rossman1122

This is by far the best movie I have ever seen in my Life. Many profound truths are conveyed throughout the film in a number of soft, subtle modalities. His last journal entry "Happiness only real when shared" comes out as he is faced with his own inevitable death, and conveys his longing to have accepted the many overtures of others who just wanted to be friends with him.

The characters that Chris came into contact with on his sojourn are expertly portrayed as REAL people and remind me quite a bit of people in my own life. I've watched the film 15+ times and still glean a new nugget of wisdom on occasion. A real must see but have some Kleenex ready for the final 2 minutes. The first time I watched it alone I cried until my chest cavity spasmed so much that it hurt. And that comes from a man who never cries.

I dated a reference librarian for a while, we watched Lonesome Dove many times as it is the best western ever produced BAR NONE of course. We were both curious as to the meaning of the saying "Uva Uvam Vivende Varia Fit" which was a sign that Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones carted with them to Montana and later became Gus' grave marker. My friend, the librarian had a contact at a library in San Bernardino, CA who actually was in possession of a fax from Larry McMurtry to a library patron there, curious of the same thing. The saying in Latin can carry a few meanings but the one Mr. McMurtry was conveying was "A Grape Matures by Looking at Another Grape". Possibly a reference to Newt's growing up with no father?

This was such a great movie, I can still remember being 11 years old and watching it on Halloween. The thing that REALLY stuck with me is that the main character (a BAD little kid) was being portrayed by the kid who did the voice of LINUS in the original Charlie Brown shows. Until I saw this movie I had a somewhat romantic view of military school, but this crushed any notion of that. I sure wish I could see it one more time but since in 1971 there were no VCR's in peoples living rooms, that is pretty much an impossibility. Christopher Shea played the role of a youth from a dysfunctional family who seems to be getting away with murder at his military school by making them look like accidents. "One of our boys just fell off the quadrangle!" The picture had the most Hitchcockian feeling for a "made-for-TV" movie, a sleeper that would have done excellent at the box office for sure.