Who Do You Think Had The Better Life (**SPOILERS**) - Last Exit (2006) Discussion

[–] roses888 18 years ago

SPOILERS:

I thought this was a wonderful underated movie.
Diana had it better even without her leg. She would be able to afford plenty of help & she was married & expecting a baby in a beautiful house.
Beth's husband left her for another woman & Beth was struggling financially & emotionally for years. Not to mention the day to day struggles of raising a handicapped son. She was in a horrible cycle of poverty & spiralling downward.
I would rather have Diana's life.

reply

[–] painterchick04 17 years ago

This isn't answering the question, but asking another: was Breanna pregnant, and what was wrong with Benji?

I'm not exactly what most would call a fan of open-ended endings, and my curiosity has killed the cat many times...

And another question: was anyone as stressed out after watching this movie as I was?

reply

[–] zap644 17 years ago

Breanna was the kid (maybe 10 or 11). She wasn't pregnant. Her mother, the advertising chick was.

They did mention Benji's affliction specifically at some point, but I forget what it was. Suffice it to say that he was handicapped and didn't have the use of his legs.

He was the only character I truly found sympathetic in the whole movie.

I think "open-ended endings" are often very good - they leave much to the imagination of the viewer, but I fail to see what was open-ended about this one. Benji's mother was shot and died, the advertising chick's claim of self-defense would almost certainly hold up in court (especially considering the witnesses to the attack on her car by the crazed woman with the telescope) and she lost one leg below her knee. Was that supposed to be a small measure of justice for her being a self-absorbed jerk?

As for being stressed out by this movie, I certainly wasn't.

reply

[–] MtDewdependant 17 years ago

Benji had spina bifida (sp?)

reply

[–] zap644 17 years ago

Was that it?

I don't know much about spina bifida (I'm not sure on the spelling either), but he didn't appear anything like the people I've known with that disease (granted, my sampling size is very small, so I can't say his symptoms were not credible for that disease, but it seems in character for this movie that they did everything wrong).

reply

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] enelson75 16 years ago

Yes, that was it.

Remember the scene where she was running through the park chasing down the bike courier to get the legal papers? When she returned to her car the parking enforcement guy was writing her a ticket and told her if she didn't move her car immediately it was going to be towed. He noticed the handicapped sign and asked her about it. She explained then that her son had spina bifida.

I don't know much about the disease itself. I have a distant cousin that was born with it though. He has to stay in bed all of the time, he's not able to even be in a wheelchair. (He's still fairly young though, only about 4.)

I imagine that it could be like other diseases where there are varying degrees of it. For example, some people with cerebral palsy have to use a wheelchair but some can walk on their own or may just have to use a cane.

Benji did seem pretty "normal" for a child with spina bifida from what I've known of the disease but I didn't think much of it since it was a movie. A lot of times in movies you can't look too deeply into things like this. ;)

I know this response is from an old post. I just watched the movie again yesterday though so thought I would share. Even though I had already seen the movie before, it was worth seeing again. I picked up on little things that I missed the first time around.

You don't have quite the same emotional reactions as you do the first time but it's still emotional. I was able to relate to both characters. I think I related more to Beth a little more but I've also been through some of what Diana has.

I really liked this movie because it's hard to call either one of them a "villain". It also makes you think long and hard about your own actions when you're driving around. ;)

reply

[–] Brynnda 17 years ago

Yes, i was really stressed at the end of the movie. I was mainly sympathetic withy Beth's situation at first. It seemed one bad thing was happening to her after another and her situation seemed tougher than Diana's. But then one poster on here said she brought on a lot of her stress herself that could have been avoided such as 1. having the father pick up her son (esp. as he was in a wheel-chair which made it harder for his mother to get him around town) so she could get to work on time 2. she could have taken the package to her boss much sooner and 3. didn't have to be fiddling with the air conditioner in the car so could have avoided the accident that injured her son.

These points all make sense, but i do still sympathize with Beth. She was working so hard to take care of her disabled son AND keep her job and it all kind of explodes on her. I don't really like open-ended endings either and was very disappointed when it just ended after Diana left the hospital with her family. I sort of wished they had shown whether she was going to go to jail for killing Beth. I guess the judge may have taken her side because looking back, i could completely understand if Diana really HAD thought Beth was trying to kill her at the very end, there.

reply

[–] zap644 17 years ago

How do you measure "better"?

