#oof u know a movie has you by the balls when you're reading the script

[videodrme]

so uh, okay, I haven't read the whole of the hitcher script yet (mostly the parts where jim and ryder interact), and the first thing that stood out to me was that ORIGINALLY JIM HELPS RYDER ESCAPE WHAT

that COMPLETELY changes the emotions behind the final confrontation and indeed whole vibe of the police interrogation scene is different.

in the movie they don't speak to each other at all like they do in the script, everything is said through facial expressions that are very loaded. in the movie, jim doesn't purposefully help ryder free himself but is absolutely confident that he will escape by himself to continue his reign of terror.

in the script, the exchange is more straightforward. it's merely a handshake compared to the movie where it's more of an intimate hand hold. the spitting is also a callback to earlier in the script's version of the car scene.

which he never does in the movie, making the spitting a total surprise.

I think I'll write more about it later after I've read the whole script, but Jim comes off as a subtly different character. he seems more... plucky? I guess more of a typical 80s protagonist. ryder is a somewhat different character too.

we should collectively thank c. thomas howell, rutger hauer, and robert harmon (the director) for bringing about these changes to their characters that are so fucking good.