GeraldRice Wrote:I loved it. I thought the movie had great symmetry if you look for it. The father had given up a life of violence for a quiet life, then had to resurrect his old self to protect his family. The son, around the same time, had to find his inner beast in order to stand up for himself. The father, seeing this, was revolted that he had left a darker piece of himself within his son and perhaps =blinked= when his son steps out of the car. He didn't exactly want to kill people in front of him. Did you see the look he gave him after his son blows away Ed Harris? It wasn't satisfaction. It was a beast realizing it had bred a beast and not at all happy about it. And after that he realized in order to truly kill his old self, he had to finish off his old family- to guard the new one.

Look at how tender and cute the love scene was between husband and wife and compare it to the visceral, animal act they committed on the stairs. Remember how he pretty much slaughtered his brother and his crew? That was the animal at its absolute worst. By killing them, he was killing the old Joey, by washing off their blood he was washing off Joey's. For all intents and purposes, Joey SHOULD have been the one to come back if at all, but who sits at the table, with tears and pleas for forgiveness in his eyes as his daughter passes the peas? Tom.

The dialogue may have well had some problems from a logical standpoint, but you would have to completely leapfrog the emotion and the circle that had to be completed for one life to remain and another to end.

Edit: as another way of looking at it, think of Jack as Tom's conscience, or his own personal Jesus. If you were truly contrite, or at least thought you were, wouldn't you pause in your bloodlust if your conscience were watching you?