*Spoiler i guess if anyone cares*
The way Harlan was acting, i thought it was all part of his plan, to fake his death and to trick everyone.
Turns out that no, the dude thought he was gonna die and was super calculated and chill about it. He even slit his own throat for fuck's sake. Wasn't that weird?
Yes. They both should have picked up on the fact that he was not showing any signs of the morphine injection. I've had morphine after surgery in the past. It acts in under five minutes in my experience.
shareYeah, he was too easily convinced that he was gonna die so i was sure it was a trick on his part.
They spent too much time going over the absurd plan that Harlan should have noticed that he wasn't feeling anything. Or at the very least, give him some doubt whether or not to slash his god damn throat open.
Spoilers
He was trying to protect her. By killing himself takes the heat off her. And he liked her and wanted her to have a good life and his estate. He knew he had to act quickly or he wouldn’t be able to execute his mission. He spent enough time trying to explain to her what she was to do and felt it was a ticking time bomb. He wasn’t afraid of dying. He chose his death and actually relished it.
I get that he had to be calm for her but damn, he went from "time for bed granpa" to "you're gonna fucking die in 10 minutes" in the blink of an eye and he instantly went with it.
I thought maybe he threw the board on the floor to switch the vials himself or something.
It’s part of the story. And it’s great because it is really original. And only someone like Christopher Plummer could pull it off. But I fell for it. I felt it was a huge screw up on her part. I actually felt that it is a mistake anybody could make. I pictured myself making it. And he kept pushing her to play GO, to do all this stuff. Always in a hurry. I thought still call 911. But you find out later. Harlan made a “good“ choice because he knew the viciousness of the family and she would have gone to prison if it did happen the way they thought at first. Actually if Blanc wasn’t detective who knows. But as a viewer, when you do find out what actually happens, you say. Oh if only you waited. But that’s the story.
My house, my rules. Great ending. Really good little mystery in the traditional big house “British” mysteries. And comical too.
"But I fell for it. I felt it was a huge screw up on her part." It seemed to simple to me to be just a mistake. I guess that's why the scene felt weird.
I liked the movie too but the whole "my house, my rules" was something i hated. Her whole character is boringly good compared to everyone else. I mean she pukes if she lies, come on...
But my house, my rules was the family’s attitude toward her. They couldn’t remember where she came from. Overly patronizing. And the one family guy had no problem making her the scapegoat. Prison for life. If that happened, not one of those people would have come to her rescue. They’d want the money. Even if they knew she was most likely innocent. The tables are turned. I see her being very good to the people who were good to her.
She was a good and honest and smart person, and Harlan spotted that. That which his own family was lacking. So did Blanc. I don’t think it is boring. There are people who don’t steal or tell lies. And ironically if something was to show up missing, she’s the first person they would look to. I loved the ending. Much better than the second one with the Mona Lisa.
I do think with $60M, Harlan didn’t have to disinherit his entire family. Some family members are fine as they are. It’s just family.
I think it was a horrible thing to do to disinherit them. There’s enough to go around. And this family will challenge it. Probably years of litigation. It wasn’t smart and it’s mean spirited. This is just a movie.
He was 85 years old and in constant pain, he had probably thought about ending his life many, many, many times before that night. He may even have felt tempted to end it all, and told himself that he had to finish whatever he was writing or deal with the family drama, he had to suffer a while longer. Until that night when he came to believe that he could actively benefit someone he cared about by dying immediately, then going ahead was the right thing to do, as well as what he wanted to do.
Seriously, that scene only works if Harlan actively wants to die, has wanted to die for a while.
Exactly. And you do get that. That he wanted to die and wanted to do so for a while. That’s why I said he relished it - for not only being able to actually die his way, but the creativity of the whole thing. He effectively constructed his last great plot.
shareI get what you're saying and i didn't think about the fact that he was in pain all the time. So then it made sense for him to go with it.
But the scene still felt like it was a setup for a game by him. Like Ed Norton's character in the sequel. He was a mystery novel writer so i figured he wanted to play a trick on everyone, to test them to see who is worthy to get his money or something.
"But the scene still felt like it was a setup for a game by him"
Well yeah, the guy spent his life messing with people's heads, both professionally and personally. He made a damn good living messing with the heads of his readers, and he loved the sort of games that made him feel smarter than everyone else... so why shouldn't he want to stage one last cruel game when the end was finally upon him? It was totally in character!
Actually, that's something that could have been explored more in the film, how the man's love of cruel and humiliating games affected his family.
I chalk it up to the fact that he’s old and had a good life. He probably felt like he was ready enough to go.
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