Good movies with really bad endings.

[Graphik]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Just saw Waist Deep, what a gay and unrealistic ending. Well, 90% of the movie had an unrealistic element but still....it would of ended fine if he died. Hollywood is a sucker for happy endings. Texas Chainsaw:The Beggining, now thats a ending for you.

[Lonestar210]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

I'm sorry, I loved the ending for Planet of the Apes and the movie.

Back to the topic, someone mentioned "Rat Race" and "Jeepers Creepers". I agree, those endings sucked.

[CMH]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

I have to go with Mystic River. Clint Eastwood should be kicked in his a** for the way he ended that movie.

Could you explain why?

Is it because the killer wasn't who you were led to believe it was or because even after we know who the killer is the movie still ends in a bloody mess?

I thought it made sense. Considering the drama in the movie and characters everyone acted as they should.

But, before I can actually comment further I would need to know what ruined it for you.

[NovaStar]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Could you explain why?

Is it because the killer wasn't who you were led to believe it was or because even after we know who the killer is the movie still ends in a bloody mess?

I thought it made sense. Considering the drama in the movie and characters everyone acted as they should.

But, before I can actually comment further I would need to know what ruined it for you.

What's up YankeePride (we will rise again next year). Now, I think the over all system of betrayal got to me. The character Robbins played, was betrayed by his wife, betrayed by his friend (penn) and then betrayed by the his police friend (bacon). I thought the over all point of the movie was street justice, penn's character was wrapped up in some higher notion of justice. So he and his brothers took it upon themselves to carry out justice as they saw fit. Well, turns out he was a complete idiot and kevin bacon's character was an idiot, and the only person that really stood for any notion of the street justice that was hinted at was Robbins character (who actually killed a pervert then got murdered by penn, then betrayed by the system (bacon).

What was the point of bacon letting penn get away with the murder? it was totally disjointed and came from nowhere. Penns character should have paid for the wrong he had committed. Robbins character suffered needlessly in that film. There was no point to that movie, other than to show that a lot of idiots live in mystic river. The conclusion left this viewer with an empty feeling, no cohesion, at least thats what I can remember from what I saw. What did you see?

[JayBee74]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

What's up YankeePride (we will rise again next year). Now, I think the over all system of betrayal got to me. The character Robbins played, was betrayed by his wife, betrayed by his friend (penn) and then betrayed by the his police friend (bacon). I thought the over all point of the movie was street justice, penn's character was wrapped up in some higher notion of justice. So he and his brothers took it upon themselves to carry out justice as they saw fit. Well, turns out he was a complete idiot and kevin bacon's character was an idiot, and the only person that really stood for any notion of the street justice that was hinted at was Robbins character (who actually killed a pervert then got murdered by penn, then betrayed by the system (bacon).

What was the point of bacon letting penn get away with the murder? it was totally disjointed and came from nowhere. Penns character should have paid for the wrong he had committed. Robbins character suffered needlessly in that film. There was no point to that movie, other than to show that a lot of idiots live in mystic river. The conclusion left this viewer with an empty feeling, no cohesion, at least thats what I can remember from what I saw. What did you see?

Good points, and the ending of the movie kind of ruined it for me. TOO MUCH tragedy with Penn's daughter and Robbin's both getting killed. Clint doesn't like happy endings-huh?-see "Million Dollar Baby". Both movies put someone out of their misery, rather than see them deal with their misfortunes and become victorious on some level. I also thought both movies were EXTREMELY OVERRATED.

[CMH]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

What's up YankeePride (we will rise again next year). Now, I think the over all system of betrayal got to me. The character Robbins played, was betrayed by his wife, betrayed by his friend (penn) and then betrayed by the his police friend (bacon). I thought the over all point of the movie was street justice, penn's character was wrapped up in some higher notion of justice. So he and his brothers took it upon themselves to carry out justice as they saw fit. Well, turns out he was a complete idiot and kevin bacon's character was an idiot, and the only person that really stood for any notion of the street justice that was hinted at was Robbins character (who actually killed a pervert then got murdered by penn, then betrayed by the system (bacon).

What was the point of bacon letting penn get away with the murder? it was totally disjointed and came from nowhere. Penns character should have paid for the wrong he had committed. Robbins character suffered needlessly in that film. There was no point to that movie, other than to show that a lot of idiots live in mystic river. The conclusion left this viewer with an empty feeling, no cohesion, at least thats what I can remember from what I saw. What did you see?

(We will rise again! We just need some pitching.)

I can understand how that would "frustrate" you as a viewer. I do remember feeling very much the same way when everything unfolded.

