ending (spoilers)

[deleted]

She was rather aimless. If I remember correctly she had no plans to go to college like Darlene did. She felt Darlene was too fragile to face more time in prison so she gave up her freedom for her friend's sake, so that she could have the life she deserved.

Totally agree. Moreover, there are many instances in the movie where they show differences between Alice and Darlene in terms of background and upbringing that ultimately explain why Alice did what she did.

Darlene grew up with both of her parents being around, they both have pretty good jobs and are pretty well off financially. Because of that, I think Darlene lived a pretty sheltered life up until now and probably had just about everything she wanted. She did very well in school, in fact well enough to get into a good college, but obviously that did not prepare for for the real world. The fact that she was always loved and cared for made her very gullible as she always saw the best in people, unfortunately, because of that she lacked basic common sense in certain situations. Her signing a document in a language she didn't understand was a perfect example of that. I guess government corruption in Southeast Asia was not a topic covered in high school, so when a "good cop" presented himself in a good light in front of Darlene, she took everything for face value.

Alice, on the other hand, is a total opposite of Darlene in terms of background and upbringing. She does mention that her mom died in a car accident when she was young. From the few minutes that Alice's dad had on screen, we can tell that he's not very rich; he probably couldn't afford plane tickets to Thailand and back to visit Alice and was also having trouble coming up with money for Hank. When his wife died, aside from being devastated by his loss, he was left with a little girl to raise, which I think he had no clue how to do, especially on his own. Not to say that he was a bad father, in fact I think he has done his best when it came to raising Alice, but his best wasn't good enough. Well, obviously he gave Alice a roof over her head, food on the table and occasional advice, but that aside, I think Alice pretty much had to raise herself emotionally. Because of that, Alice had learned early on how to fend for herself, how to get what she wanted on her own, although on some occasions she had to lie, cheat, steal and break the rules to do so. Alice may not have been the brightest girl in school, but she surely was very well equipped to deal with many real life situations without much if any outside help.

Alice also strikes me as a kind of girl who can always make the best of any situation, no matter how grim it is. It perfectly shows in prison when Alice is usually the one who strikes conversations and makes friends with other prisoners and even wins sympathy from some of the guards. Darlene for the most part was the quiet one who constantly just sat there feeling sorry for herself in light of what has happened to her. And while the incident with Darlene ending up in infirmary when cockroach crawled into her ear played its part in Alice's decision, Alice knew that even if Darlene could handle it physically, she will eventually implode emotionally. Which is why Alice, considering herself the stronger one of the two, took the blame upon herself to try to get Darlene set free, and obviously has succeeded in doing so.

reply share

add reply

formatting help

It was more a "cry smile" like an emotional moment between the two of them. Hank started out as mostly using the girls case to make a ton of money---then he started caring greatly about their situation the more he realized what was going on with the drug smuggling scheme. He then believed them to definitely be innocent as it was proved in all his investigating-- and he felt sorry for them and angry about the situation. He was shocked ALice did something so selfless. As a lawyer in Thailand you hardly ever see that. Also there was a scene before one of their trials, where Hank was talking to two "probono" girls he worked for which showed he did have a soft side and did free work, which is prob why he needed the money like he did from the girls and whoever else he works for. At the end, it was showing he cared a lot and respected her and him putting his hands on hers was a silent moment of him saying "What you did was amazing, I am so sorry--and I will won't stop trying to get you out of here" and she was crying and smiling silently saying "Thank you for truly ending up caring and trying for us instead of just wanting the money. And thank you for believing I was innocent and still believing I am innocent and I know you know I lied to save Darlene."

reply share

add reply

formatting help