An idiot DJ* spoiled The Crying Game’s big secret for me, but as did SuperLori, I found the presentation somewhat shocking, not in the sense of not being able to finish my popcorn, but in the sense that it was something I hadn’t seen on the big screen before. I was also identifying with the “hero” by that point, so I could feel shocked on his behalf.
By the way, by all rights who and what the film’s protagonist was and did in the film should have been shocking in itself, but the only thing anybody wanted to talk about was
The woman had a penis.I think how smart or how gullible you are only partly determines whether or not you see the twist coming. Some people take great pleasure in figuring things out for themselves while others prefer to be surprised by the dramatic revelation. Some people aren’t even that concerned about the plot and would rather enjoy the action, or the characters, or some other aspect.
*KROQ’s Kevin. Or was it Bean? I never could figure out which one was talking.
OK, OK, everyone’s talking about [i/]The Crying Game* . . . so I just have to say: My graduate training was in Physical/Forensic Anthropology, and (I guess the following is a spoiler) so I got pretty good at looking at someone, transgendered or not, and figuring out, “Hell, that’s a guy, look at the gonial angle on that sucker,” or whatever. But let me tell you, the “girl” with a penis? She had me completely fooled! I mean, I’d still kiss her.
TWDuke, good point, hardly anyone mentions the IRA terrorist or the imprisoned British soldier or all the rest of the stuff in the movie. It’s all about the, you know.
And I watched The Ring too (please no assertions of Ringu’s superiority, I’m tired of hearing it from people I talk to). It scared me more than surprised me. I saw it on DVD, in the middle of the night, by myself, with the lights properly turned down for dramatic effect. I’d forgotten what it was like to be afraid of the dark, but I sure as hell remembered that night.
The Usual Suspects is a much better movie if you go into it, as I did, knowing absolutely nothing about it. All I knew was that it was a crime caper type film featuring a lot of actors I liked. I had no idea there even WAS a twist ending, so I wasn’t trying to solve the mystery along the way. Had someone said to me, “You’ll never BELIEVE who the bad guy turns out to be!” I’m sure I would have figured it out pretty quick.
As for Seven, I’d call that a shock ending rather than a twist. Of course, it’s not really “shocking” in the sense of “unexpected” – I figured it out way ahead (haha!). It’s more shocking in the sense of “Oh no, I can’t believe the sick bastards are going to end it like this!”
I’m probably pretty sick myself for even liking that movie. :rolleyes: