A Beginner's Guide to Endings

This is one seriously weird and quirky film. And, I don't think I'm off base here in saying that there is no way you could possibly have seen a film like this before...and if you have, please let me know!

The film begins with a TERRIBLE father (Harvey Keitel) jumping to his death at Niagara Falls. At his funeral are his five sons from five different women. And, not surprisingly, he was a HORRIBLE father to all of them. With the exception of the youngest (who is too young to realize his father was a jerk), they boys don't seem the least bit concerned about the death. After all, the man didn't act much like a father. At the reading of the will, however, three of the sons learn something TERRIBLE--their father signed them up for a drug study when they were kids and the medicine they took will make them die...very, very soon! The rest of the film consists of showing what these three men do with their final days. I'd try to describe what they did...but frankly you just need to see it to believe it!

While this plot sounds very sad, the film is hilarious due to the very, very quirky writing. The dialog is among the strangest and funniest I can recall...other than in "Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil". And, I loved how I could never predict where the story went next. It certainly is unique, strange and non-formulaic! And, it's also, most importantly, a lot of fun. A wonderful indie film for someone looking for a film totally unlike anything they've seen before...or since.

This movie is really impressive. I expected it to be some pretty bad stuff I'd turn off after a shot while but I liked it very much. The way it's told is a mixture of classic styles and it also reminded me a little of the way Tarantino tells his stories. The whole plot is cool and without comparison. Cast of characters, acting, settings, locations etc are completely awesome, character development as well. So I'm still stunned that I watched this movie 2 years after it came out and it only has 198 views with a rating of only 6.6 which is completely ridiculous to me. Music and ending are nice as well. I really liked it and I think it's one of those movies that's worth to be watched again. I guess someone did a very bad promotion for this DVD because it's worth to be watched by way more people and not only because of it's nice humor.

"A Beginner's Guide to Endings" begins with Duke White (Harvey Keitel) rattling off odds of chance, of life, of games, and of death. He's determined to kill himself one way or another and see if his death can give his sons better odds at living a semi-functional life. He has five sons, from three different women, and we first meet them at his funeral.

The eldest is Eddie (Jason Jones) and he's nicknamed "Nuts" after a failed but spirited attempt at becoming a boxer; Cal (Scott Caan) is a womanizing, scatterbrained meathead. Jacob (Paulo Costanzo) is able to hold down a house and a job, but that certainly doesn't mean he's happy. Years later came Juicebox (Jared Keeso) another failing boxer following in the footsteps of his big brother, and many years later came Todd (Siam Yu) whose arrival marked the departure of the mother of the first three.

Following the funeral where Cal showed up late, Paulo tried to beat him up, and then Eddie showed him how to throw a punch, the brothers gather at a bar for the reading of the will. The will provides the plot for the film and let's just say it sends the three oldest brothers on ill- advised, death-defying stunts to reaffirm their lives. It's as funny as it is chaotic and the completely unrealistic, ridiculous antics actually go along way to complementing the clever and comedic nature of the film.

At first, the odd casting (Jason Jones as a dark, brooding boxer) can distract from the good qualities, but the three elder brothers, in particular, have fantastic comedic chemistry. The best part of the casting has J.K. Simmons as the uncle and minister who tries to dispense sane advice, but don't worry, they rarely listen to him.

Primarily shot and set in Niagara Falls, the city and the falls themselves provide a suitable backdrop for the unfolding and unraveling of the boys' plans and lives. Unfortunately, the film itself has a very dull or washed-out look and feel; the shots and use of colour are lacking a bit of punch that the screenplay and actors have. Perhaps it's just an outcome of the low budget, and most fans of dark comedies should be able to easily overlook it and enjoy "A Beginner's Guide to Endings".

Guy Ritchie films are usually pacy, character driven & quirky with cartoon violence & a slick soundtrack - which is the style writer / director Jonathon Sobol tried blatantly aping with his 2010 Niagra Falls based debut "A Beginners Guide To Endings". After roguish Harvey Kietel's suicide his three very different oldest sons (Scott Caan, Paolo Costanzo & Jason Jones) learn thru his will (read by uncle JK Simmons) that they too will die soon (due to Kietel putting them in a drug trial yrs earlier) so each goes loopy in his own silly way, before fate weaves their strands back together. It's an unoriginal, implausible & hole-filled pale-imitation, but as an homage to Ritchie... it's passable.

A favorite movie of mine, Magnolia, is introduced with a narrator talking about odds and the unlikelihood of certain things happening and A Beginner's Guide to Endings starts in a very similar fashion. The credits for this Jonathon Sobol film are cleverly presented as parts of games of chance and from the outset there is that feeling that unlikely things are going to happen and this will be an unpredictable and unusual comedy. The Beginner's Guide was one of more than a dozen options available at the Domestic Arrivals Film Festival in London Ontario and it is one that I almost missed. When so many quality films are offered in such a short time frame sometimes difficult choices have to be made. This film was one of the best decisions I made and everything about it impressed me. The award winning screenplay gave the ensemble cast plenty of material to work with and their performances were all pitch perfect.

J.K. Simmons serves as an adviser to the White brothers, a family so dysfunctional that they could lower the property values in any neighborhood they chose to call home. Siam Yu manages to deliver up some laughs as a very credible Todd, the youngest product of Duke White's many misadventures. While Harvey Keitel doesn't need a lot of screen time as the Duke White character his presence is felt throughout the full 92 minutes. Any casting changes would have made this a different film and it likely wouldn't have been a better different. Everybody needed to be who they were to make it work as well as it did. The shooting locations in Niagara Falls are very familiar to most people, but because of the close proximity to London there may have been a stronger connection for the audience here. This isn't a film for everyone but it is one that l will go out of my way to see again.