Number Six,
I guess where we disagree is about the bit about the Raines character continuing to love his wife after he discovers she is a spy. My impression was that he is quite ready to go along with the plan to kill her; for instance in the great coffee poisoning scene there is no hint of sympathy or inner conflict in his expression.
The reason he doesn’t kill her in the staircase scene appeared ,to me, to be a case of self-preservation only; ie if he shoots her the Nazis will know something is wrong and kill him. So when Cary Grant refuses to take him he realizes that the game is up and he will die anyway. I suppose, theoretically, he could have tried to resist but he is outnumbered not to mention the fact that it wouldn’t have worked movie-wise.
Amen to that. I actually got up and cheered when they started beating the crap out of the bank guy. I would go so far as to say the original is the WORST ending in history. I refuse to watch that movie because of it.
I’m going to be pedestrian and say Thelma & Louise just because it was so “non-hollywood.”
I have to confess I’ve never made it to the end of Casablanca. Cary Grant is in it?!?!!?!?!
After the entire movie, the diamond that the jewel dealers have been going apeshit trying to get, winds up getting swallowed by a dog. Its new owners take it to Doug the Head, and ask him if he thinks anybody would be interested in it. He puts down his jeweller’s monocle, attempts to look as calm as possible, and says, “I can probably think of someone.” Next scene: WOOOSH! SLAM! CLICK! WOOOSH! Avi immediately grabs the next jet to London. Cue closing credits and the HA HA HA HA song.
I nominate McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Something about a guy dying alone in the snow while the church burns and his prostitute ladyfriend is oblivious in the opium den, all to the sound of a Leonard Cohen song, really appeals to me.
Hey Shibboleth, want to spoil the ending of Exotica for me? I love Don McKellar and have seen bits and pieces, so I’m sure I’ll get around to seeing it, but I want to know now.
I’ll second Shawshank Redemption, Usual Suspects, and The Conversation. All great endings to great films.
Two people have mentioned Se7en, and while I love that movie in general, I felt the ending misfired. Fincher agrees with this; he says (in the DVD commentary) that the ending was foisted on him by the studio, and Freeman talks about how his last bit of narration was an add-on, and unnecessary. I think if they had ended it as Fincher intended to end it originally, it would have been better. Great movie for the most part, though.
I’ll add Fearless to the list. The last 10 minutes constitute one of the finest endings ever committed to film, IMHO. No major plot revelation (a la Usual Suspects or Sixth Sense), except for the idea that we finally experience what the main character experienced before the movie, and it’s presented with the full emotional wallop that the character is meant to be going through. The ending leaves me breathless and weepy every time. Just awesome.
