I saw this last night and though I liked it a lot, the ending bothered me. (Dont read on if you do not want the ending spoiled for you). After a lot of thought and reading about it online, I see that the ending was not as weird and confusing as I had thought, but actually was poignant and beautiful. The two gay guys in the movie love each other deeply, and have a very close relationship. Their acting is superb, and their intimate scenes, kissing and cuddling are utterly believable and show their warmth and connection. When they are forced to split to live with their extended families, Ben, the John Lithgow character, has a very tough relationship with the young boy he has to share a room with. The boy is cruel to Ben, telling him he is a crappy painter... and one night Ben asks the boy if he has ever loved someone. The boy says he has but he was too scared to speak to her. Ben suggests that next time he must do it, to overcome his fear. It struck me as odd that Ben dies, but we don't see any of the suffering around his death, but cut to a time after his death when the boy comes to visit Ben's partner George in George's flat. The boy brings a painting Ben painted. They have a few words, the boy leaves but stands on the stairs leading downstairs for a good two minutes, and begins to cry... the first open emotion in the film. The boy then leaves and is seen skateboarding with a lovely girl... they are obviously together and in love. The point of the movie is that love is eternal. Not between two people, because we all die... but the love itself can be passed on. Ben encouraged the boy to love, despite the boy being a nasty teenage twit. The boy realised how Ben had affected him, but only after Ben had died. What may have been a very sad ending was actually uplifting, a victory of human spirit over the sadness of personal loss.
Review by fredphoeshVIP 10BlockedParentSpoilers2015-06-08T08:44:20Z
I saw this last night and though I liked it a lot, the ending bothered me. (Dont read on if you do not want the ending spoiled for you). After a lot of thought and reading about it online, I see that the ending was not as weird and confusing as I had thought, but actually was poignant and beautiful. The two gay guys in the movie love each other deeply, and have a very close relationship. Their acting is superb, and their intimate scenes, kissing and cuddling are utterly believable and show their warmth and connection. When they are forced to split to live with their extended families, Ben, the John Lithgow character, has a very tough relationship with the young boy he has to share a room with. The boy is cruel to Ben, telling him he is a crappy painter... and one night Ben asks the boy if he has ever loved someone. The boy says he has but he was too scared to speak to her. Ben suggests that next time he must do it, to overcome his fear. It struck me as odd that Ben dies, but we don't see any of the suffering around his death, but cut to a time after his death when the boy comes to visit Ben's partner George in George's flat. The boy brings a painting Ben painted. They have a few words, the boy leaves but stands on the stairs leading downstairs for a good two minutes, and begins to cry... the first open emotion in the film. The boy then leaves and is seen skateboarding with a lovely girl... they are obviously together and in love. The point of the movie is that love is eternal. Not between two people, because we all die... but the love itself can be passed on. Ben encouraged the boy to love, despite the boy being a nasty teenage twit. The boy realised how Ben had affected him, but only after Ben had died. What may have been a very sad ending was actually uplifting, a victory of human spirit over the sadness of personal loss.