MovieChat Forums > Ratcatcher (1999) Discussion > Did the ending feel like a let-down? (sp...

Did the ending feel like a let-down? (spoilers)

posted 15 years ago by B25Mitch
7 replies | jump to latest

When I watched this movie, I really liked it, all the way up until the ending. I feel like I was cheated from the real ending. It's like a script was written, then the last 20 or 30 pages were ripped out and the suicide ending tacked on. Things were starting to look up for the kid. "The boys" almost seemed like they were accepting them in their group, he liked that girl, he had that secret field he liked going to, and his neighborhood got cleaned up. If I were him, I would probably be happy that things were going so well.

- - -
I prefer the term "Artificial Person" myself.
Bishop - Aliens

[–] noamdd 15 years ago

...Are you kidding?

[–] captzero 15 years ago

Kenny outed him for Ryan Quinn's death. Guilt over Ryan's drowning is what pushed James to suicide.

[–] King_of_Scotland 15 years ago

Also, If you see his face, he looks betrayed because Margaret is still letting the neighbor boys do whatever they want with her, and his dad had said, it is your fault we will still be living in this place. Plus, with the new houses being locked up to him that was one of the last straws, like his dream was shattered. His only comfort in those last days was his sister coming to cuddle with him and actually showed she cared for him. And so he figured the only way to make it up, is kill himself, hoping it would fast track his family to the new houses, as the death of Ryan did for Ryan's family.

[–] trailinghome 15 years ago

He couldn't commit suicide, he's a good swimmer!
Sure he felt guilty, but not enough to admit it to anyone. It was an accident.

He was also a coward:
Didn't jump into the canal to save the boy he pushed in.
He acted as a lookout while the bullies abused the girl. He actually could of lied and yelled that the moms on her way up, that would of scared the bullies.
Yes bullies are cowards too.
He never stepped in to protect her or the other boy at any time.

I remember being that age, and we were poor, living in Manchester. (NO drunk or abusive parents)
The movie brought back so many wonderful memories, even the belt he wore, I had a few of those, the elastic snake belt, one of my prized possessions. My family actually got to move into a house similar to his secret one, with endless fields behind it, so many adventures, a boys dream come true.
Children don't give up on their dreams, they persevere, hang on and escape reality with games, fantasies and dreams and they never forget.

The ending was just a dream/nightmare.

[–] PadmeAmadildo 14 years ago

Yup - 'Things were starting to look up for the kid'. NOT!!!!

Wha' fillum wa ye watchin'? - all roads led to the canal.

1) His 'girlfriend' (his only source of affection) was being used as a jizz-bucket by the local thugs, and James was powerless to help her.

2) He'd previously tried to get in with the thugs, but realised that joining them, didn't involve gaining their respect. They'd abused and humiliated him too.

3) His future was there to see, in the form of his drunken, inept Da. Despite being honoured as a hero, the medal ceremony showed his Da to be a total loser (barging the kid on crutches). Immediately afterwards, Da went to get stinko again, and was humiliated, and almost murdered by a gang of kids not dissimilar to the thugs on the estate. The ceremony and aftermath showed his Da wasn't a hero - he was a massive loser.

4) The family were endlessly waiting to move to a better home (somewhere - not necessarily the cornfield house), but James had been guilt-tripped by his Da that if it didn't happen, "it's aa' YUR fawt". Because it didn't happen immediately, James felt it was indeed all his fault.

5) And horror of horrors, someone had seen him 'murder' his best friend Ryan Quinn.

All James' horrors were coming home to nest - like all the fervent, and now very visible rats who had only the few bags of rubbish to feed off, after the soldiers had removed nearly all the bin bags.

Everything seemed to be his fault. He was powerless, unloved and seemingly a very bad person.

What else was he to do? He'd been caught in a trap.

The family moving to the actual cornfield house was his idea of heaven, and he felt it would happen once he was dead.

James drowned.

[–] PoppyTransfusion 8 years ago

Wha' fillum wa ye watchin'? - all roads led to the canal.

Great line and captures the film in a nutshell.

In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer

[–] MoviemanCin 8 years ago

An excellent post Padme, and I agree. He drowned and the last scene was either him in heaven or his last thoughts before he died. A very sad, but powerful film. I give it an 8.6/10.

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar and doesn't.