MovieChat Forums > The Family Man (2000) Discussion > The ending implies a horrifying cruelty ...

The ending implies a horrifying cruelty to me...

posted 12 years ago by al666940-3
26 replies | jump to latest

I've read the threads saying:
a) It's a dream of what WOULD have been had he chosen different
b) It's a fantasy, get over it
c) It is a glimpse, of something he missed out on, but is still not too late to grasp (of course starting from scratch and 13 years older)

And so and so...

But all of them pretty much ignore several crucial facts:
a) If it's indeed a supernatural glimpse, it's the cruelest one I can imagine. For it's clear he CANNOT have that life nor loved ones any way you slice it because:
- Such life is attained after +-13 years of living it. Do the math, he'll be 50 by the times he gets there, let's see how much energy/love is left in there.
- As stated elsewhere, the kids won't be the ones he met. Who knows how his new ones will turn out (he could end up with a Down, a school shooter, you name it) or that he or her can have any (or want, what if she doesn't want any?) to begin with.
- As others have stated, they are one bad day away from being ruined. Let's see how good that life seems then...
- Wanna bet Kate is still available (boyfriend, divorced, kids, etc), interested, desirable (what if she got AIDS?), still a good person (career climbing can turn Mother Teresa into a class A @$$hole), you name it?

See where I am going?

If he dreamed the whole thing, perfect. Go get yourself a wife, maybe even Kate if you're really lucky. But don't throw your career away!!!!! Unless you wanna bet your new life on Kate really having an uncle Ed. And especially be prepared for some mayor disappointments when your new life doesn't measure up to the dreamed one...

If he did not dream it, then it's even worse. Why give anybody a sample of something they can NEVER attain? That was considered torture in ancient times (tantalizing), similar to taking an orphanage/street boy to Red Lobster just long enough for him to smell, touch and even have a small sample, only to send him back to his previous situation and cut him loose, knowing full well he can NEVER either forget/attain it?

So for me, the ending is a cruel joke played on Cage. It doesn't quite sink in only because the movie ends before we see how things went down between him and Kate, thus providing FALSE hope (as in Pandora's box, the hope that remained there was actually false hope, hence why it was there alongside all other evils, for ancient Greeks were pretty aware of the bleakness of their situation, prospects and knew better than rely on the god's flimsy whims)

To provide a better example, anyone familiar with The Punisher comics knows that Frank Castle's worst nightmare is NOT dreaming of his family's death, but to dream a "glimpse" of what his life would be had they not died, just long enough for him to begin to believe it, only to then wake up...

[–] Moonwalker123 12 years ago

i think its so funny because the narrow minded people, accept angels demons fantasy etc in movies because thats known.. but then they get to this conclusions.. you accept an angel coming to him give him a "glimpse" but your argument is hes 50 when he reaches it? its not even an argument.

ITS A MOVIE.. its like a painting something that should inspire you let you feel or think... why cant some people dont accept it?!

[–] al666940-3 12 years ago

" but your argument is hes 50 when he reaches it? its not even an argument. "

Sure it is. Who's to say he even gets there for starters and doesn't keel over tomorrow from working his butt off flipping burgers since he junked his job?

" its like a painting something that should inspire you let you feel or think.."

Yes I gave it some thought, hence my points which you clearly couldn't grasp (if the better you came up with is the 50 thing). It's a pretty crappy way to inspire anybody, maybe only dumb people like you...

"why cant some people dont accept it?!"

Nah, too easy (nailing you for poor grammar)...

[–] REPetzoldt 8 years ago

Even assuming he junked his job and couldn't return to it, I'm pretty certain he wouldn't have ended up flipping burgers. He had enough money to retire ten times over and just enjoyed spending like with Kate and making a family with her.

[–] Eve_of_Destruction 11 years ago

i think its so funny because the narrow minded people, accept angels demons fantasy etc in movies because thats known.. but then they get to this conclusions.. you accept an angel coming to him give him a "glimpse" but your argument is hes 50 when he reaches it? its not even an argument.

I think you sound like a downer. Let people enjoy discussing it. You came on here so obviously you have something to say.

_________________
Yes I'm with him. I'm uh...I'm Mrs. Igles...I'm Mrs. Iglesias

[–] rj-27 12 years ago

Agreed. The "glimpse" is something he can never have, if only for the obvious reason that you state - It's 13 Years Later! There is no way it can be the way the "glimpse" portrayed it, and so it is cruel.

