User reviews

What a powerful and emerging film that depicts the two opposing sides of this universe. I was really surprised by the quality of this "little" film. This isn't a movie about two people talking in a room about random stuff. This isn't a film about two life-travelers that engage in an ongoing argument about the human condition. This is a film about the quality of life. Not the meaning of it but the quality. The details in it's design. The true valor's clockwork.

The duality of belief, as a general term, is analyzed completely in this great approach of the Cormac McCarthy novel in which the two main protagonists, "named" simply Black (Samuel L. Jackson) and White (Tommy Lee Jones) are debating over a serious and dangerous issue. "White tried to jump in front of a train and Black came and saved his ass. He carries him in his apartment and tries to put some sense into this White dude." Right? Not really. "The movie also promotes religion and is an ongoing boredom that I completely despise." RIght? Not really again. This has a greater meaning than just that. We live in a world filled with pathetic lies, corny truths, raised flags over white buildings and big letters over or on the dark ones. We live in a world where prostitution is legalized even in the cultural state of the society. We live in a world where rejection, where pain, where slavery and failure are common attraction to the atrocious tourists. We are hoping to free the world from the hands of the manipulators and selfish dictators, we organize revolutions, we fight for freedom but in the end we all get trapped in the same positions as we were before. This is what this movie is about. It's about the ongoing fight carried to win our faith back. Faith, science, culture, logic, mathematics, metaphors, feelings, achievements... They are all the same. They are contents, ingredients and thoughts that the humankind must have in order to survive the greatest threat of them all. The threat which is not the monetary system, the threat which is not the harsh reality, the threat which is not the solely figurative place of the man in the world, but the threat that is represented in the lack of faith in ourselves. We are our own guides because we rule this world. This is why this movie has captured my attention completely. It's not a masterpiece, it's not a grand scale picture, it's not a studio banking option, it's not even part of the best films in the last years but... at the same time... it's simply great. I loved it because it really balances amazingly well the truth revealed along the film with the denouement. They are identical as both form and content.

I also liked the little details like the black coffee, the text erased at the bottom of the Bible, the absence of TV and radio, the lockers on the door and not to mention the biggest detail of them all... the room. Just think about the room vs. everything else. Order vs. Chaos. Even in a messy world we could find order...

Going further to the execution, the story is well structured, the dialogues are haunting, the clichés are gone because even if you find them they tend to leap by the end of the film, the acting is impeccable and the technical aspect of the movie was a comfortable surprise. It's exactly what the film needed. I can't talk too much about this film because I don't want to enter into the details... I just hope people could see what a good movie this really is. I'm pretty sure few movies captured my attention as this one did. Like Kubrick's 2001, this is a movie about content and... containers.

This is a truly good film. If you like thinking about life, death, suicide, God, the state of man - then this is a film for you. This film offers an intense dialogue between Mr.Black and Mr.White or two opposing sides of an argument. Tommy Lee Jones plays a cultured intellectual secularist and Samuel L. Jackson plays a violent uneducated ex-con who found salvation in God and Bible.

I really just wrote this review to applaud the performance of Tommy Lee Jones. He is almost unrecognizable in the role. He seems to have totally assumed the character. Samuel L. Jackson plays to his strengths. Sometimes Jackson comes off as a bit cartoonish or like he is playing a caricature of himself but usually it works.

Excellent. Like a stage play.

I was really looking forward to this, since I love Jones and Jackson and McCarthy. I enjoy Shakespeare and philosophy and movies like _My Dinner with Andre_ and _Mindwalk_.

Alas, this movie left me feeling unsatisfied and annoyed. I'll admit right away that I don't have any sympathy for the humdrum bleak existentialist reasoning expressed by White in this movie. If (as he says) the hope of human civilization was extinguished in the gas chambers of Dachau, then it was resurrected in the revolt of Treblinka. If the horrors of the human slave trade and the Middle Passage obliterates the nobility of our species, then Harriet Tubman reorients us to the possibility of ourselves and shows us the true face of prophecy.

Joseph Asagai answers White's pessimism in _A Raisin in the Sun_ by dismissing the notion that he and others like him are "realists". Trapped in a cycle of limited vision and despair, they refuse to see the good and progress of humanity as any kind of counterbalance to the evil, and yet they get to pretend that theirs is the one true honest understanding of who we are. Piffle! With blind Christian faith as the only response to White's solipsistic nihilism, we have a very articulate and entertaining straw man. Throughout the movie I kept imagining worthwhile responses to White's claims, and felt thoroughly discouraged by the inadequacy of Black's dialogue.

