I look at this story as sort of an urban western and Nick a modern day cowboy. Nick appreciates a freedom found less and less in the world we live in today. I would compare it to a cowboy who loves to ride the open plains discovering barbed wire for the first time. In this story, the barbed wire is the debt that his father carried and passed on to Nick. Its a boundary in Nick's life that is absolute. Its might as well be physical. Its unforgiving and it will change the way Nick must live his life. If he chooses to ignore the barbed wire, he'll be emotionally torn up.
This film is about Nick coming to grips with living in a different world than imagined himself living in.
Here's an excerpt from the entry for "The Western" on Wikipedia.
"Westerns often portray how primitive and obsolete ways [NICK'S WAY OF LIFE] of life confronted modern technological or social changes [THE CHALLENGES AND COMPLEXITIES OF LIVING IN THE MODERN WORLD...OWNING HOUSE, HAVING A JOB, MAKING ENDS MEET]. This may be depicted by showing conflict between natives and settlers or US cavalry, or by showing ranchers being threatened by the onset of the Industrial Revolution. American Westerns of the 1940s and 1950s emphasize the values of honor and sacrifice. Westerns from the 1960s and 1970s often have more pessimistic view, glorifying a rebellious anti-hero and highlighting the cynicism, brutality and inequality of the American West."
ON THE WATERFRONT
On the Waterfront is a major inspiration for Tony's Money. We strive to create characters that demonstrate the working class struggle. We want to create characters that while macho also reveal deeper sentiments associated with the working class. Here's the famous scene that defined the film.
