[MatthewM]

I have to disagree about book Boromir being "insolate". Indeed he is a fighter, and "cared little for lore, save the tales of old battles" (Letters, p. 1032), and sometimes may have come across as too blunt or pompous. But in his defense, like I've said before, he was thrown into the situation of being with races he has never dealt with (and, in the case of hobbits) never knew to have actually existed. He didn't even know for sure where Rivendell was-

"...and long have I wandered by roads forgotten, seeking the house of Elrond, of which many had heard, but few knew where it lay.” (The Fellowship of the Ring, p. 240)

In Gondor and Rohan Boromir was praised beyond belief. It seems from Eomer's words after hearing of the death of Boromir that it wasn't just because of his strength in battle-

"That was a worthy man! All spoke his praise. He came seldom to the Mark, for he was ever in the wars on the East-borders; but I have seen him. More like to the swift sons of Eorl than to the grave Men of Gondor he seemed to me, and likely to prove a great captain of his people when his time came." (The Two Towers, p. 425)

that quote to me implies a sense of a sociable behavior from Boromir amongst his friends. So taking all this into account, Boromir is thrust into a situation he thought he could keep his cool in (as we all know he openly disagreed with not using the Ring, being the warrior he was and revolving life around arms) with races he seldom knew dwelt (Elves) and races he didn't even know truly existed outside of tales (Hobbits). Not to mention...Gandalf comes and goes as he pleases in Gondor and tries to tell Boromir's father how to govern his city, and Aragorn is a cultured man who has seen many years and differences amongst people.

My conclusion is that part of Boromir's "rudeness" to some of The Fellowship and their decisions was because he wasn't completely trustworthy of them. He was Gondor's greatest, and these people claiming above him made him a little stiff. Obviously, Boromir did have some issues on what life was all about, as we see his brother Faramir quite different than his brother. However, I think it's unfair to say that PJ "switched" the role of the brothers, I've never seen it that way, as book Boromir definitely comes across in Sean Bean movie Boromir. Plus, there's an article out that claims it wasn't movie Faramir's fault for being different...it was Frodo's. If I find the link and your interested I'll let you know. Think about it...Frodo told the truth the whole time in the book to Faramir, did he not? What does he do in the movie? Visciously lies through his teeth!