I'm glad I saw this movie, but I cannot go along with the glowing perfect-score reviews dished out by my esteemed colleagues on this forum.

The concept of this movie is almost impossible to sell (two dudes talking in a room) if that is an automatic switch off for you then give this a miss, have a good evening.

It almost was for me but as the two dudes in question are Tommy Lee and Samuel L, I thought I would give it a shot; glad I did as I was instantly gripped and before I realised it the end credits were rolling.

The two perform an elegant dance of dialogue, Samuel's character from the slant of a straight shooting, Southern ex-con who has found Jesus and Tommy as the depressed, over educated nihilist.

There is nothing groundbreakingly new here. The discussion follows paths we have all considered, is there a god? could anyone bare living forever? But the two are masters at their trade.

This is an excellent film, if you insist on car chases and explosions to enjoy a movie (nothing wrong with that) then steer well clear. Otherwise give this a go. It won't change your life but will definitely affect your week.

I watched The Sunset Limited alone at home on a DVD loaned to me by a friend. I didn't read any reviews before watching it and so I had absolutely no idea what to expect. That was a good thing because, if I had read some of the negative reviews on IMDb, I may have even skipped watching it. That would have been a bad thing.

This film is amazing! With a cast of two and only one scene (if you discount the opening generic footage), to me this seemed obviously a play written for live theatre. However, in live theatre, you don't get the chance to view facial expressions close-up or rewind and study details the same as you do in a movie at home. And that was certainly something I wanted to do. Every moment of this film is significant and one cursory glimpse simply doesn't do it justice.

Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L Jackson perform their roles with classic professional expertise. You feel like a fly on the wall almost to the point where you even want to breathe quietly so as not to disturb the atmosphere. That is the profundity of The Sunset Limited! The ending wasn't at all predictable - if, indeed it WAS the ending - were we supposed to make our own ending like in one of those early computer text story games?

After watching the titles, I was left with two questions. One was, "How on earth did it need THAT many people to make this film???" Tommy Lee Jones directed it and yet there was only the closing scene that he wasn't in. If it weren't for the brilliance of two totally professional actors, this film could have been the work of my university screen production class (I wish it HAD been!). For example, how did it require five painters to prepare the set? These are, of course, somewhat rhetorical questions although, as I say, I'm pretty sure my uni class could have done this as an assignment with just two cameras and camerapersons, one lighting engineer, one sound engineer, a boom swinger, an editor and a sound designer. We would have done all the other stuff such as preparing the set ourselves. In fact, we DID do that except that the director, camera operators and lighting people were also the editors! Now, I don't say this to denigrate this film at all because, as I've already said, it is an excellent movie. All I'm saying is that, given talents like Jackson and Jones, we could have made this movie for not much more than the cost of tape and, if we had done it professionally, six people's time (about a month). So, when I see the crew list for The Sunset Limited, I cannot help wondering what it cost to make. (IMDb doesn't tell us that.)

My second question was, "How many times will I need to watch this movie before I get every little nuance of it?"

Having now read some of the other reviews, it is obvious to me that there are plenty of viewers out there with IQs well below average because some of them not only clearly missed the philosophical and psychological message of this masterpiece, but also lacked the ability to write something remotely intellectual about it - and an intellectual film it is. I guess they are the fans of in-your-face action or slapstick rubbish!

It's a debate about the meaning of Life. a mind blowing movie for specific viewers. If you don't like films depending only on dialog .. Don't bother watching it! (I mean movies like "The Man from Earth").

On the other hand, if you are interested in Philosophy, that maybe the movie of your dreams.

This film is also a fight between two of my favorite actors ..the superb Tommy Lee Jones and the furious Samuel L. Jackson.

I loved every second of the film, and I'm really looking forward to watch it again very soon.

P.S: If you are going to watch it, please sit down and focus because the movie requires a lot of attention to every discussion.

Two of the greatest actors to ever grace the silver screen trade blows in this though provoking movie. I liked!

Two men trapped in a room with their opposing beliefs. The words of Cormac McCarthy. The direction of Tommy Lee Jones. The powerhouse combination of Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones. Two actors. One room. Big Ideas. Emotions run high. The essence of Drama is Conflict.

This 90 minute look at two men's opposing beliefs is strong and will resonate with the viewer long after it is over. It's the story of a man who wants to end his life and another man who wants to save it. What rings true is the direction of Tommy Lee Jones. It gels so well with the words of Cormac McCarthy.

