The video packed in with about half an hour to go!! Narg!!
I had just got to the bit where Lawrence has been asked by the security chap to ask Gina to leave and he says he will but can he do it tomorrow?
So frustrating....
Security guy leaves it to Lawrence to decide when Gina leaves, so he lets her stay on until a big dinner where she interrupts the Prime Minister and says that him compromising won't be good enough. Security throws her out; Lawrence lands in the [brown, smelly stuff] and although he doesn't get sacked he feels he has no choice but to resign. Then when she's back in her flat he phones her up and tells her to turn on her TV: the PM's about to make an announcement...
Ended on a cliffhanger, with a caption about G8 and the chance they have to make poverty history. You also learnt a bit about Gina's past - she wasn't a student, she'd been in jail 'for hurting a man who'd hurt a child' - Lawrence asked her if it had been her child or not but she wouldn't tell him.
Thanks. Heard it was quite inconclusive, but had to know what Gina's secret was. Glad to hear she wasn't a mole or a journalist or whatever. Well done Richard Curtis.
shareTo Persistence...
Thanks so much for your reply to the question. I taped it, watched it and still felt like I didn't know what happened at the end. So, your words "Ended on a cliffhanger" made me feel sane and normal.
I watched it with a guy and he came up with a completely different version of what the ending meant than I did. I'm not interested in the political references at all just the personal side of the story. And I didn't understand why he called her and told her to watch the TV. Does it mean they'll do something about the problem (really), that they will continue to see each other? What about his job, do they accept his resignation, can he really live with such an outspoken female who doesn't care at all about conventions, manners and etiquette? Seems quite unlikely to me. But at least it really didn't have a "sappy ending" - or was it an ending?
I really like everything settled at the end. For me, life is uncertain enough so I like my fiction to have some sort of conclusion whether happy or not. Thanks for letting me sound off. It's been driving me crazy and I just thought of this board because it's on HBO again tonight.
Started watching this and loved the relationship building between Lawrence and Gina, but I had to take off for lunch right when when he invited her to Iceland (I can't spell Raykyavick), so I taped the rest of it and was glad I did, as the second part was a bit diferent then the first part.
As for his call to her to tell her to turn on the TV, I think the reason was because they (the Brits) DID accomplish what they wanted, without compromise, and I think he wanted her to see what an effect she had. I for one felt quite proud of the Brits for at least sticking to their guns, and think it was her impact on the wives and girlfriends of the other civil servants that help create it. When she was being escorted out, I almost thought that all the women were going to get and leave with ther (especially the woman with 3, no 2, children).
I thought this was great movie and should have been required viewing before last week's G8 summit, especially with Great Britain's Africa-centered agenda. Imagine what could have been accomplished if the money spend killing innocent Iraqis and helping Al-Quida establish a new stronghold would have been applied to helping Africa graduate from 3rd world status?
Something's wrong when just eight men control more than 60% of the wealth in the world...
The reason he called was he could tell the Chancellor was repeating her words from the night before! The Brits didn't stick to their gunns...they moved a little bit closer to Gina's side.
shareAliens came and made all the bad things go away.
Or so you would believe from a Richard Curtis Extravaganza...
Colourful language? Fevver Duster?!
Eh? Aliens?
Whereas Guy Ritchie's portrayal of modern Britain is MUUUUCH more realistic...ahem.
Not really, but it'd be much more interesting than what actually did happen in the end.
Go and watch Lost in Translation instead.
Colourful language? Fevver Duster?!
"Oi fink oi've seen it - din't loik it".
shareExcellent. So you wouldn't have liked it anyway. Just as well you didn't see the ending: you would have been screaming at the sermon.
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It's the verbal Herman Munster, the Word Enhancer...
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jenko-3,
It also reminded me of Lost in Translation!
Yes, given the political realities of the UK, the US and the rest of the bloody G-8, this film WAS a bit of a fairy tale...but who says that fairy tales don't have their place, especially when they treat real problems and possible solutions in a more straightforward and, IMHO, powerful way than the whole overblown LIVE-8-Concert hooplah did. Call it "The Finance Owl and the Emotionally Battered ExCon Pussycat", if you wish, but this cynical, somewhat policy-wonkish TV writer (who HATES most TV) saw this little teleflick in the company of a macho car mechanic and a born-again ex-hooker (three folks EASILY as improbable as the central couple in the film), and it gave us all an embarrassing case of smiling sniffles.
As far as the ending goes...read carefully now, since most of you didn't seem to WATCH that way...he calls her because her words have obviously not only strengthened the backbones of the Brit PM and Chancellor of the Exchequer (which we CLEARLY see in the closed session), but have helped affect SOME sort of G-8 agreement (yes, one unrevealed at the film's close...but who says you always have to spell out EVERYTHING?) that represents more than the US's lame, "let's put it all into AIDS funding" stance and may indeed ACTUALLY...HELP...FIGHT...GLOBAL...POVERTY. (D'oh!) If Curtis' script HAD been more specific, I can imagine how many of you would simply have pooh-poohed it as even MORE preachy and unrealistic.
And as for the central couple's ongoing relationship, or whether he gets his job back (or even WANTS it back), I think it's far more interesting that those issues were left open. Time for each of YOU to get creative and dream up the ending you want for the story. And while you're at it, get creative about ways to make your country make a REAL dent on the horrendous statistics the film gave us about global poverty.
Happy viewing and... don't spill your popcorn!