After the Film

The film had much more fiber to it. More depth to the story like the reason for Victor's father leaving the reservation. One minor detail that caught my attention was Victor was more annoyed by Thomas in the film than in the story. They were moments in the story where the two laughed together over a joke. There wasn't much mutual joke appreciation in the film to my recollection. Or if there was it was smothered by Victor constantly announcing his frustration with Thomas. The ending of the film came off to me like the two characters were friends now. In the story however Victor knows that he wont be able to be friends with Thomas. I wonder if this change was intentional. Even in the film it can be seen that being friends with Thomas would be difficult despite his good nature. Perhaps Victor was given a more open minded opinion of Thomas at the end of the film. Thomas helped Victor bring his dad home (for better or worse) and they shared a connecting experience in their journey. The introduction of Suzy was also a surprise. I think her place in the movie was appropriate. She served as a form of release for Arnold. He could vent his sadness and anguish to her about his grave mistake.

I don't think I would've changed much about the film. It was made well enough to where it has enough meat to stand on its own. The theme of Arnolds mistake is a very strong one plus he himself is a very strong character. It affected so many people. He met Suzy because he had to leave the reservation to reflect on his sin, his son Victor was severely traumatized by his alcoholism, he was abusive to wife, he semi indirectly killed Thomas' parents, and he took Thomas out to breakfast. You could say the film really is about Arnold and not Thomas and Victor.


My favorite character in the film was probably the bus driver. He just stands there with his mouth open. Brilliant.