Film, TV, and Literary History. Written by Ahmed Khalifa
When a friend asks for help in finding her missing sister, William Last, a quiet man struggling with a troubled past, has to embark on a journey that will lead him into the darkest corners of reality, and beyond.
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The main characters are Bone, a jobless hunk in his thirties who just doesn't know where to turn after deciding to quit his job and leave his wife and kids behind, and Cutter, a one-armed, one-legged Vietnam vet who seems to have left his soul and the better part of his sanity back in Saigon. Together, along with Cutter's common law wife, Mo, an attractive ex-hippie who spends her days walking around stoned to the gills, Cutter and Bone go through life aimlessly, not always remembering where they've been, and not really caring where they're going, with Bone living off wealthy older women, and Cutter getting by on his welfare checks. That is, until Bone happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, becoming a witness to the dumping of a young hooker who's just been murdered by a middle-aged man. From there, things slowly spiral out of control, as Bone becomes embroiled in a cat and mouse game with Cutter, who seems to be slowly losing himself to an obsession only he can understand.
But it is almost fruitless to write a plot synopsis for Cutter and Bone, as the plot really isn't the thing. It's the characters, their psychology, and Thornburg's mastery of mood and pacing. Thornburg writes with a clarity and a passion that is hard to resist, pulling you into a story that gets darker and darker as it goes along, and one that is peopled with characters who aren't exactly likable but are fascinating nonetheless.
Much has been said about the book's seemingly fiery politics, with Cutter's rants about the corruption of America bordering on hyperbole. Some critics and readers claim that Cutter and Bone is a leftist, anti-capitalist novel, others argue that it has a conservative bent, with its obvious disdain for hippies and radicals. But Thornburg, who was a fiscal republican, doesn't seem interested in partisan politics as much as in life choices and their price. His characters are all lost, broken outcasts who just can't seem to belong or find their way. Bone, in particular, is written as a man who has lost almost everything in exchange for his independence. And the one time he makes any kind of attachment, with Cutter and Mo, it leads to disaster. And Cutter is a man so angry at his country, the world, and himself, that ultimately he loses himself in a complex mystery that just might be of his own invention. Or is it?
Cutter and Bone is considered to be Thornburg's masterpiece, and it is easy to see why. It is far from a perfect novel – the dialogue is often clunky, and the politics too overheated – but it is original, unforgettable, and passionately written. It has the one quality that most writers strive to achieve even once in their career: After the last page is turned, the book lingers in the mind, its words echoing, its images refusing to fade.
* The novel was adapted into a feature film, Cutter's Way, released in 1981.
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Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.
Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of several short films and a feature, which was released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer
A hidden gem from the 1980's, Cutter's Way (1981), based on Newton Thornburg's novel Cutter and Bone, is too good to be forgotten.Starring Jeff Bridges and John Heard, and directed by Ivan Passer, the film is part psychological thriller, part character study, and part buddy movie, and is an atmospheric and intelligent thriller with a twisty plot and a moody, enigmatic quality all its own.
The plot: Richard Bone (Bridges), an unemployed, womanizing scoundrel, is wrongfully suspected of murdering a teenage girl. Not knowing what to do, he seeks help from his best friend, Alex Cutter (Heard), a disabled Vietnam veteran with a terrible temper and occasional paranoid delusions. Together they try to uncover the identity of the real murderer before it's too late for both of them.
The plot, though original enough, is not the main thing here. What sets this movie apart and makes it a unique thriller, are the performances (especially Heard's as Cutter) and the stylish, nuanced direction by Ivan Passer. The enigmatic and shocking ending is also great.
Although it downplays the novel's complex themes and politics in favor of a more streamlined approach, many of the book's characters are wonderfully brought to life by a great cast and stylish direction. A dazzling paranoid thriller that deserves to be rediscovered.
Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021. (An earlier draft was published on Bitlanders.com)
Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of several short films and a feature, which released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer
Video Version:
The story is simple: The time is 1988. The place New Orleans. A dying middle-aged fixer/hitman working for a local mobster, walks into a set-up, is nearly killed, and in the process of escaping rescues a teenage prostitute. They embark on a road trip to Texas, where they both have scores to settle. From there, the film takes some dramatic turns; some expected (the burgeoning, emotionally complex relationship between the hitman and the girl; the need for redemption), some not, especially in the quietly masterful and heartbreaking third act.
A film of this kind - subdued, easy on plot - mostly hinges on the direction and the performances, and both are quite good. Director Melanie Laurent handles the material with assurance, opting for a steady, visually effective, if not flashy, style that doesn't get in the way of the story. And while Elle Fanning's performance is flawed yet touching, Ben Foster delivers one of his best performances as a violent man struggling with his nature, as he embarks on the road to a salvation that might just be impossible to reach.
Powerful, poignant, compelling, and ultimately moving, Galveston is a minor noir classic that deserves to be seen.
Text © Ahmed Khalifa. 2021.
Ahmed Khalifa is a filmmaker and novelist. He is the writer/director of the feature film Wingrave, released on Netflix, and the author of a number of novels and short stories, including the YA horror novel, Beware The Stranger, available on Amazon. Find him on Twitter @AFKhalifa and on Facebook @Dark.Fantastic.AK·Writer
