Happy Endings

Happy Endings.

Why is it modern movies all seem to require a happy ending? Is it a script requirement?

Take ‘Hitch’ starring Will Smith. Is it me, or did the ending not gel with the script? It didn’t feel tacked on as an afterthought, like other movies, but there just was something that didn’t feel right.

Sara publishes her story on Hitch, quite effectively destroying his business. She openly (in the speed dating scene) admits that ruining Albert Brenamen’s relationship with Allegra is the price to break the story, and numberous other relationships are shown in the film to hit rocky patches or break up. The thing is, she knows what she’s doing but she doesn’t care. Even though she’s under the misaprehension that Hitch just helps men get women into bed.

The ending didn’t work with me. There’s a scene (’No comment’), where Hitch (in the only such part of the film) is mean and hurtful to Sara. This scene seems to exists solely for the purpose of setting up the ending, where Hitch makes the big showy gesture at the end of the film, just like every other romantic movie.

In the prior scene where Hitch is mean to Sara and tells her ‘no comment’, she starts off saying she didn’t mean to hurt him. In truth, the line I was expecting was ‘No, you just didn’t care if you did’, which is true. She didn’t.

I just felt it should have been Sara that had to make the big romantic gesture. She’s the one in the wrong, she ruined his life and she’s the one who needs to make the gesture.

For another example look at ‘How To lose A Guy In 10 Days’ with Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. Kate sets out to write a column entry about losing a guy. Matthew has to win a girl for a bet, thus winning a contract.

It’s this kind of stupid equallity in movies I don’t understand. It’s like the movie studios are saying “You can’t have one person in a romantic comedy being the nasty one. They both have to have flaws, or be nasty.” Having Kate being the one writing the column, but Matthew just being a nice guy and having a sad, ‘doesn’t get the guy’ ending would have been better.

It’s the sad endings we’ve not seen for a while. Sad endings can be great. I don’t want a happy ending in every movie I see.

People don’t go to the movies to feel happy. They go to the movies to feel. If I want to feel happy, I’ll grab a coke and pig out on chocolate and let the endorphins do their work. That’s why ‘Lost In translation’ is such a great film. You can feel the claustrophobia and desperation and boredom of the two main characters.

When was the last “Gone With The Wind” ending?

This is why I liked ‘Sliding Doors’, because although there is a kind of a happy ending in the lift, there’s also a sad ending becuase one ‘version’ of Gwyneth Paltrow dies. It was a nice break from the norm of “Happily Ever After.”