Prime Gig, The (2000)
A Conversation with the Devil
This film has EVERYTHING to recommend it, and is one of the most thought-provoking films I've seen in a long time.
With a careful viewing and attention to the dialogue, much can be learned here. In fact, I will need to watch it a number of times, as there is so much there... just "skimming the surface" or bubbling beneath. I wish I could read the dialogue in script form, as it has so much power. Obviously, much attention was paid to the writing of it.
This film is truly "A Conversation with the Devil," with an angel at hand... There are so many pointers, yet they are easy to miss... He knows just what your weaknesses are, and plays only to that. Does he succeed in the end?
One on-screen example that comes to mind, is something to the effect of (paraphrasing here), spoken by Ed Harris, as the Top Dog:
"I watch TV, not for the shows, but for the ads: the ads are the Truth. I know what you feel, watching all those things you don't have (the fancy watch, the expensive car) and I know how worthless it makes you feel... And I never knew how easy it is to find Peace.
Remember Christmas, what was the thing that gave you the most pleasure? Not the bike you got for Christmas or for Hanukah; not the gifts you received, but the Frisbee you bought for your brother and the look on his face when he opened it. That's what you remember."
Another scene has our scammer asking for `The Truth,' and in response he is told:
`She trusts you. Don't disappoint her' and leaves the final decision and `fact-finding mission' up to him. What does he do? Does he trust his `instinct' that he stated at the start? This determines the outcome to our fallen hero, does it not?
The Devil never lies to anyone; he just twists or leaves out all of the truth. This is an amazing display for which everyone involved falls for, just like we all do in real life. Yet would `love' make a difference in this world we see on the screen, which is a reflection of the world that we create. We don't know what difference an `expression of real love' would have made, but are left to wonder and perhaps to `try again next time.'
How to trust, what to trust, who to trust? What is Real and What is False, and What Difference Does It Make in the End? These are the BIg Questions here.
The Devil gives many, many examples of "trust" when he falls off the back hoe into the telemarketers arms; he has "set the stage" perfectly for the things to come, where nothing is as it seems to be. Just how the Devil operates here. And all are tested; how far will they go in their treatment of others, and this determines their own "reward" or their own fate, it seems.
We start out with a scammer, who ultimately gets scammed. This scammer has a good side (as do we all?) in that he takes care of a childhood friend who is crippled, and we see the loneliness and heartbreak he goes through as he 'enables" and "cares for" this physically helpless friend. But does his friend take advantage of him; does he take advantage of others, does he ever feel "love" for anyone else?
He wants the gorgeous girl (played by one of my favorite actresses, Julia Ormond), but when he "has her," what does he do? Would she have acted the way she did, in the end, if he had acted differently?
Smashing performance from Ed Harris, as the resident "Big Dog" devil. I'll watch anything with Harris in it; in his "later years" he is becoming the Clark Gable / Cary Grant of our generation, able to play good guys and bad.
Vince Vaughn plays this character perfectly, and my estimation of him has also risen many notches. Will be looking for more work from him.
The rest of the cast were perfect (especially the "lead salesman" who says "this is MY house!") as was the dialogue and direction of this `low -life - low-key" REAL LIFE film. No "blockbuster easy-ending" here; we wander through the world on this incredible journey, looking for love, looking for love, looking for security; we wander through the maze and get blown away at the end. Just like in our own lives, at the end of the days.
A Conversation with the Devil
This film has EVERYTHING to recommend it, and is one of the most thought-provoking films I've seen in a long time.
With a careful viewing and attention to the dialogue, much can be learned here. In fact, I will need to watch it a number of times, as there is so much there... just "skimming the surface" or bubbling beneath. I wish I could read the dialogue in script form, as it has so much power. Obviously, much attention was paid to the writing of it.
This film is truly "A Conversation with the Devil," with an angel at hand... There are so many pointers, yet they are easy to miss... He knows just what your weaknesses are, and plays only to that. Does he succeed in the end?
One on-screen example that comes to mind, is something to the effect of (paraphrasing here), spoken by Ed Harris, as the Top Dog:
"I watch TV, not for the shows, but for the ads: the ads are the Truth. I know what you feel, watching all those things you don't have (the fancy watch, the expensive car) and I know how worthless it makes you feel... And I never knew how easy it is to find Peace.
Remember Christmas, what was the thing that gave you the most pleasure? Not the bike you got for Christmas or for Hanukah; not the gifts you received, but the Frisbee you bought for your brother and the look on his face when he opened it. That's what you remember."
Another scene has our scammer asking for `The Truth,' and in response he is told:
`She trusts you. Don't disappoint her' and leaves the final decision and `fact-finding mission' up to him. What does he do? Does he trust his `instinct' that he stated at the start? This determines the outcome to our fallen hero, does it not?
The Devil never lies to anyone; he just twists or leaves out all of the truth. This is an amazing display for which everyone involved falls for, just like we all do in real life. Yet would `love' make a difference in this world we see on the screen, which is a reflection of the world that we create. We don't know what difference an `expression of real love' would have made, but are left to wonder and perhaps to `try again next time.'
How to trust, what to trust, who to trust? What is Real and What is False, and What Difference Does It Make in the End? These are the BIg Questions here.
The Devil gives many, many examples of "trust" when he falls off the back hoe into the telemarketers arms; he has "set the stage" perfectly for the things to come, where nothing is as it seems to be. Just how the Devil operates here. And all are tested; how far will they go in their treatment of others, and this determines their own "reward" or their own fate, it seems.
We start out with a scammer, who ultimately gets scammed. This scammer has a good side (as do we all?) in that he takes care of a childhood friend who is crippled, and we see the loneliness and heartbreak he goes through as he 'enables" and "cares for" this physically helpless friend. But does his friend take advantage of him; does he take advantage of others, does he ever feel "love" for anyone else?
He wants the gorgeous girl (played by one of my favorite actresses, Julia Ormond), but when he "has her," what does he do? Would she have acted the way she did, in the end, if he had acted differently?
Smashing performance from Ed Harris, as the resident "Big Dog" devil. I'll watch anything with Harris in it; in his "later years" he is becoming the Clark Gable / Cary Grant of our generation, able to play good guys and bad.
Vince Vaughn plays this character perfectly, and my estimation of him has also risen many notches. Will be looking for more work from him.
The rest of the cast were perfect (especially the "lead salesman" who says "this is MY house!") as was the dialogue and direction of this `low -life - low-key" REAL LIFE film. No "blockbuster easy-ending" here; we wander through the world on this incredible journey, looking for love, looking for love, looking for security; we wander through the maze and get blown away at the end. Just like in our own lives, at the end of the days.