I thought the movie was pretty good, until I saw the ending... The final "twist" they tried to pu totally ruined the movie for me (just like they did in Identity and Secret Window). What about you??
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Even she's ruining you're life. There's something about my mother. - Ann, Anywhere But Here
I usually like a movie with a twist, so that must be why I unfortunately didn't like this one--because it was only a poor attempt at a twist.
I say 'unfortunately' because I like all of the actors in the film, though McDonald and Greene play predictable characters in their usual vein, but they do it so well.
The end would have been fantastic if I could come up with a feasible way for it to have worked out that way. I've run a half a dozen possibilities through my mind, and none of them quite add up.
I agree--I was confused by the ending as well. The ending makes it clear that Halle Barry's character was in cahoots with the ditsy acting woman, but I can't figure out how or when they got together to plot the murders of their husbands. I can't stand movies that leave you wondering like that without any hope of answering the question.
shareYeah, how did that all pan out? Did they just sit back and let everyone destroy themselves and... i dunno, i just dont understand the ending at all. I know this isn't the most active board but if someone could answer my question, it would be appreciated.
My question
What was the ending all about? What had Halle Berry and the other lady been doing the whole time? HELP!!!
I also have no idea whats going on with the ending. My question was, why do you hav eto kill Jake? I mean, Josie could have gotten together with him and he seemed like a type of guy who would shut up if he'd gotten some money and the girl. WHile his ex wife would shut up if she just got the money, all she wanted Jake for was to get some money outa him....
and the whole movie, was it told by Josie's perspective? cause the other things like cole and Jake's meeting, she wouldnt know about would she? *confused*
Spuffy forever
Poor (I mean this playfully) ChrisRedfield69,
You are an honest soul in your need to understand this. Lemme help you out.
Film making is a version of story-telling and this film was actually allowing the audience to become involved with the premise, plot and interaction of the character development. If every film explained every single point and meaning, it would then, lose the meaning of art and all films are an expression of art.
In a way Chris, the ladies, DID indeed allow everyone destroy themselves and some of their plan had actually met a 'problem" that spiraled out of control (as does the best set plans often do).
Halle and her friend plotted THE ENTIRE SET UP from the time that she tried to make up with her husband and invited him on that country get away to the very end where the guy that she meets in the bar is killed. You see, Halle conned the guy whom she was cheating with in the beginning (the one whom she broke it off with) but you see, she set him up as well to hire that crazy cat at pool lounge. But That crazy man had gone completely nuts and was greedy and they had to kill him because actually, the only person who was supposed to have been murdered WAS the HUSBAND.
The director DID NOT want us to connect Halle Berry and her friend together because THEY were trying to trick her friend's husband and the cops ALL ALONG. IF they were seen together throughout the film, they would have been caught in their little scheme.
The ending was meant to make us all wonder if they were actually lesbians or not and even THAT wasn't the film's central idea. The film's idea was that these two women (assumingly) have been best friends from the beginning and probably met somewhere along the way when Halle's husband was doing business with the man she cheated with. Assumingly, the two wives probably met in that way and were tired of their men over working and leaving them alone and cheating on THEM. SO they devised a plan to FINALLY get back at their husbands for messing around and emotionally abusing the both of them altogether.
The two of them had been plotting the entire time and that is why Halle gets away with murder, because if you (the viewer had known their relationship) SO would have the detectives and THAT is how clever they really were that they had even fooled us.
A good movie keeps you guessing and talking about it after the film is over just as we are and that is why the film has an appeal as it does. It kept you guessing didn't it?
That is EXACTLY what the director wanted you to do. It would have been BORING if we knew the extent of their relationship.
So in a nutshell (unfortunately, my nutshells are rather large) here is what happened:
Halle was tired of her husband Tony and his over working and philandering around. She was hurt as a 17 year old for making her sign a pre-nupt in the beginning. To top it off, Tony treated her as a non-person.
Halle becomes older and (without this being revealed) she meets her funny and cocky friend (I like their chemistry actually) probably met at one of Tony's parties or gatherings.
Halle's friend and Halle had this in common with each other. Their husbands cheated on them, left them alone at home and probably emotionally abused them.
Halle and her friend hatch a plan to get rid of them both. Halle's friend uses her own husband so that Halle would have an affair with him (this also shows you how close Halle and her friend really are for her friend to allow Halle to sleep with him and it also shows their bond of how they really wanted out of their marriage with lots of money in tow).
Halle used her relationship with her friends' husband to hire that crazy guy who killed Tony. That plan worked.
But then, Halle's lover and the killer were at odds because the killer had an obsession over Halle and wanted to rape her and wanted the money. This is where the plan goes awry.
Next, we (the audience) were NOT to know how close Halle was with her funny friend.
