She should've ended up with Stiller's character. He cared about her and treated her very well and was just nice. Hawke's character Troy was a lowlife with an attitude.
shareI would have gone for Michael...but I like nice guys.
shareThe ending in this movie is one my favorites. Michael is safe, but Troy is real.
I love Troy... When he is sitting in the chair and says to Michael "you don't know what she needs." And Michael responds, "I think I know what she needs in a way that you never will." That look on his face is haunting! It is crushing, and the look of true love being realized. He is afraid and in pain, but in the end... He gets real and lets his guard down.
I love it. I am watching it tonight before I go to bed. ; )
I like Ethan Hawk as an actor, but here his character is so unlikable it hurts the credability of the movie. Troy was a loser who treated women like sh*t, and unfortunately that's the kind of guy so many women go for. Stiller's character was the obvious choice. If there were a sequel you can bet Troy dumped her or got her pregnant and then left her.
"Push the button, Max!"
In reality a weak woman *might* go for Ethan Hawke's character but no truly strong woman that I know would go for him over Stiller's character. So what if Ethan Hawke's character has his father die? Does that somehow make him a good person? It just means more or less that Winona Ryder's character is going for him out of pity (perhaps as well as self-pity) which is just plain WEAK.
Not saying that the ending isn't realistic, because in many cases it is. But I think people with a strong moral compass will find conflict with the ending and rightfully so. So be happy that you're not happy with the ending! Because if you were then it probably means you identify with Ethan Hawke's character which would just be sad.
PS I also found the "I know what she needs in a way that you never will..." line to be awesome. Especially the way that Stiller delivers it.
Reasons why Ethan is a better choice for Winona than Michael:
1) He totally "gets" her, while Michael doesn't have a clue
2) Ethan puts up that "cooler-than-thou" facade, but underneath he's intelligent and sensitive. He's really the only one of her friends who understands her pain at getting fired.
3) Michael is nice in the sense that he agrees with everything Winona says. But he doesn't have any standards; her documentary is ruined, and he gets upset about it just because she's upset; I don't think he really understands on his own what a travesty it was.
i completely agree! i was'nt angered by the ending at all. It takes Troy alot of guts and courage to tell Laney he loves her - and seen as he's just come back from his fathers funeral he's bound to be a little upset. That moment when he says 'I've had an arcane glimpse of the universe' or something along those lines, he see's for the first time what life is all about, and does'nt want to mess around anymore. Walking out on Lilaina was a huge regret seen as he's wanted her since college!! I think his acting is beautiful, anyone who thinks She should of got with Michael is watching the wrong movie! it was always gonna be Troy.
share"anyone who thinks She should of got with Michael is watching the wrong movie"
No, I watched the same movie as you, I just wanted it to end differently because that ending, while supposedly being a happy one, is really just about short term happiness because in about, oh, six months, Troy's going to be running out the door because that's how his character was. A best friend? Sure. A long term one-true-love partner? Hell no. Michael wanted Lelaina to be happy, Troy didn't really give a damn about her happiness because he was too busy worrying about his own issues.
""anyone who thinks She should of got with Michael is watching the wrong movie"
No, I watched the same movie as you, I just wanted it to end differently because that ending, while supposedly being a happy one, is really just about short term happiness because in about, oh, six months, Troy's going to be running out the door because that's how his character was. A best friend? Sure. A long term one-true-love partner? Hell no. Michael wanted Lelaina to be happy, Troy didn't really give a damn about her happiness because he was too busy worrying about his own issues."
I think it all depends on how old the person watching this movie is. When I watched it at 19 I thought it was a cute romantic comedy. Watching in my thirties I see it as a comment on the foolish choices we make in our youth.
In my case, nickel, if you are dead, someone smoking a cigarette, was his mother.
This is why I think this movie is actually really good, because the ending is pretty messy, much like life. Troy acts like a jerk all through the movie because he knows Lelaina really well, and he can see she's losing herself a little bit in her relationship with Michael. Michael is a sweet guy, and he cares about her, but she is much smarter than he is. Troy is her equal, but until the end of the movie she can't be with him because he acts like such an immature jerk. BTW, after he runs out on her, when he sees her at his club, he chases after her to try and make up for what he did, but she's too enraged to listen to him. Then he gets the call about his Dad, and has to leave.
Also, when he tries to kiss her at the fountain, she pulls away. She's just as scared of their relationship as he is. When he asks if she won't kiss him because she wants to be with Michael, she uses that as an excuse, which really angers Troy. He knows that he and Lelaina should be together, but when she chooses this other guy with the nice car and the sexy job, he thinks she's selling out. It's not that simple, but it makes his reactions understandable.
