Strong Movie, weak ending - The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2010) Discussion

[–] MrAgmoore 12 years ago

I didn't like Vic throwing her the keys and the "happy" ending. I wanted Danny to get away, since the other characters were not particularly likable.

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[–] mhart9 12 years ago

And you thought Danny was likable? In the beginning yea but as you see more and more of just what kind of person he is its clear that he is the worst of them.

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[–] Mousuke 11 years ago

I wanted Danny to get away, since the other characters were not particularly likable.

What?!? He was the worst of the lot!

I am glad Alice got away, the film would have been much too depressing if she had been held captive, stripped, beaten, choked and humiliated throughout the whole film and then left to die of thirst in the middle of nowehere. That wouldn't be a good ending, that would be a cruel ending. If anyone should have been locked up and left to rot it should have been Danny, he got off lightly with a quick death.

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[–] chapelanalexis 11 years ago

Vic was brutal and stunningly selfish. He dominates his so-called lover and want love in return of his brutish behavior. He would kill anyone to assure his own happiness, and has no consideration whatsoever for anyone else - see how he treats the girl. Danny is more humane, and by the middle of the film you really end up caring for him. But he turns out to be equally self-centered. Alice did nothing wrong, but has her flaws. I found the movie pretty cynical. In fact, no one seems to care about anyone else but themselves. The ending was a suitable conclusion to a film that, even if there are moments when it is deeply humane, has chose eventually to wear its cynicism like a badge: in the end, Alice runs away with the money... And *beep* the old man who is still crying for the daughter he loved (after all, he paid without hesitation)

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[–] HenryCW 11 years ago

No, Danny was the worst because he was so cruel to Alice, wanting her to die slowly while being chained in the cellar. Victor at least wanted to kill her quickly by a lethal injection. I doubt if Danny ever loved Alice or intended to reveal his identity to her later – that was forced by her pointing at him with a gun. I also doubt if he was “in love” with Victor, or just pretended to be so in order to gain his protection in prison.

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[–] therefdotcom 11 years ago

actually we know nothing about the character of the father or know for a fact that alice runs away with the money. i thought the ending was perfect. i always felt a bit of schadenfreunde and felt happy for alice when i saw that danny died of blood loss with the money he was willing to betray everybody who he told he'd love for, next to him. also, so much for him being "likeable". ^^

"laugh and the world laughs with you. Weep and you weep alone." - Dae-su Oh

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[–] carjones51 9 years ago

Danny was a piece of trash. Thankfully, he and Vic died and Alice got away.

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[–] Ithilfaen 7 years ago

I wanted Danny to get away, since the other characters were not particularly likable.

lol because Danny was likable? He hatched up a plan to get someone he knew (and professed to love but obviously he didn't know the meaning of the word) to get his hands on her dad's money, roping in a poor dude who was in love with him, with plans to get rid of him and escape with the money (and the girl, if he is to be believed about anything)

A sociopath and a user. Nice guy.

If you mean he was the only one you could relate to, then say that.

For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco

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[–] zereiro 12 years ago

Yeah, thought so too. I really wanted it to end the British style (with Danny walking away, leavin Alice to rot along with Vic's body) rather than the US style (the "happy" ending). Maybe there's a Director's Cut version with an alternative ending, but probably not...
Really liked the movie as a whole though, quiet mesmerizing.

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[–] tbs1 12 years ago

And what did she do to deserve being locked up in a basament in an abandonded building.
Maybe someone should do the same with you.

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (4524359) 11 years ago

"Maybe someone should do the same with you."

Because surely he deserves that from the post he made on imdb?
Doesn't exactly make you better than him now does it.

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[–] michahardy 11 years ago

yesss. I wanted them all dead. I wanted Danny to leave Alice in there as well. I knew he would die because of his wounds...but yeah. How horrible would it be if Alice was left in there alive. :> glorious - not in real life, but I like it in movies.

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[–] Coolestmovies 11 years ago

The ending IS the title of the film, you know. It ended exactly as it should have. And it was brilliant!

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[–] rs-61 11 years ago

I agree, brilliant film, but why did he throwthe keys at her when e was dying why did he want her to get free?

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[–] Coolestmovies 11 years ago

Guess he realized there was no point in making her suffer any further. Even though he was a bad guy, he clearly had a small amount of compassion left in him. I thought that was a nice touch. Even if she went to the cops and told them about her entire ordeal -- instead of splitting with the cash -- the cops would only find the dead bodies of the kidnappers, and they'd probably impound the cash as well.

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[–] rs-61 11 years ago

Nah, I don't think he had that much compassion in him, he never gave the sligtest indication, more likely he knew he needed a doctor and she could get one, as well as the police. It was an interesting touch. A bit of a surprise. It was another surprise.

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[–] KDinCT 11 years ago

Maybe to get revenge on his lover who betrayed and killed him. He knew she could either track down Danny or finger him to the cops. No way he'd want Danny to get away with the loot while he died in the dungeon.

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[–] tbs1 11 years ago

Because if he didn´t through the keys tp her and she would have been in the basement to starve to death it would have been as if the director had appeared in front of the camera and said fack you to the audience.

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[–] Ithilfaen 7 years ago

I agree, brilliant film, but why did he throwthe keys at her when e was dying why did he want her to get free?

