Firstly, Yes I know this is an old post on an old thread but, I read this particular post and really just wanted to say a few things and secondly, yes THIS WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS!
"The little girl is way too childish, and doesn't seem affected by the fact her dad just killed her mum and two little brothers, and seems to think praying will make everything work out, which is really stupid for a nine year old girl. I mean sure you can make such a character but I guess it would have to be someone somehow obsessed with religion, or maybe with a religious upbringing at least, or maybe something different. But you would need some sort of motivation! There is no such motivation in the film. She just does it. "
The little girl has just witnessed her father murder her mother and two brothers before attempting to turn his gun on her too - she's not unaffected by this by any means. She's suffering her own kind of PTSD and her way of dealing with what she has witnessed is to block it out. When they are hiding in the abandoned cabin and the police turn up she prays they'll go away, when they do she starts to believe god 'made it happen', something that is, in her mind, further supported when she prays again to have the car start. What she witnessed, what she's gone through is her motivation and that is pretty well established from the get-go.
"And why does the main character kill the two kids? I mean he killed his wife in cold blood. He found the money, and he waited all night with a gun until she wakes up. Then he kills her. Ok, that's very reasonable, motivated and believable. But then he leaves and seems to kill the two kids in a spur of the moment sort of thing."
There's no 'spur of the moment' to it. Jerry is suffering already, when the betrayal of everyone around him finally pushes him to breaking point he snaps - he has no intention of walking away from that trailer with any survivors. I can't quite wrap my head around anyone actually coming to the conclusion that it was 'spur of the moment' with regards to killing the children. He picks up his gun and he shoots his wife, he stands up and walks out of the trailer and without even a pause he shoots the two boys before turning to his daughter. It's very deliberate, not just in the 'storyline' but in the actual on-screen portrayal. There's no panic, no flapping around, no doubling back. How you can view it as anything but is beyond me.
"And he's an Irak soldier. So what, I mean why is that relevant? Does he remember anything from that time in his life? How does this add to the character?"
This is where I really can't understand what on earth you've been watching. I mean, I assume you HAVE actually seen this movie? The relevance is because he's come back from Iraq, like many soldiers, broken
and suffering at the very least with PTSD because of the things he's witnessed and the things he's done.
The fact that he recounts the entire episode of what happened in Fallujah that lead to his dismissal and why, to Max in the car shows alone that yes, CLEARLY, he remembers. The fact that once upon a time he was a proud soldier, doing what he felt was right for his country slowly turns into him being kicked out, branded no better than a murderer and left to rot in the hell of his own memories shows what this adds to his character. Do you really think anyone ever forgets the horrors they've seen over there or in any other combat zone?
Jerry thinks that he's doing the right thing because, as he says, he's a good soldier and he's been told they're wiping out a huge number of insurgents only to find out after the fact that all they've done is kill hundreds of innocent old men, women and children and when him and his squadron refuse to put bullets in anyone still alive they're scapegoated for the 'mistake'. In every news report on the murder of his family it's talked about how he was discharged for being a part of a squadron that did such a thing, even without murdering his family he still has everyone looking at him like he's the lowest of the low, all because he just followed orders.
His anger, his bitterness, his pain are all motivating factors for his actions alongside the psychological issues he returned with and it utterly blows my mind that anyone can question it's relevance or say the characters are unmotivated.
It doesn't matter whether or not you LIKE the movie, but come on, really?!
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