MovieChat Forums > Far and Away (1992) Discussion > How come Kelly never had his come-uppanc...

How come Kelly never had his come-uppance?

posted 12 years ago by Darth_Ferior
3 replies | jump to latest

Saw this film years ago, but one point that surprised me was that we never saw Kelly get his come-uppance in the film.

Joseph had made him lots of money by fighting in his bar, and when one fight was lost, he threw Joseph and Shannon out into the streets, taking from them all the money they had earned between them, not just from Kelly but from the other firm they worked for during the day.

I expected to see a scene later in the film where Kelly was murdered by someone he'd done something similar to, but no (unless it was on a deleted scene somewhere).

I thought it was a bit unusual for the films at the time.

[–] siobanphotogirl 12 years ago

Umm. ...he didn't get his come-uppance because the movie is about Joseph and Shannon, not him.

[–] mamu2 11 years ago

Why would he get his come-uppance? He was in charge of everything. Some illiterate Irish farmboy wasn't going to topple him.

[–] Etherdave 11 years ago

Kelly lost a hell of a lot of money and a hell of a lot of face betting on Joseph to beat the daylights out of the Italian. His financial backers would no doubt question future involvements with him, severely undermining his commercial 'empire'; his own pursuit of the 'American Dream' had thus been dealt a serious setback. But for this one fight, Joseph might well have ended up exactly like Kelly, so who is to say that Kelly's backstory wasn't exactly like Joseph's? And who is to say to whom a comeuppance is owed, or not owed?

This is not a moral parable, it is an adventure-romance, set against the historical backdrop of Irish immigration and the Land Run of 1893. In presenting a tale in which 'just deserts' are limited to shipboard tea and cakes, the director is attempting to be more current in his cinematic storytelling. In what is generally a mediocre film, this was a fairly good choice.