Ending of "Dutch"??? ...(SPOILER)

Cafe Society
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Last night, I came across the movie “Dutch” on AMC starring Ed O’Neill. I didn’t know what it was at the time and only caught the last 20 minutes or so. It was apparent right away that it was a John Hughes script, since it followed the “Planes,Trains, and Automobiles” / “Home Alone” formula (north shore Chicago locale, Maudlin holiday homecoming , etc.).
The final scene however was pretty bizzare. Sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner with his rich gilffriend and her formerly sullen preteen boy (their strained relationship during a road trip from his prep school to home formed the basis of the film.), O’Neill (Dutch) instructs the boy to get his coat which he says contains a special gift for the girlfriend. When the boy gets up from the table, O’Neill , to the others’ shock, pulls out a gun and takes aim at the boy. At first shocked, the boy then explodes in relieved laughter and O’Neill lowers the gun only to level it once again at the boy/camera after the laughter subsides.

That’s it!.. End of movie! :confused:

All I can think of is that I missed some integral piece of information earlier in the film that would have justified such a bizzare conclusion, but I can’t imagine what it would be. I ever tuned into the beginning of the movie when it was replayed to see if there was any explanation, but after the opening 15 minutes, I gave up since the general crappiness of the film didn’t merit sitting through the rest just to find out if there was a reason for the ending.

Can someone who’s seen the whole thing explain what was going on? It will help me sleep better at night.

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For the record, I think this is a great, underrated movie. I saw it 14 times in the theater, which is quite a feat considering that it only lasted about 10 days. :smiley:

As for your question…in the beginning, when Dutch goes to Doyle’s prep school to pick him up, Doyle shoots Dutch with a BB gun. Dutch takes the gun and says, “I owe you one for that.” It’s referred to a couple of times during the movie, including the scene at the gas station when, after the hookers steal all their luggage and money (as well as Dutch’s last cigar), Dutch tells Doyle that he’s willing to forget all about the BB gun incident if Doyle lets him call his mother to come pick them up. Later on, after that tender bonding scene in the homeless shelter, Doyle asks him, “Are you still gonna shoot me in the ass?” To which Dutch replies, “Yes!”

The final scene was just Dutch making good on his promise – except, since Doyle was facing him, he couldn’t have shot him in the ass, so he must have shot him in the balls instead. OUCH!!!