# Movies that start in the middle or end of the story. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854 "2011-02-27T23:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/61 "2011-03-01T01:21:48Z")
The unnecessary American remake of the Swedish film “Let the Right One In”, starts near the beginning of the story and then goes back to the beginning. I’m guessing because the film makers thought they needed more excitement in the first reel of “Let Me In” to placate the impatient American teenagers that most movies are aimed at. ---
**Author:** ![fighting\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@fighting\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fighting_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/62 "2011-03-01T02:13:03Z")
[Swimming With Sharks](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114594/) ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/63 "2011-03-01T03:11:51Z")
> [@randwill](#): > > The unnecessary American remake of the Swedish film “Let the Right One In”, starts near the beginning of the story and then goes back to the beginning. Should read, “…starts near the MIDDLE of the story and then goes back to the beginning.” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/64 "2011-03-01T15:24:58Z")
Dr. Zhivago. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/65 "2011-03-01T18:07:40Z")
One of my all time favorites: [Heavenly Creatures](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_Creatures) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/66 "2011-03-01T18:13:18Z")
Catch-22 starts near the end, then goes back. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/67 "2011-03-01T19:36:20Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Don’t forget the entire run came full circle. And that there was an episode written backwards, similar to _Memento_, where after a scene, you see the scene that preceded it. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/68 "2011-03-01T22:47:53Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Don’t forget the entire run came full circle. I’ll take your word for it, since I didn’t actually like the show. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/69 "2011-03-01T22:50:20Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > And that there was an episode written backwards, similar to _Memento_, where after a scene, you see the scene that preceded it. There was an episode of Frasier that did the same. (Except that every scene was months or years before the previous one, not immediately preceding it) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/70 "2011-03-02T00:51:11Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’ll take your word for it, since I didn’t actually like the show. Neither did I but I did catch the finale. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/71 "2011-03-02T19:48:37Z")
Both the 1962 and 1997 versions of _Lolita_ begin with Humbert Humbert driving to confront Claire Quilty, and then starting back at the beginning to tell the story of what led up to this encounter." ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/72 "2011-03-03T19:44:19Z")
Another one: Doesn’t **American Beauty** open with a voice-over by the deceased protagonist? (I can’t find confirmation on either Wikipedia or [IMDB.com](http://IMDB.com).) Oh, yeah-- **Love Story**. The Oliver character is standing outdoors alone asking “What can you say about a twenty-year old girl who died?” Kinda’ gives away the most key plot element from the start. I recall my father finding it hard to “feel sorry” for her. Partly because it was incomprehensible to him that a college woman could cuss, and still be likable/lovable. (He was born in 1913.) He gave the inevitability of her death as a another reason it didn’t work for him. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/73 "2011-03-03T19:47:09Z")
> [@Trans Fat Og](#): > > Doesn’t **American Beauty** open with a voice-over by the deceased protagonist? See [post 32](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13514792&postcount=32). ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/74 "2011-03-04T16:34:58Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > See [post 32](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13514792&postcount=32). Darn! And I even made a word search for _American Beauty_. There must have been a missspelink on my part. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/75 "2011-03-04T17:25:29Z")
> [@Trans Fat Og](#): > > Doesn’t **American Beauty** open with a voice-over by the deceased protagonist? The way I recall it, he says something like ‘a few months from now, I’ll be dead.’ But the story proceeds in linear fashion. It’s a prediction of what will happen before the end of the movie, but it doesn’t actually happen until the end. Am I misremembering? ---
**Author:** ![Clawdio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d07c76/32.png) [@Clawdio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clawdio)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/76 "2011-03-04T17:29:01Z")
Just caught Catch Me if you Can on TV. I missed the beginning, but if i recall correctly doesn’t it start out with a scene in France? ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854/77 "2011-03-04T18:08:51Z")
> [@Clawdio](#): > > Just caught Catch Me if you Can on TV. > > I missed the beginning, but if i recall correctly doesn’t it start out with a scene in France? Yep, I was going to mention this one too. Most of the movie _Saving Private Ryan_ is framed in the context of a WW2 vet (revealed, unsurprisingly, to be the eponymous Private Ryan) visiting a grave site and remembering past events. Interestingly, _The Shawshank Redemption_ (as with the story the screenplay is based on) is told mostly in flashback - narrated in a voice-over in the past tense - but by the end of the movie, “catches up” to the present tense. And of course, all movies involving time travel to the past (such as “Back To the Future”) are, in a sense, showing the ending first. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-start-in-the-middle-or-end-of-the-story/572854.md?page=3)