First off, I think this is a tremendous film, very moving and filled with great acting. My one problem with it is the ending, which felt to me like a forced injection of pointless tragedy that didn't have much of anything to do with the theme of addiction and its consequences. It also felt somewhat rushed, almost as if they'd gone over budget and somebody told Glenn Gordon Caron, "Time to wrap it up!"
shareI actually heard this complaint before but I liked the ending speech. Thought it worked fine. But I'm no director so who knows.
shareI liked it also. It didn't feel rushed to me. I kind of do agree about the tragedy being a bit forced. I think by this you meant the car accident.
"I've seen things in this city that make Dante's Inferno read like Winnie The Pooh."
Yeah you're right. Now that I think about it more the car wreck in the end was a little forced. So in that aspect I agree with the original post but I liked the AA speech at the end.
share"Yeah you're right. Now that I think about it more the car wreck in the end was a little forced. So in that aspect I agree with the original post but I liked the AA speech at the end."
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I liked the AA speech, but for my tastes it just burst into the film too quickly, too quick of a transition from what seemed to me an unnecessary car wreck and back to Daryl, who I guess relapsed after Charlie bit the dust. I would've liked a transitional scene showing Daryl's reaction, which I think would've been very powerful. It just all felt hurried to me.
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I think the criticisms about the abruptness of the crash are justified to a degree, but what the crash does for the character is that it finally leads him to the emotional breakthrough he needed. He starts feeling his real feelings instead of walking around angry all the time. I work as an addictions therapist and have been using the movie as a teaching tool from the time it was originally released on video tape. It gets to the truth of what recovery is. When he accepts his chip at the end, he's realizing that there may be hope for him. The movie does a great job of showing someone struggling to accept that he has become an addict. Notice that through most of the movie, he doesn't understand the enormity of what he's up against.
share but what the crash does for the character is that it finally leads him to the emotional breakthrough he needed. He starts feeling his real feelings instead of walking around angry all the time.
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Yeah, and we have to remember that this is Darryl's story, not Darryl's-and-Charlie's story. I don't think he quite took his addiction as seriously as he had to until Charlie suddenly was gone.
Then he became willing to go to any lengths.
"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"
Yes, the ending speech was great. But don't forget the absolute ending. Cars firing up, headlights coming on and people going their separate ways. A very simple, unimportant scene? Hardly. Lessons learned in life must be employed 24/7. That's not always easy, particular for an addict. Great film.
shareI don't know...I thought it demonstrated the contrast between Daryl and Charlie. He was a person who had the heart and determination to overcome his addiction, whereas she clearly was not.
But I like the scene with Daryl standing on the stage at the AA meeting and self-reflecting and then proudly declaring that he has just been awarded his 30-Day chip for sobriety. And the thunderous ovation he receives gave me goose pimples.
@mjkbncb:
I think Daryl THOUGHT he had the heart and determination to overcome his addiction. When he got out of rehab he was doing all the right things -- seeing his sponsor, taking his advice, going to meetings. But then he started getting involved with Charlie and was doing what we call "13th Stepping." Daryl went from overdoing it with drugs to overdoing it with Charlie. It wasn't about getting through recovery with her at all -- it was more about his ego and how he could SAVE her. He wasn't working on himself as much as he was trying to work on her, hence his sponsor's advice in the end: "You didn't have the power to control her addiction."
Once she was gone, he realized what he was doing and THEN had the heart and determination to overcome the addiction -- of both drugs AND of Charlie.
I don't think so. It tried to show that not everyone makes it when they get out of rehab. It is always up to the individual to get help and stick to it.
shareSPOILERS: I thought the ending was spot on. Charly's death via drug induced car accident is 100% relevant to the theme of addiction and its consequences.
What I thought was rushed was how his company just forgave hin for embezzling 92,000 dollars and the issue of the dead girl was never resolved. But for my money the ending was spot - on.
The fact that I am saying it, quite obviously, makes it my opinion.
I thought the ending could have been better myself. It was still good, but not entirely satisfying. Did Daryl indeed relapse after Charlies death? I thought he just came close to it but his sponsor helped him out and that's when he was awarded his 30 day chip.
