Just watched this movie today. It’s a pretty old movie that’s been on my queue for some time. The movie was somewhat interesting, but the ending totally confused me. In simple terms, the movie’s about a boss ganster that has left coming back to figure out and avenge his brother’s death.
Official Site
IMDb: 5.8/10 (1,819 votes)
Yahoo! Movies: Yahoo! Users: C+
Rotten Tomatoes: Rating: 44% / Average Rating: 5.5/10
Apple Trailer
Amazon.com DVD
Spoilers: (Show)
So the movie’s pretty straight forward, not much to think about. Someone gets raped and then suicides. Everyone becomes sad. The brother gets a “message” from him and returns, who apparently used to be the “big shot” gangster in town. The new head gangster starts to get nervous with his return and things move forward as Clive Oven tries to uncover the reasoning for his brother’s suicide, which at this point, we know already. The only thing I didn’t realize was the fact that the little brother also ejaculated when he was raped, so that shame may have pushed him over the edge.
Anyway, there’s nothing really complex until the ending. The new boss hires someone to go into Clive Owen’s ex-girlfriend’s place and holds her hostage. Clive Owen tells her to pack her things and he’ll come pick her up in 3 hours. The movie sorta just ends there… Is this the ending? Are we supposed to assume Clive Owen gets killed? I’m just lost…
This is one of my favorite movies. I just love watching Clive Owen. The movie isn’t about the plot, it’s about Clive’s character and his internal struggle with who he is. By the end of the movie he is no longer running away from who he is, but willing to accept his choices and move on. It doesn’t matter what happens to his wife. Whether the wife dies, or Clive kills the kidnapper wouldn’t change who Clive is, and Clive’s character is all that matters in the movie. I also think the ending is left so open to illustrate that even though Clive can’t escape his past, because he accepts ownership for his past his future is free to be written. I’d probably have to watch it again to give a move in-depth analysis, but in short the whole movie can be seen as a commentary on how humans perceive the choices they make.
I would totally disagree with you when you say the death of Clive Owen’s wife would not change him. The only reason Clive has returned is the death of his brother. If his brother was still alive and well, he’d still be wandering around the country looking for jobs without an identity.
If his wife dies and assuming that his bond between him and his wife are the 2nd most important relationship other than his brother, to have lost both his closest people would definitely make him rethink if his return and actions were the right choice.
He’s already accepted ownership of his past mistakes, hence his leaving of the gang. However, the only thing different now is that he believes that he could do better for those he has done wrong to by being himself, then to go hide away and repent in guilt.
Also, in regards to him telling his wife to pack, was that assuming they were going to run away together and start somewhere new? Was he just taking her to a safe place for the time being? Or was it a trap where he wasn’t going to even come back for her? The latter reasoning is hard to come by, but if you figured Clive knew his opponent well enough and if his rival knew where’d he be at time x, he’d probably send his best hitman to get him there, leaving his rival wide open for him to make his move. Also, it seemed much longer than 3hrs (the alotted time he told her he was going to be back by) since he killed the dog and that car salesman at night when it was already pretty dark, and he had told her in the morning-afternoon to wait 3 hours.
//krunk (^_^x)