Halle had to kill the crazy guy (the guy that her boyfriend had actually hired). ALso we are suppose to wonder whether her "boyfriend" and her funny friend were suppose to play a part as a threesome to take Tony's money altogether, however, Halle's girlfriend (as part of the plan) has her own husband killed also (it could have gone that way as well)
In any case, the plan became complicated because the killer had his own plan but of course Halle and her friend had a contingency plan because they had to get rid of this crazy guy because he would and did become a loose end and a loose cannon.
In the end, they are shown driving off into the sunset calling all of those men (including the cops) "Suckers" as an extra added clue that they probably hated men throughout this entire scam and that they have probably been doing this for quite a while OR since the time Halle met her funny friend through Tony.
In any case, the moral of the story in a way was NOT to underestimate the intelligence of sociopaths. And they were indeed sociopaths and could only pull this off together as many female killer pairs will do. SO it was plausible and kind of scary that they got away with murder....
Does this help any my film friend...any way, that's what I got out of the film. Watch it again and you will see what I mean...
So in a nutshell (unfortunately, my nutshells are rather large) here is what happened:
Boob..that's crazy. How could they have been doing this for a long time? And the idea that Halle's idiot friend even encouraged her to sleep with her husband?? And then mysteriously got HIM to hate Tony enough to hire a killer, just like they needed? That's about the most ridiculously far-fetched idea I've heard in a LONG time. Doesn't work; gives me more of a headache than trying to figure it out myself. Men are NOT that stupid and women are not that smart. Or, rather, they're not that powerful, for everything to fall perfectly into place. You've just added more plotholes and tied loose ends up so they're worse than ever.
shareI too was thrown off by the ending, not knowing what the relationship was between the two women at the end. Whatever that relationship was it was never brought out in the movie. Perhaps though that's what the producers intended, because if the women were shown together plotting then you would have known they were planning to have their husbands killed for money or they were secretly having an affair themselves and just wanted the men out of the way.
shareSo they were lesbians ? I liked the line "I've had facials that lasted longer". :-0
share[deleted]
Hello there, markmanuel18-1
(I wrote my hypothesis of this widely asked question about the film.)
This is my explanation which I had written to another viewer "ChrisRedfield69" who had the same question as you had. I merely cut and pasted my own response to him to explain to you about this movie...tell me what you think.....
You are an honest soul in your need to understand this. Lemme help you out.
Film making is a version of story-telling and this film was actually allowing the audience to become involved with the premise, plot and interaction of the character development. If every film explained every single point and meaning, it would then, lose the meaning of art and all films are an expression of art.
In a way Chris, the ladies, DID indeed allow everyone destroy themselves and some of their plan had actually met a 'problem" that spiraled out of control (as does the best set plans often do).
Halle(Josie) and her friend (Joey Smith) plotted THE ENTIRE SET UP from the time that she tried to make up with her husband and invited him on that country get away to the very end where the guy that she meets in the bar is killed. You see, Halle conned the guy whom she was cheating with in the beginning (the one whom she broke it off with) but you see, she set him up as well to hire that crazy cat at pool lounge. But That crazy man had gone completely nuts and was greedy and they had to kill him because actually, the only person who was supposed to have been murdered WAS the HUSBAND (Tony).
The director DID NOT want us to connect Halle Berry and Joey together because THEY were trying to trick her friend's husband and the cops ALL ALONG. IF they were seen together throughout the film, they would have been caught in their little scheme.
The ending was meant to make us all wonder if they were actually lesbians or not and even THAT wasn't the film's central idea. The film's idea was that these two women (assumingly) have been best friends from the beginning and probably met somewhere along the way when Halle's husband was doing business with the man she cheated with. Assumingly, the two wives probably met in that way and were tired of their men over working and leaving them alone and cheating on THEM. SO they devised a plan to FINALLY get back at their husbands for messing around and emotionally abusing the both of them altogether.
The two of them had been plotting the entire time and that is why Halle gets away with murder, because if you (the viewer had known their relationship) SO would have the detectives and THAT is how clever they really were that they had even fooled us.
A good movie keeps you guessing and talking about it after the film is over just as we are and that is why the film has an appeal as it does. It kept you guessing didn't it?
That is EXACTLY what the director wanted you to do. It would have been BORING if we knew the extent of their relationship.
So in a nutshell (unfortunately, my nutshells are rather large) here is what happened:
Halle was tired of her husband Tony and his over working and philandering around. She was hurt as a 17 year old for making her sign a pre-nupt in the beginning. To top it off, Tony treated her as a non-person.
Halle becomes older and (without this being revealed) she meets her funny and cocky friend ,Joey,(I like their chemistry actually) probably met at one of Tony's parties or gatherings.
Halle's friend (Joey) and Halle (Josie) had this in common with each other. Their husbands cheated on them, left them alone at home and probably emotionally abused them.
