The ending *spoilers*
**SPOILERS.**
OK. So. WHO KILLED HER?!
The real trick to life is not to be in the know, but to be in the mystery. -Fred Wolf
Good question! I also found myself totally *lost* when the credits started rolling... I was hoping to find some answers here.. but there doesn't seem to be any...
From what I can get out of it, little Tommy finally made it to the top of the lighthouse to see the fireworks... and by the next morning his mother was dead... I am thinking that Tommy, Sr. did it and then fled town... and the waitress and the drunk bum (who finally got himself "cleaned up" with a shower and some new clothes) will be caring for Tommy, Jr. from now on...
Is this anywhere near correct? Or am I way off?
I think you are right. Or it could have been that psycho religious guy that watched her in the window. He could have done since he thought she was evil and fantasized about her. That ending was dumb, now the drunk bum will be no longer be a bum thanks to the chick in the tree.
shareI have rarely been as disappointed in a "serious" movie as I was with this one. What happened here? Anything? Did I nod off during a critical 30 minutes somewhere in the middle of the movie?
Either the kid's father or the old Bible Thumper killed her. My money would be on the former except that by the time the movie's non-ending sunk in, I didn't care. None of the characters were more than caractures: sinning Evangelical, wife and child abuser, drunk bum with a heart of gold, a couple of hard boiled small town businesswomen, concerned school teacher, lecherous principal. The town was some small time, ocean front Florida backwater. The bully was straight from central casting -- if you add modern day methods to Little Rascal cartoonishness.
The tree was the only non-standard character. The tree "without" birds but with a birdhouse. The tree inexplicably covered in windborne debris. The tree that sheltered the bum and served as death bed to the boy's mother. If there had somehow been more attention spent on the tree -- like maybe a sign hanging on it telling us the meaning of the tree -- there might be something to this movie. Too bad the tree didn't get a credit.
Hmm. I thought she committed suicide. Maybe because that's what I would have done if I had been stuck in a hopeless town full of dullards like that one. Maybe Truman Capote could have done something with those characters but this scriptwriter didn't. I hope all the actors got their paychecks because this film is not going to advance their careers.
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