MovieChat Forums > The End (1978) Discussion > Could be great or awful

Could be great or awful

posted 13 years ago by Treeman222
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So many times watching this I found it wavering between being a really original and insightful comedy that delves into emotional complexities, and a tedious bore that just meanders along without much of a point. Many scenes go on too long without any payoff, and the comedy in the second half is often a little clumsy. It was supposedly written for Woody Allen, and this is basically Burt doing Woody. Burt's good, but not being a Woody Allen fan, it doesn't always work for me.

I thought the swimming scene at the end went back and forth from being pretentious and overblown to funny. The way Burt's inner monologue changes as he gets closer to the beach is something anyone who has ever prayed to God to get them out of a jam can relate to.

Overall, one of Burt's best and most challenging performances, but the movie as a whole is very uneven. The funniest character was Burt's dad.

This is one of those flicks that some people will find probably find hilarious and others will think is a complete misfire.

[–] Eric-1226 13 years ago

the movie as a whole is very uneven

I agree. Among other boogers in the film, the main culprit here was Dom DeLuise. Burt Reynolds seemed to be doing a good job of making this an interesting and heartfelt tragi-comic movie. Then Dom "the Bomb" DeLuise came along and bombed it with his particular brand of overkill comedy. So it quickly went from tragi-comic greatness to something like a made-for-TV tragi-slapstick or tragi-silly picture of the week. Not to say it wasn't a fun and at times even hilarious movie... but it quickly lost any claim to greatness. I'm surprised they didn't cue the theme music from "The Benny Hill Show" at the very end when Dom DeLuise chased Burt Reynolds on the beach with that huge knife. It would have fit the general silliness of the film by that point.