One question about Frodo's expression when all of Gondor is bowing down to him and his friends--did anyone else get the impression that he wasn't all that thrilled about the attention? I really thought that he was thinking, "But I failed--I didn't destroy the Ring myself!" This, of course, is one of the great LotR discussion points--in the end, did Frodo succeed or fail? My take is that he succeeded, since he only agreed to take the Ring to Mordor, and it was through his mercy that the Ring was destroyed.

Again, Elijah Wood deserves a lot more credit for acting ability than he's getting in reviews.

He definitely looked the least thrilled of all of them (Pippin was just the cutest!). I don't know whether Frodo thinks he succeeded or failed, but I do think it's notable that when he and Sam crawl out of Mount Doom, they say "it's finally over" rather than "we did it".

But--but--"flaming rhino ram" is so much fun to say!

Oh, EW just destroyed. me. Unfortunately, I think he's going to be a victim of Roddy McDowall syndrome, and never going to find adult roles to challenge him. Well, with the possible exception of Ratso Rizzo-type roles.

Kathy--

I've always felt that Frodo failed, but BAM!!! You just rearranged my thinking. You're right. His mercy is what keeps Gollum alive, and if it weren't for that, Gollum would never have been able to take the ring from him at the end, and fall to his death with the Ring in his grasp. So he does succeed.

But not directly (essentially he both succeeds and fails). And in Frodo's mind, he'll never ever see that, what you just pointed out to me. He'll always think he failed. And I saw that in the film, too. The doubt on Frodo's face. Yet another part of the character that Elijah nailed.

RE Frodo:

His strength failed at the end, but his mission was a success. I'm not religious, but Mount Doom is one of my very favorite examples in literature of God's grace - go as far as you can, and grace will bring you the rest of the way.

I'm sure Frodo thought of himself as a failure, though, until he'd had time in Valinor to heal.

t asks self why I continually come in here to read broken sentences about things and people (Like Figwit??WTF??) I have no idea about. grump.

I'll bet the scene with Figwit and Arwen was a pickup, filmed after principal photography, especially because Figwit had made such a hit with fans.

Again with the agreeing with Sean. I think Frodo both failed and succeeded.

I was watching bits of FOTR this afternoon and started crying again at the Council of Elrond when Frodo says "I will take the Ring" and Gandalf gets that heartbreaking look on his face: love, and pride, and sorrow, and suddenly it hit me that Gandalf knows everything that Frodo will go through, all the suffering, and he has to let him go. Gah. Which also gives added resonance to Gandalf going with Frodo to the Grey Havens.

(Like Figwit??WTF??)

It stands for "Frodo is great... WHAT IS THAT???"

Figwit is an elf who first appeared in the Council of Elrond scene back in FotR.

His name comes from his expressions during that scene, which seem to say exactly that: "Frodo is great," while he's just sitting there listening to people talk, and then he gets a "WHAT IS THAT???" expression as he looks at something off screen.

It's a whole thing.

Ah.