I didn't know quite what to make of the movie's ending, it seemed weak. Lenny is sitting alone on the couch at his own wedding reception, talking to himself with the same b.s. he was sharing with the children and anyone else who would listen. This guy had the force of will and personality to win over his dream girl, plus her family and friends, but now ... he's finished?
No...he achieved his goal of landing the ultimate shiksa and then felt like since he accomplished his ultimate s goal, it was boring and downhill from there on...The thrill of the chase was now over!...Plus, he held her and her family and friends to a higher moral standard,than himself, and found out that Gentiles can be just as greedy, shallow, vapid, selfish,domineering/controlling, amoral, and possibly boring as Jews or other ethnic groups can be! ... Remember at the end how the guests at the reception were talking about what businesses and investments they were involved with: Insurance, mass-automated farming, military weapons, TEAR GAS!!!
He is a classic example of a self-loather...THE MORAL IF THE STORY WAS TO BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!!!
I disagree with you, this thrill of the chase thing you mention was never what he was about, it was about marrying a woman that had the appropriate attributes that he liked, he realized the second he had sex with the first wife that he made a huge mistake, it's a classic scene where he's just setting in a chair and shes asleep and he has a look of horror on his face, his wife made him wait until after they were married to have sex and that was his big mistake lol.
The ending scene to me showed that Leonard is setting alone thinking about how lucky he is to finally get married to the right woman, he's contemplating how far he's come from that nightmare first wife lol His father in law is going to use his connections to get Leonard a great job and he's not going to have to sell sporting goods anymore. He's also going to have sex with a woman whose body is sexually arousing and appealing to him, which was certainly not the case with the first wife. Of course this whole Jewish middle class unattractive Jewish putz with no money or college background finding a gorgeous Gentile on his honeymoon and getting rid of the nightmare wife in an expedient fashion is pure science fiction fantasy stuff, the reality is that most Jewish guys caught in that nightmare usually have to wait until the kids are 18 and they leave for college before they can make that kind of escape.
To me Leonard Cantrow's escape from Lila is the greatest escape of all time, even better then Andy Dufrasne's escape from prison in The Shawshank Redemption lol.
To me it proved he will never be happy
Gotta say I disagree, Balboa. I thought Lenny looked empty sitting on that couch at the end. Love your last line tho -
'To me Leonard Cantrow's escape from Lila is the greatest escape of all time, even better then Andy Dufrasne's escape from prison in The Shawshank Redemption lol.'
I have to agree with the writer before you. I do agree however that he has a certain excitement about being with someone who, in his eyes is a knockout. That's very true. He also felt that he made a big mistake with his first wife and certainly the thought of him going thru years of marriage with this individual was certainly too much for him to handle.
Having said that, he gave equal weight to the pursuit, the chase which is exactly what he did. His whole schtick that he pulled off on her friends on campus was classic but also something that he felt proud of. Getting her was even more of a thrill because after all he does admit to her that he has always dreamed of "being with a girl like you, in a place like this".
But you know what, that all changed and it wasn't necessarily when he ran up against major resistance when he dealt with her father face to face. It was after the wedding when, as the writer prior to you mentioned that, he realized that people are the same in that they discuss all sorts of things including professions and money and business trends and what have you. When he sat alone, he didn't seem happy at all. I am not saying that he's unhappy about marrying Kelly, certainly that's open to intrepretation but someone who is content about what he or she has accomplished doesn't necessarily look like that.
This is where we differ. He seemed to be wiped out mentally. He may be realizing that he doesn't have to fight anymore to get what he wants. He has it already and I think he's freaking out. For the first time in his life, he has the perfect girl in his eyes but the fight to get her to him felt more satisfying than the reality of "hey we're married now so snap out of it". Is he going to be happy when his father in law possibly gets him a job selling insurance? I say no. I don't think that's his persona.
absolutely disagree, and agree with the OP. He's doomed now.
shareSeriously? Sitting and thinking how happy he is? That's your interpretation of the ending?
No... He's feeling bored and about a minute and a half away from feeling trapped, just like with Lila. Because with him it's always about his next thrill. Until that wears off. Which it will - quickly. And then he'll again plot his escape, not caring who he destroys in doing so.
Good question. Maybe he doesn't know what he wants. He thought he wanted this, but then, once he put things into perspective, he figured he might be wrong about this girl as well. Or maybe it's just that he's tired and tomorrow he'll feel just fine again.
I didn't really like the ending either. It felt like it's from a different movie that was about the mid life crisis. This guy is too damn young for that. Maybe the ending should have shown more of his and Kelly's time together, just like it did with his first wife. We understand why he dislikes the situation he's in once he gets married, because we see them together in various situations. The movie ends too quick to show or even significantly hint that that's the case with him and Kelly as well.
The ending of the "Graduate" must have been inspired by this movie.
shareYou mean the Graduate inspired this movie (the Graduate came first by four years). There are a number of echoes between the two films (Lenny stalking Kelly on campus, Kelly walking around with big guys on campus, the blank faces of Charles Grodin and Dustin Hoffman, the threatening father, etc). Remember the director of this film, Elaine May, was a good friend and colleague of Mike Nichols, director of The Graduate.
shareThe Lila character (Jeannie Berlin) is her real-life daughter.
shareI was thinking the same/similar ending as "The Graduate"
sharekarma...
*Sometimes, I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion!*
The chase was better than the catch. For a lot of souls, that's the catch-22. I completely agree: Karma. He broke a woman's heart to be with another one. He didn't much care for the first wife from the start, so he could've broken it off and saved her the heartache. Then again, if he had, there wouldn't have been a plot and a lesson to be learned by at least the audience. I love the ending, like I love the ending of THE GRADUATE. It's ambiguous and makes you ponder what is really going on inside the head of the main character. It challenges you: Did you really know him after the many minutes you've just spent in his life? You can be "in someone's company," and still not really know that person at all. After all, we all see what we want to see sometimes. The surface is what we tend to judge people and situations by. It is getting underneath that's far more difficult and often more disturbing because we have to face some unpleasant truths about humanity and ourselves.
shareJesus, some of the people posting in this thread are brain dead.
The poster who talked about Lenny feeling disenchanted after having won the shiksa nailed it. All he ever wanted was the excitement of pursuing something that he felt was out of his grasp. Once he got her, the thrill disappeared.
Also, more importantly, he became disillusioned about marrying into a WASP family. At the time this movie was made, everyone felt that WASPs were the most cultured, classiest group out there. People who were self conscious about their background either tried to imitate them or network with them so they could feel as if they were moving up in the world. Lenny thought that he was going to love escaping being a "lowly Jew" and finally be equal with the oh, so superior WASPs. Instead, he found that he had absolutely nothing in common with them. Worse yet, they were vacuous as hell. None of the old guys wanted to talk about social issues, just about finances and their crappy businesses.
Even the kids were lame. He asks one of them what he wants to be when he grows up and the kid has no idea because he's never even taken the time to consider it at the age of 10, when most kids usually have an idea by the time they're like, seven or eight. The kid is basically an empty, shallow vessel, devoid of creativity, personality or aspiration. It's this encounter that depresses Lenny more than anything because it shows how hopelessly vacuous these WASPs are.
I agree with everything except your point about the kids. I think as much as they bored him, he also bored them and they saw through him and left him sitting by himself. It's an indication that the boredom and disillusionment will be on both sides - as you can see by the father looking at him running his lines on people and clearly seeing through him. And then the kids are bored by him as well.
share