SPOILER SPOILER Garden State SPOILER

[Kire]

SPOILER SPOILER

There is something I really want to talk about but I fucking hate spoilers. I hope this is going to be enough warning for my conscience to be at ease for posting the ending to this movie on a public message board. But, this is important to me, in a literary-dramatic criticism kind of way.

So, please, please, please, be warned. If you haven't seen this movie, and I hope you someday do, please don't scroll down to read the rest of this post.





































































I was disappointed that the plane didn't crash at the end. That would have made it the most tragic movie ever. The way it just kind of leveled out really made no sense. You know the term "Deus ex Machina"?

Deus ex Machina

In some ancient Greek drama, an apparently insoluble crisis was solved by the intervention of a god, often brought on stage by an elaborate piece of equipment. This "god from the machine" was literally a deus ex machina.

Few modern works feature deities suspended by wires from the ceiling, but the term deus ex machina is still used for cases where an author uses some improbable (and often clumsy) plot device to work his or her way out of a difficult situation. When the cavalry comes charging over the hill or when the impoverished hero is relieved by an unexpected inheritance, it's often called a deus ex machina.

http://newark.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Terms/deusexmachina.html

I suspect that they only did that to pacify the studio who was too afraid to see Natalie Portman just totally fucking wrecked, which, to me, would be so beautiful. If you're going to have a movie where every scene is a further step toward tragedy (like when he revealed to her that he was considered responsible for his mother's physical condition the last few years of her life), why not just go all the way and finish crashing the plane?

It would be a tragedy, but not a travesty. You saw him, the plane was crashing, and he was just as serene as could be. His soul was at peace. Like I said, beautiful. Natalie would be a 'widow', in a sense...but, at least she would know, that a good man really exists. That doesn't happen every day.

[ContraBass Black]

1. That movie screwed me up enough as it was.

Besides, I think the hopeless, pointless life was far more frightening and tragic than any death.

[ET Awful]

2. Nah. I like happy endings and the whole rebirth of sorts.

I like it the way it was, and probably wouldn't have changed much if anything.

It's a story of redemption and finding your way, not of tragedy.

[Kire]

5. are you a male between 14 and 29?

No offense, but are you in the market for a chicken sandwich right now, too? Just go on over to Wendy's, they'll hook you up. They're open late.

It's not about redemption. He has to do something wrong to be redeemed.

He was a painfully misunderstood good guy, pure tragedy.

the fact that you "like it" one way or the other betrays your bias

I don't prefer stories of redemption over tragedy, or vice versa. I just prefer well told stories. El Fuego's right. Marketing spoils everything.

[ET Awful]

7. First, no, I'm not a male between 14 and 29

I'm several years older than your constrained stereotype.

Second, the fact is that he was led to believe he's done something wrong, thus redemption is a perfectly accurate term.

Third, Zach Braff wrote and directed the film. He did so in the manner he wanted it done.

Fourth, any thinking human being that had nothing to go back to in LA, and everything to look forward to now wouldn't have taken the flight out either, especially with someone like "Sam" to be with.

The ending of this movie is exactly what any male with half a brain in his head would do in the same situation.

It was an independent film that was picked up by Miramax for distribution after its appearance at Sundance and various other film festivals to my understanding.

You strike me as one of those people that dislikes films simply because they become popular, and for no other real reason.

[Kire]

9. first,

how ya doing?

Second, redemption is not perfectly accurate. He was led to believe he did something wrong, which means he didn't do anything wrong, therefore, there are no amends to make, no bridges to rebuild, no task to be accomplished though which redemption is always obtained.

Third, were you in the board room when they talked about the different endings to choose from? I'm just speculating. You seem certain.

Fourth, maybe I'm forgetting the end of the movie now, he didn't take the flight out? wow, what about all the rattling of the fuselage and the bags falling down and everything, was that a fantasy? He got on the plane and turned around? I thought he got on the plane, it took off, had some difficulties and he was forced to turn around. Forget my whole post then. I always knew that when I have strong emotions about things it's because I misunderstood them. Now I'm going to rent it again. Don't spoil it for me anybody.

My problem was not anything to do with his decision to return to her. It was why they made it seem like the plane would crash, and then how miraculously it just stopped having trouble. I've been stewing on this since last September, so I can now see that I may have gotten it all wrong.

The questions I have aren't answered completely yet, but this reply has definitely opened my stubborn eyelids. Thank you, Et Awful.

Kire

[ghostsofgiants]

11. That was the dream sequence at the beginning of the film.

At the end he was sitting on the plane and realized he had no reason to head back to LA, so he didn't.

[Kire]

12. thanks

:banghead:

[ET Awful]

16. Once again, there was no boardroom decision, the film was completed

and shown at Sundance before there was distribution deal with Mirimax or Fox Searchlight. It was an independent film.

As you've already been told, you are confusing two different plane scenes that happened at different parts of the movie, one was a dream sequence and had nothing to do with the ending at all.

As far as redemption, he's been feeling guilt for what he did to his mother for over a decade. Should he feel guilt? No. But he does.

They didn't make it seem like the plane would crash. Hollywood didn't determine the end of the movie. It was an independent film that was picked up for distribution AFTER being shown at Sundance (along with other festivals).

[El Fuego]

3. Hollywood always uses test audiences to determine an ending.

Sadly, it's all about marketing, not art.

[Kire]

4. thanks

somebody gets it

[Pale Blue Dot]

6. I've seen this 4 times, and listened to the DVD commentary.

There was never an ending to have the plane crash. The dream sequence at the beginning was merely meant to show Largeman's state of mind at the time.

So, no, Hollywood didn't change the ending.

I was only slightly disappointed in the ending in that I thought he really had nothing to go back to in L.A., and every reason to stay, so that the whole airport scene was just a way to have a dramatic ending that wasn't really necessary.

[Kire]

10. I guess you gotta end it somehow

but you wouldn't call that foreshadowing in the scene in the beginning? I always thought it was the very same plane, same fellow passengers and all.

Gosh, I have to watch this again.

see post 7 for similar discussion

[bhunt70]

14. I think the airport scene

was more to show that he did have to make that decision...for him to have made that decision without all that going on would have seemed trite.

[ET Awful]

8. Hollywood, once again, had nothing to do with the ending.

Zach Braff wrote the film in its entirety, he directed it. It was the film he wanted to make in the way he wanted to make it.

[Kire]

13. and you say that on what authority

did you surveil the board room when they...oh fuck, I'm losing faith in the Lounge as we speak... :banghead:

[ET Awful]

15. Listen to the DVD commentary by the man who wrote, directed and

starred in the film. The film was completed and presented at Sundance before it was ever picked up for distribution by Mirimax.


Or, you could read any interview he gave about it. http://movies.about.com/od/gardenstate/a/gardenzb071504.htm for example.

Braff wrote the script. He wasn't told how to write it or how to end it.

Also read: http://www.splicedonline.com/04features/zbraff.html