He did kill Maretto but, still, he was so manipulated and led to believe in a romance that never existed that it's just heartbreaking to see him go down for it.
I'm a Stone Age Romeo got my Space Age Juliet we'll take Guitars to Mars and hit the discotheque
I agree.Jimmy was a pathetic and kinda targic caracter.Same thing with Lydia.Russell is the only one who was a little bit smarter :he killed to have Susanne's money+CDs whereas Jimmy and Lydia(well not exactly) did it because they looked up or more like admired and worshiped her.
Lydia is the only one who didn't go in jail,though.
My heart breaks for that character. He has been so manipulated. He is a neglected, dumb kid who has never had any love. Now he thinks he is loved, thinks he is special -- and thinks he is defending the woman he loves against an abusive husband.
Suzanne stole his life. I feel so bad for him -- she did practically the same thing to her husband, really. Clearly, he had a better family and better chances, but she destroyed him just the same.
Pathetic Yes, but I don’t feel bad for Joaquin Phoenix's character. In fact, of the 3 characters (Lydia. Russell and Jimmy) Jimmy was the luckiest character because he gets to do Suzanne over and over again!
Jimmy is not stupid. He knew what he is going is wrong. He knew he would end up in jail. He did it because he cannot resist Suzanne. He surely didn’t believe Suzanne would really love her. He just wants her so badly. He knows Suzanne was only manipulating him. Suzanne said if he is not willing to do it, she will find someone who will, and she said Russell. Jimmy can’t let Russell have her.
So, it was more like a “you do something for me, and I’ll do something for you”. Jimmy really shouldn’t betray Suzanne want he ends up in jail. He was doing it willingly.
Jimmy was being manipulated by Suzanne. He was in love and easily led. Not the brightest bulb. The fact that a beautiful woman wanted him was extremely flattering. He was willing to do anything to keep the relationship.
He didn't think of the depth of the consequences. He even allowed himself to think he was rescuing her from an abusive husband.
His little head was doing the thinking.
"a malcontent who knows how to spell"
His "little head" that phrase cracked me up.
As Mr and Mrs Potato Head says "I'm far as I'm concerned you're all just common
tators!!!
I didn't feel for him at all. He knew killing someone was wrong but he did it anyway. The fact that he was a clueless hick doesn't make me feel sorry for him. When he's in prison he's still pining for her, thinking about the teacher who set him up.
At least he got to enjoy some awesome sex for a while. Nicole Kidman looked really good in this movie!
Actually, Jimmy is profoundly stupid. The other characters comment on it. I don't know why you think he knows Suzanne is manipulating him. He doesn't know that at all. He truly believes she is an abused wife and that he has to rescue her. Remember his surprise that her husband seemed like a nice guy -- that's because he believed Suzanne. And he really thinks Suzanne loves him, just as Lydia really thinks they are friends. Suzanne is a total narcissistic, sociopathic PRO and she broke both those kids' hearts. Jimmy is SO stupid -- remember when he says he got "life plus twenty years -- if I live that long" or something like that. Oh, I just cringe at his stupidity and how awful it is to see him manipulated by that horrible Suzanne.
sharedefinitely agree with not feeling bad for Jimmy because he gets his fantasy woman in his mind forever
but on the other hand I feel for Jimmy, the manipulation and betrayal he and Liddy experienced would have been tough for anyone to deal with
definitely agree with not feeling bad for Jimmy because he gets his fantasy woman in his mind forever
but on the other hand I feel for Jimmy, the manipulation and betrayal he and Liddy experienced would have been tough for anyone to deal with
I did sympathize but didn't feel bad for him though.
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I thought it was heartbreaking. He was a naive, dumb, needy kid and an adult manipulated him and used him. He really had no way to see her in perspective. He wanted to believe that she really planned to take him with her in her career because she was so in love with his body and his sexual prowess. Come on, the guy's a teenager! Everything is about sex to a teenager but they actually drape it all in feelings and seniment. They have their hearts broken over and over again!
Sheesh, how does anyone make it through the teen years, I wonder sometimes. It gets a lot better, a LOT better, when you're older.
I am simply amazed at Joaquin Phoenix' acting - he really is brilliant. This was a great role, probably one of his first.
As a parent, my heart went out to him. Then, to watch his mother cry as he was being taken away by the police, well, that was worse.
yup, I'm with mathmaniac
shareI felt exactly as you did. As a teacher, my heart ached for him. I wanted to kill Suzanne for what she did to him and Lydia. And Joaquin was truly brilliant in this role.
shareI felt sorry for him because he honestly believed he was saving a good woman who loved him from her monstrous husband who was destroying her life.
shareYou're kidding me? You really believed he thought that? Hmmm, to each their own I guess, but I thought it was more a convenient delusion on Jimmy’s part. I always got the impression he would’ve killed Larry whether he thought Suzanne was being beaten or not.
