** Spoilers**
Oh but I'm angry. Based on a true story or not, there's absolutely no reason for the last twenty minutes of this movie - a melodramatic hanging of its hero (some say `antihero') that does little more than leave audience mouths agape. I, myself, felt both sickened and incredulous by the almost fetishistic manner in which the movie dealt with the hanging. First there is this whiny buildup of tension. Will he be hanged? Won't he be hanged? Then the sad and dismayed son is trotted out like some kind of token ornament to provoke sympathy from the audience. As the scene tiredly plays out, everything and I mean everything seems to point to the inherent justice in sparing the condemned man's life. We demand that someone save him. But in the end, what happens? He is of course hanged -- in an orgy, I might add, of tear-jerking music and slow motion camera work. I don't mind an unconventional ending, but give me a break at least. Don't draw the thing out. The only explanation I can see for this ending is that the writers truly did not care about the audience. Whatever point was trying to be made here about the occasional unfairness of the law, taking responsibility for your own actions, and standing up for what you believe in was lost on me. And don't tell me that every movie doesn't have to have a happy ending. Yeah, no kidding, so then don't manipulate your audience to expect one. That's just bad film making.
Oh but I'm angry. Based on a true story or not, there's absolutely no reason for the last twenty minutes of this movie - a melodramatic hanging of its hero (some say `antihero') that does little more than leave audience mouths agape. I, myself, felt both sickened and incredulous by the almost fetishistic manner in which the movie dealt with the hanging. First there is this whiny buildup of tension. Will he be hanged? Won't he be hanged? Then the sad and dismayed son is trotted out like some kind of token ornament to provoke sympathy from the audience. As the scene tiredly plays out, everything and I mean everything seems to point to the inherent justice in sparing the condemned man's life. We demand that someone save him. But in the end, what happens? He is of course hanged -- in an orgy, I might add, of tear-jerking music and slow motion camera work. I don't mind an unconventional ending, but give me a break at least. Don't draw the thing out. The only explanation I can see for this ending is that the writers truly did not care about the audience. Whatever point was trying to be made here about the occasional unfairness of the law, taking responsibility for your own actions, and standing up for what you believe in was lost on me. And don't tell me that every movie doesn't have to have a happy ending. Yeah, no kidding, so then don't manipulate your audience to expect one. That's just bad film making.