That's the only thing that I dislike of this excelent film. Madox was really in love with her...
shareMadox apparently thought about it and decided he really was a scumbag. "I finally found my level" he says in the end, and that makes it a great ending. What would you have him do? Kill the bitch and ride with Gloria in the sunset for a happily ever after?
Great noir!
I think the film is very much about innocence vs. experience. Madox has realized that he has lost the right to innocence (not an uncommon theme in noir) and the story has been some kind of initiation for him to accept who he really is although he doesn't like it.
sharei saw it as victorious blackmail.
and hot as hell!
i can think of worse things than driving into the sunset with a nymphomaniac virginia madsen.
shareI second that.
shareSure, it'd be pleasurable in a carnal way for a few days, but what after that? How long can a relationship with an unfaithful, unprincipled woman realistically last? And, even if it were to last, it wouldn't exactly be happy.
shareFor a while he lived the dream, and in the end he got what he deserved.
shareI don't think the ending was sad at all. Jennifer Connelly learned a valuable lesson about people and her life will be much better without Don Johnson. Don Johnson and Virginia Madsen's characters deserved each other.
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I agree with Thorsten-Krings. Gloria and Madox getting married and living "happily ever after" would have been a very unsatisfying ending. It would have been a very inappropriate ending for this type of a movie.
However, I do somewhat disagree with the people who are saying that Madox and Dolly Harshaw are the perfect match. Madox killed an evil blackmailer who had driven one girl to suicide and was making Gloria's life miserable. Dolly killed her husband for... what reason? For the hell of it? Or so she could take all his money? She was going to inherit his money pretty soon anyway. Yes, I know that Madox is not a good guy. He did rob a bank, but he doesn't blackmail or kill innocent people. I don't think Madox's sins were on the same "level" as Dolly's sins.
It is a common factor between movies of this genre. The negative ending is suitable. I do agree that Madox and Dolly are not the perfect match. But the whole point was about getting what you wanted. Madox got his money and Dolly got her man too.
However Dolly was getting impatient regarding her husband's health. There was an opportunity to get Madox's money as well. So she killed two birds with one stone.
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The letter she had typed on behalf of her attorney was implying he had robbed the bank, murdered the blackmailer and that Gloria was withdrawing cash from the office savings.
shareMaddox really was in love w/Gloria and they both wanted to avoid this meeting w/Dolly...they were going to take off together right after this. It seems that Maddox was outwitted but also cheated out of the something better he wanted. I saw references in this thread to a question I asked earlier and still do not understand. All of this revolves around the blackmailing and Gloria's sister committing suicide. Yet the photo appears to show Gloria..so was Gloria the lesbian (references to her going 'both ways' or just to a friend. Which is Gloria really "the sister" herself who was being blackmailed (she said that it was her sister and paid bounty becaused she didn't want mother to find out). This reminds me of "The Big Sleep" which still, after many viewings, has too many unexpected twists and turns to figure out!
shareTo the writer of the OP.......Welcome to the world of film noir, or more precisely, neo-noir.
Kudos to the late Dennis Hopper. His obvious affection for those uniquely American film classics of the 40's and 50's is one of the reasons that make this picture so very enjoyable to watch.
Two other reasons are Virginia Madsen and Jennifer Connelly. Along with an almost impossibly good-looking Don Johnson these three make one of the hottest love triangles this viewer has ever seen. Hopper created a nice balance between titillation, sexual obsession, and nudity all done with just the right amount of restraint.
Too many kids and clueless individuals find it necessary to rate films on this site. 6.3? You gotta be kidding!
He'll end up killing Dolly though. He doesn't seem the type to like having something hanging over his head by someone..
Don't count on hell ever running out of room