Could the likes of L.A.
This article contains major spoilers for each of the films concerned.
Which isnt our place.
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L.A.
Confidential
Curtis Hansons movie was robbed.
It went toe to toe at the Oscars with James CameronsTitanic, and was swept aside as a consequence.
Just remember the moment where two words Rollo Tomassi turn the film.
One of many golden moments in an exquisite piece of cinema.
In this instance, though,L.A.
Confidentialwas three of four themed novels, known as the L.A. Quartet.
Thus, the fate of characters in the film was explored in the follow-up book,White Jazz.
As such, in this case, it may not have left that much ambiguity.
But it stills struck me as an incredible shot to end the movie on.
It would be fair to say they do not.
Not much more elsewhere, either.
Since then, its become many peoples favourite film, but the one rankle is that ending.
And yet Red has something to live for.
Its the hope of meeting his friend, Andy, once again.
He hopes for it.
His voiceovertellsus that he hopes for it.
And the original plan was to fade to black right there, and roll the credits.
Would Reds hopes be realised?
Wed never really know.
For tacked onto the end ofThe Shawshank Redemptionis the moment where Andy and Red are reunited on the beach.
Which takes that whole message of hope away.
They got it, against director Frank Darabonts wishes.
And its arguably the only overt misstep the film makes.
Did she meet her father?
Did they have the reunion, or was it all in Ellies mind?
They think her mission was a failure.
She, however, is convinced her mission was a success.
Then Angela Bassett interjects, with a line that confirms Ellie has 18 hours of static on her recorder.
It removes the doubt, and just slightly for me anyway weakens the end of the film.
I still loveContact, I should add.
But its my main grumble with it.
Atmospheric and uncompromising though it was,28 Days Laterdidnt, wed argue, end as satisfyingly as it began.
One of these was even placed after the credits for the films American theatrical release.
All seems to be lost for Leon, as Stansfield stands triumphantly over the hitmans bullet-ridden corpse.
The villains horrified gasp is drowned out by a deafening explosion.
Its not a bad ending, by any means merely an extraneous one.
And it contains one of the films most feeble exchanges.
Do you know who she is?
one school kid asks.
Nah, the others reply.
Then Sting starts singing Shape Of My Heart.
Where Mathilda planted it, were guessing Leons favourite plant would have died within days.
And even with it,Invasion Of The Body Snatchersremains one of the greatest science fiction films ever made.
In its original cut, the film would have ended with McCarthy screaming with fearsome intensity Theyre here!
straight down the camera lens.
Psycho
As a work of suspense, Alfred HitchcocksPsychois almost flawless.
Like so many of Hitchcocks films,Psychoalso has its own streak of ghoulish humour.
Critic Pauline Kael reportedly called it Hitchcocks worst scene.
Roger Ebert argued that much of it should have been cut.
Were inclined to agree.
I wrote about it in a bit more depthhere.
Jeff Goldblum gets to be Jeff Goldblum too, so thats a bonus.
And then we got another perfectly decent but utterly unnecessary 15 minutes or so.
But it unravels just a little at the end, when the curse of Hollywood over-explaining kicks in.
So its all tied up for us when Burgess kills himself.
Its still a cracking movie, though.
Meanwhile, Joseph Gordon-Levitt finds the batsuit.
Gotham needed him more dead than alive.
The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King
Well, its an obvious candidate really.
But then, which ending shouldReturn Of The Kingactually stop on?
I like to think of it as the cinema equivalent of a Choose Your Own Adventure book.
But thats what the last few minutes ofEdge Of Tomorrowfeel like to me.
Adding more for the final few minutes wasnt really an option, as McQuarrie toldFilm School Rejectslast summer.
Edge Of Tomorrowremains a terrific film.
The Village
Was this the one where M Night Shyamalan overstretched himself with his by-then trademark twist ending?
If not, hed have another go withThe Happening(a film weve defended here).
Yet Im painfully aware others disagree.
ForBeing Thereis a film that, on the surface, has no fantasy element to it.
Is Chauncey Gardiner supposed to stand for Christ?
Or are director Hal Ashby and writer Jerzy Kosinski turning the tables on us?
This article first ran onDen of Geek UKin February 2015.
