Gary's message ("whoever has the money has the power" or quoting Amber Pawlik, "money is the cure to all evil") is almost the only honest thing that resonates in Chris' ears these days, and his father isn't disposed to lend him money for the moment. Chris is unable to forgive himself for the maiming of his ex-girlfriend Kelly (Laura Vandervoort) in the accident that left him brain-damaged, and in a dream she says to him she’s no longer mad at him.
The plot is divided in a third act of heist and gunfires, but especially in the moral order that Chris must pass through, where he will have to be saved or killed. "The simple truth is, Chris you're smart enough, you can get away with anything, including murder," is like an echo of that new brand convertible crashed into a truck because of Chris' negligence.
The film's metaphor could be more complex we'd suppose, the opposite stages of Chris as the high school victor, admired and envied (by Gary and Luvlee among them), and the lonely has-been, angry victim he's become. In Amber Pawlik's words: "Despite popular belief, evil is not the product of people who feel confident in their ability to negotiate reality. Evil has always been the product of have-nots. [...] Indeed, I am looking forward to the movie that actually captures evil for what it is. A movie in which the antagonist is not the ultra-intelligent Ph.D, but rather the person who has slipped into the evils of victimology."
And of better days
From this town, we'd escape
If we holler loud and make our way
We'd all live one big holiday.
(From "One Big Holiday" by My Morning Jacket, from the film's opening sequence.)
Article comments
1 - Mary Kate
I think a character as Chris worked so well for the audience in cause of the contrasts you've pointed out so articulate. Gary's character was also very defined along the story.
2 - Kendra
Thanks, Mary Kate. I think from the pov of the viewer it was necessary Gary's character had an important presence in the film.