MovieChat Forums > Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1983) Discussion > Time passage between Reunion and the End...

Time passage between Reunion and the Ending?

posted 11 years ago by dshivers
4 replies | jump to latest

Watched Five and Dime on the MOVIES channel last night. Like so many posters here, I have always found this movie captivating. Especially the ending. I would be interested in other fans of this movie's estimations of how much time had passed between the reunion and the ending.

The ending shows the Five and Dime deserted and decaying. Stools sawed off the pedastals at the counter, Orange Crush machine gone, broken mirrors and door screens, strown display cases, etc. But the crepe paper decorations for the Reunion didn't look terribly faded. The neon picture of Jesus over the mirror was intact. The newspaper announcing the arrival of the Ice Capades still legible in a corner.

One of the most intriguing items shown in the ending are what appears to be the remmants of the James Dean Fan Club ceramic face mask. Broken but still in the store like it had been summarily swept up by someone uninterested and just left.

All of these signs could indicate a fairly rapid decline and departure. Perhaps even shortly after the Reunion.

Phantom Fan

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] robertcampopiano 11 years ago

The impression I got (saw it the other night) is that the store closed soon after the reunion, given that the decorations (or what was left of them) was still there. I'm guessing the town was in decline for a while and people moved away and possibly the store owner died soon after the events in the film. The characters talked about meeting again in 20 years and I'm guessing the end showed the store 20 years later, in the mid-'90's.

[–] zyggums 10 years ago

My feeling was the last scene is 20 years after the reunion. It shows us a second reunion never happened, they never see each other again.

[–] johnm-dalton 10 years ago

I think 20 years after the reunion makes sense.

It can be interpreted as a very sad and cold ending. Basically saying that none of the events of the play really matter in the grand scheme of life. By 1995 everyone connected with the story has either moved on or died. No one remembers about the planned reunion. I think the final shot is on the day of the "planned" reunion.

Beautiful and sad.