So, what do you think happens to Joe next?
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prismabird — 10 years ago(March 07, 2016 05:12 PM)
I've watched it probably ten times too - every time I do, it gets me in a bit of a funk, but I love it anyway. I kinda think of it as my anti-Shawshank Redemption, in that SR is a movie that always uplifts me in the most gorgeous way. MC is the downer version - it puts me in a beautiful sorrow.
I like the way you see Joe's future. I think it's a lot how he would hope for it. Job, then wife, then kids, shopping on Saturdays, trips to the beach. But he would need a very patient boss, and a more patient wife. Joe's life experience is basically nil, which means a lot of on the job training, and 'learn as you go' work on relationships. For example, would Joe even have a concept for fidelity? I suspect not. He's never so much observed a marriage, except perhaps from a distance. God knows what kind of father he would be - where would he have learned any of it?
But then, there's a lot of people out there like that. Sometimes, they do okay. Joe has, if nothing else, a good demeanor and a decent sense of self restraint (there's a lot of scenes where he's clearly very angry, but doesn't resort to violence, like when he want to throw the bottle in the bar). -
InherentlyYours — 10 years ago(March 08, 2016 04:35 PM)
Problem is that Joe isn't interested in hard labor, if his venture into NYC is indicative. He might just try to be a hooker in Miami. If he's going to look for a blue collar-job, he may as well return to Texas, where he'll at least have family (if it exists)
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Matthew7819 — 10 years ago(March 09, 2016 02:00 AM)
His grandmother Sally Buck is dead, her boyfriend Woodsy Niles probably wouldnt be around or in good health either, there was no Grandpa Buck shown either, and his mother was a whore who dumped him off, he could always try to track down grandchildren and cousins of Sally Buck but wouldnt know who they are, makes sense for him to never return to look for them.
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InherentlyYours — 10 years ago(March 09, 2016 02:05 AM)
I suppose if there is nobody is Texas for him, then no reason to return, unless it feels like "home". But more importantly, I don't assume Joe would accept a construction job (or other menial job), as if his NYC experience changed him that quickly to want to lead a conventional life.
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Edward_de_Vere — 10 years ago(March 09, 2016 08:58 AM)
Problem is that Joe isn't interested in hard labor, if his venture into NYC is indicative. He might just try to be a hooker in Miami.
Throwing away his cowboy outfit was Joe's way of saying that he's put the sleazy hustler life behind him and is willing to do whatever it takes to live a normal life. He probably came to the conclusion that even washing dishes is a better life than being a male prostitute. He may not like hard labor, but I think he'll wind up doing it to get by. -
InherentlyYours — 10 years ago(March 09, 2016 09:13 AM)
Throwing away his cowboy outfit was Joe's way of saying that he's put the sleazy hustler life behind him
I don't if there's a definite conclusion for that. It could be that the leather was badly soiled and not dry-cleanable. He can be a hustler with other clothes. Actually he didn't think about going to Miami , it was only for Ratso's health. Ratso's dream about Miami seemed to be about being in the hustling business there. Or are we going by the novel again?
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Edward_de_Vere — 10 years ago(March 09, 2016 11:21 AM)
No, I'm going by what we see in the film. I thought that the scene with Joe throwing out the cowboy outfit was significant - throwing it out was his way of saying to himself that we won't be a hustler anymore. He said as much to Ratso on the bus, something like "Hell, I ain't no hustler, I want to get a job working outside."
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hockeyhrs — 10 years ago(March 23, 2016 07:48 PM)
Joe gets arrested and does jail time for (at least) the assault or (worst-case) murder of Townie. How does he get caught?
(a) He's not smart enough to wipe away all of his fingerprints.
(b) His fingerprints are on file with the federal government (we know he was in the Army because he was in uniform when he came home & discovered Grandma had died). -
Edward_de_Vere — 10 years ago(March 25, 2016 08:43 AM)
Joe gets arrested and does jail time for (at least) the assault or (worst-case) murder of Townie.
Assuming Townie survived, he probably wouldn't press charges because pursuing the case would mean revealing his own homosexuality to co-workers, family, etc. -
prismabird — 10 years ago(March 29, 2016 07:15 AM)
I really don't think Joe killed Townie (in the book he definitely didn't, but in the movie, we didn't see him do anything that would cause death), and I doubt the cops would bother to look very hard into a gay 'hookup' turned violent - certainly they wouldn't chase Joe all the way down to Miami. If he tried hustling again, he might have ended up behind bars anyway, but I trust he was genuine about giving that up.
I now have this sort of great image of Joe getting caught up in the Miami cocaine trade of the 70s. Although that wouldn't work out either. He gets carsick on boats.
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Woodyanders — 7 years ago(December 04, 2018 08:26 PM)
I think Joe Buck got himself some kind of regular nine-to-five blue collar type of job. He most probably wound up working at a diner or a restaurant since that was the sort of work he was accustomed to doing. Moreover, Joe Buck at the end of the film is a little wiser and more humane as well as has a better sense of who and what he really is.
You've seen Guy Standeven in something because the man was in everything.