I also don't think Jack necessarily dumps his career, but he certainly does put it on hold and puts, at great risk, the huge merger that many lives are depending on to work out. What give with just blowing that off? And after all his effort to get it, not to mention that he complains that it was "his deal" during the glimpse when Mintz is shown pulling it off.

Yes, the whole thing now appears to be put together just to torture the poor guy, because he said he "didn't need anything".

[–] al666940-3 12 years ago

"I also don't think Jack necessarily dumps his career, but he certainly does put it on hold and puts, at great risk, the huge merger that many lives are depending on to work out"

I know it's a movie, but take a guess what would happen to anybody in the real world who intentionally blew such a deal at the last moment? Getting fired would be the least of his problems, for I bet you anything he would be blacklisted everywhere in his field and sued for negligence into bankruptcy.

"And after all his effort to get it, not to mention that he complains that it was "his deal" during the glimpse when Mintz is shown pulling it off"

That only stresses the point that ANYBODY can be replaced anytime. So good luck blowing a business deal over a glimpse and keeping your job...

"because he said he "didn't need anything"."

That definitely changed at the end of the movie (a new job for starters). We just don't see it or realize it at that point...

[–] sfrsez 12 years ago

maybe tomrorrow he will have another dream and more gilmpses

[–] al666940-3 12 years ago

Yeah, and he'll wake up and scream "I just got Punk'd!!!"

[–] sfrsez 12 years ago

this movie has 10 memorable scenes. which is 10 more than most movies

[–] ladylaughinglizard 11 years ago

I can't believe you said he could end up wth a Downs. What an @$$

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] kmb41986 11 years ago

Just my opinion, of course, but I think you may be missing the point of the movie. The glimpse was just that: a glimpse. He knows the exact life from his glimpse isn't attainable, but being with her still is.

[–] tj_mower 11 years ago

I think the best part of the ending is the fact that it was cruel and that it wasn't a happy ending where they lived ever after in bliss. It ends with Jack having no way to obtain what he had in the glimpse, and it ends with us not knowing what happens to them going forward. It's all a big 'what if?' and I would hazard a guess that most of us have a situation like that in their past that we wonder about.

[–] Xcalat3 10 years ago

I think the best part of the ending is the fact that it was cruel and that it wasn't a happy ending where they lived ever after in bliss.

good point.

Liberate tu temet ex inferis.
pro ego sum diabolus, pro ego sum nex.

[–] movieliker1 11 years ago

I think you are taking things too seriously “al666940-3”. It is just a movie meant to show the difference between those who choose career over family and those who choose family over career.

If he really did reconvene with Kate 13 years later, he is supposed to be a financial genius who could pretty much make it anywhere with his financial prowess. Besides, if he did manage to convince Kate to abandon their career driven lives for family, they would seemingly have a lot to fall back on. I am sure they had savings, capital, equity, etc. Last, but not least, that was the significance of the last scene. They were talking, thinking and considering a major change of life – not just thoughtlessly making rash changes.

Getting back to my original point, it is a fantasy movie. They don’t really have angels who will force feed you a glimpse of what could have been. You are supposed to indulge your imagination. Not get hung up on how unrealistic it is.

[–] DlarryB 11 years ago

Jack is about 35 at this point. His kids in the glimpse were around 5 and 1. It is not too late to build a life together with Kate reminiscent of the glimpse..

While you may think the glimpse is cruel, it was the cold water that Jack needed to prioritize his life. He claims he doesn't need anything but that was his acceptance of his current reality. Prior to saying this, we witness Jack look up and embrace the snowfall. He then enters the store to buy eggnog. This reveals that he is reminiscent of a seasonal feeling that he was missing/needing.

While Jack will never be able to acquire the glimpse in it's entirety, his choice to embrace the possibilities of a life with Kate is gratification enough.

I think (as someone else stated) that Kate should have gotten on the plane only to return the following day and "choose us" as well. She was clearly hardened by their break up and the ending doesn't provide enough of a glimpse (for lack of a better word) into her feelings. Aside from her willingness to get a cup of coffee at the airport (where she still could catch a later flight), we have zero insight into their future. I guess the cruel joke is on us.

[–] breadguy2 11 years ago

I don't think the point was he would get that exact life... it was just showing a situation where he choose pursuing money over love and he was shown what choosing the other would be like. He may not end up with Kate at all now, but he might realize that the reason his life felt empty was because he was making the incorrect decisions.

[–] 11 years ago

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