MovieChat Forums > State of Grace (1990) Discussion > What happens to Penn at the End

What happens to Penn at the End


Does Sean Penn live or die at the end. He was shot in the side, the arm and leg. The movie leaves it unclear.

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The movie leaves it unclear.

There's your answer.

"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino

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Um .... the film leaves it ... um ... unclear!

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If the writers would have wished Penn to die, they would've killed him before the credits wouldn't they?

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he was hiding behind the entrance door

Hi, I'm God. Can I touch You?

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Kathleen comes back with an axe to finish him off, because she was Italian all along.

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He did get hit three times and he didn't look too good at the end. The only "clue" I picked up was that Kate was watching the parade and not with Terry at all after she walked out on her "date," and Terry was left bleeding on the floor. I took that to mean that Terry died from his wounds. If he was supposed to live, I think they would have found a way for those two to be together as the movie ends.

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He wasn't in good shape thats for sure but, maybe they did plan for a part 2 ??

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I think he died from alcohol poisoning.



If it harms none, do what thou wilt.

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Penn did survive..but sadly any sense of humor did not make it, it was left on the beer-soaked floor. To this day..if you walk by late at night..you can hear the faint valley speak of Jeff Spicoli in the wind....

You pipple mek my ass twitch

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He dies. There's nothing else for him. Friends dead, girl left him, quit being a cop, he just wanted revenge and went guns blazing. A terrific ending.

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I believe Penn survives and lives happily after marrying his girlfriend. His wounds were minor (leg, guts, shoulder) and did not prevent perfect aim in finishing off the gang leader. Traditionally, only hits to the forehead or heart are fatal in the ballet-style shootout. The impediment to Penn and his girl living a civilized life was the web of ties to their born-and-bred culture. The catharsis of Penn wiping out the gang frees them. Now they can live on as a happy Irish-American family and enjoy future St. Paddy's parades (with some bittersweet memories of Jackie, Frankie and the lot). Probably Penn goes into politics, leaving traditional crime to the Italians as was foreshadowed by the meeting with the established Mafia gang.

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I assume he left NYPD. I couldn't understand why he didn't go blazing guns much earlier in the movie.

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Only once his friends (in particular his best friend) are killed does the decision become clear to him. He's conflicted throughout the entire film, that's the beauty & simplicity of the story.

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At the end of the movie Sean Penn survives. He is shot in the leg, the arm/shoulder, and the stomach.

He tells the cops that he did what he had to do as part of his job and they let him walk.

He marries the chick and spends the rest of their life together, because now they can be together now that the burden of her brother is gone(dead).

When I first saw the movie I was frantically saying please don't end it like that but they did. Now I had to create the ending. But yup, that's what happens.

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He survives the shootout but dies from a combination of lung cancer and cirrhosis of the liver 2 years later.

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