It always seemed to me that in the book, although he is unsure of himself to some extent, after Gandalf dies and the Breaking of the Fellowship, as to whether his methods are working (you got to admit he had a run of really bad luck!), he is utterly sure of his goal, which is to become King of Gondor and Arnor so he can marry Arwen. He's spent 40 years working steadily towards this goal.
In the movie, OTOH, Elrond says to Gandalf that Aragorn has exiled himself, implying that he has decided not to pursue the Crown. Thie implies to me that he is supposed to be unsure not only of his tactics, but even of whether he wants to try to be King.
The scene with Aragorn/Arwen where she cheers him up with her faith in him is not realistic, IMHO, for that time in Aragorn's life. Although it might be very appropriate for the period 40 years or so earlier when they get engaged. They've obviously compressed some of the history of their relationship timewise. I don't have a real problem with that, as I think it works fairly well. The only alternative would be some type of flashback scene to Lorien, which would just confuse the newbies no end.
In the movie, the implication is that it isn't until Boromir lies dieing that Aragorn decides to fight for and defend the people of Gondor. In the book, he has always intended to fight for the Numenoreans (after all, he has been doing it for 60 years), the only question is over tactics.
I guess PJ is attempting to compress the whole history of Aragorn's life and character development and the Aragorn/Arwen relationship into the timespan of the movie. Not a bad idea, just very different from what I got out of the book.
ITA! If the man doesn't have faith in himself at 80, it's just not going to happen. LOL
In the movie, you get the sense that Aragorn doesn't want to be king... which gives more credence to Boromir's "Gondor has no king, Gondor needs no king."
Boromir is right. Why would Gondor need a king that doesn't care anything about Gondor?
Again, I agree with you... but isn't in interesting the way it unfolds on screen. You have Elrond's "he has exiled himself", then you see Strider (that's how we know him at that time) reading a book. Then you see Boromir for the 2nd time. At first you think it is Boromir that will lead them. The controversy between Aragorn and Boromir is born in that scene. Strider watching. Boromir handling the sword of Narsil like it's a relic until he sees that he is watched. Then he drops it like its no big deal.
Next we have Strider pick it up and loving put it into place, and then comes Arwen who introduces the audience to Aragorn. This is the one who has chosen exile. He's the heir of the throne. He's the king. (Then comes the clunky love scene... it's beautifully done, but it's like... time out, insert obligatory love scene... okay back to the action) In the council, Legolas introduces Strider to both Boromir and Frodo. And you see the dismay in Boromir's eyes and the wonder in Frodo's.