If you wanted AI to have ended any earlier than it did, then you did not understand the point of the ending, and you did not understand AI.

That said, I think the way the ending was handled was a little too Spielberg-esque for me.

Hmmm. It's more ironic that you have no idea what I'm thinking, so my advice is don't pretend to.

You can blather on about "resolved narratives" all you want, but there are times when a film does not need to move in expected directions or dish out so-called traditional conflict resolution.

I don't consider the ending I mentioned a "twist" either. For me, it would have been bittersweet and may have had more emotional impact that some cheesey aliens and mommy-love drivel.

Ha, and what'd I say about the haters not even undestanding the ending.

They were robots, not aliens.

Wow, now I'm a "hater"
When exactly did that happen?

Hated the ending to Fellowship. I don't care how the book concludes, its still bad cinema to me

Dude, hater or not, they were robots. I'll admit the ending has its problems but removing it doesn't solve those problems. Removing it just makes it Twilight Zone-ish: He finds the fairy, but the fairy is an illusion, the fairy looks like the virgin Mary, David is the child of all mankind yet is neglected for all eternity and therefore that is a downer. Whatever!? A film student would make that kind of crap. And that's why armchair directors w/ fat DVD collections think it would be a brilliant ending. A.I. strives for more depth than that. It strives and fumbles, but I give it credit for trying. Ending haters are really saying, "I want a movie that's all second act, w/ a cop-out "Tales of Irony" twist strait out of EC Commics." They'd probably prefer that 2001:ASO end with Dave un-hooking Hal and the TV broadcast.

What a brilliant and true quote.

"Aren't those the movies about gay cowboys eating pudding?" - Cartman

There was a thread from a few months ago I started about AI, some good discussion therein. I for one thought the ending was fitting for the movie. If you can see beyond the surface, and whatever you read on the internet, it's a pretty dreary ending.