The Sunset Limited (2011)

Great Film overall

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

I'm not a movie critic. I know nothing about making movies. I'm familiar with both of these actors. Nothing more. All I know is that for about one and a half hours, I watched two men in a room, captivate me with their discussion. I have to say that I'm almost 50 years old and this movie goes down in my life as one of the best I have ever seen. (I've seen a lot of movies). The movie ended and I wanted to watch it again to learn the lines!

Liking or hating a movie can have many factors that lead a viewer to develop an opinion upon the whole, without paying attention to the subtle technical details; but finding a film such as TSL, with all its components, scenes and fading moments, a piece of collective brilliance, an ensemble of great writing, cinematography, directing and acting — it is extremely difficult to list the the reasons for how this film cuts deep into the soul of the human condition.I find myself searching in vain for the most proper way of reviewing such a film — a way that could capture the message of an artist par excellence like Mr. Mccarthy — but to review a film of this standard is to encapsulate a myriad of feelings and observations into one hopelessly unfair critique.One can view this movie as trying to show the incommensurability of two drastically incompatible world views. This is a reading that greatly undermines the depth of the film's theme, and shows a lack of insight that cannot even penetrate the outer skin of the onion like scheme of the film."Whatever Happened?" is the question that Peter Wessel Zappfe asked in his famous article The last Messiah; but the answer was obvious. It was "A breach in the very unity of life, a biological paradox, an abomination, an absurdity, an exaggeration of disastrous nature. Life had overshot its target, blowing itself apart."That life has not the meaning — the teleological sense that humans desperately crave — has been known from the times of the ancient Greeks, and echoed by clever artists through the centuries to our present day. The problem of existential nihilism had never any resemblance to other animal problems; this is because it is not a disease that is seen as having its origin in anything other than being human. And if a cure to human angst, to our the essence — the absurdity of the overdeveloped animal — can only be in death, it does not mean that there are no palliatives that can mask the problem.So, what will happen if anchoring oneself to a "foundational firmament" does not work anymore? "Depressions, excesses, and suicides result." But is going back a viable option? that is what the movie tries to answer. We cannot but anchor ourselves to something, be it a religion, or a cause, or the aspects of our own culture; for unleashing yourself from them will only lead to a horrific fall into the soul crushing abysm of being an intelligent animal in a not so intelligent world.

This is one of movies greatest team up films based on a play. And while I don't agree with all of how it was done, it was still a powerful performance between Tommy Lee Jones, a suicidal atheist professor, and Samuel L. Jackson, an ex-con who is a bible believer (but not a fundie) who saved Tommy from jumping in front of a train, The Sunset Limited. What follows is a two man dialogue taking a philosophical look at life, based upon God. Thankfully Tommy's character is not "mad" at god, but they do tread close to that rail. And while HIS character is nihilistic, there is no attempt to paint all atheists as such. The acting is superb, the dialogue is interesting and thoughtful. The bias to god is unbalanced, Samuel L spends 2/3rds of the movie with the weight on his side, even with Tommy's responses. Tommy's final nihilistic speech is given the last 15 minutes but boy does he deliver, and if as an atheist you accept this is HIS view as a personal position for his character, it does leave you thinking. This film is a great jumping off point for how a theistic discussion (not so much a debate) should be handled. Sam makes very pointed and thoughtful points and admits his areas of weakness without losing his position. I can NOT recommend this enough to theists, atheists, philosophy buffs and those who enjoy great acting.

A movie about the meaning of life and the continuous human quest to explain the reason for existence.The choice of the two main characters is very representative to the differences, contradictions, and diversities in society, and inside the human brain itself.I believe that the movie illustrates the inevitable confrontation that occurs deep inside everyone's inner self at some point in life.A very deep dialogue and an outstanding performance by Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L.Jackson. A movie to savour... *********************************************************************