So, my friend thinks that the end of the movie is meant to imply that Justin Long's character is the father of the child. Did anyone else infer this from the ending? I don't agree because during the scenes in the bathroom, he makes reference to what he would do to her if given the opportunity. Thoughts?
shareNo. I think it was to imply that the whole robbery was a set-up and Louise hired him.
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I agree. It was definitely a way to show that the robbery was a set-up. I thought the movie was pretty good. But I think it would have been better if the robber nodded at Louise without Ian recognizing him as the robber. With this ending, we don't know whether he figures out that she was in on it, ends up leaving her, etc.
It would be a lot better for the audience to know she was in on it without Ian for sure knowing in my opinion.
Totally agree. Definitely a setup, but wondered why Meg Ryan looked so guilty when she saw him again. She looked almost terrified! Was it guilt because she thought she'd never see him again? If I was her, I would have smiled or smirked or something because she was able to get away with her plot. She totally put herself out there. What would you do if you were the husband? Call it even on both lies?
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totally agree with you. it didn't even occur to me that it was a set-up.
my interpretation was that they were ultimatley grateful, in a way, for the robbery because had it not happened, they would be divorced and the husband would have went off with his mistress.
Ok, first and foremost, this movie sucked. Long, boring and seen their little twist a couple thousand miles away. The fact that people STILL don't get it after the movie tells them plain and simple....that's just shocking...but those tend to be the ones that actually liked the movie...so that ends up making perfect sense.
Anyway, "If the robbery was a setup, then the director should not have made lawn boy look surprised when he sees the husband bang his head on the window."
***He looked suprised because that was part of the act. Clearly, she didnt want her husband to suspect her. Which if he just strolled up to the house, he might have figured it out eventually.
" Also, why did he need to mow the lawn at all? Why didn't he just go in to "rob" the place. Not like the mowing ruse added to his cover."
***Because the point was not for him to just rob the place. She needed to make sure that she got tied up and left with him. Had it been a real robbery, he would have robbed the place, whacked the woman upside the head (or killed her) and fled. Making him a little bit quirky and engaging him with a tied up man on the toilet made more sense that he would "hang out".
"He looks surprised again when inside the house he hears the husband scream. "
***Because 20 minutes ago, some crazy blonde woman told him that she tied her husband to the toliet and wants him to go "fake" rob the place so that she can work out her marriage. I'm not suprised that he's suprised to see this is actually true when he opens the bathroom door.
"Then lawn boy is careful when he enters the house. Why if he knew she was gone and he was tied up? "
***Again, he's not so sure about this whole thing as it was just hatched 20 minutes ago by some blonde. He's a little leary...I don't think that's far fetched....though the entire movie as a whole is definitely far fetched.
"He carefully scours the house looking at valuable things. Why? If it's a setup, just make your point with the hubby, grab the things and go. "
***In addition to whatever money she had in her wallet at that time, she said he can take anything in the house. Except her silverware. He's eyeballing the things he's going to be taking when he's done. And he couldn't just go. The point was to make this last as long as possible in order to win her husband over.
"He doesn't even want to be seen or talk with the hubby at first. He opens the bathroom door when the hubby wasn't looking and he closes it fast and goes to rob. "
***As mentioned, when he opens the door his exact thoughts are "Holy *beep* She wasn't lying! Ok, lets grab the *beep* she said I could have." Then he goes back to the guy and "acts" as if he doesn't give a *beep* Obviously, if he sat down for some therapy session, the husband would know something is up.
"He brings his buddies to drink and party? At a hired job? Not likely."
Again, if it was a real robbery, the guy wouldn't stick around. She needed him to "rob" the place as long as possible. So she told him to have a party and break *beep* to make it seem more realistic.
"She also looks quite distraught when he's about to smash the hubby's head with the toilet tank lid."
Because she told him to rough him up a bit, not smash his skull in. Which the guy probably wasn't going to do...but she wasn't so sure. More of a reflex I would say.
Although I agree with your analysis, I really liked the movie. I just LOVED it when the wife/victim duck taped that lying cheating sack to a toilet. It makes the movie all worth while to me. Revenge is sweet and although it would have been better to see the girl friend run off with the burgler I laughed out loud quite a bit in the movie and that is all I expect from a comedy.
The vast majority of movies made today are worthless crap. My god, Michael Moore is still making his trash and people are still watching it. Come on, give these people a break for such a good effort. I don't want a movie to "teach me" anything or be "up lifting" I want a movie to make me forget my crappy job, the bad ecomomy and all the bad and sad things that keep happening in our lives, for the length of a damned movie. This movie did that. That makes it a success because it did what it was meant to do for me the consumer!
I thought it was a set up when Louise failed to acknowledge how weird the situation was. Also she seemed to be unconscious for way too long to be real. Louise failed to untie herself as well. After the police left the crying was really fake and leaving the silverware was too obvious.
I do wonder if Ian would actually stay with Louise knowing what she did?
I agree with everyone that the baby was adopted.
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"If the robbery was a setup, then the director should not have made lawn boy look surprised when he sees the husband bang his head on the window."
Justin Long's character was genuinely surprised that the husband was on the toilet bowl. He couldn't have known she was planning that, as that idea came along later, after the first time the husband was tied up and tricked his wife into thinking that he had to go to the bathroom.
"wondered why Meg Ryan looked so guilty when she saw him again. She looked almost terrified! Was it guilt because she thought she'd never see him again?"
Justin Long's character said hello to her in front of her husband. She didn't want her husband to know that she knew him. That is why she looked scared and guilty and walked ahead.
Also the fact that the criminals left the silver, which we learned earlier when Louise was supposedly passed out and Ian is speaking to her, that she loved that silver set. This is a clue later which emphasizes that it was a set up.
"It would be a lot better for the audience to know she was in on it without Ian for sure knowing in my opinion."
I disagree. There are too many movies where we see it was a set up, and no one else is the wiser. I find it much more refreshing that now Ian has figured this out and now he's entrenched into the marriage with a child and it leaves us wondering how he's going to be able to come to terms with this.
In my opinion, if 15 minutes were edited out of the first 40 minutes of the movie, this would have been an even better movie.
I feel that at the end the husband realized that the wife went through all that to show and prove just how much they still loved each other. yeah she could've going about it differently (especially bc Long's character hitting Hutton a few times) but Louise had this feeling she was definitely going to lose "the love of her life" because her husband "thought" he was ready to move on w/the mistress - Louise was "desperate" the whole robbery/ordeal opened his eyes to the fact that he had always loved his wife. At the end his expression (imo) was WOW my wife went thru all of that because she loves me and I was about to make the dumbest mistake in my life by leaving her. I don't think he leaves her at the end because they finally have the baby they want and are very happy. Seems like Louise "changed" her ways that the husband wasn't happy with and he changed for the better as well. It was just a shock to his system that he saw/heard and/or recognized Justin Long's voice at the end like that - I think Hutton played that "shocked" but understood look very well - Louise reminded him of what they would've lost out on if he were to leave w/Sara and not give their marriage another chance; clearly in the end they were so giddy w/happiness bc they rekindled their love and adopted a baby together ... people thinking that Ian would leave after figuring it out (that's if he really did) are way off, I think he loves his wife and saw just how much she truly loved him that she would do anything to save their marriage. I don't believe at all he would leave his wife and baby - again I don't condone what she did but I don't condone what Ian did either -cheating on his wife for over a year and then planning on just writing a GOOD-BYE note after 13 yrs of marriage: IAN and LOUISE both were at fault and did hurtful things to each other but at least they were fixable in the end.
shareI know he figured it out and I know she was in on it. Pretty obvious.
This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.
yup...just saw this and most certainly that was what i got out of it. i couldn't figure out if they adopted or not. perhaps i missed that part. but obviously very happy. the interesting thing is the movie ended right where it should and timothy hutton had that strange look on his face...wonder if the marriage would survive that kind of suspision or setup?
shareThere are alot of theories on the ending.
In the movie he said his biggest problem was that she was always in denial.
So that would make sense her reaction in the end.
What if Louise had been having a fling with Lawn Boy all along? So yes, she probably staged the entire robbery with him. After all, Lawn Boy didn't show up until Louise left to go to town. Also, the family silver was one of the only items the thieves left behind. I wouldn't be surprised if Lawn Boy was also the father of the child. Hmmmmm.
shareIan and Louise talk about adopting a baby, so I assumed they could not have one of their own. I think the ending shows Lawn Boy nodding to Louise, as though she hired him to scare her husband into figuring out that he still loved her. She's also the super woman control freak type, so she probably took care of hiring the lawn care guy and knew him from that.
shareI knew she was in on it....she was just too controlling to not let her marriage go and she was gone quite a long time just to go get some food.
I bet that was her last ditch effort to save her marriage and alot of the things Justin Long's character said was about Louise in a positive light as he had rehearsed what he was supposed to say to Hutton's character.
For Example.... He said what a great body she had and even went as far as toucher her boobies which got Hutton angry. Also...he said he failed at life since he couldnt' make his marriage work, which is failing on a major promise. But.... since Hutton never saw his face, I don't know why he'd look puzzled at the end...except that a Justin said. "hey" to Louise and he has a very unique voice....perhaps he'd never forget Justin's voice. Maybe answered my own question there...hehe.
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Good catch about Long's character consistently saying positive things about Louise. I also agree that the ending implies she had planned the robbery with the lawn boy (though to think the baby is his might be a stretch).
One other thing I noticed is that we never see lawn boy attack Louise - we see the fishbowl being smashed on the ground and we hear a lot of screaming and shouting. At first I thought it might be because the filmmakers deemed it too "dark" to show a man attacking a woman but now I think it's to leave it ambiguous as to how Louise was "knocked out" in the first place. She was probably just pretending to be unconscious and heard Ian's whole speech about their wedding and everything else.
I don't really know how to feel about this ending. On one hand, it did force Ian to realize he still loved Louise, but on the other, it demonstrates a very insidious level of manipulation on Louise's part.
I thought she had hired him too, but then when he drags her in I figured I may have been wrong. However the ending proves I was indeed right.
She was clever alright. A dire situation would have made her husband change his mind.
If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all
I think it was a set up also. Important things to note though: Justin's tattoo on his neck which Hutton saw (and could recognize at the end) and Meg had time to send Justin to the house, Justin allowed Bell to keep her cellphone. Conspiracy to ensure reconciliation.
But it could've just been Justin recognizing them and saying hey without thinking of why he recognized them...
He saw enough of his face, and that big ol' star tattoo on his neck was enough in itself.
This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.
Everything in the movie points to it being a set up by Louise. Let's count the ways --
From the moment she arrived at the house, her whole attitude is fake innocent. Any other woman would be suspicious that her husband had strewn rose petals all over the place, but wasn't expecting his wife.
Lawn boy shows up oh so conveniently just after Louise goes into town for food.
When Louise returns to the house, her confrontation with lawn boy is entirely off camera. We just see the fishbowl smash and hear her screams. It's all an act.
When lawn boy drags Louise into the bathroom, apparently unconscious, and tapes her up, the husband begins his long, tearful confession that he really loves her. Supposedly she is knocked out and not hearing it, but the camera shows close ups of her face. She does not look unconscious. She's hearing it all.
When husband said he hoped the crooks would not take the heirloom silver set, a red flag went up and I said, they won't. They didn't.
The only question is, how did Louise find out about the affair? And how did she know hubby was at the house a day early, preparing to fly to Paris in the morning with his girlfriend.
What if Louise had been having a fling with Lawn Boy all along?
I definitely got the impression that she hired the lawn guy to hold them all hostage. The way lawn guy kept going on about Timothy Hutton being a failure and keeping a promise. At the time I thought it was a little strange that this guy would even care, but looking back it's something I'm sure she told him to say. The ending look of unease she had when she saw him again just sealed it for me.
Since adoption was bought up earlier in the film, I'm pretty sure the kid was adopted.
Mecca
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The ending would suggest that Louise did set up the whole thing and as for Hutton, i would think that what stood out during the entire robbery was the tattoo on Justin Longs neck.... perhaps what he noticed while passing him at such close quarters???
shareAlso,
I didn't see anyone mention this, but unless someone like the LAWN boy is incredibly intuitive AND can think very quickly on his feet (I didn't get this impression), then I would find it mighty suspicious that he would use wording like "you promise someone the moon"....How convenient is it that he chose those particular words when quite obviously the word promise alone meant something very special to Louise.
As a side note, I want to say how thoroughly I enjoyed this movie. Not for the content necessarily, but, after having been divorced twice now, it's more of a reminder...a reminder of what I would like to actually have in a woman, a sense of willing to go to such lengths for someone she cares that deeply for.
I agree, she probably hired him. And also, just before she leaves to get the groceries there is that scene where she's sitting at the table looking at a list of ways to make her husband love her again, and everything is crossed off...? Because everything she already tried didn't work. But then when the robber arrives he looks confused when he hears the husband banging his head on the window. It doesn't look like it was a part of his plan, if he had one.
shareYep, the scam seemed obvious (I suspected since the wife came in and we didn't see him subdue her, we were seeing most everything from the husband's perspective):
* The husband tells the wife that nothing but an "act of God" happening in the next few hours would change his mind.
* She goes out, stares at a crossed out list entitled "how to make Ian fall back in love with me".
* She joyfully tells him she is going out to get food to cook him a romantic dinner (as if that was an act of god or something that would change his mind)
* And then the lawn care boy makes his appearance and takes over. Yet, he is careful to cover his face almost immediately. If he had been from the "regular" lawn service, it would not have made a difference if he covered his face (ie, they would know who he was unless he had already decided to kill him, which would also negate the need to hide his identity): we knew from the beginning that he wasn't on the up and up.
Furthermore, when lawn boy leaves the bathroom (after bringing Sarah in), he kind of left them the means to escape: he smashed the mirror. If Sarah didn't bring up her cell phone, I'm sure that Louise would have "found" a mirror shard and cut the tape...
What was frustrating was the rubbing it in our faces when the cops were the (the cutlery and not having a lawn service)...
No it is nothing to do with it being a set up.
Lawn boy was attracted to Ryan, he made a couple of comments to this affect through out the film. He passes her in the street and because e found her attractive and isn't that bright he says hi. Thats what guys do to pretty girls. He left it at that as he was with his girlfriends at the time.
That is all it was Lawn boy acknowledging a pretty girl. Ryan's husband at the point thinks to himself "I recognise that guy from somewhere"
Thats it nothing more to it than that, no set up, nothing.
It was most certainly a set-up! The guy was never a lawn boy-- hence and unmarked van and his arrival a month early. Meg Ryan's character, as a DA, had access to lots of unsavory types-- convicts and petty offenders. She hired him (and possibly his friends) to do the robbery and tape her hands and feet to create sympathy in her husband. As has been mentioned, the audience never saw her get hit, and she bore no cuts, bruises or physical signs of a struggle.
The greeting between Meg Ryan and Justin Long's characters on the street at the end was a very clear reference to the fact that they knew each other. His face had been covered during the robbery so that Timothy Hutton's character wouldn't recognize him if he ever saw him again. It may have been the tattoos on the neck or the voice, but there was a flash of recognition in Hutton's eyes at the end. He realized what his wife had done.
