Does anybody actually completely like the ending of this movie? I honestly don't know how it should've ended, but something didn't seem right the whole way through. Can anybody think of a better ending or explain why this one is good?
shareIt did seem to leave an odd flavor in your mouth... but I kind of like that. I think that's what special about this film is that it's very realistic, like life.
shareSorry folks I got an entirely different take than all the other comments. Consider this for a moment; we see the movie from Victor’s perspective as the one who screws up but upon close examination of the time travel sequence, I believe it is actually Sylvia who is initially unfaithful. If you pay close attention to the piano player at the bar, his chanting and smiling and especially his reference to the moon which Victor does eventually see, the pieces will fall into place. Also consider the trash men, the broken guitar, the broken glasses and most importantly, the umbrella and you will see it, especially Victor’s reaction to the broken guitar. Also note the direction of the spinning of the model Ferris wheel and then note the direction it is turning in a subsequent shot. It alludes to a time reversal. Also consider that Sylvia seemed to have no knowledge of Victor’s cheating when he tried to admit it in her sequence. This forum won’t allow me to tie it all together but if you look at the film and concentrate on what’s common and what changes in both scenarios, you will see the logic. Think of it like the recent movie, The Lake House a.k.a. Il Mare. I agree the ending could have been more explicit but some directors like to leave a hook for a sequel or people like you and I to guess what they were thinking. Oh well, that’s my two-cents worth.
sharemike thats way more than two cents!!!!!! thanks for the good points. you make me wanna watch again to catch all those subtleties. good post.
shareSorry, other than the fact that he goes back in time and all that ;)
shareI liked the ending but can see how others might not. The thing I liked was that it wasn't too corny unlike so many British rom - coms.
I've seen this a few times and love it. It is soooo under rated. If Hugh Grant had played the lead role it would have been a huge hit but not nearly as good.
I'm a big fan of Mark Strong and Douglas Henshall. Lena is gorgeous.
Can Lena tap dance and spit in a bucket at the same time or does she rather enjoy wearing bicycle clips while mowing the lawn?
Nothing exists more beautifully than nothing.
You raised a good point. I liked the film as entertainment, and I saw the logic to the ending. After all, if HE can go back in time and change its course, why can't SHE? But what I find disturbing in time travel films, such as this and the Back to the Future films, is the message that nothing is permanent and that whatever happens can always be undone, if only a way to do so can be found. I would much prefer a time travel film in which someone who's screwed up his life goes back in time, discovers why and how he made such a mess of things, and then returns to the future with the ability and determination to avoid similar mistakes. A good case in point is Christmas Carol, which is both a ghost story and a time travel story. Scrooge, under the supervision of the Ghost of Christmas Past, goes back in time, develops a better understanding of why his life has become so miserable; while he can't change his past, he ultimately changes his future.
shareI've always thought that the movie should've kept going to see Sylvia's turn - And then the final message can be shown - that sometimes no matter what you do, you can't fight fate - well, I don't know. It seemed to me that Victor and Sylvia were just doomed and they will always break up in the end. But they could've added a twist where Sylvia goes back in time and in the course of trying to stay with Victor, she realizes he went back in time too. Maybe then things will actually change. Or that she'll realize they weren't meant to be. Another reason why it should've shown Sylvia going back in time was so we could see more of Lena Headey!
I just saw this film last night.
"It seemed to me that Victor and Sylvia were just doomed and they will always break up in the end."
I agree. No matter what Victor did, she still ended up meeting the other guy.
*SPOILERS*
Hilarious when he decides to go jogging with her to keep her out of the gym. And then they end up at a dinner with her girlfriend and the other guy is the girlfriend's date.
I totally like the ending. Sylvia was like there's better then him out there. She had to go off & meet Rachel if you know what I mean. I love the jogging scene to. Funny stuff. I love Lena Headey!
shareShe had to go off & meet Rachel if you know what I mean.
Heh, I wonder if that's the same bench. ;)
She does have a great smile at the end of the movie, but then again, something better awaited her hehehe
Yes it did - the Sarah Connors Chronicles hehehehe.
But I agree! After I seen Lena in this movie, I tried to watch any other movie I could find with her in it.
