"The Book of Eli"

Have you ever watched a movie that you felt like you should have definite opinions about, but all you feel is a certain apprehension?
If not, I have. ‘The Book of Eli’ would be one.
‘The Book of Eli” is yet another post-apocalyptic tale of survival after humanity has done its best to destroy itself and Earth.
Denzel Washington plays Eli, one of the few remaining members of the “old world.” He’s an old man who survived the disaster and now has this book that he will do anything to protect.
It seems as though he has done fairly well for himself, until naturally he strolls into a town where the Bad Guy lives.
This Bad Guy is a man named Carnegie (Gary Oldman), who of course has been spending his time looking for a book – the book that Eli has.
That Eli refuses to surrender the book is expected, and Carnegie's reactions come complete with all the action and violence to satisfy any Mad Max fan.
Not to be forgotten are Claudia (Jennifer Beals – Carnegie’s . . . wife? slave? Favorite prostitute? we don’t really know), and Solara (Mila Kunis), Claudia’s daughter (but not Carnegie’s).
Solara is sick of Carnegie hurting her mother to get what he wants, so she teams up with Eli to defy the villain and protect the book. What transpires is unpredictably predictable, though usually quite watchable.
The film itself is shot in muted tones that contribute to the feeling of sharing this wasteland with the characters. The filmmakers do an exquisite job of showcasing the brutality of this new world that still tries to reach back into what we know. Like a man who has to shoot cats with arrows just to survive, then uses KFC wet wipey packets to clean up after supper.
Or that it’s water, not gas or gold or ammunition, that the people in power control.
But I’m still confused.
Not by the ending, however shamelessly impossible it might be. I enjoyed the ending. It’s unexpected, if not plausible.
No, what confuses me I can’t quite put my finger on. It has to do with Eli, Carnegie and the book. Their behaviors just don’t make sense.
Eli’s character provides at least some explanation for his behavior. It’s not bullet proof, but it works.
Carnegie doesn’t.
For a man who reads Mussolini and has a troupe of vile henchmen at his beck and call, he seems incredibly daft.
He, like Eli, is of the old world – yet he has a deep-seated ignorance of the book that does not make sense.
This book is the secret to Carnegie’s ambitions, and the root of Eli’s faith. Yet both are very misguided as to its actual meaning.
It’s like the writers wanted so badly to make the book mean something grand and universal and metaphoric, but they, like Carnegie, don’t really understand what the book means.
It goes from simple to simplistic, and left me feeling unsatisfied when I really wanted to be on board.

‘The Book of Eli’
Alcon Entertainment
Directors: Albert and Allen Hughes
Writer: Gary Whitta
Characters:
Eli – Denzel Washington
Solara – Mila Kunis
Carnegie – Gary Oldman
Redridge – Ray Stevenson
Claudia – Jennifer Beals
Rating: R “for some brutal violence and language.”