MovieChat Forums > Affliction (1999) Discussion > The Incredible Ending That... Never Come...

The Incredible Ending That... Never Comes?

posted 15 years ago by PostmortemG
4 replies | jump to latest

*** Spoilers Ahead, Of Course ***

Before anyone jumps on me about it: No, i haven´t read the book, and yes, other than my general criticism of Affliction, it´s still a good movie (I might even buy the DVD one day). OK, here we go...

In my opinion, Affliction is quite a let-down in the sense that it promises *THE* ending that never comes. And what is *THE* ending, you ask? Well, our good friend Paul Shrader (Schrader?) directed this film, who also wrote Taxi Driver and Rolling Thunder. I´ve yet to see all the movies affiliated with the man, and obviously he´s not obligated to tell the same story over and over, but jeez... Affliction was just *BEGGING* to end with an unrestrained blood-bath; its tense build-up is even more masterful than the aforementioned classics, and then... nothing happens. Following Coburn´s manslaughter and cremation, Nolte´s rage should´ve escalated beyond merely calmly executing someone he felt was a ´bad guy´; he should´ve murdered as many people as possible, everyone who´d ever given him grief, before disappearing forever. Extreme as that may be, it´s the ending that i feel would´ve suited Affliction sooooo perfectly. It would´ve been the ultimate violent Paul Shrader (Schrader?) film, perhaps *THE* ultimate violent film of all time, wherein the violence was thoroughly felt and understood. Oh well...

"Cain and Abel will go to Heaven... if they can make it through Hell!"
-Los Hijos Del Topo

[–] Edward_de_Vere 15 years ago

Your scenario would be too over the top to be believable. Wade killing his father and his former friend was more than adequate as a resolution to his emotional problems and ultimate breakdown.

I love Taxi Driver as much as anybody, but not every film about a troubled individual driven to violence needs to have an ending involving a guy in a mohawk and a half-dozen dead pimps and gangsters.

[–] PostmortemG 15 years ago

"Your scenario would be too over the top to be believable. Wade killing his father and his former friend was more than adequate as a resolution to his emotional problems and ultimate breakdown."

For me, it wasn´t nearly enough. Not even Taxi Driver really achieves the sort of violence that´s called for, in order to adequately show the inner turmoil of ´God´s lonely man´. Now Rolling Thunder, on the other hand, really shines when it comes to showing a man who ´wouldn´t take it anymore´, and decides to do something about it in the most extreme way he can; in that sense, ´believability´ isn´t all that important to me.

"I love Taxi Driver as much as anybody, but not every film about a troubled individual driven to violence needs to have an ending involving a guy in a mohawk and a half-dozen dead pimps and gangsters."

And that´s what would´ve made a more violent ending to Affliction so much more powerful: Nick Nolte´s ´enemies´ were his common neighbors and fellow townspeople, not throw-away pimps and gangsters. Again - Affliction masterfully builds up the tension moreso than Taxi Driver or Rolling Thunder. When a movie has the audience in its grip, it should go all the way in delivering the emotional goods, ´believability´ be damned. Personally, i don´t understand why the infamous Paul Schrader didn´t go all out.

"Cain and Abel will go to Heaven... if they can make it through Hell!"
-Los Hijos Del Topo

[–] pablo-taylor 14 years ago

'Cos that's not how the book ends....?

[–] alex-simmons-843-329258 10 years ago

since when has that stopped anybody from deviating from the book?