Diana was certainly better off materially, but even though she still had a husband, it's not like they had a great relationship with him OR her children (from what little we could tell).

Beth, OTOH, was struggling, but had a great relationship with her son who obviously loved her back.

To rephrase a bit of stoner wisdom: "Love will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no love."

reply

[–] jabberttp 15 years ago

How do you measure "better"?

Diana was certainly better off materially, but even though she still had a husband, it's not like they had a great relationship with him OR her children (from what little we could tell).

Beth, OTOH, was struggling, but had a great relationship with her son who obviously loved her back.

To rephrase a bit of stoner wisdom: "Love will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no love."

Other than the stoner wisdom (possibly because I'm not stoned), agree with you 100% here, zap644.

reply

[–] marcus-a-alvarez 17 years ago

I just finished watching the movie about 1 hour ago and it is still making me feel so frustrated and stressed out. Not to mention tense. Anyways, here are my opinions on both girls lives.

Beth:
I think that she had a very harsh life. Her husband was divorced, her child was in a wheelchair, and debt. At the end of the movie, I was very angry when I found out she died. I actually liked her better than Diana because Beth was more like other people: stressed and irritated. But I think that Beth did a few mistakes. She shouldn't have approached Diana like that in front of those people, although I felt good she got pay-back after her long, stressful day. :-)

Diana:
I think that Diana had a very nice life, although she had a few problems. But compared to Beth, her life was "perfect". I actually did get mad when she was pregnant, had an accident, and still had her baby. What made me feel good/tense at the end was when her leg was amputated..:-(
Anyways, I am kind of mad at Diana for cutting in front of Beth that started all this chaos. I think that Diana will be found innocent after shooting Beth because she was only defending herself...dang it!!

reply

[–] SweetiePie2 17 years ago

I just finished watching too, and all I can say is haven't you ever just had one of those days where every single thing goes wrong and you just want to scream at the top of your lungs? That's what I felt Beth was going through that day.

Diana, of course had the better life, but I dont' feel she appreciated it at all. She was a total B*tch all the way around...to her children, her husband, and then when she loses out on her big promotion we are supposed to suddenly feel sorry for her because she's crying?

Personally I couldn't stand Diana. She was a self-absorbed person who thought everyone and everything was in her way and a big aggrevation. It wasn't only Beth she cut off, she drove that like throughout the entire movie, honking, cursing, going around everyone on the wrong side (right) in that imaginary lane. Very selfish person. I just couldn't find any way to emphathize with her and her situation, when Beth's was so much worse. I was almost glad when she lost out on her big promotion....it's what she deserved. Living in the Los Angeles outskirts, I have run into the type Diana was all the time....she's the kind who would come to a 4-way stop and just go when it was your turn. And the way she treated Beth when Beth's car stalled out, she should have realized that in this day and age you don't just treat people the way she did and not expect some repercussions. Diana could have had some sympathy for Beth instead of belittling her and then almost running over her.

I liked Beth and identified with her. She had a hard life and didn't need the aggrevation that day that was put on her, and it all started with Diana. I felt her stress all the way through the movie - the jerky boss firing her, the jerky man at the bank who wouldn't let her in although their were still customers in the bank, the jerky ex-husband trying to take her son. It was like Murphy's law - if anything can go wrong it will - well, poor Beth was experiencing just that. She needed a break, any kind of break to come her way that day and perhaps things would have turned out differently in the end. Once the accident happened, Beth snapped back out of the state of rage she was in and realized what she had done wrong and wanted to help the other woman.

Goes to show you what having a gun around can cause - all these people who want the right to carry them should take a hint that it can only lead to tragedy...if no gun, she wouldn't have shot the woman, but perhaps listened to her and forgiven her. But when a gun is so easily accessible, I think people shoot first and feel bad later. And then Diana didn't even feel bad...all she cared about was going home wih her family.

Sorry for such a long post, but since it just ended, I still have some pretty strong emotions about this movie. Very realistic and touching movie.

