THE END! i mean, what the hell kind of ending is that!? you cant make a 2 hour movie about one man who has to make a choice and then not reveal the choice.
thats like if someone set out your christmas present early and made you wait all year, looking at it before you could open it, and then when that day finally came, that person threw it in the fire before you could see what it is.
Now thats what i call a big let down. 3/10 for a *beep* ending.
Does it hurt you to use what little brains you were given? Oh come on. Guess for heaven's sake. I think the ending was just right. Do you announce to the world who you vote for the second you come out? I bet not. Honestly,all you bitchers and gripers about the end is totally uncalled for. It's a movie! I hated how Shakespeare in Love ended too, but do you see me whaling on about it?
shareThe movie wasn't about him choosing who to vote for. It was about him choosing to vote and choosing to care. The way it ended was the only proper way to end it as far as I'm concerned.
What's a signature?
Ditto. The point of the movie isn't about who he chooses. The movie is about an apathetic guy who has to be brought into political counsciousness. If they did reveal who he voted for the movie would be criticised for pushing the agenda of whichever party he chose. The movie isn't pushing any agenda except to convince America that voting is important.
The ending was perfect.
Precisely. That's not the point at all, which man he voted for. The point is that he finally understood that making a choice is so important, and that he is finally aware of the issues around him.
shareYES YES YES!!!!! Exactly. You above posters have it right on the money. The whole point was that he finally cared. His daughter pointed out to him, through those letters, that it did matter to vote. He finally got it. He realized that all this time, he'd been snubbing the idea of voting and he finally got it. A plus work.
share[deleted]
you say the "point" of the movie was to have Bud realize that he should care about voting.
was it not obvious to you which candidate the producers of this movie favored. the little girls teary eyed diatribe about compassion for those "who can't help themselves" and Bud's consternation over losing his favorite fishing spot. Then the principled "you used to stand for something" left wing candidate stands on a platform for all which Bud believes in.
let me put it simply
they laid out greenleaf's policies. then they gradually revealed Bud's. WE've got a MATCH! bing bing bing tell her what's she's won?
the point of this movie is that "even simpletons like Bud are smart enough to know that greenleaf is the better candidate."
the actual ending of the movie was when Bud asked the debating candidates why america is called the richest country in the world if so many of us can't afford to live in it. while he's asking the question, the republican shadily looks down, smirks, and you can see he's thinking of his reply to the debate question. When they pan to the liberal, he's passionately listening to the question with a look of genuine concern on his face.
so basically, i think none of you are right. i'd be called paranoid for calling this propaganda, because apparently not too many people see the movie's obvious biases.
given wide distribution, what's this movie supposed to do: get the blue collar brutes to vote democrat cause Bud did? sounds ridiculous, but not impossible
the ending to this movie was indeed disappointing because the producers couldn't stick to their guns and reveal their politics, so lavishly displayed in other scenes. Aha, they want us to think for ourselves? how condescending. this was not appropriate cliff hanger placement. it was pure pretension.
I disagree. What I took away from the ending was, yes, Bud is now passionate about educating himself and voting; But it really doesn't matter who he votes for, because as we've seen throughout the movie, our two current political parties and the politicians within them are only concerned with getting the most votes and gaining power and will tell the voters anything they need to hear to get them in the voting booth. Was the movie created by liberals with a certain agenda? Most likely. But rather than force-feeding us the notion that the liberal candidate is better, I think the movie is trying to say that Americans need to wake up, educate themselves, and demand better political representatives who stand for something besides greed and power.
And I didn't see the Republican character as a villain - just like Greenleaf, he realizes he has been losing himself and the reasons he got into politics, just so he could win. Both characters are surrounded by sycophants and convinced to sell out, and both come to their senses in the end (but the political machines inevitably march on, and will find replacements who are willing to do anything for power).
I suppose that's the great things about movies - we all draw our own conclusions.
Cheney's got a gun
I thought the movie was pretty straight forward about being hostile to both parties. I mean, the daughter names him as an independent party because she feels both democrats and republicans take advantage of the poor.
Then all throughout the movie, it goes to lengths to point out how empty both parties' campaign promises are. It was almost sit-com obvious when the parties just reversed their stances on key political issues to win the favor of one aimless man.
At any rate, Bud's only overtly stated political interest was "in-sourcing," which seems much more in line with the republican candidate's sincere position on immigration.
Also, I think you used the word "pretension" where you likely meant "pretentious." The words are surprisingly not closely related.
i agree about the bias but I have to watch the whole movie to see for myself. i'm watching it right now on cmt and its only about 30 minutes in, if there is bias, it is most likely to the left since its no secret where Hollywood's loyalty lies.
at this point in time, the argument that either party truly cares is irrelevant because it is clear that most politicians only care about filling their own pockets. the only honest politician currently in federal office that gives a damn about the truth and still truly believes in the Constitution is Ron Paul and very few others. I also like Jesse Ventura as someone outside Washington that currently does not hold office.
One politician that claims to care but clearly does not is John Edwards, He gives a "Two Americas" speech and then refuses to be seem around the "poorer" class during an election year.
I think the point of the ending is to have reactions such as the OP.
So all the others can laugh at him whilst he rampages on like a kid.
If this movie was REALLY about voting and who to vote for, they would make a clear difference to the candidates, produced by Disney and have little-to-none character depth (except for the candidates).
The original poster completely misses the point of this movie. who gives a s*** who he votes for; that was not the point. Thank heavens for all the intelligent people who don't need a gift wrapped ending.
shareForget the ending, insulting my home state was really low. I'm really *beep* sick of people taking jabs at it.
I'm not psycho, just a little loopy.
*~me~*
Forget the ending, insulting my home state was really low. I'm really *beep* sick of people taking jabs at it.
are you kidding? that was the only good ending
shareI greatly enjoyed this movie. However, I have to agree with the original poster. The ending was total bull***t. I realize that this movie was about the characters transformation because of all the attention he received, as well as the conviction he felt towards the end. But come on! A huge buildup for almost two hours and we don't even get to find out who we voted for? Wasn't that the whole point? Criticize me (or the OP) if you want, but I did not like to be left hanging.
sharei'm watching the movie right now on CMT for the first time. personally, i don't think that's a reason for hating a movie. if they did that, it would seem as if there one sided, but from what I can see so far, the whole point of the movie is his relationship with his daughter even though i would have liked to know his decision, but I don't think that's that important. so far, they seem to be taking pretty good stabs at both sides so the movie is good based on neutrality although they seem to be portraying the Democrat as the only one that does not condone mudslinging.
share