"Stick with me baby, and you'll be fartin' thru silk!"
I wonder where his attorney was when he was being questioned.
Even if he was being tried as an adult, his parents would still be his guardians. He would not be able to waive an attorney without some advice and consent.
He pulled the trigger, which would bring the heaviest punishment, but he still has the right to counsel.
That's a flaw in the story.
"a malcontent who knows how to spell"
He was surprised that Larry didn't get angry as he thought he was an angry, violent man. Why would they put a scene of Suzanne pretending he was violent in if it wasn't supposed to be part of the reason Jimmy killed him?
shareRight. He felt justified because he thought he was protecting Suzanne. Then, he realized, too late, that he was wrong.
"a malcontent who knows how to spell"
Why did you think that? I mean, what in the film made you think that? I felt quite the opposite. First of all, Suzanne is a master manipulator and she knows that Jimmy needs a reason to kill Larry. She wouldn't have made up that story if she didn't have to. And he believed it -- totally. He gets so upset when she tells him that she is "abused." And he is stunned to see Larry is a nice guy -- it's too much for his limited intelligence. He doesn't get it. What reasons in the film can you point to that say Jimmy would have killed Larry anyway? I can't think of any. Clearly, he had to be manipulated into it. All that is in the script for a reason -- it helps characterize Jimmy as someone who wants to rescue Suzanne -- as someone who was not a killer, who had to be pushed into it. Remember how reluctant he was? Suzanne had to stop in the middle of fellatio to push him into committing murder. He was definitely characterized as someone who didn't want to commit murder.
shareI just can't feel sorry for a totally unthinking asswipe. Logic over feeling, please.
shareSomewhat I did but he was so slow.
sharei agree with the OP and mathmaniac and the others who pity him. he was completely overmatched by suzanne, just a lost young dumb hormonal deluded little pawn she led around by his (nose). watch the scene where he kills dillon. she's on the tv and he really doesnt want kill this guy, and is starting to realize he's just some nice guy, not the monster suzanne describes him has. but he keeps looking over at the tv as her face gets bigger and bigger, til finally its just her eyes - this was cleary not the way the actual newscast was shot, but the way his obsession with her dominated his thoughts.
his friend keeps telling him to do it, to shoot the husband, and finally he says quietly, in agony "god forgive me" and shoots. he never had a chance. heartbreaking stuff. love this movie.
dont get me wrong, there was something very weird and disturbed about him, but phoenix does a great job of playing both sides of the character - the disturbed murderer and the lost confused horny young teen who knows what he's doing is wrong and doesnt want to do it, but cant help himself because he has become obsessed with suzanne and her power over him to please or withold pleasure, blocking out everything else.
shareI was all set to feel sorry for him, too, and then I read your post. You're right. I know people like this. It's wearying trying to maintain empathy for people with so much capacity for self-delusion.
shareAt first i felt pity for him. But the scene where he decides to go through with it, is when Suzanne threatens to cut off the sex and offer it to Russell instead. This indicates he was driven more by sex and jealousy rather than love. That's where my pity stops. That and when he's in jail and is talking about how he can't watch a weather forecast without j*rking off. (not a lot of remorse there!)
shareThe thing that I found really heartbreaking was at the end when he was confessing to the cops and told them that she was leading him to believe he could be a sportscaster because of his voice. A lot of guys get manipulated by women through sex. But for her to pick an obvious weakness of his (his wobbly voice) and tell him he could make a good career out of it seemed like a cruel joke.
shareYeah, him a sportscaster was a sick joke. He got led around by his penis (have to admit Kidman would have tempted a lot of guys) & went through with a murder. Is he a sad & pathetic figure ? yes. feel sorry for him? No way.
shareIt breaks my heart how Jimmy was taken advantage of at such a vulnerable, young age. This is one of my favorite Joaquin Phoenix roles, and he was so young, too. His acting has gotten even better over the years, but this role is timeless. He was great.
Is the real Jimmy still in prison?
I think this is the episode of Three's Company where there is some kind of misunderstanding.
Yep, Billy Flynn got 28 to life. Up for parole in 2015.
shareI think Jimmy was supposed to have Learning Disabiolity and in his innocence he still saw Suzanne as a sweet, innocent woman and wanted her. The real Billy Flynn didn't have a Learning Disability so I feel less sorry for him, but at least he does seem to have turned his life around and expressed regret.
shareI felt super sorry for Jimmy. The deck was so stacked against him. Number one, he was a kid, not fully grown to handle emotions yet. On top of that he was a teenager boy with raging hormones. Add to that a low intelligence and god knows what kind of guidance in his life. He was such an easy target. Suzanne killed Larry and destroyed a child's life.
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