Deus ex machina ending. Spoiled an otherwise great movie
Her bank account was way too convenient. Great movie until that point, though.
shareHow was it convenient? He already had the money?
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MovieChat Forums > A Most Violent Year (2015) Discussion > Deus ex machina ending. Spoiled an other...
It was illegal and validates the DA's investigation of his business. The fact that he does not know is immaterial.
shareDying,
The fact that someone might have been, or even in fact was, doing something illegal does not in itself validate an investigation of that person by the authorities. There must first be some specific reason to begin the investigation, and the idea that if you look long and hard enough at anyone, you will find something they did wrong.
It should be obvious the DA did not have that in specific relation to the bank account Anna mentioned, because if he suspected that particular situation, he would have found it.
I htink the film is clear enough that the DA was engaging in what is called a fishing expedition in regards to Abel's business. As a general matter a fishing expedition is not a valid form of investigation, even if at some point the DA finds something illegal.
I Think the film is clear enough that the DA was engaging in what is called a fishing expedition in regards to Abel's business. As a general matter a fishing expedition is not a valid form of investigation, even if at some point the DA finds something illegal.
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It wasn't convenient...it was the point.
Abel has the choice between using the money his wife stole (from their company), or getting in bed with gangsters. He chooses the former.
Remember, at the end, he does NOT say "I always did what was right." He DOES say (emphasis mine) "I always did what was *most* right." i.e. He accepts that morality comes in degrees, and he takes the path that is most right/least wrong.
(Another example: he doesn't murder the hijacker, but he does get the information by beating the living crap out of him. It's not right, but it's the "most right".)
Well said. The fact that so many people on here think the money was "convenient" or "magically there when problems needed to be solved" obviously had no idea where the money came from or what was going on with it or the characters at the time.
The money was what he needed, yes, but with a huge drawback of being illegal and making him compromise his idealistic, all-or-nothing sense of morality. He could easily have gotten the money the other way, with different drawbacks.
Not exactly a deux-ex-machina, as the only problem it solved was making him compromise his morality by taking stolen money instead of borrowing money from violent gangsters. Doesn't seem great or convenient at all to me.
Yeah I agree, I had no problem with that either.
I really enjoyed this movie. The only thing I didn't like was the very ending, when he says something along the lines of "It's about the way we reach our destination". (Can't remember the exact words and I can't be bothered to look it up.) Anyway, that "message" was already clear to me because of the story itself, I didn't need Abel to spell it out for me.
Apart from that I think it's a very good movie, and I wouldn't say this final line ruins the movie for me. I just think it was unnecessary.
Well said. The fact that so many people on here think the money was "convenient" or "magically there when problems needed to be solved" obviously had no idea where the money came from or what was going on with it or the characters at the time.
The money was what he needed, yes, but with a huge drawback of being illegal and making him compromise his idealistic, all-or-nothing sense of morality. He could easily have gotten the money the other way, with different drawbacks.
Not exactly a deux-ex-machina, as the only problem it solved was making him compromise his morality by taking stolen money instead of borrowing money from violent gangsters. Doesn't seem magical or convenient at all to me.
I agree that's not a deux ex machina. It was already building tension towards the ending. It was a logical response from morales philosophical aproach towards business.
shareNot deus ex machina at all. Along with some other reasons mentioned in this thread before me, her skimming had been set up. She ran the books. Able new she was using questionable accounting already. Her and Able discussed her family history in criminal activity. They established she was willing to go to any length to protect her family. All of that points to her secret bank account.
shareRule #1 - if you're gonna throw out fancy terminology, have a clue what you're talking about
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