And the baby was adopted. There was no affair between Meg Ryan and Justin Long's characters.
"Why don't you stop annoying people?"
"Oh, I'm sorry-- HEY!"
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@nixarie It's not that hard to setup all these little things especially if you're a successful and smart LAWYER...she could've called the guy while at home and told him what to do to make the crime look as real as possible, she goes to the grocery store, comeback and bang the guy is already there, exactly in the same day and hour that she duct taped her husband, how perfect is that? Also him smashing the mirror was a BIG CLUE, he gave her a way to remove the duct tape, he wasn't going to smash the husband's head he was just bluffing and he was careful entering the house because she could be a cop waiting to arrest him or something, after he sees the guy he knows the job is real and he plays the part. The friends drinking beer,etc are just part of the scheme to make it believable.
AND being smart she knew that something could go wrong so she could've called her assistant, told her about the plan, sent her the guy's identity and told her that if she didn't called by the next day to call the cops.
There are no holes in the plot, everything looks believable, that's why it was a GOOD plan.
"No it is nothing to do with it being a set up.
Lawn boy was attracted to Ryan, he made a couple of comments to this affect through out the film. He passes her in the street and because e found her attractive and isn't that bright he says hi. Thats what guys do to pretty girls. He left it at that as he was with his girlfriends at the time.
That is all it was Lawn boy acknowledging a pretty girl. Ryan's husband at the point thinks to himself "I recognise that guy from somewhere"
Thats it nothing more to it than that, no set up, nothing."</i>
LOL, this is so funny because guys don't usually say hi to pretty girls when they are with their girlfriends even if they are not that bright. It was obvious that he had known her in some capacity from before so even if it wasn't a setup he did at least know her before the robbery. However, it was a setup.</b>
No, not the father, but here ae some forensic clues to support a setup:
The non stolen silverware.
Use of word "promise" and talk of failed marriage--lawyer talk, not gardener lingo.
Louise's face as she was dragged unconscious into the room. Unconscious people do not smile, even slightly. Their jaws are relaxed and they gape like trout. Not pretty acrtresses.
The duct tape on both of the women's hands were not sufficient to hold them. The tape was applied between the wrist and the first thumb joint. A ten-year old could easily get out of the tape by 1) outstretching their hands to arms length 2)turning thumbs inward and down 3) briskly bringing the taped hands upward from belly to chin in one motion. No duct tape could have held up under that move.
Also, there ware MANY things in the bathroom that could have ben used to flay the tape and pull it off. If worse comes to worse, they culd chew each other's tape off.
"When you throw dirt, you lose ground" --old proverbshare
Those were exactly my thoughts: why don't they use anything to cut through the duct tape (teeth would have been perfect or they coud have smashed the mirror themselves). I mean, how hard can it be? After the ending it becomes obvious why Louise had no intention of "escaping". However, I found it quite strange and annoying why Sarah did not do anything...
sharewhy are we even talking about this?
of course it was a setup. "the robber" struggling with Louise was never shown downstairs. that says enough already.
Also she had made a list of things she could do to make Ian love her again...they were all scratched out, as in failed. Then it shows her thinking...shortly after she left to town.hint hint.
and besides that the whole ductape thing was silly.
"toilet boy" Ian wasn't tight up good,nor were the girls
and their mouths were free, ever heard of teeth? , twist and turn? especially "toilet boy"...look at his hands attached to his legs! Sloppy job :)
also later on there is plenty of mirror glas on the floor from the robber smashing it earlier
you should see this movie as a stageplay and don't think too much about the tiny wrong details/goofs
I knew it was a set up when he dragged her into the bathroom.
But the end when he nodded at her could have been done a lot better imo.
Still, not a bad movie. I'd give it a 6/10.
why are we even talking about this?
of course it was a setup. "the robber" struggling with Louise was never shown downstairs. that says enough already.
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