jerk. What was the audience supposed to think? I mean clearly the way the drug dealer acted and the punishment was severe and was beyond the pale of a reasonable person, but he was a drug lord so we kind of expected that. None of the dealer's actions were justified because they were so extreme, but I also found it really hard to feel sorry for Cochran for what happened to him because he basically screwed over a friend. To me, even if a friend is shady, if he's good to me I'm not going be disloyal, and ESPECIALLY NOT by fooling around with the guy's wife.

Did anyone else find this a bit weird? I know this was adapted by a book so I can only imagine the book spelled things out better, but I just didn't get the moral compass in this one. Cochran wasn't an anti-hero but he wasn't a hero either, so I found it hard to relate to him and his plight.

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People in love - that's what it's about.
Love wins over anything else at times.
I think Jay didn't want to fall in love with Miryea- but I did feel compassion for him whereas Tibeys actions were far over the top!!
I don't think theres a moral compass in films like this- the novella is great but major differences to the film and very moving.

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The other reason I felt sorry for the wife in this, because she did say she loved Tibey when she was young and impressionable, was that he wouldn't let her have children because it might "ruin her figure". And he had a mistress, but she was just supposed to be ok with that. So she married this guy that she idolized, he turns out to be a drug lord and master of organized crime, keeps a mistress, and won't let her have children. Then this handsome, fun loving guy comes along, who isn't intimidated by Tibey-- what she did wasn't cool, but I felt bad for her.

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I agree OP.

I liked this movie, especially the first half, but Cochran was kind of a dick. Sure, his friend's pals weren't the savory type, but he could have handled things in a less arrogant way, and he could have skipped the part where he shags his friend's wife LOL.

For as good as the second half of the movie is, I actually preferred the first half before the cheating happens, because the movie has a very nice flow to it, and great pacing and some fun moments too. After the cheating and the boss finds out, it's still a good movie, but a real downer.

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Totally agree.

The first half was great and had awesome pacing, but the second half then felt like a different film. It seemed like it changed genres (or sub-genres if you will) halfway through.

Still a good film, but could've been much better IMO.

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Basically it comes down to this:

Is Tibbey wrong for:

wanting to ruin his wife (do extreme physical harm to her)?

and

kill someone who seemed to be his friend (Jay)?

because they had a physical attraction to each other?

Should Tibbey be surprised that his much younger very attractive wife was interested in a guy much closer to her age?

I'm not saying it's okay for her to do what she did but given how he's basically got her under this thumb what are her options?


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You’re an IDIOT. Moral compass??? Hollywood doesn’t owe you anything, get over it. It was a movie about flawed characters making decisions. This shit happens in real life. Are you still breastfeeding?

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Pretty much have to agree with EZrider well said

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Yeah I do also. These posters have no realities in their pea brain heads

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it was not an arranged marriage,
she was in love with TB when they first married, despite the age difference

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My thoughts were, play fucked up games, win fucked up prizes. They both did. And even though she mentioned arranged marriages, she also said that she married him because she loved him. But yeah, the guy was like a father figure to him and for him to betray him that easily makes it hard to feel sorry for him. He's a fucking hot stud that can have any pussy he wanted. And at first he was treating her like a whore and so she turned around and smacked him, then that's where the, ehem, feelings started. But still, for the first few minutes it just seemed like another piece of ass for him. Ass that he can get from anywhere, anytime, any day of the week. Pretty fucked up that you got to take it from the guy that treats you like a son. And although I was glad that he survived and I wanted him to seek revenge and find her, but, because I thought that they were both fucked up to begin with for doing what they did, I didn't shed a tear at the end whereas normally I would have cried like a baby.

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