i was watching this on IFC and they were at the end, telling tommy about how billy just stopped breathing and was in the hospital. i got up to get a diet coke, and i heard some muffled dialogue...then i walk back in and BAM it is the credits!!
did they say anything else?
i got the glipse of tommy sitting in billy's chair realizing he was becoming billy.....was that it?
bonk!
Yep, that was it. That and the look on Tommy's face indicating his realization that he was doomed to a lifetime of loserdom.
shareUpon Tommy's enquiry, Connie & the bartender debate when the latter is going to visit Billy, the former pointing out that the 'next few minutes' had turned out to be 'over an hour'
Tommy sits, realising, that with no family/friends to look out for him (now he's alienated them) , no-one else really cares about him , his bar 'friends' being just empty vessels.
Am I being wildly optimistic that the ending was the fork in the road for Toomy. He had a choice - which road was he going to take? Work his way out, or acquiesce. Could he see the choice - could he act on it - would he take responsibility for himself? I like that it was left hanging... and it seemed like a challenge to many of us, too.
shareIn my opinion, yeah, you're being wildly optimistic, at least about Tommy's prospects. In the ending, I saw nothing but resignation. That said, I can accept that it might be seen as a challenge to us -- or something of a lesson: don't do what this guy has done or you'll end up taking Billy's place at the bar stool.
shareI don't think you're being overly optimistic. It's obvious that Tommy makes the connection that what it means that he is now sitting in Billy's chair. At several times in the movie he definitely is making an effort to try to make a better life for himself, so the Billy incident might be the extra kick he really needs to make a true change in his lifestyle. Or he might just keep on beig the loser he has become, which is probably more likely, since people don't usually change.
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>>since people don't usually change
(above post)
Well, I am a recovered (or recovering, in AA terms) alcoholic with 33 years of sobriety. There is ALWAYS hope for change, and I have seen change many times in my life with many people afflicted with alcoholism. Most of those who try, will recover, though many will have to try several times before they succeed.
Please take note that although Tommy takes a sip of his beer, he toys with his shot of whiskey, and when the camera fades, he still hasn't drunk it....
Prosit!
Steve
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I would say it's almost certain that Tommy has realised that he has to change things and he has to start now.
The pushing away of the shot glass could just be considered ambiguous but coming immediately after the scene in the hospital with his ex girl friend, where he makes no excuses for his previous behaviour but simply apologises, it is a very clear indicator that he has reached a major turning point and knows it.
The lyrics in the song that plays are significant also as Tommy realizes they reflect his feelings on his relationship with Theresa.
shareEveryone has great input on there take of the end.
I also would like to add that he was sitting in the same seat as the old barfly who was in the hospital and also no one wanted to see him.
With Tommy now in his seat, was his life destined for the the same fate?
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The ending's quite clear to me. Tommy hears that Bill, a spaced-out old man whose life has been reduced to sitting in a bar and drinking all day, every day, has collapsed and been taken to hospital (and probably won't live too much longer) and he sits there with his beer and shot of bourbon in front of him and thinks "God, is that where I'm heading?" Notice how tentatively he drinks his beer and decides to leave the shot (I'm mean that's not healthy is it, having a habit of drinking chaser shots with beers).
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Tommy probably would try to do the right thing, but I doubt it was successful and will end up like his other ventures, failed. Theresa, in the hospital said she tried for eight years to change Tommy and it didn't work...this was the woman he loved... If she couldn't change him for the better , how would Billy falling off the stool change him?...Truth is the next time Tommy has a small problem he will attack it with salvo's of beer and whiskey...also known as "boilermakers".
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