MovieChat Forums > Stuck (2009) Discussion > Why alter the real ending? (SPOILERS)

Why alter the real ending? (SPOILERS)

posted 15 years ago by akingofcomedy
4 replies | jump to latest

I remember when this case occurred not too long after 9/11. I immediately thought, hey, they'll make a movie about this. Then, they actually made two.

My biggest problem with this 'retelling' (aside from the clunky direction) was the ending, which I think was totally unnecessary.

How could a story get more stranger then fiction? A nurse's aide is driving drunk, then hits a homeless man who is now lodged alive in her windshield. But instead of getting him to a hospital, she drives home, locks him in place inside her garage, and then somehow manages to convince two friends to help her conceal the now dead man's body in a park. Then she torches her car to destroy evidence, and brags at a party about killing 'some white guy.' Her two friends cut a deal with the prosecution, testifying against her during the subsequent murder trial. She's convicted and gets a fifty year sentence (fifty for murder, ten for tampering with evidence, to be served concurrently.)

Is that not dramatic enough? Did it really serve any more sense of justice to see her accidentally burn herself to death while trying to shoot the (now fictionally surviving) victim while surrounded by gasoline meant to kill him? Wouldn't it have been just as satisfying, and more gripping, to see her face a quarter of a century in prison before she even gets a shot at parole? (In Texas you become eligible after serving half your sentence.)

Would Amy Fisher's story have been improved had she actually killed Joey Buttafuoco's wife? Would the Texas Cheerleader film about the mom who hires a hitman been a better version had the plot actually succeeded? Or maybe Lorena Bobbit would be more compelling if she'd castrated him instead and then fed them to the dogs. Well maybe in that, yeah, guess it would.

That's the worst part of this film. That its makers consider us the viewer as far too stupid to appreciate what was already a horrifying and disturbing slice of American history long before they ever got their greenlight. I can just see some pinhead producer reading the newspaper clippings and saying, 'Ehhh, needs an ending."

[–] senorjuez 15 years ago

The incident this film is based on was not as widely publicized as the others mentioned, therefore the filmmakers could take creative license and spin it to their desire. It is possible that the ending was changed for dramatic effect or to give the viewer something to think about. Mainly it seems like a good vs. evil tale. The lead character does things she shouldn't be doing(drinking, drugs)and something bad happens. She then faces a dilemma: do the right thing and risk losing everything or do nothing and hope it will go away. She chooses the latter and this decision ends up having tragic consequences.

What are we supposed to learn that we don't already know? That keeping secrets as a means of self-protection often leads to disaster? When a person does really bad things, their conscience won't let them get away with it?

I do agree that the filmmakers should tried to make the film as authentic as possible, especially the ending, but their spin on this began when they hired Mena Suvari, a white actress, to portray someone who in real life was black. No matter how much ghetto was put into her, it still strays from actuality.

[–] akingofcomedy 14 years ago

----"It is possible that the ending was changed for dramatic effect or to give the viewer something to think about."----

I agree it was most-certainly done for dramatic effect, but I still say this story it was based on was plenty dramatic enough. And although the incident most likely faded quickly from many people's individual radar, I seem to remember it did get national coverage for three or four news cycles as the details continued to drip out.

----"I do agree that the filmmakers should (have) tried to make the film as authentic as possible, especially the ending, but their spin on this began when they hired Mena Suvari, a white actress, to portray someone who in real life was black. No matter how much ghetto was put into her, it still strays from actuality."----

Agreed. A lot has been made out the changing of her race, which I thought was an odd and utterly needless choice. I'd be tempted to say the choice was either made out of an over-abundance of political correctness, or that she was the biggest 'name' they could muster. But that seems odd considering Stephen Rea signed on. This director's bio says a lot about what to expect going in.

I myself was not so bothered by the change of race, as I didn't see race an issue in the film. The real-life perp in this case probably would've acted in the same heartless manner no matter who the victim was. You make a good point, though. All credibility was out the window from the very first scene.

[–] Dr_RoButtnik 14 years ago

The one thing I liked about changing the ending is that it kept the movie interesting. Watching him sit there and die while she struggles with this moral choice would have made the movie more of an uncomfortable and immoral character study than the thriller that it was.

Yes it had elements of us feeling sad for this dying man, but making him mobile and providing more of an "action" climax helped the movie have a consistent tone. It just wasn't the type of movie to end the way that people familiar with the story expected it to or to have a consistent arc (Woman struggles with what to do with a dying man). Let's see someone get stabbed with a pen. Let's see someone get set on fire. Let's see the good guy who's had probably the worst day ever face a similar moral choice as Suvari's character did.

I understand the desire to see it play out with "real justice" instead of "movie justice" as the original story is fascinating, but this movie wasn't just a morality tale. It was a witty and bleak B-movie that required a few more thrills. The ending has to fit the rest of the movie and I don't think the ending you described would have meshed well with a movie that featured a rap song over old people taking medication and defecating themselves as the opening credits.

"Weirdness was all he cared about. Weirdness and sex and plenty to drink."

[–] akingofcomedy 14 years ago

I think your points are great, and I can see that it's a completely valid take. I don't think my dislike of the depiction plays much of a factor in thinking it's a terrible movie. It would've still been terrible in those hands no matter the accuracy.

And I walk away confused when people describe this as a morality tale, or suggest she was 'wrestling' between right and wrong. Unless I blacked-out for a reel or two, she seemed to have very little inner struggles beyond chewing her lower lip while considering calling 911.