But, to take what the poster above said, I think it becomes more frustrating if you wanted justice and a "happy ending" of some sort. Clint Eastwood has clearly demonstrated in his work that he isn't too keen on things going the way most viewers are accustomed to seeing in theater (I wonder how Flags of Our Fathers ends...though I don't want anyone telling me because I do want to see it).

Anyway, what I saw (and I'm going off memory here because it's been awhile and I don't remember every detail of the movie) was broken relationships. I don't remember names in any movie, so bare with me, please. The one character that suffered when he was a kid (I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone, but I should assume you know what I mean by someone suffering when he was a child) and the affect it had on his friends continued on into their adulthood.

I think the convict and the officer already had this fear of the child sufferer because of his potentially psychological sickness. They had created a strong bond (a cop being a friend with a convict should already make anyone suspicious in some sense) that even with their future "careers" could not be torn. That bond never existed with Robbin's character probably because they might have felt guilty for what happened to him or probably simply because it happened to him. So keeping that in mind, I don't think it would make sense for the officer to incriminate his convict friend for the murder. It would mean that there was no relationship between the two and then the movie would really not make any sense.

The suffering of Robbin's character was necessary, in my perspective at least. His suffering was meant to give the viewer the idea of how strong the bond between the officer and the convict is in the movie. His suffering early in his childhood triggered a stronger bond between the two and his suffering late in the movie cemented their bond.

I guess, what I'm saying is that you can't view this movie from Robbin's character's point of view to understand it. If you do, you'll just feel remorse for him and then everything else means nothing because it goes against his life. Let's put it this way. If you didn't have Robbin's character - a man with a strong connection to the cop and convict - then you have somebody else. Somebody else doesn't give you a emotional tie to the events of the movie. It wouldn't matter what happened to Robbin's character if he was a drug dealer that the officer and convict didn't really know. So, because his relationship with the two heightens your emotinal tie to the movie, it forces you to watch. But, the first layer of the movie - a murder - is only sugar coating for something deeper between the officer and the convict.

Well, that's how I saw it at least.

Good points, and the ending of the movie kind of ruined it for me. TOO MUCH tragedy with Penn's daughter and Robbin's both getting killed. Clint doesn't like happy endings-huh?-see "Million Dollar Baby". Both movies put someone out of their misery, rather than see them deal with their misfortunes and become victorious on some level. I also thought both movies were EXTREMELY OVERRATED.

I think for the same reasons I enjoyed Mystic River, I enjoyed Million Dollar Baby. Though, they focused on different things (MDB being more about the trainer and his needing to understand human emotion and desire).

Apparently, those same reasons are probably why you didn't like the movies.

[DaveDQ]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

For me, it would be Ronin.

[Money99]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Could you explain why?

Is it because the killer wasn't who you were led to believe it was or because even after we know who the killer is the movie still ends in a bloody mess?

I thought it made sense. Considering the drama in the movie and characters everyone acted as they should.

But, before I can actually comment further I would need to know what ruined it for you.

Not to mention that's EXACTLY how Mystic River ended in the book.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Pirates of the Caribbean 2. That was a really weird time to end the movie, and really disappointing.

[airbarrett]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

yeah i kinda thought the same thing... the only thing that really saved the end for POTC 2 was that it left a huge cliff hanger for the next movie which will make everyone go see it even if they didn't like the second one.

[CMH]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Not to mention that's EXACTLY how Mystic River ended in the book.

I get it. People like movies to remain true to the book.

I used to feel the same way too, but I now realize (I only say realize not to insinuate that you don't know what I know, but to say that I understand) why a screenwriter would change the ending or other various parts of a movie in comparison to the book.

I got it when I read an author commenting on a book of his being adapted to film. He was told by the screenwriter that things might need to be cut and eventually changed because it needs to be adapted for film. The auther said (and I paraphrase), "Go ahead. I already have my book. You're making a film."

Film adaptations are exactly that. They are not meant to be exactly about the book they are based on. It's very similar to taking a poem and creating a story out of the details in that poem. Things have to change because a story is very different from a poem in terms of characterization, development of plot, emotion, description, etc.

[NovaStar]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

(We will rise again! We just need some pitching.)

I can understand how that would "frustrate" you as a viewer. I do remember feeling very much the same way when everything unfolded.

But, to take what the poster above said, I think it becomes more frustrating if you wanted justice and a "happy ending" of some sort. Clint Eastwood has clearly demonstrated in his work that he isn't too keen on things going the way most viewers are accustomed to seeing in theater (I wonder how Flags of Our Fathers ends...though I don't want anyone telling me because I do want to see it).

Anyway, what I saw (and I'm going off memory here because it's been awhile and I don't remember every detail of the movie) was broken relationships. I don't remember names in any movie, so bare with me, please. The one character that suffered when he was a kid (I don't want to spoil the movie for anyone, but I should assume you know what I mean by someone suffering when he was a child) and the affect it had on his friends continued on into their adulthood.