"Well, I guess I didn't really think things through"
Alan Alda - Same Time Next Year

reply

[–] rilupton 17 years ago

I am watching this movie for the first time. Diana had the better life. Here was a woman with a great job (so what she didn't get a "promotion". She was probably paid way more money than Beth). Being blonde and gorgeous didn't hurt for her. She got the great job, great house, handsome husband, and beautiful kids. So what her husband was out of a job, he was still loving and supportive and a man she could turn to for help. He was looking for another great job after losing one. Her kids were spoiled rotten and needed their mother to be there more for them. And to top that off, she was now going to have another one. She was selfish and only cared about herself.
Beth had lost her husband, her child, (who was handicapped), her car broke down, she got fired, and her life was going down the drain from one minute to the next. She only did the same thing to Diana that she had done to her at the beginning of the movie. Only this time the results were not the same. I think if she had taken just 5 minutes and bowed her head to pray her day would have turned out 100% different.
Diana started all of this. So again, it appears the BLONDE wins out in the end. In my opinion she should have lost more than a leg and she SHOULD have gone to jail for SHOOTING a person. Rich people always get away with a lot more than those struggling just to survive in this world. HEY DIANA, GET RID OF THE FANCY HOUSE, FANCY CAR, AND FANCY CLOTHES. There area lot of people in the world that learn that money isn't everything and someimes when times are bad, you have to let go of the "stuff" and use what you've got.
This movie shows that being beautiful and rich gets all the rewards; especially for women. If you're not, you end up getting shot for making one mistake.

reply

[–] glassrose385 17 years ago

I agree with a lot of you about Diana she did have problems in her life but her life was better than Beth's. Both Diana and Beth made terrible mistakes Diana drove carelessy throughout and treated Beth crappy just because she couldn't get her car to start and move, Beth flippped out and caused the accident. But Beth admitted to the 911 dispatch that she was responisble for the accident and it seemed that she really did want to help Diana. The ending did leave me disappointed because it seemed like Diana didn't feel bad for killing Beth and leaving Benji without a mom. She did lose her leg and her baby survived but it seemed like she cared about getting back with her family and having her baby without thinking about how Benji's life was going to be without his mother. I would have ended the movie with Diana on trial for the shooting but she's acquited and then as she leaves the courtroom she sees Benji with his dad and stepmom and she then realizes the damage she inflicted and Benji would also see her amputated limb realizing the damage that Beth did. I think that would have been the perfect ending to have characters see the damage that came out of the road rage.

reply

[–] doglover135 17 years ago

Yes, I like the ending you suggested, glassrose. It would have been better. As it was, the ending was a disappointment.

reply

[–] JZiegler16 17 years ago

If I was Beth I would of stayed in my car and if Diana wanted to shot me I would make sure I lived and slapped that bitch up.lol

reply

[–] scpeters88 17 years ago

yea because people going around shooting JUST people who are not blonde and not rich everyday.

are you kidding??? in the real world people shoot people for far different reasons, they don't always make sense but the other motives do exist.

and i am sure that diana shot beth because she wasn't blonde or rich. thats the only reason...really?

reply

[–] jabberttp 15 years ago

I am watching this movie for the first time. Diana had the better life. Here was a woman with a great job (so what she didn't get a "promotion". She was probably paid way more money than Beth). Being blonde and gorgeous didn't hurt for her.

Huh? While I agree Diana may have had the better life, I found Beth easily the more attractive of the two. Even with dirt smudges on her face from running after the bicycle messenger, Beth was still the more attractive.

reply

[–] dreamwrthy 17 years ago

I realize this thread is months old, but I gotta add my two cents. Are people high? Diana didn't leave me warm and fuzzy, but Beth brought this all on herself! She was already late when they intersected on the highway. Remember, her ex commenting she was 30 minutes late? She moves her handicapped child around every day, she doesn't know how to do so without being late? And when her boss fired her, he mentioned her being late the week before, and leaving work on her desk for a week....she was fired, not just for the events of that day, but because she was a screwup. Diana was a convenient person to blame, but Beth got fired because of BETH.

reply

[–] roses888 17 years ago

Yes, I agree that Beth lost her job to many factors in the weeks before her final dismisal. Her last day was just a builup of weeks of bad performance and many times being late.

reply

[–] Moviegoer Dan 17 years ago

Yes, unfortunately too many people in this thread ignore how much Beth brought her troubles upon herself. It went back as far as high school, getting pregnant in her senior year. A lot more than a "rotten day" was going on in her life.

reply

[–] pinkstars1044 17 years ago

Yes but the whole thing could have been prevented if people had more consideration than to cut others off in the road!

reply

[–] Moviegoer Dan 17 years ago

pinkstars,

that isn't so. There was little causal connection between Beth's getting cut off on the road and her getting fired. As her boss pointed out, it had been one thing after the next that led to his telling her that he had no more choice in the matter, he had to let her go. Had Beth been a meticulous employee who was known for doing what she was asked to do then her having been late for work that day would have made no difference, that affidavit would have long since been taken care of. Her not having taken care of it related back to her need to create chaos in her life and keep being a victim. Beth's ultimate act of rage on Diana, crying out to her about how it was "ALL YOUR FAULT" was way off base.

