Worst ending ever? - State of Grace (1990) Discussion

[–] gerritsenbeachbk 15 years ago

All after going to the bar where Terry seeks them out when he knows they mean to kill him. Terrible.

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] KristianHT 15 years ago

I agree, it completely loses its momentum. The whole 'guilt' thing in Penns character - which is supposed to make the audience feel some kind of sympathy and sense of conflict - is meaningless. He didn't get anyone killed! Stevie and Jackie would have gone the same way without him being present. The real betrayal happened before the movies storyline, when he agreed to do undercover work, and in no way did is that explained well. The last half hour comes of as macho posturing with a retarded death wish

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[–] UN_Jefferson 15 years ago

It seemed to me the writers has no idea how to end the movie and they ended up with the most cliche ridden hack fest in history. Terrible.

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[–] Sonofcelluloid 15 years ago

So, what would be a good ending for this movie? Give us your version.

I had no problem with this particular ending.

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[–] Midnight-Boy 15 years ago

Silly people.

They missed him almost completely with their shots because it was St Patricks Day and they'd been drinking like mad. He hit because he had an agenda, a focus and was a cop with firearm training.

After Jackie's death, Noonan quits the job, so now he has no one and nothing to live for. He had no doubts about his ability to make it out of there alive. The last shot pretty much means he'll bleed to death, a fair punishment in his eyes for causing Jackie's death.

It's a poetic ending, one I think that perfectly serves the film. Especially the way it's intercut with the parade.

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[–] Cafetero1075 15 years ago

I agree the ending was horrible. Maybe a 12 year old kid might like it.

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[–] Midnight-Boy 15 years ago

Or it went over some people's heads...?

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[–] mcspeed2000 15 years ago

what midnight boy said

Until the color of a mans skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes..

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[–] carsonkeefe 14 years ago

i've seen worse endings. i would've prefered something a little different. but still get chills when i see the look on ed harris face when he gets shot. and i liked the fact penn was hit by some shots and likely died after getting he's revenge.i loved a lot of the smaller parts in the movie like burgess merideth and john tuturro. sorry if i butchered their names. never wrote them before.

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[–] 14 years ago

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[–] jules_03 15 years ago

Did you guys watch a different movie than me? Sean Penn got a *beep* up. He was shot like 4 times. I got the impression that he was basically dying at the end.

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[–] justal67 14 years ago

Anyone dogging this ending is a 12 year old with no sense of the movie or Irish heritage.
And don't give me the internet bs that you are Irish and you know all about it.
This ending was perfect for the movie.
Ever pay attention to how it starts? He supposedly shoots JT in the set up what 5 times and all hit the mark. And then there's the rooftop with jackie. Ever notice how Terry doesn't miss and Jackie does?
Pay attention to the movie as it goes along. Terry is a trained professional up against guys "who get drunk and kill people" I do believe that was even a line from the movie.
Nothing ruined this movie and Terry was left with bullets in him as the movie fades out. Personally I think he is dying.
And how can you bash a St. Patty's Day parade being incorporated into the end.
This movie kicked ass and all the haters can suck balls.

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[–] MettaQueensbridgeWarfare 14 years ago

Yeah, the ending was dope and to this day had the best blood FX I've ever seen in a film. None of those guys busted guns on the regular except Jackie so I would expect their aim to be -. Tommy on the other hand was the real deal.

"Do I look like I'm negotiating?!"

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[–] Hysteria28 14 years ago

So how long in duration did that shootout last for ?. 2 minutes ?. I'm shocked that Harris and Penn could not shoot each other despite having a clear aim for a couple of seconds.

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[–] chrisrocknroll 14 years ago

It was just lame, regardless whether or not you believe Penn should have been shot more. I buy how good of a shot he was compared to the others, I get that it was foreshadowed in the roof top scene; although I do think Frankie missed him a ridiculous number of times.

The first 4/5 of the movie was so much better than that ending. It was actually interesting, whereas that end was just a cliche shoot-em up. From the moment Penn handed his badge to Frankie, it turned into typical action film. Noonan went from being a cop who was losing his moral compass to being a guilt ridden man on a suicide mission. This still might have been interesting, but they decided to turn him into the Punisher in the last 10 minutes of the movie which basically threw away the previous two hours of character development. The character didn't ring true anymore. It's like they didn't know how to wrap it up so they imported the ending of Death Wish II and called it a day.

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[–] xgreenlungsx 14 years ago

yup the ending sucked.. it sucked even more than it would have if the rest of the movie was terrible.. but that wasn't the case at all.. the ending just didn't fit, maybe it was just the slow mo that made it seem so corny.

and what i don't get is, he walks into the bar with the gun in his waistband.. why wouldn't he have it in his hand already? knowing he was about to kill everyone? why risk the extra second or two it takes to grab the gun? just stupid. and the fact it took that one guy with the shotgun so damn long to raise the gun he just had under the table, possibly on his lap even, made no sense.

"let me walk in there and see if i can draw my gun quicker than the 3 other armed guys, i mean i could just walk in and start shooting before they realize its me... but that wouldn't look as cool.."

" I intend to live forever......So far, so good."

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[–] Navin_R_Johnson 14 years ago

I agree with the OP, I started watching this on cable yesterday and I was very impressed, the movie really drew me in. However, it seemed like they didn't know how to resolve the story and the ending shoot-out was ludicrous.

It wasn't a bad ending because it was unrealistic -- I thought the shoot-out was feasible, Sean Penn's character was a trained shooter and those other guys seemed like amateurs. It was a bad ending because a shoot-out didn't make any sense in that story or movie. I thought when Gary Oldman killed the guys in the restaurant the movie just kind of went off the rails.

Too bad, the performances by Ed Harris, Gary Oldman, and Sean Penn were fantastic. I thought Ed Harris in particular was great.

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[–] jh66 14 years ago

I actually liked the idea of a shoot-out in the end, but it could have made Frankie a better shot?

Also, knowing that the entire gang is hunting him, why does Noonan decide to go to see Frankie-Jackie's sister at her flat? Not an obvious place?

http://englistory.darkbb.com

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[–] marquino7 12 years ago

it's like natural born killers i think

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[–] OldeSkool 12 years ago

Only if you've seen only 2 movies in your lifetime.

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[–] Boromir (10059) 5 months ago

Saying this is the "worst ending ever" is an exaggeration. However, I agree it was disappointing and uncreative. Additionally, the gunfight scene felt unrealistic. I'm not sure what an undercover cop was doing there in the first place. He can take revenge through law enforcement. It's a shame, a more polished ending could have made this great movie an unforgettable one.

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