Myth, Legend Perpetuated
The Billy the Kid legend/myth has been done to death on film and in books. His final days are included within The Kid (2019), the story of orphan siblings, a twelve-year old boy and his teenage sister, trying to get to a friend of their mom’s in Santa Fe. I watched it last night courtesy of Netflix. It is a grim, bleak depiction of the old west. Savagery often rules. I was unfamiliar with everyone in the cast but Ethan Hawke, who does an excellent turn as legendary lawman Pat Garrett. Matching that performance are Dane DeHaan as the charismatic Billy, and Chris Pratt as the villain of the main story line. Jake Schur, in his first film role, and Leila George do yeoman work as the kids. The acting is the flick’s best aspect. The cinematography is arty, echoing film noir. Vincent D’Onofrio directed, his second stint at the helm of a full length feature. The narrative is as quirky as his acting. Andrew Lanham wrote the screenplay. Although there isn’t much splatter, there is much violence. The creators did not hold back on brutality, although some of it occurs off screen. 4000+ users at IMDb have rated The Kid, forging to a consensus of 5.9 on a scale of ten. It fared miserably at the box office, returning $1.5 million on its $8 million budget, and it doesn’t seem like a film that will recoup its losses through DVD sales and rentals and streaming. I was interested because I’ve enjoyed D’Onofrio’s work in front of the camera. Anyone squeamish about harshness should pass. It is by no means a bad movie. It just doesn’t bring anything new to the table. Here’s the main cast:
And here’s the only known picture of William Bonney:
I’ve completed the second proofing of the novel I intend to self-publish in January. I pruned about four pages. It now comes in at 302. Since most of it occurs in the main character’s mind, I tinkered with streamlining the thought process, dropping words and using numbers rather than writing them out. I also wanted to make it less monotonous, although monotony is sort of one of the major themes. I hope there are enough interesting occurrences and ideas amid the redundancy. I also eliminated instances I’ve used in other novels and short stories. I will be adding a couple of sentences next time through, a thought that has occurred to me quite frequently, a sort of saving grace. The only tedious aspect has been the footnotes. There will be about 60. I will now take a break until about December 1st, although I may start work on the cover shortly.
This Republican is running for the late Elijah Cummings’ Baltimore house seat. Her name is Kimberly Klacik:
My thanks to the young woman who bought Women Who Think Too Much by Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, and to the gentleman who purchased a book in Russian despite the fact that it was a volume two; and to the young mom who bought five kids’ books.
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