This movie was slow going, but the ending was absolutely wonderful and definitely a great pay off for sticking with it. Just a lovely movie and the ending is majorly bitter sweet.
Indeed. I had to watch it in two sittings, ended up falling asleep on the couch during the first watch (not long before he found the daughter). Glad I went back to it again.
shareI found the film perfectly paced, it suited the subject matter. The ending I saw coming a mile off, but the final sequence superbly judged. Another triumph for Eddie Marsan.
Absolutely. I can't believe this is billed as a comedy/drama! What the *beep* is funny in it? I'm so glad I was on my own watching this cos I'm a blubbering wreck right now. Films like this can just slip under the radar and don't get nearly enough the hype or attention they deserve but I guess if it did we might expect too much. It's because you don't know what to expect that it can punch you right where it matters. Brilliant and poignant movie.
A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.
Cried like a baby while watching Still Life on an airplane. Note to others: excellent movie to watch at home with a full box of tissues. Incredibly touching film. Bravo to all involved.
shareI liked the movie overall and I also cried in the final scene. But the plot device of the ending i.e. him being hit by the bus and having a funeral on the same day as his last case's (Billy's) funeral, his own having no attendeeswas a bit too far-fetched. It was so obviously put there to create the emotional final scene that I found it a bit forced. I don't know how else they could have done it so that it wouldn't have been so set up while preserving the very nice final scene though... maybe just flash-forward to the future say in 20 years' time when his funeral was more likely to take place?. Or just skip that bit and just show Billy's funeral and how well it was organised and attended, with him mysteriously missing from it, without the viewers necessarily knowing what happened. One way or another, something more subtle was needed for the finale.
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I tend to agree with elliest_5, I thought that the ending was something of a predictable cliche that was not of the same the quality as the rest of the film.
The ending should have been him just lying in the road, after the shock of the impact. We know what will happen next, the entire film has been leading up to his own situation in death ... or if it really needed to be spelled out, the final scene should have been his own coffin in the same Chapel, alone and unmourned ...
The device of having his own funeral, unnoticed, at the same time and place as Billy's, who of course now had mourners, was forced and unnecessary.
As for his Clients appearing round his own graveside, for me that was so cheesey that it made me cringe.
All in all, a quiet and beautiful film, let down by an unnecessary and unsubtle ending ...
The last shot for me was powerful, but quite expected. I think they could prevented some of the obviousness by showing the guy's female replacement now doing this for him, and not really caring, giving him a quick burial
shareThe collision was a bit contrived, but it could have worked if the film had ended a minute or two earlier. The double funeral was a fine conclusion, with the final shot of John' burial spot, but they laid it on too thick by having all those characters return to pay their respects. Overkill, if you'll pardon the pun.
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