He was just not an *beep* unlike Danny. He never meant to kill her. When he found out she could identify him, he freaked out but he could have killed her then and there and he didn't.

For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco

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[–] son_of_cheese_messiah 11 years ago

Yes I agree the ending was weak for a number of reasons. First it was not believable that Danny would live Alice alive given the circumstances. Either she would get free and endanger his escape (he was now a cold blooded murderer as well as a kidnapper) or she would die slowly of dehydration. Nor did I believe Vic's final act of compassion.
Secondly, far from being a feel-good ending, having Alice drive off with the money made her look like a mean-spirited person. Her parents had raised money to save her, and now she is taking it and presumably will never make contact with them again. One can only imagine what the parents would be suffering in such a reality.
Finally it was dramatically weak to have Alice find the car at the end. I only discovered from reading wikipedia that Danny had died from his wounds. I assumed he had passed out at the wheel and crashed, something that would have been more plausible but would not have enabled Alice to drive off into the sunset.

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[–] Zerose 11 years ago

I believed Danny was willing to let her die like that. He wasn't the sort that looks at the big picture, like Vic or Alice were. He was a short-term trader. He gave or took, in accordance with his needs under immediate circumstances.

He wanted protection from Vic in prison, and was willing to use his own body to get it. He wanted compliance from Alice, and was willing to make her his partner to get it. Vic tried to take his life, which had him figuring he could Vic's life in return. He didn't need anything from Alice any more, so no point in giving her what she will want, e.g. a quick route to death rather than a slow path to death. He was also punishing her for welshing on their "deal".

I assumed Vic gave her the keys so that Danny can't escape the police after she relayed the information. A F.U. gesture from Vic to Danny, I guess? Of course, he had no idea she would find Danny dead and that she'd disappear with the money.

According to Danny and Alice's conversation, there was just her father. He had disowned her and that she hated him. There were hints that her father had neglected her to the point where she didn't care if she never saw him again. So in spite of her father giving the money, it came no surprise that she chose to disappear.

Danny was shot twice. One in his right leg and another in his left shoulder. He was literally bleeding to death, which is why Vic said "You're dying." So yes, he was already dying when he drove away from the warehouse.

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[–] huwdj 11 years ago

I have to disagree. I found it a surprisingly good film throughout. There was a good story for a good cast to get their teeth in to and for me the whole thing worked. If you want to pick holes in the logic of some scenes you probably can but whilst watching it all made sense and the 95 minute run time flew by.

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[–] stw789987 11 years ago

The way I understand the ending confrontation between Danny and Vic is that Danny has been struggling with confusion about his relationship with Vic despite being straight. I understand that Danny is going along with Vic only to betray him on this kidnapping, but the bits of background you get about them in prison, how their relationship started, and how grateful but also confused (and possibly disgusted) Danny feels about Vic suggests both the passion he's able to kiss Vic with as well as the self-revulsion and (less and less) suppressed desire to do away with Vic.

So, to me, the scene in the cellar shows that for Danny, now weak and disoriented from blood loss, the struggle has become all about getting resolution in his confusing relationship with Vic. Assuming Danny wasn't gay before prison, he shows he needs to triumph over Vic for being the dominator who's enjoyed Danny's BDSM submissive role (that is probably not sincere from Danny), and also to Danny needs to expiate the gay desire born in prison that is confusing to him after prison as he both continues to maintain is friendship/love affair with Vic AND to try to return to straight sex and desire for women. His callousness willingness to leave Alice to die slowly in the cellar shows how little his end-of-life priorities are about Alice and a possible future and how it's all about resolving Vic and his confusing past. Add to that he's pretty calculating and knows Alice is a grave risk to him, and that blood loss leaves him with reduced cognitive ability at this point.

Of course all this is assuming certain things about the Vic-Danny couple from minimal exposition in the film. For all I know, Danny could have been bi-sexual all along.

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[–] shanayneigh 10 years ago

Yeah, I didn't like the ending too. For me the perfect ending would've been with none of them getting away with it. Danny kills Vic and takes off in the car, where he succumbs to his wounds, just like in the movie.

Alice is still tied to the radiator. None of that nonsense of handing her the keys. None of the people who know where she's at can let anyone else know as they're dead. Or if you want to be Hollywoodesque about it, let it be a bit ambiguous - will or won't she reach the keys? Cut to black. Or maybe that'd be a bit too much like Inception.

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[–] ifembot 10 years ago

I hated how hollywood it was too! I can't believe so many people on here loved that about it. I thought danny should've died in the woods and can't understand how he eclipsed Vic back there and i thought Vic should've gotten away [since he had no other obstacles] and alice should've died. Sounds terrible but it's more realistic.

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[–] carjones51 7 years ago

Why did Alice deserve to die? She did nothing wrong. I don't mind an unhappy ending every once in a while. I thought WOTW should have ended on a less happy note, and AI didn't need its "happy" ending, but this movie needed one. There would have been no satisfaction in seeing poor Alice die too. She was a complete innocent. I was very happy she made it out of that crazy situation.

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[–] prplayer 8 years ago

yeah i didn't like the ending either, would have preferred if they all died

so many movies, so little time

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[–] 7 years ago

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