MovieChat Forums > Win Win (2011) Discussion > Kyle Not Needing Money

Kyle Not Needing Money

posted 11 years ago by dajoker85
7 replies | jump to latest

On at least two occasions (at the bus station when Mike offers Kyle $43 to see him off and when Jackie forces him $5 for lunch money) Kyle rejects money mentioning that he has enough.

I feel like this was leading to another plot point in the original script - maybe that Kyle stole or dealt drugs - that revealed something negative about Kyle's character and that ultimately they chose to scrap that in favor of time or whatever.

Otherwise why go out of your way at least twice to show Kyle has money when we know he's coming from a mother who doesn't have much of it at all (ie. she can't afford the motel, needs the monthly $1500).

Anyway, it was one thing I felt was out of place...seemed like something there in my opinion.

[–] NotAnUndercoverCop 11 years ago

I felt the same way. It was as if there was a missing scene. One where he pulls a cigar box out of his backpack and it's filled with 20's or something like that. I also felt like they were going to reveal he was selling pot or robbing old ladies. But they never did. Odd.

[–] eskelly 11 years ago

I thought maybe he had taken the money from Craig (the mom's boyfriend) when he ran away. I never thought that he was dealing or stealing to get it, but that's because he seemed on the up-and-up to me, even if he wasn't forthcoming with the realities of his situation. There's a difference between dishonest and keeping your pains private.

[–] AdvanceIstheMan 11 years ago

I didn't read that far into at all. He just seemed like the type that didn't want to rely on handouts. When they're shopping he lets her pay for the cereal without a refusal. Besides, not accepting money isn't the same as not needing money.

If he stole a teacher's car he was definitely expelled. He could have been working instead of going to school during that time. He was obviously self-reliant. There's zero clues to suggest he was a drug dealer

[–] mobageisevil 10 years ago

That's how I read it, it was just his way of refusing the money. Nothing serious....

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

There's zero clues to suggest he was a drug dealer

Absolutely! The others are reading way, way too much into it. He'd become relatively independent due to his circumstances and yes, didn't want to rely on handouts.🐭

[–] Franco_Zed 11 years ago

I agree that it feels a little odd.

He either chooses to not take money, or he really doesn't need it. It would have felt right for the movie to provide more info about this. It felt to me like he really didn't need it, but that doesn't really make sense in the context of the film, unless he has some source of money -- even if it's just $100 that he's got wadded up in his shoe.

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[–] dinaia 9 years ago

I like that several things about Kyle were left a bit unexplained and open to interpretation. My own interpretation of Kyle not accepting money at first is that it is his way of saying "I didn't come here for money, but for human touch". Only when he feels he's a part of the family and he belongs there, only then does he accept the money (the supermarket scene).

I also agree that his refusal to take money shows how self-reliant he was, this also fits with the character.