MovieChat Forums > Two Lovers (2009) Discussion > nobody upset about the ending? - SPOILE...

nobody upset about the ending? - SPOILERS!

posted 16 years ago by ricorosen
82 replies | jump to latest

I really enjoyed this film and its honest and tender tone, but the end felt completely false and ruined everything for me: that Leonard gave the ring to Sandra.

It's one thing to get rejected by the girl you think you're in love with, but that's no reason to flee in the other girls arms and to marry her instead - that really hurts, because its a such a bitter arrangement: Sandra want to take care for Leonard and Leonard agrees to be taken care of. That's not about love. Very disappointing, because I really believe Sandra and Leonard could have become a loving couple.

I wished Leonard would have left the ring at the beach, returned to the party and just sat with Sandra, making an effort to "see" her / get to know her / make contact with her. Just a few words, a joke maybe, but to give her and himself the chance to become something (instead of pretending to be something).

The end the filmmakers did is only a "medical" one to me: Leonard is to weak and to compromised by his bipolar disorder to see the chance he has in Sandra.

Any thoughts?

[–] jebouchard451 16 years ago

ricorosen: "It's one thing to get rejected by the girl you think you're in love with, but that's no reason to flee in the other girls arms and to marry her instead - that really hurts, because its a such a bitter arrangement: Sandra want to take care for Leonard and Leonard agrees to be taken care of. That's not about love."

Congratulations. You've just learned a valuable lesson about real life. People make choices for the wrong reasons all the time,

deniseactress: it's not a "happy ending". Leonard doesn't love Sandra. He's settling. His tears aren't tears of joy. Look at his expression at the end as he hugs her. He is not smiling.

I recommend you take a Film 101 course.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] we_are 16 years ago

You know... I don't think a film course would really help. I think it's obvious by the number of people who think that the ending was "happy" that it was just too subtle. The director was trying to push so many emotions through the movement of Joaquin's eyes in that last scene. Maybe instead of cutting to a shot of them hugging, the gaze should have lasted a bit longer and then went straight to black. The shot of them hugging, showing that he was in his parents crappy place on their sofa, with random people walking around oblivious to what was going on might have been to show how ordinary and bland the situation must have felt to him. But I think that was too much. If they cut on the gaze, more people would have been able to connect.

It's the realization that the dreams he has will never come true. When he stares off into space he knows that he's given up. At that point, his entire outlook on life has been restructured. He no longer has the hope that he'd find the love he felt for his first fiance again, nor does he have the hope that he felt when he was infatuated with Paltrow's character. And since that is probably the only thing he really ever wanted, the rest of his life will be mediocre. Nothing to look forward to, nothing to hope for... he'll just be going through the motions.

There's no worse feeling than realizing that your dreams will never come true, especially when you give up like he did and end up putting yourself in a situation that gets rid of all hope.

The ending was fantastic, but it made my heart sink.

[–] Victover 16 years ago

Fully agree.
IMO Leonard was a very obsessive character and there was no chance he was going to get up that quickly from the KO blow he took from Michelle. Probaly he would have ended up with Sandra anyway just because she was so easily available but it would have taken quite a few months to recover his senses. Seeing him making up his mind that quickly when he was totally overtaken by the sunblinding effects of his infatuation with the blondie is plain crapppp. Forget it.

If pigs had wings the sh*t of this world would be perfectly shared

[–] irishaspaddyspig 16 years ago

He went off his meds. If he was in a manic stage, he would be making quick decisions that don't necessarily make sense.

He also could have had an moment of insight, that led him to the right choice. He didn't want to die.

Also, his depression was possibly situational. He would be expected to recover and go on to a productive and, maybe, happy life.

"a malcontent who knows how to spell"

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] juxtapose70 15 years ago

I don't know. I have never been in love, but the ending made my heart sink a bit too. I was thinking "so I really HAVEN'T missed anything?". Everyone always tells me how great love is..but I don't see anyone having a great time long-term. But that's such a bitter pill to swallow for me. But in truth, I think that's exactly what Leonard did. He swallowed the cyanide love pill of mediocrity. Ew. I am glad I am alone. Still, an unstable bi-polar man like that, just may have left Paltrow eventually. He was, afterall, manically depressed. His words to her didn't mean anything to me other than a lament to his ex-fiance' whose genetic incompatibility left him suicidal and feeling inept. Michelle may have woke him up, but for how long?

Not everything is a Cinderella story.

[–] pjammiez 14 years ago

Long-term love is less obvious but it is very real. It's easy to spot 'exciting' love. However, enduring love grows from within.

I'd like to think Leonard understood that exciting, unstable love would not ever work out, no matter who he fell for, in the long-run. Perhaps subconsciously, he understood that a slow-building love would bring he and Sandra a worthwhile life.

I'd like to think this is along the lines of the resolution he came to at the beach. Yes, he was sad but when he came into the house, and found Sandra sitting on the couch, he smiled at her and it was a very appreciative, understanding smile.

