Immediately after the film ended I thought to myself, 'that would have been so much more interesting if they had just left off that whole last scene'.
It was a classic case of the Hollywood tidy ending, the feel good ending, the everything is in it's right place so I can feel comfortable now ending.
Why not the ambiguous ending that keeps us scratching our heads and talking and guessing?
Am I the only one who feels this way?
I personally really liked the ending. It felt right to put everything into perspective. Mainly because the film was based around Ellis's journey. As an audience we were supposed to follow his emotional ups and downs. So after everything that happened it was nice to see some clarity at the end.
shareI gave the film marks for NOT being a typical Hollywood ending. Ellis' parents didn't stay together, his girl dumped him, they lost their home, Mud got shot, Juniper left him, and Mud's still on the run, but feels a little bit of hope at a sunrise and open water. I liked the end.
I HATE "ambiguous" endings, the sort designed to piss off the viewer and get people to "discuss" the film endlessly. Cheap. If you're gonna tell a story, tell a COMPLETE story.
Mud was pretty flawless IMO, but not a "great" film to me. A lot of low-budget indie films don't "swing for the fences" and take a lot of risks. They tell a safe and simple story. Not much can be called an "error", but then I don't give the dive very high marks because the level of difficulty was not there\:)
I find it interesting that so many people these days desire an ambiguous or even a sad ending in which the protagonist dies. I think those kind of endings have its place but not is this movie. Mud was much more about the characters and their relationships and how they develop throughout the movie. This was the focus of the film and I feel that an ambiguous ending would have drawn too much focus away from people that would be left wondering ''did he die or not?'' which is of course a silly story-structural question compared to providing closure to the story and leaving the audience wondering about the character development, their motives and general themes. Also, Mud dying would have been too easy in my opinion, I expected it too happen but I was glad to see that it didn't. He went through a lot and was obviously a very troubled character with a lot of baggage. Killing him off would in my opinion have been somewhat of a cop out; or the easy way out. Instead having him survive to face another day is a much more daring ending in that sense
shareI expected Mud to die the whole movie. I also expected the parents to stick together after the poisoning incident. Totally unpredictable.
shareSo totally unpredictable, I predicted the ending. THAT'S the trouble.
Other than that, it was as bloated as a Mississippi snake that's been dead a week. They could have trimmed it and it would have been better.
The young man Tye, though was brilliant. completely sold me on the movie. Michael Shannon was wasted in his confusing role as an uncle as were the actors who played Ellis' parents.
What irked me was not the happy ending, but the Hollywood shootout that precedes it, with the elderly, Rambo-like "assassin" appearing serendipitously to mow down the villains.
shareWhat thebucketrider says.COuld have been an 8 or 9 without the shootout.
....
http://soundcloud.com/dj-snafu-bankrupt-euros
Coz lifes too short to listen to Madlib
I agree. I started laughing. These guys don't wait for Mud to toddle on out of the house to get a clear shot on him, but decide to bust a bunch of holes through the walls? They must have seen him go in, why didn't they wait for him to come out? (And even if they had insiders on the police force, there would have been a big public outcry if this kid and his parents were killed). Couldn't they have had a few men hiding in the boat or near it?
And then none of the guys figure out that bullets are coming from another direction?
Funny stuff.
Starting to hate the word "hollywood ending" the movie clearly isn't a typical hollywood movie designed to please all audiences, so what about the ending makes it a "hollywood ending" except it being a happy ending? Happy endings is not something hollywoood invented. Besides, its not all tidy. The boys family is broken up, Mud didn't escape with the girl and King lives.
share[deleted]
You know what I am sick of?
Every damn fan-boi oozing out of the woodwork to bitch that some movie doesn't have a downbeat ending.
Seriously. Go get a life.
I feel they should have left out the whole shooting at the end, forgot about the sniper mention and play down the bad guys chasing Mud. The relationships between the characters were interesting enough to carry the whole movie.
shareIt would have been the worst if Reese was on the boat with them.
This way, I like. I'm perfectly content, & that doesn't happen often.
Why would anyone want to wrestle in salsa?share