MovieChat Forums > Back to the Future (1985) Discussion > Did Crispin Glover actually have a point...

Did Crispin Glover actually have a point in that the ending sent the wrong message?


I think that he wasn't satisfied with how George and Lorraine turned out in 1985 after Marty's actions back in 1955 altered the course of the McFly family's history. In the eyes of Glover, it gives off the impression that we're supposed to automatically accept that the McFlys should be happy with their lives now that they have some money:
https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/cn6oh1/which_film_delivers_the_most_terrible_messages_in/ew83f07/

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It might've come across as 'oooh look, they have more money' at the end. Their house is nicely decorated, and they can afford to buy Marty his 4x4.

But I never really took it like that.

The point was more that they have an all-round happier life. In the original 1985, Lorraine drinks a lot and George is pushed around and bullied by Biff. He's in a job where he does all the work and Biff gets all the credit and the promotions. They are mourning that Lorraine's brother didn't make it out of jail, George spends more time paying attention to what's on the television than listening to his wife, and Lorraine constantly complains to Marty about his girlfriend being some kind of tramp for really rather trivial reasons. (Shock, horror! She has been trying to talk to him on the phone.)

In the new 1985, we see that George is confident and has followed a dream he has had since he was a kid and has published a book. George and Lorraine have just come back from playing badminton, so are obviously a lot closer than they were originally, and Lorraine looks a lot more healthy. She's obviously not drinking as much, suggesting that being stuck in a somewhat loveless marriage drove her to drink. Instead of the bitter woman we saw earlier, she no longer complains to Marty about his girlfriend and even says how much she likes Jennifer. Biff is no longer bullying George, we see him washing their cars. George now offers encouragement to Marty, repeating the same advice; "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything." This has obviously worked on Dave, who seems to have an office job instead of working in a Burger Bar.

Part of this success has come with a financial improvement in their life, sure. But my understanding was that as George had learned to be more confident and fulfill his potential in life, and it had improved every aspect of his life. Including the financial aspects, but also his family life and all round health and happiness has improved too.

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well put!

No , this Glover person is wrong. The message isnt "money makes you happy"
its - "if you live a happy proactive life and pursue your dreams and stand up to bullies you'll be happy ,and also might end up with more money as a side effect"

Who is he anyway? some professional critic or random reddit commentard?

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He's the guy who played George McFly.

That's why he didn't return for the sequels.

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ah right thanks.
I still think he's wrong about the film, but right about money.
Its not like marty cheated won the lottery or used the almanac.
They had a little more money because they changed their lifestyles ... and not into money grabbing coke sniffing 80s yuppie stockbrokers.

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Another way of thinking about it is this. At the start Dave was giving Marty the advice; "The last thing you need in life is more headaches." It's almost as if he's telling Marty not to do anything that's difficult, or will cause him to work hard. Not the attitude he seemed to have at the end of the movie.

I think the message was more about never giving up on your dreams, or to not fail on your potential. It took Doc 30 years of his life to build his time machine, but he succeeded in the end.

Really, the fact that their house was decorated nicely was more to demonstrate that the McFlys had succeeded in this. It was a quick way to explain how their life was changed for the better, rather than keep them on the same income and have to give a long-winded explanation some other way.

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Exactly! I think the ending really showed that Loraine and George were much more encouraging and supportive of their kids. Because of their outlooks on live, they encourage Dave and Linda and Marty to work hard and believe in themselves. One thing George says at the end is, "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything." Huge change from the beginning of the movie.

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I hadn't realized that. Funny, they got a good guy to replace him cause I didn't notice the change to his character in the 2nd one.

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In the second film, they killed him off in 1985 and showed him in archive footage in 1955.

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What about the scene with his parents in 2015? Did they not get a new actor to play him in that scene?

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That was a different guy. I think that's why he had a golf injury and was upside down. To make it less obvious.

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I see. Thank you.

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Yeah, Crispin is certainly great at showing that spirit. Check out his humble abode in the Czech republic:

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/crispin-glover-czech-castle

In all seriousness, it's funny to hear people bemoan a bit of wealth (were the McFlies really "wealthy" by any first world standard?) sitting on top of their own pile of gold telling us peasants how we should live and what should make us happy. Yes, money isn't the singular key to happiness. But if he had that much of a problem with the concept why isn't he being altruistic and living a life that would make the McFlies look wealthy?

