Bauer: Presumed Innocent

The scene in the end of Presumed Innocent is very important to the plot. Rusty is outside fixing the fence and reaches for a hammer wen he finds the hammer has blood on it. He goes into the basement to clean it off and as he does so, he hears his wife say "I did it." She goes on to explain that she killed Carolyn because it was ruining their family.

This scene is important because it makes Rusty feel responsible for her murder on some level. If he had not been having an affair with her, his would have never killed her. It ties him to the murder and although he is not directly responsible for killing her, he feels as if he is. He already feels guilty for his sexual promiscuity with Carolyn and now that he realizes that is also what got her killed, he feels even more guilty. Rather than pin the fault on his wife, Rusty thinks that he is ultimately at fault for Carolyn's murder.

McCay K 19 Blog Prompt

K 19 represents a contrast between two types of patriarchy. Captain Mikhail Polenin (Liam Neeson) represents one type and Captain Alexi Vostrikov (Harrison Ford) represents another. Find a scene for each character that you think best illustrates the type of patriarchy each represents and show how the scene reveals the character's relationship with the crew.

Triay - Witness/Mosquito Coast

Peter Weir's films Witness and Mosquito Coast both deal with similar themes. Exile of the protagonist, and a sharp maturation of the children within the films (both in a sense becoming wiser than their elders).

Witness:

When the Amish child Samuel Lapp witnesses a policeman commit a murder in a train station bathroom, his life is instantly brought into the violent American/English world. This one incident for Samuel marks a transition in his life. Until this moment, all he had known was the world of his family, the Amish, on their farm. After John Book exiles himself to the family farm, he begins to have a great influence on the child. When Samuel's grandfather discovers him playing with Book's gun, the two have a discussion. Samuel reveals to his grandfather his thoughts on violence, which, now having directly experienced a great act of violence, greatly differ with his grandfather's. Samuel is shown to be sympathetic towards violence, which Grandfather Lapp and the Amish community greatly do not support. This scene is shot wonderfully, with the camera proxemics intimately keeping the two very close together, revealing their great affection for each other, regardless of their now different opinions. The gun lies on the table out of focus, showing how the violence will always be indirectly related to their personal history.


Mosquito Coast:

After Fox exiles his family to South America for his ideal Swiss Family Robinson-esque fantasy of living off the land while "helping the natives" begins to fall apart, Ford's son Charlie begins to break away from his support of his father. The scene in which Fox's machine begins to explode after Fox kills three men reveals this great diverge in trust and support. The flames within Fox's eye glasses show just how far off the deep end he has gone. The quick cut to Charlie backing slowly away and his disheveled appearance reveal his now fractured image of his father. He has surpassed his father in sanity and now he's stuck with him in South America.

Triay - Presumed Innocent

Ford in Presumed Innocent is a flawed anti-hero. The film deals with a great amount of guilt placed upon Ford's character, Rusty Sabich. Sabich is accused of murdering a young woman named Carolyn, with whom the audience knows he has been having an affair with. The audience does not know whether Sabich truly did murder Carolyn, and with building evidence including finding Sabich's sperm inside of her after the autopsy greatly affect the audience's ability to trust Ford as the hero, the good guy. The audience can feel the guilt that Sabich is dealing with throughout the whole picture.



The film's final scene involves the revelation that Sabich's wife was the one who murdered Carolyn. She discovered Sabich's affair and, led to insanity, murdered Carolyn. The couple must now continue to live together, with this fractured notion of trust between them. Guilt is manifested within this broken sense of threatened trust, a trust that is based upon an "I've killed before, I'll kill again" ideal. This unsettling idea of the couple sticking together brings about an immense feeling of guilt on Sabich's behalf, as if he had remained faithful to his wife, none of this would have ever happened.

HENRY, Devil's Own

The Devil's Own is actually a pretty good movie. This movies shows many elements of family, and some even relate back to Frankie's childhood. Frankie Devany is the bad boy in the movie that has had a rough childhood. Due to this fact, he is forced to find family outside of the natural realm. This is where the IRA comes in, of courses this turns out to be a horrible decision. However, before this decision goes completely wrong he depends on the kindness of strangers. This is where the lovely Tom O'Meara takes Frankie in and seems happy the he is there. I start to get the feeling that Frankie is the son that he has always wanted, but never had. When he shows Frankie where he will be living, Tom say's " Sure is nice to have someone in the house that stands up to pee." This is one of those signs of acceptance. Later that night, at dinner, the nuclear family scene comes into play. At this moment there is a soft side to Frankie, that is really only displays when he is with the O'Meara's. He looks at the Tom, as he gazes at Tom as he gazed at his father before he was killed. The scene that really welcomed Frankie is the celebration for Tom's daughter. In that scene there is a picture taken, with Tom, his partner, and Frankie. This scene tells a lot about how Tom feels about Frankie, it also gives insight on how Frankie loves them. If you notice, he turns away, then back again to take the photo. Tom knows that his family is essential to survival because he trys all that he could to combat Frankie into doing the right thing. Even when it means that he is going have to take Frankie into custody. Frankie is not even his family, throughout the movie we see their relationship evolve. At the end of the movie ande element of Frankie childhood returned to him. They are on the boat, both Frankie and Tom are shot, yet Frankie retreats back to childhood memories. Frankie's father was a fisherman, so it could be inferred that dying on water would be very peaceful for him. The movie opens and closes with a boat scene, which is the beginning of life and the ending of life for Frankie.

