MovieChat Forums > A Walk on the Moon (1999) Discussion > Walker Jerome

Walker Jerome

posted 9 years ago by gioconda
2 replies | jump to latest

Most of the comments focus on Diane Lane's character Pearl & her dilemma of getting married so young due to her pregnancy with her beloved child. The main focal point of this movie is that Pearl has an affair with the "blouse man" due to her early mid-life crisis & the consequences thereof to her marriage & relationship w/adolescent daughter...etc etc

Nobody seems to have much sympathy for the character of Walker Jerome who is played very soulfully by Viggo Mortensen. This guy has nothing much going for him. There is very little back story so we have to guess where he came from. Was Pearl the first woman he fell in love with? After all, most of the women he sold blouses to were married or much older than him. He wanted to travel the world & he had hopes & dreams too. Maybe he envied Pearl & her cozy family life. Maybe not. Yeah -- he seduced a woman whom he knew was married. But he asked her if she wanted him to stop kissing her...he was not being aggressive or forceful. After all, Pearl called him & invited him to meet her to watch the moon walk...not vice versa. Walker was lonely too. I really cannot hate his character for wanting to connect to another person, particularly a warm, beautiful woman who seemed to be reaching out to him in her own confusion about the stagnation of her life. The Woodstock Festival was a reminder that in the 60's people were being encouraged to try "free love" and to break the rules of society that constricted people. It seems both Pearl & Walker want to break out of their hum drum lives and taste some exotic flavors & get a bit wild...& fate threw them together in the back of a funky RV and in the path of a wild hippie festival full of intoxicating drugs, mesmerizing music & a mass societal rebellion.

After all, does anyone think Pearl's dream was to have night of passion in the back of a rickety trailer full of second hand, thrift store blouses with a semi-broke peddler/drifter who drove around selling used clothing? Not exactly every woman's dream. Because Walker was played by the handsome Viggo, he gave the character a bit more appeal, but the truth is, Walker Jerome was not exactly a catch by any stretch of the imagination...and he knows he is not a romantic fantasy. Just a lonely drifter who does not know where he going in life, but looking for love & joy like everybody else.

[–] JediMasterCheryl 8 years ago

You hit the nail on the head with what made me really love this film. Even his name was off-kilter and, although he was handsome, he was no catch no matter how much of a free spirit he was. Pearl wanted a sense of freedom after being 'tied down' to Marty but don't we all see the grass as greener to some extent?
This film actually made me weep for lost opportunities in life for all of us who love and dream.

[–] uppertray 7 years ago

There are scripts of deleted scenes on the internet that tell Walker’s backstory and support some of your thoughts about Mr. Jerome. http://www.viggo-works.com/?page=1663. They also change the context of the story and the order of a few scenes.

After Pearl stops Marty's backseat advances she reunites with Walker, and their affair continues for several weeks until Woodstock. (how does Lillian allow this to go on so long?) Walker is casually indifferent about Pearl’s marriage and family. Pearl becomes an ardent pot smoker and has stoned, adolescent dates with Walker. Walker listens to Pearl’s life stories and her problems with Marty, but he’s a closed book about his life. Pearl is leaving soon and he may be guarding his heart.

The summer is ending and Pearl doesn’t want to end the affair, and even though Pearl knows nothing about Walker, she asks him to commit to her before she’ll leave Marty. Walker accepts and they agree to make a plan after Woodstock. Walker tells Pearl he loves her. Pearl doesn’t respond.

Marty discovers Pearl’s cheating and disavows her. She visits Walker, who is living in his childhood homewith his mother. Walker’s mother is in a near-comatose depression after Walker’s brother was killed in Viet Nam and she barely acknowledges Pearl. (how did this woman survive while Walker was at Woodstock?) Walker and Pearl go to Walker’s childhood bedroom.

Pearl begins to see what her life would be like with Walker and realizes the fantasy is over. Pearl would share Walker’s bedroom in this sad house, and live with yet another mother-in-law. How would she feed her kids? Does Walker make a living when the bungalow camps close? Does he live on unemployment in the off season?

Walker wants to take Pearl to California right away. He offers to take her kids, but it’s a token offer and Walker is clueless about the childrens needs. Walker wants to take the kids from Marty without saying goodbye, have them miss the first months of school, sleep on piles of blouses on the bus and listen to Walker and Pearl make love a few feet away. Alison could smoke dope with Walker and her Mom (if she doesn’t run away at the first stop). If Pearl’s going, she’s going without her kids and not see them for a long time. Sometimes being free means not giving a rip about anyone but yourself.

Pearl goes to Walker’s house to say goodbye, Walker says he loves Pearl. She says she loves Marty and her children (Lillian never gets the love). Pearl asked for Walker’s commitment and he just confessed he loved Pearl, but instead of having compassion and empathy for how hurt Walker may be, Pearl’s thoughts immediately turn to herself. She asks him, “did I make a fool of myself”? Walker asks Pearl how she felt and she responds, “I felt beautiful”.

Marty is hurt and feels inadequate compared to the handsome Walker, Alison may need counseling after seeing her mother tripping on acid, topless and in the arms of her lover, Lillian lost trust in her, Danny will learn what a whore is, she’ll be the subject of gossip at the camp, wives won’t leave their husbands alone with her. Everyone that ever cared for Pearl gets hurt in the end — including Walker.