These two actors gel even better making it all the richer. Jackson has the flashier role where Jones plays his complexly understated. If any actor could raise your heart rate by talking it's Sam Jackson. His character's belief in God is sincere and matched with Jones's dark, realistic view of the world.

Speaking of realistic-Don't go looking for a neat ending. This film stays true to it's subject matter and these actors stay even truer to their characters. Jones, as a student of theater and literature, knows as a director to let the words live and breathe. Because he does Jackson and him make a monument out of two chairs and a table in a small room. This sunset is anything but limited.

The Sunset Limited is two guys in a room talking to each other for 90 minutes. They discuss the unique situation they're in, and then debate their differing views on the world.

And it's pretty good overall, even though I think there were risks of something like this being boring or pretentious. The acting from Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones helps immensely, because both are great here.

And I think the screenplay by playwright/author/screenwriter Cormac McCarthy is also quite good. It's overall not boring; maybe comes a little close to being overwrought on occasions, but I don't think that makes it pretentious exactly.

As a bottle movie, it's good. I've seen much worse, though have probably seen a few better, too. I think it's very easy to recommend for anyone who's a fan of McCarthy, Jackson, or Jones, and if you're a fan of all three (as one arguably should be), then all the better.

I've never felt so compelled to write in on how I feel about a movie until I had experienced "The Sunset Limited" last night on HBO.

I was really moved. I actually burst into tears at one point.

Two men having a philosophical debate about life and death and the idea that knowledge is a burden, and the more we know, the more miserable we become is one point of debate in this powerful film. Some of the best writing and acting I've seen, anywhere.

Multiple viewings may be required for most to fully absorb the impact. A real punch in the gut.

I actually felt like dusting off my old Bible and thumbing through it for a while when the movie ended.

I don't know what else to say about this movie except that if you have not seen it yet, you MUST. It makes so much sense and it is a real eye opener.

McCarthy is genius. I love all is work and this is just an absolute masterpiece of writing.

Tommy Lee Jones and my man Sammy L. are absolutely mesmerizing. I have not seen acting this good in a long time.

There is so much I want to tell you about this film, but words just cannot do it justice.

I loved every second of this film, and I hope you do to.

P.S.- I NEVER give a movie 10 stars because I like to reserve that honor for something that is truly special. This is truly special.

The nihilism of White seemed to me to be quite ridiculous, especially when counterpointed by the enthusiasm of Black. Having felt White's rage - i have felt and said much the same - but was left bored by his rantings. Ironic i suppose.

As a movie, "A Pure Formality" - was a much better investigation of this dilemma.

Sunset Limited, The (2011)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Thought-provoking drama about a black religious man (Samuel L. Jackson) who stops a white atheist (Tommy Lee Jones) from killing himself. Later that day the two men find themselves inside the black man's ghetto apartment where they share stories about their past as well as their different views on religion, life and death. This film is based on the Cormac McCarthy play of the same name but I had no idea what the film was about. I basically went into this thing based on the reputations of Jackson and Jones and the end results was a movie that makes you think and that's pretty rare these days. The film runs just under 90-minutes and we only have two different characters who are trying to figure out the other. The only thing that brought these men together was Jones' attempted suicide and Jackson being there to save him. I must admit that the film was extremely deep and it's probably going to be hard for most to gather everything with just one viewing but the opinions brought up from both characters will probably stay with most for a very long time. The screenplay by McCarthy does a terrific job at bouncing back and forth between various subjects. Throughout the dialogue we learn about both men and we get various bits and pieces as the film moves along. We learn that Jackson was in prison where he nearly beat a man into becoming a deformed cripple but this wasn't the worst thing he has done in his life. We learn that Jones hated his parents and doesn't have a single friend. The film takes basic set-ups like these and takes them into so many directions that you can't help but hang onto every word that's spoken and can't wait to see where it leads. The discussion of religion is one of the most frank conversations I've ever heard. Jackson's very passionate about God and his reasons make sense. Jones, on the other hand, is very passionate that there isn't anything out there and his reasons also make sense. The film doesn't try to say which person is right or why the other is wrong. Instead we're given two characters with different opinions and that's what makes the story work so well. Both Jackson and Jones do splendid work and there's no question that both give some of the best performances we're going to see in 2011. Jackson has the louder role and there's no one better when it comes to giving passionate line reading. Jones has mostly a quiet part but he says so much with that wonderful face of his that you can feel his pain even when he isn't saying anything. Both men do a terrific job together and what I enjoyed most is how their acting towards one another changed as the film moved along and as their characters became more familiar and comfortable with the other. The film asks a lot of questions and if you're looking for answers then you might be disappointed. The movie makes the right choice of not trying to answer everything but instead it just throws ideas out there and forces the viewer to make up their own mind. This is a complicated little movie but it's a real gem and Jones does a very good job bringing it to life.

