''The Sunset Limited'' is a 2011 American

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by and starring

Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' The ...

and

Samuel L. Jackson Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...

. It was the duo's second collaboration, after the 2000 film ''

Rules of Engagement Rules of engagement (ROE) are the internal rules or directives afforded military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as pro ...

''. The screenplay was written by

Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr., July 20, 1933) is an American writer who has written twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays and three short stories, spanning the Western and post-apocalyptic genres. He is known for his gr ...

, based on his 2006 play of the same name. The film is about the relationship between a Christian African American who has a positive view of life and a nihilistic White man with a very negative view. The film received generally favorable reviews.

Plot

Black and White converse about White's attempted suicide. White feels as though everything ends up in death, and that his life is minuscule in the throes of time. From White's point of view, no matter how great someone or something is, all that is created eventually fades away. This is the opposite of what Black believes. He believes that there is a

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

and that we all must go through the troubles of life to get to paradise ( Heaven). By his own account, his story is that of a man who has committed murder and was far away from God, but has now changed. Black feels that he can dissuade White from committing suicide. With Black stopping White right before he was about to kill himself, Black feels that this is destiny. In the end, Black is not able to dissuade White from suicide; he lets him leave the apartment. When White leaves, Black is left pondering why God would put him in a position to save this man's life knowing that there is nothing that he can do to stop White from going through with the suicide.

Cast

as Black *

as White

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has a 68% approval rating based on reviews from 28 critics. The website's consensus reads, "''The Sunset Limited''s ambition is undercut by arch dialogue and a claustrophobic setting, but Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson's dueling performances bring heft to this battle of wills." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, it has a score of 67 out of 100 based on reviews from 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Verne Gay of '' Newsday'' praised the film and called it "grim, but a chance to see two magnificent actors at the peak of their powers." Mike Scott of ''

The Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate'' is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana, since January 25, 1837. The current publication is the result of the 2019 acquisition of ''The Times-Picayune'' (itself a result of ...

'' called the film "A thinking man's drama that rolls deep, heavy thoughts around and around, trying to puzzle out where the truth lies. Or, indeed, if what we see as the truth is just that: a lie."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sunset Limited 2011 television films 2011 films Films about suicide Films about philosophy Films about Christianity American films based on plays Films directed by Tommy Lee Jones HBO Films films Films scored by Marco Beltrami Films based on works by Cormac McCarthy Films with screenplays by Cormac McCarthy Two-handers 2010s English-language films