Jeff Reinhart
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Saw character | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Jeff Reinhart | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Race: | Caucasian |
| Relationships: | Lynn Denlon (wife) Corbett Reinhart (daughter) Dylan Reinhart (son, deceased) |
| Enemies: | Jigsaw Timothy Young Judge Halden Danica Scott |
| Weapon of Choice: | A revolver at his home, is given a Beretta during his tests |
| Status: | Alive |
| Portrayed by: | Angus Macfadyen |
Jeff Reinhart is a fictional character in the Saw series, making his first appearance in Saw III. He was portrayed by Angus Macfadyen.
Contents |
[edit] Character History
[edit] Famiy life
Jeff's son Dylan was tragically killed in a drunk driving accident. Jeff never fully recovered from his grief, and would often fantasize about killing the man responsible, who had gotten a much shorter jail sentence than Jeff wanted. As he obsessed over his son's death, his marriage to Lynn Denlon became strained, to the point that she began having an affair with another man. Jeff was then targeted by the Jigsaw Killer for his inability to progress from his son's death, and his vengeful attitude towards life.
[edit] Jeff's tests
Jeff was later kidnapped by Amanda Young, the apprentice of Jigsaw. Jigsaw, who was dying of cancer and an inoperable brain tumor, often placed his victims (those he deemed unappreciative of their lives) in death traps to test their survival skills. Jeff was to be one of Jigsaw's final test subjects; Jigsaw wanted to see if Jeff could forgive those responsible for his son's death.
Jeff awoke in an abandoned warehouse, Jigsaw's defacto headquarters. There he was directed to a series of rooms, each holding someone who was involved in his son's death. In each room, Jigsaw left a tape recording explaining what to do in the situation, and in between each rooms, Jeff was supplied with a box, containing pieces of a gun, and pieces of a torn up photograph showing him and his family, along with a note.
The first room featured a woman, Danica Scott, who had witnessed the accident occur but did nothing about it and had driven away. She was suspended naked in a freezer room where ice cold water was sprayed on her, slowly freezing her to death. At first, Jeff was angry at her, arguing with her before he finally came to his senses. He ran to retrieve a key, which required him to stick his face against a freezing pipe. Grabbing the key, he tore some flesh from his face and ran back to Danica. However, he was too late; the water being sprayed over her had already frozen and left her in a sheet of ice, from head to toe.
The second room had Judge Halden, who had, in Jeff's opinion, let the killer of Jeff's son off too easily. Halden was chained down at the bottom of a vat, where rotted pig carcasses would be dropped through a shredder, covering and ultimately drowning him in fermented pig guts. Nearby was a case filled with all of Jeff's son's belongings. If Jeff were to press a button, all of Dylan's items would be incinerated, leaving nothing but ash and a key that would unlock the judge's neck brace. Once again, Jeff, still bitter over his son's death, considered letting the judge die. However, the judge convinced him to save him, telling Jeff that vengeance never solved anything. Burning all of his son's belongings, Jeff managed to save the judge in the nick of time.
The final room had the killer responsible for Dylan's death, a man named Timothy Young. As Jigsaw pointed out, the killer was extremely devastated and remorseful over his involvement in Dylan's death. The killer was placed on a metal 'crucifix' of sorts that twisted his hands, feet, and head. The only way to get the key was by removing a key from a glass box. The key was attached to the trigger of a shotgun, and removing it would wound Jeff in the process. Jeff unwound the key from the wire, triggering the shotgun. He moved out of the way and accidentally shot the judge in the head. With the key, he attempted to save Timothy, but Jeff was too late to get the key in the lock, and Tim's head was twisted around 180 degrees.
As Jeff left the room, he found a bullet for the gun, as well as the last piece of the photograph.
Jeff arrived in Jigsaw's warehouse in time to see Amanda shoot Lynn, who was also being tested. In response, Jeff fatally shot Amanda in the neck with the gun Jigsaw had left him. It was then revealed to Amanda by Jigsaw that Lynn was Jeff's wife, and that Amanda was being tested to see if she could cope with the pressure of being Jigsaw's apprentice. As Lynn lay dying from the gunshot to her stomach, Jigsaw asked Jeff if he would forgive him for being responsible for the death of his child. Jeff said he forgave him, but took a circular saw to his neck. As Jigsaw bled to death from his neck wound, he revealed on a tape that Jeff had learned nothing from his games, and was still angry and vengeful. He also revealed that Jeff's daughter Corbett was still locked away somewhere with a limited air supply, and that Jeff would have to play another game if he wanted to find her. As Jigsaw died, the collar around Lynn's neck activated, effectively blowing apart her head.
[edit] Macfadyen on Jeff
Although Macfadyen had reservations about working on Saw III due to its level of violence and gore, he chose to do so because of his character’s moral dilemma. “It’s like, ‘I have to sell that reality and try to make it as real as possible.’ That was it. Like I said, if a painting of Jesus is just so-so, the detail isn’t really there, then I’ll pass it and look at the Statue of David. But if the detail is specific and it’s done correctly, then you are looking at the real thing. If the violence is disturbing as opposed to cartoonish or something - and that includes the emotional state of the people who are watching it or who it’s being done to - that’s where I think it’s important to be able to get those specifics right." Concerning Jeff's desire for revenge and whether or not he sympathized with him, he stated "Being put in that situation, I don’t know...the most important thing for me was you can have the idea of wanting to take revenge and do terrible things to people, but the reality of it is something completely different. As soon as you see that, it’s just sickening and nauseating - unless you’re just completely dissociated and a mental sociopath or insane, I guess.”[1]
When Macfayden was asked if he liked his character in an interview with IGN, the interviewer pointed out Jeff's hesitation to help out those in peril. Macfayden responded with "I think it's kind of set up in the film that even though you think he could save them, even when he tries to, it's set-up so it all seems a little too late. That was something we were discussing was how long do you wait and pause? Because if you've done that in one room, you know you can't do that in the next because otherwise it's going to be too late for that person. So we were having lots of debates. And also because each scene, you can't play them all the same. You've got to build in each one. So did I like him? I don't think he liked himself very much."[2]
[edit] References
- ^ http://movies.about.com/od/saw3/a/saw3am102306.htm Macfayden on Jeff
- ^ [http://movies.ign.com/articles/742/742130p2.html Macfayden on Jeff
| The Saw Series |
|---|
| Films |
|
Saw (short, 2003) • Saw (2004) • Saw II (2005) • Saw III (2006) • Saw IV (2007) |
| Characters |
| Jigsaw • Amanda • Adam • Dr. Gordon • Detective Matthews • Lynn • Jeff |
| Film Soundtracks |
| Saw • Saw II • Saw III |
| Other |
| Traps • "Billy" the puppet • Saw: Rebirth • "Hello Zepp" |
