MovieChat Forums > A Civil Action (1999) Discussion > The final scene (***Spoiler alert***)

The final scene (Spoiler alert)

posted 17 years ago by puffin88
11 replies | jump to latest

I'm just guessing, but it seems to me that the final scene (the one in bankruptcy court) may once have been intended to be opening scene. The scene ends with Kathy Bates saying "What happened???", which is an invitation to tell the movie's story, especially the way Travolta reacts, gathering himself together and then lifting his head, ready to start speaking.

Does anyone else get that feeling, or know anything about how the movie's final cut evolved?

Perhaps the director moved the scene to the end just so that there would be more suspense about the film's outcome. That is, the thrust of the film might have been either:
1. A lawyer is ruined, how did it happen?
2. A big case in court. How will it turn out?
The filmmakers originally intended to make film #1, but then decided at the last minute to make film #2.

[–] bella_vanitas 17 years ago

thats a really interesting take on that scene. something about me bugged it, but I couldnt quite put the finger on it... your explanation makes perfect sense.

[–] sean_finch314 17 years ago

That's interesting, I dont think it's true though. I think it's a great ending, devastating. He really doesn't know how to answer that question.

[–] paulxray 16 years ago

It was not about the money.
When the judge asks him where everything has gone, ("all the things one measures his life by...") he is quiet because he knows what is really important -not the money, but the truth and right.

It's almost as though he feels sorry for people who do measure their lives on a monetary level.
He smiles to himself and sits quiety because inside he knows the measure of finding the truth and doing the right thing does not have a price tag.

So, yes, this scene works better at the end of the film so the audience can better understand this.

***

[–] transmentalist 16 years ago

I agree the OP has an interesting take, but I just don't think it's about Travolta's "character" telling his story so much as his being unable, at long last, to sum it up. He's not actually going to answer the question at the end, because he can't. It would cheapen the whole experience.

Too bad the real guy couldn't be as humble. He handled a case in my jurisdiction once, and kept bringing up his fame as a rebuttal to any argument against him. This was before the book AND the movie. I don't want to imagine what he's like now that he's been the subject of a film starring John Travolta (who looks nothing at all like him).

[–] bald-eagle-4 16 years ago

Puffin88 -

The final bankruptcy court scene was definitely not intended as the opening scene. (I have the script and visited the set, way back when.)

However, the script has a big final scene, which alas was never filmed, where Jan (Travolta) confronts Facher (Duvall) at a Rex Sox game with the new testimony about the secret tannery clear up and fire that night.

Facher isn't too bothered. It's just one's man word against another. He even praises Jan for getting the truth. "A personal victory. And at the end of the day, the only kind that really matters." Then Jan tells him he's handed the files over to the EPA - the Government - to pursue the case. Facher doesn't look secure at that point.

In the script, then, Jan more obviously outsmarts Facher. It feels more like a moral victory when the bankruptcy judge asks where did it all go? "The things by which one's measures ones life."

Tight on Jan. And the slightest most enigmatic philosophical smile as it briefly crosses his face.

"What happened?"

In the film, Facher just gets the envelope from a messenger. Jan's expression in bankruptcy is much more rueful... as if contemplating the immense cost of doing the right thing... and maybe also the cost of his own pride. An unresolved hanging chord... Very bold for a Hollywood movie.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] rhyannon33 15 years ago

I have to say that I disagree with the OP's interpretation of the scene. I definitely think they put this scene at the end on purpose.. think about it.. you are given a chance to see everything that this guy went through while he was doing his job.. all the heartbreak and financial loss.. before he is asked this question. It makes it all the more powerful and its a more interesting way to show/tell a story than to do the cliche thing and start the movie with that question. It made me feel even more like I was right there with him.

This is a really good book too if anyone has the chance to read it.

[–] nutsberryfarm 11 years ago

the director, by not having jan say anything is really asking the audience the question(s). great!

Where there's smoke, there's barbecue!

[–] redban02 10 years ago

Paulxray is correct here:

When the judge asks him where everything has gone, ("all the things one measures his life by...") he is quiet because he knows what is really important -not the money, but the truth and right.

If you look carefully, you'll see Travolta mildly make a sort of "No" headshake reminiscent of the "No" headshake he made in the opening scene inside the court (re - when the defendants write a number on the notepad, and Travolta kept saying no with his head movements).

In the monologue a few scenes prior, as well, you hear Travolta talk of how he mistakenly measured life "in terms of dollars and cents."

The significance of the final scene, I feel, is that Travolta's character changed. In the opening, the worth of a human life centered on money. At the end, the worth of a human life centers on morality.

[–] DarthSeether 9 years ago

He does seem to raise his head with pride in that last final moment, as if he does understand the value of what he has done and can indeed answer for it.

alternatively, you can watch the final scene as a wonderful demonstration of just how neurotic John Travolta is about his mouth and what he should even do with his mouth when he is on camera.

[–] Mark_Baum_jr 9 years ago

That would indicate that he lost the case and ruined the movie.

Talk about spoilers!

You are entitled to my opinion