Triay - Leia as a Goddess/Temptress

In the original Star Wars trilogy, Princess Leia serves a duel role as both Joseph Campbell's Goddess and Temptress. One could argue that there are two heros in the Trilogy, Luke and Han; however, there is only one heroine, Leia. Leia as a Goddess has unconditional love from the hero. This is demonstrated in A New Hope by Luke's compelling desire to seek out Leia and help her after receiving her distress call. She becomes Luke's initial goal in Episode IV, to save the damsel in distress. This unconditional love for our hero changes over the next two films. It is revealed that Leia is Luke's sister. The Campbell idea of unconditional love shifts to an unconditional sibling love, binding the two together.


Leia is also seen as a temptress, particularly in regards to Han Solo. Leia understands the necessity of having Han Solo on the rebel's side. She engages in a cat and mouse, "playing hard to get" game with Han. As a temptress, she inspires Han to stick around and stay on the Rebel side. However, they begin to truly fall for each other, developing yet another Campbell sort of "unconditional love."

Madere - The Devil's Own

With its opening scene, The Devil's Own shows how family is a central theme of the plot. This scene opens with the Irish countryside, showing the possible and natural peacefulness and beauty of the country. Frankie Maquire is fishing with his father and returns home to have a family meal with his mother and little sister. The peacefulness of the scene does not last long, however, as Frankie's father is brutally murdered at point-blank range right in front of his eyes. In some ways, this scene shows how family ties can be someone's downfall. Not only does Frankie's father's supposed family ties to republican sympathizers prove to be the reason for his death, but as seen in Frankie's young, horrified eyes after his father's murder, his love and ties to his father has caused him to feel as if he's lost everything. On the other hand, however, this scene and its implications about family also end up being the way in which Frankie comes to believe he can regain all he lost with his father's murder. Frankie forms ties to the IRA and finds a family. Not only do these people fight with him in the cause, but they offer him protection and refuge, even leading him to America where he encounters the O'Meara family and once again finds refuge and forms family ties. His family with the IRA also gives him a cause to achieve--to exact revenge on the people who killed his father, which in turn gives him a purpose and reason for living.

Dennis Patriot Games

Family loyalty and legitimacy are an essential part in the Patriot Games. A traditional family that contributes to the plot of movie is the and the Ryans. They have that nuclear family idea going on, how there is a mom, dad and children with a pet. This is considered to be the standard idea of what a family is or should be. The fear of losing one's family and being loyal to your family whether it be organizational, nuclear or not so traditional. Loyalty to their family is what posses a person, to commit any act to keep their family together. lot.

Triay - Bladerunner

In the final scene of Bladerunner, Deckard has reached his final "retirement" target, Roy Batty. After a showdown on the roof of the skyscraper, Deckard is seemingly at the end of the road. He is dangling off the edge, and Batty has the upper hand. However, Batty, overcome by finally attaining what he believes to be is human emotion, saves Deckard from falling to his death. At this moment, the replicant gains the power of human compassion. Batty fulfills the Tyrell promise of their replicants being "more human than human" and allows this new emotion to overcome the inherent evil that was plaguing him.

A dove is then released. This dove is highly symbolic of Batty's position in the film. As the dove is the traditional symbol of peace, this dove is too. Batty has become a new man, a man of compassion and emotion. As the dove flies away, we are left with the question "what makes us human?" Emotion, compassion? Perhaps it is the recognition of life as a beautiful thing to be cherished. Batty seems to have achieved this idea.

