For A Few Movies More

In movie speak, the typical Act I, Act II, Act  III is the basis of the majority of scripts. Each is important in its own right but which is the most important? A good first act is obviously crucial; first impressions last and a solid foundation is required if you hope to engage the audience for the remainder of the movie. The second act, however, is usually where a lot more fun can be had. Established characters can deliver the funny; New love can be explored; Epic action scenes can take place without the weight of expectation of going out with a bang. But it is perhaps the third act that has the most pressure placed upon it. They say you are only as good as your last blank. Well in film you could say it is your last act. The manner it which a film closes can be the deciding factor between being in the top ten of the year and top ten of the decade.

A good ending can almost justify a fairly weak movie: Four Lions felt awkward and a little misguided for the first 20-30 minutes but then picked up through the middle. I assumed by the end the story and humour would weaken but instead it continued to surprise and it was almost enough for me to forget my indifferent first impression. Now, a month or so after viewing it, I only remember the good parts while the weak opening is like an unattached memory.

Terrorism is no laughing matter

A bad ending can taint a great one: Signs. Now don’t get me wrong, Signs was one of the most suspenseful movie experiences I’ve ever had. But ripping off War of the Worlds – only shitter because instead of: “Aliens have no resistance to the evolving germs that we spent millions of years developing immunity to”; there is no logic for water to kill aliens except to say: “Water kills aliens because…because umm water kills aliens, just leave it alright!” – kind of pissed me off as I walked out the cinema.

But we can delve deeper. The film industry generally caters to two very different markets: Artsy types and Entertainmentsy types and it’s tough to satisfy both at once. The common movie-goer – i.e. the type of person who will never read this article – isn’t looking for a good movie with a good ending; they are looking for a good movie, with closure at the end. They want the experience of the movie to be tied up in a neat little 90 minute package – two hours at the most (though there are exceptions: Lord of the Rings is essentially a ten hour movie but that means after the final epic battle there is some 45 minutes of closure that left even me, an avid LotR fan, thinking it dragged a little). Everything makes sense by the end and everybody, including the viewer, lives happily ever after.

My mum and brother (classic, no fuss, diversion seeking movie watchers) put on a movie last night.

“I hope it is better than the one last night.”
“Yeah tell me about it.”

They were talking about Magnolia. Apparently frogs falling from the sky and characters breaking out into a sing along doesn’t justify the previous 3 hours of amazing character development. I, bearing a slightly different subjective disposition, thought to raise biblical connotations and the crescendo of interconnectivity but I realised that they simply aren’t looking for a movie that improves through multiple viewings. They don’t want a movie that could have countless conflicting essays written on it. They just want pure entertainment right now.

It's like one of the plagues, right?

There are plenty of movies that are made to cater to these tastes. The typical Romantic Comedy promises a funny, heart warming experience to share with a loved one. But even these simpler movies struggle with closure. They usually feature the guy trying to win back the girl after the inevitable crisis, but this is rarely as interesting as the initial romance. The need for originality usually pushes the grand gesture to ridiculous heights (Sometimes literally – The Wedding Singer). Easy A went for the nostalgic angle with its ending. I’ll admit it’s a bit of a cop out, but if you want to copy someone else’s endings then John Hughes is your man.

Emma Stone knows what makes a good ending

Comedies have similar problems. Spending 70 minutes laughing at one or two guys is tough enough. Often by the later scenes the comedy has become tired and stale. The other factor is that you can’t have a movie without a story; when it’s time to wrap up there is no more room for comedy. The Other Guys has a long confusing storyline, and as it strains to explain the complicated mess it delivers almost no comedy. And I know it is part action film but it suffers here as well because the later action scenes are bland and especially bland compared to the opener.

As for the artsy types, it is useful to look at the Coen Brothers for a catalogue of quirky endings. No Country For Old Men had an ending that divided a lot of audiences. My brother (I know I shouldn’t use him as the reference point all the time but, as noted above, he isn’t the type of person to read this) and I watched A Serious Man. Beforehand, even though I had no idea what it was about, I said:

“You probably won’t like it, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

It concludes rather abruptly with a storm approaching before cutting to the credits. He looked at me accusingly:

“What the fuck was that?”

I, channeling my other-end-of-the-spectrum pretentious elitism, spent some time to ponder the deep and, intricate implications – Maybe the storm was, like, a metaphor, you know, for, like, the onslaught of negative criticisms my brother was about to, you know, like, rain down upon me for renting this film. I stayed quiet and let my inner ramblings simmer until I could vent them through my internet based alter ego.

So remember it’s important to have good closure.

- Eden (from BotM)