MovieChat Forums > Klute (1971) Discussion > Great movie, underwelming ending? (SPOIL...

Great movie, underwelming ending? (SPOILERS)

posted 14 years ago by nwa75
3 replies | jump to latest

Just watched this for the first time, really liked it except for the climax. The killer finds Jane Fonda and then gives a James Bond villian-type speech explaining what happened, motives etc... Then Donald Sutherland shows up and as the killer & Fonda are struggling the killer sees Sutherland and it seems he commits suicide jumping out a window. That's how I interpreted it anyway, unless Fonda pushed him out it wasn't really clear. Seems like the killer gave up too easy as he had already committed 3 murders. Just curious if anyone else felt this way, it still was a very good movie.

[–] gnolti 14 years ago

The ending is anticlimactic for the simple reason that we've already known for over an hour who the killer is. And because Pakula's film is really more of a character study than an actual mystery, all of the focus and energy went into the performances, not the story.

There, daddy, do I get a gold star?

[–] vpilutis 14 years ago

I guess I must be in the Minority here and in general as I think this is one of the biggest bores ever, and yes the ending with that slow mo crap that Universal used to use on its TV shows is stupid.

Whats more the playing of that tape over and over again I almost wanted to pull my hair out, another stupid bit.

That business with the panties in which the bad guy masabated that would upset a
hooker, since when?

One more item when they were filming on 43rd St in NYC Jane almost knocked down
my future wife. We met two years later 11/73.

http://vbphoto.biz

[–] bd74 14 years ago

I agree. The ending was underwhelming and anti-climactic. But otherwise, as you said, it's a great movie. And what a performance by Jane Fonda! Her scenes with the therapist -- wow, it all seemed so real! It's hard to believe that she was just acting.