* CAUTION: Spoilers employed gratuitously.
I had been raving about Children of Men to my co-workers. Most of these guys prefer films with lotsa 
cleavage, car racing, adolescent humor or dismemberments, so I was walking on thin ice recommending the movie. Anyway, one of them rented the DVD and returned disappointed. “The ending sucked,” he proclaimed.
The ending in question is not a crescendo, but a whisper, perfectly contrasting the torrid pace of the movie. In an age of infertility, Theo, the lead character portrayed by Clive Owen, overcomes numerous odds to transport a pregnant woman to a rendezvous point with a mysterious group seeking to save the dying earth. Theo dies in the process, leaving the woman and her child stranded in a boat offshore the war ravaged country. After the explosions, gunshots, blood and violence, we sit with her in the fog, unsure what we will find. When from out of the mist comes a boat named Tomorrow. Fade to black.
Whereas I thought the ending resolved the story while leaving it open-ended enough for speculation, my co-worker thought it ruined the movie. I’m of the opinion that movie endings don’t necessarily make or break a film. Sure, they can taint our opinion, but a good movie should be able to withstand a bad ending. But in this case, perhaps there wasn’t enough 
exposition or explosions to satisfy the male mind.
Having endured The Notebook recently, I’m tempted to say James Garner dying in the arms of his lover was about the STUPIDEST ending I’ve ever seen. Then I remembered Thelma and Louise. After yawning through two hours of its feminist propaganda I found myself wishing they had driven off the cliff at the beginning. You go, girls!
The Abyss is one of those films that tests my thesis. I was so turned off by the corny, undersea Close 
Encounters of the Third Kind, deus ex machina ending that, even though the CGI effects were terrific (think water tentacle), I haven’t seen the film since. (I’ve heard the “Five Star Edition” altered the original ending. Anyone know if this is true?) The Illusionist is another. I saw this with Lisa last year and really liked it. . . until the end. Even Paul Giamaiti could not pull together the dangling strands of this implausible plot. Still, I have the film on my Netflix queue for a second try. Does this prove my point that good movies can withstand bad endings? I dunno.
Another CGI fest that stumbled at the finish line was Peter Jackson’s King Kong. The Kong sequences, especially with the gang-tackling T-Rexes, have to be some of the best computer generated effects ever filmed. But was there ever a longer, more sappy, dying scene than those final 20 minutes? Give me a break! What with all the watery eyes and sad looks I thought I’d mistakenly stumbled into a chick flick at intermission. I’d only watch this movie again with a well-oiled fast-forward button in hand.
And while we’re on Peter Jackson, it seems almost sacrilegious to suggest but The Return of the King, 
the final installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, does not end on the greatest note — in fact, does it end? I was halfway down the aisle when the third ending started. Little did I know there was 15 more minutes and three more endings to go. C’mon, PJ, make up your mind! Nevertheless, Return’s six endings weren’t as bad as Return of the Jedi’s one. Dancing teddy bears at a rave? Little did I know George Lucas was preparing to unleash the most annoying character in screen history.
And what would movie ending discussions be without M. Night Shyamalan? The director usually lands at least one movie on Worst Movie Ending lists. Both Signs and The Village are regularly cited as having rotten rears. Watching a Shyamalan film has almost become an exercise in tedium. Is it just me, or is the director forever trying to measure up to his first hit, The Sixth Sense? Ever since that classic twist, M. Night’s films have followed a formula — one that always ends in a surprise ending. In my opinion, he’s 
running out of wonder. (It’s not a surprise that his last film, Lady in the Water, has a 24% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes.) Like most of his pics, if you can swallow the premise, the rest will follow. It’s why there’s such divergent opinions about Signs and The Village – you either hate it, or you love it. I happen to think Unbreakable — a movie often included on top bad ending lists — is really good. Like him or not, I give Shyamalan an A for effort.
So what do you think? Can a good movie survive a bad ending? And what are some of your favorite worst movie endings?
Good stuff, Mike. I thought the ending to Children of Men was appropriate…a little light after all that darkness.
The director’s cut of the Abyss merely added some more footage to the ending–it explained things a bit more, but unfortunately didn’t improve it–at least, not in my opinion.
I actually did a similar list to this one called “the Almost-Great Movies” at my blog. You can link to it here: http://utterdrivel-mark.blogspot.com/2007/09/almost-great-movies.html
I didn’t care for the ending of Unbreakable–while the twist was kinda cool, the movie itself just stopped. Then Shymalan committed the unforgivable sin of putting up subtitles to show what actually happened to the characters. And maybe I’m in the minority, but I really liked Signs. I liked the aspects showing God’s sovreignty in the plot/ending (ignoring the fake-looking alien, of course).
Other movies with lousy endings include War of the Worlds (Spielberg version), Tombstone, and Cast Away.
