MovieChat Forums > Columbus Circle (2013) Discussion > Absurd ending

Absurd ending

posted 11 years ago by jackmronner
19 replies | jump to latest

I suppose we are to believe: that Ribisi gave her the nod to fly away, implicitly complicit in allowing the world to believe that Amy Smart was the missing heiress turned murderess? And that his partner would go along with it at the risk of his career? That her apartment would not be covered in her DNA and fingerprints as opposed to just a few of Smart's? That Smart had no fingerprints on record to blow her criminal past? That Amy would not immediately insist that she wasn't Abigail/Justine? That no one in the building would recognize her as the brand new tenant, not the 12 yr recluse? C"mon. And how was Selma going to fly away without her passport. Surely her name, splashed over every TV show, would be recognized if she were to use her own? Or was she going to use Amy's? If she just wanted to skip town, why not just have Ribisi have Amy arrested at the bank, quietly and without, for a few days, having her name and true identity brought up. And was she even sure that her true identity would be revealed? She could have just been a mega rich bitch whom they were seeking to victimize. Made no sense at all. It would also have been simpler to plant a surveillance "key stroke" program on her computer to get the passowrd, instead of going thru the whole murder charade. Plus, if Selma could transfer all the funds out by computer, why didn't Amy since she already had the password. Made no sense at all.

[–] Jakealope 11 years ago

Yeah, the ending was a pretty lame contrivance that I had trouble with it too. Obviously there are still going to be people who could ID the heiress. It would be just as easy for the detective to arrest Lillian as is and yet leave Abigail time to get away. After all, Lillian's partner at least was a known criminal, who also murdered the doctor.

[–] Tyler-A-Arse 11 years ago

It was one of the most ludicrous endings I've ever seen.

[–] yurenchu 11 years ago

Yeah, I too didn't buy the ending, and you raise some very good points. However, I want to comment on one thing:

That no one in the building would recognize her as the brand new tenant, not the 12 yr recluse?

Nobody knew what the recluse looked like, except for five people. From those five, three were dead (the doctor, the bellhop, and Jason Lee), one passed herself as being the recluse (Amy Smart), and one is the cop (Ribisi). That the cop would simply let the real Abigail/Justine walk away I find far-fetched too, but on second thought I'm not sure if he ever got a good look at her in her dark apartment. I could be wrong though.

EDIT: Oh wait, correction: even the bellhop didn't know what Abigail looked like, she only communicated with him through letters. But he is dead anyway.

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[–] therefdotcom 11 years ago

why wouldn't the cop let her walk away. either he figured anything out, then it was justified, even though not justified by the law OR he only figured out parts of the puzzle and then he would still have no reason to believe that the person he knew as abygayl would have been involved in any crime.

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

[–] yurenchu 11 years ago

The cop doesn't know who killed Charles (Jason Lee). Moreover, they would find the bloodpack on Charles' body, and the murder weapon with Abigail's (not Lilian's) fingerprints on it. Although Lillian posed herself as Abigail at the bank, her real identity would come out eventually. So the cop would at least want Abigail as a witness, in order to figure out who was responsible for what. There was no hint in the rest of the movie that this cop was willing to step beside the law and give anyone a free pass.

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[–] therefdotcom 11 years ago

yeah, but not at that moment. all the cop knows at that point is that the old dude is dead and that lillian is scamming abigail. he doesn't even know about charle's death. he is on his way of rushing to the bank, to arrest lillian. you are right, sooner or later they would want to interview abigail, but at that point she would have most likely already left the country. just imagine the timeline from that point on: lillian gets arrested, interviewed ... etc etc. abigail will have closed the door behind her, so it would take the police until they search through HER appartment for clues to find charles, which could take days, possibly weeks. remember, at that point there is no suspicion at all that abigail would have done a crime. as far as they know, she is only a victim. yeah, i guess you are right. there is no clue that he would haven given her a free pass, so with everything i just wrote i guess it is safe to say that he only knows parts of the truth. also, it is likely that lillian gets sentenced for the murder. imaginne the time when the cop called abigails appartment and talked to lillian and then imagine the ETD they will establish.

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

[–] yurenchu 11 years ago

all the cop knows at that point is that the old dude is dead and that lillian is scamming abigail. he doesn't even know about charle's death. he is on his way of rushing to the bank, to arrest lillian.

All the cop knows at that point is that the old dude (Beau Bridges) is dead, but he doesn't know for sure who killed him; could be Lilian, could also be Abigail. As far as I remember, the cop has no proof that Lilian was scamming Abigail, all he had was Abigail's word for it and a suspicion. The way I interpreted the end scene was that the cops had previously gone to Abigail's apartment and found Charlie's dead body, before they went to the bank; I could be wrong about that though. (What would have been the reason for the cops to arrest Lilian at the bank, if they didn't have Charlie's dead body yet, and Lilian exited the bank without any money?)

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[–] therefdotcom 11 years ago

yes and no.

cops knows:
- old guy is dead
- lilian answered the phone pretending to be abigail

well, we know that abigail was an alias name and that she was hiding. she informed the press that her "real self", that they have been searching for would be at that specific time at that specific bank, that's why they waited for lilian. there was undoubtly carnage at the bank and also abigail was for sure already considered as a "missed item" by the police. one of a reasons, but most likely the latter, was the reason why the cop went to the bank in the first place. also, abigail might have called the cop up, providing him with some true or false infos. that would explain the cop nodding towards abigail. remember, when she started phonic people up, she undoubtly had a plan. we don't know exactly what she did. when we last see her, she is on her way to leave the country, so what we don't see at least includes calling someone up to get false papers, do the bank trick ... etc etc etc. who knows what she has set in motion? you might be right. she might as well has told the cop about the scam and he also might have already found the dead body in the appartment.

