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Yeah, I was reading a piece about the screenplay in today's Variety, and the writers (Larry McMurry and Diana Ossana) are quoted as saying that they worked really hard to maintain the feel of the original story all the way to the finished film (success, according to me), and that the way Jack died was left for the viewer to discern.
I must say that I felt the movie was far more decisive about that element than the story was. It showed Jack being bludgeoned (time-honoredly) and did not show an alternate version of him getting hit with a tire rim by accident. In film, seeing is believing. Further, if the bludgeoning shots followed a shot of the wife vs. following a shot of Ennis, there's not even film language presented for it all being in Ennis' head.
I'll have to see it again, but of course I will give them the benefit of the doubt that the Jack death visuals followed a shot of Ennis, not one of Lureen. But regardless, I found Lureen's delivery of the death story so cold and creepy that she could easily be lying, and the visual of Jack's death just seems to confirm - to me - what really happened. I concede that, technically, it's open to interpretation.
I'm still busy interpreting much of the rest of the movie. Like G.C., I'm still thinking about it 24 hours later. That's a good sign of a good film.
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