The End (1978)

Thanks for the memories!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This is an extremely funny movie. The humor is timeless; easily transcending it's 1970's origin. Burt Reynolds plays Sonny Lawson, a divorced and shady real estate salesman. The movie opens with Sonny being told he has a fatal blood disease and a two month to one year life expectancy.The humorous tone of the film is set early in the exchange between Sonny and his doctor, played wonderfully dryly by Norman Fell. Sonny is, to put it mildly, shallow. Not exactly evil and certainly not good, Sonny is an aging hedonist whose only truly valuable contribution to life is his daughter Julie. Still, even with all the limitations of his character, Sonny tries to get around The End. The bulk of the movie involves Sonny's attempts to weasel out of his inevitable End. Burt Reynolds plays Sonny with just the right blend of whine and bravado. The results are hilarious. Characters come and go throughout the movie. All of them are as shallow as Sonny and hence cannot be of any help. Robbie Benson is hilarious as Father Dave and Sally Field is wonderful as the free spirit or as we say now 'new age' love interest. A truly exceptional performance however comes from Burt's co-star Dom DeLuise. I think that Dom deserved an academy nomination for his brilliant performance as the psychiatric patient Marlon Borunki. His character is a blend of gentle self deprecating humor and maniacal danger and he is the man to watch in every scene he's in. His instant changing of mood, voice and emotion is simply brilliant. There are some movies which provide a catch-phrase that you can use in real life. I never did relate too much to Arnie's "I'll Be Back" line but one which has made it into my personal use is Dom's rather strangled version of "I Understand". Watch 'The End' and you too will understand.

This is a seriously black comedy which, although it contains a fair bit of slapstick, also features some of the most subtle comedic touches I've seen in a film. Little things which may be missed on a first or casual viewing can delight a dedicated fan of 70s comedy.I've been a fan of this film since I came across it by accident as a teenager and now as I approach forty, it hasn't lost any of its delights for me and I was lucky enough to pick up an old second hand copy of the video so I can sit back and watch it if I'm ever in need of a good laugh.Do yourself a favour and watch this film.

This was, without a doubt, the most hilariously comic performance that the brilliant Dom DeLuise had on film. When, in the midst of a depressed "woe is me" rant, he looks up and asks "Do you think we'll ever switch to the metric system?", well, it just don't get no funnier than that. His botched suicide attempts, as well as his eagerly wanting to help Burt with HIS suicide, oh heck, just go rent it yourself! You'll love it.Burt was brilliant too. He holds a thin line between wanting to die and wanting to live that is believable. It's a real shame that this movie often gets me blank stares when I tell others about it. More people know about Four Weddings and a Funeral (a movie so horrid that I still refuse to watch another Andie McDowell flick) than this quiet classic. (sigh)

Everyone remembers this one, esp the scene at the loony bin window where Dom Delouise is hellbent of finishing Burt off, Burt has second thoughts about plummetting to his death, and so on. That alone is great. Kirsty McNichols was also very good too. (I was too young when I saw it to appreciate the presence of Myrna Loy and Joanne Woodward, and so I do look forwards to seeing it again in fact)I also can remember seeing David Steinberg doing his whacked out shrink routine-'Get off of me!', etc. too. He is kinda forgotten now but a funny guy nonetheless.So yeah, I do recommend this to anyone who wants to see an underrated Reynolds flick, it really is pretty good.***