I'm sure he's drying the tears from his face as he thinks of the plight of the poor with C-notes from all the royalties that he's made from being a desired actor.

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If you compared the McFly's situation at the start of the movie, they live in a crappy old house, with barely any money to scrape together, uncle's a perpetual jailbird, dad has a terrible job and is still being bullied by Biff 30 years later, and not surprisingly, Marty spends as little time at home as possible.

You look at their situation at the end of the movie, it's very different. They live in a nice house, both Marty and his sister have their own beautiful, shiny cars, the dad has published a successful novel, and everyone's happy. I think in some ways they were "rich," but not super rich. Not all rich people live large like the celebrities in Hollywood do. Some will maintain a middle-class lifestyle, but can live more comfortably than their neighbors and go on more vacations during the year.

The trouble with Crispin Glover is, he had a weak personality to start with, which was one reason he was so good at portraying George McFly as a shy, weak, cowardly doormat. It was his first big acting part, and he was just lucky that the movie was a huge success and made him and the rest of the cast big stars. The trouble is, George McFly was not a main character in the movie, and probably the most pitied, if not disliked, besides Biff. Glover experienced an ego explosion from all the money and fame he got, and his head got so big he had trouble fitting it through doorways, if you catch my drift. He became very difficult to work with behind the scenes in subsequent movies, demanding people bow and kiss his feet whenever he walked into a room. It's one reason he was not physically in the later BTTF sequels, and rarely is seen in movies today, because word got around Hollywood, and nobody wants to work with him. I'm amazed people could put up with him long enough for "Beowulf" and "Alice in Wonderland."

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Didn't he say something about being disappointed that Marty seemed more excited about the new car he just got than his family being happy? I do get his point.

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If that's the case, it's still a fairly minor point. His family drastically changing would've been a lot to process in the short minutes after he woke up. What's he supposed to do, jump up and down cheering that his family all look happier? He was in shock. Then suddenly the car he was eyeing up at the start of the movie is given to him as a gift.

I don't think his reactions came across as particularly selfish. It's not like on receiving the car, he grabbed it and shoved his family out of the way to get at it.

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If he's in shock, then he wouldn't be all excited about the car either. He just went through a very personal experience with his parents and saw his siblings disappear, it's actually quite strange he isn't more excited to his family again. The original script placed even more value on wealth apparently, so Glover actually had a very fair point. He had a problem with the general message of the movie. He believed the ending should've focused more on the parents being happy and in love.

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I agree, even Bob Zemeckis said he regretted that they focused on the material outcome of Marty getting the car.

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I guess he could've acted more happy to see his family, after everything that had happened. Also, that the 4x4 was a little on the nose. Marty wanting and then getting the car could've been taken out of the movie without it really detracting anything from the story.

Don't really see it as a massive deal though. This ending didn't harm the story any.

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I see your point, but if he had been super excited about his family being loving and happy and such, they probably would have been even more concerned about him than they already were. They were already asking him if his was feeling ok (since he seemed so surprised to find his brother and sister eating breakfast together).

As far as they know, this is the way their family has always been. Why would Marty be surprised or super excited that they were happy?

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Because as far as Marty knew, they had always been unhappy and he was rather frustrated with that. He also had no idea how his intervention in the past had changed the present, so he had every reason to be surprised or super excited. I don't see how his family's reaction to that would matter. One minute of awkwardness and then everybody's moving on. He had trouble hiding his true feelings back in the past.

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That makes sense. I do think Marty was confused about everything - his family and the car. I didn't think he seemed all that excited about the car, just really confused.

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Didn't he say something about being disappointed that Marty seemed more excited about the new car he just got than his family being happy?


Yeah, that just doesn't make sense.

Re-watching this, we see Marty thrilled at his brother's new ambition, his sister no longer being a wall flower, his mother and dad as best friends and successful.. If fact, when Marty first sees his parents in the new timeline, he literally fell off the couch.

And sure, what teenage boy wouldn't be excited about owning the truck he had been dreaming of owning, particularly when the only other car available to him was the ratty 4 door the whole family had to share?



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More and more I can see how Glover feels about the ending of the movie missing the point...

No, he's surprised at how the future/present has changed, he's not "thrilled" about how happy and succesful they are.

If a boy had gone through what Marty had gone through, he would've been happy to still be alive and see his family again. He wouldn't care about some car. Maybe the next day, but not right then and there.

It's obvious that Glover feels the car scene shouldn't even been in there and that there should've been a family moment instead.

