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Don't Understand Noomi Rapace's Reaction to Bob's Deed [Spoilers]

posted 8 years ago by kevin-cheng5
7 replies | jump to latest

I adore this film, from its writing to its characters and cinematography but the part I don't understand/that takes me out of the movie is Nadia's reaction to Bob shooting Deeds in the bar. The whole time Bob was explaining his Richie story and after he shot Deeds she just looked completely apathetic and at one point, surprised that Bob even shot him (she says...you just *beep* shot him). Maybe its just me but I don't see how this can be surprising at all, on a logistics level and character level.

Bob works at a bar so its not entirely out of place to see him with a gun (i think of the bar scenes from Gone Baby Gone and Inglourious Bastards where the bar owners had guns for self defense). Secondly Bob acts out of self defense because both he and Nadia know Deeds has a gun (she literally tells him, he has a gun) and he was being robbed (Deeds telling him to open the safe at 2am, getting increasingly more impatient and thus, more dangerous). I don't necessarily understand the legal implications of Bob shooting Deeds the way he did but it felt justified.

Thirdly, Bob goes on a verbal tirade explaining how horrible a person Deeds was. And Deeds was horrible and abusive to Nadia. And even after all I would think Nadia had it in her mind that Deeds got what coming to him, this is the end of the nightmare of him ruining my life but instead she's like...you *beep* shot him?

I dunno, maybe I don't resonate with her on an emotional level. I tried to play devil's advocate and think that maybe she's just afraid/surprised at Bob for his act. But still, I thought he was entirely in his place to do what he did, regardless of the type of person the story shaped him out to be.

[–] CarpeDiemO_O 8 years ago

I just figured that she was in shock. She only knew Bob as a very reserved and sweet guy. So when he shot Deeds, she was totally caught off guard. I also think she was shocked by how easily it seemed to come to him. Nonetheless, I agree that it was pretty much self defense, and that Bob wasn't really in the wrong for killing him.

[–] Zach-Boardy 8 years ago

She saw Bob as this sensitive guy and when he just snapped and shot deeds in the face it was mostly shock because she was stunned that a person like Bob's character would murder someone (even though she knew it was in self defense) she just couldn't imagine him doing that hence why she said he is exactly the same as her ex (a thug). Don't forget she even said to him before that he's not a hard guy so why does he work at the bar...
The only thing I thought she was a little out of order was not letting Bob explain himself in more depth (even though he technically did when talking about deeds) before dismissing him. You saw after she left he was still trying to say something to convince her he's not like the others... Poor Bob

[–] radar303 8 years ago

The scene is powerful on many levels. Deeds is so icy for most of the film...that is his act and he does it to a chilling degree....like the scene when he breaks into Nadia's house...the "I'm here, no big deal". HOWEVER he is the one that is terrified when Bob starts his rant. Bob(at that time) showed a different "face" to Deeds and I think that Deeds finally got what Cousin Marv was talking about. "Don't mess with him" was his admonition.

Bob was way deeper than he showed. Nadia saw the icy cool that Deeds had....Bob was one dangerous dude. One of things that I feel is that Bob was up to lots of stuff. The detective whispering "They never see you coming, do they Bob" was not just about Whelan and Deeds. He was 'in the game' even though Bob denied that to Nadia. His relationship with the Chechens? They knew what Bob was and he may have worked for them. Where does he come up with 10 grand in cash? He calls and right away the Chechens come and clean up the murder? Bob..did he clue them in about what Marv was up to?

Nadia grew up in the wrong neighborhood. She was a cutter and was a wreck emotionally, but she hung with bad guys....and Bob was a BAD DUDE.

[–] radar303 8 years ago

[–] desmet1879 8 years ago

Bob certainly had it in him to do bad things, but he really did only do two: Richie Whelan and Deeds, and both under extreme circumstances. The detective's comment ("They never see you coming") was in reference to two guys disappearing under mysterious circumstances around Bob.
The Chechens owned the bar, so of course Bob had to call and tell them that there had been an attempted robbery and killing. And being bad dudes, the Chechens knew how to dispose of a body. They also already suspected Marv of being in on the first robbery.
As for Bob having ten grand in cash: maybe it wasn't entirely clear in the movie, but in the book he just lived a completely frugal life and never spent his money on anything but necessities. He was definitely not mixed up in any illegal activities.
As for Nadia's reaction to the shooting, she had only seen sweet, nice Bob and was totally in shock. (And had just had a guy blown away right in front of her).

[–] jwhite3321-847-64234 8 years ago

Everything is summed up with the detective comes back into the bar to talk with Bob.

"They never see you comin; do they Bob?

The way Bob has no issues with anyone made him more interesting. I loved that he calls out Marv before the night begins.

[–] jbaddock 8 years ago

Her reaction is perfectly understandable. She's just seen Bob, who, until now has seemed fairly harmless, not only confess to murder to Deeds, but then simply take out a gun and shoot Deeds dead. Technically, it wasn't self-defence, because Deeds had not only not drawn his gun, he hadn't even made a move towards it. So she goes through two stages - one of pure shock at what she's seen and that this guy she rather liked was in fact a cold-blooded killer and then she begins to realise that she could be in danger, because she's a witness - she goes into near panic and can't wait to get out of there, which is, again, a fairly understandable reaction. Put simply, she's scared to death of him, because she realises she doesn't really know him at all and has no way of knowing what he's going to do now.