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

[–] edbevrr 10 years ago

Didn't the cop go to Abigaile's Apartment, therefore saw her face? Also wasn't there a photo of Abigale ( as a child)on the old lady's nightstand? I really did enjoy Selma Blair's acting.

[–] maalea 9 years ago

The cop never did get a good look at her in the Apt. She stayed mostly in the shadows.

[–] spookyrat1 9 years ago

... abigail might have called the cop up, providing him with some true or false infos. that would explain the cop nodding towards abigail. remember, when she started phonic people up, she undoubtly had a plan. we don't know exactly what she did.

She tells Lillian in the bank she's phoned lots of people (we assume the cops) and made lots of moves. Even if the cops were happy she wasn't directly involved in any of the murders on her say so, I doubt whether they'd just let her wander off, as they appear to do, with not even the perfunctory "Don't leave town".🐭

[–] melnar1 11 years ago

By "the murder weapon" I assume you are referring to whatever object Abigail used to stab Charlie in the back with (it wasn't clearly visible), and not the gun, which had been loaded with blanks.

[–] lulupalooza 9 years ago

Don't forget the old woman, across the hall, who was killed to make room for the con-couple. She was Abigail's childhood nanny as indicated by the hula-hoop photo that Charlie (Jason Lee) took after killing her, and the detectives' revelation that doctor and his corporation had purchased the apartment for the former nanny.

In all likelihood, it was to ensure Abigail had someone else that she could trust to be there for her emotionally (and as a comfort) while continuing to keep the secret. But they never elaborated on the relationship further...so maybe the nanny had no idea that Abigail was living right across the hall?

Good gawd. It is a poorly written script...and, yes, the ending is absurd for many reasons.

"Don't get chumpatized!" - The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

[–] !!!deleted!!! (46827070) 10 years ago

Here's what I think the cop was thinking: "I'm going to pretend I didn't see her. I know the identity switch will come out, but I'm going to give her a head start (I know I'm going to have to officially pursue her), because she deserves the chance." In fact it sets up a sequel (that will never be made) perfectly.

[–] lebellue 9 years ago

Ribisi is the only one who knew what Abigail looked like. His partner just thought that she was an attractive lady who for some reason had locked eyes with Sibisi then walked on by.

You can see a very puzzled look on the partners face, but he doesn't glance back at her when she walks away. Ribisi turns around and watches her leave.

Ribisi had fallen in love with Abigail, a bit, when he first met her (and possibly visa versa...notice the way she sniffs the teacup where Ribisi's lips had been) and he sympathized with her. This is why he let her go.

BUT there are still many confusing things about the end!

Had Ribisi been to Abigail's apt and seen the body? Very unlikely...Possibly when Abigail was on the phone with him she quickly said to him "Lillian is at the bank to cash out my account" and then hung up quickly to go to her computer and take the money out of her account. That's how he knew to go to the bank to capture Lillian. If he did head to Abigail's apt after talking with her he couldn't have gotten in without a search warrant unless he thought her life was in danger.

Once Ribisi got to the bank and saw Lillian being mistaken for Abigail he would arrest Lillian. He wouldn’t disclose that he had just seen Abigail and it would probably take awhile for the police to discover that Abigail had disappeared from her apartment. Once they got into her apt and found the body, Abigail would possibly already be on an airplane….The search for Abigail would start soon after that…It was obvious that she was the victim here, and actually that stabbing would be considered self defense. Still they would have to try to find her.

This is how I interpret it and I think it makes sense...Also read my post about, Lonnigan, the old lady who was killed at the beginning if you are confused about her connection to everything.

[–] BlueeRain 9 years ago

Considering it is fiction: He knew she didn't kill the guy because Lillian answered the phone pretending to be her. (Even though she did kill him of course). So sure, absurd, but he had the perp and it wasn't Abigail. So why not?

Nobody saw Abigail...at all. She lived in the penthouse which nobody except penthouse tenants & the concierge had access to. Her rent was paid under the door. EDIT: He even says, "Every Day and night at a specific time she leaves a note under the door. I am the only one in the building who communicates with her - Food, clothing, you name it, I deliver it; I leave it in the hallway, I knock, I leave. She never goes out; ever".

The fingerprints would be odd but once they found out the non Lillian prints belonged to Justine they would just think maybe Lillian killed her long ago. Then Lillian took over her apartment and was pretending to be Abagail pretending to be Justine.

It's a long shot but once they figured out the guy killed the old lady and Beau Bridges they would know Lillian was guilty because she was accessing Abigail's account red handed.

[–] lulupalooza 9 years ago

The old lady across the hall had been her childhood nanny. So there is a chance that she was the other person who had secret interactions with Abigail that the concierge would not have been privy to. The doctor who had placed the nanny in the apartment, knew she was Abigail's nanny and must have told Charlie/Lillian, because Charlie takes the hula-hoop photo of Abigail off the night stand immediately following the elderly woman's murder...in order to suppress any connection to Abigail upon the detectives' investigation of the death.

"Don't get chumpatized!" - The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

[–] Noone222 9 years ago

It doesn't matter if Amy smarts character is found out not to be the heiress, she just needed a quick get away. I am sure she has back up passports and IDs.

[–] 9 years ago

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