"I am Reality"
>SPOILERS: I thought the ending was spot on. Charly's death via drug induced car accident is 100% relevant to the theme of addiction and its consequences.
What I thought was rushed was how his company just forgave hin for embezzling 92,000 dollars and the issue of the dead girl was never resolved. But for my money the ending was spot - on.
The fact that I am saying it, quite obviously, makes it my opinion.<
The $92,000 was "forgiven" because Daryl had "dirt" on two (perhaps all) of his co-workers/bosses (ie. "A company fishing boat?")They probably figured that sweeping the "stolen money" under the rug would be better for business (no publicity, court hearings, etc.) than to charge Daryl with embezzlement which could get ugly for everyone involved. Unfortunately this happens everyday in our society... but it just added to the reality of the situation. They do however, terminate Daryl's position with the firm which again is very realistic.
Just my two cents worth.
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"He didn't relapse and there was a transitional scene showing Daryl's reaction.
It's when he visits M. Emmet Walsh while he is putting up CHRISTMAS lights"
I was going to state the same thing. The scene with M. Emmet Walsh was clearly the transitional scene where Keaton is guilt ridden over the car crash death, and is told it is conceited to think you can control someone elses addiction.
It was a great ending to a great film.
CCRider01 put it best. Although it would have been totally like Daryl to relapse even after all he had been through (i.e. the dead girl in his bed, losing his job, losing Charlie), he had broken down by this point. He finally saw that he had no choice but to face the music or give up. His ego regarding his effect on women, particularly Charlie, had been wounded. He wanted to save her but could not. Richard was his last hope. That is my perception.
shareToAsToAsT wrote:
What I thought was rushed was how his company just forgave hin for embezzling 92,000 dollars
They didn't actually forgive him. They did can him, remember? Now, if that isn't a punishment, what is?
shareI liked this movie, especially the ending.
With a less talented director, the ending would have been:
Charlie lives after going through an edgy 9 hours in surgery,
Darryl gets in to a fight with Charlie's boyfriend Lenny, in which Darryl shoots Lenny while using some Arnold Schwartzenegger line like "Smoke This Lenny!."
Darryl finds $92000 in stolen drug money in Lenny's car which he uses to pay back the money he took.
Craig reveals to Darryl that he's actually a DEA agent who's been trying to bust Lenny for the past several years after Lenny killed Craig's partner.
The point this movie made with me was that cleaning up does not necessarily result in miracles happening- it results in reality staring you in the face. The best thing that Darryl had was that he was now facing his problems head on instead of dodging them.
Next thing they'll be breeding us like cattle. You've gotta tell them. SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!
At first I thought that Charlie's auto accident was a bad move. It didn't feel right, but to put it in perspective, it is still a very realistic situation in daily life. It happens all the time. I gave the film a 7.
shareI think she crashes the car because she was so busy using she didn't watch where she was going. It is like drinking and driving.
shareDid anyone else get the scene in Daryl's first night at the center when he asks if anyone minds if he changes the television station? It provokes Xavier even though Daryl does not follow through with it. Then Xavier goes berserk and throws something at the TV which causes it to explode and then he tries to escape. Then he has to be restrained by hospital staff and runs off, presumably back to his room.
It may be tempting to think, what does this have to do with Daryl and the theme of addiction and its consequences? My guess is that it was meant to illustrate the selfishness of Daryl and how he cared about little else besides himself. It also may have illustrated how his actions affect other people and how he must get his act together or forget it. Anyone else have ideas?
As I've watched several people go through recovery, while the ending wasn't your typical wrapped-up-in-a-bow ending, it's accurate.
Many addicts are in co-dependent relationships, and that's what he and Charlie had. It ended in her demise, sadly, but also gave him the kick in he ass he needed to face reality. It also put him in the mindset for him to learn to stop trying to control every outcome, and just take things bit by bit.
Because he'd hit rock-bottom, and he'd owned up to his errors, and tried to make amends on some of his past wrongs, I held some hope that his recovery would eventually stick. Yes, he was facing a lot of unknowns, but he was taking it bit by bit, which is all you can do.