I'm confused about how the movie ended
Why was the Chief of Staff arrested?
shareBecause she organised the cover-up and hence played a big part in the crime, she was exposed by the tapes the guy who committed suicide left behind - he left a note reading "I'm so sorry" along with all the tapes which had recordings of her and the others clearly discussing their roles in the murder/cover-up.
Hope that helps.
Uhh... thanks.
She was exposed by WHAT TAPES? I just saw this on cable, and wonder why the movie didn't explain it... at all. We see cop Ed Harris investigating SOMEBODY slumped over their desk (the president? suicide? murdered? it's not clear who,or what) and see the "I'm sorry" note, and then the Chief of Staff being arrested. How in hell are we supposed to know what you explained. I thought Eastwood was a better director than that. The unfathomable ending ruined an interesting movie and left me puzzled.
Scott Glenn's character had a habit, probably a secret one, of recording everything that was ever said when he was with the president. That was illustrated earlier in the film when he's driving and re-listening to the president say "it's not like he has any evidence or anything". So the movie did explain it, in a brief scene that you'd have to pay close attention to, to understand the enormity of what he was doing with his little tape recorder on a daily basis.
I think the stack of tapes were the product of the last 2-3 days of conversations, especially with the Chief of Staff whom he hated with a white hot hatred.
He would be sure to see that those tapes were the first or even the only ones Ed Harris' character would get.
And I think it's especially fitting that she'd be the only one left alive of the 4 characters of the 'bad' side, out of the whole scenario, to face the hopelessness of her situation alone.
a poorly shot movie.
shareSometimes (and this most assuredly is one of those "times) my mind absolutely boggles! The question shouldn't be WHY was the Chief of Staff arrested. The question should be HOW can she be arrested? OR, more precisely, how could she ever be PROSECUTED? Without question, she is GUILTY. Indeed, the guiltiest person in the entire movie. After all, she engineered the entire cover-up. BUT what does any of that "matter"? Talk about your plot holes!! And all glaringly chrystalized in 60 seconds of contiguous film! The old billionaire has (on global wide television) just convinced the entire world that he was a direct eye witness to the President's suicide (with a LETTER OPENER) mind you! Now, if this hasn't stretched your "credulity" to its absolute breaking point, perhaps this will. Since we have so obviously now ARRESTED her, exactly WHO are we now going to prosecute her for covering up FOR? Put another way, exactly who is left to be poor Christy's murderer? Well, obviously, the same "unknown" this bitch from hell was covering up for in the first place. But - OOPS - now we have another little problem. (Folks, this just goes on and on. Now, I love Clint Eastwood. But the last 5 minutes of this film is such an illogical, utterly INCOHERENT mess, he simply must have, at least momentarily considered suicide.) Back to our latest absurdity. To wit, the agent who at least DID have the good taste to just go ahead and kill himself! But, who before "going", left a detailed recording of everything that REALLY happened that night. What do we do with that? Well, obviously, we back-up, and undo everything we have just seen. Starting with the fact that the nice old billionaire is lying through his teeth, did, in fact, murder the President, etc., etc., etc.
NOW, you can ask WHY was the Chief of Staff arrested. BUT only if you ask SARCASTICALLY!!! Talk about your GET OUT OF JAIL FREE cards.
You left out the final incoherence. Luther, who has been hovering over his daughter at the hospital, kills the SS agent in the hospital. What happens when the SS agent's body is found in the building? Bad guy or no bad guy, this was a homicide, and who would be the most obvious suspect? But Luther walks. What?
shareYep, you're absolutely right! I've never seen a movie with so many obvious plot holes. You would think Clint of all people would recognize that. I mean come on! Was this made during a drinking binge, was he having drug problems? I don't know about his personal life, but I really wonder what kind of problems he must have had to cloud his thinking. It's obvious there were some clouded minds involved in the making of this movie. Oh well, that's Hollwood for ya!
shareThe question should be HOW can she be arrested? OR, more precisely, how could she ever be PROSECUTED?"
It's simple, and we learn of it when Scott Glenn's character is driving and listening to the tape of the president talking about how Luther " doesn't have any evidence or anything".
From the moment Gloria Russell entered the crime scene bedroom, and countermanded Bill Burton's idea to call DC Metro police, she was on tape as engineering the coverup. And in every subsequent encounter with him, we learned from that scene in the car, she was digging her hole deeper and deeper.
It didn't matter if she didn't pull the trigger, or drag the body, or run the vacuum, she did her damndest to cover up a homicide, and that will get you almost as much time as doing the actual crime.
"she did her damndest to cover up a homicide" - There was no homicide. The SS agents did exactly what they had to do.
The only "crime" was covering it up, but they could create a "national security" excuse to have done it.
Homicide means the killing of a human being. Christy Sullivan was killed. Her death was a homicide.
Homicide includes many levels of culpability:
-first degree murder
-second degree murder
-third degree murder (in some states)
-voluntary manslaughter
-involuntary manslaughter
-reckless homicide
-accidental homicide
-justifiable homicide (self defense)
You're flying around one sunny afternoon in your little single seat airplane. The motor stalls, you glide down to a golf course to try to land, your plane is silent. Just as you get to the ground a golf cart comes out of the trees and you squash it. You've committed homicide.
correct we see Bill burton listening to the tape in a car at one point
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