I have only seen the butchered (aka edited) version of 25th Hour. Did Monty decide to tough it out in prison or did he run? Please, help this dumb old man. Thank you.
shareAt the very end it shows Monty and his dad driving passed the exit that would allow him to "escape" and continue on driving to the prison. Monty went to jail.
share^ Funny, but no his dad drove him to a different state where he started a new life. Eventually after a few years, Naturelle drove out there, had kids and told his entire story to them all.
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I think you see that they do drive in the prison direction in the end. I myself believe that he went to prison anyway. It just makes it that much more emotional for me, to think he spent his time in jail and missed out on the dream.
shareId like too think Monty went down to New Mexico and had a huge family. But prison life is no fantasy. He is in jail.
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My interpretation of the ending is that Monty was fantasizing about his life if he had run away at his father's direction, but ultimately chose to go to prison instead. We see that in the exit that his father took to go to prison in the final moments.
shareIf you see the "escape" and progression of the time passing, you see Ed Norton's face healing from the punching he made his buddies do to him. Then when the scene fades (the one where he and Naturelle are with their children and grand children- and he is telling them what happens) they open back to the scene where his face is freshly battered and he is in the car. He is still going to prison. That was him day dreaming while his dad is drving him to prison.
shareWhen I saw this movie at first, yes I thought he took dad's advice but after reading the comments and using some common sense/possibilities, it all made sense.
I agree with the posters saying he went to jail. The movie just went off right now and I've seen it like 5 times, maybe more. I "believe" the reality is, Monty knew, there was no other life but prison. Let'say he took his dad's advice, unless Monty got plastic surgery for a new face....there is no way humanly possible he could be a fugitive. In his dream of a life new, he didn't change his look much. He looked practically the same but just getting older in age. BTW there's logical answers to things...if Naturelle left her home to go somewhere and the Law knew that she was his girl, you don't think they'd follow her or catch on ? How could he and she, not get caught, before creating a family ?
This wasn't supposed to be one of those ambiguous endings, he went to jail, that's the whole point. The scenes of him as a fugitive were even colorized different to make them look like a fantasy
shareDocTorShemp has the easiest / most comprehensive answer above, precisely.
- Just adding my .02 :)
At the end, he still can decide, that was the point
shareI disagree. The ending is not about still having the choice to run and evade prison. It's more about the regret of having missed out.
The Brian Cox voice-over keeps repeating "How close you came, how close you came" in reference to the family in Monty's daydream. At first, the line is meant to be a blessing, referencing the moment when Monty gathers all his beautiful children and grandchildren around him to reveal the truth about his past, and how, if he had gone to prison rather than running, the family sitting there with him and Naturelle might never have existed at all.
But, as we return to the reality of Monty and his father still driving toward jail, the line transforms into truth. The children and grandchildren did indeed never exist. Monty missed his chance to have that family. He made bad life choices, and the end result, now, is that he can only dream about he and Naturelle having that kind of large adoring clan. He came close, but with 7 years of prison ahead, it's just a dream.
are you sure? i just watched this movie and thought he really did end up skipping town.
the fact that everybody keeps saying that the father missed the exit for skipping town is really a non issue, if he wants to he can take another exit.
and to be honest immediately when he woke up from that fantasy i thought the same thing as you did, hes going to jail... but then i realized hes sleeping in the car. how is he going to go from contemplating skipping town as him and his father are in viewing distance of the exit, and then once they pass the exit he is seen fast asleep?
but then i realized hes sleeping in the car. how is he going to go from contemplating skipping town as him and his father are in viewing distance of the exit, and then once they pass the exit he is seen fast asleep?
You could miss this if you're not familiar with New York, but as they were driving up Henry Hudson Pkwy. in Manhattan, Monty's dad says that they could just take the exit at the George Washington bridge and go west and then they show Monty's fantasy of what that new life would be like, as his dad describes it.
But, after that, it shows that they've passed the bridge and are still on the Hudson river going north (the bridge is behind them and the river is still on their left), which is the way to the prison upstate. I liked the ending, which emphasized how big a choice this was for Monty and he was torn over what to do. It was more artful than having the final shot be at the prison gate, or going back to the dog missing him, or something.
"Boy that was really exciting. I bet you're a big Lee Marvin fan aren't ya."
I disagree with some of the posters. I think the ending was ambiguous, since it ended before prison, it wasn't as if he had passed the point of no return. He could take a gamble on being a fugitive, or take a gamble on prison, each comparably shïtty choices.
shareI thought (hoped) the ending was ambiguous at first, but after reading some of the posts, I believe Monty went to prison. I agree that it all comes down to the father's line "how close you came" and how he could've had a future with Naturelle had it not been for his poor choices. Monty had one final choice to make: become a fugitive, never seeing his father (who would probably lose his bar) again, or take his punishment in prison for seven years. Going to prison would be the first unselfish choice he made.
Yeah, they're dead; they're--all messed up!
Agree completely. Monty made bad decisions his entire life. In the end, he finally chooses to make the right decision and do the time. At first, the thought of that was pretty depressing, but when you think about it, in 7 years, he'll finally be able to start fresh.
share7 years in a hell hole prison , he be lucky to get out alive.
share7 years in a hell hole prison , he be lucky to get out alive.
shareThe passed the GW Bridge ( subtle as a sledgehammer pan down) and were heading towards the Sprain and Taconic.
He went to jail.
Side note, unless they wanted to take the 2 hours out of the way scene route, its retarded to take the Sprain and Taconic to Otisville. The Taconic goes to Dutchess County.
GW to Palisades to 17 to Orange and Sullivan Counties.