Massiha Presumed Innocent

The scene when Rusty discovers the hammer sets up his wife’s confession. It begins to set the foundation for Rusty’s guilt. The whole movie we are lead to believe it really wasn’t Rusty who killed Carolyn Polhemus, but in a twist, it was his actions that prompted her murder. If, he had never had an affair with Carolyn, his wife wouldn’t have been feeling depressed and suicidal and well, basically crazy. She felt so down that had to “destroy the destroyer.” Step by step she executed her “perfectly” planned murder, knowing she wouldn’t get caught. She, however, didn’t think they would blame her husband for her actions by default. She claims she wouldn’t have let Rusty go to jail, that she would have come clean. Her thought process had her believing he would have just written the case as unsolved and it would have gotten dismissed. Guilt manifests in Rusty because he alone has to live with the truth: that his wife killed Carolyn. Not only will it haunt him everyday, but he doesn’t have the heart to punish his son by taking his mother away. Thus, leaving him to deal with the truth every single second of every day.

Triay - Last Crusade

In The Last Crusade, Indiana Jones goes through the three stages of the traditional Medieval Knight's Quest. They are as follows.


The Mercenary Knight: A greedy, self-obsessed quest that cares little for the well being of the people and places they encounter. They simply want monetary gain. The first act of the film, the Young Indiana flashback, is reminiscent of the Mercenary Knight. Indiana is tirelessly searching for the Cross of Coronado. He abandons his scout troop and endangers the life of his friend, all for the "fortune and glory," or in this case the approval of his father. He risks his life being chased by the robbers, eventually having the cross taken back from him at his father's home, without his father's approval.

The Indentured Knight: The indentured knight serves a single person other than himself. They are indentured, or indebted, to seeking the target they are presented for the betterment of their surrounding society. Walter Donovan tips Indiana Jones about the location of the Holy Grail and quite possibly the location of Indiana's father, Henry. Indiana Jones accepts this quest, knowing that he may finally achieve his father's approval, but also aiding Walter Donovan's museum.

The Aristocratic Knight: The Aristocratic Knight already has all the treasure he needs. For Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana assumes this identity as his relationship with his father continues to mend. They see within each other all the pain that has been brought out over the years, and Indiana realizes that he does not truly desire the Holy Grail. They let the Grail remain in the temple where they find it, and ride off into the sunset together bearing the real treasure, the paternal love.

Cutler: Frantic

    In the thriller Frantic, Dr. Richard Walker finds himself in a Kafkaesque nightmare when his wife is kidnapped in Paris. There are many noir elements in this film including fear/anxiety, helplessness, and moral ambiguity. All of these elements create an intense feeling of psychological entrapment for Walker.
    When Walker's wife is kidnapped, he immediately begins the frantic search to find her. He is overcome by feelings of fear and anxiety because the worst case scenario has happened. He then feels helpless because he is in a foreign country and there's a language barrier, so it further hurts his chance of finding his wife. Also, no one believes him and the local people don't trust him because he's American. He is isolated in a foreign country. Walker realizes the moral ambiguity in the situation when he meets Michelle and learns of why his wife was kidnapped. On his search for his wife, he feels entrapped because of the bizarre circumstances. He meets Michelle who agrees to help him but she furthers adds to his fear and anxiety because she acts as a femme fatale and temptress.

In this picture, the framing places Walker as the central figure because he is in the foreground. He is more dominant than Michelle indicating that he has taken control of the situation. For most of the film, Michelle adds to Walker's entrapment because she is difficult. This scene at the end of the film shows that Walker is dominant and has taken control of the situation and no longer feels trapped by the femme fatale. She is one of the main sources of the moral ambiguity aspect of the film, so this scene shows that Walker has risen above that and will finally be reunited with his missing wife. 

Guerry- The Devil's Own

"It's good to have someone else in the house who has to stand when they pee." This quote by Tom shows the beginning of his acceptance of Rory into his home and family. Fresh from Ireland, Rory begins living in Tom's basement as a guest and soon finds himself thrust into the O'Meara family whether he wants to be or not. Having grown up without a father for the majority of his life, Rory embraces Tom's wisdom and loving attitude towards him.

Their bond grows so strong that even in the end of the film, on the boat, Rory hesitates when faced with the opportunity to fire at Tom. He surely has been in situations like this before, where killing ensures his survival, yet Rory doesnt kill O'Meara because he is considered family.

Guerry- Blade Runner

In the final scene, Roy throws us an emotional curveball as he saves Deckard in an unprecedented show of empathy. Previously known as the diabolical replicant leader, such an act is very contradictory to his normal attitudes. The movie is a fight between Roy and Deckard, with Roy struggling to find a way to extend his life past the given four years. Batty was upset that all his experiences and memories would be gone like tears in the rain.


The white dove that Roy releases at the end of the film is a symbol of peace. Roy saves Deckard's life to prove that replicants are good and not evil. It serves as a balance to weigh out the bad things he has done. The dove shows Roy's acceptance and content with his enumerated life span and that he has gained compassion, an emotion previously unidentified with replicants. By gaining compassion, Roy essentially becomes a human, as empathy for others is what makes us human in the first place.

