the ending


I don't want to come off as stupid here, but right at the end of this film I got a feeling that I might have missed something crucial in the beginning when the red-haired guy watches the telly and says that John Orr is gonna die (or something). I mean, is John really the arsonist? When Johns ex-partner Keith watches telly in the end something told me that I was supposed to recognise the scenery. And as far as I know we never saw Keiths flat.

That was a weird explanation and I'm aware that the red-haired guy was Liotta with loads of make-up or a mask or something. (you could definitely see it in the eyes) I just think it was a bit too simple, I would've liked a twist where someone actually set him up. So perhaps I'm just hoping this was the case and I'm imagining missing something in the plot...

Any ideas?

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I've read some reviews about this movie just now (I believe we watched the same broadcast) and from what i could tell Orr was the arsonist. In fact, not only was he the arsonist in the movie but in real life as well. The "Liotta in rubber mask" thing was just a silly decision by the director or writer that didn't work out very well. But I liked the movie anyway.

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you must not have watched this movie closely!!! the "red haired guy" IS John Orr(Ray Liotta) in his alter-ego mental disguise watching himself on T.V. He doesn`t say anything about John Orr dieing, he comments on how smart John thinks he is. As far as the end goes, there couldn`t be a twist where John was set up as this is based on a true story and HE IS THE ARSONIST. It wasn`t John Orr putting on a disguise and running around setting fires, whenever he was in his arsonist state of mind, thats how he saw himself. Remember the scene in the restaurant where the arsonist is explaing the fire to the two woman then at the end of the movie where in the same scene the arsonist morphs into John. Obviously it was John in the restaurant (no disguise) all along. I thought this was a great job of film-making. I am forver guessing the plot and this one fooled me to the end. see ya Bri

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[deleted]

I truly believe Orr saw himself as innocent and the arsonist as a different person. The arsonist was his alter ego and neither knew they were all part of the same man.

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The "red haired guy" was a way to explain how the public saw the killer. Remember that the witnesses saw him just like that... Is a representation of the drawing. So why not show us like that to us, before we discover John Orr is the guilty.
Its my point of view.

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The red-haired guy is the description that enabled John Orr to avoid detection for a while- because it looked nothing like Orr. But in the end, the evidence makes it hard to argue that Orr was set up. It just doesn't stand to reason. Orr is a lucky guy. His fires killed people. How he didn't get the needle is beyond me.

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