Thanks. This definitely fits the western template—man with a mysterious past, dangerous strangers arrive—but I like that they don’t lay that idea on too thick.
The way Ed Harris chews into the name "Joey" makes my skin crawl. I think there's something to the naming there -- "TOM STALL" is such a sturdy, straightforward American name, easy to pronounce, you don't have to move your lips much. But "JOEY CUSACK", you really have to roll the tongue, the "o" and the "u" have to be pronounced out loud, it feels twistier, more slippery. I think you can tell Ed Harris got that.
Great callout. I can hear Ed Harris say the name as I read your comment. He really drags it out... Good point about the names. I hadn't given it much thought (other than Tom Stall being about as generic a name as you can get). But the way those work in different ways linguistically definitely works with what's going on in the story.
Criminally underrated Cronenberg. Functions as a modern western, nice write up.
Thanks. This definitely fits the western template—man with a mysterious past, dangerous strangers arrive—but I like that they don’t lay that idea on too thick.
The way Ed Harris chews into the name "Joey" makes my skin crawl. I think there's something to the naming there -- "TOM STALL" is such a sturdy, straightforward American name, easy to pronounce, you don't have to move your lips much. But "JOEY CUSACK", you really have to roll the tongue, the "o" and the "u" have to be pronounced out loud, it feels twistier, more slippery. I think you can tell Ed Harris got that.
Great callout. I can hear Ed Harris say the name as I read your comment. He really drags it out... Good point about the names. I hadn't given it much thought (other than Tom Stall being about as generic a name as you can get). But the way those work in different ways linguistically definitely works with what's going on in the story.