Guerry- Last Crusade

Three movies, three stages of knighthood. Indiana Jones goes from being a mercenary knight in Temple of Doom to an indentured knight in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and finally graduates to a Grail Knight in The Last Crusade.

In Temple of Doom, we first see a young Indy stealing the cross of Coronado to take glory for the find and give it to a museum where he feels it belongs. He acts on whim, and as we flash later to the Portuguese coast, he still is after the same cross and is still insisting on its placement in a museum.

Indy transitions away from the deceptive, win at all costs mentality of the mercenary knight into the grail knight by The Last Crusade. When Indy's father is shot in the temple Indy realizes he must fulfill his duty and help his father. He is on a spiritual quest, as well as an earthly one, and his father's potential death spurs him to his eventual reclaiming of the grail. He helps deceive Donovan as he remains quiet when Donovan chooses his grail, and then picks the proper and modest grail to save his fathers life. Then he leaves the grail in the temple, listening to his father and realizing that it is not an object of this world, and not fit for a museum.

Ramon- The Devil's Own

Americans and Irish alike have a strong emphasis on their family. This is shown very much so in The Devil’s Own. The O’Meara family gains a new member when Frankie McGuire is placed into their family the local judge. Much like Patriot Games, we have the IRA family and the American family side by side. The dynamics of IRA family is not so much prevalent in The Devil’s Own. Therefore, a scene I would like to focus on is the post-confirmation party when Tom O’Meara fully recognizes Frankie as a member of their Irish-American family. O’Meara does two things which Pakula purposefully puts high emphasis on in this scene. First, Frankie is asked to be part of a photo with O’Meara and his partner, Edwin Diaz. Some say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I agree. As a native New Orleanian, on numerous occasions we have had to evacuate for hurricanes. On our checklist of items to grab, the number one item is a photo album of the past 25 years starting with my parent’s wedding picture. If some day we lost out home to a natural disaster, we would still have our photos to look back upon and memories will never be forgotten. Second, Frankie is included in the traditional Irish dance by O’Meara. Frankie feels like he is back at home in Ireland, and buys into the O’Meara family lifestyle. By a simple dance, he is able to relax his mind of all the bad things he has done in his past and remember his heritage. 

Dennis Devil's Own

 
   Family is central and important for Rory Devany (Brad Pitt) and Tom O'Meara (Harrison Ford), because it shows unity and completeness. In the beginning of the film Rory was so happy to be spending time with his father. When his father is killed at the dinner table with all his family surrounded by him, is devastating to Rory. Rory's father was a suspected supporter of the IRA, but the accusation wasn't inconclusive. His entire world came crumbling down and he becomes and IRA terrorist. When he goes to New York and lives with the O'Meara's, Rory feels what its like to be in a happy family again since the death of his father. He begins to bond with him on that father, son level.
      In the the case Tom O'Meara, Rory is sort of the son he never had, and he's glad to have another male in the house. He states "Its good to have someone else in the house that has to stand when they pee!" He becomes attached to him, until Rory put his family in danger and Tom does any and everything to protect his family. At the end of the movie after all the that's happen between Rory and Tom, Tom still tries to save his life but Rory tells him, life doesn't always have that happy ending and Tom holds his arm as he dies on his boat.

Ruffino-The Devil's Own

Frankie McGuire (or Rory) came to America to aid his organizational family, the IRA and was thrown into an entirely different kind family. The O'Meara's a family of Irish American's welcome Rory in with open arms. They include Rory in all family events he attends the conformation of Tom's daughter, parties, and even goes to the bar with Tom. Where they play pool together Irish vs. Italians. Tom becomes like a father figure to Rory. Their relationship strengthens progressively during the movie and by the end of the movie we realize how deep their bond runs. In the scene where Tom is trying to get Rory of off the boat to take him into police custody, he loses his gun. And even though Rory has the experience and opportunity to kill Tom, he doesn't because Tom has become a part of his family, this shows how the bonds of family aid the survival of O'Mear At the end of the movie Tom's driving of the boat serves as a final symbol of how he has become a father to Rory.

Butcher - The Devil's Own

When Frankie McGuire arrives in the U.S. he is sent to the O’Meara household. The Irish-American family immediately welcome Frankie in, and he soon becomes just like a member of their own. Tom especially takes to him, jovial at the thought of another male companion in the house of four women. Frankie, known to the O’Mearas as ‘Rory,’ is the son that Tom always wished to have. At his arrival, he meant to simply use the O’Mearas as a safe house, but by the end of The Devil’s Own, Rory develops a strong bond with his host family. As his situation with Burke complicates, he comes to the defense of the O’Mearas.