Halle and her friend hatch a plan to get rid of them both. Halle's friend Joey) uses her own husband(Jake) so that Halle would have an affair with him (this also shows you how close Halle and her (Joey)friend really are for her friend to allow Halle to sleep with him (Jake) and it also shows their bond of how they really wanted out of their marriage with lots of money in tow).
Halle used her relationship with her friends' husband to hire that crazy guy (Cole Wilson)who killed Tony. That plan worked.
But then, Halle's lover(Jake) and the killer(Cole) were at odds because Cole Wilson had an sexual obsession over Halle(Josie) and wanted to rape her and wanted the money. This is where the plan goes awry.
Next, we (the audience) were NOT to know how close Halle was with her funny friend (Joey).
Halle had to kill the crazy guy (Cole Wilson) at the end (the guy that her "boyfriend",Jake, had actually hired). ALso we (the audience) are suppose to wonder whether Jake and her friend Josie were actually "suppose" to play a part as a "threesome" to take Tony's money altogether, however, Halle's girlfriend,Joey, (as part of the plan) has her own husband killed also (this could have been a part of the plan as well).
In any case, the plan became complicated because the killer had his own plan but of course Josie and her friend (of course) had a contingency plan because they had to get rid of Cole Wilson because he was and did become a loose end and a loose cannon.
In the end, they are shown driving off into the sunset calling all of those men (including the cops). Joey calls ALL the men "Suckers" as an extra added clue that they both probably hated men throughout this entire scam and that they have probably been doing this for quite a while OR since the time Josie met Joey and Jake through Tony.
In any case, the moral of the story in a way (for these arrogant and cheating husbands)is to never underestimate the intelligence of the female sociopath.
And they were indeed sociopaths and could only pull this off together (neither of them could pull this off single handedly) as many female killer pairs will do. SO it was plausible and kind of scary that they got away with murder....
Does this help any my film friend...any way, that's what I got out of the film. Watch it again and you will see what I mean...
Even as sociopaths, I think Josie really did love Tony at one time, but Tony broke Josie's heart and this changed Josie and meeting Joey was perfect as she became her other half, her partner in crime.
Mark, I believe that this film is actually very clever, I loved it and Halle was SO beautiful and talented in this film, it is one her better and intelligent roles (where she isn't portrayed poorly) and I wish that she would play more sophisticated thrillers like this one.
Write back and tell me what you think. Watch it again. ;-)
I did enjoy the movie as I like a good thriller. However, it does make me believe that most men with money are wise to get pre-nuptial agreements. Josie admitted she wanted her husband dead and the ending showed she was not the innocent little cashier that Sugar Daddy married. It is scary these two women got away with murder. Any woman who marries a multi-millionaire needs to understand that cheating with many women and working all the time is what they do. These men do not sit at home holding their wives' hands telling them how they cannot even look at other women. I did not feel sorry for this opportunist in the least!
shareGood Lord, Allison. I've been hearing that most women are conniving monsters, and this movie with your post is super scary. But you also make it sound like rich men are all nasty too.
sharealright. glad he's dead.
shareActually, I thought that the whole movie was the lie Halle was telling the cops and we didn't see anything real..
"We're WASPs, Dr. Goldfine. Not acknowledging the elephant in the room is what we do best." - Bree
You are absolutely right. It's hard to believe that you are the only person in this entire thread that figured it out. I guess that indicated bad movie making.
shareLol.. I thought it was pretty obvious, but people get confused easily.. ahah but aaaanyways.. i hate it when you realize you spent an hour and a half watching something that wasnt true .... Identity was the worse of them all.
www.myspace.com/vincent_in_wonderland
I guess you thought "The Usual Suspects" was a bad movie, then? :s
(Not that The Rich Man's Wife was as good a movie, it was an alright little thriller with a good cast, just a little predictable)
-Goodnight, mother of six!
-Goodnight, father of two!
But these movie 'twists' sometimes make you just go "Why the hell did I just spend two hours to watch a killer make up a story?"
Usual Suspects was okay and didn't bother me that much, since there were clues all along he was making it up. It reminded me of that Demi Moore disaster Mortal Thoughts, again where the whole movie was a lie. My friends who went to see it with me for years would joke about it. We'd say "Hey let's go to the gym, or go bike riding, and then LIE about it?!?!" uggh
That's what I got from it too.
shareActually, I thought that the whole movie was the lie Halle was telling the cops and we didn't see anything real.
I agree. The twist at the end was unnecessary.
shareExactly - it was great until that stupid plot twist at the end.
share"I thought the movie was pretty good, until I saw the ending... The final "twist" they tried to pu totally ruined the movie for me (just like they did in Identity and Secret Window). What about you??"
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I agree, that last minute of the movie stunk it up.
It was a clever twist, but I didn't like it either, thinking that Halle was guilty and that that high-pitched ninny got away with killing her poor, most likely hen-pecked ex husband. Plus, waaayyy too many questions now.
Loved the ending to Secret Window, though it disappointed me too in the hero.