And by the way, Michael isn't so perfect. He TAKES her documentary WITHOUT HER PERMISSION and shows it to people. That is a pretty serious violation, and it's not a respectful thing to do, even if his intentions are good. The only reason she doesn't get mad is because she needs the money.
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So what reality bites, Even if troy would be that today, at least hes living life his way. hes an artist. and troy is the right choice for leilana, troy got her, michael was just like a best friend type really. leilana and troy might have had a bumpy life but overall they would b happy.
''What a regrettably large head you have I should very much like to hat it''
I like this movie because one man is not the clear choice, much like Sweet Home Alabama. One is not a wife beater and thus she chooses the other. This one is impossible to see one clear path. Michael is the 80's yuppie hold over, career driven, material wealth guy. Then, in the 90's we had the guy who didn't not wash his hair, didn't have a job, wanted to be in a band, but was not a good musician. Both men loved her, and I believe there is no right answer, just the heart wants what it wants, and I think Laney decided Troy understood her in a way Michael ever could, not the other way around. She told Michael she did not want to commercialize her work, and if he had seen what was done to it he would know this was not her vision and it would not please her. Someone who "understands" her would know that.
So....just like real life, there is not a "right" choice.
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Honestly, I think both of you are wrong.
Troy was bad for her because no woman can change a man into suddenly being the great monogamous guy that will treat you right. If he was really her best friend he wouldn't have been such an a-hole. The saying "I'm in love with you" and then laughing thing was hilarious (from my outsider point of view), but it is downright cold.
Michael, while a really nice considerate guy, was just not compatible with her. Which is not bad on his part. They just would eventually have broken up because they realized they were not what each other needed and probably would have remained friends.
And Michael showing her video to someone else was not a terrible thing. He was trying to give her the opportunity to make something of it, something that she was too scared to do. He believed it was great and should be seen by the rest of the world. Think of it this way, Kafka wanted all his manuscripts destroyed when he died, but his friend decided to publish against his wishes and now he is thought of as an amazing writing talent. Is Kafka's friend a bad friend for disobeying his final wishes?
When i was a teen and this movie came out, Troy was the "ideal" man of the time. There would be no question of whom she should have ended.
But Now, after all this years and experience, there is not even a question. Troy would go off with the first bimbo, and then would came back with puppy eyes every time. Being all idealistic is great when you are young and gorgeous like him, not so appealing when you are a 40 year old loser, who did nothing with his life.
"Michael, while a really nice considerate guy, was just not compatible with her."
Actually I disagree with that. Ben Stiller and Winona Ryder had amazing chemistry together! Winona's character Lainy just glowed when she was with him. And I saw a definite case of opposite's attract. And some of those are the best relationships. It's usually the people who are too much alike that fall apart. But it was the 90's, we were too cool for stuff like happiness.
In my case, nickel, if you are dead, someone smoking a cigarette, was his mother.
Compatible does not mean alike. I think it was easy to see that they had way too little in common,especially in their first meeting.
And yes she glowed, but she also did with Hawke. And honestly, glowing is only going to last for so long.
If anything, it would have been really creative for her to end up alone and happy at the end of the movie. How many movies do you see that happen in? Why does a person always have to find a partner at the end of the movie to have happiness? And I say that as a happily married woman.
Michael was the obvious choice, of course, but that didn't make him the right one. Troy and Lalaina were the right match for who they both were at that time in their lives. The relationship was doomed, of course. The two of them, while trading barbs to see who could hurt who the most, really challenged each other. No one else was willing to say the hard thing unless they had been pushed. Everyone else was trying to be too polite.
As much as Troy fit the loser profile, he and Lalaina were the most connected, the most real with each other out of everyone else.
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creatorof2002 said:
How about this reason to be frustrated by the ending? WE NEVER FIND OUT WHETHER OR NOT HER FRIEND HAS AIDS.Yes, we did. Remember the scene where she comes out of a hallway and walks up toward her friends as they sat on a couch in the waiting area and she says to them, "Negatory!" She had just found out her test results came back negative. share
What's great about that line is that he was utterly wrong; he was completely clueless about what she needed, which is basically why he ended up losing her.
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The ending sucked. Not only was it so cliche and could be spotted from a mile away, the Troy character was so unlikeable that even the obvious romance didn't make any sense!
I agree, it would have been a better movie had she gotten together with Michael.
Even if it means me taking a chubby, I will suck it up! - Tobias Funke