MovieChat Forums > The Squid and the Whale (2005) Discussion > Unfinished plotlines ruin this movie [SP...

Unfinished plotlines ruin this movie [SPOILERS]

posted 11 years ago by jpga666
10 replies | jump to latest

Finally saw this movie! I'm 7 years late, but no matter. I can see why people raved about it and continue to do so. It's a very interesting film, that provides a roller coaster of emotion. However, there was a major flaw I must address.

I'm going to get straight to the point: I don't see why this movie is considered good with the ending it had. The ending to this movie is terrible! I spent 90 minutes developing a connection to these characters, yet the only one the end focuses on is the father and the son.

What happened to the little brother? Does he not get confronted for wiping semen all over school? Does his alcohol problem not get confronted? The ending of this movie completely neglects him.

What happened to Lily? The last we see of her, she's fooling around with the dad. She seems a bit resistant to his advances. Walt sees them, and runs off. By the end of the movie, the only thing we're told about her is "She left". Really? How lazily done!

I'm devastated. I was enjoying the movie, and the ending just completely killed any good feelings I had about this movie. It was like the director wrote the ending to his movie first, and then went backwards, adding characters that were never fully addressed in the end. It's ridiculous; very bad filmmaking. The director/writer gets points for coming up with a good beginning and middle, but none of that matters if you can't come up with a decent ending to give viewers the sense that they truly witnessed something.

[–] LeftbLane 11 years ago

I, too, am seven years late on seeing this. At first the ending felt abrupt, but now after settling for a while it seems appropriate. I'm curious about what you would have rather seen in the ending.

[–] jpga666 11 years ago

Well, I pretty much sum up what I'd like to see in the original post: A conclusion for the brother and for the girl.

I would've liked to see the parents confront the younger brother about his alcohol and sexual behavior. I would've liked to see the older son talk to the girl.

If I had to end the movie it would go like this:
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Father catches son drinking when he tries to get into the house. He confronts the mom about it, she stares at her younger son, saying nothing. The father moves away from that topic, and the whole talk with the father and mother occurs, and they get into the fight. Father leaves.

Father gets heart attack, son accompanies him at the hospital, they have a talk, and son leaves. As son is leaving, he bumps into the girl. They talk, she says she heard about what happened, came to give the dad some flowers and reveal the news that she got an apartment with her boyfriend, she gives some advice to the older son or compliments him, and heads into the room to be with the father. The son leaves the hospital.

The movie cuts back to the younger son and mother. The mother is questioning and being a sympathetic ear towards his problems. He has a breakdown or something, she comforts him, etc. Movie cuts back to the younger son at the museum, he sees the squid and the whale, movie ends.
---
This is just how I would've done. I think it provides more closure for the movie. Basically, I'm just taking the original ending, and adding a scene: where the dad tells mom about younger son's alcohol abuse, girl talks to older son and reveals she's going to be moving out, and mom comforts her child whose having a breakdown. Would've made this movie great had they done this.

[–] Lizarita 11 years ago

its funny, but now that you mention it, it is as if bombauch is still writing and someone comes along and grabs the script and says, times up. has to be filmed now or whatever they say when there is a deadline.

maybe he ran out of money. not really.

i didnt care what happened to paquin. i mean she didn't seem very stable and who moves in with their prof. so i just assume she moved on.

then i thought frank was just going through a phase. so just figured that would end sooner or later and the drinking i figured was just a one time deal. just a kid experimenting.

and i (i wont say we) are to assume that jesse e. character eventually goes to see his former girlfriend and gets back with her.

these are just my thoughts. maybe because ive seen so many indies that end way more f'd up than this.

[–] gentelg 8 years ago

The movie cuts back to the younger son and mother. The mother is questioning and being a sympathetic ear towards his problems. He has a breakdown or something, she comforts him, etc.

That sounds like a scene in a Lifetime or Tyler Perry movie.

[–] Jerique 11 years ago

I feel very satisfied in the ending. It's kind of left up to you to fill in the minor holes which are left unanswered.

OK, so Lili left. I think it's understandable that she knew Walt wanted to be with her and the novelty of screwin Bernard (being her former teacher) wore off.

Walt finally comes full circle. In the beginning of the film, he was a punk. He idolized his father, and seemed to hate his mother and brother. As the film progresses, he sways more towards his brother and mom. The shrink makes him realize that as a child his dad wasn't around. It was his mom. After his fake heart-attack, Walt has the last straw with his dad. Despite spending all that time with him avoid his mother, Bernard still wants him to be at his house more often. He still doesn't care about Walt's feelings because when he cries, he offers up possessions.

I realize Frank's plot points remain unanswered, but I feel they are relatively unimportant compared to Walt. Frank most likely stopped the semen thing thanks to Ivan and his mother. He probably was caught drinking and they stopped with having alcohol in the house or found a way to hide it or lock it away.

I don't need anymore from the end of the film than what I was given.

____
"Your punishment must be more severe." -- Bane (TDKR)

[–] themisfit92 11 years ago

His heart attack was faked? Damn what did I miss?

[–] bartallenii 10 years ago

Frank was caught for the sperm thing at school, so I'd imagine that he had an (offscreen) talk about that with his mother.

As for the drinking, the last time we saw him doing it he vomited and spit something else up (I didn't catch what he had in his hand before the scene ended), but I think that might have been enough to make him think twice about drinking, at least the stronger stuff.

All New Season:
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[–] robertegblack 8 years ago

He didn't spit up something. The cashew from the dinner scene at the beginning of the film came out of his nose

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 9 years ago

This movie is based on Baumbach's real life, so there aren't really tidy "endings". Life goes on. Maybe it could have been the pilot for a TV series.

But he has acknowledged in interviews that he was aware that this was quite different from a "normal" movie script. He even says he was plagued with doubt as to whether it "even was a movie at all" (as opposed to something you'd maybe find in a novel, memoir, or series of essays). So he's well aware that it's abnormal for a movie. Personally, I quite liked it and think it's refreshing to see someone go outside the box and provide a slice of life without hewing to screenwriting formulae. But if that discomfits you, you have a right to that opinion. I would not have liked any of the resolutions you described to be tacked on though.

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[–] 8 years ago

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