A lot of Woody's movies these days seem to have no real ending, they are kind of slices of some world he dreams up with this weird characters and situations, and then they never get resolved. I like this movie, but if he is going to keep doing that ... finish the god-damned movie if you are going to make it Woody!
Good point.
shareThe plot threads felt resolved to me.
We get a resolution with the daughter's storyline, Mickey's storyline, Kate Winslet's storyline... I suppose nothing is really made of the pyromaniac kid, but other than that it seemed pretty concluded to me.
What you say is true, but what is made of it. They just keep going ... damn depressing resolution if you ask me.
shareI think that's some of the point. My impression is that this cycle repeating is one of the main themes of the film. I mean, Humpty works a carousel and the flick is called Wonder Wheel.
shareGood point.
Somehow this movie left me uneasy though, maybe that is more what I meant.
Yes, it definitely has that effect. Nothing ends really well for anybody, and the specific ways their lives are falling apart does make one a little uneasy (motion sick from the carousel, perhaps?)
You know, I'm just now remembering a piece of the puzzle which is very interesting: the unreliable narrator of Mickey. He's narrating the story and I believe he says something right at the start about him writing larger-than-life characters and asks us to excuse that or keep that in mind. Found the quote: "I relish melodrama and larger-than-life characters."
The implication is, of course, that this is one of Mickey's plays which he has made a bit heightened (or a lot heightened) to generate the kind of play he wants to write. I think, maybe, it's meant to be based-on-a-true-story, but maybe Mickey made up or exaggerated parts of it. He might have bumped up, for instance, how charming and sought-after he is, or added the stuff at the end with the phone call.
That all connects, too, with when he's talking to Ginny about O'Neill: "And he really knew the score. You know, human nature and existence. ... What power. To write a play about the human condition, the tragic human condition. How we have to lie to ourselves in order to live. Anyhow, happy 40th."
So, we're watching "real" events that Mickey made up (a lie) about people lying to themselves about who they are to reveal the ways people spiral down and hurt themselves.
I think a lot of reviewers sold this movie short with how deep it is.
But are these characters larger than life? I might question that. There is that saying that it is good to have an open mind, but not so open that one's brain falls out. Why do I want to see a movie about how pointless people hamster wheel lives are?
shareWell, maybe you don't. I really enjoyed watching a movie with multiple layers to it that displayed the pain and crushing nature of the human condition so well. I laughed at the quirky character portrayed by Timberlake, I was moved by Kate Winslet's performance, and by Jim Belushi's performance. I was intrigued and amused by the pyromania of the kid.
I like slice-of-life stuff like this, and I thought this one was pretty insightful, well-performed, and shot gorgeously.
>> I really enjoyed watching a movie with multiple layers to it that displayed the pain and crushing nature of the human condition so well.
Yeah, well so did I, until it ended like the movie theater forgot to load the final reel. ;-)
To me that pyro kid was annoying ... really annoying.
See, and I disagree, I think it gave an ending, it has a resolution, it's just unpleasant and a bit depressing. I kinda like a lot of that kind of thing - depressing art. Stuff like blues music.
Fair enough, but I laughed every time that little fireboy lit up something else.