In 2009, the zombie craze that would soon overrun the country hadn’t really started yet. There were some undead hits here and there like the 2004 reboot ofDawn of the DeadandShaun of the Dead, but it wouldn’t be until 2010, with the premiere ofThe Walking Dead, that zombies started to overwhelm every corner of pop culture. So in 2009, whenRuben Fleischer’s first feature film, the horror comedyZombieland, hit theaters, there wasn’t a great amount of anticipation. Sure, there were some big names involved likeEmma Stone,Jesse Eisenberg, andAbigail Breslin, but horror wasn’t as big then as it has become now. When the film opened, it shocked audiences with just not how scary and funny it was, but how much of a beating heart could be found among the undead. A lot of that came from the character of Tallahassee. Played byWoody Harrelson, Tallahassee is the epitome of cool, a badass zombie killer who shows no fear. His only concern really seems to be finding a Twinkie. While this coolness made Tallahassee so fun to watch, it covered a brutal past which explained Tallahassee’s behavior.
The beginning ofZombielandis seen through the eyes of Eisenberg’s Columbus (to protect themselves, these survivors use where they’re from rather than their real names). He is riddled with near crippling anxiety about everything, but he’s made it through the zombie apocalypse by following a series of rules. For example, there’s Number 2, “The Double Tap” (you can never shoot a zombie just once), or Number 3, “Beware of bathrooms.” Columbus begins making his way toward Ohio in search of his parents. Along the way he comes across a black Cadillac Escalade, a zombie moving snow plow on the front, andDale Earnhardt’s 3 painted on the side. Out of it steps a man wearing boots, jeans, a black jacket, sunglasses, and a Real Deal Brazilian hat. He looks like a carefree renegade.This is Tallahassee.
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Woody Harrelson’s Tallahassee Is ‘Zombieland’s Coolest Character
A scared to death Columbus has a gun pointed right at him, but Tallahassee shows no fear as he calmly pulls out his own gun. Seeing that Columbus is not a threat he offers the kid a ride, but Tallahassee is a private man unwilling to give him any personal information. He takes a swig of bourbon and says, “Here’s the deal, Columbus, I’m not easy to get along with.” Still, he admires Columbus’ nervous energy and lets his guard down.
We quickly discover another side of Tallahassee when he and Columbus find a wrecked Hostess truck. Tallahassee loves Twinkies, and he’s been desperate to find some. Alas, there are only the inferior Snoballs inside. Tallahassee rages for a minute, and we laugh to see him come unglued about a snack during a zombie apocalypse, but it’s understandable as well. His search for a Twinkie is about his search for a taste of the past that he can no longer return to. Tallahassee might have a hardened exterior, but even this loner has lost, as he talks about his dog, Buck, “the cutest dog” who he lost during the outbreak. We get a quick, adorable montage set toPaul Anka’s “Puppy Love” of Tallahassee giving the dog a bath, dancing with it outside, and even feeding it pancakes at the kitchen table. It humanizes Tallahassee a little. He’s not much of a people person, but at least he loves animals.
Tallahassee has been humanized a tad with this revelation, but he’s still a stone-cold zombie killer, like when he goes to a grocery store with Tallahassee and expertly takes out zombies with a baseball bat and garden shears, all without an ounce of fear. It’s there that they meet two sisters played by Stone and Breslin. We’re led to believe that Breslin has been bitten. Tallahassee wordlessly takes the gun to put her out of her misery before she can turn. He quickly caresses her hair in a quiet act of comfort, and is ready to do the job without hesitation. Thankfully, it turns out that Breslin is fine, and the girls tricked them to steal their gun and car. Still, Tallahassee in this moment is shown to be a compassionate, yet fearless, person.
When Tallahassee and Columbus later catch up with the sisters, who become known as Wichita and Little Rock, they team together, but not before Tallahassee has Wichita pointing a gun in his face. He doesn’t cower or even flinch. Instead, like a cool action hero, he points a gun in her face too, but because they’re both heroes, none of them shoot. “Let me be the mature one,” Tallahassee says, lowering his gun first.
Then comes the best part ofZombieland, when the gang discovers the home ofBill Murray. They decide to stay there, only to find that Murray is still alive, having made it by pretending to be a zombie himself. Tallahassee is estatic to meet one of his heroes. They even pretend to be Ghostbusters together. Of course, a trigger-happy Columbus, thinking Bill Murray is a real zombie,shoots and kills him in a scene played more for laughs than tragedy.
The Pain Behind Tallahassee’s Fearlessness Is Revealed
After giving Murray a proper sendoff, they play boardgames around a fire back inside the house. While talking about the best and worst parts of living in a world of zombies, Tallahassee says that the worst part was losing his dog Buck. “I’ll tell you, I never thought I could love anything like Buck. Just, the day he was born, I just lost my mind. We were two peas. He had my personality, my laugh, my appetite.”
It’s then that it hits Columbus. Tallahassee isn’t talking about a dog. It’s a son that he lost. Tallahassee cries as the montage from before plays again, but the dog is gone. It’s now a blonde haired little boy with a big smile on his face getting pancakes. It’s that boy laughing while his dad gives him a bath. It’s that boy screaming with joy as his dad holds him and spins him around. He shows the gang a wallet with pictures of his son. Tallahassee hasn’t told them that he was talking about a person instead of a dog. He just assumes they know. We hear Columbus' inner monologue: “Take away a man’s son, you’ve truly given him nothing left to lose.” It’s a powerfully revealing moment, but, this beingZombieland, we can’t get too dramatic, so Tallahassee says, “I haven’t cried like that sinceTitanic” and wipes his face with a big wad of Bill Murray’s money.
We now know why Tallahassee is so fearless. He’s the calm, cool, zombie ass kicking warrior because he doesn’t really care if he lives or dies. He’s already dead inside. He might as well be a zombie too. He desperately seeks out Twinkies so he can go back to a pain free past. It might even be a snack he shared with his son.
In ‘Zombieland,’ Tallahassee Finds a New Family To Live For
This new family, however, gives him something to live for. When the sisters split to head off for theamusement park, Pacific Playland, Columbus decides to go after them. Tallahassee wishes him luck, ready to go their separate ways, but seeing how hard it will be for Columbus to make it on his own (he can’t even ride a motorcyle a few yards before crashing it), Tallahassee looks pained, realizing that he’s going to break his own rule and let people in. He chooses to join Columbus to go look for Wichita and Little Rock. These kids have become his new family. He now has something to lose.
The finale ofZombielandhas the girls being overrun by zombies at Pacific Playland. Tallahassee and Columbus show up just in time, and together they take down the horde. Tallahassee fights bravely, just as cool as ever, while almost dying in the process, though he doesn’t put himself in harm’s way as a death wish any longer, but to save those he loves. In the end, the new family survives, and Tallahassee even scores a delicious Twinkie. As the foursome rides off together, Columbus puts it best: “Without other people, you might as well be a zombie.” Tallahassee may have lost his old life, but with these people he has a new one.
