MovieChat Forums > Boy A (2008) Discussion > the end

the end

posted 11 years ago by Thrillseeker303
6 replies | jump to latest

spoilers

So I assume Jack commits suicide in the end by jumping off some bridge into the water.
I personally don't think this would kill him. Or am I missing something here?

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[–] maurine7 11 years ago

Yes, he commits suicide.

I was disappointed by the end. I think Terry could have called Jack even if he didn't have his mobile or at least gone round to his place if he couldn't remember the number.

I think Jack in a lot of ways had a stunted growth. He seemed so childlike at times.

I guess Jack thought he'd lost his job, his gf, his anonymity--how was he ever going to have a life? I don't understand why he didn't call Protective Services or why they didn't come to him. I felt like I had wasted my time watching this movie as it wasn't a satisfying ending.

I do think Philip was a menace and without his negative influence, or with more positive influences, Jack would not have killed. He wasn't strong enough to say no or to help.

[–] Screen_Queen 10 years ago

He definitely was stunted. That's why he had an almost childlike wonder about him, a certain 'innocence' (which strikes me as ironic as I'm realising it now). It's the same thing with Daniel Holden in Rectify, amazing show if you haven't seen it.

Even if he was put in Protective Services, Jack could never have a normal life again. He had one shot at a second chance and once his face was discovered and put out there, it was irrevocably ruined. That's why to me, the ending with him committing suicide from the tower was the only right ending, and why it's so powerful.

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[–] PeterMarkoff 10 years ago

Well he is European union citizen, he can move pretty much anywhere in Europe where nobody out of reach UK tabloids would recognize him ever without hiding even with using real name. Nobody really cares outside England about some ordinary crimes.

As for suicide - it's pretty clear he commited suicide, even if impact would not kill him we don't know if he knows how to swim (not sure how common is this between young students like was Eric in UK, although I guess at that age pretty much everyone should be able to swim), but to me it was very clear ending and as other things I don't need to have it served on silver plate, same as showing murder scene which is in the end irrelevant.

Peter Markoff
The best - Fight Club, American Beauty & Falling Down.

[–] tohu 11 years ago

Actually, we don't know if he kills himself or not.
The last scene shows him standing there on the pier (it's not a bridge, its Blackpool pier). But we don't see him jump, so he may have changed his mind. Or as you say the fall didn't kill him.

Maybe the novel explains whether he jumps or not. I don't know - haven't read it. But in the film, its not made clear, either way.

_____________

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- Quint, Jaws.

[–] scottieweiss 11 years ago

The novel clarifies that he kills himself.

[–] Thrillseeker303 8 years ago

Still, suicide by drowning seems like a bad way to go.
There's many other, less agonizing ways to do it.

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