Great movie ... ending?

Curtis told him that his poker tell was that he slumped his shoulders, and I think now that he won it big, he has more confidence to sit broad shouldered. It could be a sign that he will make life changes to be a better person, i.e. more involved in his daughters life, less of a degenerate gambler. Could you clue me into what happened in that bathroom brawl scene, it was cut my version of the movie, did Gerry bite somebody?

The ending wasn't realistic as well as a disservice to the viewing audience. Gerry is a degenerate gambler! Degenerate gamblers don't know how to walk away. They must lose all their earnings along with thier initial investment in order to walk away. Gambling is an acquired disease! It's not about the monetary value of the bet. It's all about the thrill, the juice etc etc. So for all you guys and girls who want that happy story ending, you got it! But in reality, he never would have stopped rolling the dice until he lost it all.

It could mean that he has always been looking at other people to find their faults and weakness. An he finally realizes he has to begin looking at himself.

To me this movie is about loneliness. Like Curtis would say, its not about the money. At some point in your life you have to say I love you to someone and really mean it. Gerry found his I love you in his daughter. While Curtis is still searching, with an understanding of what he is actually looking for. Maybe his I love you is somewhere in Machu Picchu.

He still slumps, money doesn't change things and it didn't change him.

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I think the ending is meant to be ambiguous. He literally "hit bottom" and had to feel the utter terror of knowing he had lost it all. I see it as a positive thing that he bought his old car back instead of buying a caddie. He placed his daughter's picture on the visor to remind himself of his goal. When the CD came on, it was a reminder that gambling would always be a struggle for him. But with the photo of his daughter in the visor, I feel hopeful that he would make the right choices, and use his money to pay back his debts, and take care of his daughter.

i don't think that gerry necessary walked out with all the money.the movie gives us an ambiguous ending.half of the money in the safe are missing which means he took his share.and then we see him buying his car back.but that does not tell us that he has the rest of the money.in the same way,when in the very end he hears the tape again he's staring thinking.but we don't know if he's thinking to continue gambling or it is time to take out the tape .. i agree with someone saying that a gambler is always a gambler.but winning that big..i don't know ,and no one does, if he's thinking of changing his life.it's a fact that the movie gives us a loser of a character.but you never know .. i think that the point of the movie is also to gives us the idea that it's up to him.is he still a loser or not?

My guess is that he wanted to change and took the first step but hearing that CD in the car was all he needed to go back.
Curtis - wanted to be with the girl but also didn't change his life and habits - seen by the girl in his bed at the hotel.

Well on a straight up literal story level, it's telling you that he bought his same exact old car back. Which in turn probably points to the fact that he's never really going to change, probably even down to his same old tell of slumping in his seat. Also, the guy just won half a million dollars doing the same thing that destroyed his life, so even though it's a great short term win, I doubt Gerry's story will ultimately end very well.


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