Hello all,
I have seen parts of this movie for years now and I always seem to miss the en. The latest I have seen is when he comes out to his parents.
What is the ending of the movie. Does Karen have the abortion, Do Matt & Kyle have any closure, what about the older son????
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
There is no closure. The primary focus of the ending dad coming to terms with his son's homosexuality. The basic point of the ending is that the facade has been blown off the seeming perfect family. The viewer is left to imagine how things ultimately turn out.
shareIt shows the father trying to come to terms with Matt's homosexuality. He tells Matt he loves him no matter what. The mother is still in denial.
It shows Matt in a phone booth calling Kyle and making plans to get together for coffee.
It shows Karen and her husband reconciling and talking and you definitely get the impression she is going to have the baby (now that everything is out in the open).
There is no closure for the alcoholic brother.
[deleted]
His mom freaks out, the father is confronted with the info about his son's alcoholism and his daughter's abortion. Then the daughter talks to her husband about how scared she is, not knowing if she would turn out to be like her mother. Her husband comforts her and tells her it could be worse, he could turn out to be like her dad. It's implied she's going to keep the baby, and her husband offers to get a second job, that they'll work it out together.
Then there's a silent scene where the Captain walks by the den (where the mother smashed a bunch of the photos and trophies) and finds his other son (Jim Carrey's character) cleaning up. Without a word they clean up together. Matt apologizes to his mother who is still in a daze and unforgiving. Dinner is just the son-in-law and Jim Carrey's character eating in silence.
Finally Matt comes home and talks with his dad, who asks some questions about "being homosexual" - because he wants to know what to say, he wants to be able to defend his son if people say bad things about being gay. Then he finishes up with a little footnote about Alexander the Great being gay and what a great military leader he was. The son knows this is his dad's way of working through accepting the news, and tells his dad he loves him. The father tells Matt he loves him too, and that's the end.
Just saw this again and your summary is accurate except for:
Dinner is just the son-in-law and Jim Carrey's character eating in silence.
Actually it's Jim Carrey's character and the parents. Matt is out, making that call to Kyle. The daughter and son-in-law have gone home. At the very end of their last scene where they discuss her pregnancy, one of them jokingly asks if they should run their decision by her father, and the other says "no, let's just go." I mean, there is nothing for them to stick around for.
You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi
They tried to make the ending the same as the "Ordinary People" ending. Right down to the "I love you, dad."
I wish they focused more on the Jim Carey character rather than the sister and her husband. He was more interesting.
I wish they focused more on the Jim Carey character rather than the sister and her husband. He was more interesting.
Jim's character was the only sibling whose story arc really didn't move along, and that bothered me the first time I saw it. Matt has come out and is dealing with the pros and cons of that, the sister's pregnancy is no longer a secret and she and her husband are dealing with that, but what changed for Jim's character?
Later I came to terms with it. It would be too neat for everything to get resolved in a 90-minute movie. And while they don't show his situation changing, there is at least the possibility of change: his secret has now been brought into the open too, so now maybe he is free to deal with it, with his parents' support. Also, he has been the black sheep of the family, and now knows that his siblings both are not perfect and had their secrets. Maybe this will lessen the shame about the issue he has been dealing with, his alcoholism.
You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi
In a way, I liked the way they didn't show a 'neat' ending to Tom's character.
Addictions of all sorts are often portrayed in this tidy, no-nonsense way in films & this is rarely how they go in real life.
The film shows Tom cleaning up the mess, and very meaningfully & very sadly picking up the trophy pieces and gazing at them.
He looks up, looking just as lost, at his dad who hesitates...then helps him clean up. The scene has no dialogue & does not need any. It speaks VOLUMES.
The dad realizes the son feels heartbroken at not having 'measured up' to Matt & Karen and for having troubles, and Dad realizes that his son feels this way.
And that maybe he drinks because of this, maybe not. But Tom still needs his love, regardless.
A great scene.
"I'd say this cloud is Cumulo Nimbus."
"Didn't he discover America?"
"Penfold, shush."
Actually Tom is Karen's husband. Jim Carrey's character is Tim.
But yes, that scene does show that maybe his father is trying to make amends with him too. I wish they had focussed on his character more, but still a good movie.
Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Criedshare