James was the sleepwalker, so it is odd - Sleepwalking (2008) Discussion

[–] sackmaster_81 15 years ago

Well there was definite jail time waiting for him... but after all the facts were presented to a jury, he wouldn't have served very much I don't think. I honestly do not really know why he ran man.

"You've Got to Keep Your Mind Wide Open" - AnnaSophia Robb

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[–] bruce-129 15 years ago

It kind of goes along with him just not being very smart or having good judgement.
it is sadder that he cannot understand or know what do, even when he thinks he has
woken up from sleepwalking, he has been indellibly marred by this abusive father's
evil.

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[–] ATCHknight 15 years ago

Well, I thought of it differntly. And I doubt that what I thought is right but anyway. I think of it as him starting over. He is not wanting to go to jail because it would do him no good. If he just starts over and forgets the bad stuff that happened to him, he will be happy. So it does seem like he solved his issues of being abused. He is moving on.

N~M~N
#255
+I used to be ATCH-knight+

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[–] bruce-129 15 years ago

I think that is a valid point of view - for him to take off and start again. Maybe that's even
what the movie intended to portray. Realistically, with today's technology, that is pretty
improbably, at least that it would last very long, and certainly not forever. But it has been
done.

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[–] sackmaster_81 15 years ago

And being a fugitive he would always have to be on the lookout for cops unless he really didn't care if he got caught... maybe he just ran for the sake of doing it.If I were him I would have taken my chances. If he's found innocent, then his conscious can be totally clear now being rid of his father.. unless he just felt so guilty for doing it.

"You've Got to Keep Your Mind Wide Open" - AnnaSophia Robb

myspace.com/original916

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[–] bruce-129 15 years ago

yeah ... james was not so smart that he could exist as a fugitive for very long.
i imagine the intent was that he went off into romantic anonimity, but the reality
would not agree. one wonders what would ever become of him. either he survives
long enough to grow up, or he gets caught or sent to prison and becomes
defined by those stronger than him.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] sackmaster_81 15 years ago

You do know that's Bruce Wayne right?

"You've Got to Keep Your Mind Wide Open" - AnnaSophia Robb

myspace.com/original916

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[–] SBL84 15 years ago

I saw it more as throughout his life he had been just going along with whatever people told him to do. Never trying to better himself. This was his "sleepwalking." He was never in control of his life, listening to what his father told him to do, taking all of that abuse, not going to school, getting a job that doesn't even seem to pay his rent...

If he turned himself in, he would just be following directions again. Not taking control of his life. Sure, taking responsibilty for his actions would be honorable, but he'd still just be following orders like he always has. By taking off, he's taking control of his life for the first time. It may not be the best choice if he could beat the charges due to the circumstances, but it's his choice to make, and now that he's woken up he is free to make it.

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[–] bruce-129 15 years ago

Yeah, as I said there are a lot of valid points of view on this.

In movies we tend to compare people to what their characters do to
express themselves, so James running away making a statement about
James earns big points with the non-conformist crowd of moviegoers.

However, as a person he would only be getting himself into a much worse
situation with the law personally. I am not so sure that in real life that
equation would balance out the way it does in the movies.

What is control of your life for a short while when you could be facing
a murder rap, and jail time or execution in a redneck state?

Doesn't waking up mean you think about things like that ... even people
who go to the movies? ;-)

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[–] tudorslady 14 years ago

James's life is determined by the choices that he has made in his life. As Nick Stahl has stated in an interview for CinemaSource he has described his character as: "has kind of retreated from the world, you know in a way, and that's how he's kind of delt with his abusive past, is too, kind of retreat into a shell, and he's learned not to ask for things in life, you know, he has a very routine life, that's a real simple job. He gets up in the morning, goes to work, comes home, and doesn't have much of a social life, and he's sort of reclusive in some ways and that's how his past has affected him"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfDXQJAo9_k

^ Interview stating this quote

I think, with James fleeing from the cops, he is able to start anew. He can become the man that he has always wanted to become. And is not barred down with the abuse that has plaqued through out his life and has ultimately helped decide how he was to live his life. He is able to be more sociable, and friendly, and go make friends and be free. At least, that is how I see it. I really enjoyed the ending and I enjoyed the film.

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[–] Screen_Queen 13 years ago

I agree with you and SBL84. For the first time in a long time, if not ever, James was free. He was his own man, unbound by who he was or who he was supposed to be. In the end he was simply who he could be. And I think that was all he wanted from the start, just a chance to be somebody he wanted to be instead of having to bend to the rules society, his crappy life and his father had beat into him. Also I don't understand all the people who say he probably wouldn't have gotten that much jail time if he had turned himself in. Obviously we know it was self-defense, but how would the authorities know that? His father was old and unarmed, and James at the time had kidnapped Tara from social services. Furthermore I'm willing to bet everyone who knew his father never knew what a prick he was, so the police in that town would never have believed James. The way I see it, he didn't have much going for him in the way of a defence, even with help from the detective.

I only do it with superheroes.

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