Well, it took me 2 years to give my opinion, now I just won’t shut-up. I agree with the Notebook. As a matter of fact that movie was the cause of the last argument I had with my wife. After I jumped up and shouted, “Give me a break. That wouldn’t happen.” She replied (sniffling), “You mean you don’t love me enough to lay down next to me and die.”
I’m not a total beast. The ending of Premonition got me thinking, “I guess he should have cheated.”
Other than that, the Howling, where Dee Wallace turns into a monster that looks move like a Pekingese than a werewolf, is pretty bad.
Hey Mark, I love your list. Funny how many of the same films we’ve listed. (Promise, I did not plagiarize you.) I DID like Signs but, in the end, there was so much implausibility (and a crude claymation creature to boot). The aliens are allergic to water? Huh? Why is it these superior races can’t seem to overcome their own ineptitude? But, like you, I did like the theological inferences about predestination and free will.
I agree that the ending of Castaway is slow and a bit clumsy. But after several viewings, I’ve learned to appreciate that quarter of the movie even more. Even though we need relationships to survive, they can become incredibly draining and difficult. Heck, I’d prefer a volleyball to some of the guys I work with. In a way, aren’t we all on an emotional island of sorts?
And your mention of Spielberg’s War of the Worlds is appropriate. Even the original was criticized for the simplistic, convenient death by microbe. However, when Cruise’s son popped up unscathed at the end of the latest one, I about choked on my Skittles.
Thanks, Mark!
Mike,
Great minds. I’ll chalk it up to that. 😉
The Kingdom’s ending ruined an otherwise interesting and exciting film for me. And I mean ruined it. Up till then I could tolerate the moral equivalency innuendoes. The end flat declared it and made it intolerable for me.
(I’m assuming you mean by “bad endings” they don’t fit or they’re implausible or they just stink in comparison to the movie.)
I’ve heard lots of complaints about the ending of The Departed (almost everyone dies, and fast).
The Pledge and Million Dollar Baby.
From Oscar worthy to garbage. Great acting and directing—terrible endings. I felt violated after watching these movies.
I have retained an attorney for possible litigation–so I can’t go into further detail.
I don’t think that a bad ending necessarily makes the movie bad, as long as the meat of the movie is good.
Mark D., I remember that “Pekingese werewolf.” What a hoot! Nicole, by “bad endings” I am, of course, appealing to our subjective judgment. What one think is brilliant, another pans. (Can you refresh my memory about The Kingdom’s ending?) Chris, I’ve also heard some criticism of The Departed’s violent ending, but not enough to keep it from winning the Academy Award and being a huge hit. I myself thought it was fitting to wax everyone. Dale, Million Dollar Baby is worth a second, and third look. I like Eastwood’s unpretentious style, and have to believe he was not manipulating the audience just to make a political point on this one. And Melody, thanks for being the only one to answer my question. Grace to all readers of this blog!!!
***SPOILER***
At the end of “The Kingdom”, the agent who almost got beheaded asks a question of Jamie Foxx in reference to what he’d said to Jennifer Garner when they’d all heard their friend and colleague had been killed in a terrorist bombing in Saudi Arabia. He answers. Then it shows the granddaughter of the Saudi terrorist being asked what her grandfather had said to her just before he died. Essentially their answers were the same. “We’re going to kill every one of them.” Which of course shows our motives are “equivalent”. Frankly, it was outrageous propaganda.
Since I’m calling them “almost-great” movies, I guess it’s clear where I stand: a bad ending doesn’t negate the entire movie for me. It just might make a great movie into a good one.
Everybody’s talking about bad endings, but how about a good ending? I have always loved the ending of The Usual Suspects — though how you feel about it is going to depend on how you feel about endings where lots of things are woven together to make a twist. But I became a Kevin Spacey fan after that movie.
On a similar topic — what about movies that are adapted from books but change the ending? I’m thinking of About a Boy. I love the movie and I finally read the book this summer. And I really like the book — Nick Hornby is a great writer. But the movie and the book end very differently. I’m not sure which ending I like better, either.
This kind of applies to The Return of the King — except Peter Jackson really did end the movie the way the book ends (except he left out the Scouring of the Shire, which would have mitigated the multiple-endings feeling).
Hehe. Odd. I liked Signs but wasn’t a fan of The Village, Sixth Sense, or Unbreakable. The only thing about Signs that was annoying was the alien at the end. Same with The Village. Aliens! Get over the blasted Aliens!
End rant.
I disliked Children of Men, period. And The Notebook, for multiple reasons.
The rest of the list, aside from Star Wars, I don’t think I’ve seen. Oh, did see Abyss. Eh.
Jackson really should have ended at Aragorn’s coronation if he wasn’t going to do the scouring of the Shire. There’s no point in putting in the rest if you aren’t going to do the scouring.
But hey, what do I know? 😛