listen, i love the LOTR movies. i do! i love them. they are cinematic masterpieces of practical effects and team effort. it's astounding they look and sound as good as they do for what movies were at the time, the budget they had, etc.

but one of the quibbles i have with them is faramir's arc. in the books, faramir refuses to take the ring. in fact, he refuses to even know what object the item of power is. he tells frodo not to tell him! "not were gondor in ruins and i alone could save it, would i use this thing!" he studied with gandalf for years and years. he KNOWS objects of dark power corrupt.

and in the commentary for the LOTR movies, the writing cast (Philipa Boyens, specifically, I think?) talks about the change to have Faramir try to take Frodo to Gondor so they can use the object of power. she says that they've built the ring up for all the prior running time, to convey to the audience how powerful it is, and that Faramir comes along and "strips the ring of all its power."

i have been haunted by the Almost Getting It for years. Frodo's encounter with Faramir is important because of that! Faramir has so many reasons to succumb and rationalize trying to use the ring, and he says no. Frodo desperately needs that hope, that it CAN be done, at that specific moment. he's also been separated from the group charged with getting him to Mordor because of betrayal, and now only has Sam and Gollum. Faramir's refusal to take him off course or take the ring also gives Frodo hope that he still has support from the world around him, and that not all men have fallen and become lost already.

i understand many other changes to the story for drama and for run time, but that's one detail that's always struck me as illustrating precisely how close they were to understanding The Point, only to miss it entirely

Friend breakups are how you get lines like "Your friends? You think your friends are coming to save you? Don't make me laugh."