One afternoon, Tom and Sheila discover intruders in their home, all masked men looking for Rory’s stash of money. While they struggle to fight off the intruders, Rory intervenes to help the O’Mearas. Knowing that Burke was responsible, Rory takes action to make Burke pay for harming his surrogate family. Armed with a gun, Rory pays a visit to Burke to send a warning. Rory exhibits his love for his new American family in his persistence to protect them from further harm. It is pertinent for him to confront the party responsible in the only way he knows how: through violence. From the beginning of his life, violence was prevalent in Ireland. Fatherless at a young age, gunfights and struggle against those stifling the IRA became the norm.

“It’s not an American story; It’s an Irish one,” reiterates Rory to Tom. Rory’s initial plans to acquire weapons in the U.S. bring together these two Irishmen. One is a proud Irish-American cop, and the other, a true Irishman fighting with the IRA. Connected by heritage these men form a bond with each other like that of a father and son.

Bloo-The Devil's Own

In the opening scenes of The Devil’s Own, we see a young boy having dinner with his family when masked men burst into their cottage and in front of the boy’s eyes the father is gunned down. This is a devastating event since Frankie was close with his father. Twenty years later, Frankie McGuire is part of the IRA and the audience can tell that the death of his father is one of the reasons why he joined the IRA.

After a battle on the streets of Belfast, Frankie escapes to New York where he is placed in the home of honest cop Tom O’Meara, his wife and three daughters who have no idea of their guest’s true identity. The movie is mostly centered around the surrogate father and son relationship between Tom and Frankie. Tom and Frankie bond while playing pool against the Italians. Another scene which shows that Frankie is part of the O’Meara family is the confirmation party. Frankie dances with the daughters and Tom even pulls Frankie into the picture.

Through the O’Meara family, Frankie gets a taste of what it is like to have a family who loves and respects each other. This shows that Frankie is not a cold-blooded terrorist, but he has a softer side too. The scene in which Frankie comes to the aid when masked men intrude Tom’s house shows that Frankie feels he is part of the family and wants to protect the O’Meara.

Bloo-Patriot Games

‘’Not for honor. Not for country. For his wife and child’’ is one of the teasers for Patriot Games. This perfectly sets the tone for the movie. The focus of attention in the movie is not political action but family in the broadest sense of meaning. There are several families in this movie. First of all, the traditional family is represented by the Ryan family and the Royal Family. However, both the CIA and the split group of the IRA function as non-nuclear families. I will focus on the Ryan family, the Miller brothers and the split group IRA who are important in creating the plot points.

In the beginning of the movie, Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA split group assassination attempt on relatives of the Royal family. Jack Ryan intervenes not only because the Royal family was attacked but also his family was threatened. During this interference, Jack kills Sean Miller’s younger brother. This sets the whole movie into motion. Devastated by his loss, Sean Miller’s focus becomes entirely Jack Ryan. Sean uses the split group to avenge his brother’s death. The split group could be considered as a family since they have helped Sean to escape and helped him in his attempt to kill Jack Ryan’s wife and daughter. However, Sean betrays ‘’his family’’ in that he is more interested in his own agenda namely killing Jack Ryan and his family than killing the Royal family. Sean even kills his own partners since they formed an obstacle in his pursuit for Jack. This shows that Sean is not completely loyal to his organizational family.

Jack wants to protect his family from Miller and this drives his actions. He does whatever he needs to do to protect his family even if this does mean that he has to rejoin the CIA. Jack thinks the CIA can offer his family protection while at the same time he uses the CIA to go after Miller after he has tried to kill his wife and daughter.

Lazo - The Devil's Own

Unlike Patriot Games, The Devil's Own seems to place much more importance on traditional nuclear families than organizational ones. This most clearly seen with Frankie McGuire's struggle with his father issues. McGuire's father was gunned down in front of him as a child, which itself is a devastating event. What makes it more traumatizing is how close he was to his father; the film with a young Frankie bonding with his father on the boat, and one of Mr. McGuire's few lines of dialogue is a very proud, "Oh, Frankie was terrific." The opening heavily implies that his father's death is what drives Frankie into the IRA.

