BAD ENDINGS….Christopher Orr hands out movie awards today. Here’s an excerpt:
5. There Will Be Blood
Had it not been for a terribly ill-conceived final scene, this magisterial epic might have been number one on the list.….Worst Ending:
There Will Be Blood
Question: is this fair? Can a film have the worst ending of the entire year and yet still rate as the fifth best overall movie? I haven’t seen There Will Be Blood, but on general principle I’d say no. A great film can have an undistinguished ending, or even a dumb ending (Magnolia, say), but if it’s a conventional narrative (as I understand There Will Be Blood is), shouldn’t an actively bad ending take it out of the running? Or am I just being a fogey?
