There's no end to the way movies can end
August 23rd, 2003
(excerpt of an article by Bob Baker)
Chili Palmer, the cocky mobster-turned-producer, summed this up in the last line of Elmore Leonard's novel Get Shorty: "[Expletive] endings, man," says a chastened Chili. "They weren't as easy as they looked."
It's easy to classify the many wretched endings littering the cineplexes.
By contrast, think about how seldom you've watched a movie end perfectly. Think about The Sixth Sense and how beautifully the pieces fell into place once you staggered out of the theater. Think about how The Usual Suspects did the same thing, as Kevin Spacey virtually morphed into the evil suspect in the final seconds. Think about the proudly ambiguous ending of Midnight Cowboy: the way a newly resolute Jon Voight cradles a dead Dustin Hoffman as their bus heads toward what was supposed to be a new life. Think about the last line of the comedy Some Like It Hot, when a smitten Joe E. Brown is informed that the woman he loves is Jack Lemmon and responds cheerfully, "Nobody's perfect." Think about the wordless image of an endless line of cars flowing toward that mystic baseball diamond in Field of Dreams.
As Chili Palmer learned, nailing the ending -- whether it's the third act, the final moments or simply the last words -- is the hardest part of telling any story.
"It's easier to set up a story than resolve it," says David Howard, a screenwriter, script doctor and author of two books on writing. "If you set the ball rolling the wrong way, there's nothing you can do at the end. So often when something needs to be repaired, where you have to start looking is the first act -- Who are the characters? Were they given enough room to change? Was the right subject chosen to come to a satisfying resolution?"
Another screenwriter (Top Gun, Legal Eagles) and script doctor, Jack Epps, said the trick lies in satisfying two competing demands: The ending has to be surprising -- "We can't see it coming, we like a good twist" -- but it has to make sense by growing out of the character of the film.
Read more: http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/living/6583415.htm
Chili Palmer, the cocky mobster-turned-producer, summed this up in the last line of Elmore Leonard's novel Get Shorty: "[Expletive] endings, man," says a chastened Chili. "They weren't as easy as they looked."
It's easy to classify the many wretched endings littering the cineplexes.
By contrast, think about how seldom you've watched a movie end perfectly. Think about The Sixth Sense and how beautifully the pieces fell into place once you staggered out of the theater. Think about how The Usual Suspects did the same thing, as Kevin Spacey virtually morphed into the evil suspect in the final seconds. Think about the proudly ambiguous ending of Midnight Cowboy: the way a newly resolute Jon Voight cradles a dead Dustin Hoffman as their bus heads toward what was supposed to be a new life. Think about the last line of the comedy Some Like It Hot, when a smitten Joe E. Brown is informed that the woman he loves is Jack Lemmon and responds cheerfully, "Nobody's perfect." Think about the wordless image of an endless line of cars flowing toward that mystic baseball diamond in Field of Dreams.
As Chili Palmer learned, nailing the ending -- whether it's the third act, the final moments or simply the last words -- is the hardest part of telling any story.
"It's easier to set up a story than resolve it," says David Howard, a screenwriter, script doctor and author of two books on writing. "If you set the ball rolling the wrong way, there's nothing you can do at the end. So often when something needs to be repaired, where you have to start looking is the first act -- Who are the characters? Were they given enough room to change? Was the right subject chosen to come to a satisfying resolution?"
Another screenwriter (Top Gun, Legal Eagles) and script doctor, Jack Epps, said the trick lies in satisfying two competing demands: The ending has to be surprising -- "We can't see it coming, we like a good twist" -- but it has to make sense by growing out of the character of the film.
Read more: http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/living/6583415.htm
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