Almost had me and then boom

Rating: 7/10 (2 November 2003)

Just saw it last night and thought it was worth the investment of time until the end of the Bacon/Penn curb-side scene. I haven't looked at others' posts but for me, the POV shot of the car pulling away down the street with the young Tim Robins character looking out the back window just completely blew a heretofore enjoyable film. The whole emotional tone shifted sideways in an unpleasant way and everything after that came off like a studio add-on to neatly wrap everything up with a bow. Didn't need Laura Linney doing Lady Macbeth, didn't need the parade scene (although I'll grant that it did add in the sense of showing the isolation and desperation of Marcia Gay Harden's character).
Everything could have been wrapped up in an emotionally satisfying way with Kevin Bacon driving off with his suppressed suspicions of his childhood friend and Sean Penn to deal with his actions.
It's like someone at the studio put a gun to Eastwood's and Cox's head and said "you're going to add this because I don't get the ending".
I'm normally forgiving of films but this one disappointed me.