MovieChat Forums > I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020) Discussion > Gotta be honest, this one isn't clicking...

Gotta be honest, this one isn't clicking for me.


This movie seemed like a dream project to me. I love Toni Collette and I adore Charlie Kaufman's work, and I couldn't wait to see them together. This seems to have all his negative traits with none of the qualities that hooked me onto his previous work. Like he took the 1% of his movies that have his worst qualities and made a movie only on that, just to double down on his criticisms. The first twenty minutes could have been cut out, just rambling nonsense with no real conflict, stakes, intrigue or character beyond "hey look how real we are. By the way this girl's gonna recite her shitty poetry for no reason, but it's totally just a lazy way for me to spoon feed you the film's themes. I'm too lazy to be subtle. Don't worry it's deep shit just watch"

Kinda angry and disappointed with myself that I hyped myself up for this. This is the epitome of something that got a pass simply because it had a famous name attached to it. If anyone else wrote a screenplay this empty and meandering and nothing it would have been tossed into the trash. By itself it's everything bad about Kauffman everything that I love about him almost refuses to show itself.

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Kaufman isn't just one thing or one gimmick. That is the beauty of the guy. I might not like it either after I watch it tonight, but I am definitely not expecting something that is just a retread of his past movies. Kaufman is better than that.

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yeah, it was okay, but not good.

many of these type of concept films, I feel, should be more like 30 minute Twilight Zone episodes instead of two hours.

I liked ETERNAL, but this had too much filler talk that didn't really enhance the plot or characters to me. just filler/padding.
I mean, SOME was about the characters, but lots was just "we're normal humans just talking in a car ride the random stuff you talk about in a long car ride". ...meh...

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I thought it was a masterpiece with a lot of depth. Best film of the year for me.

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The acting was superb and the characters are very interesting. It has some entertainment value, and the quirky characters and surreal moments kept me interested. But I really don't enjoy writers (or screenwriters) who use a book or film as a mouthpiece for philosophical concepts, and this film has a lot of that. That's especially true when the script is packed full of such dialogue. But I suppose some people like the challenge and enjoy watching a film multiple times to tease out such enigma. I haven't read the book, but I get from reading a summary of it that Kaufman changed the ending, and that the book wasn't as bizarre.

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I've seen it twice and the second time is even more satisfying. Love this movie.

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