The two 1940's cowboys and friends John Grady Cole (Matt Damon) and Lacey Rawlins (Henry Thomas) in this film represented to me the best of being an American cowboy–the sense of adventure, strength and faith through discouragement, the determinism to succeed against all odds, good senses of humor, and a sense of integrity and justice. The cinematography depicting both Texas (where it was filmed) and Mexico was spectacular. The adventurous story plot was entertainment at its best. The humility of the beautiful Mexican actress (Penélope Cruz) was a delightful experience to perceive as opposed to the arrogant, catty, and manipulative female characters that we see in most of the films today.
The reality that bad things happen to good people by bad people is a fact of life on this fallen world. In the 1940s, particularly in Mexico, the good guys still had to break the bad laws written by the oppressors of the poor in order to keep a sense of honor and integrity through justice.Often injustices are inflicted on the poor masses by those in power, and revolutions are started by people who have finally had enough of it. The good guys were in prison and the bad guys had the guns and the badges. John the Baptist, Henry David Thoreau, Dietrich Bonhoffer, Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela, even Lenny Bruce, and hundreds of others have felt just like the John Grady Cole character–wondering where God was in all of this. Yet, he did not lose his faith in God or his sense of right and wrong. Without giving the story away, I think that the character of Alejandra made a wrong decision based on misplaced loyalty to wrong principles. This is not honor. This is like the prosecutor or defender who's out to win with no consideration of innocence or guilt. They feel the law says it is their duty to either get a life sentence or death penalty as the prosecutor or to let the criminal go free as the defender, or any of the scenarios in between where lawyers choose the letter of the law over the grace of law. If you don't know what I'm talking about, well, that's the reason why those in the justice system can get away with everything they get away with. I really liked the judge in the film. If I knew of one like that, I'd pray for him or her everyday. As a matter of fact, ninety percent of the cases would probably never have to go to trial if judges would only make right decisions before the hearing and not be bound by unjust legalities that do not serve anyone but the unjust system.
God-willing, Billy Bob Thornton, the director and producer, is on my list of people I'd like to someday meet and talk to.
~Van of Urantia*MPAA = Motion Picture Association of America
