We know he is off drugs after being in prison, and she looked a little more straightened out than she had earlier. He wasn't shown asking her if she was holding or anything like that. Maybe they are going to stay clean together.
Sounds a little optimistic I guess, but I see the ending as ambiguous rather than definitively showing them spiralling back down as other people are saying.
I think it indicates that they will go down the same negative spiral again. You can see Pacino's character thinking twice about speaking to her, but then he just says, "come on" like it's inevitable. I'm not explaining it well, but to me it said that they would likely fall back into their bad habits. He's going back to the girlfriend who ratted him out like he's going to go back to smack.
shareYes, that's my take. Indeed, it's left open-ended, but without anything to indicate that they've really changed course, the message seems to be that the cycle will continue. Think about it: the last we saw them together, she was desperate for drugs, prostituting, and Pacino was envisioning himself as the next big heroin dealer in town. There were no moral awakenings, but instead only despair and deeper transgression. We should be completely awestruck that she was there waiting for him outside jail, ready to take his side again. It's entirely pathetic. The end.
The fact that she ratted him out to the police is the only bright spot in her story. She obviously concluded this feeble attempt to break away was wrongheaded, thus her appearance outside of jail. Otherwise, she would have gotten out of NYC. Not a very optimistic life choice.
They most certainly go back to their old ways in the end so I don't feel it's open-ended. They never hit a "rock bottom" or a revelation of any kind. Pacino's character has been in and out of jail since he was 9 years old so jail time wasn't going to change him at all. The girl isn't changing for the better if she's standing there waiting for him to come out. If they are still dependent on one another, that's not going to be a good sign.
The tone of the story never really shows there is any hope and therefore we can assume the same cycle repeats.
"Adding sound to movies would be like putting lipstick on the Venus de Milo."-MaryPickford
I thought it was left to the viewer. Obviously they probably end up going down the same path but....there's always hope.
Sequel maybe? Lol.