Proof he doesn't commit suicide in the end?

I think he gave away the valuable records and baseball because he realized their friendship was worth more than the money they were worth... My thoughts are that he stopped drinking and got together with Delilah. But I'm one of those people who enjoy the "super happy endings".




"Books and movies are apples and oranges. They're both delicious, but they don't taste the same."

Could go either way, i think the director wanted it like that.

The look on his face when he says goodbye to the kid without saying as much meant a lot more than just 'I'll see you next week'. They were social and that could have continued if he had intentions to do so.
Then he gave away his last meaningful possessions to the last few people that he had meaningful relationships with -near strangers no less (hard to remember the movie takes place over the course of three to four days).

I was expecting him to put the house up for sale, that would have made it glaringly obvious he was moving on with his life. When that didnt happen, and he got the picture from his neighbor with the quote on it, i thought it was her understanding the hopelessness he felt and tried to reach him in some non-obtuse manner that would actually resonate with his character.

I think the question is not 'did he off himself during the credits', but 'was he /going to/ off himself during the credits'. The way the movie concluded is a fork in the road for the viewer to decide which direction was taken. Did the sentiment in the picture pull him from the brink, or was it not enough? The last fifteen minutes almost seemed like too much to me, with his life getting that much worse after he had began making so much progress (with so little time remaining in the film to somehow make things work out nicely). It fit better for me after seeing the film's conclusion, but like I said before, I think it was all a setup for the viewer to decide.

Either way, this was a much better movie than I was expecting. Reminds me of 'The Weatherman' in that it was marketed as a regular comedy, though it was actually a thoughtful and well-made film that either happily surprised or greatly disappointed.

I think that the interpretation really kind of says more about the person assuming it. I personally think that him giving away he things is more of him coming to terms with a part of his life being over and moving on.

I never thought of the suicide angle until I came here to the message boards.

i would offer as tangential evidence that he does not kill himself the fact that he decides not buy any alcohol on his way home from the police station.

i would also add that the movie seemed to show that his wife wasn't all that good for him anyways, that he was living his life for her (the fish, the japanese deco of the house, etc), and that it actually wasn't all bad for him to move on. i also got the sense she was the reason they never had kids, since we see that he is actually quite good with kids (the high school girl tells him he's a natural)

i believe the movie is titled "everything must go" because in order for him to really address his alcoholism and get a grasp on sobriety, something we are told no therapy or medication was ever of much use, he needed to leave his past entirely, which included both an alcoholic father (hence getting rid of the records) and an alcoholic wife (hence leaving the house and everything else). everything must go for him to really change.

and i think the movie gives us a sense that he is in fact ready for a new life, a new life of sobriety, which i think will include the girl from high school. i think he connects the photo with the what the high school girl told him, that's he's a genuinely good person, and now actually believes it, and thus believes his life has worth and should go on.

he may have lost a friend and a wife, but he's gained three new, genuine friends.

so i think the movie ends on a hopefully note. but that could very easily just be what i want to believe. i admit i was a little concerned that movie left the ending open to interpretation. i really want a hopeful ending for the guy.

FWIW the last of the deleted scenes on the DVD is titled "Nick's New Apartment." A woman shows him a nice, but empty, apartment and tells him about furniture options. The scene ends with him looking out the window as if he were wondering what was next in his life. I don't know if this was the original ending or not, but it could have been. Also, in the final scene where Samantha gives him the polaroid photo, she has affixed a fortune (from a cookie) that reads "Everything is not yet lost." I think this is supposed to be a bittersweet yet upbeat ending where he has already hit his low point and is now bouncing back. I don't think he commits suicide.

Nobody gets to be a cowboy forever.

[deleted]

How would someone prove something didn't happen after the end of a movie?

That is impossible. But I got no inkling he was suicidal.

Do we have any proof he didn't get abducted by aliens?? Cmon, its a movie. You see what the director wants you to see and u make your own conclusions. There is no PROOF.