Films With Effective Endings You Dislike

[El Misfit]

another is the Italian Job original. the end with the bus teeter-tautering over the cliff is...bad. the remake is MUCH better.

[Flick James]

Maybe I belong in Europe or something, but I typically don't enjoy films that tie everything up for me in a neat package and deliver it on a silver platter. Films that end in ambiguity or some lack of closure usually stimulate me more. I prefer to let my brain provide my own ending, since most movie endings disappoint me. Rev brought up a Cohen Brothers film, and they have a tendency to do that alot. And I like most Cohen Brothers movies. Now, in the sequel setting that's different. Films that leave ambiguity or a lead-in to a sequel is not the same things as what I'm talking about. I'm talking about stand-alone films that are somewhat open-ended. In the old days many films were originally meant as stand-alone films and, because of their success, a sequel was made. In the sequel, they try to answer the ambiguity in the first film that made it work, or they try to say "what if this happened later?" It kills the original film. An example of this is Silence of the Lambs. I much prefer to not know every little detail about Hannibal Lechter. The rest of the films killed the charm of Silence by answering everything.

My opinion, and I don't much care if anyone agrees with it or not.

[WilliamWeird1313]

I actually agree with Flick James for the most part. I like movies that have endings without complete closure. I ALSO like movies with ambiguous, open-to-interpretation endings, and movies with really bleak, downbeat endings. That said, they don't always work. I thought the ending to The Mist ruined what was an otherwise damn good movie. As far movies with endings of this sort that work in the context of the movie, but nevertheless don't quite gel with me, the two that immediately pop into my mind are The Departed and The Wrestler. I love love LOVE both of those movies, and I think their endings feel mostly right within the flow, structure, tone, and theme of the films, but something about the both of them just don't feel right to ME. In The Departed, I felt like Leo's character should have survived. As it is now, it's a good ending, and I like it, but that one element bugs some part of my psyche. Likewise, in The Wrestler, I though the open ending worked... but felt a little like it was thrown in JUST to have an open ending. The way my mind works, the way I see the story going in my head, I think it should've gone on... and Randy The Ram should've had the heart attack in the ring, woken up in a hospital, having NARROWLY survived another cardiac arrest, with his daughter and Marisa Tomei's stripper character at his bedside, THEN the credits. I think perhaps that sound a teeny bit saccharine, and I normally don't go in for "sweet" endings, but in the case of The Wrestler I just think it would have been more appropriate than what the actual ending was. As it stands, mind you, I'd still give The Wrestler 5 out of 5 stars (although I'd probably give The Departed more like 4 out of 5).

[Flick James]

I actually agree with Flick James for the most part. I like movies that have endings without complete closure. I ALSO like movies with ambiguous, open-to-interpretation endings, and movies with really bleak, downbeat endings. That said, they don't always work. I thought the ending to The Mist ruined what was an otherwise damn good movie. As far movies with endings of this sort that work in the context of the movie, but nevertheless don't quite gel with me, the two that immediately pop into my mind are The Departed and The Wrestler. I love love LOVE both of those movies, and I think their endings feel mostly right within the flow, structure, tone, and theme of the films, but something about the both of them just don't feel right to ME. In The Departed, I felt like Leo's character should have survived. As it is now, it's a good ending, and I like it, but that one element bugs some part of my psyche. Likewise, in The Wrestler, I though the open ending worked... but felt a little like it was thrown in JUST to have an open ending. The way my mind works, the way I see the story going in my head, I think it should've gone on... and Randy The Ram should've had the heart attack in the ring, woken up in a hospital, having NARROWLY survived another cardiac arrest, with his daughter and Marisa Tomei's stripper character at his bedside, THEN the credits. I think perhaps that sound a teeny bit saccharine, and I normally don't go in for "sweet" endings, but in the case of The Wrestler I just think it would have been more appropriate than what the actual ending was. As it stands, mind you, I'd still give The Wrestler 5 out of 5 stars (although I'd probably give The Departed more like 4 out of 5).

Concerning The Mist, I thought it was an decent film (except for some weak CGI elements), but yes, that ending p**sed me off immensely to the point that I will never give it a second screening. I never read the book, but I understand it didn't end like that. The ending was open-ended, but it was hopeful, they end up hearing a civilian radio station broadcasting the information about how the military was taking care of the situation, and they end up continuing into the mist not knowing if they're going to survive and make it out or not. No shootings. I figure they didn't know how to make that ending work in a film, so they tried to slap on a bleak edgy ending and it ended up making no sense and p**sing me off. I didn't want to kill that guy, I wanted to torture him slowly for several days.

[WilliamWeird1313]

I actually agree with Flick James for the most part. I like movies that have endings without complete closure. I ALSO like movies with ambiguous, open-to-interpretation endings, and movies with really bleak, downbeat endings. That said, they don't always work. I thought the ending to The Mist ruined what was an otherwise damn good movie. As far movies with endings of this sort that work in the context of the movie, but nevertheless don't quite gel with me, the two that immediately pop into my mind are The Departed and The Wrestler. I love love LOVE both of those movies, and I think their endings feel mostly right within the flow, structure, tone, and theme of the films, but something about the both of them just don't feel right to ME. In The Departed, I felt like Leo's character should have survived. As it is now, it's a good ending, and I like it, but that one element bugs some part of my psyche. Likewise, in The Wrestler, I though the open ending worked... but felt a little like it was thrown in JUST to have an open ending. The way my mind works, the way I see the story going in my head, I think it should've gone on... and Randy The Ram should've had the heart attack in the ring, woken up in a hospital, having NARROWLY survived another cardiac arrest, with his daughter and Marisa Tomei's stripper character at his bedside, THEN the credits. I think perhaps that sound a teeny bit saccharine, and I normally don't go in for "sweet" endings, but in the case of The Wrestler I just think it would have been more appropriate than what the actual ending was. As it stands, mind you, I'd still give The Wrestler 5 out of 5 stars (although I'd probably give The Departed more like 4 out of 5).

Concerning The Mist, I thought it was an decent film (except for some weak CGI elements), but yes, that ending p**sed me off immensely to the point that I will never give it a second screening. I never read the book, but I understand it didn't end like that. The ending was open-ended, but it was hopeful, they end up hearing a civilian radio station broadcasting the information about how the military was taking care of the situation, and they end up continuing into the mist not knowing if they're going to survive and make it out or not. No shootings. I figure they didn't know how to make that ending work in a film, so they tried to slap on a bleak edgy ending and it ended up making no sense and p**sing me off. I didn't want to kill that guy, I wanted to torture him slowly for several days.

To me, it felt like a bad joke. Like, I half-expected to hear a drumroll-and-rimshot after those military guys rolled out of the fog.