I was wondering how come Sean doesn't arrest Jimmy at the end... Jimmy pretty much confesses to Sean that he did it.

Also why did Brendan think Ray could talk?

Thanks!

The ending was intentionally ambiguous (Eastwood has said he intended it to be that way) - we don't know whether Sean will arrest Jimmy or let him go...but we DO know that Sean knows what Jimmy did.

What was up with Jimmy's wife? She seemed to get awfully power hungry at the end. Seemed like a pretty big character change for her.

There was no evidence that Jimmy offed Dave Boyle. What Sean believes makes no difference - its all about what Sean can prove.

In the book, it describes the hand/gun gesture that Sean makes. Its supposed to symbolize Sean telling Jimmy that someday he will bring him down.

Maybe I missed something, but I didn't understand the need for the parts that dealt with Sean's wife. It seemed to me that if you cut all of the scenes that dealt with his estranged wife that it wouldn't have made any difference to the story.

What those scenes proved was that Sean's character experienced growth. As the movie/book wore on, the life of Sean Devine transcended to a greater maturity, and his "keeping his feelings to himself" allowed him to reach out to his wife, and to admit this to her, and to himself.

Ooooooohhhhhh... this makes sense... and also explains the shrug Jimmy makes.

What about Brendan thinking Ray Jr can talk?

I agree. Didn't really get that part at all.

I take that she's meant to be sort of like an enabler, sort of like Lady Macbeth.

Also, she most likely isn't an innocent herself, her two brothers are both big thugs so it's strongly implied that she comes from a "crime" family. Also, she was attracted to Jimmy who was a criminal. Even as a child, he was the first one to write his name in the wet cement.

Also, it was never stated outright, but it seemed like there was some competition between Jimmy's wife and Katie (who was a link to his life before her). So with Katie out of the picture, Jimmy is all hers. And that everything good within him died with her, and this a chance for a new life.

I watched the film for the first time last night and it was wonderful.

I agree with James Berardninelli's Review that the last 2 scenes were extraneous and were poor directorial choices for inclusion. The film would have ended much better if the last scene was Sean taking the call in his car from his wife, or even just prior to him getting the call, with Jimmy walking down the street. At that point, you KNEW that Sean would arrest Jimmy, and that Jimmy, who had a well-developed moral character as well, would do his time.

The additional scenes shouldn't have been there, but they did not ruin the film or anything that drastic....

Laua Linney's character was acting strong to ensure the continuation of her family. She knew that Jimmy was ambivalent about turning himself in, and she was appealing to the part of his personality that would stay and would keep the family unit intact. She knew that his natural inclination was to turn himself in for the murder.

The arc with Sean, as others have said, showed his character's growth and established that he had a human and vulnerable side, as oppossed to the detached police detective persona demonstrated in the film. It also allowed that one of the 3 left their common past with hope...a nice optimistic touch.

Penn was magnificent! Robbins (who I am prejudiced against due to his politics) was excellent, and Bacon was consistent and solid, as usual. The supporting cast, headed by Oscar winners/nominees Fishburne, Linney and Harden were superb. I didn't even recall that Eastwood was the Director until the credits rolled. He has made a great film!

Curious, what are his politics?

He's one of the bigger liberal activists in Hollywood.

I'm not sure if he really did think that. What I got from the scene was that Brendan was so hurt and confused that his brother would lie to him about something so big as murdering his fiancee, he may well too be lying about being a mute. Just a guess, though.

Sorry for the bump, but just watched this again yesterday and I pick something else up each time, I don't know how I missed that Jimmy was the one sending the other family $500 a month because he killed the father.


I got that too, after watching it again yesterday. Like perhaps he was going to be watching him and probably pop him for some lesser crime down the road.

I get that Sean has to prove it, but does Sean not turn him in because he figures enough lives have been ruined and because he's Jimmy's friend? Or because he is so happy now that his life is whole again because his estranged wife and child are back? Or maybe all of the above?