Isn't it kind of a coincidence too, that Douglas also ended up in a Sci-Fi series as well? Though his is a Brit one shown here on BBC America, and Lena's is on prime time US TV. But boy what a shock, to hear her lose her Brit accent and talk tough Sarah Connors American English :)
Would be interestin though, to have s sequal someday :)
Spoilers: You're doing it wrong.
shareAlthough I'm fine with the open-ended last scene. Imagine what would've happened if Sylvia went back and didn't go to the gym that day. I think when she went back she would've nudged Victor to take that sitcom role since she already knew he'd be good at it. I also think he would've bumped into Luisa at some function (or even at the book store, since she would have gotten fired anyway) and fell in love with her all over again. Would have been good to see, but they would have to make this movie much longer and taken out some good scenes. It's better this way...
"I'd buy that for a dollar!!"
I just caught this on Romanian television and agree with the earlier poster that the film is underrated. I think the ending means something different. I think Victor and Sylvia are meant to be and ultimately will end up together. That's why they keep getting the chances to go back in time and fix their mistakes, which is something the rest of us can't do. In both stories, no matter what, they are always thinking about each other. I think what makes it interesting is that you think the film is about Victor and him only, but the ending shows that it's really about their relationship as a whole. Victor's life with Luisa parallels Sylvia's life with David in the first story. Very interesting and in my opinion superior to SLIDING DOORS in the world of British time travel romantic comedies.
sharedirectorleigh, do you have a romanian channel on sattelite or are you in romania? that is too cool! was it in english on their channel? or dubbed in to romanian? and if so, you must speak romanian huh. are you directing a film there? so many questions i have!!!
but i respectfully disagree with you about sliding doors. i think it is superior.
i think your take on the big picture of this plot is maybe the most right on of all the ones here. props.
you raise excellent points. especially the scrooge analogy. good going cross9
shareI saw this film several years ago when I was a high school student yet! I DIT & DO really hope Victor and Sylvia will end up together...
shareI thought that no matter what they weren't supposed to be together. Maybe 3rd time would have been the charm, but he came back, changed for her and she still chose someone else. Whether he stayed the same or changed for her, she still didn't want him.
Plus 6 years and he never married her, when he came back he still didn't marry her, but he meets Louise and he married her because I forgot the exact words, but she made him realize what he really needed.
"Look lady I don't come down to where you work and slap the d!ck out of your mouth".
i will say that i thought the whole movie set me up for the ultimate goal of getting the two lead characters back together, like a major quest established at the outset which sets the direction of the movie. (not saying a movie HAS to operate this way, but it is kinda understood as a rule of storytelling, unless you are dealing with something really offbeat). anyway, that is how it struck me.
so when it ended with him rejecting her at the awards, which SHOULD HAVE BEEN his original goal achieved, it threw me. i understand why and all that bla bla. not looking for an explanation here. just saying, the payoff was sort of a bait and switch. the twist-payoff maybe does add a certain flavor, as you guys here point out.
but for me, it was less satisfying than it would have been seeing them back together at the end.
i cite the first bourne ending, and james lifting helens ear ring in the elevator (sliding doors) as satisfying payoffs.
see, they had me through the whole movie... wanting the two main chars to reunite, only to deprive me of seeing it. darn!
and for those of you who will say i can't handle a non-happy reunited ending, two of my faves are english patient and lovers of the arctic circle. so there.
--:)
Oh what a likeably, bittersweet, misogynistic love story. HE gets to cheat and then HE gets to go back in time so that HE can have the chance to lie about it. When she actually falls for someone she gets left alone...standing in the rain after HE gets a "golden globe" award whilst sitting with HIS new girlfriend whom HE "can't pretend he doesn't love". HE wins it all and she ends up with nothing. So much for being a good girlfriend. I think I will go and cheat on my man now. :D
God, there is *always* at least one Femi-Nazi in the room screaming "Patriarchy". You Femi-Nazis will always find something to bitch moan and groan about. Get over it :)
shareI guess we all hope the Sylvia gets a second chance too............
shareI guess we all hope the Sylvia gets a second chance too............
Yes! I think this is what is going on, too, jenuviel. Thanks for sharing your perspective. I came to this board to try to find out about the ending - what it meant with her smiling at the end. I LOVE a happy ending, but it just didn't seem right between these two. He had to hide his smoking with Sylvia, but Louisa smoked. Seemed to me that Louisa and Victor as a couple were more natural and didn't have to try as hard. She does seem to be the one meant for him, not Sylvia and not Carol. So, with Sylvia, it's not Victor or Mark she's meant to be with, but the one she will find by going back in time, like Victor did.
shareReally though, you don't know who she will meet and fall in love with. Maybe the person she should have been with all along. Like Louise is to Victor.