I think the convict and the officer already had this fear of the child sufferer because of his potentially psychological sickness. They had created a strong bond (a cop being a friend with a convict should already make anyone suspicious in some sense) that even with their future "careers" could not be torn. That bond never existed with Robbin's character probably because they might have felt guilty for what happened to him or probably simply because it happened to him. So keeping that in mind, I don't think it would make sense for the officer to incriminate his convict friend for the murder. It would mean that there was no relationship between the two and then the movie would really not make any sense.

The suffering of Robbin's character was necessary, in my perspective at least. His suffering was meant to give the viewer the idea of how strong the bond between the officer and the convict is in the movie. His suffering early in his childhood triggered a stronger bond between the two and his suffering late in the movie cemented their bond.

I guess, what I'm saying is that you can't view this movie from Robbin's character's point of view to understand it. If you do, you'll just feel remorse for him and then everything else means nothing because it goes against his life. Let's put it this way. If you didn't have Robbin's character - a man with a strong connection to the cop and convict - then you have somebody else. Somebody else doesn't give you a emotional tie to the events of the movie. It wouldn't matter what happened to Robbin's character if he was a drug dealer that the officer and convict didn't really know. So, because his relationship with the two heightens your emotinal tie to the movie, it forces you to watch. But, the first layer of the movie - a murder - is only sugar coating for something deeper between the officer and the convict.

Well, that's how I saw it at least.



I think for the same reasons I enjoyed Mystic River, I enjoyed Million Dollar Baby. Though, they focused on different things (MDB being more about the trainer and his needing to understand human emotion and desire).

Apparently, those same reasons are probably why you didn't like the movies.

I feel what you are saying YP. But what got me was when in the beginning, when Penn's character and Bacon's character realize what happened to their friend and they felt someone guilty about it. I thought the bond was created between all 3 of them. That is why Robbins wife feels somewhat comfortable in confiding in Penn about her suspicions concerning Robbins her husband.

The whole cop not ratting on his friend in the end came from nowhere in my opinion because the one time someone could have given Robbins tortured character some peace (bacon) he did not. I feel any story whether adapted from a book or an original screenplay should tell a cohesive story, the character's should all be symbols of the higher message if in fact it is a higher message you are trying to give. That movie from beginning to end had us leaning one way, that way being that Penn's character was the voice of street justice, Robbins character was the tragic man, and Bacon's character was actual justice. Both Penns character and Bacon's character dropped the ball in carrying out their intended purpose and Robbins character was the only one that actually carried out some portion of justice. That was not the way the movie was flowing. Robbins character was supposed to be laid rest in peace, Penns character was supposed to be tortured (for the mistake he made) and Bacon character left to wonder why friendship can go so bad, in the face of him doing the right thing. That is not a happy ending, but one that would have flowed better with what we were given, and one that I would have understood.

[supremeslang]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

Just saw Waist Deep, what a gay and unrealistic ending. Well, 90% of the movie had an unrealistic element but still....it would of ended fine if he died. Hollywood is a sucker for happy endings. Texas Chainsaw:The Beggining, now thats a ending for you.

A bad movie made even worse with that ending. I also thought the ending to He Got Game was kinda suspect.

[MachoMyers]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

One word: Unbreakable.

Could have done so much more with that, instead they throw in the lame text ending. So sad.

[CMH]

Re: Good movies with really bad endings.

I feel what you are saying YP. But what got me was when in the beginning, when Penn's character and Bacon's character realize what happened to their friend and they felt someone guilty about it. I thought the bond was created between all 3 of them. That is why Robbins wife feels somewhat comfortable in confiding in Penn about her suspicions concerning Robbins her husband.

The whole cop not ratting on his friend in the end came from nowhere in my opinion because the one time someone could have given Robbins tortured character some peace (bacon) he did not. I feel any story whether adapted from a book or an original screenplay should tell a cohesive story, the character's should all be symbols of the higher message if in fact it is a higher message you are trying to give. That movie from beginning to end had us leaning one way, that way being that Penn's character was the voice of street justice, Robbins character was the tragic man, and Bacon's character was actual justice. Both Penns character and Bacon's character dropped the ball in carrying out their intended purpose and Robbins character was the only one that actually carried out some portion of justice. That was not the way the movie was flowing. Robbins character was supposed to be laid rest in peace, Penns character was supposed to be tortured (for the mistake he made) and Bacon character left to wonder why friendship can go so bad, in the face of him doing the right thing. That is not a happy ending, but one that would have flowed better with what we were given, and one that I would have understood.

I understand what you mean.

Perhaps we should ask Clint.