Deus ex Machina

Rating: Null/10 (26 February 2002)

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Is he dreaming, or not? Is that really Cruz or is it Diaz? Did really happen? Why was Time Square empty?
And later on: Why, despite being held in custody and visited over many weeks (that was the impression I got, anyway) by a psychiatrist (Kurt Russell), was Aames (Tom Cruise) allowed to visit LE with only one guard who was not even a policeman? Why, if LE are so secretive, did they let Aames and his escorts in?
At first I expected that some or all of these questions would be left ambiguous even at the end - why should everything be given to us on a plate?
But after the scene where Aames (Cruise) wakes up in the middle of the night and looks in the mirror, I had begun to fear having nightmares (OK, I'm embarrassed, but I don't go to the movies very often). So I hoped that all would be explained, to let me get a good night's sleep.
In short, it was all explained and I got a good night's sleep. But it really shouldn't have been - the phrase "Deus ex machina" could have been invented to explain this plot development! Plus, no disrespect to Noah ("Shine") Taylor, surely such expositions are traditionally given by older, avuncular, gravelly-voiced, English-accented figures? (1 out of 4 for Noah.) POSSIBLE SPOILER: And surely his character should have been billed as "Tech Support"!
Why does Jason Lee's character more than once burst out in criticism of Aames' behaviour, rather than trying patiently to help him as a friend? Arguably, this is also explained by the ending (I won't spoil by saying how), but it irritated me as I was watching (whereas the flashbacks, dream sequences and the long introduction did not). I guess the real answer is that you are to infer that the "friendship" bit has happened on many previous occasions, off camera, as it were, but that doesn't make for good cinema, so is omitted in a kind of cinematographic shorthand. But it unfortunately only reminded me of certain British and Australian soap operas where arguments and misunderstandings happen at every turn.
In conclusion, I think (or I thought) the ending tied everything up just too tidily. But then I read Roger Ebert's review (Chicago Sun-Times) and he pointed out something that I had not noticed or even considered...