MGD

reply

[–] ReadListenThinkLearn 16 years ago

It was an unfortunate accident caused by "Extreme Pride, Arrogance and Vanity" (personified by Diana) colliding with "Self-Pity, Compulsive Tardiness and Excessive Anger" (personified by Beth).

Both of these women suffered from the result of their habitual vices. Beth, at least "confessed" in her phone call at the end and tried to make restitution as she tried to offer help to Diana. We can hope for a better "after life" for her than the crappy life she had on earth.

Diana, OTOH, also suffered by losing her leg, and although this may serve in part as a restitution for her arrogance that caused the chain reaction in Beth's life that day, it doesn't really seem to change her habitual vices, as we see by her mentioning her intention to go to court to fight for her own defense as if she were in the "right". This illustrates she is still rationalizing her arrogant behavior, because she knows "deep down" that she killed Beth not in self defense at that moment, but in revenge. She would do better to admit her crime and do time in jail, in the over-all cosmic "big picture".

reply

[–] Moviegoer Dan 16 years ago

This illustrates she is still rationalizing her arrogant behavior, because she knows "deep down" that she killed Beth not in self defense at that moment, but in revenge.

RLTL, the moral dilemma was far more complex than that. Diana may have had her misgivings about what she'd done in shooting Beth but it's not so cut & dry that she was in the wrong at the point that she pulled the trigger.

There are other possibilities to what was going on. For one, Diana may have been terrified that this crazy woman was out to "finish her off." Secondly, Diana had every reason to be enraged at Beth, trying to kill somebody for nothing more than receiving condescension and arrogance from them is not justifiable. Diana was certainly terrified at the prospect that she was going to die in that car, seeing Beth out there might only enrage her even more. The idea that the crazy woman who did this to her would get to keep on living while she, Diana, died was something that Diana wanted to show her outrage about. I could totally understand Diana's rage at that point.

The ending was a bit of a moral mess but the results I felt were poetically justifiable. Diana deserved to get her life back in order but paid for it some with the loss of a foot. Her husband became employed at that point and the hope that comes with new life, her upcoming baby, was redemption earned. Beth, however, had reached a point of no return. She had no money in the bank, no job, no husband at home, and a child that she couldn't support anymore. Her most redeeming feature was that she'd become enlightened and knew how to take responsibility and stop being a victim. However, at that point she wouldn't even have gotten a chance to practice not being one, she only had a jail sentence to look forward to. It was best that her crippled child get a new chance at family life, which he would now get. The moral dilemma that led up to all of this overshadowed all of this denouement but ultimately things really worked out for everybody's best. Beth had nowhere else to go but back to her maker, that was best for her at that point. Her life's work was over, thats being the learning of what responsibility was all about.

reply

[–] arabellakay 16 years ago

They should have had Diana lose her right leg instead of her left. It would have prevented her from ever driving again, and that would serve her right.

reply

[–] karenwest 15 years ago

Even Diana said she should have done a lot of things different...right after she asked about Beth. She lost a leg, a big gaping scar on her once "beautiful" face, faced going to jail...and had to live for the rest of her life with the memory of killing another human being.

I'm pretty sure Diana heard every single word that Beth screamed as she was beating the vehicle with the telescope. I'm pretty sure Diana got to see Beth's son...and the pain he was going through after losing his mother.

reply

[–] tarotdmc 15 years ago

This movie did stress me out, I have to admit. Is it based on a true story, does anyone know?

reply

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] imdb123456 15 years ago

It was shown multiple times in the movie, that Dianna has a perpetual habit of cutting cars off. From wht it seems, it wasnt just abt one day-she simply had the habit. I feel bad for Beth since she got cut off on the freeway and one thing led to another for her (adversely). (something like for want of a nail, the kingdom was lost - in terms of consequences)

reply