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I don't understand how you can say that people aren't being rational actors in the film. Everybody had a consistent motivation and they each had an angle they were trying to work. Sure, they did a lot of stupid things, but it all makes a lot of sense in the end. Cooper's character didn't care about justice or anything like that. He cared about becoming a big shot who showed everyone that he knew what he was doing. But of course, that constant need to turn this into something bigger and better for him brings down the operation because he gets into territory he's not prepared to go into, and when things didn't blow up, he thinks he's running a good ship. And so he starts to get sloppy because he's lucky. It leads him to do stupid things. Think about that scene with the lawyer's office. This guy is supposably a mob lawyer and he goes and explicitly says "We'll help you launder money." Anyone with half a brain would say "That's pretty brazen," but the FBI agent is so excited to be taking down a big mob guy that he doesn't think things through. As for his infatuation with Sydney, she's an exciting woman. As for Irving, he's doing this to cover his own rear end. He thinks the whole thing's stupid, but he has a son he's dedicated to. He's frustrated by the FBI because they keep running the show ineptly even though he's supposed to be the mastermind. He has a guy to play the Sheik, he knows all about the cons. They keep going bigger and better. He was in it for his 4 busts and then to walk away with freedom. He's like Lando in the Empire Strikes Back: he made a deal he had to make, but as it keeps getting worse and worse, he realizes that he didn't make a deal at all. So he uses their eagerness against them. I could go on, but I think that demonstrates how two of the characters are thinking throughout the movie. Yeah, they do bad and stupid things, but that's what a lot of people do in real life. Irving's no saint, but he's at least trying to do something that approximates the right thing.
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Dec 29, 2013 15:18
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 20:32 |
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