The “alternate ending” is actually just a recut scene. No plot differences. Better, but in subtle ways.
I was hoping that at the end we would find out that there were no other personalities and that the entire “motel” scenario was played out for the benefit of the people at the hearing. That way, he was just a fucked up serial killer who had the ability to lie out his ass. The only “proof” they had of the other personalities was that journal, which could have been easily faked by someone who knew what they were doing.
Alas, they chose the cheesy “Timmy” ending. He’s a little kid!! Kick his ass, for cryin’ out loud!
The trouble is, that ending was done to perfection by Edward Norton in Primal Fear. It’d be damn hard to top that performance. Yeah, Timmy is a little kid, but he has the strength of the massive bald mass murderer guy.
But there weren’t any real people at the motel. TImmy wasn’t REALLY a flesh-and-blood little kid, just as Amanda Peet wasn’t a real live hooker, and Ray Liotta wasn’t a real, flesh and blood convict. Everything that goes on at the motel is happening on a symbolic level. There are numerous personalities in Malcolm’s head, and one of them (the strongest, most forceful personality) is trying to push them all aside and take complete control.
So, it’s not as if an actual little kid slaughtered a group of adults (who, in reality, could beat him in a physical fight easily). Rather, the serial murders are a symbolic reflection of the Timmy personality gradually becoming the dominant personality inside Malcolm.
Ok, I meant the multiple personalities part, not the Timmy is the psycho killer part. I enjoyed that little twist, in fact it made me want to watch the movie again to double-check his scenes, like with The Sixth Sense. I actually thought I heard the room key drop while Timmy was alone with his mother, and was about to say something to my husband, then I got caught up in the next scene and forgot all about it!
And anyone who doubted the strength of the killer should have been cured when they saw Gary Busey and that Louisville Slugger. Eek! However, if Timmy had Malcolm’s strength, wouldn’t Amanda Peet have had it also? Things that make you go hmmmmm.
It didn’t surprize me a bit that Timmy became the dominant personality, considering what happened to Malcolm as a child.
Not necessarily, because not all personalities were of the same strength. What killed Jake Busey’s character was essentially a character with a strong personality rather than one with physical strength.
Just watched the movie again and can say that the sound of the key dropping doesn’t occur until after Timmy leaves the room. It’s actually what draws Liota’s character into the room…