[–] fulamak-1 16 years ago

Im surprised most people did not see this. The ending is meant to be that way. Ronald is a reflection of what Leonard will be in the future.
Leonard will inherit a successful business, becomes rich and successful but stuck in a marriage with a girl he does not love. He meets another Michelle and falls in love with her. And like Ronald, he will be torn between leaving a loving wife for someone he loves. And the cycle of Two Lovers starts all over again.

[–] Xcstacy 16 years ago

Very well put fulamak, the cycle is and will always be everlasting.

~XTC

[–] calmdays 15 years ago

Our protagonist (Phoenix) has been raised by two very old-world parents. In their perspective, love mostly comes after marriage. Despite wanting to break away from this upbringing, he finds himself in this exact kind of compromise with the ending. It befits his character, his upbringing, and his values.

[–] parkmohler 15 years ago

It did seem like he just ran to her because he had the ring and wanted to do something with it. It's like the filmmakers thought that his little walk on the beach at the end completely changed him... which is pretty unbelievable. Great movie, minus that bit.

[–] krisluvkev 15 years ago

I thought the ending was very appropriate. Michelle was the female version of him, a hurting sole, impulsive, lost can't really find her way. In the end really due to having to he decides to grab on to what is real, solid, steady, love. In the end he chooses love, not infatuation, not a sick twisted lust, but a true and real love.

[–] colt45joe 15 years ago

i totally thought someone was going to die. like he would snap and just murder michelle. or that he'd kill himself.

[–] nubbytubbybiatchesgalore 15 years ago

didnt read the other comments, but i think it is a happy ending for one reason - when leonard is on the roof with michelle, he tells her that "in time you will learn to love me". i think leonard is willing to give sandra the time to fall in love with her because of her devotion to him - she will never walk out on him.

[–] lotte-18 15 years ago

I was relieved at the end.

Love should never be about infatuation, limerence, or obsession. That doesn't mean love is boring or without drama. Its just the "drama" is more like caffeine, less like crystal meth.

Nothing about sandra's character was surprising or unique. She was trouble, period. Too bad he didn't see it in the hallway when her dad was yelling at her. Or when she was getting high. Or when she was sobbing because her married b/f stood her up. Or when she left him outside the club. Or when...etc etc...

I saw it right away. His parents saw it right away. And finally at the end, with his heart broken, he saw it too. And he wakes up and realizes, hey wait, there's a decent, kind woman who is offering me love! I should commit myself to her!

And last, marriage is about love and romance. But its also about family and commmunity. He realizes that michelle can offer him a marriage that will reflect the values and traditions with which he was raised. (Someone else said that, too...but its worth repeating)

[–] irishaspaddyspig 15 years ago

lotte,you reversed the women's names. otherwise, good points.

"a malcontent who knows how to spell"

[–] lotte-18 15 years ago

Ahhh..ooops..thanks :)

[–] once1 15 years ago

True love or not, in going back to Sandra, Leonard chose life. The soundtrack at that moment is based on an aria from Puccini's opera Manon Lescaut, and the words are "non voglio morir", "I don't want to die."
and I think when he's on the beach after he'd thrown the ring there, the music is based on a later moment in that opera, when the heroine is about to die and sings about being in her lover's arms for the last time. Interesting how Michelle, who was the dramatic and volatile one, was familiar with opera and went to see it, and Sandra, the calm and 'grounded' one, hadn't been to see any opera at all. She loved The Sound of Music...

He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.

[–] PlatinumScreen 14 years ago

you are absolutely correct, rico. right on the money. the ending frustrated and upset me too. in fact, i felt angry when the credits started rolling. leonard isn't interested in having a sensible girl like sandra in his life for the long haul. he just wanted to feel better immediately after michelle dumped him, and sandra was the closest, easiest remedy for that. leonard is selfish and thinking of only leonard.

another thing. how is it even remotely acceptable as an ending that he propose to sandra after he intentionally avoided being with her so that he could devote more time to also disturbed michelle? all the time sandra and leonard had spent together practically added up to 13 minutes, including the sex. but, i understand this just further highlights the depth of his illness.

on second thought, sandra might not be so sensible after all. actually, she is sensible, just trusting and loving. she's willing to marry the same guy who lied to her, didn't follow through with promises, and didn't really want to be with her.

crazy, but she'll figure it out. it will probably be too late though.

[–] HeathandMichelle 14 years ago

I believe Leonard made a choice, he could kill himself over someone craxy, or have a relationship with someone sane.

[–] HeathandMichelle 14 years ago

Michelle was the one who for a short time chose safe (Leonard). I found the ending uplifting. The main character seemed to be getting better emotionally. Michelle with her own mental issues would have fed his mental illness.

[–] sadie_von_tal 14 years ago

Exactly. Which is why Michelle (Paltrow) is depicted in such cold, unflattering light much of the time.
Check out her last scene in the movie - when they rendezvous outside the apartment building - she advances toward Leonard from the dark then suddenly into the light and is meant to strike the audience as a deathly presence. A figurative Nosferatu who would bleed Leonard dry, were it not for Ronald's return.
This is also the symbolic meaning of Leonard statement "it's so *beep* cold" when he and Michelle rendezvous on the roof.