Much of the action of the film centers on the growing relationship Rory Devaney (Frankie's new alias in America) and the O'Meara family, particularly Tom. The daughters quickly seem to take a liking to Rory: the youngest, Annie, especially develops a strong bond with Rory. Tom is the character most critical to Rory's growth. As the head of the family, he easily becomes a powerful father figure for Rory. It starts small; Tom says he's glad "to have someone else in this house who can pee standing up." Then the two go to the store, but get caught up in a game of pool to settle Irish vs. Italians. Rory is very good at pool, and he and Tom bond well as they dominate their competition. The clearest indication of Rory as an adoptive part of the family comes at the confirmation party. First, he helps comfort Annie, who seems shy. Shortly afterwards, he gets pulled into a picture by Tom, who affectionately claps Rory on the shoulder. He goes so far as to flat say that Rory is part of the family. This sense of belonging to a conventional family that was stolen from him softens Frankie. When the O'Meara's are attacked, he does what it takes to keep them safe. Perhaps he is simply trying to protect them because they are innocent, but his relationship with them is strong enough that he may be fighting to protect them because he truly feels they are the closest to family he has known.

O'Meara Family

The O'Meara family plays an important role in the development of the plot in The Devil's Own. One scene in particular that displays this importance is during the confirmation party. Every family friend is in attendance and in a way, becomes a part of the O'Meara family. Tom specifically includes Rory in the celebration though and in this scene, Rory becomes a part of the O'Meara family. Rory also pays special attention to the youngest daughter and takes on a role as part of the family. This scene sets up that both Tom and Rory have a bond and an obligation to one another. Tom included Rory in the photo with his parter to show this bond and obligation as Rory is put on the same level as Tom's partner. The confirmation party is an essential scene to the plot because it solidifies Rory's place in the O'Meara family.

Koeferl- Devil's Own

Frankie/Rory's father was killed when he was only a boy, and thus he grew up with an incomplete family. When he arrived in America and met Tom O'Meara, he began to be part of the O'Meara family. Tom served as a kind of father figure for Rory, and Rory became the son that Tom never had. The pool game (Irish v. Italians) was a bonding experience between the two. Rory fit right into the family; the daughters all liked him, and he was just as much of Tom's family as his partner Eddie was at the confirmation party. It's very important that Rory was housed with this large, functional family. It represents what Frankie's life could have been like if his father hadn't been murdered. If this movie was an "American story", Frankie might have given up his life of violence and live with the O'Meara family as a normal house guest. Since it's an "Irish story", it has no happy ending, so it had to finish with Frankie's death, because he was not going to be incarcerated willingly. Family was very important to Tom O'Meara; he treated Rory as a son, so the realization that he was actually Frankie McGuire was a tough blow. His trust was betrayed, and he knew he had to try and arrest the same person that he recently housed as an honorary member of his family. The movie had a tragic ending because Tom was unwilling to slack off on his job and let Frankie go free, and Frankie was stubborn and wanted to go back to Belfast, even if it wasn't safe for him there. It was very symbolic when Tom clasped hands with Rory as he died; even though he had to stop Rory from leaving, he still respected him as a person and cared for him. Both men liked each other and shared a bond, but their characters (the cop and the criminal) had to be opposed by the nature of their roles.

Cutler: The Devil's Own

In The Devil's Own, family is an important theme and shown as central in the Irish and Irish-American way of life. Frankie McGuire enters Tom O'Meara's family under false pretenses and witnesses his close-knit nuclear family. As a child, Frankie witnessed his father's murder and it changed his perspective. He became an IRA terrorist and the film chronicles his attempt at buying and shipping missiles for the IRA cause. In America, he stays with the  O'Meara family, who are unaware of his true identity. They welcome him and Tom seems pleased to have another man in the house, thinking he is just helping a fellow Irishman trying to start a new life in America.

The scene when the O'Meara family is celebrating Morgan's confirmation is an important representation of Frankie's (who goes by Rory Devaney) acceptance by Tom and his family. The large celebration at the O'Meara house shows Frankie dancing with the family. Tom embraces Frankie and is happy that he's there celebrating with their family. Throughout the movie, Tom treats Frankie like a son and feels betrayed when he finds out that Frankie is not really who he thought he was. The familial theme of this film can be characterized by Frankie and Tom's father-and-son-like relationship and the confirmation party scene personifies their bond.

Morris_ The Devil's Own

Family is very important in this movie, like in previous movies we've seen. In The Devil's Own, Frankie goes to live with New York cop Tom and disguises himself as "Rory". By living with Tom, Frankie sees what the family he was robbed of as a child could have been. Tom effortlessly incorporates him into his family.

On Frankie's first night in the O'Meara household, he sits down to dinner with the family which parallels the scenario where he lost his father and his vendetta began. He sees how the family relates to each other and to him as if he were one of them. They say grace, pass each other food, and talk. Showing this level of family interaction solidifies how important family is to Tom.

This importance is a foreshadowing of how Tom reacts when he realizes that Frankie has put his family in danger.