Right off the bat, this movie is a great watch for anyone, no matter what they believe about life, death, or what's next. This movie does an amazing job of addressing theological philosophy without alienating anybody. These are things we all think about, whether or not we've come to any conclusions.

The acting and directing are terrific. Couldn't be better. The writing is good enough to make it worth reading the play by itself.

In the same way that a really good "sports movie" can be deeply moving to people who aren't exactly sports fans, this movie will be deeply moving to people who aren't necessarily into thinking about God, death, or the afterlife.

If you're wondering whether or not to watch, rent, or buy this movie; do it. It's worth it.

This movie with Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones transcends us back to a time when movies relied on the deepness of story lines and not on special effects or loud soundtracks. This movie takes us to the extreme test of our faith, in what we believe about the seen and unseen. It also reminds us that at times we are so busy trying to save others we forget to save ourselves, and sometimes almost become lost in the process. The acting talent of Mr. Jones and Mr. Jackson makes for a powerful movie and leaves us evaluating what we ourselves believe. Tommy Lee Jones' directing style makes you feel as if you are a third person in the room being an observer to the debate that transpired between both characters. If you need to be amused by bells and whistles, this is not the film for you, but if you enjoy film making at its purest form, with deep plot lines and dialogue this movie is a must see as these characters will haunt you long after the lights come back on.

I'm 24, live in Sweden and I consider myself rather cultural. I have a big interest in movies, music, photography and such. In that context I have seen a lot of movies.

This is the first movie that have ever made me cry.

My fantasy was running wild during the hole 1½ hour, and I wish it would have never ended. I had thoughts and ideas about the outside world, the characters and I lived in the movie like never before. I wanted so many things to happen so badly like it was happening to me. The dialog blew me away and I have never seen acting that good.

Best movie I have ever seen.

p.s. I am an atheist. and still am.

It is my deepest pleasure to review this movie. Have you ever wondered what would happened if god and the devil sat down and had a conversation about the true state of the world? This is a movie where exactly that happens, only instead of god you have Samuel L Jackson arguing for the side of faith, and Tommy Lee Jones arguing for the side of suicide, now heres how the movie goes, it takes place in one room where they go back and fourth discussing the merits on religion, the state of the world as a whole, the human condition, the future, and about a dozen other topic. At first glance this sounds like it would be a dull movie, trust me its not. If you like actual conversation and true dialog this is the movie for you. 10/10 for finally making a movie thats as real as real can be.

I just watched The Sunset Limited. I'm eager to see it again, and will tomorrow.

Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson are the only actors in the 91 minute film, which consists of a single unbroken dialogue set in the living room of a tenement building overrun by junkies and squatters. Jackson's railroad worker may be the building's only occupied resident. The names of his character and Jones's, a suicidal university professor, are never used.

The movie opens on the pair sitting at the lineman's dining table, discussing why each did what he did minutes earlier. The professor tried to kill himself by jumping in front of the oncoming Sunset Limited. The lineman caught him and brought him to his squalid room, unwilling to let the stranger out of his sight.

The lineman is uneducated, spent years in federal prison for a murder he acknowledges committing, and believes in God. The professor, a brilliant academic, is an atheist whose pursuit of knowledge leaves him craving death and resenting the lineman's interference. His rescuer has locked the several bolts on his door both out of habit and determination not to let the troubled man hurt himself, but when the professor insists on going home, his host is willing to allow it only provided they go together.

Resigned, the professor sits and the men resume their debate, one making the case for life, the other unable to accept reasoning that begins with faith, insisting on unassailable logic and employing a subtle vocabulary to prove the absurdity of continuing. The simpler and therefore happier of the two uses plain language to demonstrate what to him is self evident, countering the scholar's unnerving calm with passion and his logic with acquiescence to life's mystery.

I watched the film with my father and brother, and we agree that it sped by like an action thriller to a climactic soliloquy that made each of us feel his hair stand on end.

The Sunset Limited was directed by Tommy Lee Jones and written by Cormac McCarthy, based on his play.

I found out about this at a time that I really needed it. I got so addicted that I watched it about 50 times in 6 months. Something about this movie is deeply attractive to me. I just love it.

This is the only review I have on IMDB.