Regarding reservations about the ending (spoiler warning)

Rating: 8/10 (24 December 2000)

I understand where a lot of people would have reservations, if not disappointments, with the ending. But I feel the open ended ending Europeans and other non-Americans are not so opposed to versus the wrapped up in a bow Hollywood ending Americans are force fed should elicit contemplation not complaints that it didn't have a perfect ending.
Coming up with that universally satisfying ending is very difficult because one must consider a common denominator the biggest cross-section of people will respond to. Given that there are few truly satisfying endings that one doesn't have to think about because it is so obvious, I think the ending to CTHD was designed for one to meditate on versus one just to merely accept.

Everyone's take on what the ending meant for the main character (in my opinion Jen is the main character) can mean different things depending on where you are in life and how you'd identify with her situation. You have to fill in the blanks and what those blanks are to you is how you perceive the meaning of the movie at the time of viewing.
IMHO... what the ending meant for me was Jen, feeling great sorrow over causing such chaos in other people's lives because of her "selfish" desire to live life on her own terms simply wanted to be transported back to a time before she caused all this chaos with possibly an insight to the consequences of her behavior so she can avoid the same mistakes on the second go round. She makes a genuine gesture to make everything like it was before by taking a leap of faith. Like I said, my little, humble interpretation. It makes perfect sense to me and rounded off the movie just fine. But that might not be it at all. I might have it all wrong. But that's OK... that is the beauty of an open-ended ending. No one is right or wrong. It is whatever makes the movie complete for you.