MovieChat Forums > Smashed (2012) Discussion > The Ending Is Not Ambiguous (spoiler)

The Ending Is Not Ambiguous (spoiler)

posted 11 years ago by spkd49
7 replies | jump to latest

I've seen some comments where people are thinking that Kate and Charlie may get back together. I think we all hope for this to happen, but it won't. Kate still cares for Charlie, but she knows she can't relapse, and that means she has to remove herself from the relationship. The final scene was emotionally tough - Kate wants to support Charlie if he decides to become sober, but she can't force it and it still wouldn't make her comfortable getting back together - she can't compromise her sobriety.

Even sadder, though, and the main reason they won't reconcile, is that their love was built on alcoholism. Kate knows that a sober Kate and Charlie won't have the same bond. Through sobriety, they'll be two new people with new beginnings to be had. This is the saddest part, that Kate's sobriety cost her the marriage.

[–] RRozsa 11 years ago

Right. I think the defining moment in which Kate knew for sure that he was never going to change was when they got together and played croquet together, near the end of the movie. He said something to the effect that he wished that he could be dating her all over again, for the first time, in a bar. When he said that you could see the realization dawning on her face. After having given up alcohol for good, and changing her attitude about everything in her life, the last possible thing she would include in a fantasy first date with anyone would involve a bar. Then he said "I would buy you a drink", and you saw a sad smile playing on her face. She knew then that it was truly over between them and it was as though you saw a peace, or at least resolution, in her voice when she said "I am never moving back in."

And I would really say that Kate's sobriety cost her the marriage as much as to say that she didn't really lose the marriage. She realize that she was a better person without it than with it. All she had to do was say the word and he would take her back. But she knew that if she went back to him she would lose that "dull, boring life for which she was so thankful."

Life's a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!

[–] spkd49 11 years ago

Nice adds. I missed the effect of Charlie discussing the bar.

[–] Mamabadger56 11 years ago

I took it a different way. I don't think there was any suggestion they could get back together; but the scene allowed us to see Kate's ambivalence. Charlie wasn't shown as a one-dimensional drunk, so repellant that we can't imagine how anyone could find him attractive. He's sweet and charming in the final scene, and that allows Kate a genuine conflict. There is a part of her that still wants to go back to him, even back to the life they had. I liked the way we were shown her struggle, even if it was a brief one, instead of making it an obvious and effortless choice.

Tell me the truth. Are we still in the game?

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Mamabadger56 10 years ago

I agree with that completely.

Tell me the truth. Are we still in the game?

[–] jalalcool89 10 years ago

I think the ending is actually Ambiguous since when he asks her the last question: can we just play one more game i would like to have a chance to redeem myself;please? and she has a long pause of hesitation and the look on her face it all makes me think he's asking for another chance and not really for a game but rather with her or at least that's what i choose to believe

[–] recalcitrant44 10 years ago

I thought that it completely paralleled the ride she gave the girl near the start of the film. When she was drunk, she couldn't see clearly, and didn't have the ability to say no. Look what it got her.

When we get to her being sober, her ex-husband put her in that same position. It just made me think of a few things:

1. Love can be a little like alcoholism (or there are parallels). It's hard to let go of, you have a strong relationship with it, you feel a longing for it, it can permeate into every facet of your life, it can control your emotions, etc. Their feelings for each other was sort of an addiction. They felt that something was missing when they weren't together.

2. Even if you are sober, and have a feeling of pride in your ability to refrain from falling back into your routine, you will still have challenges. The people that you feel the strongest for don't necessarily understand what you are dealing with, and aren't always the ones looking out for your best interests.

I think that the ending is ambiguous. I would like to think that she has the maturity and responsibility to say no, but at the same time, she went back and visited him after the phone call, so is she really strong enough to say no, without hesitation, with all the pressure and begging that he was doing?