Anyone questioning the ending just read this! SPOILERS

So this is the conclusion I've come to after reading many posts and watching the final ten minutes a couple of times. What I've written is a bit all over the place but it's everything that helps my point.

I don't believe that Herzog killed off Nick Cages character at the end. In my opinion the ending was not a dream. For those of you who do believe that he died on the couch you have brought up some interesting points and a solid possibility but unfortunately you're just trying to find something more to the ending which isn't there. I also think that the ending being a reality is the stronger ending of the two possibilities.

Granted everything did fall into place extremely suspiciously at the station, but he did place the crackpipe in xzibits hands with the intent to frame him before he "died" on the couch. And the bookie clearly had no problem bringing the gambling matters to his desk. And what happened with the douchebag with the important dad was realistic. To send some thugs with guns after cages character and have them come up missing would make many people think twice about messing with him. Maybe not though, but to me it's much more likely than him dying on a couch and one tiny line of blow being the cause of death after he survived so much harder stuff.

To me the possibility (I can't say fact because I am not Werner Herzog, who is the only one who can really settle this) that everything seemingly turned out okay being the reality is more disturbing to me because you want to see a bad man like Cages character get what he deserves, like Harvey Keitels cop in the original. But Werner said this was no remake and I believe he wanted Cages character to live to show that sometimes bad people get away with doing bad things.

Also you would think if Herzog wanted Cages character to die on the couch he might have put some emphasis on him falling asleep and maybe stop moving instead of on the tv showing the football player sit out. Watch it again and you can see that there is no indication of any possibility that Cages character is about to die. We aren't even sure he fell asleep because although it shows him drifting off in the eyes a bit, his head doesn't fully stop moving around. The music continues through the scene change, which becomes a shot of cages character driving to work the next day. I believe Herzog just wanted to show that Cages character had been through enough and was finally able to sleep.

A line of blow that small to a guy that deep into his drug addiction is like a cigarette to someone ten years into a 2 pack a day smoking habit. It isn't gonna help none, but it wouldn't have killed him yet either. Even if it were "pure." look at the true to life portrayal of George Jung by Johnny Depp in "Blow", he was sniffing nothing but the purest and he got into it heavy. You build up a tolerance and even pure stuff can be handled in moderation.
Also, just on a sidenote it isn't cocaine which keeps you from sleeping when you sniff it, it's the cut. Cocoa plantation workers chew it but that's to stop hunger not to stay awake.
So if Herzog wanted to imply even in the slightest that Cages character might die on the couch, give him a hollywood 8-ball sized rail! He did just survive smoking two crack rocks of the same stuff so...cmon, he didn't die.

The same sort of scenario as earlier in the movie then happens later on when he "may be dead" and is outside the same nightclub with an extremely similar couple. At first after reading the theories that he died on the couch I thought maybe he did die and was just thinking about the original situation and couldn't remember exact details so his mind placed different faces and a different luxury car there. But no, there's nothing that requires that much of my thought in this film. It was just to show that he's still doing the same thing as always, even though his girlfriend is clean and pregnant he can't escape the temptations of corruption.

It didn't show him having sex with the chick in the second couple and I liked that, because however the second scenario would have went down it could only have been equally as bad as the extreme worst case scenario with the first couple, although we know he got some blow out of it because we see him next in a hotel room about to partake.

I think that the only thing Herzog did in the film to possibly inspire a second look with an open mind or some analyzing of something being deeper than first appeared was having the same guy from jail at the start of the movie reappear at the end as a respectable member of society who then takes Cages character to the aquarium. Obviously there was the significance of the water the last time the two characters were together. To me that ending scene said that the guy from jail, who was the sole reason that Cages character STARTED taking drugs to begin with (if he hadn't of been in the cell then Cages character wouldn't have had to jump into the water, therefore never permanently damaging his back) was also maybe the only or best person to STOP him from taking drugs as well. Possibly by making him realize better than any medals or ranking that by saving the mans life he was a hero.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some points, but the bottom line is that people who think the end was a dream and nick cages character dies on the couch are looking too much into finding an ending with a conscience that they would prefer. The reality, which is that everything that happened at the end was a reality ( ridiculous to have to explain yes ) is just far more likely. Also I should point out that if it turns out that Werner Herzog did intend to have cages character die on the couch, I wouldn't mind. It'd be a decent ending as well. Any thoughts?