Hutchinson - The Devil's Own

At the very beginning of The Devil’s Own, we see how important family is to Frankie McGuire, as he sets out to sea with his fisherman father in the opening scene. Unfortunately, in the very next scene, we see that family bond ripped from Frankie, as his father is gunned down right in front of him at the dinner table. Suddenly, Frankie’s whole world comes crashing down around him, and his Irish pride and desire for revenge flares deep within him. Cut to twenty years later, an older Frankie is now a hero of the IRA, shooting people, bombing people, and destroying families left and right – even members of his own team are dying for the cause. It isn’t until Frankie arrives in America that we see any real sense of human value and life bubble within him. By living with Tom O’Meara and his family, some of Frankie – or rather “Rory’s” – walls have come down. He has allowed himself to be taken in by Tom’s family, physically and emotionally. He attends Tom’s daughter’s confirmation, as a member of the family. At the after party, he is treated as just that, a member of the family. When Tom is asked to take a picture with Eddie, Tom grabs “Rory” and pulls him in, including him and solidifying his place in the family. Rory at first appears baffled, but quickly smiles and poses for the picture, enjoying himself. For the rest of the scene, Rory dances with the daughters and actively participates in the normal family function. He is no longer the cold, detached killer leading a secret gun-running mission – he is an accepted, fun, loving and beloved member of the O’Meara family. Finally, since the death of his father, Frankie McGuire has opened up and found a family. He is part of a common family occurrence. He has purpose, something worth fighting for, aside from his Irish Pride. The O'Meara family remind him of why he started fighting in the first place.

Kuebler-The Devil's Own

In this film we see once again many different types of families. These range from those of the IRA, to friendships and brotherhood, to the family of Tom O'Meara. It is hard to say that a man or woman are anything without the support from those around them and people that care for them. People rely on one another and hope to count on those that they trust. Yet, when something attempts to take away that bond from a person it is likely to start a war that only has one outcome.




In the case of Tom O'Meara and his family we see a close-knit family that represents an average family that has a large level of love, trust, and respect. Tom is a good cop who knows what is best for his family and what is best is for him to stay alive. There are a few instances in this film that show Tom reconsidering his position because of the danger that it causes and the possibility of losing his family. Similarly, he is frozen in terror when the masked men hold his wife as a hostage for a moment. He would rather lose his own life than risk that of his wife and daughters. As a family man he cannot allow anything to step between him and those he protects and this is shown when he is forced to take down Frankie. He does not want to hurt him but is left with no choice because he put Tom's family in danger, killed his partner, and destroyed the man that Tom thought Frankie was even though it was just an act. Family is the reason why Tom lived and Frankie died, he had something higher to live for in the end.

Rogers- The Devil's Own

In The Devil's Own, we see a continued focus on the Irish nationalist movement involving the IRA. If one is to approach The Troubles from a largely sociological standpoint, the theme of family is obviously going to come up in quite a big way. It seems that even today, family is very important in Irish communities, which are close-knit when compared to some other cultures. The need for family does not escape Brad Pitt's character of Frankie McGuire. He is often a rebel badass in the film, but even rebels get lonely. No one can pull off a job as big as the one Frankie is attempting (bringing missiles back to Ireland) without some sort of support or networking system. Frankie finds his first leg into a support circle in the U.S. in Fitzmorris, pictured left. Fitzmorris is an IRA sympathizer who supports McGuire and helps him acquire the weapons he needs. It really doesn't take much prodding from McGuire to learn of Fitzmorris' allegiance, or to get the support he needs either. Without meeting someone in the U.S. who knew how to acquire weapons and had a lot of money, McGuire would have failed before he'd even started. He needed this level of community family. He also finds love, of sorts, with Megan, pictured right. This circle of community family in the U.S. is incredibly key to McGuire's success, which he ultimately doesn't achieve. The level of community family that McGuire enjoys is underlined by his vast organizational family, that being the IRA and the rebel cause. He is tied to the IRA in a huge, bloody war over deeply-held important beliefs. That type of major goal, along with an organization as focused as the IRA means that community family is a bit easier to acquire, and not a smidge less important. No different from some of the other films we've watched about The Troubles, The Devil's Own is, at it's core, a movie about families in war.

