MovieChat Forums > Mr. Holland's Opus (1996) Discussion > A nice Rowena epilogue scene would have ...

A nice Rowena epilogue scene would have been ...


... The movie ends just as it did in actual release, with Mr. Holland proudly conducting the all-star orchestra in his 'American Symphony.'

Glen, Cole and Iris walk out of the auditorium among congratulations from well-wishers. As they get in the car to go home, Iris's cell phone rings (this is 1995, some people do have cell phones).

She seems confused, not really sure what to make of the call. "Yeah, OK, we can make it, we'll be there at midnight."

At midnight, Iris and Glen walk toward the drug store and bus station. As they walk down the street, they pass a record store with posters of Rowena Morgan, now a world-famous pop/rock singer and musician. (They don't look at the posters, but they are visible to the audience).

Iris and Glen get to the bus stop and the sidewalk bench on the pitch-black city street under a lone streetlight.

Right on time, a Greyhound bus pulls up and Rowena Morgan, now an awesomely beautiful rock star with flowing dark hair, steps out, wearing a jean jacket almost like she had worn in 1980 when she rode out of town. She is carrying an acoustic guitar over her back.

Rowena says, "I can only stay a minute. But I have something I want to say to you. BOTH of you."

Then she pulls out the guitar, and plays something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odFBZN7vwV4

She finishes up, looking straight at Iris:

"Because he loves you,
and you know that can't be bad;
Yes, he loves you, and you know you should be glad.
He loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah ... and with a love like that, you know you should be glad."

She hugs Iris, and says, "take care of him."

Then she steps on the bus and is gone.

Glen and Iris hug as they walk down the street. Iris hums a few stray bars of 'Rowena's Theme.'








================

4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.

reply

This would have been an awful ending. Also, I imagine Rowena was a failure in New York.

reply

Incorrect!

I would have loved that ending.

reply

Disagree. We saw how the girl who struggled and struggled to play became the Governor of the entire state. We don't see Rowena again after she struggles and struggles to make it.....so we can assume she flopped.

reply

I only disagree in that i like the untold ending for Rowena. It's something for us to speculate. She was beautiful and talented. But she was going out on her own into the Lion's Den of NYC to make it or break it.

I like to imagine many scenarios for her, some of them have her on stage in a successful broadway career, some of them have her singing in low-end bar bands, some of them have her singing karaoke in between waiting tables, dreaming about what might have been, some have her teaching music to students like her mentor.

And some have her hooked on heroin and selling her body for smack...

Because life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.



I donโ€™t need you to tell me how good my coffee is.๎‚›. ๎€๎‚ฌ
.

reply

I do like something like this, but not as the ending. The ending was perfect. She could have been an audience member or integrated in the performance in some way,

However, I've always wondered what happened to her. Like someone else said, I assumed she didn't make it in NYC. Could be the very reason why we don't see her again (because of her shame for not making it).

reply

While I get where you were going with your ending, I think leaving Rowena's fate ambiguous was integral to the theme of the movie - that Mr. Holland had all these grand plans and although those never quite panned out, he was still able to retain what is most valuable in life.

Just like the musical fame he dreamed about, a life with Rowena was just out of reach. They both receded into a cloudy future which would never come to be. Instead, he went back home to his loving wife and son. Perhaps not his dream, but still a life worth living.

reply

It would have been nice to see what happened to Rowena but in reality, any reference to her would have made the ending cheesy. It's better for the audience to draw their own conclusion.

Personally, I think she did fine. She didn't become a huge star but she fulfilled here dream. That's all that really matters. After all, she made the point earlier in the film that singing is all she wanted to do.

reply

Oh yeah she didn't thank Mr Holland when he was retiring

reply