MovieChat Forums > Ma part du gâteau (2011) Discussion > The Ending... spoiler, spoiler, spoiler....

The Ending... spoiler, spoiler, spoiler.....

posted 12 years ago by magnoliaspringsal
11 replies | jump to latest

Spoiler, spoiler, spoiler... do not read this until after you've seen the movie.

I found this 1 hour and 48 minute movie entertaining for 1 hour and 38 minutes. I thought the ending was just plain stupid. Now, it was obvious from the outset that he would find out where she had worked and she would find out that it was he who closed them down. The point of the movie might have been what each character learns or takes away from the interaction.

I watch French movies with good reason and I was not expecting a Hollywood ending. However, if the director wanted to make a point on morality, be it personal, business or financial mores, there was plenty of opportunity. Surely, though, it could have been done in a less out-of-character, non-sensical manner.

The female lead had been the bastion of hard-working, independent mothers who had done what was necessary to provide for her family. She is the one with the heart and the compassion for 138 minutes... but then becomes Bonnie (as in Bonnie and Clyde) in the last 10 minutes????

I wasn't expecting them to ride off into the sunset together but neither was I expecting the wacko ending that this film has. It's almost like they spliced in the last ten minutes of a different movie.

[–] filmfancy 12 years ago

I totally agree that the ending was nonsensical, but I didn't enjoy the movie for as long as you did. It started going downhill for me when France (Viard) sleeps with Steve (Lellouche) even though she knows he's hung up on Melody. I kept thinking all along, 'please don't let them have a fling--that's just too cliché.' Plus, France is supposed to be a practical woman; sleeping with her boss is not very smart (especially knowing what a jerk he is).

Her actions in getting revenge on Steve for closing the factory, as well as using her, were totally out of character. And Steve suddenly caring so much about his son seemed over the top when just before he hardly seemed to notice him.

The whole kidnapping scenario seemed contrived to get Steve and Melody back together.

I'd say that I enjoyed the first half of the film, but it quickly went downhill and was ruined by the ending.

"And all the pieces matter"

[–] petra-59 12 years ago

I thought they forgot to show the last reel. That was supposed to be the end?

[–] BobStage 11 years ago

Glad to know I wasn't the only one who thought this movie lost its mind in the last fifteen minutes.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] filmophile-1 11 years ago

I agree completely.

[–] stubbzbewbs 10 years ago

The ending, corny as it was, was perfect.

We learn that the Steve is a true villain, a capitalist parasite with all the capacity for human empathy of a piece of wood. Contrary to the cliche, he's incapable of learning a moral lesson about the value of human love and friendship blah blah. No, he's just like what he was in the beginning, with no change at all, a piece of *beep* who continues to exist so separated from the reality of struggle he's incapable of being a decent human being.

True to France's hopes, he gets his just desert in end, running away from the men whose lives he destroyed from his glossy financial district towers. To him, these "Playmobil" factory workers were mere numbers, inconsequential garbage stock that he shorted for profit. Him running away in cowardice was the revelation of what he truly is hiding beneath his Prada shirts and luxury cars.

France, where for a fleeting moment knew she failed in delivering this key message, inadvertently succeeds in teaching Stephane a lesson. In end, this woman becomes the victor, and she knows it, so she laughs, at both the absurdity of defeating this financial titan with her poorly-thought-out plan for small town justice.

I absolutely loved the lightness of it.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] willgld785 9 years ago

I'd just like to know why the OP says this movie is 148 minutes long. Not only is that absurdly long for a comedy, but IMDb says it's 109 minutes, and that's also how long the version I watched on Netflix was. Were there really FORTY MINUTES cut from it somewhere along the way? That seems unlikely.

[–] magnoliaspringsal 9 years ago

Thank you for pointing out my questionable time-keeping!!

You are absolutely correct - 109 minutes - and I have amended my original post.

Cheers!

[–] willgld785 9 years ago

Oh I see, it was a simple typo, 1 hr 48 mins became 148 mins. I probably should have figured that out myself!

[–] PlatinumScreen 9 years ago

I agree. The ending was horribly mismatched and rushed and left a great deal to be desired. With that said, France's passion and fervor about the loss of her and her co-workers' jobs were so deep she attempted suicide early in the film. This could explain why she was driven to do what she did with Alban at the end and her laughter when she saw that conceited P.O.S. running for his life away from the men he rendered jobless and her friends and family coming to her aid.