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If a boy had gone through what Marty had gone through, he would've been happy to still be alive and see his family again. He wouldn't care about some car. Maybe the next day, but not right then and there.


But it was the next day...

I'd bet real money that 99.9% of BTTF fans disagree with Glover. This isn't literature on film, it's a sci-fan fantasy that Glover either totally overthought, or was just squeezing sour grapes over the fact that they didn't invite him back.

Marty had his "glad to be alive" thrill when he discovered that Doc got his message after all and didn't die at the mall. He went home, got into bed and fell asleep. That moment was experienced, and then passed.

So Glover isn't thrilled that there was a happy ending: Marty's mother, father, brother, sister, and Marty were all better off. Maybe Glover would have been happy with Biff continuing to terrorize and abusing George.

Also, the entire time-line change played into everything Doc had been warning Marty about: that any seemingly insignificant interaction in the past could change the future. George punching out Biff was that lesson come to life.

I honestly think Glover is just bitter and pissing in his Cheerios, and I believe that most fans are happy that there was a happy ending beyond just surviving the ordeal.





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But it was the next day


🙄 It was NOT one day after seeing his family again and finding out they had completely changed...

Marty was obviously frustrated at the state of his family, he should've been absolutely thrilled about the positive changes.

Maybe Glover would have been happy with Biff continuing to terrorize and abusing George.


Well, it's obvious you don't get Glover's point AT ALL.😑 Getting a car was not his idea of a happy ending, he wanted it to be about "love".

Sure, fanboys are known for not accepting any criticism of their favourite movie. Personally, I'm not offended by the ending the way Glover seems to be, but I see his point and would have preferred a slightly different ending as well.

By the way, Glover actually was invited back, but for far less money than the others.

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LOL, yes I'm a fanboy...

Glover is a mediocre talent at best, and he did his best work in a farce sci-fi comedy/adventure film in a not too demanding role - the degree of difficulty for George McFly was not high. While Fox was perfect for the role and Lloyd and Biff were very very good, the rest of the cast could have been filled with pretty much any actor, which is why Glover's lack of return was of no importance. No one missed him.

And yes, I do understand Glover's point. I do. What I'm saying is that his point is ridiculous in my opinion. One does not need to agree with an opinion in order to understand it. Glover wanted the ending to be about "love" as opposed to a time travel story where the time line was altered (as Doc predicted) for the better. Fine, that's his opinion, one I believe a tiny percentage of us fanboys agree with.

Besides, if the timeline was returned to the exact way it was, we'd have to listen to those conspiracy theories about how the entire episode was only Marty's dream.

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I did not necessarily call YOU a fanboy, but it's not uncommon for fans to defend every aspect of a movie.

I'm far from a Glover fan, but most fans would prefer to see the original actors reprise their role. If he really was so dispensable, they wouldn't have hired an actor to imitate his exact appearance, voice and mannerisms.

According to you, Glover wanted to see an unhappy ending or doesn't think a teenage boy would be happy with a nice car. No, I don't think you understand his opinion.

Glover wanted the ending to be about "love" as opposed to a time travel story where the time line was altered (as Doc predicted) for the better.


Again you misunderstand him. The timeline did not have to return to the exact way it was. He just didn't want the emphasis to be put on their material success, but rather on the happiness of the family as a result of the changes in the past. The original draft was apparently worse.

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Grispin is an old malcontent who spews nothing but nonsense.

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While it seems Crispin Glover has gained a reputation over the years as being somewhat strange and eccentric, I think his opinion on this was very thoughtful and grounded. I totally understand his issue with it and agree in principle but I still feel the ending doesn't significantly hurt the film.

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Really?
Because his reason for not returning for the sequels is that HE WANTED MORE MONEY!

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No, the message was that Marty taught George to be brave and stand up for himself, and Lorraine liked that about him, particularly when he saved her from getting raped by Biff. It was through Marty's actions that George became a braver, better person than he was, and he was inspired to write the book he had been too shy and scared to write as a teen. His newer, assertive self made his and Lorraine's relationship more meaningful, and they actually got joy out of being married and raising a family. The money helped, but things were better in the future because of George being encouraged to be a more courageous person by his son.

To be fair, the original present Marty lived in was horrible by comparison. It appears Crispin Glover, despite reading the script over and over, and acting out the part, totally missed the message the story was conveying.

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I think even Robert Zemeckis agrees with him now.

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Well, that makes them both wrong!!

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