Question about the ending (SPOILERS)

I agree with your comment there, Mirabelle - why did this movie get made? It never gripped, I didn't really give a stuff about any of the characters, and the so-near-yet-so-far-from-salvation ending was as obvious as 1,2,3. Nasty bit of assault/rape/murder of Tea Leoni's character, but rather than being a plot turning point that gives the story an urgent momentum, the film quickly slipped back into the self-absorbed torpor of Eli meandering around NY inbetween naps and barbiturate sandwiches, with less drama than Ryan O'Neal's teeth.

It seemed like a low budget Bonfire of the Vanities, with less humour or satire. If it was an A-list benefit, how come it more resembled a 60th birthday party held in the cleaners' cupboard?

Tell a lie, I did give a stuff about some of the characters: Al's turn really annoyed me, with the actorly southern accent and contractually obliged pasionate speech bit (though done in a church this time, rather than his preferred venue of a court room).

1.5 out of 10, v disappointing with such a good cast too.

How come you never came to see me, all that time I was away?

"The movie made no sense to me. I did not get the point of needing to tell this "story", nothing comes out of it in the end, so what was the point? It seemed like a bad corruption movie without the reasoning behind the point of this little group. Who were they, why should I care, is it based off of real life people, was there a point or was it a conspiracy maybe NYC is run by corrupt business men thing?"

This movie has a very specific and highly controversial message, but its very subtley presented, and its not one the contemporary viewing public would readily expect (or accept), so consequently, most American viewers do miss the meaning (I'm not trying to sound high falutin' here; I didn't fully understand the film until after viewing it twice, and discussing it with some friends of mine). Anyhoo, if you want to know the true meaning of this movie (if I were to openly state the premise of this film, my post would quite possible be deleted by the IMDB moderators), there is a hint at the very end of the film that totally gives it away, albeit it requires a bit more knowledge of American history than the average person has. In any event, as the Al Pacino character is shown dead in his living room, his television is showing an episode of "This Old House." I don't remember the exact, word-for-word text of what the narrator of that PBS how says, but it goes an awful lot like this: "What a grand and magnificent structure this once was, first built in the late 1700s. Sadly, the rot began to set in during the 1930s."

That hint is probably a little too vague for most people, but I'm afraid its the best I can do. Let's just say that despite whatever dramatic flaws this film may have, the fact it was ever made at all is truly amazing. Its one of the most important films of the last twenty years, maybe of all time.