[Blarg]

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as for the contention that "The movie had been showing Ben's [crowe] disdain for his comrades the whole way": huh? when? where? what movie were you watching? the movie showed the whole way that crowe was confident that his crew would come rescue him! his line: "as sure as god's vengeance, they're coming." why was he so confident?

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did you miss the scene where charlie virtually begs ben to let him hang around and ben pointedly ignores him? (in the saloon, after dismissing the rest of the gang). or how about when ben asks the bar girl to run away to mexico with him? or when ben shoots one of his own gang for no real reason during the coach hold up? or how despite his confidence his gang is coming for him, he's desperate to escape without their help?

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ya there was def disdain for his crew but writing wise Crowe's character was alll over the place and really didn't make a ton of sense. I'd have to see the original draft but I'd hope that the character was much darker and more sinister until Cruise(originally supposed to play role) and Crowe got involved.

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I understand that stars often have things rewritten to maximize their face time and make their characters more likeable, sometimes even going so far as to bring in their own writers they regularly use for that purpose. It sounds exactly like something Cruise would do, who is extremely canny about and manipulative regarding his image, and a guy as big as Crowe should have about as much freedom.