While he may be a little old for the part now, Jeremy Irons nailed the archetype in "Kingdom of Heaven."
Posted on 05/13/2010 8:42:31 AM PDT by Hoodat
You need to recast Jonas ;-)
As I was thinking about “Signs”, I think Joachim Phoenix would make a good Eddie.
Gene Hackman? Powers Booth?
Oh, I disagree - I think the ending was perfectly appropriate. As the last Gunslinger in a dying world, Roland is destined to relive his past over and over and over, never finding what he seeks. All things follow the Beam, and Roland having to follow the Man in Black across the desert again is a dark, dark version of “Groundhog Day”. Someday, maybe, Roland will get it right. Until then, he’s still following the Beam in some parallel universe right now.
Gene Hackman. Perfect. I would have preferred Brion James if he was still alive.
I’ve never seen Costner have any expression on his face other than slightly confused concern. Unless he’s playing a dumb guy in a bad situation (like he did in Open Range) he’s pretty much not good for anything.
McShane might be a little too heavy, but he’s a great actor. Dalton could be solid. What’s rolling around in my head would be if the guy could do a good job as Lee Marvin’s character in Dirty Dozen or Big Red One they could probably do Roland. That would mean they have the requisite apparent age and world weariness. McShane certainly could pull that off.
While he may be a little old for the part now, Jeremy Irons nailed the archetype in "Kingdom of Heaven."
Reprogramming the human mind to act contrary to the norm has always been talked about and experimented with for decades.
Other than the suntan I don’t think there’s much difference between a classic rough and tough good guy western movie gunslinger and a knight errant. Irons could probably pull it off, Tiberias in Kingdom of Heaven did have some world weary but still noble that I think is important for the Roland character.
In “Cell,” King employed a pretty familiar gimmick that he’s used before, and was really perfected by M.R. James, the “father of the modern ghost story.” It’s also why a lot of King’s work will rapidly slide into obsolescence. What makes it effective horror for the here and now is taking a commonplace, familiar item (a cell phone, a Plymouth sedan, a family dog, etc.) and turning it into something completely horrifying. It does achieve some immediate shock value, enough certainly to sell books and movie tickets, but gets old quick.
Yes and no. The Gilead of Roland's youth was a place of high culture and strict social rules which forged a lot of Roland's character. The gunfighter archetype doesn't necessarily have that courtly foundation. Certainly there's a lot of overlap between the two, but the classic gunslinger needs no past (i.e. Eastwood's High Plains Drifter). A knight's training, upbringing and pedigree are essential elements of his legend.
You’re correct. A simple Gunslinger would never say “I cry your pardon; I have forgotten the face of my father.”
Hmm, now that you put high culture and gunfighter in the same paragraph that brings up Val Kilmer. Did a fine job as Doc Holiday, a gunfighter with high culture root, certainly he didn’t wind up as noble as Roland but it’s the other side of the same coin. He might not be weather worn enough, but there’s a definite maybe there.
Kilmer can play Alain Johns.
I think he’s too old for Alain, Kilmer is 50 and Alain dies in his late teens or early 20s.
Agree. I have read it 3 times. I was really into to the Dark Tower but the long time between 3 and 4 lost me.
True enough. I still think there are much better choices for Roland than Kilmer. The more I think about it, the more I like Dalton.
The lag between 3 and 4 was long. Then I got volume 4, picked it up, put it down, and then picked it up later an couldn’t put it down again. Out of all 7 of the books, Wizard and Glass and Wolves of the Calla are my favorite, and my favorite plot scene is the ultimate drawing of Jake through the mud door in The Wastelands.
Kilmer was just a maybe because of the background similarities between Holiday (which Kilmer did brilliantly) and Roland. Dalton has potential.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.