MovieChat Forums > The Paperboy (2012) Discussion > Fell Apart at the Very End (Spoiler Aler...

Fell Apart at the Very End (Spoiler Alert)

posted 11 years ago by ChefChic
14 replies | jump to latest

Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, Nicole Kidman, John Cusack, and Macy Gray all delivered outstanding performances. Cusack was a particularly effective creepy guy.
Scripts aren't perfect, actors aren't perfect, movies aren't perfect, but I thought this one was particularly well acted.
I try not to over analyze things, I rely on other people on the boards to do that for me :)
I am surprised after reading the boards about this movie that no one has mentioned the one thing that was really obvious to me. This movie just fell apart at the end. It was obvious that Ward had a death wish and Jack was a love struck idiot where Charlotte was concerned. All of the characters were damaged goods, some more than others.
Although Ward wanted to be out of his misery and Jack wanted, well, whatever it is that young, love struck men want, I think both of the characters had enough smarts to not go into the swamp armed with nothing but a bourbon bottle.
And worse than that, it was like they ran out of film or something at the very end. It never shows how Jack goes from being unarmed and boat-less, with psycho swamp guy running around, to having his brother and Charlotte's bodies in the boat, while Anita's narrative is saying that Hillary went down for the murders. I mean if they would have showed Jack sneaking up behind Hillary and hitting him over the head with a tree branch, or something, anything.
I think this was a really great movie that completely fell apart in the last few minutes.

[–] crooked_spoons 11 years ago

I figured while Hilary was out looking for Jack, Jack was sneaking back to the house and collecting to bodies. The real question is, how in the hell did he have the time to maneuver several hundred pounds of dead weight into a boat in such a short time. Did it fall apart at the end for me? No, not really but the end was certainly a little rushed. I wouldn't have died if there were fifteen more minutes of movie to actually flesh things out a bit more.

__________
Everybody needs love. Have you held your hostage today?

[–] mystee_reyne 11 years ago

I knew from the moment Anita handed Jack that letter, things were going to end badly.

[–] trinibabe2 11 years ago

My question is, how did he not get attacked by the crocs?

[–] miss-sussex 11 years ago

I think the performance made the film for me. I didn’t think Zac Efron could do serious acting. He is well on his way to greatness . Yeah the film was a little flawed at the end , maybe even a little impractical. My question would be would a more obvious logic of the circumstance towards the end of the film make it a great film. Like what if Jack and Ward character went in with guns blazing killing Hillary character and Jack and/or Ward was accused of murder of both Hillary and Charlotte thus making a kind of circle of misery that was really started by Charlotte.

[–] ChefChic 11 years ago

I like your ending better.

[–] Noone222 8 years ago

His first movie he played a retard in a drama role, he's always been a good actor it was just easy to take Disney money.

[–] Noone222 8 years ago

One of his first movies. Sorry.

[–] truetexian 10 years ago

Don't you mean alligators, not crocs?

[–] maximusveritas 11 years ago

Yeah, it was flawed before that, but the ending was just mind-numbingly stupid. I don't care how drunk or suicidal these guys were. For them to go there unarmed and then just shout Charlotte's name like that was beyond stupid. And then Jack just stood there while his brother was killed by Hillary only to run away afterwards?

[–] ms_jade_li 10 years ago

Agreeing with your assessment of Ward having a death wish and Jack being lovestruck, add in a bunch of alcohol and Jack's knowledge that the letter had been waiting for him for a MONTH before he got it, it is understandable, in their drunken, compromised minds, that they went into the swamp for Charlotte with no plan or protection. Going in as such is a wonderful way to build tension in the plot.

Where they skipped over how Jack was able to get the bodies into the boat and back to town isn't any big deal. Jack showed he knew how to get around in the swamp with his swimming ability. It's easy to imagine VanWetter passing out and...

Where I thought it got a little fuzzy was the scene with the wife? of that other creepy relative talking with Charlotte about taking on three kids? As Jack and Ward were headed toward VanWetter's house I thought they'd not only be facing him but the creep that gutted the alligator.

[–] BigRich 10 years ago

I might be well off base, but I figured the whole movie was being told from Anita's point of view, right? At the beginning, she is being interviewed and the story unfolds. Since she is telling the story mostly second hand (as she was only in certain scenes, so Jack may have told her about everything else) then this would explain how absurd the ending turned out.

Everyone is pointing out how they came to the house in the swamp unarmed and whatnot, but no one mentions the rest of the clan that was seen there before. Did they all move out when Hillary came home? (Naked lady, crazy son with the ax, the Uncle, kids, pigs, etc.) See, I think little details like this falls through the crack when the story is told from someone that didn't witness the events (like Anita).
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Every person that served can be called a veteran, but not every veteran can be called a Marine.

[–] clickbait 10 years ago

I think u are right about the whole thing BigRich with the Anitas View of it all, but about the house being empty when they came for Kidman is because it was Cusacks own house and not at his uncles...when they visit his uncle earlier in the movie, he says Cusacks doesnt live with them and has his own house.

~If the realistic details fails, the movie fails~

[–] HeywoodJablomy 9 years ago

I agree with you about the end seeming rushed. Unlike many on this board, I was well engaged with the story from the beginning, but that last act left a lot of questions. Still a very enjoyable movie overall.

[–] bruno-32 7 years ago

This movie 'sucked'..the acting amateurish, the southern accents awfully done, and the one thing that holds true...there really is 'white trash', especially in some of those southern states.