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How did Young Sean know where Original Sean died?


I sifted through as many threads/posts as I could but couldn't find this answer. This answer could not have been in the love letters....

Also, when Sean ran to Clifford, it is as though he TRUELY did recognize him. I don't think this could have been conjured up fake emotion, and how would he know who he was? I doubt there was a pic of him with the love letters.

What are the odds that a 10 year old boy, whose name is Sean finds love letters written to a dead guy whose name is.......Sean........... that died.....wait for it..........10 years earlier.

I know what the writer/director was trying to accomplish, but it falls flat because it isn't explained well enough. I don't need blatant, beat-me-over-the-head metaphor or a sililoquy or a narrator, but if you are going to be ambiguous, it should make sense from both perspectives. It was just too jumpy and disjointed....not edited to effectiveness.

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Bumped for love.

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Anyone?

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I don't really have an answer. But I guess you could conjure up some random logic or subplot to explain these...but do we really need an answer to those questions? What grabs me about the movie is the notion that it tries to reflect what happens to you if you lose someone you really love, its narration is extraordinary...and I'm glad its portrayed so well in Nicole's (incredibly underrated) performance.

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I can make and did make up an explanation, however, I feel that the director/writer should have included this to support the dual ambiguity of the plot. I just wanted to know if it had been edited out or was it an oversight? I think if they had included some sort of allusion to how he could have known this fact, then it would have strengthened the film. It only needed a minute conversation, even, just a half-interupted conversation that upon subsequent viewing from a different perspective, the audience could have said, "Huh! I missed it. It was right there."

I don't think Nicole Kidman's performance was extraordinary in this picture. Not much to work with I'll concede, and no, I don't need someone running around screaming on the screen to indicate a fine performance. I actually prefer subdued and realistic 'acting' where the person relies on body posture, facial expressions and vocal cadence and intonation. I found that since there was VERY little dialogue, the actors must be extremely strong on other communicative fronts, and maybe due to the botox, I don't know, her face seemed flat and emotionless. Yes, she was in shock, I'm sure, but it was a bland movie. I compare to something like Ordinary People and there is no comparison. Both are slow moving films that don't pander to the audience, but the acting was far superior by all parties in O.P.

Such a shame, because I was really drawn in at the beginning and felt that ALL the elements were there for this to be a great film.



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Give it another try. Trust me, it really improves on repeated viewings.

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The only explanation I could come up with is that this young Sean witnessed her husband's death perhaps? We see him sitting up high in a tree towards the end of the movie. So quite possibly he could have been sitting up there on the day that Sean was out for his run and had watched him run under the bridge and never come out from underneath it.

"Good times! Noodle salad!"

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Er... that's fairly unlikely, since he was only just born when the original Sean died.

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I know what the writer/director was trying to accomplish, but it falls flat because it isn't explained well enough. I don't need blatant, beat-me-over-the-head metaphor or a sililoquy or a narrator, but if you are going to be ambiguous, it should make sense from both perspectives.

I think you almost answered your own question. The points you raised do not make sense from both perspectives. Therefore we must assume that the director intended to convey only 1 perspective (but he didn't want to hit us over the head with it).

Logically, the film seems to be explained by the kid finding the letters. That should be enough to keep the skeptics happy. But still there are few unanswered items like how did he know where Sean died, how did he recognize Clifford, etc, which produce the "loophole" that is only answered by the supernatural interpretation of the film.

Me personally, I don't believe kid Sean is the reincarnation of the husband, but I think the director implies that some supernatural force (the ghost of Sean? the Easter Bunny?) was at work, temporarily inhabiting kid Sean so he can present Anna with this experience.

We, the audience, are given the choice:
(a) nothing supernatural happened, and the movie has a few loopholes; or
(b) something supernatural happened, and everything makes sense.

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We, the audience, are given the choice:
(a) nothing supernatural happened, and the movie has a few loopholes; or
(b) something supernatural happened, and everything makes sense.


Agreed. It is not a cut and dry movie at all. Stuff doesn't make sense on purpose.

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One word: internet.

Schrodinger's cat walks into a bar, or doesn't.

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he was the incarnation..simple as that

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