Henry, Frantic

Frantic is a thriller is there ever was one. Well it is an okay movie. This movie, with Harrison Ford of course, involves a lot of nior elements. Theses elements emphasize a lot of cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Dr. Walker and his wife go on a trip to Paris, “the city of love” supposedly, and his wife gets kidnapped. All because they picked up the wrong bag, and then everything goes down hill from there. The noir elements in this movie are sexual tension, anxiety, fear, and helplessness. Helplessness plays a major role. First of all, he is in a country that he has not visited in twenty years; therefore it is completely foreign to him at this point. He does not speak the language and hardly knows the customs. His only sense of a connection was his wife, but she is gone. As the film progresses, sexual tension comes into play and it hits Dr. Walker extremely hard. This is where Michelle comes into play and tempts Dr. Walker on several occasions as she also plays the role of a damsel in distress. However, Dr. Walker loves his wife which is demonstrated when frantically trying to find her, he is also tempted by Michelle. Another noir element in this film is fear. Fear is the name of the game. Fear that he will not find is wife, fear if conquering foreign soil and fear of Michelle, which brings a lot of moral ambiguity into the film. The scene that exemplifies entrapment is the scene with Michelle and Dr, Walker on the ledge. This is so interesting because they have to count on each other. At this point one cannot abandon the other; of course this is by obligation not free will. The lighting in this scene is pretty bright and focused on the center, yet characters have room to make adjustments. But on Michelle’s face it is a bit tainted, but in the beginning it was a little bright. Yet, the shadow does come from her hair, I think this gives a little sex to this part of this scene. I wonder why this is so. The camera proxemics is personal because of the handholding. Harrison Ford does it again.

HENRY, Presumed Innocent!

The confrontation between Rusty and his wife starts off weird as she comes into the room while Rusty is cleaning off the murder weapon and when she says she did it (even though she wasn't talking about the murder but a job) it shows that she is the guilty party. This scene is very important because for the most part none of this would have happened if he were not having an affair. Due to the fact that he is partly, if not entirely responsible for the death of another individual, living with this cannot be easy. But since he is responsible, he has to deal with the repercussions. However, we may feel that Rusty is responsible for this murder, he is not punished by traditional standards. The law does not follow him, but guilt does. From the moment he committed adultery, he has been dealing with the repercussions of it. This could have been must worst, considering the fact that his wife was going to kill herself. Yet, decided against it and killed the “destroyer.” She just wanted them to be a “happy and healthy” family, but murder and adultery tends to change things. Even though, he did not have a physical association with Carolyn’s death I think that he is still guilty for what happens before and afterward.

Torres - Devil's Own

There are several scenes that indicate how important O'Meara's family is to him in this film. When he is discussing retirement he clearly states that he values his wife and children over everything else. He is willing to get violent with an old friend who he thinks may have knowingly put his family in this dangerous situation. The scene that shows the most how essential his family is to his survival is when he and his wife walk into what appears to be a robbery in progress. In the beginning the couple makes a good team and are successfully defending themselves, but when more attackers show up things get confusing and his wife gets taken hostage. The fear in her eyes is mirrored by the fear in his and in that moment the viewer can feel the fear and then relief when they are safely together again.

McCay Devil's Own Blog Prompt.

Once again, family is central to the story of the Irish community. Choose a family scene in the film, be it nuclear, community, organizational, and show how family is essential for the survival of either O'Meara or Devany.

Mantica - Patriot Games

Patriot Games (dir: Phillip Noyce, 1992) isn’t really the kind of movie it appears to be. Although on its surface the film appears to be a Tom Clancy-branded espionage thriller, the fundamental themes in the film are the foundations of our society, which begin in the family. And while it may seem that the only real family in the film is that of Jack Ryan’s (Harrison Ford), there are many others that are not exactly the typical nuclear family. Such families exist in organizations such as the CIA and even the villains in the IRA. The people in these organizations might not be related by blood, but they still treat care for one another as if they were related. These bonds are what motivates and drives the characters in Patriot Games, which ultimately creates the plot points that drive the story.

At the beginning of the film Sean (Sean Bean) and Patrick Miller, two brothers and members of the IRA, attempt to assassinate a member of the Royal Family. In what becomes the inciting incident of the film, Jack Ryan shoots and kills Patrick Miller as he tries to defend Lord Holmes. Infuriated, Sean Miller vows to avenge his brother by killing Ryan’s wife and daughter. His desire for revenge becomes the most important plot point and Miller becomes the main villain in the film. However, the Miller family bond isn’t the only element of family present in these characters. The IRA itself helps Miller escape police custody, and later help Miller attempt to kill Ryan’s wife and daughter in the film’s mid-act climax from Act 2. The IRA understands Miller’s hatred for Ryan and stand by him in this is risky (and pointless) mission. Like family they stick together. Ryan’s family does survive and becomes the nuclear family in the film. Because this family is the foundation of society, a threat to this family becomes a threat to all society. The CIA, the Royal family and Robby Jackson’s (Samuel L. Jackson) family all come together to support the Ryan family in their own ways. And in the end, all families are together when the final confrontation between Ryan and Miller occurs.

Clearly, Patriot Games is a character-driven film. The characters and their ties to their own families (nuclear and organizational) become the motivations for these characters that ultimately drive the story forward and lead to the main developments in the film.